A37527	----	The demands of His Excellency Tho. Lord Fairfax and the Generall Councell of the Army, in prosecution of the late remonstrance to the two houses of Parliament as also against those persons who were the inviters of the late invasion from Scotland, the instigators and encouragers of the late insurrections in this kingdom : with Lieutenant Generall Cromwels letter to His Excellency concerning the executing of justice upon all offenders, and the setling of the kingdom upon a du[e], safe, and hopefull succession of Parliaments. England and Wales. Army. Council. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A37527 of text R5115 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing D973). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 8 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A37527 Wing D973 ESTC R5115 12793900 ocm 12793900 93966 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A37527) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 93966) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 378:11) The demands of His Excellency Tho. Lord Fairfax and the Generall Councell of the Army, in prosecution of the late remonstrance to the two houses of Parliament as also against those persons who were the inviters of the late invasion from Scotland, the instigators and encouragers of the late insurrections in this kingdom : with Lieutenant Generall Cromwels letter to His Excellency concerning the executing of justice upon all offenders, and the setling of the kingdom upon a du[e], safe, and hopefull succession of Parliaments. England and Wales. Army. Council. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 8 p. Printed for R.M., London : 1648. "By the appointment of His Excellency the Lord Fairfax Lord Generall, and his Generall Councell of the Army. Signed, John Rushvvorth" Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A37527 R5115 (Wing D973). civilwar no The demands of his Excellency Tho. Lord Fairfax. And the Generall Councell of the Army, in prosecution of the late remonstrance to the two h England and Wales. Army. Council 1648 1417 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-05 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-05 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion THE DEMANDS Of his EXCELLENCY THO. Lord FAIRFAX . And the Generall Councell OF THE ARMY , In prosecution of the late REMONSTRANCE To the two Houses of PARLIAMENT . As also against those persons who were the inviters of the late Invasion from SCOTLAND , the instigators and encouragers of the late Insurrections in this KINGDOM . With Lieutenant Generall CROMWELS LETTER To his Excellency concerning the executing of Justice upon all Offenders , and the setling of the Kingdom upon a due , safe , and hopefull succession of PARLIAMENTS . BY the appointment of his Excellency the Lord Fairfax Lord Generall , and his Generall Councell of the Army . Signed JOHN RUSHVVORTH . London , Printed for R. M. 1648. The Demands of his Excellency the Lord Fairfax , and the Generall Councell of the Army , in prosecution of the late Remonstrance to the two Houses of Parliament . THe incompetency of this Parliament , in its present constitution , to give an absolute and conclusive Judgment for the whole ( especially to be the sole Judges of their own performance , or breach of Trust ) doth make the juster way for such an Appeal , so indeed we see no other way left for remedy , in regard the present unlimited continuance of this Parliament doth exclude the orderly succession of any other more equal formal Judicature of men , to which we might hope in due time other ways to appeal . Thus then we apprehend our selves in the present case , both necessitated to , and justified in an Appeal from this Parliament , in the present constitution as it stands , unto the extraordinary Judgment of God and good people ; and yet in the prosecution of this Appeal , as we shall drive it on , but to the speedy obtaining of a more orderly & equal Judicature of men , in a just Representative , according to our Remonstrance ( wherein to acquiesce ) so in the present procuring of Justice with the peoples ease and quiet , and in the setling of the Kingdom upon a due , safe and hopefull succession of Parliaments : It is our hearts desire , and shall be our endevour , that so much , both of the matter and form of the present Parliamentary authority may be preserved , as can be safe , or will be useful to these ends , until a just and full Constitution thereof , both for matter and form ( suitable to the publique ends it serves for ) can be introduced . And therefore first , It should be our great rejoycing ( if God saw it good ) that the majority of the present House of Commons were become sensible of the evil and destructiveness of their late way , and would resolvedly & vigorously apply themselves to the speedy execution of Justice , with the righting and easing of the oppressed people , and to a just and safe settlement of the Kingdom upon such foundations as have been propounded by us and others for that purpose , & would for the speedier and surer prosecution of these things , exclude from Communication in their Councels , all such corrupt and apostatized Members as have appeared hitherto , but to obstruct and hinder such matter of Justice , Safety and publique Interest , and to pervert their Councels a contrary way , and have therein so shamefully both falsified and forfeited their Trust . But however , we shall , secondly , desire , That so many of them as God hath kept upright , and shall touch with a just sense of those things , would by Protestation , or otherwise acquit themselves from such breach of Trust , and approve their faithfulness , by withdrawing from those that persist in the guilt thereof , and would apply themselves to such a posture , whereby they may speedily and effectually prosecute those necessary and publique ends , without such Interruptions , Diversions , or Depravations of their Councels from the rest , to their endless trouble , oppression , and hazard of the Kingdom as formerly , and for so many of them , whose hearts God shall stir up thus to do ; we shall therein , in this case of extremity , look upon them as persons having materially the chief Trust of the Kingdom remaining in them , and though not a formal standing power to be continued in them , or drawn into ordinary Presidents ; yet the best and most rightfull that can be had , as the present state and exigence of Affairs now stand ; And we shall accordingly own them , adhere to them , and be guided by them in their faithfull prosecution of that Trust , in order unto , and until the introducing of a more full and formall power in a just Representative to be speedily endevoured . Now yet further to take away all jealousies in relation to our selves , which might withhold or discourse any honest Members from this courage , as we have the witness of God in our hearts , that in these proceedings we do not seek , but even resolve we will not take advantages to our selves , either in point of Profit or Power ; and that if God did open unto us a way , wherein with honesty and faithfulness to the publick Interest , & good people engaged for us , we might presently discharged , so as we might not in be our present Employments look on , and be accessory to , yea supporters of the Parliament , in the present corrupt , oppressive and destructive proceedings , we should with rejoycing , and without more ado , embrace such a discharge rather then interpose in these things to our own vast trouble and hazard ; so if we could but obtain a rationall assurance for the effectuall prosecution of these things , we shall give any proportionable assurance on our parts , concerning our laying down of Arms , when , and as we should be required : But for the present , as the case stands , we apprehend our selves obliged in duty to God , this Kingdom , and good men therein , to improve our utmost abilities in all honest ways , for the avoyding of these great evils we have Remonstrated , and for prosecution of the good things we have propounded ; and also that such persons who were the inviters of the late Invasion from Scotland , the instigaters and incouragers of the late Insurrections within this Kingdom , and ( those forcible ways failing ) have still pursued the same wicked Designs by treacherous and corrupt Councels , may be brought to publique Justice , according to their severall demerits . For all these ends we are now drawing up with the Army to London , there to follow Providence as God shall clear our way . By the appointment of his Excellency , the Lord Fairfax , Lord Generall , and his General Councel . Signed JOHN RUSHVVORTH , Secr ' . For his Excellency the Lord Generall FAIRFAX . My Lord , I Find a very great sense in the affairs of the Regiments of the sufferings and the ruine of this poor Kingdom , and in them all a very great zeal to have impartiall Iustice done upon Offenders ; and I must confess , I do in all , from my heart , concur in them ; and I verily think ; and am perswaded , they are things which God put into our hearts : I shall not need to offer any thing to your Excellency , I know God teaches you , and that he hath manifested his presence so to you , as that you will give glory to him in the eyes of all the world . I held it my duty , having received these Petitions and Letters , and being desired by the Framers thereof , to present them to you ; the good Lord work his will upon your heart , enabling you to do it ; and the presence of Almighty God go along with you . Thus prays My Lord , Your most humble and faithfull Servant O. CROMVVELL . FINIS . 
A42352	----	A new declaration presented to the Commons of England concerning certain heads or propositions presented to the Kings most excellent Majesty, for the voting home his royal consort the Queen, and restoring of His Majesty to his crown and dignity / printed and published, to be communicated to the free-borne subjects within the kingdome of England and principality of Wales. Gardiner, James. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A42352 of text R41542 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing G226). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 9 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A42352 Wing G226 ESTC R41542 31355540 ocm 31355540 110519 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A42352) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 110519) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1739:15) A new declaration presented to the Commons of England concerning certain heads or propositions presented to the Kings most excellent Majesty, for the voting home his royal consort the Queen, and restoring of His Majesty to his crown and dignity / printed and published, to be communicated to the free-borne subjects within the kingdome of England and principality of Wales. Gardiner, James. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 8 p. Printed for Leonard Williamson, for the use of all His Majesties loving subjects, Oxford : 1647. Caption title of first letter: New papers from the armie. Attributed to James Gardiner by Wing (2nd ed.) Includes two letters signed: John Rushworth. Imperfect: print show-through. Reproduction of original in the Worcester College Library (University of Oxford) eng Charles -- I, -- King of England, 1600-1649. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A42352 R41542 (Wing G226). civilwar no A new declaration presented to the Commons of England: concerning certain heads or propositions, presented to the Kings most excellent Majes Gardiner, James 1647 1538 4 0 0 0 0 0 26 C The rate of 26 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-05 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-05 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A NEW DECLARATION Presented to the COMMONS of ENGLAND : CONCERNING Certain Heads or Propositions , presented to the Kings most Excellent Majesty , for the voting home His Royall Consort the Queen , and restoring of His Majesty to His Crown and Dignity . PRinted and published , to be communicated to the Free-borne Subjects within the Kingdome of England , and Principality of Wales . OXFORD , Printed for Leonard Williamson , for the use of all His Majesties loving Subjects , 1647. NEW PAPERS FROM THE ARMIE SIR , HAving lately received a printed Paper , entituled , Certain Heads or Propositions presented to the Kings most excellent Maiesty by the Army , which Propositions , as they are there entituled , goes under the notion of the whole army in general , which ( as I conceive ) hath been fomented and contrived , by some wicked Instruments , who desire to make the breach wider , betwixt the Parliament and Army , rather then to bring it to a happy close and period . Therefore , thus much I dare presume to declare , in behalf of all my fellow-souldiers , that the army had not the least thought of contriving or presenting any such papers to his Majesty , to desire the stile or title of his army , or sending for his Royall Consort the Queen over , unlesse they conceived it might tend to the common good of the Kingdom ; I have ( to the utmost of my power , endeavoured to find out the authors or fomenters of the said paper , but cannot ( in the least ) find any man guilty of such an action . And therefore , it is further declared , that we doe not desire to change that title , which wee have for these 5 or 6 yeares endeavoured to maintain with the losse of our lives , having obtained many renowned Victories under the same ; but according to our former Engagements , we desire to see the Kingdom setled in peace , his Majesty stated in his Royal Palace at Westminster , and the priviledges of Parliament , and liberty of the subject , fully maintained and confirmed , our only aymes being to obtain a firme peace , and not a new Warre . The Governour of Warwick Castle doth not seem to hold correspondency with the army in their late Engagement , but doth utterly renounce and declare against the same . His Majesty moves according to the motion of the army , but upon his removall from the Earl of Salisburies house , the chiefe Officers of the army , proposed to his Majesty certain propositions , concerning his advance from thence , desiring to know what place his Maiesty had a desire to reside at the next night . His Majesty is very merry and cheerfull , and desires to see London , His Majesty received his two Chaplains , Dr. Hammond , & Dr. Shelden , very courteously , and ( we hear ) they have had a Conference together . For other particulars , concerning the army , I refer you to the ensuing papers . But by the next , you shall hear further from Your humble Servant . James Gardiner . Watford Iune 29. 1647. MY Lords and Gentlemen , In answer to the Letters of the House of Commons , which we received from you this expressing their readinesse to receive any particulars , and to hear any witnesses against the Gentlemen impeached by the Armie , we shall be bold to minde you , That the Remonstrance sent to you the last night to be presented to the Houses , do expresse the desires of the Armie to have the Members charged to bee suspended from sitting in the House , which if not granted to us ) we know their interest and prevalency is such , That we can expect but small fruit in a further proceeding except the desires of the Armie be answered therein ; Nor can we hope for good to the Kingdome , or settlement of an happy peace , as long as men of their interests and prevalencie have power to justifie themselves and practises ; who , that they may be able to effect it , do endeavour by all means possible ●o enflame this kingdome in a second War ; so which we shall be forced to the utterost of our powers to apply a timely remedie , as being the onely way and means we know of to prevent the involving this Nation again in Blood , then whith nothing's more odious to us , By the appointment of his E●cellency Sir Th. Fairfax and the councell of War . JOHN RUSHWORTH . St. Albans , Iune 24 , 1647. Another Message from the Army . My Lords and Gentlemen , IN answer to your Desire of a reason of the Armies motion this day , I thought fit to let you know , That our quaters are more contracted , but not nearer London then they were before , namely , at Watford , Vxbridge , and the Townes about them . We have often said we cannot stand as lookers on to see the Kingdom ruined by the obstruction and denial of justice ; and therefore wee desire you to move the Parliament we may not● hee holds still in doubt , and put upon the disputes of their commands , to which we shall yield ready obedience , when we see the Kingdom in a possibility of settlement , which we think cannot be , unlesse that the fountain of justice be delivered from those that corrupt it . By the appointment of His Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , and his Councell of Warre . Iohn Rushworth . Barkhamstead June 25. 1647. To the Right Honourable , the Lord Mayor , Aldermen , and Common councell of the City of London . My Lords and Gentlemen , WE have in all things dealt cleerly and plainly with you , and hope we shall continue still to doe so : As soon as the worthy Aldermen , and the other two Gentlemen , your Commissioners , came the last night to us , we acquainted them with our purpose , to draw the Head-quarter to Vxbridge , that so we might contract our quarters , which have hitherto lyen scattered ; at which place we hope to receive that which will be satisfaction to the Kingdome , and will remove Obstructions out of the way of Justice , wherein if right were done , we should let you and all the world see , That we would be so far from pressing near your city of London , it should bee indifferent to us , to march not only to the d●stance prescribed , but to any part of the Kingdome we should be commanded to by the Parl. Wee have asked nothing hitherto but right , in the things that are knowne as if they were proved an hundred times before them from whom they have sought them ; which if granted , would not only be a justice to the Army , but would let the Kingdome see the Fountain in a way to be cleared without which nothing of Force or Power would be a security to any man . We wish the name of Priviledges may not lye in the ballance with the safety of a Kingdom , and the reallity of a Kingdome , and the reallity of doing , Justice ; which as wee wee have said so often , wee cannot expect whilest the persons we have accused are the Kingdomes and our Judges , a little delay will indanger the putting the Kingdome into bloud ; notwithstanding , what hath been said , if it be considered , That in Wales , besides under-hand workings in your city and other places , Men are raised , and that in no small number ; and are not those men in the Parliament , who have continued faithful to the principles of common interest from the beginning of this Par. to this very day still awed by the concourse of Reformado-Officers and others to their doores ; expence of time will be their advantage only , who intend to bring evill purposes to passe . We have written this to you for your satisfaction , that so nothing may be done , without giving you a perfect account of our intentions and ends , and still to continue our assurance to you , that should necessity bring us nearer to the city , our former Faith given you shall be observed inviolably , there being nothing more ( next to the good of the Kingdome ) in our thoughts and desires , then the prosperity of your city . By the appointment of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , and the Councell of War . Signed , Iohn Rushworth . Barkhamstead , June 25 , FINIS . 
A37345	----	A declaration from Sir Thomas Fairfax and the army under his command as it was humbly tendered to the Right Honourable the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament : as also to the Honourable the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and Common-Councell of the city of London : concerning the just and fundamentall rights and liberties of themselves and the kingdome : with some humble proposals and desires. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A37345 of text R5410 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing D587). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 29 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 9 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A37345 Wing D587 Wing F157_VARIANT_CANCELLED ESTC R5410 12259913 ocm 12259913 57840 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A37345) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 57840) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 179:11 or 960:13) A declaration from Sir Thomas Fairfax and the army under his command as it was humbly tendered to the Right Honourable the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament : as also to the Honourable the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and Common-Councell of the city of London : concerning the just and fundamentall rights and liberties of themselves and the kingdome : with some humble proposals and desires. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. England and Wales. Army. [2], 13 p. : port. For L. Chapman and L. Blacklocke, Imprinted at London : 1647. "Printed by the speciall appointment of His Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, and souldiery of the army under his command, St. Albons, June 14, 1647, signed by me, John Rushvvorth" This item is identified as Wing D587 at reel 179:11 and as Wing F157 Variant (number cancelled in Wing (CD-ROM, 1996)) at reel 960:13. Reproduction of original in Cambridge University Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A37345 R5410 (Wing D587). civilwar no A declaration from Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the Army under his command. As it was humbly tendered to the Right Honourable the Lords and Commo England and Wales. Army 1647 5428 11 0 0 0 0 0 20 C The rate of 20 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Melanie Sanders Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Melanie Sanders Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion His Excellence Sr. Tho : Fairfax Generall of the , Army etc : A DECLARATION FROM Sir Thomas Fairfax , AND The Army under his Command . As it was humbly tendered to the Right Honourable the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament : As also to the Honourable the Lord Mayor , Aldermen , and Common-Councell of the City of London . Concerning the just and fundamentall Rights and Liberties of themselves and the Kingdome : With some humble Proposals and Desires . PRinted by the speciall appointment of His Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , and Souldiery of the Army under his Command . St. Albons , June 14. 1647. Signed by me , JOHN RUSHVVORTH . Imprinted at London , for L. Chapman , and L. Blacklocke . 1647. A Declaration from his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , and the Army under his Command , humbly tendered to the PARLIAMENT , concerning the just and fundamentall Rights and Liberties of themselves and the Kingdome , with some humble proposalls and desires . THat we may be no longer the dis-satisfaction of our friends , the subject of our ●●emies malice to worke jealosies and mis-representations upon , and the suspition if not astonishment of many in 〈…〉 ome in our late or present trans-actions and conduc 〈…〉 n●sle , we shall in all faithfulnesse and cleareness pros●sse , and declare unto you those things which have of late portracted and hindered our disbanding , the present grievances which possesse our Army and are yet enremedied , with our desire as to the compleat settlement of the liberties and peace of the Kingdome , which is that blessing of God then which nothing is more deare to us , or more precious in our thoughts , we having hitherto thought all our present injoyments , whether of life or livelihood , or nearest relations , a price but sufficient to the purchase of so rich a blessing , that we , and all the free-borne people of this Nation may sit downe in quiet under our Vines , and under the glorious administrations of Justice and Righteousnesse , and in full possession of those fundamentall rights and liberties without which we can have little hopes as to humane considerations , to enjoy either any comforts of life , or so much as life it selfe , but at the pleasures of men , ruling meerely according to will and power . It cannot be unknowne what hath passed betwixt the Parliament and the Army as to the service of Ireland ; by all which together with the like proceedings against the Army , in relation to their Petition and grievances , all men may judge what hath hindered the Army from a ready ingagement in that service , and without further Account or Apology as to that partieular , then what those passages and proceedings themselves already made publike doe afford ; we doe appeale to your selves , whether those courses to which the Parliament hath by the designes and practice of some been drawne , have rationally tended to induce a cheerefull and unanimous undertaking of the Army to that service , or rather breake and pull the Army in peeces with discontents and dishonour , and to put such disobligations and provocations upon it as might drive it into distemper , and indeed discourage both this Army and other Souldiers from any further engagement in the Parliaments service : And we wish all men would with us upon the whole carriage seriously consider , whether in the intentions of those who have by false informations , and mis-representations put the Parliament upon such wayes : The timely and effectuall reliefe of Ireland seeme really to have been intended , or rather ( with the breaking or disbanding of this Army ) to draw together or raise such other Forces , and of such a temper as might serve to some desperate and destructive designes in England , which ( besides the probable suspitions from their carriage of the businesse , we have before hand , in the transaction thereof , had more then hints of such a designe , by cleare expressions to that purpose , from many of those Offiers of the Army , that have been perswaded , and appeared most forward to ingage for Ireland on the termes proposed . And that such a designe hath all along been driven , seemes now too evident by the present disposing of those Forces that have been ingaged for Ireland by the indeavour of some to gaine a power from the Parliament , of ordering those Forces for some Service in England , and by the private listings of men for service here , without any publique Authority of Parliament ; And ( all this ) by the same persons who have all along appeared most active and violent in the late proceedings against the Army . As to the just discontents and dis-satisfaction of the Army , in relation to their grievances , and their non-complyance to the late Orders for Souldiers disbanding by peece-meale , before more full and equall satisfaction were given to the whole ; We desire you to looke back to the Papers already published of the grievances themselves , the Narrative of the Officers , and to the latter Papers from the Generall Councell of Warre at Bury , and the late generall Rendezvouze neare Newmarket ; and ( we thinke your late resuming the consideration of those things ( as to a further satisfaction ) doth much justifie the defires and proceedings of the Army in those past particulars hitherto . And though ( had we ( upon our first addresses ) for our undoubled Rights and dues ) found a free and candid reception , with a just consideration , and a reasonable satisfaction , or at least an ingenious Answer therein ; We should have been easily satisfiable to have abated or forborne much of our dues , and not to have inquired into , or considered ( so farre as we have ) either the possibilities there are for more present satisfaction of Arreares , or the credit of future securities proposed ; yet since upon those former addresses , we have found such hard dealing ( as in the said Papers is set forth , and those additionall ( though hitherto but partiall satisfaction ) coming so hardly as they have , we finde no obliging reasons in the least , to decline or recede from what is our due , but rather still to adhere unto our desires of full and equall satisfaction in all the things mentioned in the aforesaid Papers , not onely in behalfe of our selves and the Army , but also of the whole Souldiery thorow out the Kingdome , who have concurred , or shall concurre with us in the same desires , and to all our former desires . As Souldiers we cannot but adde this , wherein we finde our selves so neerly concerned in point of Justice and Reputation , that more care , and a stricter course may be taken for good , all Articies granted upon surrendors , according to the ture intent and meaning of them ; as also for remedy and reparation , in case of any breach ( and this ) without those delayes which divers have found as prejudiciall to them , or more then if they had been totally denied the performance of them . Nor will it now ( we hope ) seeme strange or unseasonable to rationall and honest men , who consider the consequence of our present case , and their own and the Kingdoms , as well as our future concernments in point of right , freedome , peace and safety , if from a deepe sence of the high consequence of our present case , both to our selves ( in future ) and all other people , we shall before Disbanding proceed in our owne and the Kingdoms behalfe to propound , and plead for some provision for our and the Kingdoms satisfaction , and future security in relation to those things , especially considering that we were not a meere mercinary Army , hired to serve any Arbitrary power of Estate , but called forth and conjured by the severall Declarations of Parliament , for the defence of our owne and the peoples Rights and Liberties , and so we tooke up Armes in Judgement and conscience to those ends , and have so continued them , and are resolved according to your first just defires in your Declarations , and such principles as we have received from your frequent informations , and our owne common sence concerning those our fundamentall Rights and Liberties , to effect and vindicate the just power and right of this Kingdome in Parliaments for those common ends promised against all Arbitrary power , violence and oppression , and all particular parties or interests whatsoever , the said Declarations still directing us to the equitable sence of all Lawes and Constitutions , as dispensing with the very letters of the same , and being supreame to it , when the safety and preservation of all is concerned , and assuring us that all authority is fundamentally sealed in the Office , and but ministerially in the Persons ; neither doe , or will these our proceedings ( as we are fully and in conscience perswaded ) amount to any thing not warrantable before God and men , being thus farre much short of the common proceedings in other Nations , to things of an higher nature then we have yet appeared to : and we cannot but be sensible of the great complplaints that have been made to us generally in the Kingdome , from the people where we march , by Petition , and otherwise of Arbitrarinesse and injustice to their great and insupportable oppressions . And truly such Kingdomes as have according both to the Law of Nature and Nations , appeared to the vindication and defence of their just Rights and Liberties have proceeded much higher , as our Brethren of Scotland , who in the first beginning of these late differences , associated in Covenant from the very same Grounds and Principles , having no visible forme either of Parliament or King to countenance them , & as they were therein inftituted & protected by their own and this Kingdome also , so we justly shall expect to be . We need not mention the State of the Nether-Lands , the Portugalls , and others , all proceeding upon the same Principles of Right and Freedome , and accordingly the Parliament hath Declared it no resisting of Majestracy to side with the just Principles , and Law of Nature and Nations , being that Law upon which we have assisted you , and that the Souldiery may lawsully hold the hands of that Generall who will turne his Cannon against his Army on purpose to destroy them : the Seamen , the hands of that Pilot who wilfully runs the Ship upon the rock ( as our Brethren of Scotland argued ) and such were the proceedings of our Ancestors of famous memory , to the purchasing of such Rights and Liberties as they have enjoyed through the price of their blood , and we both by that and the latter blood of our dearest friends and fellow Souldiers , all the hazard of our owne doe lay claime unto . Nor is that supreme end ( the glory of God ) wanting in these cases to set a price upon all such proceedings of righteousnesse and justice , it being one witnesse of God in the world to carry on a testimony against the injustine and unrighteousnesse of men , and against the miscartiages of Governments , when corrupted or declining from their primitive and originall glory . These things we mention but to compare proceedings , and to shew that we are so much the more justifiable and warrantable in what we do ; by how much we come short of that height and measure of proceedings , which the people in free Kingdomes and Nations have formerly practised . Now having thus farre cleared our way in this businesse , we shall provide to propound such things as we do humbly desire for the serling and securing of our owne and the Kingdomes peace and safety , as followeth : 1. That the Houses may be speedily purged of such Members , as for their Delinquency , or for corruptions or abuse to the State , or undue election , ought not to sit there ; whereof the late election in Cornwall , Wales , and other parts of the Kingdome afford too many examples , to the great prejudice of the peoples freedome , in the said Elections . 2. That those persons who have in the late unjust and high proceedings against the Army , appeared to have the will , the confidence , credit , and power , to abuse the Parliament and the Army , and indanger the Kingdome in the carrying on such things against us ( while an Army ) may be some way speedily disabled from doing the like or worse to us ( who disbanded and dispearst , and in the condition of private men ) or to other the free borne people of England , in the same condition with us : And that ( for that purpose ) the same persons may not continue in the same power ( especially ) as our and the Kingdoms Iudges in the Highest Trust , but may be made incapable thereof for futute . And if it be questioned who these are , we thought not fit particularly to name them in this our Representation to you , but shall very speedily give in their names , and before long shall offer what we have to say against them to your Commissioners : wherein we hope so to carry our selves , as that the world shall see we aim at nothing of private revenge or animosities , but that Justice may have a free course , and the Kingdom be eased and secured , by disinabling such men at least from places of Judicature , who desiring to advantage or set up themselves and their party in a general confusion , have endeavored to put the Kingdom into a new flame of War , then which nothing is more abhorrent to us . But because neither the granting of these alone would be sufficient to secure our own and the Kingdoms Right , Liberties and Safety , either for the present Age or posterity : Nor would our proposal of this singly be free from the scandal and appearance of Faction or Design onely to weaken one party ( under the notion of unjust or tyrannical ) that we may advance another which may be imagined more our own ) We therefore Declare , That indeed we cannot but wish that such men , and such onely might be preferred to the great power and trust of the Commonwealth , as are approved at least for Moral Righteousness ; and of such , we cannot but in our wishes prefer those that appear acted thereunto by a principle of Conscience and Religion in them : And accordingly we do and ever shall bless God for those many such Worthies , who through his providence have been chosen into this Parliament , and to such mens endeavors under God ) we cannot but attribute that Vindication in part of the peoples Rights and Liberties , and those beginnings of a just Reformation , which the first proceedings of this Parliament appeared to have driven at and tended to , though of late obstructed , or rather diverted to other ends and interests , by the prevailing of other persons of other principles and conditions . But yet we are so far from designing or complying to have an absolute or Arbitrary power fixt or setled for continuance , in any persons what soever , as that ( if we might be sure to obtain it ) we cannot wish to have it so in the persons of any whom we could most confide in , or who should appear most of our own Opinions or Principles , or whom we might have personal assurance of , or interest in ; but we do and shall much rather wish , That the Authority of this Kingdom in Parliaments rightly constituted ( that is ) freely , equally and successively chosen , according to its original intention , may ever stand and have its course . And therefore we shall apply our desires chiefly to such things , as ( ●y having Parliaments setled in such a right constitution ) may give most hopes of Justice and Righteousness to flow down eqully to all in that its ancient channel , without any Overtures tending either to overthrow that foundation of Order and Government in this Kingdom , or to ingross that power for perpetuity into the hands of any particular persons or party whatsoever ; and for that purpose , though as we have found it doubted by many men ( minding sincerely the publique good , but not weighing so fully all consequences of things ) it may , and is not unlike to prove , That upon the ending of this Parliament , and the Election of new , the constitution of succeeding Parliaments ( as to the persons elected ) may prove for the worse many ways ; yet since neither in the present purging of this Parliament , nor in the Election of new , we cannot promise to our selves or to the Kingdom an assurance of Justice , or other positive good , from the hands of men , but those who for present appear most righteous and most for common good ( having an unlimited power fixed in them during life or pleasure ) in time may become corrupt , or settle into parties or Factions ; or on the other side , in the case of new Elections , those that should so succeed may prove as bad or worse then the former : We therefore humbly conceive , That ( of two inconveniences the less being to be chosen ) the main things to be intended in this case ( and beyond which humane providence cannot reach , as to any assurance of positive good ) seems to be this ; viz. To provide , that however unjust or corrupt the persons of Parliament-men in present or future may prove , or whatever ill they may do to particular parties , or to the whole in particular things , during their respective terms or periods , yet they shall not have the temptation or advantage of an unlimited power fixt in them during their own pleasures , whereby to perpetuate Injustice and Oppression upon any without end or remedy , or to advance and uphold any one particular Party , Faction or Interest whatsoever , to the oppression or prejudice of the Community , and the inslaving of the Kingdom unto all posterity ; but that these people may have an equal hope or possibility ( if they have made an ill choice at one time to amend it in another ) and themselves may be in a capacity to taste of Subjection aswel as Rule , and may so be inclined to consider of other mens cases , as what may come to be their own . This we speak as in relation to the House of Commons , as being intrusted on the peoples behalf for their interest in that great and Supreme power of the Commonwealth , ( viz. The Legislative power ▪ with the power of final Judgement ) which being in its own nature so Arbitrary , and in a maner unlimited ( unless in point of time ) is most unfit and dangerous , as to the peoples interest , to be sixt in the persons of the same men during life or their own pleasure ; neither by the original constitution of this State was it or ought it to continue so , nor do's it where ever it is and continue so , render that State any better then a meer Tyranny , or the people subjected to it any better then Vassals ; but in all States where there is any face of common Freedom , and particularly in this State of ENGLAND , as is most evident both by many Positive Laws ( and Ancient constant Customs ) the People have a Right to new and successive Elections unto that great and Supreme Trast , at certain periods of time , which is so Essential and Fundamental to their Freedom , as it cannot or ought not to be denied them or withheld from their , and without which the House of Commons is of very little concernment to the Interest of the Commons of England : Yet in this we would not be misunderstood , in the least to blame those Worthies of both Houses , whose zeal to vindicate the Liberties of this Nation , did procure that Act for continuance of this Parliament , whereby it was secured from being dissolved at the Kings pleasure , as former Parliaments have been , and reduced to such a certainty as might enable them the better to assert and vindicate the Liberties of this Nation , immediately before so highly invaded , and then also so much indangered ; and these we take to be the principal ends and grounds for which in that exigency of time and affairs it was promised , and to which we acknowledge it hath happily been made use of : But we cannot think it was by those Worthies intended , or ought to be made use of , to the perpetuating of that Supreme Trust and Power in the persons of any during their own pleasures , or to the debarring of the People from their right of Elections totally new , when those Dangers or Exigencies were past , and the Affairs and Safety of the Common-wealth would admit of such a change . Having thus cleared our Grounds and Intentions , as we hope , from all scruples or misunderstandings ; in what follows we shall proceed further to propose , what we humbly desire for the setling and securing of our own and the Kingdoms Rights and Liberties ( through the blessing of God to Posterity ) and therefore , upon all the grounds premised , we further humbly desire as followeth : 3. That some determinate period of time may be set , for the continuance of this and future Parliaments , beyond which none shall continue , and upon which new Writs may of course issue out , and new Elections successively take place , according to the intent of the Bill for Triennial Parliaments . And herein we would not be misunderstood , to desire a present or sudden dissolution of this Parliament , but onely ( as is expressed before ) That some certain period may be set for the determining of it , so as it may not remain ( as now ) continuable for ever , or during the pleasure of the present Members : And we should desire , That the period to be now set for ending this Parliament , may be such as may give sufficient time for provision of what is wanting , and necessary to be passed in point of Just Reformation , and for further securing the Rights , Liberties , and setling the Peace of the Kingdom ; In order to which we further humbly offer : 4. That secure provision may be made for the continuance of future Parliaments , so as they may not be adjournable or dissolvable at the Kings pleasure , or any other ways , then by their own consent , during their respective periods , but at those periods each Parliament to determine of course , as before : This we desire may be now provided for ( if it may be ) so as to put it out of all dispute for future , though we think of right it ought not to have been otherwise before . And thus a firm foundation being said in the Authority and Constitution of Parliament , for the hopes at least of Common and Equal Right and Freedom to our selves , and all the Free-born People of this Land ; We shall for our parts freely and cheerfully commit our stock or share of Interest in this Kingdom into this common Botton of Parliaments ; and though it may ( for our particulars ) go ill with us in one voyage , yet we shall thus hope ( if right be with us ) to fare better in another : These things we desire may be provided for by Bill or Ordinance of Parliament , to which the Royal Assent may be desired ; and when His Majesty in these things , and what else shall be proposed by the Parliament , necessary for securing the Rights and Liberties of the People , and for setling the Militia and Peace of the Kingdom , shall have given his Concurrence , to put them past all dispute ; We shall then desire , That the Rights of His Majesty and His Posterity may be considered of , and setled in all things , so far as may consist with the Right and Freedom of the Subject , and with the security of the same for future . 5. We desire , That the Rights and Freedom of the People to represent , by way of humble Petition to the Parliament , their Grievances in such things as cannot otherwise be remedied , then by Parliament , may be cleared and vindicated : That all such Grievances of the People may be freely received and admitted into consideration , and put into an equitable and speedy way to be heard , examined and redressed ( if they appear real ) And that in such things for which men have remedy by Law , they may be freely left to the benefit of Law , and the regulated course of Justice , without interruption or check from the Parliament , except in case of things done upon the Exigency of War , or for the service and benefit of the Parliament and Kingdom , in relation to the War , or otherwise , in due pursuance and execution of Ordinances or Orders of Parliament . More particularly under this Head we cannot but desire , That all such as are imprisoned for any pretended Misdemenor , may be put into a speedy way for a just Hearing and Tryal , and such as shall appear to have been unjustly and unduly imprisoned , may ( with their liberties ) have some reasonable reparation , according to their sufferings , and the demerit of their oppressors . 6. That the large Powers given to Committees or Deputy Lieutenants , during the late times of War and Distraction , may be speedily taken into consideration , That such of those Powers as appear not necessary to be continued , may be taken away , and such of them as are necessary , be put into a regulated way , and left to as little Arbitraryness as the nature and necessity of the things wherein they are conversant will bear . 7. We could wish that the Kingdom might both be righted , and publikely satisfied in point of Accompts for the vast sums that have been levied and paid , as also in divers other things wherein the Commonwealth may be conceived to have been wronged or abused ; But we are loath to press any thing that may tend to lengthen out further disputes or contestations , but rather such as may tend to a speedy and general composure and quieting of mens mindes in order to Peace : For which purpose we further propose , 8. That ( pablique Justice being first satisfied by some few examples to Posterity , out of the worst of excepted persons and other Delinquents having past their compositions ) some course may be taken ( by an Act of Oclivion or otherwise ) whereby the seeds of future War or Fewds , either to the present age or posterity may the better be taken away , by easing that sence of present , and satisfying those fears of future ruine or undoing to persons or families , which may drive men into any desperate ways ●or self-preservation or remedy ; and by taking away the private remembrances and distinctions of parties , as far as may stand with safety to the Rights and Li●erties we have hitherto fought for . There are besides these , many particular things which we could wish to be done , and some to be undone , all in order still to the same ends of Common Right , Freedom , Peace and Safety : but these proposals aforegoing present , being the principal things we bottom and in●●st upon , we shall ( as we have said before , for out puts ) acquiesce for other particulars to the Wisdom and Justice of Parliament . And whereas it hath been suggested or suspected , That in our late or present proceedings , our design is to overthrow Presbytery , or hinder the setlement thereof , and to have the Independent Government set up , we do clearly disclaim and disavow any such de●gn : we only desire , That according to the Declaration ( promising a provision for tender Consciences ) there may some effectual course be taken according to the intent thereof , and that such , who upon conscientious grounds may differ from the established Forms , may not for that be debarred from the common Rights , Liberties or Benefits belonging equally to all , as men and members of the Commonwealth , while they live soberly , honestly , and inoffensively towards others , and peaceably and faithfully towards the State . Wee have thus freely and clearly decalred the depth and bottoms of our hearts & desires , in order to the Rights , Liberties , and Peace of the Kingdom ; wherein we appeal to all men , whether we seek any thing of advantage to our selves , or any particular party what ever , to the prejudice of the whole ; and whether the things we wish and seek , do not equally concern and conduce to the good of all in common , with our selves : According to the sincerity of our desires and intentions , wherein ( as we have already found the concurrent sence of the people in divers Counties , by their Petitions to the General , expressing their deep resentment of these things , and pressing us to stand for the interest of the Kingdom therein , so ) we shall wish and expect to finde the unanimous concurrence of all others , who are equally concerned with us in these things , and wish well to the Publique . And so ( trusting in the mercy and goodness of God , to pass by and help any failings or infirmities of ours , in the carriage or proceedings hereupon ) we shall humbly cast our selves and the business upon his good pleasure , depending only on his presence and blessing for an happy issue , to the Peace and good of this poor Kingdom : In the accomplishment whereof , we desire and hope , That God will make you blessed instruments . By the appointment of his Excellency . Sir Tho : Fairfax , and Soldiers of the Army under his Command . S. Albans , June 14. 1647. Signed by me JOHN RUSHWORTH . FINIS . 
A23670	----	An Abridgment of the late remonstrance of the army vvith some marginall attestations for the better understanding remembrance and judgement of the people : collected by speciall order for more publique satisfaction, and to undeceive the kingdome as to the false glosses by some put upon the said remonstrance printed. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A23670 of text R6461 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing A107). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 37 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 8 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A23670 Wing A107 ESTC R6461 11966386 ocm 11966386 51717 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A23670) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 51717) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 46:10) An Abridgment of the late remonstrance of the army vvith some marginall attestations for the better understanding remembrance and judgement of the people : collected by speciall order for more publique satisfaction, and to undeceive the kingdome as to the false glosses by some put upon the said remonstrance printed. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 15 p. Printed for Laurence Blaiklocke ..., London : 1648. "By the appointment of the Lord Generall, and his Generall Councell of Officers. Decem. 27, 1648. Signed, Jo. Rushworth" eng England and Wales. -- Army. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A23670 R6461 (Wing A107). civilwar no An Abridgment of the late remonstrance of the army. VVith some marginall attestations, for the better understanding, remembrance, and judgem England and Wales. Army. Council 1648 6793 21 0 0 0 0 0 31 C The rate of 31 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-06 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-06 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ABRIDGMENT Of the late REMONSTRANCE OF THE ARMY . VVith some Marginall Attestations , for the better Understanding , Remembrance , and Judgement of the PEOPLE . Collected by speciall Order for more publique satisfaction , and to undeceive the Kingdome as to the false Glosses by some put upon the said REMONSTRANCE Printed . By the Appointment of the Lord Generall , and his Generall Councell of Officers . Decem. 27. 1648. Signed , JO RUSHWORTH . LONDON , Printed for Laurence Blaiklocke , and are to be sold in the Old-Baily . 1648. An Abridgment of the late Remonstrance of the Army , with some Marginall Attestations , both for the better understanding , remembrance , and judgment of the People . To the Right Honourable the Commons of England assembled in Parliament , the humble Remonstrance of his Excellency Lord Generall Fairfax , and his Generall Councell of Officers , held at Saint Albanes , Thursday November 16. 1648. OVr tender reguard to the Freedome of Parliament and the offence taken at our least interposing in any thing of Civill consideration to the Parliament , have made us attend in silence the Councels of Parliament . But finding you upon those transactions , whereupon the life or death of all our Civill interest doth depend , and a seeing no effectuall helpe from elsewhere to appeare , we cannot be wanting in ought we can honestly say or do to hold off impending ruine b from an honest people and a good cause . We are not ignorant that the rule Salus Populi suprema Lex , is most apt to be misapplyed , some men framing pretences of publike extremity . Therefore though we are full of sad apprehensions of the extremity at hand , yet c we shall first with all sobernesse and clearnesse ( as God shall enable us ) remonstrate to you our apprehensions both of the danger at hand and of the remedy with our grounds in both . We must first mind you of your votes once past concerning no more addresses to the King , and our engagement to adhere to you therein . In this none can say you were acted beyond your owne free judgements , we are sure by no impulsion from the Army , the juster resolutions of the House did in this reclaime us , it pleased God instantly to lead you into such order , whereby the burthen of free quarter was taken off , supernumerary forces disbanded , the rest put into an established way of pay ; but when the house being called on purpose for a settlement began to entertaine motions tending to the unsettlement of what they had resolved , the minds of men without also became propor●ionably unsetled in expectations which way things would bend , seeing such uncertainty of any end of troubles upon the Parliamentary account alone ; then began your Enemies to hope and work your trouble , and their owne advantages , and in all the disturbances , so to execute all the other interests pretended , that at last they might set up that of the King and their owne above all others . Thus the Army which would not be won to disert the Parliamentary and publique interest to serve their turnes , was by them rendred the only common Enemy , and this new formed party at first professe for a full and free Parliament , and to free it from the force of an Army , d Whereas the latest quarrell against it was that it would not force the Parliament to comply with the interest of the King . They likewise pretended to be for the easing of the people of taxes to an Army , whereas indeed their workings did necessitate the Parliament to continue an Army , and taxes for it . They also pretended for the Covenant against an Army of Sectaries , and for all these ends a Personall Treaty with the King must be held forth as the only Soveraigne salve . And thus the People were taught mainly to depend upon the King for all , and to Petition for these things , and in pretence of them to levy Warre against the Parliament on the Kings behalfe , and his partie is brought into the manage of it . Yet they drive on the whilst the Treaty to deceive you by old Malignants , and a late discontented party in City and Parliament , the Lords closeing readily with the desires of them and the Prin●e , though in the Warre for your and the Kingdomes defence , or in declaring with you against the Scotch Army and others , they would neither lead nor follow . And when in any thing of the Treaty concerning the very life of your Cause you made som stick , clamorous Petitions with Menaces come thick upon you , and forces listed daily about you , the City neither taking course , nor suffering their Major Generall to do it . And thus you were at their mercy whiles your Armie was ingaged at distance against your enemies in Armes . Therefore we cannot conceive that in those resolutions for a Treaty , the judgement of Parliament was with due and former freedome . And we wish you to consider the evills of this Treaty in laying designes for the Kings escape , and settling future correspondencies , and further whether it can be just or safe in relation to publique interest . The summe of publique interest of a Nation in relation to common Right , and in opposition to tyrrany of Kings or others , is , that for all matters concerning the whole they have a Parliament consisting of Deputyes or Representers freelly chosen and with as much equality as may be , And that the power of making or altering Lawes and of finall judgment be in them , and that it may not be left in the will of the King , or any other particular persons to make voyd their determinations or proceedings . And where the offence is in publique Officers against their trust , this same Counsell may call to account and punish such offenders either according to the Law , or where it hath not provided e according to their own judgment . Against these matters of publique interest this King hath all along his Raigne opposed to uphold the interest of his and his Posterities Will , and Power : First that there might be no such Common councell to restrain him , but that all things of Supreame trust concerning safety might rest in his breast alone without limit from any , or account to any on earth . And for this he raised his first and second Armes against his people in both Kingdomes ; then he fell to play lower that none of those things of Supreame and absolute trust might be exercised by any others without him , no not by all the Trustees of the , Land , nor in any case though never so necessary for releife or saving of the People , and for this he raised his third Armes , and when these his other claimes so farre failed , he would make you know that neither Parliament nor any power on earth ( what ever ills he had done ) might meddle with his sacred person , no not so much as to secure him from doing more evill ; and for this last part of his Interest his fourth Armes were raised . There have also fallen in other particulars with these interests , as on the Parliaments part to protect Religious men , and to give Freedome to the Gospell and take away those corrupt formes by which snares were laid for such conscientious men ▪ But on the Kings part the interest was to doe contrary ▪ So that the Parliamentary and publique interests hath been made very much one with the interest of the Godly , and the King interest one with their greatest opposites , now wee suppose that where a person trusted f with limited power to rule according to Lawes , shall not only pervert that trust but assume also hurtfull powers never committed to him , and take away foundations of liberty and redresse , such a person so doing forfeits all that power and trust he had , and g absolving the people from the bonds betweene him and them , doth set them free to take their best advantage and proceed in judgement against Him : Much more when hee on these termes shall maintaine a war , and by division within and invasions from abroad lengthen it well to uphold the interest of his will and power against the Common interest of his people ; such a person we may justly say is Guilty of the highest treason against the h highest law amongst men , now we may conclude that this King hath beene the Author and contriver of an unjust Warre , and so is Guilty of all the blood and mischeife to the Kingdome ; and then how can the publike justice of the kingdom be satisfyed , the blood avenged , i the wrath of God for the same appeased without judgment executed against him , and consequently how far can an accomodation with him ( when God hath given him so clearly into your power to do justice ) can be just before god , or good men without somuch as a judiciall tryall or evident remorse for his fault he hath so long in word and practice denyed it , & never k confessed it till all other wayes of force & fraud had failed him , & now confesseth it conditionally so as you satifie him in other things which is great l Hypocrisie , and while he thus in word confesseth it yet in m practise he denyes it by continuing Commissions to the Prince and other English Rebells and Revolters , yea to Ormond and his associate Irish . And what publique benefit can be from reunion of such contrary principles of Tyranny , and liberty , godlinesse and superstition ? Concerning the safety of such an agreement for his restitution especially supposing no reall remorse or change , but the same principles and affections first , how apt are princes in such case to take advantages for a breath , and secondly how easily may they do it after such agreement . For the former how apt it such a prince to doe it when the n bonds once accepted by him with unquestioned freedome at his admission to the Throne and the Oath of God betwixt him and his people , would not hold him , but of his owne mind have been all violated by him , and to justify the same the law of force set up to the utmost ? how can it be expected that the bonds of new concessions and agreements imposed by force and vincible necessity should be of more power to hold him when an advantage to recover what he lost doth offer it selfe , for the faith keeping of this King his Accords with the Scottish Nation do witnesse for his revengefullnes ; these petty revenges after severall parliaments which were taken against such patriots as had appeared for Common liberty against his INTEREST . Next for o facillity of Princes finding occasion and quarrell after such agreement , and yet with some co●lerable saving to his honour , we know the Court maximes concerning some Crowne Rights which a King cannot give away nor oblige his Heirs in ; besides some matters of supreme trust are in the propositions barganed for with and taken as by Lease from the King , so as to confirme his claime of Right ; but from the force or necessity lying upon the King in this Treaty , there is a ground of evasion from the whole agreement as not obligeing him what soever is drawne from him , and this is avowed publikely by the Prince and his Councell in answer to the Earle of Warwick , where the Prince clearly sayes , the King in truth is still in prison . And consider the Prince as heire , it serves to acquit himselfe , and as the next visible head of the Kings party , the King being in durance , it may serve on behalfe of the King and his heires and party as a protestation against any conclusion by his Treaty ; and the King himself hath insinuated the same sence of the Treaty , and that not without grounds to gaine beleef , he being still confined within your Garrisons and guards and upon his paroll ; so that if you proceed upon so rotten a foundation and be cousened , ye cousen your selves , and cannot blame him or his . And the King comming in thus may rest secure and wayte his advantage ( having go your hands bound ) till he finding it shall strike the first stroak which 't is like he will make a sure one if he can . To proceed , the King comes thus in with reputation of having long sought peace and that in a Personall Treaty , which you after a long denyall at last granting are rendred by his freinds as refusers of peace , so long in that the Kings way he comes also with the reputation of having granted for peace sake , all that stood you upon , although it will apeare nothing at all to the publick interest . And if after this accomodation to satisfye the people you shall disband your forces , you are at the Kings p courtesie still , and are but where you were at first . But the King in much fairer possibility to revi●e the old quarrell and carry it without fighting : for after so much blood and trouble for no thing , t is not like , you 'le find a competent party for the opposing of him ; & if you continue a sufficient strength & taxes they will be the more grevous , because deemed unnecessary , the King having granted what your selves did aske , we might reflect upon his numerous party ingaged by interest , or necessity to serve him , so long as he remaines in possibillity to head them , while hee by his supposed impunity whatsoever he does , hath encouragement to make all possible tryall of them , and they hope if he ever prevaile , he may make them amends : whereas this being once confuted by an example of justice upon him for such attempts , they would not be feared in relation to his posterities heeding of them ; besides these , we cannot but consider the vast possibilities after his restitution to make or use factions amongst your selves , and your adherents , and doe not all men acknowledge him most exquisite at it ? and if he had that faculty to availe at distance , much more in your bosomes , each party will be apt to strive which shall most and first comply with him , of which you and we have seene sad experiences already ; yet we refused ought of private contract or trust with him and his ; and all was with saving for the publike interest ; yet in that degree of our complyance with him , we find matter of acknowledgement before the Lord concerning our error therein ; and we blesse him that preserved us from worse ▪ And if from the divisions we have , such complyances have beene with , and such advantages given to the Kings party while acknowledged enemies , what worse may we not expect , when by a Peace made they shall have the reputation of friends ? To conclude this , wee confesse our feares from the act of this Parliaments unlimited continuance . If he forme q a ballancing party in the house of Commons for his interest , that which should be our conservative , would be our baine , and yet we should be debarred from change of medicine ; or if a period be set to this Parliament , and no provision for certaine succession , and sitting of Parliaments , without dependance on the Kings wil ; or if no provision for a more due constitution by more equall Elections ; then the successe will be lesse hopefull and safe then the present , and you have not in this Treaty made any provision for any of these things . But to proceed , to shew the certain insecurity to publike interest , in an accommodation with a restitution of the King . For you the supreame Judicatory of the Kingdome ( when he is in your power to doe justice upon ) to decline that way , and instead thereof to seek to him your Prisoner in way of Treaty , what speakes it lesse then that he is indeed above all humane r justice not accountable to or s punishable do any power on earth , what ever he does , & that kings cannot erre or doe wrong , whereas one example in this kind made , would be of more terror and availe then the execution of his whole party , yea then all satisfaction you can imagine . If our King claime by t conquest : God hath given you the same against him to fix your justice first upon the head , and thereby let his successors see what themselves may expect if that they attempt the like . This may hopefully discourage them from heading any more what Instruments they might find in the like quarrell ; but to punish only Instruments , and let the head go free , leads u to endlesse trouble ; besides it seemes a most unequall w and partiall way of justice ; and the same principles that exempt Kings from justice would x absolve their inferiour Ministers for what they doe in pursuance of such commands . If any object the Covenant as obliging us to perpetuall addresses to the King as being the onely way consistent with the preservation of his person and authority . We answer , the Covenant engageth to matters of publike interests , primarily , and absolutely without limitation , and after that to the preservation of the Kings person and authority with the restriction to wit , in the preservation of the true Religion and liberties of the Kingdomes , so that it obligeth thereto no further , nor in any other way then shall be consistent with this restriction , yea this obligation to preserve his person and authority should be fulfilled in the preservation and defence of Religion and Liberty , otherwise the whole proceedings of both Kingdoms in s making warre against him for preservation of Religion or liberties , were questionable for breach of Covenant since that way of preserving them did tend probably to the destruction , and was not with any safe provision for his person or that authority which is in conjunction with it , also where severall persons joyning in Covenant for the good and union of themselves ( who are present and parties to it ) doe withall make a clause to the benefit of another person to the end he might joyne with them in the agreement , and pertake the benefit thereof ; if the absent party doe not accept , but refuse the agreement , as he keepes himselfe free from it , so he excludes himself from claime to any benefit there from . Upon all the reasons and considerations aforegoing we propound . First , that it may be expressely declared and provided by you , that notwithstanding any thing concluded in the Treaty , the person of the y King may and shall be proceeded against in way of justice for the bloud spilt , and other evils and mischiefes done by him or by his Commission or procurement , and in order thereto shall be kept in safe custody as formerly . Secondly , that for other Delinquents , you would lay aside that particular barganing proposition , and declare that all Delinquents shall submit to the judiciall power of the Parliament , to be thereby proceeded against according to justice or mercy , as cause shall appeare , and that none shall be exempt therefrom , nor pardonable by any other power then that of the Kingdom in Parliament . The power of Justice and mercy being thus saved , we proceed in order to the actuall dispensing thereof in relation to the late wars , and to peace with God , and quiet amongst men , to propound , as followeth : First , that the z Capitall and grand Authour of our troubles , the person of the King , by whose procurement , and for whose interest onely of will and power , all our wars have been , may be brought to Justice for the Treason , Bloud , and mischiefe he is therein a guilty of . Secondly , that a timely day may be set for the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Yorke to come in , by which time if they doe not , that then they may be immediately declared incapable of any government or trust in this Kingdom or its Dominions , & thence to stand exild for ever as Enemies and Traytors , to die without mercy if ever after found and taken therein . Or if by the time limited they doe render themselves , that then the Prince be proceeded with as on his appearance he shall give satisfaction , or not . And the Duke as he shall give satisfaction , may be considered as to future trust , or not . But however that the Revenue of the Crown ( saving necessary allowances for the Children , and for Servants and Creditors to the Crown ) be sequestred ; And the costly pompe suspended for a good number of yeeres ; and that this Revenue be for that time disposed toward publique Charges , Debts and dammages , for the easing of the people , so as the estates neither of friends to publique interest , nor alone of inferiour enemies thereto , may bear wholly the burden of that losse and charge , which by and for that Family , the Kingdome hath been put unto . Thirdly , that capitall punishment be speedily executed upon a competent number of his chiefe instruments also , both in former and latter wars ; and that some of both sorts be pitcht upon as are really in your hands or reach . Fourthly , that the rest of the Delinquents English , may upon rendring themselves to justice have mercy for their lives ; and that onely Fines be set upon them , and their persons declared incapable of any publique trust , or having any voyce in elections thereto , at least for a good number of yeers . And that a short day be set by which all such Delinquents may come in , and for those who come not in by that day , that their estates be absolutely confiscate and sould to the publique use , and their persons stand exild , as Traytors , and to die without mercy if ever found after in the Kingdome , or its Dominions . Fifthly , that the satisfaction of arrears to the Souldiery , with other publique Debts , and competent reparations of publique dammages may be put into some orderly way . And therefore that the Fines and Compositions of Delinquents be disposed to those uses onely , as also the Confiscations of such who shall be excluded from pardon , or not come in by the day assigned . Now after publique justice thus far provided for , we proceed in order to the generall satisfaction and setling of the Kingdom . First , that you would set some reasonable and certain period to your own power . Secondly , that with a period to this Parliament , there may be a settlement of the peace and future government of the Kingdom . First , that there may be a certain succession of future Parliaments , annuall or bienniall , with secure provision , 1. For the certainty of their sitting , meeting , and ending . 2. For equall elections . 3. For the peoples meeting to elect , provided that none engaged in warre against the Kingdom may elect , or be elected , nor any other who oppose this settlement . 4. For clearing the future power of Parliaments , as supream onely , they may not give away any foundation of common Right . 5. For liberty of entring dissents in the said Representatives , that the people may know who are not fit for future trust , but without any further penalty for their free judgements . Secondly , that no King be hereafter admitted * but upon election of , and as upon trust from the people by such their Representatives , not without first disclaiming all pretence to a negative voyce against the determinations of the Commons in Parliament , and this to be done in some forme more cleare then heretofore in the Coronation Oath . These matters of generall settlement we propound to be provided by the Authority of the Commons in this Parliament , and to be further established by a generall Contract or agreement of the people with their subscriptions thereunto . And that no King be admitted to the Crown , nor other person to any Office of publique trust , without expresse accord and subscription to the same . For our parts , let but that way of justice be effectually prosecuted , and the settlement of the publique interest be assured to us and the Kingdom , we shall desire discharge from our present service , and shall be ready to disband all or part , as shal be thought fit , the Arrears of the Souldiery being satisfied : We therefore desire that you would leave all private matters , and things of ordinary Justice and Right to the Laws and proper Officers , and commit all ordinary matters of State to the mannage of a fit Councell of State , and apply your counsels to such things as are the proper work of Parliament , to wit , the Reformation of evils in present Laws and administrations . And in order to such things that you would in time and place consider the Petitions of welwishers to publique good . We againe desire that even from henceforth the aforesaid liberty of entring dissents may be admitted amongst you , as in the Scotch Parliament ; or at least , that such liberty be taken by all honest and faithfull Members . By the appointment of his Excellency the Lord Generall , and his generall Councell of Officers , Signed J. RUSHWORTH , Sce. Decemb. 27. 1648. FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A23670e-130 a As in publik fires all must lift up their voice and hands , bringing what ladders , buckets , or other assistanc they can , non expectandus praefectus vigilum si obdormiat , non praefectus urbis si cunctetur ; Certatim quisque aquam hauriat tectum s●andat , flammam arceat oportet b As a part of the people in Armes , or an Army interposed against the standding authority for the life of good Ionathan . 1. Sam. 14.45 c Commanders of the forces of the Kingdome have been taken into the Councell and execution of important matters , as in the deposing of a Tyrant and enthroning a young King upon tearms or agreement . 2. Chro. 23.1.14 20. 2. Kings 11.1.7 . so in the slaying of Ioram and making Iehu King. 2. King 1.9 . ●ea David consulted with such in matters of Religion . 1. Chron. 13.1.15.25.25.1 . Trajan the Emperour making Captain of the Praetorian band by the ceremony of giving him a Sword , said , use this for me if I Raign well , and against me if ill . d as Ioseph was accused to his master Gen. 39.8 3.17 . e Which is the ground of their enacting any Law 1639. 1640. 1641. 1648. f Rom. 13.3.4 . Paul speakes of authority or Magistracy in its constitution ( not of a person abusively exercising it ) to be Gods instrument of good to every one , and an encourager of good in every man , and an enemy to evill . Therefore the Kings of the Israelites must know the Law for a Rule , Deut. 17. And Ioash being 7. yeares old had a Crown put upon his head , and the testimony in his hand 2. Kings 11 12. that being elder he might remember the rule which David avoucheth to be from Heaven as a rule for all Rulers 2 Sam. 23.3 . he that ruleth among men , must be just ruling in the fear of God . g 2. Chron. 21 10 Lib●ah which a Citty belonging to ( the Preists . Iosh 21.13 ) revolted ne subjecti esset ei [ Iunt ) from all subjection , because he had forsaken the Lord God of his Fathers . h which is the safety of the People . i Numb. 35.4 . hang them up that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel . Deu 19.13 . thine eyes shall not pitty him , but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel , that it may go well with thee . 2. Sam. 21.3.5.6.14 wherewith shall I make the atonement that ye may blesse the inheritance of the Lord , and they answered the man that consumed us , and that devised against us that wee should be destroyed , let 7 men of his sonnes be delivered to us and wee will hang them , & the King said I will give them ; and after that god was intreated for the Land . k Not so much as Acban who yet suffered Ios , 7.20 , 25 l Iob. 34 30. that the Hypocrite raigne not least the people be ensnared . m Proverbs 28.13 . Divine mercy to confessing and forsaking , but Ex. 9.17 34. Pharaoh hardened to destruction , though he Confesseth , yet when the dreadful thunders are gone his sin returnes . n What other right soever any Prince hath , there must be such bonds Covenant or Agreement between him and his people , Besides Samuells anointings from God , David had that o Iudah , 2. Iam. 2.4 . and made a League with all Israel before the Lord . 2. Sam. 5.3 . and afterward they annointed him King over Israel . And at the Coronation of Ioash , 2. K. 11 17. There is a Covenant also between the King and people . Therefore 1. Pet. 2.13 . the particular forme & Subject of Government is called an humane creature . o Dan 8.25 . through his policie shall he cause craft to prosper in his hand , and he shal magnifie himselfe in his heart , and by peace shall destroy many , Dan. 11.23.24 . and after the leag●● made wi●h him he shall work deceitfully , hee shall enter peaceably even upon the lat● places of the Province and shall do that which his Fathers have not done , nor his Fathers Fathers , p As the Sheep dismissing their 〈…〉 with the wolves . And have the English people suffered so many things in vaine . q As he often hath in particular Votes . r And Lawes which is to be more then man as Persian and Roman Emperors have been flattered to be ; for just Lawes being from God ( Themis the daughter of Iove ) who is not ever under them , ownes not his subjection to God , whereas God hath not put that distance betwixt a King and other men , they are his brethren though his subjects , Deut. 17. ult. So David calls his subjects 1 Chro. 28.2 . s if any King because a King be unpunishable by men , then all Kings are so , and no man may justly punish any King , but when a people to be punished , should spare their King as Saul ( the people then admiring haply the persons as well as government of Kings ) spared Agag , 1 Sam. 15.9 . but we find Gods Instruments fixing more solemne punishment on wicked Kings then on their wicked people , Iosuah slayes all their Kings Ios. 11.17 . being thirty one , 12. Cap. last , and hangs up some Iosh. 10.24.28.30.40 . Gideon more solemnely executes the Kings of Midian then other enemies , Iudges 8.1.21 . Ebud slayes King Eglon , Judg. 3.21 . So Iehoiadah , and the Commanders put Athalia to death , 2 Chro. 23.14 . and if it be said that these two last Princes came to the Crown by force & blood , and so were without a title , it may be replyed , that such was the ontrance of the first of the English , French , &c. Royall race from whom the present Kings claime ; liue further , these two had Raigned , and the people been subject to them ( which makes the most usuall title , ) the one for 18. yeares , Iudg. 3.14 . the other six yeares , 2 Chro. 22.12 . Iehu did slay both the Kings of Israel and Iedah 2 Kings 9. and Asaph Psalme 83.11 . prayes that Nobles and Princes of Enemies may be used after former examples . And as this ranke of men is opposing Christ in the last times ; so are they by him and his people to be punished Psal. 2. Psalm . 110.5 . the Lord 〈◊〉 right hand shall strike through ( Kings in the day of thy wrath Psa. 149.8.9 . to bind their Kings with Chaines , and their Nobles with Fetters of Iron to execute upon them the judgement written Rev. 19.17.18 . the fowles invited to eat the flesh of Kings and Capt. are slaughtered by the Lambs As for David sparing Saul , it was necessary for David a private person , and under private and personall hate and injury , and therefore could not within his bounds , and without scandalous appearance of revenge or ambition have done otherwise , and it was only declared against the succeeding of his Race not the continuance of his person , but the State and people not taking course against Saul , did smart in his other way of punishment , as for David , it appears that he forbore him not meerly out of reverence to his authority , for he took up Arms to defend himselfe against him and would ( if that part of the people would have joyned ) have maintained Kailah against him , 1 Sam. 23. now all this was contrary to subjection , and intimates that David , if he had beene put to it , and he could no otherwise have escaped , would have used force against Saul , and as for David being spared , who can thence conclude that he should be so ; and if he should be spared then who can conclude the like for every offending King , since there was something speciall in his case not applyable to every case , besides other there was his publik repentance undoubtedly acknowledged by God to be true , also Gods declaring how he should be punished himselfe , taking the matter in hand , yet so , that the people shared in his sufferings further , his miscarriage was but an act , and against a person not a cause ( or against a Nation . ) t And in no other way will the people yeeld themselves to the discretion of a Prince to be distroyed or not . u 2 Chr. 23. ul● And the City was quiet afte● they had slaine Athaliah with the Sword . w Num. 25.4 , 5 , 9. The chiefe men guilty were first hang'd , being 1000 ; and then inferiour men slaine , being 23000 as 1 Cor. 10.8 . both making 24000. x As for infalliblenesse and superiority to the Law would excuse Abraham in slaying his sonne , Gen. 22. and did the Israelites in robbing , Exod 12.35 . y Even a servant by the Civill Law may accuse his Master as guil●y of Treason , ●o , liberti certis le causis p●ssant capitalem accusationem adversus patronos in●●ituere . z God hates all workers of iniquity , Psalm 5.5 . and excepteth not the person of Princes , nor regards the rich more then the poore , Iob 34.19 . and therefore he saith , Levit. 19.15 . Ye shall doe no unrighteousnesse in judgement , thou shalt not respect the person of the poore , nor honour the person of the mighty ; Reformation were better begin at the Majorites then the Minorites , Num. 25.17 . and the 31 &c. Midianites ▪ and Psalm 140.9 . David prayes against the head of those that compasse him about ; and he gives a generall Law for punishment of murderers , Gen. 9.6 . and Num. 35.33 . So you shall not pollute the Land wherein ye are , for blood it defiles the Land , and a Land cannot be cleansed of blood that is shed therein , but by the blood of him that shed it , 2 Chron. 25.27 . Now after the time that Amaziah did turn from following the Lord , they made a conspiracy against him , Vajiksher gnalaiv kesher , ligaverunt contra enim ligationem or ligam , some copies of 70 read Syndesmos , a Combination , League , or confederacy against him ; the words signifies any conjunction , as Iob 38.31 . of the Pleiades , and Nehem. 4.6 . of the wall , and it is of a warrantable combyning of Iehu , 2 Kings 9.14 . and this against Amaziah was in Ierusalem the seat of the chiefe State or great Councell of the Kingdome , and it was done ( as it seems ) by publique Authority , for he fled to Lachish , and there as Iunius . 2 Kings 14.21 . lived a private life for eleven yeeres , in the mean while when they so conspired or combined against him , the whole people of Iudah made Azariah King instead of his father ; yet though they deferred the execution , they did not omit it , but after the said yeers , sent after Amaziah to Lachish , Vbi morte offecerunt eum vamitha hac Ethana to Sea , they put him to death . So that this was done in an open publique , ( not in a sudden and clandestine , or tumultuous ) way , which it selfe was not afterward punishable , as in this case of Amaziahs father , 2 Kings 12.10 . & 14 chap. 5. and of wicked Ammon , the people slew them servants of his that slew him in his own house , 2 Kings 21.23 , 24. a It cannot be unjust to desire justice , and that on , and as a guilty man , and no further . * 2 Chro. 23.3 . All the Congregation made a Covenant with the King , 2 Sam. 16.18 , whom the Lord and his people and all the men of Israel chuse , his will I be . 
A40541	----	A remonstrance from his excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the armie under his command concerning their just and clear proceedings hitherto, in the behalfe of the Parliament, Kingdom, & themselves: and the evill and trecherous dealing they have found from the enemies to their own, and the Parliaments and kingdomes peace and freedome. Together with their present difficulties and dangers in relation thereunto: and their present resolutions thereupon. With the grounds of all these. By the appointment of his Excellency, and the generall councell of his army. Signed Jo. Rushworth, secretarie. England and Wales. Army. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A40541 of text R200594 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing F227A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. 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Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A40541) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 29448) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2145:14) A remonstrance from his excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the armie under his command concerning their just and clear proceedings hitherto, in the behalfe of the Parliament, Kingdom, & themselves: and the evill and trecherous dealing they have found from the enemies to their own, and the Parliaments and kingdomes peace and freedome. Together with their present difficulties and dangers in relation thereunto: and their present resolutions thereupon. With the grounds of all these. By the appointment of his Excellency, and the generall councell of his army. Signed Jo. Rushworth, secretarie. England and Wales. Army. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. [2], 21, [1] p. August 21. London, printed for J. Harris, printer to his excellency Sir Tho Fairfax, [London] : 1647. Also published in the same year with title: A remonstrance from his excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the army under his command. Reproduction of the original in the Bodleian Library. eng England and Wales. -- Army -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Sources -- Early works to 1800. A40541 R200594 (Wing F227A). civilwar no A remonstrance from his excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the armie under his command: concerning their just and clear proceedings hitherto England and Wales. Army 1647 8560 44 0 0 0 0 0 51 D The rate of 51 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the D category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Ben Griffin Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Ben Griffin Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A REMONSTRANCE From His Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , AND THE ARMIE under his Command : CONCERNING Their just and clear Proceedings hitherto , in the behalfe of the Parliament , Kingdom , & Themselves : AND THE Evill and trecherous dealing they have found from the Enemies to their own , and the Parliaments and Kingdomes Peace and Freedome . Together with their present difficulties and dangers in relation thereunto : And their present Resolutions thereupon . With the grounds of all these . By the appointment of His Excellency , and the generall Councell of his Army . Signed Jo. Rushworth , Secretarie . August 21. London , Printed for J. Harris , Printer to his Excellency Sir Tho Fairfax . 1647. A REMONSTRANCE From his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , AND THE ARMIE under his Command . WHen ( by the blessing of God upon the indeavours of this Army and other Forces of the Parliament ) the adverse Forces & Garrisons within this Kingdome were dissipated and reduced , a present quiet and freedom of trade , and all commerce & bussinesse restored to all parts of the Kingdome and an hopefull way made for setling of a sound and lasting peace , on good termes , for the interest of the Kingdome ; instead of the hoped fruit of our labours and hazzards , and of the Kingdomes vast expence ( in the dispensing of justice and righteousnesse and the setling and upholding of common right and Freedome to the Subjects of this Nation ) we found immediately the crosse workings of a strong and prevalent Party in the Parliament and Kingdome , who ( walking under the mask of the Parliaments friends , but being in truth men of corrupt and private ends & interests , different from , and destructive to the reall and common interest of the Kingdom ) made use of their power to obstruct and pervert justice , to injure , oppresse , and crush the peaceable and well-affected people of the Kingdom , to abridge and overthrow all just Freedome and Liberty , & drive on designes to set up a party and faction in the Parliament and Kingdom , and ( by the advantage of a perpetuall Parliament ) to domineere over , & inslave the kingdom to posterity : And for that end , to make such a peace with the king , if any , as without any just provision for the common and true interest of the People , and the security thereof for future , would serve onely to make up and establish their own greatnesse , and the affected domination of themselves and their partie over all others . To all which ends ( as before this Parliament ) the ignominous names of Puritan & Non-conformist , & the specious pretences for setling of Order , Decency , and Uniformity in Religion ▪ were made use of , to the prejudice , trouble , and suppressing of all that appeared , either for the truth and power of Religion , or for the Rights & Liberties of the Kingdom , and towards the advancing at once , both of an Ecclesistical and civill Tyranny , so , ) this generation of men , in the application of the Parliaments power , ( succeeding the former in the exercise of the Kings ) have made use of the odious names of Brownists , Anabaptists , Independents , Hereticks , Schismaticks , or Sectaries of one sort or other , to blast such men , in whom the truth & power of Religion , or a just sense of the common Interest of the kingdom hath appeared ; & have held forth the pretences of Reformation and Uniformity , to colour and counte●…ance their designes of setting up their own irreligious , or Pharisaicall and domineering Faction , to the oppression of all other people : and herein they have had a great advantage to further their aforesaid designs , by reason of the jealousies which many cōscientious men of the Presbyterian judgements have entertained concerning this Army , & concerning divers other eminent and worthy instruments of the Kingdoms good ( being in places of publik trust & power ) were supposed to be of the independent way In pursuance of their aforesaid disignes , they indevoured , and by their power and influence upon the Parliament , and the advantage of such pretences as aforesaid , very much prevailed to put out of all places of power or publike trust the most sober and tonscientious men , and such as had approved themselves faithfull to the pub●…ike interest throughout all the late troubles , and to put in debauched & dissolute men , or such as would for advantage serve their private interests , and for that end ( in cases where they ●…ould not otherwise prevail ) procured such Garisons to be sleighted , such powers to be recalled , ( though more necessary to have been continued ) which they found in the hands of Persons of the former sort . and such to be continued ( though lesse necessary ) as they found in the hands of the later : And , the better to strengthen themselves in their Designes , closing with a very powerfull party in the City of London , they first with much activity endeavoured , and prevailed to new-modell the Common Councell and forme the fame to their own Party ; and then stirred them up to a Petition ( amongst other things concurrent to their ends , ) for the alteration of the CityMilitia , who by their continuall violent , and pressing importunity at the Parliaments doores , wrung from the Parliament an Ordinance for that purpose , whereby they procured the power of that Militia , the speciall influence whereof upon the City and Kingdome , and upon the Parliament it self , being the onely guard they had for their safe sitting ) is evident to all men , ) to be taken out of those hands in which it had been continued without prejudice , and with great and known security and advantage both to the Parliament , City and Kingdome , throughout the late troubles , add this without any exception either then or since made against them , and to be put into the hands of such others , as were ( at best ) of doubtfull affections to the interest of the Parliament and Kingdome : but indeed men given up and ingaged to the Private interests and designes of the said factious party , as hath since ' too evidently appeared , and as in the late Declaration of the Army concerning the grounds of our advance towards London , is more fully remonstrated . And ( finding this Army not for their turns ) they made it their main work to disband or break it in pleces , even before the relief of Ireland was provided for , or the peace of this Kingdome setled . And though all this went under the pre●…ence of easing the present burthens of the Kingdome , yet at the same time they designed and went about to put the Kingdome to the expence and trouble of raising and forming a new force ( under pretence , as for the service of Ireland ) but evidently designned and so fra●…ed as to serve their own ends and purposes aforesaid in England : and ( being many of them filled and acted with personall ●…nvy , and others with malignity of Principles and interest against this Army , and the work of God by it ) it would not serve their turns to break or disband it , but it must be with all possible dshonour , injury , oppression , and provocation that they could put upon it . And it was too evident , that their endevour was not onely to put it off without the honour or satisfaction due to it for the service it had done , but to disband it on such termes as to subject and expose all ( and even the most faithfull ) servants of the Parliament and Kingdome , both in the Army , and elsewhere , unto oppression or undoing , or to the mercy of their own and such other mens malitious and invenomed spirits which could promise no better . For the more full and particular demonstration of all which we referre all knowing men to the practices and proceedings against this Army , unto the times by their procurement ) appointed for the disbanding of it in severall parts , without just and equall satisfaction , which have been in part remonstrated in Papers sent from this Army , and published before our coming up to S. Albans . Upon consideration of all this , and upon the resolutions , ( which their own abuses and provocations , put upon the Army , had raised in the whole body of it ) not to disband without further satisfaction and security from the like abuses in future ▪ we did in our Representation or Declaration sent from S. Albans . expresse in generall what things we desired ( besides our concernments as Souldiers ) to see done or provided for before our disbanding , for setling the peace of the Kingdome , and securing the Common Rights and Liberties thereof , which wee were called out to defend and vindicate , and had so long sought for ; and having ( therewithall ) impeached severall Members of the Ho●…se of Commons for their unjust practises and designes , to such purposes as are before expressed , and for indeavouring in prosecution thereof to engage this Kingdome in a new warre ; we added some further Desires for prevention of that mischief of a new warre to the Kingdome , and for our owne present securitie from immediate ruine , while those other things might be treated on or considered . And upon the granting of some of them in part , and hopes given of some others , though we could not obtaine the rest , and especially , not that which wee hold most just equall , and necessary , viz. The positive suspension of those impeached Members from sitting in the House as Judges in their owne cause , and from their power in Committees , whereby they had the advantage to raise Warre against us , and to make new disturbances , in the Kingdome , yet the said impeached Members pretending to withdraw themselves from the Parliament untill their causes should be heard and tryed and the House giving con●… thereunto we out of our tendernesse to Parliament Priviledges , and our earnest desires to yeeld all observance ●…o the Parliament , and satisfaction to the Citie ( who pretended a full concurrence with us in ou●… declare●… desires ●…or setling the peace and Liberties of the Kingdome ) did at the Parliaments command and the Cities request withdraw the Army to the desired distance from London , & dispersed it further to several parts of the Kingdom for the ease of the Country , and proceeded in a peaceable and regular way ▪ to prepare and present more particular Charges against the said impeached Members , which within a few dayes after we accordingly sent up to the House : And the said impeached Members , ( having put in a delatorie answer thereto with a plea and Demurrer to divers particulars therein ) pretended that ( to avoid any disturbance or interruption to the present proceedings for setling the publique affaires by the interposall of their private cause ▪ ) they desired leave and Passes to travell for some moneths , which accordingly the Speaker of the House of Commons was ordered or authorized to give them , and we ( presuming on the Houses caution for their forth-coming to be tried when the affaires of the Kingdome were setled , which upon their first motion of with-drawing we had insisted on , ) did not gainsay , and thereupon we proceeded in a quiet and hopefull way to prepare more particular Proposalls in pursuance of our former generall desires , for the present setling of the peace of the Kingdome to be tendred to the Commissioners of Parliament residing with the Army for that purpose : But finding that while we were thus peaceably proceeding , the said ●…peached Members ( notwithstanding their pretended desires to travell ) did continue in , and about London , very active and busie to raise warre , or make disturbance in the Kingdome . And that the Committee of Militia there , did comply with them therein by daily listing of men , and other preparations towards war , and sheltering to that end , yea , and entertaining into service , those same Reformadoes , who ( by Ordinance of Parliament ) were by them to have been put out of the Lines of Communication , and finding continuall jealousies and disturbances to our said proceedings bred in the Army by the daily reports and alarums thereof from the City , wee made a particular addresse to the Parliament for the restoring of the City-Militia into those hands in which it was before the Ordinance of the fourteenth of May , last ; or last : For the reasonableness of our Desires wherein ( supposing that we had such cause to insist on some removall of that power out of the hands into which it was then put up ( as here before is partly exprest ▪ and in our late Declaration is more fully set forth ) we dare confidently appeal to all men ( not engaged against us ) whether , for the present safety and quiet of the City upon such a change , and to prevent those dangers or disturbances to or in the City , which the want of a Militia during the interval ( betwixt the ceasing of one and new forming of another ) might give occasion and advantage unto ( especially in such a juncture of affairs ) there could be any other way so expedient , as to render that change , but an immediate reverting into those hands in which it was so lately before ( who would make up a Militia ready formed to succeed immediately in place of the other , without any considerable intermission or delay ) and whether at a time when Jealousies and Distrusts were both so rife and hurtful ( as they might occasion no less distraction or interruption to any quiet settlement or proceedings thereunto , then reall attempts of mischief would ) there could be any proposall more reasonable or hopefull to beget a confidence and acquiescence ( as to that point ) both in the Parliament , City and Army , then to have that Power restored ( for the present ) into those hands , of whose Fidelity to the Common Interest , we had all found so ample and unquestioned proof throughout the most dangerous Times . Upon our Address therefore to the Parliament for that purpose ( the Army being at such distance as aforesaid ) both Houses were pleased , on the 23. of July last , to passe an Ordinance for returning of the Militia into those hands , and repealing the Ordinance of the 4. of May , by which it had been changed as before . Hereupon , hoping all would quietly succeed to a settlement in this Kingdome , we went on securely to finish our Proposals for that purpose ( the Heads whereof have been since published ) withdrew the Head-quarter to a farther distance , dispersed the Army to larger Quarters , for more ease to the Countrey ; And upon a Recommendation of the businesse of Ireland from the Parl. we had , in lesse then a weeks space , prepared and ordered a considerable force ( no lesse then 4000. horse and foot , as Sir Thomas Temple employed from the Parliament about that businesse to us can testifie ) for a present reliefe thereunto : But the restlesse and treacherous malice of the enemies to our and the Kingdomes peace ( taking their supposed advantage of our distance , and dispersed posture ( which their faire pretence of peaceable intentions had induced us into ) first , they did without all colour of authority , contrive and set on foot in the City , and many of them entred into a mischievous and desperate vow and ingagement , tending to the subversion of the freedome of Parliament , and the liberties of this Nation , to the frustrating of those just and publicke ends , for which so much blood and treasure hath been spilt , and spent , in the late Warres , and to the rising of a new Warre against the Parliament and their Army ( which said ingagement both Houses of Parliament , did by their Declaration of the 23. of July adjudge and declare to be high Treason in all that should promote or abet the same ; and within a few dayes after ( to wit , on Munday , July 26. ) there was a Petition brought to the Parliament , by the Sheriffes , and some Aldermen , and Common-councell-men , in the name of the City of London , for the recalling of the said Ordinance of the 23. of July , concerning the Militia , and the returning of the Militia into those hands , in which it was put by the Ordinance of the 4. of May , which Petition was immediately followed and backed with a tumultuous confluence of Apprentices , and other dissolute and desperate persons , who committed most horrid and unheard of violence upon both Houses , inforcing them to recall both the said Declaration of the three and twenty day of July ( concerthe said engagement . ) And also the said Ordinance of the same date , concerning the Militia , and compelling the Speaker of the House of Commons to resume the Chaire , after the House was adjourned , and the House to passe such further Votes concerning the Kings present comming to London , &c. as they the said Rioters did please , neither the Guard from the City , that then attended the Houses , nor the Lord Mayor , Sheriffes , or any Authority in the City ( though sent to for that purpose ) taking any course to suppress the said tumult , or relieve the Parliament against that violence , though it was continued for the space of eight or ten houres . And the Houses having next day adjourned till Friday , July 30. There were Printed Ticekts fixed upon posts , in and about the City the day before , inviting the same persons to the like confluence at Westminster , against the Houses next meeting . All which hath been more fully and more assuredly made known , by the Declaration of the Speaker of the House of Commons concerning the same . By this meanes the Speakers of both Houses , together with most of the Lords , and a very great number of the most faithfull and unquestioned Members of the House of Commons , were driven away , so as they could not with safety attend their service in Parliament , nor with freedome discharge their trust to the Kingdome therein , but were forced to fly to their Army for safety , so as there was not , nor could then be , any free meeting or legall proceeding of a Parliament . Notwithstanding which divers Members of both Houses , ( who by the carriage and sequell of the businesse , will appeare to be of the same party and confederacy with the aforesaid Enemies to our and the Kingdomes Peace , and with the Authors and Actors both of the said treasonable engagement , and the tumultuous force upon the Parliament . ) Taking this opportunity of time , to carry on their designes , when very few were left , but of their own party , did continue to meet in the usuall places in Westminster . And ( having under pretence of a necessity for continuing the Parliament , by adjournment , drawne in some few well-minded Members to sit with them , out of a seruple least the Parliament should fall for want of adjournment ) tooke upon them the name of both Houses of Parliament . And having on Friday , July 30. chosen a new Speaker , did proceed to Vote and Act as a Parliament , and adjourned from time to time ; But of what party and confederacy the most of them were , and to what ends and interests they acted , will appeare by what they did , whereof we shall for present give a taste in some particulars , hoping that shortly the whose Journall of their proceedings may be made publique . For , the said Members of the House of Commons ( conveening as aforesaid ) immediately Voted and called in ( as to the service of the House ) the Eleven impeached Members . And also those who upon former Votes of the House were suspended or under question to be put out for Delinquency , and had put in their cales ; with this pretended House of Commons thus composed , and foure or five Lords of the same Modell ( for an house of Peers ) they proceed to set up a Committee for safety ▪ ( whereof all or most of the said Impeached Members were a part ) this Committee they appointed to joyne with that same pretended Committee of the City Militia , whose power was obtained onely by the tumultuous force and violence aforesaid : To these Committees the most or many of their proceedings referre , and by divers pretended Vot●…s , Orders and Ordinances , procured in the name of one or both Houses of Parliament , large powers were given to these two Committees for raising of Forces , appointing chief Commanders ▪ and other Officers ; and other vast , unlimited , or unusuall powers were given them , all tending to the raising and levying of a new Warre within this Kingdome ; upon which many forces both of Horse and Foot , were actually levyed , and other preparations of Warre made ; All which , that they were intended and designed in Justification , prosecution , and maintenance of the aforesaid treasonable engagement , and of the said force and violence done to the Parliament , or of the vere same ends and interests , and to oppose and hinder the restitution of the Houses of Parliament , to their honour and freedome , and the advance of this their Army for that purpose , being then upon a March . Besides the consideration of the persons into whose hands these powers were committed . It is abundantly evident many other wayes , but especially by that Declaration of the Lord Mayor , Aldermen , and Common-councell of London , which was first , by that pretended Committee of safety , Ordered , and then by the pretended House ( without reading a word of it ) approved to be published in the Parish Churches , with an exhortation to the people to take up Armes , in maintenance of the ends therein expressed , which ( though the pretence were for the Defence of the King , Parliament and City , then alledged to be in great danger , ( when as indeed none were in danger , but onely the Authors , Acters , and Abe●…tors of the traiterous practises aforesaid , yet ) the true ends thereof appear clearly to be the same with the said treasonable Engagement , and tumult against the Parliament , all of them concerning ( as in other things , so especially in this ) viz ▪ To have the King brought up to London without delay , or any nearer approach of the Army . And to al these , the succeeding votes of the pretended Houses , for the same thing did speedily e●…cho the same note : Concerning which matter ( not to examin what al●…eration of the case , since both Houses , and both Kingdomes also ( of England and Scotland ) resolved , that it was not safe , the King should come to London , until he had given satisfaction & security to his people , in relation to those publique ends for which so much blood and treasure had been spent ) we shall onely say thus much to these mens intentions and designes in the businesse . That had the King come up to London , ( as they have so oft desired and attempted ) it is apparent they intended and would have made use of it , rather to lay the stronger foundations of a new warre ( upon the ruines of that publique interest contended for in the former , and of all those that had with most candor , clearnesse , and simplicity of heart , appeared and acted for the same ) then any way to settle thereby a safe and well grounded Peace . And since they could not rationally expect so easie an obtaining of the Kings Person to London upon such a pretended Vote or Declaration of their desire thereof , it is as evident that they could intend nothing thereby , but a more plausible pretence , and foundation of quarrel against this Army , whereby to engage or incline to their assistance the Kings party , and such others , who might be catcht with the apprehension thereof , as a speedy way to Peace ( the thing so generally longed for ) and by such assistance gained the better to ruine this Army , and those faithful Members of Parliament , who were retired to it . For our parts we shall rejoyce as much as any , to see the King brought back to his Parliament ( and that ) not so much in place , as in affection and agreement on such sound termes and grounds , as may render both Him and the Kingdom , safe , quiet , and happy , and shal be as ready as any to bring his Majesty to London , when his being there may be likely to produce ( not greater disturbances , but ) a Peace indeed . And that such as may not ( with the ship-wrack of the publique interest ) be shaped and moulded onely to the private advantages of a particular party or Faction . But bottomed chiefly on grounds of common and publique welfare & security . And if ( without regard to these considerations ) wee would have brought his Majesty with us to London in our late advance t●…ither ( which our enemies could not hinder or prejudice us in ) wee had no cause to doubt , but ( as to men ) we might have had all the advantages which our adversaries promised to themselves , thereby added to the strength and interest of the Army , and have inverted the disadvantages upon them that they intended against us thereby ; So as his Majesties so much deared comming to London might have been much to their prejudice , and our advantage and security , if we had regarded onely our owne particulars . But ( as at present out consciences beare cleare witnesses to our selves , so ) wee hope God will in the issue make ▪ it cleare to others , that we have not minded , nor been acting our owne worke or interests , but the Kingdomes , and every honest mans in it . Meane while ( to returne to our purpose ) wee thinke it is sufficiently cleared , That the proceedings of those Members or the Major part of them ( that continued to sit at Westminster during the absence of the Speakers ) the Powers by them given , the Forces thereupon levied , and other preparations of Warre thereupon made , were all designed and driven on , in prosecution and maintenance of the said treasonable engagement , and of the force done upon the Parliament , or for the same ends and interest with them , and to oppose the advance of this Army towards London , for restitution of the Parliament to honour and freedome , and indeed to raise a new warre in the Kingdome against the Parliament and their Army for the destruction thereof . And the same may ( yet further ) appeare by this that those very Apprentices , Reformadoes and others about the City who were the chiefe actors in the said engagement and tumult , were afterwards most trusted and imployed , and most active in their preparations for War . By what we have here said , and what hath been declared and published from us , and from the Speakers , and aforesaid Members of both Houses , and by the whole series of our own , and our enemies actions and carriages ( compared together ) it may appeare how tender we have been not onely of the Authority and just priviledges of Parliament , and of the safety , Peace and wel-fare both of the Kingdome and the City , but even towards those our enemies themsel●…es ( seeking onely things necessary for the common good of the whole ( and that if possible ) without ruine or hurt to any , and yet how maliciously and unworthily we have that while been dealt withall by those our enemies , and by a factious and Powerfull party ( especially ) in the Parliament and City combining with them : And what clear cause we have had both for all that we have formerly desired or done in prevention of our owne ruine and the Kingdomes disturbance , and also what just grounds for our late advance to London . The good service whereof ( especially ) in restoring the Parliament to a condition of safety , honour and freedome , thereby hath been ( without any seeking of ours ) acknowledged by both Houses with thanks to us , and publique thanksgiving to the Almighty for it : And a further trust hath been thereupon committed to the Generall for taking care with his Army to safe-guard the Parliament . The Houses being thus restored to a condition of present safety , Honour and Freedome : Two things seeme clearly remaining to be done ( which our own and most mens expectations are most set upon ) viz. First , to Vindicate the Honour , Freedome , and safety of Parliament from the like affronts and violences in Future , and the Army and Kingdome from danger of the like disturbances ( whilst things shall be in a debate or treaty for a settlement ) and then to proceed unto a speedy settlement of the Peace of the Kingdome . The latter of these is , first in our intentions ( being nearest to the ultimate end . ) And we shall earnestly desire that in order thereunto , The proposals of the Army ( whereof the heades are published ) may be speedily considered and brought to a Resolution . But considering that the debates of them may take up some time ere they be agreed o all hands , and the framing of them into Bils , and perfecting of the same will require much more . Something must first be done in the former for a present security to the Parliament from like affronts or violence , and to the Army and Kingdome from the like disturbances to the Peace thereof by any farther advantage which the time like to be spent in the setling of Peace , may afford to our watchfull , restlesse , and ( we doubt ) implacable enemies . First , therefore to these ends ( unlesse it should be thought fit to secure the Parliament by keeping the whole body of the Army , or so great a part thereof , to remaine continually in and about London , as might be sure to over-power any future tumults or force that may arise out of the City , which ▪ neither the wel-fare of the City and ease of the parts adjacent , nor the safety of the Kingdome , in respect of the present posture of affaires will admit . ) It is absolutely necessary that there be speedy and exemplary justice done upon ( at least ) the chiefe Authors or abettors of the said treasonable engagement , and of the said force done to the Parliament , and upon the chief Actors , in maintenance and prosecution thereof ( whereby men may be deterred from the like in future . And this is also as necessary to the security of the Army , and Peace of the Kingdome , since it is apparent by all that hath been said , and by infinite other evidences ( too many to recount . ) That both the said ingagement and the force done to the Parliament , and the power of the City militia thereby gained , & the succeeding Votes and orders of the pretended Houses , ( but indeed of that faction that are our professed enemies ) in maintenance and prosecution thereof , and the Forces thereupon leavyed ( put under the Command of Major Generall Massey , and others our professed adversaries ) were all designed and directed to the ruine and destruction of this Army , and the raising of a new Warre against us in this Kingdome . And having had such experience of their restlesse malice and cruel intentions towards us , ( notwithstanding our tendernesse and lenity towards them ) and of their treacherous dealing ( so soone as they thought they had the advantage ) notwithstanding all their semblances of complyance to a composure . What reason is there to expect , but that by our patience and delayes , they apprehend in future the like or other advantage , they will breake out againe into the like or worse attempts of violence and Warre , if all escape with impunity for these . But as to this point of security by exemplary Justice in an ordinary way , we see our hopes almost frustrated , whilest , ( though our desires and resolutions to that purpose , exprest in our late Declaration of our advance towards London , were then seconded with the declared approbation and concurrent resolutions of the Speakers and Members of both Houses , that were driven away to the Army , and with their engagement to live and die with us therein . And though in pursuance thereof , the Right Honourable House of Peeres , have since their restitution , begun and proceeded to declare null and void , all that was done in the name of both Houses , while they lay under the power of that tumultuous violence ; and to give their more authentique approbation to our said Declaration , made in behalf of the said Speakers and Members , while they were with the Army : and in behalfe of the honour and freedome of the Parliament , and to give their like approbation to the concurrent Declaration and Engagement of the said Speakers and Members , made to us while they were with us , yet ) the House of Commons hath not onely not concurred with the Lords in any of those things , but rather seeme to have cast them aside . And upon the Question concerning those very Votes of the said 26th of July . To which the Houses were by the said violence inforced [ whether they should b●… declare●… Null and void ] it was carried in the Negative , That the Question should not be put , by the consequences whereof , ( which are many wayes very sad , this poor Kingdom , and more then we can recompt ) and by all subsequent proceedings in that House , in relation to the whole busines , we clearly finde , That the Members of that house , who ( after the violence done to it , and during the absence of the Speaker , and the other Members thereby driven away ) proceeding in the name of that House as aforesaid , procured the pretended powers , and did make the pretended Votes , Orders , and Ordinances aforementioned ; and many of them were the Factors thereupon for the leavying of War , in prosecution and maintenance of the aforesaid treasonable engagement , and force done to the Parliament , and for the opposing , resisting , and destroying of this the Parliaments Army in its advance to London , for the restitution of the Parliament to its honour and freedome , being conscious of their own guilt and danger thereby ; yet presuming on their interest in the House , and the patience and lenity of this Army doe continue and intrude themselves , and to sit and vote there , and by their present interest in the House doe use their utmost endeavours , and very much prevaile to obstruct and avoid the bringing of any to Justice , who have acted under their pretended Authority , ( knowing it to be their owne case and concernment in point of impunity , as well as conducency to their faction and interest ) And for that cause they labour ( as for life ) to uphold the things past and done , and the Authorities given by them and their Faction ( in their and the Apprentices pretended Parliament ) yea , even those very Votes and Authorities , wrested from the Parliament , by that palpable force of July the 26th , to be good and valid untill they be repealed ( as if past in a free and legall Parliament ; ) in which Point , and all Questions touching upon it , we finde they presume upon , and are strengthened by the concurrence of divers other Members , who having ( perhaps with harmlesse intentions ) continued to sit with them during the Speakers absence , as aforesaid ( though they consented not to any of their mischievous Votes and Orders , or treasonable proceedings afore mentioned ) may yet feare themselves to be involved in the same case and danger by having sate with them ▪ And thus by the concurrence of these two parties in the House ( as to that point ) and the interest which both those parties have with others in the House ( especially upon a matter of saving one another ) and by the partiall respects of some others in the House , for the saving of their friends out of the House , who have acted under the Authority , and for the evill ends aforementioned , we find an absolute obstruction to the bringing to Justice , or questioning of any ) who have acted in the late leavying of War against us , and against the Vindication of the Parliaments freedome , or in the said treasonable engagements , yea , or in abetment of the tumultuous violence upon the Parliament it selfe ; neither can we find or heare of any one person hitherto brought to Justice or Question for any of these things , but all seem to be either justified , or at least protected from Justice by the power and prevalence of those Members in Parliament ▪ who are ( many of them , as we can make appeare ) equally guilty of , and ( others ) in some kind obnoxious for the same things ; and thus not onely our just expectations of vindication to the Parliament , and security to our selves and the Kingdome from the like treasonable and turbulent practises in future , ( by exemplary justice for what hath been so done ) are frustrated , but even the safety and immunity of the Speakers , and those faithfull Members of both Houses that were driven away by the violence aforesaid , and the immunity of the Army in advancing to London , to bring them back , and restore the Parliament to its honour and Freedome ( which hath been acknowledged , with publique Thanksgiving to God for it , as aforesaid ) is subjected and exposed to question ( where in theirs and ours , and the Kingdomes enemies , obtrude themselves to be the Judges●… ) for if those pretended Votes , Orders and Ordinances , whereby Warre was leavied against them and us were then good and valid ( though they should now be repealed , yet ) we , with the Speakers , and those Members aforesaid , in opposing of them while they were of force , must needs remaine transgressors still , and yet God and we are thanked for it [ what a mock is this to God and man . ] But to returne to the more serious consideration of our case , in relation to the security of the Parliament , Kingdom and our selves , against the like turbulent and treasonable practises in future , since by the meanes aforesaid no security by exemplary Justice can at present be had , ( to deterre any from the like ) we wish all men to consider what straights we are in this case put upon ; ( That which is the maine worke of the Kingdome , and which we most earnestly thirst for , and attend upon , ( viz. the setling of a peace , and consideration of our proposals in order thereunto ) will ask time to bring it to an issue ; and that done●… the relieving or remedying of the pressing grievances of the Kingdome , will take up and require the sitting of the Parliament for some further time ( though upon the setling of a peace , a period be set for the certain ending of it ) now for the body of this Army , or so great a part of it ( as may serve to over-power any future tumults , or force that may arise in or from the City ) to continue hereabouts so long , the condition of the Country hereabouts , and the necessities of the City ( in point of provision ) cannot well beare it , and ( we doubt ) forreigne Forces ( that are alre●…dy upon the wing ) and turbulent spirits , that in severall parts of the Kingdome , are beginning Insurrections , ( if we continue fixed here ) will have such opportunity , and take such encouragement therefrom , as that they may ere long necessarily call us off ; should we now or hereafter ( while the Parliament sits ) draw off the Army from about the City , without exemplary Justice upon some , would not the same or more dangerous tumults and violences probably returne upon the Parliament ; and the like or worse pactises of raising a new Warre , be revived , ( with more advantage to our enemies , more danger to us and the Kingdom , and lesse hopes of appeasing it , so easily and happily as the former ) while the same viol●… and factious spirits , both in the Parliament and else where shall continue in the sam●… power and opportunities as for●… 〈◊〉 , and both they , and all others , shall have before their eyes the incouragemen●… of that impunity and protection ( yea rather that justification ) which they have hitherto found from within the Parliament it self , in the past practises aforementioned , though as grosly treasonable as any they can hereafter run into ; should we or any others ( for the obtaining of exemplary Justice upon some ) proceed to impeach any for their past treasonable practises ; what hopes of Justice , or of a timely dispatch therein can we have , while such a prevailing party of new interested and concerned in the same things shall in the House of Commons continue to be Judges therof , or at least be ready to avow and justifie the offendors therein , as having acted under their pretended Authority . In this straight therefore ( though we ever have been , and shall be most tender of all just Priviledges of Parliament , yet ) finding the root of these and other difficulties to the Parliament , Kingdome , and our selves , to lye in this , viz. [ that those Members of the House of Commons , who ( during the forced absence of the Speakers of both Houses ) continuing to sit and act as a Parliament , did procure and consent to the pretended Votes , Orders , and Ordinances aforementioned , for leavying of Warre ; and that ( as is before demonstrated ) in direct prosecution or maintenance of the aforesaid treasonable ingagement , and the violence done to the Parliament , and for the opposing , resisting , and destroying of this the Parliaments Army in its advance towards London ( onely to restore the Speakers and Members of both Houses that were driven away , and the Houses themselves to their Honour and freedome ) and who are thereby , and by their late owning , and avowing of the same , and many of them ( as we can prove ) by acting personally in the said treasonable practises , become parties to the same , do yet take the boldnesse to sit and Vote in Parliament , especially in the House of Commons ] ( we say ) finding the maine root of our difficulties and dangers `lying in this ; first , we appeale to all men , whether 〈◊〉 be just or tolerable , that any priviledge of Parliament should ( contrary to the Law of nature ) make a man Judge in his owne case and concernment ? and we wish those men themselves to consider ( if we had come to an ingagement with the Forces raised by vertue of their pretended Votes and Ordinances , and that thousands had been sl●…ine , and we had made our way by the Sword ) whether they would then have expected to have sate as Judges upon us therein ? and we are sure it is no thanks to them that it hath beene otherwise ; and had we found those Members in Armes against us , and subdued and taken them , whether had they not then been in the condition of prisoners of Warre ? and ( if so ) then having put Armes into the hands of others , against us , and still maintaining it , whether can they in strict Justice challenge any better condition from us ? But , that [ contrariwise ] we should suffer , either that those whom by the course of Warre [ which they had chose to ingage in against us ] we might justly make our prisoners , should in a course of Law , become our Masters and Commanders ? or that those who the other day did , in an hostile manner , indeavour to have been our Executioners , should ( now we have by force tooke their preparations against us ) become our Judges , ( we suppose ) no reasonable man , nor themselves ( when they well consider it ) can expect from us . Upon all these considerations of the justnesse of the cause , and the necessity of the thing , for the safety of the Parliament , Kingdome , and this Army , ( having no other way left timely to remedy the difficulties we are put upon , or prevent the growing dangers of future violence unto the Parliament , and disturbances of the Kingdome , or to secure the Parliament in a quiet proceeding to settle the peace of the Kingdom . And ( in such case ) the safety of the people being the supreame Law , we do protest and declare : That , if any of those Members , who during the absence of the Speakers , and the rest of the Members of both Houses ( forced away by the tumultuous violence aforesaid ) did sit , and Vote in the pretended Houses then continued at Westminster , that hereafter intrude themselves to sit in Parliament , before they shall have given satisfaction to the respective Houses whereof they are , concerning the grounds of their said sitting at Westminster , during the absence of the said Speakers , and shall have acquitted themselves by sufficient Evidence , That they did not procure , or give their consent unto any of those pretended Votes , Orders , or Ordinances tending to the raising and leavying of a Warre ( as is before declared : or for the Kings comming forthwith to London ) we cannot any longer suffer the same , but shall doe that right to the Speakers and Members of both Houses , who were driven away to us , and to our selves with them ( all whom the said other Members have endeavoured in an Hostile manner most unjustly to destroy ) and also to the Kingdome ( which they endeavoured to imbroyl in a new Warre ) as to take some speedy and effectual course , whereby to restraine them from being their own , and ours , and the Kingdomes Judges in those things wherein they have made themselves Parties , by this meanes to make War , that both they and ohters that are guilty of , and Parties to the aforesaid treasonable and destructive practises and proceedings against the freedome of Parliament , and peace of the Kingdome , may be brought to condigne punishment ( and that ) at the Judgement of a free Parliament , consisting ( duly and properly ) of such Members of both Houses respectively , who stand clear from such apparant and treasonable breach of their trust , as is before expressed . By the appointment of His Excellency , and the generall Councell of his Army . Signed , J●… . Ru●…worth Secretary , At the Head-Quarter of Kingston upon ▪ Thames . August 18. 1647. FINIS . 
A48142	----	A letter sent from the Lord Goring directed to the Lord Maior, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of London, and what was agreed upon, at the receipt thereof also Rochester surrendred to the Lord Fairfax, and his further proceedings in Kent, and Lieutenant Generall Cromwells comming [sic] up with his forces : as also the Lord Gorings passing over the River of Thames into Essex, and the proceedings of the Essex men at Bow, and other places. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A48142 of text R10170 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing L1609B). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 9 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A48142 Wing L1609B ESTC R10170 12330402 ocm 12330402 59644 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A48142) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 59644) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 639:15) A letter sent from the Lord Goring directed to the Lord Maior, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of London, and what was agreed upon, at the receipt thereof also Rochester surrendred to the Lord Fairfax, and his further proceedings in Kent, and Lieutenant Generall Cromwells comming [sic] up with his forces : as also the Lord Gorings passing over the River of Thames into Essex, and the proceedings of the Essex men at Bow, and other places. I. T. Norwich, George Goring, Earl of, 1583?-1663. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. [2], 6 p. Printed by B.A., London : 1648. Consists of a letter by John Rushworth to the Speaker of the House of Commons, a letter signed I.T., and an account concerning a letter sent by Lord Goring to the Court of Common Council, with further information about Lord Goring. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A48142 R10170 (Wing L1609B). civilwar no A letter sent from the Lord Goring directed to the Lord Maior, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of London, and what was agreed upou [sic [no entry] 1648 1660 31 0 0 0 0 0 187 F The rate of 187 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the F category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-06 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-06 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER Sent from the LORD GORING DIRECTED To the Lord Maior , Aldermen , and Commonalty of the City of London , and what was agreed upon , at the receipt thereof . ALSO Rochester surrendred to the Lord Fairfax , and his further proceedings in Kent , and Lieutenant Generall Cromwells comming up with his Forces . As also The Lord Gorings passing over the River of Thames into Essex , and the proceedings of the Essex men at Bow , and other places . LONDON , Printed by B. A. MDCX·LVIII . To the Honourable William Lenthal Esquire , Speaker of the House of Commons . SIR , THe particulars are too many to be related at this time concerning this last nights Ingagement with the Enemy at Maidstone , which in brief was such as never was since these wars began : This Army strugled with so much difficulty , to overcome a stubborn and resolute Enemy : The fight begun about 7 of the clock at night , about a mile from Maidstone , and before we could hear them from hedge to hedge , and get in at the Barracado's , it was past nine , after we had entred the town , we disputed every street and turning ; they having 8 pieces of Canon , which they discharged above 20 times upon our men in the streets , & by Gods mighty help and assistance , we overcame them between 12. and one of the clock at night , being every minute in all that time firing upon their horse and foot , and they upon us , we took about 400. prisoners , and near as many Horse , our forlorn hope of horse gave the red Standard of horse as gallant a charge as ever was seen , which is said to be Gen. Hales his Troop . The reason why the Ingagement began so soon , the Train and Rear of the Army being three miles off ( and not come up ) was , that the Forlorn of horse and Foot being ingaged in viewing the town before it was dark , came off safe , The Enemy being with their wh 〈…〉 of horse and foot within two miles on the top of the Hill towards Rochester●ll day long in view of our Army , about 8000. men , who , as ●hey perceived that they 〈…〉 dispute the pass at Alsford , which was very difficult for us to have done ; they sent in a suppply of 1200. Horse and Foot to those before in the town of 〈…〉 Sea-men , Apprentices , and most part Commanders and Cavaliers , There were in all , as we guess , 200. then slain in and about the town , and Capt. Price a very honest and stout Gentleman Col. Hewsons Captain Lieutenant , was also slain , and about 30. more of our men , most falling at the mouth of the Canon with case-shot ; we took 8 pieces , six Iron and two Brass abundance of arms , having been up all night , and want of time cannot send more particulars at present : Only I desire God to let you see , how the old quarrell is revived by the same party , with greater violence then at first . You will shortly understand what Earls , Lords , and other persons of quality appeared in this businesse . His Excellency from the first minute of Ingagement to the last ; could not be drawne off from a personall and hazzardous attendance on the service , and is much impaired in his health . Maidstone , June 2. 1648. 6 in the morning . Iohn Rushworth . Another Letter frm Maidstone . SIR , IN my last le●ter I acquainted you of our marching towards this town according to the advice of a Councell of War , which was thought and conceived more facile and better to ingage the Enemy then at Rochester , or Nor●●eet , and when we drew neer Maidstone we found the Lanes Barracado'd with trees and other things which were thrown in the ways , and the hedges loyn'd with Musqueteers , yet after some time spent , ( with great difficulty ) we beat them from one place to another , till we had driven them back into the very town , and at the bridge we found little opposition , but the streets were strongest fortified , and the stou●●iest defended of any that I have known in all the late unhappy wars , their ordinance loaded with case shot did us some mischief before we could get under their shot the rain was more disadvantage to us then unto them ; for they shot out of windowes and at doors , but in this service the fire-locks were of great use unto us . From the time we had begun the fight till we had gotten the town was six or seven hours , In the first action I cannot but observe unto you the gallantry of a party of about sixty of our horse , which charged another party of theirs , where ours gave them a through charge , and did that evecution upon them , that it is thought , there was not a man of the Enemies party that was not slain or wounded . In this town were above 2000 men , amongst which were few of the Kentish Country men , but Sea-men , Water-men , and such as came to them from London , which were chosen out as the only fighting men they had among●● them ; of these we took about 1400 ●risoners , horse and foot , of which you will have a List by the next ; they ar● for the present put into Maidstone Church : our horse are gone forth in parties towards Rochester , to discover the Enemies main body ; we hear that all is quiet about Dover , and in the wild of Kent , and I pray God that all other Towns and places may avoid the bringing of that ruine upon themselves , as is befallen upon this Town , we are very weary with travel and much watching , therefore I take my leave and rest . Your assured friend , I. T. Die Sabbathi 3 Junij 1648. On Sat●urday the 3 of this instant Iune ne●es was brought to the City of London that the Essex men had gotten into a body and placed two Drakes on Bow bridge , three or four miles from London and stood there in a posture but 〈◊〉 none that passed that w●y , it was said they in●end not to ma●ch out of their county . At the same time it was also certi●i●d that the Lord G●uring was in Greenwich Park with diverse Collou●● of hors● a●d foot and about noon he sent a message to the Lord Major and Alder●●● and commonal●y of the City of London , and the●e being at the same time sitting a Court of Common councell some debate was concerning the supersciption of this letter and it appeareth that it was not directed in the usuall proper stile for that Court , it was conceived , that th●re was a consideration betwixt him and those which were so desirous of a Common Hall which they thought to have gotten this day , and by this letter to breed division and distraction it was therfore agreed by the said Common councell that the said letter and the messenger that brought it , should be sent up to the Parliament which was done accordingly and the Milita took great pains to set the City in good and ready posture . Out of Kent it was certified that this party which were with the Lord Goring came from Rochester for his Excellency the Lord Fairfax being passed on the oother side of the water at Maidstone we bridg the Kentish forces fearing that they should be forced to fight or be all pend up suddenly in a corner of th●e County th●se came away on this side the river againe intending thereihereby to get some more to them from London or to draw the A●my back again before the other part of the County be quite ●●●ded or to intercept what should go to his Excellency , but he may b● prevented in this for letters came this day that Lieutenant Generall Cromwell with a gallant party of horse is returned ●●t of Wales and it was thought that this night his quarters would be about Mayden-head wich is but 22. miles London . Die Solis 4 Iunij 1648 This morning we understand that the L. Goring with about two or 3000 men fearing the pursuit of the L G. forces , ferried over the river of Thames neer Greenwich into Essex . On Sunday the 4 of June 2 Drakes were brought up to Asgate , and there planted . This day about 12 of the clock Letters out of Kent certifiing that the Kentish men except such as came away with L. Goring , which were about Rochester side are dispersed , and gone to their homes having layd down their Arms , and and the City of Rochester is in the possession of the Lord Generall . About this time Col : Whaley with a good party of his Excellencies horse came back out of Kent over one the Essex side of the river Thames and had his randezvous on miling-green which is between Bow and London he sent many prisners which they had taken to Guild-hall , and the Lord Gen : is expected to return suddenly . Imprimatur Gilbert Mabbott . FINIS . 
A49559	----	Two letters sent to the Honoble [sic] William Lenthal Esq., Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons the one, concerning the great victory obtained at Cardiffe by the Parliaments forces under the command of Major General Laughorn wherein were slain about two hundred and fifty, eight hundred taken prisoners whereof two lieut. colonels, two majors, ten captains, ten lieutenants, divers ensigns, with other inferior officers : the other, concerning Sir Tho. Fairfax's march into Cornwal. Laugharne, Rowland, d. 1676. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A49559 of text R200626 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing L402A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 12 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A49559 Wing L402A ESTC R200626 12210089 ocm 12210089 56270 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A49559) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 56270) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 765:15) Two letters sent to the Honoble [sic] William Lenthal Esq., Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons the one, concerning the great victory obtained at Cardiffe by the Parliaments forces under the command of Major General Laughorn wherein were slain about two hundred and fifty, eight hundred taken prisoners whereof two lieut. colonels, two majors, ten captains, ten lieutenants, divers ensigns, with other inferior officers : the other, concerning Sir Tho. Fairfax's march into Cornwal. Laugharne, Rowland, d. 1676. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 8 p. Printed for Edw. Husband ..., London : 1645 [i.e. 1646] The first dated Feb. 21, 1645 and signed: Rowland Laughorn; the second dated Feb. 22, 1645 and signed: Joh. Rushworth. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. eng Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, -- Baron, 1612-1671. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A49559 R200626 (Wing L402A). civilwar no Two letters sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. The one, concerning the great victory obtain Laugharne, Rowland 1646 2291 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 B The rate of 4 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the B category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-01 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-03 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2003-03 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion TWO LETTERS SENT To the Honoble William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . The one , concerning the great VICTORY Obtained at Cardiffe by the Parliaments Forces under the Command of Major General LAUGHORN : Wherein were slain about Two hundred and fifty , Eight hundred taken Prisoners , whereof two Lieut : Colonels , two Majors , ten Captains , ten Lieutenants , divers Ensigns , with other inferior Officers . T 〈…〉 her , concerning Sir Tho : Fairfax's march into Cornwal . ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament , That these Letters be forthwith printed and published : H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edw. Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet , neer the Inner-Temple . March 2. 1645. To the Honourable William Lenthal Esq Speaker to the Honorable House of Commons . Mr. Speaker , TO satisfie the Country , and hoping good effect , I drew my Guns before Aberistwith Castle , and spent Two hundred shot to assay a Battery ; but finding the place so impregnable , and the Governor so obstinate , no indifferent conditions would satisfie him : during my engagement there , I received several invitations from the chief Gentry of Glamorganshire , to desire my assistance against the Ragland Forces , who ( as they pretended ) daily threatned the invasion of their Country ; but perceiving their fear greater then the danger , ( if they were unanimously resolved to defend themselves ) I delayed my motion , expecting further Intelligence , and what the issue would be : within few days after I had News brought me of the revolt of the High Sheriff , and many other Gentry that formerly invited me into these parts ( as you shall finde by their Letter inclosed ) calling a general Muster of the Country under colour of putting themselves in a posture of Defence , and thereby endeavoured the surprisal of the Governour of Cardiffe , and the rest of the Gentry who would not comply with their Malignancy . The Colonel General and some of the Gentry were taken , the rest made their escape by the swiftnesse of their horses to the Town ; whereupon they presently laid Siege to it , publishing a Declaration which so fooled the people , that they were resolved to venture their Ruine in the prosecution thereof . Resenting the dangerous consequence this Faction might grow too , if not crop'd in the bud , the welfare or ruine of all South-wales depending thereon . I presently drew off my Guns from Aberistwith , leaving Colonel Powel to block it up , who since my departure surpriz'd their boat , a Captain , and fifteen Souldiers ; marching directly away for the Relief of Cardiffe , where before I could possibly come , the forces of Ragland were joyned with Carn and the rest , the Town taken , and the Governour betaken himself to the Castle ; whereupon I made my approach towards the Castle , least want of victual or some other necessary might enforce Surrender ; & coming within a mile thereof , I found the enemy upon a heath prepared for fight : drawing up my men I presently charged them ; so God blessing our endeavors , Routed and dispersed them all , pursuing the Rout towards Ragland six miles beyond Cardiffe , their Foot were all killed and taken , and about forty of then Horse . My men eager of the Victory , after their receipt into the Castle , made a sally too soon , before my Horse could be brought about ( by reason of the passages ) to second them ; so that being over-power'd with a body of Horse that was in the Town , there was taken my Brother which was my Lieutenant Colonel , and some few of the Souldiers , the rest making their Retreat good to the Castle ; drawing off my wearied Forces for that night to their Quarters within a mile of the Town , thereby to cut off all accesse of Provision . I was next day plyed with continual Alarms of the gathering a Malignant party to a head in the country , and that they had made good a passage within two miles of the Town , resolving to relieve their distressed Friends . While I was busied with this Alarm , the next day and night strengthning my Guards , and having a special eye to the issue , the Governor of the Castle , and the Committee in the interim fell to a Parley with those in the Town , and Articles of Agreement were drawn between them , which when brought to me to desire my Subscribal , I condescended to as much as concerned my self and my Souldiers , as not privy to the draught till the conclusion . But Carn and his compliants making breach of the Agreement , gave us occasion to do that which we much desired , considering the ill consequence if they had come to joyn with the other party . Being demanded their reason of the breach of Articles , answered , They would justifie it with their lives ; and thereupon fell to fire on our men , which was quickly answered ; for as soon as they received orders to fall upon them , they did it with that cheerfulnesse that they totally Routed them , following the chase for seven miles . There were killed of the Enemy in both Actions , about Two hundred and fifty , and Eight hundred taken Prisoners , whereof two Lieut. Colonels , two Majors , ten Captains , ten Lieutenants , and divers Ensigns , and other inferior Officers . By the next Expresse I shall humbly present a a more full Relation of each particular . I have sent copies of the Declaration and Propositions , and their answers ; as also of the Occurrences , as they ensue in order to the Service of the State , you shall not fail to be certified of by him who is , Cardiffe , Feb. 21. 1645. Your most obliged humble Servant ROWLAND LAUGHORN . To the Honourable William Lenthal Esq Speaker to the Honourable House of Commons . SIR , THe marching with the Army into Cornwal , being a matter of great importance , much being to be said against it , as well as for it , and notwithstanding great inclination was to march to Cornwal ; yet yesterday the General had a full Councel of war , of all the field Officers that could well be dispensed with from their charge , where the businesse was throughly debated ; and after some time spent came to this resolution , That in their judgements it was advisable to march into Cornwal before any attempt be made on Barnstable or Exeter : To this Vote there was not one negative voice , so that I hope in the Lord as there is unity in our Councels , so we shall finde the fruit of it in our actions , and by the blessing of God settle that County of Cornwal in a posture to serve you , and to oppose the landing of any forraign Nation , and also break the remaining field force of the enemies : To morrow part of the Army marches towards Cornwal , the rest comes up on Tuesday , there being a thousand horse , and five Companies of foot left to block up Barnstable : And Major Harris who is made Liev. Colonel to Col. Trevilian , is raising a Regiment in these parts of Devonshire to assist in the more close blocking up of that place . Exeter this while is drawing its last breath , and I hope when we return neither place shall have that to stick with them , which hitherto has done ( point of honour ) upon this ground , that there was a probable signe of relief , otherwise their inclinations are much to save themselves . This day ( as indeed every day ) there came some from the enemy , who inform they are about to draw off from Stratton , and all the passes upon the River , having burnt down and broken the Bridges : That they were drawing off from Salt-ash ; That most of their horse were neer twenty miles in Cornwal ; That Hopton cannot get his foot together , neither will the Trainedbands rise , that their fear is great the Army will pursue them . The other day being the Market day , Master Peters preacht unto the Country people and souldiers in Torrington , ( the Church being blown up ) he was forced to preach out of a Belcony , where the audience was great ; he made a great impression upon the hearts of the people : He is sent to Plymouth to offer things to consideration there in order to our marching into Cornwal , and to get all the Cornish Gentlemen to meet the General in Cornwal , to give their assistance in the better setling of that County : And I beseech you hasten such of power and interest in those parts that are above at London : And likewise for Devonshire , for I doubt the want of active Gentlemen to appear to settle the Militia of this County , will make the work to be done , when the Army is drawn back , which will not be for your and their service . It is certain the Lord Hopton received a wound in the side of his head with a pike , some say he is wounded elsewhere ; we took one of their spies coming into our quarters for intelligence , and that he might be the better credited by the person to whom he was sent ; he was to produce a silver Meddal with the Kings Picture , which we took from him , and having committed him to custody , sent one of our spies to the partee ( with that Meddal ) who gave credit to the bearer , and informed the good condition of our Army , the desperate condition of theirs , by the defeat given them at Torrington ; and that they had no way left but to flye to the furthest part of Cornwal : all the Country hereabouts are spread with their horse and foot , that ran away in the dark that night , and are lurking hereabouts ; there are very many both horse and foot come in unto us , and take up Arms , and divers others desire passes to go into their own Countries , which they have granted accordingly : All the Cornish that were common souldiers are set at liberty , and had two shilling a peece given them to carry them home , which we hope will work the same effect , that an action of the like nature did at the taking of Dartmouth , for , as Major Hooper who was taken prisoner at Dartmonth , and sent upon his parole to Cornwal , reported at his return , that the overthrow given to Hopton at Torrington , did not so much move the Cornish with the fear of this Army , as their carriage in the sending home of those Cornish in that civil manner did prevail with them ; who when they came into the Country , being required to take up Arms , refused the same , and were committed to Goal , and now lie in prison for the same ; the Country being much affected at their hard usage , and our gentle carriage ; for indeed the Cornish were made to believe , and some by reason of their cruel carriage to our forces , when they were in Cornwal out of guilt did believe , that nothing but destruction was intended to them : There was directions given by the General to all the field . Officers at the Councel of war , that they should give a command to the several Regiments of horse and foot , that they do in no kinde offer any violence to the Cornish nor do any prejudice unto them in their persons or goods : I make no doubt the Officers will be very careful to do their duties , though ( truly ) I doubt the souldier ( especially those that were there formerly stript ) will hardly overcome a passionate remembrace of the same : The Commissioners of Parliament are sent into the several Counties to pay the recruits , and to hasten them to the Army ; but the four thousand pound sent down hither for that purpose , we are inforced to take into Cornwal with us , and have assigned them to take up monies in ready cash at Bristol and Taunton ; We march with a very fine Army both of horse and foot into Cornwal , and great care is taken for an orderly and souldierlike march , and carriage of our affairs in this expedition . The General and Lieutenant General being much intent upon it : I rest Torrington , Feb. 22. 1645. 10 at night . Your most humble Servant . JOH. RUSHWORTH . FINIS . 
A57921	----	A letter sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons Concerning Sir Tho: Fairfax's gallant proceedings in Cornwal, since his advance from Torrington and Launceston to Bodman, where they have taken divers prisoners, and Prince Charls driven into Pendennis-Castle. Appointed by the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; to be forthwith printed and published. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A57921 of text R200654 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing R2322). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 11 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 6 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A57921 Wing R2322 ESTC R200654 99834917 99834917 39563 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57921) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 39563) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2215:9) A letter sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons Concerning Sir Tho: Fairfax's gallant proceedings in Cornwal, since his advance from Torrington and Launceston to Bodman, where they have taken divers prisoners, and Prince Charls driven into Pendennis-Castle. Appointed by the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; to be forthwith printed and published. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 8 p. printed for Edw. Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet, neer the Inner-Temple, London : March 7. 1645. [i.e. 1646] Signed on A3r: J.R. [i.e. John Rushworth]. Publication year is given according to Lady Day dating; Wing has 1645[6]; Thomason catalogue lists under 1646. Reproduction of the original in the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery (Early English books). eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Campaigns -- Early works to 1800. A57921 R200654 (Wing R2322). civilwar no A letter sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Concerning Sir Tho: Fairfax's gallant proceedin Rushworth, John 1646 2048 5 0 0 0 0 0 24 C The rate of 24 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-01 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-06 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2003-06 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-08 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER SENT To the Honoble William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . Concerning Sir Tho : Fairfax's gallant Proceedings IN Cornwal , Since his advance from Torrington and Launceston to Bodman , Where they have taken divers Prisoners , AND PRINCE CHARLS driven into Pend●nnis-Castle . APpointed by the Honorable William Lenthal Esq to be forthwith printed and published . London , Printed for Edw. Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet , neer the Inner-Temple . March 7. 1645. TO The Honourable W. Lenthal Esq Speaker to the Honourable House of Commons . SIR , IN my last I acquainted you with the Armies coming to Launceston , and of the taking 300 horse neer Stratton . By reason of the long marches the Foot had taken , and many straglers behinde , the General and the Army rested at Launceston two dayes ; and on Saturday last , the Army advanced five or six miles towards Bodman . And this day the Horse and Foot had a General Rendezvouz upon the Downs within eight Miles of Bodman ; the Forlorn Hope being sent out , they met with the Enemies Scouts , there being eight of them together , which our men took ( not one escaping ) they all confesse they had no intelligence of our coming ; that they belonged to a Guard of 300 Horse that was kept on a Passe within three miles of Bodman ; and within two miles where they were taken , the Army advancing neer to that place , we discovered a Body of the Enemies Horse , at about two miles distance , who made a stand , and faced us for a while ; but before ever we came neer them , retreated to Bodman : A● we were upon the Moo●s , intelligence came , That the two Companies of Dragoons that were sent towards Camelford the other and had possest an House , the better to gain intelligence . If the Enemy intended to break through Eastward , were in some haz●rd by a great Body of the Enemies Horse that were got between them , and the Rendezvous , and forced them into a Close for their security ; whereupon a thousand Horse were sent to relieve them , but before they came , the Dragoons themselves had beaten off the Enemy , and made good their retreat to a Church , without the losse of a man . Sir Iames Smith with his Brigade , was the man that had a Designe to have surprized them ; but now we are in a manner gotten between him and Bodman ; for the Army quarters in the field , and all the Villages hereabouts , that he can hardly make his retreat , unlesse he took the opportunity before our Horse came up . At our coming into Cornwal , especially at Launceston , we found the people possest with an opinion , That there would be no mercy shewn unto the Cornish ; but after a dayes being at Launceston , the Town seeing the carriage of the Souldier so fair , and not one House plundered ( not so much as the Governours own house ) and the Country being possest with the like opinion of the civil carriage of this Army , came into the Market , and brought in provisions for supply of our Forces ; but in regard Gorings Forces had plundred the Countrey of all their Horse , people were glad to bring it in on their backs . And Friday being the day for the Posse of the whole Countrey to appear at Bodman ; all the North part of Cornwal refused to appear , they positively affirming , They found us Friends , and not Enemies ; and those that were on the Westside of Bodman , likewise refused to come in , saying , They had not greater Enemies then Gorings Horse that were among them . A Gentleman whom I spake withall this day , who was at their meeting said . The Horse onely appeared , the Posse Foot wholly refused to come in ; and indeed , there cannot be a greater advantage to us , then to drive Gorings Horse before us ; for there carriages are so barbarous , that they make every mans hand against them where they come : The Army had been this night at Bodman , but in regard the Enemy is numerous in Horse , and that we marched much upon the Downs , and was like to be late before we could get in , it was held fit to quarter in the Fields and Villages here abouts , and the next day to march in a close Body , Horse and Foot ; though it be the slower way , yet it is the more secure : The Prisoners that were taken this day , told me , they were glad with all their hearts they were taken upon so fair quarter , for they knew they should be all taken at last ( they said ) and that they give themselves already for lost : And indeed , God hath stroken their hearts with a terrour . Some Gentlemen of quality have sent privately for protections , whose not appearing against us , though not for us , keeps all that part of the Countrey in , where they are , And just now we have intelligence , that the Lord Mo●un is unwilling to obey the L. Hoptons Commands , and rather stands upon his Guard against his Forces , then to assist him with any : as far as I can conceive in my poor judgement , we shall drive the Enemy to a corner ; and it may please God to bring their Horse to accept of conditions , as well as formerly they did bring our Foot ; for unlesse this very night they do break through , which they can hardly do , considering how our Forces are laid , we have them then before us to the Lands end . St. Blessenden , March 1. 1645. Your most humble Servant , I. R. THe Messenger staying till the next morning , I thought fit to give you this further account of the Enemies motion and our proceedings : This morning by break of the day , the Army was drawn to a Rendezvouz upon the Heath within two miles of Bodman , a party being sent out to discover if the Enemy were in the Town , brought Intelligence they quit the Town last night about ten of the clock , Horse and Foot , the Lord Hopton bringing up the Rear himself : The most of the Foot they had were Welchmen , having Leeks in their Hats , and drunk , and went out disorderly : They march'd toward Truro with a good part of their horse ; the rest of their Horse we this morning received Intelligence marched towards Ware-Bridge , as if they intended to go Eastward ; whereupon Lieut. General Cromwel who went the night before to Relieve our Dragoons , was sent unto by the General to desire him to secure the passage at Ware-Bridge , by placing some Dragoons there ; who being there with One thousand Horse , and Four hundred Dragoons , will give a seasonable interruption to the Enemies advance that way . We finde the Towns-people in Bodman no wayes fearful of our coming , rather desiring it : They say they have had no Market these two Market dayes , by reason that Gorings Horse rob'd the Market people , and take away their Horses . There were two Regiments of Foot and two of Horse sent this morning from their Rendezvouz about nine of the clock , to assist those forces at Ware-Bridge , where by we might the better drive the Enemy before us into a narrow compasse of Land . At this place where we are , we may see the Sea on both hands ; if the Enemy had had any gallantry left in them , they would have shew'd it upon our approach to Bodman , their onely strength consisting in Horse , where they had room enough upon the Downs to play their Game , but they never appeared but once , and that at two miles distance , and retreated . I have spoken with some of the Inhabitants of this Town , who were at the grand Posse at Bodman on Friday last , and they affirm , That of the whole County of Cornwal , there did not appear Eighty men ; but Gorings Horse , and the Horse of the County , all appeared in a great body , Those Foot that were in Bodman , were some of the Runawayes from Torrington , and some Welchmen that were left at Launceston , and fled hither , and some others of the Countrey , in all to the number of Four hundred at the most , which is the onely body of Infantry they have left that we can yet hear of : the same Intelligencer confirmed , That the Lord Mahone is either restrained or wounded by the Lord Hopton ; yet the certainty thereof , more then the publique report of the Countrey , we cannot yet hear . I doubt it falls out ill we have not a Squadron of Ships towards Falmouth , where no doubt they may have rich booty , and intercept persons of great quality . Several Letters have been sent unto Plymouth , to the Commander in chief upon these Coasts ; we hope that they will yet come seasonable : The Prince is at Pendennis , and I believe within two dayes will be in France if the wind hold . The head Quarter was this night at Bodman ; three Regiments marched to Listithiel to secure the passage that way : the Forlorn hope of Horse that went thither , made the Enemy quit their Guard at Listithiel ; and receiving Information that four Wain-load of Ammunition was in the way to go from Listithiel to Foy , six of the Troopers rode after it , and made the Convoy desert their charge , and brought back the four load of Ammunition this night to Bodman , there being ten Oxen to every draught : Likewise a party being sent out another way , overtook forty two Musketiers , who had their Matches lighted , and Muskets loaden , four Troopers rode up unto them , and made them all lay down their Arms , and brought them back Prisonets to the head Quarter . Another party was sent towards Truro , to discover whether the Enemies Horse remained in a body , and at Castle-Dennis discovered a body of about a thousand Horse an hour before night , which we conceive onely staid till the darknesse of the night to draw off , after the rest further West ; they are so Alarm'd by our parties , that they are forced to keep in bodies , and can hardly go to Quarter , which will quickly make them weary and over-watcht , and altogether unfit to break through , if they had any such intention , which I believe now they have not : That we keep strong Guards at Listhiel , War-Bridge , and the Fords upon both Rivers . Sir Iohn Greenviles Lieutenant Colonel , and divers others are taken Prisoners . Bodman , March 2. ten at night . THe Messenger staying till Tuesday morning , March 3. I can onely adde , That our Intelligence is , the Enemy bends West , onely a party of Horse to face us : This day some Quarters remove towards St. Cullam , the way to Truro . The Messenger takes pains for so long a journey . FINIS . 
A57922	----	A letter sent to the Hono[ra]ble William Lenthal Esq. speaker of the Honorable House of Commons : concerning Sir Thomas Fairfax's rovting of the enemy in the West, neer Bodman, March 8, 1645 : together with the Lord Hoptons answer to Sir Thomas Fairfax's summons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A57922 of text R35154 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing R2322A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 8 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A57922 Wing R2322A ESTC R35154 15043342 ocm 15043342 103097 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57922) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 103097) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1578:4) A letter sent to the Hono[ra]ble William Lenthal Esq. speaker of the Honorable House of Commons : concerning Sir Thomas Fairfax's rovting of the enemy in the West, neer Bodman, March 8, 1645 : together with the Lord Hoptons answer to Sir Thomas Fairfax's summons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 8 p. Printed for Edw. Husband ... and are to be sold at his shop ..., London : March 12, 1645 [1646] Signed at end: J.R. [i.e. John Rushworth] Reproduction of original in the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649. A57922 R35154 (Wing R2322A). civilwar no A letter sent to the Hono[ra]ble William Lenthal Esq. speaker of the Honorable House of Commons : concerning Sir Thomas Fairfax's rovting of Rushworth, John 1646 1503 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-05 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-05 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER SENT To the Honoble William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of COMMONS : Concerning Sir Thomas Fairfax's ROVTING Of the Enemy in the West , neer BODMAN , March 8. 1645. Together with the Lord Hoptons Answer to Sir Thomas Fairfax's Summons . ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament , That this Letter be forthwith Printed and Published . H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edw. Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet , neer the Inner-Temple . March 12. 1645. TO The Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House OF COMMONS . SIR , BY the last Messenger , the Packet from Ireland taken in the Vessel at Padstow , was sent unto you , which I hope came safe to your hands ; by which original Letters under the hand of the Earl of Glamorgan , you will perceive how ( as yet ) he is imployed for the bringing over of an Army , and what private correspondency there is between him , the Prince , the Lord Hopton , and other persons of Note ( notwithstanding , he is under the cloud of being accused of High Treason ) his being at liberty , and acting the Kings Commands in bringing over an Army of natural Irish Rebels , and his correspondency with the Prince , Hopton , &c. is enough to satisfie the World , by whose Command he manages that Affair . I also acquainted you with a Summons sent to the Lord Hopton ( or rather honorable conditions ) if he would instantly lay down Arms , and disband the Forces in the West , which being sent unto him upon Thursday last , and no Answer returned on Friday : On Saturday the Army advanced towards St. Cullumb , and being drawn to a Rendezvouz four miles from Bodman ; the Weather proved so extreme Wet , that it was not held fit to advance on any further that day ; and so the Foot were appointed to Quarters in Villages thereabouts , and a mile or two forwards : The Horse being likewise at the Rendezvouz , returned to their Quarters ; but some went to Quarter neerer the Enemy , and to the Guards , except a very good party of about eight hundred Horse and Dragoons , commanded by Col. Rich , who was sent away with the same , with Orders to fall upon the Enemies Guards or Quarters , as he should see it most fit for the service ; and accordingly within two hours of Evening , fell upon their Out-guards neer St. Cullumb , beat them to their Main guard : Being then drawn up in a Body , ours likewise drew into three Divisions ; one commanded by Colonel Rich , another by Major Fincher , and the third by Major Scroop : The Enemy seeing no way but to fight , the Van of them gave a very good charge : Major General Pert breaking through one Division himself : But they were instantly put to the Rout , and we had the pursuite of them for three or four Miles , killing many , took about an hundred prisoners , whereof Major General Pert was one , and betwixt two hundred and three hundred Horse . This so Alarm'd the Enemy , that it made them desert the Head-quarter for a mile , and caused them to draw all their Horse to a Rendezvouz at eleven of the Clock that night on Michel Down , and so continued in the Wet in a great Rain till the next morning , thinking the whole Army had been advanced . Our party returned to St. Cullumb , and this morning brought the prisoners to Town . This party of the Enemies were of the Princes own Regiment , most of them Reformadoes Officers ; they confesse their Souldiers are very weary , and that if it were published among them , they might have Passes to go home , it was not in the Officers power to keep them together : They likewise say , that most of their Officers , if they knew they might be accepted into the protection of the Parliament , they would desert the Service . Being askt , if they had heard any Propositions were sent unto them from the General , offering honourable conditions both to Officers and Souldiers , they answered they never heard of any ; so by that we perceive the Lord Hopt on with some few of his Councel keeps the propositions from being published : There are some others come from thence , who say that the French are mighty inquisitive to know whether they might be so far received into savour as to have leave to go beyond seas : Laying all these together we are of opinion , that it will not be in Hoptons power to hinder a good effect to the propositions sent him ; so soon as the same is published amongst them , which before this , we hope by some means that hath been used is effectually done : This day the Generals Trumpeter that went with the summons , is returned with a brief answer from the Lord Hopton to this purpose : That he had taken the letter from the General into consideration , but the suddain advance of our forces gave an interruption to mention at this time any particulars , but by a Trumpeter of his own he would send a particular answer : The Trumpeter was curteously used and much respected , This evening the Lord Hoptons Trumpeter is come with a letter in answer to the Generals propositions , which indeed implies a willingnesse to end the businesse of the West without more blood shed , but yet desires to be satisfied whether the King and Parliament be not near a conclusion of a Peace ; for being intrusted by the King , it concerns him to support his honour as long as he can ; and yet withal inclines to have some Countrey Gentleman come unto him to satisfie him of the state of affaires : Taking altogether , it argues a coming to us , though it seems yet a distance , or else a way to get time ( which I rather believe , because he invites a cessation ) until some Irish do land , which is the thing rumoured abroad in their Army , and expected to be there within eight and forty hours ; and indeed a duplicate of that Packet we intercepted at Padstow , is since arrived with the enemy , whereby its probable they hasten ships unto them , for the bringing over those Irish that were intended for Chester into these parts : What ever his intention is , the General will not lose a minute of time : All the Regiments this day advanced to and beyond Cullomb , within three miles of Truro with a great part of the horse ; the headquarter is at Bodman with one Regiment there , which we leave to secure the passe . To morrow the General and Lievtenant General advance after the Army , and I believe will quarter at Truro to morrow at night : This advance as it is like to further a good effect upon the Propositions ( if God incline their hearts unto it ) so it will I hope dispatch the businesse before such time as any Irish can land : If there be a Treaty it must not be such a one as shall take up above one dayes time : therefore a few dayes will decide that businesse , and I hope ( with Gods blessing ) much to your advantage and the peace and welfare of this Kingdom . Major General Pert is run through the body , and shot in the body yet not mortal : There was found in his Pocket a Copy of a Letter to the Lords , about the Prince , either sent , or to be sent by him , advising them , That now was a good time to Trear , before our Forces advanced further ; declaring , That they feared else their Condition would be desperate . The Countrey is very forward to assist in the Barrocadoing up of all Lanes and Passes , where probably the Enemy ( if they intend to break through ) may attempt to passe by . This being all I have to trouble you with , I rest , Your most faithful And Humble Servant , I. R. Bodman , March 8. 1645. Past 12 at Night . FINIS . 
A57923	----	A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, concerning the miraculous taking of Tiverton-Castle with the church Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A57923 of text R212258 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing R2323). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 2 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A57923 Wing R2323 ESTC R212258 99835094 99835094 39747 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57923) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 39747) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2215:10) A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, concerning the miraculous taking of Tiverton-Castle with the church Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for Edward Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, London : October 23. 1645. Signed: I.R., i.e. John Rushworth. Dated: Tiverton, Octob. 19. 1645. Reproduction of the original in the British Library (Thomason Tracts) and the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery (Early English books). eng Lenthall, William, 1591-1662 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. Tiverton (England) -- History -- Early works to 1800. A57923 R212258 (Wing R2323). civilwar no A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, concerning the miraculous taking of Tive Rushworth, John 1645 323 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2003-01 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-03 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2003-03 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire , Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons , Concerning the miraculous taking of Tiverton-Castle with the Church . SIR , THis day ( being the Lords-day ) after Forenoon Sermon , the Generall called a Councell of VVar , and agreed to Storm immediatly ; parties were drawn out to fall on in their severall Posts ; and whilest the Councell of VVar was sitting , the Gunner with round shot brake the Draw-Bridge , which immediatly fell down ; our Souldiers without order , or staying for their Ladders , fell on , beat the Enemy from their works into the Church and Castle , who took down their bloody Flag , and cryed for quarter : Col : Talbot , Son to Sir Sherington Talbot , Major Sadler a Renegado , and twenty Commanders more , and above Two hundred common Souldiers are prisoners , Four piece of Ordnance , great store of Ammunition : Our men gave quarter , though they blew up some of our men in the Church . I never see men more resolved then they were at this time : This place is of great use to us ; not onely in order to the straightning of Exeter , but to secure any Ammunition , &c. that shall be sent us , and keeps the passe open to Plimouth . To morrow the Army marches ; Gorings Horse being gone towards Plimouth : I am Sir , Your faithfull Servant , I. R. Tiverton , Octob. 19. 1645. This Bearer was an Eye-witnesse of our Souldiers entring and carriage . ORdered by the Commons Assembled in Parliament , That this Letter be forthwith Printed and Published . H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , October 23. 1645. 
A57924	----	Sir Thomas Fairfax's proceedings in the vvest against the enemy since he advanced to Bodman in Cornvval sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Wherein is a list of the names of the Lord Mohuns and divers other persons of quality of that county that are come in to the Parliament. Together with the Cornish petition to Sir Tho: Fairfax, for their acceptance to joyn with him in this cause. Also a summons sent to the Lord Hopton. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that this letter and petition be forthwith printed and published. H: Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A57924 of text R220878 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing R2330A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 10 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A57924 Wing R2330A ESTC R220878 99832263 99832263 36735 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57924) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 36735) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2057:8) Sir Thomas Fairfax's proceedings in the vvest against the enemy since he advanced to Bodman in Cornvval sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Wherein is a list of the names of the Lord Mohuns and divers other persons of quality of that county that are come in to the Parliament. Together with the Cornish petition to Sir Tho: Fairfax, for their acceptance to joyn with him in this cause. Also a summons sent to the Lord Hopton. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that this letter and petition be forthwith printed and published. H: Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons. Proceedings. 1646-03. 8 p. printed for Edw. Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet, neer the Inner-Temple, London : March 7. 1645. [i.e. 1646] Signed on page 7: Jo. Rushworth. Publication year is given according to Lady Day dating. Imperfect; pages have print show-through. Reproduction of the original in the Bodleian Library. eng Great Britain -- Campaigns -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. A57924 R220878 (Wing R2330A). civilwar no Sir Thomas Fairfax's proceedings in the vvest against the enemy since he advanced to Bodman in Cornvval: sent to the Honoble William Lenthal Rushworth, John 1646 1685 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-05 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-05 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-06 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Sir Thomas Fairfax's PROCEEDINGS IN THE VVEST Against the Enemy since he Advanced to BODMAN in CORNVVAL : SENT To the Honoble William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . Wherein is a List of the Names of the Lord Mohuns and divers other Persons of Quality of that County that are come in to the PARLIAMENT . Together with the Cornish PETITION to Sir Tho : Fairfax , for their Acceptance to joyn with him in this Cause . Also a Summons sent to the Lord Hopton . ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament , That this Letter and Petition be forthwith Printed and Published . H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edw. Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet , neer the Inner-Temple . March 7. 1645. TO The Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker to the Honorable House of Commons . SIR , IN my last I gave you an accompt of the Armies being at Bodman , Listithiel , and parts thereabouts ; since that time we have not advanced ( it being held fit to spend two or three dayes in securing as far as we are gone , and leaving all safe behinde us ( the businesse of Mount Edgecomb hath somewhat taken up our time , I hope to good purpose ; for this day came Mr. Coriton , Mr. Lower , Mr. Glanvile , ( all formerly Members of the House of Commons ) and Mr. Trevisa to the General from Mr. Edgecomb , concerning the Surrender of this Fort , and disbanding of his Regiment and the forces thereabouts , which is agreed unto , I hope upon such conditions as will not be unacceptable to the Parliament . What influence this , and the coming in of other Gentlemen of this County , may have upon the rest of the Countrey , you may easily perceive , especially if you consider the quality of the persons of those that are already come in , and desire to live under the Protection of the Parliament : Viz. The Lord Mohun . Sir Iohn Trelawny . Colonel Trelawny . Sir Nicholas Lower . Thomas Lower Esq Pierce Edgecomb Esq William Scawen Esq Mr. Corriton . William Bond Esq Richard Edgecomb Esq Mr. Glanvile Esq Major Nicholas Saul . Capt. William Bond of Earth . Capt. Bourn . Capt. William Saul . Alexander Lower Esq Mr. Francis Saul . Nath : Trevanion of Tregerthen Esq Major William Trevisa of Crokedon Esq Iohn Battersby Esq Richard Spurre Esq Io : Roe of Trewurnan Esq Iohn Horndon , Col : Champernoon . Mr. Rashly . Mr. Iohn Trevery , Governour of Foy . Mr. Bagley . Mr. Walter Hele . Lieut. Colonel Fortescue . Major Warren . Sir Richard Prideaux , High Sheriff of the County , and divers others . Also Mr. Arrundel the Papist , a man of power , desires to be under the Protection of the Parliament . And as a further Testimony of the reallity of some others of the Inhabitants of this County neer St. Columb ( and yet in a manner now in the power of the Enemy ) this ensuing Petition delivered by the Hands of Mr. Vivian , with the consent of the Inhabitants of those parts where he lives , will in some measure shew their affection to the Parliament . To the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Fairfax Knight , Captain General of the forces , raised by the High Court of Parliament under his Command ; and other the renowned VVorthies of that Army . Right Honourable , WEE ( though not an acceptable number of a more unacceptable County ) having by Gods Blessing , so fair an advantage of giving our due respects to your Honour , do with them present our persons also ; which we most unfainedly protest have been hitherto by us , most vnvoluntarily separated , as our former readinesse and frequent indeavours to advance this service ; besides imprisonments , fines , or other most miserable sufferings , the same can evidently testifie : And therefore we first blesse the great Lord of Hosts , by whose providence you are made such victorious Ministers of our diliverance from such intollerable bondage ; and next to our great and Wise counsel , by whose publike care and mission , we have the happinesse this day to see you conquerors for the preservation of our Religion , so long violated , and restitution of our liberty so long inthralled : Neither may we omit a grateful acknowledgement of the unexampled valour and vigilance , which have been so magnanimously exercited for the reducing of this unhappy Kingdom from the woful condition of a bloody war , to so fair hopes of an assured and most happy peace : And now since it hath pleased God thus to blesse us ; we presume not to motion through difference your future care of his Glory , and the Common Wealths good ; having so many rare examples of your readinesse to defend both : However , give us leave as a people that is our great grief and misery have so long a time wanted the happy influence and equity of the Law to relieve us , to mention our desires of their reparation ; whereby also to distinguish our selves from those which have with an high hand indeavoured to subvert them : and as hitherto you have not wanted our prayers to God for a blessing upon your counsels and actions . So now , your Honour shall not want the ready , though weak assistance , so far as the lives and fortunes shall extend of your servants and faithful vocaries . The taking into consideration this Petition , and the coming in of the persons afore-mentioned ; as also the rising of the Inhabitants at Camelford , Ginny-Hill , and other parts in the East and North of Cornwal : For our assistance it was held fit to summon a Posse of five or six of the Hundreds , to appear at Bodman-Down to morrow being Friday , where some will be fitted with Instructions , to impart the Generals minde unto them : For to morrow , part of the Army advances to S. Columbe and other parts ; the Enemy is retreated from Castle-Dennis , and last night had his Head-quarter about Truro : some part of their Forces at S. Allens , and kept Guard neer S. Columb ; as our staying here three dayes will prove to our advantage in setling these Eastern parts of the Countrey ; So we are confident it will do so for the Western ; for Gerings Horse will sufficiently incline the people to wish the coming of this Army for their ease and preservation . The Enemy gave out they would plunder Truro , because the people there already appear for us ; but it was answered , Whether should they go with their plunder when they had it : Several of the Princes servants have sent unto the General for Passes to come in , and to repair to their homes ; which I conceive they now solicite for , in regard the Prince is gone to Sea : but where he is landed , we yet hear not . Last night a Vessel out of Ireland came into Padstow , the Townsmen seized upon her , and three other Vessels , going out with plundred Goods , and sent to our Forces at War-bridge for assistance , which was this morning accordingly sent unto him . A Spie is just now come from the Enemies Quarters ; most of their force are North of Truro : We shall be very neer Truro to morrow night . I beleeve the General after one dayes advance , will send a Summons to the Lord Hopton . I take my leave , and rest Your most faithful and humble servant , Io. Rushworth . Bodman , March 5. Two in the Afternoon . 1645. SInce the writing of my Letter , here is Cap. Farre come from Padstow , who with Cap. Wogan boarded the Irish Vessel ; and with the assistance of the Towns-men and Towns-women put them all to the Sword but two , about thirty in all , wicked natural Irish . God hath most seasonably brought that Vessel thither : It enrages the Countrey against the Kings party , for bringing in of forraigners . These are but the fore-runners of many thousands speedily to come over , as by their Packets of great concernment , appears : Indeed , of so great concernment considering from whom they come , that it is not fit to be lightly mentioned : they were thrown into the Sea , yet recovered ; an expresse is to come up with them : We have cause to blesse God for such a mercy . Several of those Letters subscribed by Glamorgan , Ormond and Digby , were this day read to Mr. Corriton , Mr. Lower , Mr. Glanvile , Mr. Trevisa , &c. And one of the two that had not his throat cut , was brought before them , which hath further satisfied them of the Kings intentions , and ready preparations to bring in bloody Irish Rebels into his Kingdom , that they offer , to the hazard of Life and Estate , in person to oppose them . I will say no more till the Letters come : Pardon my haste . Bodman , March 5 , 1645. six at night . A Summons is gone to Hopton . The Letters bear date the twenty eighth of February last . I beseech you to hasten Ships to the Irish Coasts . FINIS . 
A57927	----	A true relation concerning the late fight at Torrington between the forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the forces under the command of Lord Hopton and others : sent in a letter to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq., speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, and by him appointed to be forthwith printed and published. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A57927 of text R25118 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing R2334A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 11 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A57927 Wing R2334A ESTC R25118 08769391 ocm 08769391 41763 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57927) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 41763) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1268:12) A true relation concerning the late fight at Torrington between the forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the forces under the command of Lord Hopton and others : sent in a letter to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq., speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, and by him appointed to be forthwith printed and published. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. Lenthall, William, 1591-1662. 8 p. Printed for Edward Husband, London : 1645. Signed and dated: J.R., Feb. 17. Reproduction of original in the Harvard University Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Sources. A57927 R25118 (Wing R2334A). civilwar no A true relation concerning the late fight at Torrington, between the forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax, and the forces under th Rushworth, John 1646 2084 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 B The rate of 5 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the B category of texts with fewer than 10 defects per 10,000 words. 2003-01 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-02 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-03 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-03 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A True RELATION Concerning the late Fight at Torrington , Between the Forces under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax , and the Forces under the command of the Lord Hopton and others . SEnt in a Letter to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons , and by him appointed to be forthwith printed and published : LONDON : Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons . Feb. 20. 1645. To the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . SIR , SAturday Febr. 14. the army marched from Crediton and the Quarters thereabout to Chimleigh , being ten miles , the day very rainy , and the way very deep ; Sunday they marched very early to a Rendezvouz some two miles in the way to Torrington , with intention to have gone on ; but our parties of our Horse bringing in some Prisoners ▪ by whose Examinations we could not certainly learn which way the Enemy bent , the certain knowledge whereof would mightily advantage us , by taking the benefit of that side of the River on which they marched ; whereupon another party was sent out of Col : Butlers Troop , the Forlorn of which party being twelve , took twelve of the Lord Gorings Life-guard , and twenty four Horse , and brought them to the General ; upon their Examination it appears , the Enemy was ignorant of our Motion ; That they were drawn to no Rendezvouz ; That the Lord Hopton was in Torrington . Presently after there came a Spye from Torrington , who informed that that morning he left the Lord Hopton there , That they heard a kinde of an Alarm , but no certain Intelligence of our Motion . And being informed that a party of the Enemies Horse was at Burrington , the General sent a party of Horse to meet with them , who accordingly charged the Enemy , put them to a Rout , shot Lieut. Colonel Dundash through the body , and took several prisoners , and brought Dundash three miles on the way , but being mortally wounded , as himself conceived , was inforced to leave him at Ringash , a Foot quarter of ours . This is the same Dundash that ran to the Enemy when the Earl of Essex's army lay about Tame : This Lieut. Colonel commanded the Lord of Clevelands Brigade ; the party of Horse that charged Dundash , was commanded by Captain Barry of Rutlandshire , who lost never a man ; but only his Brother run through the arm , and one Mr. Needler of Captain Knights troop shot in the arm ; we sent another party of horse towards the East , who likewise met with their horse , and took three prisoners and some horse , and shot Major Bret , who being well mounted escaped , those Forces confesse that Hopton was ignorant of our motion ; by this time the Bridge was made up some two miles off Chimleigh , the which the Enemy had broken down , so that our army might with convenience march over : But the day being so far spent , it was not held fit to march the whole army , so three Regiments of horse , and three of foot marched some four milss towards the enemy ; that night the rest returned ro Chimleigh with orders to march ; by break of day we did think the several alarms given them this day had so affrighted them , that their Resolutions would have been taken before morning , whether to go East or West , the certain knowledge whereof , was the thing we much desired , and would guide us the better to pursue our designes . Munday Febr. 16. the General with that party of the Army that was at Chimleigh , marched up to the rest of the Army to Ringash , and had there a Rendezvouz ; and afterwards , upon the Moor within five miles of Torrington bad a general Rendezvouz both of horse and foot , drew them up in Battalia , and so marched up towards the enemy . When we came within two miles of Torrington , our Forlorn hope of horse charged theirs , and put them to a retreat ; whereupon they came on again with a very strong party , and put ours to a stand ; the reserves of our Forlorn being come up , and some foot , forced them to their Body again . When we came neer Squire Rolls his house , we had Intelligence that there was a party of 200 Firelocks and Muskettiers left to defend that place ; therefore the Army made an halt half a mile in the Eastside thereof , till the Foot came up ; which the enemy perceiving , as they might easily do , by reason of the Hills and clearnesse of the day , quit the house , and drew their Forces to Torrington : Our Forlorn of horse and foot advanced to Squire Rolls his house , half a mile further towards Torrington , there being several skirmishes in the narrow Lane , between the Forlorn hope on both sides , and several prisoners taken on each ; but most by our party . The enemy drew their foot out of the Town into the Closes about a quarter of a mile : our Forlorn hope of foot lined the hedges , and so faced each other for about two hours , within half a musket shot , exchanging course Language and Bullets , now and then ; after all , the Foot and Horse were come up , and drawn up in Mr. Rolls his Park : a party of 800 foot was sent to second the Forlorn . In case the enemy should endeavour to put any affront upon them also , a Regiment was immediately sent to assist them , who were no sooner come up to the rest , but it began to be dark , a Councel of War was called , what was fit to be done ; whether to engage before day or not , for that it being dark , the enemy might lay Ambuscadoes , they knowing the ground better then we ; whereupon the General , Lieutenant General , with the rest of the Colonels , deferred a Resolution , and rid from Mr. Rolls his house up to the Forlorn hope , to see in what posture our forces were set , and by prisoners to know what the Enemy intended while they were there . The Tattoo was heard to beat in the town , which assured us the Enemy still continued in the town , not flying away as several Reports would have made us believe ; but to be certain of the same , six Dragooners were commanded to creep under a hedge near the Barracadoes , and to give fire , to see if they would answer ; by which we might know whither they stood to defend the town . The Enemy received the charge , and answered it with a very sharp volley of shot . Our Forlorn hope seeing the Dragooners engaged , they gave fire ; whereupon the Enemy gave fire all along the hedges and works , thereupon the Reserve to the Forlorn came on to Relieve them , and so being engaged , the whole army advanced ; and about eight at night the Battel begun some six fields from the town , and so we fought from hedge to hedge , until we beat them into their Barracadoes , which they maintained for an hour after very manfully , our men being often repulsed , yet at last got over the Barracadoes , and forced the Enemy into the town ; whereupon the the Horse were let in , who scowring the streets , were received by the Enemy , and a hot charge given by both parties ; yet it pleased God at last we drave them out of the Barracadoes at the furthest end of the town , and by this time many prisoners were taken , and put into the Church : but far more escaped , being dark , over the hedges and by-wayes , which was not possible for us to prevent , throwing down their Arms , and every man flying several wayes for life : our forces were no sooner possest of the town , but the enemies Magazine which they left in the Church was fired ; whether on purpose by the enemy , or by accident , we cannot yet learn : but it proved a terrible blow , not onely blowing up the Church with all the Wood and Lead that was upon it , deforming many houses in the Town , but killed some of the prisoners in the Church , and some of our men that were in the Church yard ; two great Webbs of Lead fell within twice a horse length of the General ; but it pleased God he escaped , though in imminent danger ; many others being hurt , both with the Timber , Stones and Lead , most of the Town was shaken by this blow , being the terriblest that hath been seen in the memory of man , there being neer eighty Barrels , of Powder blown up together , and one whole Barrel which were blown out of the Church into the street , which took not fire : The Enemy perceiving their Magazine to be thus fired , gave one Charge more with their horse up to our Barracadoes , commanded by Sir Iohn Digby , Brother to the Lord Digby , but our Muskettiers gave fire ; whereupon they took their farewel . Our horse instantly advanced through the Town after them , and begun the pursuite about eleven at night ; and I hope will give a good accompt of the businesse . Thus it hath pleased God in an instant to scatter those Forces of the Lord Hoptons , his Infantry being taken , slain , and totally routed , his Horse , many taken and dispersed , and the rest gone in great disorder toward Cornwal , as we hear , where shortly I hope we shall meet with the remnant left of that Crew , and put an end to the field Enemy in the West of England , they confest they had eight Regiments of Horse , consisting of two thousand five hundred men ; some other of that their Officers that are prisoners say Three thousand ; be they more or lesse , they are very resolute men , fought valiantly ; and after they were chased from hedge to hedge , defended their Barracadoes and works at push of Pike , and with the But-end of their Muskets , till our foot got over a hedge , flanckt them , that they were forced to quit it : They were old Cornish foot , and all Greenviles and Gorings old Souldiers , English and Irish , were engaged in this Service , but now are scattered , threw down their Arms , and fled for their lives . We have abundance of men wounded , Officers and Souldiers more then hath been at any storm since the Army came forth : For indeed every hedge was it were a Bulwark to the Enemy ; so strong are the hedges in these parts ; but few slain , we killed many of the enemy , both horse and foot . The particulars of this businesse you will have more fully hereafter ; let the glory be given unto God , I am Sir Your most faithful Servant , I. R. Torrington Feb. 17. SOme of their Horse we hear are going towards Barnstaple ; Colonel Cook is that way : However , it will be needful Colonel Whaley quarters near Newbery with some of his Horse to follow any party that may come to Oxford , and not divert our Horse that are on so probable a design to further the weal of England . FINIS . 
A57928	----	A true relation of the storming Bristoll, and the taking the town, castle, forts, ordnance, ammunition and arms, by Sir Thomas Fairfax's army, on Thursday the 11. of this instant Septemb. 1645. Together with severall articles between Prince Rupert, and Generall Fairfax, before the delivering up of the castle. Sent in severall letters to the Honorable William Lenthall Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, and read in the said House. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that this relation with the articles, beforthwith printed and published: H: Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A57928 of text R200264 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing R2336A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 36 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 13 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A57928 Wing R2336A ESTC R200264 99861070 99861070 113198 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57928) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 113198) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 49:E301[5]) A true relation of the storming Bristoll, and the taking the town, castle, forts, ordnance, ammunition and arms, by Sir Thomas Fairfax's army, on Thursday the 11. of this instant Septemb. 1645. Together with severall articles between Prince Rupert, and Generall Fairfax, before the delivering up of the castle. Sent in severall letters to the Honorable William Lenthall Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, and read in the said House. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that this relation with the articles, beforthwith printed and published: H: Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. Rupert, Prince, Count Palatine, 1619-1682. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons. 24 p. Printed for Edward Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, London, : Sept. 13. 1645. Signed on page 3: I.R., i.e. John Rushworth. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Bristol (England) -- History -- Siege, 1643 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Campaigns -- Early works to 1800. A57928 R200264 (Wing R2336A). civilwar no A true relation of the storming Bristoll, and the taking the town, castle, forts, ordnance, ammunition and arms, by Sir Thomas Fairfax's arm Rushworth, John 1645 6725 7 0 0 0 0 0 10 C The rate of 10 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2000-00 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2001-09 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-06 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2002-06 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-07 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A True RELATION of the Storming BRISTOLL , AND The taking the Town , Castle , Forts , Ordnance , Ammunition and Arms , by Sir THOMAS FAIRFAX'S Army , on Thursday the 11. of this instant Septemb. 1645. Together with severall Articles between Prince RUPERT , and Generall FAIRFAX , before the delivering up of the CASTLE . Sent in severall Letters to the Honorable William Lenthall Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons , and Read in the said House . ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament , That this Relation with the Articles , be forthwith printed and published : H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , Sept. 13. 1645. A TRUE RELATION OF The Storming Bristol , and the taking the Town , Castle , Forts , Ordnance , Ammunition and Arms , by Sir Tho Fairfax's Army . TO THE HONORABLE William Lenthall Esquire , Speaker of the Honorable House of COMMONS . SIR , I Send you here inclosed , an Account of the last passages about Bristol ; I have done it in haste ; I desire it may not be much published till you hear more ( which will not be long ) from Your Servant , I. R. Sept. 7. 12 at night . For His Highnesse Prince Rupert . SIR , For the Service of the Parliament I have brought their Army before the City of Bristol , and do Summon You in their Names , to Render it with all the Forts belonging to the same into my hands , to their use . Having used this plain language , as the businesse requires , I wish it may be as effectuall with you , as it is satisfactory to my self , that I do a little expostulate with you about the Surrender of the same , which I confesse is a way not common , and which I should not have used , but in Respect to such a Person ; and to such a place : I take into consideration Your Royall Birth and Relation to the Crown of England , Your Honour , Courage , the vertues of Your Person , and the strength of that place , which You may think Your self bound , and able to maintain . SIR , The Crown of England is and will be where it ought to be , we fight to maintain it there ; But the King mis led by evil Councellors , or through a seduced heart hath left His Parliament , and His People , under God , the best assurance of His Crown and Family ; the maintaining of this Schisme , is the ground of this unhappy War on Your part : And what sad effects it hath produced in the three Kingdoms , is visible to all men : To maintain the Rights of the Crown and Kingdom , joyntly , ( a principall part whereof , is , That the King in Supream Acts concerning the whole State , is not to be advised by men of whom the Law takes no notice , but by His Parliament , the great Councell of the Kingdom , in whom as much as man is capable of , He hears all His people , as it were at once advising him , and in which multitude of Councellors lies His safety , and His peoples Interest ) and to set him right in this , hath been the constant and faithfull endeavor of the Parliament , and to bring these wicked Instruments to Justice , that have mis-led Him , is a principall ground of our fighting . SIR , If God makes this clear to You , as he hath to us , I doubt not but he will give You a heart to deliver this place ; Notwithstanding , all the other considerations of Honour , Courage , Fidelity , &c. because of their consistency and use in the present businesse , depends upon the right or wrongfulnesse of this that hath been said : And if upon such Conviction You shall Surrender it , and save the losse of blood , or hazard of spoyling such a City , it would be an occasion glorious in it self , and joyfull to us , for the restoring of You to the indeared affection to the Parliament and people of England , the truest Friend to Your Family it hath in this world . But if this be hid from your eyes , and through your wilfulnesse this so great , so famous and ancient a City , and so full of people , be by your putting us to force the same , exposed to ruine , and the extreamities of war ( which yet we shall in that case as much as possible , endeavour to prevent ) then I appeale to the righteous God , to be Iudge between you and us , and to require the wrong : And let all England judge , whether the burning of its Towns , ruining its Cities , and destroying its people , be a good requitall from a person of your family , which hath had the Prayers , Tears , Purses , and Blood of its Parliament and people ; and ( if you look on either , as now divided ) hath ever had that same party both in Parliaments , and amongst the people most zealous for their assistance and restitution , which you now oppose and seek to destroy , and whose constant grief hath been their desires to serve your Family , have been ever hindred or made fruitlesse by that same party about his Majesty , whose Councell you act , and whose interest you pursue in this unnaturall War . I expect your speedy Answer to this Summons , with the return of the Bearer this evening , and remain Your Highnesse humble servant , THO: FAIRFAX . Sept. 4. 1645. Prince Ruperts Answer . SIR , I Received yours by your Trumpeter : I desire to know , whether you will give me leave to send a Messenger to the King , to know his pleasure in it . I rest Your Servant , RVPERT . Sept. 5. 1645. Sir Thomas Fairfax's Answer to the Princes Message . SIR , Your overture of sending to the King to know his pleasure , I cannot give way to , because of delay : I confesse your Answer doth intimate your intention , not to surrender without his Majesties consent : Yet ( because it is but implicite ) I send again to know a more positive Answer from your self , which I desire may be such , as may render me capable to approve my self , Your Highnesse humble Servant , Tho : Fairfax . Sept. 5. 1645. September 6. seven in the morning , the Trumpet went in , and was detained all that day and night ; every thing was prepared for a Storme ; the Souldiers had their faggots on their backs , and leaped for joy they might go on : Yet about ten at night , it was held fit to give Orders to put off the businesse till Monday morning two of the clock . Lords day , Sept. 7. in the forenoon , the Trumpet was returned with these Propositions from Prince Rupert , which I send herewith . Prince Ruperts Propositions , to Generall Sir Thomas Fairfax . SIR , Whereas I Received Your Letter for the delivery of the City , Forts , and Castle of Bristol , and being willing to joyn with You for the sparing of blood , and the preserving of His Majesties Subjects : I have upon those grounds and none other , sent You these following Propositions : 1. That my self , all Noblemen , Commanders , Officers , Gentlemen , and Souldiers of Horse and Foot , that have served , either His Majesty or Parliament in England or elswhere : As likewise all persons whatsoever , men or women , now resident in this City of Bristoll , Castle and Forts thereof , shall have free liberty to march away out of the said City , Castle and Forts , with their Arms , flying Colours , Drums beating , Trumpets sounding , Pistolls cock'd , Swords drawn , Matches lighted at both ends , Bullets in their mouths , and as much Powder and Match as they can carry about them ; with all their Bag and Baggage , Horses , Arms and other Furniture , Ten pieces of Canon , Fifty barrels of Powder , Match and Bullet proportionable . 2. That neither mine own person , nor the person of any Nobleman , Commander , Officer , Gentleman or Souldier , or any other of mine or of their retinues , be searched , molested or troubled upon what pretence soever , but left to their liberties to depart or stay , as it shall be most convenient for them . 3. That none of your Army whatsoever , shall entice or perswade any Officer or Souldier of mine from their Regiments or Celours , with any promise of preferment or reward . 4. That all such Officers and Souldiers that are hurt and sick , and cannot now march out of this City , Castle and Fort , shall have liberty to stay untill they be recovered , and then have safe Conducts to go wheresoever they please , either to any of His Majesties Armies or Garrisons , or their own houses , where they may live quiet , and that in the interim those being sick and hurt , may be protected by you , and have civil usage . 5. That all prisoners taken on both sides since the beginning of this Siege , be forthwith set at liberty . 6. That my self , and all those above mentioned , may not be required to march further in a day , then what conveniently we may ; and that a day or two of rest be allowed upon our march , if we shall finde it requisite ; and that we be accommodated with free Quarter during our march , and a sufficient Convoy to any of the Kings Armies or Garrisons , which I shall name , to secure us in our march from all Injury and Incivility that shall any wayes be offered unto us : And likewise , that there be One hundred and fifty cariage Horses , and Forty Wains , with sufficient Teams provided for Cariages of all sorts . 7. That no person here in these Articles mentioned , shall be in their March , Randevouz , or Quarters , searched or plundered , upon any pretence whatsoever : And that two Officers be appointed by you ; the one , for Accommodation of free Quarters for Officers , Souldiers , and others ; and the other , for providing of Horses and Carriages for our Baggage and Train . 8. All Noble-men , Gentle-men , Clergie-men , Citizens , Resiants , or any other person within this Citie , Suburbs , and Liberties thereof , shall at any time when they please , have free liberty to remove themselves , their Goods and Families , and to dispose of them at their pleasures , according to the known and enacted Laws of the Land ; either to live at their own houses , or elsewhere ; and to enjoy their Houses , Lands , Goods , and Estate , without any molestation , and to have protection for that purpose ; and this Article to extend to all those whose Estates are sequestred or not sequestred ; and that they may rest quiet at their abodes , and travell freely and safely upon their Occasions : And for their better removall , they may have Letters of safe-conduct , with Horses and Carriages at reasonable Rates , upon demand . 9. That all persons above-mentioned may have free liberty to passe to any parts beyond the Seas any time within three moneths , as their occasions shall require . 10. That the Lines , Forts , Castle , and other Fortifications about or in the Citie of Bristol , be forthwith slighted , and the City stated in the same condition it was before the beginning of this unnatural War : And that hereafter the Parliament , during this War , place no Garison in it . 11. That no Churches be defaced : That the severall Members of the Foundation of this Cathedral , shall quietly enjoy their Houses and Revenues belonging to their Places ; and that the Ministers of this Citie may likewise enjoy their Benefices without any trouble . 12. That no Oathes be imposed upon any person now in this Citie , Suburbs , and Liberties , other then such as are required by the ancient and enacted Laws of the Land . 13. That the Maior , Sheriffs , Aldermen and Citizens within his Corporation of the City of Bristol , shall be free in their persons and estates , and enjoy all their Priviledges , Liberties , and Immunities , in as full and ample manner as formerly at any time they did , before the beginning of this War ; and that they shall have freedom of Trade both by Land and Sea , paying such Duties and Customs as formerly they have done , to his Majestie : and that no Mulct of Fine be imposed upon any person mentioned in this Article , upon any pretence whatsoever ; or questioned for any act or thing done or committed before the day of our Marching forth : That no free Quarters shall be put upon them without their own consents . 14. That all other persons whose dwellings are in this Citie , and now absent , may have the full benefit of these Articles , as if they were present . 15. That all Noblemen , Gentlemen , and others , who have goods in this Citie , and are now present or absent , may have liberty at any time within three moneths to dispose of their goods as they please . 16. That there be no Plundering , or taking away of any mans person , or any part of his estate , under what pretence soever ; and that Iustice , according to the known Laws of the Land , be administred to all persons within this Citie by the Civil Magistrates . 17. And for the performance of these Articles , I expect such Hostages to be given as I shall accept of . And hereunto I desire your speedy Answer . Sir , by this you may evidently perceive my Inclination to Peace ; and you may be assured that I shall never desire any thing more then the Honour of the King , and Safety of the Kingdom , and that I may become , SIR , Your Servant , RUPERT . Septemb. 7. 1645. The Generalls Answer to Prince Ruperts Propositions . SIR , I Have perused your Propositions , wherein some things are doubtfully expressed ; other things inconsistent with the duty I owe to them I serve . Notwithstanding , to the end I may give assurance , that I earnestly desire to save effusion of blood , and the ruine of a City and People , that may in time be so serviceable to the Crown and Kingdom : If it please your Highnesse that Committees may treat between us , concerning the accommodating of things , I hope to make it evident to the world , that what shall respect the honour of a Souldier , due civility to all men , the good and welfare of the People of that City , both in passing by what is past , and restoring them to the Priviledges of all other Subjects , and to the immunities of their City , will readily be condescended unto by me . And to the end no time may be lost , I have hereinclosed sent you the Names of Committees , who upon the return of hostages of equall condition unto me , shall attend your Highnesse sufficiently instructed , to conclude on my part : provided the said Treaty be ●nded by nine of the clock this night . And to this , I desire your Answer within the space of an hour , and remain Your Highnesse's humble Servant , T. FAIRFAX . Sept. 7. 1645. This Answer being returned presently after dinner by the same Trumpeter , he was detained till eight at night , and then he brought this Answer from the Prince , or to this effect , in writing : THat he hoped his Propositions had been such as need no explanation ; yet , because some doubts were made , he was willing to have the exceptions set down in writing , and his Highnesse would return Answer . So this night also , though eight men were drawn out and appointed to their severall posts , the storming was put off ; and to morrow a certain hour will be set the Prince peremptorily for his positive Answer . There can be but two things , in my opinion , induces the Prince to offer Conditions ; either he is not able to defend the place , and in fear of Sir Lewis Dives conditions , if he be driven for refuge into the Fort Royall ; or else , he doth it to gain time , till his Counter-scarfes and Inner-lines be finished , which he is very active in making day and night ; or that he expects aid from the King , or Goring , neither of which are moving this way , as our Intelligence is ; and therefore ( on that reason ) one dayes time longer is given . No man knows how this businesse may work , especially with the Towns-men : if the Generals Answer be made known to them , or if a Treaty be imbraced , the noise of it , and the sight of Committees , will make men greedy of Conditions , or unwilling to resist , if on the Princes part it be broken off . Truely , I think , some good will come of the Proposition , which I rather wish then by storm ; though by the latter , we shall reduce them to more extremities . God by his providence will order things for the best : I doubt not of good successe , which way soever is taken : For the Articles that are point of honour , I beleeve will not be much insisted on , as to grant four peece of ordinance , where ten is desired , and so proportionably of other things ; and all demands of civility . The essentiall Articles are : Exemption from sequestration : Cathedrall men to continue ; against which there is an Ordinance : The works to be demolished , and no Garison hereafter ; which may be inconvenient : These Articles will receive dispute ; if they will agree , the Fort and Castle may have a reasonable Garison , the Town perhaps will be exempted . By to morrow night I shall acquaint you more : In the mean time I desire you these may not be too publike , till you hear further from the Generall himself , who is so busied he cannot write , neither to your self , nor the Committee of both Kingdoms . Sept. 7. past 12 at night . SIR , BEfore I descend to the particulars of Bristol , I shall humbly beg leave to offer a word or two , to vindicate the Army for coming hither after the taking of Sherborn-Castle , because some endevours have been , to perswade a belief , that for respect to some particular men , or other self-end , the Army was drawn to decline the West , and come hither : Me thinks it should be sufficient to convince any ( reasonable ) man , That to adventure naked bodies against an Army defended with Stone-walls , Strong-works , and a Castle , and to bring them into apparant danger of being visited with the Plague , ( for that they must quarter where the sicknesse was very rife ) was an argument of little self-respect ; and when the City was gained , little could our security be to remain there , where 120 died weekly of the Plague . Surely Sir , it was God that put it into the heart of the Generall and his Officers to come before this place , and a regard they had unto the publike : And indeed God hath appeared to own our coming hither , in preserving this Army from the Infection of the Plague , considering that the Souldiers ( do what we can to prevent it ) run daily into infected houses ; and to this day , not a man in the Army dead thereof , that I can hear of , but one . For the reasons inducing this Army to come before this place , rather then at that time , to advance further West , had I time , I beleeve I should make it evident unto you , That to come before this City , was most for the service of the Kingdom , and the safest and most secure course that could have been taken , to reduce the West to a thorow obedience to the Parliament : And this might be laid for a ground , That this Army could not ( having a regard to the safety of other parts of the Kingdom , on any emergent occasion or accident , and to its own security ) march from Sherborne into Cornwall , ( as in all probability the Army must have done , if the enemy had drawn there together in a Body ) leaving Bristol a Garrison on our backs , and Prince Rupert at liberty , with neer 1000. Horse , and 1000. Foot , besides the addition of other Forces that might be joyned to his , to range all over Wiltshire and Dorsetshire , and draw to them the assistance of the ill affected Club-men ( we being not able to leave strength to secure Bathe , Bridgewater , and other Garisons , ) and sufficient power to ballance his Forces . But this place being reduced , there is no Garison in the West of England left behinde us , that can secure or countenance the raising of any considerable force : Besides , the reputation in the gaining of this place , may operate so much among men ( that are not void of reason or sense ) as ( perhaps ) without many blows more , to reduce the West of England , and put fair to settle England too , which was once very low when this place was first lost . Also , the Club-men are hereby engaged , who have declared to assist this Army against the enemy . The example whereof , may do much elsewhere , especially in Wales , where ( by our gaining of Bristol and Kings-Road ) the people will undoubtedly be our friends . Craving pardon for this digression , I now come to the businesse of besieging and storming of Bristol . Saturday the 23. of August , the Army encompassed the City round , both on Gloucestershire and Somershireside , our Horse having been there some dayes before , to prevent the burning of the Towns and Villages adjacent , whose seasonable coming , saved the burning of Stapleton , Hanham , and other Towns , which the enemy had sent out Parties of Horse with Fire-balls to set them on fire , but that our Horse repulsed them ; but Bedminster , Clifton , and other places , they consumed by fire . From that time , till the 3. of September , the weather was so extreme wet , that both man and Horse with hard duty grew weak , and died in the Field : during that unseasonable weather , the Army was unfit for Assault . The weather no sooner changed , but our Souldiers ( being refreshed with the warm beams of the Sun ) were impatient of falling on , being not out of action the time before , having had severall skirmishes with the enemy , where they took Sir Barnard Ashley , and others ; besides , the taking in of Ports-head Point Fort , and fix peece of Ordnance . The Generall ( with Lievtenant Generall Cromwell ) having taken , full , and exact views of the Line and Works , and what places most fit to enter on , called a Councell of War ( having first set a day a part for the Army to seek God by Prayer and Fasting , to direct them in what they were to undertake : ) At which Councell , it was resolved on , to storm the place , as most necessary to the timely reducing of it , and of having the Army timely in a condition to oppose an enemy that should advance towards us : Laying this for a Ground . That if all the Citie and Forts were not carryed at first , yet so much would be gained ( by Gods blessing ) as a small strength with the assistance of the Clubmen , would keepe them in , in a narrow compasse , and the rest of the Armie would be at libertie , to meet an enemie ; Hereupon , and other weighty ●easons , a Summons and friendly advise , was Septemb. 4. sent from the Generall to Prince Rupert ( of which I sent you a Copie formerly ) And September 5. returned answer , that he desired to know , if the Generall would give him leave to send it to the King : who returned Answer , he could not , ( because of delay ) give way unto it : And fearing lest the Prince intended by this overture of a Surrender , to gaine time , rather then otherwise : The manner of Storming was agreed on , which was to be after this manner : Collonel Weldon , with his Brigade , consisting of the foure Taunton Regiments , Viz-Collonel VVeldon , Collonel Twooldsbies , Col. Fortescues , and Col. Herberts Regiments , ( whose Posts were to make good Somersetshire side ) was ordered to storme in three place , viz. two hundred men in the middle , two hundred on each side , ( as forlorne hopes ) to begin the storme , twenty Ladders to each place , two men to carry each Ladder , and to have five shillings a peece , two Serjeants that attend the service of the Ladder , to have 20 shillings a man ; each Musquettier that follows the Ladder , to carry a faggot , a Serjeant to command them , and to have the same reward ; 12 Files of men , with fire , armes , and pikes , to follow the Ladders to each place , where the storme is to be , those to be commanded each by a Captaine , and Lievtenant ; The Lievtenant to goe before with five Files , the Captaine to second him , with the other seven Files : the two hundred men that are appointed to second the storme , to furnish each partie of the , twenty Pyoneers , who are to march in their Reare . The two hundred men , each to be commanded by a Field-officer , and the Pioneers each by a Serjeant . Those Pyoners are to throw down the Lyne , and make way for the Horse : the partie that is to make good the Line , to possesse the Guns , and turn them . A gentleman of the Ordnance , Gunners and Matrosses , to enter with the parties , the Draw-bridge to be let down , two Regiments and a halfe of Horse , to storme in , ( after the foot ) if way be made : Much after this manner was the Generalls Brigade under Col●onel Monta●ues Command , ( Consisting of the Generals , Col. Montagues , Col. Pickerings , and Sir Hardresse VVallers Regiments ) to storm on both sides of Lawfords Gate , both to the river Avon , and the ( lesser ) river Froome . The Bridge over Froome to be made good against Horse with Pike , or to break it down . Collonel Rainsboroughs Brigade ( consisting of his own , Major Generall Skippons , Col. Hamonds , Col. Birches , and Col. Barkleys Regiments ) to storm on this side the river Froome , beginning on the right hand of the sally Port , up to Pryors Fort , and to storm the Fort it selfe , as the maine businesse , two hundred of this Brigade to goe up in Boates with the Seaman , to storm VVaterfort , ( if it be to be attempted ) one Regiment of Foot , and one of Horse to be moving up and down in the Closes before the Royall Fort , and to ply hard upon it , to Alarum it , with a Field officer to command them . The Regiment of Dragoones with two Regiments of Horse , to carry Ladders with them , and to attempt the Lyne and Workes , by Clifton and VVashingtons Breach ; The manner of storme being thus agreed on ( though its probable some more certaine information might change the attempts from some place to another ) the Souldiers were drawn out , to try their inclination , in whom more courage , joy , and resolution could not appeare in men . The Generall to make good his promise , to reward them for the service at Bridgewater , ordered them six shillings a man , which by the care of the Commissioners of Parliament , was immediatly payd unto them , and put a great obligation upon the Souldier . On the last Lords day , Prince Rupert , being prest by the Generall for a positive Answer to his summons , sent Propositions of surrender : the answering of which , and Replyes on both sides , spent time til Tuesday five in the afternoone , and then the Prince appeared in his proper colours , to be a man that pretended one thing , and intended another ; delatorie proceedings , you will the better discerne , by all the Letters and Answers , which time will not now give me leave to repeat . The Prince , Noblemen , Souldiers , and Citizens , being left inexcusable , for refusing such honourable Conditions as was offered them , and being guiltie of that blood that should be spilt . The same night , after the Treatie broke off , Tuesday September 9. at 12 at night , all the Armie , Horse and Foot , round the Citie , were set in a posture to fall on ; The signes were to be , to give notice when the storme should begin , by kindling a fire of straw , and shooting off soure great Guns . The Word during the storme , was David : the word after the Lyne was entered , was The Lord of Hosts : About two of the clock in the morning the storm begun , the Souldiers shouted for joy , the service was very hot for a time , especially with Collonel Rainsboroughs Brigade , who with a partie of his force , spent almost three houres in the storming of the Pryors Fort , a place of great advantage ; Which piece of service was as bravely performed , as ever thing was done by man : In re●ard they were put to the utmost , by scaling Ladders to win the Fort , they cut in pieces most of the forces in the Fort , and made the rest unserviceable , they gave no quarter to Major Price in the Fort . This Brigade tooke foure great Peeces in this Fort , and two more in a Redoubt ; and Collonel Montagues Brigade tooke sixteen Peeces in the severall Workes , and halfe Moones , which they gained by storming . The other Brigade under Colonel Welden , fell on on S●mmerset-shire side , with a great deale of Resolution but when the Ladders were sett to the Workes , they were to short , the Moat being very deepe , so they only alarum'd the Enemy : The Clubmen they fell on at Bedminster , and much terrified the enemy : Our losse of men was inconsiderable , not credible almost , I assure you , that in Col. Rainsboroughs and Collonel Montagues Brigade , not fortie men are lost , our Horse entred with the Foot . The Pyoneers having thrown down the Lyne , and beat off the enemies Horse , and took Col Taylor , formerly a Member of Parliament , being mortally wounded : we had on our part Capt. Ireton sore wounded , a Captain of Horse , an honest and stout man , Major Bethel slightly wounded : Major Saintleger , and two Majors more of the enemie , and divers others are prisoners : we are now planting Peeces against the Castle , which in 24 houres we hope to have . The Enemie hath fired the Citie in three places . I am Sir your servant I. R. Sept. 10. eight in the morning , Lawfords gate . SIR , SInce the writing of this inclosed at eight in the Morning ; The Prince sent out for a parly , which by sixe at night produced these inclosed Articles . You see how much God workes for us , beyond expectation . I have writt continually unto you , that I was even well assured of successe upon this place , there is that seeking of God , by our Commanders and Souldiers , by prayer and fasting , and that unitie of spirit amongst them , and by facile undertaking their dessignes , that a blessing attends their Councells and attempts , there is not that striving here , who shall receive most honor , but who is most humble in what successe soever God pleases to give , here is Collonel Murrey and another Knight , come to the Generals quarters , as Hostages for the performance of the Articles , and Sir Robert Pye , and Sir Hardress Waller to go as Hostages to the Prince , pardon the extreame hast Sir of . Your most humble servant J. R. September tenth , 1645. eight at night . Articles of agreement betweene the Commissioners appointed on the behalfe of his Highnesse Prince Rupert , And his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax For the Surrender of the City of Bristoll . September the tenth 1645. THat his highnesse Prince Rupert and all Noblemen , Commanders , Officers , Gentlemen , and Souldiers , and all other persons whatsoever now residing in the Citie of Bristoll , the Castle and Forts thereof , shall march out of the said Citie , Castle , and Forts thereof , with Colours , Pikes , and Drummes , bagge and baggage . The Prince his hignesse , all Noblemen , Gentlemen , and Officers in Commission , with their Horse and Armes , and their servants with their horses , and Swords , and Common-souldiers with their Swords . The Prince his life Guard of Horse , with their Horse and Armes , and two hundred and fifty Horse besides to bee disposed by the Prince , and his life guard of Firelocks , with their Armes & each of them one pound of powder , and a proportion of Bullet let , and that none of the persons who are to march out on this Article , shall be plundered , searched , or molested . That such Officers and Souldiers as shall be left sicke or wounded in the City , Castle or Forts , shall have lib●rty to stay till their recovery , and then have safe conducts to goe to his Majesty , and in the interim to be protected . That the persons above mentioned , who are to march away , shall have a sufficient Convoy , provided for them to any such Garrison of the Kings as the Prince shall Name , not exceeding fifty miles from Bristoll , and shall have eight dayes allowed for their March thither , and shall have free quarter by the way , and shall have two Officers to attend them for their accommodation , and twenty waggons for their baggage , if they shall have occasion to use the same . That all the Citizens of Bristoll , and all Noble-men , Gentle men , Clergie-men , and all other persons , residing in the said City and Suburbs of the same , shall be saved from all plunder and violence , and be secured in their persons and estates , from the violence of the Souldier , and shall injoy those Rights and Liberties , which other Subjects enjoy under the protection and obedience of the Parliament . That in consideration hereof the City of Bristoll , with the Castle and all other Forts and Fortifications thereof without any slighting or defacing thereof , and all the Ordnance , Armes , Ammunition , and all other furniture , and provisions of Warre . Excepting what is before allowed , shall be delivered up to Sir Thomas Fairfax , to morrow being thursday the eleventh day of this instant September by one of the clocke in the afternoone without any deminution or imbezelment , his highnesse Prince Rupert , then Nameing to what Army or Garrison of the Kings be will March . That none of the persons who are to March out on this agreement , shall plunder hurt or spoyle the town , or any person in it , or carry out any thing , but what is property their owne . That upon signing these Articles , Collonel Okey and all persons , now in prison in the City of Bristoll , the Castle or Forts of the same , shall immediatly be set at liberty . That sufficient Hostages be given to Sir Thomas Fairfax , such as he shall approve this night , who are to remaine with him , untill the City be delivered . That neither the convoy nor Officers , sent with the Prince shall receive any injury , in their going or comming back and shall have seven dayes allowance for their returne . That upon the delivering of the towne , sufficient hostages be given for performance of the Articles on both parts . Signed by us the Commissioners on the behalfe of his Highnesse Prince Rupert . Io. Mynn , W. Tillyer , William Valuasor . Signed by us the Commissioners appointed on the behalfe of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , Edw. Montague , Tho. Rains-borough , Io. Pickering . FINIS . 
A83291	----	An ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, for Thursday next to be a day of thanksgiving within the lines of communication. And throughout the whole kingdome the 27. of this instant Iune, for the great victory. Obtained against the Kings forces, nere Knasby in Northampton-shire the fourteenth of this instant Iune. And ordered to be forthwith printed and published. Hen. Elsynge, Cler. Parl. Dom. Com. Together with two exact relations of the said victory the one from Livtenant Generall Cromwell to the Speaker of the house of Commons. The other from a gallant gentleman of publique imployment in that service, who relates all the particulars of the whole day, & what persons on both sides were taken, wounded, and kil'd. England and Wales. Parliament. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A83291 of text R200108 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E288_26). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 13 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A83291 Wing E2072 Thomason E288_26 ESTC R200108 99860912 99860912 113039 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A83291) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 113039) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 47:E288[26]) An ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, for Thursday next to be a day of thanksgiving within the lines of communication. And throughout the whole kingdome the 27. of this instant Iune, for the great victory. Obtained against the Kings forces, nere Knasby in Northampton-shire the fourteenth of this instant Iune. And ordered to be forthwith printed and published. Hen. Elsynge, Cler. Parl. Dom. Com. Together with two exact relations of the said victory the one from Livtenant Generall Cromwell to the Speaker of the house of Commons. The other from a gallant gentleman of publique imployment in that service, who relates all the particulars of the whole day, & what persons on both sides were taken, wounded, and kil'd. England and Wales. Parliament. Cromwell, Oliver, 1599-1658. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. [2], 5, [1] p. Printed for Ed. Husband, London : Iune the 17. 1645. "A gallant gentleman of publique imployment" = John Rushworth. Annotation on Thomason copy: on title page: "this is Crumwells owne trew letter on ye daye" [Thomason was wrong; this is only part of Cromwell's letter. See Abbott, "Writings and speeches of Oliver Cromwell", v.1, p.360; for complete text see "Three letters" (Wing F240)]; on page 5: "Mr Rushworths letter beinge ye secretary to his Excellence". Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. Naseby (England) -- History -- Early works to 1800. A83291 R200108 (Thomason E288_26). civilwar no An ordinance of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament,: for Thursday next to be a day of thanksgiving within the lines of communica England and Wales. Parliament. 1645 2298 10 0 0 0 0 0 44 D The rate of 44 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the D category of texts with between 35 and 100 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-02 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-04 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2007-04 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion AN ORDINANCE OF THE Lords and Commons ASSEMBLED IN PARLIAMENT , For Thursday next to be a day of Thanksgiving within the Lines of Communication . And throughout the whole Kingdome the 27. of this instant Iune , for the great VICTORY . Obtained against the Kings Forces , nere Knasby in Northampton-shire the fourteenth of this instant Iune . And Ordered to be forthwith printed and Published . Hen. Elsynge , Cler. Parl. Dom. Com. Together with two exact Relations of the said Victory The one from Lievtenant Generall Cromwell to the Speaker of the house of Commons . The other from a gallant Gentleman of publique imployment in that service , who relates all the particulars of the whole day , & what persons on both sides were taken , wounded , and Kil'd London Printed for Ed. Husband Iune the 17. 1645. SIR , BEing Commanded by you to this service , I think my selfe bound to acquaint you with the good hand of God towards us and you , we marched yesterday , after the King , who went before us from Daintry to Harborough , and quartered about six miles from him , he drew out to meet us , both Armies ingaged , wee after three houres fight ( very doubtfull ) at last routed his Army , killed and tooke about five thousand , very many Officers , but of what quality we yet know not ; We tooke also two hundred Carriages , all he had , and all his Guns , being twelve in number , whereof two were Demy-cannons , two Demy-Culverins , and I think the rest were Sacres . We pursued the enemy from three miles short of Harborough to nine beyond , even to the sight of Leicester , whether the King fled ; Sir , this is no other but the hand of God , to him alone be the glory , wherein none are to share with him . The Generall served you with all faithfulnesse and honour , and the best commendation I can give him , is , I dare say he attributes all to God , and had rather perish then assume it to himselfe , which is an honest , and a thriving way , yet as much bravery may be given to him in this Action , as to a man . Harborough 14 of Iune , 1645. O. CROMVVELL . The Copie of a Letter sent from a Gentleman of publike employment in the late service neere Knaseby . BOth Armies were drawne in Ba●talia in a great feild neere Knaseby by ten in the morning , each wing of both sides charged other , with that eagernesse , that they had not patience to shoot of one peece of Ordnance , our Dragoones begun the Battaile Flancking the right wing of the Enemies Horse as they charged our left wing of Horse , the Foot charged not each other till they were within twelve paces one of another , and could not charge above twice , but were at push of Pike , the Enemies Foot gave a little backe , and so did some few of ours , and then the right wing of our Horse ( wherein the Generall was in person ) charged in the Flancke of the blew regiment of the enemies Foot , who stood to it , till the last man , abundance of them slaine , and all the rest surrounded , wounded , and taken , these ( the hope of their Infantry ) being lost , Horse and Foot gave backe , wee advanced on after them in order our Horse flancking ▪ our Foot , and after one charge more , became Masters of all their Infantry , and tooke about three thousand prisoners , the Enemies Horse ran a pace , but still our Horse , though one would have beaten ten , ( such a feare was the Enemy possessed with all ) would not pursue in heate but take the Foot to flancke them , the King cryed out , face about once and give one charge and recover the day , our Men Horse and Foot came on with that courage , that before ever wee gave fire they faced about and ran clee●e away , and happy was he that was best mounted , and Livetenant Generall Cromwell ; pursued with the Horse after them on a Curre●●e about twelve or thirteen miles , within two or three miles of Leicester , and having taken eight peeces of Ordnance in the Feild , whereof two were Demicannon , one whole Culverine , tooke all the rest of their Ordnance and their Carriages , Bag and Baggage ▪ aboundance of Coaches , and rich Plunder , Carts with Boates and great store of Bisket and Cheese , ( a seasonable refreshment for our souldiers that had marched so hard , and the night before had not a bit of Bread to a regiment for their refreshment , ) the Foot and the Traine Marched this night to Harborough ( foure miles ) where our head quarter is . Time will not give me leave to enlarge my self on particulers otherwise it were worth your knowledge and fit to be had in memory , I shall not attribute more to one Commander then to another , for indeed they did as gallantly , as ever men on earth could doe , and so did the Enemies foote , which before the battaile wee least valued , Rupert and Maurice ( having at least two thousand Horse more then ours that charged , were so well received by our men though our left wing gave backe a little as their hearts were broake at the first ▪ that which made our Horse so terrible to them , was the thicknes of our reserves and their orderly and timely comming on , not one failing to come on in turne ; About the beginning , the day was doubtfull , but blessed be the name of our God , in one halfe houre the field was woon and the Enemy gone , to God alone be the praise , it becomes not me to say any thing of my Generalls , Major Generalls , or Livetenant Generall Cr●mwells carriage in this battaile , I leave it to all men , on the place to relate it , who cannot but admire their valour , and thus hath the Lord gone along with this new moulded Army , so much contemned by many & left as sheepe to the slaughter by others , but from the beginning I was confident , a blessing from heaven did attend this Army , there were in it so many pious men , men of integrity , hating vice , fighting not out of ambitiousnesse or by ends , but ayming at Gods glory and the preservation of Religion , & Liberty , and the destruction of the Enemy which was never in so faire a way as now is , if peoples hearts would yet be moved to redeeme themselves from slavery and all ioyne as one man , If this advantage be improved ( as what a wearied out and tyred Army is able to doe , will be done ) with the blessing of God , and an addition of some fresh horse , ours being worne off their legs , the Enemy in all probability will not this Summer get head againe , and I hope in the Lord , never more considerable in the field , some observations I had in the time of Battell in the carriage of things , that one great incouragement to the common Souldier to fall on , was the rich Plunder the enemy had ( their purses also being full of Money , the Plunder of poore Leicestershire , God turned to be one meanes of their ruine , and indeed our souldiers got plenty , the Irish women Prince R●p●rt brought on the field ( wives of the bloody Rebels in Ireland ( his Majesties dearly beloved subjects ) our souldiers would grant no quarter too , about 100 slain of them , and most of the rest of the whores that attended that wicked Army are marked in the face or nose , with a slash or cut . I viewed the dead bodies , from the Battell to Harborough , truly I estimate them not to be above 700 , together with those slaine in the fields running away , but in pursuit between Harborough and Leicester , and by townes , conceived about 300 more slaine , abundance wounded , persons of great note fell , one with a starre and a red crosse on his coat , conceived to be the D●ke of Lenox foure Lords came mortally wounded to Harborough , but durst not stay , we tooke all the foot Colours in the field , the Kings owne Colours , with the Lyon and Crowne , with this Motto , Dieu & mon droit ; The Queenes Colours , and the Princes Colours , and the Duke of Yorkes Standard ; We got the Plunder of the Kings Coach , his Cabinet , &c. The enemies word was , Queen Mary , ours . God is our strength , and so he was indeed . They had beane stalkes in their hats , we nothing ; some of ours of their owne accord had white Linnen , or paper in their hats . A party of theirs that broke through the left wing of Horse , came quite behind the reare to our traine , the Leader of them being a person somewhat in habit like the Generall , in a red Mountero , as the Generall had , he came as a friend ; our Commander of the guard of the Tra●ne went with his hat in his hand , and asked him how the day went thinking it had been the Generall ; The Cavalier whom we since heard was Rupert , asked him and the rest , if they would have quarter , they cryed no , Gave fire and instantly beat them off ; It was a happy deliverance , we had slaine on our part none above a Captaine I yet heare of , and in all not 250. to my best judgement , and I viewed the ground where the bodies lay , the honest and valiant Major generall wounded Collonel Butler , Collonel Francis Major Horton , Captaine Potter , one of the Commons of Parliament , Collonel Ireton , and some other Officers of note wounded ; The Provost Marshall saith , he hath in all about foure thousand Prisoners , whereof above 400. are Officers , foure Collonels , 12 Lievtenant Collonels , many Majors , 60. Captaines , besides Lievtenants and Ensignes . The Souldiers have already brought in to the Generall , above 40. Standards and Colours , he gives each man a reward , Sir Iacob Ashley's Coach was taken with great store of Plunder , also some Letter , of Nicholas the lyer , wherein he hath this expression in his Letter to the King , That the Parliament had given particular Direction to the Generall to kill the King , and to give him no quarter , the rest of his stories are like this ; Wee tooke 5000. Armes on the field , but the Souldiers were so greedy of Plunder and pursuing the enemy , that the Countrey got some of them . Sir Iacob Ashley was neere taking , we got the Cap of his head ; The Army is marching toward Leicester , and will not give the Enemy time to rally ; our Horse are close in the reare of them , Collonel Rossiter came seasonable to the engagement , and charged where the Generall was , and is still in pursuit of the enemy , I could say more had I time to sleepe , I rest yours , &c. Harborough , Iune 15. two in the morning . We tooke one Colours of Horse , with a paire of horns , Come Cuckolds , was the Motto ; as soone as our men had it in possession , they held the Hornes and Motto towards the Enemy , and so charged them . Langdels Brigade ran away basely , and lost the King the day . Die Lunae Iunii 16. 1645. ORdered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament , That Thursday next shall be set apart for a day of Publique Thanksgiving to Almighty God , in all the Churches and Chappells within the Cities of London and Westminster , and Lines of Communication , and weekly bills of Mortallity , For the Great , & Glorious Victory obtained by the Parliaments Army under the Command of Sir THOMAS FAIRFAX , against the Forces of the KING . And M. Marshall and M. Vines be desired to preach at Christ-Church , before the Parliament . And that the Lord Mayor , Aldermen , and Common-Councell doe meete the Parliament there . And it is further Ordered , That Friday being the twenty seventh day of this instant Iune , be set apart for a publique day of Thanksgiving for this Victory in all the Churches and Chappells in the severall Counties of the Kingdome under the power of the Parliament . Henry Elsyng Cler. Parl. Dom Com. FINIS . 
A84825	----	Sir Thomas Fairfax letter to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Concerning all the passages of his army since his advance from Exeter, and the manner of routing the Princes and the Lord Hoptons forces at Torrington, together with all the particulars in that expedition. Also another letter from a gentleman of quality, of the whole passages of this great victory. Both which were read in the House of Commons. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that these letters be forthwith printed and published: H: Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A84825 of text R200618 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E324_15). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 20 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A84825 Wing F195 Thomason E324_15 ESTC R200618 99861319 99861319 163958 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A84825) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 163958) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 53:E324[15] or 247:E324[15]) Sir Thomas Fairfax letter to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Concerning all the passages of his army since his advance from Exeter, and the manner of routing the Princes and the Lord Hoptons forces at Torrington, together with all the particulars in that expedition. Also another letter from a gentleman of quality, of the whole passages of this great victory. Both which were read in the House of Commons. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that these letters be forthwith printed and published: H: Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron, 1612-1671. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. England and Wales. Parliament. [8] p. Printed for Edw. Husband, Printer to the Honorable House of Commons, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet, neer the Inner-Temple, London : Feb. 24. 1645. [i.e. 1646] The letter from the "Gentleman of quality" is dated and signed at end: Torrington, Feb. 19. twelve at night. J.R. [i.e. John Rushworth]. Wing has publication year 1645[6]; Thomason catalogue lists under 1646. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Torrington (England), Battle of, 1646 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Campaigns -- Early works to 1800. A84825 R200618 (Thomason E324_15). civilwar no Sir Thomas Fairfax letter to the Honoble William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons.: Concerning all the passages of hi Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, Baron 1645 3575 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-06 Pip Willcox Sampled and proofread 2007-06 Pip Willcox Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Sir Thomas Fairfax LETTER To the Honoble William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . CONCERNING All the Passages of his Army since his advance from Exeter , and the manner of Routing the Princes and the Lord Hoptons Forces at Torrington , Together with all the particulars in that Expedition . ALSO Another LETTER from a Gentleman of quality , of the whole passages of this great Victory . Both which were read in the House of COMMONS . ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament , That these Letters be forthwith printed and published : H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edw. Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet , neer the Inner-Temple . Feb. 24. 1645. To the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . Mr. Speaker , PLymouth being set free , and Da rtmouth taken , I sent Col. Hamond with part of the foot to possess certain houses near Exeter for the blocking of it upon the West side of the River ( as formerly I had done on the East ) and lay with the rest of the Army , so as to countenance both that work , and the raising of some Forces in the Southams to lie about Totness for the securing of that Countrey , and to keep the Enemy from coming of that side of Devonshire again , when the Army should remove to the other . These two things , with the continual foul weather at that time , and the absence of Col. Cook with so many of the Horse , ocacsioned my stay thereabouts above a Fortnight , in which time the Houses being competently Fortified , and the Forces raising in the Southams in good forwardnesse , I drew the Army up towards Crediton , with purpose to advance into the North of Devonshire to dislodge the Enemies Horse from their Quarters thereabouts , and force them into Cornwal , and to endeavour the further clearing of that part of Devonshire also , either by the taking of Barnstable , or by blocking of it up , and raising a Force in that well-affected Corner to keep it in , so as ( having all clear or made fast behinde me ) I might the better follow the remaining Field forces of the Enemy into Cornwal : And to continue the blocking up of Exeter on the East side , I left Sir Hardres Waller with three Regiments of Foot , and a Regiment of Horse of this Army , and advanced with seven Regiments of Foot , five Regiments of Horse , and five Troops of Dragoons , ( the rest of the Horse and Dragoons being absent with Col : Cook in Dorsetshire , but then sent for to come up ) when I was resolved upon my advance this way , the Enemy at the same time advanced out of Cornwal with all the Foot they could make to Torrington , about which their Horse did lie before , and began to fortifie the Town . Their intentions therein ( as we conceived , and do since further finde ) were by the advantage of this place , and their Garrison of Barnstaple so near it , to make this part of Devonshire more surely theirs , & more difficult for us to come into , and lying so much the nearer to Exeter ( against which they supposed this Army wholly ingaged ) to take their best advantages : From hence , and from Chimleigh , which they meant also to have possessed , to relieve Exeter on the North side , or disturb us in the Siege ; and 't is probable , they might have a further purpose in their posture here to secure the Landing of Irish or Welch Supplies so much the forwarder towards the East . On Saturday last , I advanced from Crediton to Chimleigh , where by many Prisoners taken I was Informed , That the Lord Hopton had hereabouts Four thousand Horse , and Three thousand Foot ; we believed them to be about Two thousand Foot or upwards , and Three thousand Horse . The extreme foulnesse of weather that day and next , occasioned me not to advance from about Chimleigh for the next night , save only one Foot quarter , and an Horse Guard advanced to Ring-ash , three miles towards the Enemy , to secure a Rendezvouz so much the nearer to them for the day following : I understood by the best Intelligence , That the Enemy was resolved to make good their station , and set their rest upon it to fight us there , if we would come up to them : And truly , men in their condition could not hope ( all things considered ) to have more for it . Their Horse in number superior to what I brought up with me , their Foot ( as I finde since ) not much inferior ; and if they could with all their force make good this Town , and put us to lie in the field , ( there being no Villages near it that could shelter the Army ; the wet weather continuing which was then most likely ) would have forc'd us to draw back , and make our Fire-arms little useful , either for assault or defence ; and besides , we were like for matter of Provisions to be forced to draw off first , they having both by their posture ( with the plentiful Countrey of Cornwal behinde them , and a River at their backs securing also a good part of Devonshire unto them ) and by their strength of Horse much advantage for longer subsistence then we ; and we ( by the barrennesse of the place where we must have lien before them , especially for Horse-meat , their Garrison of Barnstaple lying partly behinde us , their Horse more numerous then ours . which might with stronger parties cut off our supplies ) had had little possibility to subsist long before them . These considerations we had in our eye to discourage us from going on ( as I believe they had to incourage them to stand ) yet on the other side finding , That by reason of the barrenness and long exhausting of our Quarters behinde us , we could neither keep our Horie so close together as to lie safe so near the Enemy , nor indeed finde subsistence for the Army , either where we were , or in any other Quarters more backward , ( where we could lye , so as to secure the Siege of Exeter from relief ) and upon all considerations , conceiving the Affairs of the Kingdom did require us , and God by all did call us to make a present attempt upon the Enemy , we resolved to go on to try what God would do for us , and trust him for weather , subsistence , and all things . Accordingly on Monday morning I drew out the Army to an early Rendezvouz at Ring-ash ( within six miles of the Enemy ) the weather still continued very wet , and so by all signes , was like to hold , till we were advanced from the Rendezvouz ; but suddenly when we were upon march , it beyond all expectation grew fair and dry , and so continued , whereas we had scarce seen one fair blast for many dayes before . The Enemy ( as we understood by the way ) had all their Horse drawn together about Torrington , and with their Foot prepared to defend the Town , which they had fortified with good Barracadoes of Earth , cast up at every Avenue , and a competent Line patcht up round about it , their Horse standing by to flanck the same , and some within to scowre the streets . Our Forlorn hope had Order to advance to Stephenson Park ( about a mile from the Town ) and there to stay for the drawing up of the Army , there being no other place fit for that purpose nearer to the Town on that side we came on : But when we came near , we understood the Enemy had with Two hundred Dragoons possest the House in the Park , and were Fortifying of it , being of it self very strong : But upon our nearer approach , their Dragoons quitted the House , and our Forlorn hope falling on them , took many Prisoners , and pursuing them near the Town , were ingaged so far as they could not well draw back to the Park , which occasioned the sending up of stronger parties to make them good where they were , or bring them off ; and at last ( there being some fear the Enemy would draw about them , and hem them in , Col : Hamond was sent up with three Regiments of Foot ( being his own , Col : Harlows , and mine ) and some more horse to lye for Reserves unto them , by which time the night was grown on , so as it was not thought fit , unlesse the Enemy appeared to be drawing away to attempt any thing further upon the town till morning , in regard none of us knew the ground nor th'advantages or disadvantages of it ; But about 9. of the clock , there being some apprehension of the Enemies drawing away , by reason of their drawing back some out-guards , small parties were sent out towards the towns end , to make a certain discovery , which going very neer their works before the Enemy made any firing , but being at last entertained with a great volley of shot , and thereupon supposed to be ingaged ; stronger parties were sent up to relieve them , and after them the three Regiments went up for Reserves , till at last they fell on in earnest ; after very hot firings , our men coming up to the Barracadoes and Line , the dispute continued long at push of Pike , and with But-ends of Muskets , until at last it pleased God to make the Enemy flye from their works , and give our men the entrance . After which , our men were twice repulsed by their horse , and almost all driven out again , but col : Hamond ( with some other officers & a few Souldiers ) made a stop at the Barracadoes , and so making good their Reentrance , rallyed their men , and went on again ( Major Stephens with their Forlorn of horse coming seasonably up to second them ) The Enemies foot ran several wayes , most of them leaving their Arms , but most of their Officers , with assistance of horse , made good their own Retreat out of the Town towards the Bridge , and taking advantage of strait passages to make often stands against our men , gave time for many of their foot to get away over the Bridge . Their horse without the Town ( after some attempts at other Avenues to have broke in again upon us being repulsed , at last went all away over another Bridge , and at several other passes of the River , and all fell Westward ; the ground , where their horse had stood , and the Bridge they went over lying so beyond the Town , as our horse could not come at them , but through the Town , which ( by reason of strait passage through several Barracadoes was very tedious , by means whereof , and of the continued strait Lanes the Enemy had to Retreat by after they were over the River ( as also by th'advantage of the night , and by their perfect knowledge of the country , and of escape , and our utter ignorance therein ) our horse could do little execution upon the pursuit , but parties being sent out several wayes to follow them ( as those disadvantages would admit ) did the best they could , and brought back many prisoners and horses ; we took many prisoners in the Town , who being put into the Church , where the Enemies Magazine lay ( of above Eighty barrels of powder , as is reported , besides other Ammunition ) either purposely by some desperate prisoner , or casually by some Souldier , the powder was fired , whereby the Church was quite blown up , the prisoners and most of our men that guarded them were killed , and overwhelmed in the ruines , the houses of the Town shaken and shattered , and our men all the Town over much indangered by the stones , Timber and Lead , which with the blast were carryed up very high , and scatter'd in great abundance all the Town over , and beyond , yet it pleased God that very few of our men were slain or hurt thereby ( save those in the Church only ) our losse of men otherwise in this service was small , though many wounded , it being an hotter service then any storm this Army hath before been upon , wherein God gave our men great resolution , and Col : Hamond especially , with other Officers engaged with him , behaved themselves with much courage and diligence recovering the ground after their men were twice repulsed ; of prisoners taken in this service , about two hundred were blown up , two hundred have taken up Arms with us , and above 200 more common Souldiers remain prisoners , besides many Officers , Gentlemen and Servants , not many slain , but their foot so dispersed , as that of about Three thousand , ( which the most credible persons do affirm they had here , and we finde by a List taken among the Lo : Hoptons papers themselves did accompt them more ) we cannot hear of above four hundred that they carried off with them into Cornwal , whither their horse also are gone , being much broken and dispersed as well as their foot . By the considerations and circumstances in this businesse which I have here touch'd upon , you will perceive whose hand it was that lead us to it , and gave such successe in it . And truly there were many more evident appearances of the good hand of God therein then I can set forth , let all the honour be to him alone for ever , being desirous ( as God shall see it good , and further enable me ) to improve th'advantage of this successe to the utmost . The next day having sent some Regiments of horse and foot to advance unto quarters up towards Holsworthy to set the Enemy more home into Cornwal , and with more terrour upon them : I sent also one Regiment of foot with some horse back towards Barnstable , to possesse the Earl of Bathes house at N. Tavestock , about a mile from Barnstable on this side the River , whereby that Garrison will be easily kept in on this side , and I shall further try what may be done upon it other wayes , while the Army takes a little rest hereabouts , which the unseasonable marches , miserable quarters , and hard duty both horse and foot for many dayes have been put unto do necessarily require : But I conceive , that so soon as the Army can be fitted for the purpose , it would be best to follow the Enemy home , and throughly into Cornwal , the breaking of that body of horse that 's left there being the likelyest means to prevent or discourage the landing of any Forreign forces in these parts , or the raising of any more out of Cornwal . In order to which , I must earnestly recommend to your care two things especially , the one , To provide by the disposal of your Forces in the Midland parts , that by Excursions from Oxford hitherward I may not be diverted from prosecution of the work in Cornwal , to send again that way ; nor the sieges of Exeter and Barnstable disturbed when I am ingaged further West : The other , that Money may be speeded ( if any wayes possible , but for one moneth or six weeks ) to enable the horse as well as foot , to pay quarters in Cornwal , whereby th'oppositions that people might make would in all likelyhood be taken off , and their affections or good opinions gained , to make them helpful to us against their present oppressors . There came unto me this day a yong man from about Truro , who certifieth me , That Sir Walter Dudley came very lately from France , to let those about the Prince know , That if there were an absolute necessity , they could bring over their men from France with a fair wind , to be here by the middle of the next moneth ; expressing , That they had neer Eight thousand foot , and a thousand horse in readinesse , and three moneths pay provided for them , besides Ten thousand pounds in Bullion daily expected , a Mint being ready to coyn the same : But yet intimated a conveniency in the giving a little more time for their coming over ; whereupon Sir Iohn Culpeper was to go in all haste for France upon Friday last and is supposed on purpose , either to hasten all or a good part of those Forces over . I think it will be very good , that as much shipping as may be obtained be hastened to those parts ; I shall upon this Information , and the good successe God hath been pleased to give us , so to dispose of the Army , as may most effectually conduce to a speedy and thorough settlement of these Western parts of the Kingdom . Therefore I desire you again to have a special care , that the Forces about Oxford be not permitted to range into these parts , when the Army is like to be ingaged so far West , lest it occasion the diversion of our Forces , and hinder the accomplishment of that we desire to effect . I remain Your most humble Servant , T : FAIRFAX . Great Torrington , Feb. 19. 1645. To the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . SIR , I Suppose before the Date of this Letter , you have received my former Letter of the Engagement of this Army and Hoptons at Torrington on Monday night last , where we took Six hundred Prisoners , besides Officers , near Two hundred Prisoners blown up with Haptons Magazine , set on fire by one Wate a Northern man , for thirty pounds promised him by Sir Ralph Hopton , as he confessed a little before his death : He died this day of the wounds he received by the Timber that fell upon him : The rest of the Prisoners cast him out for a Monster , that would have destroyed all them his Friends . All the houses in the Town are almost shattered in pieces with the blast . Hopton had his Horse kill'd under in the street ; and as we understand by those that come to day from Cornwal , he is desperately wounded ; All his force are All-ago into Cornwall , there they are in great Confusion for fear of our Armies advance , and an Army out of France : we had been there before now , but for setling the businesse of Barnstaple , by blocking it up close : One Regiment is at the E : of Bathes house at Tavestock within a mile of Barnstaple ; other Forces at Biddiford and other places . On Saturday or Sunday we are for Cornwal , Godwilling . By Hoptons Papers we perceive the Relief of Exeter was the principal end of his Motion to Torrington . The quantities of Powder and Salt to be left in Exeter , we finde in writings . We took eight Colours , one Hoptons own Colours with this Motto , I will strive to help my Soveraign King . His Commission from the King and Prince to be General , and Digbies to be Colonel General of the Forces before Plymouth , were also taken . Two Ships are come into Biddiford yesterday ; the one will prove Prize . J. R. Torrington , Feb. 19. twelve at night . FINIS . 
A92113	----	5 Iulii, 11 at night. A letter from the Leaguer before Colchester, sent to the Honorable Committee at Derby-House, of the great fight between his Excellency the Lord Fairfax, and the forces in Colchester. Ordered by the said Committee, that this letter be forthwith printed and published. Gualther Frost, Secr' Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92113 of text R203407 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E451_23). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 3 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92113 Wing R2321 Thomason E451_23 ESTC R203407 99863370 99863370 115566 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92113) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 115566) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 71:E451[23]) 5 Iulii, 11 at night. A letter from the Leaguer before Colchester, sent to the Honorable Committee at Derby-House, of the great fight between his Excellency the Lord Fairfax, and the forces in Colchester. Ordered by the said Committee, that this letter be forthwith printed and published. Gualther Frost, Secr' Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 7, [1] p. Printed for Edward Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, London : July 7. 1648. Signed on A3v: J.R., i.e. John Rushworth. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. Colchester (England) -- History -- Siege, 1648 -- Early works to 1800. A92113 R203407 (Thomason E451_23). civilwar no 5 Iulii, 11 at night. A letter from the Leaguer before Colchester, sent to the Honorable Committee at Derby-House, of the great fight betwee Rushworth, John 1648 494 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-04 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2007-04 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion 5 Iulii , 11 at night . A LETTER From the Leaguer before Colchester , Sent to the Honorable Committee at DERBY-House , OF The great Fight between his Excellency The Lord FAIRFAX , AND The Forces in Colchester . ORdered by the said Committee , That this Letter be forthwith Printed and Published . GUALTHER FROST Secr' London , Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , July 7. 1648. At the LEAGUER before Colchester , July 5. Eleven at night . SIR , THe Enemy sallyed forth at East-bridge about eight in the morning , with One thousand Foot and Three hundred Horse , and fell on our guard very suddenly , and surprised some of them being countrey-men , the rest retreated to the main guard : Colonel Whaley perceiving what advantage the Enemy had got , presently advanced with his horse and got between them and home , whilest the Tower Regiment advanced towards the Front , and routed both Horse and Foot together , and took about One hundred prisoners , the most of them miserably wounded , the Soldiers giving them a payment for their poysoned Bullets : About Twenty of the Enemy was slain on the place , most Gentlemen , their good apparel and white skins speak no less : Lieutenant Colonel Weston , eldest Son to Sir Richard Weston , and two Captains more were taken prisoners , they confess they were One thousand Foot , besides Horse ; and some of the prisoners say , a Colonel was slain on the place , where their Foot fell ; the Retreat was so hasty , that our two Drakes which they surprised at East-bridge , they left behinde , so that we gained them , the house and Turnpike , where we formerly were : Lieut : Colonel Shambroke was shot in the body , the Bullet since taken out , and we finde it poysoned , boyled in Copprice ; our Soldiers hope to be revenged of them the next engagement for this poysoned Bullet : Captain Moody who commanded a Troop of Suffolk horse , was taken prisoner , ingaging the Enemy very boldly in person ; one Soldier had his Leg shot off with a great Bullet , and some wounded . The Enemy was this day so sufficiently beaten , that unless hunger , which breaks stone walls , inforce them to play their last game , they will no more appear . Your servant , J. R. POSTSCRIPT . The Colonel or person of quality slain , had Rings on his finger , which the Soldiers cut off before he was dead ; many of them had two shirts on , which would make one believe they intended an escape . One Wood a Commander of Horse , lately a Supermerary Reformado , vvas slain on their side . FINIS . 
A92115	----	A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, concerning the miraculous taking of Tiverton-Castle with the church Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92115 of text R212258 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason 669.f.9[46]). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 2 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92115 Wing R2323 Thomason 669.f.9[46] ESTC R212258 99870898 99870898 161144 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92115) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 161144) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 245:669f9[46]) A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, concerning the miraculous taking of Tiverton-Castle with the church Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. Lenthall, William, 1591-1662, recipient. 1 sheet ([1] p.) Printed for Edward Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, London : October 23. 1645. Signed: I.R., i.e. John Rushworth. Dated: Tiverton, Octob. 19. 1645. Order to print signed: H:Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Reproduction of the original in the British Library (Thomason Tracts) and the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery (Early English books). eng Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. Tiverton (England) -- History -- 17th century -- Early works to 1800. A92115 R212258 (Thomason 669.f.9[46]). civilwar no A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, concerning the miraculous taking of Tive Rushworth, John 1645 324 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-07 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-08 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2007-08 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthall Esquire , Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons , Concerning the miraculous taking of Tiverton-Castle with the Church . SIR , THis day ( being the Lords-day ) after Forenoon Sermon , the Generall called a Councell of VVar , and agreed to Storm immediatly ; parties were drawn out to fall on in their severall Posts ; and whilest the Councell of VVar was sitting , the Gunner with round shot brake the Draw-Bridge , which immediatly fell down ; our Souldiers without order , or staying for their Ladders , fell on , beat the Enemy from their works into the Church and Castle , who took down their bloody Flag , and cryed for quarter : Col : Talbot , Son to Sir Sherington Talbot , Major Sadler a Renegado , and twenty Commanders more , and above Two hundred common Souldiers are prisoners , Four piece of Ordnance , great store of Ammunition : Our men gave quarter , though they blew up some of our men in the Church . I never see men more resolved then they were at this time : This place is of great use to us ; not onely in order to the straightning of Exeter , but to secure any Ammunition , &c. that shall be sent us , and keeps the passe open to Plimouth . To morrow the Army marches ; Gorings Horse being gone towards Plimouth : I am Sir , Your faithfull Servant , I. R. Tiverton , Octob. 19. 1645. This Bearer was an Eye-witnesse of our Souldiers entring and carriage . ORdered by the Commons Assembled in Parliament , That this Letter be forthwith Printed and Published . H : Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , October 23. 1645. 
A92116	----	A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, of the fight between His Excellency's the Lord Fairfax forces at Maidstone, and the Kentish forces, June 1. 1648. Printed by the command of William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92116 of text R203405 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E445_37). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 4 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92116 Wing R2324 Thomason E445_37 ESTC R203405 99863368 99863368 115564 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92116) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 115564) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 70:E445[37]) A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, of the fight between His Excellency's the Lord Fairfax forces at Maidstone, and the Kentish forces, June 1. 1648. Printed by the command of William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 7, [1] p. Printed for Edward Husband, Printer to the Honorable House of Commons, London : June 3. 1648. Signed at end: John Rushworth. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, -- Baron, 1612-1671. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Campaigns -- Kent -- Early works to 1800. Maidstone (England) -- History -- 17th century -- Early works to 1800. A92116 R203405 (Thomason E445_37). civilwar no A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons,: of the fight between His Excellency's the L Rushworth, John 1648 656 1 0 0 0 0 0 15 C The rate of 15 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-04 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2007-04 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER SENT To the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of COMMONS , OF The Fight between His Excellency's The Lord Fairfax Forces AT MAIDSTONE , And the KENTISH Forces , JUNE 1. 1648. PRinted by the Command of William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . London , Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons . June 3. 1648. TO The Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of COMMONS . SIR , THe particulars are too many to be related at this time concerning this last nights Ingagement with the Enemy at Maidstone , which in brief was such as never was since these VVars began ; This Army strugled with so much difficulty to overcome a stubborn and resolute Enemy : The Fight begun about Seven of the clock at night , about a mile from Maidstone , and before we could beat them from hedge to hedge , and get in at the Barracado's , it was past Nine ; and after we had entred the Town , we disputed every street and turning ; they having Eight pieces of Canon , which they discharged above Twenty times upon our men in the streets , and by Gods mighty help and assistance we overcame them between twelve and one of the clock at night , being every minute in all that time firing upon their horse and foot , and they upon us , it being extreme wet weather during all this time of Ingagement ; we took about Four hundred prisoners , and near as many Horse , our Forlorn-hope of horse gave the red Standard of horse as gallant a charge as ever was seen , which is said to be General Hales his Troop . The reason why the Ingagement began so soon , the Train and the Rear of the Army being three miles off ( and not come up ) was , that the Forlorn of horse and foot being ingaged in viewing the Town before it was dark , came off safe : The Enemy being with their whole body of horse and foot within two miles on the top of the Hill towards Rochester all day long in view of our Army , about Eight thousand men , who , as they perceived that we did not dispute the pass at Alsford , which was very difficult for us to have done ; they sent in a supply of Twelve hundred horse and foot to those before in the town of Maidstone , who came in just as we ingaged , being Seamen , Apprentices , and most part Commanders and Cavaliers that have formerly been in arms against the Parliament . There were in all , as we guess , Two hundred then slain in and about the town , and Captain Price a very honest and stout Gentleman , Col : Hewsons Captain Lieutenant , was also slain , and about thirty more of our men , most falling at the mouth of the Canon with Ca●e shot ; we took Eight pieces , six Iron , and two Brass , abundance of Arms , having been up all night , and want of time cannot send more particulars at present : Onely I desire God to let you see how the old quarrel is revived by the same party , with greater violence then at first . You will shortly understand what Earls , Lords , and other persons of quality appeared in this business . His Excellency from the first minute of Ingagement to the last , could not be drawn off from a personal and hazzardous attendance on the service , and is much impaired in his health . John Rushworth . Maidstone , June 2. 1648. 6 in the morning . FINIS . 
A92117	----	A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, of the late fight at Colchester, and, how the suburbs of the said town were fired by the Lord Goring, Lord Capel, Sir Charls Lucas, and the rest of the enemy. Printed by the command of the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92117 of text R203404 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E452_42). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 4 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 4 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92117 Wing R2325 Thomason E452_42 ESTC R203404 99863367 99863367 115563 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92117) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 115563) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 72:E452[42]) A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, of the late fight at Colchester, and, how the suburbs of the said town were fired by the Lord Goring, Lord Capel, Sir Charls Lucas, and the rest of the enemy. Printed by the command of the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 7, [1] p. Printed for Edward Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, London : July 17. 1648. Signed at end: J.R., i.e. John Rushworth. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Colchester (England) -- History -- 17th century -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. A92117 R203404 (Thomason E452_42). civilwar no A letter sent to the Honorable William Lenthal Esq; Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons, of the late fight at Colchester,: and, how t Rushworth, John 1648 595 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-04 Celeste Ng Sampled and proofread 2007-04 Celeste Ng Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A LETTER SENT To the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons , Of the late Fight at Colchester , AND , How the Suburbs of the said Town were fired by The Lord Goring , Lord Capel , Sir Charls Lucas , and the rest of the Enemy . PRinted by the Command of the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons . London , Printed for Edward Husband , Printer to the Honorable House of Commons , July 17. 1648. To the Honorable , WILLIAM LENTHAL Esq Speaker of the Honorable House OF COMMONS . SIR , IN my last I intimated to you , That we hoped to gain the Gate-house , the works about it , & church ; all which the Enemy had fortified very strongly , and it pleased God this afternoon about Five of the clock to deliver all these places into our hands , the maner was thus ; VVe discharged four pieces of Canon altogether , vvhich much amazed the Enemy in the works , and then discharged four more ; and immediately our Musquetiers fell on and storm'd the Gate-house with Ladders , and threw in hand-Granado's : The Enemy opposed very stoutly for a while , and threw down several of the Ladders , but at last gave back ; some held out their Handkerchiefs , others fired very fiercely : yet notwithstanding , our men gained the work , and part of the Gate-house , and throwing in a hand-Granado , where there was some of the Enemy stood to their Arms , it hapned to light amongst their Magazine , consisting of about four Barrels of powder , and blew up about forty of their men : It pleased God that we had but one man hurt with that blow . All this evening our men have been digging , and pulling out the dead bodies of the Enemy , finding here and there a Leg and an Arm by it self . There were in the whole number , as some of the prisoners who had quarter confest Sevenscore , and we had about Threescore prisoners , not any could escape ( we getting between them and home ) so the rest were put to the Sword , and destroyed as aforesaid . I send you herewith some poysoned Bullets , that you may see how they still persist in their venemous disposition , to shoot such things as may be sure to rancour and poyson the flesh . The Enemy vvas so enraged at this loss ( having totally by this means shut themselves up vvithin the walls , and not having any part of the Suburbs ) that they set the Suburbs round the Town on fire , and at this present there is the sadest spectacle to be seen , that hath fallen out in this Age , there being novv burning in a great Flame , houses above a mile in length , and with that violence , that it is a wonder to behold it : By this we conceive that they are desperately bent , and will not onely destroy the Suburbs , but even burn the Town also before they yield . I hope in the Lord he will enable us very shortly to gain this place , and to make such Destroyers of the Nation , Examples to posterity . Leaguer before Colchester , July 15. 12 at night . J. R. FINIS . 
A92119	----	A more full and exact relation (being the third letter to the Honorable William Lenthal Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons) of the several treaties between Sir Tho. Fairfax and Sir Ralph Hopton, and of his coming into the Parliament. Together with the coming in of the gentry of that county to Sir Thomas, and the taking of Saint Mawes, the principle fort of Pendennis Castle. Which letter was read in the House of Commons. 17. Martii. 1645. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that this letter be forthwith printed and published. H. Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92119 of text R200677 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E328_15). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 11 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92119 Wing R2327 Thomason E328_15 ESTC R200677 99861356 99861356 113489 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92119) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 113489) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 53:E328[15]) A more full and exact relation (being the third letter to the Honorable William Lenthal Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons) of the several treaties between Sir Tho. Fairfax and Sir Ralph Hopton, and of his coming into the Parliament. Together with the coming in of the gentry of that county to Sir Thomas, and the taking of Saint Mawes, the principle fort of Pendennis Castle. Which letter was read in the House of Commons. 17. Martii. 1645. Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, that this letter be forthwith printed and published. H. Elsynge, Cler. Parl. D. Com. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons. 8 p. Printed for Edw. Husband, printer to the Honorable House of Commons, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet, neer the Inner-Temple., London, : March 18. 1645. [i.e. 1646] Dated and signed on page 8: Truro, March 13. 12 at night. 1645. J.R. [i.e. John Rushworth]. Wing has publication year 1645[6]; Thomason catalogue lists under 1646. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Hopton, Ralph Hopton, -- Baron, 1598-1652 -- Early works to 1800. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, -- Baron, 1612-1671 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Treaties -- Early works to 1800. A92119 R200677 (Thomason E328_15). civilwar no A more full and exact relation (being the third letter to the Honorable William Lenthal Esquire, Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons) Rushworth, John 1645 1849 2 0 0 0 0 0 11 C The rate of 11 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the C category of texts with between 10 and 35 defects per 10,000 words. 2007-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-04 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-05 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2007-05 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A more Full and Exact RELATION ( Being the Third LETTER To the Honorable William Lenthal Esquire , Speaker of the Honorable House of Commons ) Of the several TREATIES between Sir Tho. Fairfax and Sir Ralph Hopton , and of his coming into the PARLIAMENT . Together with the coming in of the Gentry of that County to Sir Thomas , and the taking of Saint Mawes , the principle Fort of Pendennis Castle . Which Letter was read in the House of Commons . 17. Martii . 1645. ORdered by the Commons assembled in Parliament , That this Letter be forthwith Printed and Published . H. Elsynge , Cler. Parl. D. Com. London , Printed for Edw. Husband , Printed to the Honorable House of Commons , and are to be sold at his Shop at the signe of the Golden Dragon in Fleetstreet , neer the Inner-Temple . March 18. 1645. To the Honorable William Lenthal Esq Speaker to the Honorable House of Commons . SIR , THis is the third I sent unto you since the Treaty with the Lord Hopton ; the time may seem somwhat long since it began ; yet if you will consider the many particulars that are to be insisted upon concerning the Disbanding of an Army ( though it be sooner Disbanded then Raised ) you will not think the time too long that hath been spent about the same : It is now finished , Subscribed by both Generals , and Hostages given : They consist of many particulars , and are very long ; and therefore I will not presume to touch upon any of them , lest I do mistake , but leave you to the Articles at large when they come up ; onely this ( in general ) the Field-force in the West of England is to be dissolved : To morrow at eight of the clock , the first Brigade of English ( of Horse ) are to be at a Rendezvouz , and there every Officer to receive his Pass , first giving his ingagement never to bear Arms against the Parliament ( the like ingagement hath not been given on any Articles ) and every common Trooper to be dismounted , to deliver up his Horse and Arms , and to receive the promised reward of twenty shillings to bear their charges home ( it being too little for many of them ( my Countrey-men ) that have neer Five hundred English miles home ) It is not to be credited how much this Army is become in their esteem , during this Cessation ; and what sorrowful expressions many of them do make ; that they have been thus deluded concerning our carriage ; the most ingenuous of them affirming , the wayes of the Court at Oxford have never been rightly represented unto them . Officers and Souldiers unanimously desire imployment for Ireland , being willing to take the Sacrament-Oath , or to give what other Obligation shall be thought fit , That as they will never bear Arms in England against the Parliament , so will they not when they are imployed in Ireland by the Parliament , desist from pursuing their Commands against the Irish Rebels , upon anp invitations of the Kings : They affirming , They have sufficiently smarted for being inticed formerly by him . This I onely offer to your consideration , to make what use of it shall be thought convenient ; and if it shall be thought fit to imploy them into Ireland , it is requisite some of the Committee of the Army for Irish affairs , or other chief Officer be sent down with all possible speed that may be to Salisbury , where these may be met marching to their several homes , and will be ready to hearken to any Proposition of Imployment that way : Likewise some of the Horses may be allowed to go upon that Service , if it be desired , which is thought better to be granted ( upon a second consideration ) then at the Disbanding to permit them , to let them and their Horses Quarter in a body upon the Countrey , and give those disturbances that the other Horse of this kinde have done neer Basing . I think you may have a thousand Officers , Souldiers , and Reformadoes by the first of April , will be at any Rendezvouz upon the Sea-Coasts to be mounted and transported for Ireland . It is now a fit time to take the same into consideration , which is the onely cause of my presumption to mention it unto you , if the wisdom of the Parliament shall think fit to imploy them again . Every hour more Gentlemen of quality do come in : And this day Colonel Trevanian come from Peurin , and some of his Officers came to Truro with their Colours flying , and their men armed , even from the Lord Hoptons Head-quarter . This hath wrought such operation upon the Governour at St. Mawes ( the principal Fort that commands the Haven at Falmouth , having a greater command thereof , then the Castle and Fort of Pendennis ) that he hath sent to the General to be received into favour , and will deliver up the Castle , Fort , Ordnance , Arms and Ammunition : and accordingly there is Forces sent away this night to take possession thereof . Thus you see how God doth work for us , and for the good and welfare of this Land ; and let nothing in this great businesse done in this Countrey in so short a time , where so little hopes of successe was expected , be attributed unto man , but solely unto God who orders affairs thus so much for the publike good . Arundel the Governour of Pendennis , sent to tempt the Governour at St. Mawes to come in the Castle of Pendennis , he refused the same , and as aforesaid craved the aid of this Army . There are two great brasse pieces of Ordnance in the Fort , of about Four thousand weight a piece . For the Castle of Pendennis , I make no doubt as soon as this Army is totally Disbanded ( which though it begin to morrow , will take too or three dayes before it be ended ) make what speed we can ; we shall finde them tractable ; if not , we shall settle this County in such a posture of Security against that place , as will compel them in a short time to hearken to worse Propositions then they now might have had , if they persist in a refusal of the Summons intended to be sent them . Sir John Arundel , ( who sent formerly ) Sir John Meux , Sir Henry Hastings , and many other Commanders and Gentlemen of quality , have all accepted of Passes and Protections ; and ( unaminously ) Officers and Souldiers do all agree , and would be engaged by Oath to oppose French , or Irish ( though of the Kings sending in ) to their utmost : And that which hath wrought upon many of their spirits , and ( especially of the whole County of Cornwal ) was , the Letter sent from Glamorgan ( His Majesties principal Agent with the Irish Rebels ) signifying to the Prince an intention , to send over Irish ( being a Duplicate of that Packet which we took at Padstow . ) Thus hath God turned that to the Kings , and the bloody Irish Rebels disadvantage , which he and they had thought to have made their means of continuing the War in England : And I hope God will so order it , That those men they expected here to fight for them , will be as valiant , and as zealous as any against them . To morrow assoon as the first Brigade is disbanded , there goeth Forces towards Pendennis ; and as there is occasion to give you an account of that , or any other businesse , you shall not fail to receive the same . I thought good to send this Messenger Post with this , lest my former Letters did miscarry , or mis-reports should arise by the long continuance of this Treaty , desiring you to consider him for the greatnesse of the Journey : None should have been more willing to have undertaken it then my self , but that the businesse of the Atmy is now greater then ever it hath been , since I had the honour and happinesse to serve therein . This day some of the Princes servants who are come to the Head-quarters , say That the Prince is landed at Ceely , that they left him there , that his condition is mean : Provisions must be sent from hence , or he , and that poor Family with him cannot long subsist . They curse Hyde and Culpepper , and desire they might have no other Executioner then themselves , for the Treason committed by them in carrying away the Prince , and to be so deceitfull in doing the same , as to publish a Declaration in the Princes Name , the day before he went , That there was no such intention , and that none about him should presume to speak a word to that purpose , and yet the next day on a sudden shipp'd him , and carried him to Sea : He was three dayes at Sea before he got to Ceely , the winde being crosse , and forced him to sayl at a distance . There is such care taken in the Army by the General and Lieutenant General , that I am confident , not one man that came off upon this Treaty , shall be plundered to the value of two pence : So much our Souldiers have forgotten former injuries , and inclinable ( I may say it ) and ( beyond expectation ) to requite good for evil . It is late , and I have much businesse more to do this night , in order to the businesse to morrow , and therefore must abruptly break of , and remain , Truro , March 13. 12 at Night . 1645. Your most humble and faithful Servant , J. R. THis Bearer was through the greatest part of H 〈…〉 Army , and see their Horse ; some good , some bad , about four thousand in all : Our men have gotten already choice Horses , by exchange , and buying at low rates ▪ and by that means we shall have most of the Officers Horses ; for they want money as well as the Souldiers . FINIS . 
A92124	----	The taking of Tiverton, with the castle, church, and fort, by Sir Thomas Fairfax, on the Lords-day last, Octob. 19. 1645. Wherein was taken Colonel Sir Gilbert Talbot, the governour. Major Sadler, major to Col. Talbot. 20. officers of note. 200. common souldiers. Foure peece of ordnance. 500. armes, with store of ammunition, provision, and treasure. Also the severall defeats given to Goring, by his Excellency, and all Gorings forces fled before him. Published according to order. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92124 of text R200331 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason E306_1). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 7 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92124 Wing R2332 Thomason E306_1 ESTC R200331 99861134 99861134 113262 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92124) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 113262) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 50:E306[1]) The taking of Tiverton, with the castle, church, and fort, by Sir Thomas Fairfax, on the Lords-day last, Octob. 19. 1645. Wherein was taken Colonel Sir Gilbert Talbot, the governour. Major Sadler, major to Col. Talbot. 20. officers of note. 200. common souldiers. Foure peece of ordnance. 500. armes, with store of ammunition, provision, and treasure. Also the severall defeats given to Goring, by his Excellency, and all Gorings forces fled before him. Published according to order. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. [2], 6 p. Printed for R.A., London, : Octob. 23. 1645. Attributed to John Rushworth by Wing. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Tiverton (England) -- History -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Campaigns -- Early works to 1800. A92124 R200331 (Thomason E306_1). civilwar no The taking of Tiverton,: with the castle, church, and fort, by Sir Thomas Fairfax, on the Lords-day last, Octob. 19. 1645. Wherein was take Rushworth, John 1645 1102 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-02 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-02 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-03 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2007-03 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion The taking of TIVERTON , WITH THE Castle , Church , and Fort , BY Sir Thomas Fairfax , ON THE Lords-Day last , Octob. 19. 1645. Wherein was taken Colonel Sir Gilbert Talbot , the Governour . Major Sadler , Major to Col. Talbot . 20. Officers of note . 200. Common Souldiers . Foure Peece of Ordnance . 500. Armes , with store of Ammunition , Provision , and Treasure . ALSO The severall Defeats given to Goring , by his Excellency , and all Gorings Forces fled before him . Published according to Order . LONDON , Printed for R. A. Octob. 23. 1645. THE TAKING OF TIVERTON , Castle , Towne , Church , and Fort , By Sir Thomas Fairfax . SIR : IT hath pleased God still to blesse our endeavours above expectation , all the glorie be given to God . We have taken in Tiverton , both the Towne , Castle , Church , and Fort , a place of so great strength , that had not the Lord done wonderfully for us , wee might rather have admired their strength , than expected to be Masters of it ; the manner wherof , together with other passages since my last , I have here enformed you , since our advance from Chard untill this present . We advanced on Tuesday the 14 of October instant from Chard , and marched to Honniton ; and Gorings horse ( through the carelesnesse of some of our Guards ) fell upon our out-quarters , and tooke some fortie Dragoones and Foot , and those horse of Gorings returned presently to their quarters about Exeter ; wee quartered that night , and all Wednesday , and Wednesday night about Honniton , and met with some of Gorings straglers and others , we have ( divers ) come in to us , and on Wednesday the 15. of October instant , we advanced from Hunnington and marched that day to Columbton , where the Lord Miller was quartered with two Regiments of Horse and one of Dragoons , the towne being slightly fortified : but immediately upon our advance , they quitted that place and fled ; We had then intelligence , that Greenvill was with about two thousand foot that day viz. Wednesday Octob. 15. instant at Bow , and it was supposed that the next day he would be in conjunction with Goring , most part of his Horses then quartered in the villages on this side of Exeter , about Cliffe , Silverton , Stoake , Rew , Hucksham , and all the Parishes thereabouts ; The Foot ( which formerly did belong to Gerhards Brigade of old ) then quartered most of them at Broadcliffe . On Thursday Octob. 16. instant , Major-Generall Massey was ordered to advance to Tiverton , and so to quarted beyond the River with his Brigade , and there was the good effect of that took in the enemies Quarters , and Major Generall Massey did soone possesse himselfe of the Town of Tiverton , the Enemie marched away , onely those who were left in the Castle , and the Church , to keep those places . It was then conceived hard for us , nay almost impossible for us to hinder the Enemies Horse from marching Eastward , if he do attempt it with the whole strength , except Lievtenant-Generall Cromwell ( with his whole Brigade ) come up to us ; And that day wee began to extend our quarters towards Broadminch , and so nearer to Exeter . On Friday the 17. instant , our Generall Sir Thomas Fairfax sate downe before Tiverton-Castle and Church , to take them in , and summoned the enemy to deliver them up , of which being denied , we planted our batteries against them , which went forwards that day and the next . On Saturday Octob. 18. instant , our batteries were finished by the afternoone , and on this day being the Lords day Octob. 19. instant , the Generall caused severall great pieces to be planted on the batteries against the Castle verie early , so that they were ready to play by breake of day , and all our Cannon began to play about seven a clocke in the morning , against the Castle , and the Enemie from thence answered us with their pieces , but did no execution upon us . And after many shot that we had made against them , a Cannonier by one shot gallantly performed this businesse , for he broke the chaine of the Draw-bridge with a bullet , which passeth over to the entrance of the Castle , which falling downe , the chaine being so broken , our Souldiers fell on without any further order from the Generall , they being loth to lose such an opportunitie , and loving rather to fight than to look on when God gives them such occasion , which took good effect , for they soone possessed themselves of all ; they presently entred the Castle and Church , in which wee had foure men slaine : yet such is the mild and gentle carriage of the Generall , and his desire to spare the effusion of bloud , as much as may be , that notwithstanding they took it by storme , yet he himself gave command , that quarter should be given to all those who were alive : wee took in the castle Sir Gilbert Talbot who was Governour of the place , 20 other Officers , 200 Souldiers , four peece of Ordnance , good store of Armes and Ammunition , and abundance of treasure , which was divided amongst the Souldiers . The castle was verie strong , and the works all regular . The Generall intends to march on Munday for the releefe of Plymouth , and wee heare that Lievtenant-Generall Cromwell did intend to quarter at Dorchester as the last night , and cometh on verie hard marches to joyne with the Generall . Gorings Horse are marched towards Plymouth . Tiverton , Octob. 19. 1645. at nine a clock at night . A List of what was taken at Tiverton . Colonell Sir Gilbert Talbot , the Governour . Major Sadler , Major to Col. Talbot . 20 Officers of note . 200 Common Souldiers . Foure Peece of Ordnance . 500 Armes , with store of Ammunition , Provision , and Treasure . FINIS . 
A92128	----	A true relation of the surrendring of Colchester to his Excellency the Lord Generall Fairfax. As it was sent in a letter to the Honourable William Lenthal, Esquire, speaker of the Honourable House of Commons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A92128 of text R210877 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason 669.f.13[7]). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 3 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A92128 Wing R2337 Thomason 669.f.13[7] ESTC R210877 99869630 99869630 162902 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A92128) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 162902) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 246:669f13[7]) A true relation of the surrendring of Colchester to his Excellency the Lord Generall Fairfax. As it was sent in a letter to the Honourable William Lenthal, Esquire, speaker of the Honourable House of Commons. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. Lenthall, William, 1591-1662, recipient. 1 sheet ([1] p.) Printed by R.W. for Iohn Partridge, London : 1648. Dated at end: Colchester August 28. 1648. Signed: Iohn Rushworth. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, -- Baron, 1612-1671 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. Colchester (England) -- History -- Siege, 1648 -- Early works to 1800. A92128 R210877 (Thomason 669.f.13[7]). civilwar no A true relation of the surrendring of Colchester to his Excellency the Lord Generall Fairfax. As it was sent in a letter to the Honourable W Rushworth, John 1648 388 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-07 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-08 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2007-08 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A true Relation of the Surrendring of COLCHESTER to his Excellency the Lord Generall FAIRFAX . As it was sent in a Letter to the Honourable William Lenthal , Esquire , Speaker of the Honourable House of Commons . SIR , THE last night about ten of the Clock the Articles were Signed by the Commissioners on both sides , which were to this purpose , That all Horses , with furniture , should be delivered this day by ten of the Clock , That all private Souldiers , and Officers under Captains shall have fair quarter , and render themselves prisoners . That the Lords , and all Captains , and superiour Officers , and Gentlemen be drawn together to the Kings-head Inne , with their Clothes and Baggage , by eleven of the Clock , and there to render themselves to the Mercy of the Lord Generall . That the Enemies Guards be drawn off , and Guards of this Army appointed in their stead : That all Ordnance , Ammunition , Waggons , &c. be delivered to the Comptroller . That the sick and wounded be provided for , with Accommodation , untill recovered . And accordingly this forenoon Col. Rainsboroughs Regiment , and another Regiment entred the Town , and the Articles in all things else performed : You will very suddenly receive an Account from his Excellency , of the particulars , of this businesse , as also a List of what persons of quality , Officers , and Commanders are at Mercy , and the number of Ordnance , Arms , and quantity of Ammunition . This morning we rode round about the Wall of the Town , and finde it to be a very strong place in all parts of it ; Where it was weakest , there they made strong Works , or strengthened it with Earth . It was a sad spectacle to see so many fair Houses burnt to Ashes , and so many Inhabitants made so sickly and weak with living upon Horses and Dogs . Many glad to eat the very Draught and Graines for preservation of life . I remain , Your humble Servant , Iohn Rushworth . Cochester August 28. 1648. London Printed by R. W. for Iohn Partridge . 1648. 
A95951	----	A vindication of the army under the command of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax concerning a pamphlet lately printed and published, intituled, Heads presented by the army to the Kings Majesty. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription A95951 of text R210516 in the English Short Title Catalog (Thomason 669.f.11[38]). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 3 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 A95951 Wing V499 Thomason 669.f.11[38] ESTC R210516 99869305 99869305 162687 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A95951) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 162687) Images scanned from microfilm: (Thomason Tracts ; 246:669f11[38]) A vindication of the army under the command of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax concerning a pamphlet lately printed and published, intituled, Heads presented by the army to the Kings Majesty. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 1 sheet ([1] p.) printed for John Wright at the Kings Head in the Old Bayley, London : 1647. The pamphlet "Heads presented by the army to the Kings Majesty" is false scandalous, and injurious to us, and has never been sent by the King -- Cf. Steele. Order to print dated: Die Lunae 2. Julii 1647. Signed: Joh. Brown Cler. Parliamentorum. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. eng England and Wales. -- Parliament. Heads presented by the army to the Kings Most Excellent Majestie, on Saturday, June the 19. 1647 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- Militia -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Civil War, 1642-1649 -- Early works to 1800. A95951 R210516 (Thomason 669.f.11[38]). civilwar no A vindication of the army under the command of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax, concerning a pamphlet lately printed and published, intitu Rushworth, John 1647 445 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2007-06 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2007-06 Aptara Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2007-07 Emma (Leeson) Huber Sampled and proofread 2007-07 Emma (Leeson) Huber Text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Vindication of the Army under the command of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax , concerning a Pamphet lately printed and published , Intituled , Heads presented by the Army to the Kings Majesty . WHereas we finde a Pamphlet lately printed and published , bearing the title of , Heads presented by the Army to the Kings Majesty , on Saturday June the 19. 1647. though we think it will of it selfe appeare such a confused headlesse peece , so surreptitiously crept forth , and in such a pure Pamphlet dresse , as we hope it will gaine little beleefe to our prejudice : Yet to avoid any jealousies or doubtfull thoughts which it might possible breed in any honest minde , we cannot but take notice of it , and for the vindication of the Army doe hereby declare , That the said printed Pamphlet is most false , scandalous , and injurious to us and this Army : Neither hath there beene any such Paper presented to his Majesty by or from this Army . And the same we professe and declare with great detestation , concerning another written Paper , whereof we had a Copy shewed to us yesterday by the Commissioners of the City , Intituled , Articles agreed upon betweene the King and the Army , the 16. of Iune . And we desire all that wish well to this Army , or the King or Parliament , or peace of this Kingdome , that they would doe their best to finde out and discover the Authors and Publisher of the said Paper and Pamphlet , or any thing else of that nature that may be divulged concerning the Army , to interrupt or prejudice the present setling and composure of Affaires . And we hope it will not be further needfull or expected from us , that we should give particular answer to every such scandalous Paper , which the malice of our enemies may forge against us , but that what we have published to the world in our Representation and other Papers avowed by us , may serve to cleare our intentions , untill we shall appeare to act something to the contrary . By the appointment of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax and his Councell of Warre . Signed JOHN RUSHWORTH . Wickam Iuly 1. 1647. Die Lunae 2. Julii 1647. ORdered by the Lords assembled in Parliament , That this Vindication of the Army be forthwith printed and published . Joh. Brown Cler. Parliamentorum . London printed for John Wright at the Kings Head in the Old Bayley . 1647. 
A57925	----	The Tryal of Thomas, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon an impeachment of high treason by the Commons then assembled in Parliament, in the name of themselves and of all the Commons in England, begun in Westminster-Hall the 22th of March 1640, and continued before judgment was given until the 10th of May, 1641 shewing the form of parliamentary proceedings in an impeachment of treason : to which is added a short account of some other matters of fact transacted in both houses of Parliament, precedent, concomitant, and subsequent to the said tryal : with some special arguments in law relating to a bill of attainder / faithfully collected, and impartially published, without observation or reflection, by John Rushworth of Lincolnes-Inn, Esq. Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, 1593-1641, defendant. 1680 Approx. 1975 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 313 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-03 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A57925 Wing R2333 ESTC R22355 11942027 ocm 11942027 51285 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57925) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 51285) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 41:2 or 648:7) The Tryal of Thomas, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, upon an impeachment of high treason by the Commons then assembled in Parliament, in the name of themselves and of all the Commons in England, begun in Westminster-Hall the 22th of March 1640, and continued before judgment was given until the 10th of May, 1641 shewing the form of parliamentary proceedings in an impeachment of treason : to which is added a short account of some other matters of fact transacted in both houses of Parliament, precedent, concomitant, and subsequent to the said tryal : with some special arguments in law relating to a bill of attainder / faithfully collected, and impartially published, without observation or reflection, by John Rushworth of Lincolnes-Inn, Esq. Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of, 1593-1641, defendant. Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. England and Wales. Parliament. House of Commons. [11], 76, 101-252, 401-786 p. : port. Printed for John Wright ... and Richard Chiswell ..., London : 1680. Advertisement on p. [11]. Contains errors in pagination. "The table" [i.e. index]: p. 799 [i.e. 779]-786. This work appears at reel 41:2 as Wing R2333, and at reel 648:7 as Wing T2232 (number cancelled in Wing 2nd ed.). Reproduction of originals in University of Michigan Libraries and Huntington Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, -- Earl of, 1593-1641. Trials (Impeachment) -- England. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-04 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-11 Ben Griffin Sampled and proofread 2004-11 Ben Griffin Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-01 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion S r THOMAS WENTWORTH Kt. EARLE of STRAFFORDE , Viscount Wentworth , Baron Wentworth of Wentworth , Woodhowse , Newmarch , Oversley & Raby , Ld. Lievtenant Generall , and Generall Governor of the Kingdome of Ireland : and Ld. President of y e Councill established in y e North parts of England , L d Lievtenant of y e County & City of York , & one of his Ma ty most hon ble Privy Councill , and Knight of y e most Noble order of the Garter . THE TRYAL OF Thomas Earl of Strafford , Lord Lieutenant of IRELAND , Upon an Impeachment of High Treason BY The COMMONS then Assembled in PARLIAMENT , In the Name of THEMSELVES and of All the Commons in England : Begun in Westminster-Hall the 22 th of March 1640. And Continued before Judgment was Given until the 10 th of May 1641. Shewing the Form of PARLIAMENTARY Proceedings In an IMPEACHMENT of TREASON . To which is Added A short Account of some other MATTERS of FACT Transacted in Both Houses of PARLIAMENT , Precedent , Concomitant and Subsequent to the said TRYAL : With some Special Arguments in LAW Relating to a BILL of ATTAINDER . Faithfully Collected , and Impartially Published , Without Observation or Reflection , By IOHN RUSHWORTH of Lincolnes-Inn , Esq LONDON , Printed for John Wright at the Crown on Ludgate-Hill , and Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard , 1680. To the Right HONOURABLE GEORGE EARL OF HALIFAX ; One of His Majesties most Honourable PRIVY COUNCIL . My LORD , NO Man ( I believe ) understands better than your Lordship , the Interest and Concern that Posterity hath , in a true account of all matters of moment , that were transacted by their Ancestors ; and I know none in whose Devotion , to the service of the King and Kingdom , I could so confide , as in your Lordships , to Patronize this plain and full Relation of the proceedings in Parliament , in the Case of the greatest Minister of State , in his time . I some times doubted that the Dedication of these Papers to your Lordship , might be improper , because of your Lordships Descent from the Sister of that great Personage , whose unhappy Fate is here related . But having well considered , that Honor , Truth , and Justice , have the Supreme Empire in your truly Noble Soul ; and that a full and clear Narrative of all the Matters of Fact , that occurred in this great Affairs , with the Intentions and Constructions of them , as declared from the mouth of your Noble Ancestor himself , is the fairest and justest way to represent him truly to future Ages ; I conceived it not unfit for your Lordship to favour this true Account of him , which may protect his Name from the injuries , both of Ignorance and Malice . I ought not , neither can I flatter your Lordship ; you are too well known to need any thing that can be said by me of your Worth and true Nobleness ; and the Character of this your Ancestor is best to be collected from the following Papers . His Letters published by me in the Second Part of my Historical Collections , and his Behaviour in this solemn Tryal here published , discovers the greatness of his Parts , the quickness of his Apprehension , the excellence of his Wit and Eloquence , the contempt he had of Death , and the serene Composure of his mind in that Part of his Life , which falls within this History , I should not have dared to present this Work to your Lordship , so nearly related to this eminent Minister of State , if I had not been a Witnesse to all the steps of the proceedings in this great ▪ Action , and if I had not taken in Characters , as well and truly , all that was said for him , as what his Accusers said against him ; and therefore I can with great assurance aver it to be a candid Representation of Matter of Fact , which is all I pretend to publish to the World : andas far as the exactest care could carry me , I have done it so punctually true , that I am hopeful there is none can have any just Exception to any part of it . My Lord , There is none alive can judge of a Work of this nature better than your self , who as you are descended from a Race of Statesmen , being Nephew and Grandson to the Two chief Ministers of the last age , this Great Earl , and the Wise and Fortunate Lord Keeper Coventry , so are you lookt on by all , as a Person born for the Service of the KING , and the publique good of your Countrey : And as I have always had a constant Experience of your Goodness and Indulgence to my self , so I humbly hope your Lordship will favourably construe my intentions in this Dedication , and accept of it as a tribute of Duty and Acknowledgement humbly offered by May it please your Lordship , Your Lordships most Humble , Most Faithful , and Most obliged Servant JO. RUSHWORTH . March 25. 1680. THE PREFACE . I Cannot think that there wants an Apology for publishing the ensuing Papers , although the Press seems over-charged . The Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , was , and is , some way or other , the Concern of every Man of England ; and the Commissioners of Scotland and Ireland , thought those Kingdoms also Sufferers by his Deportment , and joyned in the Prosecution against him . All the Commons of England by their Deputies in Parliament were his Accusers , and the Impeachment against him was in their Names . The Matter of his Charge had Reference to every English Man , and all their Posterities ; He was accused of designing to destroy the security of every of their Estates , Liberties and Lifes , and to reduce them all to be subject to meer Will and Pleasure . It may therefore be said in the Maxim of our Government , not much varying the sense , Quod Omnes tangit , ab omnibus tractari debet . Every man ought doubtless to know his own Case , to understand whether that Great Man was justly accused of such a hainous Crime ; and whether the Kingdom escaped such a fatal blow , as was then alledged by his exemplary Fall , under the Iudgement of the King and Parliament ; For this purpose I expose to the common view , the whole Proceedings of his Trial , being the most solemn , deliberate , and every way , the greatest Tryal , whereof we have any Account in our English Story . The Preparations for his Tryal were made with an unusual solemnity , and were the Results of the Prudence of many selected Lords and Commons , as a Committee of both Houses . The usual places for Administring Iustice , and Tryals of Offenders , were thought too mean upon so great an occasion , and therefore Scaffolds were erected in Westminster-Hall , fit to receive so great an Assembly , as were to attend his Trial. His Majesty had a Closet provided for him , the Queen and Prince near the place , where the House of Peers sate , and was every day at the Tryal of the said Earl , and might hear what was said , and see what Witnesses were produced , and take a full view of the greatness of the Assembly , and yet remain privately in His Closet unseen . Seats were prepared for the Lord High Steward , and all the House of Lords , who sate as his Iudges ; Woolsacks were placed for all the Iustices or Iudges to be their Assistants : There were also Seats provided for all the Commons in Parliament , though they came not with their Speaker and his Mace , as a House of Parliament , but as a Committee of the whole House ; Seats were likewise prepared for the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland and Ireland , which made it an Assembly of Three-Kingdoms . At the lower end of the Scaffolds , a place was provided for Thirteen Members of the House of Commons , who were appointed for the Earls Prosecutors , to manage the Evidence against him ; near to them stood the Prisoner with a Table before him , and a Desk to write upon , and a Chair was set for him to rest himself when he found it needful . The Author of the ensuing Papers was purposely placed near the Earl , to take in Characters whatsoever should be said , either against or for him , and to the best of his skill , he did impartially put in Writing what was said in the Case Pro and Con ; he hath not wittingly or willingly omitted the least Particle said in the Prisoners Defence , either by himself or any body in his behalfe ; he hath not varied the form or manner of his Expressions , being full of Eloquence , and pleasing Rhetorick , and excellently adapted to move compassion , both in his Iudges , and the numerous Assembly of Auditors . The Greatness of this Minister of State 's Tryal every way answered the High Station and Employments , unto which he had been advanced ; and the lofty Designs he had managed . And the Books of his Life , from the time of his admission in the Cabinet of his Princes Council , were exposed to the Worlds View and the most profound Learning of the Laws of our Countrey , the sharpest Wit ; and the deepest wisdom of our Kingdom were employed to examine and measure what he had done . Not only by those Rules of Iustice , whereby all our ordinary Courts of Iustice are wisely bound by our Ancestors , to proceed in the Trial of Criminals , but by those Fundamental Rules , and Maxims of our English Government , which that Parliament asserted to be the safeguard , both of the King and People , and to be so reserved in the custody of the Supream Legislative Power , that no Criminals , by the violation of those First Principles , which they said gave the Being to our Government , can be judged otherwise than in Parliament , the ordinary Iudges being obliged by that famous Statute of the 25th of Edw. 3. concerning Treasons , to Respit Iudgment in all such Cases , until the matter be declared in Parliament , and Iudgment there given ; whether the offence whereof any shall be accused , be Treason , or other Felony This Tryal being upon an Impeachment for Treasons , not specially named and declared in the Statute of the 25th Edw. 3. occasioned more industrious and exquisite searches to be made into the most antient Records of the Kingdom , than had been for some hundreds of years , and also caused the most Learned of the Long Robe to tumble over their Law-Books , and to apply their minds to look into the bowels of our antient Laws , and the reason of them , from whence they had their Being , and doubtless the Counsel on either side brought out of their most secret Treasuries , the quintescence of all their Learning and Studies ; besides the weight of the Cause , every mans Reputation pushed him to shew his utmost skill before so great and so grave an Assembly of such Critical and excellent Iudges and Auditors . The Reader may find in these Papers all the sweetness of Learning , Wisdom , and Policy , which was the issue of the long Labours and Travels of many industrious Bees , in the whole spring of their youth and vigor . The long continuance of this Trial , is another Evidence of its greatness ; it begun the 22 of March 1640. and continued with the interposition of divers Intervals , for deliberation , and providing Evidence , until the 12th of April 1641. And an ACT for Iudgment in a Bill of Attainder , passed against the Earl in the House of Commons the 21 of the same month , and in the House of Peers on the 10th of May following . I ought not to anticipate the Reader with any thing that happened during this solemn Tryal , nor to point at matter of Law or Fact ; every Reader ought to suppose himself present at the Tryal , and to make his own Comments upon the Law and Fact , as it appeared ; every Professor or Student of the Law may transcribe into his Common place Book , what he shall judge of most use , and every States-man may do the like in his Studies ; and every Man great and small , may , if he please , make excellent Moral Reflections upon the Rise , Greatness , and fall of this seeming Fortunate , and yet at last Unfortunate Gentleman . This Great Mans principal Crime , objected against him by the Parliament , was his attempts to subvert that excellent Law called The Petition of Right , which he himself ( especially in a Speech made by him in Parliament on , the 22 of March , in the year 162● had promoted and pressed with the most ardent Zeal , as the best Inheritance he could leave his Posterity , and all the Laws confirmed and renewed in that Petition of Right , were said to be the most invenomed Arrows that gave him his mortal wound ; but how justly these were urged against him , is not my part to determine . I wish my Labours in Collecting truly the Matter of Fact , may be an occasion to many , to make True and Righteous Iudgment in this particular Case so much Controverted , and that from these Matters of Law and Fact , such right measure may be taken , that all our future Ministers of State may escape the conjoyned Complaints of the Three Kingdoms against them : and that the Government may be so Administred , as shall best conduce to the happiness of the King and Kingdom . ADVERTISEMENT , THere is lately published Historical Collections : The Second Part. Containing the principal Matters which happened from the Dissolution of the Parliament , on the 10th of March , 4 Car. I. 162● . until the summoning of another Parliament , which met at Westminster , April 13. 1640. With an Account of the Proceedings of that Parliamet , and the Transactions and Affairs from that time , until the meeting of another Parliament , Nov. 3 , following , with some remarkable passages therein , during the Firstsix months ▪ Impartially related and disposed in Annals . Setting forth only Matter of Fact in order of Time , without Observation or Reflection . By Iohn Rushworth of Lincolns-Inn , Esq An Introductive Account of several Passages previous to the GRAND TRYAL of Thomas Earl of Strafford , who was Impeached by the House of Commons on the 11th of November , 1640. As also of Passages and Proceedings in Parliament from that time unto the 22. of March the same Year , when his Trial first began in Westminster-Hall . Likewise an Account of Proceedings and remarkable Passages in both Houses of Parliament , and some material Matters elsewhere Concomitant to the said Trial , during the time it lasted , which was until the 30th of April , 1641. Friday , November 6th , 1640. THe House of Commons having in the first place , according to ancient Custom , setled all their Grand Committees , for Religion , Grievances , Courts of Justice , Trade , and Priviledges ; It was moved , That in regard the Complaints of the Kings Subjects in Ireland were many , who had undergone great Oppressions in that Kingdom by Male-Government there , and come to this Parliament for Relief , might be referred to a Committee of the whole House for that purpose only to be appointed . This motion being made by Mr. Pym , and seconded by Sir Iohn Clotworthy , avowing many particulars of the Complaints mentioned to be true , it made a Discovery to such as were well-wishers to Thomas Lord Wentworth Earl of Strafford and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , that this Motion was intended by a side-wind , to accumulate Complaints against him the said Lord Lieutenant , in order to an Accusation ; so when the question was put , after long debate , viz. Whether the Irish Affairs should be referred to a Committee of the whole House ? The House was divided , Sir Iohn Clotworthy and Sir Henry Mildmay being of Opinion for the Yeas , were appointed Tellers of the number of the Noes ; and Sir Edward Bainton and Sir Richard Luson being of Opinion , not to refer this business of Ireland to a Grand Committee , conceiving it without President , were appointed Tellers of the number of the Yeas , and when they had told all , they came up to the Table , and made this Report to Mr. Speaker , That there were with the Yeas 165 , and with the Noes 152 , whereupon it was Resolved upon the Question , That the Irish Affairs should be referred to a Grand Committee of the whole House , to meet to morrow in the Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the House , and afterwards every Thursday at the same hour and place : And this Committee is Ordered to have the like Power as the other Grand Committees of the whole House have . This Vote being carried for a Grand Committee as to Irish Affairs , a Cabal of Friends to the Earl of Strafford sent down post unto him into York-shire to acquaint him , that they apprehended a Design against him in the making of this Committee , and left it to his own Election , whether he would stay still on the Head of his Army , or come up to the Parliament . But if he did incline to come up , that he would , at his first appearance , Impeach some Members of both Houses ( if he had Evidence for the same ) of being privy to the bringing the Scotch Army into this Kingdom , and told him , It was his wisdom to begin first , and not to be first Impeached , as the Earl of Bristol was by the great Duke of Buckingham . The said Earl , upon the receipt of this Advertisement , suddenly resolved to come up and abide the Test of Parliament . But his Friends , then with him in the North , told him , That his frank appearance would make Polit●ans doubt , whether he did thereby assume his Judgment and wonted Prudence , to go thus from his Army to the Parliament , where his Wisdom could not but know , that the Scots and Scotizing-English had resolved his destruction , and therefore ( said they ) unto him , It were better to keep under the safe-guard of the English Army , at his Command , ( from which he had acquired some affection ) or retire to the Army in Ireland , then being also at his Devotion , or take Sanctuary in some Forreign Parts , till fair weather might invite him home , neither ( said they ) would Discretion Vote it a betraying of his Innocency to decline a Trial , whereby the means of Factions raised in England and Scotland by his malicious Prosecutors , and backed with Power , his Innocency could not protect him . They further told him , that if Sentence should pass against him for Non-appearance , yet he had kept his freedom till better times , when he might have occasion to do His Master better Service abroad , than in Council at White-hall . But the said Earl conceiving he had got good Evidence in the North , that the Scots came in by Invitation and Confederacy , between the Heads of the Covenanters and some of the English Members of both Houses , and having digested such his Intelligence almost into the form of an Impeachment , he posted up with the same , intending to present it to the House of Peers , as soon as he arrived there . But on Wednesday , Nov. 11th the House of Commons being acquainted by a Member , that there was a business of great weight to be imparted , desired the House that the Lobby without might be first cleared , and the Key of the House brought up to the Table , which was done accordingly ; and as the House had entred into debate about the Earl of Strafford , there came a Message from the Lords by the Lord Chief Justice Bramstom , and Judge Foster , That the King had commanded the Lords Commissioners , who were appointed to Treat with the Scots Commissioners at Rippon , to give an Account to both Houses of Parliament of that which passed there and at York , and thereupon the Lords desire there may be a meeting , by a Committee of both Houses this Afternoon in the Painted-Chamber at Three of the Clock , if the occasions of this House will give leave . At this time many Members of the House conceived this Message was now sent , to get Intelligence , what private debate was in hand ; The House of Commons returned this Answer by the same Messengers , That at this time they were in Agitation of very Weighty and Important Affairs , and therefore they do doubt they shall not be ready , to give them a meeting this Afternoon , as the Lords desire , but as soon as they may , they will send an Answer by Messengers of their own . After the Messengers were withdrawn , the House proceeded in the Debate they were in before , and appointed a Committee to prepare matter upon the said Debate , for a Conference with the Lords , concerning the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 , and named seven Members , viz. Mr. Pym , Mr. Stroud , Mr. St. Iohn , Lord Digby , Sir Iohn Clotworthy , Sir Walter Earle , and Mr. Hampden . Which select Committee retired immediately into the Committee-Chamber , to prepare Matter of a Conference to be prayed with the Lords , and a Charge against the Earl of Strafford . The said Committee presently returned to the House , and reported the Matter to them referred ; Whereupon it was Resolved upon the Question , That a Message be sent from this House to the Lords , in the Name of this House , and of all the Commons of England , to accuse Thomas Lord Wentworth , Earl of Strafford , Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , of High Treason , and to desire that he may be Sequestred from Parliament , and be Committed to Prison ; and that within some convenient time this House will resort to their Lordships with particular Accusations and Articles against him . Mr. Pym went up with this Message to the Lords , and at his Return made this Report to the House . That he had Repaired to the Lords , and there , in the Name of this House , and of all the Commons of England , did Accuse the said Earl of Strafford of High Treason , and that he had also delivered the other Particulars he had in Charge . Their Lordships Answer was , That they do desire to take this weighty Matter into their serious Consideration , and will speedily send an Answer by Messengers of their own . Afterwards Mr. Pym was sent up to the Lords , with a Message that some fit course be taken , that there may be free Passage between England and Ireland , notwithstanding any Restraint made there to the contrary . The same day came a Message from the Lords by the two Chief Justices , That the Lords have taken into serious Consideration , the Accusation sent from this House against the Earl of Strafford , and have Sequestred him from the House , and have Committed him in safe Custody to the Messenger of their House , and they will move his Majesty , that the Passage from Ireland into England may be open , notwithstanding any Restraint made there to the contrary . The Message delivered by Mr. Pym was in manner following : My Lords , The Knights , Citizens and Burgesses now Assembled in the Commons House of Parliament , have received Information of divers Traiterous Designs and Practices of a great Peer of this House , and by vertue of a Command from them , I do here in the Name of the Commons now Assembled in Parliament , and in the Name of all the Commons of England , Accuse Thomas Earl of Strafford , Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , of High Treason : And they have Commanded me further to desire your Lordships , that he may be Sequestred from the Parliament , and forthwith committed to Prison . They further Commanded me to let you know , that they will within a very few days resort to your Lordships with the particular Articles and Grounds of this Accusation . The Earl being required to withdraw , it was debated by the Peers , Whether he should be Imprisoned on a general Accusation , without any particular act of Treason charged against him or not ? But upon the question it was carried in the Affirmative , and he being called in , kneeled at the Bar ; and after standing up , the Lord-Keeper spake to him as followeth : My Lord of Strafford , The House of Commons , in their own Name , and in the Name of the whole Commons of England , have this day Accused your Lordship to the Lords of the Higher House of Parliament of High Treason , the Articles they will in a few days produce ; in the mean time they have desired of my Lords , and my Lords have accordingly Resolved , That your Lordship shall be committed into safe Custody to the Gentleman-Usher , and be Sequestred from the House , till your Lordship shall clear your self of the Accusations that shall be laid against you . And thereupon he was immediately taken into Custody by Iames Maxwell , Usher of the Black Rod. Thursday , Novemb. 12th , 1640. A Message came from the Lords by the Lord Chief Justice Littleton , and the Lord Chief Baron Davenport : That the Lords have Commanded Us to let You know , that in pursuit of your desire Yesterday , to have the Ports open between Ireland and England , some of the Lords had moved His Majesty in it , and it shall be done speedily and effectually . This day the House fell into serious Debate concerning Sir George Ratcliff , an Intimate of the Lord Lieutenants of Ireland , in whom he reposed great Trust and Confidence , and by the discourse was as if he were guilty of High Treason , in endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws , and that he did joyn with the Earl to bring in an Army from Ireland into this Kingdom , and had joined with the said Earl to use Regal Power , and to deprive the Subjects of this Kingdom of their Liberties . It was moved , that he might be sent for over ; as also for Sir Robert King , who is a material Witness against the Earl of Strafford . But for as much as they were Members of the Parliament then sitting in Ireland , it was referred to a Committee , viz. Mr. St. Iohns , Mr. Selden , Mr. Ieofrey Palmer , Mr. Solicitor , Mr. Maynard , Mr. Grimston , Mr. Chadwell . Which Committee had Power to consider what was fit to be done in sending for Sir George Ratcliff , and Sir Robert King , in regard they are Members of the said Parliament now sitting in Ireland , and to present it to the Consideration of this House , and are to meet to morrow Morning at Seven of the Clock in the Committee-Chamber . Ordered , Mr. Speaker be intreated to be here this Afternoon , to sit by , at the Great Committee for Irish Affairs , and if there be Cause , to resume the House . And accordingly the Grand Committee of the whole House sate this Afternoon upon the Irish Affairs , and the Speaker sate by , according to Order . There came word that the Lords were come , and expected the Committee of this House at the Conference ; concerning the Proceedings at the great Council at York . Mr. Speaker assumed the Chair , and it was moved , That the Committees that sate in other places , might be sent for to attend the Conference ; that those Gentlemen might be sent for by the Mace that were gone before to the Conference . The House rose , and the Committee went up to meet the Committee of the Lords at the Conference ; and Mr. Speaker adjourned the House , and went home . Friday , Novemb. 13th , 1640. Ordered , that the Committee for preparing the Charge against the Lord Lieutenant , being now Sine die , meet this Afternoon at Four of the Clock in the Treasury-Chamber , which Committee has Power to receive all such Petitions and Papers , as may conduce to the business , and have likewise Power to send for Records , Papers , Parties , and Witnesses , or any other thing that they shall think may conduce to the perfecting that Charge . The King's Solicitor Reported from the Committee appointed to consider of the manner of sending for Sir George Ratcliff and Sir Robert King , being , as is inform'd , Members of the Parliament in Ireland . That the Committee were of Opinion , That it is better to examine this Matter , according to the Rules and Foundations of this House , than to rest upon scattered Instances : They distinguished between the Case of Sir George Ratcliff and Sir Robert King thus , We find an Information given ( which if it be true ) of High Treason against Sir George Ratcliff , then there is no doubt , but in Case of High Treason , Priviledge of Parliament neither here nor there doth reach to protect him , but that Sir George Ratcliff may be sent for , though a Member in Parliament there ; this was the Opinion of the Committee . For the other , Sir Robert King , the Case did differ , for to send for him to testifie in any Case , were of dangerous Consequence ; or to send for him to testifie in the Kings Bench in Case of Treason , where the Court doth ordinarily sit ; but this Case differs between sending for a Member of Parliament to give Evidence in any ordinary thing , or in any ordinary Court , for the Parliament is a Court that doth not ordinarily sit , a Court of the great Affairs of the Kingdom ; therefore to be sent for hither to this High Court , and to testifie in a Case of the highest Nature , in case of Treason informed of against Sir George Ratcliff , We did conceive it to be no breach of Priviledge of Parliament that he should be sent for , and if the House require of us our Opinions concerning the manner of sending for him , we shall tell you what we conceive of it . Which Report being made , It was Resolved upon the Question : That Sir George Ratcliff shall be forthwith sent for , to answer the Information that is Charged against him here of High Treason . Resolved upon the Question , That Sir Robert King shall forthwith be sent for hither , as a Witness to testifie in case of High Treason . Mr. Solicitor likewise offered , from the Committee , to the Consideration of the House , two Orders , which were read , in haec verba , and by Vote Ordered accordingly , viz. It is Ordered by this House upon the Question , That Sir George Ratcliff being , as is informed , a Member of the Parliament in Ireland , because there is an Information in this House of High Treason against him , shall be forthwith sent for , and brought hither in safe Custody , no Priviledge of Parliament extending to this Case . Ordered two Messengers to be sent with these Orders , and each Messenger to have Copies of both the Orders . It was likewise Offered from the Committee , That the Honourable Persons , near the Chair , would beseech His Majesty , that He would be pleased to give such Directions , as in His Wisdom He shall think fit for the more Expeditious sending for these Parties . Mr. Treasurer delivered this Message to His Majesty . Saturday , November 14th , 1640. Mr. Treasurer after he had read out of a Paper , the Message which Yesterday the House desired him to deliver to His Majesty : Declared , that he had acquainted the King therewith , who , this morning , hath given Order to Mr. Secretary Windebank , who deals for the Affairs into Ireland , to make instant Dispatch to the Deputy there , that all Expedition be done according to the Message . Secondly , Concerning the three Letters desired by my Lord Mountnorris ; they were procured by Mr. Secretary Cook , who was imployed about the Affairs for Ireland at that time , that he is now in the Country in Darbyshire ; His Majesty will take some time to be informed in this , and no time shall be lost , and there shall be an Account given . Wednesday , November 18th , 1640. Ordered that no Member of this House shall visit the Earl of Strafford , during the time of his Restraint , without Licence first obtained from the House . Ordered a Message be sent to the Lords , to desire them , that they would please to appoint a Committee of a very few , that in the presence of some of this House might take such Depositions , and examine such Witnesses as they should name upon Interrogatories and Questions , as shall be presented to them by Order of this House concerning the Earl of Strafford , and the Interrogatories , Testimonies , and Witnesses to be kept private , until the Charge be made full and perfect . Ordered that Mr. Pym go up with this Message , accompanied with so many as shall be pleased to go . Then the House fell into Debate , concerning those Lords who petitioned the King for a Parliament to be called : Whereupon it was Resolved upon the Question , That those Lords which were Petitioners to His Majesty at York ; in their Petition , a Copy whereof was here now read , have done nothing but what was Legal , Just , and Expedient for the good of the King and Kingdom , and is now approved by the whole body of the Commons . Resolved upon the Question , That the Copy of the Petition now read , and formerly preferred by the Lords to His Majesty at York , shall be here Entred . Thursday , November 19th , 1640. It is Ordered , That if occasion shall be for the examination of any Members of this House in the business concerning the Earl of Strafford , they shall be ready upon Notice , to be examined upon Oath . It is likewise Ordered , That upon the Message to be sent from this House , the Lords be desired to make the like Order for the Members and Assistants of their House , and to desire their Lordships , that if occasion be , that any Privy-Counsellors be produced as Witnesses , they will take such course as in their Judgments they shall think fit , that they may be examined . This Message to be sent to morrow morning , by the Messengers formerly sent . Mr. St. Iohns , Mr. Palmer , Mr. Glimer , Mr. Selden , Mr. Grimstone , Mr. Maynard , Sir Simond D'ewes , Mr. Whstiler , Mr. Thomas Widerington , Mr. Sollicitor . This Select Committee , or any two of them , are appointed to search the Record of Attainder in the Kings Bench , in such manner , and at such time , as they shall think fit , for the furtherance of the Charge in hand against the Earl of Strafford . Friday , November 20th , 1640. Mr. Whistler Reported from the Committee for Irish Affairs , That he is required , by the Committee , to Report to the House the Affairs of that Kingdom , as they were set forth in a Remonstrance , made by the House of Commons in this present Parliament in Ireland , wherein it appeared that Trading was destroyed , Industry disheartned , new and unlawful Impositions were Imposed , the Arbitrary Determinations of all Causes for Goods , Land and Possessions , by Petitions , and Act at Council-Table where no Writ of Error can lie , and the King loseth a Fine upon the Original Writ thereby : That His Majesties Gracious Inclination for the good of that Kingdom is kept from them : That there is a Monopoly of the sole Trade of Tobacco , of more gain to the Parties interessed therein , than the King 's whole Revenue in Ireland . The destroying of the Plantation of London-Derry ; The Exorbitant Power of the High Commission , which cryeth loud in all the three Kingdoms : The Proclamation forbidding any to depart thence for England without Licence , and pay dear for it : The many Subsidies given , and Monies raised for the King , and still he is in Debt , and therefore demands an account of His Treasure , and desires present Redress , or Access to His Majesty . A Copy of the Remonstrance was delivered in , under the Hand of the Clerk of the Parliament there , and was read , and shall be entred , if so Ordered . That the Secretaries there , Mr. Slingsby and Mr. Little , be required to send hither the Book of Entries of the several Petitions presented to the late Lord Deputy , now Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , and the several Orders and Proceedings thereupon made . That Mr. Little the younger and Mr. Carpenter , who have the Monopoly for Tobacco , be required to send hither those Warrants by which they demand , and have laid those Taxes upon Tobacco . That the several Affairs of the Custom-House and Ports , ( viz. ) Dublin , Kingsale , Yowhall , Waterford , Corke , Galloway , Carrick-Fergus , and Bangor be required to send hither their Books of Entries , whereby the Impositions laid upon several Commodities , may appear ; there were several Warrants issued forth according to this Order , and sent away . Post Merid. The Articles offered by a Member of this House against the Earl of Strafford are referred to the Committee , that are to draw up the Charge against the said Earl , which being Reported , were as followeth : Articles of the Commons assembled in Parliament against Thomas Earl of Strafford , in maintenance of his Accusation , whereby he stands Charged of High Treason . 1. That he the said Thomas , Earl of Strafford , hath traiterously endeavoured to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Realms of England and Ireland , and in stead thereof , to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law , which he hath declared by traiterous words , Counsels , and Actions , and by giving His Majesty Advice , by force of Arms , to compel his Loyal Subjects to submit thereunto . 2. That he hath traiterously assumed to himself Regal Power over the Lives , Liberties , Persons , Lands , and Goods of His Majesties Subjects in England and Ireland , and hath exercised the same Tyrannically , to the subversion and undoing of many , both of Peers and others of His Majesties Liege People . 3. That the better to inrich and inable himself to go through with his traiterous Designs ; he hath detained a great part of His Majesties Revenue , without giving Legal account ; and hath taken great Sums out of the Exchequer , converting them to his own Use , when His Majesty wanted Money for His own urgent Occasions , and His Army had been a long time unpaid . 4. That he hath traiterously abused the Power and Authority of his Government , to the encreasing , countenancing , and encouraging of Papists , that so he might settle a mutual Dependance and Confidence betwixt himself and that Party , and by their help prosecute and accomplish his malicious and tyrannical Designs . 5. That he hath maliciously endeavoured to stir up Enmity and Hostility between His Majesties Subjects of England , and those of Scotland . 6. That he hath traiterously broke the great Trust reposed in him by His Majesty , of Lieutenant-General of His Army , by wilful betraying divers of His Majesties Subjects to death , his Army to a dishonourable Defeat by the Scots at Newborne , and the Town of New-Castle into their hands , to the end , that by the effusion of blood , by dishonour , and so great a loss as that of New-Castle , His Majesties Realm of England might be engaged in a National and irreconcilable Quarrel with the Scots . 7. That to preserve himself from being questioned for those and other his traiterous Courses , he laboured to subvert the Right of Parliaments , and the ancient course of Parliamentary Proceedings , and by false and malicious Slanders , to incense His Majesty against Parliaments . By which Words , Counsels , and Actions , he hath traiterously , and contrary to his Allegiance , laboured to alienate the Hearts of the King's Liege People from His Majesty , to set a Division between them , and to ruine and destroy His Majesties Kingdoms , for which they Impeach him of High Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King , His Crown and Dignity . 8. And he the said Earl of Strafford was Lord-Deputy of Ireland , and Lieutenant-General of the Army there , viz. His most Excellent Majesty , for His Kingdoms both of England and Ireland , and the Lord President of the North , during the time that all and every the Crimes and Offences before set forth were done and committed ; and he the said Earl was Lieutenant-General of all His Majesties Army in the North parts of England , during the time that the Crimes and Offences in the fifth and sixth Articles set forth were done and committed . 9. That the said Commons by Protestations , saving to themselves the liberty of Exhibiting at any time hereafter any other Accusation or Impeachment against the said Earl ; and also of replying to the Answers that he the said Earl shall make unto the said Articles , or to any of them , and of offering Proofs ; also of the Premisses , or any of them ; or any other Impeachment or Accusation that shall be exhibited by them , as the Cause shall , according to the course of Parliaments , require , do pray that the said Earl may be put to Answer for all and every of the Premisses , that such Proceedings , Examinations , Trials and Judgments may be upon every of them , had and used as is agreeable to Law and Justice . Tuesday , November 24th , 1640. These Articles thus Resolved upon by Question , were by another Question Ordered to be engrossed against to morrow Morning , and no Copies to be delivered of them in the Interim ; and the same Committee that prepared the Charge is to draw up the Interrogatories , and Mr. Pym is to go up to the Lords with the Charge . Wednesday , November 25th , 1640. Lord Digby went up with this Message to the Lords : That this House desires a Conference with their Lordships , by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the Articles to be Exhibited against the Earl of Strafford . Lord Digby brings Answer , That their Lordships have Considered the Message , and desire to meet a Committee of that House , with a Committee of theirs , presently in the Painted-Chamber . The ingrossed Articles were again openly read in the House , and agreed to be sent up to the Lords by Mr. Pym , by a Vote upon the Question . Mr. Pym before he went , made a short Declaration of the substance of that he intended to deliver unto the Lords , both before and after the delivery of the Articles . Mr. Pym's Report of the Conference with the Lords , in delivering up the Articles against the Earl of Strafford , that he attended the great Committee of this House , and , in their presence , delivered to the Committee of the Lords House the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , and if any thing passed him through weakness , or disability , he desires the excuse of this House . It was moved , that Mr. Pym might have Thanks for his well delivery of the Charge against the Earl of Strafford . Friday , November 27th , 1640. A Message from the Lords by Justice Littleton and Justice Bartley . The Lords desire a Conference by a Committee of thirty of their House , with a proportionable number of this House , concerning the Message that was brought unto them by Mr. Pym , touching the Examination of their Members , in the Accusation of the Earl of Strafford , and desire a free Conference touching the last Point of that Message , that some of the Members of this House should be present at the Examination , and they desire it this morning in the Painted-Chamber , if it may stand with the conveniency of this House . Answer returned by the same Messenger , That this House has taken into Consideration their Lordships Message , and will in Convenient time return Answer by Messengers of their own . Saturday , November 28th , 1640. Mr. Whistler Reports from the Grand Committee for Irish Affairs , that there are many Petitions , and full of matter of Complaints of the proceedings in Ireland , and Suitors here for Justice . There are many Petitioners here whose Estates are so exhausted , that they are scarce able to bring Witnesses from Ireland hither ; many great Persons of Quality and Trust are in Ireland , material Witnesses to be examined , as the Master of the Rolls , the Lord Chancellor , and others ; these can hardly be spared , to come hither , to give their Testimony . The Committee desires the Advice of the House in this particular ( which without their Judgments cannot be determined ) to think of some way how these Parties might have their Testimony taken , and the Truth might be known , and Justice done . This whole matter thus Reported from the Committee for Irish Affairs , is recommitted to the same Committee again to consider of it , and to draw those things that are to be inquired of under apt Heads , and so present them to the judgment of this House to proceed accordingly . Mr. Maynard , Mr. St. Iohns , Mr. Hide , Mr. Whistler , Mr. Ieofrey Palmer , Mr. Glyn , Mr. Sollicitor . This Committee is to Collect and Offer to this House , Reasons for this House to make use of , and insist upon , in maintainance of that Point of the Message of this House to the Lords , which desires the presence of some of the Members of this House , at the Examination of such Witnesses , as shall be Proposed by this House in the Accusation of the Earl of Strafford . To the Right Honourable the Lord-Deputy . The Humble and just Remonstrance of the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Parliament assembled . SHEWING , THat in all Ages since the happy Subjection of this Kingdom to the Imperial Crown of England , it was , and is a Principal Study , and Princely Care of His Majesty , and His Noble Progenitors , Kings and Queens of England and Ireland , to the vast Expence of Treasure and Blood ; that their Loyal and Dutiful people of this Land of Ireland , being now , for the most part , derived from British Ancestors , should be Governed according to the Municipal and Fundamental Laws of England , that the Statute of Magna Charta , or the Great Charter of the Liberties of England , and other Laudable Laws and Statutes , were in several Parliaments here Enacted and Declared , That by the means thereof , and of the most Prudent and Benign Government of His Majesty , and His Royal Progenitors , this Kingdom was , until of late , in its growth a Flourishing Estate , whereby the said people were heretofore enabled , to answer their humble and natural desires , to comply with His Majesties Princely and Royal Occasions , by their free Gift of 150 Thousand Pounds Sterling ; and likewise by another free Gift of 120 Thousand Pounds more , during the Government of the Lord Viscount Faulkland , and after by the Gift of 40 Thousand Pounds ; and their free and chearful Gift of Six intire Subsidies in the 10th Year of His Majesties Reign , which , to comply with His Majesties then Occasions , signified to the then House of Commons , They did allow should amount , in the Collections , unto 250 Thousand Pounds ( although , as they confidently believe ) if the Subsidies had been levied in a moderate Parliamentary way , they would not have amounted to much more than half the Sum aforesaid , besides the four intire Susidies granted in this present Parliament . So it is , May it please Your Lordship , by the occasion of the insuing , and other Grievances and Innovations ( though to His Majesty no considerable Profit ) this Kingdom is reduced to that extream and universal Poverty , that the same is less able to pay Subsidies than it was heretofore , to satisfie all the before recited great Payments : And His Majesties most Faithful people of the Land do conceive great fears , that the said Grievances and Consequences thereof , may be hereafter drawn into Presidents , to be perpetuated upon their Posterity , which in their great Hopes , and strong Beliefs , they are perswaded is contrary to His Royal and Princely intention towards His said people ; some of which said Grievances are as followeth : 1. The general apparent decay of Trades , occasioned by the new and illegal raising of the Book of Rates and Impositions upon Native , and other Commodities , Exported and Imported , by reason whereof , and of extream Usage and Censures , Merchants are beggered , and both disinabled and discouraged to Trade , and some of the honourable Persons who gain thereby , are often Judges and Parties , and that in the conclusion His Majesties Profit thereby is not considerably advanced . 2. The Arbitrary decision of all civil Causes and Controversies , by paper Petitions , before the Lord Lieutenant and Lord Deputy , and infinite other Judicatories upon reference from them , derived in the nature of all Actions determinable at the Common Law , not limitted into certain time , cause , season , or thing whatsoever : And the consequences of such proceedings , by receiving immoderate and unlawful Fees , by Secretaries , Clerks , Pursevants , Serjeants at Arms , and otherwise , by which kind of proceedings His Majesty loseth a considerable part of his Revenue upon Original Writs , and otherwise ; and the Subject loseth the benefit of his Writ of Error , Bill of Reversal , Vouchers , and other legal and just Advantages , and the ordinary Course and Courts of Justice declined . 3. The proceedings in civil Causes at Council-Board , contrary to the Law and great Charter , not limited to any certain time or season . 4. That the Subject is , in all the material parts thereof , denied the benefit of the Princely Graces , and more especially of the Statute of Limitations of 21 of Iac. granted by His Majesty in the Fourth Year of His Reign , upon great Advice of the Councils of England and Ireland , and for great Consideration , and then published in all the Courts of Dublin , and in all the Counties of this Kingdom , in open Assizes , whereby all Persons do take notice , That contrary to His Majesties Pious Intentions , His Subjects of this Land have not enjoyed the benefit of His Majesties Princely Promise thereby made . 5. The extrajudicial avoiding of Letters Patents of Estates , of a very great part of His Majesties Subjects , under the Great Seal ( the Publick Faith of the Kingdom ) by private Opinions , delivered at the Council-Board , without Legal Evictions of their Estates , contrary to Law , and without President or Example of any former Age. 6. The Proclamation for the sole emption and uttering of Tobacco , which is bought at very low Rates , and uttered at high and excessive Rates , by means whereof thousands of Families within this Kingdom , and of His Majesties Subjects in several Islands , and other parts of the West-Indies ( as your Petitioners are informed ) are destroyed ; and the most part of the Coin of this Kingdom is ingrossed into particular Hands , insomuch that your Petitioners do conceive that the Profit arising and ingrossed thereby , doth surmount His Majesties Revenue , certain or casual , within this Kingdom , and yet his Majesty receiveth but very little profit by the same . 7. The universal and unlawful encreasing of Monopolies , to the advantage of a few , the disprofit of His Majesty , and impoverishment of His people . 8. And the extream cruel Usage of certain late Commissioners , and other Stewards of the British Farmers and Inhabitants of the City and County of London-Derry , by means whereof the worthy Plantation of that Country is almost destroyed , and the Inhabitants are reduced to great Poverty , and many of them forced to forsake the Country , the same being the first and most useful Plantation in the large Province of Ulster , to the great weakning of the Kingdom in this time of danger ; the said Plantation being the principal Strength of those parts . 9. The late Erection of the Court of High Commission , for Causes Ecclesiastical , in these necessitous Times ; the proceedings of the said Court , in many Causes without legal Warrant , and yet so supported as Prohibitions have not been obtained , though legally sought for : And the excessive Fees exacted by the Ministers thereof , and the encroaching of the same upon the Jurisdiction of other Ecclesiastical Courts of this Kingdom . 10. The exorbitant Fees , and pretended Customs , exacted by the Clergy against the Law , some of which have been formerly represented to your Lordship . 11. The Petitioners do most heartily bemoan , that His Majesties Service and Profit are much more impaired than advanced by the Grievances aforesaid ; and the Subsidies granted in the last Parliament , having much encreased His Majesties Revenue by the buying of Grants , and otherwise : And that all His Majesties Debts then due in this Kingdom , were satisfied out of the said Subsidies ; and yet His Majesty is of late ( as the Petitioners have been informed in the House of Commons ) become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums . And they do therefore humbly beseech , That an exact Account may be sent to His Majesty , how and in what manner His Treasure is issued . 12. The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great fears , at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom , in Anno Domini 1635. prohibiting men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England , without the Lord-Deputies Licence , whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free access , to address to His Sacred Majesty , and Privy-Council of England , to declare their just Grievances , or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort , as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second , and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licences . 13. That of late His Majesties Attorney-General hath exhibited Informations against many ancient Burroughs of this Kingdom , into His Majesties Court of Exchequer , to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burgesses ( who heretofore sent Burgesses to Parliament ) should send the Burgesses to the Parliament , and thereupon , for want of an Answer , the said Priviledges of sending Burgesses was seized by the said Court , which Proceedings were altogether Coram non Iudice , and contrary to the Laws and Priviledges of the House of Parliament , ( and if way should be given thereunto ) would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments , and by Consequence to the Ruine and Destruction of the Common Wealth . And that the House of Commons hath hitherto , in this present Parliament , been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof . 14. By the Powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom , the Parliament in its Members , and Actions , hath not its natural Freedom . 15. And lastly , That the Gentry and Merchants , and other His Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom , are of late by the Grievances and Pressures before said , and other the like , brought very near to Ruine and Destruction : And the Farmers of Customs , Customers , Waiters , Searchers , Clerks of Unwarrantable Proceedings , Pursevants , and Goalers , and sundry others , very much enriched , whereby , and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners Grievances , His Majesties most Faithful and Dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great fears , that their readiness approved upon all occasions , hath not been of late rightly represented to His Sacred Majesty : For remedy whereof , the said Petitioners do humbly , and of right , beseech your Lordships , That the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily Redressed ; and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present Relief , that your Lordship might admit a Select Committee of this House , of Persons uninteressed in the benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances , to be Licenced by your Lordship , to repair to His Sacred Majesty in England , for to pursue the same , and to obtain fitting remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions ; and upon all just and honourable Occasions , they will , without respect of particular Interest or Profit to be raised thereby , most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their utmost endeavour to serve His Majesty , and comply with His Royal and Princely Occasions , and shall pray , &c. Monday , November 30th , 1640. Sir Thomas Roe , Mr. Pym , Mr. Strode , Mr. St. Iohns , Mr. Grimston , Lord Digby , Sir Iohn Clotworthy , Sir Walter Earle , Mr. Hampden , Mr. Maynard , Mr. Hyde , Mr. Whistler , Mr. Palmer , Mr. Glyn , Mr. Solicitor , Mr. Selden , My Lord Dungarvan , Sir Francis Seymor , Sir Hugh Cholmely , Lord Wenman , Sir Io. Evelyn , Sir Benjamin Rudyard , Sir Iames Thynn , Sir Iohn Culpepper , Sir Iohn Strangwaies , Sir Symon D'Ewes , Mr. George Vane , Lord Cramborne , Lord Compton , Mr. Bellassis , Mr. Kirton , Sir Thomas Hutchison , Sir William Bowyer , Sir Iames Smith , Sir Arthur Ingram , Lord Russell , Lord Ruthin , Mr. Comisby , Mr. Noel , Sir Thomas Bowyer , Mr. Cecill , Lord Fairfax , Sir Thomas Widdrington , Sir Peter Hayman , Sir Iohn Holland , Mr. Iames Fynes , Sir Robert Crane , Sir Iohn Corbet , Mr. Io. Alford , Sir Roger North , Sir Edmond Mountford , Mr. Whitlocke , Mr. Mountagne , Lord Faulkland , Sir Peter Stapleton , Sir Henry Mildmay , Lord Herbert , Sir Richard Wynn , Sir Edward Rodney , Sir Ralph Hopton , This Committee is to meet with the Committee of 30 of the Lords , concerning a Message sent hither on Friday last from their Lordships , touching a Message sent formerly from this House to them by Mr. Pym , for the Examination of their Members , in the Accusation of the Earl of Strafford , and touching a free Conference upon the last Point of that Message , that some of the Members of this House should be present at the Examination of Witnesses , to be propounded by this House , to be examined in the Accusation of the Earl of Strafford . The Petition of several of the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament in Ireland , whose Names are underwritten , directed to the whole House of Commons in England read . The Humble Petition of the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament in Ireland , whose Names are underwritten : To the King 's most Excellent Majesty read . The two Gentlemen , Mr. Io. Bellewe and Mr. Oliver Castle , who brought over those Petitions were called in , and demanded by Mr. Speaker several Questions . These Gentlemen were again called in , and Mr. Speaker told them : This House has taken into Consideration your Petition , and in due time you shall know the Pleasure of this House . Ordered , That the Lieutenant of the Tower be required from this House , that he do not suffer Sir George Ratcliff to speak with the Earl of Strafford , a Prisoner there , until further Order be given from this House , nor suffer any Message or Letter to be sent from Sir George Ratcliff unto him ; or if any such be , to give Notice of it to this House , Sir George Ratcliff being already sent for , by Order of this House , upon an Information of High Treason . Resolved upon the Question , That the Earl of Craford's Troop , and those other Officers in the Army , that go under the Name of Reformadoes are unnecessary Charge , and fit to be spared ; and that my Lord General be moved by Message from this House thereunto . Resolved , That those Companies , or other Officers , that shall be thus Casheer'd by the Lord General , shall be paid to the Eighth of December next . Tuesday , December 1. 1640. A Message from the Lords by Baron Trevor and Iudge Bartley . The Lords have sent Us to this House , to desire a present Conference in the Painted Chamber , with the same Committee that was concerning the matter of the free Conference Yesterday . Answer returned by the same Messengers . This House has taken into Consideration the Message of the Lords , and they return this Answer , That they will give a meeting presently , as is desired . Mr. Pym Reports from the Conference this day , That the Lords Committee , with whom we had a free Conference Yesterday , took the Matter into Consideration , and their Resolution is : That such Members of the House of Commons , as they shall make choice of , shall be present from time to time at the preparatory Examinations concerning the Earl of Strafford . The Lord Keeper expected we should say something . We told them , We had no Warrant ; for a Conference was desired concerning the matter of free Conference , and that a free Conference was not desired ; the Question they would have been satisfied in , was , Whether we did intend to have the Examinations taken publick in the House , or by a private Committee ? I answered , We had no Commission for a free Conference . The same Committee that were appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , are to be present at the Preparatory Examinations of Witnesses before the Lords , to present such Questions unto the Lords as they shall think fit thereupon ; and after a full Examination , to present the whole state of the business to this House . A Message to be sent to the Lords , to acquaint them that the House is ready , by some Members of this House , to present divers Witnesses to be examined , and such questions as they shall desire that those Witnesses so propounded by them may be all examined one after another , with speed and secresie . Thursday morning is peremptorily appointed for Sir George Ratcliff to appear here , and if he come not then , a Message is to be sent to the Lords , to desire them to move His Majesty for a Proclamation to be ordered against him , to bring him in . Power is given to the Committee that is to be present at the preparatory Examination of Witnesses before the Lords , to summon such Witnesses to be examined to morrow as they shall think fit . Mr. Maynard's Report from the Conference Yesterday . The Lords said , They had taken the Message into Consideration sent by Mr. Pym , some things were Resolved , others not , and for that purpose desired a free Conference ; whereas we did desire to examine some Members of this House , they were ready to examine them when we should require . They answered , That the Peers of their House that shall be desired , and all the Assistants of that House , when they shall be thereunto required , shall be examined upon Oath ; and next for the time and secresie , They said they should be speedily examined , and Examinations secretly kept . Thursday , December 3. 1640. A Message brought from the Lords by my Lord Chief Justice Littleton and Judge Bartley , That according to a desire of this House , by a late Message , they have deputed certain of their Members to take the Examination of Witnesses in the Case of the Earl of Strafford , which they will be ready to perform in the presence of such Members of this House , as shall be deputed to that purpose . Ordered , That the Earl of Kildares Petition , presented to the Grand Committee for Irish Affairs , be referred to the Sub-Committee for those Affairs . Friday , December 4. 1640. Ordered , That those Members of this House , that be appointed to be present at the preparatory Examinations before the Lords , be required to declare that by their Duty they owe to this House , they are obliged to keep all those Examinations secret . Those Eight appointed for that Service did make all of them Protestations to that purpose . Ordered , That those Eight , or any Four of them , may be present at the preparatory Examinations before the Lords . Mr. Selden , Mr. Dutton , Mr. Crew , Sir Peter Hayman , Sir Harbottle Grimston , Sir Henry Anderson , Sir Nevil Poole , Sir Thomas Barrington . Saturday . The Petition of Richard Heaton and Lyonell Farrington were read , and Farrington called in , did avow his Petition ; the Petitions are referred to the Committee appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl of Strafford to make use of it , if they shall see Cause . December 26th , 1640. Ordered , That the Committee appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , shall have Power to examine Witnesses concerning Sir George Ratcliff , and to prepare a Charge against him , and to present it to this House . Tuesday , December 29th , 1640. The Articles against Sir George Ratcliff Read. Resolved upon the Question , That this House shall Accuse Sir George Ratcliff Knight , of High Treason , in the Name of all the Commons of England . That these Articles thus Read , shall be the Ground of this Accusation . That a Message shall be sent forthwith to the Lords , to Accuse Sir George Ratcliff Knight , of High Treason , in the Name of this House , and of all the Commons of England , and that very speedily they will bring Articles against him . Resolved upon the Question , That the Articles prepared by the Committee against Sir George Ratcliff , and Read here , shall be engrossed against to morrow , to be sent to the Lords , as a Charge , against him . A Message sent from the Lords by the Master of the Rolls and Judge Reeves . The Lords have Commanded Us to say to You , That whereas there came a Message from this House , to Accuse Sir George Ratcliff of High Treason ; They would know , Whether they should presently take care to make safe his Person ? Answer returned by the same Messengers : That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will forthwith return them Answer by Messengers of their own . Mr. Pym went up to the Lords to acquaint them , that this day the House of Commons gave no Instructions to their former Messengers , concerning the Committing of Sir George Ratcliff , because his Person is already in safe Custody in the Gate-house , and they intended to have acquainted their Lordships with it , when they had produced the Articles against him , which would have been very shortly , but since they are prevented by their Lordships , they refer what to do in it to their Lordships . Mr. Pym brings Answer from the Lords of his Message , That concerning the safe Custody of Sir George Ratcliff , they had sent for him , and had taken Order in it , and touching the receiving of the Examinations in this Cause , there should be the same course observed in them as was in the Earl of Strafford . Thursday , December 31. 1640. The Articles against Sir George Ratcliff , by former Order ingrossed , were twice Read ; And then it was Resolved upon the Question , That these Articles thus ingrossed and read , shall be sent up to the Lords by the Commons Assembled in Parliament , in maintenance of their Accusation of Sir George Ratcliff , whereby he standeth Charged of High Treason ; And it is Ordered , That Mr. Pym go up with these Articles . Resolved upon the Question , That a Message be sent forthwith to the Lords , to desire a Conference of both Houses , concerning Articles exhibited in maintenance of the Charge against Sir George Ratcliff . Sir Iohn Strangways went up with this Message . It was moved , That the House would think of some Answer to the Lords , concerning the Charges against the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury , and the Earl of Strafford , delivered from the Scottish Commissioners , at a Conference by a Committee of both Houses . Monday , Ianuary 4th , 1640. Ordered , That a Conference be desired with the Lords to morrow morning , concerning the state , the disorders and dangers of the new levied Irish Army , and to present them to their Lordships , and to desire them to join with the House in a Petition to His Majesty , for the disbanding of that Army . The Committee appointed for the Earl of Strafford's business , are to prepare the Heads of this Conference ; and the Members of this House are required to bring into this Committee , between this and to morrow morning , such Informations as shall come to their Hands conducing to these matters ; Sir Walter Earle and Sir Iohn Clotworthy are to manage this Conference . It was likewise moved , That at this Conference , Considerations might be had of the great Resort daily made to the Earl of Strafford . Mr. Nathaniel Fines is to go up to morrow morning with a Message to the Lords , to desire a Conference with their Lordships , concerning the Disorders and Inconveniences of the new levied Irish Army . And to desire a free Conference concerning those Declarations presented by the Scottish Commissioners , against the Lord Lieutenant and the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury , as Incendiaries ; Sir Peter Hayman to go up with this Message . The Subject of his Conference to be , to present to the Lords , that it may be made known to the Lords Commissioners , that the Scottish Commissioners be desired to bring in their Proofs against the Lord Lieutenant , and the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury , to the end , the Parliament may proceed to Judgment . Tuesday , Ianuary 12th , 1640. Ordered , That the several Petitions of Sir Henry Wallop , the Lord Viscount Nettersfield , be referred to the Sub-Committee , formerly appointed by the Grand Committee for Irish Affairs for the business of Sir Henry Wallop , because there is something in those Petitions that will materially conduce to the Charge of the Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That the Committee appointed to prepare some fit way of Representing to the Lords the four Irish Causes formerly Reported here , ( viz. ) That of the Lord Mountnorris , the Lord Dillon , Lord Viscount Ely , and the Earl of Kildare do sit . Friday , Ianuary 15th , 1640. Ordered , That the Committee appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , shall desire to have the Depositions that are yet sealed up , delivered unto them , and may add and insert such particular Instances , and other Circumstances , as they in their Discretions shall think fit to the several Articles delivered in Charge against the Earl of Strafford , according to the saving in the conclusion of those Articles , and that they present the whole matter to the House on Monday morning next . Saturday , Ianuary 16th , 1640. Mr. Pym went up to the Lords with a Message to this Effect : To desire their Lordships , That those Examinations which , at the Request of this House , were taken , in the Case of the Earl of Strafford , by the Lords deputed to that purpose , may be delivered to the Commissioners of this House appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl , that they may make use of them for the enlarging of their Charge , in particularities of Evidences , according to the Clause of Resolution in the conclusion of the said Charge ; and likewise to make a Declaration , That howsoever , by the Course of Parliament , this House might proceed with the Charge in general , yet to avoid all scruples , and to bring the business sooner to a conclusion , they do desire to conclude in this way . Saturday , Ianuary 23. 1640. Mr. Selden , Mr. Palmer , Mr. Whitlock , Mr. Maynard . By Order , are added to the Committee that are to draw up the Articles against the Earl of Strafford . Thursday , Ianuary 28th , 1640. The further Impeachment of Thomas Earl of Strafford , by the Commons Assembled in Parliament , was this day read . Friday , Ianuary 29th , 1640. Ordered , That the Consideration of the Commission granted to the Earl of Worcester , and his eldest Son the Lord Herbert , and some Commissions by them granted to others , for the levying of Forces in the several Counties of England and Wales , and all the Circumstances depending thereupon , be referred to the Committee to draw up the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , and to consider of the Magazine in Sir Piercy Herbert's Custody . Saturday , Ianuary 30th , 1640. The further Impeachment of Thomas Earl of Strafford was again read , and the Title of the Impeachment , and every Article , and the Conclusion , were every of them particularly put to the Question , and were every of them assented unto , and Resolved upon the Question : And afterwards it was Resolved upon the Question , That these Articles being engrossed , shall be forthwith sent up to the Lords . Ordered , That Mr. Hambden go up with a Message to the Lords , to desire a Conference with their Lordships presently ( if it may stand with their Lordships Occasions ) by a Committee of both Houses , touching the further Impeachment of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Mr. Pym is to manage this Conference , and Mr. Maynard is to be Assistant to him . Mr. Pym acquaints the House , That according to their Command , he had delivered unto the Lords the Articles for the further Impeachment of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That the Thanks of this House be given to Mr. Pym , and to the whole Committee , for the great Service they have done this House in the great pains they have taken , in preparing and drawing up the Charge and Articles against Thomas Earl of Strafford . Tuesday , February 16th , 1640. Sir Philip Stapleton went up to the Lords , with a Message , to desire a Conference with their Lordships , by a Committee of both Houses , presently ( if it may stand with their Lordships Occasions ) concerning the Earl of Strafford . Resolved upon the Question , That the Heads Reported by Mr. Pym from the Committee appointed to prepare the Heads of the Conference to be desired with the Lords , concerning the Earl of Strafford , shall be Heads of that Conference , and that Committee is to manage the Conference . Sir Philip Stapleton brings Answer from the Lords , That their Lordships do expect His Majesty at their House this Morning ; and that so soon as His Majesty shall be gone , they will send Answer by Messengers of their own . Thursday , February 18th , 1640. The Lords desired a Conference by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the Sequestring of Thomas Earl of Strafford from his Offices , presently in the Painted Chamber , if it may stand with the conveniency of this House . To which , Answer was returned , That they will give a meeting presently for a free Conference . Mr. Pym Reports the free Conference . Upon Mr. Pyms Report , It was Ordered , That this Committee , viz. Sir Walter Earle , Sir Io. Culpepper , Mr. Hollis , Mr. Solicitor , Mr. Vaughan , Mr. Hyde , Mr. Pym , Mr. Maynard , Mr. Selden , Mr. Palmer , Mr. Whitlock , Sir Simon D'Ewes , Mr. Whistler , Mr. Glyn , and Mr. Hampden . Do take into Consideration the whole matter of the Report of the free Conference now made by Mr. Pym , and also what concerns the Right of the Commons in the Proceedings in the Lords House against the Earl of Strafford , and what Concerns the Kingdom in general , and the Legality of these Proceedings ; and they are likewise to Consider , What is fit for the Commons to claim in Causes of Impeachment ; and they are to meet this Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the Treasury Chamber . Friday , February 19th , 1640. That the Committee for the Earl of Strafford shall have Liberty to open all Letters directed to Sir George Ratcliff , and if they find it worthy the knowledge of the House , they are to acquaint the House therewith . Ordered , That the Committee , appointed to consider of the Proceedings in the Lords House against Thomas Earl of Strafford , do meet this Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the Treasury Chamber . Tuesday , February 23. 1640. A Message from the Lords , desiring a present Conference by a Committee of both Houses in the Painted-Chamber ( if it may stand with the convenience of this House ) concerning the Conference that was Yesterday , touching the Proceedings against Thomas Earl of Strafford . Answer returned by the same Messenger , That this House hath taken into Consideration their Lordships Message , and will give a meeting for a free Conference , as is desired . Mr. Glyn Reports from the Conference , That the Lord Keeper delivered the Lords Answer in these words , viz. First , That We shall admit him no further use of Council , than the necessity of the Case , for his just Defence , requireth , and wherein Council may , with the Justice and Honour of this House , be afforded him . Secondly , That there shall be no delay in Proceedings , but all Expedition used according to their own desires . Wednesday , February 24th , 1640. A Message from the Lords , desiring a Conference by a Committee of both Houses , touching the Answer of Thomas Earl of Strafford presently , if it may stand with the Conveniency of this House . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House will give a meeting presently , as is desired . Mr. Solicitor , Mr. Maynard , Mr. Pym , Mr. Reynolds , Mr. Palmer , and Mr. Hampden , Are appointed Reporters of the Conference . Mr. Solicitor Reports from the Conference , That Yesterday was the day the Lords had prefixed for my Lord of Strafford to give in his Answer , that accordingly he was there , and had given it in ; and that this Answer which now they had delivered to the Commons was the Answer which the Earl of Strafford was to stand or fall by . The engrossed Answer , and a Copy of it , were both delivered in by the Reporters , and was desired , that when the Copy was perfectly examined , the Original might be delivered to the Clerk of their House . Ordered , That Mr. Speaker be here this Afternoon at One of the Clock , and that the Earl of Strafford's Answer may then be read and considered of . The same day in the Afternoon the several Articles of the further Impeachment of Thomas Earl of Strafford , by the Commons , were all read ; and to every of the said Articles , the particular and several Answers of the said Earl were likewise read . The Answer held three hours reading , being above 200 sheets of Paper , too long to be here inserted ; yet take an exact Abstract of the said Answer to the Articles exhibited against him , which are as followeth : Answers to 28 special Articles . To the First Article , he saith , He conceives that the Commission and Instruction differ not from those formerly granted , but refers to them , and that such Alterations and Additions as were made , were ( for ought he knoweth ) rather for the explanation than for the enlarging of the Jurisdiction , the Care whereof was left to the Secretary of that Council , and to the King 's Learned Council , to be passed for the good of the King's Service , and the Publick Welfare of that Province ; for Legality of the Proceedings , divers eminent Lawyers were joyned with the President , who , for the Legal parts , was by them to be directed . He did not advise or procure the enlargement of the Commission and Instructions , and he believeth nothing hath been practiced since , that was not in former Times , contained in former Commissions , under general words . He believeth Sir Conyers Darcy was lawfully Fined for Misdemeanors , as a Justice of Peace ; and hath heard , he being in Ireland , that Sir Iohn Boucher was Fined for some great Abuse at the Kings being at York , going into Scotland to be Crowned ; to the Proceedings he refers himself . He denies that he hath done any thing by that Commission or Instruction , other than he conceived he might by virtue thereof lawfully do . To the Second Article , He denieth the speaking of those words , but saith , That 30 , 40 l. or more , being returned as Issues out of the Exchequer , against some that had compounded for Knighthood , for 10 l. or 20 l. so as the Issues far exceeded the Composition , and yet would next time have been increased . The said Earl upon this occasion said , That now they might see , that the little Finger of the Law was heavier than the King's Loins , which he spake to nourish good Affections in them towards His Majesty , and not to threaten or terrifie any , as the Article is supposed . To the Third Article , he saith , Ireland is not Governed by the same Laws that this Kingdom is , unless it be meant by the Common Laws , their Customs , Statutes , Execution of Martial Laws , Proceedings at Council-Board very much differ , they spake not the words in the Article to any such intent ; He saith , It might be fit enough for him to remember them of the great Obligation they had to the King and His Progenitors , that suffered them , being a Conquer'd Nation , to enjoy Freedom and Laws , as their own people of this Kingdom ; and it might be , that upon some such occasion , he said to those of Dublin , That some of their Charters were void , and nothing worth , and did not bind His Majesty farther than He pleased , which he believes to be true , having been formerly so informed by His Majesties Learned Council upon sundry occasions . To the Fourth , he saith , That the legal and ordinary Proceedings at Council-Table are , and time out of mind have been by Petition , Answers , examination of Witnesses , as in other Courts of Justice concerning British Plantations , the Church and Cases hence recommended by the King , for the time being , and in Appeals from other Courts there ; and the Council-Board have always punished Contempts to Orders there made , to Proclamations , and Acts of State , by Fine and Imprisonment . He saith , That it might be , he told the Earl of Cork , that he would imprison him if he disobeyed the Orders of the Council-Table , and that he would not have Lawyers dispute or question those Orders , and that they should bind , but remembreth not the Comparison of Acts of Parliament ; and he hath been so far from scorning the Laws , that he hath endeavoured to maintain them ; the Suit against the Earl , in the Castle-Chamber , was concerning the Possessions of the Colledge of Youghall , worth 6 or 700 l. which he had endeavoured to get , by causing of unlawful Oaths to be taken , and very undue means , the matter proceeded to Examination and Publication of Witnesses , and after , upon the Earl of Cork's humble Suit , and payment of 15000 l. to His Majesty , and his acknowledgement of his Misdemeanors , obtained a Pardon , and the Bill and Proceedings were taken of the Files ; and he remembers not any Suit for breach of any Order made at Council-Table . To the Fifth , he saith , The Deputies and Generals of the Army have always executed Martial Law , which is necessary there ; and the Army , and the Members thereof , have been long time Governed by printed Orders , according to which , divers , by Sentence of the Council of War , have formerly been put to death as well in the time of Peace as War. The Lord Mountnorris , being a Captain of a Company in the Army , for mutinous words against the said Earl , General of that Army , and upon two of those ancient Orders was proceeded against by a Council of War , being the Principal Officers of the Army , about twenty in number , and by them , upon clear Evidence , sentenced to Death , wherein the said Earl was no Judge , but laboured so effectually with His Majesty , that he obtained the Lord Mountnorris's Pardon , who , by that Sentence , suffered no personal hurt or damage , save about two days Imprisonment . And as to the other Persons , he can make no Answer thereunto , no particulars being described . To the Sixth , he saith , The Suit had depended many years in Chancery , and the Plaintiff Complaining of that delay , the said Earl , upon a Petition , ( as in such Cases hath been usual ) calling to him the then Master of the Rolls , the now Lord Chancellor , and the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas , upon the Proofs in the Chancery , decreed for the Plantiff , to which he refers himself , and it may be the Lord Mountnorris was thereupon put out of his Possession . To the Seventh , he saith , His Majesty being Intituled to divers Lands , upon an Inquisition found , Proclamation was made , That such as Claimed by Patent should come in by a day , and have their Patents allowed , as if they had been found in the Inquisition , and accordingly divers were allowed . The Lord Dillon produced His Patent , which being questionable , he consented , and desired that a Case might be drawn , which was drawn by Counsel , and argued , and the Judges delivered their Opinions , but the Lord Dillon , nor any other , were bound thereby , or put out of Possession , but might have traversed the Office , or otherwise legally have proceeded , that Case or Opinion notwithstanding . To the Eighth , he saith , That upon Sir Iohn Gifford's Petition to the King , His Majesty referred it to the Deputy and Council of Ireland , where the matter proceeding legally to a Decree against the Lord Loftus , and upon his Appeal , that Decree , by His Majesty and His Council of England , was confirmed , to which Decree and Order he refers himself , believing the Lord Loftus was committed for disobeying that Decree , and for continuance in contempt committed close Prisoner . He saith , That the Lord Loftus having committed divers Contempts , the Council by Warrant required him to appear at the Board , and to bring the Great Seal with him ; which Order he disobeyed , and was shortly after Committed , and the Great Seal was delivered up by His Majesties express Command , and not otherwise . And an Information was exhibited in the Star-Chamber , for grievous Oppressions done by the Lord Loftus as Chancellor , whereof he was so far from justifying , as that he submitted , desiring to be an Object of His Majesties Mercy , and not of His Justice . The Earl of Kildare for not performing of an Award made by King Iames , and of an Award made in pursuance thereof , by the said Earl of Strafford , upon a Reference from His Majesty , was by the Deputy and Council Committed , and a Letter being unduly obtained , he did not thereupon enlarge him ; but upon another Letter , and submission to the Orders , as by the King was directed , he was enlarged . The Lady Hibbots , and one Hoy her Son , having upon a Petition , Answer , Examination of Witnesses , and other Proceedings at Council-Board , been found to have committed foul abuses by Fraud and Circumvention , to have made a Bargain with the Petitioner Hibbots , for Lands of a great value , for a small sum of Money , was Ordered to deliver up the Writing , no Assurances being perfected , or Money paid , and it 's like he threatned her with Commitment if she obeyed not that Order , but denieth that the Lands were after sold to Sir Robert Meredith to his use , or that by any Order by himself made , any one hath been Imprisoned concerning Freeholds , but for debts and personal things , as some have been used by all his Predecessors in like Causes . To the Ninth , he saith , Warrants to such Effects have been usually granted to the Bishops in Ireland , in the times of all former Deputies ; but the Earl not satisfied with the conveniency thereof , refused to give any such Warrants in general to the Bishops as had been formerly done ; but being informed that divers in the Diocess of Down gave not fitting Obedience , he granted a Warrant to that Bishop , whereto he referreth , which was the only Warrant he granted of that Nature , and hearing of some Complaints of the Execution thereof , he recalled it . To the Tenth ; he saith ; The Lord Treasurer Portland offered the Farm of the Customs for 13000 l. per annum in some particular Species , but the Earl of Strafford advanced the same Customs to 15500 l. per annum , and 8000 l. Fine , and by His Majesties Command became a Farmer at those Rates proposed , without addition to those Rates , as by the printed Books 7 Car. Regis may appear ; he disswaded the advance of Rates lately proposed by Sir Abraham Dawes , so as it was declined ; the Rates of Hydes and Wooll are moderate , consideration being had of their true value , and of the Places whereto they are to be transported ; and of the Statute made in the time of Queen Elizabeth , and there in force , prohibiting the Exportation of Wooll , unless they pay to the Crown 5 s. the Stone ; the Trade and Shipping of that Kingdom are exceedingly increased . To the Eleventh , he saith , Pipe-staves were prohibited in King Iames's Time , and not Exported , but by Licence from the Lord Treasurer of England , or Lord-Deputy of Ireland , who had 6 s. 8 d. a 1000 , and his Secretary 3 s. 4 d. for the Licence ; but to restrain that destruction of Timber , by Command of His Majesty , and Advice of His Council , for His Revenue in Ireland , first 30 s. then 3 l. the money was paid to His Majesty , who hath thereby about 1500 l. per annum , and his Lordship lost about 4 or 500 l. per annum , which his Predecessors had for such Licences . This is paid by the Transporter , not by the Natives , whose Commodity nevertheless appears by the Article to be very much increased . To the Twelfth , he saith , The Subsidies there are an Inheritance in the Crown by Act of Parliament , 6 d. was paid for Subsidy , and 1 s. 6 d. for Impost upon every pound of Tobacco , and Farmed 10 or 20 l. per annum , the Commons in Parliament , 10 Car. Regis , finding the Revenue to be short of the Expence of that Kingdom 24000 l. per annum , Petitioned , those Grants might be applied to increase His Majesties Revenue , without calling upon the Subject , but upon urgent Occasions : Hereupon upon the Advice of the Committee of the Revenue ; and in consideration of a Proclamation made in England , several Proclamations were made , and this setled in a way , till it could be confirmed by Parliament , for which purpose a Bill is transmitted , according to the desire of the Commons , and the Impost of Tobacco is Let to Contractors for eleven years , at 5000 l. per annum for the first five years , and 10000 l. per annum for the other six years , and the Earl hath lent money to forward the business , and by His Majesties Allowance is a Partner , but hath not as yet in two years last past had any Accompts thereof , or made benefit thereby . He knoweth of no whipping , or other punishment ; the Farmes of the Customs are better than formerly , 2000 l. per annum , five 8 parts whereof is yearly paid unto His Majesty ; the prices of Tobacco exceed not 2 s. or 2 s. 4 d. the pound , the setling of that Revenue , according to the Petition of the Commons , he hath not raised , or countenanced any Monopolies , but opposed the same . To the Thirteenth , he saith , He endeavoured to advance the Manufacture of Linnen rather than of Woollen-Cloth , which might prejudice that Trade here ; he bought Flax-seed in the Low-Countries , and sold it at the same Rate to such as desired if , they making their Cloaths not above a foot broad , and winding 8 or 10 threads from several bottoms together ; the contrary was twined , their Flax formerly not above a foot , became a yard in length , and that soil is fit to bear it , and the people love such easie Works ; He hath set up many Looms , made much Cloth , and sold it to the loss of some Thousands of pounds ; but when the State saw the Natives would not change their old Courses for new and better , the Proclamation was declined . What he did was for the Publick Good , and had nothing from them that was not fully paid for . To the Fourteenth , he saith , He refers to the Oath and Proclamation , which was set forth by the said Earl and Council of State there , at the instance of the Farmers of the Customs , towards the defrauding of the King's Duties being in France , whereof His Majesty had five eight parts : He never heard any Complain of the Oath , or of any that refused to take it , and conceived it to be lawful , divers of the Council approving it , being Learned Judges of the Law , to whose judgment , for the legality , he submitted , as well in that as to other matters of like nature . To the Fifteenth , He denieth what is in the Article Objected , but saith , That about the Year 1626. certain Agents authorized in Ireland , were sent into England , and offered and agreed to pay to His Majesty 120000 l. in six years , towards the maintenance of His Army , and a like payment of 20000 l. per annum , was after agreed , and continued for three years longer ; the Assessments were made , and it was shortly after , by them and the Lord Faulkland then Deputy , agreed in Ireland , that the money should not be charged upon Record , but levied by Captains , by Paper-Assignments , upon Warrants from the Lord Deputy ; and this course was held four years in the Lord Faulkland's time , and the four years wherein the Lord Loftus and the Earl of Cork were Lords Justices there ; and it held for the remaining year only , after the Earl of Strafford came thither ; but the Earl of Cork having spared those Towns for the benefit of himself and Tenants during the time of his being Justice : The Earl of Strafford reduced the Assessments to what it was made by the Lord Faulkland , and gave way that Sir William St. Leiger , Lord President of Munster , to take the same Arrerages , in satisfaction of a Debt due unto him by His Majesty , and he is confident no force was used in levying the same : It hath been usual to lay Souldiers to levy that Contribution , to send Souldiers to apprehend Contemners of Orders made at Council-Board , and the like ; and when Out-Laws and Rebels have been in the Woods , no Souldiers have in his time been laid , but by the Advice of the Council there . Touching the Castle-Chamber , it 's a parcel of the Territory of Ideough , whereto the King was Intituled by Inquisition , and the Possession established in a Legal way , when the said Earl was in England , and no Souldiers were sent , but only 12 at the intreaty of Mr. Wanesford , for security of his Houses and Plantations against Rebels that then were out , and burned and spoiled Houses thereabouts ; and neither Richard Butler's , or any other Family were thence expelled by the said Earl from their Estates . To the Sixteenth , he saith , There was such a Proposition which was just , to prevent clamourous Complaints here , which there might be redressed , but conceives that by the Laws there , and the Articles known since ( by the name of the Articles of Grace made about fourteen years since ) none ought to depart that Kingdom without Licence . Thereupon , the Advice of the State , the Proclamations were set forth , but not with such intent as in the Article . He denied Licence only to Three , the Earl of Cork , the Lord Mount● and Sir 〈◊〉 Hamilton ; to the two former , in regard of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then against them in the Castle-Chamber ; to the other by special Command from His Majesty ; but so soon as Sir Frederick said he would Complain of the Earl , he made Suit to His Majesty , That Sir Fredrick might come over , which was granted ; He conceives such restraint to be necessary , and if that it be not continued , it will prove of evil Consequence to that Kingdom . Parry was questioned at the Council-Board for Misdemeanors , and to avoid Sentence , secretly went out of the Kingdom , and at his return , for that and other Offences , was Fined and Imprisoned , to the Sentence thereof he refers , and knows of no other that were Imprisoned , as by the Article is Charged . To the Seventeenth , he saith , It 's like he might say ( for the better encouragement of the Officers and Souldiers of the old Irish Army , in discharge of their several Duties ) that His Majesty was so well satisfied in the way and pains they took in using and practizing of their Arms , that in that Point he would set them as a Pattern to be imitated ; and conceives it would not be ill if they were so , they being in the Opinion of those that have seen them Exercise , very able and expert Souldiers , he spake not other words , or to other purpose . To the Eighteenth , he saith , When the Earl of Cork was one of the Lords Justices , he seized some Houses in Dublin , pretending they belonged to Jesuits and Fryers , without Legal Proceedings , which , upon Suits prosecuted at Council-Board , were , according to Justice , restored to the Owners ; but how since imployed the Earl of Strafford knoweth not , but endeavoured the utmost he could to maintain that Seizure . Touching the 8000 men , he saith , They were raised according to the King's Warrant , and that the said Earl left the Care thereof to the Earl of Ormond and others , and what number are Protestants , what Papists , he knoweth not , but believeth such a Body cannot be there raised , without many Papists ; the greatest number of the Captains and Officers are Protestants , chosen by the said Earl. The 1000 men were drawn out of the old , to make Officers for the new Army , and believeth the 1000 put to the old Army are Protestants , in regard by his express Order no Papist is to be admitted there a Common Souldier . He never preferred any Captain , Lieutenant or Ensign to be of that Army that was a Papist , and conceives they are duly paid ; and believes those newly raised exercise the Religion no otherwise than was practiced before the Earl's coming thither : He was a Commissioner to Compound with the Recusants for their Forfeitures , and endeavoured to be informed of the utmost value of their Estates ; in four years he brought that Revenue from 2300 l. to be between 11 and 12000 l. per annum , more than ever was raised formerly in so short a time , by which faithful dealings , for His Majesty , he procured the hard Opinion of the Recusants throughout the Kingdom ; that out of those Compositions he hath paid near 100000 l. into the Exchequer ; and they had no other Priviledges than what was exercised in the Commission , and in former like Commissions , and as are in the present Commission to the Lord Treasurer , and others . To the Nineteenth , he saith , The last Summer was twelve months , when the English and Scotch lay in the Fields near Berwick , the Earl and Council of Ireland having a general motion thereof , were in fear that the Scots in Ulster ( being almost 100000 in number ) might be drawn to side with the Covenanters , and advising how to secure that Kingdom , the Principal of the Nation of Scotland , living in Ireland , came to Dublin and Petitioned , That he might have an Oath whereby they might give Testimony of future Obedience to His Majesty ; whereupon an Oath was by the Advice of Council of State framed , and chearfully taken by those Scotch Gentlemen , and generally by all the Nation in Ireland , as the Earl conceives to their advantage , and the satisfaction of others ; he believes that some were Sentenced for refusing it , but none were otherwise exiled . The Earl in his Vote said , That he would endeavour , that all of that Nation should take that Oath , or leave the Kingdom , all which was done by His Majesties Direction and Approbation ; and it was not contrived to the intents in the Article Charged , but to prevent their adhering to the Covenanters then in open Arms , and not concerning the Ceremony or Government of the Church . To the Twentieth , he saith , That in the Year 1638. the Earl was in Ireland , when Preparations were made for War , and Summons sent to the Nobility of this Kingdom : In the Year 1639. a General was appointed , and an Army drawn to the Field , and Encamped near Berwick , whereby it appears he was not acquainted that the Article of Pacification had been broken on both Sides , and so distempered , that it was held fit an Army in England should be raised , to suppress the Covenanters , if the business could not with Honour and Safety be otherwise composed . The said Earl humbly advised His Majesty to call a Parliament , and used many Motives thereunto ; after the Parliament was called , and before the Sitting thereof , ten of the Lords , and other of the Council for Forreign Affairs , being assembled , His Majesty then present , an Honourable Person related the Covenanters Demands ; it was then Voted by all , That they were such as might not in Honour and Safety be condescended unto by His Majesty ; and if they could not be otherwise reduced , His Majesty must be constrained to bring them to it by force ; the like Resolution was after at the Council-Table by twenty of the Council : Whereupon His Majesty appointed a Council of War , and it was held necessary to borrow 200000 l. upon good Security , till the Supplies by the Parliament might come in . He never said the Scotch Nation were Rebels , but was ever perswaded that many of them are most Loyal Subjects . Those that raised Arms , when they were at such distance from His Majesty , he might say they were no less than Rebels and Traytors ; by Warrant from the Lord Admiral , he caused divers Ships and Goods to be seized , but not with an intent to set on the War , but as much as in him lay to bring all to fair Accommodation , without expence of blood . To the 21th , he saith , The pacification was broken before he came over , as in the Answer to the former Article he moved His Majesty for a Parliament in England , but not with such intent as in the Article , but out of a desire to have setled a right Understanding between the King and His people . It may be , he said , ( though he remembreth it not ) that if the Parliament would not Supply His Majesty , he would serve His Majesty in any other lawful way ; being well assured that His Majesty would not imploy him , nor any man else , in any other kind . To the 22th , he saith , According to His Majesties Instructions , he did set forth to the Parliament of Ireland , the State of the Affairs as they then stood , and they freely gave four Subsidies , as an acknowledgment of His Goodness and happy Government , as by the Act and Remonstrance appears in Print ; He , by His Majesties Direction , then gave Order for the raising of 8000 men , who still remain in the King's pay , and were sent into Ulster to secure those Parts , or to land in Scotland , to divert the Earl of Argile , in case he joined with the Covenanters Army against the King ; but it was mentioned in the King's Letter , 2. Mertii , 1639. he had purposely given out , That they should join with the King's Army at Berwick , to colour other Designs ; but the true cause of their Levying was made known to be as aforesaid unto the Earl of Ormond , Sir Iohn Burlace , and the Marquiss of Hamilton , and Earl of Northumberland , at the time of the writing the Letter , and he denies the words charged in the Articles , or any other words to such intent and purpose . To the 23th , he saith , The matters of the Parliament were no otherwise referred to him , than to the rest of the Council , that coming sick from Ireland about ten days after the Parliament were set , and after the Treaty with the Earl of Dunfermline , Lord Lowdon , Scotch Commissioners , was broken off , and the Army preparing , and the Parliament not supplying Monies as His Majesty desired ; His Majesty advised what might move them to prefer His Supply ; in debate whereof , he humbly advised His Majesty , by a Message to the House , to lay down Ship-Money , and promise never to demand it , and give way to reverse the Judgment by a Writ of Error in Parliament , and to promise a Redress of Grievances when they should be prepared . And secondly , That they would presently agree upon such Supply as should maintain His Army , for reducing the Scots to their Obedience , wherein their Safety and His Honour was concerned : His Majesty assented conditionally , that he might have 12 Subsidies ; the Earl besought Him that it might not pass as a Condition , but to Relinquish Ship-Money , and put himself upon their Affections , and drew up the Message in Writing , and delivered it to Mr. Secretary Vane to deliver to the House of Commons : He desired to know if His Majesty would not take less than 12 , His Majesty Answered , He feared less would not serve His Occasions ; The Earl of Strafford besought His Majesty to accept of Eight , so His Majesty assented , and desired Mr. Secretary to signifie so much , as occasion should be offered ; but whether he did so or not the said Earl knoweth not . The House of Commons being in debate two days , and not Resolving . His Majesty about the 5th of May last called a Council at Seven of the Clock in the Morning , the said Earl being sick , came late , and was told , ( as he remembreth ) by the Earl of Bark-shire , the King had declared His Resolution to Dissolve the Parliament ; the Earl of Strafford besought His Majesty to hear the Advice of His Council , and first of those that were Members of the House of Commons , by whom the rest might the better be guided : Mr. Secretary Windebank said , He feared the House would first be Answered of their Grievances , and Voted for a Breach of the Parliament . Mr. Secretary Vane , in opposite terms , said , That there was no hope that they would give the King a Penny , and therefore absolutely Voted for a Breach . And the Earl of Strafford conceiving His Majesties Pleasure to have accepted Eight Subsidies , had been delivered to the House of Commons by Mr. Secretary Vane , did , in His Majesties turn , deliver his Vote for Breach of the Parliament , which otherwise he would not have done ; it being contrary to what he Resolved when he came thither , and like Opinion was delivered by the rest of the Lords , being about twenty , except two or three at the most . The Parliament being Dissolved , His Majesty desired Advice of His Council , How money might be raised , affirming , That the Scotch Army was ready to enter into the Kingdom ; The said Earl , in presence of others in the Council , delivered his Opinion , That in a Case of absolute and unavoidable necessity , which neither would nor could be prevented by ordinary remedies , provided by the Laws , nor all His Majesties other means sufficient to defend the Common wealth Himself , or their Lives and Estates from an Enemy , without force of Arms , either actually entred , or daily expected to Invade the Realm ; He conceived that His Majesty was absolved from ordinary Rules , and might use ( in as moderate a way the necessity of the Cause would permit ) all ways and means for defence of Himself and Kingdom , for that he conceived in such extremity , Salus Populi was Suprema Lex , provided it were not colourable , nor any thing demanded imployed to other use , nor drawn into Example , when Law and Justice might take place ; and that when Peace was setled , Reparation was to be given to particular men , otherwise it would be unjust . This was not officiously declared but in Council , forced by the duty of the Oath of a Counsellor , which is , that he shall in all things to be moved , treated and debated in Council , faithfully and truly declare his Mind and Opinion according to his Heart and Conscience ; which Oath the said Earl took , and humbly prays their Lordships Consideration thereof ; He denieth the words in the Article , or any words to the intent thereby expressed . To the 24th , he saith , He delivered his Opinion with such Cautions and Restrictions , as in the Answer to the Precedent Article , and is well assured his Discourse at all times hath been without ill Intentions to either of the Houses of Parliament , which he ever did , and shall think and speak of with all Reverence . He denies that he knew of the Publishing or Printing of the Book , nor who caused it to be Printed or Published , for at that time he was sick in his Bed , more like to die than to live . To the 25th , he saith , Ship-Money was levied , and adjudged to be due , before his coming over . Sheriffs were then called up as before , and not otherwise . If any were sued in Star-Chamber , it was without any particular indeavour of his : It appearing at the Board , That the Mayor and Sheriffs of London had been slow in Collecting Ship-Money , he said , They were but Ministerial , and ought to Exact , and not dispute the King's Writs , and that if through their remisness the King should be less able to provide for the Publick Safety , when any Forreign Army was ready to enter the Kingdom , they might deserve to be Fined and Ransomed ; which he spake more to hasten them , than of purpose to advise any such Prosecution ; but denies the other words , being , under favour , such Expressions as he is not accustomed unto . To the 26th , he saith , He advised not either of those Projects ( being then sick in Bed ) but it being debated at the Council-Table , Whether it were better for the King to raise Gold and Silver , or Coin base Money ? He ( for the Reasons then given ) delivered his Opinion for the latter . Sundry Merchants Adventurers coming to his house , desired him to move His Majesty , then at Oatlands , to Release the Bullion , or Money , he told them , He knew of no such thing , and would not meddle with it ; nor would his Health permit him to go abroad , and said , That if their denying the King in such a Publick Danger , the Loan of 100000 l. upon good Security , the King were constrained , for the Preservation of the Land , to stay the Bullion , they might thank themselves ; and the City receiving so great a benefit by Residing amongst them , they made but an unthankful acknowledgment in such a Straight , to refuse the Loan of that Sum. The Officers of the Mint came to the Council-Board , and the Earl then shewed a Letter , he received from the Earl of Leicester , wherein was related , That the Cardinal had appointed Commissioners to go into the Merchants houses at Paris , to peruse their Shop Books and Accompts , and to Cess every man , according to his Ability , towards the payment of the King's Army , and then said , That it was but just for Us here in England , to bless God for being under a King which could not think upon such a Pressing upon the People . But the words in the Article , or words to any such intent , he did not speak , and cannot sufficiently bemoan himself to have been in all his words so ill understood , or so untruly Reported as he hath been . To the 27th , he saith , He perswaded the Gentry of that Country , to allow the Trained-Band a months Pay , which they yielded , and His Majesty graciously accepted . It was by Council of War ( His Majesty being present ) thought fit the Trained-Bands should return , save the two Regiments under the Command of Sir William Pennyman and Sir Thomas Danby . It was assented unto by His Majesty , and the great Council of the Peers then Assembled , That those spared should Contribute , and the said Earl was Commanded by them to see it done ; which was done accordingly by Warrants from him and from his Deputy-Lieutenants , which was much less Charge to the Countries than otherwise , and denies the other particular in the Article mentioned . To the 28th , he saith , He was Lieutenant-General to the Earl of Northumberland , about the 24th of August , of 10 or 12000 Foot and 2000 Horse , being at New-Castle under the Command of the Lord Conway and Sir Iacob Ashley , and the rest of the Army at York ; the said Earl went from London , and the 26th of August , notwithstanding his extream weakness , and came to York , and having received a Letter from Sir Iacob Ashley , that New-Castle was Fortified , and that they must be Infamous Beasts to lose it , and that it was fully Secured ; and being acquainted with several Dispatches sent by Mr. Secretary Vane , by His Majesties Directions , to the Lord Conway , General of the Horse , to oppose the Passage of the Scots over the River of Tyne , the one dated 22. Augusti , the other 23. Augusti , another 24. Augusti , another 26. Augusti , the substance of which Letters are particularly mentioned in the Answer to this Article , and to the same Letters the said Earl referreth himself . The said Earl , upon sight of this and Sir Iacob Ashley's Letter , had reason to believe , that all fitting preparation was made , and then understanding that if the Scotish Army should pass the River , not only New-Castle altogether Unfortified on the South part , would be lost , but the said Army of 11000 Foot and 2000 Horse endangered ; and hearing that the Scotish Army were distresied for want of Victuals , and knowing the advantage that was in opposing the Passage of such a River . Hereupon the said Earl , by a Letter dated the 27th of August , advised the Lord Conway with all the Horse , and at least 8000 Foot , and all the Cannon , to March and Fight with them ; upon the passage of the River , at which time the said Earl had no Charge of the Army ; but the truth is , the Lord Conway having not with him all the Horse , and not above 1500 Foot , and only some part of the Cannon was in a posture to fight , for the passage before the said Letter of advice came , which he received not half an hour before the Fight began , and proceeded according to his own judgment , and His Majesties said general Direction ; and afterwards , that is about the 30th of August , and not before , the said Earl took upon him the Charge of the Army at Darlington , and brought it to York to be supplied with Necessaries that they wanted , and purposed to have staid where they were quartered . But hearing from many hands that there was a purpose to question him in Parliament , and His Majesty having given him Liberty of staying there , or coming away , he left the Charge of the Army with the Lord Conway , and other Officers , as His Majesty had directed , and came to London on Monday the 9th , and the 11th of November was put under Restraint , and so hath ever since remained . And saith , That the Town of New-Castle was no way under his Care ; and as to other matters whereto by Law he ought to answer , and hath not answered , he saith , He is not Guilty of them , or any of them , in such manner and form , as in the said Article is expressed , and humbly prayeth a convenient time for making his Proofs , and to justifie and maintain his Actions in Ireland , by sight of His Majesties Warrants , Records , and Witnesses in that Kingdom , and that if any mistake be in this Answer , it may be amended . And this the said Earl hopeth , that upon equal Construction of his Words and Actions , he shall appear free from any great and hainous Offences wherewith he is Charged ; and howsoever it shall please God to dispose of him , he shall ever pray , that by their Lordships great Wisdoms and Prudence , the Affections of His Majesty , and Duty of His Subjects , may this Parliament be so surely knit together , as may by God's blessing lastingly tend to the Prosperity and Flourishing Estate both of King and People . Friday , February 26th , 1640. Ordered , That the same Committee that was formerly appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , with the Addition of Mr. Palmer , Mr. Selden , Mr. Whitlock , and Mr. Maynard , do consider of the Articles and further Impeachmment of Thomas Earl of Strafford by the Commons ; and likewise the said Earl's Answer to those Articles and further Impeachment . And they are likewise to consider of the Proofs , and how the Witnesses may conveniently be brought together , to give their Testimony Viva Voce in the business ; and they are to proceed in the secretest and speediest way they can , for the advantage of the business , in preparing it for a Trial and further Proceedings ; and they have Power to send for Persons , Witnesses , Papers , Records , or any thing else , that they in their Judgments shall conceive fit , or may conduce to the Service ; and they are to meet this Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the Treasury Chamber . The four Lawyers that were added to the Earl of Strafford's Committee , made their Protestation of Secrecy openly in the House . Sir George Wentworth , upon his Protestation made to the House to keep secret all such Matters as passed this day , had leave to resort to his Brother the Earl of Strafford , but all the other Members of this House are restrained from resorting unto him , without leave first obtained . Saturday , February 27th , 1640. Mr. Whitlock Reports from the Committee for the Earl of Strafford . The House does declare , That they are well satisfied , that the Evidence to be produced against Thomas Earl of Strafford at his Trial be managed by those Members . Friday , March 5th , 1640. Upon Mr. Whitlock's Report from the Earl of Strafford's Committee , It was Resolved upon the Question , That there shall be no Replication put 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 but that the further Proceedings shall be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is now 〈◊〉 by the Committee . Mr. Whitlock is to go up to the Lords with this Message , viz. That the House of Commons have considered of the Earl of Strafford's Answer , and do aver their Charge of High Treason against him , and that he is Guilty in such manner and form as he stands Accused and Impeached , and that this House will be ready to prove their Charge against him , at such convenient time as their Lordships shall prefix , and intend to manage the Evidence by Members of their own , and desire a free Conference with their Lordships , by Select Committees of both Houses , to consider of some Propositions and Circumstances concerning the Trial. Mr. Whitlock brings Answer from the Lords , That their Lordships have taken the Message from this House into Consideration , and will give a meeting , for a free Conference , by a Committee of 24 on Monday Morning at Nine of the Clock . The Committee of the Commons . Mr. Pym , Mr. Strode , Mr. Solicitor , Mr. Grimston , Lord Digby , Sir Iohn Clotworthy , Sir Walter Earle , Mr. Hampden , Mr. Whitlocke , Mr. Palmer , Mr. Selden , Mr. Maynard , Mr. Treasurer , Sir Io. Culpepper , Mr. Reynolds , Mr. Hyde , Mr. Prideaux , Mr. Whitlock , Mr. Martin , Mr. Proxholm , Mr. Gray , Lord Faulkland , Mr. Vaughan , Lord Russell , Sir Iohn Strangwaies , Mr. Bellasis , Sir Guy Palmes , Mr. Sutton , Mr. Whistler , Sir Symon D'Ewes , Sir An. Irby , Sir Martin Lomly , Mr. Waller , Mr. Coventry , Mr. Upton , Sir Iohn Eveling , Lord Fairfax , Sir William Massam , Mr. Pierepoint , Sir Benjamin Rudyard , Sir Thomas Barrington , Sir Philip Stapleton , Mr. Capell , Mr. Cary , Sir Ralph Hopton , Sir Robert Hatton , Sir Gilbert Gerrard , Mr. Nathaniel Fines . A Committee of these 48 are to meet a Committee of 24 of the Lords at a free Conference , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , on Monday Morning next , at Nine of the Clock in the Painted-Chamber The Committee for the Earl of Strafford are to manage this free Conference with the Lords . Monday , March 8th , 1640. Upon Mr. Whitlock's Report from the Committee for the Earl of Strafford , the Heads of a Conference appointed to be had this day concerning the Trial of the said Earl. It was Resolved upon the Question : ( 1. ) To Propose to the Lords , That they will be pleased to take some Order , that there may be a convenient Place appointed for the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , and to give such Directions as shall be fit for preparing conveniency of room for both Houses , and for such Members of the House as are appointed to manage the Evidence , and for Witnesses , and for the Prisoner ; and for excluding of all such as ought not to be present at the Trial. ( 2. ) That whereas , in the last Message to the Lords , this House did Intimate unto them , That they did intend to manage the Evidence by Members of their own ; They are now Commanded to explain their Reason , That their Lordships may take notice , That We do not expect any Council shall be admitted the Earl of Strafford at the giving of Evidence at the Trial. Thursday , March 11th , 1640. Mr. Whitlock Reports from the free Conference , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , That the Lord Privy-Seal began with this Introduction ; That this Parliament , both Houses , have had often Conferences , and to good Purpose , which had preserved a true Understanding between both Houses , That at the last free Conference their Lordships did receive from this House certain Propositions , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , which We our Selves call Circumstances . ( 1. ) Concerning Place . ( 2. ) Persons . ( 3. ) Managing the Evidence . ( 4. ) Use of Counsel ; he was pleased to remember the words of the Proposition , as they were delivered unto them , and told Us those were Circumstances ; yet Circumstances were Servants to Execution , and might be altered ; and if they should Change from the House they now sit in into the Painted-Chamber , or the Court of Requests , upon Survey of it , by skilful men , they were informed the Floor of it is so weak , that it might be very dangerous for so great a Resort to be in together at the Trial , therefore left that to Our further Consideration . The Lords thought of this , That the Bar in their House might be removed higher , and the Room there made longer ; and that being made a Scaffold , might be a Capacity sufficient to receive the Members of this House ; this he did only Propose , and said , The Bishops did desire to be absent at this Trial , so there would be more room , for the Earls would sit in their places . Next that , their Lordships did desire to understand , Whether We meant to be there as a House , which they thought We did , or as single Members of the House . ( 3. ) His Lordship was pleased to tell Us , They desired an Exposition of the words managing of Evidence : Whether We intended a marshalling and applying of the Proof ? ( 4. ) That the Lords did desire , concerning the Place and Persons , to know how they have been admitted in former times , that they might be fortified by Presidents for Place and Persons , and for Counsel . Their Lordships are careful not to admit of more than is according to the Law of this Kingdom : And thereupon their Lordships have made this Resolution , That the Earl of Strafford , in matters of meer Fact , shall not make use of Counsel , but in matter of Law he shall ; and if any doubt arise , what is matter of Law , and what is matter of Fact , the Lords do reserve the Judgment hereof to themselves ; this came by intimation of Ours , that We did intend to manage the Evidence ; and at a Conference We explained Our Selves , That We did not expect they would allow Him any Council at the giving of Evidence . After this he was pleased to tell us , That he had not forgot another thing , though he omitted it , that he that delivered the Proposition , at the Message , used words to this purpose , That this House did hold it necessary and fit , that all the Members of the House might be present at the Trial , to the end , every one might satisfie his own Conscience , in the giving of their Vote , to demand Judgment . Upon this We thought it not fit to make an Explanation , till We had acquainted the House with it . Ordered , That the whole matter of the Report , now made of the free Conference with the Lords , concerning the Trial of Tho. Earl of Strafford , be referred to the Committee for the Earl of Strafford , to search and consider of Presidents , and to prepare Reasons , and to present them to the House to morrow morning , and they are to meet this Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the Treasury-Chamber . A Message from the Lords , to desire a free Conference by the same Committee that last met , touching the Demands concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford in the Painted-Chamber presently , if it may stand with the conveniency of this House . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will give a meeting presently by the same Committee , as is desired . The Committee , for the Earl of Strafford , are appointed to manage and Report this Conference . Friday , March 12th , 1640. Mr. Whitlock Reports from the Earl of Strafford's Committee such Heads , as that Committee does present unto this House to be the Heads of a free Conference , to be desired with the Lords concerning the matter of the last free Conference with the Lords , touching the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Upon this Report , It was Resolved upon the Question , That this shall be the first Head of the free Conference , viz. 1. As concerning Place , that this House doth conceive , that although the Bar of the Lord's House be removed , and some Members thereof absent ; yet without the Bar , the Room will not be sufficient to contain the Members of the House of Commons , and that their Lordships will be pleased to direct some other Place for the Trial. For the Presidents concerning the Place , their Lordships take notice in their Conference , That the Parliament sate in the Chamber Blank , 1 R. 2. but the Parliament being Summoned to appear at the King's Palace at Westminster , if one Room be not convenient , another Room might be desired that shall be more convenient . Resolved upon the Question , That this shall be the Second Head of the free Conference , viz. ( 2. ) That the Earl of Strafford , being Impeached by the Commons , it doth belong to the House of Commons to Resolve who are to be present at the Trial , and that of Right they may come as a House , if they please , but however they are Resolved to send their own Members as a Committee of the whole House . Resolved upon the Question , That this shall be the Third Head of that free Conference , viz. ( 3. ) That by the managing of the Evidence , this House doth mean the ordering , applying , and inforcing the Evidence , according to the truth of the Fact. Ordered , That the Fourth Head of this Report now made from the Committee , of the Earl of Strafford , concerning the matter of Council , be recommitted to the same Committee , with the addition of the Lawyers of the House as was Yesterday made ; and they are likewise to take into Consideration , what those Gentlemen have incurred that have been of Council with the Earl of Strafford , he being accused of High Treason by this House , in the Name of Themselves , and of all the Commons of England ; and to present to this House what they think is fit to be done in that business , and Mr. Peirepoint and Mr. Martin are added to this Committee as to this business , and they are to meet this Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the Treasury-Chamber . Saturday , March 13th , 1640. Mr. Peirepoint is appointed to go to the Lords , to desire a free Conference by the same Committee that was last appointed for the free Conference , touching the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock Reports from the Committee for the Earl of Strafford , That the House had heard part of this Report the other day , viz. ( 1. ) The place of Trial. ( 2. ) The Persons to be present . ( 3. ) The managing of the Evidence ; these three passed their Vote Yesterday . The Fourth Head concerning Counsel was recommitted , which received this Resolution , That the Commons do acquaint their Lordships , that if at any time , during the Evidence , the Counsel for the Earl of Strafford shall interpose , when the Members of this House , that are appointed to manage the Evidence , are speaking , they must of necessity desist , because it will not become them to plead against Counsel ; and as concerning the allowing of Counsel in matters of Law , and reserving to their Lordships to judge the Doubts , what is matter of Law , and what Fact ; the Commons do save to themselves all Right that doth appertain to them , according to Law and course of Parliament , and do declare , That the Proceedings in this Case shall not be drawn into President , to the prejudice of the Commons . For the other matter , concerning the Offence of the Counsel of the Earl of Strafford , by being of Counsel with him , without leave of this House ; the Committee could not proceed , the other matter taking up the whole time . The Committee , for the Earl of Strafford , are to manage this Conference . Mr. Whitlock acquaints the House , That according to the Command of this House , he had delivered unto the Lords the Votes that had passed here , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . A Message from the Lords , desiring a free Conference by the same Committee , touching the Demands concerning the Earl of Strafford presently in the Painted-Chamber , if it may stand with the conveniency of this House . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will give a meeting presently , as is desired . The same Committee is to manage and Report this Conference . Mr. Whitlock Reports from the free Conference , touching the Demands concerning the Trial of the Earl of Strafford , That the Lord of Bath was pleased to declare , in the Name of the Lords , That the House had taken into Consideration those Demands made this Morning , and agreed upon an Answer to every one of them . ( First , ) As to the Place , they had agreed , it should be in Westminster-Hall , and the King to be made acquainted with it by the Lord Great Chamberlain . ( Secondly , ) For Persons , their Lordships agreed to it , That the House of Commons be present as a Committee of the whole House for this time , with a saving of the Right of the Lords House , either according to Law or Parliamentary Proceedings ; and that this shall not be drawn into President hereafter on either side . For the ( Third , ) For the managing of Our Evidence , they grant it wholly . For the ( Fourth , ) For Counsel in managing and forcing of Evidence ; the Counsel of the Earl of Strafford is not to speak nor interrupt the matter of the House of Commons until all the Evidence is finished ; and the Counsel is not to stand at the Bar , but in some convenient place where they may hear ; and that they may speak for matter of Law , but not for matter of Fact , and that not unless their Lordships shall see fitting . ( Next , ) For the time , my Lord of Bath did tell Us , They could not yet Resolve upon it , till the Surveyor and Workmen , that did take care to build the Scaffolds , did give account how soon they could be ready . Ordered , That it be referred to the Committee for the Earl of Strafford , with the addition made to the Committee for this purpose , to consider of the saving , and the other part of the Report now made from the free Conference , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , and they are to present to the House what they think fit to be done thereupon . Monday , March 15th , 1640. A Message from the Lords , That the House of Peers desire a Conference concerning the time of the Earl of Strafford's Trial , and some other Circumstances that concern that Trial ; they desire it presently in the Painted-Chamber , if it may stand with the conveniency of this House by the same former Committee . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will give a meeting presently , as is desired by the same Committee . Mr. Whitlock Reports the Conference had with the Lords , concerning the Trial of the Earl of Strafford , in haec verba , That the Lord of Bath did tell Us , That he had something to acquaint Us from the Lords , That their Lordships had Ordered , That the Place for the Trial of the Earl of Strafford shall be in Westminster-Hall ; That the King hath been acquainted therewith , and hath been pleased to assent thereunto : That the time for the said Trial shall begin on Monday next at Nine of the Clock in the Forenoon ; and that against that time Care is taken that all things shall be prepared and made ready ; and that the Lords will be pleased to give notice of the time appointed for this Trial to the Earl of Strafford to attend accordingly ; and a Warrant is to be directed to the Lieutenant of the Tower , to bring the said Earl of Strafford at the time and to the place aforesaid . After this the Earl of Essex told Us , The Lords did take into Consideration something alledged in the Earl of Strafford's Answer to the 27 Article , wherein the Peers , that were of the Great Council , had some Aspersion cast upon them , that they had entred this Protestation . Whereas the Lords of the Great Council at York , to clear their Honours only , have made their Protestation , That they did neither Command nor Approve the raising of Monies in York-shire , as is alledged by the Earl of Strafford in his Answer to the 27th Article . Now the said Protestation is by this House unanimously admitted . And it is likewise Ordered , That so much may be intimated to the Committee of the House of Commons at the next Conference . Moved , That the Committee for the Earl of Strafford do consider of the last part of the Report now made , concerning the Protestation made by the Lords of the Great Council at York , how far they may make use of it in the Evidence at the Trial of the Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That the Committee for the Earl of Strafford consider of the last part of the Report of the Commitee , concerning the Protestation made by the Lords of the Great Council at York , how far they may think fit to make use of it as Evidence at the Trial. Tuesday , March 16th , 1640. Mr. Whitlock Reports from the Committee for the Earl of Strafford , That whereas the House of Commons have formerly declared to their Lordships , that the Earl of Strafford being Impeached by them , they do conceive it doth belong to them to Resolve , in what manner they will be present at his Trial ; and that of Right they may come as a House if they please ; but for some special Reasons , upon this occasion , they are Resolved to send their own Members as a Committee of the whole House , Authorized by the House to be present at the Trial to hear , and some particular Persons of themselves to manage the Evidence . The House of Commons doth still continue their Resolution in every part thereof and therein , and in the matter of allowing Counsel : And their Lordships Reservation to their Judgment what is matter of Fact , and what not , the House of Commons do save to themselves , as they have formerly done , all Rights that do appertain to them , according to Law , and the course of Parliament ; and do declare , That the Proceedings in this Case shall not be drawn into President , to the Prejudice of the Commons . Ordered , That this Protestation be by way of Conference transferred to the Lords . Wednesday , March 17th , 1640. Ordered , That Mr. Pym shall make Report of three especial Cases that concern the Earl of Strafford's business on Friday morning next . Thursday , March 18th , 1640. Ordered , That the Earl of Strafford's Committee of Twelve do attend that Service , and lay aside all other Excuses and Occasions , unless they be otherwise Commanded by this House , and Mr. Glyn is added to this Committee . Friday , March 19th , 1640. Ordered , That a Warrant under Mr. Speaker's Hand , be directed to the Master of the Marshalsey , of the Kings Bench , requiring him to send Robert Coyne ( a Prisoner there upon Execution in safe Custody ) to attend the Committee for the Earl of Strafford De die in Diem , so long as the Committee shall so require . Ordered , That Patrick Allen , an Irish Merchant , who has a Petition depending here , shall have the Liberty to go abroad with a Keeper to Prosecute his business here , and to be examined as a Witness at the Committee for the Earl of Strafford . Sir Thomas Barrington , Sir Iohn Culpepper , Sir Io. Strangwayes , Mr. Ashburnham , Sir Io. Hotham , Sir William Litton , Sir Io. Holland , Sir Robert Pye , Mr. Wheeler , Mr. Lawrence , and Mr. Whittaker , are appointed as a Committee to View the place for the Earl of Strafford's Trial , and to think of some convenient manner for the Committee of the House to go in , and be present at the said Trial ; and for Mr. Speaker to be there in a private manner , and they are to meet this Afternoon at Two of the Clock in the inner Court of Wards . Saturday , March 20th , 1640. Ordered , That the Earl of Strafford's Committee of 13 shall have Power to manage the Evidence in such manner , as they shall think fit to manage the same at the Trial of the Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That Mr. White and Mr. Prideaux be appointed to take Notes of the Passages of the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , and to Report them to the House , if occasion be ; and that the Committee shall have Power , if occasion be , to make use of two more , such as they shall think fit , though not of the House . Moved from the Earl of Strafford's Committee , That it would please the House to give a fair and candid Interpretation of the Committees Labours and Endeavours in this business . Upon Sir Iohn Culpepper's Report from the Committee appointed to view the Place , and to Regulate the Order and the Manner of the Committee of the Houses coming and being there : It was Ordered , ( 1. ) That the Members of the Commons shall sit together , without any Intermixture of others , in that place which is prepared for them . ( 2. ) That in respect of the inconveniency of it , the Members shall not come to meet at the House on Monday morning , but come directly to the place of the Trial. ( 3. ) That for the well-ordering of the business , the said Committee , with the addition of Mr. Peard , shall be present at the several doors at the Entrance of the place appointed , for the Members of the House by Six of the Clock , and are directed and required by the House to admit none but such as shall bring Tickets of their Names and the Places for which they Serve ; and that none of the Members of the House shall be admitted to come in before those that are appointed to attend at the doors shall come ; and if any , either Stranger or Member of the House , shall offend this Order , those who are appointed to attend this Service shall Report it to the House . And it is further Ordered , That all of the House shall be there by Eight of the Clock at the farthest ; and that such places shall be reserved for them , who shall attend this Service , as they shall find to be most proper and convenient for them . ( 4. ) Ordered , That the Serjeant at Arms shall attend within the Court , and his Men without , to be imployed in such Service as they who manage the Evidence shall appoint . Sir Iohn Culpepper further Reported , That the Speaker might be present in some private place , and as a particular Member of this House ; but the Committee doth not think fit that the House should declare any Order in it . Touching the Members of the House being covered at the Trial , the Committee thinks it not fit for them to deliver any Opinion , only they offer the difference that may be when both Houses meet , or Committees of both Houses , and the present Case , where the Lords are to meet as a House , and the Commons as a Committee of their House . Resolved upon the Question , That the House shall sit this Afternoon , and shall meet at Two of the Clock . Mr. Bellasis went up to the Lords with this Message , To desire their Lordships , That in regard this House is much straitned in time , and hath great Affairs in hand , and will sit this Afternoon , and may have occasion of a Conference with their Lordships , that they will be pleased to sit likewise . The humble Petition of Thomas Earl of Strafford was this day read , wherein he desires , That he may make use of some Members of this House , nominated in his Petition , as Witnesses at his Trial ; and the House leaves those Members , nominated in the said Petition , to do therein as they shall please , without their giving any offence to the House . Mr. Martin is to go up to the Lords , to desire a free Conference with their Lordships by the same Committee that was formerly appointed , touching the matter of the last free Conference concerning the Trial of the Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That those Members of the House , that are appointed to manage the Evidence at the Trial of the Earl of Strafford , shall have Power , if any Witnesses be produced for the Earl , to ask if they have been sworn , and if it shall appear that they have been sworn ; or if any shall be sworn at the Bar , to forbear to proceed any further in the managing of their Evidence , until they have resorted unto the House , and have received further Order . All the Orders that concern the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford are required to be Copied out , for the Service of the Committee . The Names of the Members of the House of Commons , appointed to manage the Evidence against Thomas Earl of Strafford at his Trial before the House of Peers , upon an Impeachment of High Treason . George Lord Digby . Iohn Hampden , Esquires . Iohn Pym , Oliver St. Iohn , Esq shortly after Solicitor-General to King Charles the First . Sir Walter Earle , Knight . Ieoffery Palmer , afterwards Knighted , and made Attorney-General to King Charles the Second . Iohn Maynard , Esq afterwards Serjeant at Law to King Charles the Second . Iohn Glyn , Esq Recorder of London , afterwards Sworn one of the Council to King Charles the Second . The Place for the appearance of the Lord Lieutenant was the great Hall in Westminster , where there was a Throne erected for the King , on each side whereof a Cabinet , inclosed about with Boards , and before with Arras : before that were the Seats for the Lords of the Upper-House , and sacks of Wooll for the Judges , before them ten Stages of Seats extending farther than the midst of the Hall , for the Gentlemen of the House of Commons ; at the end of all was a Desk closed about and set apart for the Lord Lieutenant and his Counsel . On Monday Morning , March 22. about Seven of the Clock , he came from the Tower , accompanied with six Barges , wherein were one hundred Souldiers of the Tower , all with Partizans , for his Guard , and fifty pair of Oars : At his landing at Westminster , there he was attended with two hundred of the Trained Band , and went in guarded by them into the Hall. The entries at Whitehall , Kingstreet and Westminster , were guarded by the Constables and Watch-men , from four of the Clock in the Morning , to keep away all base and idle persons . The King , Queen , and Prince came to the House about Nine of the Clock , but kept themselves private within their Closets , only the Prince came out once or twice to the Cloth of State ; So that the King saw and heard all that passed , but was seen of none . Some give the reason of this from the received practise of England in such Cases : Others say , That the Lords did intreat the King , either to be absent , or to be there privately , lest pretentions might be made hereafter , that His being there was either to threaten , or some other ways to interrupt the Course of Justice . A third sort , That the King was not willing to be accessary to the Process , till it came to His Part ; but rather chose to be present , that he might observe and understand if any Violence , Rigour , or Injustice happened . When the Lieutenant entred the Hall , the Porter of the Hall ( whose Office it is ) asked Master Maxwell , Whether the Ax should be carried before him or no ? Who did Answer , That the King had expresly forbidden it ; nor was it the Custom of England to use that Ceremony , but only when the Party Accused was to be put upon his Jury . Those of the House of Lords did sit with their Heads covered , those of the House of Commons uncovered . The Bishops upon the Saturday before did voluntarily decline the giving of their Suffrages in matters Criminal , and of that nature , according to the provision of the Cannon Law , and practice of the Kingdom to this day , and therefore would not be present ; yet withall they gave in a Protestation , that their absence should not prejudice them of that , or any other Priviledge competent to them , as the Lords Spiritual in Parliament , which was accepted . The Earl of Arundel , as Lord High Steward of England , sate apart by himself , and at the Lieutenant's Entry , Commanded the House to proceed . Master Pym being Speaker of the Committee for his Accusation , gave in the same Articles , which were presented at his last being before the Upper House , which being read , his Replies were subjoyned and read also , the very same which were presented before in the Upper House : Some gave the reason of this , because the House of Commons had not heard those Accusations in Publick before . Others , that the formality of the Process required no less , however that day was spent in that Exercise . The Queen went from the House about Eleven of the Clock , the King and Prince staid till the meeting was dissolved , which was after Two. The Lieutenant was sent to the Tower by his Guard , and appointed to return upon Tuesday at Nine of the Clock in the Morning . The crowd of people was neither great nor troublesome , all of them saluted him , and he them , with great humility and courtesie , [ both at his Entrance and at his Return , ] therefore let Fame pretend what it please about the malice and discontent of the Multitude , That if he pass the stroke of Iustice , they will tear him in pieces ; yet there is more in Rumor than in Sight and Appearance ; and in this Report , as in all others of this nature , more is thrust upon the Vulgar ( who seem as well fearful of Punishment , as exempt from it , for all their great number ) than they did justly deserve at this time . Monday , March 22. 1640. Post Merid. The House of Commons spent the Forenoon in the first days Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford in Westminster-Hall : But in the Afternoon the House Ordered , That in case the Earl of Strafford shall ask leave , or shall have liberty given him to speak any thing by way of Defence , before such time as the Members appointed to manage the Evidence , shall enter into the managing of their Evidence , that then they shall Interpose ; and if so be that notwithstanding such Interposition , the Lords shall give him leave so to speak , that then they shall forbear to proceed any further in the managing of their Evidence , until they have Reported unto the House , and received further Order from them . Ordered , That the House shall meet to morrow in Westminster-Hall as a Committee ; and that the House sit to morrow in the Afternoon at Two of the Clock . Ordered , That the Committee formerly appointed shall attend at the doors , at the Entrance of the place prepared for the Committee of the House of Commons , at the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Tuesday , March 23. 1640. Post Merid. Sir Philip Stapleton went up to the Lords with this Message , To desire a free Conference by a Committee of both Houses , concerning their joyning with this House to Petition His Majesty , To disband the new-levied Irish Army , Disarming the Papists Recusants , and the removal of Papists from Court ; especially those formerly named , viz. Mr. Walter Montague , Sir Kenelme Digby , Sir Iohn Winter , and Sir Toby Mathew . Sir Walter Earle and Mr. Reynolds are to manage this Conference , and are to move the Lords , to appoint a Petition to His Majesty , and are to inforce their desire of removing the Papists from Court by that Circumstance of Mr. Walter Montagues appearing Yesterday , before both Houses , at the Trial of the Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That the House meet as a Committee in Westminster-Hall at Eight of the Clock , and in the House at Two in the Afternoon , which they are constantly to observe De die in diem during the Trial. The House does Expect that all the Members of the House should conform themselves to the Order made for Regulating matters at the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford ; and that the Committee appointed for that business shall complain of any that Conform not thereunto . Wednesday , March 24th , 1640. Post Merid. Ordered , That Mr. Treasurer and Mr. Comptroller move His Majesty , That the Committees for the Earl of Strafford may have the perusal of Sir Edward Cook 's Pleas of the Crown . Ordered , That no Member of the House shall stand in the place appointed for the Earl of Strafford's Witnesses , at the time of his Trial , unless they be such as by the said Earl be required to be there as Witnesses . Ordered , That Sir Henry Mildmay move the Lord High Chamberlain , that the door at the Entrance in at the Room , appointed for those that manage the Evidence at the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , be kept shut , and that there be some other passage for the Members to come into the House at , and Captain Charles Price is added to the Committee appointed to Regulate matters at the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Ordered , That no Member of the House Confer with the Earl of Strafford during the time of the Trial. Thursday , March 25th , 1641. Post Merid. Ordered , That the Committee appointed to manage the Evidence at the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford , shall have liberty to proceed upon such Articles , as they shall think most Important for the speediest expediting of the Trial , and to contract and proceed in such manner as they shall think most expedient . Ordered , That the Committee for the Earl of Strafford presently withdraw into the Court of Wards , to prepare Heads for a Conference , to be desired with the Lords , concerning the preventing of all Delays in the speedier expediting the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Sir Iohn Culpepper Reports from the Committee that was appointed to draw Heads for a Conference to be desired with the Lords , concerning the preventing of all Delays in the Trial of the Earl of Strafford , to this purpose : To Represent to the Lords the necessity of Expediting the Earl of Strafford's Trial , in respect of the pressing Occasions of both Houses , and of the Estate of the whole Kingdom , which will be much interrupted and prejudiced by the Protraction of this Trial : In this Consideration the House of Commons desired their Lordships , that they would be pleased to prevent all unnecessary Delays which may be occasioned by the Earl of Strafford's impertinent Exceptions , which as they will take up much time in Debate , so they may occasion frequent Adjournments , the which we desire their Lordships to take into Consideration , that they may be avoided . Resolved upon the Question , That this shall be the Subject of the Conference . Sir Io. Eveling went up to the Lords , to desire a Conference concerning the Trial of the Earl of Strafford ; and Sir Io. Culpepper is appointed to manage this Conference . Monday , March 29th , 1641. Post Merid. Sir Thomas Barington is appointed to go up to the Lords , to desire a Conference by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . This House doth conceive , That the Examination of the Lord Primate of Ireland , already taken , is not to be urged , in regard none of the Members of this House were present at the taking of it , but the Examination of him ( provided ) that some of the Committee appointed to manage the Evidence at the Trial be present thereat , this House will not oppose it , saving their own Rights ; and in like cases the House leaves it to the Committee to proceed in such manner as they shall think agreeable to Law and Justice . And this to be the Subject Matter of the Conference , and Mr. Whitlock is to manage it . Friday , April 2. 1641. Post Merid. Mr. Pym went up to the Lords , to desire , That such of their Lordships as this House shall have occasion to make use of , in the Trial of the Earl of Strafford , would be pleased to be present at the said Trial , and by Name the Lord Treasurer , Lord Admiral , Earl of Bristoll , Earl of Holland , and Lord Conway , be also named to the House , with some other Lords that the House should have occasion to make use of ; namely , the Lord Primate of Armagh , E. Morton , and Lord Newburgh . Mr. Pym likewise nominated some Members of this House , viz. Mr. Treasurer , Sir William Pennyman , Sir Iohn Hotham , Sir Hugh Cholmly , Mr. Henry Cholmy , Mr. Thomas Price , Sir Iohn Strangways , Mr. Controllor , Mr. Henry Piercy , Sir William Envidale , Sir Frederick Cornwallis , Sir Henry Mildmay , Mr. Nichols , Mr. Fines , Sir Thomas Heale , Sir Thomas Barington , Mr. Herbert Price ; a Note of these Names was given to the Serjeant at Arms , attending on this House ; and he is Ordered to give Notice to the Members of the Lords , to be present upon all occasions . Saturday , April 3. 1641. Post Merid. The Petition of Thomas Earl of Strafford was this day read , and the like Order made upon it , as was made upon the Petition of the 20th of March. Tuesday , April 6th , 1641. Post Merid. The humble Petition of Thomas Earl of Strafford was read , and the same Order made upon it as was upon that of the 20th of March. Friday , April 9th , 1641. Post Merid. The Lord Russel is appointed to go up to the Lords , to desire a Conference by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the Proceedings in the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . The Heads of the free Conference to be to this effect : To acquaint the Lords with the great Necessities of the Kingdom , the Pressures of the Time , and how much time has been spent in this Trial : How prejudicial it will be to the Kingdom , if any more then has been be spent , and therefore to desire that to morrow may be appointed for a Peremptory day , for the Earl of Strafford to be heard , if he will come ; otherwise that the Committee of this House may proceed to the Replication to the whole matter , and the Earl of Strafford to be absolutely concluded , for saying any more to the matter of Fact. Mr. Pym is to manage this Conference , and Mr. Glyn and Mr. Hampden are joyned unto him as Assistants . Mr. Pym acquaints the House , That he hath delivered to the Lords what he was intrusted with by this House , concerning the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . They gave no other Answer , then that they would send Answer by Messengers of their own . A Message from the Lords by Baron Hendon and Mr. Heath . That the Lords have taken the last Message to this House into Consideration , and have Resolved , That if the Earl of Strafford come to morrow , he may proceed according to the former Order ; if he comes not , that then this House may proceed to Sum up the Evidence as to matter of Fact , and the Earl of Strafford to be concluded as to matter of Fact. Saturday , April 10th , 1641. Post Merid. Mr. Glyn Reports from the Committee , for the Earl of Strafford , some Grounds concerning the further Evidence that is offered by the Committee to corroborate the Evidence upon the latter part of the 23. Article . And thereupon Sir Henry Vane the younger and Mr. Pym are appointed by this House , to declare their whole knowledge concerning the matters contained in the 23. Article against the Earl of Strafford , and how , and by what means they came to the knowledge thereof , which when they had done , what Paper was produced by Mr. Pym , and so much of it read by him as concerned the Earl of Strafford : And then it was Resolved upon the Question , That the Paper whereof Mr. Pym had now read in part , shall be all of it read , which was done ; and Notice being given of a Message from the Lords , It was Ordered , That all the Members keep their Seats , and go not out of the House without leave . Resolved upon the Question , That the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford of High Treason shall be now read . And accordingly the Bill was twice read . Monday , April 12. Post Merid. The Heads of a Conference to be desired with the Lords touching the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford . 1. The Narrative of the Evidence the Committee intended to have given on Saturday last , concerning which they resorted to the House of Commons for further Direction , to which Evidence two Members of this House were ready to depose . The House fell into a great and long debate of the second Head. And in the mean time Mr. Hampden went up to the Lords with this Message , to signifie unto their Lordships , That this House is now in Debate of a business of great Importance , which they do intend to Communicate unto their Lordships , but are not yet fully ready for a Conference ; and therefore they do intreat their Lordships would be pleased to sit a little while , and they hope they shall come up very suddenly unto them . The Earl of Strafford's Committee who retired to prepare the Second Head , after some stay returned and presented this following to the House for a Second Head , which was read and allowed of by the House , ( viz. ) 2. That the House having taken Consideration thereof , did conceive it very material , that in regard of the Danger and Distractions of the present Times , and that what time might be spent in Debate touching the admitting of the Evidence , they Resolved to come to a general Reply , setting aside that Evidence for this time , saving to themselves their Rights , to make use of the said Evidence , for the farther Prosecution of the 23. Article , if their Lordships shall be unsatisfied concerning the same , without admitting the said Earl of Strafford to examine upon any of the other Articles , which the House doth do , to the end , that the business might come to some speedy Conclusion , the loss of time being of extream Danger and ill Consequence to the Common-wealth , as they conceive . Mr. Hampden brings Answer , That the Lords will sit a convenient time . 3. The third Head , That upon occasion of discovery of this Evidence , a Paper was read in the House , whereby it did appear , that at the same time when the dangers abroad were spoken by the Earl of Strafford , touching the bringing the Irish Army into England , other words were spoken by two others then present , descyphered by those Letters L. Arch. and L. Cott. ( by which We conceive is meant the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Cottington , ) very full of Pernicious Counsels to the King , and Slander to the Commons Assembled in the last Parliament ; as will appear , if their Lordships will be pleased to hear the Papers read , which Paper the Committee is commanded to read , and leave it to their Consideration , and to desire that their Lordships will take some course , that it may be duly examined by whom these words were spoken , that there may be some further Proceedings , to prevent the dangers that may ensue thereupon , and that those Counsels may be looked into , and searched to the bottom . These three Heads were all severally put to the Question , and by Resolution upon the Question , Ordered to be the Heads of this Conference . Mr. Stroud went up to the Lords with this Message , to desire a Conference with their Lordships , by a Committee of both Houses , touching the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford , and some other matters lately discovered . Ordered , That at the next sitting of the House the Bill for the Attainder of the Earl of Strafford shall be read the second time , and Mr. Speaker is to put the House in mind of this Order . A Message from the Lords by Mr. Heath and Serjeant Glanvil . The Lords desire a present Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , in the Painted-Chamber , if it may stand with the conveniency of this House , concerning the last Conference about the Proceedings against the said Earl. Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will give a present meeting , as is desired . The Committee appointed to manage the Evidence at the Trial , are appointed Reporters of this Conference . Mr. Glyn Reports the Conference with the Lords to this purpose : That the Lord Steward spake in the Name of the Lords , and did declare , That their Lordships are Resolved this House may proceed , as formerly was intended , before the offer of further Evidence to be propounded , the Earl of Strafford to recollect his Evidence first , and that being done , the Members of the House of Commons to state their Evidence , and this to be done to morrow morning , whereof they will give the Earl of Strafford Notice . Tuesday , April 13th , 1641. Post Merid. The House only met and adjourned till the next morning . Wednesday , April 14th , 1641. Post Merid. An Act was read the second time for the Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason , upon the Question , Committed unto a Committee of the whole House , Mr. Speaker sitting by . The Order for Resolving the House into a Committee , to Consider of the Bill , for the Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason , was read , and accordingly the House was Resolved into a Committee , and Mr. Peard called to the Chair . Then Mr. Speaker assumed the Chair . A Message from the Lords by Judge Reeves and Serjeant Glanvile , That their Lordships have appointed to hear the Council of the Earl of Strafford to morrow at Eight of the Clock in Westminster-Hall , concerning the matter of Law. Thursday , April 15th , 1641. Post Merid. Mr. Arthur Capel went up to the Lords with a Message , To desire a free Conference by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the Proceedings against Thomas Earl of Strafford , so soon as it may stand with their Lordships Conveniency . Mr. Solicitor , Mr. Maynard , Mr. Glyn , Sir Iohn Culpepper , Mr. Pym , Mr. Whitlock , Mr. Whistler , Mr. Stroud . As a Committee are to retire presently into the Committee-Chamber , to prepare Heads for a Conference , concerning the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford . Mr. Maynard Reports from this Committee , the Heads of the Conference to be desired with the Lords , concerning the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford , to this effect . 1. To offer unto their Lordships , that it was last night Five of the Clock before this Intimation of their Lordships Intentions , to hear the Earl of Strafford's Council , came to this House . 2. That upon some Conferences heretofore had with their Lordships , a saving was made by this House in the Point , Whether Counsel should be heard or not ? and it 's not now time to consider , Whether they should depart from this saving . 3. Great difficulties to know to what purpose the Counsel shall be heard , the Case not being stated , agreed on , or made , when to propound the danger and inconveniencies ; if his Counsel make a Case , and ravel into all our Evidence in such an Auditory ; and whether to put the Case as it is alledged in the Articles , that the Evidence of Fact being given , it was in Propositions , from the beginning , to go by way of Bill , and that a Bill is Exhibited here for his Attainder . That the Proceedings , by way of Bill , stands in no way of opposition to those Proceedings , that have already been in this business . These several Considerations make more difficulty in this House , than to come to a sudden and present Resolution . Resolved upon the Question , That these shall be the Heads of this Conference ; the Committee appointed to prepare the Heads , are likewise appointed to manage and Report the Conference , if occasion be . Mr. Maynard Reports , That the Earl Marshall acquainted them , that he had made a Report of what had been delivered by the House of Commons , and they had entred into Debate about it , and so soon as they had come to a Resolution , they would send Answer by Messengers of their own . But in the mean time they had put off the hearing of the Earl of Strafford's Counsel for this day . Ordered , That the House be Resolved into a Committee , to debate further the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford . A Message from the Lords by Judge Foster and Mr. Heath , That the Lords desire a free Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the business of the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford presently , ( if it may stand with the conveniency of this House ) in the Painted-Chamber . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House will give a meeting presently , as is desired . The same Committee that managed the Conference this morning , are to manage this , and to Report it , if occasion be . Mr. Fines is added to the Committee ; if any new matter be propounded by the Lords at this Conference , the Committee is to give no Answer unto it , but to Report it to the House . Mr. Whitlock Reports this Conference , That the Lord Say told them , That they had taken into Consideration the great business , and were not absolutely Resolved how it should proceed , that the Earl of Strafford's Counsel should have Notice to attend there to morrow , and should not speak to any matter of Fact , but to matter of Law ; only it was afterwards said by another Lord , That the time was so short , that they had Resolved not to send for him , till they heard from this House . Friday , April 16th , 1641. Post Merid. Ordered , That the House do first take into Consideration the Report of the Conference with the Lords Yesterday , concerning the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford . Resolved upon the Question , That it is sufficiently proved , that the Earl of Strafford hath endeavoured to subvert the ancient and Fundamental Laws of the Realms of England and Ireland , and to introduce Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law. Mr. Peard went up to the Lords with a Message to this effect : That this House at present is in Debate of a great business , and fear they cannot come to a Resolution so soon as to come to their Lordships for a Conference this Afternoon ; If they can , they Resolve to sit this Afternoon , and desire their Lordships to do the like , if it may stand with their Conveniency . Mr. Peard brings Answer , That their Lordships will meet at Four of the Clock . Resolved upon the Question , That a Committee of the whole House shall hear the Earl of Strafford's Counsel in Westminster-Hall , concerning matter of Law. Ordered , That the House do this Afternoon take the Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford into further Consideration . The Committee is to retire presently into the Committee-Chamber , to prepare Heads for a Conference to be desired with the Lords , concerning the further Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford . Mr. Maynard Reports the Heads of this Conference to this effect : 1. To take Notice of their Lordships Resolution , to hear the Earl of Strafford's Council in matter of Law. 2. To put their Lordships in mind of the saving of this House in that Point , and further to tell them , That if after his Council shall be heard , any doubt shall remain with their Lordships , they shall be ready to satisfie them in due time . 3. That to this end they do intend to send a Committee of this House , only to hear what his Council shall say . These Particulars raised some Debate in the House , and being put to the Question , the House was divided upon it ; but yet after the Tellers were appointed , the Noes yielded to the Yeas without telling . 4. To desire that their Lordships will be pleased to use all Expedition to put an end to this Trial , as much as in Justice may be . 5. To desire a continuance of their Care , that the Counsel , under colour of speaking to the matter of Law , ravel not into the matter of Fact. Sir Robert Harly went up to the Lords , to desire a free Conference with their Lordships by a Committee of both Houses , upon the free Conference had Yesterday with their Lordships , concerning the further Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford . Sir Robert Harly brings Answer , That their Lordships will give a present meeting , as is desired . The Committee that was appointed to prepare Heads for the Conference , concerning the further Proceedings against the Earl of Strafford , are to manage this Conference , and to Report it , if occasion be . Ordered , That the Committee formerly appointed to preserve places for the Committee of the whole House in Westminster-Hall , do apply their Endeavours in that Service . A Message from the Lords by Justice Foster and Justice Heath , That the Lords have sent this Message , that they will be set to morrow at ten in the Forenoon in Westminster-Hall , to hear the Earl of Strafford's Council in matter of Law. Saturday , April 17th , 1641. Post Merid. Ordered , That the House be Resolved into a Grand Committee , to take into further Consideration the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Mr. Speaker left the Chair , Mr. Peard was called to the Chair of the Grand Committee , and Mr. Speaker again assumed the Chair . Ordered , That the Debate of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford , be resumed on Monday morning at Seven of the Clock . Monday , April 19th , 1641. Ordered , That after the Conference shall be ended , the House shall again be Resolved into a Committee , to resume the farther Debate of the Earl of Strafford , and all the Members are required to return from the Conference to the House . Resolved upon the Question , That the endeavour of Thomas Earl of Strafford to subvert the Ancient 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 . The Lord Digbye's Speech in the House of Commons , to the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford , April 21. 1641. 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 , 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 charactared . 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 Parties 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 Iunto 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 Venemous 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 the Evidence with me , concerning the Army of Ireland , nor yet , that all the rest of the Iunto , upon their Oaths , remember nothing of it . But this , Sir , which I shall tell you , is that which works with me , under favour , to an utter overthrow of his Evidence , as unto that of the Army of Ireland ; before , whilst I was a Prosecutor , and under tie of Secrecy , I might not discover any weakness of the Cause , which now as a Judge I must . Mr. Secretary was examined thrice upon Oath , at the preparatory Committee . The first time he was questioned to all the Interrogatories , and to that part of the Seventh , which concerns the Army of Ireland : He said positively in these words , I cannot Charge him with that . But for the rest , he desires time to recollect himself , which was granted him . Some days after he was Examined a second time , and then deposes these words , concerning the King's being Absolved from Rules of Government , and so forth , very clearly . But being prest to that part , concerning the Irish Army , He said again , I can say nothing to that . Here we thought we had done with him , till divers weeks after , my Lord of Northumberland , and all others of the Iunto , denying to have heard any thing concerning those words , Of reducing England by the Irish Army . It was thought fit to Examine the Secretary once more , and then he deposes these words to have been said by the Earl of Strafford to His Majesty , You have an Army in Ireland , which you may Imploy here , to reduce ( or some word to that sense ) this Kingdom . Mr. Speaker , these are the Circumstances which , I confess with my Conscience , thrust quite out of doors that Grand Article of our Charge , concerning his desperate Advice to the King , of Employing the Irish Army here . Let not this , I beseech you , be driven to an Aspersion upon Mr. Secretary , as if he should have Sworn otherwise than he knew or believed ; he is too worthy to do that ; only let thus much be inferred from it , that he , who twice upon Oath , with time of recollection , could not remember any thing of such a business , might well a third time mis-remember somewhat in this business , the difference of one letter , here for there , or that for this , quite alters the Case , the latter also being more probable , since it is confest of all hands , that the Debate then was concerning a War with Scotland ; and you may remember , that at the Bar he once said , To employ there . And thus , Mr. Speaker , I have faithfully given you an account what it is that hath blunted the edge of the Hatchet or Bill with me towards my Lord of Strafford . This was that whereupon I Accused him with a free heart , Prosecuted him with earnestness , and had it , to my understanding , been proved , should have condemned him with Innocence . Whereas now I cannot satisfie my Conscience to do it . I profess , I can have no notion of any bodies intent to subvert the Laws Treasonably , or by force ; and this design of Force not appearing , all his other wicked Practises cannot amount so high with me . I can find a more easie and more natural Spring , from whence to derive all his other Crimes , than from an intent to bring in Tyranny , and to make his own Posterity , as well as Us , Slaves ; as from Revenge , from Pride , from Avarice , from Passion , and Insolence of Nature . But had this of the Irish Army been proved , it would have diffused a Complexion of Treason over all , it would have been a Withe , indeed , to bind all those other scattered and lesser branches , as it were , into a Faggot of Treason . I do not say but the rest may represent him a man as worthy to die , but perhaps worthier than many a Traytor . I do not say , but they may justly direct Us to Enact , That they shall be Treason for the future . But God keep me from giving Judgment of Death on any man , and of Ruine to his innocent Posterity , upon a Law made a Posteriori . Let the Mark be set on the door where the Plague is , and then let him that will enter die . I know , Mr. Speaker , there is in Parliament a double Power of Life and Death by Bill , a Judicial Power , and a Legislative ; the measure of the one , is what 's legally just ; of the other , what is Prudentially and Politickly fit for the good and preservation of the whole . But these two , under favour , are not to be confounded in Judgment : We must not piece up want of legality with matter of convenience , not the defailance of prudential fitness with a pretence of legal Justice . To Condemn my Lord of Strafford Judicially , as for Treason , my Conscience is not assured that the matter will bear it . And I do it by the Legislative Power , my reason consultively cannot agree to that , since I am perswaded , neither the Lords nor the King will pass the Bill , and consequently that Our passing it will be a Cause of great Divisions and Combustions in the State. And therefore my humble advice is , That laying aside this Bill of Attainder , We may think of another , saving only Life , such as may secure the State from my Lord of Strafford , without endangering it , as much by Division concerning his Punishment , as he hath endangered it by his Practices . If this may not be hearkned unto , Let me conclude , in saying that unto you all , which I have throughly inculcated to mine own Conscience upon this occasion . Let every man lay his hand upon his Heart , and sadly consider what We are going to do , with a Breath , either Justice or Murther ; Justice on the one side , or Murther heightned and aggravated to its supreamest extent . For as the Casuists say , That he who lies with his Sister commits Incest , but he that marries his Sister sins higher , by applying God's Ordinance to his Crime : So doubtless he that commits Murther with the Sword of Justice , heightens that Crime to the utmost . The danger being so great , and the Case so doubtful , that I see the best Lawyers in diametral opposition concerning it : Let every man wipe his Heart , as he does his Eyes , when he would Judge of a nice and subtile Object . The Eye if it be pretincted with any colour , is vitiated in its discerning . Let Us take heed of a blood-shotten Eye in Judgment . Let every man purge his Heart clear of all passions , ( I know this great and wise Body-politick can have none , but I speak to individuals , from the weakness which I find in my self ) away with personal Animosities , away with all flatteries to the people , in being the sharper against him , because he is odious to them ; away with all fears , left by the sparing his blood they may be incens'd ; away with all such Considerations , as that it is not fit for a Parliament , that one Accused by it of Treason , should escape with Life . Let not former Vehemence of any against him , nor fear from thence , that he cannot be safe while that man lives , be an ingredient in the Sentence of any one of Us. Of all these Corruptives of Judgment , Mr. Speaker , I do before God discharge my self to the uttermost of my power . And do with a clear Conscience wash my hands of this mans blood , by this solemn Protestation , That my Vote goes not to the taking of the Earl of Strafford's Life . Ordered , That the Debate of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford , be resumed to morrow Morning at Eight of the Clock , and Mr. Speaker is to put the House in mind of this Order . Ordered , That Sir Edward Cook 's Book , Of the Pleas of the Crown , be delivered to the Earl of Strafford's Committee , for the special Service of the House . Tuesday , April 20th , 1641. Post Merid. The Committee , according to Yesterdays Order , reassumed the Debate of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford . Mr. Speaker reassumed the Chair . Ordered , That the House sit this Afternoon at Three of the Clock , and reassume the Debate of the Bill of Attainder against Thomas Earl of Strafford . The House Resolved into a Committee , Mr. Peard being called to the Chair , then Mr. Speaker reassumed the Chair . Ordered , That the further Debate of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford , be reassumed to morrow Morning at Eight of the Clock . Wednesday , April 21th , 1641. Post Merid. According to an Order Yesterday made , the House was Resolved into a Committee to Consider of the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Mr. Peard being called to the Chair , then Mr. Speaker reassumed the Chair . Ordered , That the Doors be lock'd , and the Keys brought up to the Table , and that no man go out without leave of the Committee . Mr. Peard again called to the Chair . Mr. Peard Reports from the Grand Committee the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford , with the Additions and Amendments thereunto , the which Addition and Amendments were twice read , and the Bill upon the Question Ordered to be Engrossed . Ordered , That the House meet this Afternoon at Three of the Clock , and the third time read an Act for the Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason ; and upon the Question for the Passing , the House was divided . The Lord Digby , Mr. Lloyd Tellers for the Yeas , Sir Gilbert Gerrard , Sir Thomas Barington Tellers for the Noes ; with the Noes 59 , with the Yeas 204. Upon the Report thereof the Bill Past. Mr. Pym is appointed to carry up the Bill to the Lords , and was further Ordered to express unto the Lords , That it is a Bill that highly concerns the Common-wealth , especially in the expediting of it . Mr. Pym acquaints the House , That according to the Commands of this House , he had delivered the Bill of Attainder , with special Recommendations for the Expedition in regard of the Importance , and that this House was ready to justifie the Legality of the Bill , if any way their Lordships should desire a Conference by a Committee of both Houses ; the sooner and the more publick the way , shall be the better , and the more agreeable to the desires of this House . Thursday , April 22th , 1641. Post Merid. A Message from the Lords by Judge Reeve and Judge Forster . The Lords have agreed to hear this House in Westminster-Hall at Eight of the Clock on Saturday next , touching the matter of Law in the business of the Earl of Strafford , if this House shall so please . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will send an Answer by Messengers of their own . Mr. Solicitor St. Iohn is enjoyned by this House to maintain the legal part of the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford on Saturday Morning next , and Mr. Maynard and Mr. Glyn are adjoyned unto him as Assistants . Sir Iohn Eveling went up to the Lords with this Message , to desire a free Conference by a Committee of both Houses , concerning their Lordships Message sent this day , touching the matter of Law in the Case of the Trial of the Earl of Strafford . Mr. Pym , Mr. Pierepoint , Sir Iohn Culpepper , Mr. Fines , Mr. Hampden , and Mr. Prideaux , are to prepare Heads for this Conference with the Lords , and to manage the Conference . Sir Iohn Eveling brings Answer , That their Lordships will give a present meeting , by a Committee of the whole House , as is desired . The Heads of the Conference , Reported by Mr. Pierepoint , to be desired with the Lords , touching the matter of Law in the Case of the Earl of Strafford . That this House received a Message from their Lordships this day , to this effect , That their Lordships are ready to hear this House in Westminster-Hall on Saturday Morning next , touching the Point of Law in the Case of Thomas Earl of Strafford , they conceive , this did arise from the Message of this House upon the delivery of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford . That this House is ready at a Conference by a Committee of both Houses , to justifie the Justice and Legality of the Bill of Attainder . Mr. Pym , Mr. Stroud , Sir Thomas Barrington , Mr. Hollis , and Sir Io. Hotham , are to prepare Heads for this Conference , and to manage it . Mr. Pierepoint Reports the Conference had with the Lords , touching the matter of Law , in the Case of the Earl of Strafford . My Lord Privy-Seal said , That the intention of their House was to have proceeded in the former way , to have heard the Council upon the legal part ; but since it is your desire to have a Committee of both Houses , to meet at the time and place before appointed ; the day being now far spent , and finding something of moment to be considered of , their Lordships will send an Answer by Messengers of their own in time convenient , and therefore shall not meet on Saturday in Westminster-Hall , but will sit on Saturday in their own House . Friday , April 23th , 1641. Post Merid. Exceptions were taken by divers Members of the House to the Lord Digby , for many Passages in a Speech of his , delivered at the passing of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford . The Lord Digby rose up , and in his place explained himself , touching those several Passages , and there was no more done thereupon at this time . Saturday , April 24th , 1641. Post Merid. Two Petitions from divers of the Citizens of London were this day read . ( 1. ) To the House of Commons . ( 2. ) To the Honourable Assembly of the Lords and Commons , as followeth : To the most Honourable Assembly of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament . The humble Petition of divers Citizens of London . SHEWETH , THat notwithstanding His Majesties Gracious Answer , to the humble Petition of his Loyal Subjects , in Summoning this Parliament , with the great Care and Endeavoured pains taken by both Houses , for the removing the heavy Grievances in Church and Common-wealth ; whereof the Petitioners have already received some Fruit , for which they desire to return their most humble and utmost Thanks ; yet nevertheless they are enforced , with all Humility , to represent to this most Honourable Assembly , some of those Obstructions which do still hinder that freedom and fulness of Trade in this City they have formerly had , and , which considering the numerous multitude thereupon depending , they conceive it not able comfortably to subsist . As the unsetled Condition of the Kingdom , even since the Troubles in Scotland , hath caused both Strangers , and also some of our own , who did furnish great Sums of Money to use , to call it in , and remit much of it by Exchange into Forreign Parts , and stand now in expectation of what the Issue of things may be . The stopping Money in the Mint , which till then was accounted the safest place , and surest Staple in these Parts of the World , still doth hinder the Importation of Bullion ; the Scots now disabled to pay such Debts as they owe to the Petitioners , and others in the City ; and by reason of the Oppressions exercised in Ireland , their Debts also are detained there . The English-Trade , by reason of our general Distractions and Fears , is so much decayed , that Country Trades-men cannot pay their Debts in London as formerly . The great Sums of Money unduly taken by His Majesties Officers and Farmers , for Impositions upon Merchandize Exported and Imported , and the want of Relief in Courts of Justice against them . The drawing out from the City great Sums of Money ( which is the Life and Spirit of Trade ) for His Majesties Service in the North , and being there employed , is not yet returned . Besides all which , from what strong and secret Opposition the Petitioners know not ; they have not received what so much time and pains might give and cause to hope , but still Incendiaries of the Kingdoms , and other Notorious Offendors , remain unpunished : The Affairs of the Church , notwithstanding many Petitions concerning it , and long Debate about it , remains unsetled ; the Papists still Armed , the Laws against them not Executed , some of the most Active of them still at Court , Priests and Jesuits not yet Banished , the Irish Popish-Army not yet Disbanded , Courts of Justice not yet Reformed , and the Earl of Strafford , who as now appears , hath Counselled the Plundering of this City , and putting it to Fine and Ransom ; and said , It would never be well , till some of the Aldermen were hang'd up , because they would not yield to Illegal Levies of Monies , had so drawn out and spent this time in his business , to the very great Charge of the whole Kingdom , and his endeavour to obtain yet more , all which makes us fear there may be Practices now in hand to hinder the Birth of your great Endeavours , and that we lie under some more dangerous Plot than we can discover . All which Premisses , with their Fears and Distractions , growing therefrom , and from things of the like nature ; the Petitioners humbly offer to the most grave Consideration of this most Honourable Assembly , as being the true Causes of decay of Trade , discouragement of Trades-men , and of the great scarcity of Monies , with the Consequences they labour under . And do humbly pray , That their said Grievances may be Redressed , the Causes of their Fears removed , Justice executed upon the said Earl , and other Incendiaries and Offenders , the rather , in regard till then the Petitioners humbly conceive neither Religion , nor their Lives , Liberties , or Estates can be secured . And as in Duty bound , they shall ever pray , &c. Subscribed to the Petition 20000 , all Men of good Rank and Quality . After the Petition was Read and Considered . The Lord Russel goes up to the Lords with this Message , to desire a Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , concerning a Petition from the City of London , directed to both Houses of Parliament . Mr. Glyn is Ordered to manage this Conference , and Mr. Hill to assist him , and to deliver the Petition from the Citizens of London at this Conference , and thence to take occasion of representing the Desires of this House ; likewise for the Expediting of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford . Monday , April 26th , 1641. Post Merid. A Message from the Lords by Judge Reeves and Judge Heath , That they are ready for a Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , to the Petition presented from London , for which this House sent a Message on Saturday last . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and will give a meeting presently , as is desired . According to an Order on Saturday last , Mr. Glyn and Mr. Hill went up to manage this Conference , and Sir Walter Earle is Ordered to manage Mr. Pym's part , in respect of his absence at this time . Tuesday , April 27th , 1641. Post Merid. A Message from the Lords by Judge Foster and Judge Heath , That their Lordships will be ready to meet at a Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , at Nine of the Clock upon Thursday Morning in Westminster-Hall , and there to hear this House , according to their own offer , when they brought up the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford . Answer returned by the same Messengers , That this House has taken their Lordships Message into Consideration , and is Resolved to give a meeting at the time and place , as is appointed . Wednesday , April 28th , 1641. Post Merid. Ordered , That Mr. Solicitor St. Iohn have Power to send for such Records , as he shall think needful for that Service committed unto him , for maintaining the Point of Law , in the Case of the Earl of Strafford . The same Committee as was formerly appointed to keep the Doors at Westminster-Hall , is appointed to keep the Doors again to morrow . Mr. Solicitor , and Mr. Maynard , and Mr. Glyn , appointed as Assistants unto him , are to sit in the most convenient places in the middle of the lower Rank . Mr. Edward Hide went up to the Lords with this Message , to acquaint their Lordships , That the House hath received such Information , as hath moved some Fears in them , that the Earl of Strafford may have a design to Escape , that he hath Ships at Sea at Command , and that the Guards about him are weak ; therefore to desire their Lordships he may be a close Prisoner , and the Guards strengthened . Mr. Hide brings this Answer , That their Lordships had heretofore given Directions to the Lieutenant of the Tower , that he should be close Prisoner , and take Care for a stronger Guard , and will take it into Examination , and give Directions as is desired . Friday , April 30th , 1641. Post Merid. Ordered , That Mr. Solicitor be required from this House , to bring in a particular Copy of his Argument Yesterday in Westminster-Hall , and likewise that Mr. Pym bring him a Copy of the Speeches spoken by him in Westminster-Hall , both at the beginning and latter end of the Trial of the Earl of Strafford . A Copy of the Paper posted up at the Corner of the Wall of Sir William Bronkard's House , in the Old Palace-Yard in Westminster , declaring the following Names to be Enemies of Iustice. The Lord Digby , Lord Compton , Lord Buckhurst , Sir Robert Hatton , Sir Thomas Fanshaw , Sir Edward Alford . Nicholas Slanning , Sir Thomas Danby , Sir George Wentworth , Sir Peter Wentworth , Sir Fred. Conwallis , Sir William Carnaby . Sir Richard Winn , Sir Gervas Cliffton , Sir William Withrington , Sir William Pennyman , Sir Patrick Carwin , Sir Richard Lee , Sir Henry Slingsby , Sir William Portman , Mr. Gervas Hollis , Mr. Sydney Godolphin , Mr. Cook , Mr. Coventry , Mr. Kirton , Mr. Pollard , Mr. Price , Mr. Trevanyon , Mr. Ieane , Mr. Edgcombe , Mr. Ben. Weston , Mr. Selden , Mr. Alford , Mr. Loyd , Mr. Herbert , Captain Digby , Serjeant Hyde , Mr. Tayler , Mr. Richard Weston , Mr. Griffith , Mr. Scawen , Mr. Bridgman , Mr. Fettyplace , Doctor Turner , Captain Charles Price , Doctor Parry a Civilian , Mr. Richard Arundel , Mr. Newport , Mr. Nowell , Mr. Chichley , Mr. Mallory , Mr. Porter , Mr. White , Secretary to E. D. Mr. Warwick . It is a Presumption that these Names were thus Posted up by some of those who came in multitudes to the Parliament House , but he that took the List of their Names ( as Mr. Elsing told the Author ) was one Mr. W — who Served for some Borough in the County of Wilts , and who did not afterwards go to the King at Oxford in time of War , though his Wife did ; but he staid in the Parliament to do what friendly Office he could for the King and his Party : It is probable he gave a Copy of those Names to some Friends , not intending to have the same made Publick in that manner . The Name of one Member of the House that was in the List , who is omitted in this , viz. Sir Iohn Strangwayes , who was not then in Town , but Sir Iohn , after his Return out of Dorsetshire , complained that his Name was Posted up amongst others , and moved , that the business might be Examined how the List came abroad , and was made Publick , as aforesaid , he being then in the Country . Wednesday , May 5th , 1641. Mr. Solicitor is appointed to bring in his Argument he made in Westminster-Hall , at the Trial of the Earl of Strafford on Monday last . A Message from the Lords by Judge Reeves and Judge Forster , That they give this House Thanks for sitting so long , that they are still in Debate of the Bill against the Earl of Strafford , so that this Night they cannot be ready for a Conference . Saturday , May 8th , 1641. A Message from the Lords by Judge Forster and Judge Heath , That the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford is passed their House , without any Alteration or Amendments . Ordered , That a Message be sent to the Lords , to desire a free Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , concerning the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Mr. Hotham is to go up with this Message , Mr. Pym is to manage this Conference , the substance whereof is : That in regard the Peace of the Kingdom doth much consist in the Execution of the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford , to desire their Lordships to move His Majesty as speedily as may be to give His Assent . Mr. Hotham brings Answer , That the Lords will give a present meeting at a free Conference , by a Committee of both Houses , as is desired . Mr. Pym Reports , That he had performed the Command of this House . Ordered , That this House shall joyn with the Lords , to attend His Majesty , to appoint a time when He would be pleased to set , concerning His Assent to the Bill of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Mr. Pym brings word , That the Lords have sent to His Majesty , and this House shall hear from them very speedily . A Message from the Lords by Judge Forster and Judge Heath , That the Lords appointed by their House , attended His Majesty , who appointed that both Houses should attend Him at Four of the Clock in the Banqueting-House , concerning the Bill of Attainder : That they have Passed the Bill concerning the not Dissolving the Parliament . Monday , May 10th , 1641. The Gentleman-Usher of the Black-Rod came to signifie to the House , That His Majesties Assent to the Bill of Attainder is now to be given by Commission , and that the Lords did expect Mr. Speaker and the House of Commons to come up . Articles of the Commons Assembled in Parliament against Thomas Earl of Strafford , in Maintenance of their Accusation , whereby he stands Charged with High Treason . WHereas the said Commons have already Exhibited Articles against the said Earl , in haec verba , Now the said Commons do further Impeach the said Earl as followeth , ( That is to say , ) I. That the said Earl of Strafford the 21th day of March , in the Eighth Year of His Majesties Reign , was President of the King's Council in the Northern parts of England . That the said Earl being President of the said Council on the 21th of March , a Commission under the Great Seal of England , with certain Schedules of Instructions thereunto annexed , was directed to the said Earl , or others the Commissioners therein named , whereby , among other things , Power and Authority is limitted to the said Earl , and others the Commissioners therein named , to hear and determine all Offences , and Misdemeanors , Suits , Debates , Controversies and Demands , Causes , Things and Matters , whatsoever therein contained , and within certain Precincts in the said Northern Parts therein specified , and in such manner as by the said Schedule is limitted and appointed . That , amongst other things , in the said Instructions , it is directed , That the said President , and others therein appointed , shall hear and determine according to the course of Procéedings in the Court of Star-Chamber , divers Offences , Deceits and Falsities therein mentioned , whether the same be provided for by Acts of Parliament or not , so that the Fines imposed be not less than by the Act or Acts of Parliament provided against those Offences is appointed . That also amongst other things in the said Instructions , it is directed , That the said President , and others therein appointed , have Power to examine , hear , and determine , according to the course of Proceedings in the Court of Chancery , all manner of Complaints , for any matter , within the said Precincts , as well concerning Lands , Tenements , and Hereditaments , either Free-hold , Customary , or Copy-hold , as Leases , and other things therein mentioned , and to stay Proceedings in the Court of Common Law by Injunction , or otherwise , by all ways and means , as is used in the Court of Chancery . And although the former Presidents of the said Council had never put in practise such Instructions , nor had they any such Instructions , yet the said Earl in the month of May in the said Eighth Year , and divers years following , did put in practice , exercise and use , and caused to be used and put in practice the said Commission and Instructions , and did direct and exercise an exorbitant and unlawful Power and Iurisdiction over the Persons and Estates of His Majesties Subjects , in those parts , and did disinherit divers of His Majesties Subjects in those parts of their Inheritances , Sequestred their Possessions , and did Fine , Ransome , Punish , and Imprison them ; and caused them to be Fined , Ransomed , Punished and Imprisoned , to their Ruine and Destruction ; and namely , Sir Coniers Darcy , Sir John Bourcher , and divers others , against the Laws , and in subversion of the same . And the said Commission and Instructions were procured and issued by advice of the said Earl. And he the said Earl , to the intent that such Illegal and Unjust Power might be exercised with the greater Licence and Will , did advise , counsel , and procure further Directions ; in and by the said Instructions to be given , that no Prohibition be granted at all , but in cases where the said Council shall exceed the limits of the said Instructions : And that if any Writ of Habeas Corpus be granted , the party be not discharged till the party perform the Decrée and Order of the said Council . And the said Earl in the 13th Year of His Majesties Reign , did procure a new Commission to himself , and others therein appointed , with the said Instructions , and other unlawful Additions . That the said Commission and Instructions were procured by the sollicitation and advice of the said Earl of Strafford . II. That shortly after the obtaining of the said Commission , dated the 21th of March , in the Eighth Year of His Majesties Reign , ( to wit ) the last day of August then next following , he the said Earl ( to bring His Majesties Liege-people into a dislike of His Majesty , and of His Government , and to terrifie the Iustices , of the Peace from executing of the Laws : He the said Earl , being then President , as aforesaid , and a Iustice of Peace ) did publiquely at the Assizes held for the County of York , in the City of York , in and upon the said last day of August , declare and publish before the people , there attending for the administration of Iustice according to Law , and ( in the presence of the Iustices sitting ) that some of the Iustices were all for Law , and nothing would please them but Law ; but they should find that the King 's little Finger should be heavier than the Loines of the Law. III. That the Realm of Ireland having been time out of mind annexed to the Imperial Crown of this His Majesties Realm of England , and Governed by the same Laws : The said Earl being Lord Deputy of that Realm , to bring His Majesties Liege-Subjects of that Kingdom likewise into dislike of His Majesties Government , and intending the subversion of the Fundamental Laws , and setled Government of that Realm , and the destruction of His Majesties Liege-people there , did upon the 30th day of September , in the Ninth Year of His now Majesties Reign , in the City of Dublin ( the chief City of that Realm , where His Majesties Privy-Council , and Courts of Iustice do ordinarily reside , and whither the Nobility and Gentry of that Realm do usually resort for Iustice , ) in a publick Speech before divers of the Nobility and Gentry of that Kingdom , and before the Mayor , Aldermen , and Recorder , and many Citizens of Dublin , and other His Majesties Liege-people , declare and publish , That Ireland was a Conquered Nation , and that the King might do with them what he pleased ; and speaking of the Charters of former Kings of England made to that City , he further then said , That their Charters were nothing worth , and did bind the King no further than He pleased . IV. That Richard Earl of Cork , having sued out Process-in course of Law for recovery of his Possessions , from which he was put , by colour of an Order made by the said Earl of Strafford , and the Council-Table of the said Realm of Ireland , upon a Paper-Petition , without Legal procéeding , did the 20th day of February , in the Eleventh Year of His now Majesties Reign , threaten the said Earl ( being then a Péer of the said Realm ) to imprison him , unless he would surcease his Suit , and said , That he would have neither Law nor Lawyers dispute or question his Orders . And the 20th day of March , in the said Eleventh Year , the said Earl of Strafford , speaking of an Order of the said Council-Table of that Realm , made in the time of King James , which concerned a Lease , which the said Earl of Cork claimed in certain Rectories or Tythes which the said Earl of Cork alledged to be of no force , said , That he would make the said Earl , and all Ireland know , that so long as he had the Government there , any Act of State , there made , or to be made , should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom as an Act of Parliament ; And did question the said Earl of Cork in the Castle-Chamber there , upon pretence of breach of the said Order of Council-Table , and did sundry other times , and upon sundry other occasions , by his words and spéeches arrogate to himself a Power above the Fundamental Laws , and Established Government of that Kingdom , and scorned the said Laws and Established Government . V. That according to such his Declarations and Spéeches , the said Earl of Strafford did use and exercise a Power above and against , and to the subversion of the said Fundamental Laws , and Established Government of the said Realm of Ireland , extending such his Power , to the Goods , Fréeholds , Inheritances , Liberties and Lives of His Majesties Subjects of the said Realm ; and namely , the said Earl of Strafford the 12th day of December , Anno Domini , 1635. in the time of full Peace , did , in the said Realm of Ireland , give and procure to be given against the Lord Mountnorris ( then and yet a Péer of the said Realm of Ireland , and then Uice-Treasurer and Receiver-General of the Realm of Ireland , and Treasurer at War , and one of the Principal Secretaries of State , and kéeper of the Privy-Signet of the said Kingdom , ) a Sentence of Death , by a Council of War called together by the said Earl of Strafford , without any Warrant or Authority of Law or Offence , deserving any such punishment . And he the said Earl did also at Dublin , within the said Realm of Ireland , in the Month of March , in the Fourtéenth Year of His Majesties Reign , without any Legal or due Procéedings or Trial , give and cause to be given , a Sentence of Death against one other of His Majesties Subjects , whose name is yet unknown , and caused him to be put to Death , in execution of the same Sentence . VI. That the said Earl of Strafford , without any Legal Procéedings , and upon a Paper-Petition of Richard Rolston , did cause the said Lord Mountnorris to be disseised , and put out of Possession of his Freehold and Inheritance of his Mannor of Tymore in the County of Armagh , in the Kingdom of Ireland , the said Lord Mountnorris having been 18 years before in quiet possession thereof . VII . That the said Earl of Strafford , in the Term of holy Trinity , in the Thirteenth Year of His now Majesties Reign , did cause a Case , commonly called The Case of Tenures upon defective Titles , to be made and drawn up without any Iury or Tryal , or other Legal Process , and without the consent of Parties , and did then procure the Iudges of the said Realm of Ireland , to deliver their Opinions and Resolutions to that case , and by colour of such Opinion , did without any Legal procéeding , cause Thomas Lord Dillon , a Péer of the said Realm of Ireland , to be put out of the possession of divers Lands and Tenements , being his Fréehold in the Country of Mayo and Roscomen , in the said Kingdom , and divers other of His Majesties Subjects to be put out of Possession , and disseised of their Fréehold by colour of the same Resolution , without Legal proceedings , whereby many hundreds of His Majesties Subjects were undone , and their Families utterly ruinated . VIII . That the said Earl of Strafford , upon a Petition of Sir John Gifford Knight , the first day of February , in the said Thirteenth Year of His Majesties Reign , without any Legal Process , made a Decrée or Order against Adam Uiscount Loftus of Ely , a Peer of the said Realm of Ireland , and Lord Chancellor of Ireland , and did cause the said Uiscount to be imprisoned , and kept close Prisoner , on pretence of Disobedience to the said Decree or Order . And the said Earl , without any Authority , and contrary to his Commission , required and commanded the said Lord Uiscount to yield up unto him the Great Seal of the Realm of Ireland , which was then in his Custody , by His Majesties Command , and imprisoned the said Chancellor for not obeying such his Command . And without any Legal Proceeding , did in the same Thirtéenth Year imprison George Earl of Kildare , a Péer of Ireland , against Law , thereby to enforce him to submit his Title to the Mannor and Lordship of Castleleigh in the Quéens Country , ( being of great yearly value ) to the said Earl of Strafford's Will and Pleasure , and kept him a year Prisoner for the said cause ; two months whereof he kept him close Prisoner , and refused to enlarge him , notwithstanding His Majesties Letters for his Enlargement to the said Earl of Strafford directed . And upon a Petition exhibited in October , Anno Domini 1635. by Thomas Hibbots , against Dame Mary Hibbots Widow , to him the said Earl of Strafford ; the said Earl of Strafford recommended the said Petition to the Council-Table of Ireland , where the most part of the Council gave their Uote and Opinion for the said Lady ; but the said Earl finding fault herewith , caused an Order to be entred against the said Lady , and threatned her , that if she refused to submit thereunto , he would imprison her , and fine her Five hundred pounds ; that if she continued obstinate , he would continue her Imprisonment , and double her Fine every month ; by means whereof she was enforced to relinquish her Estate in the Lands questioned in the said Petition , which shortly after were conveyed to Sir Robert Meredith , to the use of the said Earl of Strafford . And the said Earl in like manner did imprison divers others of His Majesties Subjects , upon pretence of Disobedience to his Orders , Decrées , and other illegal Command by him made for pretended Debts , Titles of Lands , and other Causes in an Arbitrary and extrajudicial course , upon Paper-Petitions , to him preferred , and no Cause legally depending . IX . That the said Earl of Strafford the Sixteenth day of February , in the Twelfth Year of His Majesties Reign , assuming to himself a Power above and against Law , took upon him by a general Warrant under his hand , to give Power to the Lord Bishop of Down and Connor his Chancellor , or Chancellors , and their several Officers thereto to be appointed , to attach and arrest the Bodies of all such of the meaner and poorer sort , who after Citation should either refuse to appear before them , or appearing , should omit or deny to perform , or undergo all lawful Decrees , Sentences , and Orders , issued , imposed , or given out against them , and them to commit and keep in the next Gaol , until they should either perform such Sentences , or put in sufficient Bail to shew some reason before the Council-Table , of such their contempt and neglect ; and the said Earl , the day and year last mentioned , signed and issued a Warrant to that effect , and made the like Warrants to several other Bishops and their Chancellors in the said Realm of Ireland to the same effect . X. That the said Earl of Strafford being Lord Lieutenant , or Deputy of Ireland , procured the Customs of the Merchandize Exported out , and Imported into that Realm , to be farmed to his own Use. And in the Ninth Year of His now Majesties Reign , he having then Interest in the said Customs ( to advance his own Gain and Lucre ) did cause and procure the native Commodities of Ireland , to be rated in the Book of Rates for the Customs ( according to which the Customs were usually gathered ) at far greater Ualues and Prices than in truth they were worth ( that is to say ) every Hyde at Twenty shillings , which in truth was worth but Five shillings , every Stone of Wooll at Thirteen shillings four pence , though the same were really worth but Five shillings , at the utmost Niue shillings ; by which means , the Custom , which before was but a twentieth part of the true value of the Commodity , was enhanced sometimes a Fifth part , and sometimes to a fourth , and sometimes to a third part of the true value , to the great Oppression of the Subjects , and decay of Merchandise . XI . That the said Earl , in the Ninth Year of His Majesties Reign , did by his own Will and Pleasure , and for his own Lucre , restrain the Exportation of the Commodities of that Kingdom without his Licence , as namely , Pipe-staves , and other Commodities , and then raised great Sums of Money for Licences of Exportation of those Commodities , and dispensation of the said Restraints imposed on them , by which means the Pipe-staves were raised from Four pound ten shillings , or Five pound per thousand , to ten pounds , and sometimes Eleven pound per thousand ; and other Commodities were enhanced in the like proportion , and by the same means , by him the said Earl. XII . That the said Earl , being Lord Deputy of Ireland , on the Ninth day of January , in the Thirteenth Year of His now Majesties Reign , did then under colour to regulate the Importation of Tobacco into the said Realm of Ireland , issue a Proclamation in His Majesties Name , prohibiting the Importation of Tobacco , without Licence of Him and the Council there , from and after the First day of May , Anno Dom. 1638. after which Restraint , the said Earl , notwithstanding the said Restraint , caused divers great quantities of Tobacco to be Imported to his own use , and fraughted divers Ships with Tobacco , which he Imported to his own use : and that if any Ship brought Tobacco into any Port there , the said Earl , and his Agents , used to buy the same to his own use , at their own price ; and if that the Owners refused to let him have the same at under values , then they were not permitted to vent the same there ; by which undue means , the said Earl having gotten the whole Trade of Tobacco into his own hands , he sold it at great and excessive prizes , such as he list to Impose for his own profit . And the more to assure the said Monopoly of Tobacco , he the said Earl on the Thrée and twentieth day of February , in the Thirteenth Year aforesaid , did issue another Proclamation , commanding that none should put to sale any Tobacco by Whole-Sale , from and after the last day of May , then next following , but what should be made up into Rolls , and the same sealed with two Seals by himself appointed , one at each end of the Roll. And such as was not sealed , to be seized , appointing six pence the pound for a Reward to such persons as should seize the same : and the persons in whose custody the unsealed Tobacco should be found , to be committed to Gaol ; which last Proclamation was coloured by a pretence for the restraining of the sale of unwholesome Tobacco , but it was truly to advance the said Monopoly . Which Proclamation the said Earl did rigorously put in execution , by seizing the Goods , Fining , Imprisoning , Whipping , and putting the Offenders against the same Proclamation on the Pillory ; as namely , Banaby Hubbard , Edward Cavena , John Tumen , and divers others ; and made the Officers of State , and Iustices of Peace , and other Officers to serve him in the compassing and executing these unjust and undue Courses , by which Cruelties , and unjust Monopolies , the said Earl raised 100000 l. per annum gain to himself . And yet the said Earl though he enhanced the Customs , where it concerned the Merchants in general , yet drew down the Impost , formerly taken on Tobacco , from Six pence the pound to Three pence the pound , it being for his own profit so to do . And the said Earl , by the same , and other rigorous and undue means , raised several other Monopolies and unlawful Exactions for his own gain , viz. on Starch , Iron-pots , Glasses , Tobacco-pipes , and several other Commodities . XIII . That Flax being one of the principal and Native Commodities of that Kingdom of Ireland , the said Earl having gotten great quantities thereof into his hands , and growing on his own Lands , did issue out several Proclamations , viz. the one dated the One and thirtieth day of May , and the Twelfth of His Majesties Reign ; and the other dated the One and thirtieth day of January in the same Year , thereby prescribing and enjoyning the working of Flar into Yarn and Thread , and the Ordering of the same in such ways wherein the Natives of that Kingdom were unpractized and unskilful : which Proclamations so issued , were by his Commands and Warrants to His Majesties Iustices of Peace , and other Officers , and by other rigorous means put in Execution , and the Flax wrought or ordered in other manner than as the said Proclamation prescribed , was seized and employed to the use of him and his Agents , and thereby the said Earl endeavoured to gain , and did gain in effect the sole Sale of that Native Commodity . XIV . That the said Earl , by Proclamation dated the Sixteenth of October , in the Fourteenth Year of His Majesties Reign , did impose upon the Owners , Masters , Pursers , and Boat-Swaines of every Ship , a new and unlawful Oath , viz. That they ( or two or more of them ) immediately after the arrival of any Ship within any Port or Créek in the said Kingdom of Ireland , should give in a true In-voice of the outward bulk of Wares and Merchandizes first laden aboard them , together with the several marks and number of Goods , and their qualities and condition of the said Goods , as far as to them should be known , the Names of the several Merchants Proprietors of the said Goods , and the place from whence they were Fraughted , and whither they were Bound to discharge ; which Proclamation was accordingly put in Execution , and sundry persons enforced to take the said unlawful Oath . XV. That the said Earl of Strafford trayterously and wickedly devised and contrived , by force of Arms , and in a War-like manner , to subdue the Subjects of the said Realm of Ireland , and to bring them under his Tyrannical Power and Will ; and in pursuance of his wicked and trayterous Purposes aforesaid , the said Earl of Strafford , in the Eighth Year of His Majesties Reign , did , by his own Authority , without any Warrant or colour of Law , Tax and Impose great Sums of Money upon the Towns of Baltemore , Bauden-Bridge , Talowe , and divers other Towns and Places in the said Realm of Ireland ; and did cause the same to be levied upon the Inhabitants of those Towns by Troops of Souldiers , with Force and Arms , in a War-like manner . And on the Ninth day of March , in the Twelfth Year of His now Majesties Reign , trayterously did give Authority unto Robert Savile , a Serjeant at Arms , and to the Captains of the Companies of Souldiers , in several parts of that Realm , to send such numbers of Souldiers to lie on the Lands and Houses of such as would not conform to his Orders , until they should render Obedience to his said Orders and Warrants , and after such submission ( and not before ) the said Souldiers to return to their Garrisons . And did also issue the like Warrants unto divers others , which Warrants were in War-like manner , with Force and Arms , put in Execution accordingly ; and by such War-like means did force divers of His Majesties Subjects of that Realm , to submit themselves to his unlawful Commands . And in the said Twelfth Year of His Majesties Reign , the said Earl of Strafford did traiterously cause certain Troops of Horse and Foot , armed in War-like manner , and in War-like array , with Force and Arms , to expel Richard Butler from the Possession of the Mannor of Castle-Cumber , in the Territory of Idough , in the said Realm of Ireland , and did likewise , and in the War-like manner , expel divers of His Majesties Subjects from their Houses , Families , and Possessions ; as namely , Edward O Brenman , Owen Oberman , John Brenman , Patrick Oberman , Sir Cyprian Horsefield , and divers others , to the number of about an hundred Families , and took and imprisoned them and their wives , and carried them Prisoners to Dublin , and there detained , until they did yield up , surrender , or release their respective Estates and Rights . And the said Earl , in like War-like manner , hath during his Government of the said Kingdom of Ireland , subdued divers others of His Majesties Subjects there to his will , and thereby , and by the means aforesaid , hath levied War within the said Realm against His Majesty and His Liege-people of that Kingdom . XVI . That the Earl of Strafford , the Two and twentieth of February , in the Seventh Year of His Majesties Reign , intending to Oppress the said Subjects of Ireland , did make a Proposition , and obtained from His Majesty an Allowance thereof , That no Complaint of Injustice or Oppression done in Ireland , should be received in England against any , unless it appeared , that the party made first his address to him the said Earl ; and the said Earl having by such Usurped tyrannical and exorbitant Power , expressed in the former Articles , Destroyed and Oppressed the Péers , and other Subjects of that Kingdom of Ireland , in their Lives , Consciences , Land , Liberties and Estates ; the said Earl to the intent the better to maintain and strengthen his said Power , and to bring the people into a disaffection of His Majesty , as aforesaid , did use His Majesties Name in the execution of the said Power . And to prevent the Subjects of that Realm of all means of Complaints to His Majesty , and of redress against him and his Agents , did issue a Proclamation , bearing date the Seventeenth day of September , in the Eleventh Year of His Majesties Reign , thereby commanding all the Nobility , Undertakers , and others who held Estates and Offices in the said Kingdom , ( except such as were employed in His Majesties Service , or attending in England by His special Command ) to make their personal residence in the said Kingdom of Ireland , and not to depart thence without Licence of himself . And the said Earl hath since issued other Proclamations to the same purpose , by means whereof the Subjects of the said Realm are restrained from seeking relief against the Oppressions of the said Earl , without his Licence ; which Proclamation the said Earl hath by several rigorous waies , as by Fine , Imprisonment , and otherwise , put in execution on His Majesties Subjects ; as namely , one — Parry , and others , who came over only to complain of the Exorbitances and Oppressions of the said Earl. XVII . That the said Earl having by such means , as aforesaid , subverted the Government and Laws of the Kingdom of Ireland , did , in March , in the Sixteenth Year of His Majesties Reign , in scandal of His Majesties Government , of all His Kingdoms ; and in further Execution of his wicked Purposes aforesaid , speaking of the Army in Ireland , declare , That His Majesty was so well pleased with the Army of Ireland , and the consequences thereof , that His Majesty would certainly make the same a Pattern for all His Three Kingdoms . XVIII . That the said Earl of Strafford , for the better effecting of his traiterous Designs , and wicked Purposes , did endeavour to draw dependency upon himself of the Papists in both Kingdoms of England and Ireland , and to that end , during the time of his Government in Ireland , he restored divers Fryeries and Masse-Houses , ( which had béen formerly suppressed by the precedent Deputies of that Kingdom ; two of which Houses are in the City of Dublin , and had been assigned to the use of the University there ) to the pretended Owners thereof , who have since imployed the same to the Exercise of the Popish Religion . And in the month of May and June last , the said Earl did raise an Army in the said Realm , consisting of 8000 Foot , all of which , except one , or thereabouts , were Papists , and the said One thousand were drawn out of the old Army there , consisting of Two thousand Foot , and in their places there were a thousand Papists , or thereabouts , put into the said old Army by the said Earl. And the more to engage and tie the said new Army of Papists to himself , and to encourage them , and to discourage and weary out the said old Army , the said Earl did so provide : That the said new Army of Papists were duly paid , and had all Necessaries provided for them , and permitted the Exercise of their Religion , but the said old Army were for the space of one whole Year and upwards unpaid . And the said Earl being appointed a Commissioner within eleven several Counties of the Northern parts of England , for Compounding with Recusants for their Forfeitures due to His Majesty ; which Commission beareth date the Eighth day of July , in the Fifth Year of His Majesties Reign that now is ; and being also Receiver of the Composition-money thereby arising , and of other Debts , Duties , and Penalties , by reason of Recusancy within the said Counties , for His Majesties Use , by Letters Patents dated the Ninth day of the same July ; He to engage the said Recusants to him , did Compound with them at low and under Rates , and provided , that they should be discharged of all Procéedings against them in all His Majesties Courts , both Temporal and Ecclesiastical , in manifest breach of , and contrary to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , in that behalf Established . XIX . That the said Earl having Taxed and Levied the said Impositions , and raised the said Monopolies , and committed the said other Oppressions in His Majesties Name ; and as by His Majesties Royal Command , he the said Earl in May , the Fifteenth Year of His Majesties Reign , did of his own authority contrive and frame a new and unusual Oath , by the purport whereof , among many other things , the party taking the said Oath , was to swear that he should not protest against any His Majesties Royal Commands , but submit himself in all due obedience thereunto . Which Oath he so contriv'd to enforce the same on the Subjects of the Scotish Nation , inhabiting in Ireland , and out of a hatred to the said Nation , and to put them to a discontent with His Majesty , and His Government there ; and compelled divers of His Majesties said Subjects there to take the said Oath against their wills ; and of such as refused to take the said Oath , some he grievously fined and imprisoned , and others he destroyed and exiled ; and namely , the Tenth of October , Anno Dom. 1639. he fined Henry Steward and his wife , who refused to take the said Oath , 5000 l. a piece , and their two Daughters and James Gray 3000 l. a piece , and imprisoned them for not paying the said Fines . The said Henry Steward his Wife and Daughters , and James Gray , being the King's Liege-people of the Scotish Nation ; and divers others he used in like manner ; and the said Earl upon that occasion did declare , That the said Oath did not only oblige them in point of Allegiance to His Majesty , and acknowledgment of His Supremacy only , but to the Ceremonies and Government of the Church Established , and to be established by His Majesties Royal Authority ; and said , That the Refusers to obey , he would prosecute to the blood . XX. That the said Earl hath in the 15th and 16th Years of His Majesties Reign , and divers years past , laboured and endeavoured to breed in His Majesty an ill Opinion of His Subjects ; namely , of those of the Scotish Nation , and divers and sundry times , and especially since the pacification made by His Majesty with His said Subjects of Scotland in Summer , in the 15th Year of His Majesties Reign , he , the said Earl did labour and endeavour to perswade , incite and provoke His Majesty to an offensive War against His said Subjects of the Scotish Nation : And the said Earl , by his Counsels , Actions , and Endeavours , hath béen , and is a principal and chief Incendiary of the War and Discord between His Majesty and His Subjects of England , and the said Subjects of Scotland , and hath declared and advised His Majesty , that the Demands made by the Scots , in their Parliament , were a sufficient cause of War against them . The said Earl having formerly expressed the height and rancour of his mind towards His Majesties Subjects of the Scotish Nation , viz. the Tenth day of October , in the Fiftteenth Year of His Majesties Reign , he said , That the Nation of the Scots were Rebels and Traytors , and he being then about to come to England , he then further said , That if it pleased His Master ( meaning His Majesty ) to send him back again , he would root out of the said Kingdom ( meaning the said Kingdom of Ireland ) the Scotish Nation both Root and Branch . Some Lords , and others , who had taken the said Oath in the precedent Article only excepted : and the said Earl hath caused divers of the Ships and Goods of the Scots to be stayed , seized , and molested , to the intent to set on the said War. XXI . That the said Earl of Strafford , shortly after his Spéeches mentioned in the last precedent Articles , to wit , in the 15th Year of His Majesties Reign , came into this Realm of England , and was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , and continued his Government of that Kingdom by a Deputy : at his arrival here , finding that His Majesty with much Wisdom and Goodness had composed the Troubles in the North , and had a pacification with his Subjects of Scotland ; he laboured by all means to procure His Majesty to break that pacification , incensing His Majesty against His Subjects of that Kingdom , and the procéeding of the Parliament there . And having incited His Majesty to an Offensive War against His Subjects of Scotland by Sea and Land , and by pretext thereof , to raise Forces for the maintenance of that War ; he counselled His Majesty to call a Parliament in England , yet the said Earl intended that if the said procéedings of that Parliament should not be such as would stand with the said Earl of Strafford's mischievous Designs , he would then procure His Majesty to break the same ; and by ways of force and power , to raise monies upon the Subjects of this Kingdom . And for the encouragement of His Majesty to hearken to his advice , he did before His Majesty and His Privy-Council , then sitting in Council , make a large Declaration , that he would serve His Majesty in any other way , in case the Parliament should not supply him . XXII . That in the month of March , before the beginning of the last Parliament , the said Earl of Strafford went into Ireland , and procured the Parliament of that Kingdom to declare their Assistance in a War against the Scots , and gave directions for the raising of an Army there , consisting of 8000 Foot , and 1000 Horse , being for the most part Papists , as aforesaid . And confederacing with one Sir George Ratcliff , did together with him the said Sir George trayterously Conspire to employ the said Army for the ruine and destruction of the Kingdom of England , and of His Maiesties Subjects , and of altering and subderting of the Fundamental Laws and established Government of this Kingdom . And shortly after the said Earl of Strafford returned into England , and to sundry persons declared his Opinion to be , that His Majesty should first trie the Parliament here , and if that did not supply him according to his Occasions , He might use then His Prerogative as He pleased , to levy what He néeded , and that He should be acquitted both of God and man ; He took some other courses to supply Himself , though it were against the wills of His Subjects . XXIII . That upon the Thirtéenth day of April last , the Parliament of England met , and the Commons House ( then being the Representative Body of all the Commons in the Kingdom ) did accordingly to the Trust reposed in them , enter into Debate and Consideration of the great Grievances of this Kingdom , both in respect of Religion , and the publique Liberty of the Kingdom ; and His Majesties referring chiefly to the said Earl of Strafford , and the Archbishop of Canterbury , the ordering and disposing of all matters concerning the Parliament : He the said Earl of Strafford with the assistance of the said Archbishop , did procure His Majesty by sundry Spéeches and Messages , to urge the said Commons House to enter into some Resolution for His Majesties supply , for maintenance of His War against His Subjects of Scotland , before any course taken for the relief of the great and pressing Grievances , wherewith this Kingdom was then afflicted . Whereupon a Demand was then made from His Majtsty , of Twelve Subsidies , for the release of Ship-money only ; and while the said Commons then Assembled ( with expression of great affection to His Majesty and His Service ) were in Debate and Consideration concerning some supply , before any Resolution by them made , he the said Earl of Strafford , with the help and assistance of the said Archbishop , did procure His Majesty to dissolve the said Parliament , upon the Fifth day of May last : and upon the same day the said Earl of Strafford did treacherously , falsly and maliciously endeavour to incense His Majesty against His loving and faithful Subjects , who had béen Members of the said House of Commons , by telling His Majesty , They had denied to supply him . And afterwards upon the same day did traiterously and wickedly Counsel and Advise His Majesty to this effect , viz. that having tried the affections of His People , he was loose and absolved from all rules of Government , and that he was to do every thing that Power would admit , and that His Majesty had tried all ways , and was refused , and should be acquitted towards God and man ; and that he had an Army in Ireland , ( meaning the Army above mentioned , consisting of Papists , his dependants , as is aforesaid ) which he might imploy to reduce this Kingdom . XXIV . That in the same month of May , he the said Earl of Strafford , falsly , traiterously , and maliciously published and declared before others of His Majesties Privy-Council , that the Parliament of England had forsaken the King , and that in denying to supply the King , they had given Him advantage to supply Himself by other ways , and several other times he did maliciously , wickedly , and falsly publish and declare , That seeing the Parliament had refused to supply His Majesty in the ordinary and usual way , the King might provide for the Kingdom in such waies , as He should hold fit , and that He was not to suffer Himself to be mastered by the frowardness and undutifulness of the people . And having so maliciously standered the said late House of Commons , he did with the help and advice of the said Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Finch , late Lord Kéeper of the Great Seal of England , cause to be printed and published in His Majesties Name a false and scandalous Book , entituled , His Majesties Declaration of the Causes that moved Him to Dissolve the last Parliament , full of bitter and malicious Invectives , and false and scandalous aspersions against the said House of Commons . XXV . That not long after the Dissolution of the said last Parliament , ( viz. in the months of May and June ) he the Earl of Strafford , did advise the King to go on vigorously in levying the Ship-money , and did procure the Sheriffs of several Counties to be sent for , for not levying the Ship-money , divers of which were threatned by him to be sued in the Star-Chamber , and afterwards by his advice they were sued in Star-Chamber , for not levying the same , and divers of His Majesties loving Subjects were sent for and imprisoned by his advice , for that and other illegal payments . And a great loan of a hundred thousand pounds was demanded of the City of London , and the Lord Mayor , and Sheriffs , and Aldermen of the said City were often sent for , by his advice , to the Council-Table , to give an account of their proceedings in raising of Ship-money , and furthering of that loan , and were required to certifie the Names of such Inhabitants of the said City as were fit to lend , which they with much humility refusing to do , he the said Earl of Strafford did use these and the like Speeches , viz. That they deserved to be put to Fine and Ransom , and that no good would be done with them , till an example were made of them , and that they were laid by the héels , and some of the Aldermen hanged up . XXVI . That the said Earl by his wicked Counsels , having brought His Majesty into excessive Charge , without any just cause , he did in the month of July last ( for the support of the said great Charges ) counsel and approve two dangerous and wicked Projects , viz. To seize upon the Bullion , and the Money in the Mint . And to imbase His Majesties Coin with the mixtures of Brass . And accordingly he procured one hundred and thirty thousand pounds which was then in the Mint , and belonging to divers Merchants , Strangers , and others to be seized on and stayed , to His Majesties use . And when divers Merchants of London , Owners of the said Bullion and Money , came to his house to let him understand the great mischief , that course would produce here , and in other parts , and what prejudice it would be to the Kingdom , by discrediting the Mint , and hindring the importation of Bullion ; he the said Earl told them , that the City of London dealt undutifully and unthankfully with His Majesty , and that they were more ready to help the Rebels than to help His Majesty . And that if any hurt came to them , they may thank themselves : and that it was the course of other Princes to make use of such monies to serve their Occasions . And when in the same month of July , the Officers of His Majesties Mint came to him , and gave him divers reasons against the imbasing the said money , he told them , That the French King did use to send Commissaries of Horse with Commission to search into mens Estates , and to peruse their Accounts , that so they may know what to levy of them by force , which they did accordingly levy ; and turning to the Lord Cottington , then present , said , That this was a point worthy of his Lordships consideration , meaning this course of the French King to raise monies by force , was a point worthy of his Lordships consideration . XXVII . That in or about the month of August last , he was made Lieutenant General of all His Majesties Forces in the North , prepared against the Scots , and being at York , did then in the month of September by his own authority , and without any lawful Warrant , impose a Tax on His Majesties Subjects in the County of York of eight pence per diem , for maintenance of every Souldier of the Trained Bands of that County , which sums of money he caused to be levied by force . And to the end to compel His Majesties Subjects out of fear and terrour to yield to the payment of the same , he did declare , that he would commit them that refused the payment thereof , and the Souldiers should be satisfied out of their Estates ; and and they that refused it , were in very little better condition than of High Treason . XXVIII . That in the months of September and October last , he the said Earl of Strafford , being certified of the Scotish Army coming into the Kingdom , and he the said Earl of Strafford being Lieutenant General of His Majesties Army , he did not provide for the defence of the Town of Newcastle , as he ought to have done , but suffered the same to be lost , that so he might the more incense the English against the Scots . And for the same wicked purpose , and out of a malitious desire to engage the Kindgoms of England and Scotland in a National and bloody War , he did write to the Lord Conway , the General of the Horse , and under the said Earls Command , that he should fight with the Scotish Army at the passage over the Tyne , whatsoever should follow ; notwithstanding that the said Lord Conway had formerly by Letters informed the said Earl , that His Majesties Army , then under his Command , was not of force sufficient to encounter the Scots , by which advice of his , he did , contrary to the duty of his place , betray His Majesties Army , then under his Command , to apparent danger and loss . All and every which words , counsels and actions of the said Earl of Strafford were spoken , given , and done by him the said Earl of Strafford , traiterously , and contrary to his Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord the King , and with an intention and endeavour to alienate and withdraw the hearts and affections of the King's Liege-people of all His Realms from His Majesty , and to set division between them , and to ruine and destroy His Majesty , and Majesties said Kingdoms , for which they do further impeach him the said Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King , His Crown and Dignity . And he the said Earl of Strafford was Lord Deputy of Ireland , or Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , and Lieutenant General of the Army there under His most Excellent Majesty , and a sworn Privy-Counsellor to His Majesty for His Kingdoms both of England and Ireland , and Lord President of the North during the time that all and every the Crimes and Offences before set forth were done and committed , and he the said Earl was Lieutenant General of His Majesties Army in the North parts of England during the time that the Crimes and Offences , in the 27th and 28th Articles , set forth were done and committed . Tuesday , May 11th , 1641. Ordered , That Mr. Solicitor give Order , That the Arguments he made in Westminster-Hall , touching the matters of Law in the Case of the Earl of Strafford , be Printed ; and that Mr. Pym give the like Order , That his Speeches at the beginning and ending of the Trial of the said Earl of Strafford be likewise Printed . The Names of those Gentlemen that managed the Evidence in this Trial , being , through over-sight , omitted to be inserted in their particular places , for the first Nine Articles ; it is thought fit , for more exact satisfaction , to give an account of them in this place , with particular References ; which may , by the Reader , be easily supplyed . The Names of the Managers . FOlio 115. Line 17. Mr. Pym. Ibid. Line 33. Mr. Pym. Ibid. Line 40. Mr. Pym. Fol. 116. Line 5. Mr. Pym. Ibid. Line 44. Mr. Pym. Fol. 117. Line 14. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 43. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 120. Line 20. Mr. Pym. Fol. 124. Line 27. Mr. Pym. Fol. 127. Line 29. Mr. Pym. To the First Article . Fol. 138. Line 29. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 139. Line 3. M. Maynard . Fol. 142. Line 17. M. Maynard . Ibid. Line 24. Mr. Whitlock . Fol. 143. Line 7. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 15. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 25. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 144. Line 2. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 145. Line 3. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 147. Line 31. Mr. Maynard . To the Second Article . Fol. 149. Line 14. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 153. Line 6. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 152. Line 14. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 16. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 18. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 154. Line 4. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 32. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 155. Line 7. Mr. Maynard . To the Third Article . Fol. 156. Line 8. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 164. Line 9. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 22. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 17. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 28. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 165. Line 7. Sir Io. Clotworthy . Ibid. Line 36. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 167. Line 25. Mr. Pym. Fol. 157. Line 11. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 168. Line 16. Mr. Pym. Fol. 158. Line 2. Lord Digby . Ibid. Line 25. Mr. Pym. Ibid. Line 37. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 34. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 163. Line 42. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 171. Line 28. Mr. Maynard . To the Fourth Article . Fol. 173. Line 30. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 183. Line 10. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 174. Line 8. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 184. Line 11. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 179. Line 44. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 185. Line 1. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 180. Line 37. Mr. Maynard . To the Fifth Article . Fol. 185. Line 21. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 35. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 188. Line 17. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 202. Line 31. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 198. Line 1. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 36. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 201. Line 19. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 204. Line 5. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 202. Line 7. Mr. Maynard . To the Sixth Article . Fol. 205. Line 6. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 216. Line 22. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 206. Line 31. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 217. Line 21. Mr. Palmer . Ibid. Line 37. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 218. Line 17. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 210. Line 38. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 21. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 213. Line 23. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 219. Line 32. Mr. Stroud . Ibid. Line 29. Mr. Glyn. To the Eighth Article . Fol. 222. Line 8. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 228. Line 10. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 34. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 26. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 223. Line 22. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 229. Line 11. Mr. Glyn. Ibid. Line 42. Mr. Maynard . Ibid. Line 33. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 226. Line 42. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 233. Line 25. Mr. Glyn. To the Ninth Article . Fol. 236. Line 16. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 239. Line 14. Mr. Maynard . Fol. 238. Line 22. Mr. Glyn. Fol. 240. Line 10. Mr. Glyn. THE TRYAL OF T. Earl of Strafford . The First day . Monday , March 22. 1640. THe Lords being set in a place prepared in Westminster-hall , purposely for the Arraignment of Thomas Earl of Strafford , upon a charge of High Treason laid upon him by the Commons House of Parliament , in the Name of themselves , and of all the Commons of England . And the House of Commons being there likewise , seated as a Committee ; and those who were to manage the Evidence on behalf of the House of Commons , being Members of that House , standing at the Barr , The Prisoner was called for ; And being brought by Sir William Balfour , Lieutenant of the Tower , after Obeisances given , he came to the Barr and kneeled ; and after standing up , The Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey , Lord High Steward of England , spake to him as follows . Your Lordship is called here this day before the Lords in Parliament , to Answer to , and to be Tryed upon , the Impeachment presented to them by the Commons House of Parliament , in the Name of themselves , and all the Commons of England : And that their Lordships are resolved to hear both the Accusation and Defence , with all Equity . And therefore think fit in the first place , That your Lordship should hear the Impeachment of High Treason read . The Impeachment was accordingly read by the Clerk of the Parliament . A little after the entrance into it , a Chair was brought to the Prisoner by the Gentleman Usher , and the Prisoner sate down thereon by their Lordships direction . After the Charge was read , the Earl of Straffords Answer was likewise read . And no more of proceedings that day . Only the Lord Steward said further to the Prisoner , That his Lordship had heard the whole Impeachment of the House of Commons read ; And his own Answer : on which he hath put himself for Trial. That which is now to follow , their Lordships have commanded him to say , is the managing of the Evidence by those the House of Commons shall please to appoint , for the proving of this Charge . But likewise they have Commanded him to say , That the time being so far spent , it may not be so proper now to proceed further in the business ; That this shall be sate upon only once a day , which will be fittest both for their Lordships , and for the House of Commons : And that they conceive it will agree with the sense of the House of Commons , not to fall into the particular management of the Evidence so late , but to defer it till the morrow , at the hour of nine of the Clock . My Lord of Strafford did then desire to know , whether he might with their Lordships good leave and favour , say any thing at that time or no. The Lord High Steward answered , that their Lordships Commandment is , to let his Lordship know , That if the House of Commons proceed not by their Members to manage the Evidence this day , then what his Lordship hath to say to this House , may be put off to another time . And so their Lordships Adjourned to the House above , ( by which is meant the House where the Lords use to sit in Parliament ) and appointed the next morning to proceed in this business . The Second day . Tuesday , March 23. 1640 THeir Lordships being set , the Lord Steward recited in brief the proceedings of the day before , adding , that naturally and properly , it belongs ( in the next place ) for those whom the House of Commons have deputed to manage their Evidence , in pursuance of the Articles of Impeachment , to begin the work of the day . Then Mr. Pym , one of the Committee appointed for the management of the Evidence , began as followeth . My Lords , We stand here by the Commandment of the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses , now assembled for the Commons in Parliament . And we are ready to make good that Impeachment whereby Thomas Earl of Strafford stands charged in their Name , and in the Name of all the Commons of England , with High Treason . This , My Lords , is a Great Cause , and we might sink under the weight of it , and be astonished with the Lustre of this Noble Assembly , if there were not in the Cause strength and vigour to support it self , and to encourage us ; It is the Cause of the King , it concerns His Majesty in the Honour of His Government , in the Safety of His Person , in the Stability of His Crown . It is the Cause of the Kingdom , It concerns not only the Peace and Prosperity , but even the Being of the Kingdom . We have that piercing Eloquence , the Cries and Groans , and Tears , and Prayers of all the Subjects assisting us . We have the three Kingdoms , England , and Scotland , and Ireland , in Travail and Agitation with us , bowing themselves , like the Hindes spoken of in Iob , to cast out their Sorrows . Truth and Goodness ( My Lords ) they are the Beauty of the Soul , they are the Perfection of all created Natures , they are the Image and Character of God upon the Creatures . This Beauty , Evil Spirits , and Evil Men , have lost ; but yet there are none so wicked , but they desire to march under the shew and shadow of it , though they hate the reality of it . This unhappy Earl , now the Object of your Lordships Justice , hath taken as much care , hath used as much cunning to set a face and countenance of Honesty and Justice upon his Actions , as he hath been negligent to observe the rules of Honesty in the Performance of all these Actions . My Lords , it is the greatest baseness of wickedness , that it dares not look in his own Colours , nor be seen in its natural Countenance . But Virtue , as it is amiable in all respects , so the least is not this . That it puts a Nobleness , it puts a Bravery upon the Mind , and lifts it above Hopes and Fears , above Favour and Displeasure ; it makes it always uniform and constant to it self . The Service Commanded me and my Colleagues here , is to take off those Vizards of Truth and Uprightness , which hath been sought to be put upon this Cause , and to shew you his Actions and his Intentions , in their own natural Blackness and Deformity . My Lords , He hath put on a Vizard of Truth in these words , ( wherein he says ) That he should be in his Defence more careful to observe Truth , than to gain Advantage to himself . He says , he would endure any thing rather than be saved by Falshoood . It was a noble and brave Expression if it were really true . My Lords , He hath likewise put on the Vizard of Goodness on his Actions , when he desires to recite his Services in a great many particulars , as if they were Beneficial to the Common-wealth and State , whereas we shall prove them Mischievous and Dangerous . It is left upon me , My Lords , to take off these Vizards and Appearances of Truth and Goodness , in that part of his Answer which is the Preamble . And that I shall do with as much Faithfulness and Brevity as I can . 1. The First thing ( My Lords ) that I shall observe in the Preamble is this , That having recited all those great and honourable Offices which he hath done under His Majesty , he is bold to affirm , That he hath been careful and faithful in the Execution of them all . My Lords , If he might be his own Witness , and his own Judge , I doubt not but he would be Acquitted . It is said in the Proverbs of the Adulterous Woman , That she wipes her mouth , and says , she had done no Evil. Here is a wiping of the mouth , here is a verbal expression of Honesty . But ( My Lords ) the foulness and unjustness will never be wiped off , neither from his Heart , nor from his Actions ; I mean for the time past , God may change him for the time to come : That is the first thing I observe . 2. My Lords , In the second place , out of his Apologetical Preamble , I shall observe this , He doth magnifie his own Endeavours in five particulars : 1. That he hath Endeavoured the maintenance of Religion . ( I may miss in words , I shall not miss in sense . ) 2. That he hath Endeavoured the Honour of the King. 3. The Encrease of His Revenue . 4. The Peace and Honour , and Safety of the Kingdom . 5. The Quiet and Peace of the People . These are his five particulars ; and I shall give a short Answer to every one of them . 1. For Religion , ( My Lords ) we say , and we shall prove , that he hath been diligent indeed to favour Innovations , to favour Superstitions , to favour the Incroachments and Usurpations of the Clergy : But for Religion it never received any advantage by him , nay , a great deal of hurt . 2. For the Honour of the King : ( My Lords ) We say it is the Honour of the King that He is the Father of His People , that He is the Fountain of Justice ; and it cannot stand with His Honour and Justice to have His Government Stain'd and Polluted with Tyranny and Oppression . 3. For the Increase of His Revenue : It is true , there may be some Addition of Sums ; but we say , There is no Addition of Strength nor Wealth , because in those parts where it hath been increased , this Earl hath taken the greatest share himself : And when he hath spoiled and ravined on the People , he hath been content to yield up some part to the King , that he might with more security enjoy the rest . 4. For the Strength and Honour , and Safety of the Kingdom : ( My Lords ) In a time of Peace he hath let in upon us the Calamities of War , Weakness , Shame and Confusion . 5. And for the Quiet of the Subjects , He hath been an Incendiary , he hath Armed us amongst our selves , and made us weak and naked to all the World besides . This is that I shall answer to the second Head of his Apology . 3. The Third is this , ( My Lords ) That by his means many good and wholesome Laws have been made since his Government in Ireland . Truly , ( My Lords ) if we should consider the particulars of these Laws , some of them will not be found without great Exception . But I shall make another Answer , good Laws , nay , the best Laws are no advantage when Will is set above Law , when the Laws have force to bind and restrain the Subject , but no force to Relieve and Comfort him . 4. He says in the Fourth place , He was a means of calling a Parliament not long after he came to his Government . My Lords , Parliaments without Parliamentary Liberties , are but a fair and plausible way into Bondage ; That Parliament had not the Liberties of a Parliament ; Sir Pierce Crosby for speaking against a Bill in the Commons House , was sequestred from the Council-Table , and Committed to Prison . Sir Iohn Clotworthy , for the same Cause , was threatned that he should lose a Lease that he had . Mr. Barnewell , and two other Gentlemen , were threatned they should have Troops of Horse put upon them for speaking in the House . Proxies by dozens , were given by some of his Favourites : And ( My Lords ) Parliaments coming in with these Circumstances , they be Grievances , Mischiefs , and Miseries ; no works of Thanks or Honour . 5. The Fifth is , That he hath been a means to put off Monopolies , and other Projects that would have been Grievous and Burdensome to the Subject ; if he had hated the Injustice of a Monopoly , or the Mischief of a Monopoly , he would have hated it in himself ; he himself would have been no Monopolist . Certainly , My Lords , It was not the love of Justice , nor the Common good , that moved him : And if he were moved by any thing else , he had his Reward . It may be it was because he would have no man gripe them in the Kingdom but himself ; his own Harvest-crop would have been less , if he had had sharers . It may be it was because Monopolies hinder Trade , he had the Customs , and the benefit of the Customs would have been less ; when we know the particulars , we shall make a fit and proper Answer to them : But in the mean time , we are sure whatsoever was the reason , it was not Justice , nor love of Truth , that was the reason . 6. He saith in the sixth place , He had no other Commission but what his Predecessors had : And that he hath Executed that Commission with all Moderation . For the Commission , it was no Virtue of his if it were a good Commission , I shall say nothing of that . But for the second part , his Moderation ; when you find so many Imprisoned of the Nobility ; so many men , some adjudged to Death , some Executed without Law ; when you find so many publick Rapines on the State , Soldiers sent to make good his Decrees ; so many whippings in defence of Monopolies ; so many Gentlemen that were Jurors , because they would not apply themselves to give Verdicts on his side , to be fined in the Star-Chamber . Men of Quality to be disgraced , set on the Pillory , and wearing Papers , and such things , ( as it will appear through our Evidence ) can you think there was any Moderation . And yet truly , ( My Lords ) I can believe , That if you compare his Courses with other parts of the World ungoverned , he will be found beyond all in Tyranny and Harshness ; but if you compare them with his mind and disposition , perhaps there was Moderation ; Habits we say , are more perfect than Acts , because they be nearest the principle of Actions . The Habit of Cruelty in himself ( no doubt ) is more perfect than any Act of Cruelty he hath Committed ; but if this be his Moderation , I think all men will pray to be delivered from it : And I may truly say that is verified in him , The Mercies of the Wicked are Cruel . 7. I come to the seventh , and that is concerning the Kings Revenue : That he hath improved it from 57000 l. to 120000 l. and that he hath done it by Honourable and Just ways . That he hath made the Kingdom able to Support it self . That he hath improved the Kings Revenue by many rich and great Purchases . That he hath saved the Charge of the Navy , by bearing 7000 l. a year in Ireland , which was born here before . And then he says for a Conclusion , That he never took Money out of the Kings Exchequer . My Lords , I must run over all these . For the Enlargement or Increase of the Revenue of that Kingdom , I think there is a little fault in his Arithmetick , but I will not charge him with that now . But for his Honourable ways of Increasing it ; if Monopolies , if Vexation of the Subject , be Honourable ways , we shall leave that to your Lordships to judge . But most of his increases are made upon Monopolies . It is true , there is another way of bargaining , but it hath been mixed with Rigour and Rapine , and Injustice . Men have been driven out of their Estates ; Offices have been found by force . Men have been driven to resign their Estates : And is this a Just way of improving a Kings Revenue ? that I shall submit to your Lordships . Then he says , He hath made the Kingdom able to Support it self : My Lords , He that hath no Harvest of his own , must Glean after another mans Reapers . Truly , this was none of his work : The Kingdom was able to subsist of it self before he came thither . For that we shall Appeal to the Records of the Exchequer , betwixt the year 1622. and the time of his Government , which was nine years at least , during which , nothing went out of this Kingdom to the support of that Island . The 7000 l. for the Navy , was born in Ireland before his time a year or two ; so he comes near the truth of that , yet misses a year of the truth . But if it were true ; hath it been only by the ordinary Revenue that it hath supported it self ? He hath had six Subsidies ; a year , or two of Contribution , which the Irish gave towards the supporting of the Charge of Ireland . It was not his Husbanding , nor his managing of the Revenue ; And truly if the Kingdom were able to support it self , ( as it was before he came thither ) by the Revenue of the Kingdom , and by the help of that Contribution , it would be very fit , ( since there may be many Increases since ) to know what is become of 300000 l. for six Subsidies , and of the Contribution money ; and indeed there is a great suspicion , that that went another way But that you may the better observe his Husbandry , I shall speak of his last years Accompt ; the 20th of March , ( now something more than a year since ) the Under-Treasurer delivered an Account , on which there was 101000 l. remaining in the Kings Coffers . Since that time there hath been received 112000 l. for the King. ( I speak of round Sums , ( My Lords ) I leave out pounds and pence , and such things : This is 213000 l. He hath received out of the Exchequer in England 50000 l. There are Debts in Ireland , 60000 l. and what other Debts we know not : Here is above 320000 l. consumed in a year ; which is almost as much as Queen Elizabeth consumed in any year when Tyrone was in Rebellion , and an Army of Spaniards was there . My Lords , He saith he never took Money out of the Exchequer ; if he rests in that Affirmation , it will be very near truth , yet serves but to shadow a falshood , which is worse , to cover and to glaze , under such a Colour of Truth as that is , a notable Falshood . My Lords , It is true , he hath taken no Money out of the Exchequer ; but he could be content to take from the Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer , 24000 l. about two years since , and to keep it for his own occasions ; when the Kings Army was in want : And he paid it in but lately . And before I pass from this matter of the Revenue , give me leave to speak something of the increase that comes in by the Customs . It is true , there is a great increase ; but if your Lordships look to the beginning of that bargain , you shall find the notablest cozenage that ever was offered to a Prince , in one that was a sworn Servant , and intrusted with so great a Charge . It will be more fully opened in the Article that concerns the Customs ; but I shall speak of it a little : He made a bargain , and under pretence of getting of 1350 l. gain to the King , he gave cause of Allowances and Defalcations ; whereby he took forth of the Kings Purse 6000 l. a year , or very near , which the King had before . He laid new Additions of charge on the Customs , which came to 12000 l. So that on a bargain of giving 1350 l. more than was reserved on the former Lease , He was sure , that when he made the bargain , of gaining 18 or 20000 l. 8. But I shall pass from the Revenue of the Crown , to the Revenue of the Church , ( which is in the 8th place ) He saith he hath been a great Husband for the Church , and truly hath brought in many Lands to the Church ; but he hath brought them in by ways without Law , without Rules of Justice : He hath taken away mens Inheritances . And here ( My Lords ) is an offering of Rapine , an offering of Injustice and Violence : And will God accept such an Offering . Must the Revenues of the Church be raised that way . It is true , it was the more in the way of his own Preferment . He knew who sat at the Helme here , the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and such services might win more credit with him . It was not an Eye to God and Religion ; but an Eye to his own Preferment . I shall speak no more of that . 9. I come to the 9th head ; and that is the building of Churches . Many Churches have been built since his Government . Truly , My Lords , why he should have any Credit or Honour , if other men builded Churches , I know not : I am sure we hear of no Churches he hath built himself : If he would have been careful to have set up good Preachers , that would have stirred up Devotion in men , and made them desirous of the knowledge of God , and by that means made more Churches , it had been something ; But I hear nothing of Spiritual Edification , nothing of the knowledge of God that by his means hath been dispersed in that Kingdom . And certainly they that strive not to build up mens Souls in a Spiritual way of Edification , let them build all the material Churches that can be , they will do no good ; God is not worshipped with Walls , but he is worshipped with Hearts . 10. He saith in the 10th place , That many Orthodox and Learned Preachers have been advanced by his means ; and the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England , by his means Protected and Defended . My Lords , I shall give but two or three Paterns of the Clergy that he hath preferred . If you will take Doctor Atherton , he is not to be found now above Ground ; for he was hanged for many foul and unspeakable Offences . Doctor Bramhill hath been preferred to a great Bishoprick ; but he is a man that now stands charged with High Treason : he hath been but few years in Ireland , and yet hath laid out at least 30000 l. in Purchases . I shall name but one Chaplain more , and that is one Arthur Gwyn , who about 1634. was an Under-Groom to the Earl of Corke in his Stable : In the year after , Dr. Bramhill preferred him to be a Clergy-man ; and a Parsonage , and two Vicaridges Impropriate , were taken from my Lord of Corke , and given to this Arthur Gwyn . I shall add no more Patterns of his Clergy . 11. I go to the 11th , and that is concerning the Army : He hath many glorious Expressions of his Service concerning the Army ; That they are 1000 Horse and 2000 Foot : And that there hath been very few Papists Soldiers or Officers ; and none preferred by himself . Truly , I think he says true , or within one of true in this ; for there was but one preferred by himself , and therefore I shall not stand upon that . But he says this Army was paid out of the Revenue of the Crown , which heretofore it was not wont to be . To that I have spoken before , and shewed , that many years before his time all the Charges of Ireland were born within Ireland . He says , ( and I speak that as to the Army too ) That neither the Arms nor Wages have been burdensome to the people of Ireland ; but their Lodgings and Billettings have not been easie , and not without discontent , Why ( My Lords ) in Dublin it self , where they have a Charter that exempts them from Billetting of Soldiers , they have been faign to pay for Billetting of Soldiers . Nay , those Soldiers that were Servants and Dwellers in his own houses , and other places , must have their Billetting moneys . And of this there hath been Petitions and Complaints ; nay , it hath been spoken of in Parliament there ; and yet he can tell you , that the marching and laying of Soldiers is without burthen and grievance to the People : that was the Eleventh . 12. I go to the 12th , and that is the great increase of Trade : The increase of Shipping 100 to one . Truly ( My Lords ) in a time of Peace , and in a growing Kingdom as that was , being formerly unhusbanded , It is no wonder , that when Land increases in the Manurance , and People increase in Number , both Shipping and Trade increases . But it is the advantage of the time , not the advantage of his Government ; for ( My Lords ) his Government hath been destructive to Trade : And that will manifestly appear by the multitude of Monopolies that he hath exercised in his own person . And that is all I shall speak to the 12th . 13. The 13th is , That Justice hath been administred without bribery , without partiality , without Corruption ; these are Glorious things . But there will as much fall upon him of Corruption and Injustice , as of any other Offence ; And that ( My Lords ) will appear to you through the whole course of our Evidence : I shall not now speak of the particulars . And that we may not content our selves with particular witnesses only , I shall humbly desire , That the Remonstrance of the Parliament of Ireland , both of the Lords and of the Commons , may be read : And they will give a sufficient Testimony of the quality of his Justice . 14. The 14th ( My Lords ) is this , That he hath been a Means to His Majesty for a Parliament in England . It is true he was : And it is as true , that we count that as mischievous a part of his design , as any thing else . Into what a miserable Dilemma ( My Lords ) did he bring the Kingdom , that we must surrender the Liberties of the Kingdom in Parliament , or see them oppressed with Force and Violence out of Parliament . The particulars of this I shall leave for the instant ; for there is an Article that concerns this . I have now passed through all the material parts of the Apologetical Preamble . He concludes with a desire , That he may not be charged with Errors of his understanding or Judgment , being not bred up in the Law , or with weakness , to which humane Nature is subject . Truly , it would be far from us to charge him with any such mistakes ; No ( My Lords ) we shall charge him with nothing but what the Law in every mans breast condemns , the Light of nature , the Light of common reason , the Rules of common Society : And that will appear in all the Articles which my Colleagues will offer to you . My Lords , I have some few Witnesses which I shall desire may be heard to the points I have opened ; and I shall in the first place desire , that Sir Pierce Crosby may be heard concerning the breach of Priviledge in Parliament : Also Sir Iohn Clotworthy , Nich. Barnewell , Nich. Plunket , and Sir Iames Montgomery . I have some Witnesses to the point of Revenue , Sir Robert Pye , Sir Edward Warder , and Sir Adam Loftus . Gentlemen , You who are of the Committee , I am commanded to let you know , That the Lords will allow you all the Testimonies you can produce to make good the Impeachment ; but the Witnesses which you do produce , must be deposed before their Lordships . Mr. Pym replied , My Lords , the Commons agree to it ; and in the first place we shall call Sir Pierce Crosby , who was sworn accordingly . My Lords , I humbly crave leave whether I may not make my exception to any Witness . Yes , you may . We desire to be heard upon that point of Exception , That if my Lord of Strafford will make any Exception why a Witness should not be heard at all , it may be according to the Rules of Justice . The Lord High Steward declaring , the Prisoner might except against the person of the Witness , if he have just Cause , my Lord of Strafford proceeded in substance as followeth : My Lords , I humbly conceive , that I have against this Gentleman Sir Pierce Crosby , just occasion of Exception , ( as not being a competent Witness ) for that the said Sir Pierce hath been sentenced in the Star-Chamber , for a very undue practise against me , tending to no less than the taking away of my Life , charging me , ( and practising to prove it by Testimony of witness ) that I had killed a man in Ireland , whom I protest , I did never so much as touch . That ever since ( the said Sir Pierce having broke Prison , and made an Escape out of the Fleet ) he hath remained abroad , and never came hither till such time as the Parliament sate here ; and now is returned to make Complaint in this business against me , or indeed against the Court of Star-Chamber rather : And standing thus , whether the said Sir Pierce shall be allowed a Witness against me , I humbly refer it to Your Lordships Judgments . My Lords , We expected my Lord of Strafford would have shown on what reason Sir Pierce was censured ; for a man Criminous in one kind , may be nevertheless fit to give Testimony in another kind . If it be a particular practice against my Lord of Strafford , when their Lordships have heard what that practice was , and have heard likewise the Witness , they will believe him according to the weight of the Testimony , compared with the fault , or whatsoever else is in the Sentence . But in the mean time , they conceive it is no Exception , but that the Witness should be heard , This that is charged on my Lord of Strafford , being a Crime of High Treason , it concerns the Common-wealth , the King being party , and not the Witness that is produced . And whereas it is informed that Sir Pierce Crosby brake Prison : The Gentleman tells us it is not so ; he paid the Kings Fine , and so was discharged . But though he had , it will not take away his Testimony when he is present ; which he said , he spake only to give satisfaction to that aspersion . I must desire their Lordships directions , whether Sir Pierce Crosby be allowed , notwithstanding my Lord of Straffords exceptions against him , and Mr. Maynards allegations why his Testimony should be given in this case , or no : And divers of their Lordships called to have the House Adjourned to the House above , that they might there debate and determine it . Mr. Pym did thereupon offer , that they will at present lay him aside till their Lordships have had opportunity to consider , and bring him again to morrow ; whereunto Mr. Maynard added this further : We desire rightly to express our selves to Your Lordships , We will lay him aside till Your Lordships have heard others , not that they wave him wholly : And we pray it may be so entred , The Lord Steward declaring it so to be . It is so understood . In the next place , we desire that Sir Iohn Clotworthy may be called , whom we produce to this point , That during the Parliament in Ireland , for speaking against a Bill in the Commons House , he was threatned by Sir George Ratcliffe , ( whom we take to be bound up in one Cause with my Lord of Strafford , and to be moved by my Lord of Straffords spirit ) and that Parliaments are not Priviledges , when Parliament Liberties are not observed . Sir Iohn Clotworthy was sworn : My Lords , We desire he may be asked , whether for having delivered his Opinion against a Bill preferred to the Parliament in Ireland by the Earl of Strafford , about the 10th year of this King , he was not asked by Sir George Ratcliffe , concerning a Lease that he had ; the question intimating a Threat , that he should suffer for speaking so freely ? To which he answered , My Lords , In the 10th year of the King , I serving in Ireland in Parliament , did Vote against a Bill ; as soon as I had Voted against it , Sir George Ratcliffe , being one of the Tellers , on his counting the numbers , how many Yea's , and how many No's , He came to me , and said thus , Have not you a Lease in such a place ? I told him yea ; remember that , saith he : This is all I can remember . And this ( he added ) was in the Commons House . 2. He being interrogated whether he knew any thing of Sir Pierce Crosbies Commitment , or no ? He answered , I know it only by hear-say , he was a Member of the House when I had the Honour to serve ; I heard the expression of Sir George Ratcliffe at that time : And the common voice was , that he was under restraint ; but I saw him not . Being asked whether there was any other occasion of these words but his said Vote : He answered , Truly ( My Lords ) I can apprehend none . 4. Being asked whether he heard Sir George Ratcliffe threaten Sir Pierce Crosby in Parliament : He answered , I heard Sir Pierce Crosby speaking against a Bill in Parliament ; and as soon as he had sate down from speaking against the Bill , Sir George Ratcliffe said to him , That is not Privy-Councellor like , or to that purpose , I heard him . To the point of Sir Pierce Crosbies being sequestred from the Council upon his speaking in Parliament . The Lord Ranulagh being sworn , was interrogated whether about the 10th year of the King , he knew Exception to be taken against Sir Pierce Crosby , for delivering his Opinion in Parliament ; and what proceedings were against him thereupon : He answered , ( My Lords ) to the best of my remembrance , Sir Pierce Crosby being a Privy-Councellor in Ireland , was charged at the Council-Board for Voting against a Bill that was transmitted by the Lord Deputy and Council ; and hereupon the Opinion of the Board was asked ; and by the advice of that Board Sir Pierce Crosby was sequestred from the Council . This is as much as I can remember . 2. Being asked by whom he was sequestred : He answered , By the Deputy and the Council . 3. Being asked who began the Question : He answered , My Lord Deputy charged him . My Lords , I humbly desire that my Lord Ranulagh may be asked , whether when things are handled at the Council-Table , the Deputy be not the man that propounds them to the Council or no ; not as a party complaining , but as belonging to the duty of his place : And how he behaved himself in that business . To which the Lord Ranulagh being interrogated , Answered , It is the constant course for the Deputy to propose the things that be brought to the Board ; and seldom doth any of the Council propound any thing ; but the Proposition comes from the Deputy . But being further asked on the Committees motion , whether this of Sir Pierce Crosbies came to the Board by motion of my Lord alone , or that any other moved him in it , or conveyed it to him : He answered , I cannot charge my memory where it had beginning ; but as I remember , My Lord Deputy Wandesford that died last , and Mr. Wandsford , and Sir George Ratcliffe , were movers of it ; but whether it moved originally from them , or from my Lord himself , I know not , I rather believe it proceeded from my Lord Deputy , as being proper for him . The Lord Mountnorris sworn and interrogated , whether he was present at Council-Table when Sir Pierce Crosby was sequestred from Council-Table ; and for what Reasons he was sequestred : He answers , I was then present at Board , and he was removed on Complaint made by Sir George Ratcliffe at the Board , touching his Voting of a Bill in Parliament : And when he said it was not spoken like a Councellor , he said , he would answer it to him that made him a Councellor . That was the effect , as I can remember , of his Accusation ; and there were several others that testified the same words that Sir George Ratcliffe accused him of , and that was the reason he was sequestred by most Voices at Council-Table , though he had many Votes with him . And being further asked , what my Lord of Straffords Vote was : He answered , It was for his Sequestration . Mr. Nicholas Barnewell sworn ; Being asked , whether for his delivering his Opinion in Parliament , Sir George Ratcliffe did ask whether the said Mr. Barnewell's house was capacious to receive 500 men , to be laid upon him ; intimating thereby , that he must look for Soldiers to be laid upon him for that reason : He answered , There was a Debate in the House concerning certain Boroughs sequestred from the House by reason of a Judgment in the Exchequer , which the House conceived an Erronious Judgment , and were of Opinion that the old Boroughs should be called in ; I was of that Opinion , Sir George Ratcliffe was of another Opinion ; and would have another question debated : And coming out of the House , he asked me , Will not your House hold Five hundred men ? I answered , you know what my house will hold as well as my self ; and I smiling at it , he answered , But it is no laughing matter , you shall have 500 men laid on you . I desire it may be asked , when this was spoken : He answered , It was in November last ; and that my Lord of Strafford was not then in the Kingdom . Mr. Pym observed , That the Spirit of my Lord of Strafford could move in Sir George Ratcliffe , wheresoever it was spoken ; And Mr. Barnewell added , it was done in November then last . In the next place , We shall shew the untruth of that part of my Lord of Straffords Preamble , that says , The Soldiers in Ireland are disposed with so much contentment to the People , that they are no burden to them . Mr. Egor was called for a Witness , and Sworn . Being interrogated whether he knew of any Soldiers Billetted in Dublin ? whether they were not a Grievance ? whether that City hath not a special Charter of Exemption ? He answered , May it please Your Lordships , the City of Dublin doth bear the Charge of 40 Horse , and pays to them 45 l. a month for Billetting ; which is conceived they should not bear , in regard they have a Charter that says , Nullus Mareschallus Capiat hospitium intra Civitatem ; and therefore they conceive it a heavy burden , and it is as much as a Subsidy : And another part of the City standing in another County , pays 10 l. a month ; so they pay in all 55 l. a month . I humbly desire he may be asked , whether before my Lord of Straffords time , and as long as he can remember , The Lord-Deputies Foot-guard , and Horse-Companies , were not Billetted in Dublin ? He answered , To the Foot-guard , when my Lord of Faulkland was there , they gave Lodging continually ; but it was never drawn to matter of money : And till now we had never Horse upon us , except it were for a month , or so . In the next place , We humbly desire the Remonstrance of the Nobility , and the House of Commons in Ireland , might be read as Testimonies of my Lord of Straffords Justice . I desire to know whether questions are to be asked of matters not contained in the Charge , as the Remonstrance is not . My Lords , The Subverting of the Laws , and Corruption in Government and Justice , is generally laid in the Charge ; and he hath answered , that he hath administred Justice with Integrity : And this we produce to shew , That the frontespiece of his Answer , is in that part untrue . To prove the Truth of the Copy of the Lords Remonstrance now produced , the Lord Digby of Ireland was Sworn ; and he on his Oath said , That the Copy was delivered him at his coming over , by the Clerk of the Lords House in Ireland , to be brought over hither by Order of the Lords there . And the Lord Baltinglasse Deposed , That he knew it to be the Clerks hand ; and they were both present at the Voting of it . The same was read , bearing date February 22. 1640. The Protestation and Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament Assembled ; We desire to apply it to disprove part of the Preamble of my Lord of Straffords Answer . I desire my Lord Digby may be asked whether he gave his Vote to this Protestation ; We produce it not as the Act of any particular man , but of the Lords . Your Lordships may observe , that this is fallen out since my Impeachment of High Treason here : And that it is followed by Faction and Correspondence , as in time might be made appear , if I could undertake it ; and a strong Conspiracy against me . My Lords , These words are not to be suffered ; Charging the House of Commons with Faction , Correspondency , and Conspiracy , We desire Your Lordships Justice in this . God forbid I should think there was , or could be any thing in that House , or any Member of it , but that which agrees with Truth and Justice , and Equity . I must profess to Your Lordships , I had no Reflection or Intention , either upon the Lords House there , or upon the Honourable House of Commons here ; but upon certain Persons that are not Members of the House here , that have Correspondency with them in Ireland , that are not Members of the House there . We must consult with the House of Commons concerning the prosecution of this Exception to his words ; and in the mean time we will reserve it to our selves ; and so we shall proceed . We desire the Remonstrance made by the House of Commons in Ireland , ( being deposed unto by Patrick Gough , That about February 25. it was delivered him , sealed up in a box , with other things , before his face ; being called on by the House to be brought to the Committee for Irish affairs in England ) may be read . Which Remonstrance was read accordingly . Your Lordships may observe , That my Lord of Straffords glorious Declaration of his own Merits , was confuted by the whole Parliament ; and that the whole sum of the Charge , is confirmed by the Testimony of all Ireland . To the point of Revenue of Ireland ; for the contradicting of my Lord of Straffords Affirmation , That Ireland supporteth its own Charge ; Sir Edward Warder produced , and Sworn , was interrogated when the last money was sent out of this Kingdom for support of His Majesties Affairs of Ireland : He answered , The last money sent over for payment of the Army there , was in the Term of Easter , 1621. and it was 10000 l. in full of 20000 l. for one whole years charge , beginning the first of April , 1619. and ending the last of March following ; which was 17 Iac. Being interrogated , whether since that time the State here hath been actually charged with the Affairs of Ireland . He answered , Nothing hath been issued out of the Receipt of His Majesties Exchequer for the Maintenance of Ireland since this time , only such moneys as have been lately issued for the Army , and what hath been issued to the Treasurer of the Navy , and the Officers of it , for the maintaining of Ships on the Coast ; but otherwise , no money hath been issued as a constant setled thing out of the Receipt of His Majesties Exchequer , for any thing arising since the last of March , 1620. I desire he may be asked what was since issued for the Navy . We admit that the Charge of the Navy continued divers years after , yet a few years before my Lord of Straffords Government it was taken off too . The Manager did so open it , and Sir Edward Warder did in effect set it forth so : Therefore that question was waved . Sir Robert Pye produced , and Sworn to that point of Revenue ; and being interrogated to the same purpose , Answered , No money hath issued out of the Receipt , but as Sir Edward Warder delivered it ; and I know of no other money , but only for the Maritime parts , something hath been paid to the Treasurer of the Navy : And besides the 50000 l. of late , I know not any . The Lord Mountnorris was called upon ; and being asked whether the Charge of 7000 l. a year for the Navy of Ireland , was not taken off a year before my Lord of Straffords Government : He answered , I cannot say the sum was 7000 l. But two of the Whelps employed there before my Lord of Strafford came to the Government , were defrayed ; whether wholly , or in part , I cannot tell , but they had good large sums of money , and were paid in the Kingdom . I desire my Lord Mountnorris may be asked , whether when I came to the Government , the constant Charge did not exceed the constant Revenue ; and how much ? It is true , the Irish gave sixscore Thousand pounds towards the Charge ; so that the Supply came out of Ireland , though not out of the constant Revenue of Ireland : but it came not out of this Kingdom . He further answered , the Constant Revenue did not do it , There was a Contribution by Loan from the Country , to supply it ; but before my Lord of Faulkland went over , I heard my Lord of Middlesex tell him , They must look for no more money , England had nourished Ireland long enough , she must now live upon her own Milk. The reason why money did not go out , was because 120000 l. was supplyed by a Contribution ; notwithstanding which , when he came to serve the King in that Kingdom , the Crown was indebted very near 100000 l. Sterling . He hath received 300000 l. for Subsidies . It will Appear on Accompts , to be bestowed faithfully and justly every penny , for the King. To the point of my Lord of Straffords taking of 24000 l. of the Kings money , and disposing it for a year and a half , notwithstanding His Majesties Wants , and the Necessities of the Army . Sir Adam Loftus Vice-Treasurer , produced and Sworn , was interrogated , whether my Lord of Strafford had not 24000 l. out of the Kings Revenue ? and how long time ? and when was it paid in ? He answered , My Lord of Strafford and Sir George Ratcliffe , had never a penny out of the Exchequer , but on such Warrants as I durst not deny them , for their due Entertainment , and other things importing His Majesties Service . But I must confess , that they being Partners in the Customs , some moneys were to be paid for the profits of the Customs which were in arrear ; and Sir George Ratcliffe moved me to give discharges for it , and he would give me my Lord Lieutenants Bond , and his own , for paying of it upon demand ; which I accepted of , and accordingly did give those discharges . Whence observe , discharges are money ; for so much money should have been paid in , and if it be intercepted , the King wants His money . Being asked what was the sum ; and how long was it kept : He answered , The sum , as I take it , was 19000 l. on one Bond , and 5000 l. on another ; and as I take it , it was in the year , 1638. Being asked again , how long it was kept : He answered , It was paid lately ; within these three months . Whence observe , it was since the questioning of him in Parliament . The Parliament proves a good Officer for the King there . I shall reserve my self to give full satisfaction to this in its proper time , it being part of my Charge ; But at present I desire Sir Adam Loftus may be ask'd the question , Whether when I came into that Kingdom , the constant Revenue fell not short of the constant Charge , at least 20000 l. a year . We except against Interlocutory discourses ; and having now concluded this part of the Charge , we desire , that if my Lord of Strafford would say any thing in answer to what hath been now said , he might say it presently , else we should be on great disadvantages . My Lords , I conceive the Proposition to be fair ; and it is that which I desire , my memory being weak , and not versed in these kinds of Proceedings : I intended to have made it my humble suit for longer time to Answer to this days Proceedings , but shall readily Answer every particular Article in order as they go along ; and shall obey and observe the Order proposed . But as to these things which I did not expect , as the Remonstrances , and other Matters opened , being not in this particular Charge , I humbly crave Your Lordships leave and liberty , to recollect my self , and then I will give them the best Answer I can . For to Answer them suddenly I confess I am not so well fitted , as I trust I shall be . And I desire leave to say in the presence of Almighty God , That I shall desire to be delivered from the Afflictions that God Almighty hath laid on me for my sins , no other way than as in the Intention of my heart , and Endeavour of my mind , I have been most faithful and true to His Majesty and the Common-wealth ; and I well trust and hope , that by the time all these things come to conclusion , and have been fully heard , I shall recover in great measure , the favour and good Opinion of the Honourable House of Commons ; in which House , I have spent a great part of my time : And I doubt not but it is known to divers that sit here , what my Carriage and Behaviour hath been there . And I desire no more , ( and I am sure it will be granted , they are so just and good ) but that they will reserve towards me , an Opinion of Charity , that I give such an Account , as may preserve me to be the same in their Opinion , that I was formerly . I was never yet Impeached in my private Conversation , of untruth , and hope they will think of me charitably , till they have heard the whole business ; and I doubt not but I shall take off , in great part , their hard Opinion , and procure to my self , their Compassion and Favour ; and that I shall go in peace and quietness to my Grave , leaving all publick Employments whatsoever . And I humbly beseech the House of Commons , to incline a gracious Opinion to me , so far forth , that I am the same man in Opinion , that I was when I was one of them ; and I doubt not but this , out of their Nobleness and Goodness , they will afford me . But for these particulars , I humbly crave , that with Your Lordships good leave , I may have a little time with my self to consider them , because they be new ; and for the rest , I shall obey Your Lordships Order , and give them thanks . No Exception is taken , but to what is affirmed in his own Answer ; and the Commons will think it another mans Answer , and not his own , if he be not ready to make good the Truth of it . These things should not be new ; for every man should be ready to maintain his own Assertions . I am ( My Lords ) in an unknown way , being not versed in these things ; if I might have had the Assistance of Council , it would have been a great ease to me : but it is not possible for me to recollect all which the Worthy Gentleman hath said so materially , and with so much weight . Matters of Fact I could answer to , Article by Article ; but to answer presently so great and tedious a discourse , so well delivered , and so weighty , I profess I am not able ; my Memory being not able to carry it . But if Your Lordships would please , out of Your Nobleness and Goodness , to give me Respite to recollect my self to these things that be Generalities , I should be able to give a good Accompt thereof , protesting seriously , That I think every part of the Preamble to be very Just and True ; and I hope , under favour , to make it appear so , when I shall shew those things which have not yet been so fully informed and known , as I trust they may be hereafter . My Lords , We humbly desire , that since my Lord of Strafford is not ready to give Satisfaction to what hath been disproved in his Answer , we may proceed to that which he is ready to give Answer and Satisfaction to ; and that my Lord of Strafford might understand , That if he Answers not now what hath been said concerning the Preamble , he must have no time to Answer it hereafter . I Appeal to Your Lordships ; and I renew my Request , That I may for these , have time to recollect my Thoughts till next day : If it may not be granted , I beseech Your Lordships to bear with many of my Infirmities , being very great , both in Body and Mind ; and to consider , That my sad Condition doth some way plead for a little Compassion and Favour , I being in a way I was never in before , and having not the great Parts that others have . Yet rather than I should be thought to Abuse Your Lordships with Untruths , I will do the best I can to maintain my Answer presently ; being confident , through the Blessing of Almighty God , that though the particulars thereof are delivered with a great deal of Weakness and Disadvantage , yet Your Lordships shall find them Truths , my own Heart ( I protest before God ) telling me so ; and hope that God will give me Help and Assistance to make it appear so : And other than that I desire not to be ; for if I were the man I am represented , I were not worthy to live : I confess , the Honourable House of Commons have proceeded against me with all Reason and Justice that can be ; being informed as they were , they could do no less ; if they had done less , they had not performed their Trust with that fulness they should ; and therefore I find no fault with them . But I beg leave to express a Truth as well as God shall enable me ; hoping it will appear , that all I have said is true , as all is true to my knowledge . And I know it is in the Heart of every man that hears me , That I should have time to clear a Truth ; no man can deny it : And therefore I humbly pray , I may not be suddenly taken , protesting seriously , I have said nothing but what I knew , or verily believed to be true . We pray Your Lordships Resolution in this point , before we proceed any further . Their Lordships thereupon Adjourned to the Upper-House ; and about half an hour after , returned . I am commanded to impart their Lordships Resolution , That since the Commons do not press these things as matters of Crime , but rather upon the matter of Truth , they conceive my Lord of Strafford need not further time for these particulars . And that if his Lordship will make any Answer to these particulars , he is to do it now . I shall never do other than readily obey whatsoever Your Lordships should please to command me , my heart paying you Obedience ; and so in truth shall every thing that proceeds from me . The question ( I observe ) is matter of Truth , or not Truth , in the Preamble ( as they call it ) of this my Answer ; and to that , with all the Humility and Modesty in the World , I will apply my self , as not conceiving it any way becoming me to speak any thing of Sharpness in any kind , but with all Humility and Reverence to bear all these Afflictions , with acknowledgment unto Almighty God , and to lay them so to my heart , that they may provide for me in another World , where we are to expect the Consummation of all Blessedness and Happiness . And therefore to lay aside all these Aggravations by words , wherewith I have been set forth to Your Lordships ( only with this ) that I trust I shall make my self appear a person otherwise in my Dispositions and Actions , than I have been rendred ; and shortly and briefly , I shall fall upon the very points , as near as I can , that were mentioned by that Noble Gentleman ; and if I should forget any , I desire to be remembred of them , that I may give the best Answer I can on a suddain ; with this Protestation , That if I had had time , I should have given a far clearer Answer , than on the sudden I shall be able to do . I will take them as they lye in Order : And the first thing in this Answer is , That in Ireland , by my means , many good Laws were made for increase of the Kings Revenue , and for good of the Church and Common-wealth ; and this I humbly conceive , was not denied directly , only it was inferr'd , That Laws were of no use where Will was put above Law. That these Laws were made , the Acts of Parliament that are extant , and visible things , do make appear ; For ( though I might express it darkly , by reason I understood not matters of Law ) the truth of it is , before such time as I came there , the Statutes of Wills and Uses , and Fraudulent Conveyances , were not of force in Ireland ; by which there was a very great mischief that fell many ways , both on the King , and specially on the English Planters : For by want of these Statutes , no man knew when he had a good title ; and old Entayles would be set on foot , and by that means the later Purchaser avoided ; by which means there was a great loss and prejudice to the King in his Wards ; which by these Laws are setled , and the Laws of Ireland brought much nearer the Laws of England than before . And in this point I conceive I am not absolutely gainsayed , but only conditionally , that is , that notwithstanding this , I have set up another Government , Arbitrary , and Tyrannical . To which , I shall not now trouble Your Lordships with an Answer , that being in the particulars of my Charge . And thus I think the first to be fairly and clearly Answered . Then , that there were more Parliaments in the time of my Government , than in 50 years before . There were two in my time ; and if I might call Witnesses , it would appear , that there were not so many within that time before ; but being not material to my Defence or Condemnation , I will not trouble Your Lordships with proof , unless you will require it ; I having them here , that I think can make it good . And whereas in my Answer I deny that I ever had hand in any Project or Monopoly ; and that I did prevent divers , that otherwise would have passed : I said that , under favour , with all duty and confidence ; I must still affirm it , That I never had hand or share in any manner of Monopoly or Project whatsoever , unless the Tobacco-business were a Monopoly , which , under favour , I shall clear not to be ; but that being part of my Charge , I think it impertinent now to give Answer unto it ; but will satisfie Your Lordships in that behalf , in proper time and place : But more than that of Tobacco , I say absolutely and directly , I never had my hand or share in any Monopoly or Project ; nay , I did , as murh as I could , Oppose all of them , particularly the Monopoly of Iron-Pots ; for which , I reserve my self to Answer as part of my Charge : And a new Book of Rates , whereby it was proposed , That the Rates of the Kings Customs might be increased . And this I did Oppose and Disavow , albeit I was a sharer in the Farm , and consequently should have had the Benefit and Advantage of it for my proportion ; and by the Kings gracious Goodness ( when His Majesty came to be more fully and clearly informed of it ) it was stopped , and never went on : And this I will make appear in that point of the Articles that concern the Customs . The Fourth is , That I have not had any greater Power , or larger Commission , than my Predecessors in that Government have had ; which I conceive , under favour , is not controverted , but granted , and therefore stands good to me ; or if it were controverted , I am able to make it appear , that I have brought in nothing more than was formerly accustomed in the point of the Deputies-Commission . The next thing in my Answer is , That the Revenue of Ireland was never able to Support it self before my coming thither ; and that I say still , with all Humility and Duty , is most true : And I trust to make it apparently true presently , if Your Lordships will give me leave to call for , and examine my Witnesses . It being the Proofs Your Lordships will look to , and not to what was only alledged by that Worthy Gentleman : And further than Your Lordships shall find proved , I desire not to be believed . The proof offered against me , is by Sir Edward Warder , and Sir Robert Pye , who testified , That from the year 1621. nothing went out of the Kings Exchequer to supply the Irish Affairs , saving only for the Maritime occasions . And this I believe to be true ; for they be Gentlemen of Credit that speak it : and I will believe them on their Words , much more on their Oathes . But ( under favour ) there was for eight years together before my coming , a Contribution of 20000 l. a year paid by the Country ; which was no part of the Kings Revenue , nor as I conceive , ever came into Accompt , nor was paid into the Exchequer , as will appear on the Fifteenth Article ; but was a Gift of the Country , and applyed to the Kings Occasions : and that determined , the Revenue fell short 20000 l. of the Charge . Besides , when I came into Ireland , the Crown was extreamly indebted , above ( as I think ( not to stand on particular sums and pence ) 100000 l. Sterling . And by the Gentleman 's own saying , when I came out of Ireland , I left 100000 l. in the Kings Coffers : And if any ask where the Accompt for the Subsidies is , There is 100000 l. Debt paid , 100000 l. left in the Kings Coffers ; ( For it appears by Sir Adam Loftus , that there was 100000 l. in the Exchequer when I came from thence ) There was 15000 l. employed for buying Land , that yields the King 2000 l. a year . And so much of my Lord of Ormond , as yields 2500 l. a year : So that the Accompts will shew the bestowing of the Subsidies , with as much Advantage as might be , for the Kings Service . That the Revenue was short , I could make appear clearly . The occasion that no money came out of the Exchequer , was accidental , by a Contribution of the Country , no Revenue of the Kings . And if that had not been supplyed , there had been no possibility of defraying the Ordinary Charges of the Crown out of the Revenue ; and that is the point wherein I differ from the Gentleman , his meaning being , That the ordinary Revenue of the Kingdom could not bear the ordinary Charge of the Kingdom . And I desire that Sir Adam Loftus and Sir Robert Dillom , may be examined upon such questions as shall be propounded in this point . Your Lordship may examine them , but not upon Oath . I will not displease , but perfectly obey in every thing . It will not be denied , but the Revenue is increased by such means as my Lord of Strafford hath increased it by ; yet it was not the natural Revenue , but the additional part , that came in by the Bounty of the Country , that supported the Charge many years before my Lord of Strafford came : So that if it be said Ireland supported not it self before he came thither , in the general sense it is untrue ; if it be said in a special sense , that the Kings proper Revenue did not support it , that his Lordship says is true . Whence I infer , that it was not much material to insist on this , for I meant it so ; and it is plain and clear , that the Kings Revenue there was not able to bear the Charge of that Kingdom , by very near 23000 l. or 24000 l. a year : And it is now able to bear its own Charges , and yet there is an increase of Charge by 600 Horse ; by which , the Army is stronger than it was . And whereas it is said , I was short in the Shipping ; I affirm , that under favour , I was not . It is true , that in the time of the late Justices , my Lord of Corke , and my Lord Loftus , the last years Charge of the Shipping was paid forth of Ireland : But it is as true , that when the Kingdom underwent the Charge , they lessened the Charge of the Kings Army , by striking 500 off from the Army ; and transferred the Charge of their pay , to the easing of the Kings Revenue on the Navy . But that Charge being now increased again , and brought to the former certainty , I conceive I might truly say , There was in my time an ease to the Crown of England , ( all things considered ) which formerly it had not : It being not with the prejudice of the Kings Service elsewhere , or lessening the standing Army , which in all times hath been the strongest support of the Kings Justice , and Ministers there ; and which it deeply concerns the Crown of England , to keep in such a Condition , that they may be responsible to the King for the Services he shall Command : So that though the Shipping Charge was paid the last year , yet so paid , that the Kings Army was weakened 500 Foot ; whereas now it is paid , and the Kings Army raised to a certainty again ; and a Change is made to the better ; for instead of 500 Foot , there is 600 Horse . And that I say , my Lord of Corke remembers very well , there being Letters of his , That Sir Pierce Crosby his Regiment , should be put off , and the money for maintenance thereof , should go to defray the Charge of the Kings Ships , for guard of the Coast. And yet the Charge is much more now than it was ; for the Charge was then only two Whelpes , as my Lord Mountnorris said : And now there be three Ships , The Swallow , a Ship of the Third Rank , and two lesser Vessels ; so that I conceive my Answer , in my sense , was true . For the matter of having money out of the Exchequer , I conceive my Answer to contain no matter of Untruth ; for I had out of the Exchequer only 15000 l. and for that the King will be answered 2000 l. a year good Fee-farm Rent , in lieu of it ; which he thought was no ill bargain . It is true , ( I say ) the money spoken of by Sir Adam Loftus , was borrowed on my own , and Sir George Ratcliffes Bond , to be paid upon sight . At that time ( I praise God ) I had Credit for 20000 l. and at this time ( I thank God for that too ) I have not Credit for 20 d. Gods Will be done , I obey it . But this money is honestly and justly paid ; Where is the Crime then ? might not I borrow of a Gentleman that would trust me with money , but it must be an Offence ? It is true , it was of the Kings money ; but the King had no use for it at that time . Had not I made use of it , it must otherwise have lain in the Exchequer , and yielded no profit ; and besides , I borrowed it of one that was Accomptable for it . But since I am put to it , I will shew that which will clear it from being a Crime indeed ; which according to the Duty I owe unto His Majesty , my Master , his Command hitherto have I kept private to my self : And that is the Kings Warrant , being all of His own Hand writing . Sir Adam Loftus , being then Vice-Treasurer , and now demanded the question , Whether that Warrant was produced to him at the borrowing of the money , confessed , that my Lord of Strafford never told him of the Warrant . The Warrant was read , containing a Licence to make use of 40000 l. of His Majesties Treasure , now in the hands of His Majesties Vice-Treasurer , for three years ; Provided , that for Security , there be always left in the hands of the Comptrollers , a Stock of Tobacco , amounting to 40000 l. at the least ; with a direction to conceal this particular favour to him , that it might not be brought into precedent . There was accordingly so much Tobacco left . But , by what Law I know not , The Magazines are seized on by Order from the Commons House of Parliament , my Goods possessed , and given over to others , to sell at their own prices ; my people imprisoned , as if they had been Traytors Goods , and as if an Inquisition had been found upon me as a Traytor . And this is my Misfortune , to be very hardly dealt withall by the Commons House there , to say no more . And whereas by the Kings Goodness I had liberty to take 40000 l. I took but 24000 l. And where I had liberty to take it for three years , ( which expires not till Michaelmas next ) I paid it in long before the time . And by this one particular I hope it will appear to Your Lordships , and the Gentlemen of the House of Commons , how Noble it will be to believe Charitably of me , till they hear all can be said ; for I trust , in the whole course of this Trial , to appear an honest man. And whereas I said , I never had but 15000 l. out of the Exchequer , and yet had 24000 l. borrowed as aforesaid . The King Commanded me I should not take notice of His gracious Favour ; and therefore I conceive , that in Duty to my Master I ought not to have taken notice of it , otherwise my Answer should have clearly and plainly exprest it : I never having Disobeyed His Majesty , nor , by the Grace of God , never will. For the 7000 l. for the Guard of the Irish Coast , that was mentioned already ; and I shall not need to Answer it further . To the point of restoring the Possessions of the Church in a great measure ; I say , there was not only a Restitution , but a Preservation by an Act of Parliament , for preserving the Possessions of the Church from being mis-used by the present Incumbent , to the prejudice of the Successors ; which Act , I wish were in England : But that I conceive not to be Controverted , but granted me . But it is said , The Possessions of the Church were restored in an Illegal way , to please my Lord of Canterbury : To which I Answer , The Gentleman indeed spake it , but there is no proof of it , neither hath he offered any proof ; and till it be proved , I conceive it not fit to trouble Your Lordships with Answering it : I have done nothing in Church or Common-wealth , but Justly and Uprightly . Albeit I conceive it a hard case , that having the Honour to be the Kings Deputy sitting in Council , where there be Twenty who Voted as well as my self , That I should be noted to Answer for them all , though I did constantly submit my self to the Major part . And as to my Lord of Canterbury , I beseech Your Lordships to think , That what I have done for the Church of Ireland , was out of a faithful Conscience to God Almighty , out of a desire to increase the Religion I Profess , and which I will witness with my Blood , by the Blessing of Almighty God , if there should be occasion . And when I have done it with respect to that Piety of His Gracious Majesty , which I would faithfully pay Him. I desire it may not be put upon me , as done in an respect only to my Lord of Canterbury , where no such thing is proved : No , I did it out of Conscience , my Duty to God , to the King , and to the People , that they might be instructed in the way to Eternal Life . And I beseech Your Lordships to believe , I have a Heart a little greater than to do any such thing to please any man living , with Modesty be it spoken . For the Building of Churches , I confess , I built not any ; and in my Answer I said no more , but that Churches were built ; which the Worthy Gentleman acknowledged in some part . I confess they were not Built by me , or at my particular Charge ; nor do I say otherwise in my Answer : And it had been a vain thing to have said it , though I had done it my self . But it is said , the Answer is not right , in saying there be divers Worthy Church-men preferred ; and three are instanced in , Bishop Atherton , the Bishop of D. and one Gwyn : To this I beseech Your Lordships , that I may be bold to let the Gentlemen know , That Bishopricks are not in the gift of the Deputy , but of the King ; and that he is not Responsible for what the King doth . But not desiring to deny any thing that is true , I confess , I think Bishop Atherton was unknown to His Majesty ; and that I my self recommended him to the Bishoprick ; and at that time I thought the Bishop a Person fit for that Charge : But suppose he had a secret fault of his own , ( God knows it was unknown to me ) may not a man be deceived in his Judgement of a man , but this shall be turned against him ? It is a very easie thing for a man to cover his faults from the eye of the world ; I thought him not a vicious man , he proved so , and he had his merit , he suffered for it : And unless I had the Inspection of Almighty God , I suppose , this cannot be laid to my Charge ; if any private End or Respect should appear in the doing of it , I desire no more of Your Lordships Favour ; and I profess , I had rather be out of the World , than not have the Favour of Your Lordships , and the Honourable House of Commons ; of whom I desire , that they would hear me with that Equity that they hear every thing . For the Bishop of D. all that is mentioned against him is , That he is Impeached of High Treason by the Commons House of Parliament in Ireland : And how the Bishop will acquit himself I know not ; but for that the Bishop must Answer for himself , not I. This Bishop hath lived in my House a long time , as my Chaplain ; and I humbly recommended him to that Bishoprick , taking him ( and I hope he will so approve himself ) to be a very Learned man , and that I think no body will deny : certainly he hath the Elements to make him a very Worthy Church-man as most I know . For that Gwyn , I profess I never heard of him before , nor do I know him ; But recollecting my thoughts , I think he was recommended to me by my Lord of D. for in matters of the Church I did use that Gentleman ; and if I were to begin the World again , I would use him still , holding him a very honest Worthy man : And I think there was some Rectory or Impropriation that the Earl of Corke had possession of , which was restored to the Church ; and it was of so small and trivial a value , that they knew not who to get to serve the Cure ; and on that occasion this man was recommended to it : And I think , that if it shall come to be examined , Thirty pounds a year will go far in his preferment . And if such a thing should happen , and miscarry in his hands , it is no such hainous Crime as is objected . But I desire leave to shew what I have done in this kind instead of this Mr. Gwyn ; and Your Lordships may see a List of those I have preferred to the Church of Ireland , and perhaps they may be known to some of Your Lordships , and to many Gentlemen of the House of Commons . And first I say , I preferred Mr. Gray , and have done for him according to the means I had by the Favour and Goodness of the King ; perhaps he hath that which is worth 3 , or 4 , or 500 l. a year by my Gift . And this Mr. Gray ( if I be not mistaken ) was sometimes Chaplain to a Noble Person that sits on the Earls Bench ; and if it were material further to enquire of him , I might give satisfaction what he is . I likewise brought into that Kingdom Mr. Tilson , now Bishop of Elphin , and sometimes Fellow of University Colledge of Oxford , a most Worthy , Honest , Religious Person he is ; and those that know him , I am sure will give him that Testimony . I likewise preferred Dr. Margetson , Dean of Christs Church ; he was of Cambridge , and a Worthy man. Mr. Forward , Dean of Drummore , an Oxford man ; who if he were known , would appear worthy of that Preferment . Mr. Dean Cressy an Oxford man. Mr. Roade , Dean of Derry , a Cambridge man , of Sydney Colledge . Dr. Wentworth , Dean of Armagh , of Oxford . Dr. Price , Dean of Conaught , of Christs Church in Oxford . Mr. Thorpe , a Cambridge man. I preferred likewise one Mr. Parry , whom I found in Ireland ; but all the rest I brought , and sent for out of England : Nay , I sent for them , and did those things for them before they did ask the Question , or knew of it ; That being a means , under Gods Blessing , to conform that Kingdom to the Church of England . And these , and far greater numbers than these , to my best Judgment and Understanding , I made use of as Instruments to Gods Glory , His true Service , and the reducing of the people to the Profession of the same Religion that 's here in England ; and for no other end . But concerning my Carriage of the Trust reposed in me by the King , touching these Ecclesiastical Preferments , I desire no other Testimony or Witness for me , but the Lord Primate of Ireland , who is sick , and cannot come hither : To whom I will Appeal , whether I have not in my preferring to the Church Preferments , carried my self with all clearness and care I could possibly . To the point of increasing of Protestants ; if Your Lordships please to hear any thing in that kind , I shall call my Lord Dillon , and Sir Adam Loftus , who if they should be asked , Whether there be more Protestants in Dublin now than when I first came thither ? I doubt not but they would give an account of a greater number . We Charge him not upon this point ; so it was set aside . My preferring of none but Protestant Officers , if I mistook not , the Noble Gentleman did acknowledge . To the disposing of the Army without Grievance to the Subject ; I leave that , ( which was spoken with so much Advantage and Ability , above any thing that from such a poor man as my self , could be expected ) and proceed to that which was proved ; observing , That one only Testimony was produced , ( viz. ) Alderman I. who said , they have a special Charter at Dublin to exempt them from Billetting of Soldiers . But whether it be so or no , it hath ever been denyed by the Deputies : And by his own Confession , the Foot-Companies of my Lord of Faulkland were Billetted in Dublin . And whereas it was said they had Lodgings , not Money , That was altered upon a Composition with the Soldiers , who can expect only Lodging ; but if for the Ease of the Town they will allow the Soldier Money , and leave him to provide for himself , it is all one . For the Horse-Troops , My own is , and ever since I was there , hath been Billetted in Dublin . And it is in the power of the Deputy to Garrison part of the King's Army where he pleases , and without controversie , hath been so at all times . And I desire that my Lord Ranulagh may be asked , Whether the Soldiers of the Company he hath , be not Billetted in Athlone , at least some part of it . It is true , my Lord of Faulkland's Troop was not Billetted in Dublin ; but they were in the Counties round about , which was more chargeable . And besides , here is produced but one single Witness ; and I hope my own Answer may stand equal , and in as much Credit , as a single Testimony , that on the matter , confesses the thing in a great part . For the increase of Shipping , the Gentleman question'd it not ; and really there is now 100 Tun for one , that was there before my coming . And if I had time to send into Ireland for the Certificates of the Officer of the Ports , ( the Surveyor , I think ) who views the Ports once a year , it should appear to Your Lordships , that I have not abused you , nor the Honourable Gentlemen that hear me . And whether that be an Argument that the Trade and Wealth of the Kingdom is improved , ( I appeal to all that hear me ) when the Shipping doth so much increase : And the Customs , which were not above 13000 l. a year , are come to 40000 l. and that on the same Book of Rates . Concerning the Sentencing of Jurors , and the questioning of them in the Star-Chamber . It is true , divers of their Sentences were past : And to those Sentences I refer my self , till something be proved against the Truth and Justice of them . And I think it will stand with Your Lordships Goodness , to judge the best of the Court of Castle-Chamber , wherein the Deputy hath but one Voice , They being the King's Ministers , and standing upon their Oathes to do their Duties : But I think in my Conscience , there was the greatest reason in the World to sentence those persons . And when it comes to be examined , it will prove so . And unless a strict hand be in that kind held upon the Natives , the Priests shall carry them against all things that can be . For either they do not , or will not , understand their Evidence : so that it begets one of the most crying sins in Ireland . And if some Examples have been made , they are upon strict grounds and reasons of State. For if Jurors going directly and manifestly contrary to their Evidence , be not punished , that high and ancient Trial by Jury , will fall . And is it not ordinary in England to have Juries Sentenced for not finding according to the Evidence ? But if any one hath not been Just , upon instancing of the particulars , I will Answer for his Vote as well as I can : For it must stand or fall according to the Merit of the Cause . But one thing which I observe the Gentleman to say , is very Considerable ; for he tells what was spent there this last year . This I have little to Answer for : For when I came out of Ireland , there was 100000 l. in the Exchequer ; and how it hath been issued , I know not , but it hath not been done by my Warrant or Direction ; yet I doubt not but it will appear , when examined , that it hath been faithfully and justly disposed . But I am not to Answer for it , only I can say , That when I came out of that Kingdom , the Kingdom was so far from being 60000 l. in Debt , ( as some such thing was spoken ) that there was 100000 l. in the Kings Coffers . And for the 50000 l. received by me in England , Mr. Vice-Treasurer in Ireland , is Accomptable for it , though Mr. Vice-Treasurer never touched the money , and my self as little . And Mr. Vice-Treasurer discharges himself of it by Warrants issued from me , and charged it upon other Accomptants ; who when they come to Account , I doubt not but a good Account will be given . Though ( under favour of the Gentleman ) of the 50000 l. 14000 l. is yet unpaid , only there is an Assignment . But it lies on him and his Credit for discharge of the Kings Service : And it must lye on him , or on some other person , if himself have nothing left him . And whereas it is said , the money I had as borrowed , was taken out when the Kings Army was in want , I desire Your Lordships to observe , It was two years ago when I had this money ; and then there was 100000 l. in Surplusage . And though the King gave me Liberty , of His Goodness , to use it three years , it was not wanting to the Army when it stood in need of it . The next thing urged , was my Cozenage in the Custom-house ; and that I had there Cozened the King notably , 5 or 6000 l. a year deep . To Answer this , I reserve my self till I come to the particular Article ; but desire leave with all Modesty to say , That it shall appear I have not Cozened , nor deceitfully abused His Majesty for a Farthing Token , neither in that , nor in anything else . And that there is no other Allowance , nor Defalcation by the Grant wherein I am Interessed for 15600 l. a year , and 8000 l. Fine , then was allowed to the former Farmers , that had it at the Rent of 13000 l. a year . And that I have made the King a much more profitable bargain than he had , or could have without it . The next was for the Revenues of the Church , That they were got without Rules of Justice ; And were an Offering of Rapine . And that I had an Eye to my own Preferment , in the Person of my Lord of Canterbury : To that I have already Answered . And thus having run over all the Preamble , I humbly begg leave to make some Observations upon the Testimonies produced , ( viz. ) That the Examinations of Sir Iohn Clotworthy , and my Lord Ranulagh , I conceive , do not concern me . Mr. Barnewells was for things spoken when I was out of the Kingdom ; and were concerning Sir George Ratcliffe , and not me . For the Remonstrances shewed , wherein they disclaim the Preamble to the Act for four Subsidies , I beseech Your Lordships to consider , how unlikely it is that I should do any thing in that kinde fraudulently or surreptitiously : For by the Custom of that Kingdom , the Laws must be transmitted hither under the Hand of the Deputy and Council , and so pass the Seal , and be returned to Ireland ; when that Law was transmitted , I was here in England , as I take it : And absolutely and directly , I protest I never knew any thing in the World of that Preamble , never saw it , nor heard of it , I think , till I saw it in the Copy of the Remonstrance ; I never heard it was excepted against , it having pass'd the Vote , and three times reading , in both Houses : And I would have consented to have it struck out , as in truth I will now , being far from any thing of vanity , and not thinking my self better or worse by being put in or out : And if it were charged upon me as a Crime , or were material for me to prove it , I think I could by Witness in Town prove , That it was the general Vote of the Commons House , and passed with as much Applause and Chearfulness , as any thing . And , that if my Lord Dillon , and Sir Adam Loftus , and some other of the Irish Commissioners , were examined upon Oath , I believe they would Swear they never heard any Exceptions against it , till the time I was Impeached with High Treason . For the Particular concerning Sir Pierce Crosby , it concerned not me ; but the reason of his being put from the Board was this : All Laws must first be transmitted from the Deputy and Council ; the Bill against which he Voted was transmitted , Sir Pierce Crosby was there , and set his hand to the transmission ; and because he did not except against it then , being a Member of the Board , but did except against it afterwards , it was thought fit he should be Sequestred ( as I remember ) till His Majesties Pleasure should be known ; but Committed he was not : And it was done by the Vote of the whole Board , but no way to infringe the Liberty of the House ; and so in Obedience to Your Lordships , as near as I could , with a great deal of Weakness and Infirmity , I have said as much as I can for the present recollect , towards the making good the Truth of my Preamble . And I conclude with this humble suit , there being some Exception took at some Words that fell from me , Many mens Tongues and Mouthes may offend , where their Hearts do not : And that in truth I may say , my Heart did not offend against that Reverence and Duty I shall always pay , on all occasions , to the Honourable House of Commons , and every Member of it ; but to others , that are neither Members of this House , nor of the House in Ireland , I meant what I said : And I do beseech the Gentlemen of the House of Commons to accept my Acknowledgment of this truth : and that my Words may not be any ways raised against me as a Cause of their thinking worse of me ; or that I should be peccant or offending , in having other thoughts of the Members and Proceedings of the House , than with all Submission , and all belief of the Equity of it . To which Defence , one of the Managers appointed for this days Service , briefly replyed , in substance as followeth . What I have said in Answer of the Preamble , was not by way of Charge , but only for disproof of that whereby my Lord of Strafford would take away , or nullifie the Charge . So that if the Charge remains in force , the Services performed by him , are not effectual to mitigate it . That what we have proposed still stands unavoided , as we conceive , notwithstanding any thing my Lord of Strafford hath said . That as concerning Sir Pierce Crosby his agreeing to the Transmission , if that be true : That there is a preparative part of the Law , and there Sir Pierce Crosby might speak as a Councellor ; But there is a Legislative part of the Law , and that is done in Parliament ; and these being distinct , if Sir Pierce Crosby did do any thing at Council-Table , it deprived him not of his Liberty to speak in Parliament . But we are informed , he gave his denial to consent to the Transmission . And if my Lord of Strafford were not guilty in his own Person of breach of Priviledge ; yet if under his Government , Priviledge of Parliament be broken , it is no matter of Merit to say , he procured Parliaments . It is no Answer to say , things are not proved , when any thing we urged , is contained under an Article ; for then he refers the proof when he comes to the Article ; as many things concerning the Lands of the Clergy , will be made good in the proofs of the proper Article . That he hath preferred many Divines ; that is no part of his Merit , nor takes away his fault , though it be true . That for the Value of his living , we never heard of it till on this occasion ; but be it small or great , it is nothing to justifie my Lord of Strafford , being offered to this purpose ; That though his Lordship were careful of the Lands of the Ministers , He was not careful of the Ministers themselves , in suffering a Groom to execute that high Function ; Ministers being not to be chosen according to the Quality of the Living , but according to the Quality of the Function . That for the matter of Monopolies , if his Lordship do stop any , he may stop them for sinister Reasons and Respects ; and however , there is no Compensation , doing his Duty in one thing , not satisfying for Neglect in another . And then concluded , That what we have not now replied unto , shall be made good in the Charge ; and ought not in their Lordships Opinion , make my Lord of Strafford more plausible ; for the Charge shall be made good against him in the truth of the Fact , and the Aggravation of it . Hereupon the Court was Adjourned , and the Committee directed to proceed to the Proofs conducing to the particular Charge , the next Morning . The Third day . Wednesday , March 24. 1640. Gentlemen , YOU who are of the Committee to manage the Evidence against the Earl of Strafford , I am to acquaint you , Their Lordships have considered of that point of Sir Pierce Crosby , his being examined as a Witness , and my Lord of Straffords Exceptions ; and have resolved that he shall be Examined ; and that the Validity of his Testimony shall be left unto their Lordships Judgments . Your Lordships have with great Patience attended the Charge that hath been read , and the Answer , and the Exceptions taken to the Preamble , which my Lord of Strafford to ingratiate himself , did make to the main of his Defence . My Lords , I shall repeat little of that that hath been said , only pardon me if I say this to Your Lordships , That wherein my Lord of Strafford answered to very many particulars , yet to that one main he answered not , which was principally objected against him ; which I therefore speak to put him in mind of it , that if he can , he may Answer : And that is , Your Lordships were pleased to hear the Complaint and Protestation of the whole Kingdom of Ireland read before you . The principal of their Aim seems to be , to take off the Extolling of my Lord of Strafford , that himself , or his Agents , had put upon him in a Bill of Subsidies ; wherein indeed the Praise and Honour due to His Majesty , was much Attributed to my Lord of Strafford , which grieved the Parliament , who would take it off , and my Lord of Strafford is now willing to lay it down ; and he doth well to do so when he can keep it no longer , when those from whom he took it by fraud or force , would wrest it again from him . I desire Your Lordships to remember , and I am sure you will , That the main of our Complaint is , His alteration of the fundamental Laws against Will ; His introducing of new Laws at his Will and Pleasure : This is not only the Cry , but the Testimony of a whole Kingdom before Your Lordships ; of all the Lords and Commons of Ireland . I shall not touch that which concerns breach of Priviledge of Parliament , he would fain put that off on Sir George Ratcliffe , his bosom Friend , and put it off himself . My Lord of Strafford Sequestred Sir Pierce Crosby from the Council , his Vote went with it , others joined with him ; but I am sure he moved it , he concurred with it . But now , My Lords , I humbly Address my self to that we are ready to maintain , The Body of the Charge : And because some time hath been spent between the reading of the Charge , and the main of the Defence , I desire leave to open what is the Nature , what the Height and Quality of the Offence , of which this great Lord stands Accused before you ? My Lords , It is a Charge of the highest Nature that can be against a man ; A Charge of High Treason . It is a Treason , not ending and expiring in one single Act of a discontented Heart , but a Habit , a Trade , a Mystery of Treason exercised by this Great Lord , ever since the Kings Favour bestowed on him . My Lords , It hath two Evils to deprive us of that which is good ; that is , to subvert and take away the fundamental , the ancient Laws , whereby we are secure of whatsoever we do enjoy ; it hath ( My Lords ) a positive Evil in it , to introduce instead of that an Arbitrary Government , bounded by no Laws , but by the Evil Councels of such Ministers as he hath been . My Lords , It is the Law that gives that Soveraign tye , which w● all Obedience and Chearfulness , the Subject renders to the Soveraign . It is the Law ( My Lords ) that gives Honours to the Lords and Nobles ; Interest , Property , and Liberty to the Subject . My Lords , The Law , ( as it is the Foundation and Ground of all these ) hath its distribution in a course of Justice . Justice is derived ( as by so many Channels ) by the several Courts of Justice ; whereby the Kings Justice ( for it is His ) is brought and conveyed to the Subject . My Lords , Of all this hath my Lord of Strafford endeavoured , not only to put the Subject out of present Possession , but to make him uncapable of the future Benefit of it . Other Treasons , yea , a Treason against the Person of a Prince ( which is the most Transcendent and High Treason that can be ) fall short of this Treason ; For a good Prince may be gathered to His Fathers , yet another may succeed Him , that supports the Glory and Justice of His Throne . We have had Experience of it : When blessed King Iames was taken from us to Heaven , Sol occubuit & nox nulla secuta est . But if any one such a design as this should take effect , That the Law and Justice should be taken from the Throne , and Will placed there , we are without hope of ever seeing Remedy . Power in so great a measure taken , is not easily laid down , unless it be by the exceeding great goodness of so merciful and just a Prince as we have . My Lords , The Particulars of this Treason are Conveyed to Your Lordships in 28 several Articles . I shall shortly and briefly touch but the Heads of those on which I shall insist , and give some distribution of them . And I think the best way will be this ; To consider first what he did , and what he said , before he went into Ireland ; then what he did and said there ; and what he hath done since . And in all of them , you will find this his main design , which I have opened , That Law might no where stand against his Will ; and to settle it , that he might continue so . My Lord hath declared this in incroaching Jurisdiction where it was not , in exercising an Arbitrary Power under that Jurisdiction ; In taking on him a Power to make Laws ; In Domineering and Tyrannizing over the Lives , the Liberties , the Goods , the Estates , and whatsoever is the Subjects . And ( My Lords ) this hath he done , not only on those of the meaner sort that could not resist him , but on the Peers , on the greatest and most ancient Nobility of Ireland : And what might Your Lordships expect , but the same measure at his hands , had his Will had its passage here , which it had in Ireland . I shall now come to the particular Articles . 1. And first , Whereas it pleased His Majesty to place him with Power and Honour in his hand in the North as President , he had not been long there ; but that Commission which bounded and pleased his Predecessors , he must needs surmount and overgo . There was a Commission in 16 Iac. which the then Lord Deputy had , in which was that Legal phrase Secundum antiquum cursum , his own Commission 4 Car. pursued that , without any alteration ; but being in but four years , this would not please his boundless Ambition , he must needs have the Power that the Lords in the Star-Chamber have , put in in express terms , a Power to proceed according to the course of the Chancery , that his Conscience might limit other mens Estat● ; That his Injunctions might stay other Proceedings at Law : And which is highest of all , if any thing be done in that Court , within these Instructions , than no Prohibition should be Awarded . He would make himself safe from any supervising of other Courts . If he Committed any man to Prison , though a Habeas Corpus were granted ( then which , the Subject hath no other remedy to vindicate his Liberty ) the Officer ( for the encouragement of those which be under his Power ) must not obey it . And if any Fine be put upon the Officer , then comes a command in this Commission , That the Fine shall be discharged ; so he not only takes a Power to himself , but also takes the Scepter of Justice out of the Kings Hands ; for by this means there is an impossibility the Subject should have the Justice that my Lord knows is due to him ; and he knows it right well : for when he was a Member of the House of Parliament , it was his own motion , who now stands at the Barr , That all the Officers and Ministers of State , should serve the King according to that Law , and he is the first Officer and Minister of State , that breaks it ; and in the most transcendent degree that ever it was broken . My Lords , He doth in this , as much as in him lies , say to the Laws , Do your worst ; You can but Fine , and that you can do shall come to nothing ; The Fine shall not be paid , The Officer shall not obey you . If this had been a single Act , we should never have accused him of this Treason , though it comes very High , and very Transcendent . But the Oppressions and Injustice , the Councels and Speeches that we present to Your Lordships , we present them not singly , but as together , designing and noting , what a Treasonable purpose and disposition is in him . 2. My Lords , The next thing he doth when he is in the North among the Justices of the Peace , and the People attending for Justice , you shall see what Encouragement he gives them to look for it ; and how foul a thing he dares to fling on the Sacred Majesty that did advance him . He tells the Justices that were to do Justice , and the People that were to receive Justice , That some of the Justices were all for Law , but they should find , The Kings little Finger is heavier than the Loyns of the Law. Your Lordships may consider what a transcendent Speech this was , out of whose Mouth it came , what sad Accidents happened upon it ; nothing could move this Lord to utter it : but his Will and his Violence must out , though he burst a Kingdom in pieces for it . 3. The next thing is this , When he goes into Ireland you will find his Temper and Spirit not a whit Allayed ; but now being further from His Majesties Person , he is higher in his Power and in his Will. It is true , that Kingdom was annexed to this many years ago ; but they that now possess the greatest part of it , are Subjects of this Kingdom , descended from them that went from hence thither . Yet he tells them in a solemn Speech , not suddenly but solemnly , That Ireland is a Conquered Nation , and the King might do with them what he would ; and that their Charters were nothing worth , and bind the King no longer than he pleases . Surely ( My Lords ) We might see what he would do if he had Power . But God be blessed , we find not that disposition any where resented by His Majesty ; and we hope that such Councels shall never have Access to so good and gracious an Ear. 4. The next thing , he stays not in words , but will be as good as his word if he can ; and he begins high . For that we present next , is a Peer of the Kingdom thrust out of his Possession by my Lord of Straffords Order ; and when he Sues at Law for recovery of his Right , my Lord Threatens him . Truly Threatnings are not good , in such a case , where a man Sues for Justice , And from him that ought to Administer Justice , and further him in it ; yet he Threatens him Imprisonment , to which Peers are not ordinarily liable . First my Lord tells him , He will not have Law nor Lawyers question his Orders ; he might debar the Lawyers in some Cases , but why a man should have a Spleen at the Law , that his Orders should not be examined by , that I know not . And he goes higher ; for when there was an occasion to speak of an Act of State , he tells him , That he will make him and all Ireland know , that as long as he had the Government there , any Act of State made , or to be made , should be as binding as an Act of Parliament . My Lords , He cannot go higher in Speeches than this , That an Act of State of his own making , and his own Power , should be as binding as an Act of Parliament . Nay , he tells them in Parliament , That they were a Conquered Nation , and must expect Laws as from a Conquerour . 5. Next we shall shew divers Instances wherein he exercises Power over the Lives , Lands , and all that is the Subjects ; deduced into several Articles , viz. the 5th , the 6th , the 7th , and the 8th . In particular , one I shall be bold to open , That is the Case of my Lord Mountnorris , another Peer of that Kingdom , and a great Officer there . Some words fell from that Lord , speaking of one that had trodden on my Lord of Straffords Toe , That he hoped the Party did it not in Revenge ; for he had a Brother that would not have sought such a Revenge . For these words , spoke at a private Table , half a year , yea seven months before , my Lord of Strafford calls a Councel of War , and judges his Lordship to death . My Lords , It is no wonder that he would make the Kings little Finger so heavy , that could make his own Toe heavy enough to tread the Life of a Peer under his Feet . And he did not only give Sentence in that Case , but caused Execution to be done in another Case , upon one D. who was condemned by Martial Law , and hanged at Dublin , where there was no War at all . Other particulars will follow when I fall upon proof . 9. Then he comes to make Laws ; and that is in the 9th Article . By the Laws of England and Ireland too , the Ecclesiastical Power is distinct from the other , it not extending to the Imprisonment of the Person , but is to attend the Kings Courts , and to receive directions from thence ; yet he makes a Warrant to the Bishop of Downe , ( and he made it to others too ) That if any of the poorer sort did not appear upon the Bishops Citation , or not obey when they did appear , they should be Attached and Imprisoned ; Here he makes a Law of himself , and subjects the Liberties of the Subjects to his own Pleasure ; but this was for the poorer sort of People , though Justice sees no difference in matters of Estate , betwixt Poor or Rich : But when he hath brought it on the Poor , he will afterwards bring it on the Rich. 10. The next is a Power of laying Impositions on the Subjects : First he is a Farmer of the Customs , he puts excessive Rates upon the Commodities ; that which is worth but 5 s. as the Hydes , he will have valued at 20 s. and the Wool , which is worth 5 s. he will have it valued at 13 s. 4 d. and by this he takes away , in effect , whatsoever the Commodity is worth ; for the Customs come very near the Value . Another particular in this I shall be bold to open , and I hope his Lordship will provide to give an Answer , He hath advanced by this the Kings Customs , and a Rent of 1350 l. is increased to the Crown : But it will appear to Your Lordships , that the Crown hath lost , and he only hath gained . And whereas my Lord of Strafford says there was no other Defalcations in his Patent , than in the former , that will fall out to be otherwise ; for this is the State of the bargain , There was a former Rent of 9700 l. which the Duke of Buckingham paid out of this Farm. On the Earl of Straffords Patent that Rent is reserved , and as much as came to 1350 l. more , but in lieu of 1350 l. advanced to the King , my Lord of Strafford hath in his Grant the Surplusage of Wines ( which were not in the Dukes Patent ) worth 3400 l. a year , besides a Rent paid for the Term of the Wine of 1400 l. And whereas there was no defalcation of the Customs of London , Derry and Colerane in the Dukes Lease , which amounted to 1500 l. a year ; my Lord of Strafford must have a defalcation for them : And then the Seizures , which were 500 l. a year ; and for Knockvergus and Straniford 2500 l. a year , so here is above 5000 l. a year less to the Crown , in lieu of the advance of 1350 l. a year , besides the increased Customs , amounting to 12000 l. a year : And yet he again hath far exceeded this proportion . We say further , he doth not only impose on the Subjects , but takes away that which is the Subjects utterly and entirely , as in the case of the Flax. It is true , the Employment of it belongs to Women ; but it is the greatest Commodity ( one of them ) of that Kingdom , and of greatest profit , the Revenue of the Custom of it being 800 l. a year ; and this he hath gotten into his own hands and possession . This he got from the Natives , and took it to himself . He doth for that purpose , issue a Proclamation , That they shall use it in such a way wherein the Natives were unskill'd , and if it were not so done , it should be seized ; and it was seized accordingly , yea their Houses broke open , and their Goods taken away , and brought to my Lord of Straffords house , where they were employed in his works . The like we shall instance in Tobacco . 15. Next we shall shew to Your Lordships how he hath levied War upon the Kings Subjects . We opened in the beginning , what an Arbitrary Jurisdiction he set up ; here we shall shew how he used it by a meer course of Enmity and Hostility . For ( My Lords ) this was the course ; If a Decree or Order were made by him , and not obeyed , he issues a Warrant to the Sergeant at Arms , to go to the next Garrison , and take Soldiers , with an Officer , and carry them to the House of the party in question ; it is no matter where it was , but to the House of them that were pretended to be disobedient , they were to go : If the Decree had been to raise so much money , or to put parties in possession . In plain terms , the Soldiers were to lye like Free-booters , and Enemies on the King's People , to eat them up . They have killed their Sheep , their Oxen , and they have lain not on the parties only , but on their Tenants , till the party comes in and renders himself . They have burnt their Houses , taken their Wives , and Friends , and carried them away , till Obedience was rendered , and this is a levying of War upon the King ; For the King and the People are both so united in Affection and Right of Law , that there cannot be Violence offered to the King , but it redounds to the People ; nor can any Oppress the People in this sort , but it redounds to His Majesty . Besides , it is contrary to a Law of that Kingdom ; whereby it is Enacted , That if any person shall assess Horse or Foot , on any of the Kings People , without their consent , it is High Treason . The next thing we shall go to , is the Favour he shewed to the Papists , in their Compositions and Exemptions from all penalties of Law ; for they were expresly not to be proceeded against , nor to be Convicted ; and so that which hath influence into Religion and Reformation , is quite taken away , and nothing but matter of Profit is left . The next Article is that that concerns the Kingdom of Scotland . First he begins with them in Ireland ; contrives an Oath , which is set forth in the Articles , That they shall obey the Kings Royal Commands without exception . This he enforceth , by Fining and Imprisoning them that disobeyed him : And so in all the other particulars when his Proclamations were broken , his course was by Fine and Imprisonment to enforce an Obedience . My Lords , He doth not only press them in their Estates , but strives to infuse into His Majesty an ill Opinion of them ; he provokes and incites Him by all his Arguments , to lay down his Mercy and Goodness , and Justice , and to fall into an offensive War against that Kingdom . He gives out , that the Nation of them ( not this or that man ) are Rebels and Traytors : And if it please the King to bring him back to the Sword ( indeed he is fit for that , it is a violent weapon ) he will root out the Scottish Nation , Branch and Root ; some few excepted of those that had taken the Oath . When he comes into England , he find that His Majesty , with great Wisdom , had pacified those Storms and Troubles that threatned us there : Yet he doth incense the King still to follow this to an Offensive War , and prevails ; He plots to call a Parliament , but with an intention ( if it furnished not his design ) it should be broken , and he would set up other ways of force to raise Moneys of the Kingdom ; and this fell out unhappily : For thus far his project took , the Parliament was broken ; and broken at the very time when the subject was in debate and consideration , how to have yielded Supply to His Majesty . But that he might break it , he falsly informs the King , That the Parliament had denied to Supply him ; there is his Counsel , that the Parliament had forsaken the King ; and now the King having tryed his People , might use all other ways for the procuring and raising of moneys ; and the same day wherein that Parliament was unhappily Dissolved , he gives his further Counsel to His Majesty , ( which because no man can put such a Spirit of Malice into the words besides himself , I shall take the boldness to read ) That having tryed the Affections of his People , he was loose and absolved from all Rules of Government ; and he was to do every thing that Power would admit . And that His Majesty had tryed all ways , and was refused , and should be acquitted both of God and man. And that His Majesty had an Army in Ireland , which he might employ to reduce this Kingdom . It is added in the printed Book ( to reduce them to Obedience ) I know not who Printed it , but the Charge is only ( to reduce this Kingdom . ) And ( My Lords ) you may please to consider , what a sad time this man took to reflect upon these bad Councels , when our Hearts were swoln with Sorrow for that unhappy breach of the last Parliament . And what doth he advise the King ? what positions offers he ? That he was absolved from all Rules of Government . If there be no Rule of Government , ( My Lords ) where is the Rule of Obedience ? for how shall the People know to obey , when there is no Rule to direct them what to obey ? He tells the King he was refused , which was untrue ; for he was not refused to the last breath we had in Parliament : but we spake in that point , how to supply the King , and to prefer it at that time , before the Complaints of our just Grievances . But what doth he fall into ? that which in another Article we charge him with , a Plot and Conspiracy betwixt him and Sir George Ratcliffe to bring in the Irish Army for our Confusion , to root out our Laws and Government ; a pernicious Counsel . He says not you shall do it ; but he that perswades it , doth as much as if in express terms he had councelled the acting of it . Doth he mean that we should be to his Irish Pattern ; ( for speaking of the Irish Army , consisting of Papists and his Adherents , he said , that he would make it a Pattern for all the Kingdoms ; ) did he mean to reduce us to the Pattern that he had placed in Ireland ? Surely he meant to reduce us to a Chaos and Confusion . He would have us without all Rules of Government ; and these be the means , wicked and cruel Councels , and the Cruelty of an Army inspired with his Spirit , and consisting of Papists , Enemies of our Religion : And what Mercy could we of this Religion expect from Popish Enemies with Swords in their hands ? That cannot but strike all English Hearts with Horrour and Dread , that an Irish Army should be brought into England to reduce the Subjects of England . I hope we never were so far gone in any thing , as that we should need an Army to reduce us . I cannot but say here is the Counsel of Haman , when he would in one day cut off all the Iewish Nation , and have the King intend a Favour to him . The King propounds a question , What shall be done to the man whom the King will Honour ? Haman thought in his heart , Whom will the King Honour but my self ? And so my Lord of Strafford having raised this Army , it was set up by him ; and if such a Counsel as this was entertained , into whose hands should it be put ? ( here were Hamans thoughts ) who should have the Power of it , but he that hath inspired it , and since maintained it . Truly ( My Lords ) it was a desperate Counsel ; and methinks the Counsel of Achitophel might have been compared to it : for when he had stirred up the Rebellion of Absalom against his Father , he perswades Absalom to that which might breed an irreconcilable hatred between them . Yet a Father and a Son might be reconciled . But he that adheres to the Son in this case , might not so easily forgive . Therefore this Lord falls upon a Counsel which he thought would never be forgiven . A Counsel of irreconcilable difference , to subdue us by Force and Power ; and takes away all possibility of Addressing our Complaints to the King , as he had done from those of Ireland ; when he not only forestalls their Complaints , but by a Proclamation takes order , that none should come over too , without his Licence ; which was in effect , that none should complain of his Oppression without his good liking . Some violent Speeches he uses , suitable to these Counsels , That no good would be done upon the Aldermen , till they were hanged ; That the French King employed Commissaries to look into mens Estates ; which will be insisted upon in their proper place . Next , he levied eight pence a day for maintenance of the Trained Soldiers , against the Will of the Country , which he said was done by the consent of the Lords of the great Councel ; which we know is untrue . And we shall prove it untrue in the other part , where he says , it was done freely , by consent of the Gentlemen of the Country : Most of them that did consent , were his own Friends , and Papists . But the Petition of the Country , ( as to that part of it that concerns a Parliament ) he rejected , because he would have no Parliament . And he prefers another in the name of the Country , and that he calls , The Petition of the Country . And now I shall apply my self to the proofs ; and shall take care to offer nothing , but what will fall out to be proved . And shall first apply my self to the first Article , concerning the Commission for the North parts ; where an Arbitrary Power was thereby granted , as is used in the Star-Chamber and Chancery . In the opening of it , first we shall produce the Commission of 8 Car. and that of 13 differs but little from it . We shall shew that these Clauses were procured by him to be inserted upon occasion of a Gentlemans , Sir Thomas Gore being Fined in the Court of Star-Chamber there , and his being Arrested by a Warrant from my Lord Wentworth here in London . We do not go about to prove that he solicited for this Commission , but that he expressed his desire of it ; and upon that it was granted . We shall prove that it was executed in this high manner , that when Prohibitions have been taken out , he hath punished the parties , some he hath threatned ; Nay , Money hath been given to those that were Defendants in the Prohibition . And we shall offer this too , The Judge is dead before whom it was ; but upon occasion of a Prohibition , he went to a Judge , a Reverend and Just man , Mr. Justice Hutton ; what was said privately between them , we cannot tell ; but we shall prove , that Mr. Justice Hutton complained with Tears in his Eyes , how that Lord used him about a Prohibition : And so we shall leave this Article with this . We shall not go about to prove Decrees , for which he might have Colour ; but for these Clauses he could have no Colour , they never being in any Commission before . THE First Article . The Charge . THat the said Earl of Strafford the 21st day of March , in the Eighth year of His Majesties Raign , was President of the Kings Council in the Northern parts of England . That the said Earl being President of the said Council , on the 21st of March , a Commission under the Great Seal of England , with certain Schedules of Instructions thereunto annexed , was directed to the said Earl , or others the Commissioners therein named ; whereby , among other things , Power and Authority is limited to the said Earl , and others the Commissioners therein named , to hear and determine all Offences and Misdemeanours , Suits , Debates , Controversies and Demands , Causes , Things and Matters whatsoever , therein contained , and within certain Precincts in the said Northern parts therein specified , and in such manner as by the said Schedule is limited and appointed . That amongst other things in the said Instructions , it is directed , That the said President , and others therein appointed , shall hear and determine , according to the Course of Procéedings in the Court of Star-Chamber , divers Offences , Deceits and Fal●ties therein mentioned , whether the same be provided for by Acts of Parliament , or not , so that the Fines imposed , be not less than by the Act or Acts of Parliament provided against those Offences , is appointed . That also , amongst other things in the said Instructions , it is directed , That the said President , and others therein appointed , have Power to Examine , Hear and Determine , according to the course of Procéedings in the Court of Chancery , all manner of Complaints for any matter within the said Precincts , as well concerning Lands , Tenements and Hereditaments , either Frée-hold Customary , or Copy-hold , as Leases , and other things therein mentioned ; and to stay Procéedings in the Court of Common Law , by Injunction , or otherwise , by all ways and means , as is used in the Court of Chancery . And although the former Presidents of the said Council had never put in Practice such Instructions , nor had they any such Instructions , yet the said Earl in the Month of May , in the said Eighth year , and divers years following , did put in Practice , Exercise and Use , and caused to be used and put in practice , the said Commission and Instructions ; and did direct and exercise an exorbitant and unlawful Power and Iurisdiction over the Persons and Estates of His Majesties Subjects in these parts , and did Dis-inherit divers of His Majesties Subjects in those parts of their Inheritances , Sequestred their Possessions , and did Fine , Ransom , Punish , and Imprison them , and caused them to be Fined , Ransomed , Punished and Imprisoned , to their Ruine and Destruction ; and namely , Sir Coniers Darcy , Sir John Bourcher , and divers others , against the Laws , and in Subversion of the same . And the said Commission and Instructions , were procured and issued by Advice of the said Earl. And he the said Earl , to the intent that such illegal and unjust Power might be exercised with the greater Licence and Will , did Advise , Counsel , and Procure further directions , in and by the said Instructions to be given , that no Prohibition be granted at all , but in cases where the said Council shall excéed the limits of the said Instructions . And that if any Writ of Habeas Corpus be granted , the party be not discharged till the party perform the Decrée and Order of the said Council . And the said Earl in the 13th year of His Majesties Reign , did procure a new Commission to himself , and others therein appointed , with the said Instructions , and other unlawful Additions . That the said Commission and Instructions , were procured by the Solicitation and Advice of the said Earl of Strafford . Proofs touching the Commission for Government in the North , enlarged . To the point of Star-Chamber Power . THe Commission granted 21 Mar. 8 Car. was read , 19 Article , whereby my Lord as President , or in his absence the Vice-President , assisted , ( prout in the Commission ) are authorized to hear , end and determine , according to the Course of proceedings in the Star-Chamber , all and all manner of Forgeries , Extortions , &c. And to Fine , &c. So as the Fines imposed be not less than by the Acts of Parliament is provided , &c. Whence observe , That he would have power in Fining to go beyond , but not less than the Fines in the Act of Parliament . To the point of Chancery Iurisdiction . Article 23. was read , whereby Power is given by Injunction , to stay Proceedings in any Court of Common Law. Article 28. was read , whereby Power is given to send the Sergeant at Armes , and Attach in any part of the Realm of England ; and to bring before the Lord President , &c. any person departing the Jurisdiction of that Court , after Commission of Rebellion sued forth . Article 29. whereby is granted , That no Prohibition be granted in the Court of Westminster , to stay Proceedings in that Court. But in cases where the Court of the President shall exceed the Kings Instructions ; and if any Habeas Corpus shall be sued forth for not performing the Order of that Court , the party Committed , not to be discharged , so long as such Orders shall stand in force ; and if any Fine be thereupon estreated , The Treasurer and Barons of the Exchequer to discharge it . Whence observe , That the not granting of Prohibitions , or Habeas Corpus's , and the discharging of the Fines estreated , are new . To the sending of Proces actually before these Clauses granted ; and to the Earl of Straffords procuring the Clause to be supplyed , when he found the Defect . Iohn Gore Sworn ; and being interrogated how his Father was Arrested , and how long before this Commission ? Answered , That Sir Thomas Gore his Father , was Arrested in London , by a Sergeant at Armes ; That his Father conceiving it to be out of the Instructions at Yorke , did Appeal to the Council-Table : That Mr. Mason argued for his Father , and made it appear , That the President and Council had no Instructions to take a man without the precincts of the Court. That my Lord of Strafford fell on his Knees , and besought the King , That if his Instructions might not be so good as to bring in a Delinquent that had affronted the Court , if by stepping over the water he should go beyond the precincts of it , he might leave that Service , and lay his Bones in his own Cottage . That his Father was Arrested in November , 1632. as he takes it , and was kept 18 Weeks before he was discharged . Evers Gower Sworn , and Interrogated about the time of his Fathers Arrest : Answered , That it was in November , 1632. and his Father kept in Prison 14 or 18 Weeks ; but referred to his Brothers Deposition for a more particular Answer . To the matter of Prohibitions ; Iohn Musgrave Sworn ; was examined , Whether he knew of any Prohibition sued forth in Vaux his Cause : And whether a Warrant were granted to Attach : What Threats my Lord of Strafford used to the party that sued it out , being after Octavo Caroli . After some Exceptions taken to it by the Earl of Strafford , as not being within the Charge , The Witness Answered , That he knew of an English Suit between Musgrave and Vaux : That upon notice given by Musgrave , a Prohibition was procured ; Direction was given , that an Affidavit should be made of serving the Prohibition . That Affidavit being made , a Warrant was directed to the Pursevant , or his Deputy , to Arrest Vaux . On which , he was Arrested , and Rescued . That after Affidavit made of the Rescue , a further Warrant was sued forth for bringing in of the Rescuers from London ; which Warrant was now produced . That the Rescuers being thereupon brought to Yorke ; and having lain several days in Prison , an Information was Exhibited by Sir George Ratcliffe , then the Kings Attorney at Yorke , by relation of Francis Musgrave : To which they did Answer . And after , upon full hearing , That before the Censure , he the Deponent , in Michaelmas Term , before 1632. did come to London on behalf of Francis Musgrave , to move the Court of Common-Pleas , to have the Prohibition dissolved : And likewise Vaux did procure a Rule for a Prohibition in the Information Cause ; which the Witness offered to shew under the Court Hand , That it was moved by Sir Robert Heath , that the difference might be referred to Mr. Justice Hutton , and Sir Robert Heath . That he the Deponent undertook for Musgrave , and Vaux did submit : That afterwards , by Sir George Ratcliffes direction , thinking it not fit to refer the Cause , it concerning the Jurisdiction of the Court of York . My Lord President being acquainted with it , the Reference went not on that Term , but stayed till the Presidents pleasure was known ; with which Mr. Justice Hutton was made acquainted . That in December , upon his this Deponents return to York ; and upon hearing the Information Cause , December 1632. Sir George Ratcliffe did offer to the Court , ( the Lord President being there ) whether he might go on in the Information Cause ; ( for that there was a Reference between Musgrave and Vaux , to Justice Hutton and Sir Robert Heath ) or whether the Reference might go on or no ? That the Lord President thereupon answered , That a Rule for a Prohibition , was no Prohibition ; but if there were one , he would not obey it : And whosoever brought a Prohibition there , he would lay him by the heels . And as he the Deponent remembred , he directed his Speech to the Register of the Court ; and told him , there was a Letter from the King to that purpose : but that , he said , he could not very well remember . And as touching the Reference , my Lord said , It was a Cause that concerned the Jurisdiction of the Court of York ; and no private man should end it : He would try the Jurisdiction of the Court upon it ; and the next Term would go to London , and acquaint the Judges with it ; and if they remanded the Cause back again , so ; if not , he would Appeal to the King in it . That after Christmas , in Candlemas Term , 1632. He the Deponent went to London with my Lord , and moved again for dissolving the Prohibition , and for Liberty to proceed . That again it was agreed between the Judges of that Court , and my Lord , to have a Treaty : And several Treaties they had , but could not agree . The effect of the Treaty was , That if a Trial could be directed at Law upon a fained Action , I should go to Law , reserving the Equity to the Court ; if not , that the Judges would remand the Cause back again . But after they had several days met , and no Trial could be directed , nor any Action devised at Law to try it , my Lord thereupon said , He would give no further meeting , but would Appeal to the King ; and the party should Petition : On which , a Petition was drawn , which the Deponent offered . And the Judge speaking something of Vaux , my Lord said , he should not be in England , but he would have his Body ; or words to that purpose . F. Thorpe Sworn ; being interrogated touching some words he heard Mr. Justice Hutton speak touching these Prohibitions , and some other things in that point , He Answered , He would give the best account he could of what passed ; being divers years since : That he was with Justice Hutton in his Study , and they had Conference together ( as they had many times ) touching that height that my Lord of Strafford was pleased to carry the business of York-shire with : And that amongst other things , my Lord was pleased to say , my Lord had been with him , and shewed himself very angry with him , because he had granted a Prohibition . And this is all he could remember ; He took it to be seven years ago , and in the Cause that concerned Vaux , as he took it ; and this was at London : And added , That the Judge spake with a great deal of Passion , to think things should be carried in that manner as they were , that the Judges should not have Liberty to grant Prohibitions : For the Judge said , that he had thus debated the business with my Lord , Why should you be angry for granting of Prohibitions ? They in the Kings-Bench can grant Writs of Error to examine our Proceedings ; and we think it no offence , and hold our selves as able to Judge , as they : And it is the Justice of the Law that requires it to be so ; and therefore you must submit to us , as we must submit to them . F. Thorpe being asked what he knew of my Lord of Straffords distast against them that sued out , or solicited , or councelled Prohibitions , or Habeas Corpus's ? He first desired to be excused from saying any thing that concerned himself ; but being commanded to speak , He Answered , That he would speak nothing but the Truth , if he must do it , though he perish for it : And he professed , that he had not spoken in any place , to any person , what he was now to say . That in the beginning of my Lord of Strafford's time , it fell to him , in his ordinary course of Practice , to move for a Prohibition ; and on his motion some were obtained . That he was informed by divers men , that my Lord of Strafford was much offended with him ; and some spoke it to him by way of Threat , some others by way of Advice and Friendship . That he should give over moving for Prohibitions , which he did not understand to be a fault , since the Justice of the Kingdom was , that they should be granted ; and it continued a matter of a year after . That then he took an occasion to go to my Lords House to Gantropp ; and his Errand was , partly to present his humble Duty and Service to his Lordship ; and in the second place , if he could have opportunity , and if his Lordship would please to speak with him , to give his Lordship satisfaction in any thing he had done in that particular ; because it was conceived , he opposed the Jurisdiction of that Court. That after he had the Favour to speak with his Lordship , ( which was long first ) He was pleased to say no otherwise than thus , I have nothing to say to you , you are one that oppose me : But at the present I have eased you of the Office of Justice of the Peace ; so you need not trouble your self with that . That he did humbly thank his Honour for it ; for howsoever he meant it , he took it to be no dis-favour , but a Courtesie , he having been in three or four years , but not executing any Authority , it standing not with his occasions . And his Lordship added , Hereafter you and I shall speak further of the businesse ; That afterwards his Lordship met him in London , in the Inner Star-Chamber , he then attending on a motion day before the Lord Keeper , amongst others of his Rank . That my Lord President was pleased to come behind his back , and lay his hand on his shoulder , and said , I Command you not to depart the Town . That the words were something strange to him ; and not understanding well what his Lordship meant by it , he instantly went to his Lordship , and desired that he might know his mind , he not very well hearing him . That his Lordship repeated the words again , I Command you not to depart the Town . That for a matter of a Week , or such a thing , he did attend under this Command : And then applyed himself to his Lordship , by all Means and Friends that he could . He Petitioned three or four times ; he is uncertain which : He made means , by Persons of Quality , to his Lordship , That his Lordship would tell him the place where he was to attend , or the Cause for what , or the Person before whom ; but his Lordship was not pleased to give him any satisfaction : only thus much he received , That he was one that did oppose his Lordship , and he should attend . Seeing there was no Remedy , he made his Address to a Noble Friend present , and acquainted him with the business ; who was pleased to take the matter so to heart , as to move it to his Lordship . That then he conceived the fault he had committed , The not paying the Knighthood money in York-shire . And his the Deponents Answer was , he had offered it , but was not chargeable by Law ; for he had not 40 l. a year three years before the Coronation , as the Writ did enjoyn . He speaks now of that which is not in the Charge ; which ought not to be . We desire he may proceed , leaving it to Your Lordships to sever that which is material , from that which is not material . F. Thorpe proceeded , and said , He could not say he punished him for the Prohibition ; but he conceived , all did follow because he moved sometimes for Prohibitions : And that he had opposed his Authority and Power in York-shire . I Appeal to Your Lordships Judgments , whether it be not out of the Charge ; Mr. Thorpe could not search my heart to know the Ground of the Offence . The Charge against my Lord of Strafford , is not only the Executing of these Instructions ; but also the exercising of an exorbitant and unlawful Power and Jurisdiction , over the Persons and Estates of His Majesties Subjects , To which , the matter offered by the Witnesses , is material . The Lord Steward , speaking to the Witness , said , Apply your self as much as you can , to the point in question . F. Thorpe proceeded , and said , That he conceived the Question was asked him generally , What he could say concerning Prohibitions , or them that had to do with them . That no man living hath less desire to speak of my Lord of Strafford , than he had ; and if he had not been asked this Question on his Oath , and before that Presence , and on this Command , he should not have said it : For what he said now , he never had spoke before ; and with what Sorrow he came now to speak it , he knew ; and said , that he spake not this to any other purpose , but only , That these things which were done , were done on the occasion of the Prohibitions . For the matter of Knighting-money , though it were made the cause of staying him in London , yet , under favour , ( he said ) That was not , nor could be the Cause ; For he had offered it below in the Country , only thus , That he was not Chargeable by Law , but very willing to pay it , if my Lord would have him pay it ; so he might comply with his Lordship , or serve any occasion wherein his Lordship was employed . And therefore that of Knighting was the occasion taken , yet he conceived that was not the true occasion . And lastly , that after he had been kept 12 or 14 days under this Command , his Lordship was pleased ( on that which passed between that noble Lord ( my Friend ) and his Lordship ) to give him leave to go home , and then he paid the money . We desire the Witness may not conceal any thing , but speak it ; and being demanded accordingly . F. Thorpe answered , There was another particular happened on him ; and though another occasion was taken , part came from the said Root , but he desired to be pardoned in not speaking of it . Being required to speak , and to set forth what time this was , and what that Noble mans name was , who , upon my Lord of Straffords motion , procured him liberty . F. Thorpe answered , That he conceived the time to be about the Knighting-money business , and the Lords name was , My Lord Goring . Your Lordships may observe this was long before the Commission in 8 Car. and some two years after my Lord of Strafford came to the Place . Being Interrogated further , Whether he or his Clients have forborn to move in that Cause of Prohibitions out of fear of my Lord of Strafford . He answered , For his own particular he hath forborn , and durst not adventure it , nor any that had to do with him in those parts , as he knew , durst move till of very late ; For he knew very well the price of my Lord of Strafford's displeasure . Being asked if he knew any thing of the Case of Leyton , about a Prohibition . He answered , He knew nothing of it . I humbly desire , with your Lordships leave , to interpose a Question . We desire that our Witness might first be heard out , and we shall not interrupt my Lrod of Strafford in asking what questions he pleases in his just defence . Let the Witness proceed . To your Lordships Order , and in all things , I shall pay Obedience , I desire nothing in the World but a clear understanding of the Truth in this business , and so I am sure every man doth that hears me ; and without Offence , and with all Reverence , I humbly offer , That the Witnesses may stand apart from the Committee for the Commons , the Committe asking the Witnesses many questions , which I conceive , by your Lordships Rule , should be asked by your Lordships only ; For which I crave pardon , if I have offended in moving of it , I standing for my Life , and which is dearer , my Honour , and my Children . Their Lordships Rule hath been kept , and things shall be carried clearly on all hands . We desire the Witness may proceed to speak concerning his own Imprisonment ; and the Lord Steward Interrogating him accordingly , he kept to the same Point . F. Thorpe proceeds , saying , That he could give no other ground for it , though another occasion was taken , yet he conceived the true ground , because he was too busie in medling with Prohibitions . That the Pursevant attending the Council at York , came to his house , and carried him before the Lord President and Council , where he attended a day , and then had liberty to speak with my Lord ; That his Lordship was pleased to tell him , there was an Accusation against him , but they that laid it were not come to Town , therefore he must attend ; and that they were his betters , and therefore he had reason to attend : He desired to know what it was , but could not have that favour ; but some eight days after ( being in the mean time in the Pursevants Custody ) he was brought to the Council-Table again , and his Lordship sitting at the upper end , commanded him to kneel , he coming as a Delinquent ; which he did accordingly , bringing with him a spirit of submission , knowing very well his ruine depended on his opposition , and on his rising , his Lordship was offended , he stayed no longer kneeling . Afterwards a Letter was read from some Gentlemen in the Country , wherein they had written , That I had spoken at the Sessions a little more than became me to the Court , in defence of a Client , on a Traverse to an Indictment . And what they had written ( I confessed ) was very true ; for it was thus ; upon the Traverse of an Indictment , the question being , Whether the bare Indictment were Evidence to the Petit Jury , I did say it was no Evidence , and I desired to Appeal to the Judges . My Lord President was pleased to say , He would teach me to know , there were other men for me to complain to , viz. The President and the Council . I told his Lordship , I was ready to complain to any where I might have Right : And I Appeal to the Kings learned Council , Whether it was not Law what I spoke . I was then put out , and direction sent , I must find Sureties , and make publick submission at the Sessions for saying these words : I did find Sureties , and when I went to Sir W. Ellis to enter the Recognizance , He told me , I am sorry , but I cannot help you , for my Lord of Strafford over-ruled us ; and you are to be bound to the good Behaviour , and make submission at the Sessions : And he said further , That what he was enjoyned , he did perform . And all this , I conceive , originally grew , for that I did oppose the Jurisdiction of the Court at York , and not for the Causes pretended . And this binding to my good Behaviour was eight or ten years ago . And being further asked , Whether he knew of any other that had been oppressed with this Exorbitant Power , or no ? F. Thorpe answered , He had heard of many , but he was not present at their Commitment , nor saw their Orders , and can say nothing of his knowledge ; only he knew Sir Thomas Gore was under Custody . George Hawes was produced next , and interrogated , What he knew of Sir Conyers Darcies Fining . I confess I was there , and gave consent to his Fining ; but it was not by vertue of the said Commission , for it was before my time . The Manager did now sum up the Evidence , and my Lord of Strafford's Answer was expected . I desire a little time to retire : And after some debating thereof betwixt his Lordship and the Committee , It was Resolved his Lordship should have some little space to rest , and peruse his Notes at the Bar , which the Manager alledged to be unusual in any Court of Justice in a proceeding of this Nature . My Lords , there is a great deal of difference betwixt the Case of a man that answers for a bloody , hainous , and known Treason , by the Statutes of the Realm , before the Lord Steward and his Peers , in an ordinary way of proceeding ; and him that answers a mixt Charge , partly Misdemeanors , and partly ( as apprehended ) Treason . There is nothing in this that can be Treason , and when 1000 misdemeanors will not make one Felony , shall 28 Misdemeanors heighten it to a Treason ? And in that Point , in due time , I shall desire my Council may express themselves , Whether any thing in this Charge ( admit it all to be true ) be Treason , that if they be but Misdemeanors , I should be admitted Council , and examine Witnesses by Commission . I had no leave to summon a Witness before Friday last , and the greatest part of my Proofs and Charge comes out of Ireland ; and to be debarred from these , under pretence of Treason , I conceive to be , in this Case , a little severe . But I shall proceed to my Defence . And first , As for the Instructions which I am charged withall , being 21. March , 8 Car. they were not procured by me , I knew nothing of them . The Commission and Instructions to the President and Council of York , are of course renewed on the death of one of the Council of the Fee in Ordinary , and the putting in of a Counsellor at large , is only by Letter . Sir Arthur Ingram , who was Secretary , going out , and Sir Iohn Melton succeeding , these Instructions of 21 March 8 Car. were renew'd . That in the Case of such Renewing , the Kings Councell of the Fee , do , by the Secretary , offer the Kings learned Council such things as they conceive conducing to the clearing and bettering of the Kings Service in those parts : And it finally comes to the Lord Keeper or Lord Chancellor , and they agree it . I protest that I gave no direction in these , nor do I conceive any thing offered , proves me to be the man that procured them . As to the Execution of it , from the date of that Commission to this hour , I did never one Act , nor stayed a minute as President of the Council of York . The Commission being granted 21 March Oct. Car. and I went towards Ireland in Iuly following , which I can prove by my Servants , if they might be sworn . And before I be convinced of a Misdemeanor , I conceive they must be sworn : But that now I answer only to Treason . If I were neither privy to the taking out of the Commission , nor any way employed in the executing of it , I Appeal unto your Lordships , and the Gentlemen of the House of Commons , Whether I can be charged as Criminal , as to this Commssion , or any thing that proceeds from it . As for the Sentence against Sir Conyers Darcy , it was Just , and he complained not of it : Of which I have a Copy , and desire it may be read . That from the first Institution of the Court of President and Council at York , That Court had both a Star-Chamber and Chancery Power ; as will appear by all the Instructions before that time . That if there be an Errour in a Judge , so that he give a Sentence otherwise than a man of better understanding conceives reason for , there is no cause it should be heightned to a Treason , to take from him his Life and Honour , and all he hath , meerly because he was not so wise a man as he might have been , nor so understanding as another : And if this be prest on Judges , I think few Judges will serve . And for my part , I had rather go to my Cottage , as the Witness saith , then serve on these Terms . The Charge lays it to be done in May , 8 Car. and divers years following , and the Instructions came not in time till the 21st Mar. 8 Car. which I conceive to be a mistaking of the year . That as to the Sentence of Sir Iohn Bourcher , which is charged upon me , but not insisted upon by the Gentleman , I was no way acquainted with the beginning , proceeding , or ending of the Cause , being all that while in Ireland ; so Your Lordships may observe with what uncertainty men may speak , that do inform in such Cases . That of the Commission , the 13th of the King , with which I am likewise charged , as the Procurer of it , I had no more knowledge , than of that which was most forreign ; being at that time in Ireland , and the Commission renewed of one of the Council in Fee. I shall now descend to Proofs . That the Commission 8 Car. was renewed upon Sir Iohn Meltons coming to be Secretary , instead of Sir Arthur Ingram , The Committee admitted it . To the Testimonies given by the Witnesses , I observe , That Iohn Gore , the first Witness , speaks nothing to the renewing of the Commission , but to his Fathers Commitment ; and that was in November , but what year , Non liquet . But this is not within my Charge , therefore I shall not Answer to that ; Though if it were in Charge , I doubt not , but in that , and every thing else , I shall give an account of an honest and just man , not to say of a discreet , and a wise man. That for the Testimony of Iohn Musgrave , it contains nothing within my Charge : and I can say nothing to it , but by way of Divination . And he is but a single Witness ; And therefore I conceive , shall hardly be able to convince any man of High Treason , hardly of a Trespass . That what Iohn Musgrave speaks of , is grounded on a question of the Jurisdiction of Courts ; and one rule of our Law is , Boni judicis est amplicare Iurisdictionem . And why the enlarging of a Jurisdiction should be heightned to a Treason , I Appeal to Your Lordships Nobleness , Justice , and Honour , to consider ; for I think there are none in place of Judicature , but they will desire to enlarge their Jurisdiction , as far as in Reason and Justice they may : And it is a chast Ambition ( if rightly placed ) to have as much Power as may be , That there may be Power to do the more good in the place where a man lives . For F. Thorpe's Testimony , I observe , That I have nothing to say to him of Exception ; but that he speaks nothing to the purpose , nor to any thing in the Charge , I being Charged with the Execution of the Commission 8 and 13 of the King ; and all he speaks of , is precedent in time : And what he says , is by hear-say from Mr. Justice Hutton , and Sir William Ellis . I do not remember my Lord Gorings speaking to me about Mr. Thorpe , it being 12 , 13 , or 14 years ago . I have put in my Answer , and if that be not Impeached by Testimony of Witnesses ( as it is not ) I conceive it ought to be allowed . I desire to produce Witnesses , wherein I have Liberty ; but not to examine on Oath . And first , To the time of my going towards Ireland . His Lordships Secretary being interrogated ; He Answered , That his Lordship went from London 8 Iuly , 1633. towards Ireland , the 9th year of the King. Mr. Railton , To the time of his Lordships going towards Ireland , said , That 8 Iuly , 1633. My Lord began his Journey into Ireland , being the Ninth year of the King. The Committee for the Commons , admitted that he went over in Iuly , 1633. To the time of my Lord of Straffords coming from York ; Mr. Thomas Little says , His Lordship came from York in Ianuary was eight years , and returned not to York till 1636. To his Lordships doing any act as President of York , since the said New Commission of Octavo Caroli ; Mr. Thomas Little says , That since the date of that Commission , his Lordship never sate as President of the North , in any Cause whatsoever . His Lordship offered to prove his being in Ireland when Sir Iohn Bourcher was censured by the Vice-President and Council ; But the Commons not pressing his Lordship in that matter , he said , If it be granted , I have done . To the Earl of Straffords being in Ireland when the Commission 8 Car. was renewed . Mr. Thomas Little Answered , being questioned , My Lord was in Ireland at that time ; he went over in 1636. having come over in November before ; and was not in England again till 1639. And so ( My Lords ) I conclude my Defence , That I am charged only with procuring and executing the Commission . And this Answer I humbly offer and submit . Iohn Gore speaks particularly of the occasion of enlarging the Commission , upon the Arresting of his Father . That my Lord of Strafford fell on his Knees , desiring from His Majesty an enlarging of his Power ; else that he might go home : So going out of England in Iuly after , the Commission answers to the Procurement that was before . That which his Lordship hath answered to F. Thorpe , That the things by him complained of , were in the time before the Commission , may be used as an Argument , That he was privy to the Instructions . We produce I. Musgrave , only to shew my Lords Violence about Prohibitions , before this Commission was procured ; He growing so high , a little before , That he would lay them by the Heels that brought the Kings Writ ; The Council were awed , that they durst not demand Justice : So that the procuring of it , suited most with his Design . That his Witnesses had little contradicted what the Witnesses for the Commons had said . That whereas it is said , the Charge is not Treason ; if the Fact shall appear to their Lordships , satisfaction will in good time be given . That though this particular is not Treason , yet all the parts of it amount to the Subversion of the Laws of the Kingdom ; That is prest as Treason , and this as an Evidence . That for the second Commission , it follows as the other ; if he procured the one , he is guilty as if he procured both , it being the same Power still . THE Second Article . The Charge . THat shortly after the obtaining of the said Commission , dated the 21st . of March , in the Eighth year of His Maiesties Reign , ( to wit ) the last day of August then next following , he the said Earl ( to bring His Maiesties Liege People into a dislike of His Maiesty , and of His Government , and to terrifie the Iustices of the Peace from executing of the Laws : He the said Earl being then President , as aforesaid , and a Iustice of Peace ) did publickly , at the Assizes held for the County of York , in the City of York , in and upon the said last day of August , declare and publish before the People there attending for the Administration of Iustice according to Law , and in the presence of the Iustices sitting , That some of the Iustices were all for Law , and nothing would please them but Law ; but they should find , That the Kings little Finger should be heavier than the Loyns of the Law. WE are come now to the second Article , touching words spoken of the King , That the Kings little Finger should be heavier than the Loyns of the Law. For that , we desire to produce Witnesses , and they will shew how my Lord of Strafford is mistaken in his Answer : Or if he says true , As he slanders the King in one sense , so he slanders the Law in another . Witnesses produced . William Long Sworn , and interrogated , What words he heard my Lord of Strafford speak concerning the comparison between the Kings little Finger , and the Loyns of the Law , On what occasion , Where , and at what time ? Answered , When Sir Thomas Leyton was Sheriff of York-shire , 1632. ( as he takes it ) My Lord of Strafford being there , he heard his Lordship say these words , That some , nothing would content but Law ; but they should know , The Kings little Finger should be heavier than the Loyns of the Law : And this was spoken in the place where the Judges sate in York-Castle , at the Assizes that year . The occasion he knew not , but it was publickly spoken ; and as he thought , my Lord did not then sit on the Bench , but stood at the Barr. Sir Thomas Leyton was Sworn ; and being thick of hearing , the Manager was directed by my Lord Steward , to interrogate him to the effect aforesaid ; Who Answered , My Lord said , Some would not be satisfied but by Law ; but they should have Law enough ; for they should find the Kings little Finger , to be heavier than the Loyns of the Law. His Lordship being on the Bench then with the Judges at that time , and abundance of the Country being there then at Lammas Assizes , at the Castle-Bench ; And he thinks it was 1632. or 1633. but he knew not the occasion . Marmaduke Potter having been examined as a preparatory Witness , and since being deceased , it was desired his Deposition might be read . The Lord Steward declared , That the Examinations of those preparatory Witnesses , should be read , in case any should be dead . To prove Marmaduke Potter's death , Thomas Harrison was Sworn : Being interrogated what he knew concerning the death of Marmaduke Potter : Answered , That since his coming out of York-shire , he heard a report from his Neighbours , that M. P. is dead and buried , That he the Deponent , lived a Mile from the said Marmaduke Potter ; which is Ninescore and Ten Miles from this place ; but he heard no particular of the day of his burial . The Examination of Marmaduke Potter , Gent. taken Ianuary , 1640. to the 10th and 11th Inter. He saith , That about eight years since , when Sir Thomas Leyton was Sheriff of York-shire , he heard the Earl of Strafford make a Speech publickly at the Bench at Summer-Assizes ; and he said then , That the Kings little Finger should be heavier than the Loyns of the Law. I know not whether it were material for me to Answer this , or no ; but as the Charge is laid , it is impossible I should be guilty of the words : For it is laid to be the last of August , next following the 21st of March , in the Eighth year of His Majesties Reign ; which falls out to be when I was in Ireland . But I desire not to stand on such Niceties , but that Truth may appear . The words confessed in my Answer , are quite contrary , being , That the little Finger of the Law , was heavier than the Kings Loyns . And that I set forth in my Answer , and the occasion of them ; which these Witnesses do not , or else will not , remember . The occasion was this : There came divers Levies in the year when Sir Thomas Leyton was Sheriff , for divers great sums of money for issues in the Knighting-business , on some that had compounded , and paid their money to me , the Receiver of that money then , and by me answered in the Exchequer ; yet these Issues came down , through some Errour above , and were levied with very great rigour by Sir Thomas Leyton . When I came down , I spake with Sir Thomas Leyton , and shewed him how the men were injured ; and did desire him to return the money to them again , and I would see him discharged in the Exchequer , which he was contented to do . And then , to give satisfaction to the Country , I told them , That that Commission was a Commission of Grace and Favour , and that their Compounding with the King , was an ease to them , and much greater ease than by a proceeding at Law would have fallen on them , the very first Issues being three or four times more than they had compounded the whole for . And thereupon I applyed that Speech , That the little Finger of the Law was heavier than the Loyns of the King. For if I should then have fallen to threaten them , I had spoken contrary to the end I had proposed , which was to incline them : And further , that not one of the Witnesses spoke any thing to the occasion of the Speech . That it is long since , and was never yet complained of ; and that man must have a stronger memory than I , that will undertake to swear positively the very words spoken seven or eight years ago : And , under favour , he ought to have better Ears than Sir Thomas Leyton , who appears to have such an infirmity in hearing , that he must now be whoopt to at the Barr , before he can hear ; and sure his sense of hearing is much decayed , else he could not have heard me speaking at that distance to the place where the Sheriff sits in an open place , as far distant , as from the Barr where I now stand , to my Lord Steward , or very near . Dr. Duncombe being asked , Whether he came accidentally to York that day ? and what he heard the words repeated to be ? He Answered , He came from Durham , being sent for on other occasions ; That he was at York in his Journey from Durham , the first day of the Assizes ; and being at Dinner at Dr. Stanhopps , there came a Gent. Sir Edward Stanhopp , who called Dr. Stanhopp Uncle , from the Assizes . That the Doctor asked what news , specially concerning my Lord Presidents Speech , he told them , that he prest hard to hear , and could tell some passages of it . Then they asked what they were , says he , My Lord President was speaking of this , That the way of the Prerogative was in some particulars , easier than the Common Law : And in his expression , he said these words , The little Finger of the Common Law , is heavier than the Loyns of the King. This the said Sir Edward Stanhopp told him , in the presence of divers others , who he thinks , do remember the words were so related ; and that he had related them often since , and never took it otherwise , till he saw it in the Charge ; and there it was clear otherwise . And upon further question , at my Lord of Straffords motion , He Answered , That he never acquainted my Lord of Strafford that he could say any thing in this , till Sunday night ; and then talking with Sir William Pennyman , he told Sir William the story . My Lord of Strafford desired Sir William Pennyman might be heard ; and humbly acknowledged the Favour that had been done him by the House of Commons , in giving liberty unto it upon his suit . Sir William Pennyman being asked , whether he was present at the time when my Lord of Strafford spoke the words of comparison , between the Kings little Finger , and the Loyns of the Law ; what was spoke , and what was the occasion : He Answered , That he was present at the Assizes at York at that time , and heard my Lord speak these words in another order and position , than is testified by these three Witnesses . And in truth ( he said ) he could wish he spake now on his Oath , for he knew he spake on much disadvantage ; The occcasion was this , A Rumour was cast up and down in the Country , That my Lord of Strafford had received great sums of money concerning Knighthood , which he had detained in his own hands , and not paid into the Exchequer ; Hearing of this , his Lordship thought himself much wronged in it , and took occasion to vindicate himself ; and there spoke of it , and told them , ( to the best of his remembrance ) there was some omission on the Secretaries part , or some of the Officers of the Exchequer . Hereupon my Lord took occasion to discourse of the Legality of Knighthood-money ; and told them , Gentlemen , you may see this is a Commission of Grace and Favour : for whereas you may compound with the King for a matter of 20 or 30 l. you have in two or three Terms , run into great sums . He added , That he did not remember the proportion ; but the Inference was , So that you may see , that the little Finger of the Law , is heavier than the Loyns of the King. One of the Managers desired he might be asked , by what means this was brought into his memory , and how long since : He Answered , He had the retention of it in his memory before ; but it was revived on occasion of these Articles , when they were exhibited . It is enough , and he did his Duty well , that being a Member of the House of Commons , he never informed the House of it . My Lords , I desire my Answer may be read ; wherein , the occasion , and the words , are directly set forth , quite contrary to those in the Charge ; and I protest , that I will take my Oath on it , That it was so . And my humble request is , That no Witness I produce , may be prejudiced for any Testimony he shall give here , being with the Liberty and Allowance of both Houses . For if they should be discountenanced , nay , punished for it , I should think my self a very unhappy man indeed ; and rather than I should prejudice any man in that kind , I profess , I would put my self on Gods mercy and goodness , and not make use of any Member of either House , ( and my principal Witnesses must be of both Houses ) rather than acquit my self by their prejudice ; for I accompt it an unjust thing , to overthrow another to save my self . The Testimony of a Member of the House , hath great credit in the House , and they take not the least exception against Sir William Pennyman , for any thing he said before their Lordships , but wish he may speak with clearness and truth ; but had he informed this particular himself to the House , he had done my Lord of Strafford more right , than by not informing , to let it come in Charge ; and bring in his Testimony contrary to his Vote . When a Witness hears a thing in question , though it be not required of him , certainly he should vindicate the Reputation of his Friend , in contradicting it in season , but it is not so done ; and certainly his silence to the House , was not well . My Lords , This concerns me nearly , This Gentleman , Sir William Pennyman , is my Noble Friend , and a Worthy Gentleman ; and I would give him my Life on any occasion : but I know him to be a Person so full of Virtue and Nobleness , that he would not speak an untruth for all the world ; perhaps he might not think fit to speak it in the House , men are left at their liberty . The Charge came out in Print very lately , and whether Sir William Pennyman might know any thing of it , I leave it to those that better understand it . But with this humble Request to the noble and worthy Gentlemen of the Commons House , That they would please to regard it so , that no man may suffer by me , I protest I had rather suffer ten thousand times my self . The business concerns the House of Commons , the Committee knows not how they will apprehend it ; But it is only offered , That the Judgment of the House of Commons may not be prejudiced . The Lord Steward concluded this matter , That his Lorship is put upon the Trial of his Peers , who will give him all fair Respect . That his Lordship shall be denied no just way for his clearing , that he could say nothing in the Name of the Lords to this particular that 's come out on the present , nor these Gentlemen in the name of the Commons , only he may be sure to find all that is fit : which my Lord of Strafford said he doubted not , and hoped their Lordship would pardon him for moving it , it concerning him very much . As to the mistake in point of time , the Commons laying it to be after the Commission 21. March , 8 Reg. and prove it to be before the time , is not at all material . The offence is not that he spake it on that day , but that he spake the words . The Exception to Sir Thomas Leyton's Testimony , that he had need to have better Ears ; he is a Gentleman of worth , his Deposition is an Oath , and he knew best what he heard ; the truth is , he stood within little distance of my Lord when he spake the words , and hath not been deaf above two months , and two other Witnesses concur fully with him . For Doctor Duncombe , whether he be the man that laid Aspersions in the North on some Noble Lords , I know not ; but his Testimony only is , that he heard so from one that spake it at the Table , not upon Oath , and not knowing what use would be made of it . And another Witness shall be produced , that will speak to the occasion , and that it was not the matter of Knighting-money . Sir Thomas Leyton being asked how long he hath had this Infirmity in his hearing . Answered , That he got a great Cold since he came to Town , and had this Imperfection since Christmas , and had his hearing well before . Being asked how far he sate from my Lord of Strafford . He Answered , Four yards off . My Lord of Strafford desired it might be asked the Witness , Whether he sate on the Seat where the Sheriff uses to fit , he answered Affirmatively . His Lordship excepted against his Testimony , himself sitting where the President uses to sit , betwixt my Lord Chief Baron and Mr. Justice Vernon : And he Appealed to my Lord Chief Baron , Whether the Presidents Seat and the Sheriffs Seat , be not as far distant , very near as far , as from his Lordships then station to the Lord Steward . But the Committee observed it not to be material , that there should be any Geometrical measure , but be three , four , five , six or seven yards off . Here the Committee offered other Witnesses , but my Lord of Strafford desired their Lordships Judgment , Whether they should not bring all together , which the Lord Steward declared they might as to this Point . Sir David Fowles being produced , was excepted against . My Lords , He is no competent Witnesse , he lying in the Fleet , on a Sentence in the Star-Chamber at my Suit , being fined for divers things he had said , which concerned my self , which depended on this in question , and conducing to it . He comes not at his own Request or Suit , but in a Suit that concerns His Majesty and the Commonwealth , and might offer the Presidents own Rule in the Case , but that the Law speaks for him ; that a Witness ought to be heard in this Cause , though there have been particular ill affections between them , and your Lordships well know how to compare him with other Witnesses , and to value him accordingly . This hath been Resolved in the Case of Sir Pierce Crosby , that he should be sworn , and then value his Testimony , as the Lords shall see Cause , and this may be put into the same way . Sir David Fowles being sworn , the Lord Steward put them in mind of the former Caution , that their Lordships would judge the value of his Testimony , the Committee not admitting what was excepted against him , he being not to obtain any thing for himself , nor his own Interest concerned , but produced for the King and Commonwealth , and therefore an indifferent Witness in the Case . And then being Interrogated , touching the words of Comparison between the King 's little Finger and the Loins of the Law , whether he heard them , and the occasion . Sir David Fowles answered , He heard him say the very same words , That there were some for Law , and nothing but Law ; but the King 's little Finger should be heavier on them than the Loins of the Law. The occasion he cannot well remember ; but there was some discontent taken by my Lord against him he being desired by a Messenger to levy Mony to mend a Bridge , he told the Messenger , He could not well do it of himself , for there was a Statute , as he took it 24 H. 8. that appoints four Commissioners to be at the doing of such Service , and he being but One , durst not undertake to do it : Besides , he said , He must see an Order or Warrant from the Sessions , else he could not do it , and none was shewed . Some other Exceptions he took to the unlawfulness of the business , and the Messenger reported this to my Lord , and that he conceived was the cause my Lord broke out so violently against him . But being Interrogated on what occasion the words in question were spoken . He answered , Before my Lord went to Ireland , he made a Speech to the whole County , and desired them to go on in their Service ; and so brake out , Some are all for Law , but they shall find the Kings little Finger heavier on them than the Loins of the Law. And this is all he can remember . Sir William Ingram sworn and examined , touching his knowledge of these words . Answered , That he was on the Bench at that time , Sir Thomas Leyton was Sheriff , and he heard my Lord speak these words ; Some of you are all for Law , but you shall find that the King 's little Finger is heavier than the Loins of the Law , but he doth not remember the occasion . The main point I must insist on is , That the very words , if they had been spoken by me , as they are laid ( concerning which , I call God to witness , I have spoken the truth , and the occasion . ) It is no Treason within the Statute . And that being a point of Law , I crave leave to reserve my self according to your Lordships Order , that my Counsel , in time fitting and proper , may speak as concerning that in point of Law. We shall close this Article , the last thing mentioned by his Lordship was spoken to before ; as to the words , we had five Witnesses express in the Point , and therefore shall expect your Lordships Judgment in that . And so the Court was adjourned . The Fourth day . Thursday , March 25. 1641. THE Third Article . The Charge . THat the Realm of Ireland having béen , time out of mind , annexed to the Imperial Crown of this His Majesties Realm of England , and governed by the same Laws : The said Earl being Lord-Deputy of that Realm , to bring His Majesties Liege-Subjects of that Kingdom likewise into dislike of His Majesties Government , and intending the Subversion of the Fundamental Laws , and setled Government of that Realm , and the destruction of His Majesties Liege-people there ; did upon the 30th day of September , in the Ninth Year of His now Majesties Reign , in the City of Dublin ( the chief City of that Realm , where His Majesties Privy-Council , and Courts of Iustice do ordinarily reside , and whither the Nobility and Gentry of that Realm do usually resort for Iustice , ) in a publick Speech , before divers of the Nobility and Gentry of that Kingdom , and before the Mayor , Aldermen , and Recorder , and many Citizens of Dublin , and other His Majesties Liege-people , declare and publish , That Ireland was a Conquered Nation , and that the King might do with them what he pleased : And speaking of the Charters of former Kings of England made to that City : He further then said , That their Charters were nothing worth , and did bind the King no further than he pleased . I Humbly move your Lordship , That since diverse things were spoken by the Witnesses Yesterday , which I conceiving not material as to the Charge , forbore to answer to them , whereby I understand I have received some prejudice ; therefore I desire I may now give satisfaction therein , being well able to do it . We hope your Lordships remember your own Order . We desire he may not have that allowed him to day , which was not granted him Yesterday . The Evidence having been given for His Majesty , my Lord of Strafford having answered , and the Commons Replied : Touching which the Lord Steward declared , that the due Course had been followed ; The Evidence being given for the King , my Lord having Answered , and a Reply made . My Lord , this is a Court of Honour , which is a Rule to it self , and no other Court is a Rule to it ; and therefore if any thing were omitted one day , through want of memory , your Lordships may in your Nobleness allow another . Your Lordships being your own Judges and Rule , and most fit it should be so . I do therefore beseech your Lordships , that I may have liberty to offer new matter formerly omitted , else I shall be on great disadvantage , being to answer on a suddain , and had no time till Friday last to bring in Witnesses , and many perhaps may come up before my Trial ends . We desire in the Name of the Commons of England , we may proceed according to the Rule propounded , that his Lordship may not invert the course on pretence of new matter , for then it will be impossible for us to make good the Charge : ( Which was accordingly Resolved ) adding further , that there hath been ostentation of more Evidence , We desire it may make no Impression with your Lordships . We shall open the Third Article , containing very seditious words , spoken by my Lord of Strafford , in a publick Assembly , to the Kings Subjects , That Ireland is a Conquer'd Nation , That the King may do with them what he pleaseth : And speaking of the Charters of Dublin , He said , The Charters are nothing worth , and binding the King no farther than he pleases . I humbly desire , My Lords , that the Witnesses may stand in another Room from the Committee , it being not usual in other Courts , though I dare not offer any Court to be a Rule to this , and that your Lordship will direct the question . We have been sensible his Lordship hath been large in his Imputations . We shall behave our selves as becomes us in duty ; we speak nothing to the Witnesses , but what any man may hear , and we must tell them what they must speak to , and less we cannot do . I am the loathest man in the World to speak any thing that may give offence in general or particular ; neither did I charge any , only desired that they might stand clear , and that the question might come immediately to them from your Lordship . Robert Kennyday produced and sworn . I humbly offer to your Lordships , That this Witness hath been questioned for many Misdemeanors , and extortion in execution of his Place , as Remembrancer of the Exchequer , and for this was sentenced ; and that he knew he wished his Lordship no great good ; and left it to their Lordships , Whether he be a fit Witness , adding it to be his Misfortune , That all that have suffered under the Kings Justice in his Ministry , are ready to be Witnesses against him . My Lords , if he be guilty of Extortion , it follows not that he is therefore guilty of Perjury , neither doth any thing stand proved : But if he hath taken a sum of Money , that makes him not to be believed when he gives Testimony . Robert Kennyday being examined what words my Lord of Strafford spake in Dublin , of Ireland , Whether it was a Conquer'd Nation , and what he said of the Charters of Dublin , and when . He Answered , That 30. of September , 1633. he was the Kings Remembrancer in Ireland , and that day the new Mayor of Dublin was presented to my Lord. The Recorder of the City making a Speech , touching the Presentment of the Mayor , cited many of the Favors and Graces of the Kings and Queens of England , and , among the rest , one Charter , wherein he alledged was contained ; That no Lieutenant , Deputy , or Governor for the time being , or any Justice or Justices could assess , or lay any Souldiers on the City of Dublin , without their consent . That after the Recorder had made an end of Speaking , my Lord Lieutenant was pleased to Answer him in many Particulars : Among the rest , he told them , You are a Conquer'd Nation , and the King may do to you what he pleases , and for your antiquated Charters , they bind nothing farther then pleases Him. The Witness added some things , to take off the Aspertions cast on him by his Lordship , saying , He was never brought to Censure . Being asked on my Lord of Strafford's Motion , Whether he said they were not void by misusage , or the like . He answered , No truly , Not a word that he heard . Richard Earl of Corke produced and sworn . I must profess , My Lords , my sorrow and unwillingness to speak my Exceptions to the Earl of Cork , as conceiving him no competent Witness , in respect of an Information exhibited against him in the Castle-Chamber , by the King's Attorney there , which I desire may be read , and is , I will not say in all the points of it , but so far acknowledged , that he confesses himself , under his Hand and Seal , to be in the mercy of the King , and desires he may be made the Object of his Majesties Compassion , not of His Justice . And when your Lordships shall see the nature of it , I Appeal to your Lordships , Whether my Lord of Cork shall be admitted as a Witness against me , especially he being a little displeased , and I am sorry for it ; for something done in the Cause , he giving 15000 l. for a Composition which the King had . There are two grounds of my Lord of Straffords Exception to the Earl of Corke's Testimony , as I conceive . First , His Censure , or questioning upon the Information against him in the Castle-Chamber , which we have heard , to be much of the nature of the Star-Chamber here : And that part we suppose , was cleared by Your Lordships wisdom yesterday ; That not a Censure , much less an Information in the Star-Chamber , should be a fit Exception against a Witness . The other part is , the ill will which my Lord of Corke , may bear my Lord of Strafford on that occasion . Truly , ( My Lords ) if ill will , and offence against my Lord of Strafford should be an exception and prejudice to a Witness , I am afraid there will be few in the three Kingdoms , whose Testimonials will not be prejudiced . But this I humbly offer to Your Lordships likewise , My Lord of Corke is a Privy Councellor to His Majesty , and made a Privy Councellor since by His Majesty ; and certainly it is not seemly , to have that Reproach cast on such a Person , That for a Prosecution in the Star-Chamber , he should be made an uncompetent Witness . The reading of the Information being hereupon denied , My Lord of Corke was asked , What words he heard my Lord of Strafford speak , touching Ireland being a Conquered Nation , and that the Charters of it were of no value , further then it pleased the King to make them . His Lordship answered , And first desired leave to speak a word , hoping he should do no wrong to any man : That when he had obtained my Lords Licence , under the Great Seal , to come over hither , he came with as great a Resolution , never to complain of any sufferings he had , or to Petition against him , as any man did , and left all his Papers and Writings behind him , that he might have nothing to move him against my Lord of Strafford , but to do him all the service he could . To the question , his Lordship said , That all he can say , is this , that he was present that day the Mayor of Dublin was presented to my Lord Deputy that then was , and the Recorder set forth the Great Charters they had from the several Kings of England ; and fell on that matter of placing Soldiers in Dublin , without their consent ; That my Lords Answer was , You must understand , Mr. Recorder , Ireland is a conquered Nation , and the King may give them what Laws he pleases . And then going forward with the Charters , he said , They be old Antiquated Charters , and no further good , than the King is pleased to make them : To that sense ( he said ) he is sure . We desire to observe to Your Lordships , That this time , was not the only time ; he spoke the very words in effect , to the whole Kingdom afterwards , in Parliament . The Lord Gorminstone produced and Sworn : Being asked whether he heard my Lord of Strafford speak words to the effect as aforesaid , That Ireland was a conquered Nation , &c. His Lordship Answered , That he remembers , that in the 10th year of the Kings Reign , 1634 on occasion of a Petition presented to my Lord Lieutenant , in behalf of the Country ( as far as his remembrance leads him ) from the House of Commons , desiring the benefit of some Graces His Majesty had been pleased to confer on them , and he in the open Parliament , sitting under the Cloth of State , in presence of both Houses , told them , Ireland was a conquered Nation , and they must expect Laws as from a Conquerour : And the Instructions granted from His Majesty for setling the Government of that Kingdom , were procured from a company of narrow-hearted Commissioners . Being asked on my Lord of Strafford's motion , when these words were spoken , whether the first day of the Parliament , or at any other time : His Lordship answered , That to his best remembrance , it was not the first day of the Parliament . My Lord of Strafford saying it was at the opening of the Parliament , and the second day ; my Lord Gorminstone being further asked about the time : His Lordship answered , He knew not whether it were the second day , or another day , but the particular words he took notice of ; and it was in presence of both Houses of Parliament , the Speaker standing at the Barr. The Lord Killmallock produced , and Sworn ; and interrogated touching the same words . His Lordship answered , That he was a Member of the Commons House , the 10th and 11th of the King , and the House of Commons Petitioned the then Lord Deputy , the Earl of Strafford , for the gaining of the Act of Limitations , for the confirming of their Estates , amongst other Graces granted to the Agents for that Kingdom , in the fourth year of the King. These Graces he answered to in writing ; and on the second or third day after , came into the House of Lords , and there sent for the Commons ; and in his Speech ( amongst other things , I well remember , and to my grief , and to the grief of that Kingdom ) he uttered these words , That that Kingdom was a conquered Nation , ( the words as he remembred ) and therefore they must expect Laws as from a Conquerour ; adding further , that the Book of Instructions , established in King Iames his Reign , for the orderly Government of the Courts of Justice in that Kingdom , were Instructions contrived , and procured by a Company of narrow-hearted Commissioners , who knew not what belonged to Government . Sir Pierce Crosby being asked touching the same words , Answered , That he very well remembred the words , as they had been spoken by the Noblemen that had been examined before him ; My Lord of Strafford , then Lord Deputy of Ireland , in the hearing of both Houses , said , That Ireland was a conquered Nation , and that the Conquerour should give the Law. He added further , that the Book of Instructions for the Government of that Kingdom , was drawn up , or procured , by the means of some narrow-hearted Commissioners , meaning those Commissioners that were employed by Commission from the King out of the House of Commons , being a select Committee , whereof there was one that is now a Noble Member of this House , that sits on the Earls Bench : And that he hath heard many of both Houses , repeat the same words as spoken by him . And so the Commons concluded the Article , expecting my Lord of Straffords Answer . After a quarter of an hours respit , my Lord of Strafford began his Defence as followeth : First , I desire to open two points set forth in my Answer , which under favour , I must stand to , as that by which I must stand or fall . First , That the Kingdom of Ireland , ( as I conceive ) is governed by Customs and Statutes , and Execution of Martial Law , and Proceedings at Council-Board , in a different manner from the Laws of England . Secondly , That touching the Charters , I said , these Charters were void , and nothing worth , and did not bind the King further than he pleased ; both which I hope to make good . The other business , that comes in De novo , is no part of my Charge , and therefore I hope will not be laid to my Charge . I observe in the beginning of this part of the Charge that concerns Ireland , That the Governours for the Crown of England , that have been it Ireland , in all Ages , almost , have had these misfortunes , That the Native Subjects of that Country have not been propitious towards them . I instance in the case of Sir Io. Perott , who on Testimonies here , was Attainted of Treason in a Legal ordinary way of proceeding , whereupon he lost his Estate , though not his Life ; and afterwards it was confest , there was little truth in all that Accusation . Next , my Lord of Faulkland , against whom , many of the Witnesses that I think will come against me , informed ; as Sir Pierce Crosby for one , my Lord Mountnorris for another , and divers others ; who had so prejudicated me when I went into Ireland , in their Opinion , by the generality of their Charge , that I was a little distrustful whether it was not so : And thus much I have spoken once before His Majesty at the Council-Board , on another occasion , and now speak it to Your Lordships , to the Honour of that Person , that is now with God , my Lord of Faulkland , notwithstanding all the heavy cries that were against him , and the wrongs and injuries laid to his Charge , I had the fortune to have all the Examinations whereupon they proceeded , and looked over them all ; and now I protest , and call God to witness , not any way as making to me , I found the said Lord to have proceeded as Honourably , Justly , and Nobly , to his understanding , as any man could do ; and yet was decryed as much as any man could be . And so I beseech Your Lordships to consider me the Kings Servant ; and that in the Administration of the Commands and Justice intrusted with me , I had occasion to give offence to many ; and that it hath been the ill fortune of those that have been Governours there , when they have left the Government , not to be so well reported as otherwise they might be . Besides , There is nothing in this Charge can possibly amount to Treason , admit all to be as it is laid , though perhaps to a Misdemeanour . That if it be no Treason , it will fall to be but Misdemeanour ; and then I conceive , it stands with the Justice and Practice of this Court , to allow Councel and Witnesses , which I am debarred from , by the involving me under the general Charge of Treason ; and having no further time to prepare , then since Friday last . That though before , I durst not say Your Lordships were bound by Rules of any Judicature , but stood to Your own Honour and Nobleness , and were a Rule to Your selves , ( and herein I take Your Lordships to witness ) yet since the Gentlemen at the Barr , have prest the rules of other Courts , I desire leave to offer , That in all ordinary Courts of Judicature that ever I heard of , where the Criminal party doth Answer , and that Answer is not replyed to , nor he admitted to make his proof , the Answer of the party is taken and confest ; from which universal Rule of Justice , no man can shew him a transgression : And therefore , since I cannot be admitted my proofs , it being impossible to fetch Witnesses out of Ireland since Friday last , my Answer , I conceive , ought to be admitted , and the Charge taken as I confest it , not as it is on proof . Saving to my self , that I said I would go on to give the best Answer I could , on a suddain , professing , That if I had had time , I am confident , through the mercy and goodness of God , and the Innocency of my own heart , I should be able to clear my self of Treason ( the greatest Crime between man and man ) towards His Majesty , and towards his People , ( my heart being innocent of it ; and never having suggestion or thought , but for the Greatness and Honour of His Majesty , and the Prosperity and blessed Estate of His People , all the days of my life ; and ever desiring the best things , and never satisfied I had done enough , but did always desire to do better ) but also of all other foul Crimes of Injustice or Oppression : Errours I may have many ; perhaps my Tongue hath been too free , my Heart perhaps , hath lain too near my Tongue ; but God forbid every word should rise up in Judgment against me . If every word that 's spoken amiss should be observ'd , who is able to endure it ; for words spoken , ten , twelve , eight or nine years ago , to be brought in Judgment of me , is a very heavy Case ; and I beseech your Lordships to turn the Case inward , and to tell me if it be not a hard Case to be put upon such an Examination . I shall observe further , that words ought to be charged within a certain time by the Proviso in the Stat. in E. 6. time , they must be brought in question within 30 days as I take it , which Proviso stands good in Law ; but I go now into a Learning that God knows I have little skill of ; to this I desire my Councel may in due time be heard , to open and Plead . In the mean time I desire to say , that if popular actions must be concluded within a year or two at the most , sure words should be questioned within a less time . I shall proceed to maintain the truth of my Answer , That Ireland is not governed by the same Laws that England is ; and for that I shall read a few words in my Lord Cooks Learning ( which God knows I understand not ) it is in Calvins Case ; where the words are , So as now the Laws of England , became the proper Laws of Ireland . And therefore because they have Parliaments holden there , whereat they have made divers particular Laws , as it appears in the 20 H. 6. 8. and 20. and in Ed. Dyer 360. And for that they retain to this day divers of the ancient Customs , the Book of 20 H. 6. holds , That Ireland is governed by Laws and Customs separate and divers from the Laws of England . Therefore in all things belonging to my Charge that came out of Ireland , I hope Your Lordships will take along with you the consideration of the Customs and Practices of that Kingdom , and not judge me according to that which hath been the Custom and Practice of the Kingdom of England . In the second place , I come to the words of Ireland being a conquered Nation ; The words laid in the Charge being , that I should say ; That Ireland was a conquered Nation , and the King might do with them what he pleased . And first , I should do extreamly ill to the Honour of the English Nation , and to the memory of divers of Your Lordships Noble Ancestors , if I should not both say and think , that Ireland is a conquered Nation ; when here 's mention made in the Laws , and in the Acts of State , of English Rebels , and Irish Enemies , certainly there is something in that ; for till the Kings of England gave them the advantage and benefit of the Laws of England , it is well known , they were held Irish Enemies , and so termed and stiled in all the Records one shall meet withall in these times . And that it was a conquered Nation , I have very good Authority in the Statute made 11 Eliz. at the Attainder of that famous Rebel Shan Oneale . In one part of which it is said , That all the Clergy of the Realm assembled in Armagh , at the time of the Conquest , &c. See the Statute . Is it then so much for me to say what 's in the Act ? and is it not for the Honour of the English Nation to say it ? and it must be said to the Worlds end , for 't is a truth . And therefore there is no cause it should be taken so hainously , or heard with so much displeasure ; and if I displease for telling the truth , I cannot help it : He reads another part of it , viz. And therefore it is to be understood , that King Hen. 2. the first Conqueror of this Realm , &c. And so it hath been acknowledged in all stories and times , and many an English man hath spent his blood in it , whose Posterity will be ashamed to view it , other than as a conquered Kingdom . Nay , I believe many Noble Persons are yet living , that have bled for it , and will take it ill , if it be termed less than a Conquest , in them who lived in those famous times , and spent their blood in Obedience to their Soveraigns Command . So that by these words candidly and rightly taken , no manner of ill could come , being spoken , not with any sharpness or upbraiding , but meerly to let them see , That being in that Condition , they were infinitely bound to the Kings of England , who were pleased to communicate to them the Laws of their own Kingdom : And so far were they from being taken ill , that no man at that time took offence at them . For the words , The King might do with them what he pleased , let them relate to the Conquest , and there is no offence in them ; for the Conqueror might give them what Laws he pleased , and yet nevertheless , hath been so gracious and good , as to give them the Laws of his own People : Give me that understanding of the words , and then where is the Crime ? how can it be brought in Judgment against me in it self , or be aggravated to High Treason . I acknowledge I did speak to the Recorder of Dublin , yet some things I am put in mind of , which I am forced to deny with a great asseveration , That I do not remember the words , nay , I am sure I never spake them , let all the world , and a cloud of Witnesses , say the contrary , when I know in my own heart I did not speak them ; though I offer not this to Your Lordships , to convince your Judgments : And on the other side , there is nothing that is true , but I will acknowledge it with all Ingenuity in the world , on the Testimony of any one single Witness . I desire that Mr. Slingsby , his Servant , might be asked , whether he was not present when I spake these words ; and whether then any offence was taken at me , in respect of the high manner of my speaking ; or whether they were not rather extreamly well satisfied . Now if Your Lordships take words in pieces , and not altogether , any man living may be convinced ; but taking my words altogether , though something might be thought harsh , yet something gave abundant satisfaction . I am upon a mighty prejudice , in being denied to have my Witnesses examined upon Oath in these things that are not Treason . But they be persons of good credit , and I trust your Lordships will believe them , as much as if they spake on Oath , since I think none of them would say a word to your Lordships , which they would not swear . Mr. Slingsby being asked , Whether he was present when my Lord of Strafford spake to the Recorder of Dublin , what he said , and what acceptance it received . He Answered , He was then present , being on the occasion of presenting Sir Robert Dixton , the Mayor of Dublin ; that he cannot remember the particular words , nor deliver them to their Lordships , as they were spoken by the Lord-Lieutenant : But he remembers particularly the scope of the Discourse was to ingratiate His Majesties present Government to them ; That the words were well accepted by several persons whom he spake with , and took that Effect , that his Lordship was thereupon invited to the Mayors House , where divers of the City Congratulated his coming to them . I shall now proceed to the second part of the words , That their Charters were nothing worth , and they bind the King no farther than he pleases ; and I conceive I may say so still . If their Charters be nothing worth , they do not bind the King , but he may do with them what he pleases . In that , I desire your Lordships to call to mind what my Lord of Corke said , That Ireland was a Conquer'd Nation , and the King might give them what Laws he pleased , and that the Charters were Antiquated , and no farther good , than it pleased His Majesty to make them . It is likely ( I confess ) I might say so , and yet not say amiss ; for it is most evident and clear , their Charters are void in point of Law , and therefore it is in the King 's good will and pleasure , Whether he will make them good or no. And that they were void , the King's Council informed me so ; that they were questioned at Council-Board upon it , for divers unlawful Exactions they took , under colour of Charters , for divers by-Laws that they had made , against Law , by those Charters , for divers neglects of Duties that they ought to do by those Charters ; and generally , for not performing the trust reposed in them , by those Charters , with that Integrity and Care they ought to do And for the truth of it , that many Complaints were made against the Mayor and Aldermen at that Board , for neglecting their Duty : I dare Appeal to my Lord of Corke . I adding this , That the greatest part of the Aldermen were Recusants , and would never be brought to obey the Order of the Board ; but stood on their Charters , and would be Masters ; and by that means great Disorders continued . And to prove that upon Examination , they appeared to be void in Law. I desire Sir George Ratcliffe may be admitted to speak on what Grounds those Charters were called in , and are now ( as I think ) deposited with the Clerk of the Council . Sir George Ratcliffe standing charged with High Treason , by the Commons of England , before your Lordships , and of a Conspiracy with my Lord of Strafford ; and whether it be fit to hear one charged with High-Treason , to clear another so charged , we Appeal to your Lordships . That Sir George Ratcliffe is charged to be a Conspirator with me indeed , and , in truth , I must confess Sir George Ratcliffe and my self ( under favour ) are equally guilty of Treason , and I hope we shall both justifie our selves ; but I know so much of him , that I am not ashamed to say , That I think that Sir George Ratcliffe is my Friend , and I wish him well , and so I think will all other men ( I trust in God ) when they hear him . But I conceive Sir George Ratcliffe might be heard in these Points ; if he be examined as a Witness against me , I desire he may be examined as a Witness for me . Sir George Ratcliffe is not examined , nor at all sworn in the Cause on our Motion , and admitted , that if they produced him as a Witness , they would not deny my Lord of Strafford to cross examine him . The Lord Steward declared the sense of their Lordships , That Sir George Ratcliffe could not be examined . I shall readily obey ; but yet observe , That if it were only matter of Misdemeanor , he might be examined , though charged . But this is my unhappiness , to be debarred of my Witnesses , because I am charged with Treason in general , though there be nothing in particular that 's near the complexion of Treason . We desire to observe , that this justifies a part of our Charge , for the Charter of the Subjects Liberties are , as his Lordship confesseth , brought to the Council Table , and judged there , and not to the proper Courts where they ought to be judged ; the Council-Table having no Power to declare the Validity or Invalidity of Charters from the King to the Subject . I crave Liberty to explain my self , That I said not they were brought to the Council-Table to be judged , but that consideration might be had , Whether there was ill usage and extortion practised under colour of them or no ; whether any thing were done that hindred the growth of that Town , and the good of the People , and the Protestant Religion , that it might appear how the business stood in point of State ; but to give a judgment upon them in Law , it was never in my thoughts . Robert Lord Dillon being then asked , Whether the Charters of Dublin have not been brought before the Council of Ireland , there to be considered concerning the Validity of them , and whether it did not appear that for divers Occasions , Exactions and Tolls , and by-Laws , and other abuses in the exercise of these Charters ; they did not appear to the King 's Learned Council , and others learned in the Law , to be void . He Answered , That it was a question he did not expect ; and yet being called , he should faithfully and freely tell his knowledge of it , to his best remembrance : That he doth remember very well , that the Charters of Dublin have been brought to the Council-Board , and argued strongly against by the Kings Learned Council . That there was one particular of 3 d. Custom challenged by the City , which endured a very long debate : That it was argued against them , That they exercised by-Laws , contrary to the Common Law of the Land , and that divers other things were urged against them ; but he remembers not the particular determination of the Board upon the question . Being asked severally , what time those Charters were so brought , and how long after my Lord of Strafford's coming into Ireland . He Answered , That he precisely remembreth not the time , but he takes it to be five or six years ago , something more or less , and he thinks about a year or two after my Lord of Strafford's coming , but he remembers not the time , not expecting to be Interrogated in it . We desire your Lordships to observe , That the words were spoken before the Charters were brought to the Council-Board . It follows not , That because they were questioned at Council-Board afterwards , I did not therefore know them to be void , when I spoke of them , for they were complained of in Parliament , as great Grievances , in the exercising of them , and to that purpose I desire my Lord Dillom may be heard . And being asked what he knew concerning the Charters of Dublin , being questioned in the Commons House for divers Oppressions , unlawful By-Laws , and other ill usage of their Liberties . He Answered , That he was a Member of the first Parliament after my Lords coming into Ireland , 1634. After this Visitation of the Mayor some half an year , but he knows not the time precisely . That divers Members of that House did object divers Misdemeanors , in mis●sing the Priviledges of those Charters . That the particulars were several By-Laws which they did execute , contrary to the Common Law : Another was , that by the Priviledge of those Charters , they excluded divers of the Tradesmen that came out of England to set up Manufactures there , which was conceived a great Grievance to that Kingdom . Another was , that having the Government of that Town , being a Navigable Port , they permitted the Soil to be emptied into the River , without care or regard . That at the time of the Presentment of the Mayor , my Lord took occasion to advise and advertise the Mayor of several Defects in that Town , and divers of the Commons House of that Parliament are here that were present . Hence observe the Reason and Grounds of my Exception to these Charters , and the Effects of questioning them , which were two : First , By this means I am perswaded ( and thereof I beseech the Honourable House of Commons to take notice , as that which is reputed my greatest Crime in Ireland ) there be three Protestants in Dublin , at this hour , for one that was there when I came over ; for the Townsmen did keep all the Trade , and ingross all the Manufactures into their own hands ; and being Natives , and Romish Catholicks , did depress the English , that strangers out of England had little advantage of Trade . And whatsoever any man may say or think on Information from persons that do not love me , who are Members of neither House ( for so I desire to be understood , when I speak of persons unfriendly to me ; I complain of nothing that is or shall be done me here , but will leave it all , with thankfulness to God Almighty , and with that Duty and Reverence to this House , that becomes me . ) It will be known hereafter , when I perhaps am in my Grave , that my greatest fault in Ireland , hath been my extream Zeal to bring them to conform with the Church of England , which by that means hath provoked a great deal of Displeasure . And secondly , I observe , That this argues no great malice in my heart , nor desire to oppress the King's People , when I shall tell your Lordships , That to this day those Charters were never legally questioned , but are enjoyed . So far was I from pressing rigorously any thing against them , I desiring nothing but Reformation , and to have them what they ought to be , and to leave them not less , but more happy than I found them . And if I should serve there again , as I hope I shall serve only God Almighty , and my Master with my prayers , they should be freed from all exactions and misusings of them , tending to the prejudice of the Town , the King's Service , and the Service of Almighty God. And so I hope I have made a clear Answer to so much as was charged , to free my self from guilt of Treason , reserving to my self the advantage of having my Counsel heard , in proper time , to the matter of Treason in point of Law , according to the liberty your Lordships have afforded me . Next , I shall proceed to that which is proved , and no way charged , which I forbore to speak to the day before , as holding it an impertinent expence of time to your Lordships , and a spending of my own spirits , which , God knows , are weak and infirm indeed . If I were permitted to speak this morning to all the things extrajudicially formerly offered , I should give a free and clear Answer . But suffering by my Ignorance and silence then , I now desire leave to Answer those things that came de Novo , and that by three Witnesses , touching words spoken at another time to both Houses of Parliament . I confess it to be true , that the second day of the last Parliament , but this that is now sitting , I had the Honour to sit as His Majesties Deputy , and it was the greatest Honour that ever I received ; and I should be loath to say any thing , sitting in that Place , that should not fully comply with the Goodness , Clemency , and Justice of His Majesty , or should mis-represent Him in any kind to his People in another sense , or to other purpose than his own Great and Princely Vertues do Merit and Deserve . And that all I said at that time tended to that purpose , to shew and set forth to them the excellent Goodness of His Majesty , and the Graciousness of His Government . Therefore if I should say any thing to the purpose , as it is offered , I should go much against the purpose for which I intended my Discourse . For me to have said openly there , in the King's Chair , that they were a Conquer'd Nation , and must expect Laws from Him , as from a Conqueror , when I knew it most false ; and expected from His Majesty , that He would Govern them by the same righteous Rules of Justice and Honour ( as his Predecessors had before him ) I had been much too blame , and it had been against the drift of my Discourse . And I must say , and will say , to the death , I never spake such words , That they must expect Laws from Him as from a Conqueror . I know very well how it is proved , and what my own affirmation doth in foro Iudicii ; but how it may work in foro Conscientiae , I trust I have so much credit left in the World , as to be known to be a man of truth , and not usually to speak untruths . And I take the heavenly God to Witness , that I never spake them . I remember the words , and the occasion by a good token , without which I should not have remembred them ; my Friends desiring a Copy of my Speech , which Copy is in Ireland ; and were it here , would satisfie every man. It was to incline them to take into consideration the great Debt that lay on the Crown , being near 100000 l. the shortness of the Revenue , which was then short of the yearly Charge 24000 l. though the first day it was stood upon , and would have been coloured over , as if there had been no such thing . I was to move thereunto a supply to pay the Debt , and to improve the Revenue to such a height as might answer the Charge of the Kingdom ; that to induce this , I told them the Kingdom of England had expended great and vast Sums of Money , and had issued a great deal of Noble blood for the reducing of them to Obedience , and in that happy State wherein they then lived . That they must not think the Kingdom of England must always bear the Charge of the Crown , but they must so fit the business , that the Kingdom may bear its own Charge ; For , said I , and these are the words , ( I take God Almighty to Witness ) and no other . If the Kingdom of England should still be put to their Charges , and the whole Expence should still rest on the Conqueror , you might very well think you are so dealt withall , as never any other Conquer'd Nation had been . That on these words my Lord of Ormond came to me , and told me , That the words he had spoken were not well taken ; For that I had said , The Irish are a Conquer'd Nation , and that is not well . I answered his Lordship , Truly , my Lord , you are a Conquer'd Nation , but you see how I speak it , and no otherwise . But this I am not charged with , and offer it only to keep and preserve me in a good Opinion , as much as I can of both Houses of Parliament , which I desire of all things under Heaven , next the Favour of Almighty God , and his Gracious Majesty . He then proceeded to examine Witnesses : And first Robert Lord Dillom being asked , Whether he was present when he spake these words to both Houses of Parliament , and what they were ? We desire to put your Lordships in mind that there were two times when my Lord spake such words ; one , when he spake to hoth Houses of Parliament at the Publick Speeeh now mentioned ; the other , upon delivering a Petition by the House of Commons : That the words which the Commons Charge , were the last mentioned by me , not the first , and that was desired to be observed . The Question being repeated . The Lord Dillom Answered , That he served as a Member of the Commons House that Parliament , and in respect of the Honour he had to be of the King's Council , and the Son of a Peer of the Realm , he stood under the Cloath of State , and was present when my Lord made his Speech to both Houses ; for that passage of the Conquest , some touch there was of it ; and he hath heard my Lord of Ormond speak in particular of it : For the other words , That they should expect Laws as from a Conqueror , he took God to witness , he did not remember them . Being asked whether he remembers them to be spoken at any other time : He answered , That on his Soul he doth not . Sir Adam Loftus being asked to the same purpose . He Answered , That he was the first and the last day at the Parliament , that he doth not well remember the middle day , and he cannot burden his memory with any such words spoken that he heard either then , or at any other time . Sir Robert King was called , and asked to the same purpose . He Answered , That he thinks he was present that day , but not within hearing , and he never heard the words at any other time . Lord Renula being asked , Whether then , or at any time he heard my Lord of Strafford say , They must expect Laws from the King , as from a Conqueror . He Answered , That he was then in the House , and remembers the words in the first place , That Ireland was a Conquer'd Nation ; that for the words in the second place , something was spoken , but how far he cannot witness . Sir George Wentworth questioned on the same Point . Answered , That he sate under the Chair of State at that time , and remembers not that my Lord ever spake these words , That the King might do with them as he pleased . That it pleased my Lord-Lieutenant to send him into England at that time , to attend His Majesty , with the Success of that Parliament , and that he brought the Speech with him , and can confidently affirm , There was no such thing in the Speech ; and the Speech he did deliver to some Privy-Counsellor , and added , That he never heard my Lord publickly or privately say those words , They must expect Laws from the King as from a Conqueror . We desire to know , Whether the Witness was returned out of England when this Remonstrance was delivered . For the Commons Charge it thus , That the House of Commons delivered a Petition , to have the Laws executed according to the Instructions , upon which the words were spoken , and we believe Sir George Wentworth was not come back , and then it was impossible he should hear him , for it was after the Parliament had sate , and some proceedings had . I observe , How it is in some of the Witnesses , for my Lord Gorminstone fixed it on the first beginning of the Parliament . He spake it to the occasion of the Petition , but the distinct time he doth not remember . Sir George Wentworth being asked touching the time of his going into England . He desired to know what time the Petition was delivered ; but he went over some few days after the Subsidies were granted . Lord Robert Digby being asked , Whether at the Parliament at Dablin , or any other time , he ever heard my Lord of Strafford speak those words . He Answered , That he never did ; that he doth not know whether he was present at that time or no ; that he did diligently wait , but doth not remember the words , nor occasion , but he thinks he was not present . Your Lordships have heard my Lord of Strafford's Defence with much patience , That he hath said nothing that takes off the Charge , but some things that aggravate it . That he would answer the Particulars , as his Lordship had propounded them . And first he observed , That his Lordship denies not the words Charged , which makes greater way for proof of them . He informs of the ill Fortune of other Governors , that one was Attainted , and the Informations afterwards retracted , that my Lord of Faulkland was complained of , yet a Noble and good Governor , against whom , or any Deputy , we can say nothing : But what is this for my Lord Strafford to say , Others were questioned , therefore he is Innocent . These were complaints of particular men , This against my Lord of Strafford , is the complaint of all the Commons of England . It is said , here is no Treason in this Article , no Argument of Treason ; but the Commons never pressed these words singly and dividedly , to be Treason ; but take all together , they discover that Disposition , that Counsel , that Resolution that my Lord of Strafford had taken on him , the ruine and subversion of the Common Law , in both Kingdoms . It is said , an Answer is put in , and no Replication . It is true , in other Courts , if you go on Bill and Answer , the Answer is taken pro Confesso ; but the Commons desire not to bind up my Lord of Strafford with Formalities ; but by the substance of their Charge , they have averred their Charge , which is as much as a denial of his Answer . To there being another Government in Ireland than in England , my Lord himself spoke of it by himself ; but he thinks it will not be material to this purpose ; for whatsoever it is , some Government there is : but the Speech of my Lord tends to take away all Laws ; for they must expect Laws as from a Conqueror , in that Limitation . For his referring it to the time , taking it in the sense , that the then Conqueror might do what he pleased , that 's true , and justifiable : But that is to suppose the words otherwise than they are ; being spoken , not of the Kings that were before , but of His Majesty that now is . My Lord would make an Argument , his words were well accepted , because Mr. Slingsby heard nothing to the contrary ; the words had much Acrimony and Sharpness , and we dare not believe the Mayor of Dublin durst tell my Lord of Strafford so , or forbear any Complement to him , though he had been displeased with him . But if that be material , the Witnesses that have proved the words , will tell Your Lordships , it was resented with a great deal of Grief and Sorrow in all the hearers . His Lordship justifies what was spoken of the Charters , on these grounds , First , That the Witness said they were Antiquated Charters , and therefore did not bind ; whereas it was a scornful Epithite , their Antiquated , and Worm-eaten Charters , did not bind . It is said , they were void through negligences , questioned at Council-Table , complained of in Parliament . But they must take the words to pieces , not altogether . Had he spoken of the Charters alone , that they were void Charters , it were no crime , no indiscretion . But take it with the occasion and connexion , it admits of no such mitigation , or interpretation . He tells them , they are a conquered Nation , and they must expect Laws as from a Conqueror : And they are a conquered Nation , and their Charters are no further good than the King pleases . It is said , It is strict to answer presently what may be objected ; and the Examinations are extrajudicial ; we doubt not but Your Lordships will justifie-our Proceedings , nor is there any strictness in them ; for if a man be questioned of a Crime , and several Evidences be brought to make up this Crime , some concurrent , some precedent , they will be allowed of in other Courts ; It being never used , to set forth in a Charge all circumstances of Proof , The main is produced , and this is an Evidence to prove that , and it is within the Charge ; for there is a Charge , that he corrupts the Laws and Government . Then my Lord produces divers Witnesses , who speak in a different sense , Sir Robert King heard nothing ; another , that he remembers nothing ; and if he remembers nothing , it may as well be said of the rest , That there might be something they did not hear , or remember ; for they speak no more , but they did not remember ; There may be something they forgot , as well as another forget all . My Lord Ranulagh says , He remembers the first words , and something as spoken of the second ; but he cannot tell how far : So that there is rather a doubt , that something was spoken to that purpose , than otherwise . The Lord Digby was not present , Sir George Wentworth remembers not the words ; he hath a Copy of the Speech , and is confident the words were not spoken . But they were not spoken in the first Speech , whereof there was a Copy , when the Petition for the Laws was delivered . And this is an Aggravation against my Lord of Strafford , that by his own shewing , there was an Exception taken , when he spoke in a milder sense , and to advance His Majesties Government , it had an ill impression , and was taken notice of , and the Exception delivered to himself . Now if after Exception taken to a Speech delivered in Parliament , cloathed with so much mildness , he in the same Parliament , as soon as Subsidies are granted , shall tell them , they are a conquered Nation , and shall not have Graces , but such Laws as the King will give them : This puts the Offence in higher terms than before ; so far are they from mitigation of the Offence . We desire Witnesses may be heard concerning the circumstance of time . Mr. Fitzgarret produced , and Sworn . Was asked whether he knew of a Petition delivered to the Earl of Strafford by the Commons , concerning the Laws ; and how in time it followed the publick Speech at the beginning of the Parliament , and what Answer was given to it . He Answered , That he was then a Member of the Commons House , and present when the Petition was delivered : But after the House of Commons had given the King six Subsidies , the House of Commons entred into consideration , of Petitioning for such things as were necessary and expedient for the Common-wealth , as they thought ; this Petition was preferred to the Lord Deputy , a good space of time after the Subsidies were granted , and Advertisement sent to England , of the good service done in obtaining those Subsidies from the House of Commons , That he remembers not any part of the Answer given ; There was an Answer given in Writing , either at Council-Table , or in full Parliament , from the House of Lords ; but that he spake only to the point of time . My Lord of Strafford did here affirm it to be most certainly true , That the Petition concerning the things Mr. Fitzgarret mentions , was delivered at Council-Board , and not in Parliament ; and desiring Mr. Fitzgarrets further explanation of himself : He Answered , That he conceives there were two Petitions ; one , as he thinks , concerning the performance of the Instructions of 1628. whereunto an Answer might be given at Council-Board ; and he believes it was subscribed by many of the Council . There was another Petition of Grievances , seeking redress of them ; and to whether of these his Lordship gave an Answer in Parliament , he remembers not ; but believes there was an Answer made to both , or one of them , in full Parliament . The Lord Gorminstone being demanded at what time , and on what occasion my Lord of Strafford spake the words , he was examined on before , in the Parliament at Dublin : He Answered , A Petition was delivered to my Lord of Strafford , and he spake to the House , wherein he spake the words that he had formerly related , That they must expect Laws as from a Conqueror ; and that the Instructions published for the setling of that Government , were procured by a company of narrow hearted Commissioners ; That he did not then remember the certain time ; but he is sure it was in Parliament ; and so resented , that almost all took notice of it ; when most part were English and British Extractions , and very few Irish. The Lord Killmallock being demanded to the same purpose , Answered , That he conceived the occasion was , a delivery of a Petition to his Lordship . It is true , it was not delivered in Parliament , nor were the words spoken at the Council-Table where the Petition was delivered : But he conceives , it was on occasion of delivering that Petition , that his Lordship speaks : For after the Petition was delivered , three or four days after , his Lordship came to the Parliament House , he called both Houses before him , and there delivered these words , That Ireland was a Conquered Nation , and therefore must expect Laws as from a Conqueror . Adding further , That the Book of Instructions , meaning the Book Printed in King Iames His Reign , for the orderly Government of the Courts of Justice , was contrived and procured by a company of narrow-hearted Commissioners , who knew not what belonged to Government . The words , he said , he remembers very perfectly , as having great misery on his heart in the speaking : And whereas it is said , none did take notice of them ; They did , but they durst not , it wrought inwardly ; and had they spoken of it , they expected no redress , but a greater addition of calamity to them . We shall now proceed , and observe , That this Article touching the Laws of Ireland , gives the ground-work of what follows in the subsequent Articles concerning Ireland . And first , We desire Your Lordships to take into remembrance , That though Ireland differ in some particular Statutes from England , yet they enjoy the same Common Law , without any difference . That by the Statute 28 H. 6. in Ireland , It is Enacted , That every Cause shall be remitted to its proper Court ; It is true , the King hath this Prerogative , not to be tied to sue in the Kings-Bench ; but may sue in any Courts of Justice , for matters Triable in the Common-Pleas , or Chancery , or Exchequer ; all Courts are open to him , wherever he will have his Cause judged ; but with the Subject , the proper Cause must go to the proper Court , and according to this , the exercise and use is continued in that Kingdom . Some Incroachments being made , King Iames , of blessed memory , took consideration of it , he appointed Commissioners , and Instructions were Printed in pursuance of this : A Noble Earl now present , Justice Iones , Sergeant Crew , and divers others , were imployed in that Service . These Instructions , as they remit the Causes to the proper Courts , so they declare , that it had crept in at the Council-Table in latter times , to take Oaths ; but direct , that it shall be forborn for matters of Interest and Complaint between party and party , and matters of Title . And it stays not here ; but a Proclamation is issued to the same effect . This Statute , these Instructions , and this Proclamation , we desire may be read . Accordingly the Statute was read , whereby it was ordained to the Governour of the Land , or other Officer for the time being , He that accuses , shall find sufficient sureties for the damage of him that is accused ; and if it shall be adjudged that the Suggestion or Accusation , is not true , &c. And also , that he that is Arrested , may go by Surety or Bail , till the matter be determined . And if it be matter of Treason or Felony , to be remitted to the Kings-Bench ; if Conscience , to the Chancery ; if Franchise , to the Seneschal of the Liberty ; if for Debt , to the Common-Pleas , &c. saving the Kings Prerogative . Then part of the Instructions were read , published 1622. wherein it is Ordered , That the Council-Table shall keep it self within its proper bounds . Amongst which , the Patents of Plantations , and the Offices on which the Grants are founded , are to be handled as matters of State , and to be determined by the Lord Deputy and Council publickly , but Titles between party and party , are to be left to the ordinary course of Law , and neither Lord-Deputy , Governour , nor Council-Table , hereafter to intermeddle , or trouble themselves with ordinary businesses , within Cognizance of ordinary Courts , nor meddle with possession of Land , nor make or use , private Orders , Hearings , or References concerning such matters , nor grant Injunctions , nor Orders for stay of Suits at Common Law , Causes recommended from the Council of England , and spiritual Causes concerning the Church , excepted . Then the Proclamation was read , dated November 7. 1625. whereby it is commanded , That the Deputy and Council-Chamber in Ireland then , and from time to come , shall not entertain , or take consideration of any private Cause or Causes , or Controversies between party and party , concerning their private and particular Estates , nor any Cause or Controversie of that Board , which are not of that nature that do properly concern matter of State ; But that all Causes and Controversies of that nature , moved or depending between party and party , concerning private and particular Interests , be proceeded in in the ordinary Courts of that Kingdom respectively , to whom the Cognizance of these Causes and Controversies doth belong , &c. For that Objection from the Opinion of my Lord Cooke in Calvins Case , if it were an Opinion to the contrary in an Argument , it is no binding Authority ; But that Opinion is nothing at all against what hath been said ; for it is express , That Ireland did retain the same Common Law with England . It is true , Ireland hath Statutes and Customs particularly retained ; and so there be divers particular Customs in England , that differ from the Common Law , yet are approved and allowed in it ; as in Wales , and the Custom of Gavel-kind , and the Common Law , which is the general Government , is the same . If there be any Statute that gives my Lord of Strafford , as Governour alone , power to take Cognizance of meerly private Causes , it is something to the purpose to say , there is a particular Statute ; but till that be shewed , he hath in this , erected an Arbitrary Power . And so he concluded the Reply , and the Third Article . THE Fourth Article . The Charge . THat Richard Earl of Corke , having sued out Process in course of Law , for recovery of his Possessions , from which he was put , by colour of an Order made by the said Earl of Strafford , and the Council-Table of the said Realm of Ireland , upon a Paper Petition , without Legal procéeding , did the 20th day of February , in the 11th year of His now Majesties Reign , threaten the said Earl , ( being then a Péer of the said Realm ) to Imprison him , unless he would surcease his Suit , and said , That he would have neither Law nor Lawyers , dispute or question his Orders . And the 20th day of March , in the said 11th year , the said Earl of Strafford , speaking of an Order of the said Council-Table of that Realm , made in the time of King James , which concerned a Lease which the said Earl of Corke claimed in certain Rectories or Tythes , which the said Earl of Corke alledged to be of no force , said , that he would make the said Earl , and all Ireland know , that so long as he had the Government there , any Act of State there made , or to be made , should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom , as an Act of Parliament ; and did question the said Earl of Corke in the Eastle . Chamber there , upon pretence of breach of the said Order of Council-Table ; and did sundry other times , and upon sundry other occasions , by his Words and Spéeches , Arrogate to himself a Power above the Fundamental Laws , and Established Government of that Kingdom ; and scorned the said Laws and Established Government . ONE of the Managers opened the 4th Article , and said , The former Articles shew my Lord of Straffords Words , this his Actions . This Article concerns my Lord of Corke's being disseized of an Impropriate Rectory , upon a Paper Petition to my Lord of Strafford , and referred to the Council-Table , the Earl of Strafford saying , upon the questioning of the Proceedings thereupon , That neither Law nor Lawyers , should question or dispute his Orders ; an Order of Council-Board in King Iames his time , enjoyning , That no Parson , Patron , or Ordinary , should make a Lease for longer time , than the life of the Incumbent , was made use of as a ground to dispossess the Earl of Corke . In the first place , We desire to open the Proceedings at Council-Table before my Lord of Straffords time , ( viz. ) That in no case concerning Land , no Decree hath been there made , to bind up the party for remedy at Law. The Lord Ranulagh being interrogated , whether by the course of Proceedings at Council-Table , the Deputy and Council have determined Title of Land and Possession , and interrupted the parties to proceed at Law. He Answered , That he hath observed the course of the Board for 22 years ; and the course was , That if Title of Land , between party and party , were in debate , It was commonly dismissed from the Board , with a leading order , to be tried by course of Common Law. Being asked , whether a Deputy alone hath determined private Interest . He Answered , That he cannot positively say , whether it were done privately ; but to the best of his remembrance , he knows not that ever any Deputy determined any matter of private Interest , but brought it to the Board , though by reference , or private proceeding , it might have proceeded before it came to the Board . My Lord of Strafford desired he might be asked , whether he ever knew , that any matter of Inheritance was ever by himself and the Council determined , whilst he was Governour there , that was barely Title of Land , and nothing else . He Answered , And desired to explain himself concerning the former , That Causes of the Church , and matters of Plantations , were resolved in former Deputies times , to be dispatched at the Board . And for the latter question , he never knew matter of Title determined at the Board , but in Causes of the Church , and Plantations . My Lord of Strafford desired he might be asked , whether as President of Connaught , he did not familiarly , on Paper Petitions , rule all things in the same nature , as the Deputy on Petitions to him . The Fifth day . Friday , March 26. 1641. AFter consideration of this matter by their Lordships , it was resolved in the Upper-house , That my Lord Ranulagh ought not to be examined on that point , it tending to an Accusation of himself . The Earl of Corke being Sworn , and questioned touching my Lord of Straffords words to him , upon his excepting against the Orders made upon the Petition touching the said Rectory . His Lordship Answered , That he had been in Possession , as Tenant of the Crown thirty five years , of a Rectory and certain Tythes in the County of Tiperany , for which he paid a yearly Rent ; and having enjoyed it so long , my Lord presented to it Arthur Gwyn , that had been his Coach-mans Groom . That when he heard of it , he went to my Lord privately , and told his Lordship , that he was His Majesties Farmer of those Tythes , and paid a Rent ; and desired he might not be sued for them in the Council-Chamber : but if a Suit must be ommenced , that it might be in the proper Court , the Exchequer . That my Lord told him , he should Answer it there : That he did so , and my Lord ordered it against him ; That a Commission went down , and Examinations were taken : And after my Lord had ordered it against him , an Order of course was set down , that Gwyn should have them till I recovered them by course of Law. That thereupon , I brought an Action against him , and his Tenants , who were Arrested , and came to Dublin ; and then went to my Lord , and Dr. Bramhill , Bishop of Derry . That thereupon I was sent for before my Lord Lieutenant that then was ; and my Lord Lieutenant told me , Sir , You have taken out Writs against Gwyn , to whom I Ordered the Tythes of the Rectory . I confest I had , and desired to know why he aked me so ; adding , that I am sure your Lordship will not take away my Possession , by a Paper Bill , without Trial. That my Lord of Strafford answered , call in your Writs , or if you will not , I will clap you in the Castle ; For I tell you , I will not have my Orders disputed by Law , nor Lawyers . Gwyn was a poor man , and if he should get the Rents of the Impropriation into his hands , I could not get them again : And therefore I desired security , That if by course of Law I should recover it , I might have it again ; That my Lord of Strafford thereupon said , It was very fit and just ; but the Order being brought unto me , I said there was no such thing in the Order . Being desired by the Earl of Strafford to repeat the last over again , I say , that I told the Lieutenant , that I did hold , the Council-Chamber could not hold Plea of this , and thereupon cited 28 H. 6. the Book of Orders , the Proclamation . Then I moved his Lordship , that in regard Gwyn was a poor man , and not answerable , and might get the Rents , being near 100 marks a year , he might give security for the Rents , if I should recover them by course of Law ; That my Lord of Strafford thought it just it should be so entred in the Order . And being asked how that came to be left out , He Answered , That Sir Paul Davis , the Clerk of the Council , told him , my Lord of Strafford found fault with it , and struck it out with his own hand . Being asked what words he heard from my Lord of Strafford , concerning the said Order at Council-Board , in King Iames his time : He Answered , That there was a Parsonage in the County of Kerry , in his Presentment , and it fell void ; the Dean , and some others , commended one Atkinson to be his Vicar , That on their Commendation , not knowing him himself , he presented him , without any consideration . That Atkinson afterwards fell into decay , and was Imprisoned ; and the Prison being very loathsome , the Bishop wrote unto him , this Deponent , and sent him a Lease , under the Hand and Seal of him the said Bishop , and the Incumbent , with a Label for his the Deponents hand , and desired him to seal it for 40 s. a year to another , that Atkinson might pay his Debts , and stock himself with Cattle ; That he the Deponent , refused it , though brought 50 miles from his House , fearing it might be prejudicial to the next Clerk. That the Bishop sent Atkinson's Wife back over the Mountains with his Letter , and the Lease ; and he the Earl of Corke , did sign it then ; For , seeing the misery of the poor Woman , and her Children , he thought it a work of Charity ; and it continued so till my Lord of Strafford came to the Government . That then he had a Bill preferred against him in the Star-Chamber , for breaking an Act of State , That none should make a Lease for longer than the Incumbents life , and desired that the Bill should be read , in all the Proceedings of it ; That thereupon he told the Earl of Strafford , it was a work of Charity , and he never heard of such an Act of State , being not published , and made in King Iames his time , and in the Lord Grandisons Government , who are both dead : And therefore he conceived , there was no cause to charge , or prosecute him for it , being but an Act of State. That my Lord of Strafford Answered , I tell you , my Lord , as Great as you are , I will make you , and all the Subjects of Ireland know , That any Act of State made , or to be made , shall be as binding to you , and the Subjects of Ireland , during my Government , as an Act of Parliament . Being asked on my Lord of Straffords motion , whether the Order made in the Case of Gwyn , was not made by the major part of the Votes of the Board : He Answered , That he did say that it was Voted at the Council-Table , but he knows not whether it were done by the major part ; and afterwards ( with a lower voice ) His Lordship added , that he thinks it was never Voted . Iohn Waldron Sworn ; was examined touching the words my Lord of Strafford was charged to say , touching an Act of State , being equal to an Act of Parliament ; and the occasion : He Answered , It was his chance to be at Council-Table , when a Cause , depending between the Merchants of Galloway , and some others , that prosecuted the business in behalf of the Church , about a Lease made by the Dean of Derry ; which was debated at the Council-Board . And there was one Mr. Martin of Council for the Merchants , and he pressing hard for his Clients ; It pleased my Lord to think he had over-shot himself , or was too forward ; and asked what he had to say , that he prest that Cause so hard ; That Mr. Martin Answered him , He had an Act of Parliament , or Statute , or to that purpose . That my Lord of Strafford Replied again , Sir , I will make you know , That an Act of this Board shall be as good as any Act , or Statute , or words to that effect . Iohn Kay , after some Exceptions taken by the Earl of Strafford against him , as no fit Witness in respect of his prosecuting a Suit against his Lordship , for the Lady Hibbotts , which was Over-ruled by their Lordships , was sworn , and being asked touching the said words to be spoken by the Earl of Strafford , and the occasion and the time . He Answered , That he was present at Council-Table by chance , when there was a Cause , wherein Mr. Martin pleading for his Clients : My Lord-Deputy then asked him , What made him so earnest for it ; He said , He had an Act of Parliament , or Statute , to justifie his Cause . Hereupon my Lord-Deputy Answered , He should know , that as long as Himself sate in that Place , An Act of State should be as strong as an Act of Parliament , or words to that effect . Being asked of the time . He Answered , He doth not remember the time , but it was three years and upwards . It was before Iuly 1637. but the Day and Year he remembers not ; but it was in the Case where Mr. Martin was Council . My Lord Corke being asked about the time , he said , It was in 1635. about February . Mr. Waldron being asked , Whether it was in a Church-Cause . Answered , My Lord-Deputy made an Offer , That if they would take a Lease for 21 years , at full value , they should have it . But if they would stand on the Trial of the Lease , they must take the adventure . And Mr. Hoy being asked , Whether it was a Church-Cause . He Answered , He conceived the Church was Interested in it . Lord Kill mallock asked , Whether he heard my Lord Strafford say , An Act of Council should be as Valid as an Act of Parliament , when , on what occasion , and to what scope . He Answered , That he was at Council-Table some four or five years ago , and there did hear my Lord of Strafford say to one of the Council ( he cannot say it was Mr. Martin ) He would have him know , as long as himself was Governor , An Act of State should be as binding as an Act of Parliament ; on what occasion he cannot say . He further said , That in the 10th Year of the King , in the Parliament held in Ireland , he heard Sir George Ratcliffe ( my Lord of Strafford's Eccho ) in that House , say , On occasion of a Bill that was cast out in that House , making it Felony for any to have Powder without Licence . It is all one , he would have an Act of State for it , which should be as binding as an Act of Parliament . Sir Pierce Crosby was asked , Whether he heard my Lord of Strafford at another time say , An Act of Council should be as valid as an Act of Parliament , when , on what occasion , to what intent . He Answered , That he doth very well remember the words , the time not precisely ; but he was sure it was soon after my Lords coming into Ireland , and before the Parliament , and was the cause of the first Exception against him the said Sir Pierce Crosby , for he reasoned it with his Lordship , being at his own Table at Dinner , there being then present , and sitting next to him , a Member of this Honourable House , my Lord Castlehaven . There were likewise my Lord Osmond , and several others of the Council of Ireland . The words were these , That if he lived , He would make an Act of State to be of equal Power with an Act of Parliament . That he , the Deponent , thought his Lordship spoke it merrily , and answered him in the same kind , saying , My Lord , when you go about to do this , I will believe some body will rise , as an English Gentleman did in England , and desire a Clause of Exception , that it may not reach to himself , his Kindred and Friends . That my Lord of Strafford looked on him very earnestly , and said , He would take him , whosoever he was , and lay him by the heels . That this was in Parliament time : And he the Deponent would fain have qualified it ; but Parliament , or not Parliament ( says my Lord ) Ireland is a Conquer'd Nation , and the Conqueror should give the Law. That he the said Sir Pierce Crosby Replyed , My Lord , then , I beseech you , give me leave , I am one of those that must uphold an Act of State , by all lawful ways , having the Honour to be a Member of the Government , though unworthy . What will be alledged on the other part ? they will say an Act of Parliament attaints and restores Blood , and doth many things an Act of State cannot reach to , for it is confined within the limits of the Government . That my Lord having not to Reply to this , rose in some choller ; and told him , the Deponent , of something else he conceived he the Deponent had done amiss at Council-Board on a Statute that was in debate . And so the Manager concluded the Article with thus much more ; The Article , in the conclusion of it , charges him with scorning the Government and Laws . And it was desired their Lorships would take notice of what is proved out of these words , and the concurrent proof Yesterday . The Earl of Strafford begins his Defence , saying , First , I must stand upon the truth of my Answer , which must be good , till it be denied , so far as goes to matter of Misdemeanor . I have not had time to examine Witnesses , having not liberty till Friday last , which I urge by way of excuse , if my Answers give not full satisfaction . Here is an Order of the House of Commons there , whereby your Lordships may perceive how unlikely I am to have any thing from Ireland that may work to my Justification , which was read , and bears Date 25. February , 1640. Authorising those undernamed to go aboard any Ships , and seize , search , and break up all Trunks , Chests , and Cabins aboard . To seize on all Silver and Gold , except small Sums ; and all Debts , Evidences , and Writings as they shall think fit , of him the said Earl of Strafford . This his Lordship conceived to be a great Violation of the Peerage of the Kingdom . For making good of his Answer , his Lordship Alledged : That the Council-Board of Ireland is a Court of Record , which differs much from the Council-Board of England ; and that they proceed there by Bill , Answer , Examination , Publication , and all the formal courses of legal Proceedings . That my care to preserve the Authority of the Deputy and Council , is not a Subversion of the Laws : Only it directs it , and puts the execution of the Law another way . That for Reasons of State , it must be preserved , being the place of Resort for Protection and Defence of the English Planters , and Protestant Clergy . I shall produce and acknowledge the Instructions made 22 Iac. and I shall read part that bounds the Council-Board particulary mentioned in the Reply to the Third Charge . I desire a Book may be read , a Book in the hands of Mr. Denham , containing certain Answers given by the Lord Chichester , to certain Complaints made against that State , and written with Mr. Baron Denham's own hand , which on debate , was Resolved not to be read , being written only for a private Remembrance . I shall refer to my Lord Ranulagh's Deposition the other day , to satisfie your Lordships touching the Proceedings at Council Table . To prove the Council-Board to be a Court of Record . Robert Lord Dillom being asked , Whether before my Lord Strafford's time he had not known always , during his memory , the Deputy and Council in all causes of Plantation , and the Church , proceed by Petition , Answer , Examination of Witnesses , Publication , and Hearing , as in other Courts of Equity , and upon Oath . He Answered , That he remembers in my Lord Chichester's time of Government , it was the practise of the Board so to do : That he remembers it in my Lord Grandison's time ; that he had the Honour to be called to the Council-Board under my Lord Faulkland's Government , and knew it then . And it was in the Justices time that preceded my Lord Strafford's Government , To have Petitions , Examinations of Witnesses , Publication , a day of hearing granted , and all ordinary Proceedings . Being asked , Whether at that Board they have not been punished , who have disobeyed Proclamations , and Acts of State , before my Lord Strafford's time , and how long . He Answered , That out of his Observation , at Council-Table Acts of State were made , because of the scarcity of Parliaments , that they might be a Supplement to Acts of Parliament , that he hath known before ; and when he sate at the Board on contempts of these Acts of State , or Proclamations , which , he said , he had heard the Judges say to be a kind of Law of the Land , for the present ; the Parties were Attached , brought to the Board , and upon full Examination of the Cause , and Proof of the Contempt , sometimes Imprisoned , sometimes Fined , according to the Delinquency and Degree of the Offence supposed to be committed . Being asked of Fines in Cases between Party and Party . He Answered , That he doth not remember any Fine imposed in a special Cause betwixt Party and Party . Sir Adam Loftus being asked to the same purpose . He Answered , It hath ever been , since his remembrance , the constant Practise there , in Causes of the Church and Plantation , to proceed on Petition , Answer , &c. and Fines imposed on Breakers of Publick Acts of State and Proclamations . But he remembers not any Fines for Contempts , in case of particular and private Interest . We shall admit it to have Cognizance of matters of Plantation and Church , and such as are recommended from the King to the Council here . But not to be a Court of Record . From these Proofs , I infer , That the Council-Board there hath another Constitution then here , where it is only a Court of State. I shall produce the Order made in my Lord of Corke's Case , which I observe to be in the Case of the Church , and so within the Cognizance of Deputy and Council . The Order was read , being signed by Sir Paul Davis , and acknowledged by my Lord of Corke to be Sir Paul Davis's hand . Upon reading whereof , my Lord of Strafford observed , That it appears to be a Church-Cause , That the Order was just , and that the Clause for the Plaintiffs giving of Security to answer the mean Profits , which my Lord of Corke said was struck out of the Order , and for my Lord of Corke's liberty to bring his Action at Law , only he was limited to prosecute it within a year . Mr. Leake was produced by my Lord of Strafford , and being asked what Authority he hath known the Council-Board in Ireland to exercise , both before my Lord of Strafford's coming thither , and since , in Causes of the Church and Plantation , and concerning Contempts to Proclamations , and Acts of State , and what Countryman he is . He Answered , That his name is Leake of Leake , in the County of Nottingham , where , he said , his Family hath continued 400 years : That it is 14 years since he went into Ireland , and before this Lords-Deputies time ; and before that time he did not observe any restraint from Injunctions on the Council-Board , till the Instructions published , and they did stay them . That they proceeded by Injunction , Process , Bill , Answer , Examination , and other Courses , as in the Chancery of England . And since the same course hath been held . And my Lord of Strafford hath had in the Castle-Chamber divers Causes of Law argued before him concerning the Church , wherein one Chadwick and divers others were convented thirty times , when he the Examinant was there and heard them twenty he is sure , but he thinks thirty . But my Lord of Strafford did forbear to give Sentence , till he heard these Causes argued : That 14 years he hath been very well versed in that Kingdom , that he hath known Injunctions have gone out from thence to stay Proceedings in Causes , where they have Power of Jurisdiction , that he hath known my Lord Chancellor Loftus that was , to grant an Injunction without Bill , and before any Complaint depended before him , and that he himself had the Injunction granted . Being asked about the time of his going into Ireland . He said he went betwixt 1627. and 1628. Whence observe , that the Witness hath made an Observation of the Instructions five years before he came into Ireland . Being asked some other questions touching the occasion of his going into Ireland , and how he came to take notice of the Proceedings there . He Answered , He hath been there at several times , to pursue some Tenants of his that fled into Ireland ; and by reason of the Suits and Petitions he prosecuted in his own Right , he had occasion to enquire after Proceedings there , having been there for the most part of 14 years . To the Statute of 28 H. 6. which the Commons have pressed as a Rule for the re●ing of Causes to their proper Courts , and to annihilate all these Proceedings before the Deputy and Council ; and before the Deputy alone in his particular Jurisdiction , in the nature of a Court of Requests in England . I reserve my self to have my Council give satisfaction therein : Only desire your Lordships to observe the last Clause , saving the King's Prerogative . These Proceedings are not against Magna Charta , they being according to the Laws and Customs of the Land ; though it be not the Custom of England . And if he hath been an Innovator , it hath been to conform Ireland by all ways he could in Religion and Laws , to the better and more excellent Pattern of England . To the Objection made against Mr. Gwyn , he is altogether unknown to me , only was recommended to me , and here is a Certificate that Gwyn is Master of Arts ; but that was not read , nor insisted on . To the matter of words Charged upon him . He Answered , That words without Fact can be no matter of Treason , though of a higher nature then these . That words are to be charged within a limited time . 1 E. 6. Ca. 12. whereby it is provided , That none shall be Impeached concerning Treason for words only , if the party , being within the Realm , be not accused within thirty days : If out of the Realm , within six months , &c. Which Proviso his Lordship read , and reserved to his Council farther to apply it . For the words spoken to my Lord of Corke , That neither Law nor Lawyers should dispute my Orders . I conceive I might justifie the speaking of them , if the Orders , and Acts of State be justly warrantable , and honourably made . Yet it is improbable I should speak the words , when the Order refers it self to Law. If they were spoken , they are at the highest indiscreet and foolish ; and it is a heavy thing to punish me for not being wiser than God Almighty hath made me . For the last words , That I would make the said Earl and all Ireland know , That so long as I had Government there , An Act of State made , or to be made , should be as binding as an Act of Parliament . I observe my Lord of Corke's quick memory , that could swear them roundly , without missing a letter or sillable as they are laid in the Charge . That these words are only in the Charge , and so only to be answered to . And for Answer , I say , That in case of an Act done , they may be brought collaterally , as an inducement , to prove the intention . But the Act must be proved , before they can touch me as of Treason . My Lord of Corke is a single Witness , and by a Proviso , 1 E. 6 Ca. 12. no person , after the first of February then following , is to be Arraigned , &c. of Treason , &c. for any words to be spoken after the said first of February , unless the Offendor be accused by two sufficient Witnesses , or should , without violence , confess them . To the words spoken of by the other Witnesses being the same in effect , I am not to answer , being extrajudicially proved , and spoken in other places and times than I am Charged withall . Yet I think they might be fairly interpreted : For if an Act of State be not made against an Act of Parliament , or a Fundamental Law of the Land , but consistent with it , and made by way of provision for remedying some present Mischief in the Common-wealth , till the Parliament may provide Redress for it . They are as binding during the time they are in force , as an Act of Parliament ( though I confess , the Comparison is not good ) because they be made according to Law and Justice ; according to the Fundamental Laws of the Land , wherein the Prerogative of the Crown hath a part , as well as the Property of the Subject : For if the Propriety of the Subject , as it is , ( and God forbid but it should continue ) be the second , undoubtedly the Prerogative of the Crown is the first Table of that Fundamental Law , and hath something more imprinted upon it : For if it hath a divinity imprinted upon it , it is God's Annointed ; It is he that gives the Powers . And Kings are as Gods on Earth , higher Prerogatives than can be said , or found to be spoken of the Propriety or Liberty of the Subject ; and yet they go on hand in hand , and long may they do so , long may they go in that Agreement and Harmony , which they should have done hitherto , and I trust shall be to the last , not rising one above another in any kind , but kept in their own wonted Channels . For if they rise above these heights , the one or the other , they tear the Banks , and overflow the fair Meads equally on one side and other . And therefore I do , and did allow , and ever shall , for my part , desire they may be kept at that Agreement and perfect Harmony one with another , that they may each watch for , and not any way watch over the other . And therefore this being a Care of the Prerogative , as long as it goes not against the Common Law of the Land , it is the Law of the Land , and binds , as long as it transgresses not the Fundamental Law of the Land , being made provisionally for preventing of a Temporary Mischief , before an Act of Parliament can give a Remedy . And this Condition must be implyed , That it must be binding , provided it be according to the Law of the Land. I instance in that Exception that King Iames would take , when a man saies he will do a thing as far as he may with Conscience and Honour ; because in Persons of Conscience and Honour , those words are always implied . That the Wisdom of our Ancestors hath prevented this Mischief ; That for a mis-word , a Peer of England should lose his Priviledge , being as great as any Subjects that live under a King , that is not a free Prince of the Empire . And the Preamble of a Statute in Queen Elizabeths time , the very bent whereof is to take away the dawning of words , without any further Act ; which Preamble was read to their Lordships . And so I conclude , the words were unwisely spoken , because they may be brought to a hard sense , but not Criminal , for none of them swear any thing done in breach of the Law. I except against my Lord Kilmallock's swearing Sir George Ratcliffe to be my Eccho , as if he knew my thoughts ; and against Mr. Hoy , as a party concerned in Interest , though not in name , in a Suit that is or will be brought against me before your Lordships come to the end of the Charge . I confess Mr. Waldron's Testimony makes me stagger , being the only person could make me believe I said the words . I except against Sir Pierce Crosbies Testimony , having been formerly Sentenced in Star-Chamber , and I know what Sir Pierce Crosby swore there , and that I never Communed with him so far , as to have such a Discourse , as is mentioned , in all my life . To the Suit in the Castle-Chamber against the Earl of Corke , on pretence of breaking an Order of Council-Table . I conceive it had relation to an Order made in King Iames his time , 20. March , 11 Iac. which I desire may be read , ( being now produced ) as also the Information there exhibited , that so I may justifie my Answer in that point of it ; That the Suit was not upon that Act alone , but for other matters also ; but that was admitted by the Committee . And so the reading of them was waved . To that Point of Mr. Waldron's Testimony , touching the offering of a Lease to the Person concerned , rendring the half value : I conceive this Circumstance qualifies the words , it being according to Law. To demonstrate which , the Statue was read . That no Lease shall be granted , upon which less is reserved to the Lessor ( during 21 years ) then the moiety of the Lands value . And so his Lordship concluded his Defence , and the Manager made Reply in substance as followeth . That this Article proves my Lord of Strafford's Intention to subvert the Laws . That the long time spent in maintaining the Jurisdiction of the Council-Board , is the least part of the Article . That though these words singly , be admitted not to be Treason , yet several words and actions must prove the general Charge , of his endeavouring to subvert the Laws . To the several Provisoes in that Act of Parliament , mentioned by my Lord of Strafford , concerning words , we observe , That the words Charged are only matter of Evidence , to his general Intention , of subverting the Laws . And whereas he says they are not charged in time , the Commons bring this as done long ago , and continuing to this day , if he were not prevented ; so they take him Flagrante Crimine . To the Practise of the Council-Table before his time , his Witnesses have proved their proceedings in Cases of the Church and Plantations . But in other Cases we deny it , for it is contrary to Law. That admitting the extent given by the Instructions to Church-Causes ( though the Proclamation hath no such exception . ) Yet it comes not to the Case of my Lord of Cork , who claimed the thing in question as a Lay-Impropriation ; derived to the Crown , by the Statute of Dissolution . That my Lord of Strafford makes this Government Arbitrary , in threatening the Earl of Cork , to lay him by the heels , if he went to Law , whereas the Order gave him liberty . That the Original Order in my Lord of Corke's Cause was drawn , with these words put out , concerning Gwyn's giving Security , and that justifies my Lord of Cork's Testimony . That notwithstanding my Lord of Strafford's justification of his words , That neither Law nor Lawyers should question his Orders . This is to assume an Arbitrary Power ; for if his Orders be legal , the Law must justifie them , if not , question them . That the words , Of making an Act of State equal to an Act of Parliament , are proved by my Lord of Corke ; and those spoken are a confirmation of those before , and expresly within the Article . The latter point thereof recites , that he spake the words at other times . This altogether justifie my Lord of Corke's Testimony , though a single Witness , and prove that my Lord of Strafford hath made it a habit to speak such words . That they have one Witness more , and that is my Lord of Strafford himself , who says , He never spake any thing but truth ; and said , That he would make an Act of State equal to an Act of Parliament . We desire , that for the taking off the Aspersion cast on Sir Pierce Crosby , my Lord of Castlehaven may be examined , touching the words alledged to be spoken in his presence . The Earl of Castlehaven being sworn and examined touching the said words , Answered , That it is a business past long ago ; and but a Table-discourse , and he took not much notice of the Circumstances : But as he remembers , there fell a difference between my Lord of Strafford , and Sir Pierce Crosby , within three or four months after my Lords coming over ; and that as well as he can remember , my Lord of Strafford did say , That an Act of State was equal to an Act of Parliament ; but he remembers not the occasion . That the Justice of the Order in my Lord of Corke's Cause , is not material , or whether within the Jurisdiction of the Council-Table , the Charge being , That upon such an Order made , my Lord of Strafford threatned the Earl of Corke for Suing at Law. That the Justification brought by my Lord of Strafford , is an Aggravation , restraining Liberty to Sue at Law , to a year , else to be concluded for ever . Whereas my Lord of Strafford says , he hath spoken unwisely , but done nothing ; sure he that Threatens doth something ; and his Actions will appear in the next Articles . For the Priviledge of Peerage , It were to be wished he had known , or remembred it sooner , in my Lord Mountnorris his Case . That though he says , Acts of State are to be allowed for temporary provision , till an Act of Parliament , yet when things are propounded , and rejected in Parliament , shall he supply it by an Act of State. We desire to examine one Witness more . The Earl of Strafford excepting against it , as not regular , the Lords Adjourned to their House , to take consideration of it . And a little after , returning , the Lord Steward declared their Lordships Resolution , That the Witness might be examined ; The matter in question , arising from what was offered from the Earl of Straffords Defence . Roger Lotts Sworn , and examined , what words my Lord of Strafford gave out , when an Act for Powder would not pass in the Commons House ; and what Act of State was thereupon made . He Answered , That he had the Honour to be one of the Members of that Parliament that began 1634. and ended April 1635. That at the Close of that Parliament , my Lord of Strafford then Lord Deputy , told the House of Commons , then sent for up , That they had Voted against some Bills in the lower House , amongst the rest , that of Gun-powder ; where it was made Felony for any man to buy , or have any , unless he got a License first for it : That my Lord afterwards told them , That notwithstanding they had Voted against it , yet he would make that , and some other Bills they had Voted against , Acts of State , that should be as good ; and said , he heard it was done afterwards , but he doth not know that . This Witness is something of Justification of my Lord of Corke's Testimony ; against which , my Lord of Strafford hath made some Exception . And the Lord Digby added something for the Justification of my Lord of Killmallocks Testimony ; against which , my Lord of Strafford had likewise excepted . And so the Reply was concluded . To the Deposition of Roger Lotts , my Lord of Strafford Answered , I had received direction concerning Powder ; it being not conceived fit , for Reasons of State , to buy , and have Powder at pleasure , or that that Commodity should be so frequently brought into the Kingdom , and committed to unsafe hands ; so in that point , I did but what I was commanded out of many Reasons ; which I desire I may forbear to express , it not conducing to my Acquittal or Condemnation . And so the Lords Adjourned . The Sixth day . Saturday , March 27. 1641. THE Fifth Article . The Charge . That according to such his Declarations and Spéeches , the said Earl of Strafford did use and exercise a Power above , and against , and to the Subversion of the said Fundamental Laws , and Established Government of the said Realm of Ireland , extending such his Power , to the Goods , Freé-holds , Inheritances , Liberties , and Lives of his Majesties Subjects of the said Realm ; and namely , the said Earl of Strafford , the Twelfth day of December , Anno Domini 1635. in the time of full Peace , did in the said Realm of Ireland , give , and procure to be given , against the Lord Mountnorris ( then , and yet a Peér of the said Realm of Ireland , and then Uice-Treasurer , and Receiver-general of the Realm of Ireland , and Treasurer at War , and one of the Principal Secretaries of State , and Kéeper of the Privy Signet of the said Kingdom ) a Sentence of death by a Council of War , called together by the said Earl of Strafford , without any Warrant , or Authority of Law , or Offence deserving any such punishment . And he the said Earl , did also at Dublin , within the said Realm of Ireland , in the month of March , in the Fourtéenth year of his Majesties Reign , without any Legal or due Procéedings , or Trial , give , and cause to be given , a Sentence of Death against one other of his Majesties Subjects , whose name is yet unknown ; and caused him to be put to Death in Execution of the same Sentence . THe Manager began to open this Article , shewing , That though my Lord of Strafford insisted on it , That whatever his words were , his Actions were not against Law. This Article comes properly to reply to that Answer , It charging him with exercising of a Tyrannical Power over the Person of a Peer of that Realm . And first , It was desired that the Sentence of Death against my Lord Mountnorris , might be read , which was attested on Oath , to be that which was delivered by Mr. Secretary Windebanck , upon the Commons humble Suit to His Majesty , for His leave , to have a Copy thereof , That the Papers concerning my Lord Mountnorris , might be delivered into the House , occasioned upon my Lord Mountnorris his Petition to the House in that behalf . The Sentence was read . Reciting first , His Majesties Letter , Iuly 21. then last , wherein notice is taken of the Respect due to the Deputy and General of His Majesties Army ; and of the Carriage of my Lord Mountnorris , holding a Captains place in the Army ; in uttering Speeches , inciting a Revenge on the Earl of Strafford , Lord Deputy , and Lord General ; and Command thereby given , on receipt thereof , to call a Councel of War ; and that the Lord Mountnorris should undergo such censure , as the said Councel of War should impose , for the Lord Deputies full reparation . Secondly , That a Councel of War was accordingly called ; the words are also set forth , and the occasion , as followeth , That within three or or four days after the Lord Deputy had Dissolved the Parliament , his Lordship sitting in the Presence Chamber , one of his Servants , in moving a Stool , happened to hurt the Lord Deputies Foot , then indisposed , through an accession of the Gout , which being spoken of at the Lord Chancellors Table , one said to the Lord Mountnorris , being there present , it was Your Lordships Kinsman , who is one of the Lord Deputies Gentlemen Ushers , that did it . Whereupon , the Lord Mountnorris publickly , and in a scornful and contemptuous manner , answered , Perhaps it was done in Revenge of that publick Affront that my Lord Deputy did me formerly . But I have a Brother that would not have taken such a Revenge . Thirdly , The Sentence likewise sets forth , That the Lord Mountnorris would not Answer the said Charge negatively or affirmatively , though required by the Councel of War. Fourthly , That thereupon , the Witnesses , for proof thereof , were called , viz. Viscount Moore , and Sir Robert Loftus , who upon Oath deposed the same words , to be so then , and there spoken ; and the Lord Mountnorris at last , submitted himself to the Councel , protesting , that whatsoever interpretation might be put upon his words , he intended no hurt to the person of his said Lordship ; and affirmed , That he would dye before he would give the Deputy and General occasion to give him such a Rebuke . Fifthly , That for the nature of the offence , It was conceived to contain a Calumny to the Lord Deputy and General , insinuating the affront pretended , in these words of my Lord Mountnorris's , to be given to the said Kinsman , and an Incitement to Revenge ; and that if the words had been spoken of the Person of the King , it had amounted to High Treason ; which by some rules of Proportion , might be applyed to His Deputy . Sixthly , That the words were spoken when the Lord Deputy had the Honour to be Apparelled with his own Robes of Majesty and Soveraignty ; when part of the Army was in motion , and the Lord Deputy and General present . Seventhly , That the words were adjudged an apparent breach of the 21st Article of the Printed Orders , and Laws for War , dated the 13th of March , 1633. whereby it is Ordered , that no man shall give any disgraceful words of any person in the Army , upon pain of Imprisonment , publick Disarming , &c. And also of the 13th Article , That no man-shall offer Violence or Contempt to his Commander , or do any act , or speak any words , to breed mutiny in the Army , or Impeach the obeying of the principal Officer , upon pain of death . Eighthly , That according to the said Articles , the Counsel do unanimously , with one joynt consent , ( not one of us of another Opinion ) adjudge the said Lord Mountnorris , for his high and great Offence , to be Imprisoned , to stand from henceforth deprived of all his Places , and Entertainments due , which he holds in the Army . To be Disarmed , to be banished the Army , and disabled from ever bearing Office. And lastly , to be Shot to death , or lose his Head at the pleasure of the General . Given at His Majesties Castle at Dublin , December 12. 1635. Valentia Cromwell . This Sentence of Death against a Peer , was pronounced by Martial Law , against the fundamental Rules of Law , without Trial , Answer , or Hearing ; That though my Lord of Strafford owns it not , yet he made relation of the Injury to His Majesty : His Majesty did justly direct , that my Lord of Strafford should have just reparation . That my Lord of Strafford produceth the Witnesses , refused to let my Lord Mountnorris Answer , though he demanded the benefit of the Law ; owns it in his own Person , for he said , ( treading on our Foot ) and an Injury done to us . And whereas some would have mitigated it , and found him guilty of the first Article , He himself pronounceth it , both or none . The whole proceeding was but half an hour ; no notice was given before-hand , and my Lord Mountnorris checked , for desiring to cross-examine . My Lord Mountnorris produced as a Witness ; some Exceptions were taken against him by my Lord of Strafford , but were over-ruled . His Lordship being Sworn , and being directed to declare the whole truth in this business , Answered as followeth : Upon the 11th of December , 1635. I was warned by a Pursevant , late at Evening , to attend my Lord Deputy in the Council-Chamber , at a Council of War next morning , by Eight of the Clock . Coming thither accordingly , I found many of the Council , and Captains of the Army ; and having conferred with several of the chief of them , and with my Lord Valentia Cromwell , and others , they said , they knew not for what that Council of War was summoned ; after a whiles stay , my Lord Deputy came into the Room , and sat down at the Boards end , and commanded the rest to sit down ; where my self , that had the Honour to be His Majesties Vice-Treasurer , by His Grace and Goodness , sate in my place : After all were set , my Lord Deputy exprest , he had called that Court to do himself Right and Reparation against my Lord Mountnorris . At those words , I rose up from my place , and humbly presented my self at the Boards end , as the manner is , near his Lordship ; who making some Speech , about words uttered by me shortly after the preceding Parliament , which was April 18. 1635. and the words spoken within three or four days after , took a Paper in his hand , and out of that , read the words wherewith he charged me ; to the effect , I conceive , as they are mentioned in the Sentence . After his Lordship had read them , he demanded of me , whether I would confess them , or deny them . I did humbly desire , I might have the Charge in writing , that I might Answer it by advice of Learned Counsel , the words being charged to be spoken long before , and it was hard to Answer them suddenly . His Lordship Answered , That was not the course of a Martial Court , I must Answer directly . I did several times desire I might have the Charge in writing ; and my Lord of Strafford answered in the same kind , That I must Answer , whether I would confess , or deny them . Two or Three of the Counsel of War spoke something also to that purpose ; as I remember , the Lord Cromwell for one , and Sir Ch. Coote , and Sir Iohn Burlacy ; who intimated , that the manner was , I must confess them , or deny them . Standing a while silent , my Lord Deputy said , He thought they must proceed against me as a Mute ; for he will not Answer , and therefore they must take them for granted . I said over again what I had said before , and desired I might have my Charge in writing ; and that I might have Advice of Counsel , that I might be used as a Peer of the Realm , and an Officer of the Crown ; and still his Lordship denied , That must not be , It was not the Order of a Martial Court. I replyed , and told the Lord Deputy , I had seen it otherwise in a Martial Court in England , between my Lord Reas and Ramzie , where the Cause was debated by the Advocates in writing . The Lord Deputy told me again , That must not be , I must Answer directly ; and hereupon , the Lord Deputy caused His Majesties Letter , dated the last of Iuly , to be read ; and when that was read , required me to make Answer : I confess , I was amazed at hearing of this Letter , and was much grieved ; and with Humility and Grief , expressed on my Knees what Sorrow it had wrought on me ; and that I had never willingly Offended His Majesty , or His Laws : And declared , that I had been mis-represented to His Majesty , and those Letters were got by mis-information ; and humbly desired a Copy of those Letters , and the Charge , that I might Answer by writing ; and that His Majesty might know my Answer before further Proceedings . His Lordship upon that , rebuked me with worse Language than was fit to be used to a meaner man , and not a Peer , that desired but Law and Justice . The Lord Deputy told me , I was not mis-represented to His Majesty ; for himself had represented me , and that matter , to His Majesty ; and he did not use to mis-represent any thing : And then directly required me , whether I would confess them , or deny them . If not , he would prove them on Oath ; and thereupon my Lord Deputy called for my Lord Moore , sitting at Board with him , and required him to give his Testimony ; who had an Oath given him by the Lord Deputies command , by the Clerk of the Council ; and referred himself to what he and Sir Robert Loftus had long before put under their hands : Thereupon the Lord Deputy gave that Paper to the Clerk of the Council to read ; which was the Paper the Lord Deputy held in his hand , and out of which he had read the Charge : And that being shewed to my Lord Moore , he said , to his best remembrance those were the words spoken . Sir Robert Loftus was also called in , and he being required to give his Testimony , referred himself to that which he and my Lord Moore had put under their hands ; and being shewed him , with his hand to it , he affirmed it . Then my Lord Deputy asked me , what I could now say , since the words were proved to my face : I humbly told his Lordship , and made solemn protestation , and offered to take my Oath , That I did never speak the words , as I was able to prove by several Witnesses ; and desired , That the Lord Chancellor ( at whose Table they were spoken ) and Judge Martial of the Kingdom , then in Town , might be summoned to give his Testimony for truth , and Sir Adam Loftus his Son , and near twenty others ; and desired they might be examined in the Cause ; and that I was well able to prove , that the words charged to be spoken by me , were not spoken by me , but by others , as to that part that concerns the Affront ; but his Lordship refused me to have any examined . Being asked , whether all the Army was then on the march , as my Lord of Strafford had said in his Answer . He Answered , There was at that time three , or four , or five Companies , I am not able to say how many . When my Witnesses were refused , and I had made my protestation , that I had not spoken them , and was ready to prove it , ( my Lord Deputy Answered , That he knew my Oathes and Protestations well enough ) I took Exception to the Testimony of the Lord Moore , and Sir Robert Loftus , as I might in a Legal way . But my Lord Deputy rebuked me , and spoke in commendation of them ; and bid my Lord Moore sit down now , and be one of my Judges : And thereupon commanded me to withdraw , which I did , and went out into a Gallery by , where I stayed about the space of half an hour , I think not more , I am sure not an hour ; and was then called in , and at the beginning , was required to Kneel as a Delinquent ; which I conceived I was not , having endeavoured always to shew my self a faithful Officer . Then my Lord Deputy commanded Sir Charles Coote to pronounce the Sentence , as Provost Martial of Connaught ; which he did briefly , in effect as in the Sentence : And my Lord Deputy took occasion to make a Speech , and told me invectively enough , ( amongst other things ) there remained no more now , if he pleased , but to cause the Provost Martial to do Execution . But withall added , That for matter of Life , he would supplicate His Majesty . And I think he said , he would rather lose his Hand , than I should lose my Head ; which I took to be the highest scorn , to compare his the Lord Deputies Hand , with my Head : I said , I never did , and hoped I never should , endanger my Head by Offending His Majesties Laws . I was hereupon commanded to be taken to Prison , by the Constable of the Castle , who took me thence away ; what past in the time of my absence , I knew not ; but the Articles I was charged with breach of , were not declared , nor I urged to Answer ; if I had , I could have Answered , I knew of no such Articles , nor ever saw them , till Iune 1636. published by his own Authority ; and made in time of War : And though made for regulating of the Army , yet were never put in practice ; And on a Conference with some of the Council of War , I was informed , they differed in Opinion amongst themselves ; and some moved , both the Articles might not be pressed ; And his Lordship Answered , he would have both or none . Being asked on my Lord of Straffords motion , how long after the Sentence given , he remained a Prisoner in the Castle : I was Committed the 12th , and remained until the 18th , and was not released by any Favour of my Lord Deputy , but on a Certificate of the Physitians ; and that not admitted but upon Oath , That I was in peril of my Life ; and a Petition drawn by them that had more care of my Health than my self , being so afflicted in body and mind , with the high Injustice and Oppression I had , that I was extreamly ill ; and was then remitted on Security , given by the Chief Justice in 2000 l. Bond , to be a Prisoner . Being asked on the Committees behalf , whether he was not taken to Prison again ; and how long he continued in Prison for this Cause . I continued at my House , and was very ill ; and after that several times , was called to the Council-Table by my Lord Deputy ; and an Information exhibited in the Star-Chamber for pretended Crimes , which I shall ever desire to Answer in any publick Legal Judicature , rather than live . And I was imprisoned again the 11th of April ; being sent for to my House , and found with my Counsel about me , preparing my Answer in the best manner I could ; and the Advice was , I should demurr to that Information , because I stood under the Sentence of death : I was carried by the Constable to the Castle , and brought before my Lord Deputy ; and the said 11th of April 1636. was committed close Prisoner ; and there continued till the second of May : And I knew no other cause , but that I had ( as he said ) neglected the Kings Grace ; and had sent my Wife into England , and transgressed a Proclamation . To which I answered , I had not transgressed it ; that my Wife was full of Grief at my Calamities : and I had sent her to save my Life . Then my Lord Deputy told me , that I had refused the Kings Grace offered me , in not accepting his Pardon ; which I thought not Legal for me to take : And thereupon Committed me . Being asked on the Lord Lieutenants motion , whether the Council were not present ; He Answered , Some of the Council were present ; but my Lord Committed me , the Council not speaking a word . Being asked again about the time of his Commitment ; I was first Committed the 12th of December , let go the 18th to my House ; Committed again the 11th of April , put out the second of May : I was then in great Extremity , and admitted to my House again ; where I lay in a long continuing sickness , and under the hands of Physitians : And the 30th of Ianuary afterwards , because I sued not out the Pardon , was imprisoned again , and there continued till March 1637. The Lord Dillom was called , and after some exception taken by my Lord of Strafford , to the examining of him , because he might speak things that amount to an Accusation of himself , the same was over-ruled ; the Committee for the Commons declaring , that they would make no use against him , of any thing he should speak concerning himself . His Lordship was thereupon Sworn , and asked what my Lord of Straffords carriage was at the said Sentence , not accusing himself : He Answered , That he was present at the Council , on Summons to be there ; and the Council being set , as a Council of War , my Lord of Strafford did shew what they were called for ; and did set forth some Injuries he conceived done him by my Lord Mountnorris . Upon that my Lord Mountnorris was spoken to , and much interlocution there was , before he would say he did speak the words , or deny them ; and after much debate to and fro , the Witnesses were called in , my Lord Moore , and Sir Robert Loftus ; and they did testifie the words in the Charge , upon Oath ; much debate there was ; to call every particular to remembrance he cannot at this present , but as near as he can he will , that was before my Lord Mountnorris withdrew ; and after his withdrawing , and some Speeches to the Council of War , they came to Voting ; and in the Voting , there was never a man , to his remembrance , in giving his Vote on both Articles , but did profess he gave it in a confidence , that there should be Mercy extended to my Lord Mountnorris ; and with an Intercession , that he might find Mercy from His Majesty : And when the Votes were all past , my Lord of Strafford stretched forth his right Arm , and protested he had rather have his Arm cut off , or lose his right Arm , than my Lord Mountnorris should lose a hair of his Head , or a drop of his Blood , for that cause ; and that he would write to His Majesty , to supplicate Him for Mercy . Being asked on the Committees motion , whether my Lord of Strafford did not publish , he had acquainted His Majesty with it , and they were called together to give Reparation of some Injuries done to himself . He Answered , My Lord made a long Speech at that time , setting forth the Charge , and making mention of His Majesties Letter , and His Majesties Letter was read ; and he did understand by my Lord Deputy , it was to give Reparation ; but the particular words , on his Oath he doth not remember . Being asked , whether ( some of the Council moving they might proceed on the Article that did not extend to Life ) my Lord of Strafford did not reply , Nay both . He Answered , That he remembers very well it was proposed to the Council of War , that they were to judge on both Articles . And being asked by whom : He said , he will Ingeniously answer , he believes my Lord of Strafford did ; but specially to say , who , or in what manner , he cannot . Being asked , whether the Evidence given against my Lord Mountnorris , was not written in a Paper , drawn out by my Lord of Strafford ; and that the Witnesses referred to that wholly : He Answered , He did see a piece of Paper in my Lord of Straffords hand ; and believes it was some note for his remembrance , what it was , he knows not ; and when the Witnesses were brought in , there was a paper to which they had set their hands of the words spoken . Being asked other questions successively , touching the pressing of the Councels proceedings on the Article only , that touched not death ; and whether my Lord of Strafford wished them to proceed on both : He Answered , He remembers it not so prest on that occasion ; nor doth he remember whether such a Provision was made , That the Proceedings should be on the Article that touched not Life . Being asked , whether any beside my Lord of Strafford moved , they might proceed on both Articles . He Answered , He remembers in the debate , the manner of proceeding was spoken of ; and to his best remembrance , by the Discipline and Rule of the Army , it was said , he was to be proceeded against on both . Being asked on my Lord of Straffords motion , whether the Earl of Strafford did not in plain and direct terms say , He would not be a Judge in that Cause , nor give a Vote by any means : He Answered , He remembers he gave no Vote , and being more than five years since , the special words he doth not remember ; but in general , after he had set forth the Injuries done to himself , he profest , he would give no Vote , but left it to the Council . Being asked on the Lord of Straffords motion , whether he did not desire the Council of War , but to proceed as to any other Officer in the Army ; and what Sentence they should give , he would not take ill . He Answered , When my Lord Mountnorris was withdrawn he spake not a word , but did when he came in again : He doth not remember the words . Being asked whether the Army was not a great part of it in Dublin , and in motion , and daily exercised , when the words were spoken by my Lord Mountnorris . He Answered , He cannot tell precisely whether the most part was there ; but there was a part of the Army there , and they did exercise . Being asked on the motion of the Committee , whether the Sentence he approved so well of , he thanked them for it . He Answered , That he doth not remember any special words ; but he thinks , in Civility he would do it . Being further asked , whether , after my Lord Mountnorris was withdrawn , my Lord of Strafford did not continue in his place , and sit at the Table end amongst the Council . He Answered , I do really believe he did so . The Lord Strafford confessed he did , when the Votes were delivered ; but desired the Lord Dillom might be asked , whether he sate only as a party , not as a Judge ; and sate bare through the whole proceeding of the Cause . He Answered , He doth not remember it particularly , whether he sate bare all the while ; for it is long ago , and he did not heed it . The Lord Ranulagh being asked , whether he was present at the Lord Mountnorris his Sentence ; and whether my Lord Strafford declared , they were called together to give satisfaction for Injuries done him by my Lord Mountnorris . He Answered , That in this particular my Lord of Strafford was Nobly pleased to mention his tenderness of my Lord Dillom , least he should be his own accuser , He was pleased to mention something the other day , wherein he had tenderness of him ; That he shall be as little fearful to speak the truth in this Cause , as in that , having been required by their Lordships ; as presuming he hath done nothing but what he may justifie ; That for that particular question , he hath been heretofore examined in some particulars of it ; and shall now , with the best of his memory repeat , and offer to their Lordships , according to his weakness , every passage in it . That he was summoned to appear in the Council-Chamber ; and , as he takes it , it was December 12. 1635. That being there , my Lord sate in a Council of War , and he ( amongst others ) having the Honour to wait on him , my Lord Mountnorris's name being mentioned after he was set at the Board , arose , and stood as near my Lord Deputies Person , as was fit for him , towards the upper end of the Table : And there stood charged with several dis-respectful words spoken by him ; and the words mentioned in the Censure that was read , were the words ; That he was charged to have spoken those words in breach of certain Articles , by which the Army of Ireland was Governed , the 13th and the 41st , That there was much interlocution from my Lord Deputy to my Lord Mountnorris , and returned from my Lord Mountnorris to my Lord ; the substance was , That he was ready to give his Charge , That he had violated those Articles , That my Lord Mountnorris desired time to answer by Counsel ; and that he might have his Charge in writing . That being not readily granted , he insisted on it , That he might have time to prepare his Answer , but was told , it was contrary to the form of that proceeding ; But whether that Objection of the form , came from my Lord himself , or from some other Member of the Board that I heard before named , I cannot possibly say . But thus stands the state of it , my Lord Mountnorris neither confessing nor denying the Charge , my Lord Deputy replyed , Sir , If you do neither confess nor deny the Charge , how shall we proceed ? The Deputy called on the Lord Moore , and said , What shall we say to this business ? My Lord , saith the Lord Moore , what I can say , is under my Hand ; That a little time after , a Letter was read from the King , whereby His Majesty was pleased to give direction to proceed in a Martial Court , for Reparation and Honour of the Lord Deputy , on the Complaint and Information given to the King. That my Lord Mountnorris instantly fell on his Knees , expressing a great deal of Grief and Sorrow , and in truth Passion , and had not much to say for himself ; and soon after , was bid to withdraw ; and being withdrawn , my Lord Deputy said , That as he had complained to the King , so he would expect that Honour from the Board , That his Cause should be taken into consideration , and such Redress given as was fit ; He demanded Justice according to the Articles insisted on : And having declared it , there was a silence amongst us for some time ; That he was the first that brake that silence ; and in as humble manner and terms as he could light upon , did humbly desire my Lord Deputy to give him leave , to ask whether he would give leave to wave either of those Articles ; but my Lord said , he would demand Justice on both . That this being so , there was some Interlocution of discourse among the Council , and in truth he thinks , that he was one of the first that said , that these Articles , and the words , cannot bear so good a construction , but that there may be some danger of a breach upon these Articles . Being asked whether the words were not represented to the Council of War in a Paper written , and the Testimony given in pursuance of that Paper . He Answered , That as he remembers , my Lord Moore having made a return to my Lord Deputy , My Lord , What I can say , your Lordship hath under my hand ; he thinks my Lord Deputy said , My Lord , if you deny it , I have it under your hand to shew . And thereupon ( as he remembers ) the Clerk of the Council standing by , had direction to draw up some Interrogatories , which my Lord Moore did acknowledge ; and Sir Robert Loftus too did affirm , that they were spoken by my Lord Mountnorris , as much as was mentioned in the Paper . Being asked how many Companies of the Army were then in Town ; how many in a Company ; and whether they were exercised in a more than ordinary Training ; and how many Companies the Army consists of : He Answered , That he thinks the Horse-Troops were 40 , or 50 at the most ; some my Lords own . The Foot-Companies were 50. And of those Companies there were ( he takes it ) two Horse-Troops , besides my Lord 's own Troop , and four Foot-Companies ; they were called up to guard and attend our Occasions in Parliament , and they did their Duties as Souldiers every day , as indeed my Lord of Strafford was careful of well exercising the Army as any General he ever saw ; and there are forty Companies of the old standing Army . Being asked on my Lord of Straffords Motion , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not declare he would not give Judgment in the Cause , but Appeal to them as a Suitor for Reparation . He Answered , That my Lord of Strafford held them to the Point of the Articles , demanding Justice on the Articles ; that he said sometimes , he would depend on our Judgment in it , and yet he would hold us to the Point of the Articles . And further , that if there were not a necessity of his being there , he would have withdrawn too . But my Lord would not give the Council a latitude to proceed according to the King's Letter for Reparation , but he held them to the Point of the Articles . Being asked on my Lord of Strafford's Motion , Whether he did not tell my Lord Mountnorris , when he went out of the Room , that he would not speak a word till he came into the Room again , and whether he did not do it accordingly ; and whether he sate bare all the while as a Party , and not as a Judge . In answer , he desired leave to offer to their Lordships , that he acquainted their Lordships before ; that as soon as my Lord Mountnorris was withdrawn , my Lord did declare what he the Lord Renula had formerly said . But after the Council fell into debate of it , he spake not a word , nor gave any interruption . And he cannot positively say , that he sate bare all the while . Being asked , Whether this was not in the time of full Peace , and whether any Rebels or Enemies were in the Kingdom . He Answered , Certainly it was a time of very full and happy Peace . To prove , that in discourse concerning this Sentence , my Lord said afterwards , He would not lose the Honour or Share of it . The Earl of Cork being asked to that purpose . Answered , That all he can remember is , that the Sentence was publickly read in the Star-Chamber , and my Lord said , He would not lose his Share in the Honour of it , but he cannot remember the day . Lord Viscount Dillon asked to that purpose . Answered , That he happened to be in the Star-Chamber that day , by my Lord of Strafford's Command , and carried the Sword that day . That the reading of the Sentence he remembers not , but the words he heard , That the Sentence given against my Lord Mountnorris , by the Council of War , was a noble and just Sentence , and for his part he would not lose his share of the Honour of it . The Commons proceeded to that part of the Charge , which concerns the execution of another man by Martial Law. William Castigatt sworn , being asked several questions touching that part particularly , Whether he knew one executed by Martial Law , and by whom ? &c. He Answered , Yes , his name was Thomas Denewitt , and it was last Summer was two years , that he was on the Green , when he was hanged , and they were born in the same Town : He said , he knew not what Martial Law is , but he was hanged on one of the bows of a growing Tree , and he takes it my Lord of Strafford was present ; he added , that all the Souldiers were there , and the Company ; but knows not whether he was condemned by a Jury or no. And he heard that he was hanged for a quarter of Beef , that he , and some of the Company took away . Lord Viscount Dillon being asked , If he knew of the Execution of the said Person , whether he was condemned by Martial Law , and whether he was a Suitor to my Lady Strafford , and could not prevail . He Answered , He did not know that man by name that was hanged , but it was by Martial Law. And he , and another noble Lord that sits here , were Suitors for him to my Lady , and she told them , she did endeavour , but could not prevail for a Pardon . That it was a little before the 500 men went to Carlisle , out of Ireland . That he was not present at the Trial , but saw him hanged on the Green at Dublin on a Tree , and knows not his name ; and he conceives the Provost-Marshal , or the Provost-Marshal's Son did Execution , for they were there both of them . That the Cause was double , as he heard , for which he was condemned ; for flying from his Colours , and for stealing some Beef . Patrick Gough sworn , and asked to the same purpose as before . He Answered , That he remembers about the time of the 500 Souldiers sending to Carlisle , and the Army in Dublin , this man was executed by the Provost-Marshal's Son , and on a Tree , and that time two other Souldiers were whipt . The voice of the Report was , He was hanged for a quarter of Beef , and running away from his Colours . Lord Renula asked what Answer was given , when a motion was made that this man should be tried at Law. He Answered , That he was warned to come to a Marshalls Court , and the Messenger came so late , that he came not timely enough to give his Vote in the Court. That he came when the matter was fully heard , and having done his duty to the Lord-Deputy , sate down behind the Chair . That there were some controverted Opinions concerning the condemnation of the man. The Lord-Deputy was pleased to desire his Opinion , and stated the Evidence to him , as it appeared before the Court , which , to his remembrance , stood thus ; The party was accused to have stollen some Beef ; and charged to have run from his Colours , which was the reason of the parties being called thither , as he conceived . And it was thus , coming to his Lieutenant to demand his Pay ( if he be not mistaken , and if he be , he should be glad to be certified by any , ) the Officer said , He had it not ; then he desired to be Discharged , Then go and be hanged , said the Officer ; and thereupon left his Colours , yet left his Musket with his Corporal . That for the Beef , it seems the Fact was clear , that this was when a Regiment of Foot was to be transmitted to Carlisle , and were at Dublin attending their Transportation hence . That he the said Lord Renula was desired to inform himself of the particular charged upon his going from his Colours . The thing in his excuse was , The Officer's bidding him go and be hanged , and leaving his Musket : That therefore he , the Lord Renula , did the rather advise he should be tried by the Law , than in that Court : That he doth not conceive the Sentence was made certain before he came in , and if he be not mistaken , there is a Noble Peer of this House sate in that Council , and he is sure , that he ( the said Peer ) offered Reasons why he should not die for that Fact , for he heard him argue it so , and that is my Lord Conway . Lord Conway was sworn , and asked his knowledge of this . He Answered , That he hath been asked of this heretofore , and therefore is something more in his memory than otherwise it would have been , for he had almost forgot it , and it is very imperfectly in memory . He remembers that he was at a Council of War in Dublin , that there was a man condemned to be hanged , and that it was for such a matter as their Lordships had heard spoken , more of it he doth not remember . And being further asked , Whether any Proposition was made to my Lord of Strafford , to have the man referred to a legal Trial , or the Execution deferred . He Answered , He remembers it not . And so they closed the Article , observing it to be fully proved in both parts of it , and that it makes good the general Article , of exercising a Tyrannical Government over His Majesties Subjects . The Earl of Strafford began his Defence . I humbly conceive my Answer must be allowed me , if I prove clear of Treason , having been debarred of Witnesses . My Answer saith , That the Deputies have always exercised Martial Law in time of the Armies march , and divers Articles for regulating the Army printed , according to which divers have been put to death in Peace as well as War. That the Lord Mountnorris , for breach of two of those Articles , was proceeded against by 20 in number , and Sentence of Death pronounced , wherein I was no Judge ; and I obtained from His Majesty that no personal hurt befel him , but a few days Imprisonment . If I had been questioned on my Life for Murder or Felony , I might in extremity have feared ( perhaps ) but certainly this can by no Law be made Treason , for which only I must answer , being a Crime of another nature . I trust this will appear no Crime , or such a one as , I hope , His Majesty will grant me a Pardon for , as He hath done to others . I desire to excuse a Mistake in my Answer , about the whole Armies being at Dublin , and I desire in my Answer to have liberty to rectifie a mistake . I humbly desire the Commission may be read under the Broad-Seal , whereby I am made General of the Army , and Power derived to exercise Marshal-Law , which was read , and this limitation is in it as to the exercise of Marshal-Law , Si opus fuerit . And this I observe is according to the practise of all the World in Cases of this Nature . That the Army in Ireland is a standing Army , in the King's pay , and and hath , and always had Marshalls , Serjeants , Majors , Generals , Provost-Marshalls , and other Officers . We admit that there is an Army in Ireland that is in pay , and distributed in the Country , and hath Officers belonging to it . The Generals there have from time to time set forth Orders in Print , for the Government of the Army , and the Officers of it , particularly my Lord Wilmott , whose Orders are here to be read . My Lord Wilmott being examined , confest there were Orders made for regulating the Army , that he had the Honour to be General four years , and that the Articles offered by my Lord of Strafford , and by him viewed , are attested under his Hand , for which he took Pattern from my Lord Faulkland , my Lord Grandison , and my Lord Chichester , and he did it by the Power he had the Honour to hold under His Majesty as General : That yet he used them so sparingly , that neither in that time , nor in the Government of Munster ( in which he had as large Authority as ever any man had ) he never did condemn a man to death in peaceable times , and that the Authority hath been good . That Martial-Law is so frequent and ordinary in Ireland , that it is not to be denied , and so little offensive there , that the Common Law takes no exception at it . That he hath lived to see three or four Parliaments there , and they never complained of it . And to Govern an Army without Martial-Law , is impossible , for occasions , in an Army , rise on a suddain , and something must be done on a suddain for example-sake to others . That Martial-Law was certainly in Ireland ever since he remembers , and long before ; but it hath been used so sparingly , that in the time of Peace , for his part , he did never know any executed in his time . Being asked on the Lord Strafford's Motion , Whether he hath known Sir Charles Coote as Provost-Martial of Conaught , and Sir Iohn Bower Provost-Marshall of Leimster , in time of Peace , execute divers Persons , Rebels , and others , by Martial-Law . He Answered , For Sir Charles Coote he can very well answer , though he had Authority , yet it is out of his memory that he ever executed any . And for Sir Iohn Bower , he dwelleth remote from him , that the said Sir Iohn Bower hath Authority , and so have many other Presidents , Marshalls of the Army , Provost-Marshalls of every Province , and upon great Reasons for it ; for though they be Inferior men , yet the intent of their Commission is but to prosecute those men that cannot be had into the Law , that is , Rebels and Fugitives , and those men he hath heard have been hanged . Whence my Lord of Strafford inferred , That he had done nothing de Novo . That Provost-Marshalls have been always appointed , and executed those Places under the General for the time being . The Committee admitted that there be four Provost-Marshalls , but deny that they exercise Marshall-Law . That those Provost-Marshalls have executed divers men to death by Marshall-Law , Rebels and Traytors . I desire to produce an Order of my Lord of Faulkland's , taken from his Book of Entries ; but being not proved , nor written with my Lord Faulkland's own hand , the reading of it was not admitted , but left to their Lordships Consideration . To prove the Practise of the Provost-Marshalls . Sir Adam Loftus being asked concerning the Provost-Marshalls executing of Marshall-Law before my Lord of Strafford's time , and on what men . He Answered , That it is most apparent , in all times , since he can remember , Martial-Law hath been executed , that 's undoubted . But it was on Rebels and Out-Laws , and he hath known no other , but such , executed by Martial-Law . Lord Robert Dillon being asked to the same purpose . Answered , He hath heard the Provost-Marshals have taken and hanged men by Martial-Law in time of Peace , since the beginning of King Iames his Reign , that of Rebels and Out-Laws there is no question . My Lord of Strafford desired to compare his Orders with those of my Lord of Wilmotts . And they were compared accordingly in divers Articles . His Lordship produced a Copy of His Majesties Letter , attested to be a true Copy by Charles Gibson . Which was read , being the Letter recited in the Sentence of my Lord Mountnorris . I observe , That the Sentence of my Lord Mountnorris takes notice that the Army was part of it in motion , and divers Companies daily exercised , and that my self was for the most part there present , which shews the truth of my Answer to that Point in part . To free my self from the said Sentence , I desire a Letter from my self and Council of War to Secretary Cook 13. December , immediately after the Sentence , may be read , to shew that I was a Suitor to the King in my Lord Mountnorris's behalf . But being after the Sentence , and written by himself and the Council of War , for extenuating of the Fact , the reading of it was over-ruled . I conceive my Lord Renula and Lord Dillon made it appear , that I declined giving Judgment in the Sentence . But for further proof , Sir Robert Farrer was asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not declare he would be no Judge , nor give Opinion in that Cause , and whether he sate bare ? He Answered , That he was present at the Sentence , and heard my Lord of Strafford say , that he would give no Judgment , nor have to do with the business concerning my Lord Mountnorris , and he sate a good time with his hat off . Being asked on one of the Committees motion , touching his pressing of both the Articles . He said , He acknowledged my Lord did require Judgment on both Articles , and yet sate silent at the time they were upon the Sentence . Being asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not desire them to regard him no more than an ordinary Officer , and do no otherwise than in reason and judgment they should think fit . He Answered , My Lord of Strafford said these very words , That they should not look upon him , but go to the Cause according to their Opinion directly . And being asked , Whether my Lord Mountnorris was a Captain of the Army . He Answered , Yes , and the Council did admit it . Sir George Wentworth being asked to the same purpose as Sir Robert Farrer . He Answered , He was present at the Sentence , and heard my Lord of Stafford say publickly , He did not sit there as a Judge , and that he would give no Vote in it . Being asked , Whether my Lord of Stafford did not tell Sir George Wentworth that he should give no Vote in it , because he was his Lordships Brother . He Answered , Yes , and he gave no Judgment upon that reason ; that my Lord of Strafford did publickly bid them all look on him as a private man , and sate by as a Suitor , not as a Judge , and put off his hat at the beginning to speak , and sate uncovered all the while , till Sentence was pronounced . To shew that my Lord Mountnorris was enlarged by me presently after , I here produce the Warrant Dated 18. December , though indeed he was released 15. December . The denial of my Lord Mountnorris , to examine Witnesses , was by my Lord Cromwell , Sir Charles Coote , Sir Iohn Burlacy , not by me , I sitting by as a private party : For this I refer to my Lord Mountnorris's own Deposition , and my Lord Renula's . To prove it further , Sir Robert Farrer was asked touching the denying of further time and Council . He Answered , He cannot tell who denied him , he remembers my Lord Cromwell spake something , but knows not whether to that effect . Sir Robert Farrer being asked on one of the Managers Motion , Whether before their coming together they did know the occasion of their meeting . He Answered , He did not , he was warned to attend , and did not know the business till he came thither . I did never Communicate it to any man , till I brought the Letter , because I was resolved to speak of it to no man living ; and in conclusion , left it wholly to the Council . For the words , That I would not lose my share in the Honour of that Sentence ; if I spake the words , I meant the Justice and satisfaction done me by that Sentence , being by the prime Officers of the Kingdom . And whereas it was said yesterday , that though I thought it hard to lay words to my Charge , yet I thought it not hard to lay words to the Lord Mountnorris his Charge ; there is a difference between laying words to a man's Charge , to Accuse and Condemn him of High-Treason , to loss of Estate , Life , Honour and Posterity , and pressing words to only two days Imprisonment , being only intended to discipline my Lord Mountnorris , and teach him to govern his Speech with more modesty . His Defence to the business of Denwitt's Execution . He confesses his Vote concurred , and thinks he had Authority , and may justifie it . He produced the Sentence Dated 13. February , 1638. where his Crimes are set forth to be the fellonious stealing of a quarrer of Beef , and running away from his Colours , in breach of the 9th and 6th Articles , for which he was sentenced to Death , according to the use of Martial-Law . His Lordship opened the Nature of the Offence , being committed at a time when the 500 men were attending to go to Carlisle ; and the Example might be dangerous , and desired Sir George Mountnorris might be asked , Whether Denwitt was not convicted to be guilty , adding , that he had been burnt in the hand ; and running from his Colours is death by the Laws of Ireland . He produced a Statute of Ireland , 20 H. 6. C. 19. whereby it is Enacted , That every man that receives the King's Wages , and departs from his Captain , &c. shall be proceeded against as a Felon . As also the Statute 7 H. 7. C. 1. The departing of a Souldier from his Colours is Felony , and the Offendor to undergo punishment of Law. And 10 H. 7. all Laws formerly made in England are to be in force in Ireland , and so that of 7 H. 7. For further clearing whereof , he refers himself to the Council . One of the Managers did make Reply in substance as followeth : That if this Fact be not Treason , yet it seems to prove his Intention to subvert the Law , which is Treason . Whereas he hopes for the King's Mercy , so the Commons do as really trust for the King's Justice . The Commission he insists on , is limitted with Si opus fuerit ; and the King intends Execution according to Law , Magna Charta , and the rest of the Laws of England being of force in Ireland . There hath been an Army in pay in Ireland since Henry the Eighths time , and so there are some in pay here , in Portsmouth and Plymouth , and yet it follows not England must be Governed by Martial-Law . The Lord Wilmott was produced by him , to justifie the publishing of Orders , and exercise of Martial Law in Ireland . But we Appeal to your Lordships , Whether he gave Testimony of executing any by Martial-Law . Sir Adam Loftus says , There are Provost-Marshalls , and they do use to put men to death , but they are Rebels whom they execute , which squares not with this Case , only that of Sir Thomas Wayneman is a full President . For the King's Letter , it is written on his Information , and if the King's Ministers misinform him , He is just before God and men ; and the Letter directs Reparation , as it was fit there should be . My Lord pretends he was no Judge in the Cause , your Lordships may remember who procured the Letter to proceed , and who sate there to manage the business , though he sate with his Hat off ; if he would have been indifferent , he should have left the Counsellors to themselves . And when some moved they might proceed on one Article , he cryed both , and so he was the Procurer of the Sentence , with which he is charged , not with the Voting of it . He pretends he sate by and said nothing , yet no man talked more at the Sentence than himself . He proves not the Course of Martial-Law , and there is a Judge-Marshal , to whom , in any proceedings in a Martial way , address should be made , and it was desired he might be called , to testifie how they went about it . Another of the Managers did add , by way of Reply , That whereas my Lord of Strafford insists much , as if Martial-Law were part of the same Law of Ireland , but the 25 E. 3. is in force there , and that is recited in the Petition of Right in force here , as the ground why Martial-Law ought not to be in England , and therefore there is the same ground why it should not be in Ireland . For that Commission he speaks of Opus est , is Martial-Law , when there is bellum flagrans ; but what need was there of Martial-Law in my Lord Mountnorris his Case , when he would rather lose his Hand than the Sentence be executed . For the Orders made by my Lord Wilmott and others , there is difference between making an Order in way of terror , for fear of Execution , and putting that thing in execution . Many Witnesses are produced to prove the practise , but not one speaks in point of Execution , unless upon Rebels and Traytors , and such as would not come into Law , whereas my Lord Mountnorris was had into the Law. Whereas he takes the Example of those before him ; the Commons cannot see the Restrictions put upon his Commission for Martial-Law , but in the preceding Deputies time there was a limitation , that the Provost should leave the Souldiers to trial at Law , except in time of War and Rebellion . The Statute of 20 H. 6. is against him , for it makes the Souldiers running from his Colours Felony , and certainly meant it should be tried by that Law that makes it Felony , which would have given him the benefit of Clergy , not by Martial-Law . And though he thinks he may justifie it , he falls at last to a Pardon . He says , He acquainted no body before hand with the business ; but if he may give the Interpretation , he will be sure to put a good end to it ; if he would not prepare the Council for Justice , why should not the Delinquent be prepared ? The words are pretended to be spoken in April , my Lord of Strafford procures the King's Letter in Iuly , and questions it not till December , here is no opus est . The very words of the Order , the Witnesses were examined by our Command , which make it his own . One of the Managers desired that two of the Instructions of former Deputies might be read . To this my Lord of Strafford excepted , as supplemental and dangerous , and not warranted by any other Judicature . After some debate touching the admitting of my Lord of Ely to be examined , to the Course of Martial-Laws in Ireland , being new matter , arising out of his Answer ; It was Resolved that he should be examined only to that new matter . The Earl of Ely sworn , was examined what was the proceedings of the Marshalls Court when he was Judge-Marshall , and how long he had been so . He Answered , He was 40 years since Judge there , and for the manner of proceeding , There was never any Deputy , or Governor of that Kingdom , but they had a Commission of Martial-Law to be exercised in the time of their Government ; but the exercise of that Law was two-fold , one was Summary , the other was Plenary : That which was Summary and short , was committed to the Provost-Marshall , that sought after the Rebels and Kernes that kept the Woods . These , when they were apprehended , the Provost-Marshall hanged them on the next Tree ; and this was in poor Cases , where the estate of the party that prosecutes is not worth 40 s. In the second , which is the Plenary proceeding , there are three Considerations to be had , of the time , the place , and the person ; the time must necessarily be in time of War , the place in the Field , and the persons must be such as are subject to the Rule of Martial-Law . And the proceeding was thus ; The parties complained , the other appearing , an Information was drawn in writing , Witnesses produced , and reduced in writing , a Sentence given absolutely or condemnatory , and the Party punished or acquitted , and the Warrant directed to the Provost-Marshall to put the Judgment in Execution . But when the Army was dissolved , and every one returned to their own home , Souldiers , Captains , and Commanders ; this Power ceased , and was no farther executed ; for it had been an extraordinary damage to His Majesty , that by the Martial-Law every one should be tried ; for he loses nothing but his life , not his Lands or his Goods , and therefore the proceeding without was so slow and seldom , that he had not remembred any man of quality worth 100 l. or 200 l. in thirty years to have been executed by Martial-Law . Here the Manager did offer the Instructions given in my Lord Faulkland's time , which Mr. Fitz-Gerard testified to be by him examined with the Original in the Signet-Office , as to the 33. and 34th Articles . Part of the Instructions were read , viz. 33. Such as are to be brought to Trial at Law , are not to be executed by the Marshal , except in time of War and Rebellion . One of the Managers observed , That my Lord of Strafford would have Power of Martial-Law over my Lord Mountnorris , but would not execute him ; which shews he desires not blood so much as Power of blood ; that the Law of all the Peers might be under his Girdle , and he besought their Lordships to consider it . Whereas , he said , The blood of their Lordships Ancestors was spent in the Irish Wars ; this way , their own blood may be spent in the Peace of Ireland , and Peace of England , &c. My Lord of Strafford taking notice of some words , charging him that my Lord Mountnorris lost his Offices in that Sentence ; In way of Answer said , That they were lost in a Sentence in the Castle-Chamber for Misdemeanors fully proved , and by himself confessed , and therefore His Majesty disposed of them . To which one of the Managers Replyed , That there was no sentence in the Castle-Chamber against him . And so after some Discourses and Resolution touching the Method of the Proceedings about the next Articles , the House was Adjourned . The First day . Monday , March 29. 1641. THE Sixth Article . The Charge . That the said Earl of Strafford , without any Legal Procéedings , and upon a Paper-Petition of Richard Rolstone , did cause the said Lord Mountnorris to be disseized and put out of possession of his Freehold , and Inheritance of his Mannor of Tymore in the County of Armagh , in the Kingdom of Ireland , the said Lord Mountnorris having béen 18 years before in quiet Possession thereof . MR. Glyn opened the Sixth Article , setting forth the Execution of an Arbitrary Power by the Earl of Strafford , contrary to Law , in point of the Estates of His Majesties Subjects , by disseizing and putting the Lord Mountnorris , a Peer , out of Possession of Lands of 200 l. a year , which he had possessed 18 years before , on a Paper-Petition , without any Rules of Justice , during the said Lord Mountnorris his Imprisonment , contrary to an Act of Parliament read the other day , to King Iames his Instructions , to the directions of His Majesties Proclamation , and the Rules of proceeding in the Kingdom of Ireland . The Decree made in the Cause betwixt Rolstone and my Lord Mountnorris was first offered , the Manager observing , that it was nothing to the matter , whether the Decree were just or unjust , and that it never depended in the Chancery , as is set forth in his Answer . Thomas Little , the Lord of Strafford's Secretary , being sworn , attested that the Copy produced was under his own hand . And here my Lord of Strafford informed their Lordships , that upon his Defence he would ask Mr. Little some questions , desiring their Lordships to remember that he is upon his Oath . The Decree was read Dated 28. Iuly , 1637. whereby for the Reasons therein set forth , and with the assistance of the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas ; It was , among other things , Ordered , That Henry Rolston should be put into quiet Possession of certain Lands therein mentioned . Lord Mountnorris being Examined , Whether he was put out of possession by Vertue of that Order , and how long he had Possession of the Lands ? He Answered , He was in quiet and peaceable Possession from May 20. till he was put out by my Lord of Strafford's Warrant , August 29. 1637. as was written to him from an Agent that was there from the delivery of the Warrant to the Sheriff . That he was all the while the business was in prosecution , till his coming into England , a little before his putting out of possession , in prison , under restraint , for not suing out his Pardon , upon the Sentence of the Council of War. Mr. Anslow sworn and interrogated to the same purpose . Answered , That to my Lord Mountnorris's possession of the Lands , he can say only by seeing the Accounts passed by former Receivers , and the Patent my Lord Mountnorris had of the Land ; but for his being put out of the possession by the Order , he found when he was left in Ireland , about a year and half ago he was put out of possession by an Order of my Lord of Strafford , and that he being there , could have no Rents paid , Henry Rolsion's Son being in possession , the Father being dead . Being asked , Whether a Petition was not preferred for liberty to proceed at Law. He Answered , It was in his own behalf , for the Land was estated on him by his Father : And that he the Deponent being to pass his Land on the Commission of Grace , Rolston Petitioned for it himself ; and therefore he the Deponent Petitioned it might be hindred to pass , and that he might have his Right tried legally , but he could get no Answer ; the Commissioners saying , They sate not there to question any Lords Estate . The Manager observed this to be the assuming of an Arbitrary Power of Jurisdiction , in a case of Land , without any former President ; wherein , if he be justifiable , he may as well , riding on the High-way , determine any mans Estate ; and added , That if my Lord of Strafford insist on this , they shall prove it not only in this , but in twenty more of this condition on the Reply . My Lord of Strafford desiring they might bring their Proofs at once . The Manager Answered , That they should prove an Act of the same Nature , but of a higher strain , concerning a Peer of the Realm ( for he chased such Lions . ) But my Lord of Strafford desiring they might be kept to that within the Charge . His Lordship began his Defence in substance as followeth : I confess I am Charged with Treason by the Honourable House of Commons , and that is my greatest grief ; for if it were not an Arrow sent out of that Quiver , it would not be so heavy as it is , but as it comes from them it pierces my heart through ; not with Guilt , yet with Grief , that in my Grey hairs I should be mis-understood by the Companions of my Youth , with whom I have formerly spent so much time . If the Decree be just ( as it is most just ) I hope it will go very far in the Case . That whereas it is said it was against a Peer , Justice excepts not persons , and I know no Priviledge Peers have in point of possession of Land above common persons . The Act of Parliament read the other day , against which , it is supposed to be made , I conceive it to be the Statute in H. 6. time , and desire your Lordships to remember , that by the last words , the King's Prerogative is saved . I have done nothing contrary to the Instructions in King Iames his time , nor the Proclamation , nor any thing , but according to the Power of former Deputies . I acknowledge my Answer is mistaken , in saying , the Cause depended formerly in the Chancery , which was not out of cunning , but a meer failing of memory . I desire my Commission may be read , whereby it will appear I had Power to do that for which I am now questioned . The Commission was read , whereby he had Authority to proceed Secundum consuetudines terrae , &c. From whence he observed , That having so great a Power , the receiving of a Petition , and giving Relief to a poor body , should not be so great a fault , being at the most , but the exceeding of a Jurisdiction , but by no Construction can be made Treason . That yet this is no exceeding of a Jurisdiction , but was a Power always in the Deputies before his time , and warranted . To prove it , he produced the printed Instructions , whereby the Deputy and Council-Table are forbid to meddle with common businesses within Cognizance of ordinary Courts , nor alter possession of Land , nor make private Orders , or Hearings , nor make Injunctions for staying Suits in any Civil Cause . Which shews , that that course was in practise before the Instructions took it away , ( viz. ) to alter Possessions , to grant Injunctions , &c. To prove by Witnesses , that this Power was always exercised by the Deputy in the nature of a Court of Requests in England . He offered my Lord Primate of Armagh his Deposition , being taken , by reason of his sickness , by vertue of an Order of their Lordships ; but for that the Commons had liberty by that Order to cross-examine , and yet had no notice thereof , or of the Depositions so taken ; the using of these Depositions was waved , after much debate , till the next day , in the mean time the Commons may cross-examine . Henry Dillon asked , Whether Petitions have been usually preferred to the Deputies , and in how many Governors time he hath known it to be so , That these Paper-Petitions have been preferred . He Answered , His Father had a Lease during his own life and his Wives , and the longer liver of them , and fifteen years after to his Executors and Administrators , which he the said Henry Dillon ( being come to full age ) enquired into ; and looking upon his Fathers Evidences , he found a business there depending between Sir Patrick Plaintiff , and his Father Defendant , before my Lord Chichester , in the time of his Government ; and he found several Orders under my Lord Chichesters Hand in that Cause , that he being Executor to Maurice Fitzgerard , and having occasion to peruse his Writings , to see what Debts were due to him , he found among them several Orders of my Lord Grandison's time , one Petition of Fitzgerard , as well for Debts as for Land. That in the time of my Lord Faulkland he observed , and hath seen several Orders made by his Lordship , and one made on behalf of his Sister Mary Dillon , for a Portion paid by his Father , and he recovered the portion , and received the Money . That in the time of my Lord of Corke and Lord of Elyes being Governors , there was a Petition preferred against him , by my Lord of Longford , for a Horse taken by him the said Henry Dillon , as Sheriff of the County of Longford , pretending it to be a stray , and belonging to His Majesty , and triable , as he conceived , in the Exchequer , and that he did appear , but my Lord of Longford died before Examination . Being asked , Whether the Causes were before the Deputy alone , or the Deputy and Council . He Answered , That in the time of my Lord Chichester he knows not whether they were before the Deputy alone , but he found only my Lord Chichester's Hand to the Orders . In my Lord Grandison's time he saw his Hand only , but where the Causes depended he knows not . But that in my Lord Faulkland's time , was only by my Lord-Deputy : That of my Lord Corkes and Lord of Elyes , he remembers not whether it was before their Lordships and the Council ; but the way he was called to Answer was by Pursevant , before he had notice of the Suit. Being asked , Whether Examinations were taken . He Answered , That in the Case of his Sister , he conceives there were Examinations taken upon Oath . And that in the Cause before my Lord of Corke and Lord of Ely the Attachment was under the Hands of the two Lords Justices alone . Being asked on the Managers motion , Whether he hath any of those Orders to shew . He Answered , He knows not whether those in my Lord Chichester's time were delivered to my Lord Dun , on composing the Difference , or in his Custody . Robert Lord Dillon was asked , What he heard my Lord Grandison say in maintenance of this Judicature by my Lord-Deputy alone . He Answered , That he heard my Lord Grandison himself say nothing of it , but he heard by others , that he pretended to it as a Judicature belōnging to the Sword. Being asked what he hath known of the practice of this Court before the Lord Deputy alone , before how many Deputies ; and upon what occasions : He Answered , That he hath seen divers Orders of Deputies , or Petitions , singly signed by themselves , and no other hand but the Deputies . Being asked in how many Deputies times ; He Answered , That he hath seen of my Lord Faulklands , and Lord Grandisons , and to his best remembrance ( but he will not peremptorily say it ) of my Lord Chichesters . Being asked of the Earl of Bathes motion , whether he hath known them to proceed upon Petition for matters of Land. He Answered , He never knew any . Being asked on Mr. Maynards motion , whether they were Orders of Reference , or by consent ; He Answered , He remembers one more particularly , and it was an Order of my Lord of Faulklands , of reference to my Lord Angier , that was Master of the Rolls ; and was for a Debt . Being asked on my Lord of Straffords motion , whether Sir Paul Davis Clerk of the Council , do not ordinarily examine on Oath ; and thereupon Causes come to publication . He Answered , The Clerk of the Council hath a Commission for taking Oath , and wheresoever the Deputy requires , he is to take Oath ; but whether de facto he took Oath on those former Orders , he remembers not . And whether he takes Oath in things determined by the Deputy alone , he knows nothing of it . But it is the common course of proceedings , when there is an Order for an Attachment , an Oath is taken of course , that the party is in contempt . Being asked on Mr. Whitlocks motion , how anciently Commission hath been granted to the Clerk of the Council to take an Oath . He Answered , He doth not know ; but knoweth , that since he had the Honour to sit at the Board , they have had them , and that is 12 or 13 years . Being asked whether he hath known in matters of Equity , or Title of Land , any determination by any other Deputy alone ; And whether my Lord of Strafford hath not done it in many Cases : He answered to the first , That he doth not remember any particular Case of it : To the second , That he never knew my Lord of Strafford , with his Remembrance , meddle with matters of Law ; but for matters of Equity , to his Remembrance he hath . And this my Lord of Strafford confessed , this being in the Court of Requests is to the Chancery . To prove that the Clerks of the Council have power to examine on Oath , an Order was read to the Lord Chancellor from the Lord Faulkland , for drawing up a Commission to enable Sir William Usher for taking Affidavits , and ministring Oaths in all Causes wherein the Lord Deputy or the Board , &c. His Lordship came to shew that the Instructions were so much mistaken , that they were never observed by the Deputy , Judges of Assize , Presidents of Provincial , &c. nor could the poor Irish be debarred from remedy on Petitions , without occasioning an universal out-cry , being not acquainted with Legal forms , and beggarly ; and the man that came against my Lord Mountnorris , was in forma Pauperis . To prove this , my Lord of Straffords Book of Entries was mentioned , and an Order of my Lord Faulklands made in Iune 1629. which is after , the Instructions being in 1622. and being affirmed by my Lord Wilmott to be under my Lord Faulklands hand , it was read : Containing a Petition , which set forth the Petitioners disturbance in his Possession of certain Lands by Sir Iames Fitzgerard , contrary to a former Order , and assaulting and beating the Petitioner and his Tenants , &c. And my Lord of Faulklands Warrant thereupon for Sir Iames his appearance , to Answer the Contempt ; and for the Sheriffs keeping the Petitioner in possession . He produced another Order of my Lord of Faulklands , August 20. 1626. being for Attaching divers persons that had not paid Provisions for the Deputies Houshold . He produced another Order made on Walter Dennotts Petition , October 1624. for direction to certain Debtors to pay some moneys due . Being a Warrant to examine the truth of the Plaintiffs demands ; and a Command to the Debtors to pay what 's due , or give better Security , else to appear , to shew cause to the contrary ; the same being grounded upon Letters out of England in the Petitioners behalf . He produced an Order of my Lord of Corke , and Lord of Ely , affirmed by the Lord Corke to be under his hand , on Petition of Henry Iawant : The Order being a Reference to the Lord Primate ; and to take Order for the Petitioners Relief as by a former Order of Reference was directed . And whereas it may be objected that these were in Church Causes , or Plantation Causes , His Lordship observed , That these Orders were made by the Deputy and Justices alone , without the Council , though by the Instructions , the Deputy ought not to meddle with such Causes , without the Council . He then offered to shew , that this Practice of hearing business on Paper Petitions , is used by the Presidents in their Provincial Courts , and by the Judges in their Circuits , by Commissions from the Deputy ; whence his Lordship observed , That if the Deputies have Power to Authorize , they have likewise Power to Execute ; and he offered to this purpose , my Lord Ranulagh's Answer at Council-Board , under Mr. Mewtis his hand . Here the Manager observed , That my Lord of Strafford is charged with Exorbitant using of the Law , and cannot be justified with others breaking of the Law ; besides , it is neither in the Charge , nor in his Answer . My Lord of Strafford answered , That he offered this only to shew , that he is no Innovator of the Law , further than others before him ; and to shew that the Instructions were mistaken in that point , and could not be observed , nor can they without much detriment to the Commonwealth , yea that they have broken them , and that he only hath observed them . And so this matter was laid aside , as not fully pertinent to the Charge . His Lordship in the next place observed , That as the Case stands with the Government and People of Ireland , there is a necessity that this Power that hath been thus at all times in the Deputies , should still remain there , for relief of the poorer sort of People , who are not able to undergo the long Circuit of Legal Proceedings , nor are acquainted with them ; and must be drawn to it by Degrees ; and that the Plaintiff in this Cause was a Suitor in forma pauperis ; That it is a great assistance to the Merchants , where they may recover their Debts suddenly , and not lose their occasions , and their benefit by increase of Trade ; That some Reports being raised , as if he had neglected the poorer sort of People , and not given Redress as former Deputies have done , he advertised it over to His Majesty , and fully informed Him of the Proceedings and Instructions , and desired His Majesties Pleasure ; which was declared by a Letter under His Majesties Signet , received October 6. the Ninth year of the King , and to himself directed , which was read ; Wherein recital is made of the Instructions , 1622. and particularly in the point of Judicature by the Deputies , That it is necessary to uphold such Power , especially for relief of the poorer sort there , as formerly had been used ; And Power is thereby to him given , ( notwithstanding any former Directions , Proclamation , or Restraint ) to hear and determine such Causes as shall be brought before him , according to the Power of former Deputies , yet not to meddle with Titles of Free-hold , except in Cases of Equity ; but to refer Title of Free-hold to its proper Judicature , and not to hear Causes where there is Priority in other Courts , unless in case of Appeal for lack of Justice , after due Obedience : Power likewise ( the said Rules observed ) to call before him any person complained of , and therein to make such Order and Decree as shall stand with Justice , and to cause the same to be put in Execution . Dated October 5. 9 Car. He then offered the first Decree in the Cause to be read , that had formerly been read , having relation to this , bearing date May 23. 1636. And the same was read , being Signed Wentworth . Gerard Lowther , &c. Whence his Lordship observed , That the Order was made for Relief of a poor man , where my Lord of Mountnorris had by Violence , and extream hard pressure , possest himself of Lands worth 200 l. a year , never paying out of his Purse above 30 l. the rest arising on a Letter procured for Sawing Mills , and by interest at above 20 in the hundred ; wherein his Lordship had the Assistance of two Reverend and Learned Judges , the Chancellor that now is , and Sir Gerard Lowther , That the Decree is in every part just and equitable ; and if he had not given relief , he had been justly censured , That the party is now in Town , and means to complain , and Sue for 600 l. more than he is yet allowed . The Committee declared , they insist not on the merit of the Cause , as not being material . And so my Lord of Strafford observed , That he stands justified by the Kings Letter , which makes things differ from what they did formerly , and shew , that the Power was there before , and is now restored . His Lordship further added , that his Practice in exercising Jurisdiction , was conformable to that Letter , viz. That he medled not with Title of Land triable at Law , nor with Causes which had priority of Suit in other Courts ; That he referred the business of the Provincial Courts to these Courts , and many businesses to the Judges of Assize , and none determined by him , but upon full Hearing and Assistance of the Judges . And whereas it is said , my Lord Mountnorris was kept in Prison by reason of not Suing out the Pardon on his Sentence pronounced by the Council of War , I will make it appear it was for Contempts , in refusing to answer a Bill Exhibited against him on the Kings behalf , in the Castle-Chamber . Mr. Slingsby being asked touching that point ; Answered , That he did constantly wait on my Lord to the Castle-Chamber , and there heard the Information of the Kings Attorney against my Lord Mountnorris read , and my Lord Mountnorris was called to Answer it several times , and was committed to Prison for not Answering it ; but he cannot precisely speak to the time , but he thinks he was left in Prison upon that , till my Lords going into England . Sir Adam Loftus asked touching the same point , did first make his humble Suit that he might not be Examined in any Cause concerning my Lord Mountnorris , for some reasons inducing him thereunto . Which my Lord of Strafford said was , because Sir Adam succeeded my Lord Mountnorris in the place of Vice-Treasurer ; and being required ( if that were all ) to speak notwithstanding : He Answered , That he conceives he was Committed for not answering the Information ; but the precise day of his Commitment , and the time how long , he cannot well remember . Being asked , whether he was not brought before the Deputy a day or two before he came away , and refused to Answer , and was thereupon Committed : He Answered , That it was true . Being asked on the Managers motion , whether he was not Committed on the old Sentence , and remained in Prison on that ; He Answered , That he doth not know . If I had time to produce the Orders of the Castle-Chamber , I could make it appear when my Lord Mountnorris was Committed , and how long he continued so ; but he was Committed for that Contempt , and remained Committed six Months , I think , before he would Answer ; which I would not speak if it were not true . The Lord Dillon called , and asked to the same purpose : He Answered , That the Judges of the Castle-Chamber are by Commission , and that he is not of that Commission . That the Deputy , or Chief Governour , calls by way of Assistance , such as he pleases . That he heard at Council-Board , my Lord Mountnorris was Committed for a Contempt , in not answering in the Star-Chamber ; but when it began , or how long , he knows not . In Execution of this Jurisdiction , I had no private advantage to my self , nothing but trouble was gained by it , no new thing was done , but such as was formerly by all the Chief Governours there ; and such as I had special Warrant for from His Majesty . I have observed the Rules that guide others in Chancery , and other Courts of Equity , and the Judges in their Circuits : Therefore it can be no Subversion of the Laws ; for the same thing done by others hath been Legally done , it differs only in respect of place , being before my self ; and so cannot be Treason : And though it might be Illegal here , yet it is according to the Laws and Customs of Ireland , by which I am to be judged for all things there done . And the same is done by the Presidents of the North , and of Wales ; who did familiarly receive Petitions from Poor people that cannot seek remedy by a Legal course ; and yet it is not Treason in England : And it cannot sink into my understanding , how the enlargement of a Jurisdiction should be strained to High Treason ; specially being warranted by ancient Practice , and modern Authority , being only according to the nature of a Court of Requests , and not entrenching on the Jurisdiction of Law Courts . And so I hope this will never rise up in Judgment against me as Treason , either in it self , or by way of Application . The Manager began his Reply , in substance as followeth : Whereas my Lord of Strafford says , This is not Treason ; this is the burden of his Song : But this is one of the particulars that prove his design to subvert the fundamental Laws of both Kingdoms ; He will not acknowledge a cumulative Treason , he must have a Treason over Shooes and Boots ; yet if he will look on it all together , he shall see the horridness of it , and it will prove as great a Treason as ever was presented to a House of Parliament . The Manager opened the Article , and said , they dispute not whether if it had been done in Chancery , or other Courts , it had been well done ; but it is done by him without Rule of Law ; and hereupon he hath drawn to himself an Arbitrary Power . Whereas my Lord of Strafford , to take from himself the Act of Parliament 28 H. 6. enjoyning , That Causes should be referred to the proper Courts , urged the last words , [ Saving the Kings Prerogative ] We do observe , That when he is Charged with an Exorbitant proceeding , to the destruction of the Law ; he flies to the Kings Prerogative for shelter . That to mention the Kings Prerogative in the face of the Peers of the Realm , and in presence of all the Commons , when he is charged with an Exorbitant proceeding , to the Subversion of the Laws , is but to cast a Scandal upon the Kings Prerogative , and to make it have a worse relish ; whereas the Law supports the Kings Prerogative , and the Subject supports it . When his Answer is charged not to be according to Truth , he casts a Gloss upon it , from the easiness of his being mistaken ; whereas , when he is able to justifie it , he glories in it , as that whereto he must stand or fall . That the Letters Patents which my Lord of Strafford produces , rise in Judgment against him ; for the King hath trusted him ad custodiendas leges Regni , and therefore if he hath broken through them , he hath broken his Trust. He says , It is strange the exceeding of Jurisdiction should be laid to his charge as Treason ; He is charged with the Subverting of the Law , and that 's more than the Exceeding of a Power . He read the Instructions to warrant his Act ; and by these the Commons desire to be judged , whether they do not in the Negative say , there shall be no such Proceeding before the Deputy ; and yet he will imply , there have been proceedings to the contrary , which we cannot see . He justifies his Proceedings by former Deputies , and hath produced Henry Dillon , who hath seen several Proceedings in Sir Henry Bagnalls time , and others , where Orders have been made by the Deputy alone , but the Orders themselves are not brought ; whereas if they were looked on , and consideration had what results out of them , their Lordships would not have suffered them to be read , without Attestation that they were true Copies . But now whether they be entred or no , or what other Proceedings there were , the Witness doth not know ; and therefore they are no Evidence , nor in truth ought to be offered : And the Witness being asked what the Orders were , he says , one was a Reference , and whether Witnesses were examined , he says , he doth not know . He produces my Lord Dillon ; and we offer to be adjudged by him ; for he says , He knew not any Deputy before my Lord of Strafford , that hath intermeddled with matters of Land , except in Plantation and Church Causes ; and this Order is charged to be made by him alone . He pretends this is a Court , and a Prerogative of the Sword. We know not whether my Lord of Strafford intends to keep it by force ; but whereas he produceth a Commission for giving Oath to the Clerk of the Council ; this Commission needed not if it were a Court , for the Court it self would give an Oath ; and whereas he mentions it to be in the nature of the Court of Requests , we would gladly know , whether there be not Authority in the Judge to give an Oath . He produces several Orders in my Lord of Faulkland's time , The first is expresly for Plantation Lands ; and there was no determination in Equity , or otherwise . The second Order he produced in my Lord Faulkland's time , was a meer Green-cloth Case , and nothing to this purpose . The third Order produced , was in a business recommended from England to my Lord of Faulkland , and such Causes as are out of the Instructions excepted . The Order in the Lord of Corke's time , was but an Order of Reference to the Archbishop ; and a Reference is no Determination , a private person may do as much . So that we observe , nothing hath been offered to prove , that a Deputy alone hath determined matter of Possession ; and in this we rest with confidence , That none ever did before himself ; and shall therefore desire the Examination of some Privy-Counsellors . He produced a Letter from His Majesty to proceed in such Causes : But if by Law it ought not to be , then a Letter , and Authority derived thereby , is void , and warrants not Proceeding in the Subject ; the Letter was as just as might be , being obtained on his Information , to whose Government and Trust His Majesty had committed the Kingdom ; and if he mis-inform , he must Answer it . And the Letter is written with caution , giving Authority to proceed in matter of Equity , as former Deputies had done ; and if it be not proved that his Predecessors had used such Proceedings , where is his Authority ? He says , he hath proceeded according to the direction of the Kings Letter ; that is , he never determined Title of Land but in Equity ; and when such Causes have come to him , he hath referred them to Law , which we are forced to disprove that , by offering it under his own hand , that whereas a Nobleman of the Realm , my Lord of Baltinglas , had mortgaged to Sir Robert Parkhurst , for 3000 l. Land of a 1000 l. year : when Sir Robert had Title at Law , and might as Mortgagor , have entred after the day past , Sir Robert prefers a Petition to my Lord of Strafford himself , and he without the Council , determines the Possession , and takes it from the Mortgagee , and afterwards he purchases the Lands himself , and letts them for 680 and odd pounds a year . For my Lord Mountnorris his Imprisonment , the Manager said , That when his distressed Lady , the Mother of Twelve Children , Petitioned His Majesty , declaring the great Distress her Husband suffered by the Tyrannical Power exercised over them ; His Majesty like a Gracious Prince , referred it to the consideration of the Deputy , That on submission he should deliver him out of Prison . But when the poor Lady presented it with Tears in her Eyes , and cast her self at his Feet , though there was a Reference from His Majesty ; yet he , that would at another time shelter himself under the Kings Prerogative , refuses to give so much Respect as to entertain it ; and when the eldest Son came , refused to accept it . Another of the Managers added , That whereas there is a restriction in the Kings Letter , That the Earl of Strafford should not meddle with any thing in other Courts , they would shew , that after two Decrees in a Court , my Lord hath on a Petition , Decreed quite contrary ; and it was no Beggars Cause , but a Knights , and 5000 l. value : That to the Kings Letter they will give all Reverence . But if my Lord of Strafford had found such a constant practice to be proved , he needed no Letter to set up the Jurisdiction that was in him before ; That this Letter under the Signet , can give no Countenance against an Act of Parliament ; which Orders , That the Deputy shall not meddle with Causes , but remit them to their proper Courts ; and no other Exposition can be given of the saving of the Kings Prerogative , but only a reservation of His Liberty to Sue in any Courts , And for him to seek by mis-information , to procure a Letter from His Majesty , for a Power not warrantable by Law , he conceives it an Abuse of His Majesty , and that makes his fault the greater ; and he instanced in the Marquess of Dublin , who for procuring Letters Patents under the Great Seal , to exercise a Power against Law , was complained of in Parliament , and had Judgment for it , among other things , of High Treason . They proceeded to Proof . And first , The Earl of Corke being asked , whether before my Lord of Straffords time , he hath known the Deputy , or Justices alone , determine any matter of Land , in Equity or otherwise ; He Answered , He remembers not any , except in cases of the Church and Plantation . The Lord Ranulagh being asked to that point , Answered , Never any to his knowledge ; having been of the Table two and twenty years . Sir Adam Loftus being asked to the same point , Answered , He remembers not any ; having been a Privy-Counsellor 20 years . The Lord Mountnorris being asked to that point , Answered , He never knew any , having been a Privy-Counsellor since 14 Iac. and lived in Ireland 38 years ; That he was there all the time of my Lord Chichester , or very near ; and was so acquainted with his proceedings , that he dare engage himself for all he is worth , that the Lord Chichester never put any such Order under his hand . The Earl of Bath Sworn , and asked to that point ; Answered , That he hath often heard the Deputy in cases of Debt , for relief of poor men , hath proceeded alone ; but in cases of Land he never heard of any . To take off Henry Dillon's Testimony , the Manager alledged , That he had been Sentenced at the Council-Board , for speaking untruths . My Lord of Strafford desired the Exception might not be made ; some Exceptions by him made to Witnesses against him , being not admitted ; and that there might be unum pondus , una mensura . The Manager Answered , In eodem genere Mali. This Exception is not for Extortion , or collateral matters , but for Perjury . Thereupon his Acknowledgment was read ; wherein he confesses he had highly transgressed against the Honour of His Majesty and the Board , in presuming to declare apparent untruths . And that such an Acknowledgment was made , was testified by Sir Adam Loftus , and likewise by the Lord Dillon , who shewed their Lordships the occasion thereof . To the matter of my Lord Mountnorris his Imprisonment , it was offered under my Lord of Straffords own hand , to shew that it was partly upon the Sentence , December 24. 1636. My Lord of Strafford not denying it to be his hand , it was read , being a Reference upon my Lord Mountnorris his Petition , and in substance as followeth . That for the Petitioners restraint more than twelve months , he hath no body to blame but himself , that hath all that space lain under a deserved censure of the Council of War , and stood in Contempts , and trifled with the Court of Castle-Chamber . That His Majesties removal of the Sentence hath been often signified , but never sued forth ; That the Petitioner did to the same effect , Petition the Lord Deputy in May last , and therefore all the Answer that for the present can be given , is , that his most gracious Pardon seeks no man , nor can His Majesty remit all of that Sentence to be applied to the Petitioners benefit , till by his humble suit he procured His Majesties Pardon under the Great Seal , &c. which taking the usual way , and humbly acknowledging the justness of that Sentence , he may have , &c. A Petition was then read , directed to the Earl of Strafford from my Lord Mountnorris . Praying a Warrant for a Pardon under the Great Seal , according to the Law and the purport of His Majesties directions ; if his Lordship shall conceive His Majesties Letters ( on which the Lord Mountnorris relied as sufficient ) did not amount to a Legal Pardon . Then was read my Lord of Straffords Answer . Dublin , Ianuary 30. 1636. When the Petitioner shall prefer his Petition for the said Pardon , acknowledging the justness of the Sentence pronounced against him by the Council of War , we shall take his Request into our further consideration . Wentworth . Whence one of the Managers observed , That the King directs a Pardon to be drawn ; and till the Sentence be acknowledged to be just , no consideration shall be taken , and that the Preamble of the Pardon recites as much ; and he would not suffer it to be Sealed till this Acknowledgment passed . Then was produced the Lady Mountnorris her Petition to His Majesty , referred to the Lord Strafford . Mr. Anslowe Sworn , attested the truth of the Copy ; and it was read . Setting forth her Sorrow on behalf of her Husband , suffering in Honour , Health , and Imprisonment , for a word mis-interpreted , and still pursued in the Castle-Chamber ; and humbly praying a Command for his coming into England , &c. His Majesties Reference to my Lord of Strafford , Iuly 18. 1636. His Majesty is pleased , That on such a Submission as the Lord Deputy shall approve of , he shall have his Liberty to come into England ; wherein the Lord Deputy is to take notice , and to give Order therein accordingly . Mr. Anslowe being asked , whether this was brought to the Deputy by the Lady Mountnorris ; and whether he did not reject it : He Answered , That he was by when my Lady Mountnorris presented the Petition , she was humbly on her Knees to desire my Lord of Strafford to receive it : And he refused absolutely to receive it from her . They then produced the Order in a Cross Suit , in t . Robert Parkhurst Plaintiff , and the Lord Baltinglasse , & al. Defendants , Et e contra . The Order was read , whereby certain Lands for 3000 l. paid at several times to the Viscount , and 300 l. more to be paid afterwards , were setled with Sir Robert Parkhurst . William Brettergh Sworn , was Interrogated touching my Lord Baltinglasse his Possession of the said Lands , and his dispossessing thereof . He Answered , That he was Sollicitor for prosecuting of this Cause , and made Defence of it in behalf of my Lord of Baltinglasse , being then in England : But at the time of the Decree , his Lordship was come over ; That his Lordship never made Answer to it ; but when the Cause came to hearing , my Lord of Strafford ordered the Possession of the Land against my Lord Baltinglasse ; and the Possession before was in one Grimble , who was Tenant . And that he could speak many other things concerning the carriage of it . Mr. Glyn desired the Witness might be examined touching my Lord of Straffords purchase of those Lands ; and offered the Articles whereby my Lord of Strafford leased the Land for 28 years , and at 666 l. per annum . My Lord of Strafford confest thereupon , that he had it , but it was in Trust for a Noble Person . The Manager observed , That whether it was for a Friend , or himself , it is equal ; for a man will do a courtesie for his Friend , as soon as for himself ; And so he concluded his Reply , hoping that their Lordships were satisfied , that he hath introduced an Innovation ; and being so , that he hath exercised a Tyrannical Power over the Estates of His Majesties Subjects . To such parts thereof as was new matter , my Lord of Strafford replied , in substance as followeth . I desire that these matters that come on me suddenly , and being no part of my Charge , may not stick with Your Lordships . In the business of my Lord of Baltinglasse , I remember little , only that my Lord Baltinglasse had forfeited his Estate to Sir Robert Parkhurst , who had a clear and free Estate in the Land , by Fine and Recovery , and divers Conveyances ; The Lord Baltinglasse desired me to take the hearing of the Cause , to see if I could procure from Sir Robert Parkhurst , a further sum of money : The Order was made with both their likings ; and my Lord Baltinglasse was content to perfect the whole Estate . Sir Robert Parkhurst was in Possession at that time , not the Lord Baltinglasse ; That seeing no cause to relieve him in Equity , they left him to seek relief in other places . That afterwards an Agreement was made , 300 l. received by the Lord Baltinglasse ; and after 100 l. more got to be given , and so there was a full Conveyance and Acquittance from Father and Son , That himself hath no Interest in it , but only of Trust to anothers use . For that which was offered against the Jurisdiction ; the Proofs are Negative , and contradict not what I have offered ; And if I might shew my Lord of Faulklands Book of Entries , I could produce as much done by my Lord Faulkland alone , 1623. Attachments against Body and Goods , Hearings between Parties and Parties , Warrants for Distresses , Warrants to the Sheriff for Possession of Lands , Injunctions to Judges of Assize . For my Lord Mountnorris his Imprisonment , I desire Your Lordships to observe , that His Majesties Reference is , That I shall not set him at liberty without a Submission , so that he may thank himself for his Restraint . For my Carriage to the Lady Mountnorris at the delivering the Petition , I desire Your Lordships to hear a Witness . Who being asked to that purpose , Answered , That he was present when my Lady Mountnorris was once with my Lord , but knows not whether that were the time in question . It was about 1636. That he was present when her Son delivered one before ; which my Lord would receive , but her Son would not deliver the Reference , but a Copy , being so Commanded by his Lady Mother . That when my Lady delivered it on her Knees , my Lord told her , She had done him the greatest Injury she could devise ; and that if she had broke his Head , she should have pleased him better . Being asked , whether my Lord rejected the Petition ; He Answered , That he cannot certainly remember what was done with it ; but my Lord said , he could not do any thing on a Copy . The Lord Viscount Dillon being asked to the same point , Answered , He was by when my Lady Mountnorris came to my Lord to the Covent-Garden , with a Petition in her hand , and kneeled to my Lord , but my Lord desired her to rise , and offering the Petition , he said , he would not meddle with any Petition at that time ; That my Lord was going abroad , and led her to her Coach in Civility , but received not the Petition . My Lord of Strafford professeth , these things be so long past , that he remembers them not well , nor whether she offered a Copy the second time . The Manager did here observe , That he acknowledged the Civility of my Lord of Strafford in this point ; but there is one point sticks with him , as higher than any offered , and then their Lordships may think he goes high enough ; That there hath been proved my Lord of Straffords Tyrannical . Proceedings on the Life and Fortune of my Lord Mountnorris ; One step more , the Manager said he had heard off , and that was his Soul , and that sticks with him more than any thing else , He kept him in Prison till he should acknowledge the justness of a Sentence , which in his Heart he abhorred , and held unjust ; That all former Tyrants , when they would proceed against a man , have found out two false Witnesses ; but when a man shall be made a false Witness against himself , it is much more Tyrannical . And he wished this Design had kept only in Ireland , and had not come into England , which he hopes shall be so no more . And so after a short Reply to the two particulars last mentioned , the Manager closed the 6th Article , conceiving that it remains as was offered , That my Lord of Strafford hath determined things contrary to the Commission and Authority obtained from His Majesty . The Manager added , That for the present the Commons will pass by the 7th Article , and proceed to the 8th , concerning Arbitrary Power over the Estates of the Kings Subjects ; And of that , the last part , only concerning the Lady Hibbott . But my Lord of Strafford professing his disability to endure the Toil ; and that he was ready to drop down , in respect of his much sickness and weakness , and desiring their Lordships to turn the case inward , and to see in the Closet of their own Hearts , if there be not reason , that being upon his Life , his Honour , and Children , and all he hath , he should not be prest further ; and setting forth how the rest of the day after his going hence , is disposed of . The House was Adjourned till next day . The Fourth day . Thursday , March 26. 1641. THE Eighth Article . The Charge . THat the said Earl of Strafford , upon a Petition of Sir John Gifford Knight , the first day of February , in the said Thirteenth Year of his Majesties Reign , without any Legal Process , made a Decrée or Order against Adam Uiscount Loftus of Ely , a Peer of the said Realm of Ireland , and Lord Chancellor of Ireland , and did cause the said Uiscount to be imprisoned , and kept close Prisoner , on pretence of Disobedience to the said Decree or Order . And the said Earl , without any Authority , and contrary to his Commission , required and commanded the said Lord. Uiscount to yield up unto him the Great Seal of the Realm of Ireland , which was then in his Custody , by His Majesties Command , and imprisoned the said Chancellor for not obeying such his Command . And without any Legal Proceeding , did in the same Thirtéenth Year imprison George Earl of Kildare , a Péer of Ireland , against Law , thereby to enforce him to submit his Title to the Mannor and Lordship of Castleleigh in the Quéens Country , ( being of great yearly value ) to the said Earl of Strafford's Will and Pleasure , and kept him a year Prisoner for the said cause ; two months whereof he kept him close-Prisoner , and refused to enlarge him , notwithstanding His Majesties Letters for his Enlargement to the said Earl of Strafford directed . And upon a Petition exhibited in October , Anno Domini 1635. by Thomas Hibbots , against Dame Mary Hibbots Widow , to him the said Earl of Strafford ; the said Earl of Strafford recommended the said Petition to the Council-Table of Ireland , where the most part of the Council gave their Uote and Opinion for the said Lady ; but the said Earl finding fault herewith , caused an Order to be entred against the said Lady , and threatned her , that if she refused to submit thereunto , he would imprison her , and fine her Five hundred pounds ; that if she continued obstinate , he would continue her Imprisonment , and double her fine every month ; by means whereof she was enforced to relinquish her Estate in the Lands questioned in the said Petition , which shortly after were conveyed to Sir Robert Meredith , to the use of the said Earl of Strafford . And the said Earl in like manner did imprison divers others of His Majesties Subjects , upon pretence of Disobedience to his Orders , Decrées , and other illegal Command by him made for pretended Debts , Titles of Lands , and other Causes in an Arbitrary and extrajudicial course , upon Paper-Petitions , to him preferred , and no Cause legally depending . The Article was opened by the Manager . THomas Hibbott's Petition to my Lord of Strafford was read , setting forth ; That Sir Thomas Hibbot's being seized of certain Land , conveyed the same to the use of himself for life , after death to the Petitioner in Tail , and divers Remainders over : That Sir Thomas of the said Lands became seized for life , and died , the Petitioner being in England , and not knowing of the Conveyance . That Dame Mary Hibbots , Iohn Hoy her Son , and others , taking advantage of his absence , combined to get the Deeds , touching the Lands , into their hands . That they caused one Booky to come into England to perswade the Petitioner to go into Ireland , and he went accordingly , and was brought to the place of the said Ladies abode , who pretended that she had an estate in the Lands during life . That by this means , before he could be advised , he was drawn to contract for the Lands at half value , and he entred into Bond to perform Agreements . That the Petitioner was more willing thereunto , in respect of a desire to buy other Lands of Iohn Martin's , and agreed for it , and was to receive 1800 l. of the said Lady , which Martin was to receive , and the greatest part paid out at the time and place appointed . That a Deed-Poll was drawn from him to Seal to , and acknowledge a Fine , and deliver Security for great part of the purchase-money . That notwithstanding a Fine acknowledged , and Security given up , the Lady Hibbots refused to let Martin have the said money , and so the Petitioner disappointed of the Bargain ; and therefore prays , that the Evidences , Deed-Poll , Fine and Bond might be delivered up , and the Agreement discharged , being surreptitiously obtained . The Lord-Deputies Warrant was subscribed and read , bearing Dated 15. October , 1635. viz. That the Lady Hibbot , &c. should on sight thereof , forthwith deliver the said Deeds , &c. to Sir Paul Davis , and to appear at Council-Table the 20th of this instant October . The Manager observed , That the Petition was preferred in the name of Thomas Hibbots , though , in truth , he had never knowledge of the exhibiting of it , and that the first Bargain with the Lady Hibbots was made 22. September , 1635. the Petition exhibited 15. October , 1635. The Decree was read , Iohn Hoy attesting it to be a true Copy , wherein the Petition is recited , and the time ; and it is set forth , that the Courts of Justice were not then open , that the Petitioner being a Stranger , it was not fit he should long attend . That the Defendants denied the fraud charged : To which the Plaintiff Replied , the Defendants rejoin , time given to examine Witnesses , and a day for hearing set down . That at the hearing , it appears the said Lady brake into her deceased Husbands Study , possest her self of the Deeds and Writings . That Booky was sent over ( as might be conceived ) to circumvent the Plaintiff . That getting him to her house , she contracted with him for 1600 l. before he knew of the value ; that understanding it to be worth 2250 l. he refused to proceed , and then the Lady raised the price to 2500 l. That by not payment of a part of it , the bargain with Mr. Martin ( the cause of his treaty with the Lady ) was disappointed . That the Lady pretended an Estate for life in the Lands , when she had only an Estate in part for 99 years , if she lived so long , and no Estate in other parts thereof , which the Plaintiff knowing not of , could not suffer a Praecipe quod reddat without her joyning , whereas being but Lessee for 99 years he might . That it appears by the Deeds that the Plaintiff intended not to sell the Lands , for that he knew them not , as appeared by Circumstances , which the Order doth more particularly set down . That the criminal part should be reserved , to be made use of by the King's Council ; that for the civil part , the said Bargain was Ordered to be void . That the Fine not yet recorded , but remaining unreturned , shall be cancelled , if the Plaintiff shall require it . And the Lady to have only such Estate as she had before , and no other . And both Parties are hereunto to yield Obedience , 24. November , 1635. Adam Loftus Chancellor , Ormond , Valentia , Moore , Dillon , Sherley , Lowther , Wainsford , Manwareing , Tiringham , George Ratcliffe . The Manager opened the Nature of the Cause , observed the particular parts of the Order , shewing , that there was a Conveyance executed , a Fine levied , though not returned by his Order , no Witnesses examined , though she denies the Fraud , and Arguments are made to convince her by observation of circumstances , and so concluded to overthrow a Bargain in October before . That it is pretended to be when the Courts of Justice were shut , though it was heard in full Term , 24. November , 1635. the Term there beginning as in England , but adjourned to the 2. of November , and the said Order was contrary to the Vote of the Council-Board . That when that Bargain was overthrown , the Lands were purchased by Sir Robert Meredith and others for 3000 l. to the use of the Earl of Strafford , and he sold them back to the Lady Hibbots for 7000 l. That when this Petition was preferred , Thomas Hibbots desired to be gone , and have his money ; applies himself to Sir William Parsons for advice , Whether he might not withdraw his Petition ; he sends him to Sir George Ratcliffe , Sir George opposes it ; the Petitioner goes to my Lord of Strafford , and he tells him , Do not withdraw your Suit , 500 l. more in your purse will do you no hurt . Iohn Hoy was first produced as a Witness , and sworn . My Lord of Strafford offered to their Lordships Consideration , that the Witness is to have the Inheritance of the Lands , and so swears directly for himself . But the Manager Answered , That if he shall have the Inheritance , his Lordship knows the terms , he hath paid 7000 l. for it . And Mr. Maynard added , that if the Decree were of force against him , it were something , but the Land is since paid for ; and whether the Decree be good or bad , he can neither lose nor win by it , for he comes in as a Purchasor . Yet my Lord of Strafford prest it , that the Witness complained , and seeks Relief against the Decree . But the Manager Answered , It was for his Mother , not for himself ; though upon my Lord Stewards demand , he confest he was the Lady Hibbots Son , by a former Husband , and that the Inheritance is now in him . But my Lord of Strafford observed , if he can recover 3 or 4000 l. upon his Oath for his Mother , It is well . And their Lordships admitted him to be examined . He was asked , What he knew concerning the Agreement between Thomas Hibbots and the Lady Hibbots , for the Purchase of the Reversion of the said Lands , the tearms and times . He Answered , with desire to use his Notes , That Thomas Hibbots about 7. September continued two or three days in Dublin , and then came to Castlington , continued there a full day , and not a word spoken of the Bargain . That the Writings , whereby the Estate was setled , were shewed him , the said Thomas , and he read them . That being asked , Whether he would have more satisfaction ; He said , He was satisfied ; being demanded whether he would live in Ireland , and keep his Estate ; he said , No , and that he would sell most of it . That the Lady Hibbots desired she might be preferred in the Sale , having interest by Joynture , and she conceived it for life ; and demanded what he would ask , that he answered , What she pleased above 2000 l. That being asked , Whether he knew the Land , he answered , He knew it , for some years before he was in Ireland in Sir Thomas his life time , and a Servant of his had shewed him the Land. That she offered 1500 l. and he said , For 1600 l. she should have it , and so it was agreed . That she sent the Deponent up for 100 l. but the said Thomas said , He would not use so much , and took only 20 s. to bind the Bargain . That on Monday following they went to Dublin to draw up Articles to perfect the Bargain , and two or three days were spent about it . That he the Deponent tendered the Articles , and he the said Thomas excepted against the general Warranty , which he desired might be amended , and then he would perfect them , and it was amended accordingly . That in the interim , the day before Sir Robert Meredith went to him , and treated with him , offering , if he would break off , he the said Sir Robert would save him harmless , as Thomas Hibbots told him the Deponent . That thereupon Thomas Hibbots flies off , and told him the Deponent Sir Robert Meredith offered him 2250 l. That thereupon he the Deponent left the Town , and went to his Mother , and informed her of it . That before the breach of the Bargain , he the Deponent procured a Subpaena , to sue the said Thomas thereupon , and that the said Lady coming to Town with the Deponent , the said Thomas came to her , and being asked the reason , why he would break the Bargain , he answered , Sir Robert Meredith had offered so much , and she answering , That she would not give an under-value , because she would not have another get the Reversion . He Replied , That for 2500 l. she might have it , which she was content to give ; and the Agreement was made . That the said Thomas went immediately to Sir Robert Meredith to give him an Answer , and satisfied him ; That he the Deponent met Sir Robert Meredith coming out of his Lodging , and challenged him of this unneighborly courtesie , who said , it is true , he was about it , but the Lady Hibbots had bid more than he , and wished her much joy of it . That the next day the Articles for the 1600 l. were perfected , and a Bond given for 900 l. to make it up the Sum of 2500 l. and this to be paid in England ( for there was no motion about Land in England from the said Thomas . ) That two days after he the said Thomas went to Iohn Martin , who had a little Estate , and treated for the Estate , for which he was to give him 1900 l. That the said Thomas came back to Dublin , and tells the Deponent of it , who had taken a course to exchange 2000 l. for him , and was to have near 80 l. for exchange of it . That notwithstanding , on Mr. Hibbots return , he the Deponent was content he should have it paid there . That soon after Thomas Hibbots acknowledged a Fine , perfected a Feoffment , and so passed all the Estate that could be in himself . But the Lady thought it could not be secure without a Recovery ; for the said Thomas had but one Son , who had no Son , and the life of the man is uncertain ; yet before that was desired , Thomas Hibbots saying Mr. Martin was willing to receive the money ; he the Deponent appointed a day for receiving of it , and paid Mr. Martin 1800 l. giving Bond for payment of 100 l. 16. November , this being 9th of October . That he delivered Mr. Hibbots 60 l. and procured a Bill of Exchange to be paid at Nesson on sight 40 l. That he took up the 900 l. Bond , entred into by his Mother , and gave a Bond for payment of 500 l. at Chester a day following . That the money being sealed up by Mr. Martin , it was left there that night , and the next day they were to go to the Lady to enquire if they had sufficient Security , and went accordingly , and carried the Deeds along with them . That the Ladies Council told her , a Recovery was necessary , which might be done the first day of the Term. That he the Deponent desired Mr. Hibbots to stay till the Term , and offered to bear his Charges , but he would not , Winter growing on , and said plainly , He would not stay . That thereupon he the Deponent served him with a Writ he had prepared on the first Bargain . That immediately the said Thomas goes away to Mr. Sambridge , and informed him , that he had been often with him the Deponent to break the Bargain , and now is served with a Writ , and therefore prayed him to draw a Petition to my Lord-Deputy , which was drawn accordingly . To which the Lady and Deponent had time to Answer till Thursday : That the time was short , and there was a mistake in the Answer ; for it was set forth that the Lady had an Estate for life , whereas she had an Estate but for 99 years , if she lived so long . That on this mistake discovered , my Lord-Deputy called for the Constable of the Castle , and commanded the Clerk of the Council to draw a Warrant to commit their Council , till the Gentleman fell on his knees , and openly asked forgiveness . That then they could hardly get Council to plead : That there was a Reply and Rejoynder . And in the interim Mr. Hibbots came to him the Deponent , went to the Master of the Wards , and desired to be dismissed . That Sir George Ratcliffe appointed them to attend him , which they did . That Sir George took Mr. Hibbots with him , and on Sunday following the Lord-Deputy being informed of Hibbots consent , on Monday he sent for Hibbots , and wishes him to go on with the Suit , and asked him , What hurt it would do him to carry 500 l. more to England . The next day being Tuesday , there was no Witnesses examined , though a time was appointed to examine them ; for the Clerk of the Council was busie , and could not attend it . That they desired Hibbots might be examined , and they would be bound by his Oath , and his Lordship granted a Warrant for it ; and Mr. Hibbots was almost examined , for on a Council-day the Order was given to the Deponent . But that very Afternoon my Lord-Deputy came to the Council-Board , and as soon as he was sate , spake to this effect ; Here is a business concerning my Lady Hibbots , prosecuted with a great deal of Violence that ever I knew , and an Order procured for the Examination of the Plaintiff ; but if any such Order be , or Examination taken , I will have it damned ; and this is as much as he can speak . Being asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not threaten my Lady Hibbots with Imprisonment , till she performed the Order . He Answered , That on the first of Ianuary , after the Decree , my Lord-Deputy sent to the Lady Hibbots house , to require her and him the Deponent to attend him , which they did accordingly , and were called into his Chamber , where was Mr. Sambridge of Council with Mr. Hibbots , a Sister of the Deponents , he the Deponent , and some others . That my Lord-Deputy asked them , Why they would not perfect the Re-assurance according to the Order , to which the Deponent offered some Exceptions , drawn up by the Council , alledging , that they could not possibly perform the words of the Order , and that they might perform them as near as might be ; they shewed a course that might be observed , but my Lord-Deputy said , He would not be cavil'd withall , he would have the Order of the Board obeyed ; and since they juggle thus , his Lordship said , He would have the Orders drawn up , and tendered , and that if they will not perform them , he will commit them to the Castle , where they shall lie a month , at that months end he will send for them to the Council-Board , and tender them again , and if they would not perform them , he will Fine them 500 l. and another months Imprisonment , and then tender them again , and if they will not perform then , he will Fine them 1000 l. and another months Imprisonment , and so from time to time , till they had performed the Orders of the Board . Being asked , Whether these Lands were not purchased in the Name of Sir Robert Meredith , and others , and to whose use ? He Answered , That he hath the Deeds of the Land himself , and what the Dates are he doth not remember . But he knows the Lands were purchased in the Name of Sir Robert Meredith and others , but he cannot speak to whose use , but from Sir Robert Meredith's own mouth , for when he the Deponent paid 7000 l. to him , he the Deponent was telling him the great advantage he made by this Bargain . In truth , saith Sir Robert , the advantage is nothing to me , I receive it with one hand , and carry to the Castle with the other . That the beginning of December last Sir Robert sent for this Deponent , and told him , He heard he was coming over to complain of such a matter , but desired him the Deponent not to trouble him , for he protested seriously , he had nothing to do with the business , his Name was only used as Sir Philip Persivals and Sir Robert Loftus , it was meerly to my Lord Lieutenants use . The Manager observed , That when their Lordships have heard this , they will not wonder at the next Witness they shall produce , that a Supream Judge should perswade to continue a Suit , which he would have withdrawn ; and that notwithstanding the major part of the Board was against the Petitioner ▪ yet the Order was drawn for the Petitioner . Mr. Hoy being asked to the matter of the Vote . He said , He was withdrawn when they gave their Vote , but a noble Member of the Board came to his Mother to Supper , and named to him the Deponent every man that Voted for and against her , that he writ down their Names at that time , and there were twelve Votes for her , and nine against her ; that he the Deponent was afterwards informed by another then at Board , that the major part of the Board went for his Mother . Thomas Hibbots was sworn , and being asked , Whether there was not a Petition preferred to the Lord-Lieutenant there for breaking off the Bargain between himself and the Lady Hibbots , and answered before he knew of it . He Answered , having the Questions dictated by the Clerk , being an old deaf man : That he caused a Petition to be drawn , but not this ; that this Petition he knew nothing at all of ; that he wished a Petition to be drawn by Mr. Sambridge , but it was only that he might have his money , and go into his Country . Being asked , Whether , after the Petition drawn and answered , he did go to Sir William Parsons , and desired to be quit of the Suit , and that he went thereupon to Sir George Ratcliffe , and what passed ? He Answered , He sent to Sir William Parsons , and he sent him to Sir George Ratcliffe , and Sir George Ratcliffe said , He should not be dismissed from the Board . Being asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not send for him , and tell him 500 l. more in his purse would do him no harm . He Answered , It is true , my Lord wished him to go on with his Suit at the Board , and that no man in Ireland should do him wrong , and it would do him no harm to carry over 500 l. more . Being asked , What Sir Robert Meredith said to him . He Answered , That he would bring all the Writings to him the Deponent . Being asked on my Lord of Strafford's Motion , what Fees he laid out . He Answered , 40 l. to Mr. Sambridge ; and the Manager observed , he was preferred presently after the Bargain was executed . Being asked , What words were used to the Lady Hibbots . He Answered , That my Lord-Deputy asked , Will you not perform the Order ; If not by such a day , I will send you to the Castle , and there you shall lie a month , and at the months end you shall be brought to the Board , and have 500 l. laid on your head , and at another months end 1000 l. more Fine , and you shall go back to the place again , and after that a third months Imprisonment , and your Fine increased ; your Estate I know is very great , and if it were ten times bigger than it is , I will make it crack . To prove that the major part of the Board was against the Plaintiff . The Lord Mountnorris was asked , Whether he was present at the Council-Table at that time when this Cause was agitated , and which way the major part of the Votes went at that time . He Answered , He was there present , and the major Vote went for the Lady , and there were 12 or 11 , he cannot possibly say which ( though he took it then perfectly into memory ) on one side , and nine on the other side . The Earl of Corke asked to the same purpose . He first made an humble Suit to their Lordships , that he might not be produced as a Witness against the Prisoner . His Reason is , That when he hath delivered a true Testimony , my Lord of Strafford presently pursues him , and lays Imputations and scorns upon him ; and therefore humbly prayed to be spared , else that he might have liberty to justifie himself . Whence the Manager observed , What it is to fall on Witnesses persons extravagantly , when they produce them , and therefore desired my Lord of Strafford might forbear it , being a great disheartening to Witnesses . My Lord of Corke added , That my Lord of Strafford accused him to have a Pardon , whereas he knows he hath none . That he is an honest man , and wishes my Lord of Strafford could leave the Kingdom with as much Reputation as himself had left it . And for the matter demanded , his Lordship said , He was at the hearing of the Cause , and Voted against the Plaintiff ; but whether the major part Voted against him or no , he knows not . Being asked , What words my Lord of Strafford said about making a party in that Cause . He Answered , That he thinks he spake these words , He did not think there would have been a party against him , for if he had , he would not have brought it to that Table , for the Petition was preferred to himself . Sir Adam Lofius being asked , What Sir Robert Meredith told him of his part in the Bargain . He Answered , That he heard him say , He had no Title or Interest in it , but only his name used in trust , but for whom he did not declare , and that was all he said to him . The Manager added , That they have another Witness to prove that of the majority of the Vote , my Lord of Ely , but he is sick . And so the Manager summed up the Evidence , and observed it to be something , that my Lord of Strafford should pitch upon the very sum of 500 l. that Mr. Hibbots had by way of increase . That the Order was made with an examination of Witnesses , on pretence of Fraud , where the Lady denied it on Oath , and that though it was so great a fraud in the Lady to procure a Reversion for 2500 l. which was sold for 3000 l. and afterwards re-sold to the Lady for 7000 l. and so concluded that it is an Arbitrary Government , drawn into my Lord of Strafford's own breast , and the Inheritance of a great Estate taken from the King 's Subject without Rule of Law , there being a Fine levied , but being not retorned ( as the Commissioners are bound to retorn it ) he made an Order it should not be retorned , and a Lady threatened with doubling and trebling the Fine , and one of the Feoffees , Sir Robert Meredith , confesses it was for my Lord of Strafford . And to prove that , Sir Philip Persival acknowledged so much . Mr. Fitzgarret was Interrogated , What Sir Philip Persival said , who thereupon answered , That Sir Philip had often told him , the Purchase was to the use of my Lord-Deputy , now Earl of Strafford . That he hath had occasion of Conference with him about the Estate , and hath sometimes discoursed with him concerning the Estate wherein his name was used . That he the Deponent might understand how far it concerned him , telling him , that the Estate would one day be questioned . And Sir Philip protested , he never knew of this business till his name was put into it , and he came to Seal the Writings , and that it was to the use of my Lord-Deputy . Some Questions arising about the number of Hands to the Order , being in all 14. The Manager observed , That more have subscribed than those that gave their Vote , being a Cause introduced by my Lord of Strafford . That all subscribed the Orders , as well those against them , as those for them , and Appealed therein to my Lord of Cork . The Course being , when an Order is made , to bring it to the Table another day , and take all the Hands of them present ; and he added , That their Lordships that are Counsellors know that Course to be used here . My Lord of Corke being asked to that Point . Answered , That he knows nothing of it . The Lord Primate of Ireland his Examination was offered , and was admitted accordingly to be read , being taken 30. March , 1641. To the fourth Inter. That when the Major part of the Council-Board go one way , and the Minor part another way ; when the Order is drawn up , the Minor part Signs it as well as the Major . The Lord-Deputy alledging it to be the practise of the Council of England , and he himself had done it ; but before my Lord of Strafford's coming he never knew it to be so . Lord Renula being asked to the same Point . Answered , That he doth not remember that Order to be of force there till of late years , and that my Lord of Strafford hath declared to them that it is the practise of England , and when the Major part doth subscribe , though others be of different Opinions , they are involved in it , and must subscribe . The Lord Savil desired he might be asked , Whether he ever knew , that when the Major part did Vote against an Order , they did subscribe it . The Manager answered , That that 's their grief ; and though there be no such Course , yet if it concern my Lord of Strafford , he will make it a course . Lord Renula being asked , Whether he were present at the Council-Table when this Vote was given , and what he heard concerning the Vote . He Answered , That he was not there , and he heard very little of it ; that the most he heard of it , was since the coming of this Gentleman , Mr. Hoy , into England ; and that to his best remembrance he heard Sir William Parsons , now Lord Chief Justice , say , He was informed the Major Vote went against Sir Robert Meredith . And so the Manager concluded the Charge as to the Eighth Article , saying , That here is a Proceeding for a Free-hold , contrary to the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom , contrary to the Instructions in the manner and measure as their Lordships had heard . My Lord of Strafford , after some time given for the re-collecting of his Notes , began his Reply in substance as followeth : I will , with your Lordships noble permission , justifie my self against the Charge of High-Treason exhibited against me . Having been blamed by the Gentlemen at the Bar for going to matters not pertinent , I shall henceforth keep my self to that within the Charge , trusting that the things wherewith I am not Charged , shall not dwell with your Lordships to my prejudice , but that your Lordships will in your Nobleness and Justice reserve to your selves , till in its proper place and kind , I shall Answer thereunto , conceiving that I am to Answer only to Treason , not to Misdemeanor . The Charge opened , is a Decree given by the Deputy and Council of Ireland , to the subversion of the Fundamental Laws , and to the bringing in of an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government . Whether it be so or no , or whether by any manner of Construction it can be brought as an Argument to convince me of High-Treason , I conceive I am to Answer . Whether the Decree be in it self just or unjust , is not the question , but will come clearly to your Lordships judgments upon the Petition of the party when she shall sue for her Right . And when it comes to be Charged upon me as a Misdemeanor , I shall give such an Answer as befits me . There is nothing in this Charge that can be interpreted Treason , for it is but the exercising of a Jurisdiction in the Deputy , which he hath Commission for from His Majesty ; and the inlarging of a Jurisdiction in a Judg , I conceive , is not Treason . The Proofs formerly offered to prove the use and practise of the Deputies ( which I need not repeat , your Lordships being Persons of great Wisdom , and once said , always said , ) come to my help and assistance in my Charge , the question being upon the same Jurisdiction only , and that in one particular Circumstance I conceive my self stronger in this Cause than in that of my Lord Mountnorris . This Case being of a Petition preferred to me , but referred by me to be heard before the Council-Board ; and the Witnesses say , That though they did not know nor remember , that the Deputy himself heard Causes alone , yet it was frequent for the Deputy to receive Petitions , and refer them to the Board . So that I conceive I have exercised or done nothing , but according to the Practise and Customs of that Kingdom , and consequently cannot be made use of as an Argument that I subvert the Fundamental Laws , or bring in Arbitrary or Tyrannical Government , when I step in the paths of my Predecessors , and the practise of other men in the like Cases . And that I say as to this Point of Jurisdiction . The next Point I am Charged with is , That the most part of the Council-Board Voted against it ; whereas I say in my Answer , the most part Voted for it , and on that I most humbly insist still , and shall make it clearly appear to be so . For Proof on the other Side , they have only my Lord Mountnorris his Testimony , who saies , They had 12 against the Order , and nine for it . And Mr. Hoy saith , That an Honourable Person that night told him , 12 were for him and nine against him ; so it must all be one man , and one Testimony . To prove the Major part was for the Decree , there was the Order signed under the Clerk of the Council , a sworn Minister , who could not draw it up without the plurality of Voices , being against the constant practise of the Board to do otherwise . That this was the practise , I desire my Lord Primate's Examination may be read to the second , third , fourth , fifth and sixth Interrogatories . Those his Examinations which were taken in the presence of the Peers and Commons , taken this morning , being admitted to be read , and the former taken in the absence of the Members of the Commons House , being declared to be suppressed . The said Examinations were read accordingly . 2. To the Second , he knows the use was to prefer Petitions to all the Chief Governors that have been within these fifty years last , but what hath been thereupon he cannot say . This my Lord of Strafford observed is to the Jurisdiction . 3. It is the received practise of that Board , that the Clerk of the Council , being a sworn Minister , should draw up the Opinions according to the Major part of the Board . 4. That he hath not known the Earl of Strafford to have at any time urged or pressed any Member of the Board contrary to his own Opinion . 5. That he hath heard him divers times profess he had but a single Voice , and that Matters were to pass according to the major part of the Voices of the Board . Whence my Lord of Strafford observed , That the Clerk of the Council , being a sworn Officer , is perjured , else the greater part of the Board was against the Lady Hibbots . Robert Lord Dillon being asked concerning the use of the Board in the Clerk of the Councils drawing up Orders , according to the major part of the Votes , and what he had observed in this particular Case . He Answered , That the Clerk of the Council is a sworn Minister of His Majesty , and by duty of his Place is to take notice of the Votes , and accordingly to draw up the rough draughts of Orders , and to present them to the Board , to see whether they be to the sense of the major part of the Votes . That he was present at the Council-Board when this Cause was Voted , but cannot say , upon his knowledge , it was drawn up according to the major part of the Voices at the Board , for he counted not the Votes ; but that was an inducement to him to believe so , because the Clerk of the Council drew it up so ; and it is the Order of the Board , when the major part Votes , those that dissent , in regard their Votes are involved , do commonly Sign , and that he had seen some Sign to the Order which had given Vote against the Decree . Being asked severally how his Vote passed in this Order , and whether the major part did not Vote it , whether my Lord of Strafford did not always submit his Opinion to the major part , and whether in a Case that concerned my Lord Renula , there were eight at the Board , and four went one way , and four another , that my Lord of Strafford would not over-rule it , but called in another , and desired the whole business might be referred to him ; whether before my Lord of Strafford's restraint , this Order was questioned on this Point for want of the major part of Voices , and whether at the signing of it , or any time after , he heard any Councellor except against the Order . His Lorship Answered , That he gave his Vote for the Decree , that he reckoned not the Votes , but conceives the major part were for it ; that he remembers not my Lord urging any man to Vote contrary to his Opinion , or over-ruled it , but was content to let it go : That he remembers not the contrary , but my Lord submitted to the major part of the Votes : That in the business betwixt my Lord Renula Plaintiff and one Ormesby , he remembers there were but eight men at the Board , whereof my Lord-Deputy made one , and four fell on one side , and four on the other , and my Lord Renula was then present , as he takes it , though withdrawn at the instant , and for ought he knows my Lord Renula can say something to it . That when my Lord gave his Vote , he said , He would not take the priviledge of casting the Cause , but left it to an absent Counsellor , and which way soever he inclined , the Cause should go ; and afterwards that Councellor did Vote against the Opinion of my Lord-Deputy , and the Order was drawn up so : That he never heard of any Complaint of the Order , nor heard of the business , till he came to the Board : That he doth not remember any Exception taken at the time of the signing the Order , nor at any time after . Sir Philip Manwareing being asked concerning the matter of the major part . Answered , That he was present at the Council-Table , and his Vote went for the Decree , and he conceives the major part of the Table did so too , he is very confident of it ; and he doth the rather believe it , because he never knew the contrary practise at that Board in any Case ; besides , he knows the Clerk of the Council is a very faithful and careful Servant , being a sworn Officer ; and it is the duty of his Place to draw up Orders according to the major part of the Voices , and that no member of the Board took Exception at the signing of this Order that he knows . For the matter of Imprisoning the Lady , my Lord of Strafford offered , That he hopes it 's no great offence for the Deputy of Ireland to say as much to a Subject that 's bound to perform the Order of the Board , and doth not ; I ought not ( under favour , ) favour le ts in that Case ; for if Obedience be not had , it is to no purpose Orders should be made . For the words concerning Fining of her , I offer to your Lordships Confideration , that one that gives Testimony thereof is Mr. Hoy , who is a party interessed , and to whom the benefit will accrue of whatsoever shall be recovered ; and that your Lordships may remember what a ready story he told , and wronged his memory , to desire to speak out of his Notes , for I never heard one speak more readily , and conceive he is not in this particular so intire a Witness to convince me . That the other Witness is Mr. Hybbots himself , a weak old man , that hath not Judgment sufficient , but says forward and backward , and may be taken any way : Therefore his Testimony is not so strong and binding . That suppose I had said the words , they cannot make a Treason ; Fining in cases of Contempts being usual in Chancery here , to enforce men to conform to Decrees . However , I stand not charged with it ; and when it comes in its proper place and time , I trust I shall make a fair and just Answer in it . The last thing in the Charge , is the conveying of the Lands to Sir Robert Meredith , and others , to my use , which I deny in my Answer , and under favour , deny it still . For the Witnesses offered , I except against Mr. Hoy , as I must , under favour , as often as I mention it . That the words spoken by Sir Robert Meredith , is only his saying , and offered here as a Report ; and when Sir Robert speaks for himself , I believe he will say another thing . That the Testimony of Mr. Fitzgarrett , is but what Sir Philip Percival said ; and when Sir Philip comes to be examined himself , I trust Your Lordships will find it otherwise , I having never spoke to Sir Philip in all my life , touching the business . When my Lady Hybbotts complains of the Injustice of the Decree , before Your Lordships , I hope I shall clear it in its proper place , but in the mean time it is no part of my Charge ; and I dare say they would not offer such a thing in Charge , to my Lord Keeper , or my Lord Chief Justice ; or if they should offer it , they know they should have a rebuke ; for Lawyers must keep within the limits of the Charge ; and therefore in this particular , I may reserve my self , without prejudice in Your Lordships Opinions , till it comes to its proper place ; where I hope I shall justifie my Carriage to be Honest and Faithful , according to the Trust reposed in me . His Lordship having finished his Defence , the Manager began his Reply thereunto , in substance as followeth . That he shall not need to labour much in making a Replication , little being answered to the Charge , which he recited and opened . That his Lordships Proceedings have in this matter been contrary to Law , they must rest on their Lordships memory , the Act of Parliament cited before , the Instructions , and the Proclamation , the Exercise of a Jurisdiction on the Estate of a Lady , without the least colour of Jurisdiction ; whereas if there had been any , it would have been heard of . That his Lordship answers nothing to his sending for the party Petitioning , bidding him go on with the Suit ; and Prophesying , that he might have 500 l. more : That perhaps it is not material , whether the Order were just or unjust ; and my Lord of Strafford will answer only to the Jurisdiction . But we observe , that yesterday he made a great flourish to the justness of a Decree , let the Jurisdiction be what it will ; and when he cannot justifie that , then he declines it . That my Lord his Pulse is still beating , that this is no Treason , yet it is an Article to prove and conduce to the General Charge , of subverting the Laws ; and though he pretends that these Circumstances , of purchasing the Lands to his own use , and speaking to the party to proceed , and his Threats , are not to the purpose ; yet under favour these , and his saying , when he perceived a great part to Vote against him , ( though not the major part , as he says ) that he could have kept it in his own hands , do come home to the point , That he hath exercised an Arbitrary Power , specially when it is for his own benefit . His pretence , that this Cause was heard before the Lords of the Council , and therein differs from that of my Lord Mountnorris , is no answer at all ; for the Lords of the Council have nothing to do in matters of Freehold or Inheritance , when it concerns not Plantation , or the Church , or is specially recommended . That they concur with my Lord Primates Examination , that the Clerk of the Council should draw up Orders according to the major part of the Votes ; but what he hath done in this case , they know not ; and how far a Deputy might prevail with the Clerk of the Council , they submit : And there is an express proof of one of the Counsellors , that there was 11. or 12. against the Order , and nine for it . And whereas it is said , he is but a single Witness , my Lord of Corke says , though he remembers not which way the major voice went , yet he remembers very well my Lord Deputy exprest those words , concerning the making of a Party ; which shews , that something was done that did not agree with his will : And another Witness says , that Sir William Parsons told him , that the major Vote was against the Order . And whereas my Lord Strafford pretends , that the Privy-Counsellor that told Mr. Hoy , there were more Voices for his Mother than against her , must be my Lord Mountnorris , That is denied ; and we desire Mr. Hoy may in that point explain himself . He hath called Sir Philip Maynwaring , and others , that would have testified the truth to his advantage ; but not one of them expresses any thing to their knowledge , but as they believe it ; because by the Duty of his place , the Clerk of the Council ought to have drawn it up according to the Votes . The Threats to Imprison and Fine the Lady ; and the kind of Threats are proved by two Witnesses , with this addition by one , That he would crack her Estate ; which shew a great fervency in my Lord of Strafford to have the Order performed ; and why should he be so earnest , if he had not had some game to play afterwards . If the Conveyance had not been to his own use , my Lord of Strafford would have provided his Testimony ; It being proved in whose name it was , and both they affirm it to be for the use of my Lord of Strafford . Mr. Hoy being asked , whether the Counsellor who told him how the Votes passed , was my Lord Mountnorris or no ; He Answered , That Sir Iames Erskyn , since dead , gave him a Note of the Names : And that the Lord Arch-Bishop of Dublin told him presently after , the Vote went on his Mothers side . Mr. Palmer observed , That the Lord of Strafford draws an Argument , that because there was no complaint of the Order , therefore there was no mistake ; and desired Mr. Hoy might be asked , why he made no complaint . Mr. Hoy being accordingly asked ; Answered , That he was ready to come for England , and to take Ship , and that Evening he went to the Master of the Court of Wards , to take his leave of him , and to acquaint him with his going . That Sir Paul Davis being there , he and the Master of the Wards , desired him to walk into the Study , and perswaded him against his going , telling him of my Lord Deputies great Power ; and that he might as well run his head against a Rock , as have any Remedy against my Lord Strafford , as the times go now ; and this was very soon after the Decree , and as he conceives , between it and Christmas following . Being asked , whether Sir Paul Davis shewed him the Order , and whether it was interlined ; and by whose hand : He Answered , That he was at the Clerk of the Council to have got a Copy of the Order , and saw the Order interlined with a strange hand ; and asking whose it was , Sir Paul told him , it was my Lord Deputies . Here my Lord of Strafford observed , that it is very ordinary for the Clerk of the Council to bring Orders to the Deputy , who if he sees cause , mends them . Sir Dillon being asked , whether any that Voted in my Lady Hybbots Case , did tell him which way the major part of the Votes in my Lady Hybbots Case went ; He Answered , That a little before his coming out of Ireland , speaking of the Charge against my Lord of Strafford , and particularly of this Cause , one or two of the Privy-Council said publickly , The major part of the Council was for my Lady Hybbots . To this last part my Lord of Strafford answered , with a desire that the Witness might be asked , whether Justice Parsons be not Father-in-Law to Mr. Hoy ; And that this was since his my Lord of Straffords questioning . And so the 8th Article was concluded , being his Exercise of an Arbitrary Power over the Estates of His Majesties Subjects ; though they have divers other Instances , as in the Case of the Earl of Ely , and my Lord of Killdare , the prime Earl of that Kingdom . THE Ninth Article . The Charge . THat the said Earl of Strafford , the sixtéenth day of February , in the Twelfth year of His Majesties Reign , assuming to himself a Power above , and against Law , took upon him by a general Warrant under his hand , to give Power to the Lord Bishop of Downe and Connor , his Chancellor , or Chancellors , and their several Officers thereto to be appointed , to Attach and Arrest the Bodies of all such of the meaner and poorer sort , who after citation , should either refuse to appear before them , or appearing , should omit , or deny to perform , or undergo all Lawful Decrées , Sentences and Orders , issued , imposed , or given out against them , and them to Commit , and kéep in the next Goal , until they should either perform such Sentences , or put in sufficient Bail , to shew some reason before the Council-Table , of such their contempt and neglect ; and the said Earl , the day and year last mentioned , signed and issued a Warrant to that effect ; and made the like Warrants to several other Bishops , and their Chancellors , in the said Realm of Ireland , to the same effect . MR. Glyn opened the Ninth Article , charging my Lord of Strafford with assuming of a Power above Law , in granting of a general Warrant to the Bishop of Downe and Conner , to attach such persons of the meaner sort as should not appear on their Citation , to apprehend their Bodies , and bring them before the Council ; an Act so high , that higher could not be , unless it extended to Life , as my Lord Mountnorris his Case ; to grant a Warrant at pleasure contrary to Law , to apprehend the Bodies of His Majesties Subjects , that live under the protection of the Law ; which if it be made good , will be of great might , and prove the Charge fully . A Copy of the Warrant being produced , my Lord of Strafford excepted against it , as not to be read , by the proceedings of the Court , being not the Original . To which the Council at the Bar answered , That that 's the way to shelter any Crime , if none but the Original Warrants in such Cases should be admitted ; it being no Record that they may repair to it . And their Lordships being desired that a Witness might be heard , what he can say for the attesting of it ; after which , it will be proper for their Lordships to judge of the Copy . Sir Iames Mountgomery Sworn , and asked whether he saw the Original Warrant ; and whether this be a true Copy . He Answered , He can depose , that he hath seen the Original Warrant , and read it ; and that the Bishop of Derry did shew it himself . That this Copy , he believes , both in matter and words , to be a true Copy ; for he hath another Copy agreeing with this ; and that he knows this Warrant hath been put in Execution many times ; and he himself hath been charged to assist them that have put it in Execution , by virtue of this Warrant . Thereupon the Warrant was read ; being in effect as followeth . By the Lord Deputy . FOrasmuch as We have been informed by the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Downe and Conner , that the most frequent Offences against God , and the greatest Contempts against the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction , are Committed by the meaner and poorer sort of People in that Diocess ; whose faults , for the most part , escape unpunished , by reason the Writ de Excommunicato Capiendo , is so long before it can be sued forth , and executed on them , that they remove to other parts , and cannot be found ; or if they be taken , their Poverty is such , that they cannot satisfie the Sheriff , and other Officers Fees , due for taking them on that Writ ; whereby the Officers become negligent , and backward of doing their Duties . We therefore desiring the suppression of Sin , and Reformation of Manners , have thought fit to strengthen the Ecclesiastical Authority of the said Right Reverend Father in God , the Lord Bishop of Downe and Conner , with our Secular Power , and do therefore hereby give Power and Authority to the said Lord Bishop , his Chancellor or Chancellors , by their several Officers by them to be appointed , to Arrest and Attach the Bodies of all such of the meaner and poorer sort , that after Citation , shall refuse to appear before them , or appearing , shall omit or deny to perform and undergo all Lawful Decrees , Sentences and Orders , issued , imposed , and given out against them , and them so Arrested to Commit , and keep in the next Goal , till they shall perform such Sentences , or put in sufficient Bond , to shew some reasons before the Council-Table of such their Contempts , &c. willing all Justices of the Peace , &c. in that Diocess , to be Aiding , &c. as they , &c. Given , &c. Febr. 16. 1636. Tho. Little. Mr. Glyn opened the several parts of the Warrant , and offered , that it was expresly against Law , putting their Lordships in mind of the former words , That he would make an Act of State equal to an Act of Parliament : But now he is better than his word ; for he will make an Act of State higher than an Act of Parliament : For whereas by the Law , no Subject of the Kings , in any Ecclesiastical Court , may be taken till he be cited ; and then on disobedience , he is Excommunicated ; and on Excommunication , there is a Writ called , Capias Excommunicatum , by virtue of which he is apprehended . Now my Lord of Strafford issues a Warrant to take him , if he appear not on Citation , breaking through the Law , and making no matter of that , but he will make a Law that extends to the Liberty of the Subject . And if this had never been put in Execution , it had been all one to the purpose of the Commons ; for this shews how , being intrusted with the Kings Law in Ireland , he discharges that Trust. But for Execution , they desired Witnesses might be heard . Sir Iames Mountgomery being asked , how this Warrant was Executed ; and the Kings Subjects used under colour of his Authority : He Answered , That he hath seen several Warrants that have issued under the Hand of the Bishop of Downe's Chancellor , sometimes to the Constables , sometimes to his own Apparitors , with their Assistance for to apprehend the persons under-named ; That there have sometimes twenty , sometimes thirty , sometimes more , sometimes less names , been put in the Warrant . That he hath known them executed with great cruelty , sometimes wounding , beating , imprisoning them . Being asked on my Lord of Straffords motion , how long since he knew any thing done upon that Warrant : He Answered , Since the time of the Warrant granted ; and he thinks the Warrant bears date February 1636. till of late , much about this time Twelve-month , which was the last time he was charged himself , to be assistant to the Execution of it . That he heard the Bishop of Derry had taken up the Warrants in Sommer last , on many and frequent Complaints that had come ; and had withdrawn it from the Bishop of Downe about Iuly last . The Manager closed this Article , observing , that my Lord of Strafford not only takes this Power , but gives it over to others ; and see how they do execute it over the Kings Subjects ; Knights , and men of Eminency must be called to assist ; and therefore it was high time to accuse my Lord of Strafford of subverting the Laws of Ireland . And so expected his Lordships Answer . My Lord of Strafford began his Defence , in effect as followeth . Such Warrants have been usually granted to the Bishops of Ireland , in times of all former Deputies . But not satisfied with the convenience thereof , I refused to give such Warrants generally , as was formerly used . Being informed that divers in the Bishoprick of Downe gave not fitting Obedience , I gave this Warrant , being the only Warrant of this kind that I granted ; and hearing complaints of the Execution of it , I called it in again . They have produced only a Copy of the Original Warrant , and what words may be omitted that 's in the Original , God knows ; and I think , under favour , it would not be an Evidence at the Kings-Bench Bar. And this stands with the practice of former Deputies , to grant such Warrants of Assistance to the Bishops . The Lord Primate of Ireland , his Examination read . To the 7th Interrogatory , That he remembers his immediate Predecessor in the Bishoprick of Meath told him , he had a Warrant of Assistance from the then Lord Deputy , who was either the Lord Chichester , or the Lord Grandison ; That the Recusants in his Diocess desired it might be so , for the saving of those Charges which would come on them by the Writs de Excommunicat ' Capiendo . Robert Lord Dillon , being asked whether he had known formerly such Warrants to be granted , and by whom . He Answered , He hath heard Writs of Assistance have been granted by former Deputies , but he remembers not that ever he saw any . Mr. Tho. Little being asked , whether this Warrant was granted according to former Presidents : He Answered , That he hath seen one of the Original Warrants before my Lords coming there ; and that it was brought to him to draw another by ; And going to instance in some Copies seen in my Lord of Faulklands Book of Entries , The Manager excepted against him , for medling with a Book formerly over-ruled . Mr. Little proceeds , That he hath seen an Original Warrant by which this was drawn , and it was under my Lord of Faulkland's hand ; and this was made according to that pattern . Being asked , whether my Lord of Strafford did not restrain , and give direction to him not to issue any other Warrant of that nature : He Answered , There was no more made but this , though divers required them , my Lord forbidding him at all times afterwards . My Lord of Strafford offered his humble request to their Lordships , that in all things that concern the Irish Charge , they will please to remember , it was not possible for him to procure any Witnesses in this short time of his Trial , having not liberty till Friday was seven night ; These things being notorious , and might have been cleared if he had had time . He added , That whether this be a true Copy of the Warrant or no , I cannot tell , but likely enough it is . That it was moved for by the Bishop of Downe and Connor , to whom , for some reasons , I was willing to grant it ; but being afterwards told by Sir George Ratcliffe , that he doubted whether it was Legal or no , I called it in again , and never granted any but this . That ( as appears in the proof ) I sent to the Bishop of Derry , and desired him to call in the Warrant , and so he did long before this complaint : And thence I infer , that it could not argue my intention to break the same . Whereas the Gentleman at the Bar said , that I had been better than my word ; for I had said , an Act of State should be as good as an Act of Parliament ; but here I made an Act of State better than an Act of Parliament . I observe , that he is willing to make me better than my word , when it may be for my disadvantage ; but is willing to make me worse than my word , when by disproving me , he may hurt me . That therefore it befits me to do as well as I can for my self in this case ; yet not to take it amiss from the Gentleman , who doth but his duty . Finally , I conceive it not Treason in me to follow the President and Practice of those which have gone before me , which though it be not altogether so Legal , yet I hope it is not Treasonable . Nor is it Treason to mistake the Law ; if it should , there would be more actions of Treason than Trespass in Westminster-hall ; for I think few understand it , I do not I am sure . And so I hope this shall never rise up in Judgment against me in its self , or as a concurrent Argument towards Treason . Mr. Glyn replied , in substance as followeth : What my Lord of Strafford is charged with , he confesses to be an Authority above Law ; and that it is not justifiable . Yet he would justifie it by the practice of his Predecessors , wherein the examination of my Lord Primate , offered for Proof thereof , aggravates the Offence , the Warrant therein mentioned , being procured at the Request of the Papists ; and perhaps it might be so now : but the Protestants have been Oppressed by it . That was to save the charge of a Capias Excommunicatum , which was the Process issued upon Excommunication ; but by this Warrant they must be taken on the Citation , down-right Club-Law , having in similitude the Civil Law. That his own Secretary that made the Warrant , and is as guilty as himself , tells of a President , according to which he made this ; Therefore the Copy produced is a true Copy , else he says not truth . That whereas his Lordship says it is a single Act , and as soon as he had notice of the Illegality of it , he recalled it , and therefore it should not be laid to his Charge : Indeed if it were a single Act , this Answer might be taken ; but when in the case of my Lord of Corke , his Inheritance was to be determined , and desired the benefit of the Law , did my Lord of Strafford suffer the course of Law to go on : Now when he is pleased to make an excuse for himself , he calls it in ; but when in matter of Life and Inheritance concerning Peers , Right is demanded , he denies it . If this single Act be compared with other Exorbitant Proceedings , we refer it to Your Lordships Wisdom and Justice , whether it be not a strong Evidence to prove his subverting of the Laws . After some discourse touching their proceeding on with the 10th Article , for that the same would hold long , the day far spent , and my Lord Cottington and Sir Arthur Ingram , material Witnesses for My Lord of Strafford , ( as he alledged ) were absent ; for whose Examination his Lordship desired a Commission , Their Lordships Adjourned the House . The Ninth day . Wednesday , March 31. 1641. THE Tenth Article . The Charge . THat the said Earl of Strafford being Lord Lieutenant , or Deputy of Ireland , procured the Customs of the Merchandise Exported out , and Imported into that Realm , to be Farmed to his own use . And in the Ninth year of His now Maiesties Reign , he having then Interest in the said Customs ( to advance his own gain and lucre ) did cause and procure the Native Commodities of Ireland , to be rated in the Book of Rates for the Customs , ( according to which the Customs were usually gathered ) at far greater Ualues and Prices , than in truth they were worth , ( that is to say ) every Hyde at Twenty shillings , which in truth was worth but Five shillings ; every Stone of Wool at Chirtéen shillings four pence , though the same were really worth but five shillings , at the utmost nine shillings ; by which means the Custom , which before was but a Twentieth part of the true value of the Commodity , was Enhanced sometimes a Fifth part , and sometimes to a Fourth , and sometimes to a Third part of the true value ; to the great Oppression of the Subjects , and Decay of Merchandise . MR. Maynard proceeded to the 10th Article , saying , They had shewed what my Lord meant to do , what he threatned , what he did concerning the Lives of His Majesties Subjects , what advantages he found to order their Tongues , to cut off their Heads ; but he rested not there , Their Lordships have heard how he Executed one without Law ; The subsequent Articles were under colour of Law , to take away the Subjects Lands , to distribute them in a way of Justice ; and yet they come to his own profit . Now the 10th Article charges him , that he did procure to Farm to his own use , the Customs of Ireland , that he inhanced those Customs , procured a Book of Rates to be made , and Goods valued Treble to the worth of the Commodity ; instancing in two particulars , Wools worth 5 s. the Stone , or at most Nine , rated up to 13 s. 4 d. and a Hyde valued at 20 s. which was in truth worth but 5 s. That these High values were put upon them to increase the Customs . That my Lord of Strafford in his Answer , pretends it not to be done for his own benefit , but for the advantage of His Majesty , and gives some Colours , which are left to himself to open and prove . That they shall prove the Fact to be done for his own advantage , to the great deceit and disadvantage of His Majesty . The Case was stated thus . His Majesty King Iames did , in the 16th year of his Reign , Lease to the Duke of Buckingham , the Customs of Ireland for 10 years : In which Lease there were Exceptions and Agreements of Defalcations , as the Custom of Wines , which were Leased to my Lord Carlisle , at the Rent of 1400 l. per annum to the Crown ; and on this Lease was reserved 6000 l. a year Rent , and half the clear profits above the Rent ; which half did amount to 3700 l. a year . There was a second Lease made to the Dutchess of Buckingham , being in the time of 7 Car. who was to have a certain sum out of the Lease , but the profit was for my Lord of Strafford and his Partners . Mr. Maynard observed the difference of the two Leases ; and shewed , that it was not only a bargain of loss to His Majesty , of what he had , but also a bargain by way of advancement of that which was not by inhancing the values . Which he demonstrated thus ; The King out of the first Lease to the Duke 6000 l. and 3700 l. that is , 9700 l. by the latter Lease 11050 l. so at first view , 1350 l. gain , besides the Fine pretended to be paid ; But in lieu thereof , the Lease to my Lord of Carlisle was procured to be surrendred , upon which the King had 1400 l , a year Rent , before the Dutchess , that is now my Lord of Straffords Lease , was Sealed ; which 1400 l. a year , is not reserved in the said latter Lease , the surrender being 21 Mar. the Demise 24 Mar. So that 1400 l. a year is swept away by my Lord of Strafford , instead of the 1350 l. by way of advance . Besides the surplusage of the profit of the Farm of Wines , Demised to my Lord of Carlisle , amounted to 3400 l. a year ; sometimes an odd 500 l. sometimes 200 l. but Communibus annis , it was above 3000 l. And this being by Surrender , drawn into my Lord of Straffords purse , but out of the Kings purse , and that not only by way of gift ; for this surplusage above the 1400 l. per annum on the Wines , was to be made good out of the 11050 l. So that out of the 11050 l. there is drawn from His Majesty 4500 l. instead of an advance of 1350 l. And it rests not here , for besides these , the Customs of London Derry , and Colerane , worth 1500 l. a year , and the Customs of Knockfergus and Strangford , ( reserved in the Dukes Lease ) are stollen out by way of Defalcation in the Earl of Straffords Lease . Besides , whereas the Duke of Buckingham had a moiety of the Kings moiety , of all Seizures in case of mens concealing Custom , or Landing Goods at unseasonable times , the Statute allowing to His Majesty in some such cases a Moiety , in some cases the whole , my Lord of Strafford by his Lease , must have all that belonged to the King. And whereas the Duke of Buckingham had , for Merchants Goods that came in by way of prize , an allowance of Custom . By the Lease of my Lord of Strafford , whether they be the Kings Goods , or his Subjects , Custom must be paid by His Majesty , to his own Subjects . Mr. Glyn observed also a strange Clause in the new Grant ; which is to the matter of opposition and Subversion of the Laws , That this Grant shall hold , whether it be repealed by Parliament or not : And further , the Rates are inhanced when they come to my Lord of Straffords Grant , in 12 particulars ; so that the Customs which at that time were presented as worth 12000 l. a year , fall out on proof to yield , seldom less than 40. sometimes near 60000 l. a year ; all which Gain hath gone out of the Kings Purse , and is in my Lord of Straffords , and his Partners . The Lease made to the Duke of Buckingham was first read , as to the Grant , the Render , and the Defalcations , Dat. 23 May , 16 Car. The Lease to the Dutchess of Buckingham was next read , dated 24 Mar. 7 Car. from the several parts whereof , Mr. Maynard observed the inhancing of the Rates ; The Grant of the Wines , the Payment of the Customs for the Kings Prize-goods , the Clause touching the Repeal by Parliament , the Defalcations , the allowing the part of the Kings Moiety of the Seizures , so formerly opened , to be fully manifested . In this Lease there is 20000 l. consideration by way of Fine , and 11050 Rent received . The Grant of the Surplusage of the profit of Wines to the Earl of Carlisle above the said 1400 l. per annum Rent , for the remainder of fifteen years , was read . Wherein is recited the original Grant under the said yearly Rent of 1400 l. and the Surrender thereof to the Crown , 21 Martii , 7 Car. They proceed to prove the Values . And first , Witnesses were produced to prove , that by the Duke of Buckinghams Lease , 3700 l. per annum , was answered to the Crown for the Moiety of the Surplusage of Profits , over and above the 6000 l. yearly Rent thereupon observed . The Lord Ranulagh being asked to that point , Answered , That he was a Partner in the Farm in the time of my Lord of Faulklands Government in Ireland , and on the Lease there was reserved to the King , over and above the 6000 l. a surplusage of the profits , which came to 3700 l. To prove the value of the Wine-Customs above the 1400 l. Rent , reserved on the Earl of Carlisles Lease , which was to be answered to the Earl of Carlisle , out of the 11050 l. Sir Iames Hey sworn and interrogated to that point . Answered , That in 1635. the late Earl of Carlisle sent him into Ireland , to settle his affairs there , where he stayed almost 12 months ; and then he received a years account of the Wines , which he hath to produce under the hand of the Auditor of that Kingdom , which is the money received for the profit of the Wines . The Accompt was read , viz. A Collection of what the Impost of Wines amounted to , according to the old Rates for the year ended , March 1635. in the several parts following , wherein all Wines discharged out of forraign bottoms , are rated as strangers , viz. The Total , 3787 l. 15 s. 9 d. Sterl . Out of which the sum of 1400 l. the Rent formerly reserved to His Majesty out of the said Impost defalked , there will remain 2387 l. 15 s. 9 d. Sir Iames Hey further said , That 1636. my Lord of Carlisle dyed , and he will not depose for that years Accompt , but he conceives it is an Accompt sent over from the same party : And that he had a Letter from an Officer of the Custom-house at Dublin , wherein he mentioned the Impost to amount to 5000 l. and upwards , either 1638. or 1639. but he is not certain which . To prove the Value of the Defalcations of London Derry and Colerane . Robert Goodwyn sworn ; being asked what the Customs of London Derry and Colerane amounted to Communibus Annis : He Answered , That the Customs received in the Town of Colerane , In-gate and out-gate , from 25 Mar. 1634. till 25 Mar. 1639. being for the space of five whole years , as appears by the several Accompts thereof , is 1079 l. 6 s. 1 d. ½ . That the Total of the Customs of London Derry , where he collected himself in-gate and out-gate , from the last of Febr. 1634. till Michaelmas 1639. as appears by the several Accompts thereof made by His Majesties Commissioners for the City and County of London Derry , is 5348 l. 11 s. 10 d. That he shall acquaint their Lordships with the full Truth . These were not Collected according to the Book of Rates , but at an under value . That all the Book of Rates 1634. and so forward to the last Book , do value Beef at 16 l. a Tun. But because Beef is sold in Derry and Colerane , for 6 or 7 l. a Tun at utmost ; therefore he was directed by the City of London to take 6 s. after the rate of 6 l. Then for Hydes , these Books of Rates value a Hyde at 12 s. and where he should have taken 6 d. he received by direction of the City but 2 d. at the Infancy of the Plantation , and for the good of the place , which the City tendred . Henry Brawd sworn , and examined to the same matter , Answered , According to the Deposition of Robert Goodwyn , for the value of the Customs of Colerane and London Derry . To prove the value of the Farms in Ireland . Iohn Welsh sworn , and examined to that point . Answered , That he can speak nothing of knowledge , but only by hear-say . To prove the value of the Customs , as increased on the New Book of Rates . Robert Cogan sworn , and Examined to that Point . Answered , That he never cast them up in particular , but he did estimate them before they took the Farm to be worth 10 or 12000 l. a year . Here on my Lord of Strafford's Motion , Mr. Cogan was asked , Where he now lives . He Answered , In London . To prove the increase of Customs 1636 , 1637 , 1638 , 1639. Iohn Welsh Examined to that Point . Answered , That he was directed from the Committee to come hither : That he went into the Exchequer-Office , and took notice of some Books there , presented to him by one of the Officers of the House , and he Collected these four years , 1636 , 37 , 38 , and 39. and as they came to his hands he put them down , 1636. they came to 39936 l. 1637. 38889 l. 1638. 57380 l. 1639. 55582 l. Being asked concerning the value of Hydes , Wooll , and Tallow . He Answered , That he knew the values very well , being Commodities he deals in daily : That he hath bought Hydes for 3 s. some 4 s. some 5 s. and very few exceed these Rates . And in their Parts they ordinarily give 50 l. a Last , which is 200 Hydes , and then they have ordinarily 30 or 40 Hydes on the Last to make them full Hydes . For Wooll there is of 3 s. 4 s. 5 s. 8 s. 9 s. and that 's the highest price he ever paid , or knew any of his Neighbours to pay , he living in Waterford . Whence Mr. Maynard observed , That a Hyde of 5 s. is rated at 20 s. and 9 s. the uttermost for Wooll , rated at 13 s. 4 d. Lord Renula being Interrogated to the value of the Customs 1636 , 37 , 38 , and 39. He Answered , That all he knew of it is this , about Christmas last he called on the Remembrancer of the Office of Exchequer , that keeps the Books of the Customs , he desired a Note of the value of the Customs for three or four years back , and the Officer gave him a Note 1636 , 37 , 38 , 39 , which Note he hath , but forgot to bring it with him this Morning . But to the best of his remembrance the value of the Customs for these years is thus , 1636. either 38. or 39000 l. and some odd hundreds , 1637. 39000 l. and odd , 1638. is the greatest year , and then it was 57000 l. and 1639. 55000 l. Patrick Allen sworn , and examined to the value of Hydes and Wooll in Ireland . Answered , That he hath bought Hydes at 4 s. 4 s. 6 d. 5 s. and 6 s. the most that ever he knew any pay for Hydes ; for Wooll there is a course Irish Wooll not worth 4 s. some is worth 6 s. some 7. s. 8 s. but 11 s. is the most that ever he knew paid for Wooll . And so Mr. Maynard closed the Article , and left it to their Lordships Consideration , what the King hath left , what profit my Lord of Strafford hath received . To which my Lord of Strafford made Defence , in substance as followeth : I shall , under favour , proceed to make a just Defence of my self , as to this Impeachment of Treason brought against me by the Honourable House of Commons , for that is the thing in question , and which I shall only Answer unto , as being Charged with nothing else . I desire I may read the Charge , and then your Lordships will see how pertinently the time hath been spent in the proving of it . He reads his Charge as to the Tenth Article . With humble submission to your Lordships great Judgments , I conceive there is nothing in this Charge , that can by any Law that ever I heard of , be brought to be Treason . These Gentlemen have told your Lordships what His Majesty lost by a Contract with the Dutchess of Buckingham , which I conceive concerns not in me at all , being no Party to it . If the Dutchess , by her Grant of 24. March , 7 Car. had more Priviledge than the Duke of Buckingham had for the 10 years preceding ; yet by their own shewing here is 20000 l. Fine , and an increase of 1350 l. a year Rent , so that there was a Consideration for it . That these Twelve Commodities were raised , and the values inhanced on that Consideration 24. March , 7 Car. but the Lease wherein himself was Partner bears Date 21. April after ; So that the Book of Rates was not raised by me , but by them that had care of the business between the King and the Dutchess of Buckingham : And this being set by the King's Officers , to whom it was proper , in the 7th Year of the King , it falls very short of what is Charged in the Article , that I should do it in the 9th Year of His Majesties Reign . If they can shew a Book of Rates raised the 9th , it may be said he hath raised the Book for his advantage , for then he had a quarter part of the Farm , and the King hath ⅝ parts to himself ; and these things have been tumbled and tossed over and over again , and fully answered in another place , and I shall be well able to answer it still , that the King hath had as great a Service done in this particular , as may be in this matter . But that is not the question of the day . I am Charged with raising a Book of Rates in the 9th Year of the King , and if there be any such Book , it is more than I ever saw , I know of none but that which was setled in my Lord of Portland's time , before I had any Interest in the Farm , which I think will go far to my clearing in this Point . Whether these Rates be indifferently set or no , is a business for Merchants , and matter of Proof , and if it should be Charged on me as a Crime , I hope your Lordships will allow me time to examine Witnesses , and likewise Council . But I conceive it can be no way conducing to me as a Crime , and as a Treason I think your Lordships Judgments will clear me , and that 's my Answer as to the Book of Rates , and I think a clear one . For the values , your Lordships may be pleased to consider , that it may be a loss to the Farmer , and consequently to the King , who hath five parts of eight . But it can be a Crime to no body , and I hope your Lordships will give time to prove the point of value . Your Lordships may suppose I know not the price of Hides , and Wooll and Tallow , being out of my Calling ; but their worth will appear to be such , that the Duty is but taken according to the Articles of Tunnage and Poundage , that give this Duty to the Crown . For Tunnage and Poundage in Ireland is of another kind than in England , for here it is given Temporally , but it is an Inheritance to the Crown in Ireland , being 15 H. 4. given to the King and his Heirs ; and producing the Book of Rates , his Lordship said , That nothing is taken but what is justly due by that Book . And if Merchants ( who speak for their own advantage ) be rested on for the price of things , the Customs will be little . But this Book of Rates was set by the Lord Treasurer that then was , and justly and fairly I think , and accordingly Customs have been taken ; and when it shall be laid to my Charge in a proper way , I shall give such satisfaction , as to clear my self of the least Fraud or Deceipt to my Master , and in the mean time I know your Lordships are so just , as not to prejudice me in this matter . I will now shew how I came into the business of Farming the Customs , not voluntarily , or upon my Suit , nor did I ever intend it , but was commanded and enforced to it , and came in meerly for the doing of the King a Service ; and if it prove a Bargain of advantage , I never knew the making of a good Bargain turned on a man as Treason . It was justly , fairly , and honestly procured , and prove it never so beneficial , that can never make it a Crime . His Majesty hath been from time to time acquainted with the increase of this business most exactly and truly , it rising indeed beyond all imagination ; the Customs , when we entred on them , being but 12000 l. per annum , and now your Lordships see what is proved , and may judge with what truth they inform , in the Remonstrance , out of Ireland , that Trade is decayed . On their own shewing , by the Testimony of my Lord Renula , and others , it appears , that when they were Farmers , there was 6000 l. paid to the King , and a Devident of the other moity , which came to 3700 l. So the whole value of the Customs was then 13400 l. His Lordship desired that my Lord Cottington might be asked a few Questions . Lord Cottington being asked , Whether in the Seventh year of the King there was not a Bargain concluded by the late Lord Treasurer , the Earl of Portland , with Captain Williams , Captain Henshawe , and others , for the Customs of Ireland , paying 15500 l. Rent , and 8000 l. Fine . His Lordship Answered , That he conceives my Lord of Portland rested satisfied , that he had made that Bargain for the Rent and Fine , and that he so understood it , as to acquaint His Majesty with it , and understood it to be a very good Bargain . Being asked , Whether did not Williams afterwards relinquish the Bargain . His Lordship Answered , That he well remembers he did refuse it , and he thinks he refused it , because Henshawe was the chief man in it , and he died , and thereupon Williams flew off . And that my Lord of Portland was very much troubled , because Williams , and the rest fell off , as he remembers . Being asked , Whether after they had given it over , any body would give so much as they offered . He Answered , He thinks there was no body that came near it , at least he never heard so . Being asked , Whether after it was so left , it was not undertaken by Sir Arthur Ingram , and his Partners , on the very tearms that Williams refused it , paying only 100 l. a year more Rent . He Answerd , It is very true , Sir Arthur Ingram , and divers Partners , by his procurement , paid 100 l. more Rent , and , as he takes it , the same Fine , but for a quicker time ; for the first men were to have time , and Sir Arthur Ingram was to pay it all in ready money . My Lord of Strafford here added , That Henshawe , and the rest , having given over the Bargain , himself went to my Lord at Rohampton , and found that these other Partners that had it afterwards , would undertake the Farm , if he the Earl of Strafford would be a Partner with them , which was a thing he never intended , but refused . Therefore on his Lordships Motion Lord Cottington was further asked , Whether being moved by my Lord of Portland to come into the Farm , he the Earl of Strafford did absolutely tell my Lord of Portland , that he would not meddle therewith , not knowing how it would be interpreted ; that he being the King's Deputy should be a Farmer . His Lordship Answered , That he well remembers my Lord of Portland did conceive that to draw in these later Farmers ; it was very necessary , and all the Succor they had to have my Lord of Strafford a Partner in it ; because they conceived they should thrive in the Bargain , if he , having so great a Power , were a Partner ; so it lay on my Lord of Portland to perswade him to yield to it ; and my Lord of Portland told him , That if my Lord of Strafford would do the King that Service , he should not lose by it . And though my Lord of Strafford was unwilling to come in for a part , yet at last he did , and his coming in , drew in the rest , as he the Lord Cottington thinks . And further , that my Lord Portland told the King of it , and prepared the King to command him for the making of the Bargain , depending on his taking of a part . My Lord of Strafford here observed , That he humbly conceived the Goodness and Grace of the King , and the love of my Lord of Portland , was such at that time , that they would not have brought him into a business that should be laid to his Charge as Treason . Lord Cottington being , on Mr. Maynard's motion , asked about the time , whether it was 7 Car. His Lordship Answered , That he must refer himself to the Grant , for the Lease my Lord of Strafford shewed did follow immediately after . Sir Arthur Ingram being , on my Lord of Strafford's Motion , Examined to divers of the Points before proposed to the Lord Cottington . He Answered , He conceives there was a Bargain made by my Lord Treasurer and my Lord Cottington , with Williams and Henshawe for 15500 l. a year , and , as he conceives , 8000 l. Fine , and this was under their hands in Writing , as he heard . That he knew nothing that my Lord of Strafford was to be a Partner , or to have any Interest in it . That he conceives Williams did clearly refuse it after Henshawes death , what other Reasons he had he knows not ; That he cannot tell , nor doth remember , that my Lord of Strafford used means to perswade Williams to stand to that Bargain ; but certainly Williams was perswaded much by my Lord of Portland . Being asked , Whether it was so left by Williams , did not he and his Partners undertake the Farm ? He Answered , That he was several times offered to come into that Farm , and from time to time refused it : That Williams pressed him exceeding much , and others before him ; and he was moved to it by one Cogan , but refused it . That the truth is , his Son Arthur Ingram was Partner in it , and there came in my Lord Mountnorris , Sir George Ratcliffe , and one Cogan , that they laboured much he should take the Farm , and he had much ado to be brought in . Being asked , Whether these came in upon the same Tearms offered to Williams . He Answered , It will appear on the Warrant to the then Attorney , Sir Robert Heath , that they paid 15500 l. Rent , and 8000 l. Fine ; and whereas the Officer should have paid it at six and six months , these were to pay ready money . Being asked , Whether he had moved my Lord of Strafford to be a Partner in it . He Answered , That he doth not remember he ever said so , but it might much encourage him to come in , if my Lord of Strafford were a Partner . But he the Examinant had no such great cause to desire it , for he was not in three years , but his Son was put out again ; when it came to matter of profit they were gone . To this my Lord of Strafford , did by the way , Answer in substance , That His Majesty gave Consideration for it , and had the benefit himself . And so , I hope , I have cleared how I came into the Bargain , and that I cannot be Charged with procuring the Book of Rates , it being Printed 10. March , and my Lease began 21 April after , and that the Right being in the Crown , your Lordships will not conclude it , till you have heard it for the King , it being his loss in ⅝ parts , which was intirely His. And whereas I am Charged with raising the Book of Rates ( though done before my time ) yet I was taught here in England that they might have been raised to a much higher Rate than they were , and to that purpose there came a Letter from His Majesty , whereby in 1637. a Proposition was made of raising the Rates , the Book being conceived not to be so high as it ought to be . His Majesties Letter was read , Mr. Slingsby affirming it to be a true Copy , and that he saw it compared with the Original . Imparting , That His Majesty finding the Impositions set , on Merchandize of all Ports , to be well accepted , and to have ready and free passage , had Resolved , That such Impositions be laid in Ireland as be fit for that Kingdom , and to that end had caused a Book to be drawn , with fit Considerations of the difference of Trade in both Kingdoms , which was sent to my Lord of Strafford , to advise of the Particulars , who , if he found that any may bear a greater proportion , he may add what he will ; if he find any over-rated , he may deliver his Reasons to be considered , and Regulated by His Majesties Committee here , Dated the 10th of Iuly , 1633. My Lord of Strafford observed , That at the date of this Letter , he had an Interest in ¼ part of the Farm , and desired that my Lord Dillon might be asked , how my Lord of Strafford carried himself in it . Lord Robert Dillon being asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not join with the Council to disswade it . He Answered , That he was at the Board when the Original of this Letter was read , as he takes it , for there was brought with it a Book of Rates , that he remembers not the particular words of my Lord of Strafford ; but he is sure , by the whole Board , the entertainment of those Rates was dis-advised . And it was Resolved a Letter should be written to dis-advise it ; but he remembers not when the Letter was written . Whence it may be observed , That I was not very tender of my own profit , which laid to the other , I hope , will clear me of this Article , wherein there is nothing of Treason ; and nothing can be imputed to me , unless that the Kingdom of Ireland is under the King 's blessed Government , an increased and growing Kingdom , and the Trade enlarged to such a proportion as makes the Customs of far more value than they were heretofore , should be turned on me as a Crime . And as for Treason , your Lordships see no Complexion towards so foul a Crime , and for all things that may reflect on me as Misdemeanors , in due time and place , I trust , I shall clear my self from that as well as I do from this Charge of High-Treason . Mr. Maynard Replyed thereunto in substance as followeth : That whereas my Lord of Strafford says , That to prove the matter of profit to himself , of loss to His Majesty , is impertinent : They Charge , that what he did was for his own Lucre. He Answers , That what he did was for His Majesties Profit . Therefore whether it be for his Lucre or not , is in issue , and that they have proved ; and that which he puts in issue is not to the purpose , nor proved . Whereas , he says , This Article is not Treason , yet look to the whole body of the Charge , his taking away the Property of the Subjects , his inducing this by subtilty , by force or advice , to bring it to pass , if these be proved , their Lordships will be of Opinion with the House of Commons , That it is a high and a great Treason . Therefore let him not say this or that piece is not Treason , let him Answer it if he can , That the subverting of the Fundamental Laws be not great a Treason . My Lord takes advantage , that the Patent to the Dutchess concerns not him , for it is granted in March , and his 21. April following ; but if the Times be observed , it will answer it self , for the 10th of March , 7 Car. the Rates are raised , 21. March my Lord of Carlisles Patent is surrendred , 24. March , the Dutchess Patent dated , and 21. April 8 Car. some 30 days after my Lord of Strafford's Lease is passed . If this had been intended for the Dutchess , she would have kept it , but she keeps it not to pay a days Rent , or receive any profit . But this will intrench on my Lord of Strafford's Answer , on the ingenuity of which he stands so much , for he says , There were Propositions to raise these Rates , and he was acquainted and intreated to go on , and thereupon he enters into the Bargain : We desire your Lordships to mark the time , that if there were these Propositions to raise the Rates , and this Lease must be drawn on the raising of the Rates ; then was he interressed in the raising of the Rates , before he was interressed in the Lease . And then there is the Execution of a Design carried in several hands , which tend to one purpose , for he enters into it the seventh year , and his own Lease is the eighth ; and therefore it was on his own Design and Counsel , and for his own Profit . My Lord instanceth , That the Article lays the Book of Rates to be raised 9. whereas this was done 7. Mr. Maynard observed , Time is not material ; had they charged him to have made a Book of Rates such a Date , it had been something . But if an Offence be laid in one year , and it appears to be done in another year , he must be punished for that now which he did at any time . To the Tunnage and Poundage , being the Inheritance of the King , it is so in Ireland ; but the Point is the Oppression of the Subject , when he makes that three which is but one ; and so instead of giving the King his due , to extort from the Subject what he ought not to pay . If he says , Proofs could not be had to prove a greater value of the Commodities , he had time to produce a Witness out of all Ireland . The Commons have produced them that speak of the highest value , and there is great difference between three , four , five , the highest is six , and twenty . What occasioned Williams to Relinquish the Bargain is not material : But in what Case is the Subject of Ireland , that when a Bargain is to be set at the highest , he that is to be their Governor and Judge , to whom all Appeals must be made , shall enter and put in his Authority to make a Bargain that none else would take . The Subject is like to have good Justice , when the Judge must lose by the Judgment he gives in the Cause ; when the Deputy of Ireland must be both Judge and Party . It is said Williams first entertained it , and left it ; but though my Lord be not the first that Projected it , he is the man that first put it in Execution , the first that took it under the Great Seal , and first brought it to be a Grievance to the Subject , and that he is Charged withall . It might be fit for Goldsmiths , and such to prosecute it , but not for them that are imployed in Administration of Justice , and in great designs to follow such a Design . But when Profit comes roundly in , Sir Arthur Ingram must be put out , and for 11 years have half a years value . Mr. Maynard added , That my Lord of Strafford , in his Answer , gives it as a Justification of himself , that he did not hold it fit to take such a Bargain from the King , wherein there was not 1000 l. to be got . But though he thought it not fit to take when he could get but 1000 l. yet he held it fit to take such a Bargain from the King , where , in holding it eight years , he gets 30000 l. He thrusts out Sir Arthur , and why not himself . And there is no wonder , that he that gained so much , would seem to Interest His Majesty in part , that his share might remain more intire ; surely it was the more injustice in him to retain the Bargain , when he had stept into it . For the Letter of Iuly , 1637. there was a Proposition , shewing His Majesties Care for His Subjects in Ireland what to inhance , no , to inhance if there were Cause . My Lord pretends he was loath to make an Inhancement , but that was the Opinion of the Board : It is to be wondred that he took them not down rather . And so he concluded , That they had proved the Charge ; that he hath procured the Customs to be advanced , they were not advanced till he entred . And their Lordships were desired not to let one thing pass without Observation . That from 7 Car. to this time such gain hath been made , that there is come to his purse and his Parteners 300000 l. if the Depositions be to be credited , and it must be four more , if the succeeding years hold proportion . That here is not only an Inhancement of Rates on the Subject , by way of Extortion , but this is soaked out of the Kings Purse . That is the 1400 l. a year Rent for the Wines , the Surplusage of the Wines , the Defaulcation of Colerane , London-Derry , Knock fergus , and Strangford . And besides their Lordships may observe the Clause in the Patent ; the Grant must be good , though there be an Act of Parliament against it , and the King must pay for His own prize Goods , which is left unto their Lordships Judgments . The Committe did now declare , That for the present they would lay aside the Eleventh Article , and proceed to the Twelfth . THE Twelfth Article . The Charge . 12. THat the said Earl being Lord Deputy of Ireland , on the Ninth day of January , in the Thirteenth year of His now Majesties Reign , did then , under colour to Regulace the Importation of Tobacco into the said Realm of Ireland , Issue a Proclamation in His Majesties Name , Prohibiting the Importation of Tobacco without Licence of him and the Council , there from and after the First day of May , Anno Dom. 1638. after which Restraint , the said Earl , notwithstanding the said Restraint , caused divers great quantities of Tobacco to be Imported to his own use , and fraughted diverse Ships with Tobacco , which he Imported to his own use : and that if any Ship brought Tobacco into any Port there , the said Earl and his Agents used to buy the same to his own use , at their own Price ; and if that the owners refused to let him have the same at under-values , then they were not permitted to Uent the same there : By which undue means the said Earl having gotten the whole Crade of Tobacco into his own hands , he sold it at great and excessive prizes , such as he list to impose for his own Profit . And the more to assure the said Monopoly of Tobacco , he the said Earl , on the Three and twentieth day of February , in the Thirteenth year aforesaid , did Issue another Proclamation , Commanding , That none should put to Sale any Tobacco by Whole-sale , from and after the last day of May , then next following , but what should be made up into Rolls , and the same Sealed with two Seales , by himself appointed , one at each end of the Roll. And , such as was not Sealed , to be seized , appointing Sir pence the Pound for a Reward to such persons as should seize the same : and the Persons in whose custody the Unsealed Tobacco should be found , to be committed to Goale , which last Proclamation was Coloured by a Pretence , for the restraining of the Sale of unwholsome Tobacco , but it was truely to advance the said Monopoly . Which Proclamation the said Earl did rigorously put in Execution , by Seizing the Goods , Fining , Imprisoning , Whipping , and putting the Offenders against the same Proclamation on the Pillory , as Namely , Barnaby Hubbard , Edward Cavena , John Tumen , and diverse others : and made the Officers of State , and Iustices of Peace , and other Officers , to serve him in the Compassing , and executing these unjust and undue Courses ; by which Cruelties , and Unjust Monopolies the said Earl raised 100000 l. per Annum Gain to himself . And yet the said Earl , though he Enhaunced the Customes , where it concerned the Merchants in general , yet drew down the Impost formerly taken on Tobacco from Sir pence the Pound to Three pence the Pound , it being for his own Profit so to do . And the said Earl , by the same , and other Rigorous and Undue Means , raised several other Monopolies , and Unlawful Exauions for his own Gain , viz. on Search , Iron-pots , Glasses , Tobacco-pipes , and several other Commodities . Mr. Maynard did begin to open the 12th Article , which was Read. THat he did Impost Tobacco himself , and restrained others : forced the Subjects to sell their Commodity at Low and Under-values , because they could not Import it without his Licence ; and when himself had Bought it at Low Rates , he Sould it at Excessive great Rates ; so that he hath made near 100000 l. Profit by his Monopoly . That when his Proclamation is made , and Oppression put upon the People , he doth the 23 d of Feb. 13 Car. Ordain , That none should Sell Tobacco within the Kingdom , but such as was Sealed by his Appointment ; and , they that Sold otherwise , their Goods should be Sold. That , by occasion hereof , the Kings Subjects have been grievously punish'd by Fining , Imprisoning , Pilloring , Whipping , and the like . To prove the Restraint , the Proclamation on the 9 th of Ianuary , the 13 th Car. was first Read. By the Lord-Deputy and Council . A PROCLAMATION concerning the Importing of TOBACCO . By which Proclamation , is set forth in Substance as followeth . THat whereas unsound Tobacco is brought in , &c. by the Unlimited Liberty of divers to Import , &c. and being no Usual Commodity , &c. a strict Charge is given , That none presume from the First of May next , to Import any Tobacco without Special Licence from Us , on pain of incurring His Majesties high displeasure , and the Punishments due for such Contempts . The Proclamation concerning Sealing of Tobacco was next Read , the 23 d of Feb. 13 Car. By the Deputy and Council . Wherein , THe former Proclamation is Recited : And , to prevent Secret Wayes of Importation , a Charge is given from the last of May next , no Tobacco be put to Whole-sale , unless it be in compleat Rolls , which may be conveniently Seal'd , and to be Sold with two Seales , one to be affixed at each end , which Seal order is taken to be provided for that purpose . That what Tobacco shall be found without those Seales , the Kings Officers may search for , and seize , and convey to the next Port , which Course shall be taken , that every Seizor shall have 6d. for every Pound , as an Encouragement ; and , that the Officers shall commit the Persons of such in whose hands such Tobacco shall be found , till Security shall be given to appear before the Deputy and Council , and not to depart without Leave , &c. Mr. Maynard observed , That Iohn Carpenter , &c. who are imployed in this business , are all Servants to my Lord of Strafford , but Little , who is Sir George Ratcliff's Servant , who did accordingly make Seizure . And he farther observed , That my Lord of Strafford had several Magazines of Tobacco , and that , from time to time brought in , was bestowed there . And , on the First Day of his Defence , my Lord of Strafford said , 40000 l. of his Tobacco was Seized . To Prove the Execution of these Proclamations . Timothy Crosby Sworn , and Asked , Whether Ships have not been Prohibited to Land their Tobacco ? He Answered , Yes : Since the 11 th of November , 1637. and he Instanced in Governour Briskett of Montserratt , Mr. Arundel . Being Asked , If any Ship Perish'd upon the Restraint ? He Answer'd , The Iohn of Kingsale : It came into Lymerick , and being not there suffered to Sell , was forced to Galloway , and was cast away going into another Harbour : And this , because She was not one of the Magazine . Being Asked , What Rates the Merchants sold their Tobacco for before this Restraint , and what since ? He Answered , Before the Restraint , for 6 d , or 7 d the Pound : and other times for 14 d , and 16 d on Shipboard ; and since , some at 9 d a Pound , and others at 6 d Ob. Being Asked , Why the Ships were not permitted to Land ? He Answered , Because they would not pay 2 Shillings a Pound , 18 d Custom , and 6 d Impost . Whence Mr. Maynard Observed ; That if they come for the Use of my Lord of Strafford , and his Party , they must pay 3 d ; if for others , 18 d , and Impost . Patrick Allen Sworn : Being Asked to the matter of Restraint . He Answered , That a Ship of 80 Tun was not admitted to Land at Yoghall , but forced to carry her Lading of Tobacco to St. Mallis in France , where he believes it is . That a Proclamation was out in 1638 , That no Merchant should Land any Tobacco without special Licence of the Patentees . That before the Proclamation he bought Tobacco for 6 d and 7 d , a Pound , a great Quantity , of one of Dartmouth : and since they pay 2 Shillings , 7 Groats , 8 Groats , and 3 Shillings . That the Patentees pay the Merchant 6 d or 7 d a Pound , which is the most he hath heard of . Iohn Welsh Sworn , and Interrogated to the same matter . Answered ; It was not granted , they sold as much as would pay for their Provisions , for which they had 6 d a Pound ; but would not give way to Land any more of it . That one Arundell of Excester put into Waterford , and he the Deponent was in Company with him to Dublin ; and desired , that if the said Arundell could get off his Tobacco , he would sell it him the Deponent , who would give him 2 Shillings a Pound for it : That he could not get it off , and sold it to Ioseph Carpenter for 6 d a Pound . That he paid for some Landed at Waterford by one Wells , 16 d a Pound ready Money . That the Patentees do usually buy at 6 d , Only there was a Bargain made with one Arundell , to take it at 8 d , or 9 d ; but , how far they went he knows not . That one White of Waterford put into Lymerick , and told him the Deponent , That he got but 4 d a Pound for his Tobacco . Being Asked , What Quantities he conceives is brought in Annually ? He Answered , That he hath Estimated it with advice of others , that Ireland cannot consume less then 500 Tun a year ; Others say , It doth far exceed : and 500 Tun is near 140000 l. at 2 s. 6 d a Pound . Being Asked , Whether he knew any Sentenced on these Pretences ? He Answered , He saw Patrick Wells , Merchant , of Waterford , stand on the Pillory for having Unsealed Tobacco , and exposing it to Sale. Richard Whitwick for the like offence Pillory'd at Waterford . That he hath heard of diverse others . And , he thinks the Book of Censures is here under the hand of the Farmers Sollicitor , and sent to the Committee out of Ireland by a Messenger Express . Patrick Gough being required to Answer truely , Whether the Book produced , containing an Abstract of the Sentences made in the Castle-Chamber , was delivered him by the Committee in Ireland ? He Answers , That he believes it was among other things delivered him by the House of Commons , to be brought to the Committee , Sealed up in a Box. But the Committee not thinking fit to offer the Book in Evidence . Patrick Gough was examined , whether he heard of any Sentenced in the Proclamations for Tobacco ? He answered , He knew divers , and there were three or fourscore from time to time attending in the Council-Chamber , committed to the Marshalsey , and prosecuted by Hunt ; and these were , ( as he remembers ) in Easter Term last . And Michaelmas Term before , and every year for three years past : That he hath heard of 60 at a time committed , and they were sentenced for having Tobacco unsealed . Being asked on my Lord of Strafford's motion , whether my Lord of Strafford was a Partie to them ? He answered , That as he remembers , in Michaelmas Term last was 12 moneths , there were three Waterford men sentenced , whereof one was for 9 l. of Tobacco . One of them Fined 100 l. and loss of his Office , being Waiter . The other 100 l. and the Merchant 100 l. and both committed , and their Fines reduced after to 20 l. That they were fined before the Council , at the Council-Table ; and as he remembred , my Lord of Strafford was then there . Mr. Maynard did then produce a Sentence , under my Lord of Strafford's hand ( as he himself conceived it to be ) wherein divers persons were sentenced . Mr. Glyn desired a proof concerning the value , for which a witness should have attended , but is withdrawn ; but the Remonstrance of Ireland speaks particularly to it . That the value of it , exceeds all the Kings certain and uncertain Revenue in the Kingdom of Ireland . Mr. Plunkett being sworn , being examined touching the truth of the Copy . Answered , That he had the Copy from the Clerk himself being a Member of the House . That he hath looked on the Article of Tobacco , and as it is in substance with that which was voted . My Lord of Strafford desired he might be asked what proofs were there offered . But Mr. Glyn opposed that , hoping there was no question to be made of the proof of a thing that was done by all the Commons of Ireland , to whom perhaps , their own knowledge is the proof . The Remonstrance read as to the 6 th Article . That the Tobacco bought at low rate , is sold at excessive rates , whereby thousands of His Majesties Subjects are destroyed , and most part of the Coine of this Kingdom ingrossed into particular hands ; insomuch , that the Profits arising thereby , surmount His Majesties Revenue , certain or casual within this Kingdom , and yet His Majesty receives very little profit by the same . Timothy Crosby being interrogated how much Tobacco comes into the Port of Kinsale for three years last past . He answered , 60 Tunn in three years . Whence Mr. Maynard observed , if one Port brings in 200 Tunn , the rest will go to a great height . Being questioned what the Patentees give , and what they require for such as is refuse Tobacco upon the sorting of it . He answered , that for the refuse , the Owners had not above 1 d. and the Patentees sold none of that under 2 s. And so Mr. Maynard closed this Article , observing that they have proved the Restraint and the Execution of it . That it is turned into a Monopoly ; That none must be imported without their Licence ; That they buy what is brought in at low rates , at 6 d. a pound , when others will give 2 s. That 4 s. 8 d. or 9 d. is the highest they give , so that they sell for three or four times the value of what they pay : That by an estimate , 500 Tunn is imported : That punishments are inflicted ; The Kings free Subjects Whip'd , Pilloryed , Fined ; And so my Lord of Strafford's Answer was expected . After a little Respit his Lordship made his defence to this Article , in Substance as followeth . That he conceives he hath very little crime to answer , as to this Charge , especially as unto Treason . That he wisheth with all his heart he had so much profit to answer for , as is pretended that he gained by this business . His Lordship presented in the first place a Petition presented by the Commons House of Parliament in Ireland ; in the Parliament preceeding this , wherein they desired , that this Lease of the Impost of Tobacco might be taken in , and compounded for , and converted to the Kings benefit : That the Revenue might be able to bear the Charge , and the Subjects eased from demand of Contribution , and supply for this purpose ; so that this was originally ordained by themselves , on their own Petition , to be setled as a Revenue of the Crown . The Petition being affirmed by Mr Gibson , to be a true Copy , being examined by him before Sir Paul Davis in Ireland , was read as to that point , and it imports . Lastly , They do humbly advise , that the six Subsidies , chearfully granted in this Parliament , may be imployed for the buying of the Leases and Farms , that the same may be able to supply the necessary charge of this Kingdom in the first place . And in the second place , to satisfie and discharge the Debts and Incumbrances aforesaid , as in manner aforesaid , and for the other not included . The House would not enter into Consideration thereof , but are confident , that when others justly due , shall appear , your Lordships will take a course that shall stand with your Honor and Profit . My Lord of Strafford offered a Witness to prove , that the Tobacco is one of the things that goes under the name of Leases . Mr. Slingsby being examined to that point . Answered , That he was a Member of the House of Commons the first Parliament , and Debate was offered , how the Kings Revenue might be supplied , to maintain the Charge ; several Grants and Leases , applyed to particular men , were thought fit to be brought in , to be applyed to the Kings advantage there ; there was the Custom , Wine , and Aquavitae Licenses ; there was Tobacco , and in the Kingdom . My Lord of Strafford desired liberty to reserve Sir Adam Loftus , whom he conceived a material Witness for him , but was now absent . Lord Robert Dillon being asked whether he was of the Parliament House when these Leases were advised to be brought in , and whether the Lease of Tobacco was not one that was advised to be brought in , and applyed to the Crown ; and that part of the Subsidies should be imployed to that end . His Lordship answered , That he did serve in the House of Commons that Parliament , that they were upon the Kings Revenue , and they wished that the Charge might be answered by the coming in of the Rents . He remembers , that on debate in the House , a Committee was appointed to consider of the disposing of part of the Kings Revenue , to take off the Incumbrances then of His Majesties Revenue , to the end , the Rent of His Majesty being raised , they might be able to answer the ordinary and standing charge of the Kingdom , and so divers things were to be brought in ; but for the very particular of Tobacco , he doth not remember , it by name though he remembers Wine and Aquavitae , and the Incumbrances on the Customs . My Lord of Strafford in the second place , shews the Grant of the Imposition on Tobacco , as they were Lett Iune 13. Iac. and at that time were Lett for 10 l. a year Rent . Which being attested by Mr. Gibson to be a true Copy , and to be by him examined at the Rolls in Ireland , was read , as to this point purporting , That the King appoints , That from the Date thereof , there shall be received by way of Imposition Money 18 d. currant , upon every pound of Tobacco , which is demised to William Massam and Iohn Pitt for 7 years , under the yearly Rent of 10 l. Dat. 6 Iune , 13 Iac. Next he offered a Lease of the said Impositions to Mr. Lyne for 21 years , at 20 l. per ann . Dat. 8 Feb. 19 Iac. But Mr. Maynard admitting it , the reading thereof was forborn . Next , He offers the Kings Letter 18 Iuly , 12 Car. whereby His Majesty directs the setling of this business , and is a warrant for issuing of the Proclamation wherewith he is charged . Which being affirmed by Mr. Gibson to be a true Copy , was read , whereby is imported . That His Majesty being given to understand , that the pre-emption of Tobacco may be rightly assumed , had resolved to lay hold of the present opportunity , requiring my Lord of Strafford to advise with such of the Council there , as he should think fit , or by what Limitations and Conditions the pre-emption may be setled ; and afterwards , to direct a course for licencing the sale thereof , to the best improvement . Yet so as a care may be had as near as may be , to prevent the bringing in of unfound Tobacco , leaving to his judgement , all necessary provisions to be determined about this business , Dat. 18 Iuly 12 Car. My Lord of Strafford observed , that this Letter was sent upon the like course taken here in England , it being thought fit to be alike in both Kingdoms ; but the business of England preceeded it , and was the occasion of the Letter . The next thing observed was the Proclamation in England , to probibit the planting of Tobacco in England and Wales , and the landing of Tobacco in any part of England or Ireland , but only at London , other than such , and so much Spanish Tobacco , and Plantation Tobacco , as should be allowed and determined to be competent , upon pain of Confiscation : A Moyety to the King , a Moyety to the Discoverer . Which was read , being dated 14 Mar. 13 Car. Which my Lord of Strafford observed to be the same with that wherewith himself is charged ; and that the Letter directing him to take this business into Consideration , bears date Iuly 12. Car. and the first Proclamation issued out ult , Ian. 13 Car. So that he made no haste . The next thing his Lordship offered , was the Contract it self , Dat. 7 Nov. 13. Car. which being affirmed by Mr. Gibson , to be a true Copy , was read , being Signed by the Deputy and Council , and Imports That Carpenter , Bartholomew Peatly and others had made an humble Proposition , thereby setting forth , That no Order hath been taken for the due bringing in of good and sufficient Tobacco , or quantities proportionable to the Consumption thereof , whereby the price is too much inhaunced , or the Market glutted , and desiring that they may have the Renting of the Tobacco business for 11 years , paying yearly 5000 l. For the first five years , 10000 l. for the six last years freed from Custom , and only paying 3 d. Impost , and the Custom not to be advanced ; that , they , and such as they shall contract with , may be free to return , and enter in London or Ireland : That in case of War , they may account only for the Profits , in lieu of the Rent . That upon my Lord of Strafford's leaving the Government , they may be free to surrender their Grant , and not stand charged . That Tobacco may be solely imported , and the sale licensed by them . That no Tobacco be planted in Ireland , during the Term. Whereupon , a Warrant was issued for the paying of a Grant to them of the sole Importation , and Lycensing the sale of Tobacco for 11 years , paying 5000 l. yearly for the first five years , 10000 l. for the last six years , above the custom of 3 d. per pound , with all the Customes received for His Majesty since Michaelmas last , and all Impositions to be laid down during that term , &c. Dat , 7 Nov. 1637. And such security to be given for the Rents , as to the Court of Exchequer should be thought meet Where my Lord of Strafford observed , that he did nothing herein , without the assistance of the Principal of the Council there . And further , That before this was resolved , advertisement was sent His Majesty , that His direction might be given , and the Letter from the Council of Ireland , to Secretary Cook , being affirmed by Mr. Gibson , to be a true Copy , was read , importing the substance of the said Treaty , and the conditions thereof recited , Dat. ult . May , 1638. The next thing offered is the Grant it self , Dat. 22. Iune , 14 Car. And an Act of Parliament for the confirmation of it , according to the Petition and the King's Letter . The Clerk of the Crown did now inform their Lordships , That there is a Bill concerning Importation of Tobacco , transmitted out of Ireland in Iuly last , and it was sent back at Michaelmas last , with a Commission to the Lieutenant , to give Royal Assent , but whether it was given or no , he cannot tell . But my Lord of Strafford , said , it was only transmitted from the Deputy and Council , and sent back under the Great Seal , but did not pass the Parliament there ; and he desired it might be read only as to the Title : But that was laid aside . And then his Lordship added , That as for the Proclamation , he with the rest of the Council , did set his Hand thereunto ; and that he conceived then , and trusts it will appear now to be upon very good Warrant , and justifiable ; he having the Kings Command in the point , and it being only Temporary , till an Act of Parliament might make final in it , that it might remain in the Crown for after-times , and a Proclamation thus issued till an Act of Parliament comes , he conceives very Justifiable ; if it be an Error , it is an Error he hath been always misguided by . That the King may make a Proclamation till a Parliament comes to make it more lasting . And whereas some Transgressors against these Proclamations , are Sentenced , yet he is charged with none of them , and so on the matter is not charged with their Sentence ; though he conceives the same very justifiable , there appearing to be Perjury in some of them ; and if they be poor , and men of no great fortunes , he knows not what is more proper or deserved , than to see men taken in so foul a Crime , on the Pillory , as being a fair and moderate punishment ; and the Fines were in Terrorem , there being little or nothing of them paid . And this point of Jurisdiction for punishing Transgressors of Act of State and Proclamations , he conceives fully proved before in the former Articles . And whereas 't is said ; the Tobacco was not sold at reasonable Rates as formerly , he desired their Lordships to observe , that the Contract was made 22 Iune , 14 Car. and in September was Twelve moneths , he was not privy to it . And on this the Contractors stand on their Justification , and hope to make it appear , if they may have time , that the Planters have in no part of Christendom , so good a value as here ; and that they sell at as moderate rates , as ever was sold heretofore , and better conditioned Commo●ty . His Lordship further observed , That the proof which makes the great Cry in point of value , is weak enough . That there should be near 100000 l. profit a year , is a wonderful estimate , and admirable to him . That during his being there , which was one year , it shall appear they were loosers by it ; which he speaks confidently , thinking those intrusted with it , would not abuse him ; they having protested , the Countrey was so abused , that they could get very little by their Office. That how it is sincehe knows not , for the Contractors , one of them is laid up in prison , and the Tobacco seized on , under pretence that he is impeached of Treason ; But they profess ( and he believeth them ) That when Sir George Ratcliffe came out of Ireland , they had received in Money 80000 l. and they had layed forth in Rent , buying Tobacco , Stock , and Charges , 86000 l. so that they had not in their Money by 60000 l. And Sir George Ratcliffe ( who is now in Town , and though his misfortunes are heavy and sad enough , yet is known to be a person of Honesty and Worth ) he dares say , will take his oath on it , and they that know him , know he would not take a false oath , to gain all the world ; That there be indeed some debts which are not gathered , and some collected , and paid into the Exchequer : and this he said , is to the value of the bargain ; and where he hears the Gentleman say , the Customs have been worth to him and his Partners 300000 l. Surely the Informations have been much mistaken from them that gave the notice out of Ireland ; for it is to be understood , that whatsoever the Profits are , the Kings Rent must be taken out , which is 15500 l. of the rest the King hath ⅝ parts , and himself but ¼ part ; so that on the matter , he thinks they have been worth to him , 4 or 5 or 6000 l. a year better than the Rent , though the value is not considerable in his Charge against him of Treason . That their Lordships might see the Reasons why he could not prepare a particular Account of these things , His Majesty had had a particular Account , had not the Ministers been so dealt withal , laid in prison , and abused ; If you will speak of a tyrannical and arbitrary way of Government ( The Commons expressing some distaste at this Egression ; my Lord of Strafford saith he complains of Ireland , not of things here ) and desires leave to read two Orders of the Commons House , who have seized on all , given order for sale of them , taken the Contractors , imployed and imprisoned them , and he thereby rendred altogether unable to clear things , as otherwise he might have done ; and these things they do , he knows not how , but to his undoing indeed . Mr. Maynard did here interpose and desire to know , to what purpose he would have them read ; and whereas he speaks of a Tyrannical usage , he desires to know whom he presses , whether the House of Commons there or here . And Mr. Whitlock added , That my Lord of Strafford in his defence of the last Article , let fall some things that were an Aspersion on the whole state of Ireland , the Lords and Commons there Assembled ; for he said , Their Lordships might perceive the truth of the Remonstrance , presented from thence on a former occasion , and now he speaks of a Tyrannical Government , on his making of Orders , which himself mentions to be made by the House of Commons in Ireland . And therefore their Lordships were desired to vindicate the Honor of the Kingdom of Ireland , which suffers by those aspersions . Sir Iohn Clotworthy further insisted on it , That their Lordships are witnesses of the many Commendations my Lord of Strafford hath formerly issued , concerning the people of Ireland , as long as they were subservient to his Courses , and could not find a way to extricate themselves from his Lord ships yoke , they were cryed up , to be numbred amongst the best of His Majesties Subjects . Now when they are seeking to vindicate and relieve themselves from his heavy yoke , they must be called a people , he knows not how bad , and therefore beseeches their Lordships that they may be set right in their Lordships opinions . The reading of the Order being opposed by the Committee , as tending nothing to the Cause ; Mr. Maynard alleadging that my Lord would have them ready to give their Lordships satisfaction , why they should not be read , for he imports , they be tyrannical , and something he would deduce out of them , to the aspersion of others . Whence my Lord of Strafford added only on the execution of them ; And Mr. Maynard replyed , prove them on the Execution , they were at last permitted to be read . One dated 27 Feb. 1640. importing , THat whereas great sums of Money have been raised by Customs , above the Rent , and my Lord of Strafford , and Sir George Ratcliff are impeached of High Treason , therefore it is Ordered , That all persons that have Money of His Majesties in their hands , concerning the Monopolies , shall forthwith bring the same into his Highness Receipt ; and the Commissioners appointed to oversee the Ports , shall bring in their Letters Patents to be considered of ; and because the Customs of Dublin amount to ⅝ of Ireland , and the now Collector is not responsible for his great charge , if he should miscarry ; therefore Sir Edw. Bagshaw , Kt. now Customer and Collector , shall collect all the Customes , and pay the same into the Receipt . That the Magazine-keeper of Tobacco shall forthwith return a true List of all Tobacco remaining in his hands , and what was sold since Michaelmas 1637. and to what account , and what Moneys are received , and to whom the same is paid , and what Money , Bonds , Bills , and other Debts remain unpaid of the Premisses , and in whose hands they be ; And that all Customers , and Officers in the Ports and Creeks , do deliver into this House within two moneths , a true List of all such seizures of Money , Tobacco , and other Commodities , that they , or any of them have made or compounded for , or what remains in their hands ; and likewise all forfeited Bonds for Goods transported into England , &c. and of all Fees they have received , and their Warrants , and a Note of all such persons as receive Fees , and are no Officers , and what Fees , &c. for seven years last past . The Second Order was dated 3 Mar. 1640. importing in effect , That FOrasmuch as much Tobacco lies in the Magazines , which is perished , It is Ordered , that certain persons in the Order named , shall make sale thereof to the best advantage ; and the Contractors are required to make weekly Accounts of all the Moneys they shall receive , or which shall accrue out of the Tobacco by them sold , and deliver the Money to certain persons therein named , or any two of them , who are required to take the burden on them , and receive the Account weekly due , &c. and to be answerable to His Majesty , &c. My Lord of Strafford observed , that these he shewed , to justifie , that he could not give particular satisfaction , those imployed being in prison . And further , that in the whole proceeding of this , he had done nothing but what 's warrantable , and howsoever it proves a good or a bad bargain , that 's not in question ; for he never knew the goodness of a Bargain could make a Treason : If every one that makes a bad bargain with the King , should be a Traitor , it were hard , but at that time none would be a partner with them , among them all that say , it was so great a bargain . That in fine , the worst of this can but be , that it is a Monopolie , a sole buying and selling of Tobacco ; and he hath known in his little poor experience many Monopolies overthrown by sentence of the Commons House , ; but under favour , never heard it to be judged Treason before this time . For the Port of Kinsale , it is the Port wherein in a manner , all the Tobacco of the Kingdom comes to be Landed , and thence transported again ; and that the value of the Tobacco is worth 100000 l. is but an estimate , and no Consideration herein had of the price , the Customes , the Losses and Charges , and the Remonstrance of the Commons , is only that they conceive it to be so ; And this is all the Testimony to the value . And so his Lordship concluded his Defence . And Mr. Maynard made Reply in substance as followeth . And First he observed , That whereas it was said , the Orders of the Commons House were Rigid , indeed Tyrannical , when they be heard , there 's no such thing in them ; they appoint two of my Lord of Strafford's Agents , at least one of them is his Agent , and the other Patentee to account the Money : That they shall only bring in a List , without taking away the Books , or any thing conducing to his defence . That he knows not for what purpose my Lord of Strafford objected the Lease 10 Iac. for that concerned imposition on Tobacco , but the question here is , That none must sell Tobacco without Licence of the Patentee . Here my Lord of Strafford interposed , That any man that will pay Imposition and Custome , may bring in what Tobacco he pleases . But Mr. Maynard answers , That that 's more than the Tobacco is worth , and if the Patentees may sell without Imposition and Custome at their own Prizes , they are 2 s. a pound before any man. Mr. Maynard proceeded to answer , That of the Commons petitioning for regulating the King's Debts , and observed , That it was only that the Incumbrances on the Kings Revenue might be taken off ; and this is no ground that the Subject must not have his Goods , because the Kings debts must be regulated , nor a good service done His Majesty , that when the Commons shall desire something may be done , therefore this is an Argument , and Justification , that any thing may be done ; this being to stop the issues of the affections of the Kings people , when what they propound , shall be so far beyond their Intention ; besides , some have been whipp'd , Pillory'd , and , Was that the Intention of the Commons House , to put such Severity , pardon him if he say Cruelty , upon the Subject ? That the Letter from His Majesty was on a Misinformation ; for it sayes , His Majesty is given to understand the Preemption of Tobacco may be rightfully assumed ; Yet the known Law in England , or Ireland , being , that any preemption may be put upon a Commodity , to take it from the Subject ; so they have the more to answer for it that did inform it : and , if the Question be , Who ? Surely out of my Lord of Straffords own Defence , he himself appears to be the Man ; for , he makes the Proposition of the Commons-House the ground of his Proceeding : So it was an Arrow out of his Quiver . Besides , though it was to be assumed to His Majesty , yet the Question is , Who had the Profit ? the King had little in proportion to what hath been raised . For the Proclamation , March 13 Car. Whereas my Lord makes that in England the Example of that Issued in Ireland ; if that which follows may be an Example to that which goes before , it may be true : But , the Proclamation in Ireland was in Ianuary , and the Proclamation here is in March , the same year ; Therefore that 's a great Mistake . Besides , if there be a Monopoly set up in England , Shall that Justifie another ? A Crime being aggravated , when it becomes an Example ; for , when they go to the other , one strengthens another ; and there is more Mischief to the Common-wealth . And , in Parliament , they must be bold to say , when Ill Ministers shall take on them to Vouch the Sacred Names of His Majesty to Justifie a Monopoly , His Majesty is Innocent , but they liable to great Punishment ; and the more Punishable , because they Justifie it under such a Colour . As to the Advertisement of it hither by the Deputy and Counsel ; Shall their Advertisement , of what was done Unjustly , make it Just ? Besides , my Lord of Strafford takes on him the Encouragement of the Contracts ; for , there is one Proposition that ( in case we remove ) they may have liberty to surrender their Patents , which is a strong relish of my Lord of Strafford : For else , Why should they desire no longer to continue the Grant , then they may have his Protection to Whip , and Pillory Men ? And , the truth is , he is the sole Man that hath the Benefit of it , and the rest are his Servants ; And , they will desire M r Little may be examined to that point by and by . He added , That his Lordship had a Weak Defence , else he would not have fled to such a Buckler , as an Act of Parliament , certified from Sir Christopher Wainsford the Deputy of Ireland ; that he thinks it fit to pass , who was one of them that Acted at the Councel-Table , so far as his part came ; but , it was never propounded to either of the Houses . And , where my Lord sayes , A Proclamation may be made , till an Act of Parliament make it more lasting ; Mr. Maynard said , Yet he hoped , by no Law in England , a Proclamation may take away the Goods of the Subject : That there is a Right in Proclamation he will never speak against ; but , it is no Temporary Law to raise a Monopoly . And , whereas he sayes , Tobacco yields no where so good a Value as in Ireland , that 's nothing to the Point of Buying ; that when the Subject may have 2 Shillings , my Lord of Straffords Agents shall have it for 6 d , and sell it again for 2 or 3 Shillings . My Lord sayes , The Contractors are out of Purse 6000 l. and 't is but said ; And that will not abate the Testimony . For Kinsale , the Witness being an understanding Man , says , That in that one Port there comes in 200 Tun ; and whereas it is said , There comes none , in a Manner , in any other Port , Why then hath my Lord Five Magazines of Tobacco at several places ? Nothing is offered by way of Defence : And he that shall Justifie such things by the Commands he hath produced , doth exceedingly Justifie our Complaint in that Point ; for , were it not that by Misinformation , the Subject is left Remediless at Law , he might be holpen there : but , when my Lord of Strafford , and other Great Officers there shall use the King's Name , That 's our Trouble , therefore their Profit : And , therefore , though my Lord makes light of it , it will come heavy at the last , and is a great breach on the Property of the Subject , Soleemption may be made of all things else . Mr. Glyn desiring to add a Word , observed , That Two things my Lord of Strafford mainly insists on , to Justifie his Actions . First , That the House of Commons desired the Revenue might be unfettered , by taking off the Leases in being ; And Urges , That they intended the Lease of Tobacco among the rest , which appeares not : But admit it , their Intention was to take off the Fetters and Ingagements from the Kings Revenue , that the King might make the best of it ; not that others should feed on what was His , and he in the mean time want . Now their Lordships may observe , how my Lord of Strafford executes these Intentions ; he gets a Lease of it , but doth not he retain the Kings Revenue , being worth 100000 l. a year to himself for 5000 l. if the Witness speaks truth ? So it falls on his own head , and is a plain deceiving of the King. There is a Letter , which Answer is made to ; but , if their Lordships recall to Memory what the Letter was , it was as just as could be , to take a course for Preemption of Tobacco ; no , they afterwards enter into Consultation , and Advice , what should be done : And , What do they ? They lay a Restraint that no Man should Import unless they would Sell unto my Lord of Strafford , at his Rate , and so it is executed to Tyranny over the People . There is another thing my Lord Insists on : Is the making of a good Bargain Treason ? But , out of the making of this Bargain , if their Lordships well consider it , They shall find a double Treason to result ; First , Exercising an Arbitrary Power , by laying what Tax he will , for he may lay 19 Shillings as well as 6d. Secondly . His depriving the King of His Estate , under Colour of Advancing His Revenue , which is to deprive the King of His Government : For , if one takes away my meanes of Livelihood , and defence against an Enemy , it is a killing of me round about , though it were a more immediate killing of me to run me through . If he take away the Kings Livelihood and Just Revenue , whereby He is enabled to Govern and Protect His People , Is it not to take away the Government out of His Hand ? And one word Mr. Glyn desired to add from something that fell from my Lord of Strafford , by way of Prevention , concerning the Parliament of Ireland : We live under one King , and one Government , and no doubt ought to be sensible of one anothers Honour , the Parliament of England , and the Parliament of Ireland . Here is an Article against my Lord of Strafford , for endeavouring to put Him out of Opinion of Parliaments : In this Assembly , where the Commons and Peers are Assembled he hath endeavoured to blast a Parliament : In the next Kingdom he talkes of a Tyrannical Government , an Arbitrary Power : ( these were his Words in effect ) Is not this as much as in his Power to cast a Blast and Ill Affection ( in any Man that hears him ) on the Parliament of Ireland ? And he that will do it in the presence of a Parliament , in England , What will he do of a Parliament of this Kingdom , in the absence of a Parliament , and when there is no Parliament Sitting ? And so Concluded the Twelfth Article , and the House was ADJOURNED . THE Thirteenth Article . The Charge , 13. THat Flax being one of the principal and Native Commodities of that Kingdom of Ireland , the said Earl having gotten Great Quantities thereof into his Hands , and growing on his own Lands , did Issue out several Proclamations , viz. The one Dated the One and Thirtieth of May , in the Twelfth of His Majesties Reign ; and the other Dated the One and Thirtieth day of January , in the same Year ; Thereby prescribing and enjoyning the Working of Flax into Yarn and Thread , and the ordering of the same in such wayes , wherein the Natives of that Kingdom were unpractised and unskilful : Which Proclamations so Issued , were , by his Commands and Warrants to His Majesties Justices of Peace , and other Officers , and , by other Rigorous Meanes put in Execution ; and the Flax Wrought , or ordered in other manner then as the said Proclamation prescribed , was Seized and employed to the Use of him and his Agents : and thereby the said Earl endeavoured to gain , and did gain in effect the Sole Sale of that Native Commodity . April 1. 1641. THe Thirteenth Article was this Day Read and Opened by Mr. Maynard , concerning Flax , one of the Native Commodities of the Kingdom , which my Lord of Strafford , by several Proclamations , enjoyned the Natives to work into Yarn , in a way wherein they were Unskilful ; and Prohibited the Buying of any Yarn of this Flax otherwise made ; and upon this occasion , much was Seized : So that by the Complaints of the Commons , it appears , that Thousands were Undone , their Goods being taken away , and Converted to my Lords Use. For Proofe , The Second Proclamation of Deputy and Counsel was Read ; wherein the first is Recited , Importing in effect , That by reason of the multiplicity of ends in Yarne , there is much confusion ; That for remedy , a Proclamation Issued the last of May last , which hath taken good effect : and , in regard some ill-disposed persons have nevertheless contracted for Yarn at cheap and low rates , though not made according to the first Proclamation ; That therefore the said first Proclamation be strictly observed , and that none presume to buy any Linnen-Yarn , but shall be Reeled on one end , and no more , &c. That if any person shall , after the first of April next , offend , contrary to this Proclamation , he shall be proceeded against at the Council Board , or Castle Chamber : Some are appointed to enquire of Contempts , to whom Recompence is promised . Given , &c. 31 Ian. 12 Car. 1638. The Natives not being able to apply themselves to his Commands , a Warrant went to Seize the Goods , made , or brought contrary to this Proclamation ; so that People forbore the Markets , durst not sell none openly , and so could not pay their Rents . The Warrant was produced under my Lord of Straffords Hand and Seale , which his Lordship affirmed , being in effect , By the Lord Deputy Wentworth . TO all Iustices of the Peace , &c. Whereas Benjamin Croky is Authorized to inform himself , and advertise the State , of Abuses and Contempts committed and done , against a Proclamation made for Reformation of the Abuse of Spinsters of Linnen Yarn , and to stay all Yarn made contrary , &c. till Our pleasure be further known : And whereas he now informs us , he cannot discharge that Trust , in regard diverse persons do privily , in their own Houses , and not in open Markets , make Sale of their Yarn ; and though he hath desired Assistance of Publick Magistrates , yet they have failed to afford him the same , in that measure that is fitting : In consideration whereof our pleasure is , and we do hereby require and authorize you , to be aiding and assisting to Benjamin Croky and his Deputy , To seize on , and take all Yarn which shall be found to be made contrary to the said Proclamation , and to cause diligent search to be made in all Houses , &c. where you shall be informed any such Remaines lie hidden , and the same to seize and bring to Dublin , to be disposed of , as We shall direct the Party delivering it , taking Crokies hand for Receipt thereof , &c. To prove Execution of it . Benjamin Croky Sworn , was Interrogated , Whether he , by vertue hereof , hath Seized any Yarn , and how much ? and how it was disposed of ? He Answered , That his Deputy did Seize Yarn , and it was taken from him by means of Ioseph Carpenter the Steward , who received the Yarn into his Custody , and converted it into my Lords Loomes . He doth not know what quantities , but it was a great parcel ; And , he thinks , it was to Carpenters use , but most part of it unto my Lords . Further , this Steward did employ Iohn Townesend to buy Yarn , contrary to the Proclamation ; He also imployed others to Buy some for my Lords use and his own . This he knowes . Sir Iohn Clotworthy Interrogated , What he hath known done in Execution of these Commands , being a Justice of Peace ? He Answered , That he had formerly heard of this Proclamation ; and another Dated in May , concerning the Yarn business , That there was this same , or the Copy of this same Warrant , under my Lord Deputies Hand , brought to him , being a Justice of Peace ; and he required to give Assistance in it : That he sent for the People that had been Distressed in the business , and likewise the Party employed by this Crooky , and one White named in the Proclamation , to know , by what Authority they put this in Execution ? Thereupon they produced both the Proclamation and this Warrant . That he conceived , there was an Extrajudicial proceeding in it , and therefore took Examination of it ; and found , in the putting of the thing in Execution , That whereas there was a Clause in the Proclamation , They should Seize on all Yarne , that was not an Hundred Threads every Skean , and should Seize on it when they found it short of this . That having taken the Examinations , he sent them up to my Lord Deputy ( they being now out of his head ) with a Letter , Declaring the Abuse of the Business : That he heard nothing in Return of the Business ; but was Severely Threatned ; and received a Letter from Mr. Secretary Little , then my Lord Lieutenants Secretary : That it was very ill taken , that he interposed in any thing , wherein my Lord was concerned : And my Lord Rainalaugh had much adoe to keep off a Serjeant at Armes to be sent for him . My Lord of Strafford desired the Letter might be shown : But , Sir Iohn Answered , That it was Written four or five years agoe , and he did not keep it ; but , if Mr. Secretary Little be Interrogated , he doubts not but he will Acknowledge it . Lord Rainalaugh being Interrogated to the same effect ? He Answered , It is true , he was at Dublin when some Information had been given of Sir Iohn Clotworthy , for something had been done in the Yarne business , and that he apply'd himself to Sir George Ratcliffe , to desire him to preserve Sir George from an ill Office , and Sir George moved in it accordingly , so that Sir Iohn escaped trouble at that time : For the Execution of the Warrant about the Flax , that he knows is this White , or his Fellow , or one of them , he knows not whether ; but , he coming to the Fair of Athlone ( where the Lord Rainalaughs Residence is ) gave a Deputation to Iohn Dennis , a Soldier of my Lord Wilmots ; and , that within little time after , several Complaints were brought to him , as well by some of the Townsmen of Athlone , or divers of the Countrey , that this Dennis had seized on a great deal of Yarne in the Shops in the Town , and abroad in the Countrey . That he sent for the Soldier , and Asked him , By what Authority he did so ? who thereupon shewed the Proclamation , a Warrant from my Lord Deputy , and such a kind of Warrant as this ; ( whether a Warrant , or a Copy , he cannot say ) : That he Examined what proportion of Yarn he had taken ; and , he told the Lord Rainalaugh , he had as much as a Cart could carry : Asking him what he would do with it ? the said Dennis answered , He would carry it to Dublin : And he asking him farther , What he would do with it there ? He told him ( the Lord Rainalaugh ) he had direction to deliver it to Mr. Carpenter , my Lord Deputies Steward : That he , the Lord Rainalaugh , medled not with it , but thereupon posted a Gentleman to Dublin , that had ready Access to the Deputy , and told him the Complaints , and this abuse , by Execution of that Warrant : and , that though it was not agreeable to my Lord of Straffords intentions ( he conceived ) to have them used , he thought fit to Represent them : Thereupon , He the Lord Rainalaugh went to Dublin . Sir Iohn Clotworthy being Interrogated , what he knows about breaking open of Chests , for finding of Flax , or any thing of that Nature . He Answered , That ( as it hath been laid open ) immediately on the Issuing of these Proclamations , and these Mens going abroad . The Markets were deserted , and little came to the Markets at all , though it were the most Native Commodity of the Kingdom , and paid most part of the May-Rents ; For , it is That the Women work on all the Winter-Season : And , when the Markets were deserted , people were fain to bring their Yarn into houses , and sell it under shelter , where they might not be seen , nor these Fellows Seize on it ; That thereupon these Men would come to Justices of Peace , and Officers , and they came to Sir Iohn himself , and though he would not assist , they would threaten the Constables , and break open Chests , and thereupon he the said Sir Iohn Clotworthy took away Yarn from them , and restored it to the Proprietors . This was done in the Town and County of Antrim : that he cannot tell how long it is since ; but , it was in pursuance of this Proclamation and Warrant . Being Asked , Whether the People were not ready to rise in Tumults and Uproares , where these were Executed ? He Answered , That it made very great Disorder , and great Reason for it ; for , they took away all they had provided for their Half years Rent , and many people , even Multitudes , starved . Lord Rainalaugh being Interrogated the time , Answered , He could not tell the certain time ; but , my Lord of Strafford did withdraw it himself . Patrick Gough being Interrogated , Where he had the Remonstrance of the House of Commons ? He Answered , It was delivered him the 25 th of February , in the Commons House of Parliament in Ireland , the whole House Sitting : to be transmitted to the Committee for Irish Affaires here , with many other things . Which Remonstrance was Read , being , in effect , the most Lamentable Complaint of the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses chosen for the Provinces of Conaught , and Ulster , touching that most Cruel Extortion , or rather Robbery committed by a Company of Pursivants , sent abroad to Seize Yarne , by Colour of divers Proclamations by the Lord Deputy , Ianuary and May , 1636. I. THe said Pursivants came into all the Publick Markets , and seized on all the Linnen-Yarne and Clothing , by which the Markets were destroyed . II. The Merchant was forced to meet the People at their private Houses ; which they understanding , way-layed the People , and took away their Yarne , and Cloth , and seized on what the Merchants had bought . III. When any came to the Markets , they went to the Houses of poor people , and took up the Hutches where their Cloth lay , and seized on all , leaving not so much as to cover their Nakedness . IV. They took away all the poor peoples Iron Pots , on pretence of another Proclamation , so that on this great Cruelty , which exceeded Pharoes , the poor Children were forced to go into the Fields , to eat Grass with the Beasts of the Field , where they lay down and died by Thousands ; If it be deny'd , it will be proved by Twenty Thousand : and the Iudges of Assize , &c. procured my Lord Lieutenant to Recall all the foresaid Proclamations . Mr. Fitzgarret being Interrogated , as to the Value of this Commodity , to the Kingdom of Ireland ? He Answered , That he hath known the Province of Ulster , and had occasion to converse with the best of it for 24 years last past : That he was for 8 years imployed in the Circuit for these parts , and observed , the Natives made a very great Commodity of Yarne and Linnen-Cloth : That he may safely call it the Staple-Commodity of that part of the Kingdom ; That the Merchants buying their Yarne , and transporting it to Lancaster , it was a very great Commodity , and many lived on it ; That the Proclamation and Execution of it ( as he was informed by a man of very good rank ) Impoverished the whole Province , especially the Irish Natives , of whom few have Lands or Estates , but live as Tenants ; and the Lands there not yielding Wheat or Barley in abundance ( as other Countries ) they convert the best Lands to the sowing of Flax , and make a very great Commodity of it ; That he had continual conference , especially in Term-time , with the best in those parts , and especially Mr. Robert Braithwait , Agent for my Lord of Essex , and Dr. Cook , of whose two Towns , one is supported by this Commodity , and Dr. Cook said , there hath been a hundred pounds worth of Yarn in a day sold and bought in that place , and by this means the Markets are wasted , the People impoverished , and that he the said Dr. Cook thinks in his Conscience , many thousands are famished by the scarcity of Money that ensued on the seizing of this ; and the extremity was such , that one of the Deputies of those mens authorising , went into the house of a Scotchman in the parts of Ulster ( himself being in England or Scotland ) would open the Chests , and used such cruelty , that they thrust a stick into the Womans throat , and she died of it , and the man was tried for it , as he was informed . And so Mr. Maynard concluded the Charge , supposing it to be sufficiently proved . After a little respite , my Lord of Strafford made his defence in substance as followeth . That in this Charge , he hears something tending to Oppression , but nothing at all towards Treason , for which he is only to answer . That the intention of these Proclamations touching Yarn , was certainly very good , and he thinks the power very lawfully executed , being but temporary , to take away an abuse , and make it better for the Common-wealth . That he conceives not , how these Proclamations should be particularly laid on him , for he hath very good company goes along with him , being set out by the Deputies and Council , and affixed to them the Hands of my Lord Loftus , the Lord Primate , the Archbishop of Dublin , Earl of Ormond , Lord Dillon , Sir Adam Loftus , the two Chief Justices , and others : That he had rather answer all , than impute any thing to any body else , but he believes their Lordships will conceive he is not particularly answerable , for things done by the advice of the Council , as for the best . That he conceives they had power to issue these Proclamations , as in other things was frequent , as in Drawing by the Horse tail , burning the Straw , and so taking the Corn from it ; to bring them from these Irish Customs to the English Manners : So in this , that their winding of Thread might be brought off with more conveniency , as being of so much more value ; for the unwinding was as much trouble as the thing was worth , so that the authority was lawful , and well executed in the granting of it . He craved leave to tell their Lordships wherefore it was , being desirous to regulate this business more than any other thing whatsoever ; And it was out of that Duty and Service he did , and ever should owe to the English Nation ; however for the present , he may not be thought one , he had those affections , and shall have to his death , to wish the Kingdom all prosperity and happiness , in all the parts of it . That at his coming over , he did observe , the Wooll of that Kingdom did increase very much , that if it should there be wrought into Cloth , it would be a very great prejudice in time to the Clothing trade of England , and therefore he was willing , as much as he might lawfully and fairly , to discourage that Trade : That on the other side , he was desirous to set up the trade of Linnen cloth , which would be beneficial there , and not prejudice the trade of England ; But it was extreamly to his loss , for he says he lost 3000 l. and the Stewards Chamber being searched , and it appearing so , the Accounts were delivered back again ; so that he conceives they had lawful power so to do , till a Law might make it more certain and setled ; and then he is answerable for nothing in all the rest , because the execution was nothing to him , and the abuses of the Officers he is not to answer for , of whom Croky was the principal Executor , and if there was an Offender , he is the greatest Offender himself , and my Lord Rainalaugh tells their Lordships plainly and truly , that upon complaint of the ill execution of it , it was absolutely recalled , and that within two years : so if it were a fault , he was not incorrigible , but willing to amend it on the first notice . For the Warrant , there is nothing proved of any thing amiss in him , but it goes only to second the Proclamation , and that there should be assistance in the due and just execution of it : only it says the Yarn shall be brought to Dublin , there to be disposed of , as he should direct ; but there is no proof of any brought to him , only my Lord Rainalaugh mentions a Cart-load brought to Dublin , as the fellow told him ; and Croky says , some was brought to Dublin ( but he knows not how much ) and it was converted partly to his use , partly to Carpenters , but he is a single witness ; whereas my Lord Rainalaugh says , there was taken at Athlone ( as he was told ) a Cart-load of Yarn , and Sir Iohn Clotworthy says , they starved by multitudes in Ulster ; my Lord of Strafford said , he could not conceive how so little a quantity taken in Conaught , should be an occasion of starving multitudes in Ulster , nor the small quantities taken by Croky , but if there were so many starved , it must be occasioned by some other means than this . That his Looms should be an occasion of starving so many men , he conceives very strange , for in truth , the value of Cloth made in those Looms in a year ( which he left his Tenants to manage ) was not , as he remembers , above 16 or 1700 l. and if their Lordships consider the value of the Yarn with the Labour , they would wonder the making of such a quantity in a year should starve so many thousands . It is very true , ( he said ) he 's sorry for that Remonstrance , read of the Commons House in Ireland , thinking he had merited a better opinion in that ▪ Kingdom ; but howsoever they have been informed , he doubts not , but when things are shewed them more clearly , than they have been hitherto , he shall have their good opinion still ; he never in truth , doing or saying any thing in all his life , but with very clear and faithful intentions to the good and prosperity of that Common-wealth and Kingdom ; his Lordship added , That he had some little fortune amongst them , not great indeed , nothing near that which is reported , hardly the fifth part , but something he had there , honestly and justly come by , and for that reason he had cause to wish well to the Kingdom ; and it grieved him extreamly to hear such a Remonstrance read : there would be a time he hoped , when he should have means to give them better satisfaction ; but it is but a charge , and cannot ( under favour ) be the proof of a Charge , being only received by information of witnesses , and no Oath being given by the Commons-House , he conceived it could not be made a proof against him , but the truth of the Charge comes to be examined ; for the Remonstrance says , that these things will be proved by 20000. To which he can say nothing , but that he is infinitely sorry , he should be so mistaken in that Kingdom , where ( to his best understanding ) his Conscience tells him he hath deserved very well ( with modesty be it spoken , his Lordship added ) of them all , and desired to do Justice amongst them , and there would come a time when he should be better understood , as well there , as here he hoped For the testimony of Mr. Fitzgarret , he speaks nothing of knowledge , but what he hath been informed and heard , and what hath been credibly reported to him , and those are no proofs to be judicially taken , as he conceived , nothing being by Mr. Fitzgarret spoken , but by report ; and their Lordships have heard this reported as well as he , yet knew not whether it be true , further than is proved . So he concluded where he began , something may look like an oppression in them that did execute it , but nothing as to himself and the rest of the Counsel , who issued the Proclamation on just and warrantable grounds , and according to that power they had from the King , which he conceived was a full and clear acquittal of him ( humbly submitting to their Lordships better Judgements ) of this Article , so far forth , as it amounts in any kind , to convince him of High Treason . To which Mr. Maynard made reply in substance as followeth , And first he observed , That my Lord of Strafford was still striking on the same string , here ( said he ) is no Treason , though something tending to oppression , and so at this rate , he can never want an answer : for if this be not ( in this particular ) as high and wilful an overthrow of the fundamental Rules and Justice of the Kingdom , as can be imagined , I appeal to your Lordships : and that is it wherewith he is charged , not as if this singly would amount to Treason : And Whereas his Lordship says , his intention was good , if ( when an oppression of High Justice is committed ) it be enough to say , he had a good intention , it is a good defence to take away mens Goods , and apply them to his own use ; and so this being practis'd by him universally , on a whole Kingdom , may be excused by a good intention : But God knows the heart , your Lordships are Judges of his actions and oppressions . He says the Proclamation was a Temporary Law to take away Goods , break open Houses , forbid and annihilate Contracts ; this he says in the face of the Kingdom ; so that there cannot be better evidence given against him , than comes from his own mouth : for that , which is put upon him , is , That he would erect a Government that depends meerly upon Will , and take away that which is obliged to Laws . To say a Proclamation is a Temporary Law , is to make a Law , as long as it pleases them that award the Proclamation to continue : for when shall it have an end , but by the pleasure of them that send it forth ? He would excuse himself , that he hath gone in good company : Did the Commons insist on this , as a single misdemeanor , my Lord might say , he is not the only man that deserves punishment , but he cannot say , but that he is the Principal man , and indeed , and in effect the sole man , as it will appear in the answer to the rest . They are too blame that follow his misguidance , but he is not innocent that draws others into such actions with him . Mr. Maynard observed the nature of the Proclamation , it was not to appoint a regulation , but to take away the Subjects Goods ; neither giving them time to vend the Commodities in their hands , nor to depart from that ( if it were an ill usage ) but forthwith , as soon as the Proclamation was out , the Goods must be seized , because they did not doe the things they could not doe . He saith the Execution is nothing to himself , but to his Agents . Surely , he that will command unjust and evil things , is not a whit less guilty , because he hath Ministers , that will apply themselves to his pleasure , to execute unlawful Commands . He commands , they execute it ; and when they had executed it , they bring it to his Looms , that is , to his profit . He says it was recalled after two years or thereabouts , but your Lordships may remember , on what misfortune and cruelty it was recalled , the tumults , the stirs , the oppressions it did produce : and his recalling it after two years , makes him not innocent before , when 1000 or 2000 or 3000 had perished by the oppression of it ; he was not innocent , because 10000 or 12000 did not perish ; it was too long kept on foot , and he that doth unlawful things in so great a measure , is not to be excused , because he cannot bring them wholly to pass . For that 's all can be said , He could go no further , and therefore he leaves it off . He says , his Warrant is not amiss , but it is extreamly amiss , for the Minister should advertise the State touching the Subjects Conformities ; but my Lord of Strafford will have them presently enter the House , and seize the Goods : the Proclamation puts them on it , but the Warrants command Justices of Peace , and all Ministers of Justice , to come in and countenance this cruelty ; and when they did not conform to it , they had reproofs from my Lords servants . And if the point were only to produce witness , that the Flax or Yarn came to my Lords own hands , it might be despaired of , but when the profit comes to his hands by his Agents , and those set on work by him , it is no excuse to say it was done by others . Mr. Maynard said further , he wondred my Lord should say , there was no proof , when there were two express witnesses ; my Lord said , he heard but of a Cart-load , Mr. Maynard answered , he heard not the word , but he heard of about a Cart-load , and could that starve 1000 men ? yet if a Cart-load be not sufficient to starve 1000 men , if there be more than 1000 starved , then more than a Cart-load was seized . At that time there came in but a Cart-load , but there came in by good quantities , when it came in by Cart-loads . He says the Remonstrance is but a charge , but it comes in on good proof , and it is concerning a whole Province , and ( as it is likely ) they were there that knew of the miseries that befell the Provinces . Mr. Maynard further observed , that heretofore in the matter of Tobacco he told your Lordships , he had a command ; it was expected , he would have produced something to the purpose now , but God be thanked he hath not : he says Tobacco is a superfluous thing , but these things that are for clothing are not superfluous , and being he hath gone into this excess , Mr. Maynard concluded with this , that he must leave him to their Lordships Judgements , for he had made an excuse , tho that he said did not reach an excuse , And whereas my Lord said , the Cart-load of Yarn was taken in Conaught , not in Ulster . Mr. Glin added that one thing was observable from my Lord of Strafford's own evidence , which seemed to convince him of what he denied . He pretends this was for advancement of Trade , not for his own use , and that there was but 1700 l. worth made in a year , but himself casting his Accompts says , he lost 3000 l. so he owns it by the loss , but not by the benefit , which convinces the principal point himself denies . Here my Lord of Strafford desired leave to explain himself , that ( when he said he lost 3000 l. and 1700 l. a year made of it ) he said he made Cloth there 6 or 7 years as hetook it , and the Cloth it self , not the Yarn , was worth 1700 l. for the Yarn was not worth 400 l. and in that time he might very well loose 3000 l. And so the Thirteenth Article was concluded , and the Fourteenth Article being for the present laid aside , the Committee proceeded to the Fifteenth Article . THE Fifteenth Article . The Charge , 15. THat the said Earl of Strafford , traiterously and wickedly devised and contrived by force of Arms , and in a warlike manner to subdue the Subjects of the said Realm of Ireland ; and to bring them under his tyrannical Power and Will , and in pursuance of these wicked and traiterous purposes aforesaid ; The said Earl of Strafford in the eighth year of His Majesties Reign , did by his own authority , without any Warrant or colour of Law , Car , and Impose great sums of Money upon the Towns of Baltemore , Bandenbridge , Talo'we , and divers other Towns and places in the said Realm of Ireland , and did cause the same to be levied upon the Inhabitants of those Towns by Troops of Soldiers , with Force and Arms , in a warlike manner . And on the Ninth day of March , in the Twelfth year of His now Majesties Reign , traiterously did give authority unto Robert Savill , a Serjeant at Arms , and to the Captains of the Companies of Soldiers , in several parts of that Realm , to send such numbers of Soldiers , to lye on the Lands and Houses of such as would not conform to his Orders , until they should render Obedience to his said Orders and Warrants , and after such submission ( and not before ) the said Soldiers to return to their Garrisons . And did also issue the like Warrants unto divers others , which Warrants were in Warlike manner with Force and Arms , put in execution accordingly , and by such Warlike means , did force divers of His Majesties Subjects of that Realm , to submit themselves to his unlawful commands . And in the said Twelfth year of His Majesties Reign , the said Earl of Strafford did traiterously cause certain Troops of Horse and Foot , Armed in Warlike manner , and in Warlike array , with Force and Arms , to expell Richard Butler from the possession of the Mannor of Castle-Cumber , in the Territory of Idough , in the said Realm of Ireland , and did likewise , and in like Warlike manner , expell divers of His Majesties Subjects from their Houses , Families , and Possessions , as namely Edward O Brenman , Owen Oberman , John Brenman , Patrick Oberman , Sir Cyprian Horsefield , and divers others , to the number of about an hundred Families , and took , and imprisoned them and their Wives , and carried them prisoners to Dublin , and there detained until they did yield up , surrender , or release their respective Estates or Rights . And the said Earl in like manner , hath , during his Government of the said Kingdom of Ireland , subdued divers others of His Majesties Subjects there to his Will , and thereby , and by the means aforesaid , hath levied War within the said Realm , against His Majesty , and His Liege People of that Kingdom . Mr. Palmer proceeded to open the 15th Article , which concurred with the precedent in point of Evidence , to make good the Charge of the Commons against the Lord of Strafford , in point of High-Treason . The main Accusation being , his labouring to subvert the established Laws and Government , and instead of them , to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power . THAT this laid in the 15 th Article , doth more than prove this Charge , charging him with Acts of Force and Hostility , which are not only an Evidence to prove his design , but are actual subversions of Law , and introducing of an arbitrary Power , as their Lordships will perceive , when they shall hear how he executed his Commands by Soldiers . And as this contributes with the rest in proof of the main Charge , so he humbly offered , that this Article , singly and individually of it self , contained a Charge of High Treason , and that the nature of the offence would appear in the proofs of the Article . The Article is first general , That he did traiterously devise , to subdue the Subjects of the Realm of Ireland , by force of Arms , in a Warlike manner , under his tyrannical Power and Will. In pursuance of these things that are charged in the Article ; the first they said , they would pass over at that time , and my Lord of Strafford also had notice , that they intended to wave it for the present . The Second is , that 9 March 12. of the King , he gave a Warrant to one Savill , a Sergeant at Arms , and to Captains and Soldiers of that Kingdom , to Quarter on the Houses and Lands of such , as would not conform to render Obedience to his Orders , such number of Soldiers , as the Sergeant at Arms should think fit , according to the demerit of the Delinquents , and to be kept there , until they made submission , and then to return , and not before . And the like Warrants were issued to others , and to the Subjects of that Realm , who were forced to submit to his illegal Commands , and this is charged to be a levying of War against the King , and his People . Your Lordships may please to remember , what a Power my Lord of Strafford had assumed to himself from the Courts of Justice established by Law , in taking to himself an Arbitrary Power , to determine Causes on Petitions , and that without any legal Process . And he intended to himself , an execution of these Orders in this manner . If a Petition was presented , First a signification went to the Party , that he should satisfie the complaint , else shew cause ; if he did not appear , then there went a Messenger , or Pursivant ; on his Affidavit that the Party was not found ( as well he might not be found ) then an Attachment : after that , the Sergeant at Arms. This Sergeant at Arms had always with him a Warrant dormant , ( not a particular Warrant in the Case complained of ) that whensoever he should have an Order to fetch any man in ( if once he had made Affidavit he could not be found ) he was by virtue of that Warrant , to repair to the next Garrison , and there to take such numbers of Soldiers , as he thought fit , and quarter them on the House of the Party : and this was as ordinarily executed , as any powers of Law in legal Cases . In the execution of this , the Party suffered as much insolencie , as is incident to War ; their Catel taken , their Corn thrash'd out , their growing Corn cut , their Houses burnt , and some exiled , and forced to leave their Countrey , and flie to remote places , by reason of their Soldiers insolencies . The method propounded is , First , to prove the Fact : then to observe the nature of the offence , both from the Stat. of 25. Edw. 3. and also from a particular Stat. in Ireland 18 H. 6. whereby the Offendor in this very case , is adjudged to be a Traytor . Mr. Savil the Sergeant at Arms produced and sworn , and a Copy of his Warrant offered . My Lord of Strafford excepted against the reading of the Copy in a Charge of High Treason ; adding , that it concerned him very much , he being to be tryed for his Life and Honor , since upon this the whole Charge was to be grounded . On other things he did not insist so much , but submitted to their Lordships pleasure , because they said they would consider them in their Judgement ; but this being the ground and foundation , whereupon they intend to charge him with High Treason , he besought their Lordships to consider it , with that Honor , and Goodness , and Justice they did in all things . Mr. Glyn in Answer alledged , that their Lordships had over-ruled it in the Case of the Bishop of Down . That ( suppose a Warrant is offered by force , whereby High Treason is committed ) if a Copy may not be given in evidence , then let him that is guilty in such a Case , get away the Originals , it cleares him of the Treason : besides , it is no matter of Record : and Mr. Maynard observed , That if one writes a Letter , and therein commands one to commit Treason ; if the Letter be burnt , this man shall not prove the Command , if only the Original must make it good . Mr. Savill being asked what was become of the Original Warrant ? He answered , it was in Ireland , he not expecting any question about this business , but this was the Copy of it , and under his own hand . My Lord of Strafford offered to their Lordships , that he that is to swear it to be a true Copy , is the man , that ( if a fault be committed ) is in fault himself as much as any , for he is the man that executed this Treason , and now he shall swear to the justifying of his own act . Mr. Savill being ( on my Lord of Clares Motion ) Asked , How they came by the Copy ? He Answered , He knew not how it came into their hands . But , Mr. Palmer added , Now he sees it in our hands , and he knows it : And that this Copy cannot be questioned , unless he question what is done already ; for , in this very Case , a Copy is allowed to be an Evidence , for the Relation it hath to the greatness of the Charge , as to my Lord of Strafford ; and it cannot alter the Justice of the Evidence ; for , if it be an Evidence , it is an Evidence in whatsoever the Cause is . Mr. Savill being Asked , How he came to set his hand to the VVarrant ? He Answered , That in Ianuary last there came to him one VVilliam Somer , Secretary to my Lord Rainalaugh , and told him ; Mr. Sergeant Savill , you had a Warrant to Quarter Soldiers on one within the Town of Athlone , but the parties were Friends , and you removed them ; one of those Soldiers committing Extortion , in taking away two Pewter Dishes , and is to be Tried at our next sitting ; and , unless the Soldier have a Copy of your Warrant , he is like to suffer in it : That he thereupon Answered , He could not deny it ; and brought the Original Warrant , and being a good Clerk , he bad him Copy it out . He sayes , he desired you to let some of your own Men do it , and I will give him for his pains — That he , the said Mr. Savill , did thereupon deliver the Original Warrant to his Servant , Edmond Brumingham , as he remembers , who Copied it out . That Mr. Somer came , and told him , Here is a Copy : That he asked Mr. Somer , Whether he had examined it ? Yes indeed , saith he , it is a true Copy : That upon that , he the said Mr. Savill delivered this to Mr. Somer , under his Hand , but did not compare it himself , yet is confident it is a True Copy . Mr. Maynard observed , That they Charged a Treason in an Act , That my Lord of Strafford gave Authority to do such a thing ; not that he gave this Particular Warrant ; and though they proved no Copy at all , yet proving the Command , it maintained sufficiently the Charge : for , a Treason may be a Treason , though not put in Execution . That they produced not this Copy , as necessary to give a precise Copy , but to prove that there was such a Command and Authority given ; and , as a farther evidence , they shew a Copy taken on such an occasion : And , Witnesses are here , who will clearly Depose , That this is the very substance and effect of the Warrant , given under my Lord of Straffords hand . Here my Lord of Strafford interposed ; That it was Charged on him in particular , That on the 9 th of May , in the 12 th year of the King , he gave Traiterously , Authority to Robert Savill , &c. But Mr. Palmer insisted , That they did not find much on Reading this Warrant ; but , if the Authority was proved it was sufficient . And Mr. Pym added ; That they could not wave any part of the Evidence , and therefore prayed it might be read . Mr. Savill being ( on the motion of the Earl Bath ) Examined , Whether this was the occasion of his coming over ? and , Whether he had not said , He had brought all his Warrants with him ? He Answered , That by the Oath he hath taken , that he knew nothing of it , till the night he came to the City : That he had not said , He had brought all his Warrants ; for he had none ; and should have spoken an Untruth if he had said it : and he came on his own occasions , not sent for . Being Asked , Whether he thought in his Conscience , That it was a True Copy ? He Answered , Yes ; I am confident ; for the Substance of it . To Determine the Question , their Lordships resolved to Adjourn to the House above . Mr. Palmer desiring it might be Remembred , That the Copy was Signed by Savill's Hand ; That Savill was the Person to whom the Warrant was directed ; and , The Man that hath the Principal Warrant in his Custody ; That gave direction for the Copying of it ; and added , That himself was ready to prove the substance and effect of it . Their Lordships Adjourning , and shortly after returning : The Lord Steward Reported their Lordships Resolution , viz. That their Lordships had taken into consideration this Copy , and thought of it seriously ; and that in this individual Case , they held it not fit to be read , because it was not Attested : And that their Lordships , in no other Case since the Tryal began , had admitted the like Copy , but where it was Attested : That they conceived , this could be no Impediment , or failer in the proceeding , because the truth , and verity of it would depend on the first general power given to execute it , which they that manage the Evidence for the Commons , say , they can prove . Mr. Palmer thereupon Alleadged , That they would apply themselves to their Lordships Directions : That the thing offered in Evidence had been executed ; That Soldiers ( according to what was deposed to be the effect of this Warrant ) have been Quartered on the houses , and Lands of such Persons , as have been Complained of on Paper Petitions , either in case they have not appeared , or after appearance , did not render obedience . Mr. Savill being Asked , What he did in that kind ? and , What Warrant he had for it ? He Answered , That the Warrant , by Vertue of which , he laid Soldiers on several Delinquents Lands , was delivered to him by my Lords Deputies Secretary , Mr. Edmonds ( as he remembred ) by Virtue of which Warrant , after five or six several times going for the Delinquents , when they could not by any means be brought in , he did ( according to my Lord Deputies Command , make use of his Warrant , and layed Soldiers on them till they had submitted themselves : And , that the Warrant was given under my Lord Deputies Hand . Being Asked , What he meant by Delinquents ? He Answered , thus ; He ever observed on Complaints made to his Lordship , my Lord Issued his Command ; This Command was served on the Party Complained of ; And , on Return of that , Oath being made of it , that the Party gave not satisfaction , A Warrant was Issued to the Pursivant ; On the Pursivants return ( he not meeting with the Party ) the Party possibly absenting himself , or Rescued out of the Pursivants hands , there is an Oath taken by the Pursivant , a Warrant given to the Sergeant at Armes , who goes in Person , or sends his Deputy three or four or five times , and when the Party cannot be got , then he lays Soldiers . Being Asked , What he meanes by laying of Soldiers ? He Answered , That he was to go to the Captain , or Chief Officer of the next Company , or Garrison , to Complain of the Party he calls Delinquent , and show my Lord Deputies Warrant , and then he Commands them to rise with such a number , as he shall think convenient , and March to the Party Complained of , in whose House they lie , till they receive further direction . Being Asked of the Questions severally . He Answered ; That it was by a General Warrant he laid Soldiers on Delinquents , and that he had a particular Warrant first , but when that was disobeyed , he used this General one , that the Soldiers might not March but with an Officer ; That he did never see those Soldiers go on Service like Naked Men , but they had such Armes as were fit for Soldiers ; That he hath seen them Armed with Muskets , Swords , and such furniture . That they have meat and drink from the Party they lie on , though ( for his own part ) he had never Meales Meat from him . Being asked , Whether they lie on the Parties Lands ? He Answered , For that purpose they go . Being Asked , On how many several Persons he had done it ? and , Whether it was ordinarily done ? He Answered , That he had done it on several occasions ; and that he was afraid that sometimes he should be Complained of to my Lord Deputy , in not putting it in Execution , when the Parties have thought he the Deponent hath been favourable without cause : That he had , on several occasions , executed his Command ; as namely , he caused Soldiers to be laid on one Francis Ditton , likewise on one Conolly , and on Luke Borne , as he takes it , and some others , whereof he doth not remember the particulars : But , those Men could not be brought in by any other meanes , that he knew . Being Asked , Whether it hath been done ordinarily on all occasions , and on Persons of Quality as well as others ? He Answered , That when he had my Lord Deputies Warrant in a general way , he never made any difference of Persons . Being Asked , Whether by Horse or Foot ? He Answered , Never Horse that he knew of , unless in case of Necessity , when no Foot was to be had near them ; And , that was but once . Being Asked , Whether the Number was left to his discretion , or a certain number assigned ? He Answered , The Warrant sayes , he shall raise so many , as shall be thought fit in the discretion of the Sergeant . Being Asked , Hath this been Executed on several parts of the Kingdom ? He Answered , Yes ; as well in one part of the Kingdom as another , when the occasion served . Being asked , Whether it was done by himself only , or another ? He Answered , There was none but himself , till the Lord Deputy , for the better Service of His Majesty , was pleased to direct another . Being Asked , Whether my Lord Deputy ever spake to him , about the Complaints made of him ? He Answered , Never , In Good Faith ; and he thinks my Lord will clear him of that . Being Asked , Was there not Complaints made of his showing Favour ? He Answered , He must Confess there was . Being Asked , What he said on that occasion ? He Answered , sometimes my Lords Secretary would demand , Why he would not put the Warrant in Execution ? and he ( this Deponent ) would say , They were poor Men : but , it never came to my Lords hands , so far as he could remember . Being Asked , on my Lord of Straffords Motion , What number of Soldiers he commonly laid , and what was the greatest number usually ? He Answered , That the greatest number was Five and an Officer ; but , for the most part 2 , or 3 , or 4 ; but , of late , he hath heard of more . Being Asked , Whether another had not a Warrant to the same purpose ? and , How many he had laid ? He Answered , He never saw the VVarrant ; but , he hath heard he hath , by Vertue of such a VVarrant , laid Soldiers , but he knows not how many ; he not looking to the actions of others , but his own : and he wished it had all layen in his power still , and he had done well enough . Patrick Gough being Asked , Whether he had seen such a Warrant under the Hand and Seal of my Lord of Strafford , whereby the Soldiers were Assessed , and under whose Hand ? He Answered , He had seen a VVarrant , Signed by my Lord VVentworth on the top , and a Seal to it , directed to the Sergeant Savill , to the same purpose : that an Affidavit made to him of the absence of the Contemptor of the first VVarrant , he might lay Soldiers on the Land ; And that he made search for it , and saw it in Secretary Littles Book , but it was long agoe . Being Asked , What he knew of the Execution of this VVarrant ? Upon whom ? How many ? and , Upon what Occasion ? He Answered , It was a constant course , on a Command , and Affidavit made of serving a VVarrant , to the Pursivant , on the Parties failing , an Attachment was granted to the Sergeant , and a Dormant VVarrant , that on his not finding him , he might lay Soldiers on the Land ; This was constantly practised during my Lords Government , as he obsered ; And particularly , upon one Richard Butler in the County of Typerary last Summer : And , no other cause could he learn or know , but not giving obedience to my Lord of Straffords Orders , The Original Contempt . Being Interrogated , What Insolencies he had known committed by Soldiers in this Case ? He Answered , That he had heard , Soldiers were left on one Bernes Land , and they took other Mens Cattel that Grazed on the Lands , and killed them , and burnt part of the House ( as he was told ) and broke up the Hutches where he had his Corn , and sent it to the next Market-Town to buy Beer for them . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords Motion ) Whether in his VVarrant any Command was given to take other Mens Goods ? He Answered , He believed no such word was exprest in the VVarrant . Being Asked , Whether there was not Authority to lay Soldiers ? and , What was meant by laying of Soldiers ? He Answered , The VVarrant Imports , That , on their Default , or Absence , the Sergeant at Armes may lay Soldiers on the Land , there to lye to feed on the Contemptors Goods , and live there till he surrender his Body to the Sergeant at Armes . Then the Sergeant gives notice to the Soldiers , that the Party is come in , and they go to their Garrison . Richard Welsh Sworn : Being Interrogated , Whether he had seen a Warrant under my Lord of Straffords Hand , for laying of Soldiers ? He Answered , That he had seen my Lord Deputies Hand Signed ( if it was his Hand ) Wentworth : as he had seen it to many Orders , being very well acquainted with his Hand : That he had seen his Hand to such a Warrant ; that the Man that showed him the VVarrant , was one of my Lord Deputies Troopers ( by name Patrick Brady , who told him ) he was going to fetch Soldiers by direction of Sergeant Savill , to lay on one Francis Dillon , who was in Contempt at this Bradyes own Suite : That the occasion he showed him it , was ; That Brady was Indebted to him ( the Deponent ) and he ( the Deponent ) intending to Petition my Lord against him , Brady desired him to forbear it , for he had a good way to get Money , and shewed him the Warrant ; he ( the Deponent ) saw it under my Lord Deputies Hand and Seal . Being Asked , What was the Suit ? He said , The Suit was on a Paper-Petition ; for ( as he remembers ) 100 l. and so Dillon falling into Contempt , a Warrant was issued to the Pursivant , and so , according to the practice , the Soldiers were laid on him . Being Asked , What was the effect of the Warrant under my Lord Deputies Hand ? He Answered , That the effect of the Warrant was , That the Sergeant at Armes should bring upon the Delinquents ( such as was incontempt ) out of the next Garrison , Soldiers , with an Officer , and lay them on the Delinquents Lands , till he had rendered his Body . Patrick Cleare Sworn : was Interrogated , What Execution he knew of my Lord of Straffords Warrant , to lay Soldiers ? He Answered , That he had seen no Execution done : but , he had a Letter sent out of the Countrey , by a Gentlewomans Son , and she desired him ( the Deponent ) to Petition , To have Soldiers that were laid on her Land discharged , it being onely for a Contempt , in not Appearing . That he got a Copy of the Petition , her Name being Agnes White , and therein she Petition'd my Lord of Strafford to have them discharged ; and said , she was very old , and would die , if she submitted her self to any Sergeant at Armes . The Order was , That upon an Affidavit he would give other Direction . The Son made Affidavit , that she was 80 years old : On that , an Order was made , requiring Sergeant Savill to take off the Soldiers , and trouble her no more , she paying him his Fees. And he knew further , That Sergeant Pigott having an Attachment against Iohn Barrow , who was gone away , by reason of certain Cruelties , sent after him , by Secretary Little , who threatned to put Soldiers on him , if he came not to compound with him for his Fees. Being Asked , How far the old woman lived from Dublin ? He Answered , In the County of Kilkenny , 40 or 50 Miles from Dublin , and this was four years ago . Being Interrogated , What the Contempt was ? He Answered , That the Petitioner said , He was dammaged 500 l. by not performing Covenants ; so she was commanded to pay 500 l. or else to shew cause to the contrary : She was an old woman , alwayes on her Bed , and did not appear , not knowing what belonged to Law. Affidavit being made , That she appeared not , nor gave satisfaction , an Attachment issued to the Pursivant ; The Pursivant could not find her , on Affidavit . The Sergeant at Armes goes for her , and , not finding her , the first or second time ; he layes Soldiers on her : And there they remained eating and drinking three or four weeks , till he got them discharged . And he heard by the Sergeant at Armes , that this was very usually and ordinarily done . Being Asked , If Pigott had such a Warrant ? He Answered , He did not see the Warrant , but Pigott himself said , He would lay Soldiers on Barrow , if he did not submit and pay Fees. Nicholas Ardah Sworn : Being required to deliver what he knew concerning laying of Soldiers in case of Paper-Petitions . He Answered , That he had heard of many , but never saw any but one , which was in the City of Dublin ; One Tho. Cusacke of Dublin was seized by Sergeant Savill , with Corporal Hamond , and some others of my Lord Lieutenants Troops , for not obeying an Order within these two years and a half : That he saw the Horse , and the Pistols at their Sadles ; there were two or three as he takes it . Being Asked in what Case it was ? He Answered , A Merchant of Manchester , trusted with Money , or Commodities , and being not able to pay him , he sued him , and so far , that he got a Warrant ; and this was before my Lord Deputy , on a Paper-Petition . Being Asked , How long the Soldiers remained there ? He Answered , some three or four dayes , till the Man surrendred himself to the Sergeant at Armes . Edmond Berne being Sworn , and Interrogated , How many Soldiers were laid upon himself , by vertue of this Warrant ? and , For what cause ? and , What Contempt ? and , What was the loss ? and , Whether the Soldiers were Armed ? He , in his several Answers , Deposed , That there came to his House Ten of my Lord Deputies own Foot-guard , and an Officer , in the County of Wicklowe in Ireland , in the Bernes Countrey , 12 Miles from Dublin ; That it was on the 17 th or 18 th of October , 1639 , and they came on his Land , under colour of a Contempt , and there lay 15 dayes : In which time , they consumed and devoured all his Goods and Chattels they found at that time : They Thrasht out three Ricks of Corn ; one of Wheat , one of Rye , the other of Oates , which were very well worth 50 l. at the least : After they had Thrashed this Corn , and devoured the Victuals they found in the house and about the house , they sent some of this Corn to a Market-Town within three Miles , called Bray , and that they sold for Tobacco , Aquavitae , some Beer , and Victuals for themselves : And they would not be content with this , to satisfie themselves on his Goods , but they must bring in the Women of the Town , and made the Women drink , and offered to Ravish them , but that some of the Town came in to Rescue them : That after they had consumed all his Goods , they broke up his Tenants doors , killed their Geese , their Hens , and destroyed their Victuals ; and when they had destroyed all his Tenants Goods , they came on the Town-people which were not his Tenants , and broke open their doors , and struck them , and eat their Victuals , and killed their Geese and Hens ; and after they came to his Tenant , one Timothy Wells , they came on his Land , and understanding he was his Tenant , they took away 40 English Sheep , and brought them to his house , and there , that night , they killed two of them : That his Tenant understanding them to be there , referred himself to the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland then , and Petitioned , to this purpose , that is , my Lord Dillon , and Sir Christopher Wainsford , that Mr. Wells , which was his Tenant , had an Order to take away his Sheep from the Soldiers : and then the Soldiers Reply'd , That since he had got an Order to take away his Sheep , they were sorry they did not kill more of them : That they were not content to have Wood ( which was for his the Deponents own fuell , and to destroy that ) but they burnt his Partitions , his very House-door , sold his Trunck , his Bedsteads , his Dining-Table , and all they could light on in his house ; that after this time , he was not able to keep house , but left his Wife and Children to the courtesie of his friends , and was fain to flie his Countrey , and to serve in the Low Countreys as a Soldier ; that he may very well take it on his oath , that this loss was at least 500 l. out of his way , for he was not able to sow the Fallowes , and was fain to break up House and Home , and was never able to keep House since . That this was upon colour of a contempt , upon a Petition preferred against him to my Lord Deputy , by Mr. Thomas Archibald for a pretended debt of a matter of Ten pounds , and these Soldiers were armed with Swords , Musquets , and Halbeards some of them . Being Interrogated ( on my Lord of Strafford's motion ) whether he the Lord Strafford was then in Ireland ? He Answered , That before the Soldiers came on his Land , my Lord Deputy came to England . But Mr. Palmer observed , that the Warrant was from my Lord Deputy , and Mr. Palmer added , that all will refer to the time of the Warrant dormant . Being asked , what Warrant was shewed for laying on these numbers of Foot ? He Answered , That he durst not come in their sight . But Mr. Maynard observed , that this was one of the men Savill did lay Soldiers on , and therefore it behoved to be by that Warrant . Being asked , whether the Debt might not have been compounded for 5 l. and why he would not rather pay 5 l. than suffer prejudice to 500 l ? He Answered to the First , Yes . To the Second , That he conceived the Debt not lawfully due . Mr. Robert Kennedy being Sworn and Interrogated , what he knew of the laying of Soldiers on the said Berne , and the occasion , and what they did . He Answered , That one Archibald preferred a Petition against Berne , for a pretended Debt to my Lord Lieutenant , and ( as his usual course was ) his Lordship would referr the matter to the two next Justices of Peace uninteressed , and they to determine the matter by consent , if they could ; else to certify that the party bringing the Petition to him , the Deponent desired him to draw the Warrant according to my Lord-Lieutenants Order . They sent a Warrant for Berne , who appearing , they examined the business , and it was so trivial , that he the Deponent , desired them to compound it . Berne stood on it , that the Plaintiff ought to have none , and would pay him none . They certified my Lord Lieutenant . After this Certificate , he ( the Deponent ) heard not of it , till he heard that Soldiers came to this Gentlemans Land , and hearing of it , and that some Tenants of his the Deponents were wronged by it ; he came thither , and some of them he knew , and asking by what authority they were there ? We come ( say they ) by Warrant of the Sergeant at Arms Mr. Pigott , That the Deponent thereupon said . Mr. Pigott hath no Warrant ; Yes , say they , my Lord Lieutenants , and he directed us not to leave , till Berne delivered his Body for a contempt . That he the Deponent Answered , Though you have a Warrant for lying on his Land , you have no Warrant to destroy his Goods , for they were selling his Corn , and loaded the Horses that went through the Town . That there was to the number of 8 or 12 of my Lords Guard , armed with Pikes , and Guns , and Swords . But my Lord of Strafford he thinks was not then in Ireland , he was newly gone . Being asked ( on my Lord of Strafford's motion ) whether he saw the Warrant under Pigotts hand ? He Answered , He did not , but the Soldiers told him , Pigott laid them on the Land , by virtue of my Lord Deputies Warrant . Being asked , how long Pigott had been a Sergeant ? He Answered , About Ten years . And whether there was any more than two ? He Answered , No more that attended the State ; and Mr. Kenneday , added , that he wondred at the course , for he never heard of any such course before my Lord of Straffords time . Mr. Palmer here observed , that they were my Lord Deputies own Guard , which could not be but originally from him . Mr. Robert Little , my Lord of Straffords Secretary being sworn , was interrogated several questions , viz. Whether he had made out any Warrant by the Lord of Strafford's Direction , and under his Hand and Seal to Pigott , or any else , for raising Soldiers after this manner . He Answered , That he doth not know that Pigott hath any such Warrant ; nor doth he remember any such Warrant passed the Office if it did , it was by Precedents of former times , but in good faith , he doth not remember it . Whether he made any such Warrant to Pigott to his knowledge ? Answered , That he never made any , or heard of any , nor knew of any . Was one made to Savill ? Answer , He never made that to Savill , and he cannot tell whether there was one to Savill , or not ? Was there an Entrie of any Warrant in his Book to that purpose ? Answer , That he did not enter them at any time , nor did he ever see any such Entrie or Warrant . Mr. Palmer inferred from hence , That he said the same for Savill that he said for Pigott , and yet how publique a thing this of Savill's was their Lordships have heard , and it could not but come to his knowledge , at least his ear . And Mr. Maynard , observed , he swears that he never made any such Warrant , but if any were made , it was according to former Precedents . But my Lord of Strafford Answered , That if any says he cannot tell , 't is as much as he can say for another mans act . Lord Ranalaugh being Interrogated , what he knew of this Warrant , of laying of Soldiers , upon whom ? and how long ? His Lordship Answered , That he had heard something of it heretofore , but more particularly in November last , when being at the Council-Board , a Petition was preferred to the then Lord Deputy and Council , by one Davis , who dwelt in the County of Clare ; and by his Petition he set forth , That notwithstanding on a Reference from my Lord Deputy to the Judges of Assizes , he had obtained a Report from him ; yet by combination betwixt his Adversary and the Sergeant , he had Soldiers laid on him , which made him leave his Dwelling : That he the ( said Lord Ranalaugh ) asked the party , how the Sergeants came to lay Soldiers ? Yes saith he , My Lord Deputy Wansford hath made a Warrant dormant , and taken a course for it from my Lord Lieutenant , and from himself , ( as he the Lord Ranalaugh takes it ) tho positively he could say , that the Warrant Dormant was the general Cause . Being asked whether it had been used before , or if it be an Innovation ? He Answered , That he knew a custome hath been in Ireland , for laying Soldiers on the relievers of Rebels , and for laying of Contribution-money , in case of Delinquency , or not payment ; Or where a return was made by the Sheriff , that the Kings Rents did not come in , these Rents being applyed to the payment of the Army . The course before my Lord of Strafford's coming was , That Soldiers were laid to constrain such , but in a civil cause between party and party , he never heard of it before in his life . Being asked ( on my Lord of Strafford's motion ) whether ( he the Lord Ranalaugh was not a Captain of the Army before the Lord of Strafford came , and whether he had not Commission by Soldiers , to levy part of the money due to him , from the Deputy and Vice-Treasurer ? He Answered , That before my Lord-Deputy came into Ireland , the course was , as he formerly touched , that where there was arrear of Rents to the King , and these Rents did not come in to the Exchequer , then was assigned for the payment of the King's Soldiers , and the Acquittances delivered to the Captains , on part of their entertainment : and this Acquittance out of the Exchequer was given by a special Warrant from the Deputy , and according to that course , his ( the Deputies method ) was with other Captains , and thus he levied the Rent by his own Soldiers , by virtue of that Warrant . Being asked when the Money was Assessed thus on Countreys , was it not by consent of the Countrey ? He Answered , ( That if he hath not forgotten ) when the Gentlemen of Ireland were here 1628. they were suitors to the King for several Graces , and they obtained several of them from His Majesty : among the rest ( if he hath not forgotten ) that in case of non-payment of Rents or Contribution , Soldiers might go , and lye upon the Defaulters , Mr. Palmer observed , that when he speaks of Contribution or Rent , he speaks not of this course , to compell to obedience on Paper-Petitions . And so ( he said ) they would conclude with their Witnesses , reciting , that their Lordships have heard the course taken , to secure that Power , my Lord of Strafford assumed to himself , in hearing of Causes . That this Usurpation on ordinary Courts of Justice , to whom it belongs , could not be secured without Arms in a Warlike manner , to compel obedience . Their Lordships have heard how it was executed , that if the proceeding had been legal , the proofs of Law had been according to the calme and quiet Rules of Justice , but being an incroached Power , it must be executed by force , and Arms , and War indeed ( for so it is in substance ) on the Subjects of Ireland . That this was in time of Peace , the troubles of Ireland being long since appeased , and the People reduced to the condition of Subjects , governed by ordinary Laws and Magistrates : and now to put an extraordinary Power in execution , to compell the Subjects by Act of Hostility , they conceive is within the Statute of 25 Ed. 3. A levying of War against our Sovereign Lord the King within His Realm . which is nominally Treason in that Statute , and shortly for this reason . The King being invested with His Sovereign Power , whereby they are protected , but this Power being ( instead of Protection ) used by his Ministers to the subversion and destruction of His Subjects , doth on the matter , make an Invocation on the King himself , this being a bereaving the subjects of the Law by which they should live ; dispossessing them by force of Arms , in warlike manner , must be a war against himself , That Law is of force in Ireland , by 10 H. 7. whereby all the Laws made before that time , were made of force there . And by a particular Statute made the 18. H. 6. this very offence of Sessing Soldiers by Lords , or any others , or any the Kings people without their consent , is adjudged Treason , and the Offender is to be judged a Traitor . The Statute was read . Statutes and Ordinances made in a Parliament , holden at Dublin 18 H. 6. ch . 3. AN Act that no Lord or others , shall charge the Kings Subjects with Horse , Horsemen , or Footmen , without their good Will , and by so doing , the Offender is a Traitor . IT is agreed and established , that no Lord , or any other , of what condition soever he be , shall bring or lead from henceforth Hoblers , Kern , or Hooded men , neither English Rebels , nor Irish Enemies , nor any other people , nor Horse to lye on Horseback , or Foot to lye on the Kings people , but on their own cost , without consent . And if any so do , he shall be adjudged as a Traitor . Mr. Palmer concluded that this hath been done , and how their Lordships have heard that this hath been done by Soldiers that profess hostility , brought from Garrisons , ( the places of War ) in great numbers , and indeed the number left indefinitely to the discretion of the Sergeant at Arms , in Warlike furniture , which is literally true in the case : And so he concluded the Article , expecting my Lord of Strafford's Defence . My Lord of Strafford desired their Lordships would be pleased , to give him liberty to look over his Notes , and he doubted not but to give their Lordships a very clear satisfaction , by the help of Almighty God. After a little respite ; his Lordship began his Defence in substance as followeth . And First , He desired their Lordships would please to remember , that if he proved not all things so clearly and fully , the reason was obvious and plain , the shortness of his time , the Witnesses being to be fetched out of Ireland , and he having none but such as come accidentally . That the other day he read to their Lordships , out of Sir Edward Cook 's Book , that the Customs of Ireland are in many things different from the Customs of England : That for the things done in Ireland , he conceived he was to be judged by the Laws and Customs of Ireland , and not by the Laws and Customs of this Kingdom ; and that his Commission was to execue the place of Deputy , according to the Laws and Customs of that Kingdom . That what hath been opened to their Lordships to be so extraordinary , he must justifie as very ordinary , frequent , and usually exercised by the Customs of that Kingdom : That in all times the Army of Ireland , and the Officers and Soldiers of it , have been the chief hands in executing all the Justice of the Kingdom , and of bringing that due obedience to the Kings authority , that 's necessary , and fit , and due . That if they had not been so used , he thinks ( those who know the State of Ireland will acknowledge ) the King's Writs had never run in Ireland , they being all executed by their Power and Assistance . First , his Lordship undertook to make it appear , that ( in case of bringing in Rebels and Offendors of that nature , and forcing them to come in ) it had been the ordinary practice of the Deputy and Council , before his time , to Assess Soldiers , not only on the party , but the kindred of the partys , till the party be brought in , and yet it is no levying of War for all that . And because his Lordship heard much speaking of Rebels and Traitors , he desired to represent to their Lordships , what they be ( viz. ) a company of petit loose fellows that would be here apprehended by a Constable . Lord Robert Dillon was called for , and my Lord of Strafford desired he might be asked , whether it had not been the practice of the Deputy and Council , to Assess Soldiers , not only on the persons , but the Septs and whole kindred of Rebels ? Here Mr. Palmer interposed , that for saving of time , if my Lord makes this the Case , that Soldiers have been laid upon the Septs of Traitors or Rebels , that lye out in Woods , and esloigne themselves from the Kings protection , whom they call Kernes , Outlaws , and Rebels ; they ( the Committee ) will admit the usage , though it will not justifie the Case , being expresly against Law ; for by a Stat. 22 Eliz. If any lye out as Traitors , or Rebels , five of the Sept that bears the Surname , shall be Fined at the Council-Chamber , but not have Soldiers laid on them ; and against a Statute there can be no Usuage . To which my Lord of Strafford answered , And these are but ordinary fellows : And he desired their Lordships would clearly understand what is meant by Rebels , for every petty fellow stealing Sheep , and the like , if the party be out in action , they commonly term such Rebels . Robert Lord Dillon being asked , whether ordinary fellows in Ireland , passed not under the name of Rebels ? His Lordship Answered , That touching this point he hath observed , that when a party hath committed some Felony , or unjustifiable Act , and withdraws himself into the Woods , a Proclamation is made , for his coming in by such a time , to render himselfamenable to the Law ; and if he then comes not in , but keeps out , in commmon reputation he is accounted a Traitor or Rebel . Sir Arthur Tyrringham being asked , whether of his knowledge the Deputies and Council have not frequently Sessed Soldiers on Offenders and Rebels , when they could not be brought forth to Justice , and what is understood by a Rebel in Ireland . He Answered , That it hath been the ordinary practice ever since he knew that Kingdom , since my Lord of Faulklands being Deputy there , and hath been ever practised there , both by him , and the Justices that came after him : That ordinary fellows be commonly reputed Rebels , with this observation . It is true , That every man is not a Rebel , at his first going out , though he be called so ; but the course is first to proclaim them , and if they be not ameneable to Law , they be Rebels , and so they may be for Felonies of a very small value . To prove that most of the Kings Rents , as well Exchequer Rents , as Composition Rents , have been levied by Soldiers in all the times of my Lord of Cork . My Lord of Strafford desired . Iohn Conley might be called for ; who being examined , how long since he hath been in Ireland : and whether in his time the Rents were not col lected by the Soldiers and Officers of the Army ? He Answered to the First , 15 years . To the Second , That he remembers it very well , that in my Lord Faulklands time , it was an ordinary course , where the Kings Rents were due , to send some Horse and Horsemen , and takeup these Rents , and lye on them till they were collected and taken up . So in my Lord Grandisons time , and in all Chichesters time ; and this is all he cansay . Henry Dillon was called , And First my Lord of Strafford desired liberty to defend the credit of his Witness , as to some exceptions taken to him the other day , and offered the occasion of the Order of Council-Board made against him , to be only this ; That he said , he heard some such thing said , and thereupon was commanded to make an acknowledgement , and to this he was invited and perswaded by my Lord Dillon , for quietness sake , rather than he should be troubled about so small a matter , and that being granted , he supposed the Gentleman stood upright , and was a competent Witness in this or any other cause . To which some of the Committee for the Commons answered , That they except not against the hearing of him , but offer to their Lordships memory his acknowledgement , that he spake falsly , as a weakening of his memory . And then , Henry Dillon being asked , Whether he knew not that the Exchequer and Composition Rents , upon failing of payment , have been levied by the Army , on the appointment of the Deputy , or chief Governor ? He Answered , That he had known several Acquittances put into the hands of Sir Thomas Dutton , for Rents due on certain parcels of Land in the County of Longford , that were not paid into the Exchequer by a certain time , for which a-fore-time , Pursivants issued out against the Tenants ; that himself was one of the Tenants , and being out of Town , Sir Thomas Dillon seized three of his Horses , at his the said Dillons House , and there they remained till he came to Town for 13 s. 4 d. This being in the time of my Lord of Corke and my Lord of Ely being Justices . Being asked , as to the Contribution and Composition-Rents ? He Answered , That some years before that , in my Lord Faulklands time when he lived in the County of Longford , that were not paid , he remembers 30000 l. was granted on the coming of Sir Iohn B. — into the Kingdom of Ireland , and afterwards , Sixscore thousand pound toward , maintaining of the Kings Army , and there was a Troop of Horse of Sir Robert — sent into the County of — But he knows not whether this be the Money called Contribution-Money ; That he was then Sheriff of that County , and had direction sent to Sesse the Soldiers on them that refused to pay the Money . That at that time he conceived that was not so fully understood by the Countrey , that they should have paid it , and himself and others did except against it ; conceiving the Money was not granted farther , than as they would willingly pay . And Valerian — on the Statute urged , of assessing Soldiers , refused to Assess Soldiers on the Warrant of my Lord of Faulkland ; and thereon was sent for to the Castle , the Soldiers sent to his house and remained there , as long as he had Provision ; and after that , from his house they were assessed on several Delinquents , as the Soldiers pleased to Billet themselves ; and the Foot-Company of Sir Arthur Tyrringham was then in that County . And one night he remembers , 25 were Assessed on his own house , because he did not pay the Money : but he remembers not any thing of the Composition-Rents . Being asked whether he had not seen a Warrant to this purpose , subscribed by the Chief Governor ? He Answered , That being Sheriff of the County of Longford in 1634. or 1633. there were Warrants directed from my Lord of Cork , and my Lord Chancellor , and he thinks under the hands of the rest of the Lords of the Board , for levying Moneys allotted to the Soldiers , and he had three Warrants himself , and by virtue thereof levied Money , and paid the Money to the Troops there , under the hands of my Lord of Cork , and Lord of Ely , and the Council . Sir Arthur Tyrringham being asked whether he had not received Order , with a Warrant , for attaching a person in case of Debt , and for laying Soldiers on him in case he paid it not , and who was the person ? He Answered , That he had ; And the Sheriff of the County brought the Warrant from my Lord of Faulkland , to lay some of his Men on a Debtor there , till he paid the debt ; ; That these Soldiers were laid , being under his command , and stayed till the Debt was paid , at the charge of the party ; and he tells this particular in it , that makes him remember the whole circumstance : The debt was very small , not above 16 or 20 s. The Sheriff bringing him this Warrant , he did not a little wonder at the matter , to require Soldiers for levying such a sum . But it was then so ordinary and frequent , that it was seldom denied on any reasonable occasion : the Men stayed there some 8 or 10 days , when the party had enough , he sends to him the said Arthur , to recall the men ; that he told him he would , if he the said party had satisfied the Money ; the party answered , he had not yet , but he would ; that he the said Sir Arthur told him , what a strange man are you , that will keep a charge on your self ? where , if you had paid it the first hour , I would have withdrawn the Men. Why , sayes he ? I do not care for giving half a score Men a Meales Meat . Being Asked ( on Mr. Palmers motion ) Whether it was a Debt between party and party , or the Kings Debt ? He Answered , He could not tell : But , the Sheriffs name was Fleming . Being Asked , Under whose hand was the Warrant ? He Answered , Under my Lord of Faulklands Hand , otherwise he would have levied no Money . Lord Rainalaugh being Asked , Whether before my Lord of Straffords coming into Ireland , the Kings Debts and Rents , as well Exchequer as Composition-Money , were not raised by Assessing of Soldiers ? He Answered , That he remembers in the Lord Justices time , my Lord of Corke , and Lord of Ely ( the Kings Rents being slowly paid in ) they did usually give Acquittances out of the Exchequer , to the Captains and Officers of the several Companies ; and , if they were not paid by some time limitted , and if the Sheriff , or the Collector , did not bring in the Money , the last resort was to fall on the Defaulters , by assessing Soldiers on them , and there to lie till the Money was paid . Here my Lord of Strafford , conceiving he had spoken of Contribution and Composition-Rents , desired my Lord Rainalaugh might Repeat what he said . Thereupon his Lordship Answered , That he thought what he said he was sure of , and might justly say : That for the Exchequer-Rents , and Contribution Payments ( for the Compositions he would say nothing ) the course was this . That for the Exchequer-Rents , the Vice-Treasurer gave out his Acquittances , These were assigned to some Captains , whose turn it was for Payment , and they , accompanied with a Warrant from the Deputies , to constrain the payment by some few Soldiers . Hereupon my Lord of Strafford Observed ; That this Cause would seem strange in England . And whereas my Lord Rainalaugh spake of Contribution-Money , Mr. Palmer humbly desired , he might be Asked , Whether the raising of it by Soldiers , was not so agreed to in the Countrey ? For my Lord of Straffords own Answer sayes , The Countrey choose rather , that on Delinquency it should be so levied than otherwise ; And , if it be by consent , the force of the Statute is taken away . My Lord Rainalaugh being Asked accordingly ? His Lordship Answered , That he had already spoken to that purpose , and he believed , some of the Committee that were there had the particular Instance to produce . Being required to name them in whose hands it was ; His Lordship said , In Mr. Plunkets , or Mr. Brown. Being Asked , When this course began ? He Answered , He did not remember the time ; but , he thought , in 1628. on certain of the Agents out of England . My Lord of Strafford did here offer , That if he might have Read the Antient Book in my Lord Faulklands time , he could have showed Sir Tho. Wayneman sent up and down , to this and that County , to fetch in the Composition-Rents , and that they have been thus levyed . His Lordship added , That the next Point he should have endeavoured to prove , was , That the Gentry that granted the Six score thousand pounds for Supply of the Army in my Lord Faulklands time , agreed , That the same should not be brought into the Kings Exchequer , but be levyed by Soldiers : nor be mentioned in any Accompt of the Kings , least it should be mentioned to their prejudice : but , let the Gentlemen that manages the Evidence , labour to prove this . And Mr. Palmer declared again , That they agreed to it . Whence my Lord of Strafford observed , That it concerned him both to make good the truth of his Answer , and to tell their Lordships , how narrowly he is moved to look to himself ; for , though they now agree it to be done by the Agents , and practised by them , yet the first part of this Killing Charge is , That he should Traiterously and Wickedly devise , to subdue the Subjects of that Realm , by levying Money on them . But Mr. Palmer explained himself ; That they did admit the Contribution to be levied by the Agreement of the Agents , and by consent , but they intend not to admit , that it did extend to a practice by his Predecessors , for that it was formerly done , they did in no sort admit . And Mr. Pym added , That they do not Charge him with levying the Contribution Money , but with levying Money after the Contribution , was paid , which was more than the Contribution , but that is not in issue . So my Lord of Strafford concluded that Point ; That the Contribution , for eight years before his coming , was levied by Soldiers , is admitted ; So that for all the things concerning that Contribution , he did no more than was agreeable to the Agents themselves . His Lordship then desired , That the Second Article of my Lord of Faulklands Instructions might be Read , by which he was expresly appointed to lay Soldiers on such , as paid not their Rent to the King. And it was Read. ARTICLE II. FOr the Collection of our Rents , in Cases of Default ; That First a Summoning Process shall Issue : Secondly , The Pursivant sent : And Lastly , if this be not sufficient ( in case the same be not levyed ) then our Vice-Treasurer , by Warrant of our Deputy and Council , shall appoint a competent number of Soldiers of the next Ayding , and Garrison , to collect the Rents of the charge of the Parties complained of ; having care , that no man be burdened with a greater number of Soldiers , than the Service shall necessarily require . Mr. Palmer desiring , That the first Article of these Instructions might be Read , it was read accordingly . AT the humble Request of our Subjects , We are graciously pleas'd to direct , for the better preservation and ease of our Subjects , the Soldiers shall be called in , &c. My Lord of Strafford from his Proofes inferred , That he had made it clearly appear , That , notwithstanding the Statute cited , it had been the frequent use and custome of Ireland , to assess Soldiers on Septs of Offenders , for the levying of Exchequer-rents , levying Debts , as appears in one particular Case which is left in Dublin , for the levying of the Composition Rents by Troops of Horse and Horsemen ; and for the Contribution , that State gives no difference , betwixt sessing for the Kings Rents , and for contempts and disobedience to Justice , and certainly it would be High-Treason : for , if the Deputy had power to assess the Soldiers , without being guilty in the former Case , certainly his assessing of Soldiers on Contemners , to bring them to be ameneable to the Kings Justice , cannot be by any construction made Treason in him : So that though it comes not to the particular individuum , yet it comes thus far , that sessing of the Soldiers is a power that was in the Deputies of Ireland , and so he trusts was by the Law of that Land , without making them Traytors . His Lordship did further alleadg , That when he came into Ireland , he found that none of the Kings Rents were levyed in other manner ; Paper-Attachments being given unto the Captains , and they , on these assignements , levying the Money for their Entertainments : that he was willing to remedy this , being not much in love with the course ; and , since his time , it was never practised , the Rents being brought in before it comes to that ; though if they had not been paid sooner , it must have come to that : And therefore he desired he might show them a Proclamation , Issued within three months after he came into Ireland , to show , that he brought not the Custom with him , but found it there . Which Proclamation was Read , being Dated 27 th December , 1633. And Imported . THat whereas the Surplusage of his Majesties Revenue is appointed to be applyed towards the Payment of the Army , thereby to give the Countrey more ease , &c. To which Proclamation divers of the Counsellors Names were added , and were now Read. So that if Sessing of Soldiers , in any case , be Treason , certainly it is in this ; Posito , That if the Law be good , it equally goes to both . And so he conceives he hath shewed the use that hath been , and must be of the Officers of the Army , being the most ready way to procure obedience to the Kings Courts . His Lordship observed , That the Gentlemen at the Barr waved part of his Charge , though there was a Book in Print , wherein he appears to be charged in a Trayterous manner , to subdue , &c. He waves the Article . And though they decline it , he besought their Lordships he might give an Account of this particular , least it should stick with their Lordships , when they read the Article , and find no Answer to it . But the Committee opposed it , as conceiving it not fit he should Answer to an Article to which he was not pressed ( specially since they have not wholly laid it aside ) and that he had notice yesterday , that they intended not , for the present , to proceed upon it ; which my Lord of Strafford confessed , and gave thanks to the House of Commons for it . His Lordship then proceeded in his Defence , setting forth to their Lordships , That the first Instruction to my Lord of Faulkland is no limitation to him , it being not good , as to him , unless it were given him , which he mentions onely by the way . For the Warrants charged to be by him Issued , and the Execution of them , His Lordship desires to free himself from the Testimony given by Mr. Berne and Mr. Kennedy , concerning a very foul misdemeanour committed by some Soldiers , under pretence of coming to see the Kings Writ executed , and his Justice complyed withal , before he comes to that , that concerns Mr. Savill . 1. It appears , these Soldiers were laid when he was not in Ireland ; so that he is not answerable to any thing Deposed by these Gentlemen , further than that he gave a Warrant for it to Mr. Pigott . II. He denies that ever Pigott had any such Warrant from him , nor is any Proofe to that purpose offered : Therefore it is not to be laid to his Accompt . III. Only Patrick Clear ( sayes Pigott ) threatned to lay Soldiers on some if they would not obey : but , because he threatned , therefore he had such a Warrant , is ( under favour ) no consequence ; men commonly threaten most , when they have least to shew . IV. Mr. Kenneday sayes directly , Pigott had done what he did by direction ; but , in express termes , he sayes , He never saw the Warrant . Then there remained only Mr. Savill's Warrant . This Warrant is not showed , nor comes it in Judgment against him : and though some Testimonies are given , that they have seen such a Warrant , for Assessing Soldiers , &c. yet he conceives it very hard , That the Warrant should be the ground of convincing him of Treason , and yet the Warrant not be shown , for what the grounds are , and what the Limitations may be do not appear : And , if there were such a Warrant , it is long since it passed from him ; But , it is not shown ; and therefore to convince him in modo & formâ is very hard to be done ; for what may be in it to qualifie , or what amiss , no body knows . But , to the Proofs , his Lordship observed , That the Proofs are very scant ; This great Mighty War made on the King and his People , in breach of the Statute cited , is one of the Poorest Wars that ever was made in Christendome ; for , last Summer , one sayes , he knew Soldiers laid on one man. The Sergeant sayes , He never laid above 6 , sometimes 2 , sometimes 3 ; and that this should be heightned to the making of a War against the King and his People , seems to be a very great strain put upon it , and more he hopes than the matter will bear . That it was never complained of to him , all the while he was in Ireland , in respect of any manner of prejudice sustained by it . That if there be such a Warrant , he is glad it hath been so moderately Executed , that no worse consequence hath come of it , than their Lordships have heard . But , he shall make it appear , that the Sergeant at Armes is a publick Officer ; and , what Warrant soever he hath from him , it is not in relation to him , but to the execution and procuring obedience to all other the Kings Courts of Justice , as well as those of the Deputies Jurisdiction ; and , it was onely to enable him the better to secure the Kings Right : And he desired , that Nicolas Ardah be examined , Whether he be not an Officer of the Exchequer in Ireland , and whether he knows of any particular Sessing of Soldiers by the Sergeant at Armes , before my Lord of Straffords Government ? And being Askt severally these Questions ; He Answered , To the first ; That he hath some Imployment in the Exchequer , and was imployed in a Commission of Church-bounds . And , that about the Second Year of His Majesties Reign , there was one Tho. Fitzgerard High Sheriff of a County , that had not perfected his Accompts , and not appeared to the Pursivant ; The Lord Chancellor that now is , desired the rest to assist him to move my Lord of Faulkland to lay Horse on him ; And that the Party was brought in within a short time after ; but , whether by Soldiers , he knows not ; but he heard there was a Warrant . Mr. Savill being Asked , Whether the Warrant to him granted was not agreeable to former Precedents ? He Answered , That he never saw any other Warrant of the same Nature : but , he hath heard by him that was his Predecessor ( now a Captain of the Army ) that he had received a Warrant from my Lord of Faulkland , to Sess Soldiers on the Land of Tho. Fitzgerard , who had refused to come to pass Accompts . Mr. Henry Dillon being Asked , Whether he knew of any such Warrant formerly granted ? And what Relation the Sergeant at Armes hath to other Courts ? He Answered , That he conceives , the Sergeant at Armes is an Officer , as well to the Court of Exchequer , as to the Chancery , on the last Process of Contempt . The last Process is a Writ to the Sergeant , to Attach a Man , whether betwixt party and party , or concerning the King ; and that he had spoken with Thimbleby , Sergeant at Armes , whether he did so in his own right , or as Deputy ? And Asking him , What he would do if the Warrant was disobey'd ? and he pretended he would Assess Soldiers ; and being a Scholar at — 23 years , he heard one had Soldiers sessed on him for disobedience to the Sergeant at Armes ; but , what the particular was he doth not know . Here Mr. Palmer speaking some words , which my Lord of Strafford interpreted an Interruption ; his Lordship desired , That no hasty words might be misinterpreted , he being for his Life and Children ; and added , The Gentlemen will do well not to put him out of his way , but let him speak the poor few things he can for himself , and then leave them to their Lordships wisdom . And then proceeded . So he supposed there could be no such severe construction put upon this Warrant , that it should be adjudged a levying of War against the King and his People , when it appeares to be the using of half a dozen , sometimes two or three Soldiers to lye on refractory persons , and bring them to be conformable to Justice ; that the Kings Law might be obeyed , without any Treasonable or corrupt intention whatsoever : And , he hopes their Lordships will have a more favourable and compassionate consideration , than to Judge him a Traytor for such a piece of business , accompanied with all these circumstances . But he added , That some wayes he is more qualified then an ordinary person , by reason he had the honor to be His Majesties Deputy ; and , by His Commission , had power to pursue Rebels , and to use the Kings Army for punishing of Rebels , or securing the Publick Peace of the Realm , as in his discretion he should think fit ; and , that he conceives , a Warrant , though there had been no President in the Case ( but with these accompany'd ) cannot be laid on him as a Crime . For this , he refers himself to his Commission , which had been formerly read , and therefore trusts this will not fall into their Lordships Judgment as a High Treason , he being to govern according to the Customes of the Realm : There is a Statute 10 H. 7. cap. 17. whereby it was Ordained , Enacted , and Estabished by Authority of that Parliament , That from that time forwards there be no Peace nor War undertaken in the Land , without the Deputies Licence ; but , all such War and Peace to be made by the Lieutenants , for the time being ; And this comes in time , after the Statute of 18 H. 6. This was never complayn'd of as a fault , and no ill consequence followed on it . If a Man shall enter by force , and wrongfully keep away possession , that may be as well said to be a levying of War as this ; and yet a forcible Entry is familiarly punish'd in the Star-Chamber , but not spoken of as a Treason . As to the Statute in Ireland , of 18 H. 6. cap. 3. An Act , That no Lord , or other , shall Charge the Kings Subject , &c. HE Conceives , he cannot be brought within compass of this Statute : For , I. He hath heard it said , That the King cannot be concluded in any Statute , unless he be particularly named , and consequently not his Chief Governor : For , these words , No Lord , or any other , of what condition soever , &c. Must imply , a condition of a Lord , or one under a Lord , not a condition above a Lord , as the Chief Governor is . II. He shall not lead , or bring . He hath neither brought , nor lead them into Action ; for the Sergeant at Armes hath done it , though under his Warrant . III. It speaks of bringing English Rebels , or Irish Enemies , or Hooded Men , Hoblers , Kernes , &c. But , that sending of the Kings Soldiers to apprehend and attach such Refractory Persons should be within the Statute , is a Stretching of the words of it very far . IV. Notwithstanding this Law , the Chief Governor hath alwayes used to assess Soldiers ( and Practice is the best Interpreter of Lawes ) and yet his acts have not , by this Statute , been concluded Treason ; since they have Compounded for it , and they pay a great Rent ; The Composition Rents paid for their discharge from the assessing of the Army , being one of the greatest Revenues before his coming there . And , if their Lordships will have it proved , there be few of the Irish but know it ; And , in Conaught the King may take , or leave as he pleases . Though he shall not insist on it ( as desiring never to depart from their Lordships Judgment , nor thinking himself more safe in any other ; therefore freely and voluntarily he puts himself under their Lordships Censure , for his Life , as for his Death : But , if he should insist on it , admitting all this , That it was a Treason by the Statute-Law of Ireland , yet he is not Tryable for it here : But , he makes no use of it to that purpose ; but , had he a Thousand lives , he would humbly lay them every one at their Lordships feet . He added , That it is a very heavy Case , that such old Laws as these should be started , in this manner , when the Practice hath been quite contrary ; and Kindled , to destroy him and his Posterity at a Blow . But , he trusts , God Almighty hath provided better for him , by their Lordships Favour and Justice : For , though the Gentlemen at the Bar are much more Learned than himself ; yet , it may be , they are not so well Read in the Irish-Statutes , as they be in the English : Besides , he is most confident , he shall make it appear that Statute is Repealed . And , if it falls in his Judgment , their Lordships ( he hopes ) will find , he had Reason to think , what he shall offer , might be available ; and , that their Lordships will not be offended if he mistakes the Law ; and this , as in other things , he desires the Advantage of by Counsel , concerning these Points of Law , before he be finally concluded . First , By the Statute of 8 Ed. 4. ca. 1. ( and , had these Gentlemen seen these Statutes , he believes they would never put it in Charge against him . ) Whereby it is Enacted , Confirmed , and Ratified , by Authority of the said Parliament , that the said Statute be Adjudged and Approved in force and strength ; and the said Statute may be of force in this Land from the 6 th day of March next ; and that from henceforth the said Act , and all Statutes and Acts , made by Authority of Parliament , within the Kingdom of England , be Adjudged and Ratified from the said 6 th day of March. This comes in time , after the Statute of Treason of H. 6. and , Ratifying all the former Statutes of England , Ratifies the 25 th of E. 3. in England , which is the Statute of Treason : and , 1 H. 4. which sayes , nothing shall be Treason , but what is said to be Treason within the said Statute of 25 E. 3. So that nothing can be Treason in Ireland , but what is Treason by 25 E. 3. or 1 H. 4. or something subsequent , for these being confirmed later , do take away the Statute of 18 H. 6. Secondly , By the Statute of 10 H. 7. c. 22. and this is a Repeal in Judgements , far better then his own . The former was for another purpose . By this , all the Statutes made in England before that time , are brought to be Laws within Ireland ; and , all Laws contrary to these Laws are hereby repealed . But , the Law urged by those Gentlemen is against the Laws of 25 Ed. 3. and 1 H. 4. and consequently is repealed very clearly ; and , the words are these in effect ; It tells of the Benefit and Advantage that might come to them , after the English Laws should be brought in ; And , if any Statute have been made contrary to them , the same to be annulled void , and of none effect . And , that it hath been so taken and conceived , that that Law is Repealed , he hath , as he conceives , a Judgment in Parliament clearly on his side , to clear him , as to this Treason , That the Deputy hath power to Assess Soldiers , in Cases where he shall think convenient . It is a Power , which ( God forbid ) any Many should exercise , but with all fair Intention , and Mildness that possibly can be ; and he speaks it , not to draw any inconvenience on that Kingdom ( he being willing to spend his Life for them , rather than do them any hurt ) nor will he carry from this Bar the Remembrance of any thing of their Unkindness , in Prosecution ( he means not them that are Members of this House : ) praeter gratuitas Cicatrices , and will never look the worse on them he Vowes to God. The Statute is 11 Eliz. ca. 7. Being an Act for taking away Captainship , and all Exactions belonging thereunto from the Lords and Great Men. WHereas , Most Gracious Soveraign Lady , The Lords and Chieftaines of this Realm , in the time of desolation of Iustice , have arrogated to themselves Absolute and Regal Authority , &c. For Remedy whereof , your Faithful Subjects most humbly beseech it may be Enacted , &c. That no Earl , Viscount , Baron , Lord , &c. dwelling within this Realm , shall assume , &c. the Name of Captain of any Countrey , except such as hath , or shall have the same by Letters-Patents from Your Majesty , &c. or by the name of Captain , or therwise exact for the finding of him , or them , their Horse , Foot of or upon any of your Majesties Subjects , Tax , Sess , Subsidie , &c. , nor shall call togethe people of the same Countrey to Treat , Conclude , and Agree for making War or Peace , &c. Sess , nor lead the people , &c. without the Great Seal , or Warrant from the Lord Deputy , &c. upon pain to every Earl , Viscount , Baron , or Lord , &c. for every time 100 l. of lawful Money of Ireland . Whence he inferred , that here is a Commission , that the Deputy and chief Governors have power to Assess , and yet are no Traitors ; a penalty which they would have spared , had they thought that Law to have been in force . So that as he hath been free in his heart from any Treasonable designe towards His Majesty or His People , and as he hath been innocent to God Almighty within doors , so from this Statute he shall stand clear abroad , and this cannot be brought as to this Case , to convince him of Treason . And his Lordship did recall one thing in the Lord Dillons testimony , ( which he had formerly omitted ) That the Assessing of Soldiers was on men being in Rebellion for any unjustifyable Act. And so his Lordship conceived , there remains no more for him to do at this time , but to answer that objection . That this proceeding of his , was Treason , by 25 Edw. 3. though he had thought Treason had been like Felony in this respect ; That there must be a felonious intent to make Felony , and so to make Treason , there must be a Treasonable intent . And he said ( God knows ) he had no Treasonable intent in all this , for if he had a mind to have raised War against the King and his People , surely he should never have done it by laying two or three Soldiers on a private man , and then taking them off again ; And is this that levying of War against the King and his People , that is meant in the Irish Statute of 25 Edw. 3 ? The words of which Statute his Lordship read , viz. If any man levy War against the King in His Realm , or adhere to His enemies , &c. He appeals to their Lordships , desiring them to lay it to themselves , and tell him whether 2 or 3 poor Soldiers sent in this manner to bring in a man , that will not be lyable to the Kings Justice , could by any construction , be brought to be a War levied against the King and his People ? which , said he , if it be an error , he knew it was no Treason , for he had thought it had been for the Honor and Authority , and Justice of the King , and not done as an enemy to him . And therefore all laid together , though he must needs say , Men are dark towards themselves , and towards their own Cases , and less able to judge , than in the Case of other men ; in truth , under favour , withall Humility , and submission to their Lordships better judgements , he cannot believe nor fear , but for any thing proved this day against him , as he is clear in his heart from all Treasons , and treasonable Intentions towards the King and His People ; so he stands clear from Treason upon this Charge , not only in respect of the Irish Statute , but likewise the English Statute ; and he shall beseech their Lordships , when it comes to its time , they will give his Council leave to urge these things for him , who he is sure will be able to do it with far greater reason and strength than himself , it being out of his profession . Here his Lordship took notice , that there was another part of the Charge which he desired to speak to : but Mr. Palmer said , That was subsequent , and not yet come to . To which his Lordship Answered , That he should do all things without offence , only so long as he doth mannerly move any thing for his clearing , he hopes he may do it . And so the Defence was concluded . And then Mr. Palmer replyed in Substance as followeth . That their Lordships have heard a very long Defence , made by my Lord of Strafford , and that he would not apply himself to inforce any thing by circumstances , but to represent the truth , and to avoid those things offered by way of Answer , for most part of that may be confessed , and yet avoided . Whereas my Lord of Strafford hath made the greatest part of his Defence in matter of Fact from Usage , their Lordships may please to consider , that there can be no legal Usage contrary to an Act of Parliament , made before time of memory , as 25 E. 3. in England , and 18 H. 6. in Ireland , much less can there be Usage for committing of Treason . The Usage insisted on , is First , for Soldiers being Assest on Septs , till Rebels and Traitors not apprehendible , were brought in ; and by Rebels , his Lordship would have understood , not Rebels against the King and State , but petit Offenders and Felons , and for that did examine Witnesses : But the Witnesse says , That when such had committed Felony , and withdrawn themselves into Woods , a Proclamation went out to call them in , and if then they came not in , they were esteemed Rebels , and Soldiers were laid on their Septs , which is not to lay Soldiers on Subjects in time of Peace , when they will not conform to his private Orders . The Stat. 11 Eliz. describes what the laying Soldiers on the Sept was , viz. When Outlaws and Rebels lye in the Woods , and will not be apprehended with the ordinary Arm of Justic , then five of the best of the Sept shall be Fined , but not , that Soldiers shall be laid on them . And this being a Statute and lately made , must needs give the Rise to this laying of Soldiers on the Septs by the Council-Board , instead of a Fine ; so this is no justification or excuse , it not bringing a full Answer home to the present Case ; nor is this of right to be justified . The next Usage was concerning the Kings Rents , which Mr. Conley only extends beyond the time of my Lord of Faulkland , he speaks of it in the time of my Lord Grandison and Chichester , yet it was no positive Testimony , and he was an old man , and his Evidence uncertain for those times . Besides , there was no account given of the certain reason , whether by a legal Process or no : For there might be due Process awarded , and a Writ of Assistance , to carry the power of the Countrey , and so the thing be done by legal authority ; and therefore since it cannot be applyed to any rule , it must be intended to be an illegal power , if at all . The rest were all for Rents in the time of my Lord of Faulkland . The instructions were produced by my Lord of Strafford himself in time 1628. which was before my Lord of Faulkland went out of that Government . And by these instructions there is an Agreement , and it is taken to be for the benefit of the people , that the Kings Rents should be levied by Soldiers ; so that for all the time of my Lord of Faulkland , and the Justices since , it was within the compass of the Instructions , and reduced to the consent of the people , and the words of the Statute are , No Soldiers shall be Assest without consent , but this remains charged to be by force , and against consent . That concerning the Contribution-money , in which another Usage is alledged , is set forth to be an agreement of the people , That because it might not come into the Exchequer , to be made a Precedent , it should not be levyed by ordinary Process , but by Soldiers , if it were behind , it being assigned for relief and pay of Soldiers , and being by consent is out of the present case . Sir Arthur Tyrringham speaks of this Use in case of a petit debt of 16 or 20 s. on a Warrant from my Lord Faulkland , which is the only Case of Debt prooved , but he could not tell whose or what debt it was , nor how determined or judged . If it were the Kings debt , it might be one of the Rents , or some duty leviable by consent of the people ; neither did he say , it was on a suit before the Deputy , and therefore that will not come to the Case . For that my Lord Dillon was called again touching Contribution , Composition , and Rents ; Composition-Rents fall under the same Consideration . That Sir Thomas Wayneman laid soldiers is but an affirmation , and expects no answer , ( but if the Information be true ) he used very violent courses , for it hath appeared he hanged a man , without any occasion . My Lord produced the Instructions of 1628. and out of them inforced , that it might be lawful for him to levy Soldiers with authority ; but it appears by the first Article it was consented to at the writing , and for the Benefit of the Subject , as was before answered ; and that very much money was assigned for the Soldiers , and it may be proved ( if there be occasion ) That there issued Acquittances to the Captains of the Company , to deliver to the persons from whom the Money was due , in case of payment ; and if they did not pay by consent , Soldiers were laid , and not otherwise . For the Proclamation of December 1633. whereby the payment of His Majesties Rents and Revenues was ordered , it recites divers Rents were behind , that the surplusage would not pay the Soldiers , that by want of Money , the Soldiers might make irruptions on the County ; That according to direction , to prevent inconveniencies , Moneys should be levied , which had Rise from the Instructions , 1628. For the time of it was 1633. A Proclamation might well second that which was setled before , by the Instructions : If it did not pursue them , surely the Proclamation was an offence in it self , and then there is no justification of a Treason by a Treason , but it might have been as well objected against , as this in hand ; But it is true , it hath the countenance of these Instructions . But on all these , there is no pretence of forcing submission to my Lord of Strafford's Orders . After Usuage his Lordship observes the Testimonies produced , and takes exceptions to that of Berne ; that the ground of his complaint was , when my Lord of Strafford was in England ; That it was done by Pygott's Warrants , who was not proved to have any Warrant from him . It is true , there is no full and precise proof , that Pygott had his Warrant from my Lord of Strafford . But though it was done after his coming for England , yet if his Warrant were made before , though it were executed in his absence , it will lay it on my Lord of Strafford . But we say the Warrant was made before , and to Pygott as well as Savill . One Witness says , Pygott himself did vouch my Lord of Strafford to have given him his Warrant , it was my Lord Lieutenants Warrant , he was my Lord Lieutenants Sergeant , the Soldiers were my Lord Lieutenants Troopers ; the Soldiers laid by Savill , are by my Lord Deputies Warrant , proved to be under his Hand and Seal , and many Witnesses are in Savills Case produced . And whereas my Lord says , no Warrant was shewed ; if himself had not excepted against it , a true Copy had been produced , and if none be shewed , it is his own fault ; but my Lord of Strafford should have shewed it , if any thing was in it to qualifie the matter , for it is proved he gave authority , and by his authority the Soldiers were laid . Whereas my Lord says , this cause was not complained of , Berne gives the reason , he durst not complain there , but came over hither to complain , and hath prosecuted the complaint . My Lord of Strafford was pleased to aske Ardah , what he heard concerning laying of Soldiers ? It is true , he and Savill mention the laying on Soldiers on Fitzgerard but it was for the Kings Money , and they spake it not on their own knowledge , but by hear-say , and it was done but once ; and whether since the Instructions , it doth not appear , and if it was since , then it was by consent , and this Fitzgerard lay out as a Rebel , and if it was done , it was done under that capacity . To that point a Witness was produced . Mr. Kennedy being Interrogated , Whether he the said Fitzgerard did did not lye in the nature of a Rebel when Soldiers were laid on him ? He Answered , That this Fitzgerard was Sheriff in the County of Corke , and failing in his Accompt at the time , Process was issued on his Recognizance , and he held out three or four years . That he , ( the Deponent being then the Kings Remembrancer ) thought it his duty to acquaint the Barons of the Exchequer , that he could not be found , but kept abroad in the Woods , being a man of good Estate ; and then on acquainting my Lord of Faulkland with it , a Warrant was procured to the Sergeant at Arms. Henry Dillon says nothing of the Usage , but pretends one Thimbleby said he had a Warrant , but whether he had a Warrant , or did execute it , appears not . And if it be so , it appears not for what time , when it was , nor out of what Court the Process came , upon which the last Assessment was made . This is all offered in matter of Fact ; my Lord proceeds to other justifications . First , That His Majesties Deputy is so qualified , that he hath power to resist Rebels and secure Peace : and it is true , he hath power , but he hath no power at all to make a War , especially in time of Peace : now all things are appeased there , and no occasion is given of a War ; only that Soldiers be maintained for a Nursery of Martial Discipline , but there is no occasion of Soldiers to be laid on the Kings people . He alledged a Stat. 10 H. 7. that no War or Peace should be made , but by the Deputies Licence ; and therefore he infers , that by the Deputy War might be made ; It is true , where there is hostility or Rebellion , then to oppose and repress that Rebellion , the Deputy may make a defensive War ; but to do it in time of Peace , on the Kings people , that are under the Government of His Majesties Laws , is to make War on the Kings Subjects , under His Peace and Protection , and consequently , on the Sovereign Power that doth protect them . He would compare it with forcible Entry , but the circumstances do very much diversity it from Riots , or forcible Entries ; It is done by Soldiers that come furnished with all warlike Ammunition , brought from Garrisons , the places of War , brought with an Officer , brought in numbers ; and though the Lord of Strafford extenuates the numbers , yet the Sergeant at Arms was unlimited . So the power given to him , was a vast power , to take such a number of Soldiers as he should think fit . His Lordship observes , that the Stat. of 18. H. 6. cannot conclude him , because Statutes here in England do not include the King , unless he be nominated in them , the Committee expected not to hear this reason ; That because the Kings Sacred Person is not mentioned in a Statute , who cannot be within the blemish of such an offence , therefore it should not extend to a Subject . This is to take a power above Law , and make himself equal to Sovereignty , to say that he should not be comprehended more than the King himself . He says he did not lead the Soldiers , but only gave a Warrant , and therefore this should not be Treason ; but though he leads them not , the Commander is an Actor ; and to give Warrant for Treason , is Treason . He says this is a Statute-Law in Ireland , and not examinable before their Lordships here . Mr. Palmer alledged , that he would do my Lord right ; that he submitted to their Lordships Judgements , and craved leave to give answer to that point , and said , The Laws of Ireland are devised from the Crown of England , the King being seized of it in the right of his Crown of England , and as a parcel of this Crown : The power they have to make Laws there , is derivative from the Crown of England , and they did thankfully accept them from the first Conqueror : Since that , they had power to make Acts of Parliament , but that is subordinate , the Laws there are the Laws of England applyed to that place : As any particular custom of a place , not the general Law of the Land , is the Law of that place by a general custom , and yet may be judged out of the precincts of that custom ; so the Laws of Ireland are the Laws of that Kingdom ; yet may be judged by this Supream Court , out of the limits of Ireland . Though in an inferior Court , when a thing questioned in Ireland , is brought by Writ of Error , they judge according to the Laws of Ireland , not of England . And my Lord hath prayed , and werequire , that he may be judged according to the Laws of Ireland . So this Law of 18 H. 6. may be judged by their Lordships , though it be a Law in Ireland . But my Lord urges , that this Law is repealed , and for that he gave reasons on many Acts of Parliament ; First , a Statute made 8 Edw. 4. That is made to a particular purpose , reciting one particular Statute , and repealing that , and then by a general clause , ratifying and introducing all the Statutes of England into Ireland . This being but on a particular occasion , with such a general Clause , will not be applyable , however , it will be the Answer to that that follows . It is a general Clause to introduce the Laws of England , and shall not have that reflexion to repeal any Law of force in Ireland . This introducing of our Laws thither , shall not work to repeal their Laws , but make a consistance of both Laws , so far as they may stand together . On that Mr. Palmer said , he would not enlarge himself , it being not matter of Fact , and it was not expected that matter of Law would have been insisted on , and therefore he leaves it to those that shall hereafter give their Lordships satisfaction in point of Law. That which my Lord called a Judgement in Parliament , 11 Eliz. recites that it was in time of desolation of Justice ; That the Captains had brought oppressions on the people . It was in a time , when , though the Irish had been victi long before , yet they were not brought perfectly under subjection of the Laws of England , there then remained Rebellions and Tumults ; It was in time of Hostility and War , And that Statute gives but an Implication neither , that Captains should not Assess without the Deputies Warrant : And it follows not , that therefore he hath authority to do it . But howsoever the thing be , this was for defence of the people , to make resistance against Rebels . But the thing in charge was in time of peace , and full government of the Law , and so that Statute will give no justification at all . My Lord of Strafford concluded , that there was no Treasonable Intent in this , and therefore it should be no Treason on the Statute of the 25 Edw. 3. My Lord recited the words of the Statute , Not to be only the levying of the War , but adhering to the Kings enemies ; but these glosses are not to be confounded but severed . The adhering to the Kings enemies , is one offence within that Statute , Levying of War another ; so that if there be no Adherence , yet if there be Levying of War , it will be Treason . And this levying of War , it was on the Kings People ; perhaps there was no intent upon the Kings Sacred Person ; yet if it be against the Kings People , such a levying of War is Treason ; ordinary Cases of Felony are to be against the Kings Crown and Dignity , though it be the Homicide of a mean Subject , it is against the Kings Crown and Dignity , because it is against the protection and safety of that man that is the Kings Subject ; and so the levying of War on the Kings People , by laying Soldiers in this hostile manner , being against the protection , by which they are governed , against the safety , by which the King is to defend them . It is a War against the King , his Crown , and Dignity , This is the Answer to the Defence . And Mr. Palmer concluded , That he conceived the Charge of the House of Commons , in matter of Fact , was fully maintained , and for matter of Law , if there remained any scruple , a farther Argument , and stronger Reasons should be offered hereafter . And so a Recess being granted for a day , upon the Humble Request of my Lord of Strafford , the House was Adjourned , and Saturday following was appointed for the next meeting . THE Sixteenth Article . The Charge . 16. THat the Earl of Strafford the Two and twentieth of February , in the 7 th year of His Majesties Reign , intending to oppress the said Subjects of Ireland , did make a proposition , and obtained from His Majesty an allowance thereof , that no complaint of injustice or oppreision done in Ireland , should be received in England against any , unless it appeared , that the party made first his address to him the said Earl , and the said Earl having by such usurped , Tyrannical , and exorbitant power , expressed in the former Articles , destroyed , and oppressed the Peers , and other Subjects of that Kingdom of Ireland , in their Lives , Consciences , Land , Liberties , and Estates ; the said Earl to the intent , the better to maintain and strengthen his said power , and to bring the people into a disaffection of His Majesty , as aforesaid ; did use His Majesties Name in the execution of the said power . And to prevent the Subjects of that Realm of all means of complaints to His Majesty , and of redress against him and his Agents , did issue a Proclamation , bearing date the 17 th day of September , in the Eleventh year of His Majesties Reign , thereby commanding all the Nobility , Undertakers , and others , who held Estates and Offices in the said Kingdom , ( except such as were employed in His Majesties service , or attending in England by His special command ) to make their personal Residence in the said Kingdom of Ireland : and not to depart thence , without Licence of himself . And the said Earl hath since issued other Proclamations to the same purpose , by means whereof the Subjects of the said Realm are restrained from seeking relief against the oppressions of the said Earl , without his Licence ; which Proclamation , the said Earl hath by several rigorous ways , as by Fine , Imprisonment , and otherwise , put in execution on His Majesties Subjects , as namely , one Parry , and others , who came over onely to complain of the exorbitances and oppressions of the said Earl. April 3. 1641. Mr. Palmer Proceeded in further Maintenance of the Charge of High-Treason , by the Commons of England , against the Earl of Strafford ; and said , They were now entring upon the Sixteenth Article of his IMPEACHMENT , and shewed ; THat from the Former Articles had been represented several and divers sorts of Crimes ; and how that in every of them their Lordships might perceive a Power assumed by my Lord of Strafford , above , and contrary to the Laws , and destructive to them in every part , so far as concerned the Subject Matter ; and , how these Multiplications of Acts did presuppose an Habit , and evidently proved that main Charge , wherewith he was Accused , viz. His endeavouring the Subversion of the Established Laws and Government , and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power . And , that by this Article it would appear unto their Lordships , that those Exorbitances that were done in Ireland , were prepensed and intended , before his going thither ; That those Oppressions were so by him done ; and , that he might Countenance it , the Article Charges him , that on the 22 th of February , in the 7 th year of the King , he procured from his Majesties own allowance , that no Complaint of Injustice , or Oppression should be received in England , unless the Party made first his Address himself to the Deputy , and this was obtained on his repairing to that Government : And this was to be observed by the Secretaries here , the Masters of Request , and all others by whom Complaints might have passage to His Majesty ; and , it remained as a Caution , that none should be admitted . It is true , many specious Reasons and Arguments were subscribed to this Proposition , but the effect of them was , to take the Reines of Rule into his own hands , to prevent the immediate access and approach of the Subjects to His Majesty , in their seeking of redress for their Grievances . And , in the 11 th year of the King , after some time spent there , to prevent them of all meanes of Redress , their Complaints being before Imbargued , that they could not be received , no person at all must come over without License ; There must not be a Rumour of what was done in Ireland , but such as he should so Authorize . To that end , by colour of some Laws in Ireland , concerning them that were to maintain their Lands against the Irish in times of Hostility and Rebellion ; and , under colour of some Instruction , for their keeping their Residence on their Lands , as also of a Letter to that purpose from His Majesty , he is Charged ; that on the 17 th of Sept. 11 Car. he issued a Proclamation , and that Commands the Nobility , Undertakers , and others that held Estates in Ireland , to reside there , and not to depart without his Licence , and so restrained them from seeking Relief against his Oppressions , without his Licence . To them that desired Licenses , he deny'd them : On them that adventur'd to repair hither without Licence , he imposed Fines and Imprisonments for transgressing that Proclamation ; and , howsoever this may be Coloured with Pretences of Instructions , and Letters from His Majesty , it is an Usurpation on Regality , and an undermining of the Protection of His Majesty over His People . For Proof thereof , Iohn Loftus being Sworn , Attested ; That the Copy of the Propositions , made by my Lord of Strafford , was taken out of the Clerk of the Councils Office , and was a true Copy . The said Propositions were Read. At VVhitehall , 22 th of Feb. 1631. Propositions to be considered of by His Majesty , concerning the Government of Ireland . These Propositions were entered according to His Majesties pleasure , signified by Mr. Secretary Cooke . These Propositions made to His Majesty by the Lord Wentworth Lord Deputy of Ireland , and Lord President of the North , were Read and Approved of at the Council Board , 17 th Feb. 1631. There being Present , &c. THat no particular Complaint of Iustice , or Oppression , be admitted here against any , unless it appear , the Party made first his Address to the Deputy , This is but Iustice to the Deputy , who must needs , in some measure , be a Delinquent . Whence Mr. Palmer Inferred , It did appear that this was to be Entered , and remain with the Secretaries , Masters of Requests , and all others whom it might concern . The next thing is the Proclamation , in effect as followeth ; 17 th of Sept. 11 Car , By the Lord Deputy and Council . A Proclamation , That Noblemen , Undertakers , and others , shall be Resident here . After the Preamble it Imports , WE therefore , in Obedience to His Majesties Royal Command signified by the said Letter , Do Publish , Declare , and make known His Princely Pleasure , That all the Nobility , Undertakers , and others that hold Estates and Offices in the Kingdom ( such only excepted , as are imployed in His Service in England ) do hereafter make their Personal Residences here ; And not depart to England , or other place , without Licence of us the Lord Deputy , any former Letter to the contrary notwithstanding : And , in case we the Lord Deputy shall have notice of their Contempt of His Majesties Will , We shall proceed against them in an Exemplary way to deter others : Therefore we straightly Command all manner of persons to take notice of this Proclamation . Mr. Palmer observed , That by the Propositions , all Complaints are prevented : by the Proclamation all persons are restrayned from coming over without the Lord Deputies Licence . And , that in pursuance hereof , several persons that have required Licences have been refused ; That many of their occasions to come over , were Complaints against the Deputy himself ; That such use hath been made of this Act , that the Committee of the House of Parliament there were restrained from coming over , on pretence of this Prohibition . Witnesses were produced . And first , Richard Wade being Sworn , was Interrogated , Whether my Lord of Esmond did not require Licence to come into England , and if it was deny'd him ? And , Whether he had not a Suit depending with my Lord of Strafford , and he would not let him come over till Publication passed , whereby he was prevented of examining his Witnesses ? He Answered , That in August , 1638 , my Lord of Esmond sent him with a Petition to my Lord Deputy , for Licence to go to make an end of the Cause , wherein my Lord Lieutenant was Plaintiff ; That he delivered the Petition to my Lord Lieutenant himself , and waited on him every day for his Answer ; that he could not get Licence on that Petition . That , after this , in Michaelmas-Term , 1638 , as he takes it , my Lord of Esmond procured the Kings Letter ; This Letter he delivered to my Lord Deputy , by direction of my Lord of Esmond ; but , in this , could not get Licence : So that he was deteined from Aug. 1638 , till April following , and he thinks till Publication was granted . Lorky being Sworn , and Interrogated touching my Lord of Esmonds restraint , till the passing of Publication , He Answered , That when my Lord of Esmond heard , that my Lord of Strafford had Incerted him into a Bill , amongst other Defendants in the Star-Chamber , my Lord desired leave to come to England , to make his Defence in that Cause , and to appear in it in person , because without his Lordships leave he could not come over , by vertue of this Proclamation . My Lord sollicited his leave , first by a Petition , Aug. 1638. afterwards by several Letters , some , he ( the Deponent ) carried to his Lordship , who still denied leave , and would not suffer my Lord of Esmond to come over , till after Publication was granted in the Cause , which he conceives was in April ; my Lord of Esmond having sollicited from April , 1638 , till Aprill following . Richard Wade Interrogated , What my Lord Lieutenant said to him , concerning my Lord of Esmonds coming over ? He Answered , That on delivery of the Kings Letter to him , when he looked on it in the evening , the out-side ( said my Lord of Strafford ) is Secretary Crookes hand ; and , to morrow morning , if you attend me , you shall have an Answer . That the next morning , he ( the Deponent ) came to the Secretary Carr , who told his Lordship , The Deponent was there . That my Lord sent for him , the Deponent , to his Study , and said , What needs my Lord of Esmond be so importunate , for he can do nothing there ; but his Attorney and Agent may do it . Indeed , said he , the Deponent , My Lord intends only to go over to get a Commission to justifie his Innocency : Why then saith my Lord of Strafford , I will not give way , he shall have no Commission but what is out already : and , if he have any Commission , it is but Negative . And , Mr. Palmer observed , That by this meanes my Lord of Esmond came to be Sentenced ; and , Mr. Maynard added , That so might the most innocent Man. Lord Roche Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether he did not demand a Licence , and was deny'd ; and , in what suit he thought to be relieved ? He Answered , That he prayed my Lord to give him leave , and he deny'd him : That his occasion to come over was about an Information , preferred against him half a year before in the Star-Chamber : conceiving , that there were some intentions against him , that tended much to his prejudice , by my Lord Deputy , and Lord President of Munster , who were the occasion of the Information , as he conceived ; and , that he intended to come over , hoping he might do something with the King , and their Lordships ; and , when he demanded Licence ( his Lordship coming to take Ship , and he ( the Deponent ) conducting him ) he deny'd it him ( the Deponent ) and the Suit was not pursued in five or six months ; and , till my Lord went over nothing was said of it , which was five or six months more . My Lord of Strafford desired he might be Asked , Whether he was not then Prisoner in the Castle ? he alleadging , That he was in prison for divers great Misdemeanors , and being Interrogated accordingly , He Answered , That he was not a Prisoner in half a year after , till my Lord came out of England ; nor was the Cause followed in five or six Months after he propounded a Licence to his Lordship , which was the day his Lordship went Aboard . The next case offered is the case of Dermond Mac Carty , who had a Suit against him several times , dismissed in a Court of Justice , which my Lord Deputy took afterwards into determination himself , and made an Order against him in the Cause that was so diminished : Mac-Carty , Grandchild to him against whom the Order was made ( who was not bound by the Order ; having no Land , nor Office in Ireland , and so not bound by the Proclamation ) desired leave to come into England , to Complain indeed of this Injustice , though he pretended it was for his Education , but was deny'd by my Lord , and by others in his absence , because my Lord had deny'd him before . The Petition subscribed by my Lord Deputy himself was Read , my Lord Acknowledged it to be under his own hand . To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Wentworth , &c. THe humble Petition of Dermond Mac-Carty , showing , That your Petitioner , for his Private Occasions , specially for better Breeding and Education , is desirous to Travel into the Realm of England ; He therefore most humbly prayeth , your Lordship will be pleased , to Licence and Dispence with his Iourney thither , And he will ever pray , &c. Dublin-Castle , 28 Iune , 1637. FOr Our Reasons , best known to Our Selves , We think it not fit to Grant the Petitioners Request ; but do rather hereby expresly inhibit , and forbid him to Transport himself into England , or any part beyond the Seas , without Our Licence first had in that behalf : And , of these Directions the Petitioner is required , not only to take notice , but also obey the same , as he will answer the contrary at his utmost Peril . On a second Petition preferred by Mac-Carty ( because my Lord Deputy had refused to give him Licence ) Sir Christopher Wainsford did also refuse his Licence . The Petition , and the Answer thereunto purporting to that effect , were Read. Iames Nash Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether the occasion of these Petitions was not to Complain of that Decree , made by my Lord Deputy , in a Cause , that had in a Court of Justice been dismissed ? He Answered , That he knew the passages of all the Causes , having been a Sollicitor and Agent for the Father of Mac-Carty , and waiting on their occasions in Dublin . That after the obtaining of two Dismissions in the Suit , my Lord did Order and Decree for Sir Iames Craig 5496 l. against Mac-Carty . And , on this Decree , an Order , to Dispossess him of all his Fathers Estate ; and he being Banish'd into a Foreign Part the young Man , for fear , would not come in and appear ; but , hoping to have Redress in England , did Petition in this matter , in desire and hope to have Redress in that dismission made by the Lord Strafford . Mr. Palmer Opened the Case of Parry his Fine and Imprisonment , who is mentioned in the Article ; That he was Servant to the late Lord Chancellor , was Examined before my Lord Deputy of some things that concerned his Master , and had Answered so much as it pleased my Lord to require of him . That after this ( being used to follow my Lord Chancellors occasions ) my Lord Deputy , to prevent his coming over , referred him to further Examination before the Iudges , whom he attended five or six dayes , but there was nothing to examine him upon , for he had delivered all that was required , as fully as he knew ; That finding my Lord Chancellors occasions very urgent , he came into England ; and , as soon as he came hither , it seems he was followed with directions thence ; for , by Warrant from Secretary Cook he was apprehended by a Messenger ; and the Warrant expresses it , that he was one that came over without Licence : That he was turned over to Mr. Ralton , my Lords Agent , and must give Bond to repair , and make his appearance in Ireland : Before that Bond was discharged , he did return ; and , after his return , he Petitioned to be Discharged of this Bond , he conceiving he might come over without Licence , having no Estate nor Office in Ireland ; yet notwithstanding he was Sentenced , Fined , and Imprisoned . It is true , the Cause expressed in the Sentence , is , Because he went away not being Examined ; and the Sentence expresses , That he is not Fined for coming without Licence , but because he came away without being Examined . Henry Parry Sworn , was Interrogated , Whether the Copy showed unto him was a true Copy of Secretary Cooks Warrant ? He Answered , That he examined it with the Original . The Warrant was Read. THese are , in His Majesties Name , to will and Command you , to make your present repair to any place , where you shall understand of the — of Henry Parry Gent. lately come out of Ireland without Licence ; and , by Vertue hereof , to take him into Custody , and keep him safe till you hear from me . Greenwich , 20 June , 1633. To Thomas Welch , Messenger of the Kings Chamber . Henry Parry being Interrogated , What were the Proceedings with him about his Examinations in Ireland , before his coming over ? And , What was the whole Process of the business ? He Answered , That 21 April , 1638 , my Lord of Ely , then Lord Chancellor , his Lord and Master , was Committed to the Castle of Dublin , and , no sooner Committed , but he ( the Deponent ) was sent for to the Council Board , and , an Oath Administred to him , by the Clerk of the Council , on my Lord of Straffords direction . That thereupon his Lordship Interrogated him , Where the Great Seal was ? He answered his Lordship , That he knew not where it was , unless it was with my Lord of Ely : And , after his Lordship had Examined him to that , he Commanded him to attend the Iudges the next day , to be Examined on some Papers of his ( the Deponents ) which his Lordship had seized and brought to the Council 〈◊〉 , and thereupon he was dismissed at night . That Monday next ( this being Saturday ) he attended the Iudges alone to be Examined , and attended not only that day , but five dayes more , from thence to Saturday . That on Saturday , my Lord of Ely told him , He had occasion to send him over into England , and desired him to go : That he did come away with some Letters from his Lordship , to some of his Lordships Friends here ; And , as soon as he came here with Instructions from his Lordship , the Instructions were given to his Lordships Friends , to Sollicite His Sacred Majesty for his Relief , and Enlargement out of Prison ; and he continued a matter of two Months or thereabouts ; and on that , one Thomas Welsh , by Vertue of Secretary Cookes Warrant , attached him , and kept him in Restraint about three weeks . At the end of three weeks he was sent for to Mr. Ralton , who told him , It was Secretary Cookes pleasure he should enter into Bond to go into Ireland , else he should be sent by a Messenger . That he ( the Deponent ) Answered , He could not pay a Messenger , but if he could not get leave to stay , he would enter into Bond to go to Ireland : That Mr. Ralton took a Bond , to appear the 10 th or 12 th of August following , this being in Iuly , 1638. That he came into Ireland according to the Tenor of his Bond. That my Lord of Strafford being to go into the Country , he presented himself before his Lordship in the Gallery at the Castle , and acquainted his Lordship , that he was there to attend his Lordship , according to the Tenor of the Bond. His Lordship Asked him , Who took his Bond ? he acquainted his Lordship , That it was his Agent Mr. Ralton . His Lordship Asked , What Warrant had Mr. Ralton to take Bond of you ? He , ( the Deponent ) acquainted his Lordship , He did not know any Warrant he had : but , he said , He had direction from Secretary Cook. My Lord Asked further , Where he took the Bond , if at the Signet-Office ? No : said he ( the Deponent ) It was at his own house . My Lord Answered , That he ( the Deponent ) might do well to attend at the next sitting of the Council-Board . And , that he ( the Deponent ) going away , his Lordship called him back , and said , Methinks , Mr. Parry you are much Sun-burned , the weather is very hot in England . He ( the Deponent ) Answered again , The weather is very fair . His Lordship Interrogated him , Where my Lady Moore was ? and , How she did ? He ( the Deponent ) acquainted his Lordship , She was in England . Here my Lord of Strafford interrupted him , Asking , If this was to the Business ? but , having direction to go on , He Added , That my Lord Asked him , Why he did not stay abroad to help my Lady Moore to spread abroad her Malice against him ( my Lord of Strafford ) to which he ( the Deponent ) said , He could say nothing : and so was dismissed . That afterwards he attended with a Petition of my Lord of Ely's ; and , that my Lord Asked him , Where his Petition was ? He said , He had not any , but presented his Person . His Lordship told him , That it was Councel-Board-day for Petitions , and wished him to come some other time : yet after , was called back , and had an Answer to the Petition . That the Tuesday following , ( as he takes it ) he appeared before his Lordship again , without any Petition , not knowing any cause he had to Petition : That , the next day after he Petition'd ; and on Reading his Petition , the Constable of the Castle was called , and thereupon he ( the Deponent ) was Committed , and Censured ( as he was told the next day ) 500 l. That his Lordship Declared the Order of the Board , That he ( the Deponent ) was Fined 500 l. Bound to his Good Behaviour ; Committed to the Castle of Dublin ; and to Acknowledge his Offence at the Board , and to Mr. Ralton ; and there he continued in Prison , and was utterly Ruined . Being Asked , Whether he was heard to Answer in the Cause ? or , Whether he was Examined after his Return ? He Answered , That he never put in Answer in Writing , nor was there any Petition against him , but only his own Petition ; nor further Required to be Examined from that day to this . Being Asked , How much of his Fine he paid ? He Answered , That before he could see his Order , he was fain to pay Sir Paul Davis 45 l. and , when he saw his Order for reducing it , for it was reduced from 500 l. to 250 l. of which he paid 184 l. Mr. Palmer proceeded , observing , That the next thing was , a Refusal of the whole Kingdom to Present their Complaints : It is true , said he , it was not by my Lord of Strafford himself , but it ensued on these Acts , and Proclamations ; and that was hindering the Committee of the Parliament that were to come over , to make a Remonstrance of their Grievances to His Majesty . Sir Robert Smith being Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether he was imployed by the House of Commons to come over hither ? and , Whether he was deny'd Licence ? He Answered , That we were sent for by my Lord Deputy Wainsford , and he put us ( as we conceived them ) several catching Questions , as , If they had not my Lord Deputies Licence , and the Boards . Whether they would repair to England or no ? We Answered , That , in obedience to the House of Commons , we did intend to repair to England . No , sayes my Lord Deputy , Answer me Catagorically ; Would you go or no , If we would Command you not to go ? to this we Answered , No : being between two Jurisdictions , both from His Majesty ; for , we had a Command from the House of Commons , and a Counter-Command from His Majesty , and we were denied Licence , and a restraint of Ships , for that cause they conceived to restrain them . Being asked , whether the Deputy did know the House of Commons had ordered them to come over , and yet refused ? He answered , the Lord Deputy did know it , it was apparently known to all the Kingdom . Mr. Fitz-gerard being examined to the same points , as Sir Robert Linch . He Answered , That after the the Session of Parliament , 1 Octob. last , and the House of Commons had travelled till the 6 Nov. in the affairs of the Kingdom , the grand Committee had heard and discussed many grievances general and particular , and voted them to the House . That about the beginning of Nov. the House entred into consideration of those grievances , and drew up a Petition of Remonstrances to be presented to the Lord Deputy , which was voted in the House of Commons 7 Nov. 9 Nov. the whole House attended with the Speaker , and the Speaker read it publiquely before him . The grievances were of that nature , that they did Humbly , and of Right ( as he remembers ) petition for redress of those grievances ; that the House conceiving the Parliament would be Prorogued , or Dissolved before Redress was given , they entred into consideration of a course to present it to His Majesty . And 11 Nov. made an Order : that the Committee should be appointed to repair to England with a Caution , That if Redress should not be had before Dissolution , or Prorogation of the Parliament , that Committee should not proceed . 12 Nov. it was Prorogued without Redress ; that the next day after Prorogation the Committee was summoned to attend at the Board , and there was interrogated severally on a question , as far as he can remember , viz. Of their intention to go into England , whether they would aske leave to go into England ? and admitting my Lord Deputy should command them not to goe , till His Majesties pleasure was known , whether they would go ? To all they were severally to answer , and Catagorically ( this was my Lord Deputies word ) after Answer given , they were ordered to withdraw , and being called in again , it was made known by the Lord Deputy Wainsford ; That he and the Lords had considered the whole matter , and bade them take notice , there was a Proclamation , restraining all the Subjects of Ireland to make repair to England till application was made to the Deputy . That he engaged them in Allegiance , not to depart , till he ( the Lord Deputy ) had known His Majesties pleasure , whether they should goe or no , which he would labour to know speedily . The next thing Mr. Palmer offered , was the Irish Remonstrance , which was read . To the Right Honourable the Lord Deputy , The humble and just Remonstrance of the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses in Parliament . THe Petitioners do conceive great and strong fears of a Proclamation published in this Kingdom , Anno 1635. Prohibiting men of Quality or Estate , to depart this Kingdom without the Lord Deputies Licence , whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free access to His said Majesty and Privy Council of England , to obtain remedies against their just grievances , as their Ancestors have had , since the Reign of H. 2. and great Fees exacted for the said Licences . And so Mr. Palmer summed up the Evidence , That by the Proposition made before my Lord Deputies going over , it appeared what was intended , That no complaints of oppression should be made without address , First , to the Deputy , and what followed , declares plainly the execution of it ; That notwithstanding the injustice and oppression done , complaints could not be received . By the former Article , their Lordships have heard what he did there , and the great causes of complaint ; After in time , is the Proclamation , their Lordships see the use made of it , , that those who had made complaints against my Lord himself , and his Orders , were refused to have Licence ; some that adventured to come without Licence were Fined and Imprisoned to their utter ruine . The whole Parliament , when the Order was well known , were refused to have Licence ; it is true , not by my Lord of Strafford , but the Deputy , who coloured his denial from these Acts of my Lord of Strafford ; what fears they had , their Lordships may apprehend by the Remonstrance ; My Lord of Strafford assumed a great power to himself , all Addresses being first made to him , and the Subject thereby excluded from His Majesty , till such address was made ; so that his Lordship is not Par negotio , but Supra , above all the authority committed to him ; not an Accessary but Principal ; not in the nature of a Subject but Domini , and so he expected his Lordships Answer . My Lord of Strafford after a little time of recollecting himself , began his Defence in substance as followeth . That he should only apply himself to the things in charge , as near as he could , and give the fairest Answer he could , where , by the way he alledged , That he might very justifiably say , he had never in his life other thoughts or intentions before his going into Ireland , or during his abode there , but justly and faithfully in the service of His Majesty and the Kingdom ; nor did he ever desire , or intend any thing , so much as to introduce the English Laws and Government there : And whereas he is charged with a subversion of the fundamental Laws , he may say , he thinks , with Truth and Modesty , that the Laws had never so free a passage , that never any Deputy gave less interruption to the proceedings of the Law , than it had , during all his time : That it did not appear by all that hath been said , that there was any stay of legal proceedings ; for all the Causes spoken of him , came originally , and primarily , before they depended in any other Court ; and that he never hindred , but gave all furtherance to the passage of the Common-Law ; and therefore if their Lordships find ( as they cannot but expect from him much ) Error and mistakes , he besought them out of their Goodness and Nobleness , to apply it rather to his Infirmity and Weakness , than to any habit of ill he had got , as he trusts , he should make appear to their Lordships . The Charge , is to have procured , with an intent of oppression , a stop of all complaints of Injustice , that none might be received in England , unless it appeared , That the party did make his address to him . To prove this , the Gentlemen have read a Proposition of his , made before his going into Ireland , and as appears , by their own shewing , such a Proposition as was allowed and approved of by their Lordships at the Council-Board . He desires that in this ( as in all things else ) he might not be taken in pieces , but altogether ; for if they take part , and leave what they please , they may make a man speak strange things ; and therefore he desired their Lordships would hear the reasons inducing that Proposition as well as the Proposition it self , being under the Clerk of the Councils hand , and so attested by Mr. Ralton : The Proposition and Reasons were accordingly read as followeth in substance . Feb. 1631. A Proposition amongst divers others , entred in the Register of the Acts of Council 22 Feb. 1631. follows in haec verba . THat no particular complaint of Injustice or Oppression be admitted here against any , unless it first appear he hath made his Address to the Deputy . And indeed , this is but justice to the Deputy , who must needs in some measure be a Delinquent , if the complaints be true , as being in chief universally to take care that His Majesties Justice be throughly complyed with in that place ; and therefore good reason his Judgement should be informed , and his Integrity first tryed , before either be impeached ; Nay , it is but justice to the Government it self , which would be exceeding scandalous , through the liberty of complaints , and the Ministery therein extreamly discouraged , upon every petit matter to be drawn to answer here , when the thing it self is for the most part either injurious , or for which , the party might have received good satisfaction at his own door . But where the complaint appears formally grounded , and where due application hath been made to the Deputy , without relief to the party , let it be throughly examined , and severely punished , wheresoever the fault proves to be , especially if it be corrupt or malicious ; for so he shall not only magnify his Justice , but punish an unfaithful Minister , or clamorous Complainant , and his service shall thereby be bettered . From whence my Lord of Strafford inferred , That by this it might appear to their Lordships , his intent was not to assume any greater Authority , than became him to desire ; but meerly to prevent clamors and unjust complaints , and that they might be redressed nearer home without Complaint , and no way to hinder any mans just complaint . And so it had no relation nor aspect to himself , but meerly to the furthering of the Kings Justice . And so that Proposition could not ( he conceived ) be turn'd upon him , otherwise then as Just and Honourable . For the Proclamation it self , and the staying of men from coming without Licence ( the thing complained of ) he begged leave to acquaint their Lordships with some particulars . He conceived , by the Laws of Ireland , no man that is a Subject and Liege-man there , can come from thence without Licence from the Deputy , but it is very penal , and to that purpose he would mention two or three Statutes of that Kingdom ; One is the 26 H. 6. ca. 2. The Title whereof is , An Act that the Kings Subjects , or Officers in Ireland , may be absent by the Commands of the King or Governor , or Council , without Censure of , &c. The words of the Statute in substance . Also it is decreed and agreed , that none of the Kings Liege men ( who comprehend all , as he conceives ) or Officers of the Land , go out of the Land , but by Commission from the King or his Heirs , Lieutenant-Iustices , &c. All the Rents , Benefits , Offices , or other Possessions by their said Absence , shall be seized into the Kings hands , &c. Whence my Lord of Strafford inferred , That if they go without the Governors Licence , there is a forfeiture of all these . Another is 25 H. 6. Ca. 9. It is ordained , &c. That if any Liege-man be out of the Kingdom , by the Commandement of the King or his Heirs , or the Lieutenant there , Deputy-Iustices , or Council ; Their Rents , &c , shall not be seized , &c. Whence his Lordship inferred , That if they go without Licence , they are punishable for it . The next is a certain Article , preferred by certain Irish Agents then in England in May 1628. or thereabouts , long before he was thought on for a Deputy in Ireland , either by himself or any body else ; and this is from their own desire and Petition , Being attested by Mr. Ralton to be a true Copy , one Article was read , being in substance as followeth . May 1628. TO the Kings most Excellent Majesty , the humble Petition of Your Majesties faithful Subjects , appointed Agents to prefer certain humble Requests , &c. to your Highness , in behalfe of your Kingdom of Ireland . After the Preamble , amongst other things it contained , That His Majesty would be pleased , that in respect of the non-residence of many great men , who spending their Estates abroad , the Kingdom was impoverished , and great sums of Money transported ; Order might be taken , that both they , and all Undertakers , on whom Estates have been bestowed , for the better supporting and improving of the Kingdom , may make their personal Residence , at least half the year , and not to depart without Licence . His Majesties Answer was given in these words . ALL the Nobility , Undertakers , and others , who hold Estates and Offices within that Kingdom , are to make their personal Residence there , and not to leave it without Licence , such persons excepted only , as are imployed in Our Service in England , or attend here by Our special Command . Next my Lord of Strafford desired , he might read the Lord Faulklands Instructions , which , as he conceived , were pursuing to this , and they were , as he takes it , 24 May , 1628. which being attested by Mr. Brooks to be examined by the Original , was read . C. R. Instructions to be observed by , or , &c. Henry Viscount Faulkland , or Council there , &c. ALL the Nobility , Undertakers , and others , who hold Estates , or Offices in that Kingdom , are to make their personal Residence there , and not to leave it without Licence ; such persons only excepted , as are employed in Our Service in England , or attend here by Our special Command . Next His Lordship offered His Majesties Letter of 20 th of Ianuary 1634. Commanding the publishing of this Proclamation , which Mr. Ralton affirming to be a true Copy was read . C. R. To the Lord Deputy of Ireland . WHEREAS amongst other things in the Graces vouchsafed to Our Subjects , 1628. We signified Our Pleasure , That the Nobility , Undertakers , and Others , holding Estates in Ireland , should be resident there , and not to depart without Licence : And being now given to understand , That notwithstanding those Directions , divers persons ( not of the meaner sort ) take liberty to pass into this Kingdom , or foreign parts , as if they understood not what they owed to Us in their Duty , or themselves in their evil Carriage , which presumption we may not long suffer , &c. We do therefore hereby Will and Require you , by Act of State , or Proclamation , to make known Our Pleasure , That all Nobility , Undertakers , and others , that hold Estates and Offices , ( such persons only excepted , as be imployed here , &c. ) do hereafter make their personal Residence , and not depart for England , or other place , without privity of Our Deputy , any former Letters to the contrary notwithstanding . And because We resolve to have this course constantly observed ( if you shall have notice of any Contemner of this Command ) Our Will and Pleasure is , That you proceed against them in an exemplary way to deterr others ; And for so doing , this shall be your Warrant . My Lord of Strafford observed , That he might well have hoped , that this being required by the Laws of the Land , that no man should depart without Licence , but it should be penal to him , having their own Articles , which desire the same thing ; That by this Proclamation the Power of my Lord of Faulkland was established upon him ; and the Kings Command for the issuing this Proclamation , being justified by the Kings own Letter , so that this should not have been laid to him , for so great and high a crime as it hath been represented to your Lordships ; and he trusted that by that time , their Lordships thought it not so great a crime , as it might at first seem to be . That he was not very hasty in issuing the Proclamation , ( he having no interest in it , nor nothing to drive him forwards ) for tho His Majesties Command was , bearing date 20 Iune 1634. yet the Proclamation issued not till Sept. 17. 1635. And because all he had said , had been turned on him as a crime , his Lordship gave this further Answer , That there could be no Proclamation made by the Deputy alone , ( he being absolutely restrained by his Commission , not to make a Proclamation without the Council ) therefore he could not be singular in the fault , but had the consent of all the Kings Council ; and for instance , in matter of Law , the Chief Justices are sitting at the Board , to whom all matters of Law are referred , and they are answerable for it ; and are so learned , that they could not do things so frequently , without good authority ; and this he offered in excuse of this , and all other Proclamations , not doubting but it was according to the Laws and Customs of the Land. And for further satisfaction , that part of his Commission that concerned the Proclamation was read , and in this particular he desired leave to offer something more with all Humility , that tho none of these were for his justification , yet for Reasons of State , this Restraint was most necessary ; for whosoever goes over Deputy , while these two great men ( to term them no worse ) O Neal and Tir-Connel , have Regiments of the most antient Irish Septs , serving the King of Spain , under their Command , it is necessary for him to have an eye upon them ; for if every one might withdraw himself at pleasure , without giving an account , it would open all the power and means that possibly can be , to distemper that State , and certainly if that liberty might be granted , he feared it would produce sad events in that Kingdom . Moreover , if all the Primogeniture and Nobility of that Religion , should be suffered to go over to Doway , St. Omer , and the Jesuites Colledges , it was to be feared , they should not be so well brought up for the service of the King and Common-wealth , as may be desired ; and therefore it was necessary , according to the constitutions of that Kingdom , that they shall give an account to the Chief Governor ; And it was no other than what is practised here in England ; no man being at liberty to goe hence into France without Licence . And certainly , said he , it is an Account we owe to the King , and stands with the Law of nature . Pater Familiae may take accompt of his own Houshold , and the King being the great Father of the Common-wealth , we owe this Accompt to him ; Therefore he conceived it can be no great offence in him , to do this on these grounds ; and as he recommended the prosperity of that Kingdom , and His Majesties affairs there and here , to God , by his Prayers and good desires ; so he wishes it might be taken into good consideration , that this may be continued as a principal and necessary expedient , to give His Majesty that account , without which , the Governor shall not be able to take just measures of things there . His Lordship then observed , that something had been observed , that was no part of his Charge , and therefore presumed their Lordships would not expect an answer to it , or conclude him any way in their Judgement guilty of it , since the means of giving that satisfaction , which otherwise he should have done , are now taken away . But when they came to be complained of in their proper place , he is ready to give such an account , as becomes a Just and Innocent man. But that which seems to be the foulest of them , was that concerning my Lord of Esmond , of which he remembred very little ; but something darkly , and if it appeared not as he should say , he was extreamly mistaken ; for what he did not know or remember , he would not speak of it confidently , and in short , the point is this . Two men swear that he ( the Lord of Strafford ) denied liberty to my Lord of Esmond to come for England , Aug. 1638. and that he was kept in Ireland , and could not have Licence to come away till April 1639. His Lordship confessed it to be very true , and that he remembred my Lord of Esmond desiring to go over , was stopped by him a while , ( he being Sergeant Mayor-General of the Army ) the Army having occasion of motion , and that he was sure it was much about the time , if his Memory failed him not extreamly , ( but when it came to this time , and he had means to produce witnesses , he hoped to make this appear ) besides , he was mistaken , if he did not very shortly after give him a Licence , and that he found not occasion to make use of it ; and if that was was so , all they said was taken away , for he afterwards finding it to draw towards winter , laid aside the Licence till the Spring , at Spring he asked it , and had it ; but in these things not judicially brought against him , and to which he could not make certain Answers , he hoped he might stand clear , and unprejudiced , till he may answer positively for himself ; and then as their Lordships should find him , they might judge of him : and he should ever most willingly submit to their Judgements , and abide it whatever it was : And whereas the Witnesse said , my Lord of Esmond was hindred , because he had no Commission to examine Witnesses , my Lord of Strafford said , he was able to prove , that a Bond was granted him to examine Witnesses . And the Witness being accidentally there , his Lordship took notice of Gods providence from that , and said , God Almighty was willing to help and assist him wonderfully in his Trial , and that his Goodness to him in this Cause had been a great deal more than he would trouble their Lordships withal at that time ; but he said , he was confident , God had him in his protection , and would never forsake him ; and whatsoever he should loose in this world , he would make it up to him in another world . And for this purpose Mr. Riley was produced , who being questioned , whether he was imployed in suing out a Commission for examining of witnesses in Ireland , in a Cause concerning my Lord of Esmond , and Sir Peirce Crosby ? Mr. Riley Answered , That he was imployed as Clarke in the Cause , where Mr. Attorney was Plaintiff , by Relation of my Lord Lieutenant against my Lord of Esmond and Sir Peirce Crosby , and when that Cause came to Commission , they for the Defendant brought Commissioners names , and did joyn in that Bond , but he cannot remember the time . Being asked ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) whether Sir Pierce Crosby , or my Lord of Esmond fued it out ? He Answered , he could not directly say ; but the Clerk for the Defendants could . Mr. Ralton being asked to the same point . He Answered , that he remembers , that about this time , 1638 , or 1639. Commissions were sued out in the business , between my Lord Lieutenant and my Lord of Esmond , and Sir Pierce Crosby , and that he was very confident , that my Lord of Esmond had the benefit of examining Witnesses . My Lord of Strafford observed , that these Gentlemen stirred up those things , to beget an ill opinion of him , but in short answered , they were not in his Charge . And further , That he conceived my Lord of Esmond was stayed on a complaint of Sir Walsingham Cokes , concerning a practice of his , to the endangering of Sir Walsingham's life . And that he was stayed upon that account , to be examined , and if he ( the Lord Strafford ) was not mistaken ) my Lord Esmond was , after examination left at liberty ; But these things he said , were rather aggravations of his Charge , than within the Charge , and therefore he humbly conceived , that in these cases their Lordships would allow him liberty , and hoped the Gentlemen will likewise allow it , that so he might satisfie them , their Lordships , and all the world , that he hath carried himself justly and fairly in all these particulars ; Also assuring himself , that these Gentlemen were willing he should give the best answer to all these things he could ; And so he would , and that with all respect and reverence to them in the world . The next Case is my Lord Roches , and his Lordship conceives , that my Lord Roche himself gives a fair answer , for he was informed against him in the Starchamber , and my Lord of Strafford said indeed , he remembred there was such an occasion for it , as he was willing to forget it , for that noble Gentlemans Cause , and that the complaint was of so high a nature against my Lord Roche , as he was not willing to press it , to his prejudice , nor ever did , but where there was great reason : and when he should come to answer for it ( for he imagines it is not expected he should answer it finally now , being not within his Charge ) Heaven should justifie him , and shew that he had reason to stay him at that time . The next is Dermond Mac-Cartyes : and , the Cause of his stay appears to be , That he would go abroad for his Breeding . Now if he and such other should go to Doway and S t Omer , he thinks their Lordships and the House of Commons would have blamed him more for giving him and such persons leave , then faulted him for restraining them : And , had he alleadged , That he intended to go over to Complain of that Decree , he would not have hindred him ; and , to that purpose , he hath Witnesses , that he never stayed any Man , that pretended he would complain of him . The Decree was made by a Letter from His Majesty , on a notable fraud of Mac-Carty ( the Father ) in the Case of Sir Iames Craig , and he that Swears in it is Solicitor in the Cause , and so not altogether so competent a Witness . But , these are all on the by , and come rather to prove an Intention , then that which is pressed on him , as a thing to which he is properly and finally to Answer . The next is concerning the Sentence of Mr. Parry , in which business my Lord humbly offered , That no Testimony is yet produced , other , than the Testimony of the Party himself . Now , if the Judge may be Convinced , and Condemned on the single Testimony of the Party grieved , he knows no man would willingly sit in Judgment on these Termes : and , out of this single VVitness ( being qualified with the attribute of the party grieved ) Must he be Condemned , that was one of the Judges ? But , as they have Proved nothing Judicially , that can weigh with their Lordships , it will be fit for him to justifie himself for this Sentence , so far as comes to his share , for all the whole Board consented to it : And therefore he besought their Lordships , to give him the honor , To offer the Sentence given against Mr. Parry , wherein their Lordships would see the Reason , that it was not for departing without Licence , but for great and foul neglects and contempts to the Board . Mr. Gibson Attesting it to be a true Copy , the Decree of the Deputy and Council was Read , being in substance ; WHereas Henry Parry , one of them who attended the Lord Chancellor , as his Lordships Register-keeper , or Clerk for private Iudicatures , and Keeper of the Books of these Private Proceedings , was Commanded to attend the Board to be Examined ; And whereas in Contempt thereof , he not onely neglected to attend accordingly , but departed this Kingdom , which being represented to His Majesty , it pleased His Majesty to require his return hither to attend this Board ; To which end a Bond was taken for his Appearance here the next Council-day , after the 12th of Aug. and whereas he was present himself at this Board 9th October , 1638 , but offered no Petition ; as if he disdained so far to humble himself to this Authority ; whereupon it ebing made known to him , That it became him , in the Duty he owed to the dignity of this Board , to come by Petition , as all other Men : but he forbearing to exhibit his Petition , till he was called by us the Deputiee to do it ; and then when he exhibited it , he therein misrecited his Offence ; alleadging it to be for his repairing to England without Licence ; Licence ; whereas his Offence was , The disobeying the Orders of this Board . Secondly , He laid a Tax on William Ralton Esq Alleadging , That on pretence of Direction from Secretary Cooke , he took his Bond for Appearance here , whereas he knew it was not by any feigned direction , but by appointment of Secretary Cooke , by His Majesties Direction . Thirdly ; In stead of humbling himself , he desired Cancelling of his Bond , and Dismission from attendance ; and the rather , because he conceived he had not in any degree transgressed the Proclamation ; cautelously alledging that to be his Offence , which was not laid to his Charge . And , for as much as his first Offence in Estoyning himself to shun the guilt whereof he was convinced ; and after his bold and insolent behaviour at this Board ( in answering plainly That he conceived the Command of the Lord Chancellor ought to free him from the Command of this Board ) deserves such proceedings against him , as may be both Punishment to him , and Example to others : It is therefore Ordered , That he stand Fined in 500 l. Bound to his Good Behaviour ; stand Committed to the Castle during the Deputies pleasure ; and make acknowledgment of his Offence at this Board . And , the Form of his Submission is set down , I Acknowledge I presented a Presumptuous and Untrue Petition , &c. Given 30 October , 1638. The Names of those that Subscribed it were also Read. Whence my Lord of Strafford observed , That he was not Sentenced for going without Licence , but for other Causes ; and desired my Lord Dillon , and Sir Adam Loftus ( whose hands are to the Decree0 might be Asked a Question or two . And first to the business of my Lord of Esmond , which had been forgot before . Robert Lord Dillon being asked , Whether he remembred any Charge laid against my Lord of Esmond , for a practice against Sir Walsingham Coke ? whereupon being Examined , And , When it was ? He Answered , That he remembred it was about that time , when a Letter was written from the Judges of Assize that went the Circuit of the County of Wexford ; and they Reported , That they had taken Examinations : Whereupon it was mistrusted , or at least suggested , That my Lord of Esmond was to set some on to cut off Sir Walsingham Coke ; and , this being taken into consideration , it was resolved , That till the Judges had determined , Whether it was Treason , or not , he should be stayed for a time ; and , as he takes it , it was Resolved he should be Advertised into England . Being Asked ( on Mr. Maynards Motion ) What time this was ? He Answered , The Question is sudden to him ; but , it was much about the time that my Lord of Esmond had been in Town before ; but , he cannot expresly speak to the time . But , my Lord of Strafford observed , That the Complaint came from the Judges of Assize , when they came from the Circuit , and that was alwayes about August . Lord Dillon being Asked , What year it was ? He Answered , He cannot tell the year of the Lord in Terms : but , he remembers , it was much about that time when my Lord of Esmond was Questioned , and about Summer Circuit . My Lord of Strafford proposing , That my Lord Dillon might be Asked , What he remembred of the Sentence against Parry ? and , What his behaviour was ? To this Mr. Maynard excepted , as not proper to Examine the Judge , Whether his Sentence was just or no ? To which my Lord of Strafford Answered , That it is as equal the Judge that gives Sentence should be Examined , as the party against whom the Sentence is given . That this is a Sentence for things spoken and done at the Board , which stands not on such Niceties ; but Contempts and Misdemeanors to a Court are frequently determined , without Examination of Witnesses ; and , this is a Misdemeanor done in the place . But , my Lord Dillon being spared from Answering , Sir Adam Loftus was Examined , What he knew of that practice of my Lord of Esmond , against Sir Walsingham Cokes Life ? And when ? He Answered , That the first time he heard of it , was , upon an Information of the Judges of the Circuit to my Lord Deputy , then in Ireland , as he takes it ; and , he thinks , my Lord was not then in Town , but sent that Information to the Council at Dublin , his Lordship being then at his Countrey-house ; and therein , some Practice against Sir Walsingham Coke , of certain Rebels and Outlawes , that had laid in Ambush near his house , was set forth ; and thereupon that Letter was sent to the Council to Consider of it , and take course for his Security : That this was not all neither ; for , the Examination of a Rebel in the Castle , brought it home nearest to my Lord of Esmonds Case . But , because the Rebel was a Man of that condition , it was not thought his Testimony could be prevalent against my Lord of Esmond : therefore the other Witnesses were sent for to be Examined in the Cause . Now , this Course of Examination held a matter of three weeks or a month , or thereabouts ( he doth not well know the time ) but , these Men not concurring with the Testimony of the Rebel , in Restraint , there was no words made of it ; but my Lord of Esmond was dismissed , and left to take his own Course . The time was , as he takes it , in the Summer Assizes , 1637 , or 1638 , he knows not which : And this is the truth , and all he knows of the business . Whence my Lord of Strafford Inferred , That being under that Charge of Sergeant-Major-General of the Army , he denyed him liberty to go into England ; but , as soon as he was clear , he had his Licence . Mr. Maynard desiring their Lordships to observe , that my Lord of Strafford Explained himself thus ; That he thought so , or very shortly after : And added , That the Gentleman is very quick with him , being a Man of great understanding , and himself a weak Man. But , that he means very justly , and would not be taken in an Untruth ; and said , That he hath a Servant that was with him , when my Lord of Esmonds Agent came to him , at his House in the Countrey ; And desired , he might be Asked , What Answer he gave him ? Francis Wetheringe being Asked , VVhat he knew concerning my Lord of Straffords giving of Licence to my Lord of Esmond ? He Answered , That he remembers very well that the Gentlemen were Examined , before they came to Fairework-Parke ; while he was waiting on his Lordship at that time , the Gentleman came to him , and desired him to tell my Lord he would speak with him : that he heard my Lord say , It was concerning his Licence , to repair to England ; and , my Lord said , He should have it ; but , it was Winter time , and he would let it alone till the Spring . Being Asked , What Month it was ? He Answered , He could not very well remember , but it was the latter end of Summer as he thought . Mr. Ralton being Asked , Whether the business of my Lord of Esmond , and Sir Walsingham Coke , were not Advertized over hither ? He Answered , That he doth very well remember the business ( he being then Agent for my Lord Lieutenant . ) That in one of his Letters , or the Councils , Advertisement was given of this practice against Sir Walsingham Coke ; and , as he takes it , was in Sept. 1638. or thereabouts ; and that my Lord was pleased to do him ( the said Mr. Ralton ) the favour , to give him some passages of it . Therefore my Lord of Strafford desired , These things might not stick with their Lordships , or the House of Commons , to his prejudice ; when he had not Means , nor Possibility to make his Defence : but , that in Charity they would reserve their Opinions till they sound the truth to the bottom ; and then he hoped he should appear an honest Man , and that was all he pretended to . For the Remonstrance of the House of Commons in Ireland , it is no Evidence , but a Charge to call him to Accompt rather , than to Condemn him or Judge him by : For , it is the Remonstrance of the Commons House , that have not power to give an Oath , and so may be easily misinformed , when they want a Meanes to try out the Truth . But , for the Great Fees exacted for these Licences ; Here are two of his Secretaries imployed in this business , whom his Lordship desired might be Examined , What Fees they demanded , and had in this particular ? He added , That he durst say , Thousands that went over without Licence were never question'd for it : nor any , but where there was Cause ; as , in Case a Man was ill-affected , and then he was looked after . Mr. Slingsby being Asked about the Fees for Licences ? He Answered , They did give the Clerks directions never to demand any Fees for Licences ; and , that the Clerk never accompted to him for above Five shillings for any Licence , which he said was voluntarily given , not demanded . Mr. Little being Asked to the matter of Fees ? He Answered , That he Charged his servant still to demand no Fees for Licences , except of Privy-Counsellors , or Officers of the Army ; and , when they had Licences they paid for them ; and , the Fee of the Licence from the Captains was 20 Shillings ; the ordinary Fee for others Five shillings ; and , many times none at all was paid . And then my Lord of Strafford added , That he had now gone over all the particular Proofes , as near as he could remember them : And , the last he shall insist on is this . That there is nothing in this Charge as he conceives of Treason ; and he must needs Conclude every Article so , in regard Treason is the only thing he is Charged withal : And , he conceives he hath given such Answers to this , that nothing shall convince him before their Lordships of Treason . And , for matter of Misdemeanors , he knowes their Lordships will give him time to examine Witnesses , and leave for his Counsel to be heard , and then he shall Acquit himself as becomes him ; and so with all humility , submit it to their Lordships . And thus his Lordship concluded his Defence . ARTICLE XVI . REPLICATION . Mr. Palmer Replyed thereunto in substance as followeth ; THat my Lord of Strafford , in the Preamble of his Defence , hath made a great Profession to their Lordships of his endeavour to preserve the Laws in Ireland ; and , that no Deputy did ever less interrupt the Legal Proceedings : Which , though it be not the matter of the Cause , he desired leave to put their Lordships in mind , how much he hath interrupted the legal proceedings , because it hath been another part of his Army . That it hath been fully proved , How he Assumed to himself , out of the ordinary Jurisdiction , Causes to be heard before himself , on Paper Petitions , which , how grosly he hath determined , their Lordships have heard : And , whether this be not an Interruption to legal proceedings , he submitted to their Lordships , and also left them to Judge how contrary it was to this Profession of my Lord of Strafford . To the Matter of the Defence , viz. That these Particulars were not complained of ; Mr. Palmer Answered , It is true , There is no particular Complaint in the Article : but , my Lord of Strafford , in his Answer , said , He never deny'd Licenses to any man to go into England , and that puts it in Is sue , and gives occasion to prove his Denyal . To the Reasons of his Propositions , Mr. Palmer observed , they were , viz. Because he was responsible for the Justice of the place ; and therefore good reason his Integrity should be tried before any Complaints came : The Officers and Ministers of Justice should not be drawn from thence on every Complaint , where they might have redress at their own doors . These are fair shows , and something must be said to induce His Majesties Allowance ; and , as much as Art and Skill could invent to prevent the Subjects access to their Sovereign with Complaints of Injustice and Oppression ; It must have a great deal of Wit and Art to colour it , and so he uses it : Their Lordships cannot expect it from him , nor will their Lordships expect it in the Proofs , that he should tell His Majesty he doth all this , that they may not complain of Injustice and Oppression , for this is a hard thing to be done ; But , the thing it self showes for what end he obtained it , his many Acts of Injustice prove , Quo obtentu , this Proposition was gotten ; If this had been gotten on the fair grounds pretended , then , upon Complaints here , His Majesty , in consideration of them , had had it in his own power , to have referred them back to Ireland , if they were misinformed ; but , meanes were used that they should not come to the King , the Barr was laid with the Secretaries , and Masters of Requests , that His Majesty should , by no means know , as to consider of the fitness , or unfitness of them . For the Matter of the Judges and Ministers being withdrawn ; it is true , they were most likely to be complained of ; but , when they cannot be complained of but to my Lord of Strafford , this draws a great Dependence on him , and makes them amenable to his Will. As , in the Sentences wherein they concurred , and whereby he would justifie himself . Again , the discouraging of Complaints in this Proposition , and the Arguments used to His Majesty , provided a Punishment for Clamorous Complaints ; so , that they , which had Cause of Complaint , being terrified with a Punishment ( though they were not Clamorous ) might now be made appear to be so . For the Authorities whereby he justifies this Proclamation . First , He insists on the Lawes of that Kingdom , that by the Law they could not depart the Realm , and that by an Implication 25 H. 6. But , Mr. Palmer observed , that that is no Prohibition of coming out of Ireland ; but , if any Liege man , &c. shall , by the Kings Command , depart the Realm , his Lands should not be seized ; and , the only inference can be , That if others went without License , their Lands might be seized , but not that their persons might be restrained from coming without Licence . There were such Provisions and Ordinances in Ireland , to which the Instructions following , and His Majesties Letter had Reference ; That those persons that had great Possessions in Ireland , in time of Discord , were to be resident upon their Land Personally , so that their Land might be maintained against Incursions . And , this is plain , by a Statute 28 H. 8. Ca. 3 Reciting the Inconvenience from those they call Absentees ; That is , that having large Possessions by Descent , or Graunt , did Demurre in England , and left those possessions unsafeguarded ; and , by this means , the Lands ( which His Majesty had been at great Cost in Conquering ) were regained by the Irish , and therefore there was a Penalty on those Lands ; and , it is provided , that the King shall be Entituled to the Duke of Norfolkes Land for that cause : But , here is only a Provision that the Lands should be safeguarded , but not that the Subject should not resort to the Kings Majesty , for redress of Grievances and Oppressions , and that is in the Charge against my Lord of Strafford . For the Instructions of May , 1628 , on a Petition by the Inhabitants ; the Petition was , That they might make personal Residence at least half a year ; but , that related to Undertakers , and others that have Lands and Offices there , and so was for the same purpose that the Lands should be safeguarded : But certainly , there is great difference between Residence , and Restraining a Resort hither to make Complaint to His Majesty : It is true , there should be a Residence , they were not to depart without Licence ; but , if they had Temporary occasions , or Reasons of Complaint , it is not against the Instructions that Licences should be deny'd . My Lord insists on this , that it is the Law of the Land , and agreeable to the Laws of this Land , and he would willingly bring the Laws of this Land into Ireland . But , under favour , the Laws of this Land are not so ; It is no offence , or Contempt for any Subject , to depart this Land without Licence : Our Books are so . The Statute 5 R. 2. did provide , that none should depart without License ( a general Prohibition ) except they were Lords and good Merchants : Therefore , by the Law , ( before that Statute was ) any Man might depart without License ; and , that Statute is since Repealed , by a Statute made 4 Iac. So that by the Common Law of England the passage is open again ; and , it is no offence at all to depart without Licence . It is true , His Majesty may restrain by a Ne exeat Regno , &c. or by a Proclamation on special Causes , but till then the passage is open , and they may depart by the Law of the Land , and the Penalty is only in the Case of the Absentees . My Lord alledges the Kings Letter ; There is as much skill as can be for a Defence , The Proclamation reciting these Letters , and the Instructions . But , the grounds are false : for , that which is appliable to a Residence for Defence , my Lord makes a ground to restrain all kind of Resort . My Lord takes notice of his Moderation , in Executing the Kings Letter , in respect of the distance of time , between the Letter , Ianuary 1634 , and the Proclamation , Sept. 1635. If it had been a Service to His Majesty , it should have been speeded sooner ; It was a disservice in being so long delayed , if the matter required it ; but , there was something else ; It was not fit for my Lords opportunity till then ; and , when it was fit he publish'd it , and not before . My Lord deserting his Justification by the Proclamation , as a Temporary Law ( as he may , for Proclamations be not Temporary Laws , in case they be against Law , but Publication of Lawes . ) Now , he insists on this , That by his Commission he himself hath not power to publish Proclamations , but by advice of others ; So the power is not in himself alone , for he had the Concurrence of other Counsellors joyned with him . Mr. Palmer desired their Lordships to observe his own Answer ; and , the Reason , why that Unreasonable allowance was got , which is , That he is Responsible for the Justice of that place ; and , if he be so , he takes but their Concurring with him ; in a thing so much against Law , it may make it an Offence in them , it cannot extenuate his Offence . He insists on a necessity of this , that it is fit for that Kingdom , and wishes it might be so continued ; and that in several respects ; in respect of O Neale , and Tirconnel , and the Rebels that adhere to them ; and that it might be dangerous , if those in Ireland should go out at their pleasure . Indeed , if their Resort were thither , it were true ; But , the Commons having offered nothing , but their Request to come into England , where there is no O Neale , nor Tirconnel , to Complain to the King of Oppressions : and , however my Lord of Strafford doth conceive it fit in Ireland , their Lordships hear by the Remonstrance , what Just Fears they apprehended ; It is an Innovation brought on them , which was never on their Ancestors from the time of Henry the Second . The next thing was his Demeanor in the Execution of this Proclamation ; Then he made that General Protestation , That these particulars were not Complained of . To which Mr. Palmer said , He must Answer as before . My Lord hath put it in Issue , That he never did deny Licence , which casts the Commons on Proof , That that in particular hath been deny'd . The Case of my Lord of Esmond is observed to be in time , 1638. And whereas it is said , A License was deny'd , because there was some Charge against him , of practising against Sir Walsingham Cook. This needs no other Answer , but what Sir Adam Loftus has given , That the business was continued in Examination no longer than three weeks , or thereabouts , and was then dismist ; whereas the Denyal continued longer . But , if it be truely informed , This demand of Licence to come over was in August ; the Information came not till September after : so that the Information cannot be applyed to avoid the Denyal of the License . Torky being Asked the time of year the Summer Assizes used to be in Ireland ? He Answered , That he hath observed them , since his knowledge of that Kingdom , to be in September for the County of Wexford . Whence Mr. Palmer Inferred , That if the Petition were in August , the Assizes in September , this could be no Reason , why in August an Information in September should be the Cause of denying the License . My Lord sayes afterwards , He did give him a License ; but your Lordships may remember , it was not till the opportunity was past of examining Witnesses . And , whereas it hath been said , in Answer , That my Lord of Esmond did joyn , and Riley was produced ; yet Riley sayes , There were two Defendants , Sir Pierce Crosby , and my Lord Esmond ; and , for whom the Commission was , he cannot tell : And , if there were a Commission , it is very ordinary to have more then one ; and , if it be desired , a second is just as the first . Mr. Ralton sayes , he is confident there was a Commission : if there was so , Why is not that Record produced ? The next particular was my Lord Roche , and the Answer to that is , That there was an Information against him in the Starchamber . It is true , but that had ceased half a year before he desired a License , and therefore could not be a cause to hinder a Licence . For Dermond Mac-Carty it is said , his Petition was for liberty to go over for breeding , and therefore he might go to Doway or St. Omer . &c. But their Lordships might observe this Petition was to come into England , and the occasion was his Relation to that Suit , and that is conceived the cause of denying that Licence ; for my Lord could not but know that Mac-Carty had relation to the suit before him , which was decreed after a double dismission , and it is no Exception that the Witness is his Sollicitor in the Cause : It is ordinary that the Sollicitor be admitted a Witness , and the best Witness in Courts of Justice . And to answer that fully and clearly , it shall appear , that this very thing is assigned by Secretary Little , to be the reason why he should not go over , that he might not complain of his suit , and a Witness did depose to that effect . Iohn Meaugh bein sworn and Interrogated to the Cause of denying the said Licence . He Answers , That he went to Dublin with Mac-Carty the Son , with the Petition , and that Secretary Little took the Petition in his hand , and said , Are not you Mac-Carty's Son ? Yes said he . And you intend to go and complain against the Order my Lord conceived against your Father ? No indeed , sayes he , I do not ; Sayes the Secretary , I will take your Petition and deliver it to my Lord , and I believe my Lord will not grant your Request , and they left the Petition and went out . A little after , a kinsman of his , the Deputies Master , Sir Valentine Brown said to him , the Son , I have heard my Lord hath granted your Request in your Petition ; so they came to the place to receive the Petition , and this is the Petition shewed their Lordships , when his , the Deputies Master saw the Petition , he would not take it . Take notice Gentlemen , saith Mr. Little , what Charge he hath , and if he doth any thing to the contrary , let it be on his peril ; so they took the Petition , and went away . Against Parries Testimony ; First , my Lord says , he is a single Witness , but if that be not admitted , there is no need of his Testimony ; for Secretary Cook 's Warrant proves what was the reason , and their Lordships may know whence that came . His Sentence is thus far in question here , whether he was sentenced for coming over or otherwise ; It is true ( and that is the iniquity of it ) the sentence doth express it to be for another Cause ; It is not usual in Sentences , to say what it is not for , but what it is for ; but it is for his not petitioning the Council-Table , and setting forth after in his Petition , that his offence was his coming overwithout Licence ; and saying Mr. Ralton pretended Secretary Cooks ' directions , whereas he must so speak truth , as not to be charged with a pretence . And it were most just to sentence him for coming without Licence ; then for his being not called , nor any way able to answer the Defence . That others are joyned with him in the Sentence , it doth not excuse his Lordship : They shew the more dependencie upon him , and by this means , no complaints of Injustice or Oppression , can be brought to any but himself , and that brings them under his wing ; However , the fault is in them , as well as in him . The Remonstrance he says , is only a Charge , but it is the Declaration and Voice of all the People , of sufficient credit , to represent their grievances , what they conceive to be their true Liberty , and how they have used it ever since the time of H. 2. Which is , that they should have redress for grievances , which is no other than the Common-Law ; That the Subject should have free Access to the Sovereign . His last is , That there is nothing of Treason in this : And to this the same Answer is given , as to all the rest , which are not individual Treasons . The Multiplication of Acts , all containing something in them of an Arbitrary power , conclude , as effects from the cause , from whence this proceeds . And this thing is not so petty as my Lord makes it , to deny the Access of the Subject to their Sovereign ; and tho it be allowed by His Majesties Letter and Instructions , yet these being obtained by himself , make it worse , he taking so Sovereign a Power , that Non sentit parem , nec superiorem . Mr. Palmer instanced in that great Case of the Marquis of Dublin , that had the Dominion of Ireland granted him , he had Merum & maximum Imperium , under the Broad Seal , and his Patent passed in Parliament , yet it was one of the Articles charged on him , for it tended to the Severance of the Allegiance of the People from their King. In the next Article their Lordships shall hear his demeanor to those of the Scotch Nation . Mr. Maynard desired to add a word to what had been said ; First , My Lord says , that the particulars are not in the Charge , but that is a mistake , for this Case of Parry is particularly charged , and divers others ; it is true , the rest are general , but this is particular , so the Charge is good in that . And whereas my Lord had endeavoured to justifie this by Law. Mr. Maynard observed , That they do not lay the point upon that , how far the Subject may be restrained in that particular : but here is the sting of my Lord of Strafford's proceedings , he takes this ( be it lawful or unlawful ) to prevent the Complaints which might be brought to His Majesty against his Injustice , for he hath done all that tothis people : now an ill intent may make that ill which in it self otherwise will not be ill ; and he besought their Lordships to take this into consideration , what a miserable condition the Subjects of Ireland are in , when there are never so great grievances laid on them , yet they cannot complain , and no complaint can be received , unless he that oppresses them , gives them leave so to do , and when their oppressions ri● so high , when shall he give them leave ? My Lord ▪ of 〈◊〉 says , Thousands have come , yea many he is sure , that have not been punished nor questioned . Whence Mr. Maynard observed . That it is ill ▪ l●k that the oppressed are always punished , others may go without punishment ; but it falls out unhappily , That they that have Complaints against him , are the men that are restrained , and it may not be thought that they will bear a Complaint sometimes , that they may seek a better opportunity , when they shall see such examples ; that is , one Fined for exhibiting a Petition , and saying , that is untrue ; when against another , an Information that hath laid dead halfe a year , shall be quickened upon that occasion , and they must be punished more , that are more oppressed , as in the Case of my Lord of Esmond . And whereas my Lord of Strafford says , he never punished any , where there was Complaint before . Mr. Maynard besought their Lordships to observe , that it is point blank contrary to the Evidence , and Oath before their Lordships ; for in that particular Case of Mac-Carty , there were two Dismissions : It is true , the Merits of the Causes are not proper to be offered , but there is cause to take Confidence , that where it is called a fraud on Mac-Carty's part , when it is examined , it will be a very heavy oppression . And whereas it hath been said by way of Justification ( mitigation at least ) that there hath been no Fees taken for Licences , but such as were given voluntarily , except in case of Officers of the State , or the Army ; proof was offered , that Mr. Little that takes on him to swear for himself or his fellows , tho he did not know whether it were or no , hath denyed Licence without Fees ; and that certain Fees were demanded , shall be made appear . Whereupon Richard Wade being Interrogated , whether Fees were not demanded by the Secretaries , for Licences of mens passage into England , and what Fees ? He Answered , That for Fees for my Lord of Esmond's Licence , he was demanded 24 or 25 s. Patrick Gough being asked to that point . He Answered , That he remembers he hath taken Licences twice or thrice for my Lord Viscount Mountgomery , and for every one of them paid 25 s. and for three of his servants 25 s. and that those were demanded , for he ( the Deponent ) would have given less if they would have taken less , and that these were demanded by Secretary Littles Servants . Mr. Glyn desired one word more , and the rather , said he , because it seems my Lord of Strafford slights this Article , which is the most proved , and the least answer'd of any yet heard , their Lordships may observe what is laid to his charge , the subverting of Laws , and the introducing of a Tyrannical Government . And before he goes about his work , he puts off all means of redress beforehand ; that if he give any occasion of offence , he that is offended , shall not possibly have remedy . His justification is , because of that great danger that may ensue , for they may joyn with Rebels , but that 's a pretence ; Indeed he used that Argument when he moved it to His Majesty ; but it was , that they might not come over to make complaints . That his Propositions were made , and entred at the Council-Table , here he aggravates his offence , and Mr , Glyn did thus illustrate it ; That if a man come to him , and desire leave to lye in his House , if he gives the party leave , and he by that means takes occasion to betray him , or to commit Felony , or steal his Goods , That leave was well given , but it aggravates the others offence , when he doth mischief to him that lodged him . So my Lord of Strafford's Proposition was fair , but if their Lordships observe the subsequence of it , that he might exercise his Power , and leave the Subject without means of redress , but they must come to himself for it . Mr Glyn further said , he thinks , had he suffered under his hands after the example of my Lord Mountnorris , he should be loth to say to his face , he would complain . An Act of Parliament he produces for his Justification , which is plainly against him , for it shews there were some that held Lands there by tenure , and if they were not resident they forfeited ; Then comes the Act and says , That those whom the King commands to be absent , they shall not forfeit , which shows they had a personal Power without Licence ; so that the very Law produced , is expresly against him , and there Lordships may see by his own Proposition , the occasion of his introducing this Letter . And Mr. Glyn concluded , That he supposes that my Lord of Strafford hath made no answer to that . And so the 16 th Article was finished , and the 17 th and 18 th being for the present set aside , the Committee that managed the Evidence , proceeded to the 19 th Article . THE Nineteenth Article . The Charge . 19. That the said Earl having Taxed and Levied the said Impositions , and raised the said Monopolies , and committed the said other Oppressions in His Majesties Name , and as by His Majesties Royal Command ; He the said Earl in May , the 15th year of His Majesties Reign , did of his own authority , contrive and frame a new and unusual Oath , by the purport whereof among many other things , the party taking the said Oath , was to swear , that he should not protest against any of His Majesties Royal Commands , but submit himself in all Obedience thereunto ; which Oath he so contriv'd to enforce the same on the Subjects of the Scotish Nation , inhabiting in Ireland , and out of a hatred to the said Nation , and to put them to a discontent with His Majesty , and His Government there , and compelled divers of His Majesties said Subjects there , to take the said Oath , a gainst their Wills , and of such as refused to take the said Oath , some he grievously Fined and Imprisoned , and others he destroyed and exiled ; and namely the 10th of October , Ann. Dom. 1639. He Fined Henry Steward and his Wife , who refused to take the said Oath , 5000 pounds apiece ; and their two Daughters , and James Gray , 3000 pounds apiece , and imprisoned them for not paying the said Fines . The said Henry Steward , his Wife and Daughters , and James Gray , being the Kings Liege people of the Scotish Nation , and divers others he used in like manner ; and the said Earl upon that occasion did declare , that the said Oath did not only oblige them in point of Allegiance to His Majesty , and acknowledgement of his Supremacy only , but to the Ceremonies and Government of the Church established , and to be established by His Majesties Royal Authority ; and said , That the refusers to obey , he would prosecute to the Blood. Mr. Whitlock proceeded to open the 19th Article , setting forth in substance as followeth . THAT the next Article in which they shall proceed , to make good the Impeachment of all the Commons of England against my Lord of Strafford is the 19th Article . That their Lordships have heard his demeanor to the Subjects of the Irish Nation ; what power he exercised over their Liberties , their Properties , their Lives . That he used His Majesties Subjects of Scotland in the same manner , exercising an unlawful power over their consciences , by imposing a new and unlawful Oath on such of them as lived in Ireland . That the Kings Subjects of the Scotish Nation , have the same benefit of protection from His Majesty and His Laws , as his other Subjects have ; since they are bound to the same Allegiance , to the same Obedience , and therefore what ought not to be done to any other of the King's Subjects , ought not to be done to them . That a new Oath cannot be imposed , without Assent of a Parliament yet my Lord of Strafford is pleased to enjoyn this Oath , to contrive it , to threaten them that desired to consider of it ; he sends forth Commissions , to the Gentry in the Countrey to tender it , and such as refused were brought up by Pursivants and Officers to Dublin , and committed to Prison , and divers of them , rather than they would take this Oath , were fain to forsake their Families , their Estates , and Lands , and fly away , and were exiled the Kingdom . That the Charge , particularly mentioning the sentencing of Henry Stuart his Wife , and two Daughters , and one Iames Gray , above the age of 16. who for refusing this Oath , were Fined , Stuart himself 5000 l. his Wife 3000 l. his Daughters 3000 l. apiece , and Iames Gray as much ; and in their Sentence my Lord was pleased to declare himself so bitter against that Nation , and so much resolved , that this Oath should be taken by all of them ( though against Law ) That he publiquely said , That those who refused to take the Oath , he would prosecute to the Blood. That the Scotch Nation were Rebels and Traitors , and that if His Majesty should please to send him back to the Government of Ireland ( he being then to come into England ) he would root out the Scotish Nation root and Branch . And further , did declare , That this Oath thus enjoyned , did bind to the Ceremonies of the Church , not only those that were establish'd , but such as were to be established : so that the Oath had some affinity with the Oath in this Kingdom , not long since . Sir Iames Mountgomery being Interrogated , what he knew concerning the contriving and imposing of the said Oath ? He Answered , That he was very unwilling to give any Testimony in this particular , because he knows there is a Petition for this Oath , to which Petition his hand is among others , and therefore some perchance , who doe not know the passage of the business , may think there was a discordance , and a disagreement between the Instrument under his hand , and the Testimony he must give , being put to it upon Oath , but he hopes there shall none appear when he hath spoken . That in April ( as he remembers ) 1639. My Lord-Lieutenant , then Lord-Deputy , did write down Letters to the most part of all the Noblemen and Gentlemen of the Scotish Nation , dwelling in Ireland , ( in the Province of Ulster especially ) amongst whom the Deponent received one Letter himself , and he was required by that Letter ( as the rest , whose Letters were to one effect ) to repair to Dublin , 27 April as he remembers , that his Lordship might confer with them about some affairs , that did concern His Majesties special service , and therefore they were required not to fail to be there that day . That thither they came , and being come , my Lord Viscount Mountgomery being not well in his health , having got a cold in his journey , the said Lord Viscount sent to excuse himself to my Lord Deputy , that he was not able to come abroad for a day or two ; and my Lord Deputy sent him word he would come to his Lodging , and gave warning to the rest of the Gent. to meet his Lordship there the next day at two of the clock ; that there they did all come , and there were the Bishops of Down and Raffo , and some others of the Clergy ; And being met , my Lord Deputy came thither and told them , he was there as their friend , to acquaint them with some things that did much concern them , and to give them his advice ; He did then tell them of great disorders in Scotland , of great jealousies raised against them , and that they who were present , might possibly be favourers , or furtherers of those distempers ; but he added , that he hoped better of them : however , that it behoved them to do something to vindicate themselves from this aspersion ; and that they should offer it freely of themselves , and not stay till it were imposed by Authority . That he did insist further in his Speech , and insinuated to them , what was expected they should do , and that they should be suitors for it . That an Oath was expected according to the example of Scotland , as they had there joyned in a Covenant . To this purpose he did deliver himself . That when his Lordship had ended , the Bishops of Raffo and Down , one seconding the other , gave his Lordship thanks for his Lordships favour to them , and told his Lordship , that as those in Scotland had joyned together , and conspired by an unlawful Oath , so they here would joyn in a lawful oath in opposition to that , and would petition for it to his Lordship . It was seconded by the Bishop of Down , and some others of the Clergy there , little being spoken by others . That the Bishop of Down desired he might draw it , but the Lord-Deputy put it on the Bishop of Raffo . That some of them thought it a little too hasty , and when my Lord was risen up he ( the Deponent ) took on him to speak to his Lordship , and told him , the things spoken of there , were not charged against the Nation , but against the Covenanters in Scotland , and did not concern themselves : and therefore thought , under favour , that it should not be amiss to think what they should doe , before they appointed a man to draw a Petition , or to this effect . That his Lordship was pleased to turn towards him something in choler , and to tell him ; Sir Iames Mountgomery , you may go home and petition or not petition if you will , but if you do not , or who doth not , or to this effect , shall do worse . That they seeing his Lordship had resolved it should be so , there was no more said ; The Bishop of Raffo went with the Petition in his hand to some of them , being desirous to see it , to contribute their advice to them , and somewhat suspecting this Train of the Gentry , that night again the said Bishop met with my Lord Mountgomery , Sir William Stuart , Sir Iames Craig and himself , ( the Deputy ) and brought two draughts of Petitions : the one indeed was down right railing , the other not very mild he thinks : howsoever , they did desire to have qualified it something in words ; but the Bishop told them , it was already so cold , he was ashamed of it , and could not engross it , till he had shewed it my Lord Deputy , to know whether he would accept of it ; The next morning some of them saw it with him , and took exception at some bitter words that were in it ; and the Bishop said it was not to be disputed , for my Lord Deputy had seen it , and it was done with his good liking . After that it was engrossed , they met to have Signed it , and some took exceptions , that there was too great a latitude in it , and desired it might be entred , That they should be in the case with other His Majesties Subjects ; but the Bishop said , he could alter nothing , without my Lord-Lieutenants knowledge , and he would go to my Lord with it , and to my Lord Mountgomery ; They intreated to go along with him , and my Lord was willing these words should be added , That it should be in equal manner and measure with other His Majesties Subjects ; so the Petition was ingrossed , and signed , and was afterwards delivered to his Lordship : That then my Lord Deputy desired them , to appoint five or six of their number to wait on his Lordship , and some of the Council the next morning , to confer concerning the Oath , and they made choice of six , the Lord Mountgomery , — Stuart , and these two Bishops , Sir William Stuart , and himself the Deponent ; when they came , his Lordship caused the Clerk of the Council to read the Oath that was to be Administred ; and some other debates they had , some offered some motions , to his Lordship for some words , by way of explanation ; as that they should not protest against any of His Majesties Royal Commands , and it was desired it might be explained , By just Commands , or Commands according to Law. My Lord did then tell them , they were not to expect any other Commands from His Majesty ; the Oath was for no other intent , and needed no alteration . The Bishop of Raffo would have had more added , saying , The Oath was so mean , he would not come from his house to take it ; and so my Lord Deputy told him , the Oath had been well consider'd of , and needs no alteration ; That he the Bishop then desired a Copy of it , to carry to the Gentlemen that were not present , and were waiting for them at my Lord Mountgomeries lodging . His Lordship was pleased to deny that , but would send the Clerk of the Council , who should bring the Oath and Read it , and bring it back again , and he did so . After this , the next day , or that afternoon , they were appointed to come to the Council-Board , and have the Oath Administred ; That here they came , and my Lord himself was pleased to Administer the Oath to every one of us , two by two , or three by three . And this was the manner of Administring it . Being Interrogated , Whether they knew the occasion of their being sent for ? He Answered ; They knew not for what cause , nor heard any thing of it . Being Asked , If he knew what Scotchmen were those that left the Kingdom , because they would not take this Oath ? He Answered , That ( soon after they were dismissed in May ) Commissions came into the Countrey to certain Commissioners , for Administring the Oath , to all of that Nation , above the Age of Sixteen ; and , he believes ( whether by the main Commission , or private Instructions , he cannot tell ) That it was ordered , it should be Administred , both to Men and Women above that Age : And , they were all called at certain dayes by the Commissioners ; some were scrupulous , and thought in their Consciences , they could not take it ; others , that were satisfied in their Consciences , did take it ; and those that did not take it , the Commissioners were required to certifie their Names , and Places of Residence , to my Lord Deputy and Council , that they might be proceeded against , as Contemners of His Majesties Royal Authority , according to the Proclamation , and Commission . After the Proclamation had called them , some did appear , and they that did not , their names were certified , and afterward Pursivants issued to apprehend them that did not appear , or them , who on appearing , did refuse . He knows of many that fled away into Scotland , and very many that fled up and down in the Country , and many were apprehended by the Pursivants , and carried up , and some he thinks were Censured . Being Asked , Whether they left their Corn on the Ground , and Goods in their Houses ? He Answered , That they did . Being Asked , Whether any Papists of the Scotish Nation were sent for by Letter , or had the Oath tendered ? He Answered , None of them that he could hear : and the Oath was not Administred to any of them , neither were they called . Being Asked , If there were not diverse Scotish Papists there ? He Answered , Yes ; diverse Gentlemen of good Quality : and he named some of them , viz. Sir William Hamilton , &c. Being Asked ( on the Earl of Clares motion ) Whether the Refusers fled into any part of Scotland ? He Answered , In Truth not , to his knowledge ; but they fled out of the Kingdom of Ireland . The Oath was next Read , viz. IN. do faithfully Swear , Profess , and Promise , that I will Honor and Obey my Sovereign Lord King CHARLES , and will bear Faith and true Allegiance to Him , and will defend and maintain His Regal Power and Authority ; and that I will not bear Arms nor do any Rebellious or Hostile Act against Him , or Protest against any His Royal Commands , but submit my self in all due obedience hereunto : and , that I will not enter into any Covenant , Oath , or Bond of Mutual Defence , or Assistance , against all sorts of persons whatsoever ; or into any Oath , Covenant , or Mutual Defence , or Assistance against any person whatsoever , by Force , without His Majesties Soveraign and Regal Authority . And I do renounce all Covenants , contrary to what I have Sworn and Promised . So help me God in Christ Jesus . Whence Mr. Maynard observed , from these words , That they shall not Protest against any of His Majesties Royal Commands . That he believed all men were satisfied , that His Majesty never did , nor will Command any thing unlawful , but what a subordinate Minister may command in His Majesties Name , and publish , as His Command , in Ireland , their Lordships have heard enough of , and that may make them tender to take the Oath ; besides , the Oath being new , it is conceived to be against Law. Mr. Maxwell being Sworn , and Interrogated , In what manner were Gentlemen sent for to Dublin about this matter ? And what he knew in particular about it ? He Answered , That he was one that received a Letter from my Lord Lieutenant upon that account ; and that he , as well as the rest , were required to be all at Dublin at a certain day ; and , being there , and my Lord Mountgomery being a little sick , and not able to go abroad , desired their excuse for a day or two . My Lord Deputy was pleased to give Command , that all that were writen for , might be at my Lord Mountgomeries lodging : And , at the time appointed , my Lord Lieutenant came , and at his coming he called them together , and showed the Dissenters in Scotland , and desired that they would show themselves Faithful and Loyal Subjects to their Master ; and , that it behoved them , as their own desire , to Petition for it ; whereupon my Lord Bishop of Down , R●o , and some others of the Clergy being there , did second my Lords Speech , and told them , That as they Rebelliously proceeded in Scotland , in that the Scots had taken in hand against the King ; so they would do well by Petition , and by Oath to his Lordship and the Council , to shew their willingness towards their Masters Service : So my Lord Lieutenant was pleased to take hold of my Lord Downs Speech ; and my Lord Down desired , he might be the drawer of the Petition . But my Lord perceiving him a little too vehement , told him , Smilingly , That he would recommend that to the Bishop of Raffo : So the Bishop of Raffo was appointed for the drawing up of that Petition . The next day they desired to peruse the Petition , before it went to my Lord ; and , after they had perus'd it , they went in to my Lord Lieutenant with it ; after he had seen the Petition , he mended something in it ; and , among the rest , he remembers , the Bishop of Raffo told him , That my Lord had put in , That these that were here should be of no worse condition , then the rest of His Majesties Subjects . The next day the Petition was Ingrossed , and Signed by them , and presented to my Lord Lieutenant : afterwards there were two Noblemen , two Bishops , two Gentlemen , appointed to go to my Lord concerning the Oath , and they desired a Copy of the Oath . My Lord Lieutenant sent Sir Paul Davies out to my Lord Mountgomery , and it was Read to them all ; and they were commanded to attend at the Council-Table , and my Lord gave them the Oath . Sir Hen. Spottewood was offered a further Witness , but their Lordships being satisfied with what was formerly offered , spared his Examination . And Mr. Whitlock observed , That they did produce these Witnesses the rather , because my Lord of Strafford sayes , in his Answer , they willingly came to Dublin , and were Suitors for the Oath . Whereas my Lord sent for them ; when they were there , my Lord perswaded them ; threatned them ; contrived the Oath himself ; altered the Petition ; appointed who should draw it ; which disproves what is in his Answer alleadged . To prove , That because diverse of the Scotish Nation were tender , and loth to take the Oath , or submit to all the Commands of my Lord of Strafford ( though they would to the Kings ) they fled the Kingdom , and left their Estates . Sir Iohn Clottworthy being examined to that particular ; Answered , That he could speak to this particular clearly to his own Knowledge ; for then my Lord was pleased to insert him as a Commissioner in the said Commission , and he was there sometimes , and beheld the Execution of it . He did likewise see the Multitude ( when the Oath was generally prest on several Commands from my Lord Deputy to enforce it ) did leave their Dwellings , and Habitations , their Corn on the Ground , and their Cattle , and fled away ; but , whether into Scotland , or no , he could not precisely say ; but so it was reported : but , that Multitudes went away , he knew to be certainly true . Being Interrogated , Whether my Lord of Strafford did , by his Instructions , deny liberty to the parties to whom it was tendered , to peruse the Oath ? He Answered , That he cannot precisely charge himself with it , for the Instructions are out of the way ; but that was ( as he verily remembers ) part of the Instructions , That they should have the Oath Read over to them , but no Copies delivered to them at all . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Whether the Commission and Instructions were not under the hand of the Council , as well as himself ? He Answered , That he never saw a Commission under the hand of the Deputy or Council , but under the Seal ; but the Instructions were under the hand of Deputy and Council . And Mr. Whitlock observed , That my Lord of Strafford drew in the rest to himself . Mr. Whitlock then proceeded to the matter of the Sentence , against Stuart and Gray , who were Imprisoned , Fined five times more than the value of their Estates ; deteined in Prison a very long time , very hardly and cruelly used ; and , on this Sentence , were the words spoken by my Lord of Strafford , which showes his Rancour to the Scotch Nation . Richard Salmon Sworn , and Interrogated , What he knew concerning the Sentencing of Stuart , his Wife and Daughters , and Gray in Ireland ? He Answered , That on the 10 th of October , 1639 , after the Kings Attorney , Sir George Ratcliffe , and many other Lords and Noblemen , had given their Sentence concerning this Oath , many of them pleading to make it High-Treason ; and , that it was a merciful proceeding against Mr. Stuart , his Wife , and two Daughters , and Gray , in that Court : My Lord Primate came to shew , that if it had been against the first part of the Oath ( to deny Allegiance and Supremacy to His Majesty ) it had been so : but being against the second part , they were to be Judged in that Court. My Lord of Strafford told my Lord Primate , he was mistaken , and that the Bishop of Derry had said well , in that they would not Abjure all other Oathes , Bonds , Covenants whatsoever , it was as palpable High-Treason , as if it were against the first part of the Oath . Thereupon my Lord said , These people are mad : and I know not how to express my self , without going beyond my self , they have almost made me lose my self . But , sayes he , Mr. S●t , now you have heard my Lord Primate thus much , What can you speak for your self ? Mr. Stuart Answered , He was willing to take the first part of the Oath ; but , in that the Oath seemed to bind them , not onely in point of Allegiance and Supremacy , but likewise in point of Ecclesiastical Duties , therefore he durst not take it : My Lord told him again , he ( the said Mr. Stuart ) was not mistaken , but had judged right ; the Oath was not only intended to bind them to Allegiance and Supremacy , for that they had other Oaths , but likewise to be obedient to the Ecclesiastical Ceremonies of the Church , either established , or that should be established by His Majesties Royal Command : and , that whosoever would be obedient to the Ecclesiastical Orders of the Church , he would lay his hand under their feet to do them good ; but , whosoever would resist , he would prosecute them to the Blood. Being Asked ( on the Earl of Clares motion ) Whether he be a Minister ? He Answered , That he had Taught School in Dublin , but hath not taken Orders . Being Asked , What other Orders my Lord of Strafford let fall , concerning the Scotish Nation being Rebels . He Answered , He remembers my Lord said , They had caused him to forget himself . He said also , That they were Traitors and Rebels : and that if His Majesty would honor him so much , as to send him back again , he would eradicate root and branch even all of that Nation out of the Kingdom of Ireland , saving such Lords and others that had taken the Oath . Being Asked , What Fines were Imposed on Stuart , and the rest ? He Answered , ( To the best of his Remembrance ) it was 5000 l. on him , 5000 l. on his Wife , 3000 l. a piece on his two Daughters , and 3000 l. on Iames Gray . Being Asked , Whether they were worth these Sums ? He Answered , That it is not known to him : but he conceives Gray was not worth a hundred pound ; for , he lived on the Maintenance of Mr , Stuart in the Prison ; And , he knows not whether they paid any thing of the Fine or no. But , Mr. Whitlock observed , That Stuart was fain to sell his Estate to pay his Fine . Iohn Loftus being Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether he was present at the Sentence against Mr. Stuart and the rest ? And what it was ? He Answered , He was in Dublin , when Mr. Stuart , his Wife , and two Daughters , and Iames Gray , were brought by the Sergeant at Armes from their House to Dublin , where they remained Prisoners in his Custody , and were thence carry'd one by one to Mr. Attorney , and Sworn by him ; and after their Examinations taken , were called to the Court of Star-Chamber , and proceeded against Ore tenus . At which hearing , he ( the Deponent ) was ; And , after the rest of the Lords had delivered their Opinions , he heard my Lord Deputy deliver his likewise ; and his in substance was ; He consented in fine , to that the Lords had laid before , viz. 5000 l. on Stuart , 5000 l. on his Wife , 2000 l. a piece on his Daughters , and 2000 l. on Gray : and my Lord exprest himself , That he wanted termes to set forth the heinousness of this Cause ; and , that he was to leave his Sword ; but , if it pleased His Majesty to return him thither again , he hoped to have such , as would not Conform themselves to the discipline of the Church , rooted up Stock and Branch . Being bid to repeat his Testimony , He said , He Declared he was then to leave his Sword , and if His Majesty would return him thither again , such as would not conform themselves to the Government of the Church , who were of the Scotish Nation , He hoped to root them up stock and branch , or words to that effect . Mr. Whitlock did then Sum up the Evidence ; That he conceives it proved , that my Lord of Strafford Contrived the Oath ; sent for them of the Scotch Nation by Letter , and then wrought with them to make it their own Work , and Suit ( though it was his Command ) and , by threats to some of them , that did but desire to consider of it : That diverse of the Scotch Nation being tender in their Consciences to take the Oath , it being a new Oath , and tendered without Authority of Parliament ; and so , rather than they would take it , were forced to leave their Habitations , their Corn standing , with all their Goods and Fortunes , and to flie out of the Kingdom : That Mr. Stuart , his Wife , and Daughters , and one Iames Gray , were Sentenced very deeply for refusing this Oath ; and , that my Lord of Strafford declared , That this Oath extended to the Ceremonies of the Church established , and to be established ; That the Scotch Nation were Rebels and Traytors ; not going to any particular Man , but the Nation in General . And , that if His Majesty would send him back again to that Government , he would root them out root and branch . This is to take a Power far above the Law ; this is to bind their Consciences by an Oath , and to force them to that which they are tender of ; the Execution of this with so much rigor and cruelty , showes the strength of my Lord of Straffords design to alter the Lawes , and to do it with a strong hand , with all his Force , and with all this Cruelty . And so my Lord of Straffords Answer was expected . And then my Lord of Strafford , after a little respit , began to make his Defence , in substance as followeth ; That almost every new Article sets forth a new Treason , that ( for his part ) he never heard of before : but , for this , that is now the Treason , and concerns the Administring of an Oath to such of the Scotch Nation as were in Ireland . He , the Defendant , besought their Lordships in the first place , to take into consideration , the time when this Oath was Administred because of something else , that in the Conclusion , for his further Justification , he shall be bold to offer to their Lordships ; but , he will begin with that which is matter in hand ; which , though he cannot say was the true Reason , that made him first think of it ; yet was a sufficient reason of it self , if there had been nothing else . The Proclamation for this matter he remembred was dated 20 th of May , 1639 , and , in what condition the Kings Affairs then stood , their Lordships , and my Lord Steward in particular , who was General , are very well able to call to mind , and what fears there were of the ill events of the things then in hand . The apprehensions were , That the Scots being a great Body in Ireland ( and not so few , he is perswaded , as 100000 , by reason of their nearness to their own Countreys confining upon it ) might , perhaps , have Intelligence and Occurrence with their Countrymen , called , Those of the Covenant . And , this was the sence of all that were Ministers of that State under the King , as well English as Irish , and even those of their own Nation . Thereupon they entred into Consideration , how to secure that Kingdom , and settle things in quiet . Besides , there was a Man afterwards Condemned of Treason , for having a Plot and Design to have seized on Knock-fergus Castle , and delivered it to a great Man in Scotland ( whom my Lord said he would not name ) for which he lost his life afterwards . These particulars were confirmed by several Witnesses . And , to prove that there was a Debate at Council-Board , for preventing of these Inconveniences , my Lord of Strafford desired some Privy-Counsellors of Ireland might be examined . Robert Lord Dillon being Asked , Whether he and the State of Ireland were not very apprehensive of the danger , that might happen to the Kingdom of Ireland , If the Scots should declare themselves any way to the disquieting of that Kingdom ? He Answered , That about that time there were some Advertisements out of the North , of particular Meetings , and Contrivances of some Plot or other by the Scots , which made the State very apprehensive , that there might be danger ensuing , and that the consequence would be ill . Being Asked , Whether there was not a course taken upon that for an Oath , to secure the quiet of the Kingdom ? He Answered , It was debated at the Board , and concluded , That it would be a great Security and Obligation on those of the Scotch Nation in Ireland , to keep them from Treating , or Concluding any thing together , if there should be any Invasion . Being Asked , Whether it was not thereupon resolved , To Consult the Principal Gentry of that Nation , and to speak with them ? and , Whether my Lord of Straffords Letters were sent in persuance thereof ? He Answered , That he thought the Letters were singly subscribed by the Lord Deputy himself , but it was also with the privity of the Council . Sir Philip Manwaring being Asked to the same Point , Answered , That at the time the Proclamation Issued , he was in England , which was the 16 th or 20 th of May ; But , before he came from Ireland , there were very many Apprehensions , that Inconveniences might arise , and many Considerations in Council , which way to prepare and prevent them . Sir Adam Loftus being Interrogated to the same Point ? Answered , That there were at that time some Apprehensions and Fears of Danger , that might arise from the People of the Scotch Nation , in respect of their numbers there , lest they should adhere to them of the Covenant in Scotland , and thereby endanger the Kingdom of Ireland at that time : And therefore it was debated at the Council-Table , that some Oath or Bond might be made , that might divert them from joyning in the Scotch Covenant ; and thereupon it was resolved , That the Principal Noblemen , and Gentlemen of Scotland , that were then in Ireland , should be sent for , and there dealt withal , both to express their Loyalty and Service to the Nation of Ireland , by their due obedience , and also to offer some Means that might be Security to the King and themselves . And being further Interrogated , Whether my Lord of Strafford's , sending for these Principal Gentry of the Scotch Nation , Was not with the Privity of the Council ? He Answered , That he thought it was : and Added , He was very Confident it was , though the reason was not exprest in those Letters . Being Asked ( on M r Maynards Motion ) Whether he was there , when my Lord Mountgomery , and Sir Iames Mountgomery made Exception to the Form of the Oath contrived ? He Answered , He was not present at any Exceptions taken at it . Being Asked ( on M r Whitlocks Motion ) who were those that took it so chearfully ? And whether the Bishops were not more chearful then others ? He Answered , That indeed he observed no Reluctancy . My Lord of Strafford here added , That he speaks it truly ( to the honor of that Nation be it spoken ) the Oath was taken with much chearfulness , and not any man made scruple in the whole business , to his understanding , save only Sir Iames Mountgomery , but took it with all the readiness in the World. This is as true as he lives , and he thinks he speaks it for their honor ; and , were he one of the Temporal men in that kind , he should be very unwilling to be asked , whether the Bishops had been more ready to give Allegiance to His Majesty , than himself ? and he thinks , he that asked the question , doth them a great deal of prejudice in it . Finding them thus prepared , he was glad of it ; and they being willing to prefer such a Petition , he went to them , and served them with all willingness , as he had reason . The Petition was cheerfully brought to him to be looked over , and to have his opinion how he liked it . It was brought him by my Lord Mountgomery Sir Iames Mountgomery's Brother , and some others , whom he remembers not . But these words he remembers particularly in it . An offering of their Lives and Fortunes , for vindicating the Authority of Regal Power , which he said was too general ; and though they intended it well , might be turned too strictly on them , and therefore he desired , it might be qualified with these words , In equal manner and measure with other His Majesties Subjects ; and the words were put in by him , as he is sure , my Lord Mountgomery would justifie . The Petition was read , and the Act of State , wherein it is recited , being in substance as followeth . By the Lord-Deputy and Council , WENTWORTH . Where we have lately made an Act of Council in these words . WHereas divers Lords Spiritual and Temporal , Knights , and others inhabiting in this Kingdom , have lately exhibited a Petition to us , in these words following . To the Right Honourable , the Lord Deputy and Council , &c. The Humble Petition of , &c. The Petition recites , The horror apprehended by the Petitioners , His Majesties Subjects of the Scotish Nation inhabiting in Ireland , for the Covenant sworn by some of their Countreymen in Scotland , without His Majesties Authority and Consent ; Their dislike therof , and their consideration , that the causes of that action may be understood , to reflect on the Petitioners , though innocent . They crave leave to vindicate themselves from so great a Contagion , and desire his Lordship to prescribe a way by Oath or otherwise , to free themselves from these proceedings , to declare their acknowledgement of the Kings Regal Power , and their dislike of that Covenant , and of all other Covenants entred into , &c. without His Majesties Regal Authority , which they are desirous to manifest by offering their lives and fortunes , to vindicate the honor , &c. of their Sovereign , which they are ready to do in equal manner and measure , with other His Majesties Subjects , &c. and divers names were to the said Petition subscribed . In consideration of which Petition , we cannot but commend the wisdom of the Petitioners , which we will not fail humbly to represent to His Majesty ; and for that we know many of this Kingdom , have expressed good affection to His Majesty and His Service , and dislike those disorders : We hold it fit , &c. to free them the better from the Crimes and Scandals which their Countrey-men have gone into , as also to free them from all prejudice , and to approve to the King , and to the whole world , their Allegiance to him and his Regal Power , and the dislike of that unlawful Oath and Covenant : We do therefore ordain , That all and every person of the Scotch Nation , that inhabit , or have Estates , or any Houses , Lands , Tenements , or Hereditaments within Ireland , shall take the Oath herein expressed on the Holy Evangelists , on pain of His Majesties High-displeasure . The tenor of which Oath follows . &c. To several seect persons , &c. Authorizing them to call before them , and administer the Oath to every person of the Scotch Nation , &c. At such time and place &c. And such Instructions as shall be in that behalf given by the Deputy and Council , &c. And to certifie the names of all that take the Oath , and if any refuse to certifie their Names , Quality , and Residences to the Lord Deputy , &c. And there is a Command , that all of the Scotch Nation do appear before the said Commissioners , at times by them to be appointed , and to take the said Oath before them ; and that all persons may have due notice , we think fit this be published , Dated May 1639. To prove a design of seizing the Castle of Knock-Fergus , my Lord of Strafford desired Mr. Slingsby might be examined , and being Interrogated ? He Answered , That about the time , when it was supposed the King was in the Field of Berwick , there was an Advertisement from Knock-Fergus , that one Trueman had writ a Letter , for betraying of the Castle there ; the party that sent the discovery was to be employed in the Letter , and he enformed , there were the hands of Twenty that should have subscribed it , the Letter was conceived to be voluntarily from Trueman , and not sollicited out of Scotland . Trueman was sent to Dublin and examined , and sent back to be tryed in the Countrey , and there he received his Tryal , and was Hanged , Drawn , and Quartered . Being asked of what Nation he was ? He says he doth not know of what Nation , but he supposes he was an Englishman . For his further justification , he saith , at the same time there was the like Oath , and Proceeding here in England . The Copy of which Oath now read , being affirmed by Mr. Ralton to be a true Copy . 5 Iune 1639. A Copy of an Oath tendered to some of the Scotish Nation , resident here in England , as it is entred in the Scotish Book , being in substance IN Doe faithfully swear , profess , and promise , that I will faithfully obey my Sovereign Lord King CHARLES , &c. and defend and maintain His Royal Authority ; and that I will not bear Arms , nor do any rebellious Act against him , nor profess against any His Royal Commands , &c. And that I will not enter into any Covenant or Bond , &c. Of mutual Defence or Assistance against any person , &c. or into any Covenant , Bond of mutual defence or assistance whatsoever , without His Majesties Sovereign and Regal Authority . And I do renounce and abjure all Covenants , contrary to what is here sworn , professed and promised , And he submits it to their Lordships Wisdom and Justice , what offence this had been for a Deputy of Ireland in a time thus conditioned for securing the publique peace of that Kingdom , where he serves the Crown upon such apprehensions as these , fairly without any constraint or violence offered , to endeavour by such a manner of means as this , to secure the King of the Royalty and Allegiance of His Subjects . To procure it to these ends , by these ways , at such a time , how this can be strained to be High Treason , he confesses he does not well understand ; especially , since he is confirmed in that opinion , by the allowance given of it here in England , as , by the Oath read appears ; And if all this had been done by him solely as Deputy , by the power of that Commission he had from His Majesty , where should be the crime that should rise so high , as to convince him of Treason ? But that is not all , he hath something else to say for himself , and that is , the Kings Letter of His Majesties own Hand-writing , as followeth . WENTWORTH , COnsidering the great number of Scots that are in Ireland , and the dangerous consequences may follow , if they should joyn with the Covenanters in Scotland ; I hold it necessary you should use your best endeavour , to try them by an Oath , not only to disclaim their Countreymens proceedings , but likewise , never to joyn with any in Covenant , or otherwise against Me , To which purpose I Command you , to frame and administer such an Oath , to the abovesaid intent , to my Scotish Subjects of that Kingdom , that I may know the well from the ill-affected of that Nation , of which fail not , as you love my Service . And so I rest , Your assured friend Ch. R. Dated 16 Jan. 1638. Whitehall . So he had His Majesties Warrant , but handled the matter so , that he never discovered it . And this he conceives doth clearly justifie him in all his proceedings . That none can administer an Oath , but by Authority of an Act of Parliament , is , as he conceived , an ignorance ; And that upon a Command , and being not against Law , but intended for the better preservation of the peace of the Kingdom ; a Deputy of Ireland might do it : and if he hath failed , he shall not willingly undergo any punishment , since it was an act of Obedience , and if it were to do again ( being informed as he then was ) he must obey , and he had rather suffer in obeying His Majesty , than dispute with His Commands in that kind , And so he hoped , that for the Oath and Proclamation , he had said that which might acquit him before their Lordships . Then his Lordship applyed himself to give an Answer to the other matters , brought in his Charge , and the next thing urged against him is , the Cenfure of Mr. Stuart , his Wife and Daughters , and Gray . That Sentence was the very day before he came from Ireland , Michalmas was Twelve months . To that he can say no more , but that he delivered his opinion concerning them , as the rest , in the Castle-Chamber , where the Deputy hath no more voices , than such as my Lord Keeper hath in the Star-Chamber , a Casting voice , if the voices be equal , and otherwise but a single voice ; and the truth is , that the whole Court did agree in it . And for their Fine , one of their own Witnesses sayes , That he delivered his opinion , as concurring with the rest of the Court ; so that the Fines were set before it came to him to vote . And the greatness of the Fine , was only to shew the greatness of the offence , and not with respect to the persons , or with any purpose to take the Fines of the parties ; for when it shall be examined , it will appear , that little of that hath been paid or looked after , for they might have had their pardon the next day , if they would have taken the Oath ; And if he that shall refuse the Oath of Allegiance , shall instantly incurr the penalty of a Praemunire , the Fine was very moderate in this case . In the Oath there is nothing of Ecclesiastical businesses , but only a Temporal Allegiance , though some of the Witnesses speak of the extending it to the Ecclesiastical affairs . My Lord Primate should have been a Witness in the Cause , but he is sick , and therefore if it may well stand with their Lordships Favour and Justice to deferr this point , till he may be examined , and heard about it . The next thing was the words charged upon him , spoken at the same Sentence , That the Scotish Nation were Rebels and Traitors , and that he would root them out of the Kingdom , root and branch . These words he absolutely denyed , and so under favour , he said , he must doe still , being well assured , he never spake them ; and he is privy to his own heart so far , that he can as truly say , he never thought them . He knows very well what he owes to that Nation , as being the Native Countrey of His Majesty ; and that respect , if there were nothing else , is sufficient for him to wish to it all Happiness and Prosperity , which he doth from his heart . Besides , he knows there be many of that Nation , most Faithful and Loyal Subjects , he trusts there are few amongst them otherwise ; and therefore for him to say , the whole Nation are Rebels and Traitors ; certainly were a Speech of a man frantique , and out of his wits , rather than of a man in his Senses : For though he hath some infirmities , of hastiness in him , yet he is not so divested of Reason and Understanding , as to speak like a mad man , especially in things of this nature . His Lordship repeated it , that he never spake them , never thought them , nor ever wished any thing to that Nation , but Honor and Happiness in all his life ; nor hath he any manner of particular exception against them , either in general or particular . Besides , he never received personal wrong from any of that Nation ; he hath received many courtesies from some of them , and therefore owes them no Animosity , but all the respects in the world . But when it comes to the proof , that is sufficiently justified , for nothing is proved of that they charge him with , and when he hath shown the weakness of the proof offered to convince him of them , he shall offer a Witness or two , that will absolutely clear him . Nor did he speak any thing whilst he was in Ireland , concerning the Nation in general , but whatsoever he spake , was concerning the Faction in it ; and it is an easie matter for a man at a distance , to mistake one word for another ; and when he spoke of the Faction there , it was with a great deal of more moderation , and better phrase than the words charged . For Sir Iames Mountgomery , he hath said little as to this matter , for he was not there , nor speaks at all , as if He ( the Lord of Strafford ) should have carried himself in that business , otherwise than became him ; only himself confesses when Sir Iames would have some words put into the Oath ( Of lawful and just Commands ) He ( the Earl of Strafford ) said That that was needless , for they could expect no Commands from His Majesty , but what were lawful and just , and such is the Wisdom and Justice of the King as he dares say they will always be so ; and the words of the Oath are , They shall be so far complying with these Commands , as in due obedience they are bound and obliged to be . So it was not Caeca obedientia . Sir Iames sayes , That he ( the Earl of Strafford ) did administer the Oath . This one single Testimony ; but to tell their Lordships plainly the truth , he confesses he did give that Oath , being not only obliged by the Council , but they directing him , and that the Petition was not got forcibly from them , it appears evidently , for there is nothing against it . Sir Iohn Clotworthy sayes , That on this Oath administred , great multitudes went away , but he names not one of that multitude , and if they did go , who could help it ? If they would go away , rather than give such a pledge of their Allegiance , he should have been loth to have restrained them , to make them stay against their Wills. For the Instructions that went with the Commissions , Sir Iohn Clotworthy very truly says , they were under the hands of himself and all the Council , but what these Instructions were , he cannot expresly say ; and that , under favour , he conceives is no witness , and so is no Charge on him . But to express his rancor against the Scotish Nation , next come the words proved by Richard Salmon the Schoolmaster , and he swears positively and directly , that he ( my Lord of Strafford ) spake these words the 10 th of October 1639. The plain truth is , that he ( the Earl of Strafford ) was come into England in September before ; and if that man shall notwithstanding , undertake positively to swear that individual day , he is less to be credited . The said time of his coming into England was confirmed by two Witnesses . Mr. Thomas Little being ( upon my Lord of Straffords motion ) asked , about the time of my Lord of Straffords coming from Ireland . He Answered , That my Lord Lieutenant came from Ireland , Thursday 12 Sept. 1639. and landed the next day , and came to London 21 Sept , 1639. Mr. Ralton being examined to the same point . Answered , He very well remembred my Lord came to London 21 Sept. 1639. For the words themselves , That the Scotch Nation are Rebels and Traitors , and that he will root them out Root and Branch , the Witness is a single Testimony ; their Lordships see how true he is in the first part of it , and he is equally true in the second . The other Testimony is one Iohn Loftus , and he sayes my Lord of Strafford wanted terms to express the heinousness of that offence , and he hoped to have such of the Scotch Nation , as would not submit to the Ecclesiastical Government , rooted out Stock and Branch from that Kingdom And this ( said my Lord ) is quite another thing , and no way agreeing ; with the former , but nearer the truth , and far from rooting out the Scotch Nation ; for there are but few that submit not to the English Church-Government . So there is left only one single Testimony of the Schoolmaster , that hath not learned his Lesson perfectly , but is taken tardy , as if he were a Scholar ; and the other makes it quite another business : And as they have offered these things , and have not proved them , by more than one single testimony , and he a very infirm one ▪ He , my Lord of Strafford , besought their Lordships that he might call for a Witness or two , that were there , and heard all that passed , Sir Philip Manwaring ( my Lord said ) was a Judge of the Court , and nearer him than the Witness , and likely to hear more distinctly : Sir Philip being asked what the words were , and of what nature they were , whether they were not restrained to the Faction of the Covenanters , and them that would not take the Oath in Ireland , and not the Nation it self ? He Answered , That he was present that day , and sate within the Court and within hearing , so that he heard every word that fell from my Lord Deputy : it is true , his Speech there was very long , but he shall repeat no more of it , than that he conceives pertinent to the present occasion , that is , Whether he should say these words , Against the whole Nation , or speak only to the Faction , and properly , and pertinently , shun the word Nation . It was on the occasion of Mr. Stuart , who stood at the Bar with his Wife and Daughters , and Gray ; My Lord telling him he was sorry , that bearing the name he did , he should be the only man that carried himself with that disobedience , and my Lord expatiated very much , and in conclusion said , That Scotish Nation ( with respect I speak of it ) for I know there be among them gallant and worthy persons , and I have great experience of them , and of the Loyalty and Faith they bear to their Sovereign ; but there is a Faction amongst them , which I shall endeavour , as near as I can , to bring to that obedience , at least , to keep them that are within this Kingdom , to that Obedience , Loyalty , and Duty , that Subjects ought to bear . Being asked , Whether my Lord did not express himself at that time , that he would not take on him to judge any thing of the Action in Scotland , not knowing the Law of that Kingdom ; but such of that Nation , as are here in Ireland ; if they will not submit to the Government of Ireland , he will do the best he can , they shall not stay here ? He Answered , That it is very true , my Lord Deputy did at that time speak to that purpose , as near as he can remember in truth ( viz. ) That he did not know the Laws nor Customs of that Kingdom ; therefore would say nothing to them ; but for so much as concern'd the Kingdom of Ireland , and the keeping of the King's Subjects in Loyalty and Obedience there , he would do his best to preserve that . Being asked ( on Mr. Glyn's motion ) whether he heard these words Root and Branch , or Stock and Branch ? He Answered , In truth he did not . Robert Lord Dillon being asked to the words spoken by my Lord of Strafford in the Castle-Chamber at the Sentence , and how he expressed him-himself concerning the Nation of Scotland ? He Answered , That he confesses , it hath been his custom ( and it may be it is an ill one ) never to mind words spoken in the place , unless he supposes he shall be called to account for them : he remembers my Lord spake of the refusing of the Oath , and of some rigor to them that should refuse it , but for particular words , he members not . Sir Adam Loftus being asked what he heard of these words ? He Answered , That he was at the Censure , but truly he cannot burden his memory with any the words that tend to this question ; It was a great while agoe , and he little thought they should come to any recapitulation of them , and in truth he doth not remember them . Being asked whether Stuarts Sentence was not given by the unanimous Vote of the whole Council ? He Answered , Indeed he believes it was . Sir Philip Manwaring being asked , what he heard the Master of the Rolls say that day ? He Answered , That coming from the Castle-Chamber , waiting on my Lord Deputy to the Castle , where many Dined , and all that had been Judges ; and Mr. Wainsford , the Master of the Rolls , took occasion to speak to my Lord Deputy , in his ( the said Sir Philips ) hearing , and commended him for carrying himself with that caution , that he had no way reflected on the Nation , but the Faction in that Kingdom , and had shunned the words , which might reflect on the Nation . And so his Lordship concluded his Defence , and said , he hoped that there was nothing proved that should touch him so deeply as Treason ; for if the obeying of the Commands of this Case be so great a crime , he must confess , if it were to do again ( being not better informed by wiser men , tho hereafter he may be better informed , and prevent it ) he should be that Trairor over again , and do the self-same thing again : and therefore if he had done it out of ignorance , he hopes their Lordships will not look on him as having any evil intention or wicked purpose , but to serve His Majesty with faithfulness , which he hopes will procure an easier judgement from their Lordships , than to think of a High Treason in this Article . And then Mr. Whitlock made Reply thereunto , in substance as followeth . That in his Answer to my Lord of Strafford's Defence , he shall begin with that , which his Lordship was pleased to mention last , and also at the beginning , That this should not be accounted Treason , he knows not the Illegality of it , and if it were to be done again , he would do it on that Command . Whence Mr. Whitlock observed , that his slighting , or rather justifying of this offence , when he is told in this great Presence , that it is against Law , and will be made good , and appear to be against Law , is a great aggravation of the offence . It is well known , that a new Oath cannot be Imposed without Assent in Parliament . It is legistativa potestas ; The Oath of Allegiance is as antient as our allegiance , and nothing needed to have been added to that : and , had it been tendered to them , as it might have been by Law , this would have performed the Kings Command , which , under favour , went no farther , and would have been sufficient security of what was doubted and feared : But , my Lord of Strafford will go farther ; the Oath that the Law enjoyns doth not please him , he must have a new one framed by himself , and published by his Authority , thereby to make his Authority equal to an Act of Parliament . 'T is indeed believed , there were some apprehensions of dangers in Ireland , by the great number of the Scots there , and a Covenant in Scotland then Sworn , but that Covenant is not to be medled withal now . The Charge enforced against my Lord of Strafford , is not his Care of preventing danger to the Kingdom , but that he caused a new and unusual Oath to be Imposed ; and particularly , that they should submit to all the Kings Royal Commands . The Committee confess , and think , no man had ever yet a heart to doubt , That the King would command any thing that should be against Law : But , it hath been sufficiently proved , that my Lord of Strafford ( a Subordinate Minister under the King ) hath published his own Commands in the Kings Name , which are not Justificable , nor according to Law : And that , under favour , might be a good cause for the Scots , to be tender of taking his Oath ; knowing , that these Commands here , were not His Majesties Immediate Commands , but the Commands of my Lord of Strafford , which they saw many times so unlawful and exorbitant . My Lord of Strafford hath produced diverse Witnesses , to prove , It was Debated on at Council-Board ; And , that the Scots did chearfully take the Oath : but , in this , he hath laboured to disprove his own Answer , which is , That the Scots came up , and desired to have an Oath ; whereas it appears , the Council-Table thought fit to send for them by Letters , under his Lordships hand ; and it was propounded to them to take such an Oath . He sayes , himself put these words into the Petition ; In equal manner and measure with other His Majesties Subjects : Which showes , That my Lord of Strafford himself had the Perusal and Correction of this Petition , which is a good Proof , that he contrived the Oath . The Petition doth only beseech my Lord Deputy , That an Oath might be framed to vindicate themselves from the Faction of their Countrymen , and the Covenant , which they might have done by the Legal Oath , the Oath of Allegiance . But he put something in above what they desired , and that was , for submission to all the Kings Royal Commands : which may extend to Liberty , to Property of Goods , and so is a great deal further , than His Majesty was pleased to Command by His Letter , wherein there was nothing but what was very fit to be commanded by my Lord of Strafford , and very fit for him to obey . And , What if my Lord of Strafford should procure a Letter from His Majesty to do that , which is not warrantable by Law ? the Kings considerations are far above the particular Points of the Municipal Law of this Kingdom ; He cannot know them , but is to be enformed of them by His Ministers : Now , if my Lord of Strafford shall misinforme Him , and desire to have that by His Authority , which is not warrantable by Law , the fault is my Lord of Straffords ; and , it much aggravates the Crime ; but , the Kings Letter doth not warrant my Lord of Strafford , for he hath proceeded further . He sayes , concerning the Censure of Mr. Stuart , That he delivered his Opinion among the rest : but , their Lordships may remember , he went as high as to charge him with Treason . It is true , the Bishop of Derry conceived it might be Treason ; And , the Primate said , The Denial of the former part might be Treason , but not the latter : but , my Lord of Strafford conceived the latter part to be Treason too : And therefore , surely , his Opinion had more harshness and severity then the rest ; and , being his Opinion , it was of sufficient weight to carry along with him all the rest : and , that which was his own Act at the beginning , which he Contrived and Treated with the Scotch Lords and Gentlemen , That he persues in his Sentence ; and , if others joyn with him in a hard Sentence against Law , his fault is not the less , but rather the greater , to draw others into the same fault . His Lordship says little of the Fine that is paid . It is true , it cannot be proved how much was paid ; but , those that were Fined continued in Prison till very lately , for that Fine . And , whereas he sayes , Any , taking the Oath , might have been Released the next day . It is the more Cruelly done , to keep them in Prison till they take an Oath , who cannot satisfie their Consciences , that they may take it . My Lord sayes , If one refuse the Oath of Allegiance in this Kingdom , he shall incur a Premunire , and this Sentence was more moderate , Indeed , if that had been tendered , they had incurred the like sentence , and that might serve the turn ; but , my Lord must stretch his power higher , and above the Law ; He would frame a new Law ; and , for not observing that , a new Punishment too . He sayes , There is nothing of the Ecclesiastical Discipline in the Oath : but , the Witnesses expresse it , that my Lord interpreted it , to extend to the observation of the Ceremonies , and Government of the Church established , and to be established . His denial to speak the words , That he would root out the Scotch Nation , doth not disprove that , which is so clearly and strongly proved by two Witnesses . He sayes , He should be Frantick , if he should speak such words : but one of the Witnesses said , He exprest himself to be transported , and that he knew not what he said in that Sentence . He sayes , He never received wrong from that Nation , but Curtesies , then those words show the more Ingratitude . He says , Sir Iames Mountgomery speaks nothing that sticks on him : It is true , he speaks only to the Contravening of the Oath ; but , he shows that to be expresly otherwise , then in my Lords Answer . He confesses he gave the Oath : but , whether he did or no , his Authority Injoyning of it , would have been all one . He says , Sir Iames Mountgomery desired the words , Iust and Lawful Commands , might be added : and , that my Lord expounded it , No other were intended . But then there was the less reason to deny the inserting some of them , for their sakes that were tender , and desired to have them put in , for their satisfaction . He sayes , That Sir Iohn Clotworthy deposes , That Multitudes of the Scotch Nation went away ; but , he names none : But , if Sir Iohn be Asked , he will give very good satisfaction . Sir Iohn Clotworthy being Asked to that Point ? He Answered , That he might easily , amongst so great a Multitude , Remember so few names ; and when he heard my Lord of Straffords Exception , Multitudes did throng in upon him , whereof he did now particularly name about six , and said , He could name a great many more . Being Asked , concerning the Execution of Trueman , as a Traytor , for the matter of Knockfergus ? He Answered , That he was at Knockfergus at the Assizes , when this Trial was concerning this Trueman ; and was then on the Bench , and heard all the passages of the business ; whereof he made this brief Relation as followeth . This Trueman was an Englishman , that dwelt not far from Knockfergus , and one that was sent about the Country ; but , by whom , Sir John could not tell : but , there were vehement Suspitions , that he was Imployed to find out those that would engage in Discourse concerning the Scotch business ; he spake with one Captain Giles , who feigned himself a great Friend of the Scotch Nation ; and said , That he conceived they were greatly distressed ; and wished , that he could use means whereby they might be eased . Hence he discoursed with True-man , who was but a silly Man , and got from him words , whereby he discovered a good will to the Scotch Nation ; and some discourse about the Castle of Knockfergus ; insomuch , that he got Truemans Letter to recommend him into Scotland , whether he pretended a desire to go , to serve under that Command : Upon this he produced the Letter , and that was given in Evidence against him , and so he was Condemned and Executed . Mr. Whitlock proceeded , and said ; My Lord alledgeth for his Justification , another Oath , enjoyned here to the Scots , by the Authority of the Council-Board ; but , this gives no Countenance to that in Ireland ; for the Oath enjoyn'd , there was another after that , enjoyned by my Lord of Strafford : therefore that which came first , can receive no colour from that which came last . And the Oath here being the same ( as near as we can remember ) with that in Ireland , was rather a Precedent for this . Howsoever , the Committee never heard that the Oath here , was executed , or enjoyned to any . Though Richard Salmon was mistaken , in point of time , of speaking those words of the Scotch Nation at the Sentence ; yet , he speaks to the substance and matter of the Sentence and Words , and it was when my Lord of Strafford was in Ireland : and though the name of the Month be mistaken , it cannot weaken his Testimony ; and my Lord of Strafford confesses he was at the Sentence , and the day before he came to England . And , with him , concurs Loftus , though not in Words , yet in Substance . My Lord produced Witnesses concerning these words . Sir Philip Manwaring affirms , my Lord said , He was very sorry Stuart should be the only Man : yet , it is proved , that diverse were brought to Dublin , and Imprisoned there ; and many hundreds forsook the Kingdom , and left their Estates ; therefore he could not be the onely man. But , though he and the rest remember not the words , yet if the Witnesses produced do precisely remember them , the forgetfulness of my Lord of Straffords Witness shall not at all Impeach the other . So the Committee concluded thus ; That it stands clear , that my Lord of Strafford hath assumed a power to himself above Law , to Administer an Oath contrary to Law ; a new Oath , to bind Mens Consciences with great severity . He said formerly , He would make an Act of State equal to an Act of Parliament , and nothing can make an Oath but an Act of Parliament ; in this therefore he is as good as his word . This is an assuming of a Power above Royal-Power ; for an Act of Parliament cannot be made , without the Three Estates , their Lordships and the Commons are Interested in it ; for , this is not — Penes Potestatem ministri . Mr. Maynard added , That some Exceptions had been taken against Sir Iames Mountgomery , viz. That he was scrupulous to the Petition , but not to the Oath . My Lord of Strafford takes a Power to Administer an Oath . It is hard to lay such Bonds on any ; but , to put it on general and ambiguous words , is much harder : And , how far that may intrench on any Man , if for refusing such an Oath he shall be Sentenced in the Star-Chamber , more then he is ever able to pay , and more than my Lord of Strafford confesses he would expect payment of ; this is so transcendent an Incroachment , that there cannot be a greater : for , it takes away Liberty of Conscience , and endangers the whole Estate . And , the Kings Letter doth not justifie the proceeding at all : for , had my Lord persued that , and gone no farther , there had been no Complaint ; for His Majesty enjoyned him to take an Oath , that might distinguish one from another ; but , doth not enjoyn to punish them that refused it : the Grievance is the Coertion of it ; and so , under favour , It is no Justification . Mr. Stroude added , That my Lord of Strafford , at the end of his Speech , said , If this were Treason , and the Occasion offered , he would be ready to do it again . And Mr. Stroude said , He must confess he doth believe him : and , this makes him consider a heavy thing that once befel this Kingdom ; When Gaveston came to over-act his bold offences , how heavy that befel the Kingdom , he leaves to their Lordships Consideration . My Lord of Strafford desired to clear this Point ; and said , The Gentlemen is a great way off him , and may easily mistake ; For he said , Were it again to do , being no better informed then he was at that time , he should do it : But now he understands more than he understood before . But , Mr. Stroud Answered , That under-favour he did not mistake my Lord ; for , he remembred , how fierce my Lord was upon an Oath in the Case of the Loane when he was a Commoner . My Lord of Strafford did here desire a Motion or two : The First Importing , That he should be very unwilling any thing should befall him , that might be a Prejudice to the Peerage of the Realm ; and , out of the duty he owes to that , he might crave leave humbly to enform their Lordships , That he hath a great Family in Ireland ; his Wife and Children are there ; that all he hath is seized on : So that he hath not , as he protested ( but as he borrowes it ) Money to buy Meat to feed himself here : And , how his Wife and Children , and Servants do in Ireland , he knows not ; but , that they are under the Providence of Almighty God. That it is a heavy Case , that being Impeached of Treason ( and Constructive Treason , he hopes , it will prove at the most ) that he should be thus used , being a Peer of the Realm , to have all he hath taken in this sort , and his Wife and Children , and Family thus unprovided for , and left without so much means as to feed themselves : he therefore besought their Lordships to take him into Consideration , that he may not be worse than the meanest sort of people , having the honor to be a Peer , under the pretence of Treason . The Second was , That , since my Lord-Keeper , and my Lord of Northumberland may be very good Witnesses for him in the subsequent Charge , that will next come before their Lordships : And , whether my Lord Cottington be in disposition to be here on Monday , He knows not ; that therefore some course might be afforded , that he might have the benefit of their Testimony , when he shall come to Answer the next Charges . Being demanded by the Lord Steward , By whom his Goods were seized ? and , Whether by the Orders of the House of Commons Read the other day , that their Lordships might clearly understand him ? His Lordship answered , Yes : From whence Sir Iohn Clotworthy observed , That , by these Orders , nothing could be Inferred , but a Sequestration of the advantage , that might possibly be had by the Tobacco ; And , that his Lordship had a fair Estate in Ireland of — per Annum acquired , since he came into Ireland , which is not at all touched . To which my Lord of Strafford replyed , That he had a Thousand a Year in Ireland , and that was all : And , he had Two hundred and sixty in Family ; and , how those can be maintained ( All the Customs being seized , and a little Money he had , having but narrowly escaped ) he desired their Lordships to take it into their Consideration . For these Particulars , his Lordship had direction to Petition to their Lordships ; And so the House was Adjourned , and Monday morning next appointed to proceed about the ARTICLES . The Council for the House of Commons having proceeded against the Earl of Strafford Article by Article , till they came to Article 20 , but then finding the following Articles so nearly related to one another , they would tye themselves no more to these Rules ; but , pleaded for Liberty , to handle them , not as they lay , but as they were Related to one another : And , after my Lord Strafford had long and vigorously opposed this , my Lord High Steward Determined the Case , and Ordered , They should be handled promiscuously , and in cumulo , as the Council for the Commons-House should think fit . Therefore I have set down these Articles that were thus Debated here . THE Twentieth Article . The Charge . 20. THat the said Earl hath , in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth years of His Majesties Reign , and divers years past , laboured and endeavoured to breed in His Majesty an ill Opinion of His Subjects ; namely of those of the Scotch Nation . And diverse and sundry times , and especially since the Pacification made by His Majesty with His said Subjects of Scotland in , Summer , in the Fifteenth year of His Majesties Reign ; he , the said Earl , did labour , and endeavour to perswade , incite , and provoke His Majesty to an Offensive War against His said Subjects of the Scotch Nation : And the said Earl , by his Counsels , Actions , and Endeavors , hath been , and is , a principal and chief Incendiary of the War and Discord between His Majesty and His Subjects of England , and the said Subjects of Scotland , and hath declared and advised His Majesty , that the Demands made by the Scots , in their Parliament , were a sufficient cause of Warr against them . The said Earl having formerly expressed the height and rancour of his Mind towards His Majesties Subjects of the Scotch Nation , viz. the Tenth day of October , in the Fifteenth year of His Majesties Reign , he said , That the Nation of the Scots were Rebels , and Traytors ; and he being then about to come to England , he then further said , That if it pleased his Master ( meaning His Majesty ) to send him back again , he would root out of the said Kingdom ( meaning the said Kingdom of Ireland ) the Scotch Nation , both root and branch . Some Lords and others , who had taken the said Oath in the precedent Article , onely excepted : and the said Earl hath caused diverse of the Ships and Goods of the Scots to be ●aped , seized , and molested , to the intent to set on the said War. THE One and Twentieth Article . The Charge . 21. THat the said Earl of Strafford , shortly after his Speeches , mentioned in the last Precedent Articles , to wit , in the Fifteenth year of His Majesties Reign , came into this Realm of England , and was made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , and conti●ed his Government of that Kingdom by a Deputy : at his arrival here , finding that His Majesty , with much wisdom and goodness , had composed the Troubles in the North , and had a Paci●ation with His Subjects of Scotland ; he laboured , by all means , to procure His Majesty to break that Pacification , Incensing His Majesty against His Subjects of that Kingdom , and the Proceeding of the Parliament there . And having Incited His Majesty to an Offensive War , against His Subjects of Scotland by Sea and Land , and by pretext thereof to raise Forces for the maintenance of that War , he compelled His Majesty to call a Parliament in England : yet the said Earl intended , that if the said Proceedings of that Parliament should not be ●ch ▪ as would stand with the said Earl of Straffords mischievous D● , he would then procure His Majesty to break the same , and , by ways of Force and Power , to raise Monies upon the Sub●cts of this Kingdom . And , for the encouragement of His Majesty to hearken to his Advice , he did , before His Majesty and Privy-Council , then sitting in Council , make a large Declaration , That he would serve His Majesty in any other way , in case the Parliament should not supply him . THE Two and Twentieth Article . The Charge . 22. THat in the month of March , before the beginning of the last Parliament , the said Earl of Strafford went into Ireland , and procured the Parliament of that Kingdom , to declare their assistance in a War against the Scots ; and gave ●ns for the raising of an Army there , consisting of 8000 Foot , and 1000 Horse , being for the most part Papists as aforesaid . And confederating with one Sir George Rateliffe , did together with him the said Sir George , traiterously conspire to employ the said Army , for the ruine and destruction of the Kingdom of England , and of His Majesties Subjects , and of altering and subverting of the fundamental Laws , and established Government , of this Kingdom . And shortly after , the said Earl of Strafford re●ited into England , and to sundry persons , declared his opinion to be . That His Majesty should first try the Parliament here , and if that did not supply him , according to his occasions , he might use then His Prerogative as he pleased , to levy what he needed ; and that he should be acquitted both of God and Man , if he took some other courses to supply himself , though it were against the Wills of His Subjects . THE Three and Twentieth Article . The Charge , 23. THat upon the Thirteenth day of April last , the Parliament of England , 〈◊〉 and the Commons House ( then being the representative Body of all the Commons in the Kingdom ) did according to the Trust reposed in them , enter into Debate and Consideration of the great grievances of this Kingdom , both in respect of Religion , and the publique Liberty of the Kingdom ; and His Majesty referring chiefly to the said Earl of Strafford , and the Archbishop of Canterbury , the ordering and disposing of all matters concerning the Parliament : He the said Earl of Strafford , with the assistance of the said Archbishop , did procure His Majesty by sundry Speeches and Messages , to urge the said Commons House , to enter into some resolution for His Majesties Supply , for maintainance of His War against his Subjects of Scotl before any course taken for the relief of the great and pressing Grievances , wherewith this Kingdom was then afflicted . Whereupon a demand was then made from His Majesty of 12 Subsidies , for the release of Ship money only ; and while the said Commons then Assembled ( with expression of great affection to His Majesty , and His Service ) were in Debate and Consideration concerning some Supply , before any resolution by them made , He the said Earl of Strafford , with the help and assistance of the said Archbishop , did procure His Majesty to Dissolve the said Parliament , upon the 5th day of May last ; and upon the same day , the said Earl of Strafford did treacherously , falsly and maliciously , endeavour to incense His Majesty against His loving and faithful Subjects , who had been Members of the said House of Commons , by telling His Majesty they had denyed to supply Him. And afterwards upon the same day , did traiterously and wickedly counsel and advise His Majesty to this effect , viz. That having tryed the affections of His People , He was loose and absolved from all rules of Government , and that he was to do every thing that Power would admit ; and that His Majesty had tryed all ways , and was refused , and should be acquitted towards God and Man ; and that He had an Army in Ireland ( meaning the Army above-mentioned , consisting of Papists , his Dependants , as is aforesaid ) which he might imploy to reduce this Kingdom . THE Four and Twentieth Article . The Charge , 24. THat in the same month of May , he the said Earl of Strafford , falsly , traiterously , and maliciously , published and deciared before others of His Majesties Privy Council , That the Parliament of England had forsaken the King , and that in denying to supply the King , they had given him advantage to supply himself by other wayes ; and several other times he did maliciously , wickedly , and falsly , publish , and declare , That seeing the Parliament had refused to supply His Majesty in the ordinary and usual way , the King might provide for the Kingdom in such wayes , as he should hold fit , and that he was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness and undutifulness of the people : And having so maliciously slandered the said late House of Commons , he did , with the help and advice of the said Archbishop of Canterbury , and the Lord Finch , late Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England , cause to be printed and published in His Majesties Name , a false and scandalous Book , Entituled , His Majesties Declaration of the Causes that moved him to Dissolve the last Parliament , Full of bitter and malicious Invectives , and false , and scandalous aspersions against the said House of Commons . Monday , April 5. 1641. THE Right Honourable the Lord Steward did this day in the first place , acquaint the Gentlemen that managed the Evidence at the Bar , That their Lordships had commanded him to let them know , that my Lord of Strafford on Saturday in the evening , gave in his Petition for the examination of my Lord of Northumberland ; and that he coming in so late , it happened so , that the Gentlemen of the House of Commons could not possibly have leave to cross examine , and so the examinations are come only on one side , sealed up ; wherefore his Lordship proposed , that things might for the present be so carried , as the proceedings of this day might not be hindred thereby . Mr. Whitlock Answered , That they shall go on according to their Lordships Order , but he desired the cross-examination of my Lord of Northumberland , and the Testimony of some other witnesses that are sent for , and not yet come ( whose names they shall give in ) may be reserved . To which my Lord of Strafford replyed , That the motion is very new to him , and in these things of form , he may be easily mistaken , and prejudiced before he is aware : That to their cross-examining of my Lord of Northumberland , he is very willing ; but for examining of Witnesses , whose Names are not yet known , and to have such a Latitude as to reserve supplemental proof , he conceives may be hard , and so appeals to their Lordships , whither their Lordships will not have them name their Witnesses , and assigne them a certain time , within which they shall examine them . And he desires likewise , the examination of my Lord Keeper , who is not yet examined , may be reserved for him . And likewise that my Lord of Canterbury may be examined , he having been examined , ( as he understood ) against him , which if he had not been , he should not have moved it : and that the advantage of their two Testimonies may be reserved to him . But Mr. Whitlock and Mr. Maynard thus explained it , that they intend not to examine those who are not yet named in writing , but to produce them viva voce ; and that they should take the boldness to name one of them to their Lordships , and that is Mr. Sergeant Glanvile , who was sent for eight days since , and will be in Town to night , And for my Lord of Canterbury , if they have examined him , it was before his Charge , and they shall make no use of his examination , neither is he a person capable of being a Witness , being now charged , and in some particulars , for conspiring with the Lords at the Bar , and therefore they submit it , whether it be convenient he should be examined , though if they shall urge his Testimony , it will be something ; and likewise their Lordships over-ruled it in Sir George Ratcliff's Case . But my Lord of Strafford submitting all to their ordships good pleasure , it being his part only to move ( as his Lordship said ) and do what their Lordships should in their wisdoms think fit . The Lord Steward declared their Lordships pleasure , that Sergeant Glanvill and the other Witnesses might be reserved to be heard to morrow viva voce ; and that the examinations of my Lord of Northumberland , and my Lord Keeper might be likewise reserved ; for my Lord of Canterbury it was observed , that he was examined before the Charge , and that the Gent. of the Commons-House intend not to make use of his Testimony . And so the Committee proceeded to the next Article . Mr. Whitlock proceeded , putting their Lordships in mind , that they had been pleased to take a view of my Lord of Strafford's Courses in Ireland , which have manifested his designe to subvert and change the Law and bring in an Arbitrary Government ; That his execution of that Arbitrary Power upon the persons , Estates and Lives of the Kings Subjects there , hath been a clear proof of this his designe . They shall now proceed to show their Lordships what his designe was in England and Scotland , as the same was set forth in the 20th21 , 22 , 23 , and 24th Articles , together with the matters contained in them , they being interwoven and depending one upon the other , and so are but one business . My Lord of Strafford did thereupon offer , that he conceived it was agreed , they shoul go Article by Article , that his Memory is short , and his Abilities weak ; and if three or four be brought together , his Memory will not serve him to give them that account , that otherwise he should be able to do ; And since the order of proceeding Article by Article was by consent , he besought that course might be persued , not giving consent to the alteration of it . But Mr. Maynard desired leave to remember their Lordships , that they offered to go Article by Article , till they came to some that were woven together , which might change the course . They find much time is lost between Article and Article , and there will need no great Consideration of of these , being only about words ; and when my Lord of Strafford stands by way of Defence , he may not inform them which way to proceed , and they will proceed no way differently from what was formerly proposed . My Lord of Strafford humbly appealed to their Lordships , Whether the Favour offered him for recollecting his Notes , had spent much time ; and added , perhaps if another man had been in his case , he would have thought as long a time as he had taken , necessary , tho a far abler man than himself ; but this inverts the whole Order agreed on , and brings him to a great inconvenience , and therefore he desired he might Answer them single , in the mannor as was agreed upon . To which Mr. Whitlock Answered , That if the Articles be not proceeded in together , and as having relation to one another , they will loose much of the Application , Evidence , and Proof ; and he conceives will be more easie to my Lord of Strafford : And for the Order mentioned , there was , under favour , no order in it ; but when my Lord of Strafford made the motion ( Mr. Whitlock said ) he took the boldness to inform their Lordships , that he should proceed on some of them altogether , which my Lord of Strafford did not deny , and their Lordships approved of , and according to that they desire to proceed . Mr. Glyn adding , That he never knew before this time , a Prisoner at the Barr prescribe a Method to the Evidence , especially if he be charged with High Treason ; and my Lord may afford them the same favour they do him , for if he will answer Article by Article , he may ; but as they leave him to his course , so they desire to take their course . But in that case my Lord of Strafford desired he might have time to Answer till to morrow morning , and professed that he should be extream unwilling to offer any thing that became him not in Humility and Modesty , or to prescribe a course to any , he being in his condition ; but he trusts he may with Humility and Duty , offer to their Lordships consideration , these things that may be for his Assistance and Defence , without offence to any . So the Committee that managed the Evidence for the Commons-House , had direction to proceed as they had propounded . Mr. Whitlock then proceeded to open the Charge of these Articles , which will refer , to prove a designe of my Lord of Strafford against Scotland , to subvert their Parliament , and our Government here , and to bring in an Army on us , to force us to submit to an Arbitrary Power . First , they shall apply themselves to prove his designe against Scotland , which lies first in the Charge ; That he advised the King two or three times , that the demands made by the Scots in their Parliament , were a sufficient ground for a Warr against them , notwithstanding that Parliament was indicted by the Kings Royal Authority , and they have their liberty to Propound and Treat . Your Lordships may remember what my Lord of Strafford said at the sentencing of Stewart in Ireland , whereby he expressed his hatred and rancor towards them , and his opinion of them at that time , being after the pacification made , and he continues in the same ill opinion of them , and to give the same ill Council . That at another time he told His Majesty , the demands of the Scots in their Parliament , were not matter of Religion ; but struck at the root of Government , and that it was fit to punish them by force . That he caused the Ships of the Scots in Ireland to be seized . That he procured the Parliament in Ireland to declare their assistance , and give supply for a Warr against Scotland , and that several times he endeavoured to perswade His Majesty to an offensive Warr against the Scots , under which particulars will fall in proof , his design against Scotland . His design against England was of the same nature , which will appear by his words and by his Councils , and by some Speeches given out by those that have very near Relation to him , and are his creatures , who agreed with his own words likewise . They shall prove to their Lordships , That on a discourse between Sir George Ratcliffe and Sir Robert King , concerning the War with the Scots , and my Lord of Straffords being engaged in it . Sir George Ratcliffe told him , We are ingaged in a War with the Scots , and we must go on with it ; and being demanded how the King would do , if he were not supplyed by Parliament ? He said the King hath 30000 men , and 400000 l. in his Purse , and his Sword by his side ; and if he wants Money , who could pity him ? That he said likewise he could make peace with the Scots when he list , but that was the worst of Evils . There were other words spoken by Sir George Wentworth , my Lord of Strafford's Brother , to a Gentleman , a Member of the House of Commons ; that England was sick of Peace , and it would never be well with it , till it were again conquered . These were the words of others his Creatures , They shall prove his Lordship's own words and Counsels . That he declared his opinion to my Lord Primate of Ireland , that in case of necessity , His Majesty might use his Prerogative , to levy what he needed , saving first to try the Parliament , and if that supply him not , then to use his Prerogative as he pleased . That at another time when my Lord Conway , a Nobleman of this House , was pleased to ask him , How the Forces raised , and to be raised , should be paid ? My Lord of Strafford said , he doubted not but twelve Subsidies would be given . My Lord Conway putting the doubt to him again , What if they should not be given ? My Lord of Strafford was pleased to reply , Then the King would be acquitted before God and Men , if he took some other course to supply himself , though it were against the Will of the Subject . At another time , when His Majesty had Graciously declared himself , that he would have a Parliament , he was pleased to say , That in case the Parliament should not supply him , he would be ready to serve him in any other way . These Words and Counsels were all before the calling of the last Parliament . In the time of the sitting of the Parliament , the House of Commons were frequently urged by Messages , procured by my Lord of Strafford from His Majesty , to take consideration of the Kings Supply for a War a-against Scotland ; and before consideration and relief of the grievances in Religion and Government of the Kingdom , 12 Subsidies were demanded , for release of the Ship-money only , and when the House of Commons were in debate concerning Supply , and before they came to resolution , by advise of my Lord of Strafford , that Parliament was dissolved . After the Parliament was dissolved they shall show , how , by divers Words and Counsels my Lord of Strafford endeavoured , to incense His Majesty against His loving Subjects , and so to slander them to His Majesty , as to make a division between them ; And also of His design , to bring in an Army upon us . That he declared to His Majesty , that the Parliament had denyed to supply him , and had quite forsaken him : and that he said to a Noble Earl of that House , That the Parliament in this great distress of the King and Kingdom , had refused to supply the King in the ordinary and usual way , and therefore the King might provide for the Kingdom , by such ways , as he thought fit ; and that the King was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness , and undutifulness of his people . That he said at another time to a Nobleman in this House , That the Parliament in denying to supply the King , had given him advantage to supply himself by other ways . And if worse words can be uttered or spoken than what have been mentioned , they shall conclude with such of his words , as none can be imagined to be of more fearful and dangerous consequence , viz. The same day that the Parliament was dissolved , my Lord of Strafford , by way of advice and Counsel , told His Majesty , That now he had tryed the affections of His People , and that he was loose , and absolved from all rules of Government : That he was to do all that Power would admit ; since he had tryed all ways , and was refused , and should , in so doing , be acquitted before God and men , and that he had an Army in Ireland , which he might employ to reduce his Kingdoms . They began with that which concerned Scotland ; The Earl of Traquair being sworn , was asked , What he remembred to be spoken by my Lord of Strafford , concerning the demands made by the Scots in their Parliament , when he ( my Lord Traquair ) made relation of those demands , with the time , and other circumstances . He Answered , That it would be hard for him to answer to so general a question , for their Lordships , and a great many know , that he made relation of the demands made by the Scotch Subjects in Parliament , at two several times , one by the King's Command here , before the Lords of the Council : Another by the like Command of His Majesty , before the Peers at York . But being directed to apply himself to the words spoken by my Lord of Strafford , when he made his relation before the Council here . His Lordship Answered , That he could hardly give an Answer to such a general Question ; but he believed my Lord of Strafford when he was at Council , gave his opinion in any thing brought in debate , as the Lords of the Council did : He knew what was brought in debate , but cannot condiscend to every thing that my Lord spake there . Mr. Whitlock here interposed , and said , That he mentioned not the particular words , that might come from my Lord Traquairs own expression ; but the question he desired , was , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not say , The demand of the Scotch Parliament was a sufficient ground for the War ? To which my Lord Traquair being Interrogated ? He Answered , That he should very clearly declare to the best of his memory , what he heard upon that occasion ; but for the present he could not remember particularly , of any such words expressed by my Lord of Strafford here at Whitehall ( for he believes it was there when the Council met , when he made the first relation ) But he remembred he was Deponed on these before , and if it might stand with their Lordships pleasure and form , he would willingly remit himself to his former Deposition . Mr. Whitlock offered to their Lordships , that ( for the recollecting of his memory ) my Lord Traquair might peruse the former Deposition . But my Lord of Strafford opposed it , because their Lordships having not yet made use of any thing taken on oath , he desired that Rule might be still kept . Mr. Palmer insisted on it , it being not offered as a proof to be heard , but because it was tender'd to him to vary ( being on his oath ) though but in a Syllable , from what he had spoken before ; And Mr. Glyn added , That this is very ordinary at Law. But my Lord of Portland moved that the House might be Adjourned , that the examinations should not be made use of . My Lord Traquair desired , that he might not be mistaken , for he would express his Reasons , and humbly submit it to their Lordships , that he was by order of their Lordships , examined on oath before , and examined on the same question , and he only submitted this to their Lordships , whether or not their Lordships would allow him , to remit himself to the Depositions in writing ? And if it was not fit , nor consisted with their Lordships pleasure , he should go on to the best of his memory , and if he keep not the very words , he should keep the sence . And this he said was , that he might not vary from any thing that was in his written Deposition . Mr. Maynard to induce their Lordships thereunto , instanced , That if a man writes a thing in a Book , and he after produced as a Witness , the Witness may have leave to look on his own Book , much more when he is examined , and there can be no suspition of fraud in this . Whence my Lord of Strafford inferred , That this Gentleman desired my Lord Traquair should desire that which my Lord himself did not desire . The Lord Traquair then proceeded and said ; All that he remembred in this particular , to the best of his memory , was upon occasion of a Debate at York , at the Kings Majesties last being there ; where it was required , That he should make that same relation before the Peers , who were to meet the next day after , that he had made at the Council-Board here : Some question having been made , what should be the ground or occasion of this relation again , since it was conceived , the business was not in the same condition it was , at the time of making his first relation : Because , as it was alledged at the time of making this relation , that it was only of Demands , and these Demands had been represented by the Commons of Parliament to His Majesty , with other Demands ; and likewise in Parliament they had made these Demands pass into an Act : It was therefore represented by some , that there was not a necessity of making the same relation he had before ; But of the Demands only , and not the Case of the business , as it stood before . And upon this , ( wherein he shall not be obliged to words ) but something to this sence ; my Lord of Strafford expressed , That he conceived , That the unreasonable Demands of Subjects in Parliament , was a ground for the King to put himself into a posture ; or to this sence : and his Lordship repeated , and explained it ; That the unreasonable Demands of Subjects , was a ground for the King , to put himself into a posture of War. Being asked , Whether it was spoken of Demands in Parliament ? His Lordship Answered , It was , that the unreasonable Demands of His Subjects in Parliament &c. for it was on the Scotch business they were speaking . Being asked , where this was spoken ? He Answered , It was spoken before the meeting of the Peers , at the Council , which was convened , and he believes his Majesty was present . Being directed to repeat the words again ? His Lordship said , the words were , That the unreasonable Demands of Subjects in Parliament ( for it was on the Scotch Demands ) my Lord conceived , might be a ground for the Kings Majesty , to put himself into a posture of War. Being asked , Whether these Demands of the Scots were not in Parliament ? He Answered , That all the Demands made to the Kings Commissioner , are in Parliament , or by the Parliament ; and here he said he was forced to make a little digression , if he Answered to this , for the Parliaments there , use not that way that the Parliament doth here : For he being the Kings Commissioner , Propositions , and Demands , and Articles were made for him which are the preparatory ways of Parliaments ; and some Commissioners from the Gentry and Nobility , made motions and demands to him in private , before they were voted in publique . And of them all , he was tyed to make an account . All were made in Parliament , or by Warrant of Parliament , or by some Body of the Parliament . Being asked , whether some of the Lords then present , did not declare and express themselves to be of a contrary opinion ? He Answered , That truly as he believed the occasion of this came upon this debate , and he believed there were some of the Lords of the Parliament , by way of debate , of another opinion , as he remembred it . And particularly my Lord Morton said , he was of another opinion , to the best of his memory . Being Interrogated , who first spake in Council after this relation ? He Answered , That he believed in this there might be a mistake , for at that time he had made no relation , but was to make a relation next morning before the Peers , and this was only the debate , whether he should make relation or not ? But at that time at York no relation was made before the Council , but before the Peers next morning . Being Asked , But after the Relation made to the Peers , Who then spake first ? He Answered , That truly he could not tell . Being Asked , Whether he could tell who spake first at Whitehal ? He Answered , That it is very well known to a great many Lords here , that he ( by His Majesties Command ) made a Narrative of the Demands made to him in Parliament by the Subjects of Scotland . In which Relation ( he hoped my Lords memory would serve ) he left the Commissioners , who were coming up , by Warrant from His Majesty , on Petition , to give a Reason of their Demands . This he did , and it was his greatest care to do it faithfully and ingenuously , without burdening of any whom it concerned : and , to burden his memory , who spake first , and who spake last , he could not tell ; but , on debate of the business , something was proposed to the Table , and every man declared his Opinion ; and , he thinks , they all agreed in one ; but , who spake first , and who last , he knows not . Being Asked , Whether he remembred the words my Lord of Strafford spake , at the making of that Relation to the Privy-Council ? He Answered , That he remembers that ( which he hopes all my Lords well remember ) on that Relation of his , the Kings Majesty being then present in Person , was gratiously pleased to take notice of that , he ( the Deponent ) had there affirmed , That some one ( he thinks his name was Cunningham ) was sent from the Parliament of Scotland , to supplicate His Majesty to allow some of their own members to come up to His Presence , and present their Demands . The King was pleased it should be so ; and when they were all of the same Opinion , the King condescended to it ; and , to the best of his remembrance , it was consented to by my Lord of Strafford and the whole Board ; That at their coming up , if they should not give good Reasons and satisfaction for their Demands , they would be assistant to His Majesty to put him in a posture , to reduce them to their due Obedience ; But he cannot tye himself to words . Being Asked , What was meant by a Posture ? He Answered , A posture of Warr he believed , must needs be a capacity and Power , to reduce them to Obedience . Being desired ( upon my Lord of Straffords motion ) to repeat the words again . He Answered , That he made a Narrative Relation , and a Narrative Relation only : and the Commissioners , whom His Majesty was pleased to condescend to their coming up , to give Reasons of their Demands , That the Scotch Subjects had made in Parliament : This being the State of the Question ; and the Kings Majesty gratiously condescending , that some of their own Members should come up , to represent their own Demands ; It was put to the Question , What should be done ? And this was the Conclusion ( to his Memory , there being no Clerk nor Register there , wherein my Lord of Strafford was no more involved then the rest ) that if these Commissioners should not , at their coming up , give good satisfaction touching their Demands , the Council would be assistant to His Majesty , to put Him into a Posture of Warr , to reduce them to their Obedience . He will not say , these very words were reported again to my Lords at York , but the Sence and way of them was . My Lord Digby did here desire leave of their Lordships , to represent something on Consideration of that , which was last in Question , touching the Witnesses helping themselves by their former Examinations . He did forbear it before , in regard he saw this Honorable Lord , for his own particular , did not insist on it ; But , for the future , he thought it very necessary to represent it to their Lordships , as a thing not only much concerning the validity of the Proofs , but likewise very much conducing to the honour of many of their Lordships here ; and , concerning the validity of their Proofs , he shall humbly offer this to their Lordships . That this noble Lord was often pleased to say , That he hoped he should not be tied to Words : Now , their Lordships may be pleased to consider the Charges of the present Articles are consisting principally of Words ; to say , he shall not be tied to Words , is as much as to say , he shall not be tied to the Question . And this he offered only concerning the validity of the Proofs ; But concerning the honor of some Noble Lords that sit here , he confesses he is very zealous in that when he thinks of it ; that diverse of them have been Examined formerly upon Oath , and upon Oath set down , without great Leasure , and Recollection of the truth of things : and now , whether ( so many Months after , being called again suddenly on Oath , to give account of these Words ) the best memory may not be subject to variance and discrepancie , and may not forget some prejudice and disadvantage to those noble Lords honor , he humbly submits to their Lordships . And Mr. Glyn added , That this Noble Lord hath prevented him ; My Lord of Traquair hath not vary'd from his Examinations in substance , but if he had , under favour , they must stand upon his Examinations ; and , it is Legal , and Just , and Ordinary ; and never a Judge in England will deny it ; that if a Witness be examined , and varies , his Examinations shall be read to his face , and it is no prejudice , for the party is ready to explain himself ; And , he said , he was about the offering it , and now must offer it , according to the trust reposed in him by the House of Commons ; that , if it stand with their Occasions , the Examinations may be read , and under favour they may . To this my Lord of Strafford Answered , That here is a Question now stirred , that hath been hitherto denied ; for , he could leave out any Examinations taken , and certainly , as he conceives , it was never intended , that these Examinations should be made use of . They were preparatory and no other : And ( by this learned Gentlemans leave ) whereas he speaks of the manner of proceedings on Tryals of ordinary Felonies , he ( the Defendant ) hath seen some of them ; and , in all particulars , where the Witness hath been viva voce , he never heard Examinations Read. But , Mr. Glyn averred what he said before ; That if there be Examinations taken of a Felon at Common Law , and the Witness comes viva voce ; and the Kings Council takes advantage , they do Read the Examinations taken . And here the Lord Steward declared , That it is not denyed to any to recollect himself . My Lord Traquair thereupon further alledged , That this was the first time he was ever Examined upon Oath ; and , if he hath been occasion of any Scruple , he desired Pardon : but , it was long since he was Examined , and he could not see his Depositions ; and , lest he should have erred in his Words , he desired this favour . Mr. Whitlock further added , That they must affirm this to be the ordinary and constant practice ; and , if their Lordships doubt it , it shall be made good : and , he hopes , the Commons of England shall not be in worse Case , then an ordinary Prosecutor . And then offered the Deposition of my Lord Morton ( he being taken ill at that time ) to this Point . By which means my Lord of Strafford observed himself to be debarred , of Cross-Examining him . And Mr. Whitlock Answered , And so is every Prisoner in the like Case . Yet my Lord of Strafford desired , He might reserve to himself the benefit of Cross-examining him , if he should see Cause . But Mr. Whitlock said , That , under favour , in this Case , no Prisoner hath benefit of Cross-Examination , where Examinations are read at Tryal . And Mr. Glyn added , That he perceived by my Lord of Strafford , that he expected notice , what Witnesses they were ready to produce , and his Lordship knew what Witnesses will be necessary for his Defence , and should be careful of them : But , Mr. Glyn said further , That he thought never any Prisoner expected to know from the Prosecutor , what Witnesses would be produced against him . My Lord of Strafford confest , he might easily mistake , for never did so ignorant a Man , in their Proceedings , stand at the Bar : But , he conceived , that if the other party do examine , it stands with Reason they should give him notice of it , else he cannot possibly Cross-Examine . Mr. Whitlock thereunto replyed , That their Examinations are taken preparatorily , and it is according to Course of Law ; That , if any Witnesses die , or be necessarily absent , their Examinations be used at the Tryal . Yet my Lord of Strafford said , He takes it , That if these be those they call preparatory Examinations , they ought not to be read but by an Order of the House . So my Lord Steward put an end to this matter , saying , That if it can be , the Witnesses , by the Order of the House , shall be Examined viva voce ; if not , upon Faith made , the Examinations are to be heard . And then they proceeded to Read the Examinations of the Earl of Morton , taken 23 Ianuary , 1640. by vertue of , and according to a Commission under the Great Seal of England , issued in Parliament , and dated 11 Ian. 1640. To the 103. Interrogatory , This Examinant saith , That he was present at York , the Night before the meeting of the Great Council of the Peers of England , then at a Debate before His Majesty , touching the ground of that War against the Scots . 104. He saith , That at , or in the said Debate , he heard the Earl of Strafford , in His Majesties presence , say , That the unreasonable and exorbitant Demands made by the Scots in their Parliament , were a sufficient ground to make a War against them ; and that the King needed not to seek for any other grounds for it , or words to that effect . 105. That towards the end of the said Debate , this Examinant told His Majesty , That His Majesty having given the Scots leave , in their Parliament , to Petition for Redress of such things , as they conceived to be Grievances , he said , His Majesty would not think it a sufficient ground , to make War against them for any Demands by them made in Parliament , without first hearing the Reasons thereof , which reasons were not before that time related at , or in any meeting of the Council , whereat this Examinant was present ; howbeit the said Earl of Strafford again said , That there was ground enough for that War. After which his Majesty was pleased to say , That this Examinant had reason , for what this Examinant did then say . Whence Mr. Whitlock observed , That my Lord Morton went further then was opened ; For though he told His Majesty , that that which was treated on in Parliament , especially by the Kings leave , and before the reason of these demands were declared , was not a sufficient ground of a War ; yet notwithstanding , my Lord of Strafford , though he heard not these Reasons , nor knew whether they were unlawful or no , ( he was not versed in Republica aliena ) yet he reiterates and declares his advice again to His Majesty , That these Demands were a sufficient ground of War. 106. He saith , That when my Lord Traquair made Relation at the Council-Table , of the Demands made by the Scots in their Parliament , without rendring any reason of the said Demands , as leaving this to the Scotch Commissioners , who were on their way , coming towards His Majesty , by His Majesties leave , and allowed to yield their Reasons in that behalf : which Course of the said Earl of Traquairs , in leaving the said reasons to the said Commissioners , His Majesty well approved of , and pleased himself to expect from him a Relation onely what the said demands were ; this Examinant , on the said occasion , heard the said E. of Strafford say to His Majesty , after the said Demands so related , That the said Demands were not matters of Religion , but such as did strike at the Root of Government , and such as he thought were fit for his Majesty to punish by force ; or words to such effect . Whence Mr. Whitlock observed , That the words last read , were spoken by my Lord of Strafford , at that time , when my Lord Traquair made a Relation before the Council here , which was a great while before the second Relation at York , before the Great Council of the Peers . And , though the King himself , in his Clemency and Goodness , thought that a sufficient Reason , to do no more upon it at that time , having not heard the Reasons ; yet my Lord of Strafford was pleased then to give Him this Counsel . My Lord Traquair being Interrogated , Whether the Reasons of the Demands were given before , or at the Meeting at Whitehall ? He Answered , That at his first Relation , their Lordships know very well , the Commissioners were not come up ; but , he cannot burthen his Memory , That he heard my Lord of Strafford say such words . Mr. Glyn observed , That they put it only to this , That the Reasons were not , nor could not be related , the Commissioners being not come up . And , from these Proofes , Mr. Whitlock conceived it to stand proved , That my Lord of Strafford laboured to perswade His Majesty to an Offensive War , to Imbroyle both Kingdoms in a National Quarrel , and the blood one of another , and this several times : and that at Whitehall being Three Quarters of a year before the other , which was at the Council at York . For Proof of the further Prosecution of his Design . Sir Henry Vane , Treasurer of His Majesties Houshold , and Principal Secretary of State , was Sworn and Interrogated , What Advice my Lord of Strafford gave to His Majesty , concerning making of a War with Scotland ; or seizing their Lordships ? He Answered , That he should be very glad to understand the Question cleerly , before he makes an Answer ; for , to part of it , he is able to say nothing : that is , concerning the Ships of Scotland , he not hearing of it till now . And , he will be sorry here , to say any thing , that is not true ; for , he conceives , the Witnesses were put upon a great strait . The Examinations were taken long since ; and , for his part , he hath seen none of them : And he besought their Lordships , to take so much care of them , that they may not be subject to cross what was said before ; and , peradventure , bespatter our selves , when we ought to have our Memories a little refresht in it . This he said he thought fit to speak before he Answers the Question ; and , if he be asked such a Question as he cannot clearly Answer to , he shall do it Candidly and Ingenuously ; but , to the Ships , he can say nothing . Being Asked , Whether about the 5th day of May , 1639 , he heard my Lord of Strafford perswade the King to an offensive War against the Scots ? He Answered , saying , That to that question he is able to speak ; and , he is the better able ( which he may declare to their Lordships here ) because His Majesty hath been pleased , out of the Justice and equality he owes to all his Servants , to give him leave to do it : To that point then , this he sayes , clearly and plainly , Whether it were upon the 5th day of May , or no , he is not able to say ; but either that day , or shortly after , where diverse of my Lords were present , being commanded , after the breach of the Parliament , to speak what was fit to be done , and every man to vote in his own turn , and he amongst the rest took his turn ; and he must say , that after Mr. Secretary Windebank had spoken first of it , it came to him : There were then diverse Reasons agitated , which do not occurr to his Memory ; but this he remembers well , a Defensive War was proposed , for it was proposed by himself : Thereupon that was not thought fit to be done ; and certainly my Lord of Strafford was of opinion for an Offensive War. This he can say , and this is all he can say to this point . Being Interrogated , What he could say against my Lord of Straffords procuring the Parliament of Ireland , to engage themselves in a Supply for a War against Scotland ? He Answered , That this was new to him ; and , he could say nothing to it in particular , but what in general came to his knowledge ; That so many Subsidies were given to the King : and that is all he can say , having not heard of the Question till now . Mr. Whitlock desired to read my Lord of Northumberland his Examination . But , my Lord of Strafford conceived that not so proper , his Examination being reserved . Which Objection Mr. Whitlock taking off , by offering to their Lordships that for which they desired to reserve him , was another Matter , they now desiring his Examinations only to the point , of my Lord of Straffords perswading the King , to an Offensive War against the Scots . The Examination of Algernon Earl of Northumberland , taken 5th December , 1640. Read. To the 16th Interrogatory , he saith ; That the said Lord Lieutenant did , after the breach of the last Parliament , advise His Majesty , To go vigorously on in an Offensive , and not Defensive War against the Scots . The Lord Bishop of London , Lord Treasurer of England , Sworn , and Interrogated , What he knew concerning the Earl of Straffords giving Advice to His Majesty , to go on in an Offensive War against the Scots , before , or after the breach of the last Parliament ? He Answered , That all he remembred of my Lord of Straffords Advice , touching a War , was , That which he gave publickly in Council at the Council-Board ; for , he remembred not any single Advice that he gave at all . The Advice given by his Lordship ( the Deponent ) at the Council-Board , after the Relation made by my Lord ( the Earl of Traquair ) to the best of his remembrance was this ; My Lord Traquair did make a Relation before His Majesty , and my Lords , of what had passed in the Parliament of Scotland , and of many Demands made there ; whereunto they did desire to have His Majesties consent and approbation : His Majesty was pleased to signifie to those Lords , That , among these Demands , there were some of them very prejudicial to that Crown ; insomuch , that He could by no means give way to and consent to them , with His Honor and safety , and thereupon the Advice , or Opinion , given , was ( and then was given by my Lord the Earl of Strafford , ( as well as others of my Lords ) and the Demands being of that nature , as they were then informed , and the Commissioners , as he remembers , being then come up , or at lest had a Licence to come up ; ) It was Resolved upon , That , in case they should insist upon those Demands , that had been so related , and would not recede nor alter , nor submit otherwise , then His Majesty should prepare Himself to reduce them by force ; this he takes to be my Lord of Straffords Expression , and the Substance of what was there delivered . Being Asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford advised then an Offensive War , or a Defensive War ? He Answered , That he did not well remember what kind of War , but he thinks it was an Offensive War. Being Asked , Whether at the Dissolving of the last Parliament , my Lord of Strafford did not advise to an Offensive War ? He Answered , That he remembers , upon a Meeting afterwards , of casting up the Charges , and other things , there was a discourse of it , Whether it was best to have a War , as only Defensive ( the War being then resolved upon ) or to make an Offensive War ? that is , to enter into Scotland with Force : And there were diverse Opinions in 't , and he believes my Lord did incline to the Opinion , for an Offensive War. Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Whether he ( my Lord of Strafford ) delivered any Opinion at that time , different from the rest of the Lords present ? He Answered , That every man there , exprest himself in such sort as he thought fit ; some in one kind , some in another ; but he did not observe any difference as to the main , in the Opinion of any man. Being Asked , About the time , When this was ? He Answered , It was at the Council-Board , at that time , when my Lord Traquair made his Relation , and , as he remembers , it was about December . Being Asked , Whether he delivered his Opinion once , or twice ? He Answered , The Opinion was delivered but once , as he Remembers . To the Seizing of the Scotch Ships in Ireland , after the Pacification , Mr. Nich. Barnewell Sworn , and Interrogated , What he knew of the stopping of the Scotch Ships in Ireland ? He Answered , That Sir Robert Loftus had a place under my Lord Admiral , and had seized on some Scotch Ships and Boates ; and , that others fled away : and , that Sir George Ratcliff was Angry that he spoke of it in so Publick a Place , as to give them occasion to run away ; but , the time he doth not remember : and , he thinks , Sir Robert Loftus was Vice-Admiral of Lemster ; but , he cannot take his Oath that the Warrant was from my Lord of Strafford ; but , Sir Robert told him , He had a Warrant . And so Mr. Whitlock said , They would leave it , as to the matter of Scotland , and observed the Proofes . That when a free Parliament was Convened there , by the Kings Authority , and had liberty to treat of their Grievances and Demands ; and , when these Demands , by way of Narration , were declared in my Lord of Straffords hearing , though the reasons of them were not then delivered : yet my Lord of Strafford gave his Advice to the King , That these Demands made in Parliament were a sufficient ground of a War against them , even after His Majesty had declared Himself satisfied , and would stay to hear the Reasons ; but that would not satisfie my Lord of Strafford , he himself declared it at several times , and before himself had heard the Reasons , that the Demands made by the Kings Free Parliament , were a sufficient ground of a War : And if it be so ( Mr. Whitlock , said he ) he is sure then , Parliament or no Parliament , no Liberty , nor Property can subsist with it . My Lord of Strafford hath declared his intention and designe , to subvert the Parliament , and to subvert the Government of Scotland . That he perswaded the King to an offensive War , and told the King , their Demands were not matter of Religion , but struck at the root of Government , and that it was fit to punish them by force , and on these proofs it is conceived his Designe was manifest . After this Mr. Whitlock proceeded to shew also his Design against England , and began with the Testimony of my Lord Primate of Ireland . The Examination of the Right Reverend Father in God , Iames , Lord Archbishop of Armagh , Primate of all Ireland , taken 11 Ian. 1640. To the 119 th Interrogatory he saith , That in or about April last past , in discourse betwixt the Earl of Strafford , Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , and this Examinant at Dublin in Ireland , touching the Levies of Money upon the Subjects by the King , he did hear the said Earl of Strafford declare , That he did agree with those in England , who thought , that ( in case of imminent necessity ) the King might make use of his Prerogative , to levy what he needed , save that , as his Lordship then further said , in his opinion ) His Majesty was first to try His Parliament , and if that supplyed him not , then he might make use of His Prerogative , as He pleased Himself ; or words to that effect . The Lord Conway being asked what words my Lord of Strafford used , when the said Lord Conway Demanded , How the Army should be paid , in case the Parliament gave not supply ? His Lordship Answered , That he had been formerly examined upon this thing , and then gave his Answer , and besought their Lordships to give him leave to look on what he said , that he might not vary . And after some Debate thereupon , having the Copy of his Examination shewed him . He Answered to the said Question , That it was only for one word , that he desired to look into the Paper , and it was , whether in the later end he did not say ( or words to that effect ) These words about which he is examined , did pass between my Lord of Strafford and him in private discourse , when ( he believes ) neither of them thought they should have been called to an account for them ; for they were then thinking of raising of Horse , and seeing but small sums of Money , He asked my Lord how these Forces should be paid ? His Lordship Answered , He made no doubt , but that the Parliament would give assistance to the King by 12 Subsidies ; and if they did that , it would sufficiently pay the Army , or some such words . But said he ( my Lord Conway ) What if the Parliament shall not supply the King , or not give these Subsidies ? Then my Lord of Strafford said , or words to that effect , That the King had need , and if the Parliment would not supply the King in those things that were just and lawful to be supplyed ; and if they would be so wilful , as not to supply him ; then the King was justified before God and Man , if he did help himself in the Goods of the Subjects ( or to this effect ) tho it were against their Wills. Being directed to repeat the words again ( on my Lord of Strafford's motion . ) His Lordship Answered , That in his examination he said words to this effect , and so he doth now , yet doth not depose absolutely , that these very words were spoken , but to his understanding , and as he then conceived them , they were to this purpose ; when he asked my Lord of Strafford , how these Troops then raised should be paid ? My Lord of Strafford said , He made no doubt but the Parliament would supply the King , and give him 12 Subsidies . And saying again . What if the Parliament would not give him that assistance ? My Lord of Strafford said , The cause was very just and lawful , and if the Parliament would not supply him , then he was justified before God and Man , if he sought means to help himself , though it were against their Wills. Sir Henry Vane being Interrogated , whether he did not hear my Lord of Strafford ( when consideration was had of a Parliament , before the last Parliament ) promise His Majesty , in case the Parliament did not succeed , he would be ready to serve him in any other way ? He Answered , That he must begin , as the Lord that spake last ( since they have no help of their Examinations ) which is , that the words were such , or to such an effect , for otherwise , they that be Witnesses have a very hard task to play , for they lye open to be excepted against , and peradventure when they speak truly , may be intangled , if their memory help them not out . But to the Question proposed , he says this , That upon the 5th of December , as he takes it , he did hear my Lord of Strafford speak words to that effect , as they are now asked , to his best remembrance : and truly ( he thinks ) really he did viz. That truly if the Parliament should not succeed , his Lordship would be rea dy to assist His Majesty any other way , or words to this effect . Mr. Whitlock summed up the Evidence , and said , There was an intent to call a Parliament , to try if they would give the King a Supply , and being engaged in a War against the Scots , my Lord of Strafford before the Parliament came , doubted not but 12 Subsidies would be given , and while the Parliament was sitting , that was the number demanded by a Message from the King. This designe did not take other effect than himself expected , and it seems desired ; for when the Parliament was set , and frequently urged by messages from His Majesty , to give that very number of 12 Subsidies , and that for release of Ship-money only , whereas by the old and right course of Parliaments , the grievances are in the first place to be considered of , and to be humbly presented to His Majesty ; and upon redress of those grievances , the people are to shew their thankfulness to His Majesty , for His Grace and Goodness , in redressing of them , by their free gift of Subsidies . My Lord of Strafford changes this course , and perswades His Majesty to put the Subsidies in the first place , and to fall at first on consideration of supply , and that so great a proportion , and while the Parliament was in debate of this , and before they had resolved whether they would give Supply or no , by my Lord of Strafford's advice , the Parliament was Dissolved ; His Lordship confesses in his Answer , he did give his Vote for dissolving of the Parliament , and they shall make it appear in time , that he did procure it . After the Parliament was Dissolved , my Lord of Strafford goes on , endeavouring all that lay in his power , to incense a Gracious Sovereign against His loving Subjects , to slander the people to the King , and for ever to break off all Parliaments , and take away the Liberty and Property of the Subject ; and by what course ? By Force , by bringing in an Army amongst us . That was his Advice , tho ( blessed be God ) His Majesty was pleased to reject it . 1. To prove what was said by the Creatures and Friends of my Lord of Strafford . Sir Ro. King being Interrogated , What words he heard from Sir George Ratcliffe to this purpose , That the King had an Army , and Money in his Purse , and if His Subjects in England should not supply him , what use he might make of His Army for supply , and the times ? He Answered , That he demanded of Sir George Ratcliffe , How the King would do for Money to maintain the Scotch War ? Sir George Ratcliffe said , The King could not want Money , His Majesty had an Army of 30000 Men , and he had 400000 l. in his Purse , and a Sword by his side , and if he would want Money , who could pity him ? or words to this purpose . To which he the Deponent objected , How can this course be taken , when the Scotch are on foot unpacified ? Sir George Answered , They can make peace with the Scotch when they please ; and being riding together to the — — he the Deponent said , That my Lord Lieutenant , and the said Sir George had least reason of all His Majesties Subjects to desire a War. Sir George Answered , It is true , For his part he would give 20000 l. to be quit of it , but we are now engaged , and we cannot but go on ; and then he ( the Deponent ) asking , What he would do for Money ? Sir George Answered , The King could not want Money , He had an Army , &c. as before is deposed . Being asked what was the reason of making this Demand , and whether he did conceive a forcible way was intended ? He Answered , He did understand that by the words , That if they would not supply him , the King was ready to supply himself . Lord Ranalaugh being Interrogated , What he heard Sir George Ratcliffe speak , concerning the Kings levying Money by force , or to that purpose ? He Answered , That the words he is to inform their Lordships of , and on which he was formerly examined , proceeded from Sir George Ratcliffe , not to him privately and only , but they were spoken in a Council of War , when they were assembled together upon that service . My Lord-Lieutenant arrived in Ireland in March was 12 Months , and after his Lordship had spent some days in Ireland , ( within which time he ( the Deponent ) with others , were commanded , to attend at a Council of War ) departed that Kingdom , leaving direction behind him , how this affair should be proceeded in , in his Lordships absence ; and as he takes it , in the beginning of April , my Lord departed out of Ireland ; and not long after , they being assembled in a Council of War , there was occasion to speak of all preparations that should be , for the raising of an Army of 8000 Foot , and Provision for transportation of 1000 Horse , which was the Army of Ireland at that time . In these discourses they found there was a great deal of Treasure to be consumed , and much Money required , to supply the occasion : It was computed ( and he thinks , Sir George Ratcliffe had a privy hand in the computing of it ) how much charge would maintain the Army for a year ? and to the best of his remembrance , it was computed at 270000 l. and odd , which gave them occasion ( considering the Army to be transported out of Ireland , was but in proportion ⅓ of what was prepared in England ) to speak of the Charge that must be raised in England , according to that proportion : And they finding it to amount to so great a sum , it fell into question , how the King should be supplyed with Money , for so great expence of Treasure , if he were not supplyed by Parliament ? Sir George Ratcliffe Answered , The King hath his Sword by his side , and 30000 men at command , and if he want money , let no man pity him . It was thereupon replyed , and as ( he the Deponent takes it , by himself ) how can Money be raised , when the Scotch Army is on foot , and so strong ? Sir George Answered , We can make peace with the Scots when we list , but that is the worst of evils ; and this is in substance as much as the Deponent can remember . Whence Mr. Whitlock observed , That their Lordships heard what passed from Sir George Ratcliffe in Words and Counsels , and that their Lordships knew the nearness and relation between Sir George Ratcliffe , and my Lord of Strafford , and this was after direction was left for raising the Army ; and when my Lord of Strafford was come away himself , it seems he had left his directions with Sir George Ratcliffe , as it will appear by my Lords own words concurring with these . And Mr. Maynard desired their Lordships to take notice of these words , ( We can make peace with the Scots when we will ) it was not Sir George Ratcliffe alone . Sir Tho. Barrington being Sworn and Interrogated , what words passed from Sir George Wentworth to him , About Englands being sick of peace , &c , at what time it was , and on what occasion ? He Answered , That immediately after the last Parliament , Sir George Wentworth had accidentally a discourse with him , being a Gentleman , with whom , he ( the Deponent ) never had intercourse or interlocution before that time . On some discourse betwixt them concerning the former Parliament , in the close of his discourse , he was pleased to express himself thus . This Commonwealth is sick of Peace , and will not be well till it be conquered again . The application of these words , he ( the Deponent ) said , he must leave to their Lordships better Judgements , he not being able to decide it : And to the occasion , according to the truth which shall be ever present with him , he ( the Deponent ) said he would deliver it cleerly . They had some occasion to discourse of the former Parliament , and speaking now on his oath , he must express that , which otherwise he should not , being the words of a private discourse , which in the course of his life he hath ever avoided , especially in the Case of a Gentleman . They were in discourse of the former Parliament , and the carriage of that ; and Sir George Wentworth was of one opinion , and he ( the Deponent ) of another . Sir George expressed himself in this sence , That he conceived the Parliament had no intention to give the King Money , he ( the Deponent ) said , That if the Kings Majesty had pleased , they had sate awhile together ; they had supplied him , And on the close , that expression fell from him , that which he ( the Deponent ) said , he shall not not need to repeat . Sir Robert King being Interrogated , what sense and apprehension was in my Lord Ranalaugh , on the words that fell from Sir George Ratcliffe at the Council-Board ? He Answered , That my Lord Ranalaugh did conceive , there was an intention to take Money forcibly in England , and was much troubled with the words , and cast out some such Speeches ; That we shall turn our swords on them from whom we are descended , and having cut their throats , make way for our own safety , or some such words . Lord Ranalaugh being Interrogated , what his sense was of these words , spoken by Sir George Ratcliffe ? He Answered , That the expression of these words , and some other words , that fell from my Lord-Lieutenant to himself , before his Lordships departure out of Ireland , made him doubt that there might be some danger intended , by the transportation of the Army ; and it was not his sense alone , for upon discourse betwixt others that were of the Council and himself , the like apprehensions were amongst them , as between my Lord President of Munster and him ; and also between Sir Adam Loftus and him : Those that durst be free one to another , did express their fears and apprehensions about it . Being asked , what the words were my Lord of Strafford spake to him , on which the apprehensions were grounded ? He Answered , That it was thus : My Lord of Strafford at his last being in Ireland , was pleased to say to him , My Lord , will you buy any Land ? I will sell you all the Land I have in Ireland . To which , he the Lord Ranalaugh Answered , That he is not able to buy Land , being in debt , and God forbid his Lordship should sell his Land in Ireland ; Truly says he , my Lord , we are like to have a troublesome world , and I am willing to part with it . To which , the Lord Ranalaugh replyed , it will be hard then with us , that have no Estates but in Ireland . No my Lord ( says my Lord of Strafford ) I do not mean it so , for I believe you will be quieter here , than they will be in England : But he doth not think that ever he spake these last words to Sir Robert King in his life . Being asked , How he expressed his sense of those words to Sir Robert King ? He Answered , That the first discourse was from Sir George Ratcliffe ; the latter was from my Lord to himself . He apprehended there was some design ( as he feared ) in England , and he had this reason for it too . For in that condition they were then in , they of the Council of Warr saw no possibility to make this Army in a readiness to invade Scotland within the time limited ; for by directions of my Lord of Strafford , left with them , they were to be ready at the Provincial Rendezvous , by the 18 th of May , and that by subsequent directions , was forborn till 18 th Iune : then they all met , to march to the general Rendezvous ; The Arms , Ammunition , and Preparations could not be ready so soon , nor were they in readiness , till the end of Sept. following ; So that on the whole matter , those amongst them that might be free , their consultations all agreed , that it might tend to the purposes here declared . And from the time observed by my Lord Ranalaugh , for the raising of the Army in Ireland , Mr. Whitlock observed , That it could not be intended for Scotland , for no Army was raised in Scotland , till some months after . To prove the words spoken by the Lord of Strafford himself , to shew his designe to bring the Army to England . Sir Tho. German Comptroller of His Majesties Houshold , being Interrogated , whether he heard not the Earl of Strafford tell the King , that the Parliament had denyed to supply him , and had sorsaken him , or words to that effect ? He Answered , That he should humbly presume to crave one thing of their Lordships , and it was briefly this , There is nothing that he can be Interrogated upon in this Cause , but it must fall within the cognizance and knowledge of many of my Lords here present , who must needs remember all that he hath to say , as well , or perhaps better than he can himself ; His humble desire therefore to their Lordships is , That if through distance of time , and the weakness of his memory , there be any thing that may be better remembred by some of their Lordships , than is at this time by himself , it may not be imputed to him , as from a desire of concealing any part of the truth , but a failor in memory ; and that their Lordships will believe of him , that in this great Assembly , he shall be very unwilling to speak any thing , but , that that shall perfectly occurr to his remembrance , and that request granted , he shall humbly answer to every thing . And to the question he remembers very well , that he was Interrogated upon the same terms heretofore , that he is now . His Answer was then , as he takes it , in these words ; That he remembred that he heard my Lord of Strafford say something of the Parliaments deserting , or forsaking the King , or something to that effect or purpose ; but he did not remember then , what inference my Lord made upon it , nor what he did conclude thereupon ; neither can he now call himself to further remembrance on that point , than he then deposed . The Earl of Bristol Sworn and Interrogated , Whether he heard any words spoken by my Lord of Strafford , That in this great distress of King and Kingdom , the Parliament had refused to supply the King in the ordinary and usual way , and that therefore the King might provide for the Kingdom , by such ways as he thought fit , and was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness and undutifulness of his people , or to that effect ? He Answered , That it is very true , that about 12 months since , by meer accident , he had a private discourse with my Lord of Strafford , and some months after had discourse with a Peer of this House , my Lord Conway by name , meerly to let him know the difference that was between some Tenants of my Lord of Straffords and himself ( the Earl of Bristol ) What use hath been made of it , he doth not know ; But upon this , he doth conceive he comes to be Interrogated : It is almost Twelvemonths agoe , since this discourse did happen , yet afterwards he was called , now a month or six weeks since , and was examined on oath on several Interrogatories ; After he had well recollected himself , he did set down for his memory , what he could think of , and out of those Notes and Papers , he did then make his Answer : Now his examination being upon oath , he shall be very loath to depose particularly to words , but to the effect of what passed : And therefore he shall crave leave , not out of his examinations , but out of the words he then set down , to read the effect of what he then spake ; for if a man be deprived of words , and tell not the sense and coherence , and subsequents , he shall not do himself right , but may do a great deal of wrong to the party accused : and therefore , though it be somewhat the longer , he shall tell the circumstances . It is true , That after the disso lution of the last Parliament , he had discourse accidentally with the Earl of Strafford , but being many months since , he cannot precisely depose unto the words that then passed ; But he remembers , that speaking then together of the great distractions of those times ( Videlicet ) touching the present things , that were then at Lambeth ( for it was just about that time of the Mutiny of some Soldiers against their Officers ) of the present great danger apprehended by the ensuing War ( as was feared ) of Scotland , and of the said Parliament being broken , without supplying the King ; he ( the Earl of Bristol ) did then , in his discourse , chiefly attribute these disorders to the breach of the Parliament ; And , speaking what might be the best way for help in these distressed times , he then conceived and said , that he thought the best way to prevent any desperate undertakings , would be , to Summon a new Parliament , that might quiet the times for the present . The expectation thereof might quiet the Distempers at that time . And , as for the War of Scotland , he did much fear the success of it , unless the King should be assisted both with the Purse and Affections of his People . And he Alleadging to my Lord of Strafford many Reasons for it , conceiving it was not likely , that our Nation , lying under great Grievances , should go willingly and chearfully to a War , labouring under the same grievances with themselves . My Lord of Strafford ( he must speak it , and confess it very ingenuously ) seemed no way to dislike the Discourse ; but said , he did not conceive it to be Counsellable at that time ; neither did the present dangers of the Kingdom ( which were not now imaginary , but real and pressing ) admit of so slow and uncertain a remedy , as a Parliament was ; for that the Parliament had , in the great distress of the King and Kingdom , refused now to supply the King , by the ordinary and usual way of Subsidies : and therefore the King must provide for the safety of his Kingdom , by such wayes as He should think fit in his wisdom . And he ( the Earl of Bristol ) doth remember , that the said Earl of Strafford , at the same time , did use the Sentence , Salus Reipublicae Suprema Lex : And further ( not to bind himself to words , but to the sense ) at the same time , the Earl of Strafford used these words , or words to this effect . That the King was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness and undutifulness of his People , or rather ( as he conceives ) by the disaffection and stubborness of some particular men . And this he said from his former Notes , which he thought fit rather to use , than to trust his Memory . Being Asked , Whether by particular Men , he meant not particular members of the Parliament ? His Lordship Answered ; By his Troth he conceives so , for he was speaking of the Parliament . Edward Lord Newburgh being Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether he did not hear my Lord of Strafford speak these words to His Majesty , That the Parliament , in denying the King , had given him advantage to supply himself by other wayes ? His Lordship Answered , That those very words he never heard , nor words to that effect . But , he hath Answered , in his Deposition , what he hath heard ; and he shall desire to speak a little before he Repeats it ; And this it is . When he was Examined , he did then speak that , which occurred to his memory ; but , since the agitation of this business , something else hath come into his thoughts ; And , if he shall speak that which his Conscience now tells him , he shall desire my Lords that then Examined him , and the Gentlemen , not to misinterpret him , if he shall add something to what he formerly delivered . He cannot say , whether ( when he heard these words ) the King was by or no , for he doth not remember it ; But , he very well remembers , that after the breach of the last Parliament , he heard , at the Gallery , or Council-Table , but he rather believes now at Council-Table , some words to this effect ; That , seeing the Parliament had not supplied the King , His Majesty might take other Courses , for Defence of the Kingdom : But , though he cannot possibly Swear , my Lord Lieutenant spake these words ; yet , he verily believes he heard him speak something to this purpose : And , this is all he can testifie . Henry Earl of Holland Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether he did not hear my Lord of Strafford say to His Majesty , That the Parliament , in denying the King , had given Him advantage to supply Himself , by other wayes , or words to that effect ? His Lordship Answered , That he needs not trouble their Lordships with Circumstances , or long Discourses ; but , these words , to the best of his remembrance , according to his Oath , he conceives were said to the King , upon the Dissolving of the Parliament , at the Council-Table ; That the Parliament , in denying to supply the King , had given Him advantage to supply Himself by other wayes . But , he will not tye himself so particularly to the words , but , as at the time when he was Examined before the Gentlemen of the Committee , he added , or words to this effect . Being Asked , By whom they were spoken ? His Lordship Answered , By my Lord of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock then proceeded to the latter words of the 23 d Article , which shew , in full and plain termes , what my Lord of Straffords design was , and what he would have laboured , and endeavoured His Majesty to entertain . The words of the Charge were Read. And , to prove them , the Examination of Algernon Earl of Northumberland was first Read , taken the 5 th Decemb. 1640. To the 7 th Interrogatory he saith , That the Earl of Strafford said , That in case of necessity , and for the Defence and Safety of the Kingdom , if the People do refuse to supply the King , the King is Absolved from Rules of Government : and , that every thing is to be done for the preservation of the King and His People ; and , that His Majesty was acquitted before God and Man ; And he saith , that the said words were spoken at the Committee for Scotch Affairs , in the presence of His Majesty ; and , for the time of speaking these words , he doth not perfectly remember . He saith , That these were the Discourses mentioned in his Answer to the third Interrogatory , which made him believe what he hath answered to the said third Interrogatory . Their Lordships calling to have the third Interrogatory Read , It was Read. To the Third and Fourth , he saith , That the Forces which were to come out of Ireland , were to Land in the West part of Scotland ; but he doth not know , nor hath heard ( to his Remembrance ) that these Forces , or any other , were to be imployed in this Kingdom , to Compel , or Awe the Subjects of this Realm , to yield to such Taxes and Charges , as should be Imposed on them by His Majesty . He saith , That he hath heard my Lord Lieutenant make some Discourses to the King , whereby he believes , that in case the King were not supplied by Parliament , that some Course was intended to raise Moneys by Extraordinary wayes . He saith , That the said Lord Lieutenant did declare , in His Majesties presence , That the Design was to Land the Irish Army in the West parts of Scotland . Sir Henry Vane being Interrogated , What words he heard my Lord of Strafford speak to the King , before the Parliament , or after the Dissolution of it , tending to this ; That the King had tried the Affections of His People , and was Loose and Absolved from all Rules of Government : and on what occasion ? He Answered , That to the General Question , of what was spoken before , or after the sitting of the Parliament , he doth not remember : and there are no particular words asked him . But , to these words , which have been read , he shall , as near as he can , ingenuously deliver , what he did formerly depose ; ever reserving to himself words to the same effect . That he considers very well where he is , and the presence before whom he speaks ; That he hath never , in the whole course of his life loved to tell an untruth , much less in this Honourable Assembly . That he shall , as near as he can , in this Case , tell their Lordships plainly and truely the matter . It is true ( as my Lord Admiral hath declared to their Lordships ) that these words he is to testifie , were spoken at the Committee of Eight for the Scotch Affairs : For the time , he shall crave pardon , if he cannot particularly speak to it : But , thus far he shall say , It was clearly after the Dissolution of the last Parliament ; It is true , and if he do not very much mistake , it was when the debate , whether a Defensive or an Offensive War , was Controverted ; And , to the best that he can remember , and clearly as he conceives , there were words spoken , either these he shall now relate , or to the same effect , by my Lord of Strafford , who is now at the Bar. The occasion being , Whether an Offensive or Defensive War ? and Arguments were Controverted in it . My Lord of Strafford did say , in a Discourse ( for he must be ingenuous , he must say all he hath deposed , or is required ) Your Majesty having tryed all wayes , and being Refused ; and , in Case of this extream necessity , and for the safety of the Kingdom , You are acquitted before God and Men : You have an Army in Ireland , which You may Imploy here to Reduce this Kingdom , or some words to this effect : And , Sir Henry Vane added , That he desires to speak clearly to it ; It is true , My Lord of Strafford said these words , You may . But , by that , he ( the Examinant ) cannot say it was intended , but that the words were spoken ; and , if it were the last hour he is to speak , it is the Truth to his best Remembrance . Being Asked ( on the several Motions of my Lord of Clare , and my Lord Savil ) Whether , by this Kingdom , he meant the Kingdom of England , or Scotland ? and , Whether it was meant , That he might imploy the Army in England , or in Ireland , because he said , The Army might be there imployed ? He Answered , That he shall , as near as he can : And , because he would have-Truth appear , he shall desire , That if in this Case , any word fall , which may be uncouth in the Sence , they would resort to his Examinations , for there it remains under his Hand and Oath . But , to his best remembrance , he thinks , neither then , nor there were used ; But , Your Majesty hath an Army in Ireland , You may Imploy to reduce this Kingdom : But , far be it from him ( the Examinant ) to Interpret them . He tells their Lordships the words , and no other . Being directed by the Lord Steward , to repeat what he had spoken . He Answered , That he shall plainly and clearly do it ; These words were spoken ( as my Lord of Northumberland hath testified ) at the Committee of Eight , for the Scotch Affairs : It was an occasion of a Debate , Whether an Offensive , or a Defensive War with the Kingdom of Scotland ? That , on some Debate then , some being of Opinion for a Defensive , some for an Offensive War ; he did say the words related , as he conceives . That in a Discourse , the Earl of Strafford said these words , or words to this effect ; Your Majesty having tryed all wayes , and refused ; in this case of extream necessity , and for the Safety of Your Kingdom and People , You are loose and absolved from all Rules of Government ; You are acquitted before God and Men ; You have an Army in Ireland ; You may imploy it to reduce this Kingdom . Being Asked , How long this was after the Parliament was Dissolved ? He Answered , He cannot tell the time ; but , it was suddenly after , or within few dayes after the dissolution of the Parliament . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Clares motion ) Whether these words , You have an Army in Ireland ; did immediately follow these words , You are Absolved , &c. He Answered , That , to his best remembrance , it did interpose ; and , my Lord of Strafford did speak it once or twice . And , to his best remembrance , at first it was agitated , to press the Offensive War ; for , there were divers Reasons given , as the Kingdom stood then , that there should be no Offensive War ; and , he must speak clearly , and plainly , he ( the Examinant ) did move for a Defensive War : For , the Subjects of England , how they stood affected to this War , they knew ; and besides a breach of a Parliament , he thought it would but induce an ill effect . On these Controversions the words were spoken . Here Mr. Whitlock observed , That these words were spoken in England , on this occasion , Of the Kings trying His People , &c. which cannot be intended any other place but England , where the Parliament was broken , and where the King had tried his People . Being Asked ( on the motion of the Earl of Southampton ) Whether he sayes positively , my Lord of Strafford did say these words , or words to that effect , or whether to his best remembrance ? He Answered , That he speaks positively , either those words , or words to that effect . The Earl of Clare desiring further satisfaction , to the Question formerly proposed on this Motion , Whether he meant by this Kingdom , the Kingdom of England , or the Kingdom of Scotland ? The Lord Steward put his Lordship in mind , That Sir Henry Vane testifies to the Words , not to the Interpretation . And , Mr. Maynard said , The Question is put , Whether this Kingdom , be this Kingdom ? And , so Mr. Whitlock said , They should conclude their Evidence , conceiving the last words spoken , to be very fully proved ; and , by connexion with those other words proved before , he thinks it is very clear and manifest , That my Lord of Strafford had a strong Design and Endeavour , to subvert and change the Fundamental Laws and Government of England , and to bring in an Army upon us , to force this Kingdom to submit to an Arbitrary Power . That he shall not trouble their Lordships with repitition of words , nor with the Application of them , for indeed they be above Application ; and , to aggravate them , were to allay them ; they have in themselves more bitterness and horror , then he is able to express : and so he left them to their Lordships consideration and application , expecting my Lord of Straffords Answer to them : Only he desired their Lordships , in one point , to hear what Mr. Treasurer can say further , concerning the breach of the last Parliament , and what Words and Messages he heard of , during the sitting of that Parliament , procured by my Lord of Strafford ; unless their Lordships will reserve that , till the rest of the Witnesses come to morrow morning , and then they shall be ready to produce all relating to that point together . Whereupon liberty was granted for the reserving of them accordingly . My Lord of Strafford did hereupon crave of their Lordships leave , to recollect his Notes , being ( as he said ) a little Distracted , how to give Answer to these things ; for , diverse Articles are mingled together , which will make his Answer not so clear as otherwise he had hoped to have made it , but trusts he shall do it still . He desires leave to Answer Article by Article : and , how much horror soever this Gentleman is pleased to say , there is in these words , he trusts , before he goes out of the Room , to make it appear , that though there may be error of Judgment , yet nothing that may give offence , when the Antecedents and Consequents are brought together : and , that he shall give such an account , that ( whether or no their Lordships will clear him , as to the Charge of an Indiscreet Man , he knows not ) but , as for Treason to the King , and His People , he shall give clear satisfaction , that no such thing was spoken or intended . His Lordship desired , He might be favoured with the sight of my Lord of Northumberlands Examinations . But this , Mr Glyn opposed , and said , His Lordship being to Answer to matter of Fact , let him first say how it stands , and then prove it . To which my Lord of Strafford Answered , That , in truth , they make much more of it then he did ; for , he trusts , by the blessing of Almighty God , to give the Answer of an honest Man to all Objections , he will not say of a discreet Man ; and , once for all , he humbly besought their Lordships ( and so he knows in their Wisdom and Judgment they will ) to look what is proved , and not to what is enforced on those proofs from these Gentlemen : For words pass , and may be easily mistaken , but their Lordships having regard only to what is Deposed , and that they were to guide themselves by that . After some Respit , my Lord of Strafford began to make his Defence as followeth . That it will be very hard for him to know , in what order to Answer all the matters objected against him ; But , the best course he can take for his own direction ( and he trusts it shall not be displeasing to their Lordships ) will be , to go over the Articles as they lie in order , and under every Article to give his own Proof , and to repeat all the Proofs prest against him for that Article . The other day , an end was made of the 19 th Article , but then likewise the 20 th was entred into ; so , the middle part of that Charge is answered already , touching words by him spoken at his last being in Ireland ; and , to that he shall not need farther to Answer . But , here is in it , that he did labour to Perswade , Incite , and Provoke to an Offensive War against the said Subjects of the Scotch Nation ; and , to have been , by his Counsels , Actions , and Endeavors , a Principal Incendiary . To prove this , they have offered first my Lord Traquairs Depositions ; and , he craved leave to represent to their Lordships , How he conceived his testimony was delivered ( viz. ) That upon a Relation of his ( the Lord Traquair ) made at the Council-Board , he gave his Opinion as other their Lordships did ; and , that it was condescended to by the Council-Board , That if the Comissioners of Scotland gave not satisfaction , that then the King might put himself in a posture of War ; so that he gave only an Opinion as others did . And that is proved ( as he conceives ) by my Lord Traquair ; who , among other parts of his Testimony recited , sayes ; That there was no difference in the main amongst the Votes : So that by both the Testimonies , it plainly appears , that his Opinion was no other then the Opinion of the rest ; And , certainly , as that Opinion can never be charged on any of the rest of the Lords , in any kind whatsoever ; so he trusts it shall never be charged upon him : for , he thinks , he is in a great safety and security , when he hath the concurrence of so many wiser persons then himself , in the Opinion he then deliver'd , and that is , for so much as was spoken at the Council-Board ; And if it were needful ( as he conceives it is not ) to examine the persons that were there , it should appear he delivered no Vote at all at that time , but the Vote of the Board : But , it is clear in their own proofs , and their Lordships will ( he hopes ) justifie him in their Judgments , when it comes to Sentence . The next thing is the Deposition of my Lord Morton , concerning something spoken at York , at a Council there called ; he met before the Assembly of the Great Council of the Peers , where , he conceives , and , as he remembers , he ( the Earl of Strafford ) spake something to this sence ; That the unreasonable Demands of Subjects in Parliament , was a ground for the King to put Himself into a posture of War. When this had been resolved by the Council of England , he conceives it no great Crime for him to say so : For , upon the Question put on those Demands , it was said , That it was fit for the King , to put Himself into a Posture of War , and into a Condition to reduce them by Force , if they could not be brought by fair means , to do their Allegiance and Duty to the King. There is something more , that my Lord Morton sayes ; That he ( the Earl of Strafford ) should say , It was a sufficient Cause , without hearing their Reasons , to Declare a War. This he ( my Lord of Strafford ) conceives under favour , is but a single Testimony ; And my Lord Morton gives himself the Answer ; for he sayes the Reasons were not related when he was present , and therefore , in that my Lord of Strafford conceives there is little matter . My Lord Traquair sayes one thing more , and that is , That the reasons were left to be alledged by the Scotch Commissioners : It is true , they were so : And my Lord Morton sayes , that he ( the Defendant ) should say , It was not matter of Religion that was the business , but they struck at the root of Government , and were to be punished by force . He further adds by way of Defence , That if he thought they struck at the root of Government , he thinks every man will say , he had reason to say , it was fit to reduce them by force . But he said , he should speak further of these things anon , when he should represent , what Words are in respect of Deeds , and what difference there is between what a man Sayes and Does , in case of Treason . But under favour , these two last are no part of his Charge , though he answers them , for he is not charged with speaking any thing to the King at York , the night before the Great Council , but only with speaking at the Council-Board on my Lord Traquair's relation ; and this he conceives is all they bring against him , to convince him of the 20 th Article , saving only the testimony of my Lord of Northumberland , and of Mr. Treasurers ; And Mr. Treasurer says , That it being agitated , whether a Defensive or an offensive War were to be undertaken ? he was for a defensive , and my Lord of Strafford for an offensive War. He ( the Deponent ) cannot conceive , how this can conduce to make a Treason ; If the War was resolved on , the Debate , whether an offensive or defensive , shall not be Treasonable : admit it to be as Mr. Treasurer sayes , Mr. Treasurer alledged his reason , and he ( the Earl of Strafford ) alledged his , and God forbid it should be Treason in one , or any other , they both doing their Duties , and delivering their Consciences according to their oaths ; It was resolved as fit to reduce them , and whether by an offensive or defensive War , being a free Council , they were bound to deliver Judgements to a Master , that was so wise as to know what was best for his service , and so to dispose as he should think fit . My Lord of Northumberland sayes , That he ( the Earl of Strafford ) advised to go on vigorously in an offensive War : Admit he did say so , it is not Treason , it was a free debate ; many reasons were given , and for him to give his reasons one way , was as free from Crime or Offence , as for them to give their reasons another way . They say that ( as a chief Incendiary of the troubles between His Majesty and the Scotch ) he seized divers Scotch Ships when he was in Ireland , and for this they have only Mr. Barnwels Testimony ; and all he says , is , That Sir Robert Loftus told him , he had a Warrant to seize the Ships , and they did seize them accordingly , but by whose Warrant he doth not know . But if your Lordships will know by whose Warrant it was , he shall give the best account he can , and offer some proofs . Sir Robert Loftus was the Vice-Admiral of the Province of Lemster , himself was Vice-Admiral of the Province of Munster ; and about that time the Lord Admiral sent Direction and Command to the Vice-Admiral of Lemster and Munster , to seize all the Scotch Ships then in those Ports ; so that what was done , was done by the authority of my Lord Admiral ; and if their Lordships asked Mr. Slingsby , he will say , that about that time there came these Commands , and by virtue thereof these Ships were stayed . Mr. Slingsby being Interrogated , whether about that time my Lord Admiral sent Warrants to the Vice-Admirals , to seize the Scotch Ships in their several Ports ? He Answered , That he received the Letters , just as my Lord was going into England , and dispersed them to the Vice-Admirals , he executing that for Munster as Deputy to my Lord , and the Ships were stayed after my Lords going into England , and not before . Whence my Lord of Strafford concluded , That it appeared , that he hath not been an extraordinary stirrer of difference between the King and the Subject , he never desiring any thing but peace and quietness , and that all things might be ended ( as he trusts they shall ) with good understanding and perpetuity of affection amongst our selves , and with them . And there his Lordship left the 20th Article , hoping he had fully and clearly satisfied their Lordships , as to any crime in it , but whether his Judgement did mislead him in an opinion , he will not dispute , but will confess willingly , That no man is more ready to mistake than himself . His Lordship proceeds to the 21 Article , which his Lordship read . This he said , he perceives is a particular they have much insisted on , but have not ( as he conceives ) offered any substantial proof for what they alledge . The first proof of the 21 Article , was my Lord Primates Examination , wherein he sayes , That in a discourse betwixt them concerning the levying of money on the Subjects , in case of imminent necessity ; his opinion was , the King might use his Prerogative as he pleases , but first it was best to try his Parliament . This is the only Testimony in this particular ; being Singularis Testis , he knows it will weigh with their Lordships accordingly ; and then it is no otherwise , but by way of Discourse and Argument ; and how far that shall be layed to a mans Charge , he must submit , in regard of the reasons subsequent in the next Article , so that he will reserve himself to this point , till he comes thither . But the words fairly and cleerly understood , abide a sence no way of danger to him that speaks them ; For they are , That the King may use his Prerogative as he pleases , and the Kings pleasure is always just , and will not use his Prerogative , but justly and fairly , and for a man to think otherwise , were a higher offence . Besides , many things are lawful , which if they were done to the uttermost of the Power , that his Prerogative , and the Law of the Land gives him , might be prejudicial to His Subjects ; which notwithstanding , he in his goodness and discharge of the Trust , God Almighty hath put into him , never hath , nor will exercise , but suffer them to be imployed for the Subjects advantage , according to the present occasion : And therefore to say he may use His Prerogative as he pleases , might be without prejudice to the Subject , and very lawful . But it is a greater offence by much , to think that the King will use his Prerogative otherwise , then as befits a Christian and pious King. And therefore he hopes these words shall not be laid to his charge , as a signal crime , and of so high , deadly , and capital a nature as Treason . The next proof offered , is my Lord Conway , and he sayes , on some discourse ( which being private between friend and friend , neither of them thought they should come here to give an account of ) My Lord Conway asked him where the means should be for the Supply of the Kings Army ? He told him , in Parliament , and doubted not but the Parliament would supply His Majesty , so far he was from thinking there should be that misfortune , as the breach of that Parliament , but quite contrary . And for the words , That if the King should be denyed in just and lawful things , he might justifie before God and men , the seeking means to help himselfe , though it were against their will. He must needs say , That to help a mans self is a very natural motion , for commonly a mans self is the last creature that leaves him , and that which is natural to every man , is natural to the King , who is accountable , not only for himself , but also for all his people . The next is Mr. Treasurer : And he says , That the 5th of December was Twelvemonths , to the best of his Remembrance , upon a Proposition of a Parliament to the King , he ( the Earl of Strafford ) should say , That if the Parliament should not succeed , he would be ready to assist His Majesty any other way . He sees not where the heynousness of the words lies , nor where the venom is that should endanger him , as to his Life and Honor ; And if he said he would assist His Majesty any other way , if it were needful , or any way conducing to his purpose , he is verily perswaded , Mr. Treasurer himself said as much , but that is not material , for he conceives it not blameble in either of them to have said so much ; therefore he laies it not on him as a Recrimination . For the Question was , a Parliament or no Parliament ; a Parliament was the desire of every man to settle the Common-wealth by , that they might stare super vias antiquas . And when they were moving His Majesty for a Parliament , for him to say , he would help any other way , doth always presuppose what must be presupposed , that it must be in all lawful ways ; The King cannot command unlawful ways ; and he hath that opinion of His Majesty , and of His Truth and Faithfulness , that He will not Command him any wayes , but lawful wayes , he having not carried himself in his Masters service so , as that he can have an opinion of him , that he will do any thing , but what is honourable and just , and therefore he hopes it is spoken without offence , being fairly and rightly understood , That is , of lawful ways , the ways the King could command , and the wayes himself could serve him in , being no other . And this is all they bring to prove that part of the 21 Article , that concerns his procuring of His Majesty to break the Parliament , and by Force and Power to raise Money on the Subjects ; And this is all he sayes , and all they charge out of that Article . This he must add , That when he sayes he will serve the King in any other ways ; in all Debates whensoever he expressed himself to that purpose , he did ever in the conclusion end with this , That there was no safe nor sure expedient , to settle a right understanding between the King and His people , and to make both happy , but Parliaments ; as shall appear clearly and plainly by that time he hath given his proofs , and so it will appear , he meant only lawful ways . The next particular wherewith he is charged , is to procure the Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland , to declare their assistance in a War against the Scots . For that if their Lordships please to give him leave , he thinks the thing it self will best shew it self , and therefore he desired the Remonstrance of the Two Houses of Parliament in Ireland might be read . And that of the Commons-House was read , being in effect , THe Declaration of the Commons-House there , Importing ; Whereas they have with one consent , cleerly given to His Majesty , Four entire Subsidies towards His present preparations , to reduce His disaffected Subjects , the Covenanters in Scotland , to their due obedience ; They still hope that His Majesties great Wisdom , and unexampled Clemency , may yet prevail with the worse affected of those His Subjects , to bring them to that conformity and submission , which by the Laws of God and Nature they owe to him : But if His Majesty shall be enforced to use His Power , to vindicate His just Authority : This House for themselves , and the Commons of this Kingdom , do profess , that their Zeal and Duty shall not stay here at these four Subsidies , but Humbly promise , That they will be ready with their Persons and Estates , to their uttermost ability for His Majesties future Supply in Parliament , as His great occasions , by the continuance of His Forces against that distemper shall require . This they pray , that it may be represented to His Majesty by the Lord Lieutenant , and Recorded as an Ordinance of Parliament , and published in Print as a Testimony to all the world and succeding ages ; That as this Kingdom hath the happiness to be governed by the best of Kings , so they desire to give cause , That he shall account this people amongst the best of His Subjects . The Declaration of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being of the same Tenor , was spared to be read . Upon which my Lord of Strafford said , That if he had procured this Declaration , it had been no crime , considering what preceeded in the Kings Council there . But he says he hath no part in it , it was done with the greatest freedom and cheerfulness that ever he did , or shall see a thing of that nature done : It must be ascribed to that Nation , and the Zeal , Affection , and Chearfulness , by which they discovered themselves to the Kings service , to which there was no need to invite them . But if he had had a part in it , he might have justified it , considering what precedent Instructions he had from the King , which he could shew , but that he is loath to take up their Lordships time . The next thing he is charged withal is , for confederating with Sir George Ratcliffe , and together with him , traiterously conspiring , to employ the Army raised in Ireland , for the ruine and destruction of the Kingdom of England , and of His Majesties Subjects ; and subverting the fundamental Laws of this Kingdom . To which he saith , That truly if it be made appear , that he had so much as any such thought in his Breast , he should easily give Judgement against himself , as not worthy to live . If he should confederate to the destruction of the Countrey that bore him , and consequently to the making of himself and his posterity little else than Vassals , who were born a free people , by the goodness of Almighty God , and under the Protection and Justice of the King , and particularly of His Majesty , That he hath a heart that loves freedom as well as another man , and values it as highly , and in a modest and dutiful way , will go as far to defend it : And therefore certainly he is not altogether so probably to be thought a person that would go against it ; Nay , he thinks that man doth the King the best service , that stands for the modest Propriety and Liberty of the Subject . It hath been once his opinion , which he learnt in the Honourable House of Commons , when he had the honor to sit there ; it hath gone along with him in the whole course of his service to the Common-wealth , and by the Grace of God , he shall carry it to his Grave ; That the Prerogative of the Crown , and Liberty of the Subject , should be equally looked upon , and served together , but not apart . The proof they offer for this , is a strange manner of proof ; For First they prove by Sir Robert King , what Sir George Ratcliffe said ; they will not admit the examination of Sir George Ratcliffe , but here is a Report upon a Report ; And what sayes this Gentleman ? He tells of some time Sir George Ratcliffe said , which was not concerning him ( the Defendant ) and was impertinent for him to repeat . But the Deponent sayes in the conclusion , That as he understood them , there was some danger towards , &c. Then comes my Lord Ranalaugh , and reports the words of Sir George Ratcliffe , and in conclusion sayes , That by some things he did gather , he had fears there might be some intendment , to employ that Army in Ireland , or some other place ; but he ( the Defendant ( offers to their Lordships , That what Sir George Ratcliffe said , was nothing to him , and so could not charge him with it . The meanest Subject in the Kingdom cannot commit Treason by Letter of Attorney ; and it is a priviledge which , though he hath the honor to be a Peer , he shall never desire that a Peer may do it by Proxy : Sir George Ratcliffe cannot speak , nor procure Treason for him ; and being Sir George Ratcliffes words , they cannot be his ( the Earl of Straffords ) offence ; and he hopes Sir George will answer them , as an honest Gentleman , and a Privy-Counsellor to the King , which he hath the honor to be in Ireland . And how Sir Robert King understood them , is as little , if not less to him ( the Defendant ) Sir Robert's understanding of a thing can make no crime to him ( my Lord of Strafford ) And for my Lord Ranalaugh's fears , he may take them back again , for it will be shewed they were groundless fears , viz. That this Army was intended for English ground : For him to imagine , that because my Lord of Strafford said , It was like to be a troublesome world , and that he was willing to sell his Land , therefore this Army should come into England ; These be Non sequiturs , and fancies of his own , and there was no colour for such fears in his Lordship . Besides , my Lord Ranalaugh was not acquainted with the Design , and therefore he might easily mistake , but others were acquainted with it , in such manner , as is expressed in his Answer , and which ( my Lord said ) he shall now declare , viz. That there was no intention or purpose of bringing this Irish Army into England ; And whereas to the Design he hath exprest in his Answer , of having two Honourable Persons to be made privy , and divers others to his Papers , he Humbly besought their Lordships to favour him so far , as to suffer him to ask a Question of three or four persons he shall produce , professing that there was never a thought in any mans heart that he knew , nor never a word in any mans mouth , that ever he heard , that any part of the Army should ever touch a foot on English ground , as some of their Lordships , and His Majesty knows ( where his Lordship added ) If he may with Reverence name His Majesty in that poor and distressed condition , wherein himself is ; for he is not worthy of his Protection , being in this miserable Case , and therefore it was too much boldness for him , to name him ; But his Lordship desired the benefit of reading my Lord of Northumberland's Examination , to the point of that Design . Algernon , Earl of Northumberland , his Examination taken . To the First Interrogatory he saith , That he hath often heard both His Majesty , and the Earl of Strafford mention the 8000 Foot , which were to be raised in Ireland ; but to his best remembrance , he never heard any intention , of bringing the said 8000 Foot , or any part thereof into England ; That the design of landing them on the West of Scotland , was often spoke of , and so resolved , as he believes . To the Second he saith , He doth not remember , that ever he heard the Earl of Strafford speak or mention the reducing of the Subjects of England by the said Army in Ireland . Here my Lord of Strafford desired their Lordships to take notice , that my Lord of Northumberland was one of the Committee of Eight for Scotch affairs . The Lord Marq. Hamilton being Sworn and Interrogated , what he knew or believed , concerning the raising of 8000 Foot in Ireland ; or whether he was privy to any intention of bringing the same , or any part of them into England ? His Lordship Answered , It is late , and time is precious to their Lordships , and so he shall answer as shortly as he can unto that Question . It is very true , His Majesty was Graciously pleased to acquaint him with the resolution of raising that Army of 8000 Foot ; And it is true , that the resolution was , That these men should Land in the West of Scotland , about a certain Town , called Ayre , or where my Lord should find it most convenient . And for any thing he ( the Examinant ) knows , there was no other design , he never heard of any , nor did he hear of the bringing of them into England , for any such use or end , or that they were ever to come to England at all . Being asked whether he heard my Lord of Strafford speak any thing concerning the reducing of England by the Army ? His Lordship Answered , That he doth not remember my Lord of Strafford to have spoken any such words . Sir Tho. Lucas , Sergeant-Major-General of the Horse of the King's Army in Ireland , who ( as my Lord of Strafford said ) being with him him here in Candlemas-Term was 12 months , in his own Lodging at Covent-Garden , something passed between them , concerning the disposing of the 8000 Foot , and 1000 Horse , to what purpose they were raised . And being asked , What was the Intent and Circumstance of that discourse ? He Answered , That about the latter end of Ianuary 1639. my Lord of Strafford told him , an Army was to be raised in Ireland , another in England , and with the English Army a Regiment of Horse , whereof his ( the Examinants ) Troop should be one , and some Regiments of Foot , and these Foot and Horse were to joyn with the Irish Army ; and that my Lord taking a Map of Scotland ( which lay then in the Chamber ) said , Now I must tell you the greatest secret in all the world , and pointed with his finger towards that part of Scotland , which lies on the Dunbar-Frith : and said , the Irish Army is to land here , and here I intend to take a Town ( but he did not nominate the Town ) and added , That he might the more easily do it , because the Scots would not expect his Landing there , but it is likely , will imagine the Landing of the Irish Army at Carlisle , or some other part of England . And his Lordship said further , That when he had taken this , he would strongly fortifie it , intending it for a Magazine of Ammunition and Victuals for the Irish Army , and so he should bring all the Countrey about to Contribution , even to Edenburgh , and when he is Landed , he ( the Examinant ) should have notice , and should joyn with the Irish Army ; and that he would send these Horse , my Lord spake to him the Examinant , about 1000 , ( as he thinks ) to convey him the Examinant to him . My Lord of Strafford added , That the truth is , there were Foot-Regiments of Sir Tho. Wharton's , and Sir Arthur Tyrringham's , and Sir Tho. Lucas's Regiment of 500 Horse ; that ( when the Irish were Landed in Scotland ) were to be fetcht by Ships from St. Rees , and so to have joyned with the others . And it was supposed , 500 would have found no great difficulty on a suddain for such a march , and Sir Tho. Wharton , and Sir Arthur Tyrringham came over purposely , to have persued his Design ; by which it appears , there was no design to bring them to England ; and so a strange Philosophy it was to bring it into any mans thoughts , it should be so . Mr. Slingsby being Interrogated , What he knew concerning the Design of the Irish Army ? He Answered . That he had the honor to be sworn of the Council of War , and then the charge of making the whole Magazine of Ammunition and Provision for that Army , was conferred on him , That he repaired to England 10 days after my Lord , and persued his received Instructions , for making preparations of Artillery and Ammunition directed , which he got all shipp'd and ready about Iuly ; that the slow proceedings of the Irish Army did then retard his directions from my Lord-Lieutenant , for the dispatch away of those Ships which were ready . That my Lord was pleased to tell him , he must provide some stores for a Magazine for maintainance of the Soldiers ; that he was pleased to impart to him , That the Army was to Land in Scotland about Aire ; That he thereupon proceeded to get a Map drawn of that Coast , and informed himself by that Map , and discoursed with Scotchmen in Town ; That Aire was a barred Harbor , and that divers Ordinance were mounted to intercept the Landing , which he representing to my Lord-Lieutenant , my Lord directed him to take consideration of the burdens of the Ships , and whether they could be brought to ride near the Town , and that there might be provision of Flat-bottomm'd Boats to Land a good number at once ; That he had a Warrant to receive 10 of the King 's Flat-bottomm'd Boats , and 20 were provided by my Lord of Antrim the last year with Oars , and a floating Battery to secure the Landing of the men ; That he had direction to obtain Warrants from my Lord of Newport for 10 , 16 , or 20 pieces of Ordinance , That at first he had 10 , afterwards 6 more Iron pieces for fortification , which ( as my Lord of Strafford had imparted to him the Examinant ) were to fortifie the place after Landing at Aire , and were Shipt and sent away , but the Ships were not sent a good while after , by reason of the slow proceedings of the Army . Being asked whether my Lord of Strafford did not give him direction to get a Coast-Map , to let him know the particular place , where he intended to Land ? He Answered , That he was particularly commanded to get a Platt drawn , and the party that drew it is in Town , and can testify , that he designed him . Being asked , Whether he had not Commission and Instructions from my Lord of Strfford to discharge some Ships for the lessening of the Kings Charge , and to take only so many , as might be fit for the service ? He Answered , That he received that command from my Lord Lieutenant , to discharge most of the Ships , and none went about but them that were laden with Ammunition , and he received direction to take as few Ships as he could , to prevent charge to His Majesty , and discharged some 10 or 14 Flemish Ships that were fraighted . This my Lord of Strafford said , he offers , because he would not have it stick with any man , That in the things concerning the Kings Service , necessaries were not ready at the time ; therefore he would not have any thing asperse him ; for the King never commanded him any thing , but ( according to what he understood , ) he did it faithfully , and never any thing miscarried . Sir William Pennyman being asked , What my Lord of Strafford's Answer was to him , when he told my Lord of some News scattered , that the Irish Army were intended for England ? He Answered , He did Ask such a Question , and remembers it ( and may be , more particularly than my Lord doth ) That he was newly come from his Quarter , and my Lord told him , That some of their Lordships were come with a Petition to the King , and , among other things , Petitioned , That the Irish Army should not come over , and wondered , their Lordships should Petition for that ; for certainly , he should know that particular as much as their Lordships ; and protested , before God , they were never intended to set foot on English Ground : That he ( Sir William Pennyman ) reply'd again , Certainly a great many more were in a great deal of darkness and error ; for , he had asked Sir Robert Farrar the Reason the Irish Army did not come over , it being the conjecture of a great many they should Land at Workington ; and his Lordship protested again , That he never knew they were to set foot on English ground . He ( the Defendant ) confesseth , he said , The Army was to come to Workington , and joyn with the Kings Forces at Barwick ; for , he had no reason to prepare the Scots before-hand but to disguise the business , though he never thought nor heard of any purpose under Heaven , that any of them should come on English Ground : And added , That he did not rest here , but acquainted my Lord of Ormond the Lieutenant-General of that Army , my Lord President of Munster , my Lord Justice Burlace ( who now is General of the Artillery ) that the Army was to be sent for Knockfergus , the Northerly part of Ireland , and the business to be for Scotland , not for England : And , the sending of all the Stores to the uttermost Confines , shews plainly and demonstratively , that the Design wrought there , howsoever it was pretended in another place . The next thing brought into his Charge , is from the Mouth of his own Brother ; and , it is narrowly sought after , even in his innermost friends , his Brother , his Table , his House , his Bed , in every place , for something to Convince him of that , which he thanks God he was never guilty of . It is from a Testimony of Sir Tho. Barrington , who tells what passed between Sir Thomas and his Brother . But , in Answer thereunto , he offers , That what his Brother sayes is nothing to him : his Brother is a young Gentleman ; and , in things that concern the Kings service , and where there lies the Obligation of an Oath , his Brother knows no more from him , than a meer stranger , nor shall , though he knows him well : and therefore he hopes this cannot convince him , when the whole course of his actions goes another way . But , thus much he must say for his Brother , before he be Examined , That when it was first opened in the Parliament House , That one near to him in blood should say , England would be never well till it be Conquer'd again ; he could not imagine who in the world it should be ; And besought their Lordships , that , since he now comes to know it , his Brother may be Asked , Whether he knows any thing of it ? Sir George Wentworth being to speak as to the said Discourse , Mr. Maynard opposed this proceeding , as tending to the clearing of himself ; supposing , that if they had examined him , whether he had spoken the words or no , their Lordships would not have suffered him to be examined to charge himself ; and their Lordships Judgments were humbly demanded , whether if he be not to be examined on one side , he should be examined on the other ? But Sir George Wentworth desiring to be heard for his own Justification , Mr. Maynard further offered , That being for his own Justification , he could not ( under favour of their Lordships ) be heard . And their Lordships directed it accordingly . My Lord of Strafford offering to their Lordships , That it is easie to mistake words , that pass betwixt Man and Man , in ordinary and familiar Discourse ; and , that Memories that can remember things , so long since , he protested are quicker and fresher then ever his was . The Committee thereupon offered to confirm the Testimony by some other Circumstances ; but , their Lordships seeming satisfied , it was forborn . And so my Lord of Strafford concluded that part of the Charge , which concerned his Conspiring with Sir George Ratcliffe , to bring over the Irish Army to the prejudice of England ; thinking , as he said , that he had clearly and evidently demonstrated it to be a truth , that will not be denied him , that the intendment was for no such purpose , and consequently there was no such Conspiracy to any such intent : and therefore left it to their Lordships further , and wiser , and nobler Considerations . The next thing , is the words Charged to have been spoken after his return into England , to sundry persons , declaring his Opinion , That His Majesty should first try the Parliament here , and , if they did not supply Him according to His present exigency , He might use His Prerogative as He pleased , and to Levy what He needed . And , all the Proofe of these words , is the Testimony of my Lord Primate , whereunto he hath given that Answer already , that he hopes will be satisfactory . As to the other part , That the King shall be acquitted before God and Men , if he take other course to supply Himself , though against the good will of His Subjects . This he hath Answered already , and shall not need to repeat : But , he finds some things in the Proofes , which , whether they mean to make use of , to prove any of the words he knows not : and therefore he desired to touch on them a little . The first proof hereof , Is the Testimony of Mr. Comptroller , that he , the ( Earl of Strafford ) should say something of deserting the King , but he remembers not the particulars : In which words he conceives there is nothing that can make him Criminal before their Lordships . The next is , of what my Lord of Bristol sayes ; whose Discourse came in upon some Difference between the Tenants of his Lordship ( the Earl of Bristol ) and his ( the said Earl of Strafford ) The discourse he remembers very well , my Lord of Bristol honouring him with a visit when he was sick ; and , he remembers , something was spoken to that effect and purpose , as it is in the Testimony . But , What is this as to the Charge laid against him ? In the Charge , there are only such words that may prejudice him , but nothing that may forfeit his Life , Estate , and Honor. As in the case of Extream and unavoidable necessitie , viz. The Invasion of a Foreign Enemy , when there is not time to call a Parliament . And , the King may in that case use , as the Common Parent of the Country , what power God Almighty hath given Him , for preserving Himself , and His People , for whom He is accomptable to Almighty God , is a thing quite different , from what is in an ordinary Case . He confesses , his opinion is , the King hath a power absolutely to use all possible means for the safety of the Publick . In these Cases He hath a Power given Him by God Almighty , that cannot be taken from Him by others ; neither , under favour , is He able to take it from Himself . If this be a fond and foolish Opinion , he craves their Lordships pardon ; but , he thinks , a man should not forfeit his Life and Honor , and Posterity , for a foolish Opinion ; God forbid that Common-Law , or Statute-Law , should make that Treason in any Man. So that he acknowledges , There was some such discourse ; But , all things taken together , carries the State of the Question quite another way , then when taken to pieces . My Lord of Bristols Testimony sayes further . But my Lord of Strafford then said , The King was not to be Mastered by the frowardness or wilfulness of His People , or rather by the disaffection of some particular men . To which words , he sayes , If he did remember them , he would acknowledge them : But , being then in that condition , delivered from a great and long sickness , infirm and weak ; both in the powers of his mind , and faculties of his Body , if he be not able to recollect every thing , it is no marvel : But , he relies so much on the honor and nobleness of my Lord of Bristol , that seeing he sayes that he said it , he will not deny it , though he cannot remember it . But he must say withal , That his Testimony cannot work any thing towards him further , then a single Testimony can do in this case : and therefore , without offence , he shall desire , in this particular , to reserve that benefit to himself , that the Law in this case gives him , in such sort , as hereafter he shall be bold to put their Lordships in mind of , that is , how far a single testimony may work to the prejudice of a Man , charged with High Treason . The next Testimony is my Lord of Newburgh ; That he heard me ( the Defendant ) say , or words to this effect , That seeing the Parliament had not supplied the King , His Majesty might take other Courses for the Defence of the Kingdom . These words I do ( said the Defendant ) acknowledge : And he trusts there is no offence in this saying ; for , I conceive , that the King is not secluded , nor any one else , in a fair , and just , and an honourable way , from doing the best for himself , and his own preservation ; but those other Courses that were intended , were just and lawful Courses ; He must put that grain of salt into all the rest of his Discourse ; that it was meant of no other wayes or Means , but such as were allowed by the Laws of the Land , and were fit for a gracious and pious King to use : and so understood , he knows no reason , but the King should be left to supply Himself , in all the fair and just ways he can , if the Parliament should not supply Him. The next Testimony is my Lord of Holland's , and his Lordship sayes , That at Council-Table my Lord of Strafford should say , That the Parliament having deny'd the King , gave Him an advantage to supply Himself otherwayes . But , he sayes still , other lawful wayes ; It gave Him advantage to use His Prerogative in lawful wayes , further then otherwise perhaps out of his goodness , He would have done : Therefore , giving those words that Interpretation , he conceives they cannot be layd to him as a Charge of High-Treason . The next is the Testimony of my Lord of Northumberland , who sayes , My Lord of Strafford said , That in case of necessity , and for Defence and safety of the Kingdom ; if the People refuse , the King might do every thing for the Preservation of His People . This brings it much to the other business before spoken of , it being in case of necessity , for Defence and Safety of the Kingdom , and to be used for preservation of the People ; for , he must needs say , That is his Opinion , grounded upon that Maxim , Salus Populisuprema Lex ; In these things when ordinary formes cannot be had ( for when they may be had , to go to extraordinary , is not right ) but , when the ordinary wayes fail , and the occasion gives no time , God forbid , but the King should employ the uttermost of His Power , Wisdom , and Courage , for preservation of Himself and His People ; And , to say it with limitation , under favour , doth state the Question quite otherwayes , then if the words were taken alone , and not put together . But , that with these Limitations he spake , both these things , and diverse others , will more fully and clearly appear in the next succeeding Article : for , here he is charged with speaking things at large ; but there at the Council-Board , and there it will come in properly . At which time he shall desire to examine some of their Lordships , and , it shall appear , words of this Nature went alwayes in this sort from him , in case of a Foraign Invasion , in case of an Enemy actually entred , or to be entred , and not otherwise ; which makes it another Question , then as by the Antecedents and Consequents it is laid in the Charge . Besides , this offence is , but words spoken by way of Argument , in Common Discourse , betwixt Man and Man , without any further , or other proceeding , or Execution upon these words : and , Shall these be brought against a Man , and charged on him as High-Treason ? God forbid that ever we should live to see such an Example in this Kingdom : A matter of infinite prejudice and danger to every Man ; for , when that is done , no Man can be safe . Is there any thing more ordinary , then for Men in Discourse , to seem to be of a Contrary Opinion to what they are , to invite another Man to give Reasons , perhaps to confirm him in his own Opinion , though he seems to Argue against it ? Is any thing more familiar , than for a Man to seem to be of an Opinion , to gain a Reason to confirm that Opinion which he is of , and contrary to that he seems to defend , by this means to get the strength of other Mens Reasons to confirm his own by ? Again , Is any thing more familiar in private Discourse , between Man and Man , than when one is so far on that side the Line , for the other to go as far himself , that he may meet the first Man in the midst ? If a man meet with one that is as far below , as himself is above , and shall seem to maintain further , than his Reason and Belief carries him , to bring the other to moderation , Shall this be charged on him as a Treason ? If words spoken to Friends , in familiar Discourse , spoken in ones Chamber , spoken at ones Table , spoken in ones Sick-Bed , spoken , perhaps , to gain better Reason , to give himself more clear light and judgment , by reasoning ; If these things shall be brought against a man , as Treason ; this , under favour , takes away the Comfort of all Humane Society : By this means we shall be debarred of Speaking ( the Principal Joy and Comfort of Society ) with wise and good Men , to become wiser , and better our lives . If these things be strained to take away Life , and Honor , and all that is desirable , it will be a silent World ; a City will become an Hermitage , and Sheep will be found amongst a Crowd and Press of People ; and , no Man shall dare to impart his Solitary Thoughts , or Opinion , to his Friend and Neighbor , but thereby be debarred from consulting with wiser Men then himself , whereby he may understand the Law , wherewith he ought to be governed . But , these be but words all the while ; and , if he shall shew , that words of a higher nature , shall , by the Judgment of an English Parliament , be thought not to be Treason ; Why should he think , or imagine , or fear , that their Lordships will make these indiscreet and idle Expressions of his , reach so high as his Head , and take the Comfort of his Life and Children from him . No Statute makes Words Treason : and , if the Fundamental Law , the Common Law of the Land had made them Treason , surely the Parliament would never have set a Mulct upon them . This Statute is , 1 Ed. 6. cap. 12. as followeth , BE it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid , if any person or persons , do compass , and imagine , by open Preaching , express words , or saying , to depose , or deprive the King , His Heirs , or Successors , from His , or their Royal Estate , or Title , or openly publish , or say , by express words , or saying , That any other person , or persons other then the King , His Heirs or Successors , of right ought to be , &c. These be words of higher nature , than those charged upon himself ; and yet the first offence is made but loss of Goods , and Imprisonment ; for the second , loss of Lands , Goods , and Imprisonment ; the third time is only made Treason . He added , That their Lordships will never think these words , being flym-flam , that pass in a negligent manner betwixt Man and Man , shall ever be brought to be Treason . And , whereas 25 E. 3. hath these words , When a Man doth Compass , or Imagine the death of our Lord the King. The very words are mentioned in 1 E. 6. When a man doth compass , or imagine , by open Preaching , &c. to Depose the King. And the first Statute provides , That if a Man shall compass the Death of the King , and be not thereof attainted by open Deed , it is not Treason . And , the Statute of H. 4. and 1 Mar. concurr with this , and shew , That the intent of these was to take away the danger the Subject might incurr , if bare words should be brought against him as Treason . And , it hath been the Wisdom of their Lordships noble Ancestors , and this State , that they have alwayes endeavoured to conclude the danger that may fall on the Subject by Treason , that it might be limited and bounded , and that it might be so understood as to be avoided ; and , he hopes , we shall never be so improvident , as to sharpen this two-edged Sword against our selves , and the faces of our Posterity , and to let the Lion loose to tear us all in pieces ; for , if way be given to Arbitrary Treason , and to the Wits of Men , to work upon it , to prejudice or question Life , it would be very dangerous . And , he believes , That in this Hall there would be Actions of Treason that would fly as familiarly up and down , as Actions of Trespass : and therefore since by the goodness of our King , and the wisdom of our Ancestors , we have been thus provided for , why we should entangle our selves into the straights they could not endure , but endeavoured , by all means , to free themselves from the dangers that familiarly follow them , he cannot see . To the First Part of the 23 d Article , concerning the last Parliament , the Gentlemen have reserved themselves till to morrow , and therefore he shall not need to speak to that , and so there will remain nothing for him to Answer , but the last part of the Act , with the next Charge , concerning words spoken at the Council-Board , or at the Committee for Scotch Affairs , viz. That His Majesty having tried the Affections of His People , He was loose and absolved from all Rules of Government , and was to do every thing that Power would admit ; and , that His Majesty had tried all wayes , and was refused , and should be acquitted both before God and Man ; and that he had an Army in Ireland , which he might employ to reduce this Kingdom to Obedience . Concerning this particular , he says , he remembers not anything , but what Mr. Treasurer is pleased to speak of : And , whereas Mr. Treasurer , as concerning that part , said , He loves to speak the truth ; my Lord of Strafford said , He doubts not but he doth , for that we should all do , he is sure of it ; But , Mr. Treasurer has reversed his Testimony , in saying , that he will not speak to the very words themselves , but to these , or words to the like effect ; and , if he be not mistaken , and to the best of his remembrance , That , His Majesty having tryed all wayes , and being refused , in this extream necessity , and , for the safety of the Kingdom , and People , He might do , &c. And , that Your Majesty hath an Army in Ireland , which You may employ ( there , he said at first ) And afterwards ( which You may employ to this Kingdom . ) And , he saith , he doth not interpret these words , but gives the words clearly and plainly , as my Lord of Northumberland hath declared , and that it was soon after the Dissolution of the last Parliament , to his best remembrance , and at the Committee of 8 ; and , he thinks , my Lord spake them positively , or something to that effect . Now , whereas he calls in to his aid my Lord of Northumberland , under favour , my Lord of Northumberland declared no such words , but absolutely denies , in his Examination , that he ever heard my Lord of Strafford mention the reducing of England by an Irish Army : It is true , my Lord of Northumberland goes thus far , That he hath heard him say something , whereby he might conceive , there was intended some Course of raising Moneys by extraordinary wayes . And , that my Lord of Strafford confesses is very true , for , if it were by borrowing 3 or 400000 l. it is an extraordinary way ; the Kings Revenue could not serve these occasions , there must be other wayes , and Loan was one , and that fair , and honourable , and just . So then , as to this Testimony , the Defendant offers to their Lordships , that he hath examined my Lord of Northumberland , and he knows no such thing ; He hath examined my Lord Marquiss of Hamilton , and his Lordship is pleased to say , He remembers no such thing at the Committee of 8. He desired my Lord Treasurer might be Examined to the same Words . The L. Treasurer being Asked , Whether ever he heard my Lord of Strafford in any private Council , or Debate with the King , tell him the said words ? He Answered , That he never heard my Lord speak those words of the Irish Army , nor any thing like it ; and he repeated , That he never heard his Lordship speak it in the manner proposed , nor any thing like it . Being Asked ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) Whether he ever heard my Lord of Strafford say , The King was loose , and Absolved from all Government ? He Answered , That he desired time to consider of that . He remembers not any such thing , but he reserves himself for that . Being Asked on the like motion , Whether he heard my Lord of Strafford say any thing to that purpose , That the Parliament had deserted , or forsaken the King ? He Answered , That he remembers not that he heard any such thing . Lord Cottington being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Whether he heard my Lord of Strafford say such words , That the King had an Army in Ireland , and he might employ them to reduce this Kingdom ? He Answered , That he hath heard the Question heretofore , and is very confident he did never hear him say it in his hearing ; and , that he hath a great deal of Reason to be confident of it . Being Asked ( on Mr. Maynards Motion ) Whether he heard my Lord of Strafford say , That the King was Absolved , or Loose from all Rules of Government , or words to that effect ? He Answered , That , as he takes it , he hath been Asked to that Question too ; and , he thinks , he never heard the words , for it was ( as he thinks ) a very absurd Proposition , and he should not have heard it with patience . Being Asked , on the like motion , Whether he heard him say , The Parliament had forsaken , or denyed , or deserted the King , or words to that effect ? He Answered , That for saying , The Parliament had not provided for the King , The Parliament was ended , and had not provided for the King ; and , That the Parliament had not provided , or left the King without Money ; It is very probable he did say it ; and , he thinks , he did so , for it was the truth . Being Asked , Whether he said , The Parliament had denyed the King ? He Answered , That what his words were , It is a hard matter for him to say ; That he said , The Parliament had denyed , or left the King , he will not Swear . Being Asked , on like motion , Whether he perswaded the King that he was to be supplyed in extraordinary wayes ? He Answered , That he cannot Swear that neither . Where Mr. Maynard observed , That my Lord of Strafford himself granted , and yet that 's forgotten . To which my Lord Cottington Answered , That if the Gentlemen would have heard him out , he should have given good satisfaction . He hath been Examined , Whether my Lord of Strafford used these words , Extraordinary wayes ; and he cannot say he did ; but he hath heard him say , The King ought to seek out all due and legal wayes , and to employ His Power , and Authority , and Prerogative , Castè & Candidè , he remembers these words very well . For close of his Defence to these words , That His Majesty had an Army in Ireland to reduce this Kingdom , witnessed by Mr. Treasurer . My Lord of Strafford said , Mens memories are weak , and the best may be mistaken , or misremember , and may think one man says that which another man says , or that a man says that , which in truth he did not say , as it is in this Case . Their Lordships have had all the light that is possible for him the Defendant to give them . My Lord of Northumberland being examined on oath , sayes , he remembers not the words . My Lord Marquis Hamilton remembers them not . My Lord Treasurer of England remembers neither that , nor any thing like it ; My Lord Cottington remembers no such thing , and is well assured , he never heard him say any such thing . Here are all that are left of the Committee , save my Lord of Canterbury , and him ( the Defendant ) cannot examine , otherwise he would . Secretary Windebank is a little too far off to be heard at this time , and if their Lordships could ask him , whether the Defendant ever spake the words , on the faith of a Christian and a Gentleman , he will take his oath , he doth not think nor believe he ever spake them , but believes as constantly , as possible can be , that he never spake them ; He would be loath to swear he did not , it being so long since : But when his words shall more particularly , and specially be remembred by another man , than by himself , he must commend that memory , that observed what he said , so perfectly , as to be able to give a better account of them than himself , the party that spake the words , or any man in the company besides . My Lord further insisted , That this concerns him very nearly , for it would be a grievous charge that is on him by this means ( though not in the intendment ) of the Gentleman that urges it , who ( he hopes wishes him well ) if he should be thought to be an overthrower of the Liberties of the Subject by a foreign Army . However , it is a single Testimony , and no more , and that single Testimony ( without any prejudice to the Testimony ) cannot rise in Judgement against him ; Nay , he cannot be Indicted nor Arraigned of High Treason for it , by the Statutes of 1 E. 6. Ca. 12. the last Proviso of it , in these words . BE it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid , That no Person or Persons after the First day of February next coming , shall be Indicted , Arraigned , Condemned , or Convicted of any offence of Treason , Petty-Treason , or Misprision of Treason , or any words before specified , after the First day of February , for which the said Offender or Speaker shall suffer any pain of Death , Imprisonment , Loss , Forfeiture of Goods , Lands , or Tenements , unless the said Offender , or Speaker , be accused by two sufficient and lawful Witnesses , orshall willingly without violence confess the same . And if their Lordships will give leave to consider the first part of the words , being fairly and indifferently interpreted , and with the secret reservations , men ought to speak things withal ( for we ought to think just things , and that men will do nothing but fairly , and these are conditions implyed , when we speak of the Sacred Majesty of Kings ) let that be implyed , it could not be High Treason to tell the King , That having tryed the affections of his people , he was loose and absolved from all rules of Government ; that is , all ordinary rules , and was to do every thing that Power would admit ; that is , that Power would lawfully admit , and that His Majesty had tryed all just and Honourable ways , and was refused , and should be acquitted both of God and men . The last words , That the King had an Army in Ireland , which he might imploy to reduce this Kingdom , he denies ; and if the other words be fairly interpreted with the reservations granted a man in that case , being spoken of so great a person as the King , nothing in them can turn so much to the prejudice of the Speaker . But he desires leave to offer the Antecedents and Consequents of all that he said in Council , whereupon this is gathered ; and then they find the Case otherwise stated , than as it is strained in the Charges . God forbid any man should be judged for words taken by pieces , here a word and there a word , where the Antecedent and Consequents are left out , for then Treason may be fetcht out of every word a man speaks ; as for example , If one asks him whether he will go to such a place , he tells him by way of Answer , He will kill the King as soon ; the other swears , he said , he would kill the King ; it is very true indeed , but if the other words be added , it will then imply , That he will be sure not to kill the King , and therefore he will be sure not to goe to the place . And if the words be taken together , he puts the Case thus ; In case of absolute necessity , and upon a foreign Invasion of an enemy , when the enemy is either actually entred , or ready to enter , and when all other ordinary means fail , in this case there is a Trust left by Almighty God in the King , to employ the best and uttermost of his means , for the preserving of himself and his people , which , under favour , he cannot take away from himself . And as this did precede these words , so there were divers restrictions added to them ; for he says , this must be done only , and upon no other pretence whatsoever , but for the preservation of the Common-wealth , that it must be done Candidè , & Castè , That if it were done on any other pretence whatsoever , than clearly and fairly , for preserving the Common-wealth , that would prove it to be oppressive and injurious , which otherwise rightly employed , would become a Pious and Christian King ; and that when the present danger of the Common-wealth was , by the Wisdom , and Courage , and Power of the King prevented , and the publique Weal secured ; In a time proper and fit , the King was obliged to vindicate the Property and Liberty of the Subject from any ill prejudice , that might fall from such a Precedent ; and until the Prerogative of the Crown , and Liberty of the Subject are so bounded , that they may be rightly understood by King and People , ( which cannot be without a Parliament ) His Majesty and they can never look to be happy . Now if he shall make this appear to be true ( as he hopes he shall ) then he conceives he states their Lordships a quite different question , from that brought against him in the Charge , and brings an opinion so concluded , and shut up with restrictions , and with necessity , and with unavoidable danger that were otherwise to fall on the Common-wealth , as he trusts , cannot bring any manner of ill consequence whatsoever publiquely or privately to any Creature . For this purpose , he desired the favour to examine some of the Noble Lords present , and that First , the examinations of my Lord of Northumberland might be read , and they were read accordingly . To the Third Interrogatory he saith , That the Earl of Strafford declared his opinion , That His Majesty might use his power when the Kingdom was in danger , or unavoidable necessity , or words to that effect . To the Fourth , That the said Earl did often say , That that power was to be used Candidè & Castè , and an account thereof should be given to the Parliament , that they might see it was only imployed to that use . To the Sixth , That the said Earl of Strafford said , That this Kingdom could not be happy , but by good agreement in Parliament , between the King and His People . My Lord of Strafford observed , That this was at the very same time , and let all the world judge , whether he had any intention to subvert the fundamental Laws of the Land , or no ? Next he desired my Lord Marquis of Hamilton might be examined to the Interrogatory my Lord of Northumberland was examined to . Marquis Hamilton examined to the said Interrogatory , ( viz. ) Whether the said Earl of Strafford delivering his opinion , how far the King might use a Power after the breach of the late Parliament , did not put the Case when there was an unavoidable necessity , upon actual Invasion , or an Enemies Army ready to enter the Land ? His Lordship Answered , That he hears the Question , and remembers the same Question was asked him formerly on his oath , when he was Deponed , and he then said as now , he could not call to mind what my Lord said in that point . Whether my Lord of Strafford did not say , That that Power was to be used Candidè & Castè , and if it were used for any other purpose , it would be unjust and oppressive ? His Lordship Answered , That he hath heard him use those words often to His Majesty , and on them , or immediately after , he declared his opinion , That it would never be happy in this Kingdom , till there be a right understanding between the King and his People , and that could not be , but by a Parliament . Whether he did not say at that time , That the present danger provided for , and all which setled , the King was bound to preserve the Liberty and Propriety of the Subject , from the prejudice of such a precedent ? His Lordship Answered , He remembers something of that , but cannot positively say , because he cannot tell what the precedent was . Being asked ( on Mr. Whitlock's motion ) what time he heard these words from my Lord of Strafford , in the said Second Question ? He Answered , professing that his memory is not good , and if it fails not him in this , he may boldly affirm , he heard my Lord of Strafford speak the words , both before , and since the Dissolution of the last Parliament . Being asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Whether His Majesty was pleased to declare to the Lords of the Council , That he had perfect and full intelligence , that the Scotch Army intended to march into England ? He Answered , he remembers very well His Majesty had frequent Advertisements of the Scots intentions to come into England , he knows it very well , and he had not done his duty if he had concealed it , for he was one of them that told him of it . Lord Goring being examined to the First and Second Question , proposed to my Lord Marquis . His Lordship Answered , That he remembers something to this purpose , and Candidè & Castè makes him call it to mind , but the particulars he cannot remember ; Candidè & Castè , for using the Kings Power , he hath heard often . Tho. German being examined to the same Question . Answered , That he would be very loath to say anything that doth not perfectly occurr to his remembrance ; he remembers that divers times at Council-Board , my Lord spake these words , Candidè & Castè , and he remembers them very perfectly , but what day and time , he remembers not ; but he remembers very perfectly , he heard my Lord of Strafford say , it must be on an urgent and unavoidable occasion , that any by-course should be taken , or put in practice , but what day and time he cannot tell ; To the exact words of the Interrogation he cannot say , but something to the sence , as he ( the Examinant ) delivers them . Being asked whether my Lord of Strafford hath not concluded , That things will not be right , till there be a right understanding between the King and his People , or words to that effect ? He Answered , That he thinks no man hath the Honor to sit at that Board , but will give him that Testimony , that he hath often spoken , That the greatest happiness that can occurr to the King and People , is the happy agreement and understanding between them . Being asked ( on Mr. Glyn's motion ) Whether those words were used before the Dissolution of the Parliament , or since ? He Answered , To his best remembrance before , yet he doth not deny but they may be said since , that he must leave to the Lords , whose memories serve better to distinguish times . The Lord Treasurer being examined to the First Question , proposed to my Lord Marquis . He Answered , That he doth not remember the discourse about his business . Being asked to the Question Nov. 2. proposed to the Lord Marquis . He Answered , That phraze of Candidè & Castè , he remembers very well , were used more than once ; but whether they were applyed to this particular , he cannot speak : He remembers my Lord used the words in such a sence , and the interpretation of them was chastly and honestly , but the other part he cannot remember . Being asked to the Question , Nov. 2. proposed to the Lord Marquis ? He Answered , That he remembers not any of it . Lord Cottington being examined to the Question Nov. 1. proposed to the Lord Marquis ? He Answered , That if his Deposition be looked upon , it will be found , he did say , my Lord put the Case so , and he now says it again , he the Examinant did declare , and understand that my Lord — Being asked to the Question Nov. 2. proposed to my Lord Marquis ? He Answered , That he thinks he hath answer'd this already ; he remembers the words Candidè & Castè , and that the Power the King had for the preservation of Himself , His Crown , Posterity , and People , ought to be used Candidè & Castè , in all fair and just ways . Being asked whether my Lord of Strafford did not say , That the King was bound after the present danger provided for , to free the Subject in Propriety and Liberty , from the prejudice of such a precedent ? He Answered , That he said the necessity being past , and the work done , the King ought to repair it , and not to leave any precedent , to the prejudice of His People . Being asked , Whether my Lord did not say that in conclusion , all must be setled by Parliament , and till all the dispute betwixt the Prerogative of the Crown , and Liberty of the Subject be determined , neither King nor People should be happy ? He Answered , That he verily believes many of their Lordships have often heard him say it ; He hath heard my Lord say it to the King at the Council-Table . It hath been always his position , and to himself the Examinant , he hath said often , both before the last Parliament , and after it was broken ; and it was an ordinary discourse to His Majesty , That His Majesty could not be happy , till there were an happy Union betwixt Himself and the Parliament , and the Prerogative and Liberty of the Subjects were determined . And my Lord of Strafford desired to have so much benefit of their Lordships Justice , as to have the Examinations of my Lord Keeper , ( which are not yet come in to these points ) reserved . And now he said he had stated to their Lordships truly and justly the Question , concerning these words that are by pieces and paches charged ; and which ( taking the whole contexture of the Discourse , from the beginning to the ending ) represent them quite otherwise ( as he conceives ) than might seem to be enforced against him . He offered this further to their Lordships , That they see plainly and clearly proved , that at all times , and frequently , he hath presumed ( by His Majesties favour and good leave ) to express himself , how necessary it is , for the happiness of the King and People , that all these matters of difference should be setled and bounded , and that by Parliament : and that till they were so bounded , neither His Majesty nor they could be happy : so that it was far from going against the antient grounds of Government , that have been here setled in that singular Providence and Wisdom of our Ancestors ; and never shall he contribute any thing but to the maintainance and preservation of them , in all honest and honourable ways and means whatsoever ; and if these words were spoken with that moderation and qualification , that the Power to be used must be a lawful Power , and the ways to be taken lawful ways , they were no way subject to exception . Besides , there is one Argument that cleers the Intendment and meaning of the words , as he conceives , a great deal more prevalently , than if those words of lawful Power , and just and honourable ways , had been put in ; And that is , that nothing hath been done by the King or the Council , against the Laws and Customs of the Realm , in pursuance of them , where it hath been any breach on any Liberty or Propriety of the Subject ; What extraordinary Course hath been taken not warrantable by Law ? None that he knows of ; so that there being nothing but justly and fairly administred , the very Deed done , shews them to be spoken with that meaning , and so to be interpreted so much the rather , by how much doing well , is better than saying well ; And the worst that can be made of them , they are but words and no more ; and for the excuse of them , their Lordships well remember what he said concerning the Statute , they can never amount to Treason , and before they shall be brought to him in a Criminal Charge , he besought their Lordships to observe something he shall offer to them . These words charged on him , were not wantonly , or unnecessarily spoken , or whispered in a corner , but they were spoken in full Council , where he was by the duty of his Oath obliged , to speak according to his Heart and Conscience , in all things concerning the Kings service ; so that if he had forborn to speak what he conceived , for the benefit and advantage of the King and People ( as he conceived this to be ) he had been perjured towards God Almighty , and now it seems by the speaking of them , he is in danger to be a Traitor . If that necessity be put upon him , he thanks God , by his Blessing he hath learned not to stand in fear of him that can kill the Body ; but he must stand in fear of him that can cast Body and Soul into Eternal pain . And if that be the question , That he must be a Traitor to Man , or perjured to God , he will be faithful to his Creator ; and whatsoever shall befall him from a popular rage , or his own weakness , he must leave it to God Almighty , and to their Lordships Honor and Justice . Nothing is more common , than for a Counsellor to be of one opinion when he comes out of his Chamber , and to have that opinion he delivers , presently after confuted and cleared by the Wisdom and Prudence of his fellow-Counsellors , of better understanding than himself . And in this case ( when opinions are thus delivered , and when there are alterations of these opinions , upon the very debate ) that an opinion thus propounded , should rise in judgment , to convince a man of High Treason , it is very hard ; nay , it is to be thought , that this was the very case in this particular . The opinion was , according to his Heart and Conscience given , and for any thing appears to their Lordships , something was said at that Board by others , wiser than himself , that altered him in that opinion ; for there was never any thing moved by him , to reinforce that proposition , he rested quiet with it , he offered it not again ; there was never any thing done in pursuance of that advice , either by himself , or any body else , which shews he did not press it , but was rather perswaded by better reason , that it was fit to be let alone . An opinion may make an Heretick , but he never heard before , that Opinion should make a Traitor . And though opinions may make an Heretick , yet they must be held pertinaciously , and against the light of a mans own conscience ; here no pertinacy appears , no contestation , nothing done against the light of his Heart and Conscience , nothing of Obstinacy , Frowardness , and Perverseness ; but simply ( simply indeed in all respects ) he did in the duty of his place , deliver his opinion modestly and fairly , and when he had done there , he left it , and persued it no further : so that such an Opinion as this , would not have made an Heretique , much less a Traitor . In the last place , he humbly beseeches their Lordships not to make themselves so unhappy , as to disable themselves and their Children , from undergoing the great Charge and Trust of the Common-wealth . Their Lordships have it from their Fathers , they are born to great thoughts , and are nursed up for the great and weighty imployments of the Kingdom ; and God forbid that any but themselves , Caeteris paribus , should have this great Trust , that their Birth and Breeding , and Ranks procure for them , under the Kings Goodness . But let this be admitted , That a Counsellor delivering his opinion under an oath of Secresie and Faithfulness at Council-Table Candidè & Caste with others , shall upon his mistaking , or not knowing of the Law , be brought into question , and every word that passeth from him , out of a sincere and noble intention , shall be drawn against him , for the attainting and convicting himself , his Children , and Posterity ; under favour , after this shall be so , he doth not know any wise and noble person of fortune , that will upon such perilous and unsafe terms , adventure to be a Counsellor to the King : and therefore if their Lordships put these hard strains , and tortures upon those that are the Counsellors of State to His Majesty , when they speak nothing but according to their Hearts and Consciences , ( for we that are not of the profession of the Law , are not bound to speak the Law , we can tell what in our Hearts and Consciences we conceive Honourable and Just , but what 's legal , is another mans business . ) This shall disable their Lordships from those great Imployments , to which their Birth and Thoughts do breed them , and make them more uncapable than any other inferior Subjects : And therefore he beseeches their Lordships to look on him so , that his misfortune may not bring an inconvenience upon themselves . And so he besought their Lordships to pardon what he had said , with a great deal of disorder , and if their Lordships take him into consideration , they will find that nothing hath appeared in him , but what is Honest , Just , and Faithful to King and People ; though they were not so advised and discreet , and well weighed as they ought to be , yet he hoped their Lordships are so Honourable and Good , as not to lay their charge to him as High Treason . To the 24th Article , he said he made no Answer , there being nothing spoken to it ; And so he concluded his Defence to these Articles . Mr. Whitlock did thereunto Reply in substance as followeth . That their Lordships have heard with a great deal of patience , this long Defence made by my Lord of Strafford , and desired the like patience from their Lordships , in hearing the Reply , which he doubts not but they shall obtain , and give a clear Answer to all my Lord of Strafford hath spoken in his own Defence ; and how that it comes not at all to excuse him in this case . My Lord is pleased to make it his suit , that their Lordships will not be guided by enforcement of words against him , but by the words themselves ; and that Mr. Whitlock desired likewise , presuming that their Lordships will not be guided by my Lord of Straffords interpretation of these words to another sence , than the words bear , but judge according to the clear understanding , and common signification of them , further than which he will not strain them . Whereas my Lord excuses his words , that the Demands by the Scotch in their Parliament , were a sufficient ground of War , because he gave no other opinion than the rest of the Council then did ; their Lordships may be pleased to observe , That my Lord Traquair testifies , that some of the Council wereof another opinion at that time , and that these words were spoken before the reason of those Demands were given ; and that there was a clear difference betwixt my Lord of Straffords advice , and the advice of the rest : It is evident by the opinion delivered by him long before that time in sentencing of Mr. Stuart in Ireland , where , after the pacification , he was pleased to call the Scots Rebels and Traitors , and that he would root them out Stock and Branch that took not the Oath ; And he said in his Answer , That when he came out of Ireland into England , he found the affairs of Scotland so distempered , that he thought fit to reduce the Kings Subjects there by force . His Lordship says , That if the Demands struck at the root of Government , then it was fit to say , they should be reduced by force ; But the words were spoken before the reasons of the Demands were known , and before he could know how they could be warranted by the Laws of that Kingdom ; and it is part of the Charge of the House of Commons , That he said They struck at the root of Government , which it appears they did not ; for those very Demands , against which my Lord of Strafford delivered his opinion , are since enacted by the Parliament of Scotland , and confirmed by His Majesties Royal Authority in the Treaty , which is very well known to divers of their Lordships sitting here . My Lord sayes , It was first resolved a War should be had ; and then , for him to debate , Whether an Offensive or Defensive War , is no Crime : but , that receives a clear Answer ; for , it was his Resolution , his Advice , That there should be a War , and an Offensive War ; which shewes his Design against the Kingdom of Scotland . My Lord labours to prove , That the seising of the Scotch Ships was not by his Warrant , but by Warrants otherwise procured . That was not insisted on in the Charge , and therefore they will not insist upon it in the Reply , there is enough besides . My Lord is further pleased to say , That there is no substantial or concluding proofe of his intent , that the Parliament should be only called , to try whether there would be supply given or no ; and , that is only deposed by my Lord Primate , a single Testimony : But , my Lord Primate concurs with others , in the same sence and meaning . To my Lord Conwayes Testimony , my Lord sayes , That , for the King to help Himself , is a Natural Motion , and proper to every one : But , the other words of my Lord Conwayes Testimony , That the King might help and supply Himself , though it were against the will of His Subjects , must be understood , not of a Natural , but a violent motion , and it appears to be my Lord of Straffords Design to have it so . He comes to the Testimony of my Lord Treasurer , and sayes , That doth not at all touch him , that he promised to assist the King in any other way , in case the Parliament did not succeed . But , this proves his intent , That if the Parliament were dissolved ( as he was willing it should , as it will afterwards appear ) he would assist the King in any other way whatsoever : He took a good Pattern , Stare super vias antiquas , and we shall prove that too ; but , this was not via antiqua of Parliaments , to propose Supplies in the first place , and to put off consideration of grievances , to urge nothing but to give to the King ; and , before a Resolution , whether they would give or not , to informe against the Parliament by Misinformation . My Lord mentions the Declaration of the House of Commons in Ireland , concerning the giving of Four Subsidies for the Kings supply of the War with Scotland , which is in the Charge , but was not insisted upon ; But , by shewing this , my Lord of Strafford hath procured that which is likewise in the Charge , That the Parliament of Ireland did engage themselves in the War against Scotland , and by the Preamble of his Answer , This was in my Lord of Straffords Knowledge , and may be easily proved to be by his Procurement , being the Chief Governor there . He sayes , That had he ever entertained such thought , as the words proved , import , he should give Judgment against himself : But , as no mans thoughts can be proved but by his words and actions , so the words proved do manifest , that his thoughts were no other , and shew clearly his intention , to bring in an Army on us to reduce this Kingdom . My Lord calls Sir Robert Kings Testimony a Report on a Report ; and , sayes the like of the Testimony of my Lord Ranalagh , which shall be answered , when he comes to lay the whole matter together , according to the course of opening the Articles . Diverse Witnesses his Lordship produces , to prove , that the 8000 Foot raised in Ireland , were designed for Scotland , and particularly for the Town of Aire , which is very improbable ; for that Town ( as was informed , and will be proved ) was , at that time , very well fortified ; and the Coasts thereof , and the Haven so barred , and narrow , that one of my Lord of Straffords own Witnesses says , there could be no probability of Landing an Army there : The like may be said of the Frith of Dunbarton , that was Fortified long before . And , if their Lordships repair to some part of my Lord of Straffords Answer , where he sayes , they were to be landed in some places near the Country of my Lord of Argile , to divert him : These places are so far from his Country , and such Armes of the Sea , and unpassable Mountains are interposed , that they could not be landed there with any intention to go to Argyles Country . But , admit there were a primary intention of this Army in some part of Scotland , the Witnesses speak onely to what was intended before the Army was raised ; But , when the Army was on foot , my Lord of Straffords intention might be changed , and it seems it was ; for he laboured to perswade His Majesty , to make use of it to reduce this Kingdom . He sayes , The Testimony touching Sir George Wentworths words is single , and spoken by his Brother , and could not reach him ; but , though one Witness testifies the words , yet it may be made appear to their Lordships , that presently after the words spoken , Sir Tho. Barrington related them to other Gentlemen , who are ready to testifie , that he so related them . But , their Lordships seeming satisfied in that point , directed him to proceed . Next my Lord Discourses of my Lord of Bristols Testimony , and the differences of opinion between them , touching the summoning of a Parliament . But , my Lord of Bristol proves the following words , That the King was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness of His People , &c. and , to these , no Answer is given . To which , Mr. Whitlock said , he would further answer in the General Reply ; And so for the words proved by my Lord of Newbrough , my Lord of Holland , and diverse other Noble Lords of this House . My Lord of Strafford was pleased to mention the Statute of 1 E. 6. ca. 12. where , to compass by Preaching , or saying , to deprive the King is not for the first offence Treason , though words of a more transcendent and high nature ; and hence he inferr'd , that the words charged on him are not Treason . But that Statute is onely of Treasons spoken of the King , but not of Words and Counsels , that advise the thing to be done ; And , there is no Question , but at this day , for any man to Advise and Counsel the Destruction of the King , is High-Treason , notwithstanding that Statute . These words charged on my Lord , are a Declaration of his intention , to subvert the Laws and Government of the Kingdom , and , the use made of the words , is not , that they are in themselves Treason , but as they prove that intention . But , this is the work of another time , being matter of Law , and therefore Mr. Whitlock said , he would say no more to it now , neither doth it require his Answer , nor is it at all to this business . My Lord did much insist on it , that there was no mention by any of the Lords that were of the Committee for the Scotch Affairs , concerning the words of bringing the Army out of Ireland , to reduce this Kingdom , diverse of their Lordships being to that point examined : But , Mr. Treasurer Swears in the Affirmative , he heard the words spoken ; and , when they come to sum up the rest of these words , and applying them to this , shew the dependance they have one upon another , their Lordships will see plainly , that must be his intention , and that there could be no other interpretation of his words : It is possible , for some that were at the Council , not to hear the words , and yet that disproves not a Witness , that sayes in the Affirmative , he did hear the words . And , though some of my Lords do not remember some other passages , as , That His Majesty was loose , and absolved from all Rules of Government , yet that is proved by two Witnesses ; and , though the rest remember them not , yet that stands clearly proved . Other things , which some of their Lordships did not remember , were proved by three Witnesses : Whence it may be deduced , that , what Mr. Treasurer deposes is to be believed , though some of my Lords that were present did not remember it . By making a sum and Collection of the words , and comparing one with another , it will appear very clear , that my Lord of Straffords intention was , to bring in that Army to reduce this Kingdom . And first , their Lordships will remember the words that passed betwixt Sir George Rateliffe , and Sir Robert King ; and , the Relation between my Lord of Strafford and Sir George Ratcliffe ; And , before my Lord of Strafford came out of Ireland , he gave direction to Sir George Ratcliffe ; and afterwards , on a Discourse , Sir Robert saying , how my Lord of Strafford , and how the said Sir George Ratcliffe had least cause to desire a War ; Sir George replyed , We are ingaged ( not himself onely ) but We ( speaking of my Lord of Strafford ) are ingaged in a War : and , Sir George sayes further , that the King hath 30000 Men , and 400000 l. in his Purse , and a Sword by His Side , and if he wanted Money , who would pity Him ? which cannot be intended but by raising of Money on the Subjects of England . But besides , their Lordships may remember the expression of my Lord Ranalaugh , and Sir Robert King , that these Forces were intended to be used for raising Moneys here ; and , that my Lord of Strafford offers to sell his Land in Ireland . Besides , his Brother said , the Commonwealth is sick of Peace , and would not be well till it was Conquer'd again , which must imply Force , and an Army to do it . It is a Proof of my Lord of Straffords intention , that a Parliament should be summon'd to give Supply , and , if not , that then it should be Dissolved , and other Courses should be taken ; My Lord Primates Deposition is , that , in case of necessity , His Majesty might use His Prerogative , might levy what he needed , only first it was fit to try the Parliament , and , if that succeeded not , then to use his Prerogative as he pleases . My Lord Conway proves the same Intention ; my Lord of Strafford saying to him , That if the Parliament supplied not the King , His Majesty would be acquitted before God and Men , if he took some other course to supply himself , though against the will of His Subjects ; And , it cannot be intended to be against their will , but it must be by force ; for , if it be with their will , it is voluntary . And Mr. Treasurer proves , that my Lord would be ready to serve the King any other way ; that is , by Force , by Armes , or any way whatsoever . Their Lordships may remember his words to His Majesty , That the Parliament had denyed to supply Him ; that they had forsaken Him ; which was onely to incense His Majesty against Parliaments . He told my Lord of Bristol , in that Discourse with him , that His Majesty was not to suffer Himself to be Mastered with the frowardness and undutifulness of His People : and , if His Majesty was not to suffer Himself to be Mastered by them , but to Master them , it cannot be , but by strength of others . My Lord of Holland proves more fully ( and my Lord of Newbrough concurs with him ) that His Majesty had an Advantage , to supply Himself other wayes , because the Parliament had denyed to supply Him : And there be no other wayes ( save Parliament-wayes ) but extraordinary , and illegal wayes . My Lord of Strafford hath much laboured , to answer and qualifie the last words , but he comes short of it ; And those words are as fearful , and of as high a nature , as can be expressed by a Subject , and by a Counsellor to his Soveraign . The first part of the said last words , are clearly proved by the Testimony of my Lord of Northumberland and Mr. Treasurer , That the King had tryed His People , and was Absolved from all Rules of Government : That He was to do all that Power would admit , that he had tryed all wayes and was refused , and should be acquitted before God and men . The latter part Mr. Treasurer onely reaches to , that His Majesty had an Army in Ireland , which He might imploy to reduce this Kingdom : and comparing these words with the former , if the King be absolved from all Rules of Government , Which way can that Power be used , but by bringing in an Army , the latter words being dependant and consequent to the former ? and , if they be compared together , and sum'd up , their Lordships will be satisfied , that this was the intention of my Lord of Strafford , to bring an Army out of Ireland into this Kingdom to reduce it , and that his purpose was , by a strong hand , to compel the Subjects of the Kingdom , to submit to an Arbitrary Power , and whatsoever should be imposed on them . And whereas my Lord makes it a great part of his excuse , that nothing was executed , upon this Counsel , we must give humble thanks to His Majesty , for if his Counsel might have taken place , no doubt but that had been done , which was laboured and advised to be done ; But a Gracious Sovereign would not take hold on those Counsels , but rejected them , as to that , though so much was done on other Counsels , and Misinformations of my Lord of Strafford , as my Lord of Strafford will never be able to justifie . That nothing is done , is no excuse to him , It is an Obligation to the Kings Subjects , the more to Love and Honor him ; But , it shews clearly , my Lord of Straffords intention , if it might have taken place , to have changed the Lawes , to have brought an Army upon us , and , by them , Compel us to submit to an Arbitrary Power . And , so Mr. Whitlock concluded , that he should trouble their Lordships no further at this time , having answered most of the things my Lord of Strafford hath insisted on , and if he hath forgotten them , he hopes he shall be holpen by some of his Colleagues ; But , he supposes , it appeares clearly , that my Lord of Straffords intentions were , to subvert the Laws , to set a Division betwixt the King and His People ; and , though His Lordship is pleased to make something slight of it , as not to be matter of Treason ; yet , this compared with his other Actions , declaring his Intention and Designs , it proves it not onely to be Crimen laesae Majestatis , but also Reipublicae . Mr. Maynard seconded Mr. Whitlock and said , That something he should presume to add , My Lord of Strafford excuses himself , because he was not alone in the Council against Scotland ; Thus far he was alone , the rest concluded upon a Hipothetical proposition : if the Demands were unreasonable , then a War was fit . But , in two Propositions he was a lone ; First , That before the Reasons were heard , the unreasonable Demands of Subjects in Parliament , were a sufficient ground for the King , to put Himself into a Posture of War ; And Secondly , That these Demands were not matter of Religion , but struck at the Root of Government . And , when he Answers that Point , he takes it for granted , That if he sayes they struck at the Root of Government , the Resolution was just . In his Defence , he insists upon two things , matter of Excuse , and matter of weakning of the Testimonies produced . For the matter of Excuse , of what he said to the King in private , it was testified onely by one , who was then present , and at other times in Council , viz. That there would be no happiness till there was a good Agreement betwixt King and People . Whence Mr. Maynard observed , That they think not , that all he spake is nought ; but , they produce Proofes , that he did speak nought ; they think him not so unwise upon all occasions , to speak words of so high a Consequence : He hath taken another course to weaken their Testimonies ; and , nothing is so strong , but ( if that course be allowed that he uses ) it will take off the strength of it . Mr. Maynard said , He hath heard of breaking a thing to pieces , by taking to pieces , and if my Lord of Strafford shall take every parcel of the proof , and say this is a single Testimony , This is matter of discourse ; This I speak at my Table ; This in my Chamber ; taking them asunder , he may answer them asunder : But if he hath in his Chamber , and at Counsel , and in Bed , and on all occasions presumed to run so high on the Liberty of the Subject , and then think , that because he speaks sometimes good words , all must be paistered up ; he must give us leave to differ from him in that . The Witnesses say he spake the words Candidè & Castè , some speak to the occasion , most say they were spoken at several times , both before and after the Parliament , and if they must be applyed only to what is lawful , what need these Adverbs to make it good ? Truly he may say it was done Cautè , it was not done Castè in this Cause . For that my Lord hath said , divers Witnesses were by , and heard not the words deposed by Mr. Treasurer , What Argument is this ? That when divers are by , that which divers do not remember is not true ? My Lord confesses himself sometimes , that Witnesses do not remember all things , therefore it may be true , that something may be spoken , which Witnesses remember not , else he confesses against himself which is not true . There be other things wherein the Witnesses do concurr , and that my Lord speaks not to , though he speaks to that which my Lord of Northumberland and the rest do not remember : and therefore it is no argument to say , some were by and heard not what was spoken . The sum of the Case will come to this , There was a Parliament sitting , he a little before casts out words , about raising Money , where he must have Adverbs to make it good ; he must raise Money in an extraordinary way , the Parliament is broken , and a necessity is made , and Soldiers must be brought in , to make good these ways : now take these asunder , and my Lord of Strafford will make it a good Action ; But as Mr. Maynard shewed , they conceive all my Lord of Strafford hath done , ended in that design ; he began it before he came over ; and though they believe His Majesty designed it for Scotland , they speak not what His Majesty meant , but what my Lord of Strafford counselled , that is the thing he is charged with . And whereas his friends , and those nearest him , spoke of this Fire that hath burst out , he sayes , this concerns him not ; Indeed he is very unhappy , if his Brother , or bosome friend must be the man that must accuse him . But Noscitur ex Comite qui non cognoscitur ex se. It comes out of his own mouth , and his friends expressions . When Sir George Ratcliffe is asked how Money will be had ? He Answered , We will make peace with the Scots , and that is the worst of evils . Surely , he that thought a Peace betwixt the two Nations the worst of evils , deserves not the applause that hath been given him in this place ; And if that comes to pass , this must have relation to that of which he spake , which is the levying of Money by force , the King hath 30000 Men , and 400000 l in his Purse , and a Sword by his side , and if he wants Money , who would pity him ? Lastly , My Lord of Strafford came to speak of their Lordships priviledge , that if words spoken in Council should be pressed , it would bring a disability on their Noble Lordships , to enter into those imployments ; but , that can be no excuse , to say , that he must take notice of things honourable ; and , for every thing that a Man speaks at Council , he must not be brought into Question . It is not every thing , nor every thing that is illegal , that is brought into Question ; But , if he advise to bring an Army on us , to Master all we have , and he must not be questioned , Where then are their Lordships Priviledges ? and , Who knows how soon there may be no difference betwixt a Peer and another ? In all this Defence , my Lord of Strafford hath not offered any Defence for the Scandal which he put upon the last Parliament ; which , to the last breath , to the last minute of their Continuance , did advise and consult of the Supply of His Majesty : yet , he calls this , a denying of the King ; a forsaking of the King ; an undutiful stubborness ; and , what else his high Speech and Eloquence pleases , to misconstrue their Actions with . To that Stat. 1 E. 6. Mr. Maynard said , He shall not need to give any further Answer ; for , if it be looked to , it will appear nothing to concern this Case , there being great difference between words spoken with relation to action ; For , these be Counsels , and if a Man shall Counsel the death of the King , Will any Man doubt whether this be Treason ? surely no man will doubt it , that knowes the Laws of England . The Treason is not in his words , but in his wicked Counsels : For ( under favor ) if it be true that he spake them , they may be called wicked ; and , that it is true , they have offered proof , and so he left it to their Lordships . Mr. Glyn desired to add a word , it concerning the Kingdom and Peers ; Their Lordships observe , how my Lord of Strafford stands questioned for subverting of the Laws , and for designing to introduce an Arbitrary Government ; the other day his design appeared , in the exercising of a Tyrannical Power over the Persons , Estates , and Liberties of the Kings Subjects ; and , though a design was in practice , and something put in execution , yet there was something left , whereby that Treason might be raised to a higher strain ; For that proofs were produced the other day , the exercise of this Tyrannical power in his person , which was the stopping of the Streams of Justice , but , the Fountain of Justice was still uncorrupted , and hope left , and God be thanked we have hope still . But , this dayes work is to prove , That he ascended the Throne , and , by his ill Counsels , the Venome he had hatcht in his own heart , he endeavored to infuse into the Kings Person , to make Him of the same opinion with himself ; and that is to endeavor to corrupt the Fountain ; But , God be thanked he hath met with a Gracious King , upon whom he cannot prevaile . The words laid to his Charge , are very many ; That he should tell the King , he was Absolved from all Rules of Government , and , that he had an Army in Ireland , which he might employ to reduce this Kingdom : The latter part of the words he hath endeavoured to answer , and the former part proved by positive Witnesses , which he hath not given answer to . For the latter , that concerns the Irish Army , Mr. Glynn said , He shall not need to put their Lordships in mind of any thing said ; but whereas my Lord sayes , They are proved by one Witness only , if your Lordships revise their Notes , they shall find them prov'd by many Witnesses . When he was not accused by the Commons , he tells Sir William Pennyman at York , he did intend to bring the Army into England , but there was Vox populi , and that 's a horrid Witness . My Lord Cottington , one of the Honourable persons present , when the words were spoken , testifies to their Lordships , That he remembers my Lord of Strafford told the King , That after things were setled , he was bound to repair the property of the Subject , and this , under favour , proves something ; for if some Counsel and advice were not given , that there should be an invasion on the property , what should engage him to tell the King , he should restore it ? Here my Lord Cottington explained himself , saying , That his meaning was , he hath often heard my Lord say , The King and People would never be happy , till there was a good agreement . Mr. Glynn proeceded , that if their Lordships please to look on my Lord of Straffords Interrogatory , they shall find it asked his Lordship , Whether he did not tell the King , that he should make restitution of the Subjects propertie , when the danger was over ; and why should his Conscience aske such a question , unless there were Counsel given , to invade the propriety of the Subject ? Your Lordships remember the words of Sir George Wentworth , ( which Mr. Glynn said he will not repeat ) and when my Lord was fixed by the words of his Brother , he said , That tho he be my Brother , I do not use to communicate my Counsels to him , and that I am on my oath to conceal ; yet this great Counsel he did impart to Mr. Slingsby for his own purpose , and to Sir William Pennyman . And so having spoken to the latter part of the words , ( the reducing of the Subjects of England by the Irish Army ) to shew that it stands not only on a single proof , but if the whole be recollected together , there be many things concurring to the positive proof thereof . Mr. Glynn put their Lordships in mind of the other words , to which two great Witnesses concurr , and no Answer at all is given , viz. That the Parliament denyed Supply , and the King is loose , and absolved from all rules of Government ; put the other words out of doors ( as they are not ) if the King be loose from all rules of Government , is he not loose to doe what he will ? And Mr. Glynn added , That he must needs give Answer to something , that fell from my Lord , concerning other words , that they were words of Discourse , and what he speaks at his Bed , or his Table , or in private Discourse , he thinks they should not be brought against him . But Mr. Glynn besought their Lordships to remember , that if my Lord speaks the words as a Privy Counsellor speaking to the King , concerning the Subjects property , compare these words with the other Extermination , and then see what the Case is . The last thing in his Defence , is as high as the Charge it self . He is charged , That being a Privy Counsellor , and entrusted by the King , and a man of such Eminence , he should indeavour to infuse into the Kings Sacred Person , such dangerous Counsels , tending to the destruction of the Law and Government , and consequently of King and Subject ; And in the close , my Lord of Strafford put their Lordships in mind , what a dangerous thing it is for one of the Kings Counsel , to be charged for Words spoken at Council-Table , to speak this in such a Presence before the Peers , and Commons of the Realm ; that a Privy Counsellor , who ought to be clear and candid , is not to be questioned , though he infuse dangerous Counsels . That it is justification of his own Act , and so great , that he knows not how my Lord could say greater ; and so he said , he hath no more to say , their Lordships had heard the Proofs and Defence , and comparing them together , he doubts not but their Lordships are satisfied , that the Commons had just cause to do what they have done . My L of Strafford desired to answer one thing , the Gentleman that spake last , said , touching his revealing the Kings Counsels to Mr. Slingsby and others ; he would be loth to be charged with breaking his Duty to God and the King , but where he hath Power and Liberty ; for as concerning the imployment of that Army , the King left it wholly to him , to acquaint whom he thought fit , for the bettering of the service . But the thing that makes him rise , is , to represent to their Lordships , that he hath been there constantly in a great deal of weakness and infirmity , since 7 or 8 of the clock , and now it is 5. That his Speech and Voice are spent , and it is not possible for him to come here to morrow ; and therefore he most humbly besought their Lordships , to give him the respit of a day , to restore his litle strength it shall please God to lend him , for he is not able to speak or stand . Which the Committee for the Commons House said , they should not oppose , if it stand with their Lordships pleasure . Mr. Pym did only add this , That if their Lordships please to observe my Lord of Straffords endeavours to prove divers mitigations of his words , some by Mr. Comptroller , and some others by my Lord Goring , But their Lordships may observe , that the words in the Charge were spoken at the Committee ; the words spoken of by Mr. Comptroller , were at the Council-Table , and therefore they are not the same , nor serve they for extenuation of words spoken at another time . And so the House was Adjourned , and appointed to meet again on Wednesday next . THE Five and Twentieth Article . The Charge . 25 THat not long after the Dissolution of the said last Parliament , ( viz. in the months of May and June ) he the Earl of Strafford , did advise the King to go on vigorously in levying the Ship-Money , and did procure the Sheriffs of several Counties to be sent for , for not levying the Ship-Money , divers of which were threatened by him , to be sued in the Star-Chamber , and afterwards by his Advice , they were sued in the Star-Chamber , for not levying the same , and divers of His Majesties loving Subjects were sent for and imprisoned by his advice , for that and other illegal payments . And a great Loan of One hundred thousand pounds was demanded of the City of London , and the Lord Mayor , and Sheriffs , and Aldermen of the said City , were often sent for by his Advice to the Council-Table , to give an account of their proceedings in raising of Ship-Money , and furthering of that Loan , and were required to certify the Names of such Inhabitants of the City , as were fit to lend , which they with much humility refusing to doe , he the said Earl of Strafford did use these , and the like speeches , viz. That they deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome , and that no good would be done with them , till an example were made of them , and that they were laid by the heels , and some of the Aldermen hanged up . April 7. 1641. Mr. Maynard proceeded to make good the Charge of the Commons of England , against the Earl of Strafford , touching High Treason , and said , They had already brought it so high , as they must needs acknowledge they cannot goe higher ; a Design being laid to introduce an Arbitrary Government , and Counsels given to maintain that , and to introduce it by force . They can goe no higher , unless those Counsels had unhappily succeeded ; but though those Counsels take not effect , yet the Principles whereby those Counsels were given , appear still to have remained . AND whereas my Lord of Strafford having these things proved against him by his Speeches , Opinions , and Counsels , pretends there was no such thing done , as if the goodness of others , would excuse the badness of his Counsels ; they shall shew what he did do in the succeeding Articles : And in the 25 th he proceeds , First , to advise His Majesty to go on vigorously with the Ship-Money , he procured the Sheriffs to be sent for , and sued in the Star-Chamber ; he sent for the Mayor and Aldermen , about the loan of 100000 l. and the furtherance of Ship-money ; and were told by him , That they deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome , &c. To prove the 25 th Article . The Lord Treasurer of England being Interrogated , What Advice my Lord of Strafford gave , touching the levying of Ship-Money ? His Lordship Answered , That he remembers my Lord of Strafford did advise , that they should go vigorously and effectually on with the getting of Ship-Money ; he takes the time to be , when as the Ship-Money came in very slowly , and they were enforced to take out of these Moneys that were provided , for the furnishing of the Army , divers great sums to set out a Fleet , which else would have staied still ; and my Lord of Strafford took no tice , That if it were not repaied , the Army would be destitute and unfurnished , and therefore advised as formerly , That the Ship-Money might go on vigorously , and the other Money be repaid again , for the use for which it was appointed , and it was after the breach of the last Parliament . Tho. Wiseman Sworn and Interrogated , what he heard my Lord of Strafford say , when the Aldermen of London were called to the Council-Table about the Ship-Money , and the Loan , and when it was ? He Answered , That for the time he cannot very well remember , and touching the Loan , he is able to say little ; But about the Ship-Money , he doth well Remember , that my Lord should say , they would never do their Duties well , till they were put to Fine and Ransome , meaning the Aldermen , that were then called before their Lordships , and this is as much as he can say . Being asked whether there were not words of laying by the heels , and what the words were ? He Answered , He should not fear to do it , My Lord of Strafford did say ( Whether on the Loan or Ship-Money , he is not able to remember ) You should doe well to be layed by the heels ; you shall have no good of this man till he be laid by the heels , and he ( the Examinant ) supposes it was meant of my Lord Mayor , who was then present , ( as he remembers ) and my Lord was there , and to his best remembrance , His Majesty was present . Earl of Barkshire being Sworn and Interrogated , What my Lord of Strafford counselled the King , touching the said matter of Loan ? His Lordship Answered , That he remembers His Majesty desired to borrow a sum of Money , and to give good security for it , and Interest after 8 per cent . on the sum . That the Aldermen were sent for , and commanded to give in to the King , the Names of those Men , that were most able within their several Wards , which they excusing themselves from doing ; my Lord of Strafford said : Gentlemen , in my opinion , you may be lyable to Fine and Ransome , for refusing the Kings Command on this occasion , for not certifying the Names ; and this is the effect of what he spake . Sir Henry Garaway being Sworn , and Interrogated , What my Lord of Strafford said to the Aldermen , about the Ship-Money and Loan-Money ? He Answered , That as he was Mayor of London in the last year , he was oftentimes commanded to attend the Council-Table , with the Sheriffs of London ; when they came about the Ship-Money , there came no body ( as he conceives ) but they and himself ; but when they came concerning the Loan , the whole Court of Aldermen came together . Concerning the Ship-Money , he confesses he found a great difficulty of it ; he could not tell which way to turn himself to levy the Money , to give the King satisfaction ; He acquainted His Majesty , That there were these difficulties in it , That of two years proceeding , not one halfe of the City of London had paid , and therefore the willing men that had paid the Money , thought it unequal some should pay , and some go free . And Secondly , he said it was the opinion of the City of London , That a Writ for Ship-Money , and a Writ for a Parliament did not agree well together , and for these reasons he found it very difficult : they were called up , and hastened both in the Assessment of Collection , and in respect they found every man adverse to it ; the business had not that progress , nor speedy execution it might otherwise have had , and as it had in former times . And when he had told His Majesty this , it was ill taken , that he should deal so plainly , because he did discover himself clearly and freely , what was the fruit of the business And it pleased my Lord of Strafford , then in the presence of the King , to speak , Sir , you will never do good on this man , till you have made him an example , he is too Diffident ( or to this purpose ) unless you commit him , you shall do no good upon him ; This concerning the Ship-Money . Concerning the Loan-Money , when they came with the Aldermen together , he ( the Examinant ) desired he might be call'd in singly , because he was very loath ( knowing the humour of the Court of Aldermen , how they stood affected ) that they should give the King a negative Answer at the Board , and it pleased His Majesty to call him ( the Examinant ) in singly , and he told His Majesty in his hearing at that time , That there was no good to be done , for amongst all the Aldermen , he could not yet consent to raise above 6 or 7000 pound at the most . And then they were to bring in out of every of the several Wards , the Names of all the able men of the City of London , that could lend Money ; wherein it was required they should set it down , what every man was fit to lend . This they altogether declined , for we thought it not fit we should rate mens purses , and he ( the Examinant himself ) presented the Size-Cinque , the Quater-tres men , and the Deux-ace men , according to their qualities , but set a rate on men we did not , and desired His Majesty we might be spared . Hereupon my Lord of Strafford at that time , burst out into these words , Sir , You will never do good to these Citizens of London , till you have made examples of some of the Aldermen ; This to his best remembrance he said , Unless you hang up some of them , you will doe no good upon them . This is the substance of what he heard . Being asked whether this was immediately after the breach of the Parliament ? He Answered , That he cannot confine himself in time ; he desired to be spared in that , but he was several times at the Council-Table ; but it was after the breaking of the Parliament . My Lord of Strafford observing , that Alderman Garaway spake it only to his best remembrance , he was Interrogated , Whether he could speak it positively ? He Answered , That it is a great while ago , and he did hear the words , that 's certain . Being asked by my Lord of Strafford , whether he himself spake them ? He Answered , Yes my Lord , your Lordship did speak them . My Lord desiring leave to recollect himself a little , said , he will speak with as much truth , albeit , not with so much confidence as this Gentleman . And after a little respite , he began his Defence as followeth . The Defendant must still insist on this ground , which hitherto he hath gone upon , under their Lordships good leave ; That there is nothing in this Article , that can possibly convince him of High-Treason , admit it all proved , as it is laid down in the Charge ; he hath very little to Answer , for there is little proved , the greatest part is offered on a single Testimony , which as he hath heretofore mentioned , he humbly conceives , by the Laws of the Land , cannot be charged upon him in case of Treason ; for nothing can be charged upon him in case of Treason , without two lawful Witnesses . For the advice my Lord Treasurer says he gave in case of levying Ship-Money , surely he advised no other ways , than as had been formerly used 3 or 4 years before his coming into the Kingdom ; so that if it be an error , he was led into it by the practice of former times , and of wiser men than himself . Besides , there was then , as he conceives , a Judgement given in the Exchequer-Chamber , and he hath learnt always in his own practice , by reason of his own weakness of judgement , never to be wiser than his Teachers , or to pretend to know more in other mens professions , than they know themselves . And therefore there being a Judgement given in point of Law by the Judges , it was not for him to dispute what they had done , but with all humility , to submit it to better judgements than his own , so that to advise such a thing ( as it then stood ) he hopes will be excusable and pardonable in him , albeit he doth not justify himself in it , in respect of something he hath heard and learnt , since that time , and taught him likewise by wiser men than himself . And as he then followed that which was delivered by the Judges , so he shall for the future , follow what he hath learnt by others , that ought to be believed , and by him credited before himself : But in the mean time he conceives it a pardonable fault , and shall never be drawn up , or put into the Scale against him as Treason . To the other words , testified to be spoken by him at the Council-Table , He Answers , That he might hold the Aldermen lyable or subject to Fine and Ransome , in case they did not submit to the Kings Demands ( for so on the matter , my Lord of Berkshire repeats the words ) truly such hath been , and shall be his ingenuity in all things concerning this business , that these words he hath already acknowledged and confest to be by him spoken ; and he confessed now he did say , That in his opinion , in a Case of that great necessity , and imminent danger , which he conceived the Kingdom to be in , their refusal might perchance , make them lyable to Fine and Ransome ; but the words , as he remembers them , were appliable not to that particular , but to another . For he says , and he says truly , the words were spoken to hasten and speed my Lord Mayor in the services that were commanded him ; not out of any intention or purpose , to do him hurt by further moving , or prosecuting any thing against him . He confesses , he wishes he had not spoken them , but being spoken , and spoken to that end and purpose , as high a thing as this might have been passed over , and not charged on him as a crime , but rather as an extravagant saying , which God forbid a man should be Arraigned for in this kind , as he is , and a little excess of Speech , he trusts by their Lordships Favour and Goodness , may be excused , if not pardoned , at least so much pardoned , as it shall not be laid to him as Treason , when it is but a hasty word , and nothing follows upon it . For the other words which my Lord Mayor sayes , that he the Earl of Strafford should say to His Majesty ; Sir , there will be no good done with the Citizens of London ; till you have hanged some of them up ; which at first he said , was to his best remembrance , and upon recollection , he says directly and absolutely ; for my Lord said , he must not make it weaker against himself than it is ; and he wishes that rule might be kept on both sides , which is to repeat the Evidence to their Lordships clearly and plainly as it is ; which duty he said , he had Religiously observed , since the beginning of the Cause , and will perform to the last , not misrecyting any thing for his advantage or disadvantage ; This being howsoever his comfort and joy , that their Lordships are so wise , as not to hearken to what is repeated of the Evidence , but to the Evidence it self , as it is plainly and clearly represented , and that will not deceive them : and therefore my Lord said , to the best of his remembrance ( and the Witnesses said , no more at the first ) he spake them not , but he thinks they were spoken in so good company , before their Lordships of the Council-Board , that it cannot but be remembred , by some of their Lordships , if the words had been spoken , and by His Majesty , to whom it is said they were directed . But being an equal Testimony ( however in this condition , and misfortune , and affliction , it may be between this Gentleman and himself ) he thinks that before these troubles befell him , he was as equally to be believed as the other ; and therefore all the difference is , one sayes it , the other denies it . My Lord added , That he denyed it in his Answer , and he denies it at the Bar , and in truth , to his best remembrance , he never spake the words ; and it is a thing of no great moment , being a hasty word , and at the most very excusable , especially to a free spoken man , as he is , and he smarts for it , which hath further engaged him , perhaps than wiser man would have been , that hath much worse thoughts than ever he had , but he hoped it will be pardoned , and not amount to make good the Charge against him , but that their Lordships Honor and Justice will excuse it , rather than punish it , and so his Lordship said , he would say no more to it . Mr. Maynard made Reply thereunto , in substance as followeth . The Committee shall need to to say little to this Answer of my Lord of Strafford , for whereas he sayes nothing of High Treason is proved , their Lordships will be pleased to remember , how oft this hath been answered ; for if their Lordships will look back , to what they have proved from the beginning : They charge not this as a particular Treason , but having charged him with a design to subvert the fundamental Laws ; it appears he threatened it , That the Kings little finger should be heavier than the loins of the Law ; They have shewed what he did in Ireland , how he did not only threaten , but gave sentence of death on one for words , how there he hanged another ; it appears what a Jurisdiction he erected against Law , and wayes were taken to maintain them ; how Soldiers were forced on mens Houses against their Wills ; and what Insolency they committed , and that must not be questioned when it is propounded ; When he comes into England , their Lordships hear what Counsels he gives , which compared with the Plots he laid , there is reason to think , that these words proceeding from my Lord of Strafford , that men should be Fined and Ransomed , Hanged up , and laid by the Heels , comes not out of suddain passion , but rise from those Principles and Resolutions that were in him , to do all things according to his Will and Pleasure , against Law. They beseech their Lordships , these may not pass as hasty words , when they appear to be suitable and conformable to Actions and Counsels preceding for many years , and not yet laid down by him , for ought can be discerned . The singleness of the Testimony hath been often Objected , and as often Answered , but this is no single Testimony ; My Lord Treasure speaks of his Advice to go on vigorously with Ship-Money ; Others prove Fine and Ransome , and Hanging up , Threatened , which have all concurred to the general Charge , being several circumstances proved by several Witnesses . But whereas my Lord thinks to excuse himself , because there was a Judgement in the Exchequer-Chamber ; God be thanked , it appears to be a Judgement against Law ; and my Lord of Strafford spake these words after the King offered to lay down the Ship-Money , for it was after the Parliament ; But there was never any Judgement , that a man might be hanged in such a case , nor be Fined and Ransomed for not certifying in matter of Loan ; my Lord of Strafford knows as well as any man , that it is against Law , himself having had a great hand in the Petition of Right . Mr. Glyn desired he might observe one thing , that fell from my Lord of Strafford , not at this time only , but at several times ; That it is hard he should for words be questioned as High Treason , being a word spoken , and no ill effect of it ; their Lordships may be pleased to call to mind , that for words spoken concerning Treading on his Toe , he prosecuted so far as to life , and yet they were spoken as accidentally as these , and not of less consequence , and nothing came of them ; and yet he procured a sentence of death against the Speaker , but here he extenuates it , and must not be charged with words . And so the 25th Article was concluded . THE Six and Twentieth Article . The Charge , 26. THat the said Earl by his wicked Counsels , having brought His Majesty into excessive charge , without any just cause , he did in the month of July last ( for the support of the said great charges ) Counsel and approve two dangerous and wicked Projects , viz. To seize upon the Bullion , and the Money in the Mint . And to imbase His Majesties Coyn with the mixtures of Brass . And accordingly he procured One hundred and 30000 l. which was then in the Mint , and belonging to divers Merchants , Strangers , and others to be seized on , and stayed to His Majesties use . And when divers Merchants of London , owners of the said Bullion and Money , came to his House , to let him under stand the great mischief that course would produce here , and in other parts , and what prejudice it would be to the Kingdom , by discrediting the Mint , and hindring the importation of Bullion : he the said Earl told them , that the City of London dealt undutifully and unthankfully with His Majesty ; and that they were more ready to help the Rebels , than to help His Majesty : And that if any hurt came to them , they may thank themselves ; and that it was the course of other Princes , to make use of such Moneys to serve their occasions . And when in the same month of July , the Officers of His Majesties Mint came to him , and gave him divers reasons against the imbasing the said Money ; he told them that the French King did use to send Commissaries of Horse , with Commission to search into mens Estates , and to peruse their Accounts , that so they may know what to levy of them by force , which they did accordingly levy ; and turning to the Lord Cottington , then present , said , That this was a point worthy of his Lordships consideration , meaning this course of the French King , to raise Moneys by force , was a point worthy of his Lordships Consideration , MR. Maynard proceeded to open the 26th Article , and observed , That they had shewed formerly , how my Lord of Strafford had laboured a Disaffection betwixt His Majesty and His People : Now they come to shew , That His Majesty being put to extreame Charges , by the Advice of my Lord of Strafford ; my Lord adds his advice , for seising Money in the Mint , and for that of the base Coyn , or Black Money ; And , that when some attended my Lord of Strafford about it , to shew to him the danger and ill consequence , that might arise from it , my Lord of Strafford tells them , The City had dealt undutifully and unthankfully with His Majesty , and were more ready to help the Rebels than His Majesty ; and , they may thank themselves ; and , it was the Course of other Princes , to make use of such Monies . And , when the Master of the Mynts gave Reasons against it , my Lord said , The French King uses to send Commissaries to mens Shops , and to look into the Accompts and Books of men , to see and peruse their Estates , that they might raise and levy it by force : And , turning to a Noble Lord by him , he said , That was a point worthy of his Lordships Consideration . To prove the words spoken , about seising the Money in the Mint , Robert Edwards was Sworn , and Examined , What he heard my Lord of Strafford say , when he attended him , about the Money seized in the Mynt ? He Answered , That he went to his Lordship about the danger , that the Company of Merchant-Adventurers were in , in regard their Estates were beyond Sea , giving his Lordship to understand the danger , in regard so much Money was taken out of the Tower , being , as he remembers , on Saturday night . They went on Monday morning , and desired my Lord to speak to His Majesty , that the money might be restored again , that their Means might not be seized ; for , some strangers had threatned , they would signifie to their Principal , how their Money was taken from them , and would seek for a recompence again , by the Means they had beyond Sea : And , my Lord made Answer again to him , and diverse others that were there , That if they fared amiss , they might thank themselves , for if they went on in that manner , they were like to find it themselves ; and that they should have the damage of it , if they did look to it no better . And withal he said , That though they think it is a strange business here , yet beyond Sea it is not so , but on Command men have their Goods taken . This was the substance , as he remembers , of what he said to them . Being Asked , What my Lord of Strafford said , touching the City of London ? He Answered , That he said , They did deal very unthankfully and undutifully , for there was but 14000 l. for Ship-money that was His Majesties due , and they denyed the payment of that ; and did more to maintain the Rebels , than they did to maintain His Majesty . Being bid repeat his words . He said , That they came at first to be humble Suitors to his Lordship , to be a meanes to His Majesty , that the Money taken from the Tower , might be restored again ; for , the Merchants Adventurers Estates beyond Sea , were in great danger , in regard there were some strangers threatned , to write to their Principals , to stay their Estates there , for the Money stayed in the Tower : Whereupon my Lord made Answer , That if they did speed amiss , they might thank themselves , for they are more ready to hold with Rebels , then they were to give His Majesty His due , which was 14000 l. for Ship-money . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Where he spake them ? and , Whether he was not then Sick ? He Answered , It was in his Chamber : and my Lord did sit in his Chair , and he ( the Examinant ) stood hard by him , with four or five more , and he conceives my Lord was sick at that time . Being Asked , on like motion , Whether he did not tell them he was sick , and could not go to the King at that time ? He Answered , That he remembers not that my Lord said , he could not go to the King ; but , he said , he knew nothing of it till that morning , to his ( the Examinants ) remembrance . Anthony Palmer Sworn , and Interrogated , What my Lord of Strafford said to him , concerning the mixt Money ? He Answered , That my Lord of Strafford had some Discourse with him , and the rest of his fellow Officers , concerning base Money ; and , upon the Questioning of it , they gave him their Reasons against it , and the insufficiency of it to do any thing , and said so much , as they conceived my Lord was disswaded from going any further in it : Upon this , he afterwards shewed them a Letter , drawn out of his Pocket , which , as he said , was sent him out of France , and in the French Tongue ; and , because he ( the Examinant ) did not understand the French tongue , he read it in English to this effect , so far as the best of his memory will hold ; That the King of France , or the French King , had appointed certain Officers of his , to go and take view of mens Books of Accompt and Estates , by that means to see what they were worth , and to know what the King might demand of them ; and , if they were not willing to pay it , there would be a force upon them to pay it . This , to the best of his Remembrance , is that my Lord did deliver . Being Asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not speak words to this effect , That if His Majesty should do so , he should have the Examples of others , or to that purpose ? He Answered , Something he set forth to this effect , but the very words he cannot express , but it was to that purpose ; That he had received Letters , that the King of France had sent Officers , that took view of Mens Books and Accompts , to raise to himself some Moneys ( if they were not willing ) by constraint , and withal some other Speeches did fall from him to this purpose , but , the very words he cannot speak , that it was an Example , or might be an Example , to do the like in England . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Where this was spoken ? He Answered , It was in my Lords own house in Leister-fields , he thinks , and there were present three more , Sir William Parkhurst , Mr. Gogan , and himself , and my Lord Cottington was also there . Henry Gogan Sworn and Interrogated , What he heard my Lord of Strafford say , when he attended him , about the abusing of the Coyn ? He Answered , That after the Coyning of the Base Money was thought on , there were Queries made , and they were to give an Answer the next day about the making of it ; That was , about the Expedition , and what it would cost , and two other Particulars , the Paper Sir William Parkhurst hath . But , some of them spoke against the making of the Money , Mr. Palmer and the rest shewed the inconvenience of it ; and then my Lord pull'd out a Letter in French , and read it in English , to this purpose ; That the King of France raised money by force , sending Commissaries of Horse to look into their Books and Estates , and levy money accordingly ; and , did turn about to my Lord Cottington , and said , My Lord , this is worthy your consideration or hearing , or words to that purpose . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Where it was spoken ? He Answered , It was spoken at my Lords House in the Fields , in the presence of Sir William Parkhurst , Lord Cottington , Mr. Palmer , and himself . Sir William Parkhurst being Sworn , and Interrogated , What my Lord of Strafford said , when he and the rest attended him about the Copper Money ? He Answered , That they were sent for ; and , the first Question they were asked , was , What sorts of Money were made in Queen Elizabeths time of Copper , for the Kingdom of Ireland ? they told him what they were , and that they could produce the Indentures and Circumstances of making those Monyes ; and they had diverse Discourses of the matter of Money , and it was resolved into certain Queries that they should consider of , which he the Examinant was never formerly examined of , and the Papers are not here , neither was he warned hither to day . And , in the discourse of these Moneys , my Lord of Strafford did produce a Letter written in French , as newes lately received from thence , and , doubting whether they understood French or no , he Englished it , in these kinds of words , or thus much in substance , That the French King had lately sent certain Commissaries , or Commissioners , into diverse parts of France , there to take and peruse the Accompts of Merchants , and the Books of Mens Estates , whereby they might know what Estates they had , and this is the substance of what he can say , and further he heard him not say . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Who was there present ? He Answered , My Lord of Strafford , my Lord Cottington , Mr. Palmer , Mr. Gogan , and himself . Being Asked , on the like motion , Whether he heard my Lord of Strafford offer to my Lord Cottington , That this was worthy his consideration or notice ? He Answered , That he did not hear it . Being Asked , Whether he said , That if the King should do so , he should follow the Example of other Princes ? He Answered , No. Sir Ralph Freeman being Asked , What words my Lord of Strafford spake concerning Copper Money , If it were refused to be taken ? He Answered , That he was not there at the first meeting , but at the private Council , His Majesty being present , there was a Debate about Paying Copper-Money , and he ( the Examinant ) Answering , That they would not work , if they were paid in Copper Money : My Lord of Strafford replied , You know what course to take with them , you may send them to the House of Correction ; This is all he heard . Mr. Maynard desired Tho. Skinners Examination might be read , as to the matter which Mr. Stewart was examined to , he being seen at Westminster that morning , and acknowledged , that he was to be examined here as a Witness , and it seems could not get in , or is otherwise kept away . My Lord of Strafford desired , they might reserve the advantage of him , and he would give way to it . Mr. Maynard answered , That when he sayes a Witness may be kept away , it is not that he is kept away , for he is here ; but , if a Witness hath been examined , and doth not come , his Examinations may be read , for it is possible a Witness may be kept away , though he be not sick . George Henley being Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether he saw Skinner this morning at Westminster ? He Answered , He saw him in the Pallace-yard , and he told him the Examinant , that he ( the said Skinner ) was to be here as a Witness . My Lord of Strafford desiring that liberty for him to Cross-examine him might be reserved , and that being granted , the Examinations were read . The Examination of Tho. Skinner Gent. taken the 8th . Ian. 1641. To the 98 Interrogatory he saith , That he attended Mr. Edwards and other Merchants-Adventurers to the Lord-Lieutenant , a little after the stay of the Money and Bullion in the Mynt , and the said Merchants represented divers inconveniences to his Lordship which might arise from the stay thereof ; and alleadged , That it would occasion a seisure of the English Merchants beyond the Seas . Whereupon his Lordship said , He did not know of the seisure until that morning ; But , if any Inconvenience happen , they may thank themselves : and his Lordship further said , that though this act might seem strange in England , it was no newes in other Countries ; Where Princes made use of such means to serve their occasions ; and his Lordship did very much tax and blame the City of London , saying , They dealt unworthily with His Majesty , in refusing to pay the 14000 l. of Ship-money , which was His due ; and that they were more ready to hold with Rebels than with His Majesty ; and , that they dealt unthankfully with His Majesty , in not relieving him in His great Necessities . And so Mr. Maynard concluded this Article , the words charged being proved , and my Lord of Straffords Answer was expected . After a small time given him to recollect his Notes , my Lord of Strafford made his Defence , in substance as followeth , That he is to give his Defence to the 26th Article , the first part whereof was , That he should Counsel and Approve two dangerous and wicked Projects . First , To seize on the Bullion and money in the mint . Secondly , To debase the Coyn with mixture of Brass . That he hath , in his Answer , denied either the Counselling , or the approving of these Projects , as they call them ; and , for that part , which indeed would be the principal thing in the Charge , if it were proved , there is no offer of any proof at all , that is , concerning his Approving , Counselling , or devising those Projects . To this he Answereth , It will appear in their own proof , he ( the Defendant did not Counsel the seising of the money , for Mr. Edwards acknowledges , when they came to acquaint him with the business , he professed he knew nothing of it ; Nor did he , being then sick , and unfit for this matter . And , Mr. Skinner sayes , He ( my Lord of Strafford ) told them , That he knew nothing of the seizure of that money ; So that there is no Proof against him : and , the Proof brought , Acquits him , as to that . For the debasing of the Coyn , Mr. Palmer sayes , That he and the rest of the Officers giving Reasons against it , he ( my Lord of Strafford ) gave it over ; He remembers very well , there was some speech about the Copper Coyn ; and , that Information was to be given , what Queen Elizabeth had done in the like case : And , he remembers too , that it was given over : Also , that he was one of the Committee , to take Information of the Reasons for it , and against it ; and , to report : and , further then that , he medled not with it . For the rest of the Charge , in telling the City , They dealt undutifully with His Majesty , &c. he conceives the Proofs are full in the Point , and fuller then any thing of the Charge since the Trial began . And , it is true , he did not at that time think the City had dealt thankfully with His Majesty , they having received so many Favours from him , and He residing amongst them , should refuse the Loane of 100000 l. on good security given ; and , it might very well be ( as he thinks he did ) at that time , he might say so ; And , if he spake it out of overmuch sence towards His Majesty , and His Service , surely he doth not conceive it to be any great Crime , to say , They dealt undutifully with the King : But , whatsoever it was , he is sure he is ready to amend it , and to be of another Opinion ; For , he remembers very well , and , he thinks many of their Lordships will call it to mind , that when upon the return of diverse Noble Persons to York , he understood that the City of London had lent the King 200000 l. he then said , That he was glad for his part , extreamly glad of it ; and , all that was past formerly , was now fully satisfied , as to him , and he should be ready to serve them with his Life for it , as long as he lived ; And this he spake in the Great Council of the Peers at York , and that he would be as ready to serve the City of London , as any poor Gentleman in the Kingdom , and so he sayes again , he will : and if at that time , or other time , he was so sensible of the Service of His Master , as not to think it well done of them , to refuse so small a Curtesie , and exprest something that might have been spared : Men oftentimes offend with the Tongue , when they offend not with the heart ; And , he hopes this can be no such Bloody Crime , it arguing him rather to be innocent from doing any great evil , when words are so often charged on him , rather than doing . But , there are some things not proved , that perhaps will be mentioned , because they be singly spoken of , but not doubly proved . The next Charge is a Letter , that he should shew , about the King of France appointing Officers to take Accompts , and to view mens Books , and that it might be an Example for us here . Which words he doth absolutely deny . He never spake them . He never thought them : And Mr. Palmer only speaks it ; But sayes , the very words he cannot express : and , if he cannot ( the Defendant ) appeales to their Lordships , whether he should be Condemned for words which cannot be exprest ? and he hopes it will be of very little force with their Lordships , when it is so uncertainly delivered . But , however , it is a single Testimony , none of the other Witnesses testifying the words , as he conceives . Sir William Parkhurst denies expresly , that he heard them . Mr. Gogan is a single Testimony , in saying , what my Lord of Strafford should say to my Lord Cottington , That they might be worthy of his Lordships consideration ; And Sir William Parkhurst denies that he heard them . But , it will be necessary for him , to let their Lordships know clearly and plainly , what this great matter was concerning the French Letter , for he trusts my Lord Cottington would remember it , and my Lord Treasurer too , if need were ; but this is no way in his Charge , and therefore he shall not insist in the proof of it . His Lordship having the honor to be of the Foraign Committee , my Lord of Leicester was pleased to send weekly Letters , to divers of their Lordships , and , among the rest , he received one , being in the nature of a Gazette : In which Letter , nothing was mentioned of Commissaries of Horse ; but , it was mentioned , that the Cardinal had given direction to certain Commissioners , to go into the Houses of divers Merchants , not over the Kingdom , but at Paris , and Inform themselves by their Books of Accompt , what Estates they had , that they might demand Supply . This Letter , he sayes , he Read , with this Clause , You may see what is done in other places ; but , God be thanked you have so pious and gracious a King , that he thinks on none of these things ; he read it to them as a Gazette , a foolish idle Letter , and no more . My Lord Cottington being Interrogated touching the Letter , &c. He professes that he knew nothing of such a Letter , but because he would remember it , he spake with Sir William Parkhurst , and Mr. Palmer , and some others , and they told him , that when my Lord was Reading the Letter , he was Writing in another Room ; and asking , Why it was said he was present ? they told him then , That they thought Gogan had said so , when there was no such matter ; For , he having seen his name in the Printed Book , he hath been careful to inform himself , what kind of Letter it was , for he profest to their Lordships , he remembred not the Letter , nor the discourse , and asking Sir William Parkhurst and the rest , why it was said , such words were spoken to him by my Lord of Strafford ? they say , they had been examined upon it , and had denyed it . For Sir Ralph Freeman's Deposition , that my Lord of Strafford should say , That if the poor men that work on the Money should refuse to work , they might be sent to the House of Correction ; That he conceives he might say without offence , but it is no part of his Charge . My Lord Cottington being asked ( on Mr. Glyns motion ) whether he had heard of such a Letter ? He professed , to his remembrance he never heard of the Letter . Whence Mr. Maynard inferred , there be others that speak to that , therefore there may be something that is not remembred . And so my Lord of Strafford concluded , that he had told their Lordships clearly and plainly what is proved , what the things were , and as they were ; and he trusts nothing is in his Actions , but such as may admit of a noble and favourable construction : and so there is no more for him to Answer to this Article , but only to say , That under the favour of these Gentlemen , nothing can incline one way or other , to be an accusation of High-Treason . To which Mr. Maynard made a Reply in substance as followeth . That he should not hold their Lordships long in Reply to this ; My Lord denies the Counselling and Approving the matter of seizing the Mynt , and debasing the Coyn , and a Witness produced , sayes , My Lord knew nothing of it ; that they can press no farther , but that is no justification to my Lord Strafford , to retort such words concerning the Great City of this Kingdom , on so small an occasion , as their desire to have their Money discharged . It was a grievous thing , and is not to be slighted ; that their Estates being beyond Sea , my Lord of Strafford should make so little of it . But my Lord Answers nothing to these words , That the City of London was more ready to help the Rebels , than to help the King , and he doth well not to do it , for whosoever doth help a Rebel , is of the same condition with the Rebel . For the matter of the Letter , it is of no great importance whether it be so or no ? But the matter is , What Speeches were used ? My Lord sayes , the Speeches are proved by only one witness ; But the truth is , one Witness positively swears one part , and another the other part ; but both agree , That my Lord Cottington was there , though Sir William Parkhurst doth not remember it . Mr. Whitlock added , That my Lord of Strafford is pleased to mention a Letter from an Honouable person , my Lord of Leicester , and now he observes , it was a Gazette , and no Letter at all from my Lord of Leicester . But my Lord of Strafford desired , he might not be mistaken , he being very tender to have it laid on him , that he should in any thing speak untruth , or contradict himself . Their Lordships know , the Letters sent familiarly every week from my Lord of Leicesters Secretary , as News to the forreign Committee , are only in the nature of a Gazette , and so he intended to open it . Mr. Strowd added , there is something in the Tract of this Article that sticks near to me , and I cannot let it pass ; Whereas my Lord sayes , Words are only laid to his Charge , which argues his innocency in Fact , in that he hath been sparing in doing , whatsoever his Language is ; First , The Laws are clear , that words may be Treason , and to every mans reason it sounds thus far , That words in consequence may go beyond some actions ; and words of the highest nature he hath used , all trenching deeper on us than some Acts might have done : to counsel His Majesty in things of that consequence , it touches not only on the safety of His Majesties Crown , but also on the Liberty of his People , and may go beyond force ; for if my Lord of Strafford had brought in his 8000 Irish by force , we might have withstood them by force . But when he goes to the Ear of a pious Prince , and insinuates that we know not of , and brings a desolation on a Kingdom , who shall repell such Language , when force may repell Forces ? And surely had he plotted and devised against His Majesty , by any one ( which God forbid he should , or that His Majesty should be in that danger ) the pretence of a Prince might have daunted a Traitor , that he could not have done the work ; yet had he done it ( which God forbid ) a Prince , may dye with fair reputation to posterity ; but when he shall inspire a Prince in his ear , and provoke tyrannical Carriage to His Subjects , he may abuse a good Prince , but how he may leave him to posterity , I leave to your Lordships . But my Lord stays not singly in Counsel and Advice , but something was done upon it . I appeal to your Lordships , when proof shall be brought in the case ; and First , consider the misery that England is now in , what could have been done more to have made us miserable , but absolute desolation ? The Aldermen were committed that very day , and though it cannot be proved , he gave the immediate Counsel , yet he gave the Counsel that hath been proved , and that day four of them were committed ; and this the Aldermen are ready to prove . Sir Henry Garaway Interrogated , Whether any of the Aldermen were committed ? He Answered , That he shall not need to Answer that ; for my Lord will confess it , there were four Aldermen committed , Alderman Rainston , Alderman Somes , Alderman Geere , Alderman Atkins , and it was the same day they were there , to give an account of the able Men , and the loan of 100000 l. Their Answer not giving satisfaction , they were committed the same day to several prisons ; by what Order or Direction he knows not . So Mr. Glyn desired their Lordships , to observe the words proved against him , That no good will be done on them , till they were laid by the heels , which my Lord sayes , produced no effect ; yet that very day four were laid by the heels , and it rests upon their Lordships Judgements , by whose advice . And Mr. Strowde concluded , That my Lord of Straffords Words and Actions Agree in this Kingdom , and the miseries of this Kingdom , do agree with his Words and Actions . And so the 26th Article was concluded . THE Seven and Twentieth Article . The Charge , 26 THat in or about the month of August last , he was made Lieutenant-General of all His Majesties ●orces in the North , prepared against the Scots ; and being at York , did then in the month of September , by his own authority , and without any lawful Warrant , impose a Tax on His Majesties Subjects in the County of York of eight pence per diem , for maintainance of every Soldier of the Trained-bands of that County ; which sums of Money he caused to be levied by force . And to the end to compel His Majesties Subjects , out of fear and terror , to yield to the payment of the same ; he did Declare , that he would commit them that refused the payment thereof ; and the Soldiers should be satisfied out of their Estates ; and they that refused it , were in very little better condition , than of High Treason . MR. Maynard proceeded to the 27 the Article ; That the Earl of Strafford imposed a Tax on His Majesties Subjects , in the County of York , of 8 d. per diem , for the maintainance of every Soldier of the Trained Band of that County , causing it to be levied by force , Threatening them that refused with Commitment , and that they that did not pay the Soldiers , should be satisfied out of their Goods , and they were in little better case , than the case of High Treason , that refused to pay . The state of their proofs will stand thus ; There were three Levies ; First , a months Contribution , and that was for the general ; The Second , a Contribution for a fornight , and that was for two particular Regiments or Companies ; A Third , for a month more , so it was for ten weeks in the whole . My Lord of Strafford pretends two things in his Answer for his excuse . First , That it was upon a Petition from the Country ; To that we say this , The Country did petition His Majesty , offering their endeavour , in that Petition they likewise desire a Parliament for redress of grievances , with which Petition some principal Gentlemen of the Countrey , attended my Lord of Strafford , desiring his assistance ; He likes well the clause concerning the Petitioners endeavours , but not that touching the Parliament ; and therefore he would not deliver it : though he said , it would fall out , there would be a Parliament , His Majesty having resolved it , but he likes not that they should Petition it . They refusing to retract from their Petition , he doth in the name of some of his Lordships Friends , and Dependants , and Recusants , prefer another Petition , but it was when the Gentlemen of the Countrey were gone , and so there was no consent of the Countrey . The other thing he pretends is , That the Lords of the great Council , had consented to that Imposition , which we say is not true , there was no such Consent or Direction ; yet this he said , both in the Countrey , and in his Answer , and their Lordships best know , that the Lords of the Great Council did not give that direction , The first thing offered , was the Petition first intended , which Sir Hugh Cholmley , and Sir Philip Stapleton affirming on oath , to be the true Petition , their Hands being to it amongst others , was read , being in effect . The Humble Petition of the Gentlemen of the County YORK . WHEREAS Your Majesty imparted to us the danger , by the incursions of the Scots , and the necessity of continuing the Trained-Bands of this County in entertainment for two Months , and raising Money so long , and did Royally assure us , That the Wardships of such as dyed in this Imployment , should be freed , and one third part of the Trained-Bands should be abated , for which we acknowledge our bounden thankfulness , in ready obedience of Your Majesties Command , we have represented to Your Majesty our present Condition , and in the entrance of the business , we found a great impediment and discouragement , by certain Warrants produced for levying Money , towards this new service , wherein in the first place , we cannot omit to let your Majesty know , the great grief we have , in that the County is there charged with disaffection and backwardness therein , which as we are confident , we never were guilty of , so we were in good hope , your Majesty had received no such Impression of us . And in the next place , we find our selves much grieved , that the execution of such Warrants , which we conceive illegal , should be concluded and urged on peril of life ; notwithstanding the strictness of which Warrants , we find divers parts of the County have not been able to pay the Money demanded , and from thence , and the attestation of divers Gentlemen , we are assured the scarcity of Money is such , that it is diabled from satisfying your expectation therein ; And that Your Majesty may know it is no pretence , but a real poverty ; we are bold to represent the Charges , viz. of Ship-Money . Vast expences the last year in Military affairs . The Billeting and Insolency of Soldiers this Summer , part of the time on the credit of the County . Decay of Trade . Stop of Markets . Charge of Carriages , especially in Harvest , by which means , not only the common people , but most of the Gentry , by the failing of Rents , are much impoverished : And therefore we petition Your Majesty , You will accept our endeavour , to prevail with the Countrey to raise so much Money , as will pay the County one whole month , from their first rising , within which time , ( as is generally reported ) Your Majesty hath Commanded the attendance of the Peers , to consult for the safety of the Kingdom , and pray the Trained-Bands may be continued in the Villages , where they are Quartered , except Your occasions otherwise require it ; and in the interim , for the redress of these Grievances , and security of Your Kingdom , Your Majesty will please , to Declare Your Pleasure for summoning the High Court of Parliament , &c. To prove that my Lord of Strafford refused to deliver this Petition , and that another was framed , to which the Countrey consented not . Sir Hugh Cholmley was Sworn and Interrogated , whether this Petition was shewed my Lord of Strafford , and whether he was not unwilling to deliver it , and why ? He Answered , That this Petition was shewed to my Lord of Strafford , in the name of the Gentlemen that had subscribed it , and it was delivered to him by my Lord Wharton , and of those Gentlemen that subscribed their Hands , many were gone out of Town , and desired that those that staid in Town , might attend my Lord Wharton , and intreat him to deliver it to my Lord of Strafford , and when it was delivered , my Lord of Strafford took only exception ( at least he the Examinant ) is sure that was the chief exception ) because they petitioned for a Parliament ; and said , that leaving out that Clause , he would joyn with him in the Petition . Being asked what he knew of another Petition framed afterwards ? He Answered , That at that time no other Petition was framed , by the Gentry of the Countrey , this Petition being rejected ; for my Lord of Strafford went and delivered some message to the King ( he thinks for the maintaining of the Trained-Bands a month ) and many of them that did subscribe to the Petition not consenting to it , met together , intending to make a Petition and Protestation against it , and did so ; intending to deliver it to His Majesty , but it was not delivered . Being asked what Moneys were levied , by whose Warrants , and for what time ? He Answered , That he can say nothing to the levying of Money , but in general , he thinks Money was levied . Sir Henry Cholmley Sworn and Interrogated , what my Lord of Strafford said concerning Money ? He Answered , That he had the Honor to be one of the Colonels of the Trained-Bands , and received Command from my Lord of Strafford , being Lieutenant-General of the Army , to give account in what state his ( the Examinants ) Regiment stood ? of what strength it was , and how provided of Money ? That he repaired to his Lordship , and told him , That notwithstanding the Warrants sent out , they came not to him , and unless he had Money shortly , the Regiment would disband ; That his Lordship answered him , he would send a Levy on the Goods of those that refused . Being asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) whether he did so send ? He Answered , No ; that he knows of . Sir Iohn Hotham Sworn and Interrogated , what he knew touching the Petition , and my Lord of Straffords rejecting it ? He Answered , That concerning the Petition , it is true , that being to meet together in the afternoon at the Common Hall , they did first consult , what to represent to my Lord. But when they came there , my Lord refused , and made doubt of delivering the Petition , unless they would put out the clause , concerning the Parliament , and some thought it fit to preferr it without it . Some of the Gentlemen that had petitioned , went out , and delivered in something to the King , but what it was he knows not . And for levying of the Money , he can say nothing to it ; Warrants were sent out by the Vice-President , but how far my Lord was interested in it , he can say nothing at all . Sir Philip Stapleton Sworn and Interrogated , as to the delivering of the Petition . He Answered , that for the Petition , he can say his Countrey-men being sent for to York by the King , and intimation given , that they should keep their Trained-Bands for two months , they desired time to give an answer , which was allowed them as they desired , till the next day . They met that night , and though my Lord-Lieutenant desired to meet with them , they met first by themselves , and drew this Petition ; for my Lord being Lord Lieutenant-General , and a Privy-Counsellor , they should not have been so free to deliver their opinions , though he ( the Examinant ) thinks some of them should have been free enough . They drew the Petition , and he thinks there was 100 hands to it , and being delivered to my Lord-Lieutenant , he took exception , because it concluded with desire of a Parliament , and told them , if they would leave out that Clause , he would deliver it , if not , he would not , and after long discourse ( wherein he shewed much Eloquence ) most of them continued their resolution to stand to that Petition , and many went out of Town and left it , without making question but it should be delivered to His Majesty . My Lord after put it to Vote , whereof there were many Papists , and on the Vote delivered an Answer , what , he ( the Examinant ) doth not know , for he staid behind to draw another Petition , and an humble protestation to His Majesty , that this Petition was the Answer of the Countrey . Lord Wharton being Sworn and Examined to the point of the Petition ? His Lordship Answered , That this was unexpected to him , for he heard not of it from the Committee , till he came into the place , but he can perfectly speak to it , having a little Interest in it , himself being one of them who subscribed it ; That on Saturday in the afternoon , being appointed to attend my Lord of Strafford touching this business ( for most of the Gentlemen desiring to be at home ) on a suddain went out of Town , and desired him with some others , to deliver this Petition to my Lord , by his own hand , to be delivered to the King , he did so , and accordingly desired my Lord to deliver it in the name of the Gentlemen , that had set their Hands to it , many being likewise with him on that occasion ; That my Lord of Strafford took exception to the clause for a Parliament , and said , That if they would put that out , he would joyn in the rest of the Petition . Divers of the Gentlemen that were there ( there being not many that had set their hands ) would not goe back from that , which with so much Humility and Reason , they thought was desired ; thereupon my Lord would not deliver it , and went to the King. But they that thought not fit to have the Petition altered , thought not fit to go with him to the King ; and what he said , he ( the Examinant ) knows not . Sir William Pennyman being Sworn and Interrogated , Whether a Warrant now shewed him , was not under His Hand and Seal ? He confessed it was his Hand and Seal . And that being desired to be read , Sir William Pennyman offered to their Lordships , that he presumes he comes to be a Witness against my Lord of Strafford , not himself , and referred it to their Lordships , whether he should answer any thing against himself , this having an oblique aspect on himself ; but if their Lordships will require him , he will submit . But Mr. Maynard upon opening of the matter , shewing that they urge it only , as grounded on my Lord of Strafford's Command for levying of Moneys . It was read , being to this effect . To the Constable of Sergeant-Major Yaworthe's Company . WHereas the Lord-Lieutenant-General of His Majesties Army , by His Majesties Command , sent forth Warrants to the Constable of this Weapontake of Longborough , for Collecting and Paying the Soldiers of my Regiment , Six weeks pay , to be delivered from my hands , which is not yet received from , &c. These are therefore once more in His Majesties Name , to Will and Require you forthwith , to pay , or cause to be paid to the said Sergeant-Major , the several Rates and Proportions , both of the First and Second Contribution , Assessed on your-Town , &c. And if any person or persons shall refuse so to do , you are instantly on receit hereof , to bring him or them , &c. to serve in their own persons , for the defence of this County , as the necessity of this Cause requires ; And hereof , &c. fail not 19 Octob. 1640. Sir William Pennyman being Asked , Whether the Warrant was grounded on a former Command of my Lord of Strafford ? He Answered , That he cannot directly speak to that , he will not charge his memory with it ; for , he thinks , the first Warrant was issued by the Vice-President , and , whether any was issued by my Lord of Straffords direction , he cannot Answer precisely , but he conceives there was ; and , he hath a confused notion in his head , but he cannot particularly and distinctly remember it . Being Asked , Whether he knew any Deputy-Lieutenants were drawn to issue a Warrant , to levy money on the Country on this ground , that the Lords of the Great Council had consented to it ? He Answered , That he conceives they were summoned thither together , and on this occasion ; when the Trayned-Bands were disbanded , it was thought fit the Frontier-Regiments , viz. his ( the Examinants ) and Sir Thomas Danbies , should be continued , but he ( the Examinant ) Conceiving it unreasonable and unequal , that they should continue at their own Charge , and the rest not tributary to them ; and , at least , they not being ordered to march successively to relieve them ; he ( the Examinant ) complained thereof to my Lord of Strafford , they were thereupon sent for , and an Order was made , to which he ( the Examinant ) refers himself . Being asked , Whether it was not to this effect , Whether those that would not pay their Money , should serve in Person ? He Answered , Sure he believes it was , for his Warrant is a relative Warrant to that other . Being Asked , On what Grounds the Deputy Lieutenants were induced , to make such an Order ? and , Whether it was not on an Allegation , that the Lords of the Great Council had Consented , or Commanded , it should be done ? He Answered , That he presumes it is matter of Record , if a man may say so , for the Warrant will speak : But , he presumes there was some such thing spoken by my Lord of Strafford , that he had acquainted His Majesty with it , or the Greatest Counsel , or to that effect , and that induced them to put that into the Preamble of the Order . Being prest to speak his knowledge , He Answered , That truely he verily believes it was so . Being prest again to speak his knowledge positively . He Answered , That he doth very Confidently and assuredly believe it is so , but he doth not particularly remember it , for it is a great while since he saw that Warrant : but , it is matter of Record , and if he sees a Copy of the Warrant , he shall let their Lordships know , whether it be a true Copy . Being prest further to Answer , Upon what ground it was made ? And , whether upon an Allegation of a Consent , of the Lords of the great Council ? He Answered , That he cannot further Answer than before : he doth very confidently believe it to be so ; for , he doth remember , my Lord of Strafford told them , he had acquainted the Kings Majesty , or the Lords of the Great Council , which induced them to put them into the preamble of the Order . Being yet urged to answer Categorically . He Answered , That he verily believes my Lord did so ; and that under favour reaches almost to a knowledge , the thing is so notorious , that the thing it self may be known . Being required to speak his knowledge , Whether my Lord of Strafford told them , the Lords had Commanded , or Consented to it ? He Answered , When that was spoken of , he was out of the Room , and it was drawn by Mr. Rockley a Deputy Lieutenant ; but , Mr. Rockley told him my Lord did say so . Being yet again prest to a positive Answer ( Mr. Maynard observing to their Lordships , That when a Gentleman is brought upon his Oath in a Cause of this Consequence , this Dalliance is not to be admitted . ) He Answered , That he Answer'd as clearly as can be , And the Gentlemen will not press him beyond his knowledge ; He sayes , he doth confidently believe it , but , under favour he was not at that time in the Room , but Mr. Rockley told him , My Lord of Strafford had acquainted the King and the Great Council . Mr. Maynard observing , That now he speaks less then before ; and desired he might be Interrogated , Whether at that time , or at any other time , my Lord of Strafford told him , The Lords of the Great Council had assented to this Levy . Which being proposed ; He Answered , He doth confidently believe my Lord did it ; It may be proved by a great many others ; but he is confident of this , as of any thing in the World , that my Lord did tell them , when they went to draw the Warrant , That my Lord had acquainted the Lords of the Great Council , and His Majesty , and that he did it by their Consent ; and , therefore they put it into the Preamble of their Order . Sir Hen. Griffin Sworn and Interrogated , Whether my Lord of Strafford said , The Lords of the Great Council had consented to the levying of Money ? He Answered , He heard my Lord say so indeed ( or else they had not set their hands to the Order ) that he had direction from the Great Council , to levy Money for Sir William Pennyman , and Sir Tho. Danbies Regiments . Being Interrogated , In what manner the Money was to be Levyed ? He Answered , That he doth not know in what manner . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Clares Motion ) What he meant by this Direction ? He Answered , That there was an Order made from all them that were Deputy-Lieutenants , and my Lord of Strafford as one ; and this is the Order concerning the levying of Money for the two Regiments . Being Asked ( on Mr. Glyns Motion ) Whether my Lord of Strafford had not directed the money to be levied in manner as is exprest in the Order ? He Answered , That to his best Remembrance , my Lord did say so , he must confess . Being Asked , Whether in case any refused to pay this money , they were not to be compelled to serve in person ? He Answered , There was such a Clause in the Order , to his best Remembrance . Mr. Robert Strickland Sworn , and Interrogated , Whether my Lord of Strafford said , The Great Council had directed Warrants should be issued for the levying of Money ? He Answered , Yes . It cannot be deny'd : He ( the Examinant ) gave a Copy of that Order , when the last Commissioners were at Rippon ; and he saw a Gentleman even now behind him , that had a Copy of the Order and Warrant , and it is declared , that it was done by the Great Council of the Peers . Sir Iohn Burroughes Sworn and Interrogated , Whether he knew of any such VVarrant , or Order , for levying money for those two Regiments ? He humbly intreated , That he might have their Lordships direction , before he Answered the Question ; for , their Lordships know very well , that , by His Majesties Command , he was appointed to be Clerk or Register of the Great Council : Moreover , he conceives , That ( by his duty , all Orders and Resolutions of the House , especially those that concerned third Parties , without asking leave ) he was to deliver to the parties , if they required them : But , for such Debates and Arguments , as were used in the Great Council , to and again , between their Lordships , he humbly intreated their Lordships Direction , VVhether he should publish any thing of them or no ? And , upon their Lordships Order , he shall clearly , and with all integrity , deliver the truth . Being permitted by their Lordships , to speak to the Questions propounded . He proceeded , and said , That he hath very good cause to remember , that upon the 20th of October , he went to my Lords Commissioners for the Scotch Treaty at Ripon , and , upon that day , there were two prime Gentlemen of those parts , that came and attended the Lords , he thinks , about business of their own , and , he supposes , only to tender their service to their Lordships ; That , amongst some other Discourses betwixt the Lords and them , they mentioned some such Order as this was , concerning the relieving of the two Regiments , that were for the Guard of Richmondshire , and some other of those parts , made , as they said , by the Great Council of the Peers ; and thereupon , that themselves , my Lord of Strafford , and the rest of the Deputy-Lieutenants , had granted out VVarrants , for the Assessing of Money for the relieving of those Regiments ; Those that heard it were startled at the Order , being said to be an Order of the Great Council ; and commanded him ( the Examinant ) to inform them , VVhether he knew of any such Order ? he told them , He remembers not any such Order , and was confident he never drew up any , because he never heard any mention of those two Regiments in the Great Council . Their Lordships asking him , whether he was sure of it ? he told their Lordships he would look on his Notes , and faithfully inform them how the case stood , he did so , and came back to their Lordships , and told them he found nothing in his Notes of these Regiments ; and while he was there , he was confident no Order was drawn up ; It is true , ( he told their Lordships ) some Order might be drawn up , when he was absent , for he was first at Ripon , and at York he was oftentimes employed in the Committee to write Letters and Orders , and what was done in his absence , he could give no answer to ; but confident he was , no Order was made before the 20th of October by him , or in his hearing or knowledge . Hereupon the Lords desired those two Gentlemen , to give them Copies of the Warrants they had sent out , And that he ( the Examinant ) should take their Testimony , which he did ; this was the Twentieth or Twenty seventh of October , which was the last day of the Great Council of the Peers . My Lord of Strafford in Council then did take notice , that some such thing had been done at Ripon , and then said to my Lord , that he did conceive he had the Kings Order , and their Lordships Approbation , for the issuing out of this VVarrant . But , since , he conceived their Lordships disliked it , he had taken Copies of it , he was very willing to withdraw these Warrants ; And , on Debate , there was nothing more done ; For his part , he never drew up an Order , nor was he commanded to draw it up . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords Motion ) Whether on that last day , His Majesty was not pleased to say in the Council , That what the Earl of Strafford did in that Affair , was with His consent ? He Answered , It is true , He did give his consent to it , and commanded him to go on with it ; when he ( the Earl of Strafford ) desired , if any thing were amiss in it , he might call back his Warrant again , and that he might easily do it , and no hurt would come of it ; and , whether His Majesty did thereupon affirm , that my Lord of Strafford had formerly acquainted Him with it , and He Commanded him to go on ? He Answered , That it is very true , My Lord Deputy appealed to the King , VVhether he had not His Majesties Approbation and Order for it ? and , the King said , He did acquaint Him with it before the Lords ; But not ( to his Knowledge ) that He commanded him to proceed . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Essex motion ) VVhether some of the Lords did not take exception at the VVarrant , and likewise thought fit , it should be called in again ? He Answered , That the Vote generally of the Lords was against the VVarrant ; but , he remembers not any thing said for the recalling of it ; but , they absolutely declined the making of any such VVarrant . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) VVhether it was Voted or no ? He Answered , That it was spoken to by several of my Lords , but all declined it . Being Asked , VVhether he had the VVarrant , or a true Copy of it ? He Answered , He hath a Copy of that which was delivered him , by the two Gentlemen that were then at Ripon , and their hands are to it , to attest it ; and , he saw them set their hands to it himself . Being bid to name the two Gentlemen . He said , They were Mr. Robert Strickland , and Mr. Mallard , VVho did affirm , That , to the best of their remembrance , this is a true Copy of the VVarrant , sent out to the several Divisions . To prove Execution by force , Mr. Henry Cholmeley Interrogated , What he heard the Earl of Strafford say , touching the Vice-Presidents issuing of Warrants ? He Answered , That shortly after my Lord of Straffords coming to York , in the Presence-Chamber at York , he ( the Examinant ) among some other Gentlemen , were summoned to be there , where my Lord of Strafford , speaking of the Trained-Bands , occasion was offered by another that was there , How the private , or common-men should be maintained ? My Lord of Strafford Answered , It had been always the Custom , that the private men should serve themselves in person , or maintain the charge of them that served for them ; and , the common mens charge is borne by the several Constables in the Towns where they live : And , he said to His Majesty , Sir , if you please , Mr. Vice-President may , or shall ( the Examinant knows not which ) send out Warrants to that purpose ; but , whether he sent out any or no , he cannot tell . William Dowsen Sworn , and Interrogated , How he hath known those moneys for the Trained-Bands , levyed ? He Answered , ( His Answer being commanded by the Clark , the Witnesses having a low voice . ) That Mr. Yaworth , Sergeant-Major to Sir William Pennyman , came with Four Musketiers to the Lordship of Egton , and sent them for Assessors , and when the Assessors came , they were importuned to have them Assess ( for they had been unwilling to Assess ) and , if they would not , they should answer it before my Lord General , and then they consented to Assess ; and he shewed a Warrant from Sir William Pennyman , and gave it to the Constable for the Collection of the Money . Being Asked , VVhether he threatned , That he should serve in person , if he did not pay ? He Answered , Yes , by Serjeant-Major Yaworth , and so he served under Sir William Pennymans Regiment . Being Asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) VVhether he saw any VVarrant of his ? He Answered , No. Being Asked , VVhether the Four Musketiers did not go along with the Constable , from place to place to levy the money ? He Answered , Two Musketiers went with every Constable to levy it . William Pierson Sworn , and Interrogated , VVhether Four Musketiers , or Soldiers , did not come to Collect this Money ? He Answered , Yes . And he saw them in the Town , go altogether in with the Constables ; but , in the Deales or outsides , there went but with each Constable one ; The Lordship consists of Long Deales , distant one from another 12 score , and , in those out-places , one went with a Constable , but , in the Town , all four went. Being Interrogated , By what VVarrant ? He Answered , That he did see a VVarrant that was receiv'd from Captain Yaiworth , under Sir William Pennymans hand , and he saw his name at it . Sir William Ingram Sworn , and Interrogated , VVhat he hath heard my Lord of Strafford say , touching this business of levying Money ? and , What condition they were in that deny'd to pay it ? He Answered , That soon after the Trained-Bands were Commanded to be drawn forth , he found the opportunity , and did move my Lord of Strafford , acquainting him what Case Soldiers were in ; For he ( the Examinant ) had been with the Soldiers , and found them willing to March , if they might know how to be maintained : the Masters had refused to pay the private men , and the Constables said , the Parishes were so poor , that they could not collect any more money ; and desired , his Lordship would be pleased , before they were drawn forth , he might know how they should be maintained : And , his Lordship gave him this Answer , That the private men must maintain their Soldiers after the rate of 8 d. a day , so long as they were forth , else he would Commit them , and order should be taken , the Soldiers should be maintained after 8 d. a day , out of their Estates ; And commanded him ( the Examinant ) to speak to the Constables , that Assessments might be made for the maintenance of the Common Army ; and , if any did refuse to pay their parts of an Assessment , they should be likewise committed to Prison , and lie there , and the Common Soldiers should be maintained after the rate of 8 d. a day ; and , he would have men know , that refusing to pay such Contribution , they were in little better condition , than guilty of High-Treason . Sir Harry Griffin being Interrogated , VVhether my Lord of Strafford sent not Messengers to them , that refused to pay this Money Assessed ? He Answered , That indeed he doth not know of any thing concerning the two Regiments of Sir William Pennyman , and Sir Thomas Danby ; but , for his own , he can speak , That about the latter end of August last , he was commanded by the Sergeant Mayor-General of the Trained-Bands , to advance his Regiment ; and , assoon as they were advanced , there issued forth assessments for a whole Monthes pay , for his whole Regiment ; and , on this Warrant he received 300 l. or thereabouts , but more they would not , nor could not pay ; whereupon he went to my Lord of Strafford , and told him , He could not keep his Companies together without Money ; and my Lord bid him go back to his Regiment , and he would take a Course , and my Lord did grant forth his Warrant , and on that was pleased to send a Messenger ( as he thinks ) to the Constable , to whom it was directed , and the Messengers went from Constable to Constable , and all was paid . Being asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) whether it were paid voluntarily ? He Answered , They were for ought he knows . Sir Hugh Cholmley being Interrogated ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) of what Quality those persons were , that staid with my Lord of Strafford , and joyned in the latter Petition ? and , Whether many of them were not Recusants ? He Answered , That there were some of them Gentlemen of very good Quality , a few that had retracted their hands from the Petition , some 7 or 8 , and he doth not know , whether there were not many Papists , but they took a Note of four or six and twenty , to his best remembrance , that the Country had a Character on them to be Papists , and Men affected that way , but he knows not whether they were Convicted or no. And so Mr. Maynard said , they should leave this Article a while , in expectation of my Lord of Straffords Answer , and then they should recollect their proofs ; in the mean time they supposed every particular was proved . My Lord of Strafford , after some time granted him to recollect his Notes , made his Defence in substance as follows . And First , he desired leave to read the Charge , and their Lordships should find , how little of the matter opened before them this day , was therein contained , and so he is not accountable for it . He read the 27th Article . That in or about the moneth of August last , &c. His Lordship craved liberty to dissent from that worthy Gentleman that spoke last , who in his opinion , is very much mistaken , who was pleased to say , That all was fully proved ; for he conceives , little or nothing is proved as to him . That he might give their Lordships the clear satisfaction , he desired to go on in their own Order ; and as the Proofs were offered , he shall offer his Answers . The First thing spoken of , is a Petition drawn up by certain Gentlemen , whereby they did offer a months pay to the Trained-Bands , which Petition was shewed the Defendant , and was refused by him to be delivered , and the Reason assigned is , because in the latter part there is contained a Petition for calling of a Parliament , and that is laid to him as a Crime , but where it is , he doth not find , and when he doth , he shall answer and acknowledge it . He acknowledged there was such a Petition , and that it was shewed to him , and having not been acquainted with it formerly , he remembers very well , he desired to be excused from medling with it ; for having the Honor at that time to be the Kings Lieutenant of the County ; besides that , he was Lieutenant-General of the Army , and having some poor share there , though not so great as other men , he thought it very strange , that when the King had appointed them on Tuesday to meet together , and advise how his service might be complyed with , they should at a private meeting after Supper , resolve of this Petition , and never make him so much as acquainted with it ; And where he was made so great a stranger in the beginning of the business , he appeals to their Lordships whether he had reason to be over officious , to serve them in the conclusion . He acknowledges the Petition was delivered him , and on the reading of it , when he heard that clause , of moving the King for a Parliament , he disadvised it , and desired to be excused concerning it , not so fitting at that time , nor for them on such an occasion : and therefore it might be left out , or a course taken to deliver it by some other hand than his ; and he trusts it is no offence , for which he is any way punishable , to reserve that Christian Liberty in his own opinion , that he sees cause for , when it may be done without breach of any Law penal , or good manners , his Liberty being as free then to himself , as to them . But it was not out of any unwillingness the Parliament should be called ; upon which they should pinch him ; and make their Lordships and the Gentlemen think him averse from Parliaments , for he did tell them at that time , he was confident there would be a Parliament ; and that on the coming together of the Great Council of the Peers , he did conceive His Majesty would be pleased to call a Parliament ; and that their Petition would neither further nor hinder it , and therefore it might be forborn , and the King left in his Acts of Grace to his People , that he might have all the Honor of it to himself ; and that it should rise out of his Own Goodness , and Royal Breast , not as advised to it on the desire of any body else ; and therefore he thought not fit that that should be put into the Petition , not out of a desire to avoid Parliaments ; for it is well enough known , ( and if need were ) he could justify himself in it , that no poor servant the King had , was more forward , nor ready , nor willing to advise the calling of this Parliament , than he was : but he shall ever conceive it fit in this case , to reserve the Honor of the Kings Grace and Favour , as much as may be to himself , and not direct it to any other hand whatsoever , and did then ( as always ) as much as he could , apply the thanks of the People to the King his Master , and assume nothing to himself . But this he conceives no crime , and therefore he shall not need to trouble their Lordships with proof of it , there being 20 Gentlemen in the room ( he dares say ) that will justifie him in this particular . They come then and speak of a second message , to have been delivered by him to His Majesty at York ; hereby he is charged to have imposed a Tax without lawful Warrant ; he humbly affirms , and trusts , he shall manifestly prove it , that the thing was yielded to by their own universal Assent , and that it was levied by their own voluntary Will ; and that there was nothing of force from the beginning to the ending of the business ; for if he had dealt in that manner , he had been much to blame , tho as he stood then qualified , he thinks himself not punishable for it . On Debate of the business , not above three or four dissented , tho there were Two hundred present , they were perswaded and convinced , it was just and necessary to contribute , and most of them that did dissent , have been examined before their Lordships ; but they did absolutely and totally lay aside their Petition , and gave him Commission only in words , to signify to His Majesty , that they were most willing and ready to contribute the pay of a Month , for maintainance of the Trained-Bands , and that he did faithfully deliver . And whereas it is said they are Papists , he shall name persons as free from that Tax , as any men in the Shire , who did give their consent , and he named divers of them . To prove that he did nothing by force , but by unanimous consent of all . Sir Paul Neal was first called , and being Interrogated , Whether the Petition Signed by the Lord Wharton , and the rest , was not by the major of the Gentlemen there declined and laid aside ? He Answered , That he was amongst divers others , present at this meeting in the Common-Hall , and on the first coming thither , this Petition was presented by my Lord Wharton in the name of the Gentlemen that had subscribed it ; on the reading of the Petition , my Lord of Strafford did conceive , that the clause concerning the desire of a Parliament was in it self superfluous , because the King had declared his intention to have one , if at the meeting of their Lordships at York it should be desired ; and therefore he desired the clause might be put out , and another Petition presented to the effect of the former , only the last clause omitted , and that might be verbally presented by some such man , as the major part of the company should choose , and on a long debate , it was concluded ( to the best of his remembrance ) by Vote , and the whole Vote of the company went , it should be delivered by my Lord of Strafford , according to the substance of the Petition , the last clause left out ; and to the negative part , there were some four or five , he dares confidently swear , not above halfe a score . Being asked , what number there was of the company , that were willing to wave the Petition ? He Answered , That the Hall was very full ; he cannot give account of a certain number , nor knew the subscription of the Petition , for till now he remembers not , that ever he heard the particular names read ; but there was , he thinks 200 Gentlemen of several ranks . Being asked whether it was not the voluntary consent of them all , that a months entertainment should be allowed the Trained Bands ? He Answered , That he conceives the consent was given no fuller nor larger , but just the same as in the Petition , saving that one clause . Which Mr. Maynard observed , went not further than to promise an endeavor . Sir Paul Neal being Interrogated , whether the Money was not voluntarily paid all over the Countrey , for the months entertainment , with force or violence ? He Answered , he can give no answer to that , having nothing to do in the Countrey as Deputy-Lieutenant , or Officer , and other than he heard by discourse , he cannot speak of his knowledge , Being asked ( on Mr. Glyns motion ) Whether the major part of them that Signed the Petition , did wave it ? He Answered , That he conceives he gave an Answer to that before , for he remembers not , that till this day , he ever knew the names of the Gentlemen that subscribed it , but only an attestation , that about 100 had subscribed , and whether the major part of those were present , he doth not know . Being asked ( on my Lord of Straffords motion ) Whether he did not know divers of them that Signed the Petition , declared themselves for the waving of it ? He Answered , He did not know who had Signed it , and who not , saving only some Gentlemen speaking in the debate , did declare , that they in particular had Signed it , and did recede from it . Being asked what he meant when he said , that not above halfe a score went to the negative of the Message ? He Answered , That he meant it of them that were in the Hall. Sir Edward Osborne was called to be a Witness for my Lord of Strafford , but Mr. Maynard excepted against his being examined , as being one of them that sent out the Warrant , for paying Money on pain of death , and as Sir William Pennyman would have declined answering any thing of his own Act , as concerning himself , so it was desired this Gentleman might not be examined to the justification of himself by saying , the Money was levied by consent . But Sir Edward alledged to their Lordships , That there is particular complaint in the Petion against his Warrant , and therefore it was issued long before the Petition presented . After some further debate , the Examination of him was resolved upon . Sir Edward Osborne being Interrogated , Whether the major part of them that subscribed the Petition , and were present at the second meeting , did not decline the Petition ? He Answered , That he cannot say the major part of them that subscribed the Petition , did dissent openly in the Hall , for he thinks many of them were gone out of Town , but he is sure , the major part there , nay all , but about Ten , did consent to the leaving out of the clause , touching the Parliament , and to a Months pay ; and on that , it was humbly moved to my Lord ( he cannot tell whether by himself the Examinant ) that my Lord would do them the Honor , to represent their ready affections to do the King that service , that he would be their Mouth , which accordingly his Lordship did , and they all attended him when he delivered the Message ; and he doth not remember there was above 4 or 5 Gentlemen , that opened their mouths against this consent , not in words , what their hearts were he cannot tell . Being asked , Whether many that had subscribed the Petition , did not declare they would not wave it , and go the other way ? He Answered , There were some that did indeed , but he doth not know how many , Sir Edward Robinson in particular , and gave his reasons for it , Sir Richard Hutton and some others . Being asked , how many Gentlemen he thinks were present at that meeting ? He Answered , The Hall was very full , and there were Gentlemen , Freeholders and others , to the number of 300 , as near as he could imagine . Being asked , Whether that was not the place and time appointed by the King , for the Countrey to meet and Treat about the business ? He Answered , Yes , it was so , by His Majesties special Command , the day before . Being asked , whether my Lord of Strafford did not go to the Mannor , and many Gentlemen with him , and delivered their Message to the King faithfully and justly , as he had in Commission to do , and no otherwise ? He Answered , That according to their desire to his Lordship , he went presently to the Mannor ; and they all attended him , but he could not hear the Message delivered , the croud was so great . Being asked ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) whether there was any difference between the Message and Petition , but only the leaving out the last clause touching the Parliament ? He Answered , Truly No , but the principal things he took notice of , was a Months pay . Being asked ( on Mr. Palmers motion ) of what quality they were that were in the Hall , whether not some that came to gaze only , and not prosecute the matter of the Petition ? He Answered , That it is impossible for him to see through the bodies of men ; but there were not many of inferior quality that he knew ; but had he time to do it , they should make a Catalogue of as many Gentlemen and Freeholders , as set their Hand to the Petition : but he cannot see in such a room as this , whether there be Serving-men , or Aprentizes in a croud . To which Mr. Maynard answered , much less can he hear it . Sir William Pennyman Interrogated , whether the Petition deliver'd by my Lord Wharton , was by the major part of the Gentlemen that met , according to the Kings appointment , at the place proper for the business , declined ? And whether they did not declare their consent to a Months pay , and that my Lord of Strafford should deliver the Message by word of mouth ? He Answered , That the major part did decline the delivery of the Petition , and it was done upon a Vote , there being some difference of opinion , and he thinks truly , according to his conjecture , there were 200 voices at the least , to three or four . Happily some others tacitly might be of another opinion , but there was to his best remembrance , three or four voted against it . Being asked , whether divers that Signed it , did not decline it ? He Answered , That divers that set their Hands to the Petition did retract it , whereof he himself was one , and divers other Members of the House , whom he offered to name , if their Lordships required it , but that their Lordships did not think fit to direct . Being asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not faithfully and rightfully present to His Majesty , the Message , he was intrusted with ? He Answered , That he was one of them that went with my Lord , but was in the same condition with Sir Edward Osborne , for the crowd was so great that he could not come to hear . Where my Lord of Strafford desired their Lordships to take notice , that it was not in a corner when Gentlemen of their Quality could not come near . Being asked ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) Whether there was to be any difference , between what was to be delivered to the King , and that contained in the Petition , the last Clause excepted ? He Answered , That he conceives nothing was to be omitted , but only that of the Parliament . Being asked ( on the Lord Whartons motion ) Whether he and another had not Commission , to acquaint my Lord of Strafford from them that had subscribed the Petition , that they had a Petition to be deliver'd his Lordship for His Majesty , and whether he brought not word back again , that they should wait on his Lordship with the Petition on Saturday , at One or Two of the clock , and at his Lordships own house , and whether they did not accordingly wait on him ? He Answered , That he did , and they did come , and it was purposely , that they might most of them goe to the Hall , not to make my Lords House a place of his debate . Being asked , whether he was not directed to acquaint my Lord of Strafford with the Petition , and whether he brought back word about the time of attending ? He Answered , It is true he did , but he knows not whether he brought it on a Message from my Lord. Being urged to Answer that positively , Whether he brought it as a Message from my Lord. He Answered , That it may very well be he did , he thinks he did ; but he added , in effect his desire was to know , what the Question tended to . Mr. Maynard thereupon desired of their Lordships , that a Witness at the Bar might not demand the meaning of a Question , before he answers to the truth of it . And Mr. Glyn observed , that my Lord of Strafford had several times besought , he might go on quietly with his Evidence , and they hope their Lordships will justify them , that they have behaved themselves as men intrusted by the House of Commons , and that their Lordships will not suffer this Language to be used . They must demand Justice . And Mr. Maynard added , that they desire only that the Witness may readily answer to the Question propounded , and not advise , what may be the consequence , or enquire the intention of them , for they are to speak only the truth . But my Lord of Strafford conceived it a very fitting Question for the Witness , to desire to understand the Question before he answers it , and that 's all he doth , as he conceives . Being required to answer positively , whether he brought that Message from my Lord of Strafford , touching the time of delivering the Petiton ? He Answered , That he did . My Lord of Strafford here offered to their Lordships , that he conceives this Question not material to him , he was then extream sick , and in his sick Bed , when he should send this Message ; and that truly , he was never in such height of incivility towards any man alive of a far meaner Quality than my Lord Wharton , as to send them word , they should attend him at such an hour , he knows what belongs to my Lord Wharton , and what to himself , much better , than to send for , or expect any attendance from his Lordship . Sir William Savill being Interrogated , whether the Petition Signed as aforesaid , was not absolutely by the major part of them in the Hall declined , and voted , that it should not be delivered ? He Answered , That he was there , and by the major part of the Gentlemen present , it was delivered , and consented , that my Lord should deliver the substance of the Petition to the King , by word of mouth , saving the last Clause concerning the Parliament . Being asked , Whether there were not divers that Signed it , who did afterwards retract it ? And whether himself did not ? He Answered there were , and that he himself Signed the former Petition , and then it came to be disputed before them , whether they should retract it or no ? he was against the retracting of it , and many delivered Votes against it , under 10 he believes , and for his own part he said nothing to it ; but it was carried so clearly by the opinion of them present , that he went along with a great number of Gentlemen , that went with my Lord to the King , and he heard my Lord faithfully deliver the substance of the Petition in every thing , and with more advantage to them than the Petition was drawn , except the business of the Parliament . Being asked , whether part of it was not the consent to a months pay of the Trained Bands ? He Answered , That he verily believes it was the intention of them all , that a months pay should be paid to the Soldiers of the Countrey , and the months pay was paid . Being asked , Whether it was not willingly and voluntarily paid in every place without constraint , to his knowledge ? He Answered , That in that part where he lived , no body denyed whatsoever was asked , so there was no pressing of any body to pay a penny , nor complaint of any body for want of Money . Sir William Pennyman being asked to the said last point ? He Answered , That it was with a agreat deal of alacrity and cherfulness , and he heard no man repine at it , then nor since . Sir Edward Osborne Interrogated to that Point ? Answered , He never knew of any forcible course to make men pay it , but it was freely paid . Sir William Savill being Interrogated , How many of them that set their hands to the Petition , did Vote against it ? He Answered , That there were of them that set their hands to the Petition 10 , who did vote the retraction of it , and he named Sir Francis Worteley , Sir Thomas Danby , Sir George Wentworth of Wolley ( as he thinks ) and Sir Edward Rhodes . Sir Edward Rhodes Interrogated , Whether the Country did intrust my Lord of Strafford , to deliver a Message to His Majesty , declaring their consent to a Moneths pay , &c. He Answer'd , That after long debate , Whether the Petition should be presented or no ? it was by plurality of voices , declined and waved ; and , it was moved to my Lord , that he should present the Requests of the Gentlemen then met , or the plurality of them to His Majesty to this purpose , That having demanded two Moneths pay , the Gentlemen of the Country made that request to my Lord , humbly to beseech His Majesty to accept of one Moneths pay , which his Lordship did , and His Majesty was graciously pleased to accept of it , having formerly given them encouragement for the abatement of 4000 men of the Trained Bands after those Troubles were past ; and , if any Gentleman suffered in that Service , there should be no benefit taken of his Wardship , and when my Lord presented the desire of the Gentlemen to His Majesty , He was pleased , in stead of taking of 4000 , to promise to reduce the Trained-Bands to 6000. Being Asked what number of Gentlemen were in the Hall ? and , Whether that was not the place appointed for the County , to Consult about the business ? He Answered , That he thinks that there was 300 at the least , of the one and the other ; and for the place and time , it was both the place and time , and that was an Exception my Lord of Strafford took , but he was not fairly dealt withal , that in regard His Majesty gave direction , that at such a time , and such a place , my Lord President ( by that name His Majesty was pleased to call him ) and the Gentlemen of the Countrey should consider the business ; my Lord thought much a Petition should be drawn without his Consent , and that the business should be Concluded before the time , and from the place of debate . Being Asked , How many dissented from this Court ? He Answered , He thinks not above 20 , if there were so many . Being Asked , Whether diverse that signed the Petition , did not retract it ? and , amongst the rest , himself ? He Answered , Diverse did retract it ; and , himself gave his voice for the waving of it : but , he cannot say he retracted it , for his hand was not to the Petition . Being Asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford had not Commission from the County , to offer a full moneths pay of the Trained-Bands ? He Answered , It was the desire of the Country , That his Lordship would be pleased to entreat His Majesty , to accept of a moneths pay , being desired by the King. Being Asked , Whether they were not willing to pay it in that part of the Country , where he lives ? He Answered , That where he served as Deputy-Lieutenant , he knows not of one man that Complained , or shew'd unwillingness , or any difference , but only in the proportion between man and man. Being Asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford did not faithfully relate the Message to the King , according to the Commission the Country gave him ? He Answered , That he conceives he did it most faithfully , and with great advantage to the Country . Sir Tho. Danby being Interrogated to the matter of the Petition , and the declining of it ; the Consenting of a Moneths pay ; the Cheerfulness in paying of it . He Answered . That the Petition was delivered . That the Money was paid with a great deal of cheerfulness . That they were content to come to a Moneths pay . That he heard of no man that declared to deny it . Being Asked ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) Whether any other direction was given for the Message , besides the Petition , the last clause excepted ? He Answered , That one taken off , my Lord was to deliver the Substance of the Petition . Being Asked ( on Mr. Maynards motion ) Whether there were not two Trained-Soldiers hang'd up , for Mutyning for want of Pay ? Mr. Maynard thence observing , That if they had been well paid , there had been no want of it . He Answered , That he cannot Answer to that without some prejudice to himself ; he being question'd for hanging men by Martial-Law . Sir George Wentworth of Wolley being Interrogated , Whether he was not present at the Hall , where the Petition was spoke of ? and , Whether a moneths pay was not consented to ? He Answered , He was present , and the Petition was declined by the Major number ; there was a great number in the Hall , and my Lord delivered it accordingly to the King. He was present when he presented all the grievances exprest in the Petition , and left out only that part concerning the Parliament . Being Asked , Whether my Lord of Strafford had authority to acquaint the King , There should be a Moneths pay ? He Answered , Yes : and , the place of Debating was the Common-Hall ; and , diverse that signed the former Petition , did retract it , and himself was one of them . Being Asked , Whether the Money was not paid willingly by every man , without Force and Constraint ? He Answered , That he was a Collonel , and it was paid him very well . The next thing my Lord of Strafford observed , was , concerning a Warrant alleadged to be given out by him , for levying of a Fortnights pay to the Two Regiments of Sir William Pennyman , and Sir Tho. Danby . If in any thing in his Answer he be mistaken , he had rather submit it than dispute it ; and , if it please their Lordships to favour him so far , he will , as near as he can , tell every thing that passed ; and , he hopes , diverse of their Lordships will remember a great part of it . It is very true , before this moneth was ended , ( he is sure within it ) the King Licensed all the Trained-Bands to go home again , save the two Regiments , one for Richmondshire , and the other for Cleaveland , which , by His Majesties express Command , and Council of War , were required , one to remain at Yaram , the other in Richmondshire , to preserve them from those of the other side . Sir William Pennyman and some others finding , that by this means these Regiments continuing in pay , fell to be grievous to that part of the Hundred ; Those two Hundreds , or Weapontakes acquainted him ( the Earl of Strafford ) with it , out of no particular end in the World , but that with Equality and Justice in that common misfortune , they might all bear the Common Burden . Divers of their Lordships being there at Rippon , he did humbly present to the King , before the Great Council of my Lords at Yorke , That he conceived if the whole-Charge of those two Regiments should lie on those two Hundreds , it would impoverish and undoe them ; and therefore he conceived it Justice and Reason , that the rest of the County should contribute towards the Charge ( the benefit being common to all ) or else they should successively relieve those Regiments , that the burden of all might lie equal on all . This was his intention , and he hopes it was fair , and if not as it ought to be , yet it was done with a very good heart , and justly intended : This he moving at that time , His Majesty was pleased to assent to it , and lik'd it very well , and gave direction he should proceed ; whereupon he said , Then if my Lords approve of it , he shall see it done accordingly . There were diverse of the Lords then said yes ; and thereupon he took it for granted , that it was their Consent . If in this he did mistake , of their Lordships , he humbly craves their pardon , it being far from him to prejudice any man living in that relation , and , that it was so , he thinks a Noble Peer , then present , ( viz. my Lord of St. Albanes ) will remember , that diverse on the Motion did say , yes ; and thereupon he took it to be a thing granted . And , that as my Lord of St. Albanes , who being gone home indisposed in his health , my Lord of Strafford desired he might reserve himself the benefit of his Examination , if he shall see cause , though he hopes there will be no need of it . After this , he understanding that some of their Lordships at Rippon were not satisfied , because the Great Council was named for the Author of the Warrant ; the very last day the Great Council sate at Yorke ( their Lordships being then come back from Rippon ) he moved it to the King , and gave the same Relation there , that he makes here before their Lordships , desiring to know their pleasure , whether the Warrant should be recalled or no ? for he could then easily do it : Nothing being done upon it . Under favour , some of their Lordships said , The Great Council had no power to levy Money ; To which he Answered , That the Warrant was not to levy Money , but that the parties concerned should do their duties themselves , or otherwise pay the Money . At that time it pleased His Majesty to Command him to go on ; and , after the King had spoken , no man spake to the contrary , and so the Warrant was not recalled ; but , the Moneys were paid voluntarily , no force or constraint being put upon any , but they took it as a great benefit that they had that favour , as for his part he conceived it was : And , all himself got by it , was , That , by this means himself , and all his Tenants , and those that had relation to him , came to pay their proportionable shares , which otherwise should not have paid a Farthing , ( for they were at a great distance in the West-riding ) and they paid it voluntarily , and willingly ; and , when he spake with the Deputy-Lieutenants , they all conceived it a benefit , and advantage to the Country ; and , it was done with their Consent , and a great Ease , and a Burden to no man , So he acknowledges such a Warrant was granted , but nothing of force or constraint , Mr. Ro. Strickland Interrogated , Whether he conceived not this a great ease to the Country , thus to lay the last Fortnights Pay for the two Regiments ? And stood with his Advise , and the Advise of his Lieutenants ? He Answered , That it was very well paid for any thing he knows , but the most part of it , if it was paid , was paid after he came to London . But , he conceives , that if those Regiments must stand , or the other March up to their Reliefe , it was for the ease of the Country , and so he conceived then , otherwise he should not have subscribed the Warrant : and , it had laid heavy on those Divisions , where the two Regiments of Sir William Pennyman , and Sir Thomas Danby lay , who had been undone by it ; It was done meerly for their Relief , without any ill intent whatsoever . Sir Edward Osborne Interrogated , What he thinks of the Course ? and , Whether he consented not to it , as a very great Advantage ? He Answered , The Question being propounded by my Lord Lieutenant to the Deputy Lieutenants , Whether two Regiments that lived on the place , the Frontier of the North-Riding , should be paid by the Countries Contributing , or their Charge , or the Country to send their Regiments for relief of these two ; they conceived it was a mighty ease and benefit to the Country to pay the two Regiments , and the rest of the Trained-Bands continue ; For , some of them must March 70 miles in way , and 70 miles backwards , and , some of them that lay there , never stirred out of their own Towns : and therefore they were of opinion , It was a marvellous ease . Being Asked , Whether this Fortnights Pay was voluntarily paid in the Parts where he lived ? and , Whether Force was used ? He Answered , He lived at York altogether , and cannot tell : But , some Officers asking , What they should do for the Moneys that are behind for relief of the two Regiments ? my Lord Answered , That which will be willingly and freely paid , you must take it ; that which will not , you must let it alone : and , this was four or five dayes before my Lord of Strafford came from York . Sir William Pennyman being Interrogated , touching the Convenience and Ease of this Course ? He Answered , That he conceives it very easie and advantagious , for else some of the Regiments must have marched 70 miles , and it would have taken up a great part of the Charge , in the very March. My Lord of Strafford added , That he would prove it by all the Deputy Lieutenants that were there , that no Force or Constraint was put upon any man by him , nor is there any proofes to prove Force : There be onely two things insisted on ; One is the Warrant of Sir Edward Osborne , that they should pay Money on peril of their Lives ; He denies that he signed any such Warrant ; and , he is sure there is none under his hand : If they have it to show , he desires they would shew it ; if they do not , then their Lordships Judgments will acquit him of it . The other is Sergeant Major Yowards Warrant , and a fellow that tells a Tale of Muskiteers , and sayes , there was a Warrant of his ; But , he sayes , he made no such Warrant ; he gave no direction for it ; neither is there any such Warrant shown ; and , he trusts , that will acquit him of that too : And , if there be any thing of Crime in the business , it must be , that they have been constrained by force , to pay the Moneys ; for , if it be voluntarily offered to take or leave , this can be no Crime ; and , that there was any force , or any Warrant issued by him , he denies : And , by this time , he thinks he hath cleared himself against all the matters charged in this Article . But , he conceives , he hath done nothing , but that he had Commission and power to do , though he never had acquainted the Great Council with it under favour : It is true , he was alwayes desirous , to have the assistance of Men wiser than himself ; and , when there was means or opportunity to gain it , he took it : But , if he had been in Yorkshire all alone , having the Power and Commission he then had ( though His Majesty and their Lordships had not been there ) he conceives he might have Justified the doing of as much , as he hath done in this Parliament ; his Commission under the Seal of my Lord Admiral being in effect , FOr the better Execution of this our Commission , we do further give and grant to you full Power and Authority , from time to time , and at all times at your discretion , to command , and require of and from all our Lieutenants , and Deputy-Lieutenants in our several Counties of this our Realm and Dominion of Wales , and of and from every , or any of them , to send to you , or such place as you shall appoint , such number of able Men for the War , as well Horsemen as Footmen , in the said Counties respectively , or otherwise , sufficiently Armed and Furnished , as you in your discretion shall appoint and require . And , he did not send them to pay any Money , but to relieve by turnes , Regiment after Regiment ; and , if they found it for their ease , they might be at the Charge , else do the Duty required , which , by the Common Allegiance , every man is bound to do . Say then he had committed an Error , he had rather confess than justifie it , as long as it is not brought to him as a Crime . But , there is another clause , according to the Statute of 11 H. 7. viz. ANd further , our pleasure is , and we do give and grant for us , our heirs and successors , that whatsoever you , or any other person , or persons of what degree soever , by your Commission , Warrant , or Command shall do , by vertue of this our Commission , or Letters Patents , or according to the Instructions aforesaid , or the purport of this our Commission , touching the Execution of the premises , both you , and the said persons , in shewing forth these our Letters-patents , or the Constat , or Inrollment thereof , shall be discharged and acquitted against us , our heires and successors , and freed from all Impeachment , and other molestation for the same . He did this without sinister ends , or by-respects ; and therefore if he did any way err , by His Majesties own gracious clause , he is to be excused ; And , it is pursuing to the Statute of 11 H. 7. c. 1. where the Preamble is very observable . THe King , our Soveraign Lord , recalling to his Remembrance the Duty and Allegiance of His Subjects , and that they , by reason of the same , are bound to serve the King for the time to come in His Wars , against every Rebellion , and Power , and Might , &c. and whatsoever falls against the mind of the Prince ; and , that it is against all Law , Reason and Conscience , that attending His Person , or being in other places of His Command , any should lose or forfeit for doing their true Service and Obedience . Be it therefore Enacted , &c. That from henceforth , no manner of Person , or persons whatsoever , that attends the King in His Person , and do Him true Allegiance in His Person , or be in other places in His Wars , for the said Deed , or true Duty , he and they shall be any way convicted , and Attainted of Treason , nor of any other Offence by any Process of Law , whereby he shall forfeit Lands , Goods , Tenements , &c. and shall be for that Deed and Service utterly discharged of any Vexation , &c. So that he conceives he hath done nothing , but what may receive a fair and equal interpretation ; what he hath done , he hath done very candidly , and clearly , for the good of His Masters Service , and preservation of the Country ; and he hath done nothing violently , or deliberately , to force Men to do things , that may any way trench on the Propriety or Liberty of the Subject : and , whatsoever evil he may have committed in this , he hopes , by the Act of Parliament , and by the words of the Commission read , he shall stand before their Lordships ( in point of Justice , and Noble Compassion to a Man that may erre ) Acquitted from any part of that Charge , that may accuse him of High Treason . Onely one thing he hath omitted , and that is the Testimony of Sir William Ingram , where he Charges me with saying , The refusers to pay the Money are in little better condition , than guilty of High Treason . But he is a single Testimony ; and he sayes , That clearly underfavour it is no mean offence for any Man , to deny the Common Allegiance due to the King , for Defence of His VVars : But , the words are testified to be spoken only to one Man , and he is not Accomptable to him , nor to their Lordships , for that , he being but a single Testimony . Mr. Maynard began to Reply to the said Defence in substance , as followeth . That whereas my Lord sayes , They have urged much that , which was not Charged ; his Lordship hath Answered , that which was not Objected as a Charge : for , the greatest part of the time he hath spent in examining so many VVitnesses , is , to shew on what grounds the first Petition was deserted , and a Message put on his Lordship to deliver to the King : The Petition was not offered to him as a matter of Charge , but it is charged upon him , that he procured to levy and impole Money upon the Country by force , without a legal VVarrant , and , by way of excuse , in his Answer , he sets forth , that the Country did yield to it by their Unanimous consent . To that purpose it was objected to him , Not that the delivery of the Message was a Crime ( and therefore he might have spared this labour to Answer it , as to that purpose ) But , as himself states the Case , he hath much encreased , rather then diminished his Fault ; for , he said , There was a Consent ; yet , it appears , there were but 109 principal Gentlemen parties in the first Petition , and he encounters these to 200 met together ; the greater part of whom consenting , and 100 of them that had subscribed , and about 5 dissenting , they resolve of a Message to be delivered touching consent ; But , they have proved , not only a Leavy for the first moneth , but much more ; though when the Gentry met together , and consented to a Petition , it is no desertion of that Petition , because 10 of 109 deserted , especially when they had a Message from my Lord to meet about it , and , relying upon it , went into the Country : besides , 200 Gentlemen Freeholders , and others , could not lay a Charge on the rest of the Country , nor bind them that had dissented before , and whose consent was not involved ; and , it is no legal way to raise Money by Warrant , much less by Force . For the Money levyed after the Moneth expired , my Lord hath offered no Colour to their Lordships ; for first , the ground whereupon he raised it , was contrary to that which was the truth , viz. the Consent of the Lords of the Great Council ; whereas it appear'd , and shall appear further , there was no such Consent . My Lord of Strafford would next justifie it by a Commission , but that doth only require people , according to their Allegiance , to give attendance ; and , this is turned into a matter of laying of Money : for , the first point of the Warrant is , to pay the Money Assessed , and , if they will not , they shall attend , so that what is matter of service is turned out of its Course , and this is a high abuse of his power , which makes that matter of Money , which should be matter of Service ; and , by this meanes , awes men to pay money . The Country , on demand of His Majesty , did consent to a Moneths pay , but , my Lord , without their consent , extends it beyond , and pretends an Order ( to say no more of it ) when there was no such thing , to draw some Deputy-Lieutenants together , and , when they are drawn , to make an Order , this must be his Justification of that which is unduely done : And , this is far from the mitigation of an Offence . To do an unjust Act is one thing , but , it is a great aggravation when it is drawn by pretence of an authority which never was . On 27 October , the self same day Sir Iohn Burroughs spake of notice taken by their Lordships , disclayming the Order for a Warrant ; And then my Lord acknowledged it to be an Error ; and , it is doubtful , whether he would have acknowleged it to be so , if it had not been proved so . My Lords Commission speaks not of Money , and the Statute makes not to this Case , it being only , That when men are on their Allegiance , doing the King faithful service , they should not be attainted of High-Treason for doing their duty ; And , the Interpretation his Lordship puts on it , is , that the duty of the Subject cannot be done to the King , without levying money in an unlawful way ; if the levying of Money , or the Imposing of Charges be matter of duty , then he gives a Justification of the Charge : And , whereas he sayes , though he had not had command from His Majesty , nor Order from the Council of Peers , he had power enough to do that which he did ; it is to be observed , that my Lord did not require men first to serve , but first to pay money ; and if they paid not , then he Menaces them , that they should serve , as appears by Sir William Pennymans Warrant , and therefore the Warrant might be observed , which Sir William Pennyman justifies so unwillingly , though in other things he be very forward ; and for a man to be required to pay Money , and if he will not pay it , then to perform service , is hard ; for now he comes not on the Kings service , but on the displeasure of them that require Money from him , and that 's a bad discouragement to them that serve . And whereas my Lord sayes , nothing is proved , or but by single proof , their Lordships may be pleased to remember , what is proved by Sir Henry Griffin , That my Lord said , That Money should be levied , and he would take a course for it , and the same Gentlemen deposes , that the Warrant or Order was under my Lord Straffords hand , which was the Warrant for them to pay Money . It is likewise proved by Sir William Ingram , that he said the private men must maintain after 1 d. per day , and gave out his Command to the Constables , and he would have all men know , that those that refused it , were in a little better condition than High Treason , so that to the first part , there is more than a single Testimony . The latter part shall be proved by an other . Mr. Henry Cholmley being Interrogated , What he heard my Lord of Strafford speak , concerning Treason , in case men pay not that Money , or to that effect ? He Answered , That he heard not any thing at all of Treason . Cconcerning the not payment , Answered , That at York , at the Mannor-House my Lord of Strafford speaking of the raising of the Trained-Bands , said , we are all by Law tyed to serve the King in our own persons , and if any refuse , they are in little better case , than Treason ( he cannot tell whether he said High Treason ) and they might be severely punished in the Star-Chamhamber . And , their Lordships may remember Mr. Cholmeleys former Testimony , that the Vice-President might , or shall send forth Warrants to levy Money ; And therefore these Gentlemens Testimonies stand without impeachment of that point . My Lord sayes , Moneys were not levyed by force ; yet it was proved , that for these two Regiments Money was levyed by force ; for , Four Soldiers came to the Town , and went with the Constables . But , he sayes , it concerns not him , for no Warrant of his was shown . Their Lordships will not expect , that my Lord of Strafford should give particular Warrants to every Officer ; his Direction is proved in general ; his Commands are conveyed and distributed by particular Ministers ; The Captains look for Commands from them that are above them ; and they from the Lieutenant-General : And , Sir William Pennyman conceives , the Warrant made out by the Vice-President , was by a Warrant from my Lord of Strafford , or he had my Lord of Straffords Command . So that , take that which is under Hand and Seal ; take what Sir William Pennyman , take what Mr. Cholmeley hath spoken , it cannot be otherwise , but it was done by my Lord of Straffords Command , and that is sure without legal Authority : and so Mr. Maynard conceived they had made a full proof of this Article . For that which concernes the Great Council , he desired my Lords Answer might be read ; where he sayes expresly , It was done by order of the Lords of the Great Council ; And , Mr. Maynard humbly prayed , that some of the Lords of the Great Council , might declare the Truth in that Case . But , my Lord of Strafford Answered , That he confessed it here at the Barr , that it is so ; and , must humbly put their Lordships in mind , that in his Answer , he prayes , if any thing be mistaken , he may have time to amend it ; and he doth amend it , he confesses it was put in too strongly . Mr. Glyn added , That they put their Lordships in mind of it , that it may not be forgotten ; After his Lordship was put in mind of it by the Lords of the Great Council , he retracts it ; yet , when he comes to Answer , he affirms it ; therefore they think it necessary , to put their Lordships in mind of it , least he affirm it again . Mr. Whitlock observed , That my Lord of Strafford had made Justification of his Act here ; and truely , the opinions which he hath here published and declared in the face of the Parliament , are sufficient grounds of Condemnation of him . He said , the other day , That in case of necessity , the King was loose and absolved , from all Rules of Government ; and that then Money might be levied by Force ; and , that their Lordships very well remembers what that necessity was , indeed no necessity at all . But , whatsoever the necessity is , they know no such Tenent as my Lord of Strafford publishes : But , it is expresly against the Fundamental Lawes of the Kingdom , and a meer Course for his bringing in an Arbitrary Power . His Lordship said , That as he stood qualified , he might justifie as much as he hath done ; Which words are little less than the offence wherewith he is charged , and prove the Charge . For him to say , That as he was then qualified , because he was Lieutenant General of the Army , he might send his Warrants to Tax the Kings Subjects without Parliament , is , to take on him the Power of a Parliament ; for , under favour , no such Tax can be made without assent in Parliament : So that what my Lord of Strafford hath declared as a ground of his Defence , is a good ground of his Condemnation . My Lord of Strafford did here desire liberty to speak to the Testimony of Mr. Cholmley , which is new matter ; and , he besought their Lordships to observe , That he did not say , as Sir William Ingram , That the Money should be paid , and he that paid not the Money , should be in little better condition , then High Treason ; But , he that denies his Allegiance to the King , to go with Him in His Wars , in Defence of the Realm , is little better than guilty of Treason , or is Fineable in the Star-Chamber : But , because these are tender Points , and he little understands them , and they take hold of all that falls from him , he shall say no more , but that the Testimony of the one and the other , are two several things . And , his Lordship proceeded to speak something touching Sir William Ingrams Testimony , which Mr. Glyn interposed , and said , That 's no new matter , but it only arises out of his Answer , and therefore he desired no more might be said to that . He proceeded to other matters contained in the Reply , and offered to their Lordships , That it had been said , he did publiquely justify at the Bar , that he had power to lay Taxes , and to force payment ; but he said , under favour , no such thing ; but that he having the Kings Commission and Power to call in such , as he should think fit to serve the King , for defence of the Realm , and this being pursuant to the Act of Parliament of 11 H. 7. he said , he might justify ( as he conceives ) the calling of the Regiments to relieve by turns one another , as there should be occasion ; but to say , he had power to Tax what he pleased , God forbid , he should say or think such a thing . He is not the wisest man in the world , yet not so ignorant , but to know that the one were a great breach , on the fundamental propriety and liberty of the Subject ; but to call men to perform their Duty for preservation of the King and Kingdom , he conceives to be a quite different thing . His Lordship proceeded to speak to some part of the Reply , concerning his sending forth of Warrants to levy by force . Which being excepted against , as new mattermy Lord of Strafford answer'd That if he speaks new matter , it is sufficient punishment to him . My Lord of Strafford proceeded , That he is charged to be the procurer of Sir William Pennymans sending a Warrant to levy by force , whereas , he said , the Warrant was issued by him and the Deputy-Lieutenants . But that being denyed and apprehended to be new matter . Mr. Whitlock desired to Reply to my Lord of Strafford's Answer , to what he had formerly opened , wherein he conceived he was not mistaken , but if he were , he submitted , but he opened it thus . That as my Lord of Strafford with the Power and Commission he had , he said , he might justify what he had done , and it proved that he sent Warrants to levy Money , and these Moneys were levyed by force . Mr. Maynard added , That they are here for the King and Common-wealth , and desired , that Right might be spared them , and that there might not be continual Replyes : That no colour of Answer is given ; that because a man must serve in person , therefore Money must be required of him , else he must be brought by Head and Shoulders to serve in person . They offered a Warrant made upon peril of Life , under the Hand and Seal of Sir Edward Osborne . Whence Mr. Maynard observed , That there is Imprisonment ; Levying of Money ; charging upon pain of Life ; levying of Goods : nothing can be put upon the Subject , but it hath been offered in this Case . Mr. Glyn Summ'd up their Proofs , saying , Since my Lord of Strafford will have another Reply , they have produced their Proofs , That he hath levied War against the Kings Subjects , and did before declare an Intention to levy Money , which was afterwards done by his direction . Sir William Pennyman proves , that Warrants were issued , and in such sort as mentions a coertion ; They have in pursuance proved it to be levied by four Musquetiers , if he gave direction , another gave execution , and the parties Body must be carried away , if he pays not ; which is a levying of War against the Kings Subjects : and Gogan 5 R. 2. was accused of Treason , for forceing a man to enter into Bond , which is not so much as to force those payments on the Kings Subjects . They produced Sir Edward Osborns Warrant attested by Mr. Cholmley to be the Original Warrant that he had from Mr. Vice-President , to send for the levying of the Money . To the &c. WHereas His Majesty is informed , that the Regiment under Command of Col. Cholmley is set forth with little Money , which expresses great disaffection to His Majesties service , and wilful neglect of your own , and the whole Kingdoms safety ; the Scotch Army having taken Newcastle , and being on their march towards these parts : These are therefore to Will and require you in His Majesties Name , and by His special Command , to raise , and cause to be raised by the Port Constable , or otherwise as you shall think best , the sum of 20s . 8d . at least for each common Soldiers belonging to such Towns or Parishes , and to send the same immediately to York , to be delivered to the Colonel , for Pay and Supply of the said Soldiers , and likewise to charge and command all and every person and persons , who find private Arms , or contribute thereunto , forthwith to send the like sum at least to York , to be disposed as aforesaid ; And in case any of them refuse to contribute , you are required by like Command , to certify me the Names of such refusers , that a Messenger may be sent to bring them hither to serve in person , and be severely punished , according to the Quality of so high an offence , seeing the safety of His Majesties Person , and the safety of the Kingdom depends on this ; Fail not in the speedy execution thereof , as you will answer to the contrary , on peril of your life . Dated the last of August 1640. Mr. Maynard desired their Lordships to observe the former Deposition that my Lord of Strafford should say , The Vice-President shall , or may send forth Warrants , and it is originally my Lord of Straffords fault . And so they concluded the 27th Article . Mr. Glyn did offer to their Lordships , that there is the 28th Article remaining , wherein , whether shall proceed or no , they have not yet resolved . But they desired another day to be heard , they having something more to say . And so the Court was Adjourned , and the next day was appointed , a Etight of the clock . A SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE Of my Lord of STRAFFORD . April 12. THis Day being appointed , for the Summing up of the Evidence formerly given on both sides , in the Cause concerning my Lord of Strafford ; The Right Honourable the Lord Steward spake in substance as followeth . My Lord of Strafford , I am Commanded by my Lords to let you know , that they do expect your Lordship will go on in the Order set , to sum up your Lordships Evidence ; and , those Gentlemen of the House of Commons will likewise sum up theirs , for the Close of Proofes in Matter of Fact ; and , that your Lordship do it with all Clearness and Succinctness , avoiding any thing that may give Impediment , to the Clear and Fair Proceeding of the Cause , which , for matter of Fact , is come to a Period . My Lord of Strafford humbly desired , That he might clearly understand what was expected in that case , and then he would perfectly obey my Lords in all things ; adding , that he Conceives their Lordships intention is , that they shall go upon what hath been alleadged before their Lordships , without any new matter to be further alleadged on either side . Whereunto my Lord Steward replyed , That if there be any new matter , God forbid but they might alledge it . And , my Lord Strafford thereupon Answered , That he will offer no New Matter , unless it should arise from the other side ; professing himself ready to be disposed of , in all Acts of Obedience to their Lordships . And then his Lordship proceeded to Recollect his Evidence in Substance , as followeth . May it please your Lordships , it falls to my turn , by your Lordships leave and favour , to presume to put you in mind , and to represent to you , the Proofes , as they have been offered , which I shall do to the best of my Memory , with a great deale of Clearness . I shall desire to represent them neither better nor worse , then they are in themselves , and , I wish , the like Rule may be observed on the other side ; For , in the proceeding of this Cause , I heard them alleadge , that , as they conceived , divers Articles were fully proved ; Whence I conceive , there was nothing fully Proved . My Lords , my Memory is weak , my health hath been impayred , and I have not had such quiet thoughts , as I desired to have had , in a business of so great and weighty importance to me : And therefore I shall most humbly beseech your Lordships , that by your Wisdom , your Justice and Goodness , I may be so much bound to you , as to have my Infirmities supplyed by your better Abilities , better Judgments , and better Memories . My Lords , The Charge I am to Answer , is a Charge of High-Treason ; and , that which makes it the most grievous of all , it is an Impeachment of Treason from the Honourable House of Commons : Were not that in the Case , my Lords , it would not press so heavy and sore upon me , as now it doth , having the Authority and Power of their Names upon it ; Otherwise , my Lords , the Innocency , and the Clearness of my own heart from so Foul a Crime , is such , that I must with Modesty say , if I had no other sin to answer for , it would be easily borne . My Lords , as I went along Article by Article , These Gentlemen were pleased to say , They were no Treasons in themselves , but Conducing to the Proof of Treason : and , most of the Articles being gone over , they come to the Point at last . And hence , my Lords , I have all along watched , to see if that I could find that Poysoned Arrow , that should Invenome all the rest ; that Deadly Cup of Wine , that should intoxicate a few alledged Inconveniences , and Misdemeanors , to run them up to High Treason . My Lords , I confess it seems very strange to me , that there being a special difference between Misdemeanors , and between Felonies and Treasons ; How is it possible that ever Misdemeanors should make Felonies , or a hundred Felonies make a Treason ? Or , that Misdemeanors should be made Accessaryes to Treason , where there is not a Principal in the Case ? No Treason , I hope , shall be found in me , nor in any thing I hear to be charged , under favour , and not waved . They say well , That if a man be taken threatning of a man to kill him , Conspiring his death , and with a Bloody Knife in his hand , these be great Arguments to convince a man of Murder . But then , under favour , the man must be killed ; for , if the man be not killed , the murder is nothing . So , all these things that they would make conduce to Treason , unless something be Treasonable , under favour , they cannot be applyed to Treason . My Lords , I have learnt that in this Case , which I did not know before , that there be Treasons of two kinds ; there be Statute-Treasons , there be Treasons at Common-Law , or Treasons Constructive and Arbitrary . My Lords , These Constructive Treasons have been strangers in this Common-wealth a great while , and , I trust , shall be still , by your Lordships Wisdom and Justice : But , as for Treasons in the Statute , I do , with all gladness and humility acknowledge your Lordships to be my Judges , and none but you , under favour , can be my Judges : His Majesty is above it , the King Condemns no Man : the great operation of His Scepter is Mercy ; His Justice is dispensed by His Ministry ; so He is no Judge in the Case ( with Reverence be it spoken : ) and likewise no Commoner can be Judge in the Case of Life and Death , under favour , in regard he is of another Body : So that , my Lords , I do acknowledge entirely , you are my Judges , and do , with all chearfulness in the World , submit my self unto you ; thinking , that I have great cause to give God thanks , that I have you for my Judges , and , God be praised it is so ; and , Celebrated be the Wisdom of our Ancestors that have so ordained it . My Lords , I shall observe these Rules ; First , I shall ( as I hope ) clear my self of Statute Treason , and then shall come to Constructive Treason , or Treason at the Common-Law . The first point they Charge me withal of Treason , is upon the Fifteenth Article ; Wherein neverthess , before I come to Answer the Particulars , I must humbly inform your Lordships , that , in that Article , two of the most material Charges are waved in the first part ; that piece of the Charge that sounds so high , concerning a Miscarriage in me , in Levying Money upon the Towns of Baltemore , Bandenbridge , Talow , of that I hear nothing , and I shall mention it only thus farr , humbly to remember your Lordships , that , in that particular , I trust I have spoken nothing , that I should merit less belief of your Lordships : For my part , it is far from me , to put you upon any prejudice , by any means whatsoever ; I look onely to the preserving of my self , if it may be without prejudice and hurt to any living Soul. Then they likewise wave another piece of the Charge , and that is , that I should , by force of Armes , dispossess divers persons in the Territory of Idengh ; and well they may , for , in truth , there is nothing at all of it that I am to Answer , it being wholly done by the Order of Chancery , and I having no more to do with it , then any man that hears it : the Matter that stayes with me in this Article , is , the alleadged Warrant to Mr. Savill Sergeant at Armes , and the Execution of it , for that I shall humbly beseech your Lordships , I may mind you , with all humility , that that Warrant is not shewed ; and , I do think , that my Lords the Judges do , in the Tryals before them , observe , that Deeds are to prove themselves in ordinary Tryals betwixt Men and Men ; Now , how much more in a Tryal for life , and , which is more than that ( though my Misfortune will have me to own it ) in the Tryal of a Peer ? The Witnesses , my Lords , say , They have seen such a Warrant ; But , no Witnesse sayes , he knowes it , and will Swear it to be my Hand and Seal ; or , that I set my Hand or Seal to it ; for , it may be Counterfeited , for any thing they know . For , Mr. Savill , upon Oath , I thought ( under Favour ) he ought not to be admitted against me ; for , he Swears directly to justifie himself : for if there be no such Warrant , he is answerable for the Fact , not I. But , my Lords , admit there were such a Warrant , I humbly conceive , I gave your Lordships a very clear and full Answer to it ; I shewed you ( and proved it , as I conceive ) that the Sessing of Soldiers hath been a Coercive means used in Ireland alwayes , to enforce obedience to the Kings Authority ; I proved it to have been used , to fetch in the Kings Rents of all kinds , Contributions , Compositions , and Exchequer Rents ; I proved it to have been used , to bring in Offenders and Rebels , and ( as my Lord Ranalagh deposes ) for any Unjustifiable Act. Sir Arthur Terringham , for a small Debt , which appears not to be the Kings Debt ; My Lords , nothing at all is proved against it , but Negatively , the Witnesses say , they did not know such a thing , they had not heard the like ; and , I think , none of your Lordships had , before this Cause ; and yet that thing might be too . And , my Lords , I beseech your Lordships , How should it be not Treason , to Assess Soldiers for the Kings Debts , and yet the Assessing of Soldiers , on the Contempt of the Kings Authority , should be Treason ? for certainly the Kings Authority is of far more Dignity , and more respect is to be had to it , then the getting of a few poor Debts ; and , why it should be Treason in one Case , and not in another , methinks it is very strange . My Lords , in the next place I conceive , that not in any Construction this can be said to be a Levying of War against the King and His People , being but the Imployment of two or three Soldiers , to procure obedience to His Majesties Government : because ( as I conceive likewise ) I had Commission to make War as I saw Cause , for punishing the Rebels , and securing the Publick Peace ; and therefore , How can I be charged with that I have power to do ? The worst that can be made of it , is , an absurd execution of a Power ; but , to make it Treason , when I had Commission and Liberty so to do , methinks that is very hard : And , it was no absurd execution of a Power , under favour neither , when I had the Precedent of all the former Deputies and Lieutenants in the Case . My Lords , it was never Complained of all the while I was there , for ought appears to your Lordships ; so , that it seems there was no great Innovation , nor Inconvenience , for , if there were , I should have heard of it . But , the Statute 11 E. 1. ca. 7. sets a penalty upon any Subject , that shall Assess without the Deputies Authority . Now I do most humbly beseech your Lordships , that you would be pleased to remember that , and let me know how it should be but Penal in a Common person to do it , and yet Treason in a Deputy ? My Lords , I shall likewise humbly mind your Lordships for the Statute , or rather two Statutes , as I take it , whereby I conceive this Statute that made a Treason in Ireland was repealed ; But , howsoever , the practice in all time hath gone quite contrary to that Statute , and the best Interpretation of Law is the Practice of Law ; and therefore the Practice having been otherwise , it is an Argument very strong and prevalent , that the Deputy , as Chief Governor , was never intended to be Concluded within that Act , nor never to be brought in by General Words onely . And , that this should be a Levying of War against the King , within the Statute of 25 E. 3. in England , surely I conceive it cannot be ; for , the Burning of Towns , the Taking of Forts , Killing and Slaying , that I conceive to be a Levying of War ; but , this is a strange Levying of War , with two or three Soldiers to rest in Peace and Quietness , eating on Contemners onely ( and not Killing and Slaying ) and all to procure Obedience to the King , not in Disobedience to His Command . If to lie upon them and eate , be High-Treason , in this Case , What shall become of a great Company of good Fellowes , that at this time eate at the Charge of the Country ? No , my Lords ; This , in the Case of a private Man , had been but a Forcible Entry , or a Ryot at the most , if a man had done the same thing Mr. Savil did of his own Authority , without the Deputy , it had been but a Force and Ryot ; and , How shall this be in my Case High Treason ? The next Charge , in that Case , is , concerning a Warrant to one Piggot , another Sergeant at Armes , and the great and crying Miscarriages and Misimployments of such a War ; if there had been any , it was when I ( as your Lordships may please to remember ) was out of Ireland , and that was the Case of Bern , a very Foule Misdemeanor , as it proved . But , my Lords , I being out of the Kingdom , and no such Warrant shown , I conceive I am absolutely dismissed as unto that , and have nothing to Answer for it : there was nothing done while I was in the Kingdom : there is no Warrant of mine shown : therefore , I conceive , I stand clear of that likewise . But admit there were such a Warrant , the Answer goes to that as to the test ; and certainly , I hope , will fully acquit me of this Fifteenth Article , as Treason ; And so I must , in humility , submit to your Lordships wiser and better Judgments . The next Statute Treason , is an Intendment , or Design , or what you will have it , for bringing over the Irish Army into this Kingdom , to reduce it , or to do I know not what , nor I think no body else , for there is no such thing . But , my Lords , for proofe in this Case , you have two offered there , and no more , under favour , at all : the first proof is , the Fears and Doubts of my Lord Ranalaugh , that tells you , he Fears such a thing , and Doubts such a thing . My Lords , if Fears and Doubts may be sufficient to Condemn me for Treason , By my Faith , I fear , and doubt very much , these Fears and Doubts might Accuse me , and Condemn me of Treason more then once a Year ; But , my Lords , his Fears and Doubts , he may keep to himself , I hope they shall not be brought any way to the prejudice of me ; I am , I thank God , both confident and knowing , there is no such thing . The next is the Testimony of Mr. Treasurer Vane ; and , the Words Mr. Treasurer doth Witness against me in that particular , are , as I conceive , these ; that I should say to His Majesty , in an Argument concerning an Offensive or Defensive War with Scotland ; Your Majesty hath tryed all wayes , and are refused , and , in this extream necessity , for the safety of the Kingdom , and Your People , You may imploy the Irish Army to reduce this Kingdom . My Lords , To this I say , that ( under favour ) Mr. Treasurer was in this ( methoughts ) a little Dubious ; he was something doubtful ; for , at the first , he told your Lordships , he would deal plainly and clearly with you ; that he knew before whom he spoke : and then , my Lords , it was but to the best of his Remembrance , that these , and these words were spoken . At the last , my Lords , being put to it more , he was pleased to say , that these were positively the words , or something to that effect : So , my Lords , here is but a dubious and uncertain Witness , under favour , and these Professions of his speaking clearly and plainly , and of his Consideration before whom he was ( which are something unusual Clauses to Men , that come to Swear upon Oath ) make me conceive him something Dubious in this point . Secondly , My Lords , he is a Single Witness , and not onely so , but , under favour , disavowed by all the rest that were present at the Council ; my Lord of Northumberland remembred no such thing ; my Lord Marquiss of Hamilton remembred no such thing ; my Lord Treasurer remembred no such thing ; my Lord Cottington is very well assured he said no such thing , for if he had he should have taken offence at it himself , which he never did . My Lords , in the Third place , He is pleased to mention , That it was in a Debate , Whether an Offensive or Defensive War ? and , that then I should say , The King had an Army in Ireland , &c. My Lords , It falls out in time , to be as I conceive , to be about the 5 th of May last , not many dayes sooner or later , the Army of Ireland was not raised till Iune following . So it seems , I should tell the King a great untruth ; that he had an Army in Ireland , which he might imploy for His Service , before that Army was raised ; for , it is a notorious thing , and any of that Country knows , that the Army was not raised till the Fifteenth of Iune , as I remember . Lastly , In farther taking away of this Testimony , I have proved it , by a great many Witnesses , beyond all exception , that there was never any such intendment of the bringing this Army into England ; nay , that the Design was quite otherwise ; and this hath been apparently cleared before your Lordships , By the Testimony of my Lord of Northumberland , Marquess of Hamilton , Sir Thomas Lucas , and Mr. Slingsby ; And might have been further justify'd , by the Testimony of my Lord of Ormond President of Munster , and Sir Iohn Burlace , Master of the Ordnance in Ireland , if they had been here to have been produced : So that all these laid together , the strong and clear proof on my part , the producing of a single Witness which , by the Proviso of 1 Edw. 6. cannot rise in Judgment against any man for High-Treason . I trust , all these laid together , I shall appear to your Lordships clear and free from these two points , whereupon they enforce me to be within the compass of Treason by the Statute alleadged . The Third Treason that is laid to my Charge , is upon the 27 th Article , where Four Musquettiers being sent to Egton , by Sergeant Major Yawerth , to call for their Eight pence a day , is prest upon me , as a Levying of War upon the King and His People , and to be High-Treason upon the Statute of 25 E. 3. These be wonderful Wars , if we have no greater Wars then such , as four men are able to raise , by the Grace of God we shall not sleep very unquietly . But , How do they prove this to be done by me ? they produce to your Lordships the VVarrant of Sir William Pennyman ; but , had no VVarrant at all of mine to shew . Sir William Pennyman doth not alledge any VVarrant of mine to that purpose ; he speaks of a General VVarrant , wherein I and the Deputy-Lieutenants joyne , for the paying of the Fortnights pay , as they call it , and that is very true ; but , that I should give VVarrant to Levy by Soldiers , no such thing is proved ; no such thing is shewed ; no such thing is alleadged by Sir William Pennyman , that best knew it ; and , should do it in his own Justification , if there were such a thing : but , on the other side , I must humbly beseech your Lordships , to mind you what a clear and full proofe I made thereof to you , till you were weary , though , I think , I could have continued it a year longer if need had been , that there was nothing done by me in the Levying of the first Months pay , or the second Fortnights pay , but with full consent of the Country , nothing being of Constraint , nothing being of force put upon them . The Second point was a VVarrant shewed to your Lordships , or at least pretended from Sir Edward Osborne the Vice-President , wherein he charges them to obey and persue the substance and direction of his VVarrant , on pain of Death , and this must likewise be laid to me : My Lords , I confess I have faults enough , more then a good many , though I trust neither so crying nor grievous , as some would pretend them to be ; but , Faults I have , more then too many , I need not take nor add to my self other Mens ; but , whether this be a Fault or no , I cannot undertake to Judge . But certainly , I am in no Fault : for , I was at — when this VVarrant issued from Mr. Vice-President ; and , I dare say , he is a Gentleman so worthy and noble , and so great a Lover of Truth , that let him be examined upon Oath , if he shall not absolutely clear me from Privity or Direction of it , I so much rely on him , that I will be thought Guilty before your Lordships for this Charge : Now , my Lords , having gone over all that first part , which I thought fit to apply my self to , and that is Statute-Treason , There is no Statute-Treasons in the whole Charge , nor colour or pretence thereof , save onely that of Newcastle which was waved . In these , my Lords , I hope I am clear before your Lordships ; and , sure I am , they give me little disquiet , for , in good faith , I am clear in my own poor Judgment . Then comes in the second Condition of Treason in the charge , and that is Constructive-Treason ; and , it is laid down in the first Article of the General Charge . For , my Lords , I must tell you , the First Articles exhibited , are Grounds and Foundations whereupon the rest are gathered , and to which they resort and apply themselves severally . I do conceive my self , in a manner , by themselves , clear of seven of these , for , they have , in a manner , relinquished Five of them ; So that the First Article is the main Article whereupon I must be touched , and that is laid in the Charge thus . That I have Trayterously endeavoured , to subvert the Fundamental Lawes and Government of the Realmes of England and Ireland ; and have , by Trayterous Words , Councils , and Actions , declared the same ; and have advised His Majesty to Compel His Subjects , to submit thereunto by force . My Lords , I must confess I have many times with my self considered with wonder , at the Wisdom of our Ancestors , that set the Pillars of this Monarchy with that singular Judgment and Providence , that I have ever observed , that so oft as either the Prerogative of the Crown , or Liberty of the Subject , Ecclesiastical or Temporal powers exceed those modest bounds set and appointed for them , by the sobriety and moderation of former times , the exercise of it over-turn'd to the Prejudice and to the Detriment of the Publick Weale ; all the Strings of this Government and Monarchy have been so perfectly tuned through the skill and attention of our Fore-Fathers , that if you wind any of them any thing higher , or let them lower , you shall infallible interrupt the sweet accord , that ought to be entertained of King and People . With this Opinion I had the honour to sit many years in the Commons House ; and , this Opinion I have carry'd along with me exactly and intirely for Fourteen years in the Kings Service ; ever Resolving in my heart Stare super vias antiquas , to prove , with equal care , the Prerogative of the Crown , and the Liberty of the Subject , to Introduce the Laws of England into Ireland , ever setting before my self a Joynt and Individual well-being of King and People ( for either they must be both or neither ) which made my Misfortune the greater to be now in my Gray Haires charged , as an under-worker against that Government , a Subverter of that Law I most affected , and a Contriver against that Religion , to the truth whereof I would Witness by the Sealing of it with my Blood. My Lords , As to the latter part , concerning my Religion , they have quitted me ; and I have nothing to answer to that , because it is waved ; and , I trust , my Lords , I shall clear my self in the first part , concerning my being a Subverter of the Fundamental Laws , that I shall stand clear to your Lordships Judgments in that Case . My Lords , This Subversion must be by words , by Councils , and by Actions in Ireland and in England , My Lords , I shall first give you an Accompt of the words , wherewithall I am Charged forth of Ireland ; and , the first words are in the third Article , where I am Charged to have said , That Ireland is a Conquered Nation , and that the King may do with them as he pleaseth : And , to the City of Dublin , That their Charters are nothing worth , and bind the King no farther than he pleaseth . These are the words Charged . My Lords , methinks it is very strange , under favour , that this can be made an Inducement to prove this Charge , because I said , That Ireland is a Conquer'd Nation , therefore I endeavour to subvert the Fundamental Laws when I speak the Truth , for certainly it is very true , it was so . My Lords , under favour , I remember very well , there was as much said here at this Bar , since we began ; and yet I dare well Swear , and acquit him that spake it , from intending to Subvert the Lawes . For , my Lords , you were told , and told truely , That Ireland was a Conquered Nation , and that it was Subordinate to England ( and , God forbid that it should be otherwise ) and that they have received Lawes from the Conqueror . My Lords , the words testified by my Lord Gormonstone and Kilmalock to be spoken , are not the words wherewith I am charged , and so , under favour , I conceive , cannot be brought to my prejudice , as to this Tryal , and they are words that are denied by me . For my words concerning their Charters , your Lordships remember very well , I doubt not , wherefore I said they were void , For their misuse of them , and that I told them so , not with the intent to overthrow their Patents , or Charters , but to make them more conformable to those things , that the State thought fit , for encrease of Religion and Trade , and encouraging and bringing English into that Town ; And , that it was meant so , and no otherwise ; Whatsoever was said , it appeares by this , their Charters were never touched nor infringed , nor medled withal by me , during the time I was in that Kingdom ; so that words so spoken , and to such a purpose , that they should go to prove such a Conclusion , I conceive there is great difference betwixt those Premises , and that Conclusion . The next Charge for words in Ireland , is in the Fourth Article , where I am Charged to have said , That I would neither have Law , nor Lawyers Dispute or Question my Orders : and , that I would make the Earl of Cork , and all Ireland know , that as long as I had the Government there , any Act of State should be as binding to the Subjects of that Kingdom , as an Act of Parliament . My Lords , I humbly beseech your Lordships to give me leave to say for my self , that these words of the Charge are onely Sworn by my Lord of Corke , and no man else : and , his Lordship appeared a little mistaken the other day in one point , on the Reading of an Order of the Council-Board , for so it appears , as I conceive ; so that for one single Witness , and he the Party Aggrieved by these words , to be the Man that must convince me , I conceive your Lordships will not think that to stand with the ordinary Rules of proceeding . For the rest , to say Acts of State in Ireland should be Binding , so long as they are not contrary to Law , I confess I then conceived it had been no Offence , for I thought them to be as binding , being not contrary to Law ; but , the Elder we grow , the wiser we may grow , if God give us the Grace , and Attentions ; and , so I trust I shall , by these Gentlemen , that have taught me to forbear those kind of Speeches hereafter . My Lords , These are all the Words charged against me for Ireland , saving onely some things that I shall come to anon , that is Charged upon me in one of the latter Articles , concerning Scotland ; I say , my Lords , these are all the Words that have slipped from me in Seven years time , having been well watched , and observed , as your Lordships may perswade your selves I have been ; But , in Seven years time , I say , these are all the words brought to my Charge : and , in truth , I conceive , a wiser Man than my self might be forgiven for one Error , or slip of his Tongue of that Nature in a years time , seeing it is in no greater measure , God be praised , than these are . My Lords , these being the words that passed from me in Ireland , there are other words that are charged upon me , to have been spoken in England ; but if your Lordships will give me leave ( though perhaps in no very good method ) I shall not fail to touch first or last , the words in every Article . The next Article then that I am charged withal for words , is the second Article , and these are the words that I should say , concerning the Finger and the Loins . My Lords , I may alledge much new matter , but I will observe your Lordships Order punctually , by the Grace of God , for what I may say in that case , if it might be admitted , I keep it to my self ; but the truth is , they that do prove the words to be thus , That I would make the little finger of the Law , heavier than the Kings Loins ; they do not tell you the occasion of the Speech , or what went before , or what after ; for my Lords , if they had told the occasion ( which methinks they should , as well have remembred as the words ) it would plainly and clearly have appeared to your Lordships , that Sir William Pennymans Testimony was most true , for the occasion was such , that to have said those words , had been to have spoken against that to which I intended the discourse ; but speaking them as I said , it makes very strong for that purpose , to which I directed them ; which was to appease the Countrey , and quiet the Discontents ; for having been double charged with the Knight-money , and therefore it was not properly threatening them , further to have provoked them . My Lords , you have Sir Will. Pennymans testimony , that it was so , and my profession ; who ( under favour ) will not speak an untruth to save my life ; I protest before God , that I say , I verily believe , or else I will never speak it indeed , and there it is they have proved it to have been said one way , we another way , we give the occasion of our Speech , and disavow theirs , and so we must leave it ; and howsoever , these words so spoken , can never be drawn ( as I humbly conceive ) as premises to prove their conclusions , that therefore I am guilty of High Treason , they have made me guilty of a foolish Word , and that I confess , and if they please , I will confess it all the day long ; for I have been foolish all the days of my life , and I hope hereafter I shall look unto my ways , that I offend not with my Tongue , for if I cannot rule it abroad , I will rule it within doors else I will never stirr abroad , but bound it so to my own business and affairs , that I trust I shall give no offence . The next Article that chargeth me with words , is the 22 Article , and these be words spoke in England ; The first part of them , which concerns the bringing in of the Irish Army , I have spoken to already ; but in the conclusion there are other words , and shortly , the said Earl of Strafford returned to England , and to sundry persons declared his opinion to be , That His Majesty should first try the Parliament here , and if that did not supply him according to his occasions , he might then use his Prerogative as he pleased , to levy what he needed , and that he should be acquitted both of God and Man , if he took some other courses to supply himself , though it were against the will of his Subjects . My Lords , as unto this , I conceive the Charge is not proved by any Witness , that hath been here produced against me ; and in truth my Lords , I must needs say this , under favour ( if it be an error in my Judgement , I must humbly crave your Lordships pardon ) through the whole Cause I have not seen a weaker proof , and if I had had time to have gotten my Witnesses out of Ireland , I hope that should be proved , and so clearly , as nothing could be proved more ; but I must stand or fall to what I have proved , and so I do my Lords ; the proof they offer for this ( as I conceive ) is the Testimony of my Lord Primate , and his Testimony is , That in some discourse betwixt us two , touching Levying upon the Subject in case of imminent necessity , he found me of opinion , that the King might use his Prerogative as he pleased . My Lords , this is ( under favour ) a single Testimony , it is of a discourse between him and me , and there is not any other that witnesses any thing concerning it , so that ( under favour My Lords ) I conceive this will not be sufficient to bring me any ways in danger of Treason , being but a single Testimony ; and my Lords , it is to be thought , and to be believed ( and it were a great offence for any man to think otherwise ) that in this case any thing can please the King ( he is so Gracious and Good ) but what shall be Just and Lawful , and then there is no doubt , but so far as with Justice and Lawfulness , he may use his Prerogative in case of imminent danger , when ordinary means will not be admitted . At most , he saith it was but an opinion , and opinions may make an Heretick , but they shall not , I trust , make a Traitor . The next is the Testimony of my Lord Conway , and the words that his Lordship testifies are these ; That in case the King would not be otherwise supplyed by Subsidies , he might seek means to help himself , though it were against the will of his Subjects . Truly , my Lords , if I should acknowledge these words , I do not see how they can be any way Capital in my case ; but this again is but a single Testimony , and there is no other that says it but himself , and if there be a good sense given to them , certainly the words may very well bear it , for I think it is a very natural motion for any man to preserve himself , though it be to the disliking of another ; and why a King should not do it as well as a Subject , it is such a prerogative of Kings , as I never yet heard of ; for I thought , though they had been Gods on earth , yet they are men , and have affections as men , and should preserve themselves , being not only accountable for themselves , to God Almighty , but also for their Subjects , whose Good and Benefit is wrapt up and involved in theirs , and therefore the King ought more to regard his own preservation , than the Common-wealth . The Third is , That Mr. Treasurer says , that to his best remembrance I did say , That if the Parliament should not succeed , I would be ready to assist His Majesty any other way ; God forbid this should be any offence for to say so , either in him or me ; for I will swear , if it please you , that he said so as well as I , therefore God forbid , it should endanger either of us both ; for my Lords , to say I will serve the King any other way , it is no other than what became a good and faithful servant to do , always provided , the way be good and lawful , which in this case , is always to be admitted among persons of Honor and persons of Trust ; and therefore admitting it not any other way , it was just , and lawful , and commendable in Mr. Treasurer and me ; for I vow to your Lordships , we both said it , and he as fully as I. But my Lords , all these come very far short , to prove the words of the Charge , and this ( under favour ) is all the proof as I have taken , that I should say these words before the Parliament . The next words I am charged withal , are in the 23 Article , and those , my Lords are , that having tryed the affections of his people , His Majesty was loose and absolved from all Rules of Goverment , and was to do every thing that Power would admit , and that His Majesty had tryed all wayes , and was refused , and should be acquitted both of God and man : For the latter part that concerns the reducing of this Kingdom by the Irish Army , I have answered already , and therefore shall not need to repeat it My Lords , mine Answer ( under favour ) to those words , with your Lordships Noble permission , must be thus , That they are no way proved in the most material part of them , by any Testimony that hath been offered , I shall , as near as I can , repeat the proofs that were offered on this point ( for these Articles were brought in four or five together , ) but I shall apply the proofs severally and distinctly . The Testimony first given , was the Testimony of the Lord of Bristol , wherein his Lordship says , That in a discourse , there was difference betwixt his Lordship and me , in some Tenents of ours . To which I answered the other day ; that in discourse we speak not always the things we think , but many times to gain from other mens arguments , to strengthen me in my opinion , I will seem to be of the contrary ; This is ordinary and familiar in all conversation , and very honest and just , so that albeit we seem to differ as we held it severally , yet if the pulse of our hearts had been touched close , both his and mine , perhaps we should have found it one and the same ; Besides , his Lordship said , I disliked not the discourse , we speaking of another Parliament ; only I said , it was not convenient at that time , and that the present dangers would not admit a remedy of so long consideration ; and that the King must provide for the Common-wealth , Et salus populi suprema lex . And truly my Lords , I think that it is very hard , any man should upon such a discourse , have his words turned upon him , and made use of to condemn him for High Treason . My Lords , I know you are so just that you would judge me , as you would be judged your selves , and whether any man that hears me , would be content , to have every word that falls in discourse betwixt man and man , to be so severely interpreted , I leave to every mans Breast , what he finds in the closet of his own Heart : and desire to be judged according to that . My Lord went further , and says , I should say that the King was not to be mastered by the frowardness , or disaffection of some particular men , and conceives it be meant of the Parliament . My Lords , I say ( under favour ) these words are not within the Charge , and therefore I am not to be accountable for them ; besides , it is a single Testimony , and by the proviso of that Statute , cannot be made use of , to the end and purpose for which they bring them . My Lords , the next Testimony offered for proving this Charge , is the Testimony of my Lord of Newburgh , and he sayes , That at the Council-Board , or in the Gallery I did say , that seeing the Parliament had not supplied the King , His Majesty might take other courses for the defence of the Kingdom . Truly my Lords ( under favour ) who doubts but he might , for my part , I see not where the offence is ; for another man to have said thus , for if another man will not help me , may not I therefore help my self ? ( under favour ) I conceive there is no great weight nor crime in these words , but in these likewise he stands a single Testimony , there is no man that joyns with him in it ; and there is this in the whole Cause , concerning the words , that I think there is not any one thing wherein two concurr . The next Testimony is that of the Earl of Holland , and he sayes , That at the Council-Board I said , The Parliament having denyed the King , he had advantage to supply himself other ways ; Truly , my Lords , I say still other wayes , being lawful wayes , and just wayes , and such wayes as the goodness of the King can only walk in , and in no other can he walk . And therefore I conceive , they be far from bringing it to so high a guilt as Treason ; and this likewise his Lordship expresses as the rest do , singly on his own word , as he conceives them , and not on the particular word of any other person , which is I say , the case of every one that speaks in the business ; and therefore there being so great a difference in the Report and Conceiving of things , it is very hard my words should be taken to my destruction , when no Man agrees what they were . My Lord of Northumberland is the next , and he sayes , I should say at a Committee for the Scotish affairs , That in case of necessity , and for defence and safety of the Kingdom , every thing must be done for the preservation of the King and his People . And this is the Testimony of my Lord in that point ; if I take any thing short , it is against my Will , I give you my Notes as far as I have them , and further I cannot remember them . But my Lords , I say this brings it to that , which is indeed , the great part of my Defence in this case : There is another agreed in this too , and it is Mr Treasurer , who sayes , that in Argument for Offensive or Defensive War , I should say , That having tried all ways , and being refused , the King might in extream necessity , provide for the safety of himself and his People ; I say this brings it to that , which is principally for my Defence that must qualify , if not absolutely free me from any blame ; and that is that which did proceed and follow after . My Lords ( under favour ) I have heard some discourse of great weight , and of great Authority ; and that is certain , the Arguments that were used in the case of Ship-Money , by those that Argued against the King in that Case , say as much , and will undertake , if any man read those Arguments , he shall find as much said there , as I said at Council-Board ; for there you shall hear , that there be certain Times and Seasons , when Propriety ceases , as in the case of Burning , where a Man pulls down the next House , to preserve the whole street from being set on fire . In the case of building Forts on any mans Land , where it is for the publique defence of the Kingdom , in both these Cases , Propriety doth cease : nay , he says that in War , Inter Arma silent Leges . Now my Lords , these are as highly said , as any thing you have heard by me , and yet certainly is no subverting of the Fundamental Laws for all that ; and therefore , if a man must be judged , he must not be judged by pieces , but by all together . My Lords , Whatsoever I said at Council-Board , was led in by this Case , what a King should do , in case of a Foreign Invasion of an Enemy , when the ordinary wayes and means of levying Money would not come in seasonably to prevent mischief , for what a King may do , in case of absolute necessity ; certainly in these cases , the ordinary Rules do not take place ; as this was the Case that let in the Discourse , so I most humbly beseech your Lordships ( for it is fully proved ) to remember what was the conclusion of that Discourse ; which was , That after the present occasion provided for , the King was obliged in Honor and Justice to vindicate and free the Liberty of the Subject from all prejudice , and harm it might sustain in that extraordinary occasion , and that this was to be done by a Parliament , and no other way but a Parliament : and the King and his People could never be happy , till the Prerogative of the Crown , and the Liberty of the Subject were so bounded and known , that they might goe hand in hand together , mutually to the assistance of one another . My Lords , give me that which precedes , and that which follows , ( both being proved to be the Case in these words in the Charge ) I think , considering these two , I should be far from having committed any great crime or offence , in saying these words . But I say as I said before , I shall be more wary for the time hereafter , if it please God to give me that Grace and Life , which I submit to him , and shall readily and willingly resign to his good Will and Pleasure ; I conceive therefore , that as these words are accompanied , they be not words that do amount to Treason , and are so qualifyed , and so weakly proved , that I trust they shall not stick with your Lordships . The next words that I am charged withal in England , be on the 25th Article , and that is , that I should say , that the Aldermen that would not give in the names of the able men of the City , deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome , and that no good would be done with them , till an example were made of them , and they were laid by the heels , and some of the Aldermen hanged up . In the first part of the Article , there is something , concerning my advice for raising the Money , but it is not proved that I did any thing therein , but as others did , and as in former years had been done , before my coming into the Kingdom : For the words , that they deserved Fine and Ransome , I confess them in my Answer , just in the same manner as my Lord of Berkshire was pleased to testify them the other day , that is , That if they should not do the thing desired , they might in my opinion , be liable to Fine and Ransome . And my Lords , admit I were mistaken in my opinion , shall it be a Treason to be mistaken ? I say in my opinion , they might be lyable to Fine and Ransome ; but what is this to Treason ? Under favour , nothing at all as I conceive . For the other part , that it would never be well , till some of the Aldermen be hanged ; it proves to be testified by Mr. Alderman Garroway , and he owns it only for himself ; for it was not that some of the Aldermen should be hanged , but he said at the Bar , till he himself were hanged . My Lords , This is a single Testimony , and these words , as he says , were by me spoken to the King at the Council-Board , That it would never be well till some of them were hanged , meaning himself ; truly my Lords , I thank God I never spake such unmannerly Language all the dayes of my life , I have had more regard to my words than to say such things to my Master ; and your Lordships must needs be many of you by , and I am very confident , there is not one among you , that can remember any such words were spoke ; for in good faith , I did not speak them ; And my Lords , before this misfortune did befall me , I should with modesty have thought my self a person on equal terms , to have been believed as well as Mr. Garraway , and I speak it with as great confidence as he , that I never spake the words . My Lords , The next is the 26th Article , and that is , that I should say the City of London dealt undutifully with the King , and they were more ready to help the Rebels , than to help His Majesty ; and if any hurt came to them , they might thank themselves . My Lords , I am in the first part of this Article , charged to have counselled and approved two dangerous and wicked Projects , the one concerning the stay of the Bullion in the Tower , the other concernin Copper-coyn , and no proof hath been offered , that I either compelled , or approved either of those two Projects . And my Lords , it is proved to your Lordships , that when the Merchants came , I told them , I knew nothing of the business as to the Bullion , neither indeed , did I ever know there was any Bullion , nor any thing of that nature in the Tower. But for the words , I conceive it had been no Treason for me to think at that time , that the Londoners had dealt unthankfully with His Majesty , I thought I might have said it freely , without danger of such a thought , as might conduce to the convicting me of Treason . But whatsoever I then thought , or on what grounds soever , it may be remembred , that then I alledged , and now I speak it , when news was brought to York , that the City had sent the King Two hundred thousand pounds , I took notice , that notwithstanding all I had thought formerly , they nad now made such recompence , and so cleared their Faith and Duty to the King , that I should be their servant , and lay my hand under their feet , as those that heard me are able to speak ; for though at first I said they had dealt unthanfully with the King , yet afterwards I was ready and willing upon all occasions , to testify the contrary of them , and to profess that I was ready to serve them upon all occasions , just , and honest , and honourable . As for my saying , that they were readier to help the Rebels than the King. In truth I am a man that cannot justify a thing I do not approve , I must needs say , it was an unadvised Speech ; and , I wish I had not spoke it : it seems I did speak it ; for I have reason to believe honest men when they Swear , though , in truth , I remember it not : but , I have no reason or cause to think , they would take an Oath otherwise then truth . I have no exception to the Men , and therefore , upon their words , I must Credit them , before my own memory ; but , it was an Unadvised Speech , and he is a wise man , and much wiser then my self , that some time offends not with his Tongue . And , in truth , my Lords , though there be no Treason in it , they are the most unwarranted words that appeare in the whole Proofe made against me . In the 26th there are some words , that I should speak to my Lord Cottington , concerning a Foolish Pamphlet , or Gazette , which I then had in my hand ; and , it is such a Toy in it self , and all the Circumstances of it , that I hold it not worth the mentioning , but only that I would not forget any thing in the Proofes , as near as I could , and the Proofe is uncertain , for onely one Man sayes it , and , the very words he cannot express : Now , he that shall Swear , when he cannot express the Words , his Testimony is but of small value ; and , he is but a Single Proofe at best to disprove what is deposed by Sir William Parkhurst , who sayes , he was by , yet heard not the Words ; And , Cogam sayes , he remembers not the words : and so , upon the matter , there are two against one ; and , the whole being so uncertain , I conceive it is of very little moment in your Lordships Judgments . My Lords , These are as near as I can gather , all that are charged as unto words , spoken either in England or Ireland Councils , other then these I am not charged withall , and so there remains nothing but my Actions ; and , if I can free them as well , as I have freed the Words , I conceive then , under favour , I have fully Answered all , that hath been objected against me . My Lords , The first of these is the Fifth Article in the Case of Sentence of the Council of War , against my Lord Mountnorris , and the Sentence of the Council of War against Denwit . For that of my Lord Mountnorris , I have shewed plainly and clearly to your Lordships , that I was no Judge in the Cause , but a Party , and therefore not Responsible for any Judgment given against his Lordship . I gave no Vote , and so consequently am not to Answer for any Guilt , if there were any ; which , under favour , I conceive , since all Martial Law is Adjudged to be against the Law , I may be of another Opinion ; but , formerly conceiving that that might have stood with the Law , I might say something more for the Justification of it , then now I do , but hower I was no Party . They say , he was a Peer , and it is very true ; but , as he was a Peer , so he was a Captain of the Army ; and , in this Case , we consider Men as Members of the Army , not as Peers : And , if a Peer will not submit himself to an Officer of the Army , he must submit himself to the Order of the Army . Besides , I say it was intended only as a Discipline to him , the better to remember him to govern his Tongue afterwards towards other Men ; and , that there was no more Prejudice fell upon him by it , but two or three days Imprisonment , so there was no great Animosity in the business : besides , it appeared to your Lordships , that two or three dayes after we writ to the King , and obtained his Pardon ; so that I conceive , the Inconvenience was not very great to him , nor the Proceedings such , as should make it unpardonable , or Criminal in them that gave Sentence upon him , whereof I was none . For that other , concerning Denwitt , your Lordships may remember , he was found Guilty of Stealing a Quarter of Beef , and for Running from his Collours , and was formerly Burnt in the Hand ; for that he should be Proceeded against another way : But , falling out at that time , when Five hundred Men were going over to Carlisle , and they being unwilling to be put to Sea , we were inforced to those proceedings for the preventing of further Mischief . And , there is another thing ; that the Martial-Law hath been alway in Force , and executed in all times in Ireland , and never so sparingly as in my time ; for , this is the only Man that suffered all the time I had the Honour of the Government : And , I dare Appeal to them that know the Country , Whether , in former times , many Men have not been committed , and Executed , by Martial-Law , by the Deputies Warrant , that were not Thieves and Rebels , but such as went up and down the Country ? if they could not give Account of themselves , the Provost-Martial , by direction of the Deputies , using , in such Case , to Hang them up . I dare say there are Hundreds of Examples in this kind ; so that as to that , I do not Justifie it ; But , I say , it is a Pardonable Fault ; and , that others are of Course Pardoned for it ; And , I trust , that what falls of Course , shall not be laid upon me as High-Treason ; or conducing to it . The next is the Sixth Article ; and that is in the Case of Richard Rollston ; and , therein , I am said to have Subverted the Fundamental Laws , by executing a Power , and a Jurisdiction , which was not Warranted by Law , upon a Paper Petition , putting out of Possession of his Freehold and Inheritance my Lord Mountnorris . My Lords , That Sentence will appear to your Lordships to be no more , then the relieving a Poor Man in case of Equity ; and , it is proved to you to be a Power , that hath been formerly practised by the Deputies ; and , I humbly conceive the Decree is just : So that , my Lords , I must Confess , it is something strange to me , That , having the Kings Letter to Warrant me in the Course of Proceedings , and having the Power of former Deputies in like Case , and doing no more therein then the Lord Chancellor , by the very self-same Law , should do in other places : And , that which should be — done , by the Chancellor , should be Innocent and Just , yet become High-Treason when done by me , is a thing I understand not . The next is the Case of Tonnres ; and , that is waved by them ; and well may it be ; for , it was in a Case of Plantation ; there was no Possession altered , and it is fully within the Book of the Kings Instructions . The next is in the Case of Sir Iohn Gifford against the Lord Viscount Loftus , which they have Waved ; and , well they may ; for it was grounded on a Letter from the King , Commanding it to be heard by the Deputy and Council , which is clearly within the Instructions , and hath been since heard by the King and Council-Board , and by them Confirmed for a Just Decree . The next is the Case of my Lord of Kildare ; and , that they may well Wave too ; the Proceedings being grounded upon a Letter from His Majesty , and nothing done but in persuance of an Award between the Lord Digbyes House , and that House of Kildare made by King Iames. The next is the Lady Hibbots Case ; and that was Relief given to Poor Men , circumvented by Practice , to the Prejudice of himself . My Lords , I had Power to hear that Cause , and all Causes of that Nature , by the King's Letter , and according to the Practice of former Deputies : And , I conceive , it will appear , when it comes to be heard , to be a just and fair Decree , I do not any way question that , though I remember little of the business . But , at the worst , this is but an over-exercising of a Jurisdiction ; and , that it should be High-Treason in a Judge to exceed his Jurisdiction , I must confess I never heard it . I told your Lordships the other day , Bono Iudici est Amplior Iurisdictio . But , that it should be High-Treason to enlarge Jurisdiction , is a perilous Point ; and , if it be so , it befits your Lordships , and all Judges , to be well certained what you may do , least by going too far , you fall into great Inconveniences . But , my Lords , I say ( under favour ) that all these , if they had been done without any manner of Authority , had not been a Subversion , but rather a diversion of the Law : it could not be properly said , to be the subverting of the Fundamental Lawes , though it might be a diverting , and so long as I keep the Rule of the Law , and do the same things that another man does , in a more legal way , I mean in a more warrantable place ; I say , my doing of the same thing in an improper place , is not a Subversion , but a diversion of the Law : If you will bring in the Thames about Lambeth , to come in again below the Bridge , the River is the same , though the Course be diverted to another place : So the Fundamental Law is the same , though the Course be diverted to another place ; I say , the Fundamental Law is the same , onely it is carry'd in another Pipe : And , Shall this be said to be a Subverting ? Under favour , as the River is the same , so the Law is the same ; it is not a subversion , but a diversion . Nor doth it skill where Justice be done ( I mean so far as it concerns the Subjects Interest ) for , so long as he hath Justice speedily , and with least Charge , his end is complyed with , and it concernes not himself , whether he hath it in the Kings Bench , or Common-Pleas ; so he hath it speedily , and with the least Charge : And therefore , as long as the Lawes are the same , though Executed by several Persons , and in several places , I cannot conceive it to be a subversion : And , I shall humbly beseech your Lordships , to take care , that while these straynes are put upon me , to make this Personal Charge against me , ye do not through my Sides , Wound the Crown of England , by taking that Power from the Deputy , which must of necessity be lodged in him , if you will have that Kingdom depend upon the Crown of England , which I hold , in all Wisdom and Judgment , ought to be cared for : Therefore , I beseech you , prejudice not the Deputy , to the Disabling him from serving the Crown hereafter , by Beating down me , who am this day to Answer before you ; For , if you take away the Power of the Deputy , you shall not have that Kingdom long depend upon this Crown ; for , it rests under God and His Majesty , and must principally rest upon the care of him that is intrusted with that Charge : And , therefore , give me leave , on the behalfe of the Crown of England , to beseech you to be wary of lessening the Deputies Power too much ; for , if you do , I fear you will find it a great Disservice to the Crown . My Lords , the next thing I am Charged with is the 9th Article ; That is , a Warrant of Assistance to the Bishop of Down and Connor , and , for that , your Lordships see there was but one of them , and have heard it proved , that before my time such Warrants were frequent indeed , no man was denyed them : But , my Lords , it must likewise be remembred , that of my own accord , I did recall it , before I was ever questioned for it ; and , it is very hard , if he that mends his Faults , should be afterward punished for it ; for , it is a Degree of Repentance , and , it is hard , that a man should be finally Condemned after Repentance : and therefore , my Lords , I trust , seeing there was but one of them , seeing I did my self recall it , so willingly , as soon as I found the Inconvenience , I hope that will be easier remitted to me . The next is the 10th Article , that concernes the Customes , and that is rather to be looked on as a Fraud , then as a Treason , as I conceive it , there is no Treason in the business sure : But , I have proved , the Bargain was honestly made ; That there was more offered for it by me then any other ; That I had it upon no other Termes , then it was formerly let to others ; That I was constrain'd to it whether I would or no ; And then , my Lords , if the Bargain , by the Increase of that Kingdom , proove a good and profitable Bargain ; it is a very hard Case , that if it be increased through the Kings Wisdom and Goodness , and the Kingdoms Growth , Trade and Traffick , that this should be turned upon me , as an Argument , to make me Guilty of Treason . I never found a good Bargain should be so charged , so long as it was honest and fair . But , whereas they press , That I have gained Three Hundred Thousand Pounds Estate by it ; it is a very strange mistake : For , the King has out of it His Rent of 15 or 16 Thousand Pounds a year , and Five entire parts of Eight clear to Himself ; and therefore it was a strange Calculation , and much mistaken by them that gave the Information of it to the Gentlemen . For the Book of Rates it was none of mine , but was agreed on before my time ; I had nothing to do with it , and therefore have nothing to Answer for it : And , when it shall come to be proved , it will appear , that the Rates were set fairly and justly , and equal betwixt King and People , according to the Law , whatsoever hath been said to the contrary . The next is the 11th Article , concerning Pipe-Staves , and that is by them waved ; and well they may , for the plain truth is , if it had been proceeded in , it would have appeared , that there is come Fifteen hundred pounds gain to the King , and Four hundred pounds loss to my self , and preserving of Woods , and that is all that would be made from that Article . The next is the business of the Tobacco , which is not applyable to Treason in any kind ; but because I would be clear in every Mans Judgment that hears me , I beseech your Lordships to call to mind , it was the Petition of the Commons-House of Ireland , that the Grant of Impost on the Tobacco should be taken in , and converted to the Kings use ; so that whatsoever was done , was persuing their intention and desire . That there was no way but this , to make benefit and profit of it , is most manifestly shewed , that there was a Proclamation in England of the like nature , and a Command of the King to proceed in it accordingly ; and an Act of Parliament Transmitted here , for Passing it to the Crown , according to the intention of the Commons-House ; and , for the greatness of the Bargain , no Proofe hath been offered to your Lordships , but only the Estimate of a Merchant ; and , how far your Lordships will be guided by the Estimate of a Merchant I known not ; but , I have had Trial of some of them , and their Estimates never hold ; for , they have alwayes told me , I shall gain much , and when I came to the point , I gained nothing : and if Sir George Ratcliffe should be Sworn to the Point , he should say confidently , that we are Fourscore and six thousand out of Purse , and ; when he came out of Ireland , but Fourscore thousand pounds received ; and this is the Profit Estimated by the great Merchants , at a Hundred and Forty thousand pounds a year : But , at the worst , it is but a Monopoly , and a Monopoly of the best condition , because it was begun by a Parliament . I have seen many Monopolies question'd in Parliament , and many overthrown in Parliament , but , I never heard a Monopoly charged for a Treason . My Lords , The next is the 13th Article , and that is concerning the Flax business ; For that , my Lords , if I had thought it any way concerning me , I could have cleared it in a very great measure ; But , I had no private Interest in the business , much less of private profit ; but onely an endeavour and desire , to bring in the Trade of Linnen-Cloth to that Kingdom , which would be much advantage to both Kingdoms , and no prejudice to this Kingdom , which a Woollen Trade would have been , if set up these . And , the Prolcamation , when it was found not so well liking to the People , was called in of our own accord , before it was question'd , and so laid aside , and given over . For any matter of private Benefit , you have no Witness but Crokay , a Fellow brought out of Prison ; Here is but a single Witness , and a sorry one ; a Fellow , who , by misbehaving and misusing the trust committed to him , was turned out ; and , upon the turning of him out , the Proclamation was absolutely called in : and , now he comes to be a Witness , being himself the onely offended in the Cause . But , I beseech your Lordships , to think , I have not lived with so mean a heart in the World , that I should look to gain Four Nobles more or less , upon a Cart Load of Flax ; It is very well known my thoughts have carryed me free enough from gaining so poor and petty a matter , as that is . I know nothing in the World of it , no more than the man in the Moon ; but , when it comes to be heard , your Lordships will find me extreame pure in that ; for , I thank God I have clear hands I assure you . The 14th is waved by them , concerning an Unlawful Oath given to Masters and Officers of Ships ; and , it might very well be waved ; for , I conceive it to be Warranted by the Law : Sure I am , it is both the Practice of England and Ireland , and hath alwayes , and at all times , been practised and used , and is onely for the preventing of Fraud and Deceipt in Merchants , by not paying the Kings Duties and Customes . The 15th is Answered already I hope . The 16th doth Charge upon me certain Propositions I made , before I went into Ireland : And , in good Faith , my Lords , you may see , how short-sighted men may be to their own Actions ; for , I did very well believe , I should never have reaped any thing from those Propositions but Thanks ; I am sure they were well received then , when they were offered to His Majesty and the Council ; and , I must truely Confess , I never thought they should be objected against me as a Fault . My Lords , The Proposition was , That no Man should be allowed to Complain of Injustice or Oppression in Ireland , unless he first addressed himself to the Deputy : My Lords , there was no Original Intent , but onely to prevent Clamours , and Unjust Vexations of the Kings Ministers there ; that , after men had received Judgment of the Kings Courts , they might not presently come , and , by Clamours , call over a Chief Justice , or a Chancellor , or President , to Answer here , and be at charge of five or six hundred pounds , unless they acquaint the Deputy with it , that they might be righted in the place ; and , this is Charged against me as a great Crime . Truely , my Lords , I shall Confess , and Amend any thing , and trust other Judgments rather than mine own ; but , I see not how this can Charge me , as intending to subvert the Laws of the Land , but rather to preserve them . The other concernes a Proclamation , That none shall depart the Kingdom without License . My Lords , for that I have shewed , that no man out of that Kingdom , can come without License , but upon very great Penalties . I have shewed likewise , it was the desire of their own Agents some 15 or 16 years since , That there might be such a Restraint , and none might come over without License . I have shewed you likewise , the Instructions to my Lord of Faulkland , by which he was Commanded , in persuance of that Desire , that none should come over without his License : I have shewed the express Command of His Majesty to me , to have it so . I have shewed you likewise the Reasons of State , why it should be so , to prevent that practice and Intelligence , which might otherwise arise betwixt them of that Nation , serving under Tir-Connell and O Neale ; and likewise to prevent the going over , and transplanting the Prime Nobility and Gentry to Seminaries , and other such places , there to be brought up : and therefore , in reason of State , it is a Restraint , and ought so to be . But , having these grounds of Law , Warrant , Practice , Former Instruction and all , Why this should be brought to me in particular Charge , to Convince me of endeavouring the Subversion of the Laws , I must submit to your Lordships . My Lords , There is , in the latter part of this , another Charge , concerning the Sentenceing of one Parry , who was Sentenced ( as I conceive ) very Justly ; and , I have no more to answer for in that Sentence , then any of the rest , having but a single Voice ; and , that I should answer for all , I confess is something hard . But , there is no manner of Testimony in the World in this , save the Testimony of Parry himself : Now , if Parry , the Man offended , his Testimony shall be taken against the Judge , I know no Man can be safe , and other Testimony is not offered : and therefore I trust that that will easily fall off of it self . The 17th is likewise waved ; and is , in Truth , of no great Consequence , one way or other , and therefore I shall give no other Answer to it ; It was well waved , and had been as well left out , having no great matter in it . The 18th is likewise waved , but it is that which sticks very heavy upon me ; and , wherein I find my self as much afflicted , as in any one part of the Charge : For , my Lords , here I am Charged up and down , to endeavour to draw upon my self a Dependance of the Papists , in both Kingdomes of Ireland and England ; and , that I have , during the time of my Government , restored diverse Mass-Houses in Dublin and elsewhere , that have been by Precedent Deputies taken away . I am likewise Charged to have drawn to my self a Dependence of the Irish Army , Eight Thousand , all Papists ; and likewise to have miscarried my self in a Commission intrusted with me , before my going into Ireland , concerning Compositions for Recusants . This is a very heavy and grievous Charge , and hath raised a great deal of Ill Opinion against me in the World , to be a Fafourer and Contriver with Papists , and I know not whom , against the Religion I profess , a Greater and Fouler Crime there cannot be against God or Man ; and yet this goes in Print all over the World : and , when it comes to the Point , here is no Proof , nor any part of the Charge made good . And , therefore , since it is not made good by the Charge , I humbly desire I may be vindicated in your Lordships Noble Opinions , and the Opinions of all that hear me , that I am , in my Religion , what I ought to be ; and , that which I will Dye in , and Maintain against all the World : And , I am so far from Contriving any thing to the hinderance of it , that , if God give me life , I will serve it , and prevent any inconvenience to it : and , my Religion and Duty to God is so Dear , and precious to me , that there is nothing in this World , but I shall lay it down , as Straw and Stubble , under my feet , and trample upon it , rather , then in any kind , forfeit that : but , in the mean time , I suffer , and must be content . My Lords , The next is the 19th Article ; and , that was , for framing a New and Unusual Oath , which the Scots did take in Ireland , to give Pledges of their Allegiance to the King ; I have shewed you for that , that the Oath was framed by the Kings express Command in Ianuary , before the Oath was given , which was , I think , in May. And , I did then humbly conceive it lawful for me so to do , being onely to take from them a Pledge of their Allegiance to the King. I confess , I conceived such an Oath might have been lawfully Administred to the People ; and shewed , that the same Oath was Administred here in England , to those of that Nation , I shewed that it was taken in Ireland voluntarily : And , I humbly represent to your Lordships the time when this Oath was required , when the King and both the Armies were in the Field , lodged not far from one another : And , whereas it is said , it should oblige the Clergy in Ecclesiastical Matters ; if your Lordships call to mind , the very Oath it self cleares that Point , requiring onely a Temporal Obedience and Allegiance , in a time of that Danger and Distraction , given by the Kings own Command , and to no other purpose . And , my Lords , the Proofes are nothing at all on the matter ; Sir Iames Mountgomery tells you a Tale , not much Material ; nor Mr. Maxwell , nor Sir Iohn Clotworthy ; there is nothing at all in it concerning Treason . Stewarts Sentence remains onely to be Answered in this Article ; for that , I conceive it was Justly and Fairly given , as I then conceived . I was one of the rest , and nothing was intended by that Decree , but his Reformation ; and , when he had pleased to have taken the Oath , he might have been released of the Sentence , and sent home again quietly . The next is the 20th Article ; Wherein I am Charged to be a Provoker , and Incendiary of a War against His Majesties Subjects of the Scotch Nation ; and , that I should say of them , They were Rebels and Traitors : and , being about to come into England , that I should say , I would root out of the Kingdom the Scotish Nation Root and Branch . My Lords , I shall need no more to say in this , for my being an Incendiary ; I think , by the Proofe , it hath been clearly made appear to your Lordships , that I gave no Opinion , but such as others did in the like Case . It is proved by my Lord Traquair , and my Lord Treasurer , and might have been proved by many more , if it had been needful . For the Words , that I should say , The Rooting out the Scots Root and Branch , They are onely testify'd by one single Witness ; Salmon the School-Master Swears it , and no man else but he ; and , I hope , my Lords , that when your Lordships do call to mind , how he is Crost by his Fellow Witness Iohn Loftus , your Lordships will be satisfied ; he Swears I will persecute them to the Blood , and Root them out Root and Branch , and , I cannot tell what : But , Iohn Loftus said indeed , that I said , I hope that such of the Scotish Nation , as would not submit to the Ecclesiastical Government , I would root out stock and branch : a wonderful difference between these two . But , my Lords , it was testified by Mr. Secretary Manwaring then present , that I neither spoke the one nor the other , but as in my Answer I did truely and faithfully deliver it ; I said , that unless they would take that Oath of Allegiance , and secure the King of their Allegiance in that point , I hope I should not see any of them stay in that Kingdom , that refused it : and , there is no Proofe in the World but the School-Master ; and , I hope , your Lordships will not take him to be a good and valid proof to convince me in this Case , being a person of no greater Quality , and crossed by his fellow Witness : For my self , I do absolutely say , I was so far from wishing ill to that Nation , or any Dissension or Division between them , that I never desired other in my heart and soul , but a firm Peace through the Kings Dominions : My Counsels tended to that ; and , if I might seem to begin in a contrary way , yet the last resort was , to bring all to quietness , and so , that it should be without Blood. And , I dare say , there be them that heard me say it many a time in the Kings Council , That the King should be in nothing so much sparing and tender , as to draw any Blood in that Quarrel ; I dare say , many that heard it will Justifie me in it : And , if your Lordships will give me leave , I do think I have something that might procure your Lordships beliefe that it was so ; for , at that time , my Fortune ( though now by Misfortune it be mean enough ) was such , as I needed not desire to shuffle the Cards , and deale a new ; and , especially , when nothing was to be got but Blows : and , that I trust will be an Argument to your Lordships , that nothing was desired by me so much as Peace ; and that under Gods goodness , and the Protection and Benefit of His Majesties Scepter , I might enjoy the little Estate my Ancestors left me ; for , it is certainly true , whatever the World may think to the contrary , it is very little better from what my Father left me ; something it is , and the most part of the Improvement of it was , before I came to serve the King ; and yet I have had more from the King then I deserved in all kinds , and all the whole service of my Life , were it never so many years , could not Merit , nor Deserve from Him , the Hundred part of what I had from His Favour . My Lords , Mr. Treasurer Vane sayes , I was in the Argument for an Offensive , and he for a Defensive War , for a War both of us : And , I beseech your Lordships , How should it be more Treasonable for me , to be for an Offensive , then for him to be for a Defensive War ? for a War there must be , and the difference was not great : and , for a Counsellor to deliver his Opinion , and have that turned upon him as Capital , to sweep from the World himself and his Posterity , is a very hard Case , to say no more of it . The next Article is the 21 th ; wherein I am Charged to be an Enemy to Parliaments ; a Breaker of Parliaments ; and did , by that means , sow ill Affections betwixt the King and His People . My Lords , This is more fully Charged in a Subsequent Article then this ; for , this is but onely for breaking of the last Parliament , that I should advise it to be called , with an intent to break it , which is very unlikely ; for , that nothing in the World could be of so happy effect to me , as the success of that Meeting ; and yet I must destroy , and disadvantage my self in that , then which , nothing could be of more advantage then the success of that Parliament . The 22 th Article is Answered already ; and , the 23 th likewise . In the 24 th Article comes in that of the Parliament more fully ; and there I am Charged Falsly , and Treacherously , and Malitiously , to have declared before His Majesties Privy-Council , That the Parliament of England had forsaken the King , and given Him the Advantage to Supply Himself otherwayes ; and having so Malitiously Slandered the said House of Commons , that I did , with the Advice of the Archbishop of Canterbury , and the Lord Finch , Publish a False and Trayterous Book , called , His Majesties Declaration of the Causes of Dissolving the last Parliament , &c. This goes very heavy upon me in the World , that I should be a breaker of Parliaments ; a Counsellor against Parliaments . My Lords , there is nothing proved of it ; and , I hope I shall be cleared by your Lordships , and these noble Gentlemen , and all the World , that I had no such thing in my heart . For the Point of the Declaration , I was at that time Sick in my Bed , and could do nothing in it , and therefore I trust I shall be acquitted as to that : As to the Breaking of the Parliament , or any ill-will to Parliaments , I have ever honour'd them ; and , far be it from me to wish , that they may not be frequent , for the good of the King and Kingdom ; but , as oft as you shall have it urged , and prest against me , that I should be an endeavourer to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of the Land in this kind , I beseech your Lordships , call to mind what hath been proved , that at all Publick Debates , at Council , and Privately apart , I have humbly represented to His Majesty , from time to time , that Parliaments are the Onely Way to Settle Himself in Quietness in the Kingdom , and to acquire Prosperity and Happiness to Himself and His People : And , when you shall hear them press upon me , that I have endeavoured to Subvert the Fundamental Lawes of the Land , I beseech your Lordships to call to mind , how frequently and servently I have advised the King , to call for Parliaments , which , under God , is the great Protection , and Defence of the Fundamental Lawes of the Kingdom . To the 25th I have Answered already , and to the 26th likewise . The next is the 27th ; and , for that , I can say no more , then that your Lordships have heard the Proofes for the Levying of Money ; it hath been cleared to your Lordships , that nothing was done by me , but by Consent of the Country , with their Unanimous good liking , and for their benefit and advantage : Being done so , and for so good ends , as I trust that shall not be enforced against me ; and , it is very strange to me why it should be expected , that if two Armies be in the Field , one against the other ( as there was at York ) that they should be Govern'd with as much quietness , as an Atturney walking with his Writs at his Girdle , betwixt the Kings Bench and the Common-Pleas . For , Armies cannot be Govern'd without some Latitude in this kind : Inter arma Silent Leges : rightly applyed , there is truth in that . But , I did nothing in the Business , I did nothing by Compulsion , but by the voluntary liking of the Parties themselves : and therefore , I conceive , that shall not be Charged upon me as Treason . There remains now the 28th Article ; and , that is the onely Bloody Article , if it had been , or could be made good , that is in the whole Charge ; for , there I am Charged , out of ill and wicked purposes ( and , indeed , What can be worse than Treason ) to have Betrayed Newcastle into the power of the Scotch Army ; and likewise , to have betrayed the Kings Army at Newburn , to a dishonourable Retreat . My Lords , if either of these had been true , I should have saved your Lordships the labour . I would have given Judgment against my self , that had been certain : But , my Lords , never was any Man more Innocent , therefore they may very well wave it . Have I been all this while Charged as an Incendiary ? and , Am I now come in the Conclusion to be charged as a Confederate ? it is wonderful strange ! certainly your Articles fight one against another in this ; for , How can I be an Incendiary in one part , and a Conspirator with them that Charged me , to be an Incendiary in the other part ? In good Faith , I have not been very kindly dealt withal by my Confederates , if they be Confederates , to Charge me as an Incendiary , that did them that Service and Help , as to deliver into their hands a Town of such Consequence as that is . No , my Lords , I wish all happiness to the Nation ; but , I can never wish so to it , as that they should take one of the Kings Towns in England , if I could have helped it . My Lords , it was lost before I had the Charge of the Army , I had nothing to do in the business , nor am I to give any Accompt of it , nor is any thing proved . And , as to the Defeate at Newburn , you yet fight one Article with another , methinks in that too ; for , I am charged to be the Man , that delivered up Newcastle , and yet , all the World knows , that nothing could save it from being lost , but the taking away from the Scots the Passages at that time : So , that I should use all means to prevent Men from doing that , which I meant to do for them , is very strange to me . Here is no Probability , and certainly little truth in the whole business , as concerning my Confederating with the Scots , either for the one or the other . And so , my Lords , I am come to the end of these 28 Articles , that were for my further Impeachment ; I have gone over them all : and , out of these now there remains , that other Second Treason , that I should be guilty of endeavouring , to Subvert the Fundamental Lawes of the Land , in the first of those Seven Articles . My Lords , That those should now be Treason together , that are not Treason in any one part , and Accumulatively to come upon me in that kind ; and , where one will not do it of it self , yet woven up with others , it shall do it ; Under favour , my Lords , I do not conceive , that there is either Statute-Law , or Common-Law , that hath declared this , endeavouring to Subvert the Fundamental Lawes , to be High Treason . I say , neither Statute-Law , nor Common-Law Written , that I could hear of ; and , I have been as diligent to enquire of it as I could be : And , your Lordships will believe I had reason so to do . And , sure it is a very hard thing , I should here be question'd for my Life and Honor , upon a Law that is not Extant , that Cannot be Shewed . There is a Rule that I have read out of my Lord Cook , Non apparentibus & non existentibus eadem est Ratio . Iesu ! My Lords , Where hath this Fire lay'n all this while , so many hundred years together , that no Smoak should appear till it burst out now , to consume me and my Children ? Hard it is , and extream hard , in my Opinion , that a Punishment should Precede the Promulgation of a Law ; that I should be Punished by a Law Subsequent to the Act done . I most humbly beseech your Lordships , take that into Consideration ; for , certainly it were better a great deale to live under no Law , but the Will of Man , and Conform our selves in Humane Wisdom , as well as we could ; and , to Comply with that Will , then to live under the Protection of a Law , as we think , and then a Law should be made to punish us , for a Crime precedent to the Law : then I conceive no Man living could be safe , if that should be admitted . My Lords , it is hard in another respect , that there should be no Tokens set upon this Offence , by which we may know it ; no manner of Token given ; no Admonition by which we might be aware of it . If I pass down the Thames in a Boat , and run and Split my self upon an Anchor , if there be not a Buoy to give me warning , the Party shall give me Damages ; but , if it be Marked out , then it is at my own peril . Now , my Lords , Where is the Mark set upon this Crime ? Where is the Token by which I should discover ? if it be not Marked , if it lie under-Water , and not above , there is no Humane Providence can prevent the Destruction of a Man Presently and Instantly . Let us then lay aside all that is Humane Wisdom , let us rely onely upon Divine Revelation ; for , certainly , nothing else can preserve us , if you will Condemn us before you tell us where the Fault is , that we may avoid it . My Lords , may your Lordships be pleased to have that regard to the Peerage of England , as never to suffer your selves to be put upon those Moot-points , upon such Constructions , and Interpretations , and Strictness of Law , as these are , when the Law is not clear nor known : If there must be a Tryal of Wits , I do most humbly beseech your Lordships to consider , that the Subject may be of something else , then of your Lives and your Honors . My Lords , We find , that in the Primitive time , on the Sound and Plain Doctrine of the blessed Apostles , they brought in their Books of Curious Art , and burnt them . My Lords , it will be likewise , under favour ( as I humbly conceive ) Wisdom and Providence in your Lordships , for your selves and posterities , for the whole Kingdom , to cast from you into the Fire , those Bloody and Misterious Volumes , of Constructive and Arbitrary Treasons , and to betake your selves to the Plain Letter of the Statute , that tells you where the Crime is , that so you may avoid it ; and let us not , my Lords , be ambitious to be more Learned in those Killing Arts , then our Fore-fathers were before us . My Lords , It is now full Two hundred and forty years since any Man ever was Touch'd , to this Height , upon this Crime , before my self ; We have lived , my Lords , happily to our selves at Home , we have lived Gloriously Abroad to the World ; let us be content with that which our Fathers left us , and let us not awake those Sleepy Lyons to our own Destruction , by Ratling up of a Company of Records , that have lay'n for so many Ages by the Wall , Forgotten , or Neglected . My Lords , There is this that troubles me extreamly , least it should be my Misfortune to all the rest ( for my other Sins , not for my Treasons ) that my Precedent should be of that Disadvantage ( as this will be , I fear , in the Consequence of it ) upon the Whole KINGDOM . My Lords , I beseech you therefore , that you will be pleased seriously to consider it , and let my particular Case be so looked upon , as that you do not , through me , Wound the Interest of the Common-Wealth : For , howsoever those Gentlemen at the Bar say , They Speak for the Common-Wealth , and they believe so ; yet , under favour , in this particular , I believe I Speak for the Common-Wealth too ; and , that the Inconveniencies and Miseries that will follow upon this , will be such , as it will come , within a few years , to that which is exprest in the Statute of Henry the Fourth , it will be of such a Condition , that no Man shall know what to do , or what to say . Do not , my Lords , put greater Difficulty upon the Ministers of State , then that with Chearfulness they may Serve the King and the State ; for , if you will Examine them by every Grain , or every little Weight , it will be so heavy , that the publick Affaires of the Kingdom will be left waste , and no man will meddle with them , that hath Wisdom , and Honor , and Fortune to lose . My Lords , I have now troubled your Lordships a great deal longer , then I should have done ; were it not for the Interest of those PLEDGES , that a Saint in Heaven left me , I would be loth , my Lords — ( here his Weeping stopt him ) what I forfeit for my self it is nothing ; but , I confess , that my Indiscretion should Forfeit for them , it wounds me very deeply . You will be pleased to pardon my Infirmity ; something I should have said ; but , I see I shall not be able , and therefore I will leave it . And now , my Lords , for my Self , I thank God I have been , by his Good Blessing towards me , taught , That the Afflictions of this present Life , are not to be compared with that Eternal . Weight of Glory , that shall be Revealed for us hereafter : And so , my Lords , even so , with all Humility , and with all Tranquility of Mind , I do submit my self clearly and freely to your Judgments ; and , whether that Righteous Judgment shall be to Life , or to Death , Te Deum Laudamus , Te Dominum Confitemur . THE SPEECH OR DECLARATION Of John Pym , Esq MY LORDS , MAny dayes have been spent , in maintenance of the impeachment of the Earl of Strafford , by the House of Commons , whereby he stands charged with High Treason ; and your Lordships have heard his Defence with patience , and with as much Favour as Justice would allow . We have passed through our Evidence , and the result of all this is , that it remains clearly proved , That the Earl of Strafford hath endeavoured by his Words , Actions , and Counsels , to subvert the Fundamental Laws of England and Ireland , and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government . This is the envenomed Arrow for which he inquired , in the beginning of his replication this day , which hath infected all his Blood ; This is that intoxicating Cup , ( to use his own Metaphor ) which hath tainted his Judgement , and poisoned his Heart : from hence was infused that specifical difference , which turned his Speeches , his Actions , his Counsels , into Treason ; not cumulativè , as he exprest it , as if many misdemeanors could make one Treason ; but formally and essentially . It is the end that doth inform Actions , and doth specificate the nature of them , making not only criminal , but even indifferent Words and Actions to be Treason , being done and spoken with a Treasonable intention . That which is given to me in charge , is to shew the quality of the offence , how hainous it is in the nature , how mischievous in the effect of it , which will best appear , if it be examined by that Law , to which he himself appealed , that Universal , that Supream Law , Salus populi : This is the Element of all Laws , out of which they are derived , the end of all Laws , to which they are designed , and in which they are perfected ; How far it stands in opposition to this Law , I shall endavour to shew in some considerations , which I shall present to your Lordships , all arising out of the evidence which hath been opened . The First is this , It is an offence comprehending all other offences ; here you shall find several Treasons , Murthers , Rapines , Oppressions , Perjuries . The Earth hath a Seminary Virtue , whereby it doth produce all Herbs and Plants , and other vegitables : There is in this Crime a Seminary of all evils hurtful to a State ; and if you consider the reasons of it , it must needs be so : the Law is that which puts a difference betwixt good and evil , betwixt just and unjust ; if you take away the Law , all things will fall into a confusion , every man will become a Law to himself , which in the depraved condition of humane nature , must needs produce many great enormities , Lust will become a Law , and Envy will become a Law , Covetousness and Ambition will become Laws ; and what dictates , what decisions such Laws will produce , may easily be discerned in the late Government of Ireland : The Law hath a power to prevent , to restrain , to repair evils ; without this , all kind of mischief and distempers will break in upon a State. It is the Law that doth entitle the King , to the Allegiance and Service of his People ; it entitles the People to the Protection and Justice of the King. It is God alone who subsists by himself , all other things subsist in a mutual dependence , and relation . He was a wise man that said , that the King subsisted by the field that is tilled : it is the labour of the people that supports the Crown : If you take away the protection of the King , the vigor and cheerfulness of Allegiance will be taken away , though the obligation remain . The Law is the boundary , the measure betwixt the Kings Prerogative , and the Peoples Liberty ; whilst these move in their own Orbs , they are a support and a security to one another ; the Prerogative a cover and defence to the Liberty of the People , and the people by their Liberty are enabled to be a foundation to the Prerogative , but if these bounds be so removed , that they enter into contestation and conflict , one of these mischiefs must ensue : If the Prerogative of the King overwhelme the Liberty of the People , it will be turned into Tyranny ; if Liberty undermine the Prerogative , it will grow into Anarchy . The Law is the safeguard , the custody of all private Interest , your Honors , your Lives , your Liberties and Estates , are all in the keeping of the Law ; without this , every man hath a like right to any thing , and this is the condition into which the Irish were brought by the Earl of Strafford : And the reason which he gave for it , hath more mischief in it , than the thing it self , they were a conquered Nation . There cannot be a word more pregnant and fruitful in Treason , than that word is . There are few Nations in the world , that have not been conquered , and no doubt but the Conqueror may give what Laws he pleases to those that are conquered : but if the succeeding pacts , and agreements , do not limit and restrain that Right , What People can be secure ? England hath been conconquered , and Wales hath been conquered , and by this reason , will be in little better case than Ireland : if the King , by the right of a Conqueror , gives Laws to his People ; shall not the People by the same reason , be restored to the right of th e Conquered , to recover their Liberty if they can ? What can be more hurtful , more pernicious to both , than such propositions as these ? And in these particulars is determined the first Consideration . The Second Consideration is this ; This Arbitrary Power is dangerous to the Kings Person , and dangerous to his Crown : it is apt to cherish Ambition , Usurpation , and Oppression in great Men , and to beget Sedition and Discontent in the People ; and both these have been , and in reason must ever be , causes of great trouble and alteration to Princes and States . If the Histories of those Eastern Countreys be perused , where Princes order their affairs according to the mischievous Principles of the Earl of Strafford , loose and observed from all rules of Government , they will be found to be frequent in Combustions , full of Massacres , and of the tragical ends of Princes . If any man shall look into our own stories , in the times when the Laws were most neglected , he shall find them full of commotions , of civil distempers ; whereby the Kings that then Reigned , were always kept in want and distress ; the People consumed with Civil Wars ; and by such wicked Counsels as these , some of our Princes have been brought to such miserable ends , as no honest heart can remember , without horror and earnest Prayer , that it may never be so again . The Third Consideration is this , The Subversion of the Laws ; and this Arbitrary Power , as it is dangerous to the Kings Person , and to his Crown , so is it in other respects , very prejudicial to His Majesty in His Honor , Profit , and Greatness ; and yet these are the Gildings and Paintings that are put upon such Counsels ; These are for your Honor , for your Service ; whereas in truth they are contrary to both : But if I shall take off this varnish , I hope they shall then appear in their own Native deformity ; and therefore I desire to consider them by these Rules . It cannot be for the Honor of the King , that His Sacred Authority should be used in the practise of Injustice and Opprssion ; That His Name should be applyed to patronize such horrid crimes , as have been represented in Evidence against the Earl of Strafford ; and yet how frequently , how presumptuously his Commands , his Letters , have been vouched throughout the course of this Defence ? Your Lordships have heard , when the Judges do Justice , it is the Kings Justice , and this is for His Honor , because He is the fountain of Justice : But when they do Injustice , the offence is their own ; but those Officers and Ministers of the King , who are most officious in the exercise of this Arbitrary Power , they do it commonly for their advantages , and when they are questioned for it , then they fly to the Kings Interest , to His Direction : And truly my Lords , this is a very unequal distribution for the King , that the dishonor of evil courses should be cast upon him , and they to have the advantage . The prejudice which it brings to him in regard of his profit , is no less apparent , it deprives him of the most beneficial , and most certain Revenue of his Crown , that is , The voluntary Aids and Supplies of His People ; His other Revenues , consisting of goodly Demeans , and great Mannors , have by Grants been alienated from the Crown , and are now exceedingly diminished and impaired : But this Revenue , it cannot be sold , it cannot be burdened with any Pensions or Annuities , but comes intirely to the Crown . It is now almost Fifteen years since His Majesty had any Assistance from His People ; and , these illegal wayes of supplying the King were never prest with more Violence and Art , then they have been in this time ; and yet I may , upon very good grounds , affirm , That in the last Fifteen years of Queen Elizabeth , She received more , by the Bounty and Affection of Her Subjects , then hath come to His Majesties Coffers , by all the inordinate and rigorous courses which have been taken . And , as those Supplies were more beneficial , in the Receipt of them , so were they like in the use and imployment of them . Another way of prejudice to His Majesties profit , is this : Such Arbitrary Courses Exhaust the people , and disable them , when there shall be occasion , to give such plentiful Supplies , as otherwise they would do . I shall need no other proofe of this , then the Irish Government under my Lord of Strafford , where the Wealth of the Kingdom is so consumed , by those horrible Exactions and Burdens , that it is thought , the Subsidies lately granted , will amount to little more than half the proportion of the last Subsidies . The two former wayes are hurtful to the Kings profit , in that respect which they call Lucrum Cessans , by diminishing his Receipts ; But , there is a third , fuller of mischiet ; and , it is in that respect , which they call Damnum emergens , by increasing his Disbursements : such irregular and exorbitant attempts upon the Liberties of the People , are apt to produce such miserable Distractions and Distempers , as will put the King and Kingdomes to such vast Expences and Losses in a short time , as will not be recovered in many years : We need not go far to seek a proof of this , these two last years will be a sufficient Evidence , within which time I assure my self , it may be proved , that more Treasure hath been wasted , more loss sustained by His Majesty and His Subjects , then was spent by Queen Elizabeth in all the War of Tyron , and in those many brave Attempts against the King of Spain , and the Royal Assistance which she gave to France , and the Low Countries , during all Her Reign . As for greatness , this Arbitrary Power is apt to hinder and impair it , not onely at home , but abroad . A Kingdom is a Society of men conjoyned under one Government , for the Common good : The World is a Society of Kingdomes and States . The Kings Greatness consists not onely in His Dominion over His Subjects at home , but in the Influence which he hath upon States abroad ; That He should be great even among Kings , and by His Wisdom and Authority , so to incline and dispose the Affairs of other States and Nations , and those great events which fall out in the World , as shall be for the good of Mankind , and for the Peculiar advantage of His own People . This is the most glorious , and magnificent greatness , to be able to relieve distressed Princes , to support his own Friends and Allies , to prevent the Ambitious Designs of other Kings ; and , how much this Kingdom hath been impaired in this kind , by the late mischievous Counsels , your Lordships best know ; who , at a near distance , and with a more clear sight , do apprehend these publick and great affairs , then I can do . Yet thus much I dare boldly say , that if His Majesty had not , with great Wisdom and Goodness , forsaken that way , wherein the Earl of Strafford had put Him , we should , within a short time , have been brought into that miserable condition , as to have been useless to our Friends , contemptible to our Enemies , and uncapable of undertaking any great Design , either at home or abroad . A fourth consideration is , That this Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power , which the Earl of Strafford did exercise in his own Person , and to which he did advise His Majesty , is inconsistent with the Peace , the Wealth , the Prosperity of a Nation ; It is destructive to Justice , the Mother of Peace ; to Industry , the spring of Wealth ; to Valour , which is the active Virtue , whereby the prosperity of a Nation can only be procured confirmed , and enlarged . It s not only apt to take away Peace , and so intangle the Nation with Wars , but doth corrupt Peace , and puts such a malignity into it , as produceth the effects of War. We need seek no other proof of this , but the Earl of Straffords Government , where the Irish , both Nobility and others , had as little security of their Persons or Estates in this peaceable time , as if the Kingdom had been under the rage and fury of War. And as for Industry and Valour , who will take pains for that , which when he hath gotten , is not his own ? or who fight for that wherein he hath no other interest , but such as is subject to the Will of another ? The antient encouragement to men , that were to defend their Countreys , was this , That they were to hazard their Person , pro Aris & focis , for their Religion , and for their Houses ; But by this Arbitrary way which was practised in Ireland , and counselled here ; no man had any certainty , either of Religion , or of his House , or any thing else to be his own ; But besides this , such Arbitrary courses have an ill operation upon the courage of a Nation , by embasing the hearts of the People : A servile condition does for the most part beget in men a slavish temper and disposition . Those that live so much under the Whip , and the Pillory , and such servile Engines , as were frequently used by the Earl of Strafford , they may have the dregs of valour , sullenness and stubborness , which may make them prone to mutinies and discontents ; But those noble and gallant affections , which put men to brave designs and attempts for the preservation or enlargement of a Kingdom , they are hardly capable of . Shall it be Treason to embase the Kings Coin , though but a piece of Twelve-pence , or Six-pence ? and must it not needs be the effect of a greater Treason , to embase the Spirits of his Subjects , and to set a stamp and character of servitude upon them , whereby they shall be disabled to do any thing , for the service of the King and Commonwealth ? The fifth Consideration is this , that the exercise of this Arbitrary Government in times of suddain danger , by the invasion of an enemy , will disable His Majesty to preserve himselfe and His Subjects from that danger . This is the only pretence by which the Earl of Strafford , and such other mischievous Counsellors , would induce His Majesty to make use of it ; and if it be unfit for such an occasion , I know nothing that can be alledged in maintainance of it . When War threatens a Kingdom by the coming of a Forreign Enemy , it is no time then to discontent the people , to make them weary of the present Government , and more inclinable to a change ; The supplies which are to come in this way , will be unready , uncertain , there can be no assurance of them , no dependance upon them , either for time or proportion : And if some Money be gotten in such a way , the distractions , divisions , distempers , which this course is apt to produce , will be more prejudicial to the publique safety , than the Supply can be advantagious to it , and of this we have had sufficient experience the last Summer . The Sixth , That this crime of subverting the Laws , and introducing an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government , is contrary to the Pact and Covenant betwixt the King and his People ; that which was spoken of before , was the legal union of Allegiance and Protection ; this is a personal union by mutual agreement and stipulation , confirmed by Oath on both sides : The King and his People are obliged to one another in the nearest relations , he is a Father and a Child , is called in Law pars patris : He is the Husband of the Common-wealth , they have the same interests , they ara inseparable in their condition , be it good or evil ; he is the Head , they are the Body ; there is such an incorporation as cannot be dissolved , without the destruction of both . When Justice Thorp in Edward the III. time , was by the Parliament condemned to death for Bribery , the reason of that Judgement is given , because he had broke the Kings Oath , not that he had broke his own Oath , but he had broken the Kings Oath , that solemn and great Obligation , which is the security of the whole Kingdom : If for a Judge to take a small sum , in a private Cause , was adjudged capital , how much greater was this offence , whereby the Earl of Strafford hath broken the Kings Oath in the whole course of his Government in Ireland , to the prejudice of so many of His Majesties Subjects in their Lives , Liberties , and Estates , and to the danger of all the rest ? The Doctrine of the Papists Fides non est servanda cum Haereticis , is an abominable Doctrine ; yet that other Tenet , more peculiar to the Jesuits , is more pernicious , whereby Subjects are discharged from their Oath of Allegiance to their Prince , whensoever the Pope pleaseth ; This may be added to make the third no less mischievous and destructive to humane Society , than either of the rest . That the King is not bound by that Oath which he hath taken , to observe the Laws of the Kingdom , but may when he sees cause , lay Taxes and Burthens upon them without their consent , contrary to the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom , This hath been Preached and published by divers ; And this is that which hath been practised in Ireland by the Earl of Strafford , in his Government there , and endeavoured to be brought into England , by his Counsel here . The Seventh is this ; It is an offence that is contrary to the end of Government ; The end of Government was to prevent oppressions ; to limit and restrain the excessive power and violence of great men , to open the passages of Justice , with indifferency towards all ; This Arbitrary Power is apt to induce and encourage all kind of insolencies . Another end of the Government , is to preserve men in their Estates , to secure them in their Lives and Liberties ; but if this design had taken effect , and could have been setled in England , as it was practised in Ireland , no man would have had more certainty in his own , then Power would have allowed him ; but these two have been spoken of before ; there are two behind more important , which have not yet been touched . It is the end of Government , that Virtue should be cherish'd , Vice supprest ; but where this Arbitrary and unlimited Power is set up , a way is open , not only for the security , but for the advancement and encouragement of evil ; such men as are apt for the execution and maintenance of this Power , are only capable of preferment ; and others who will not be instruments of any unjust commmands , who make a conscience to do nothing against the Laws of the Kingdom , and Liberties of the Subject , are not only not passable for employment , but subject to much jealousie and danger . It is the end of Government , that all Accidents and Events , all Counsels and Designs should be improved to the publique good : But this Arbitrary Power is apt to dispose all , to the maintainance of it self . The wisdome of the Council Table ; The authority of the Courts of Justice ; The industry of all the Officers of the Crown , have been most carefully exercised in this ; the Learning of our Divines , the Jurisdiction of our Bishops have been moulded and disposed to the same effect , which though it were begun before the Earl of Straffords imployment , yet it hath been exeedingly furthered and advanced by him . Under this colour and pretence of maintaining the King's Power and Prerogative , many dangerous practises against the peace and safety of the Kingdom , have been undertaken and promoted . The increase of Popery , and the favours and encouragement of Papists have been , and still are a great grievance and danger to the Kingdom : The innovation , in matters of Religion , the Usurpations of the Clergy , the manifold burthens and taxations upon the people , have been a great cause of our present distempers and disorders ; and yet those who have been chief furtherers and actors of such mischiefs , have had their Credit and Authority from this ; that they were forward to maintain this power . The Earl of Strafford had the first rise of his Greatness from this ; and in his Apology and Defence , as your Lordships have heard , this hath had a main part . The Royal Power and Majesty of Kings is most Glorious in the Prosperity and happiness of the People ; the perfection of all things consists in the end , for which they were ordained , God only in his own end , all other things , have a further end beyond themselves , in attaining whereof , their own happiness consists : if the means and the end be set in opposition to one another , it must needs cause an impotency and defect of both . The Eighth Consideration , is the vanity and absurdity of those excuses and justifications , which he made for himself , whereof divers particulars have been mentioned in the course of this Defence . 1. That he is a Counsellor , and might not be questioned for any thing which he advised according to his Conscience ; The ground is true , there is a liberty belongs to Counsellors , and nothing corrupts Counsels more than Fear ; He that will have the priviledge of a Counsellor , must keep within the just bounds of a Counsellor ; those matters are the proper subjects of Counsel , which in their times and occasions , may be good or beneficial to the King or Common-wealth ; But such Treasons as these , the subversion of the Laws , violation of Liberties , they can never be good or justifiable by any circumstance , or occasion ; and therefore his being a Counsellor , makes his fault much more hainous , as being committed against a greater Trust , and in a way of much mischief and danger , least His Majesties Conscience and Judgement ( upon which , the whole course and frame of His Government , do much depend ) should be poysoned and infected with such wicked Principles and Designes : And this he hath endeavoured to do , which by all Laws , and in all Times hath in this Kingdom been reckoned a crime of an high Nature . 2. He labours to interest your Lordships in his Cause , by alleadging , it may be dangerous to your selves , and your posterity , who by your Birth are fittest to be near His Majesty , in places of Trust and Authority , if you should be subject to be questioned for matters delivered in Council . To this was answered , That it was hoped their Lordships would rather labour to secure themselves , and their posterity , in the exercise of their Virtues , than of their Vices , that so they might , together with their own Honor and Greatness , preserve the Honor and Greatness , both of the King and Kingdom . 3. Another excuse was this , That whatsoever he hath spoken , was out of good intention . Sometimes good and evil , truth and falshood , lye so near together , that they are hardly to be distinguished : Matters hurtful and dangerous , may be accompanied with such circumstances , as may make it appear useful and convenient , and in all such cases , good intention will justify evil Counsel ; But where the matters propounded are evil in their own nature , such as the matters are , wherewith the Earl of Strafford is charged , to break a publique Faith , to subvert Laws and Government : they can never be justied by any intentions , how good soever they be pretended . 4. He alleadgeth it was a time of great necessity and danger , when such Counsels were necessary for preservation of the State. Necessity hath been spoken of before , as it relates to the Cause ; now it is considered as it relates to the Person ; if there were any necessity , it was of his own making ; he by his evil Counsel had brought the King into a necessity , and by no rules of Justice can be allowed to gain this advantage by his own fault , as to make that a ground of his justification which is a great part of his offence . 5. He hath often insinuated this , That it was for His Majesties service , in maintainance of that Sovereign Power , with which he is intrusted by God , for the good of his People . The Answer is this , No doubt but that Sovereign Power wherewith His Majesty is intrusted for the publique good , hath many glorious effects , the better to inable him thereunto ; But without doubt , this is none of them , That by his own Will , he may lay any Tax or Imposition upon His people , without their consent in Parliament . This hath now been five times adjudged by both Houses , in the case of the Loans , in condemning Commissions of Excise , in the resolution upon the saving offered to be saved to the Petition of Right , in the sentence against Manwaring , and now Lutell , in condemning the Shipmoney ; And if the Sovereign Power of the King , can produce no such effect as this , the Allegation of it is an aggravation , and no diminution of his offence , because thereby he doth labour to interest the King against the just grievance and complaint of the People . 6. This Counsel was propounded with diverse Limitations and Provisions ; for securing and repairing the Liberty of the People . This implies a contradiction to maintain an Arbitrary and Absolute Power , and yet to restrain it with Limitations and Provisions , for even those limitations and provisions , will be subject to the same absolute power , and to be dispensed in such manner , and at such time , as it self shall determine ; let the Grievances and Oppressions be never so heavy , the Subject is left without all remedy , but at His Majesties own pleasure . 7. He alleadgeth , They were but Words , and no effect followed ; this needs no Answer : but , that the Miserable Distempers into which he hath brought all the three Kingdomes , will be Evidence sufficient , that his Wicked Counsels have had such Mischievous Effects within these two or three last years , that many years peace will hardly repair those losses , and other great Mischiefs which the Common-Wealth hath sustained . 8. These Excuses have been collected out of the several Parts of his defence , perchance some others are omitted , which I doubt not have been Answered by some of my Collegues , and are of no Importance , either to perplex or to hinder your Lordships Judgment touching the hainousness of this Crime . The 9 th consideration is this , That if this be Treason , in the Nature of it , it doth exceed all other Treasons in this , That in the Design and Endeavour of the Author , it was to be a constant and permanent Treason ; other Treasons are Transient , as being confined within those particular Actions and Proportions , wherein they did consist , and those being past , the Treason ceaseth . The Powder Treason was full of horror and maglignity , yet it is past many years since : The Murder of that Magnanimous and Glorious King , Henry the Fourth of France , was a great and horrid Treason ; and so were those manifold Attempts against Queen Elizabeth of blessed Memory ; but , they are long since past ; the Detestation of them onely remains in Histories , and in the minds of men , and will ever remain : But , this Treason , if it had taken effect , was to be a standing perpetual Treason , which would have been in continual Act , not determined within one time or Age , but transmitted to Posterity , even from one generation to another . The 10 th Consideration is this , That as it is a Crime odious in the Nature of it , so it is odious in the Judgment and Estimation of the Law : To alter the setled Frame and Constitution of Government , is Treason in any state . The Laws , whereby all other parts of a Kingdom are preserved , should be very vain and defective , if they had not a power to secure and preserve themselves . The Forfeitures inflicted for Treason , by our Law , are of Life , Honor and Estate , even all that can be forfeited ; and , this Prisoner having committed so many Treasons , although he should pay all these Forfeitures , will be still a Debtor to the Common-wealth : nothing can be more equal , then that he should perish by the Justice of that Law , which he would have Subverted ; neither will this be a new way of Blood , There are Marks enough to trace this Law to the very Original of this Kingdom : and if it hath not been put in Execution , as he alleadgeth , this 240 years , it was not for want of Law , but , that all that time hath not bred a man , bold enough to commit such Crimes as these ; which is a circumstance , much aggravating his Offence , and making him no whit less liable to punishment , because he is the onely Man , that in so long a time hath ventured upon such a Treason as this . It belongs to the Charge of another , to make it appear to your Lordships , that the Crimes and Offences proved against the Earl of Strafford , are High-Treason by the Lawes and Statutes of this Realme , whose Learning and other Abilities are much better for that Service : But , for the time and manner of performing this , we are to resort to the Direction of the House of Commons , having in this , which is already done , dispatched all those Instructions which we have received ; and , concerning further Proceedings , for clearing all Questions and Objections in Law , your Lordships will hear from the House of Commons in Convenient time . THE ARGUMENT Of Mr. LANE , The PRINCE'S ATTORNY-GENERAL , On the Behalf of the Earl of STRAFFORD , In Point of Law , MY Lords , I shall not at all touch the Matter of Law , further than to clear your Judgments of one Statute only , viz. 25 E. 3. because when the same was Alleadged by the Lord Strafford , in his own Defence , that not being Convict of the Letter thereof , he could not be Convict of Treason : Remember the Salvo of the Statute was much insisted upon , by those from the House of Commons , as much Conducing to their Ends. My Lords , I will first speak of the Statute it self , and then of it's Salvo or Provision . The Statute is , That if any Man shall Intend the Death of the King , His Queen , their Children ; kill the Chancellor , or Judge upon the Bench , Imbase the Kings Coyn , or Counterfeit the Broad-Seal , &c. he shall be Convict , and Punisht as a Traytor : That the Lord Strafford comes not within the Letter of this Statute , is not so much as once alleadged , nor indeed it cannot be with any Reason ; All that can be said is , That by Relation , or by Argument ( a Minore ad Majus ) he may be drawn into it ; yet , that this cannot be , I humbly offer these Considerations . First . This is a Declarative Law , and such are not to be taken by way of Consequence , Equity , or Construction , but by the Letter only ; otherwise they should imply a Contradiction to themselves , and be no more Declarative Laws , but Lawes of Construction , or Constitutive . Secondly . This is a Penal Law , and such ( if our Grounds , hitherto unquestion'd , hold good ) can admit of no Constructions , or Inferences : for Penalties are to perswade the Keeping of Known Lawes , not of Lawes Conjectural , Ambiguous , and by Consequence ( which perhaps the most Learned may not , in their Disputes , question , much less the Subject ( who is not obliged to Interpret the Statute ) doubt of , in the point of Obedience ; yea , rather , without any doubt , he is rather to obey the Letter of the Statute , and conceive ( and that truly ) that he is not liable to the Penalty . Thirdly , We have a Notable Law , 13 Eliz. cap. 2. whereby it is declared , That the Bringing in of Bulls from Rome , to stir up the Subject to Mutiny and Rebellion , shall be punished as Treason : Now , if by Interpretation , or by Consequence , this Sence might have been thrust upon the Preceding Statutes , the making of this had been superfluous ; yea , the Persons then charged with that Crime , might have been impeached of Treason , even before the making of this Act. Anno 21 Edw. 3. We have a Statute , declaring , That for a Servant to Kill his Master , is an Act of Treason ; and , in the 23 th year of the same King , a Process of Treason was framed against a Man for Killing his Father , grounded upon the same Argument a Minore ad Majus : But , it was found , and the Sentence is yet in Records , that although in the 21 th year of Edward the Third , that Argument might have been admitted , yet in the 27 th it could not , by Reason of the Declarative Law , Intervening in the 25 th year ; and , this Case comes very home to the Point in Law. My Lords , I will not demand , What kind of Offence it may be , for a Man to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom ? the Crime , doubtless , is Unnatural and Monstrous , and the Punishment must keep the same Proportion ; only I Presume to Offer these few things to your Lordships Consideration . 1. That one , or more Acts of Injustice , whether Malitiously or Ignorantly done , can , in no sence of Law , be called , The Subversion of the Fundamental Laws ; if so , as many Judges ( perhaps ) so many Traytors ; 't is very Incident to Mans Nature to erre ; nor doth the Lord Strafford plead his Innocency in Oversights , but in Treason . 2. I do Remember the Case of Iohn de la Pole Duke of Suffolk ; this Man , in the 28 th of Henry the Sixth , was Charged by the House of Commons with Articles of Treason , and those too very like to these against my Lord Strafford . I. That he had given the King bad Advices . II. That he had Embased His Coyn. III. That he had Sessed Men of War. IV. That he had given out Summary Decrees . V. That he had Imposed Taxes . VI. That he had Corrupted the Fountain of Justice . VII . That he had perswaded the King to Unnecessary War , and the giving over of Anjou in France . And , for all these , though he was charged with High Treason , for wronging the Right of the Subject , and Subverting the Fundamental Lawes of the Kingdom , yet , after a long agitation , the Matter was found , by the Lords of the Parliament , not to Imply Treason , but only Felony : Add to this another , who , in the 23 d of Henry the Eighth , was Charged for subverting the English Laws , and yet no Treason charg'd upon him . Add to both , the Charge of Richard Larkes , Pleaded at the Common-Pleas , who was Charged with Treason , for Subverting the Law , but Convicted onely of Felony : By which you may see , my Lords , what to this time hath been Subverting the Lawes . 3. It is very considerable , That the Lord Strafford is not charged to have Subverted , but onely to have Intended to Subvert the Fundamental Lawes ; and this , I conceive , if there were no more , might keep him free from that Statute , the 25 th of Edward the Third . For , although , as touching the King , His Queen and Children , Intention is Treasonable ; yet , in all other things there mentioned , there must be Action besides Intention : for , it is not said , If a Man do intend to Kill a Chancellor , it shall be Treason , but if he doth Kill him , and if he doth actually Counterfeit the Broad Seal : And , although a Man should prepare a Furnace , make ready his Stamp , melt his Bullion , yet if he gives not the Kings Impression upon the Coyn , all his Intentions , yea , his Preparations will not serve to make up a Treason . Ye see therefore my Lords , that the Body of the Statute cannot stick against the Lord Strafford , neither in Letter nor Consequence , this is not , that must not be : All that can be said , is , That the 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 ; it might be presupposed , that there is a Statute whereupon to build a Declaration ; and therefore , to say there is no Statute for it , it is to say , It is no Treason at all : the Statute ever makes the Treason , and to be declared Treason , either by Common Law , or by Parliament , are but two different wayes of proceedings , and must both resolve into one Principle ; nay , and which comes home to the Point , in the 21 of Edward the Third ; To kill a Man , employed in the Kings War , was Treason : and , the 23 d , 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 Treasons , but Felonies onely , because of the intervening Statute of the 25 th of Edward the Third ; such hath ever been thought the force of its Letter and Declaration : and so I will leave it , and a word or two of the Salvo , which is this , That because all particulars could not be enumerated , therefore what the Parliament should declare to be Treasonable in time to come , should be punished as a Treason . And , according to this Reservative , in the 8 th year of King Richard the Second , one charged before the Kings Bench , was afterwards referred to the Parliament ; and there , though the Fact was not contained in the Body of the Statute , yet because of the Proviso afore-mentioned , it was Adjudged Treason . In the 11th year of the same King , the Duke of Ireland , and Nevill Archbishop of York , were Impeached of High-Treason by Gloucester , Arundel , and Warwick , and , notwithstanding the Statute , were convicted thereof by the Salvo ; but , in the 21 of the same Richard the 2 d 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 1 of Hen. the Fourth His Successor , that Revocation of the 21 Richard the Second was Repealed , and the Sentence of the 11th of His Reign Established : Such were the tossings too and fro of Treason , and all because of that uncertain Proviso . Therefore it was , that in the same Parliament , the 1 Hen. the Fourth , a Petition was preferred by the Nobility , to have Treason limited within some Statute ; Because they knew not what to speak , or what to do for fear thereof : And , in Chap. 10. an Act was made upon this Petition , That the Salvo should be holden Repealed in all times to come , and nothing esteemed Treason , but what was Literally contained in the 25th of Edward the Third . And therefore it is said in the Records , That there was Great Joy at the making of this Act ; in that the Drawn Sword , hanging over every Mans head , by this Slender Thread of a Consequence or Illation , was removed by that Act. Add to this , that in the First of Queen Mary , Cap. 1. the same is Repeated , That no Man shall be punished in Life or Estate , as a Traytor , but for the Crime contained in the Statute of 25 Edward the Third , without the least mention of the pretended Salvo . The Earl of Northumberlands Case comes nigh to the Point , he was charged with Treason the 5th of Henry the Fourth , and if the Statute of the 1 Henry 4th , Chap. 10. whereby this Proviso is Repealed , had not intervened , no doubt he had been Condemned of Treason ; but , he was onely Convict of Felony , and that because he could not be drawn within the Letter of the Statute of the 25th of Edward the Third . And , I dare confidently say it , that since that Act was made , the 1 Henry the Fourth , Chap. 10. whereby the Proviso is Repealed , no Man hath ever been declared a Traytor , either by King or Parliament , except it were upon that , or some other Statute Literally and Declaratively taken . These two things I do offer to your Lordships Considerations , That the Lord Strafford cannot be Impeached of Treason , by the Statute of 25th Edward the Third ; and , that the Salvo , contained in the same , stands Repealed , almost Two hundred years agoe . 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. The Recorder said , He could add nothing to what the former Councel had spoken , for matter of Law ; but , if their Lordships would state unto him any further Questions , he was ready to give his Resolution according to his best ability . Mr. St. JOHN'S ARGUMENT OF LAW ; CONCERNING The Bill of Attainder , April 29th , 1641. MY Lords , The Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament , have passed a Bill , for the Attainting of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High-Treason . The Bill hath been transmitted from them to your Lordships ; it concerns not him alone , but your Lordships and the Commons too , though in different respects . It concerns his Lordship the highest that can be in the Penal Part ; so it doth , on the other side , as highly concern your Lordships and the Commons , in that which ought to be the tendrest , the Judicatory within that , that Judge not them who Judge him , and in that which is most Sacred amonst Men , the Publick Justice of the Kingdom . The King is to be accounted unto , for the loss of the meanest Member , much more of one so near the Head. The Commons are concerned in their Account for what is done , your Lordships in that which is to be done . The business therefore of the present Conference , is to acquaint your Lordships with those things , that satisfy'd the Commons in Passing of this Bill ; such of them as have come within my capacity , and , that I can remember , I am Commanded from the Commons at this time , to present unto your Lordships . My Lords , in Judgment of greatest Moment , there are but two wayes for satisfying those , that are to give them ; either the Lex lata , the Law already established , or else the use of the same Power for making new Laws , whereby the old at first received life . In the first consideration of the setled Laws , in the degrees of Punishment , the Positive Law , received by General Consent , and for the Common Good , is sufficient , to satisfie the Conscience of the Judge , in giving Judgment according to them . In several Countries , there is not the same measure of Punishment , for one and the same Offence ; Willful Murder in Ireland it is Treason , and so is the wilfull Burning of a House , or a Stack of Corne : In the Isle of Man it is Felony to Steal a Hen , but not to steale a Horse ; and yet the Judge in Ireland , hath as just a Ground to give Judgement of High-Treason in those Cases there , as here to give Judgment onely of Felony ; and in the Isle of Man of Felony for the Hen , as here of Pety-Larceny . My Lords , in the other Consideration of using the Supreame Power , the same Law gives power to the Parliament to make new Lawes , that enables the inferiour Court , to Judge according to the old . The Rules that guides the Conscience of the inferiour Court is from without , the Prescripts of the Parliament , and of the Common-Law ; in the other , the Rule is from within , that Salus populi be concerned , that there be no wilful oppression of any of the Fellow-Members , that no more Blood be taken then what is necessary for the Cure , the Lawes and Customes of the Realm as well enable the Exercise of this , as of the Ordinary and Judicial Power . My Lords , What hath been said , is because that this proceeding of the Commons by way of Bill , implies the use of the meer Legislative Power , in respect new Lawes are for the most part past by Bill . This , my Lords , though just and legal , and therefore not wholly excluded ; yet it was not the onely ground that put the Commons upon the Bill , they did not intend to make a new Treason , and to Condemn my Lord of Strafford for it ; they had in it other considerations likewise , which were to this effect . First , The Commons knew , that in all former Ages , if doubts of Law arose of great and general concernments , the Parliament was usually consulted withal for resolution , which is the reason that many Acts of Parliament are onely Declarative of the Old Law , not Introductive of a New , as the Great Charter of our Liberties ; The Statute of Five and Twentieth year of Edward the Third of Treasons ; The Statute of the Prerogative , and of late the Petition of Right ; if the Law were doubtful in this Case , they perceived the Parliament ( where the old way is altered , and new Lawes made ) the fittest Judge to clear this Doubt . Secondly , My Lords , they proceeded this way , to obviate those Scruples and Delayes , which through disuse of proceedings of this nature , might have risen in the manner and way of proceedings , since the Statute of the First of Hen. 4. Cap. 17. and more fully in the Roll , number 144. The proceedings of Parliament have usually been upon an Indictment first found , though in Cases of Treason particularly mentioned in the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. which had not been done in this case ; doubts likewise might rise , for Treasons , not particularly mentioned in the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. whether the Declaratory Power of Parliament be taken away , in what manner they were to be made , and by whom , they find not any Attainders of Treason in Parliament , for near this 200 years , but by this way of Bill ; and again , they know that whatsoever could be done any other way , it might be done by this . Thirdly , In respect of the Proofs and Depositions , that have been made against him ; for First , although they knew not , but that the whole Evidence which hath been given at the Barr , in every part of it , is sufficiently comprehended within the charge , yet if therein they should be mistaken , if it should prove otherwise , use may justly be made of such Evidence in this way of Bill , wherein so as Evidence be given in ; it 's no way requisite that there should have been any Articles or Charge at all ; and so in the case of double Testimony upon the Statute of the 1 of Edw. 6. whether one direct Witness , with others , to circumstances , had been single or double Testimony ? And although single Testimony might be sufficient to satisfy private Consciences , yet how far it would have been satisfactory in a judicial way , ( where forms of Law are more to be stood upon ) was not so clear ; whereas in their way of Bill , private satisfaction to each mans Conscience is sufficient , although no Evidence had been given in at all . My Lords , The proceeding by way of Bill , it was not to decline your Lordships Justice in the judicial way , in these exigends of the State and Kingdom ; it was to Husband time , by silencing those doubts , they conceived it the speediest and surest way . My Lords , these are in effect , the things the Commons took into their Consideration , in respect of the manner and way of Proceeding against the Earl. In the next place I am to declare unto your Lordships , the things they took into their Considerations , in respect of the Matter and Merits of the Cause , and they are comprehended within these six heads . 1. That there is a Treason within the Statute of 25 of Edw. III. by Levying of War upon the Matter of the 15th Article . 2. If not by actual levying of War , yet by advising , and declaring his intention of War , and that by Savil's Warrant , and advice of bringing over the Irish Army upon the Matter in the 23 Article ; then intending of a War , if not within the clause of levying of a War , in the Statute of 25th Edw , 3. yet within the first Treason , of compassing the death of the King. 3. If either of these two single Acts , is within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. yet upon putting all together , which hath been proved against him , that there 's a Treason within the first Clause , of Compassing the death of the King. Et si non Prosunt singula juncta juvant . 4. That he hath Sessed , and laid Soldiers upon the Subjects of Ireland , against their Will , and at their Charge , within the Irish Statute of the 18th year of Hen. 6th . that both Person and thing are within the Statute ; That the Statute remains in force to this day , that the Parliament here hath cognizance of it , and that even in the ordinary way of Judicature , that if there be a Treason and a Traitor , that the want of Jurisdiction , in the judicial way , may justly be supplied by Bill . 5. That his endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Realms of England and Ireland ; and instead thereof , to introduce a Tyrannical Government against Law , is Treason by the Common-Law ; That Treasons at the Common-Law are not taken away by the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. 1 Hen. 4th . &c. nor any of them . 6. That as this case stands , it 's just and necessary to resort to the Supream Power in Parliament , in case all the rest should fail . Of these six , five of them are Treason , within the compass of the Laws already established , Three within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. and one within the Irish Statute , the other by the Common-Law of England . If but any one of these Six Considerations hold , the Commons conceive , that upon the whole matter , they had good cause to pass the Bill . My Lords , For the first , of Levying War , I shall make bold to read the case to your Lordships before I speak to it , It 's thus . The Earl did by Warrant under his Hand and Seal , give Authority to Robert Savil , a Sergeant at Arms , and his Deputies , to Sesse such numbers of Soldiers , Horse and Foot , of the Army in Ireland , together with an Officer , as the Sergeant should think fit , upon His Majesties Subjects of Ireland , against their Will ; this Warrant was granted by the Earl to the end , to compell the Subjects of Ireland to submit , to the unlawful Summons and Orders made by the Earl upon Paper Petitions , exhibited to him in case of private interest between party and party ; this Warrant was executed by Savil and his Deputies , by sessing of Soldiers , both Horse and Foot , upon divers of the Subjects of Ireland against their Wills , in warlike manner , and at divers times the Soldiers continued upon the parties , upon whom they were sessed , and wasted their Goods , until such time as they had submitted themselves , unto those Summons and Orders . My Lords , This is a Levying War within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. The words of the Statute are , If any man do Levy War against our Lord the King in His Realm , this is declared Treason . I shall endeavour in this to make clear to your Lordships , 1. What shall be a Levying of War , in respect of the motive or cause of it . 2. What shall be said a Levying of War , in respect of the action or thing done . 3. And in the third place , I shall apply them to the present case . It will be granted in this levying of War , that Forces may be raised , and likewise used in Warlike manner , and yet no levying of War within the Statute , that is , when the Forces are raised and employed upon private ends , either of revenge or interest . Before this Statute in Edw. the 1. time , the Title of a Castle was in difference between the Earls of Hereford and Gloucester , for the maintaining of the possession on the one side , and gaining of it on the other ; Forces were raised on either side of many hundred men ; they marched with Banners displayed , one against another . In the Parliament , in the 20th year of Edward 1. this was adjudged only Trespass , and either of the Earls Fined 1000 Marks apiece . After the Statute in Hillary Term , in the 15th year of Edw. the 3. in the Kings-Bench Rot. 3. Nicholas Huntercome in Warlike manner with 40 men , armed amongst other weapons , with Guns ( so antient , as appears by that Record , they were ) did much spoil in the Mannor of the Abby of Dorchester , in the County of Oxford , this was accounted no Treason , and so it hath been held by the Judges , That if one or more Town-ship , upon pretence of saving their Commons , do in a forcible and warlike manner throw in inclosures , this is only a Riot , no Treason . The words of the Statute 25 Edw. 3. clear this point , that if any man ride Armed openly or secretly with men at Arms , against any other , to kill and rob , or to detain him until he hath made Fine and Ransome for his deliverance , this is declared not to be Treason , but Felony or Trespass , as the Case shall require : all the printed Statutes which have it covertly or secret , are misprinted , for the words in the Parliament Roll , as appears in the 17th . are , Discovertment on Secretement , Open or Secretly . So that my Lords , in this of Levying War , the Act is not so much to be considered , but as in all other Treasons and Felonies , quo animo , with what intent and purpose ? My Lords , If the end be considerable in Levying War , it may be said that it cannot be a War , unless against the King , for the words of the Statute are , If any man Levy War against the King. That these words extend further than to the person of the King , appears by the words of the Statute , which in the beginning declares it to be Treason , to compass and imagine the death of the King , and after other Treasons , this is to be declared to be Treason , to Levy War against the King ; If Levying of War , extend no further than to the Person of the King , these words of the Statute are to no purpose , for then the first Treason of compassing the Kings death , had fully included it before , because that he which Levies War against the Person of the King , doth necessarily compass his death . It 's a War against the King , when intended for alteration of the Laws or Government in any part of them , or to destroy any of the Great Officers of the Kingdom . This is a Levying War against the King. 1. Because the King doth protect and maintain the Laws in every part of them , and the great Officers , to whose care , he hath in his own stead , delegated the execution of them . 2. Because they are the Kings Laws , he is the Fountain from whence in their several Channels , they are derived to the Subject : all our Indictments run thus , Trespasses laid to be done , Contra pacem Domini Regis , the Kings Peace for exorbitant offences , though not intended against the King's Person , against the King , his Crown and Dignity . My Lords , this construction is made good , by divers Authorities of great weight , ever since the Statute of 25th of Edw. 3. downwards . In R. the 2. time , Sir Tho. Talbot conspired the death of the Dukes of Glocester and Lancaster , and some other of the Peers ; for the effecting of it , he had caused several People in the County of Chester , to be Armed in Warlike manner in Assemblies in the Parliament , held in the 17th year of R. 2. N o 20. Sir Thomas Talbot being accused of High Treason for this : It 's there declared , insomuch as one of them was Lord High Steward of England , and the other High Constable , that this was done in destruction of the Estates of the Realm , and of the Laws of the Kingdom , and therefore adjudged Treason , and the Judgement sent down into the Kings Bench , as appears , Easter Term , in the 17th year of R. 2. in the Kings Bench Rot. 16th . These two Lords had appeared in the 11th of R. 2 in maintainance of the Act of Parliament made in the year before , one of them was of the Commissioners appointed by Parliament , and one of the Appealors of those who would have overthrown it . The Duke of Lancaster likewise was one of the Lords , that was to have been Indicted of Treason , for endeavouring the maintenance of it ; and therefore conspiring of their deaths , is said to be in destruction of their Laws ; This there is declared to be Treason , that concerned the Person of the King and Common-wealth . In that great insurrection of the Villains , and meaner People , in Richard the II. time , they took an Oath , Quod Regi & Communibus fidelitatem servarent , to be true to the King and Commons , and that they would take nothing but what they paid for , punished all theft with death ; here 's no intendment against the Person of the King ; The intent was , to establish the Laws of Villanage and Servitude , to burn all the Records , to kill the Judges : This in the Parliament of the 5th year of R. 2. No. 31 , 32. the First Part , is declared to be Treason against the King , and against the Law. In the 11th year of R. 2. in Parliament , the raising of Forces against the Commissioners , appointed by Act of Parliament the year before , adjudged Treason by all the Judges . The Statute I mo Mary Cap. 12. Enacts , That if 12 or more shall endeavour by force , to alter any of the Laws or Statutes of the Kingdom , he shall from such a time there limited , be adjudged only as a Felon . This Act was to continue but to the next Parliament , it is expired , it shews by the words only , that the offence was higher before the making it . My Lords , In Queen Elizabeths time , Grant and divers Apprentices of London , to the number of 200. rose , and assembled at Tower-hill , carried a Cloak upon a Pole instead of a Banner , their intent was to deliver divers Apprentices out of Prison , that had been committed upon a Sentence in the Star-Chamber for Riots , to kill the Lord Mayor of London , and for setting prizes on Victuals . In Trinity Term , 37 Eliz. divers of the Judges were consulted withal , and resolved , That this was a Levying of War against the Queen , being intended against the Government and Officers of the Queen , and therefore Grant and others were executed as Traitors . Afterwards , in that Queens time , divers of the County of Oxford consulted , to go together from House to House in that County , and thence to London and other parts , to excite them to take up Arms , for the throwing in of all inclosures throughout England . Nothing was done , nor no assembly . Yet the Statute of 13 Eliz. Cap. 1. during the Queens Life , made it Treason , to intend , or advise to Levy War against the Queen . In Easter Term 39 of Eliz. all the Judges of England met about the Case , it was resolved by them , that this was a War intended against the Queen ; they agreed , That if it had been of one Township or more , upon private interest , and claim of right of Common , it had not been Treason , but this was to throw in all Inclosures through the Kingdom , whereunto these parties should pretend no claim . That it was against the Law , in regard that the Statute of Merton gave power of Inclosures in many Cases : upon this resolution Bradsaw and Burton were executed at Aynestow-hill in Oxfordshire , the place where they intended the first Rendezvous . So that my Lords , if the end of it be to overthrow any of the Statutes , any part of the Law and setled Government , or any of the great Officers intrusted with the execution of them , This is a War against the King. My Lords , It will be further considerable , what shall be accounted a Levying of War , in respect of the actions and things done ; there 's a design to alter some part of the Laws , and present Government , for the effecting thereof , People be provided of Arms , gathered together into Troops , but afterwards march not with Banners displayed , nor do bellum percutere , whether the Army themselves , and gathering together upon this design , be a War , or such prosecution of the Design with force , as makes it Treason within the Statute ? First , If this be not a War , in respect that it necessarily occasions hostile preparations on the other side . Secondly , From the words of the Statute , shall Levy War , and be thereof probably Attainted of open Deed , by People of their condition ; altho the bare conspiring be not an open Deed , yet whether the Arming and Drawing of men together , be not an open Declaration of War ? In Sir Thomas Talbots Case before cited , in the Seventeenth year of R. II. the Acts of Force are expressed in the Parliament Roll ; That he caused divers of the People of the County of Chester , to be armed in a Warlike manner in Assemblies , here is no Marching , no Banners displayed . In the Eighth year of Hen. VIII . William Bell and Thomas Lacy in Com. Kanc. conspired with Thomas Cheyney , called the Hermite of the Queen of Faries , to overthrow the Law and Customs of the Realm ; and for the effecting of it , they with Two hundred more , met together , and concluded upon a course of raising greater Forces in the County of Kent , and the adjacent Shires : This adjudged Treason ; these were open Acts. My Lords , For the application of both these , to the case in question : First , In respect of the end of it ; here was a War against the King , it was to subvert the Laws , this being the design ; for the effecting of it , he assumed to his own Person an Arbitrary Power over the Lives , Liberties , and Estates of His Majesties Subjects , and determined Causes upon Paper-Petitions , at his own Will and Pleasure ; Obedience must be forced by the Army , this is declared by the Warrant . My Lords , If it be said that the Warrant expresseth not any intent of subverting the Laws ; It expresseth fully one of the principal means , whereby this was to be done , that is , obedience to his arbitrary Orders upon Paper-Petitions ; This was done in reference to the main design . In the cases of the Town of Cambridge and Sir William Cogan , they have formerly been cited to your Lordships upon other occasions , the things in themselves were not Treason , they were not a Levying of War. In that of Cambridge , the Town met together , and in a forcible manner broke up the University-Treasury , and took out of it the Records , and Evidences of the Liberties of the University over the Town . In the other , they of Bridgewater marched to the Hospital , and compelled the Master of the Hospital , to deliver unto them certain Evidences that concerned the Town , and forced him to enter into a Bond of 200 l. These if done upon these private ends alone , had not been a Treason , as appears by the very words of the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. before-mentioned , of marching openly or secretly . But my Lords , these of Cambridge and Bridgewater , they were of the conspiracy with the Villains , as appears in the Parliament-Roll of the First year of Rich. the 2. Numb . 311. and 32. where the Towns of Cambridge and Bridgewater , are expresly excepted out of the general Pardon made to the Villains ; this being done in reference to that design of the Villains , of altering the Laws ; this was that which made it Treason . If the design went no further , than the enforcing Obedience to these Paper Orders made by himself , it was sufficient it was to subvert one fundamental part of the Law ; nay , in effect the whole Law ; what use of Law , if he might order and determine of mens Estates at his own pleasure ? This was against the Law notoriously declared in Ireland . In the close Roll in the Tower , in the 25th year of Edward the 1. a Writ went to the Justices in Ireland ( that Kingdom at that time was governed by Justices ) declaring , That upon Petitions they were not to determine any Titles between party and party , upon any pretence of profit whatsoever to the King. In the Eight and twentieth year of Hen. the 6th . Chap. 2. Suits in Equity not before the Deputy , but in Chancery ; Suits at Common-Law , not before him , but in cases of Life in the Kings-Bench ; for Title of Lands or Goods in the proper Courts of the Kings-Bench , or Common-Pleas . This declared in the Instructions for Ireland , in the latter end of King Iames His time , and by the Proclamation in His Majesties time ; my Lord took notice of them called the Commissioners , narrow-hearted Commissioners . The Law said , He should not thus proceed in the subversion of it , he saith he will , and will enforce Obedience by the Army , this is as much , in respect of the end , as to endeavour the overthrow of the Statutes of Labourers , of Victuals , or of Merton for Inclosures ; here is a Warrant against the King , in respect of the end . 2. In respect of the Actions , whether there be either a Levying of War , or an open Deed , or both . My Lords , There was an Army in Ireland at that time , of Two thousand Horse and Foot ; by this Warrant there is a full designation of this whole Army , and an Assignment of it over to Savill for this purpose . The Warrant gives him power from time to time , to take as many Soldiers , Horse and Foot , with an Officer throughout the whole Army , as himself shall please ; here is the terror and awe of the whole Army to enforce Obedience . My Lords , If the Earl had Armed two thousand men Horse and Foot , and formed them into Companies to this end , your Lordships would have conceived , that this had been a War. It 's as much as in the Case of Sir Thomas Talbot , who armed them in Assemblies . This is the same with a breach of Trust added to it . That Army which was first raised , and afterwards committed to his Trust , for the defence of the People , is now destined by him to their destruction . This assignation of the Army by his Warrant , under his Hand and Seal , is an open Act. My Lords , Here 's not only an open Act done , but a Levying of War , Soldiers , both Horse and Foot , with an Officer in Warlike manner assessed upon the Subject , which killed their Cattel , consumed and wasted their Goods . Your Lordships observe a great difference , where six men go upon a design alone , and when sent from an Army of six hundred , all engaged in the same service , so many were sent as were sufficient to execute the Command , if upon a poor man fewer , more upon a rich ; if the six had not been able , the whole Army must make it good . The reason that the Sheriff directed alone , or but with one Bayliff to do execution , is , because he hath the Command of the Law , the Kings Writ , and the Posse Comitatus in case of resistance . Here 's the Warrant of a General of an Army ; Here 's the Posse Exercitus , the Power of the Army , under the awe of the whole Army , six may force more , than sixty without it ; and although never above six in one place , yet in several parts of the Kingdom at the same time , might be above sixty ; for sessing of Soldiers was frequent , it was the ordinary course for execution of his Orders . The Lord-Lieutenant of a County in England , hath a design to alter the Laws and Government ; nay , admit the design goes not so high , he only declares thus much , he will order the Freeholders and Estates of the Inhabitants of the County , at his own will and pleasure , and doth accordingly proceed upon Paper-Petitions , foreseeing there will be disobedience , he grants out Warrants under his Hand and Seal , to the Deputy-Lieutenants and Captains of the Trained-bands , that upon refusal , they will take such number of the Trained-Bands through the County , with Officers , as they shall think good , and lay them upon the Lands and Houses of the refusers , Soldiers in a Warlike manner are frequently sessed upon them accordingly ; your Lordships do conceive , that this is a Levying of War within the Statute . The Case in question goes further in these two Respects . That it is more against the declared Law in Ireland , not only against the Common-Law , but likewise against the Statute of 28 Hen. 6th . against the Acts of the Commissioners ; against Proclamations in persuance of the Law ; against that himself took notice of narrow-hearted Commissioners . In this , that here was an Army , the Soldiers by profession , acts of Hostility from them of greater terror , than from Freeholders of the same County . My Lords , I have now done with the First of Levying of War. The Second is the Machination , the advising of a War. The Case in this , rests upon a Warrant to Savile , and the advice in the 23 Article . The Warrant shews a resolution of imploying the old Army of Ireland , to the oppression of His Majesties Subjects , and the Laws . In the 23 Article , having told His Majesty , that he was loosed and absolved from Rules of Government , and might doe every thing which Power might admit ; he proceeded further in speech to His Majesty in these words ; You have an Army in Ireland , you may employ to reduce this Kingdom . My Lords , Both being put together , there 's a Machination , a practice , an advice to Levy War , and by force to oppress and destroy His Majesties Subjects . It hath been said , the Statute of the 25 Edw. 3. is a penal Law , and cannot be taken by equity and construction , there must be an actual War ; the Statute makes it Treason to counterfeit the Kings Coin , the conspiring , the raising of Furnaces is no Treason , unless he doth Nummum percutere , actually Coin. My Lords , This is only said , not proved ; the Law is otherwise , the 19th Hen 6. fol. 49. there adjudged , That the conspiring and aiding to counterfeit Coin was Treason , and Justice Stamford ( fol. 331. & 44. ) is of opinion , that this , or the conspiring to counterfeit the Great Seal , is Treason . The Statute is , If any shall counterfeit the Great Seal , conspiring to do it by the Book , is Treason ; if a man take the Broad Seal from one Patent , and put it to another , here is no counterfeiting , it 's tantamount , and therefore Treason , as is adjudged in 2 Hen. 4. fol. 25. and by the opinion of Stamford , If Machination or Plotting a War be not within that clause of the Statute of Levying of War , yet it is within the first , of compassing the death of the King , as that which necessarily tends to the destruction both of King and People , upon whose safety and protection he is to engage himself . That this is Treason , hath been adjudged , both after the Statutes of 1 Hen. 4. cap. 10. and 1 Queen Mary ; so much insisted upon on the other side . In the Third year of King Hen. 4th . one Balshal coming from London , found one Bernard at Plough , in the Parish of Ofley , in the County of Hertford , Bernard asked Balshal what news ? he told him , that the news was , That King Richard the Second was alive in Scotland ( which was false , for he was dead , ) and that by Midsummer next , he would come into England ; Bernard asked him , What were best to be done ? Balshal answered , Get Men , and go to King Richard. In Michaelmas Term , in the Third year of Hen. 4th . in the Kings Bench Rot. 4. This advice of War adjudged Treason . In Queen Mary's time , Sir Nicholas Throckmorton conspired with Sir Thomas Wyat , to Levy War within this Realm for alteration in Religion , he joyned not with him in the execution . This conspiracy alone declared to be Treason by all the Judges ; this was after the Statute of Queen Mary , so much insisted upon . That Parliament ended in October , this opinion was delivered the Easter Term following , and is reported by Justice Dyer , fol. 98. It 's true , Sir Thomas Wyat afterwards did Levy War ; Sir Nicholas Throckmorton he only conspired . This adjudged Treason . One Story in Queen Elizabeths time practised with Foreigners , to levy War within this Kingdom , nothing done in persuance of the practice . The intent without any adhering to enemies of the Queen , or other cause , adjudged Treason , and he executed thereupon . It 's true my Lords , that year 13 Eliz. by Act of Parliament it 's made Treason , to intend the levying of War ; this Case was adjudged before the Parliament : The Case was adjudged in Hillary Term ; the Parliament begun not till the April following . This my Lords , is a Case judged in point , that the practising to levy War , though nothing be done in execution of it , is Treason . Object . It may be Objected , That in these Cases , the Conspiring being against the whole Kingdom , included the Queen , and was a compassing Her destruction , as well as of the Kingdoms , here the Advice was to the King. Answ. The Answer is first , That the Warrant was unknown to His Majesty , that was a Machination of War against the People and Lawes , wherein His Majesties Person was engaged for Protection . Secondly , That the Advice was to His Majesty , aggravates the Offence , it was an Attempt which was the Offence ; it was an Attempt not only upon the Kingdom , but upon the Sacred Person and His Office too ; himself was hostis patriae , he would have made the Father of it so to : Nothing more unnatural nor more dangerous , than to offer the King Poyson to drink ; telling Him that it is a Cordial is a passing of His death : the Poyson was repelled , there was an Antidote within ; the Malice of the giver beyond expression . The perswading of Foreigners to invade the Kingdom , hold no proportion with this Machination of War ; against the Law or Kingdom , is against the King , they cannot be severed . My Lords , If no actual War within the Statute , if the Counselling of War , if neither of these single Acts be Treason within the Statute , The Commons , in the next place , have taken it into consideration , what the addition of his other Words , Counsels , and Actions do operate in the Case , and have conceived , that with this Addition , all being put together , that he is brought within the Statute of 25 E. 3. The words of the Statute are , If any Man shall Compass , or Imagine the death of the King ; the words are not , If any Man shall plot , or Counsel the Death of the King ; No , my Lords , they go further than to such things as are intended immediately , directly , and determinatively against the Life and Person of the King , they are of a larger extent ; to compass , is to do by Circuit , to Consult or Practice another thing directly , which being done , may necessarily produce this effect . However it be in the other Treasons within this Statute , yet in this , by the very words , there is room left for constructions , for necessary inferences and consequences . What hath been the Judgment and Practice of former times , concerning these words , of compassing the Kings Death , will appear to your Lordships , by some Cases of Attainders upon these words . One Owen , in K. Iames His time , in the 13 th year of His Reign , at Sandwich in Kent , spake these words , That K. Iames being Excommunicated by the Pope , may be killed by any Man , which killing is no Murther : Being asked by those he spake to , how he durst maintain so Bloody an Assertion ? Answered , That the matter was not so heinous as was supposed ; for , the King , who is the Lesser , is concluded by the Pope , who is the Greater ; and , as a Malefactor , being Condemned before a Temporal Judge , may be delivered over to be Executed ; So the King , standing Convicted by the Popes Sentence of Excommunication , may justly be slaughtered without fault ; for , the Killing of the King , is the Execution of the Popes Supreame Sentence , as the other is the Execution of the Law. For this , Judgment of High Treason was given against him , and Execution done . My Lords , there is no clear intent appearing , that Owen desired the thing should be done , onely Arguments that it might be done , this is a Compassing , there is a clear Endeavour to corrupt the Judgment , to take off the Bonds of Conscience , the greatest security of the Kings Life , God forbid , saith one of better Judgement then he , that I should stretch out my hand against the Lords Annointed : No , saith he , the Lord doth not forbid it , you may , for these Reasons , lawfully kill the King. He that denies the Title to the Crown , and plots the means of setting it upon anothers head , may do this without any direct , or immediate desiring the death of Him that wears it ; yet this is Treason , as was adjudged in the 10th of Hen. 7. in these of Burton , and in the Duke of Norfolkes Case , 13 Eliz. This is a compassing of His Death ; for there can no more be two Kings in one Kingdom , then two Suns in the Firmament : he that conceives a Title , counts it worth venturing for , though it cost him his life : he that is in possession thinks it as well worth the keeping . Iohn Sparhauk in King Henry the Fourth's time , meeting too men upon the way , amongst other talk , said , That the King was not rightful King , but the Earl of March ; and that the Pope would grant Indulgencies to all , that could assist the Earles Title , and that within half a year there would be no Liveries nor Cognizances of the King ; that the King had not kept promise with the People , but had laid Taxes upon them . In Easter-Terme , in the third year of Henry the Fourth , in the Kings Bench , Rot. 12. this adjudged Treason , this denying the Title with Motives , though not implyedly of Action against it , adjudged Treason ; this is a compassing the Kings death . How this was a compassing of the Kings Death , is declared in the Reasons of the Judgment ; that the words were spoken with an intent , to withdraw the affections of the People from the King , and to excite them against him , that in the end they might rise up against him in mortem & destructionem of the King. My Lords , in this Judgment , and others , which I shall cite to your Lordships , it appears , that it is a compassing the Kings death by Words , to endeavour to draw the Peoples hearts from the King , to set discord between the King and them , whereby the People should leave the King , should rise up against Him , to the death and destruction of the King. The Cases that I shall cite , prove not onely that it is Treason , but what is sufficient Evidence to make this good . Upon a Commission held the 18th year of Ed. 4. in Kent , before the Marquess of Dorset , and others , an Indictment was preferred against Iohn Awater , of High Treason , in the Forme before-mentioned , for Words , which are entred in the Indictment Sub hac forma : That he had been servant to the Earl of Warwick ; that though he were dead , the Earl of Oxford was alive , and should have the Government of part of that Country ; That Edward , whom you call King of England , was a false Man , and had , by Art and Subtilty , slain the Earl of Warwick , and the Duke of Clare his Brother , without any cause , who before had been both of them attainted of High Treason . My Lords , This Indictment was Returned into the Kings Bench in Trinity-Terme , in the Eighteenth year of Edward the Fourth ; and , in Easter-Terme , the Two and twentieth of Edward the Fourth , he was outlawed , by the stay of the outlawry , so long as it seemes the Judges had well advised before , whether it were Treason or not . At the same Session Thomas Heber was Indicted of Treason for these words , That the last Parliament was the most simple and insufficient Parliament that ever had been in England ; That the King was gone to live in Kent , because that for the present he had not the Love of the Citizens of London , nor should he have it for the future : That if the Bishop of Bath and Wells were dead , the Archbishop of Canterbury being Cardinal of England , would immediately lose his head . This Indictment was returned into the Kings Bench in Trinity-Terme , in the 18th year of Edward the 4th : afterwards there came a Privy-Seal to the Judge to respit the Proceedings , which ( as it should seem ) was to the intent the Judges might advise of the Case , for afterwards he is outlawed of High-Treason upon this Indictment . These words are thought sufficient evidence , to prove these several Indictments , that they were spoken to withdraw the Peoples Affections from the King , to excite them against Him , to cause Risings against Him by the People , in mortem & destructionem of the King. Your Lordships are pleased to consider , That in all these Cases , the Treason was for words onely , words by private persons , and in a more private manner , but once spoken , and no more , onely amongst the People , to excite them against the King. My Lords , here are Words , Counsels , more then Words and Actions too , not onely to disaffect the people to the King , but the King likewise towards the People ; not once , but often ; not in Private , but in places most Publick ; not by a Private Person , but by a Counsellor ofState , a Lord Lieutenant , a Lord-President , a Lord-Deputy of Ireland . 1. To His Majesty , that the Parliament had denyed to supply Him : a Slander upon all the Commons of England , in their Affections to the King and Kingdom , in refusing to yield timely supply for the Necessities of the King and Kingdom . 2. From thence , that the King was loose , and absolved from Rules of Government , and was to do every thing , that Power would admit . My Lords , more cannot be said , they cannot be aggravated ; whatever I should say would be in Diminution . 3. Thence you have an Army in Ireland , you may employ to reduce this Kingdom . To Counsel a King , not to Love His People , is very Unnatural , it goes higher to hate them , to Malice them in his heart , the highest expressions of Malice , to destroy them by War. These Coales they were cast upon His Majesty , they were blown , they could not kindle in that Breast . Thence , my Lords , having done the utmost to the King , he goes to the people . At York , the Country being met together for Justice , at the Open Assises upon the Bench , he tells them , speaking of the Justices of the Peace , that they were all for Law , nothing but Law , but they should find , that the Kings Little Finger , should be heavier then the Loynes of the Law , as they shall find . My Lords , Who speaks this to the people , a Privy-Counsellor ? this must be either to traduce His Majesty to the people , as spoken from Him , or from himself , who was Lord-Lieutenant of the County , and President , intrusted with the Forces and Justice of those parts , that he would Employ both this way . Add , my Lords , to His Words there , the Exercising of an Arbitrary and Vast Jurisdiction , before he had so much as Instructions , or Colour of Warrant . Thence we carry him into Ireland ; there he Represented , by his place , the Sacred Person of His Majesty . First . There at Dublin , the Principal City of that Kingdom , whither the Subjects of that Country came for Justice in an Assembly of Peers , and others of greatest Rank , upon occasion of a Speech of the Recorder of that City , touching their Franchises and Regal Rights ; he tells them , That Ireland was a Conquered Nation , and that the King might do with them what he pleased . Secondly , Not long after , in the Parliament 10 Car. in the Chair of State , in full Parliament again , That they were a Conquer'd Nation ; and that they were to expect Laws as from a Conqueror , before the King might do with them what He would , now they were to expect it that he would put this Power of a Conqueror in Execution : — The Circumstances are very Considerable ; in full Parliament ; from himself in Cathedra , to the Representative Body of the whole Kingdom . The Occasion adds much , when they desir'd the Benefit of the Laws , and that their Causes and Suites might be determined according to Law , and not by himself , at his Will and Pleasure , upon Paper Petitions . Thirdly , Upon like occasion , of Pressing the Laws and Statutes , that he would make an Act of Council-Board in that Kingdom , as Binding as an Act of Parliament . Fourthly , He made his Words good by his Actions , Assumed and Exercised a Boundless and Lawless Jurisdiction , over the Lives , Persons and Estates of His Majesties Subjects , procured Judgment of Death against a Peer of that Realm ; Commanded another to be Hanged , this was accordingly Executed , both in times of High Peace , without any Process or Colour of Law. Fifthly , By Force , of a long time , he Seized the Yarn and Flax of the Subjects , to the Starving and undoing of many thousands ; besides the Tobacco business , and many Monopolies and Unlawful Taxes ; forced a New Oath , not to dispute His Majesties Royal Commands ; determined Mens Estates at his own Will and Pleasure , upon Paper-Petitions to himself ; forced Obedience to these , not only by Fines and Imprisonment , but likewise by the Army ; sessed Soldiers upon the Refusers in an Hostile manner . Sixthly , Was an Incendiary of the War between the two Kingdomes of England and Scotland . My Lords , We shall leave it to your Lordships Judgments , whether these Words , Counsels , and Actions , would not have been a sufficient Evidence , to have Proved an Indictment drawn up against him , as those before mentioned , and many others are ? That they were spoken and done to the Intent , to draw the Kings heart from the People , and the Affections of the People from the King ; that they might leave the King , and afterwards rise up against him , to the destruction of the King ; If so , here is a Compassing of the Kings Death , within the Words of the Statute of 25th year of Edward the Third , and that Warranted by many former Judgments . My Lords , I have now done with the Three Treasons within the Statute of the Twenty fifth of Edw. 3d. I proceed unto the Fourth , upon the Statute of the Eighteenth year of Henry the Sixth , Chapter the third , in Ireland , and I shall make bold to read the words to your Lordships . That no Lord , nor any other , of what condition soever he be , shall bring , or lead Hoblers , Kernes , or Hooded Men , nor any other People , nor Ho rses , to lie on Horseback , or on Foot , upon the Kings Subjects , without their good wills and consent , but upon their own costs , and without hurt doing to the Commons ; and if any so do , he shall be adjudged as a Traytor . 1. The Argument that hath been made concerning the person , that it extends not to the King , and therefore not to him , weighs nothing with your Lordships , Rex non habet in Regno parem ; from the greatness of his Office , to argue himself into the same impossibility with His Sacred Majesty , of being incapable of High-Treason , it 's an Offence ; no Treason ; The words in the Statute , No Lord , nor any other , of what condition soever he be , include every Subject . In Trinity Terme , in the Three and thirtieth year of Henry the Eighth , in the Kings-Bench , Leonard Lord Gray , having immediately before been Lord Deputy of Ireland , is Attainted of High-Treason , and Judgment given against him , for letting diverse Rebels out of the Castle of Dublin , and discharging Irish Hostages and Pledges , that had been given for securing the Peace ; for not punishing one that said , That the King was an Heretique : I have read the whole Record , there 's not one thing laid to his Charge , but was done by him as Lord Lieutenant ; He had the same Plea with my Lord of Strafford ; That these things were no adhering to the Kings Enemies , but were done for Reasons of State , that he was not within those words of the Statute of the 25 of Edw. 3. himself being Lord Lieutenant there . Object . It hath been said , That the Soldiers sessed upon the Subjects by him , were not such persons as are intended by that Statute , Hoblers , Kernes , and Hooded Men , those Rascally people . Answ. My Lords , they were the names given to the Soldiery of those times , Hoblers , Horsemen ; the other the Foot. But the words of the Statute go further , Nor any other People , neither Horse nor Foot. His Lordship sessed upon them both Horse and Foot. Object . The Statute extends onely to those , that lead or bring ; Savil led them ; my Lord onely gave the Warrant . Answ. To this I shall onely say thus , Plus peccat author , quam Actor , by the rule of the Law Agentes & consentientes pari plectuntur poena ; if consent , much more a Command to do it , makes the Commander a Traytor ; If there be any Treason within this Statute , my Lord of Strafford is Guilty . It hath been therefore said , That this Statute , like Goliah's Sword , hath been wrapt up in a Cloath , and laid behind the door , that it hath never been put in execution . My Lords , if the Clarke of the Crown in Ireland , had certified your Lordships upon search of the Judgments of Attainders in Ireland , he could not find that any man had been attainted upon this Statute , your Lordships had had some ground to believe it ; Yet it s onely my Lord of Straffords Affirmation ; besides , your Lordships know , that an Act of Parliament binds until it be repealed . It hath been therefore said ; That this Statute is repealed by the Statute of the 8 Ed. 4. Cap. 1. and of the 10th of Hen. 7. Cap. 22. because by these two Statutes , the English Statutes are brought into Ireland . The Argument ( if I mistook it not ) stood thus ; That the Statute of the First of Henry the 4th , the 10th Chap. saith , That in no time to come , Treason shall be adjudged otherwise , then it was ordained by the Statute of the 25 E. 3. that the reason mentioned in the Eighteenth year of Henry the Sixth , in the Irish Statute , is not contained in the 25 Edw. 3. and therefore contrary to the Statute of the 1 Hen. 4. it must needs be void . If this were Law , then all the Statutes that made any new Treason after the First of Henry 4th , were void in the very Fabrick , and at the time when they were made ; hence likewise it would follow , that the Parliament now , upon what occasion soever , hath no Power to make any thing Treason , not declared to be so in the Statute 25 Edw. 3. This your Lordships easily see , would make much for the Lord of Straffords advantage , but why the Law should be so , your Lordships have onely as yet heard an Affirmation of it ; no reason . But , some touch was given , that the Statute of the tenth year of Henry the Seventh , in words , makes all the Irish Statutes void , which are contrary to the English. The Answer to this is a denial that there are any such words in the Statute . The Statute declares , that the English Statutes shall be effectual , and confirmed in Ireland , and that all the Statutes made before time to the contrary , shall be revoked . This repeals only the Irish Statutes of the tenth year of Henry the Fourth , and the Nine and twentieth year of Henry the Sixth , which say , that the English Statutes shall not be in force in Ireland , unless particularly received in Parliament , it makes all the Irish Statutes void , which say , that the English Statutes shall not be in force there . It is usual when a Statute sayes , that such a thing shall be done , or not done , to add further , that all Statutes to the contrary shall be void . No likelihood that this Statute intended to take away any Statute of Treason , but when in the Chapter next before this , Murder there is made Treason , as if done upon the Kings Person . That this Statute of the Eighteenth year of Henry the Sixth remains on foot , and not repealed either by the Statute of the Eighth year of Edward the Fourth , or this of the Tenth year of Henry the Seventh , appears expresly by two several Acts of Parliament , made at the same Parliament of the tenth year of Henry the Seventh . By an Act of Parliament of Henry the Sixth's time in Ireland , it was made Treason for any Man whatsoever , to procure a Privy-Seal , or any other Command whatsoever , for apprehending any Person in Ireland for Treason done without that Kingdom , and to put any such command in Execution , divers had been attainted of Treason for executing such Commands : There is a Treason , so made , by Act of Parliament , in Henry the Sixth's time . In the third Chapter of this Parliament of the tenth of Henry the Seventh , an Act is passed for no other end , then to repeal this Statute of Henry the Sixth of Treason . If this Statute of Henry the Sixth of Treason had been formerly repealed by the Statute of 8 E. 4. or then by the two and twentieth Chapter of this Parliament of the 10 th of Henry the Seventh , by bringing in the English Statutes , the Law-makers were much mistaken now to make a particular Act of Parliament to repeal it , it being likewise so unreasonable an Act as it was . In the Eighth Chapter of this Parliament of the 10 th of Henry the Seventh , it is Enacted , that the Statutes of Kilkenny , and all other Statutes made in Ireland ( two onely excepted , whereof this of the Eighteenth of Henry the Sixth is none ) for the Common-Weal , shall be enquired of , and executed : My Lord of Strafford saith , that the bringing in of the English Statute hath repealed this Statute ; the Act of Parliament made the same time , saith no ; it saith , that all the Irish Statutes , excepting two , whereof this is none , shall still be in force . Object . Oh , but however it was in the 10 H. 7. yet it appeares by Judgment in Parliament afterwards , that this Statute of 18 H. 6. is repealed , and that is by the Parliament of the 11 th year of Queen Elizabeth , the 7 th Chapter , that by this Parliament it is Enacted , That if any Man , without Licence from the Lord Deputy , lay any Soldiers upon the Kings Subjects , if he be a Peer of the Realm , he shall forfeit One hundred pounds , if under the degree of a Peer , One hundred Markes . This Statute , as is alleadged , declares the Penalty of laying Soldiers on the Subjects to be onely One hundred pounds , and therefore it s not Treason . Answ. My Lords , if the Offence for which this Penalty of One hundred pounds is laid upon the Offenders , be for laying Soldiers , or leading them to do any act Offensive or Invasive upon the Kings People , the Argument hath some force ; but that the Offence is not for laying Soldiers upon the true Subjects , that this is not the Offence intended in the Statute , will appear to your Lordships Ex absurdo , from the words of it . The Words are , That if any Man shall assemble the People of the County together , to conclude of Peace or War , or shall carry those people to do any Acts Offensive or Invasive , then he shall forfeit One hundred pounds . If concluding of War , and carrying the people to Acts Invasive , be against the Kings Subjects , this is High-Treason , which are the words of the Statute of 25 E. 3. for if any Subject shall assemble the people , and conclude a War , and accordingly shall lead them to invade the Subject , this is a levying of War within the words of the Statute ; and then the Statutes of the 25 E. 3. 1 H. 4. 1 of Q Mary , which the Earl of Strafford , in his Answers , desires to be tryed by , are as well repealed , in this point , as the Statute of the 18th of Henry the Sixth , he might then , without fear of Treason , have done what he pleased with the Irish Army ; for all the Statutes of levying of War by this Statute of 11 Eliz. were taken out of his way . In Ireland a Subject gathers Forces , concludes a War against the Kings people , actually invades them , bloodshed , burning of houses , depradations ensue ; two of those , that is , Murder , and Burning of Houses , are Treason ; and there the other Felony by the construction the punishment of Treason , and Felony is turned onely into a fine of One hundred pounds ; from loss of Life , Lands , and all his Goods , onely to loss of part of his Goods . The Third Absurdity , a War is concluded , three several Inrodes are made upon the Subject ; in the first a hundred pounds damage ; in the second , five thousand pounds damage ; in the third , ten thousand pounds damage , is done to the Subjects ; the penalty for the last inroade is no more then for the first , onely one hundred pounds . This Statute , by this Construction , tells any man , how to get his living without long labour . Two parts of the hundred pounds is given to the King , a third part unto the Informer ; Here 's no damage to the Subject , that is robbed and destroyed . My Lords , The Statute will free it self and the makers from those Absurdities . The meaning of the Statute is , That if any Captain shall , of his own head , conclude of Peace or War against the Kings Enemies , or Rebels , or shall , upon his own head , invade them without Warrant from the King ; or Lord Deputy of Ireland , that then he shall forfeit a Hundred pounds . The Offence is not for laying of Soldiers upon the Kings people , but making War against the Irish Rebels without Warrant ; the Offence is not in the Matter , but in the Manner , for doing a thing lawful , but without Mission . I. This will appear by the general Scope of the Statute , all the parts being put together . II. By particular Clauses in the Statute . III. By the Condition of that Kingdom , at the time of the making of that Statute . For the First , The Preamble recites , that in time of Declination of Justice , under pretext of defending the Country and themselves , diverse Great Men arrogated to themselves Regal Authority , under the names of Captains ; that they acquired to themselves that Government , which belonged to the Crown ; for preventing of this , It 's Enacted , That no man dwelling within the Shire Grounds , shall thenceforth assume , or take to himself the Authority or name of a Captain , within these Shire-Grounds , without Letters-Patents from the Crown , nor shall , under colour of his Captainship , make any demand of the people of any Exaction , nor as a Captain , assemble the people of the Shire-Grounds ; nor as a Captain shall lead those people to do any acts Offensive or Invasive , without Warrant under the Great Seal of England , or of the Lord Deputy , upon penalty , that if he do any thing contrary to that Act , that then the Offender shall forfeit a Hundred pounds . My Lords , The Rebels had been out ; the Courts of Justice scarce sate ; for defence of the Countrey divers usurped the place of Captains , concluded of War against the Rebels , and invaded them without Warrant : Invading the Rebels without Authority , is a crime . This appears further by particular clauses in the Statute , none shall exercise any Captainship within the Shire-grounds , nor assemble the men of the Shire-grounds , to conclude War , or lead them to any Invasion . That that had antiently been so continued to this time , that is the Irish , and the English Pale , they within the Shire-grounds were within the English Pale ; and ad fidem & legem Angliae . The Irish without the Pale were enemies always , either in open act of Hostility , or upon Leagues and Hostages given for securing the Peace ; and therefore as here in England we had our Marches upon the frontiers in Scotland and Wales , so were there Marches between the Irish and English Pale , where the Inhabitants held their Lands by this tenure , to defend the Countrey against the Irish , as appears in the close Roll of the Tower , in the 20th year of Edw. 3. membrana 15. on the backside , and in an Irish Parliament , held the 42 year of Edw. 3. it 's declared , That the English Pale was almost destroyed by the Irish enemies , and that there was no way to prevent the danger , but only , that the Owners reside upon their Lands for defence , and that absence should be a forfeiture . This Act of Parliament in a great Council here was affirmed , as appears in the close Roll , the 22 year of Edw. 3. Membrana 20 dorso . Afterwards , as appears in the Statute of 28 Hen. 6th . in Ireland , this Hostility continued between the English Marches and the Irish Enemies , who by reason there was no difference between the English Marches and them in their apparel , did daily ( not being known to the English ) destroy the English within the Pale : Therefore it is enacted , that every English-man shall have the hair of his upper Lip for distinction sake . This hostility continued until the 10th year of Henry the 7th , as appears by the Statute of 10 H. 7th . and 17th . so successively downwards , till the making of this very Statute of 11 Eliz. as appears fully in the 9th Chap. Nay , immediately before , and at the time of the making of this Statute , there was not only enmity between those of the Shire-ground , that is , the English and Irish Pale , but open War , and acts of hostility , as appears by History of no less Authority , than that Statute it self ; for in the first Chapter of that Statute , is the Attainder of Shane Oneale , who had made open War , was slain in open War ; it 's there declared , That he had gotten by force , all the North of Ireland , for an hundred and twenty miles in length , and about a hundred in breadth ; that he had mastered divers places within the English Pale ; when the flame of this War by his death , immediately before this Statute was spent , yet the Firebrands were not all quenched , for the Rebellion continued by Iohn Fitz-Gerard , called the White Knight , and Thomas Gueverford , this appears by the Statute of the Thirteenth year of Queen Eliz. in Ireland , but two years after this of the Eleventh year of Queen Eliz. where they are attainted of High Treason , for levying of War this Eleventh year , wherein this Statute was made . So that my Lords , immediately before , and at the time of the making of this Statute , there being War between those of the Shire-grounds , mentioned in this Statute , and the Irish , the concluding of War , and Acts Offensive and Invasive there mentioned , can be intended against no others , but the Irish Enemies . Again , The words of the Statute are , No Captain shall assemble the people of the Shire-grounds , to conclude of Peace or War ; Is to presume , that those of the Shire-grounds will conclude of War against themselves . Nor ( with the Statute ) Shall carry those of the Shire-grounds to do any Acts Invasive ; by the construction which is made on the other side , they must be carried to fight against themselves . Lastly , The words are , That as Captain , none shall assume the Name , or Authority of a Captain ; or as a Captain shall gather the people together ; or as a Captain lead them ; the offence is not in the matter , but in the manner ; If the Acts offensive were against the Kings good Subjects , those that were under Command , were punishable , as well as the Commanders ; but in respect the Soldiers knew the service to be good in it self , being against the enemies , and that it was not for them to dispute the Authority of their Commanders , the penalty of 100 l. is laid only upon him , That as Captain , shall assume this Power without Warrant , the People commanded , are not within this Statute . My Lords , The Logick wherupon this Argument is framed , stands thus , because the Statute of the Eleventh year of Queen Elizabeth , inflicts a penalty of 100 l. and no more , upon any man , that as a Captain without Warrant , and upon his own head shall conclude of , or make War against the King's Enemies : Therefore the Statute of the Eighteenth year of Henry the 6th is repealed , which makes it Treason to lay Soldiers upon , or to levy War against the Kings good People . But , my Lords , Observation hath been made upon other words of this Statute , that is , that without Licence of the Deputy , these things cannot be done ; this shews that the Deputy , is within none of the Statutes . My Lords , This Argument stands upon the same reason with the former , because he hath the ordering of the Army of Ireland , for the defence of the people , and may give Warrant to the Officers of the Army , upon eminent occasions of Invasion , to resist or prosecute the Enemy , because of the danger that else might ensue forthwith , by staying for a Warrant from His Majesty out of England . My Lords , The Statute of the 10th year of Henry the 7th . chap. 17. touched upon for this purpose , clears the business in both points ; for there is declared , That none ought to make War upon the Irish Rebels , and Enemies , without Warrant from the Lieutenant , the forfeiture 100 l. as here the Statute is the same with this , and might as well have been cited , for repealing the Statute of the 18th year of Henry the 6th . as this of the 11th year of Queen Elizabeth . But if this had been insisted upon , it would have expounded the other two clear against him . Object . My Lords , it hath been further said , although the Statute be in force , and there be a Treason within it , yet the Parliament hath no Jurisdiction , the Treasons are committed in Ireland , therefore not triable here . Answ. My Lords , Sir Iohn Parrot , his Predecessor , 24 Edw. was tryed in the Kings Bench for Treason done in Ireland , when he was Deputy ; and Oruche in the 33 year of Queen Elizabeth , adjudged here for Treason done in Ireland . Object . But it will be said , these Tryals were after the Statute of the 34th year of Henry the 8th . which enacts , that Treasons beyond Sea may be tryed in England . Answ. My Lords , his Predecessor my Lord Gray was tryed , and adjudged here in the Kings-Bench ; that was in Trinity Term , in the 33 year of Henry the 8th . this was before the making of that Statute . Object . To this again will we say , That it was for Treason by the Laws and Statutes of England ; that this is not for any thing that 's Treason by the Law of England , but an Irish Statute . So that the question is only , Whether your Lordships here in Parliament , have cognizance of an offence , made Treason by an Irish Statute , in the ordinary way of Judicature , without Bill ? for so is the present question . For the clearing of this , I shall propound two things to your Lordships consideration . Whether the Rule for expounding the Irish Statute and Customs , be one and the same in England as in Ireland ? That being admitted , whether the Parliament in England have cognizance or jurisdiction of things there done , in respect of the place , because the Kings Writ runs not there ? For the First , in respect of the place , the Parliament here hath cognizance there . And Secondly , If the Rules for expounding the Irish Statutes and Customs , be the same here as there , this exception ( as I humbly conceive ) must fall away . In England there is the Common-Law , the Statutes , the Acts of Parliament , and Customs peculiar to certain places , differing from the Common-Law ; If any question arise concerning either a Custom or an Act of Parliament , the Common-Law of England , the First , the Primitive and the General Law , that 's the Rule and Expositor of them , and of their several extents ; it is so here , it is so in Ireland , the Common-Law of England , is the Common-Law of Ireland likewise ; the same here and there in all the parts of it . It was introduced into Ireland by King Iohn , and afterwards by King Henry 3. by Act of Parliament held in England , as appears by the Patent-Rolls of the 30th year of King Henry 3. the first Membrana , the words are , Quia pro Communi Utilitate terrae Hiberniae & unitate terrarum Regis , Rex vult , & de Communi Concilio Regis Provisum est , quod omnes Leges & Consuetudines quae in Regno Angliae tenentur , in Hibernia teneantur , & eadem terra eisdem legibus subjaceat , & per easdem Regatur , sicut Dominus Iohannes Rex cum ultimò esset in Hibernia statuit & fieri mandavit , quia , &c. Rex vult quòd omnia brevia de Communi Iure quae currunt in Anglia , similiter currant in Hibernia , sub novo sigillo Regis mandatum est Archiepiscopis , &c. quod pro pace & tranquilitate ejusdem terrae , per easdem leges eos regi & deduci permittant , & eas in omnibus sequantur in cujus , &c. Teste Rege apud Woodstock , Decimo nono die Septembris . Here is an union of both Kingdoms , and that by Act of Parliament , and the same Laws to be used here as there , in omnibus . My Lords , That nothing might be left here for an exception , that is , That in Treasons , Felonies , and other capital offences concerning Life , the Irish Laws are not the same as here , therefore it is enacted by a Parliament held in England , in the 14th year of Edw , 2. ( it is not in print neither , but in the Parliament Book ) that the Laws concerning Life and Member shall be the same in Ireland , as in England . And that no exception might yet remain , in a Parliament held in England . The 5th year of Edw. 3. , it is Enacted . Quod una & eadem Lex fiat tam Hibernicis quam Anglicis . This Act is enrolled in the Patent Rolls of the 5th year of Edw. 3. Parl. membr . 25. The Irish therefore receiving their Laws from hence , they send their Students at Law to the Inns of Court in England , where they receive their Degree , and of them , and of the Common-Lawyers of this Kingdom , are the Judges made . The Petitions have been many from Ireland , to send from hence some Judges , more learned in the Laws , than those they had there . It hath been frequent in cases of difficulty there , to send sometimes to the Parliament , sometimes to the King , by advice from the Judges here , to send them resolutions of their doubts . Amongst many , I 'll cite your Lordships only one , because it is in a case of Treason upon an Irish Statute , and therefore full to this point . By a Statute there made the fifth year of Edw. 4. there is a provision made for such as upon suggestions are committed to prison for Treason , that the party committed , if he can procure 24 Compurgators , shall be bailed and let out of prison . Two Citizens of Dublin , were by a Grand Jury presented to have committed Treason , they desired benefit of this Statute , that they might be let out of prison , upon tender of their Compurgators : The words of the Statute of the 5th year of Edw. 4th . in Ireland being obscure , the Judges there being not satisfied what to do , sent the case over to the Queen , desired the opinion of the Judges here , which was done accordingly . The Judges here sent over their opinion , which I have out of the Book of Justice Anderson , one of the Judges consulted withal . The Judges delivered their opinion upon an Irish Statute , in case of Treason . If it be objected , That in this Case , the Judges here did not judge upon the party ; their opinions were only ad informandam Conscientiam , of the Judges in Ireland , that the Judgement belonged to the Judges there . My Lords ( with submission ) this and the other Authorities , prove , that for which they were cited , that is , that no absurdity , no failure of Justice would ensue , if this great Judicatory should judge of Treason , so made by an Irish Statute . The Common-Law rules of judging upon an Irish Statute ; the Pleas of the Crown for things of life and death , are the same here and there , this is all that yet hath been offered . For the Second point , That England hath no power of Judicature , for things done in Ireland . My Lords , the constant practice of all ages , proves the contrary . Writs of Error in Pleas of the Crown , as well as in Civil Causes , have in all Kings Reigns been brought here , even in the inferior Courts of Westminster-Hall upon Judgment given in the Courts of Ireland , the practice is so frequent , and so well known , as that I shall cite none of them to your Lordships , no president will , I believe , be produced to your Lordships , that ever the Case was remanded back again into Ireland , because the question arose upon an Irish Statute , or Custom . Object . But it will be said , that Writs of Error , are only upon failure of justice in Ireland , and that suits cannot originally be commenced here for things done in Ireland , because the Kings Writ runs not in Ireland . Answ. This might be a good Plea in the Kings-Bench , and inferior Courts at Westminster-Hall ; the question is , Whether it be so in Parliament ? The Kings Writ runs not within the County-Palatine of Chester and Durham , nor within the Five Ports ; neither did it in Wales , before the Union of Henry the 8th's time , after the Laws of England were brought into Wales , in King Edw. the 1. time , Suits were not originally commenced at Westminster-Hall for things done in them ; yet this never excluded the Parliament-suits ; for Life , Lands , and Goods within these jurisdictions , are determinable in Parliament , as well as in any other parts of the Realm . Ireland , as appears by the Statute of the Thirtieth year of Henry 3. before-mentioned , is united to the Crown of England . By the Statute of the Eight and twentieth year of Hen. 6th . in Ireland , it is declared in these words , That Ireland is the proper Dominion of England , and united to the Crown of England , which Crown of England is of it self , and by it self , wholly and entirely endowed with all Power and Authority sufficient to yield to the Subjects of the same full and plenary remedy , in all Debates and Suits whatsoever . By the Statute of the Three and twentieth year of Henry the 8th , the first Chapter , when the Kings of England first assumed the Title of King of Ireland , it is there Enacted , that Ireland still is to be held as a Crown annexed and united to the Crown of England . So that by the same reason , from this that the Kings Writs run not in Ireland , it might as well be held , that the Parliament cannot originally hold Plea of things done within the County-Palatine of Chester and Durham , nor within the Five Ports and Wales ; Ireland , is a part of the Realm of England , as appears by those Statutes , as well as any of them . This is made good by constant practice in all the Parliament Rolls , from the first to the last ; there are Receivers , and Tryers of Petitions appointed for Ireland ; for the Irish to come so far with their Petitions for Justice , and the Parliament not to have cognizance , when from time to time they had in the beginning of the Parliament , appointed Receivers and Tryers of them , is a thing not to be presumed . An Appeal in Ireland , brought by William Lord Vesey , against Iohn Fitz-Thomas , for Treasonable words there spoken , before any Judgment given in Case there , was removed into the Parliament in England , and there the Defendant acquitted , as appears in the Parliament Pleas of the Two and twentieth year of Edw. 1. The Suits for Lands , Offices , and Goods originally begun here are many , and if question grew upon matter in fact , a Jury usually ordered to try it , and the Verdict returned into the Parliament ; as in the Case of one Ballyben in the Parliament of the Five and thirtieth year of Edward the 1. If a doubt arose upon a matter tryable by Record , a Writ went to the Officers , in whose custody the Record remained , to certifie the Record , as was in the Case of Robert Bagott the same Parliament , of the Five and thirtieth year of Edward the 1. where the Writ went to the Treasurer , and Barons of the Exchequer . Sometimes they gave Judgement here in Parliament , and commanded the Judges there in Ireland to do execution , as in the great Case of Partition , between the Copartners of the Earl Marshal in the Parliament of the Three and thirtieth of Edward the 1. where the Writ was awarded to the Treasurer of Ireland . My Lords , The Laws of Ireland were introduced by the Parliament of England , as appears by Three Acts of the Parliament before cited . It is of higher Jurisdiction Dare Leges , then to judge by them . The Parliaments of England do bind in Ireland , if Ireland be particularly mentioned , as is resolved in the Book-Case of the First year of Henry the Seventh . Cook 's Seventh Report , Calvin's Case ; and by the Judges in Trinity-Term , in the Three and thirtieth year of Queen Elizabeth . The Statute of the Eighth year of Edward the 4th , the first Chapter in Ireland recites , That it was doubted amongst the Judges , whether all the English Statutes , though not naming Ireland , were in force there ? if named , no doubt . From King Henry the 3. his time downwards , to the Eighth year of Queen Elizabeth ( by which Statute it is made Felony to carry Sheep from Ireland beyond Seas ) in almost all these Kings Reigns , there be Statutes made concerning Ireland . The exercising of the Legislative Power there , over their Lives and Estates , is higher than of the Judicial in question : Until the 29th year of Edward the 3. erroneous Judgements given in Ireland , were determinable no where but in England ; no , not in the Parliament of Ireland , as it appears in the close Rolls in the Tower , in the 29th year of Edw. the 3. Memb. 12. Power to examine and reverse erroneous Judgments in the Parliaments of Ireland is granted ; from hence , Writs of Error lye in the Parliament here upon erroneous Judgements , after that time given in the Parliaments of Ireland , as appears in the Parliament Rolls , of the Eighth year of Henry the 6th . No. 70. in the Case of the Prior of Lenthan . It is true , the Case is not determined there , for it 's the last thing that came into the Parliament , and could not be determined for want of time , but no exception at all is taken to the Jurisdiction . The Acts of Parliament made in Ireland , have been confirmed in the Parliaments of England , as appears by the close Rolls in the Tower , in the Two and fortieth year of Edw. the 3. Memb. 20. Dorso : where the Parliament in Ireland , for the preservation of the Countrey from Irish , who had almost destroyed it , made an Act , That all the Land-Owners , that were English , should reside upon their Lands , or else they were to be forfeited , this was here confirmed . In the Parliament of the Fourth year of Henry the 5th . Chap. 6. Acts of Parliament in Ireland are confirmed , and some priviledges of the Peers in the Parliaments there are regulated . Power to repeal Irish Statutes , Power to confirm them , cannot be by the Parliament here , if it hath not cognizance of their Parliaments ; unless it be said , that the Parliament may do , it knows not what . Garnsey and Iersey are under the Kings subjection , but are not parcels of the Crown of England , but of the Duchy of Normandy , they are not governed by the Laws of England , as Ireland is , and yet Parliaments in England have usually held Plea of , and determined all Causes concerning Lands or Goods . In the Parliament , in the 33 Edw. 1. there be Placita de Insula Iersey . And so in the Parliament , 14 Edw. 2. and so for Normandy and Gascoigne , and always as long as any part of France was in subjection to the Crown of England , there were at the beginning of the Parliaments , Receivers and Tryers of Petitions , for those parts appointed . I believe your Lordships will have no Case shewed of any Plea , to the jurisdiction of the Parliaments of England , in any things done in any parts wheresoever in subjection to the Crown of England . The last thing I shall offer to your Lordships is , the Case of 19 Eliz. in my Lord Dyer , 306. and Judge Crompton's Book , of the jurisdiction of Courts fol. 23. The opinion of both these Books is , That an Irish Peer is not Tryable here , it 's true , a Scotch or French Nobleman is tryable here , as a common person ; the Law takes no notice of their Nobility , because those Countreys are not governed by the Laws of England ; but Ireland being governed by the same Laws , the Peers there are Tryable according to the Law of England only , per pares . By the same reason , the Earl of Strafford , not being a Peer of Ireland , is not tryable by the Peers of Ireland ; so that if he be not tryable here , he is tryable no where . My Lords , In case there be a Treason and a Traitor within the Statute , and that he be not tryable here for it , in the ordinary way of Judicature , if that jurisdiction fail , this by way of Bill doth not ; Attainders of Treason in Parliament , are as legal , as usual by Act of Parliament , as by Judgement . I have now done with the Statutes 25 Edw. 3. and 18 Hen. 6. My Lord of Strafford hath offended against both the Kingdoms , and is guilty of High Treason by the Laws of both . My Lords , In the fifth place , I am come to the Treasons at the Common-Law , the endeavouring to subvert the fundamental Laws and Government of the Kingdom , and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government . In this I shall not at all labour to prove , That the endeavouring by Words , Counsels and Actions , to subvert the Laws , is Treason at the Common-Law , if there be any Common-Law Treasons at all left ; nothing is Treason , if this be not , to make a Kingdom no Kingdom ; take the Polity and Government away , Englands but a piece of Earth , wherein so many men have their Commorancy and abode , without ranks or distinction of men , without property in any thing further than possession ; no Law to punish the Murthering , or robbing one another . That of 33 Hen. 8. of introducing the Imperial Law , sticks not with your Lordships ; it was in case of an Appeal to Rome ; these Appeals in Cases of Marriages , and other causes counted Ecclesiastical , had been frequent , had in most Kings Reigns been tolerated ; some in times of Popery put a conscience upon them ; the Statutes had limited the penalty to a Praemunire only , neither was that a total subversion , only an Appeal from the Ecclesiastical Court here in a single Cause , to the Court of Rome ; and if Treason or not , that Case proves not a Treason may be punished as a Felony ; a Felony as a Trespass , if His Majesty so please ; The greater includes the less in the Case of Praemunire ; in the Irish Reports , that which is there declared to be Treason , was proceeded upon only as a Praemunire . The things most considerable in this is , Whether the Treasons at Common-Law , are taken away by the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. which is to speak against both the direct words and scope of that Statute . In it there 's this clause , That because many other like Cases of Treason might fall out , which are not there declared ; therefore it is enacted , That if any such Case come before the Iudges , they shall not proceed to Iudgment , till the Case be declared in Parliament , whether it ought to be adjudged Treason or not . These words , and the whole scope of that Statute shews , that it was not the meaning to take away any Treasons that were so before , but only to regulate the jurisdiction and manner of Tryal . Those that were single and certain Acts , as conspiring the Kings death , Levying War , Counterfeiting the Money , or Great Seal , Killing a Judge ; these are left to the ordinary Courts of Justice : The others not depending upon single Acts , but upon constructions and necessary inferences , they thought it not fit to give the inferior Courts so great a latitude here , as too dangerous to the Subject , those they restrained to the Parliament . This Statute was the great security of the Subjects , made with such wisdom , as all the succeeding Ages have approved it ; it hath often passed through the Furnace , but like Gold , hath left little or nothing . The Statute of the First H. 4. cap. 10. is in these words , Whereas in the Parliament held the 21 year of Richard the 2. divers pains of Treason were ordained , insomuch that no man did know how to behave himself , to do , say , or speak : It is accorded that in no time to come , any Treason be adjudged otherwise , than it was ordained by the Statute of 25th of Edw. 3. It hath been said , To what end is this Statute made , if it takes not away the Common-Law Treasons remaining after the Statute of the 25th of Edw. 3 ? Therebe two main things which this Statute doth ; First , it takes away for the future all the Treasons , made by any Statute since 25 Edw. 3. to the 1 H. 4. even to that time ; for in respect , that by another Act in that Parliament , the Statute of 21 Rich. 2. was repealed , it will not be denyed , but that this Statute repeals more Treasons than these of the 21 R. 2. It repeals all Statute-Treasons but those in 25 Edw. 3. Secondly , It not only takes away the Statute-Treasons , but likewise the declared Treasons in Parliament , after the 25th of Edw. 3. as to the future , after Declaration in Parliament , the inferior Courts might judge these Treasons ; for the Declaration of a Treason in Parliament after it was made , was sent to the inferior Courts , that toties quotîes the like Case fell out , they might proceed therein , the Subject for the future , was secured against these ; so that this Statute was of great use . But by the very words of it , I shall refer all Treasons to the provision of 25 Edw. 3. it leaves that entire , and upon the old bottom . The Statute of 1 Queen M. cap. 1. saith , That no offences made Treason by any Act of Parliament , shall thenceforth be taken or adjudged to be Treason , but only such as be declared and expressed to be Treason by the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. Concerning Treason , or the Declaration of Treason , and no others : And further provides , That no pains of death , penalties , or forfeiture in any wise shall ensue , for committing any Treason , other than such as be in the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. ordained and provided , any Act of Parliament , or any Declaration , or matter to the contrary , in any wise notwithstanding . By the first of this Statute , only offences made Treason by Act of Parliament , are taken away , the Common-Law-Treasons are no ways touched , the words [ And no others ] refer still to offences made Treason by Act of Parliament ; they restrain not to the Treasons only , particularly mentioned in the Statute in the 25th Edw. 3. but leave that Statute entire to the Common-Law-Treason , as appears by the words immediately foregoing . By the Second Part , for the peins and forfeitures of Treasons , if it intend only the punishment of Treason , or if it intend both Treason and Punishment , yet all is referred to the Provision and Ordinance of 25 Edw. 3. any Act of Parliament , or other Declaration , or thing notwithstanding . It saith not , other then such Penalties or Treasons , as are expressed and declared in the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. that might perhaps have restrained it to those that are particularly mentioned , no , it refers all Treasons to the general Ordination and Provision of that Statute , wherein the Common Law Treasons are expresly kept on foot . If it be Asked , What good this Statute doth , if it take not away the Common Law Treasons ? 1. It takes away all the Treasons made by Act of Parliament , not only since the first of Hen. 4. which were many , but all before 1 Hen. 4. even until the 25 E. 3. by express words . 2. By express words , it takes away all declared Treasons , if any such had been in Parliament ; Those for the future are likewise taken away ; so that whereas it might have been doubted , whether the Statute of the 1 H. 4. took away any Treasons , but those of the 22 d and 23 d years of R. 2. This clears it , both for Treasons made by Parliament , or declared in Parliament , even to the time of making the Statute . This is of great use , of great security to the Subject ; so that , as to what shall be Treason , and what not , the Statute of 25 E. 3. remains entire , and so by consequence the Treasons at the Common Law. Only , my Lords , it may be doubted , whether the manner of the Parliamentary proceedings ; be not altered by the Statute of 1 H. 4. Chap. 17. and more fully in the Parliament Roll , Number 144 , that is , whether since that Statute the Parliamentary power of Declaration of Treasons , whereby the inferiour Courts Receive Jurisdiction , be not taken away and restrained only to Bill , that so it might operate no further , then to that particular contained in the Bill , that so the Parliamentary Declarations for after-times , should be kept within the Parliament it self , and be extended no further : Since 1 H. 4. we have not found any such Declarations made , but all Attainders of Treason have been by Bill ? If this be so , yet the Common-Law Treasons still remaining , there is one and the same ground of reason and equity since the 1 H. 4. for passing a Bill of Treason , as was before , for declaring of it without Bill . Herein the Legislative power is not used against my Lord of Strafford in the Bill , it s only the jurisdiction of the Parliament . But , my Lords , because that either through my mistaking of the true grounds and reasons of the Commons , or my not pressing them with apt agreements , and presidents of former times , or that perchance your Lordships , from some other Reasons and Authorities , more swaying with your Lorpships Judgments , then these from them , may possibly be of a contrary or dubious opinion , concerning these Treasons , either upon the Statutes of 25 E. 3. & 18 H. 6. or at the Common-Law . My Lords , If all these five should faile , they have therefore given me further in Command , to declare to your Lordships some of their Reasons , why they conceive that in this case , the meer Legislative Power may be exercised . Their reasons are taken from these three grounds ; 1. From the nature and quality of the Offence . 2. From the Frame and Constitution of the Parliament , wherein this Law is made . 3. From Practices and Usages of former times . The horridness of the Offence , in endeavouring the overthrowing the Lawes and present Government , hath been fully opened to your Lordships heretofore . The Parliament is the Representation of the whole Kingdom ; wherein the King as Head , your Lordships as the most Noble , and the Commons the other Members , are knit together into one Body Politick ; This dissolves the Arteries and Ligaments that hold the Body together , the Lawes ; He that takes away the Lawes , takes not away the Allegiance of one Subject alone , but of the whole Kingdom . It was made Treason by the Statute of 13. Eliz. for Her time , to affirm , that the Lawes of the Realm do not bind the Descent of the Crown ; no Law , no Descent at all . No Lawes , no Peerage ; no Rankes or Degrees of men ; the same Condition to all . It 's Treason to kill a Judge upon the Bench ; this kills not Iudicem , sed Iudicium ; He that borrowed Apelles , and gave Bond to return again Apelles the Painter , sent him home , after he had cut off his Right Hand ; his Bond was broken ; Apelles was sent , but not the Painter . There are Twelve Men , but no Law ; there 's never a Judge amongst them . It 's Felony to Imbezle any one of the Judicial Records of the Kingdom ; this at once Sweeps them all away , and from all . It 's Treason to Counterfeit a Twenty shillings piece ; here 's a Counterfeiting of the Law ; we can call neither the Counterfeit , nor True Coyn , our own . It 's Treason to Counterfeit the Great-Seal for an Acre of Land ; no property hereby is left to any Land at all ; nothing Treason now , either against King or Kingdom ; no Law to punish it . My Lords , If the Question were Asked at Westminster-Hall , Whether this were a Crime punishable in Star-Chamber , or in the Kings-Bench , by Fine , or Imprisonment ? they would say it went higher : If whether Felony ? they would say , that 's for an Offence only against the Life , or Goods of some one or few persons ; It would , I believe , be answered by the Judges , as it was by the Chief Justice Thurning in 21 R. 2. that though he could not Judge the Case Treason there before him , yet if he were a Peer in Parliament he would so Adjudge it . My Lords , if it be too big for those Courts , we hope it 's in the right way here . 2. The second Consideration is from the Frame and Constitution of the Parliament ; the Parliament is the great Body Politick , it comprehends all , from the King to the Beggar ; if so , My Lords , as the Natural , so this Body , it hath power over it self , and every one of the Members , for the preservation of the whole ; It 's both the Physitian and the Patient ; If the Body be distempered , it hath power to open a Vein , to let out the corrupt blood for curing it self ; if one Member be Poysoned or Gangred , it hath power to cut it off for the preservation of the rest . But , my Lords , it hath often been inculcated , that Law-makers should imitate the Supreme Law-giver , who commonly warnes before he strikes . The Law was promulged before the Judgment of death for gathering the Sticks . No Law , no Transgression . My Lords , To this rule of Law is Frustra legis auxilium invocat , qui in legem committit , from the Lex talionis ; he that would not have had others to have a Law , Why should he have any himself ? Why should not that be done to him , that himself would have done to others ? It 's true , we give Law to Hares and Deers , because they be Beasts of Chase ; It was never accounted either cruelty or foul play , to knock Foxes and Wolves on the head , as they can be found , because these be Beasts of Prey . The Warrener sets Traps for Polcats and other Vermine , for preservation of the Warren . Further , my Lords , most dangerous Diseases , if not taken in time , they kill ; Errors , in great things , as War and Marriage , they allow no time for repentance ; it would have been too late to make a Law , when there had been no Law. My Lords , for further Answer to this Objection , he hath offended against a Law , a Law within the endeavouring to subvert the Lawes , and Polity of the State wherein he lived , which had so long , and with such faithfulness protected his Ancestry , Himself , and his whole Family : It was not Malum quia prohibitum , it was Malum in se , against the Dictates of the dullest Conscience , against the Light of Nature , they not having a Law , were a Law to themselves . Besides this , he knew a Law without , that the Parliament , in Cases of this Nature , had Potestatem vitae & necis . Nay , he well knew , that he offended the Promulged and Ordinary Rules of Law. Crimes against Law have been Proved , have been Confessed , so that the Question is not De culpa , sed de poena , What degree of Punishment those Faults deserve ? We must differ from him in Opinion , That twenty Felonies cannot make a Treason , if it be meant of equallity in the use of the Legislative Power ; for he that deserves death for one of these Felonies alone , deserves a Death more Painful , and more Ignominious for all together . Every Felony is punished with loss of Life , Lands and Goods ; a Felony may be aggravated with those Circumstances , as that the Parliament with good reason may add to the Circumstances of Punishment , as was done in the Case of Iohn Hall , in the Parliament of the 1 H. 4. who , for a Barbarous Murder , committed upon the Duke of Glocester , Stifling him between two Feather-Beds at Calice , was Adjudged to be Hanged , Drawn and Quartered . Batteries by Law are only punishable by Fine , and single Damages to the Party Wounded . In the Parliament held in 1 H. 4. Cap. 6. one Savage committed a Battery upon one Chedder , Servant to Sir Iohn Brooke , a Knight of the Parliament for Somersetshire . It 's there Enacted , that he shall pay double Damages , and stand Convicted , if he render not himself by such a time . The manner of proceedings quickned , and the penalty doubled ; the Circumstances were considered , it concerned the Common-Wealth , it was a Battery with Breach of Priviledge of Parliament . This made a perpetual Act : no warning to the first Offender : and in the Kings Bench , as appears by the Book-Case of 9 H. 4. the first leaf , Double Damages were recovered . My Lords , in this of the Bill , the Offence is High and General , against the King and the Common-wealth , against all , and the best of all . If every Felony be loss of Life , Lands and Goods ; What is Misuser of the Legislative Power , by Addition of Ignominy , in the Death and Disposal of the Lands to the Crown , the Publick Patrimony of the Kingdom ? But it was hoped , that your Lordships had no more skill in the Art of killing Men , then your worthy Ancestors . My Lords , this Appeal from your selves to your Ancestors we do admit of , although we do not admit of that from your Lordships to the Peers of Ireland . He hath appealed to them ; your Lordships will be pleased to hear , what Judgment they have already given in the case , that is , the several Attainders of Treason in Parliament ; after the Statute of 25 E. 3. for Treasons not mentioned , nor within that Statute , and those upon the first Offenders without warning given . By the Statute of 25 E. 3. it 's Treason to levy War against the King ; Gomines and Weston afterwards in Parliament , in the 1 R. 2. n. 38 , 39 , adjudged Traytors for surrendring two several Castles in France , only out of fear , without any Compliance with the Enemy ; this not within the Statute of 25th E. 3. My Lords , In the 3 d of Rich. 2d. Iohn Imperiall that came into England upon Letters of Safe Conduct , as an Agent for the State of Genoa , sitting in the evening before his door , in Breadstreet ( as the words of the Records are ) Paulo ante ignitegium ; Iohn Kirkby , and another Citizen coming that way , Casually Kirkby troad upon his Toe , it being twilight , this grew to a Quarrel , and the Ambassador was slain ; Kirkby was Indicted of High-Treason , the Indictment finds all this , and that it was only done se defendendo , and without malice . The Judges , it being out of the Statute 25 E. 3. could not proceed ; the Parliament declared it Treason , and Judgment afterwards of High-Treason : there 's nothing can bring this within the Statute of 25 E. 3. but it concerns the Honor of the Nation , that the Publick Faith should be strictly kept : It might endanger the Traffique of the Kingdom ; they made not a Law first , they made the first man an Example ; this is in the Parliament-Roll 3 R. 2. Number 18. and Hillary Terme , 3 R. 2. Rot. 31. in the Kings-Bench , where Judgment is given against him . In 11 R. 2. Tresilian , and some others , attainted of Treason for delivering Opinions in the Subversion of the Law , and some others for plotting the like . My Lords , the Case hath upon another occasion been opened to your Lordships ; only this is observable , that in the Parliament of the first year of Henry the Third , where all Treasons are again reduced to the Statute of 25 E. 3. These Attainders were by a particular Act confirmed and made good , that the memory thereof might be transmitted to succeeding Ages , they stand good unto this day ; the offences there as here , were the endeavouring the Subversion of the Laws . My Lords , after the 1 H. 4. Sir Iohn Mortimer being committed to the Tower , upon suspition of Treason , brake Prison , and made his escape ; This no way within any Statute , or any former Judgment at Common-Law for this , that is , for breaking the Prison only , and no other cause ; in the Parliament held the second year of Henry the Sixth , he was attainted of High-Treason by Bill . My Lords , Poysoning is only Murder , yet one Richard Cooke having put Poyson into a Pot of Pottage in the Kitchin of the Bishop of Rochester , whereof two persons dyed , he 's Attainted of Treason , and it was Enacted , that he should be Boyled to Death by the Statute of 22 H. 8. c. 9. By the Statute of the 25 H. 8. Elizabeth Barton the Holy Maid of Kent , for pretending Revelations from God , That God was highly displeased with the King , for being Divorced from the Lady Katherine , and that in case he persisted in the Separation , and should Marry another , that he would not continue King not above one Moneth after , because this tended to the depriving of the lawful Succession to the Crown , she is Attainted of Treason . My Lords , all these Attainders , for ought I know , are in force at this day . The Statutes of the First year of Henry the 4 th . and the First of Queen Mary , although they were willing to make the Statute of 25 E. 3. the Rule to the Inferiour Courts , yet they left the Attainders in Parliament , precedent to themselves , untoucht , wherein the Legislative power had been exercised . There 's nothing in them whence it can be gathered , but that they intended to leave it as free for the future . My Lords , In all these Attainders , there were Crimes and Offences against the Law ; they thought it not unjust ( Circumstances considered ) to heighten and add to the degrees of punishment , and that upon the first Offender . My Lords , we receive , as just , the other Lawes and Statutes made by these our Ancestors , they are the Rules we go by in other Cases , Why should we differ from them in this alone ? These , my Lords , are in part those things , which have satisfied the Commons in passing the Bill , it is now left to the Judgment and Justice of your Lordships . Upon the Close of Mr. St. Iohns Speech the House Adjourned , nor was there one word spoken but by Master St. Iohns , onely the Lord Lieutenant used the last part of his Rhetorick , and by a dumb Eloquence , Manibus ad sydera tensis , often holding up his hands towards Heaven , all along Mr. St. Iohns Speech , made his Replies with a deep silence . Upon Fryday , April the 30th , he Petitioned the Lords to be heard again , alleadging , That his Lawyers had not fully spoken at their last meeting , but this was denyed him , because the House of Commons were to have the last Speech , nor were they content to speak again . The following SPEECH of Mr. Glyns , is , by a Mistake Misplaced , for it ought to be next to my Lords Summary of the Evidence . Mr. GLYN'S REPLY TO THE Earl of Strafford's DEFENCE . My Lord of Strafford having concluded the Recapitulation of his Evidence ; Mr. Glyn applyed himself to their Lordships in manner following . May it please your Lordships , MY Lord of Strafford ( as your Lordships have observed , ) hath spent a great deal of time in his Evidence , and in his course of answering , hath inverted the order of the Articles ; he hath spent some time likewise in defending the Articles not objected against him , wherein he hath made a good Answer , if in any : we shall presume to withdraw a while , and rest upon your Lordships patience ; and I doubt not but to represent my Lord of Strafford as cunning in his Answer , as he is subtil in his practice . The Committee withdrawing for about the space of half an hour , and then returning to the Bar , Mr. Glyn proceeded as followeth . My Lords , your Lordships have observed how the Earl of Strafford hath been accused by the Commons of England of High Treason , for a purpose and design to subvert the Fundamental Laws of both the Kingdoms , of England and Ireland , and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government : The Commons have exhibited Articles in maintenance of that Charge : My Lord of Strafford hath thereunto answered in Writing . The Commons have proceeded to make good their Charge by proof , and thereunto my Lord of Strafford hath made his Defence ; and this day my Lord of Strafford hath taken upon him to recollect his Evidence , and make his observation upon it , the most he could to his advantage . My Lords , We that are intrusted for the House of Commons , stand here to recollect the Evidence on our part , and to apply it to the general Charge , and how far it conduces thereunto . My Lord of Strafford in recollecting the Evidence of his Defence , as I did mention before , hath ( under favour ) exprest very much subtilty , and that in divers particulars , which I shall represent to your Lordships . My Lords , before I enter upon the recollection of the proofs produced on the behalf of the Commons , I shall make some observations , and give some answer to that recollection of his ; though very disorderly to the method I propounded to my self . And First , in general , it will appear to your Lordships , ( looking upon your Notes , and observing his recollection ) that he hath used the repetition of Evidence on both sides , in such manner as you know who useth Scripture ; that is , to cite as much as makes for his purpose , and leave out the rest . And likewise , that in repetition of the Evidence , he hath mis-recited plainly , very much of the proofs on both sides , and likewise hath pretended some proofs to be for his Defence , which indeed were not : and he hath taken this farther advantage ; when it makes for his Defence , he hath disjoynted the Proofs and Testimonies , and severed them asunder , that it might appear to your Lordships , like Rain falling in drops , which considered in distinct drops , bring no horror , or seeming inconvenience with them ; but when they are gathered together into an entire body , they make an Inundation , and cover the face of the earth . He would not have your Lordships look on those Testimonies together , but distinctly and asunder , which being put together , look horrid , as will appear to your Lordships , when you duly consider of them . These be the general observations , which in my Answer I doubt not but to make good : But before I shall enter into observations of what he hath spoken , I shall answer in general to some things which he hath in general alledged . In the first place , he hath made a flourish this day , and several other days in the way of his Defence , That if he could have had longer time , he could have made things appear clearer , and have produced more proofs . Give me leave to inform your Lordships , that he is no way streightned of time , for he hath been charged above three months since : he knew what was laid to his Charge , and therefore his pretence of want of time , and of his disabilities to make better proofs , are but flourishes . And it appears plainly , whatsoever he hath had occasion to make use of , even the least paper , though he fetched it from Ireland , there is not one wanting ; he hath copies of Papers from the Council-Table , from the Parliament of Ireland , and all that may any way tend to his justification , and yet he stands upon that flourish , that if he had had time , he could have made it more clear . My Lords , He hath mentioned often this day , and oftner the days before , That many of the Articles laid to his charge , are proved but by one Witness ; and thereupon he takes the advantage of the Statute of E. 6. that sayes , A man ought not to be condemned for High Treason , without two witnesses . My Lords , This is a fallacy known to his own breast , I doubt not , and not taught him by any of his Counsel , or others Learned . The Treason laid to his charge , is , The subverting of the Laws ; the Evidence is , the Article proved : and though some one Article appears to be proved but by one , yet put the Evidence together , you shall never find it to be within the words or meaning of the Statute ; for the Charge is proved by a hundred Witnesses : and because one part of the Evidence is proved only by one Witness , since , when you put them together , you will find a hundred Witnesses , it is not within the words , nor meaning of the Statute , neither will his Counsel direct him to say so , I am confident . My Lords , another observation I shall be bold to make , is , that he was pleased to cast an aspersion ( as we must apprehend ) upon them that are trusted by the House of Commons this day , That we that stand here , alledged and affirmed things to be proved , that are not proved . He might have pleased to have spared that language ; we stand here to justify our selves , that we do not use to express any language , but what our hearts and consciences tell us is true ; and howsoever he is pleased to cast it upon us , I am confident I shall invert it upon himself , and make it appear , that he hath been this day guilty in the highest degree , of what he most unjustly layeth to our charge . And now my Lords , to enter upon the particulars he hath been pleased to make it his general Theme to day ( though he hath not spoke much to day but what he hath spoken formerly ) that these particulars considered by themselves make not a Treason , and therefore put together , he wonders how they should make a Treason : Several misdemeanors can never make a murther , and several Murthers can never make a Treason ; and he wonders it should be otherwise in this Case . My Lords , He did instance it ( if my memory fails not ) in a Case of Felony ; That if a bloudy knife should be produced in the hand of the party suspected to have slain the man , if the party had been there seen before the death , it were a strange Evidence ; but there must be death in the case , the fact must be committed , else there can be no murther : but he himself might answer himself , for there is a great difference ; There cannot be murther but there must be death , but he knows very well there may be Treason and yet no death ; it is too late to forbear questioning Treason for killing the King , till the King be killed : God forbid we should stay in that Case , for the very intention is the Treason , and it is the intention of the death of the Law that is in question , and it had been too late to call him to question , to answer with his life , for the death of the Law , if the Law had been killed , for there had been no Law then ; and how should the Law then have adjudged it Treason , when the same were subverted and destroyed ? and therefore he is much mistaken . The greatest Traitor , in the memory of any that sits here to hear me this day , had a better , a fairer excuse in thisparticular , than my Lord of Strafford , and that is Guido Faux ; for he might have objected , that the taking of the Cellar , the laying of the Powder under the Parliament-House , the kindling of the Match , , and putting it near , are not so much as a misdemeanor , if you look no further ; for it was no offence in him to lay Barrels under the Parliament-House , and to kindle the Match , and to lay it near ; but collect all together , that it was eâ intentione , to blow up the King and the State , there is the Treason : but God be blessed it was not effected ; so that the rule is the same . Nay , my Lord of Strafford hath not so much to say , when he is charged with a purpose and intention to subvert the Law ; for to that purpose gave he traiterous Counsels , and executed actions , thereby discovering his intentions to destroy the Kingdom , and to destroy the Kings claim by Law , and discent . It is true , they were not put in execution , but they declared his intentions ; therefore this gives an answer to his first flourish , which is not so great an Argument as the greatest Traytor might use for himself , and yet it proved Treason in him . My Lords , he hath been plased to divide his Treasons into two parts , and his division I allow of ; that is , Treason by Statute-Law , as he terms it , though it be Treason by the Common-Law ; and constructive Treason : And upon that method he hath recited the evidence produced on either part ; Give me leave to follow and trace him a little , and afterwards to discharge my own duty in taking my own course , and representing the evidence as it appears , truly ; and I will avoid ( as much as I can ) to fall into my Lord of Straffords error , in mis-reciting a Particle ; if I do , it shall be against my will. He begins with the Fifteenth Article , and pretends that that is not proved : The ground and foundation of that Article , was a Warrant issued out by himself to a Sergeant at Arms , one Savill , which gave directions and power to that Sergeant , to lay Soldiers on any person that should contemn the Process of the Council-board in Ireland ; that was the effect : Now ( says he ) this Warrant is not produced , and adds , That the Iudges will tell your Lordships , that if a man be charged with anything under Hand and Seal , the Deed must be produced and proved , or else no credit is to be given to it . Truly , my Lords , it is true , if it had been a Bond , or a Deed , where those that Seal it , use to call their neighbors to testify , and be Witnesses to it , perhaps it might be a colourable answer , that because we do not produce the Deed , and prove it by Witnesses , you can therefore give no credit to it : But my Lords , in case of authority to commit High Treason , I suppose my Lord of Strafford , nor any other , did call witnesses to prove the Signing , Sealing , and Delivering of the Warrant for execution of High Treason ; and therefore it is a new way and invention found out by his Lordship , for ought I see , to commit High Treason , and to give authority for it ; and it is but taking away the original Warrant , and he shall never be touched for any Treason . But I beseech your Lordships patience , till I come to open that Article , and your Lordships will find the Warrant , ( though it be not produced , ) proved by three or four Witnesses , and his Hand and Seal proved too . And whereas he pretends the Sergeant at Arms is no competent Witness , because he excuses himself ; my Lord mistakes himself , for I take it to be no excuse , to prove a Warrant from any person whatsoever , if it be to commit High Treason : and therefore Savil's testimony is the more strong , being so far from excusing , that he doth accuse himself : And though he is charged with laying of Soldiers upon the Kings people , contrary to an express Act of Parliament made in 18 H. 6. yet my Lord is pleased ( I know not how to term it , whether it be merrily or otherwise ) to use his Retorick , Here is a great levying of War , when there is not above four Musquetiers , or six at most , laid upon any one man. My Lords , it is a plain levying of War , and without all question , and in all sense , it is as much mischievous to me to be surprized by four or six Musquetiers , to enforce me to any thing they would have , as if there were an Army of Forty thousand brought upon me ; for if that strength will but over-master me , it is all one to me , whether I be mastered by four , or by four thousand . And therefore let not this be a rule , that to send four , or six , or ten Musquetiers up and down , is not considerable , because of the smalness of the number ( the danger is the same ; ) yet this is no levying of War , because they goe not in Troops of greater number , as it pleases my Lord of Strafford to affirm My Lords , Your Lordships remember what the effect of the Warrant is sworn to be , that howsoever the Sergeant at Arms , and his Ministers that executed it , brought but four , or six , or ten , yet the Sergeant might have brought all the Army of Ireland , for there was authority so to do . And admitting the matter of Fact proved , he mentions an Act of Parliament made 11 Eliz. whereby a penalty is laid upon men that shall lay Soldiers on the Kings Subjects , and yet ( as my Lord observes ) it must now be Treason in the Deputy . My Lords , The very casting of an eye upon that Act , shews it to be as vainly objected , as if he had said nothing ; for in truth it is no other , than as if he should say , The King hath given me the Command of an Army in Ireland , and therefore I may turn them upon the bowels of the Kings Subjects : It is no more in effect . Your Lordships heard him the other day mentioning two Acts of Repeal , and I expected he would have insisted upon them ; but it seems he hath been better advised , and thinks them not worthy repetition , nor indeed are they . And if the matter of Fact be proved upon the Fifteenth Article , I am confident he will find the Statute of 18 H. 6. to be of ful force . My Lords , I am very sorry to hear , that when levying of War upon the Kings Subjects is in agitation , and he charged with High Treason , he should make mention of the Yorkshire men , and the Army now on foot , whereby he would insinuate , that if he be charged with High Treason , then they must be likewise , though they lye quartered , and have meat and drink with the assent of the people ; which may breed ill blood for ought I know . From the Fifteenth Article he descends to the three and twentieth , and that is the Article whereby he stands charged with speaking of Words , and giving of Counsel to His Majesty , to incense him against His Parliament pretending a necessity , and telling him , he is loose and absolved from all rules of Government ; that he had an Army in Ireland , which he might make use of to reduce this kingdom . In this he is pleased to begin with the Testimony of my Lord Ranelagh , conceiving an apprehension and fear in him , that the Army should go over to England , which my Lord says , is no more but his saying , and Mr. Treasurer Vane ' s. I pray God my Lord Ranelagh had not much cause to fear ; but by the same rule he may lay a charge of unwarrantable fear upon all the Commons ; for sure the Commons of England did fear it , else they would not make an Article of it : but my Lord Ranelagh's fear did not arise from a slight cause , and he shewed himself a good Common-wealths man in expressing it , and he is to be commended for it , howsoever it be apprehended by my Lord of Strafford . For his observation of the single Testimony of Mr. Treasurer Vane , give me leave to take the same latitude as his Lordship did ; for he shews to three or four Articles what he could have proved ; as to the Article concerning the Army , he could have proved the design of it by Sir John Burlacy , and some others if they had been here . But by this rule and liberty , he hath taken to alledge what he could have shown , give me leave to tell you what we might have shown , and are ready to show : we could have made it express , and proved it by Notes , taken by Secretary Vane , the 5th of May , when the words were spoken , which Notes should have been proved , if we had proceeded on the Three and twentieth Article , to corroborate the Testimony of Mr. Secretary Vane , and that by two Witnesses . We could likewise have shown how we came to the knowledge of it , it being by means unknown to Mr. Secretary Vane , and have made him an upright Counsellor and Witness : but we shall prove his intentions to bring in the Irish Army another way , when I come to open my own course and method . My Lords , he pretends these words were spoken the 5th of May , but when they were testified by Mr. Treasurer , he did not speak of the 5th of May , and yet now my Lord remembers the day : and I wonder how he came to the knowledge of the day , unless he likewise remembred the words . But that my Lord observes , is , That being spoken then , how should he perswade the King , that he had an Army in Ireland , when in truth he had none there ? for the Army was not on foot till a month after . This my Lords , is plainly answered ; and if he had thought of his own answer , he had answered himself : for he tels you , That in April before , he had taken a course for the levying of the Army , he had nominated the Officers , giving direction for raising it : and the day of the Rendezvous of the Army was appointed the 18th of May. And so in his own answer he makes an answer to the objection , and the objection is taken away out of his own confession . From that Article he falls to the seven and twentieth Article , whereby he stands charged with Levying Money by force upon the Kings people in Yorkshire : he is pleased to observe that all the proofe for the maintenance of that Article , is only the levying of Money by four Soldiers by Sergeant-Major Yaworth ; where he is pleased to disdain the War , because it was so weak ; yet it was too strong for them ( God help them ) that were forced upon pain of life to pay it . And whereas he pretends the Warrant was not from him , I shall reserve that till I come to the Article , and when I come to the proofs , I believe it will remain fixed upon him . And there he left his Statute-Treason , and now he falls to the second kind of Treason , and that was the introductive or constructive Treason : He begins with the third Article , that is , concerning some words that he should be charged to have spoken in Ireland ; and I shall desire that your Lordships would be pleased to look upon your Notes , how he answers that Article ; My Lords , says he , I am charged to say that Ireland was a conquered Nation , and that their Charters were nothing worth , and bind the King no further than he pleaseth ; therefore I am a Traitor because I speak the Truth . There was his Answer in his Collection . And for their Charters he sayes , he might very well say so , for he intended it no otherwise , but according to the validity of them , for they were several ways questionable , and ought not to bind unless they were good in Law. But if you look upon his Arguments , he hath like a cunning Orator , omitted the principal part of the Article ; and that is ▪ That Ireland is a conquered Nation , and they were to be governed as the King pleaseth , the King might do with them what he list ; this he omits , although they be proved by three witnesses , and are appliable to his intentions fully ; yet he could make use of so much as makes for him , and leaves out the rest , like your Lordships know whom . Then he descends to the fourth Article , and this concerns some words he should speak , upon an occasion betwixt him and my Lord of Cork , that he should tell my Lord of Cork , He would have neither Law nor Lawyers dispute or question his Orders . And upon another occasion , That he would make my Lord of Cork , and all Ireland know , that all Acts of State ( which are Acts of Council ) there made , or to be made , should be as binding as any Act of Parliament : This he said was proved but by one witness : and I extreamly marvel to hear him say so ; for the latter words we proved by four , or five , or six witnesses , that is , That he would have Acts of State , as binding as Acts of Parliament . Whereas he sayes , these are all the words produced against him in the time of seven years Government there ; your Lordships have heard of many words , and if we would trouble your Lordships further in this kind , we could prove such words spoken , as often almost as he remained dayes in Ireland , that is , for the mis-recital . The other part two witnesses proved ; but the residue , That they must expect Law from the King as a Conqueror , That Acts of State should be equal to Acts of Parliament , and when an Act of Parliament would not pass , he would make it good by an Act of State , these speeches at other times were proved by five witnesses . Then he falls back to the second Article , touching the words , That the Kings little finger should be heavier than the loins of the Law. My Lords , These words were proved expresly by five witnesses , to be by him spoken ; and if he had produced five hundred that had said he did not speak them , they had not been equivalent to disprove five ; but he produces none . Sir William Penniman repeats other words , and inverts them , and none but he . Another party , a Minister , reports a report that he heard concerning these words , but my Lord , he saith , the occasion of the speaking of them was not mentioned . Truly perhaps it might be the forgetfulness of my Lords memory , but let me put him in mind ; and your Lordships remember that the occasion was exprest by one , and that is Sir David Fowles , that he laying a command upon Sir David , to repair a Bridge , and calling him to an account why it was not repaired , Sir David Fowles told him he could not do it by Law. And therefore omitting it , my Lord said to him , Sir , some are all for Law and Lawyers , but you shall know , that the Kings little finger will be heavier than the loins of the Law. Here is the occasion , though he would have another business , the knighting Money to be the occasion . From the second he falls to the three and twentieth Article , that is , concerning words , that he should counsel His Majesty , that he might use His Prerogative as he pleased ; but in saying there was no proof offered , he here begins to fall upon the other fallacy , that is , to pull things asunder ( whereas we produce them together ) and would make that which is a Fagot , to be but a single Stick ; but under favour , when I come , with your Lordships patience , to open the force of the proofs , and put them together , he shall find ( contrary to his expectation ) that they are fully proved by the testimony of many witnesses , upon consideration of the precedent , concurrent , and subsequent Acts and Intentions of my Lord of Strafford . I shall not now run over my Lord Primates testimony , or my Lord Conwayes , or master Treasurers , or my Lord of Bristols , but make use of them in their proper places , when I shall put all together , to shew his design , and to prove his speaking of the words . Then he comes to the five and twentieth Article , which I shall not insist on , though he pretends it not proved ; I shall refer that to my recollection , that I may not answer to his pieces , but bring all together , and then the horror of his Fact shall more speciously appear . Only this ( under favour ) I cannot pass over , when he comes to justify an Advice and Counsel of the Kings being loose and absolved from all rules of Government , and that he might use his Prerogative as he pleases , he is pleased to mention the Argument of the Judges in the Ship-money , and what they should deliver , he makes the Warrant of his Counsel . Now your Lordships may observe , he would justify his actions by Law , in some cases , where it is to his advantage , but in other cases he must be ignorant of the Law. But my Lords , for him to mention any thing in the Argument of the Judges , concerning the Ship-money , which is now cendemned , and to make that a ground of his Counsel and advice to the King , and not the judgement in truth , but the Argument of the Counsel at Bar , that therefore he is loose , and absolved from all rule of Government ; for him to make the Parliaments deferring to give supply , to be that necessity which was insisted upon in the Counsels Argument , and to be such an unavoidable necessity , as to beget an Invasion upon Propriety and Liberty , it rests in your Judgements , and the judgements of all that hear me , what argument this is , and what he declares his opinion to be this day . In the latter part let me close hands , and agree with him ; he sayes , Proofs must be taken by themselves , they must not be judged by pieces , but together ; and now in good time I shall joyn with him , and shall desire the same judgement , that things may not be taken asunder , but judged together according to his own words . For the twentieth Article , he is thereby charged with being an Incendiary between both Nations , and an occasion of drawing two Armies into this Kingdom , and to incense the War. My Lords , I remember ( if I did not mis-conceive , and my memory misprompt me ) my Lord said , He could have no occasion to incense a War , being a man of an Estate , and should have no benefit by it , having sufficient to live without it : but in due time I shall make it appear , to my apprehension , and I believe to your Lordships , when you have heard it , that the incensing of this War , and provoking of it , was the principal instrument of bringing to pass his design of subverting the Laws , through the whole work of it . My Lords , in the passage of this , he takes occasion to speak of the testimony of Mr. Secretary Vane , who testifies , That my Lord was for an offensive , and himself for a defensive War : Whence my Lord argues , here is no great difference , for both were for a War : But my Lord , Is there no difference between an offensive and defensive War , in case of Subjects that live under one King ? is there no difference to bring an Army to offend them , and for the King to raise a force to defend himself ? truly I think there is a great difference , and a very material one too : but your Lordships see he makes no difference between them . My Lords , In the four and twentieth Article he mentions , That he is charged with being an occasion to break the Parliament , and lays hold of that , as in the other Articles , That it was not proved , but declined . My Lords , when he shall hear the repetition of the Evidence , though part of the Article was not particularly insisted upon , yet I believe it will appear to your Lordships , and the world , that he was the occasion of breaking the last Parliament , and it is expresly proved by witnesses enough ; and though he says , How should any body think him an occasion of it , that did so often advise Parliaments ? yet I shall shew anon , that when he did advise them , it was to compass his own Design and Plot , without which , his ends could not be brought to pass . He came from the Four and twentieth Article , to the Seven and twentieth , and he answers against that Article , That when Armies are in the field , men cannot walk so peaceably , as an Attorney with his Box and Papers in Westminster-Hall . I know not what he means ; but when two Armies are in the field , they may raise War against the Kings people , as well as the King for his just defence ; it is the way to make his people terrified with Armies , and to avoid them as a Serpent , and therefore it is a dangerous aspersion , as I conceive . With these he concluded , except some things that he took , by way of artificial insinuation , to perswade your Lordships , That it was dangerous to raise a Treason that had lain asleep , I know not how many hundred years , and create a Treason . A strange thing indeed it is , That a man shall be charged with a Treason for subverting the Law ! A strange thing that one should be charged with Treason for killing a Justice sitting in the Seat of Justice , and yet it should be no Treason to destroy King , and Kingdom , and people , and all ; all which are destroyed , if the Law be subverted . And now having touched upon what he hath spoken , with your Lordships good favour , I shall crave leave to run the course I have propounded with my self : and that very briefly ; that is , upon the whole matter , to shew how far the Evidence , produced on the Commons part , doth prove the Charge . My Lords , That laid to his charge , is a design and purpose to subvert the fundamental Laws of two kingdoms , and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government ; not that he did effect it , but that he did intend it : for if he had done it , it had been too late to question it , he had left no rule whereby to call him to Tryal ; but his intention and his endeavour are his charge . My Lords , How far this is proved , if your Lordships be pleased to call to mind the Articles and the Evidences produced on the Commons part , your Lordships will find , I believe , that his Words , his Counsels , and his Actions , do sufficiently prove his endeavouring to destroy . In the first Article , where my Lord of Strafford hath the first opportunity offered him to put this endeavour in execution ( that is the first place of eminency amongst his other Places and Commands , which I take it , was his being made President of the North ) he is no sooner there , but there be instructions procured to enable him to proceed in that Court , almost in all Causes ; for a man can scarce think of a Cause , which is not comprehended within the Instructions obtained after his coming thither : but I shall put your Lordship in mind of two clauses of the Instructions procured in the Eighth year of this King , and after he was President ; that is , the clause of Habeas Corpus , and Prohibitions ; that no man should obtain a Prohibition , to stay any Suit that should be commenced before him , in the Council of York ; That if any man should be imprisoned by any Process out of that Court , he must have no Habeas Corpus . A Prohibition is the only means to vindicate the estate of the Subject , if it be questioned without Authority . A Habeas Corpus is the only means to vindicate his Liberty , if he be detained without Law : but these doors must be shut against the Kings Subjects , that if either they be questioned , or restrained before him , there must be no relief . How far he could go further I am to seek , there being no means for the Subject to relieve himself , if he be questioned for his Estate without authority ; no means to redeem himself , if his person be imprisoned without Law. And he had so incircled himself about , that if the Judges should find the party that returns not the Habeas Corpus , according to Law , there was a Power , and a Warrant , by the Instructions , to the Barons , to discharge the Officers of that Fine . And now I refer it to your Lordships judgements , Whether this be not to draw an Arbitrary Power to himself . For the execution of this Power , it is true , it is proved to be before the instructions in the eighth year of the King ; but then it riseth the more in judgement against him ; for your Lordships have heard how he went into a grave Judges Chamber , blaming him for giving way to a Prohibition , granting Attachments against one that moved for a Prohibition ; and though this was done before the Instructions were granted , yet the Instructions coming at the heels of it , sheweth his disposition and resolution more clearly , for he acts it first , and then procures this colour to protect it : and though he pretends there was no proof , yet I must put your Lordships in mind , that when these things were in question , concerning the apprehension of a Knight , by a Sergeant at Arms , he kneels to His Majesty , That this defect might be supplyed , and this jurisdiction maintained , else he might goe to his own Cottage . And here being the just commencement of his greatness , if you look to the second , it follows , That at the publick Assizes he declared , That some were all for Law , but they should find the Kings little finger heavier than the loins of the Law. He did not say it was so , but he infused it as much as he could into the hearts of the Kings people , that they should find it so ; and so he reflects upon the King , and upon his people ; the words are proved : And to speak them in such a presence , and at such a time , before the Judges and Countrey assembled , they were so dangerous , and so high expressions of an intention to counsel the King , or act it himself , to exercise an Arbitrary Government , above the weight of the Law , as possibly could be exprest by words . And this is proved by five witnesses , and not disproved , nor is any colour of disproof offered , but only by Sir William Penniman , who says , he heard other words , but not that he heard not these words , If he doth , he must give me leave not to believe him ; for five affirmations will weigh down the proof of a thousand negatives . He stays not long in England with this power ( though while he stays , you hear how he vexes the Subject ) but then he goes into Ireland , and as his authority increases , so he ampliates his design ; and no sooner is he there , but the third Article is laid to his charge ; That when the City and Recorder of Dublin , the principal City of Ireland , presented the Mayor , upon a solemn Speech and Discourse concerning the Laws and Liberties ( as your Lordships know that is the subject matter of a Speech at such presentments , as when the Lord Mayor of London is presented to the King ) I beseech your Lordship , observe the words he then used , They were a conquered Nation , and that we lay not to his charge , but they were to be governed as the King pleases , their Charters were nothing worth , and bind but during the Kings pleasure . I am to seek , if I were to express an Arbitrary Power , and Tyrannical Government , how to express it in finer words , and more significant terms than these , That the people shall be governed at the Kings Will , that their Charters , the sinews and ligatures of their Liberties , Lands , and Estates , should be nothing worth , and bind no longer than the Kings pleasure , especially being spoken upon such an occasion , and the words proved by two or three Witnesses of credit and quality . From thence we descend to Articles , that shew the execution of his purpose . There are three things a man enjoys by the protection of the Law ; that is , his Life , his Liberty , and his Estate . And now , my Lords , observe how he invades , and exercises a Tyrannical Jurisdiction , and Arbitrary Government over them all three . I shall begin with the fifth Article , that is concerning my Lord Mountnorris and Denwit . My Lord Mountnorris , a Peer of that Realm , was sentenced to death by procurement of my Lord of Strafford ; who , howsoeve he pretends himself not to be a Judge in the cause , yet how far he was an Abettor , and Procurer , and Countenancer , and drawer on of that Sentence , your Lordships very well remember ; he was sentenced to death without Law , for speaking words at a private Table , God knows , of no manner of consequence in the world , concerning the treading upon my Lord of Strafford ' s Toe ; the Sentence procured seven months after the words spoken , and contrary to Law , and himself being put in mind of it , my Lord Mountnorris desiring to have the benefit of the Law , and yet he refusing it . And then it was in time of Peace , when all the Courts of Justice were open , and to sentence a man to death of that quality , my Lord of Strafford himself being present , an author , a drawer on of it , makes it very hainous . Your Lordships remember this Article was fully proved , and though he pretends His Authority by a Letter from His Majesty , I shall in due time give a full answer to that , so that it shall rise up in judgement against him , to aggravate his offence , and that in a great measure . Here he exercises a Power over Life , his excuse was , That he procured a Pardon from my Lord Mountnorris , but the Power was exercised , and the Tyranny appeared to be the more ; He would first sentence him to death , and then rejoyce in his Power , that he might say , There remains no more but my command to the Provost Marshal to do execution . To exercise a power over his life , and to abuse him afterwards , is very high ; but no thanks to him that the sentence of death was not executed , it was the Grace and Goodness of His Majesty , that would not suffer my Lord Mountnorris , a person of that Eminence , to be put to death against Law. But the other was hanged , and as appears , against Law ; and though my Lord pretends the party was burnt in the hand , yet that was not proved , nor material : and for him to do this in time of Peace , when the Courts of Justice were open , it argues a desire in his Breast , to arrogate a Power above Law. And in truth I may not omit some observations that my Lord made this day ; He hopes His Majesty would be pleased to grant him a Pardon . I perceive he harboured in this thoughts , that he might hang the Kings Subjects when he would , and then get a Pardon of course for it . The Lord bless me from his jurisdiction . My Lords , give me leave to goe back again , here is Power over the Lives and Liberties of the Subject ; but he exercised likewise a Tyrannical Power over his Estate . Your Lordships may be pleased to remember the fourth Article , where he judges my Lord of Cork's Estate , in neither Church-land , nor Plantation-land , and therefore had no pretence of a Jurisdiction ; for it is a Lay Fee divolved by Act of Parliament to the Crown ; yet he deprives him of his possession , which he had continued for Twenty nine years , upon a Paper-Petition , without rules of Law. And whereas my Lord of Cork went about to redeem himself ( the Law being every man's inheritance , and that which he ought to enjoy ) he tels him , He will lay him by the heels , if he withdraw not his Process : and so when he hath judged him against an express Act of Parliament , and Instructions , and bound up a great Peer of the Realm , he will not suffer him to redeem that wrong , without a threat of laying him by the heels , and he will not have Law nor Lawyers question his Orders , and would have them all know , an Act of State should be equal to an Act of Parliament : which are words of that nature , that higher cannot be spoken , to declare an intention to proceed in an Arbitrary way . The next was in my Lord Mountnorris his Case , and Rolstone . And here I must touch my Lord with misrepetition . Rolstone preferred a Petition to my Lord Deputy , my Lord Deputy himself judges his Estate , and deprived him of his possession , though he cannot produce so much as one example , or precedent ( though if he had , it would not have warranted an illegal action ) but he cannot produce a precedent , that ever any Deputy did determine concerning a mans private Estate ; and if he hath affirmed it , he proved it not : some Petitions have been preferred to him , but what they be non constat . But though never any knew the Deputy alone to determine matters of Land , yet he did it . To the Seventh Article we produce no Evidence ; but my Lord of Strafford cannot be content with that , but he must take upon him to make defence for that which is not insisted upon as a charge ; but since he will do so , I refer it to the Book in print , where he determines the Inheritance of a Nobleman in that Kingdom , that is , my Lord Dillon , by a Case falsly drawn , and contrary to his consent ; and though he deprives him not of his possession ; yet he causes the Land to be measured out , and it is a danger that hangs over his head to this day . And had we not known that we had matter enough against my Lord of Strafford , this should have risen in judgement against him ; but I had not mentioned it now , if he had not mentioned it himself . The Eighth Article contains several charges , as that of my Lord Chancellor , How he imprisoned him upon a Iudgement before himself and the Council , how he inforced the Seal from him when he had no authority ; nay , though it were excepted by his Patent , that he should no way dispose of it ; but he looked not to Authority , further than might make way to his Will. Another concerns the prime Earl of that Kingdom , my Lord of Kildare , whom he imprisoned , and kept close prisoner , contrary to the Kings express command for his deliverance ; and in his answer my Lord acknowledges it , but sayes , That that command was obtained from the King upon a mis-information . These things I would not have mentioned , if he had passed them over ; but since he gives them in , give me leave to mention and say , we had a ground to put them into Charge , and could have proved them , if there had been need , punctually and expresly , and I believe , little to my Lords advantage . But your Lordships , I think , do remember my Lady Hibbots Case , where the Lady Hibbots contracts with Thomas Hibbots for his Inheritance , for 2500 l. executes the Contract by a Deed , and Fine levied , deposits part of the Money , and when a Petition was exhibited to the Lord Deputy and Council for the very Estate , your Lordships remember how this came in judgment before my Lord Deputy ; there was but a Petition delivered , there was an answer made , and all the suggestions of the Petition denied ; yet my Lord spake to Hibbots himself , that was willing to accept the Money , not to decline the way that he was in by Petition , Five hundred pound more will do him no hurt to carry into England with him : and yet , without examination of a Witness , a Decree was made to deprive this Lady of her Estate : and the purchasing of this Land by my Lord of Strafford , was proved by two Witnesses , though not absolutely , yet by confession of Sir Robert Meredith and others , whose names were used in Trust for my Lord of Strafford , and that it proved according to my Lord of Straffords Prophecy ; for the man had five hundred pounds gain above the Contract with my Lady Hibbots . But after the Lands were sold for Seven thousand pounds : so that the Lady Hibbots offence was her making of a bargain , whereby to gain Five hundred pounds ; but there was no offence in my Lord , to make a bargain for Three thousand pounds , and to gain Four thousand pounds presently : this you see proved by Hibbots the party , and by Mr. Hoy , the Son of the Lady Hibbots , So that here is a determination of a Cause before the Council-Table , touching Land , which was neither Plantation , nor Church-Land , without colour of the Instructions , contrary to Law , to Statute , to Practice ; and if this be not an exercising of an unlawful jurisdiction over the Land and Estates of the Subject , I know not what is . In his answer to this case he did open it ( yet whether he mistook or no I know not ) that he had a Letter from the King , but he produces none in evidence ; and that is another mis-recital . I am sorry he should mis-recite , and fix it upon the Person of His Sovereign in a case of this nature . Now he falls more immediately upon the liberty of the Subject , and that is by the Warrant mentioned in the Ninth Article , to be issued to the Bishop of Down and Conner , whereby he gives power to him and his Officers , to apprehend any of the Kings Subjects that appeared not upon Process out of his Ecclesiastical Courts , expresly contrary to Law ; and your Lordships have heard how miserably the Kings Subjects were used by this Warrant , as hath been proved by a Gentleman of Quality , Sir Iames Mountgomery : And howsoever he pretends it was called in , it was three whole years in execution , before it was called in ; and though he pretends his Predecessors did ordinarily grant Warrants of that nature , yet he proves no such thing . My Lord Primate was examined , and he says , that Bishop Mountgomery did tell him there was such a Warrant , and one Witness more speaks of one Warrant , and that is all the Witnesses produced , and that but to be a Copy too . Your Lordships have heard how he exercises his jurisdiction and power over particulars , and that in a numerous manner ; now your Lordships shall find it universal , and spread over the face of that Kingdom that was under his jurisdiction , and that is in the tenth Article , which concerns the Customs : where he doth impose upon the Kings Subjects a Rate and Tax against Law , and enforces them to pay it , or else punishes them for it ; which is expresly an arrogating to himself of a jurisdiction above the Law. My Lords , in his answer he pretends that this is rather a matter of fraud than otherwise : in truth and so it is , and that a great one too . But as it is a fraud , a dis-service , and deceit to His Majesty , so it is likewise an exercise of a Tyrannical Jurisdiction over his Subjects . That it is a fraud to His Majesty , it plainly appears , for the King lost exceedingly by it ; whereas before the Rent afforded the King was 11050. l. there was improved by the new Lease , that my Lord of Strafford took but 1350 l. and I beseech your Lordships observe how much the King lost by it ; for my Lord had comprehended in his new Lease the Impost of Wine , for which the King before that time received 1400 l. a year ; and likewise the Custom of London-derry , Colerane , and Knockfergus , for which the King had reserved 1700 l. a year , besides the moity of the seizures : so here is 5000 l. that the King lost of the old Rent expresly : and if your Lordships please , observe the gain and benefit my Lord of Strafford made by it ; in one year he and his sharers received 39000 l. and in the last year 51000 l. and that expresly proved upon two accounts : and if this be his dealing , where is his service to the King in his pretence to advance the Customs ? It is true , he says , The King hath five eighth parts , but it was but within these two years , the King had it not before . And I would very gladly have heard whether the King received his part of an account of 55000 l. if he had received it , I believe we should have heard of it . My Lords , There is something more ; here is a new imposition on the Kings people without Law , and yet I will do my Lord of Strafford no injury : but I tell you how the proof stands ; It was a Book of Rates framed before he came to the farm , for the Book of Rates was in March , and the Date of his Assignment was in April following ; and therefore my Lord saith , It could not be for his benefit . But , my Lords , all this while my Lord of Strafford was in England , and in agitation for the procuring of it , and they come one upon the heels of another , and I beseech you observe cui bono ; the Book of Rates was procured within a month of the Patent , but God knows whether it were not within the compass of his intentions to take the Patent ; and therefore whether he were not the Instrument of raising Rates , it rests in your Lordships judgement , and all that hear me ; I am sure the benefit redounded to himself : and so here is an Arbitrary Government in imposing and forcing to pay , for that I desire your Lordships to take with you ; and he might as well have raised nineteen shillings on a pound , as nine pence or three pence , by the same rule of Law. The next Article in number was the Eleventh , and I would be glad my Lord had not mentioned it ; it concerns the Pipe-staves , wherein he pretends he did the King great service , and that , he sayes , was the reason of our passing over it : but that was not the reason ; it had been a foul business if we had opened it ; but having enough besides , we made not use of it : for the substance of the proofs by multiplicity of Witnesses had been , that the parties themselves that bought the Pipe-staves for four pound odd money , were fain to sell them to his Instruments for six pounds , and after to buy them again for ten pounds , else there must be no Licence to export them : but that I would not have mentioned , if he had let it slip over . I come to the Twelfth Article , and that is concerning the Tobacco , wherein he pretends the Kings service , and if my memory fail me not , the desire of the Parliament , that he should take this into his hands for the King. My Lords , Therein , under his favour , he hath mis-recited the Evidence , and spoken that he cannot justify ; for he can shew no such desire of the Parliament . It is true , there was a desire of the Parliament , that the King would be pleased to take his Customs into his hands , for the advancement of his Revenue , that it might go to maintain himself , and he might not be abused , and others live by it ; but to take the Tobacco into his hands , he never did , nor can produce a witness to prove such their desire ; and therefore , under favour , he fixes a wrong upon the Parliament , and injures your Lordships by his reciting that he neither did nor can make good ; for there was no such thing . But if you observe the course he takes , he makes Proclamation to hinder the importing of Tobacco into Ireland ; that if it be imported , it must be sold to him at his own rate ; and by this means he first hinders the liberty of the Subject from doing what the Law allows him , and so takes on him an Arbitrary Power ; And Secondly , he ingrosses this commodity to himself , deceiving His Majesty , to whom he professeth so much fidelity ; for whereas there is 5000 l. Rent to the King , he , by the computation of Merchants , receives near 14000 l. a year : And because their computations are not always true , I do not care if I allow him 40000 l. mistaken , and then he will gain near 100000 l. so that if he intends the Kings benefit , it is wonder he told not His Majesty of the great profit that might thereby have risen , and let him partake of it , as in Justice he should have done , according to the Trust reposed in him : but you have heard of no such matter . And surely my Lord of Strafford would not have omitted it , if it had been for his advantage , especially in this presence , where he omits nothing to clear himself , or to insinuate with His Majesty . Now I come to the Thirteenth Article , the Article concerning Flax , which I know is fresh in your Lordships memories , and I believe will be so in the memories of the Subjects of Ireland for many years , how he ingrossed it into his hands , and interrupted the Trade of the poor People , whereby such miseries and calamities befell many of that Nation , that as you have heard it proved , thousands dye in ditches for want of Bread to put in their mouths . And whereas he pretends that this was proved but by one witness , and that man to be imprisoned , and of no credit , though he was his own instrument ; your Lordships remember Sir Iohn Clotworthy his testimony , and anothers , and his own Warrant produced , and acknowledged here to justify the execution of it , and such a thing was thereby taken into his own hands , that I profess I never heard the like , that the poor people should be constrained to use their own as he pleased , and that pleasing of himself laid an impossibility on the people to execute his pleasure , which was a bondage exceeding that of the Israelites under the Egyptians ; for there was not laid so much upon the Children of Israel , but there was a possibility to perform ; they might with much labour perchance get stubble to burn their Brick , but the Natives here must have a charge laid upon them without possibility to perform , and the disobedience must cost them no less than the loss of their Goods , which drew with it even the loss of their lives for want of bread . This was not proved by only one witness , but by many . And your Lordships remember the remonstrance of that Parliament of Ireland , which declares it to a greater height than I have opened it . The Fifteenth Article , is that of Levying War upon the Kings Subjects , expresly within the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. and 18 H. 6. Your Lordships have heard the Warrant proved by the party himself , to whom it was directed ; whereby Power was given to lay Soldiers upon any party , that did not obey my Lord of Straffords Orders at the Council Table , but not to circumscribe him to a certain number ; but the Sergeant at Arms and his Ministers , might lay as many as they would . It is true , this Warrant was not it self produced , but a copy was offered , which was not read ; and therefore I will not offer it to be proved , but the party that executed the Warrant it self , proves it to be under the Hand and Seal of my Lord of Strafford , he proves the express authority of it , which was to the effect I opened ; three or four more , who saw and read it , proved the same : and that it was under the Hand and Seal of my Lord of Strafford , that accordingly it was executed upon divers of the King's Subjects ; it was proved by three witnesses expresly in the point , how by colour of this Warrant the Sergeant at Arms , and his Officers , sent Soldiers to lye in the Houses and Lands of the Kings Subjects ; how the Owners were thereby forced out from their own Habitation ; how their Goods were wasted and devoured , their Corn and Victuals eaten up , and the Soldiers never left them , as long as any part of their Estates remained to maintain them . My Lord of Straffords defence is , That it hath been used before his time in Ireland ; wherein he hath again mis-recited ; for he did not offer a proof , nor a particle of a proof , that ever any man did know Soldiers laid upon any party , for refusing to appear to a Warrant , or for other contempt at Council-Table , before himself did it ; but he offered to prove , That formerly Soldiers were sent against Rebels , and that after they were declared to be Rebels , and that justly too ; and he proved an use and custom to force men to pay Contribution-money , due to the King , but that was by consent of the people , who granted a Contribution of 20000 l. a year , for increase of the Kings Revenue ; and that it might not be upon Record in the Exchequer , and so claimed as due in time to come , they consented , that Soldiers should be laid upon them that refused it ; and the word ( Consent ) is within the Statute of 18 H. 6. Again , did he prove all manner of Rents were levied by Soldiers ? no such thing ; but such Rents as were designed for the payment of the Army : he proved by Sir Arthur Terringham , the laying of Soldiers once for the payment of a fum of Money ; but Sir Arthur being demanded whether it were the King's Rents , or comprehended within the same general Rule , he could make no answer thereunto . Your Lordships remember , he says He did not know it , and therefore probably it was the Kings Rents ; and doubtless it was so . But if he had produced Precedents , it could not be an authority for Treason , that if people did not appear to his Orders , he must levy War against the Kings Subjects ; and for his extenuation of the War , that the same was of no great danger , there being not above five or six Soldiers laid at a time . I would to God , the people oppressed by it , had cause to undervalue it : I am sure four or six Musquetiers are as strong to oppress a man , as four thousand ; so the matter of Fact is strongly and expresly proved . Besides , though there came not above four or five to a house , yet the authority given to the Sergeant was general ; he might have brought more if he had listed : and in truth , he brought as many as the Estate of the party would maintain , And as to the not producing of the Warrant , I have already answered it . If it were in the case of a Deed wherein men call for witnesses , it were something ; but God forbid that the Treason should be gone , and the Traitor not questionable , if his Warrant can be once put out of the way . The next Article which is laid to his charge , is , For issuing out a Proclamation , and Warrant of restraint , to inhibit the Kings Subjects to come to the Fountain , their Sovereign , to deliver their complaints of their wrongs and oppressions . Your Lordships have heard how he hath exercised his jurisdiction , and now he raises a battery to secure and make it safe . If he do wrong , perhaps the complaint may come to the Gracious Ears of a King , who is ready to give relief , and therefore he must stop these cries , and prevent these means , that he may go on without interruption ; and to that end he makes Propositions here , That the Kings Subjects in Ireland should not come over to make complaint against Ministers of State , before an address first made to himself . It is true , he makes a fair pretence and shew for it , and had just cause of approbation , if he intended what he pretended ; But as soon as he came into Ireland , what use made he of it ? he ingrosses the proceedings of almost all the Courts of Justice into his own hands , and so pre-possesses the King by a colourable proposition , and prevents their coming over before they had made their address to himself , and then he becomes the wrong doer , and issues Proclamations for the hindring of the King's Subjects to seek redress without his leave ; which is as great a proof of his design , and as great an injury to the people , governed under a Gracious Prince , as a heart can conceive . And what his intention was in exhibiting this Proposition , it will appear in the sentence of a poor man , one David , who was censured , and most heavily Fined for coming over into England to prosecute complaint against my Lord of Strafford . It is true , that this was not the cause expressed , but this was the truth of the matter . Your Lordships remember a clause in the Order at Council-Board , whereby is set forth the cause wherefore the party is not sentenced , which I never saw in an order before , nor should now , but that my Lord foresaw there was danger in it , that he might be charged in this place for the fact ; and therefore puts in negatively , why the party was not censured . Clausula inconsulta inducit suspitionem . And how defends he this Article ? he sayes , his predecessors issued Proclamations to hinder the Kings Subjects from going over , lest they should joyn with O-Neal , and Tirconnell beyond Sea , and so it might be dangerous to the State ; but because they may joyn with Foreigners , shall they therefore not come to the King to make just complaint ? What this argument is , I refer to your Lordships judgments . Then he pretends a former precedent , affirming that the like instructions were given to my Lord of Faulkland ; but was there any , that none should come to their Sovereign , to make their just appeal if injured ? Surely there was never any such Instruction before , and I hope never will be again . The next Article is the Nineteenth : and now when he had so plentifully exercised his Tyranny over the Lives , the Liberty , and the Estates of the King's Subjects ; A man would think he could go no further : But see a Tyranny exercised beyond that , and that is over the Consciences of men : hitherto he dealt with the outward man , and now he offers violence to the inward man , and imposes an Oath upon the Kings Subjects , and so exerciseth a Tyranny over the Consciences of men . And setting aside the matter of the Oath , if he hath authority and power to impose such an Oath as he shall frame , he may by the same power impose any Oath to compell Consciences . He pretends a Warrant from His Majesty to do it , but the Kings Ministers are to serve the King according to Law ; and I dare be bold to say ( and we have good reason to thank God for it ) if any of the Kings Ministers tell him , that any Command he gives is against Law , there is no doubt but in his Goodness and Piety , he will withdraw his Command , and not enforce execution ; and therefore if there were an error , the King is free , and the Ministers to be justly charged with it . But there was no Command from the King to compel and enforce them to take the Oath by the power of the Star-Chamber , to commit them to prison , to impose heavy Fines , and tyrannize over them ; all which he did in the Case of Steward . And now one would have thought he had acted his part , when he had acted as much as lay in his own power ; and yet he goes beyond this , he was not content to corrupt all the streams ( which was not a diverting of the course , as he spoke in his answer ; for he not only turned the course of the water , but changed the nature of it , converted it into poyson , a legal and just proceeding into a Tyrannical and Arbitrary Government , which is not turning , but corrupting of the clear and chrystal streams to bitterness and death . ) But yet the Fountain remains clear , and perhaps when his hand is taken off , you shall have the streams run as pure and uncorrupt as ever they did . This is it troubles him , remove but this obstacle , and the work is perfect ; and therefore now he will go about to corrupt the streams : if he can but infuse his poyson into the Kings heart , which is the Fountain , then all is done ; and now he attempts that , and approacheth the Throne , endeavours to corrupt the Kings Goodness with wicked Counsels ; but God be thanked he finds there too much Piety to prevail . And therefore the next Article is that , that charges him to be an Incendiary to the War betwixt the two Kingdoms : and now I shall be bold to unfold the mystery , and answer his objection : To what purpose should he be an Incendiary ? were it not better to enjoy his Estate in peace and quietness , than have it under danger of a War ? Now your Lordships shall have the Riddle discovered . The first thing he doth after his coming into England is , to incense the King to a War , to involve two Nations of one faith , and under one Sovereign , to imbrue their hands in each others Blood , and to draw Armies into the field . That he was this Incendiary , give me leave to revive your Lordships memories with the proofs which will make it plain ; and first give me leave to note unto your Lordships , that His Majesty , with much wisdom , did in Iuly 1639. make a pacification with His Subjects , and even at the very heels of this pacification , when all things were at peace , upon the tenth of September , which was the next month but one , your Lordships remember the Sentence of Steward in the Star-Chamber of Ireland , for not taking the Oath ; your Lordships may call to mind the language my Lord of Strafford was pleased to use to the Scots : when all was in quietness , he then calls them no better than Traitors or Rebels , if you will believe what the witnesse testifies , whom my Lord is pleased to call a Schoolmaster : And truly admit he were so , because he is a Schoolmaster , therefore not to be believed , is a non sequitur . And another Witness , one Loftus speaks to the words , though not in the same manner ; but I say , the Tenth of September , when things were at peace and rest , when the King was pleased to be reconciled to them by that pacification , what boiled in his breast then , to the breaking forth of such expressions , I know not , unless it were an intention to be an Incendiary . My Lords , I must say and affirm , and he hath not proved it to the contrary , that all this while ( I am confident ) there was not any breach of the pacification on either side , and it lyes on his part to prove there was : But the Parliament of Scotland then sitting , and making preparation for their demands in pursuance of the Articles of pacification , he coming over into England in September , immediately upon the pacification answers , That he found things so distracted here , that it was fit the Scots should be reduced by force , if they could not be otherwise : yet no breach appears , no War was denounced , there was no intention of a War : but see what harboured in his breast all the while ? The fourth of December following , my Lord Traquaire made his relation to the Council of the Scots proceedings : and all this while there was no Demands brought by the Scots themselves , nor reason of their Demands brought by others , though they were not prepared ; yet you have heard his advice was for an offensive War , and that the Demands were a just cause of the War. And though he pretends he said no more than what the rest of the Lords of the Council concurred with him in , I will joyn in issue with him in that , and if some of your Lordships be not satisfied , you have many noble Lords among you , from whom you may be satisfied that it is not so ; I am sure he proves it not . It is true , in the proposition of the Demands , some of the Lords of the Council did say , That these Demands hypothetically , if the Scots did not give satisfaction by their reasons , were a just cause of War ; but not any Lord of the Council was of that opinion , that the very Demands , positively , without hearing of the reasons , were a just cause of War , but himself ; and I believe the Noble Lords of the Council , their Consciences can tell them , and I believe will deliver it to the rest of the Peers , that I speak truth . For the offensive War , he pretends a concurrence of the rest , but it was disapproved ; many were for it upon these terms , If they did not give reasons , and shew just cause for their Demands ; and many were against an offensive War upon any terms , and therefore herein he fixes that upon the Lords of the Council , which he cannot make good . All this while his intentions are discovered by a matter precedent , but after the breach he discovers his anger further towards the Scottish Nation , and makes it his design to incense the King to this War. My Lords , he is not at end yet , for he confesses himself that he advised the King to call a Parliament ; and now I come to his work of merit , but it was to his destruction , and serves to prove this Article directly ; for to what purpose was this Parliament called ? Exitus acta probat ; it was no sooner set , but within three weeks a proposition is made for supply towards a War against the Scots : Who was the cause of calling the Parliament ? himself ; and therefore who was the cause of this Proposition but himself ? and so the calling of the Parliament is a concurring evidence of his being an Incendiary to put on the War ; and it shall appear anon absolutely , that he was the occasion of it , though he thinks there be no proof of it . Did not he go over into Ireland , and by his sollicitation there , Subsidies were granted by the Parliament , only , to maintain this War , and to shew their ingagement in it ? and who was the occasion of drawing them on , I referr to your Lordships judgements , by the circumstances precedent . Your Lordships heard his good opinion of the Scots , when he began to discourse with the Citizens touching Money , and their affording of the King supply , and seizing the Mint , by giving them no better expositions than Rebels ; for , saith he , you are more forward to help the Rebels here , than to pay the King his own : I know not who he meant , but certainly the Scots were in his thoughts ; so that from the beginning he incensed the War against them : First , he exclaimed against them during time of peace . He alledges in his Answer , That things were found in such distraction , that it was fit the Scots should be reduced by force : he gave advice precipitately without hearing the reasons , and not concurrent to the Council , for an offensive War ; and putting all together , I refer it your Lordships judgement who is the Incendiary ; for how can it be proved more clearly , unless it should appear under his Hand and Seal , proved by two or three witnesses ? Now , My Lords , how comes this to be his design ? here the Mystery comes to be unfolded . Having thus incensed to the War , and ingaged the King to the uttermost , and having a Parliament now dissolved without supply , he sets up an Idol of his own creation , as a means to draw on his design , and that was necessity ; necessity , is it that must enforce the King : what to do ? to levy Money , to use his Prerogative , to raise supplies upon His Subjects without their consent , against their Will , necessity must be his Argument , and this War must be the occasion of that necessity , and without that , he cannot suggest to the Kings ear , or advise this necessity , till this be brought to pass . And now he hath brought it to pass , he began in the One and twentieth , Two and twentieth , and Three and twentieth Article , to perswade the King , that necessity hath surprized him , by the Parliaments deserting of him ; that the Parliament had forsaken the King , in denying supply , and having tryed the affections of His people , he was loose , and absolved from all rules of Government ; and had an Army in Ireland which he might employ , to reduce this Kingdom . That he spake these words to the King , part is proved by two concurrent Witnesses , that is , that having tryed the affections of his people , he was now loose and absolved from all rules of Government ; which words are proved by two witnesses of eminent quality , that is , my Lord of Northumberland , and Sir Henry Vane : and truly , howsoever my Lord in his speech pretends , that the most material words are proved but by one witness ( it seeming that he held it not a material charge , that he counselled the King that he was absolved from all Rules of Government ) for my part , if your Lordships be satisfied those words were proved , I could willingly satisfy my own conscience in it , and make no great matter to quit the rest ; for I know not how he could express it in higher terms , than that the King was absolved from all rules of Government , for then he might do what he would . It is true , the latter words , touching the Irish Army , are expresly proved but by one witness , Mr. Secretary Vane ; but are fortified again with such circumstances as make up more than one , yea , more than two other witnesses , if your Lordships will have the patience to have it represented , as it is proved . For howsoever it be slighted by him , if your Lordships will call to mind the words of Sir George Ratcliffe , his bosom friend ( to whom he had contributed without question , his advice in all causes ) the said Sir George Ratcliffe expressed it before , and told some of his friends ( supposing that he never should be called in question , and that the power of my Lord of Strafford had been enough to protect any thing he had done , and out of the abundance of the heart his mouth spake ) the King must now want no money ; if he did , no body would pity him , now he had his sword in his hand . Sir Robert King proves it so . My Lord Ranalagh discovered the smoak of the fire that he had just cause to suspect , and on good grounds , I am sure ; and if the Commons of England had not just cause to suspect him ( as I believe he is convinced they had good cause ) what is the reason this suspition should be entertained at that time , my Lord of Strafford being not then questioned for it ? and yet my Lord Ranalagh should say , Shall we turn our Swords upon our own bowels ? Shall we bring this Army to turn the points of our blades upon that Nation from whence we were all derived ? and that was before any conference with Mr. Secretary Vane . Sir William Penniman himself , his own witness and friend , says , at York , before my Lord of Strafford was questioned , that there was a common fame of bringing the Army into England , and there is something in that surely ; and after all this , to produce one witness that expresly proves the very words spoken in terminis , as they be charged , if your Lordships put the whole together , see whether there be not more than one witness . And , under favour , my Lord Cottington , if you call to mind his testimony , I must justify , he did declare , That he heard my Lord of Strafford tell the King , That some reparation was to be made to the Subjects property ; which must inferre , he had advised an Invasion upon the property ; else by no good coherence should a reparation be made . And that he testifies this , I must affirm , and most here will affirm it ; and I think your Lordships well remember it : and that is an addition to it ; for if your Lordships cast your eye upon the Interrogatory administred to my Lord Admiral , and my Lord Cottington , that very question is asked ; so that his own conscience told him , he had advised somthing to invade upon the people , when he advised to a restitution after things should be setled : and so I refer it to your Lordships consideration , whether here be not more than one witness by far . It is true , he makes objections to lessen this testimony ; First , That this Army was to be landed at Ayre in Scotland , and not here ; and this was declared to Sir Thomas Lucas , Mr. Slingsby , Sir William Penniman , and others . Secondly , That others that were present when the words are supposed to be spoken , did not hear any such words . For the first ; Perhaps the Army might be originally intended for Scotland , and yet this is no contradiction , but he might intend it afterwards for England ; surely this is no Logick , that because it was intended for one place , it could never be intended for another place ; so his allegation may be true , and the charge stand true likewise . Beside , that it was intended originally for Scotland , what proof makes he ? He told several persons of the design , but I will be tryed by himself , he told some , it was for Scotland , he told others it was for England ; and why you should believe his telling on one side , more than on the other side I know not ; though he pretends a reason of his several allegations , that the world should not know his design , but if you will not believe him one way , why should he be believed the other way ? and if not the other way , why the first way ? For the Second , Several persons were present , when the words were spoken touching the Irish Army , and they were examined , and remember not the words ; but one man may hear , though twenty do not hear ; and this is no contradiction at all : for those persons whom he examined , the Lord Treasurer , Marquis Hamilton , my Lord Cottington did not hear the words that are proved by two witnesses , concerning the Kings being loose and absolved from rules of Government : and if they did not hear those words , no marvel they did not hear the other : and therefore that which he himself pretends to be a convincing testimony , is nothing at all ; so that his objections are clearly taken away , and the single testimony fortified with testimonies that make above one witness , and so the words are fully proved . But to fortify the whole , I shall handle all these Articles together ; This design to subvert the Law , and to exercise an Arbitrary power above the Law in this Kingdom will ( upon the proofs putting them altogether , and not taking them in pieces as my Lord of Strafford hath done ) appear to have been harboured in his thoughts , and setled in his heart long before it was executed . You see what his Counsels were , That the King having tryed the affections of his people , was loose and absolved from all rules of Government , and might do every thing that power would admit ; and His Majesty had tryed all ways , and was refused , and should be acquitted of God and Man ; and had an Army in Ireland , wherewith if he pleased he might reduce this Kingdom : so there must be a trial of his people , for Supply that is denyed , which must be interpreted , a Defection by refusal , and this refusal must give advantage of necessity , and this necessity must be an advantage to use his Prerogative against the rule of the Law , and consent of the People ; this is his advice , which shews that this very thing that happened , did harbour in his thoughts long before the breach of the Parliament , and the occasion of the Army . Your Lordships have heard it confessed by himself , That before this last advice , he had advised the calling of a Parliament : To the Parliament a proposition of Twelve Subsidies was made for supply , and ( which may be spoken with great assurance ) before they had consulted , or given any resolution to that proposition , the Parliament was dissolved , upon a supposal that the Supply was denied . Now that this was pre-designed by my Lord of Strafford himself , I beseech you observe these things following , that is , The words in the Two and twentieth Article , That His Majesty was first to try the Parliament , and if that did not supply him , then he would serve the King any other way . His words are proved by Mr. Treasurer , That if the Parliament supplyed him not , he would serve him any other way ; and this is before the Parliament set : now if your Lordships hear the proofs of my Lord Primate , ( which my Lord of Strafford slights taking it singly ) My Lord Primate before the Parliament was called , when my Lord of Strafford was in Ireland , and not yet come into this Kingdom , testifies , my Lords , saying , That if the Parliament will not supply His Majesty , the King was acquitted before God and Man , if he took some other course to supply himself , though against the will of the Subjects . I beseech your Lordships , observe how he prophesies these things must come to pass , and advised them accordingly . My Lord Conway testifies , that before the Parliament sate , my Lord of Strafford said , that if the Parliament would not supply His Majesty , the King was acquitted before God and Man , if he took another course to supply himself , though it were against the will of the Subject , and he doubts not but the Parliament would give , What ? Twelve Subsidies : and your Lordships very well remember , Twelve were propounded ; but I beseech you , observe the coherence of all ; the Parliament must be called , they must be tryed , if they deny there is necessity , and this necessity is a Warrant for the King to proceed ; so that my Lord of Strafford must be judged to be either a Prophet , or to have this design beforehand in his thoughts . Now the Parliament being broken before answer to the Demand given , he vents his Counsel in the Three and twentieth Article , and how far it is proved , your Lordships have heard . Now comes the Bullion to be seized , the Copper-money to be advised , and now comes he to tell the King , that the Aldermen of London must be put to Fine and Ransome , and laid by the heels , and no good would be done till some of them be hanged , so you hear his advice ; I beseech your Lordships observe what success this advice took ; Four Aldermen were instantly committed , and then the Counsel of the Three and twentieth Article is fomented . First , He foments the War , then there is a necessity , the defection of the Parliament must set the King loose from rules of Government , and now see whether the occasion of the War , the calling of the Parliament , the dissolving of it , be not adequate to what he propounded to himself , namely , to set up an Arbitrary Government . Your Lordships remember how fresh my Lord of Bristols memory is , touching my Lord of Straffords opinion upon the dissolution of the Parliament ; how he declared unto my Lord of Bristol instantly within three or four days after , That the King was not to be mastered by the frowardness of his people , or rather of some particular persons ; and your Lordships remember Sir George Wentworths words spoken the very day of dissolving the Parliament ; which may be very well applyed as a concurrent proof to his intentions of bringing the Army into England . He was my Lords own Brother , that knew much of his Counsel , and his words are , That the English Nation would never be well till they were conquered over again . So my Lords ; put all together , if he declared his own intentions , if actions , in executing this Tyrannical and Arbitrary Power , if Counsels of as dangerous consequence , in as high a strain as can be , be not a sufficient Evidence to prove an intention , and desire to subvert the Law , I know not what can prove such an interpretation : and now I refer it to your Lordships judgements , whether here be not a good proof of the Article laid to his chage , My Lords , in the Seven and twentieth Article , he is charged with levying of War upon the Kings people , by forcing them in Yorkshire to pay Money ; to prove they were so forced , you have heard by two witnesses , that Sergeant Major Yaworth , by Musquetiers , four together in the Town , , and one by one out of the Town , did compel them to pay the fortnights contribution , else they were to serve in person : That he did this by Warrant is likewise confessed by Sir William Pennyman : and whether this were an authority derived from , or commanded by my Lord of Strafford , that is the question ; and my Lords , it is plainly proved , that it was commanded by my Lord of Strafford , for Sir William Pennyman himself being examined , alledged that the Warrant was made in pursuance of the relation , and direction made by my Lord of Strafford . Your Lordships heard what my Lord of Strafford did say before-hand , as is proved by two witnesses , ( Sir William Ingram and Mr. Cholmley ) that this Money should be paid , or levied on the Subjects Goods ; Then his Declaration to Sir William Pennyman , ( in pursuance of which he made his Warrant ) That it was the assent of the Lords of the great Council , that this Money should be levied ; and taking all together , whether it fixes it not upon him to be the Author and Instrument , it rests in your judgements in point of fact : and so I suppose the Seven and twentieth Article rests on him , and so I shall conclude the Evidence produced on the behalf of the Commons . And now give me leave to put your Lordships in mind of some Evidences offered by my Lord Strafford himself in his Answer , and in the passages of his Defence , for his clearing and justification , but tending directly to his condemnation , I will enter upon some passages he mentioned to day , and often before ; When he is charged with invading the Estates of the Peers of the kingdom of Ireland , and determining them upon Paper Petitions in an Arbitrary way : your Lordships have heard him speak it before , and repeat it this day , That he did it out of compassion , for the more expeditious proceeding on behalfe of the poor against these mighty : But then my Lords , I beseech you , compare some other part of his proceedings . Your Lordships remember the business of the Flax , which concerns the poor wholly and universally ; and if compassion had been the rule and direction of his actions towards the poor , surely this would have been a just cause to have commiserated them in this case ; but he exercised his power over them , and over them wholly , and over them universally : and therefore it shews , it is not his compassion to the poor , nor respect to the rich , or mighty , that will any way restrain or obstruct his ways , to his own Will. And thefore you may see what truth there is in his answer , by comparing one part of the charge with another , when the business of the Flax brought that calamity upon the Kings Subjects , that thousands of them perished for lack of Bread , and dyed in Ditches . Secondly , Your Lordships have often heard him use a Rhetorical insinuatian , wondring that he should be charged with words , and they strained so high as to be made Treason , to question his Life and Posterity , though the words might be spoken unadvisedly , or in discourse , or by chance : Your Lordships remember the Fifth Article , touching his proceedings against my Lord Mountnorris , where words were spoken in an ordinary discourse at dinner , and slight ones , God knows , of no consequence at all , such as another man would scarce have harkened after , and yet my Lord extends them to the taking away of my Lord Mountnorris his life ; gets a sentence of death against him , and that against Law , with a high hand , in such a manner , as I think your Lordships have not heard the like ; and therefore I beseech you , compare one part of his Answer with another , and see how ready he is to make use of any thing that may excuse himself ; and yet when he comes to act his power , you see his exercise of it . You have heard how he magnifies his Zeal for advancing the Kings Benefit and Revenue , and his care of his Service , and would shelter and protect himself under it , to justify an exorbitant action : but if your Lordships call to mind the business of the Customs for Tobacco , ( which in truth were the Kings right and due , and a great profit was thereby advanced ; and he trusted to advance it . ) The King must loose of his former Rents in the case of Custom , and received a small Rent in the case of Tobacco , my Lord himself in the mean time imbursing such vast sums of Money : where is then the discharge of his Trust ? where is his care to advance the Kings Rents ? to increase his Revenue ? Compare that part of his Answer with this , and see what credit is to be given to his affirmation . My Lords , throughout the passages of his discourse he insinuates , ( and never more than this day ) with the Peers of the Realm , magnifying them almost to Idolatry ; and yet my Lords , when he was in his Kingdom in Ireland , and had power over them , what respect shewed he then to the Peers of the Kingdom , when he judged some to death , trampled upon others in misery , committed them to prison , and seized on their Estates ; where then was the Peerage he now magnifies ? And to shew it was an insinuation for his own advantage , you may remember , when there was an unlawful Act to be committed , that is , the levying of Money in the North , What regard had he then to the Peers of the Kingdom , when he comes to justify and boulster up High Treason it self , under the name and authority of the Great Council , where most of the Peers of the Realm then were ? and so by this time I know what credit your Lordships give to his words spoken , when he lies under your Mercy and Power : but what do I speak of the Peers of the Kingdom , and his using of them ? My Lords , he spared not his Sovereign , His Majesty in His whole Defence ; for being charged with offences of a high nature , he justifies those offences under the pretence , and under the authority of His Majesty , our Gracious King and Sovereign , even Murther it self , in the Case of Denwit , and my Lord Mountnorris . Treason it self in the Fifteenth Article by a Command in Ireland , and in the Seven and twentieth , by a pretended authority from His Majesty in the face of His People ; he justifies my Lord Mountnorris his sentence by a Letter from His Majesty , Denwits Sentence by a Commission from His Majesty , and he read three or four clauses to that purpose . My Lords , my Lord of Strafford doth very well know ( and if he doth not know it , I have a Witness to produce against him , which I will not examine , but refer it to his own Conscience , that is , The Petition of Right ) that the Kings Servants are to serve him according to Law and no otherwise : he very well knew if an unlawful act be committed , especially to a degree of Treason and Murder , the Kings Authority and Warrant produced , is no justification at all . So then , my Lords , to mention the Kings name , to justify an unlawful act in that way , can do him no good ; and his own understanding knows , it may do the King harm , if we had not so Gracious a King , that no such thing can do harm unto . But , my Lords , to produce the Kings Warrant to justify his actions under his Patent and Command , what is it else , but so far as in him lies , in the face of his people , to raise a cloud , and exhale a vapour ? To interpose betwixt the King and his Subjects whereby the splendor of his Glory and Justice cannot be discovered to his people ? My Lords , what is it else , when the people make complaint against the Ministers ( that should execute justice ) of their oppression and slavery , and bondage ? For the Minister , when he is questioned to justify this under the Kings Authority , what is it , I say , but as much as in that Minister lies , to fix this offence , to fasten this oppression upon the King himself , to make it to be believed , that the occasion of these their groans proceeded from His Sacred Majesty ? yet God be thanked the strength of that Sun is powerful enough to dispel these vapours , and to disperse the cloud that he would have raised ; but in the mean time , my Lord is nothing to be excused . My Lords , he may pretend zeal to the Kings Service , and affection to His Honor , but give me leave not to believe it , since , when he is questioned by all the Kings people , and in the face of his people , and offences laid to his charge , which himself now confesses to be against Law ; he should justify it under the Kings authority ; that savours not of a good servant : I will say no more . My Lords , he is charged with exercising a tyrannical power over the Kings people , and in his Defence your Lordships have often heard ( and I may not omit it ) that he shelters himself under the protection of the Kings Prerogative , though he be charged with Tyranny of the highest nature that may be : see then how foul and malignant an aspect this hath . My Lords , what is it else , but to endeavour , as much as in him lies , to infuse into the Kings heart an apprehension , that His Prerogative is so bottomless a Gulf , so unlimited a Power , as is not to be comprehended within the rules of Law , or within the bounds of Government ? for else why should he mention the Prerogative , when he is charged to exceed the Law ? What is it else , but as far as in him lies , to make the people believe ( for I may not forget the words he hath used ) by his magnifying of the Prerogative , that it hath a special stamp of Divinity on it ; and that the other part of the Government that God pleases to put into the Kings hands , had not that stamp upon it ? as if any thing done by one , was to be justified by authority derived from Heaven , but the other not . These expressions your Lordships remember ; and I may not omit to put your Lordships in mind of them ; and I can expound them no otherwise than , as much as in him lies , to make the subject believe and apprehend , that which is the buckler and defence of his protection , to be the two-edged sword of his destruction , according to the Doctrine he Preached ; and that that which is the Sanctuary of their Liberty , is the snare and engine of their slavery . And thus he hath cast a bone of contention , as much as in him lay , betwixt King and People , to make the Subjects loath that glorious Flower of his Crown , by fixing a jealousie in them , that it may be a means of their bondage and slavery . But there is so much Piety and Goodness in the Kings heart , that I hope , upon fair understanding , there will be no such occasion ; but no thanks to the party , that so much advanced the Prerogative in the case and condition he stands in , to justify that which is laid to his Charge of High Treason . My Lords , I beseech you give me leave ; there is no greater safety to Kings and People , than to have the Throne incircled with good Counsellors ; and no greater danger to both , than to have it encompassed with wicked and dangerous ones ; and yet I beseech you call to mind , how he hath attempted to deprive the Subject of all means to discover this danger , by insinuating to your Lordships , what a dangerous thing it were , if Counsellors should be called in question for giving of Counsel : for who then ( saith he ) would be a Counsellor ? where is your safeguard ? where is the Kings service ? Is not this , as much as in him lies , to deprive the people of the means whereby they must make themselves happy , and whereby the King must be happy , that is , by his having good Counsellors about him ? and yet he infuses that venom , that the questioning of Counsellors is dangerous both to King and Peers , if it should be brought into example . My Lords , for many years by-past , your Lordships know an evil spirit hath moved amongst us , which in truth hath been made the Author and ground of all our distractions , and that is necessity and danger : this was the bulwarke , and the battery that serves to defend all exorbitant actions ; the ground and foundation of that great invasion of our Liberties and Estates , the judgement in the Ship-money , and the ground of the Counsel given of late to do any thing , and to perswade the King , that he was absolved from all rules of Government ; and yet your Lordships have observed in the course of his defence , how often he hath raised this spirit , that God be thanked hath been laid , to the great comfort of King and Kingdom , by your Lordships , and all the Commons in Parliament . And when he stands under this question , and goes about to justify his exorbitant actions , how often hath he created this Idol again ? and therefore I am afraid he discovers too much his own heart in it . My Lords , I may not omit some other passages in his Defence , How he hath cast scandals upon three Nations in this place ; that is , in his first day of Defence , when the Irish Remonstrance , made by all the Commons of Ireland , was produced by the Commons of England ; he expressed in a passion , that things were carried against him by faction and correspondence , and ( if he had time he would make it appear ) with a strong conspiracy . Here is a scandal cast upon the Parliament of Ireland , with a reflection on the Commons of England ; howsoever , it is true , your Lordships may remember the recantation he made that day , which I will not omit , desiring not to lay any thing to his charge but what is true ; but it is the reflection of a scandal that I cannot omit to put your Lordships in mind of ; and the rather , because this Remonstrance , presented from the Parliament of Ireland , did bear date before my Lord of Strafford was charged here , which is very remarkable , viz. the 7th of November ; and therefore , though he pretends a correspondence , certainly there could be none then , for he is not charged here till the Tenth . And the same day , justifying a Sentence in the Castle-Chamber , your Lordships remember he affirmed , that unless a strict hand were kept upon the Nation there , they would find it hard to prevent perjury , one of the most crying sins in Ireland . Now to lay an aspersion upon the Subjects of Ireland , being under the Government of the same King with us , how fit this is to be done by a man in that condition that my Lord of Strafford is , I referr to your consideration . Another passage I remember , whereby in his Defence he fell upon that Nation ; in answer of which , I may not omit to do the service I owe to the Commons , for whom I am trusted , and that is , that talking of an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government , in reference to some Orders of the Commons-House in Ireland , he used words to this purpose : You talk of an Arbitrary Government , look upon these Orders , here is an Arbitrary Government : and yet when he produced the Orders , they appeared to have so much justice and discretion in them , that he can lay nothing to the charge of them , though in a passion he is not backward to asperse them . My Lords , If this Lyon ( to use his own language ) now that he is chained and muzled , under the restraint and question of High Treason , will here take the boldness to vent this Language , and express this Malignity ; How would he doe if he were unchained ? How would he devour ? How would he destroy ? &c. My Lords , Something concerns your Lordships ; your Lordships remember , that he was not backward in his own answer , to fix a Charge of High Treason upon the Lords of the Great Council ; and howsoever he hath affirmed this day , I must open it again , That the Charge of the Seven and twentieth Article he fixes in his Answer , to be by consent of the Lords of the Great Council , though he hath since recanted it ; and yet you have heard him alledge , that he will stand and fall by the truth of his answer . My Lords , I am now at an end . You have my Lord of Strafford here questioned for High Treason , for going about to subvert the Fundamental Laws of both Kingdoms , in defence whereof , your noble Ancestors spent their Lives and Bloods . My Lords , you are the Sons of those Fathers , and the same Blood runs in your veins , that did in theirs ; and I am confident you will not think him fit to live , that goes about to destroy that which protects your Lives , and preserves your Estates and Liberties . My Lords , You have the complaints of Three Kingdoms presented before you against this great person ; whereby your Lordships perceive that a great storm of distemper and distraction hath been raised , that threatens the ruine and distraction of them all . The Commons with much pain and diligence , and to their great expence , have discovered the Ionas , that is , the occasion of this Tempest . They have still , and will discharge their Consciences , ( as much as in them lies ) to cast him out of the Ship , and allay this Tempest . They expect , and are confident your Lordships will perfect the work , and that with expedition , lest with the continuance of the storm , both Ship , and Tackling , and Mariners , both Church , and Common-wealth be ruined and destroyed . Saturday , May 1. 1640. The King came to the House of Lords , and sent for the Commons thither , and made this Speech to both Houses . I Had not any intention to speak of this business , which causes me to come here to day , which is the great Impeachment of the Earl of Strafford ; But now it comes to pass , that of necessity I must have part in that Judgment : I am sure you all know that I have been present at the Hearing of this great business , from the one end to the other ; that which I have to declare unto you is shortly this . THAT in my Conscience I cannot condemn him of High Treason , It is not fit for me to argue the business , I am sure you will not expect it . A Positive Doctrine best comes out of the mouth of a Prince ; Yet I must tell you Three great Truths , which I am sure no body can know so well as my self . 1. That I never had any intention of bringing over the Irish Army into England , nor ever was advised by any body so to do . 2. There never was any Debate before me , neither in publique Council , nor at private Committee , of the Disloyalty , and Disaffection of my English Subjects , nor ever had I any suspition of them . 3. I was never Counsell'd by any , to alter the least of any of the Laws of England , much less to alter all the Laws ; Nay , I must tell you this , I think no body durst be ever so impudent to move me in it , for if they had , I should have put a Mark upon them , and made them such an example , that all Posterity should know my intention by it ; for my intention was ever to Govern according to the Law , and no otherwise . I desire to be rightly understood , I told you in my Conscience I cannot Condemn him of High Treason ; yet I cannot say I can clear him of misdemeanor : Therefore I hope that you may find a way , for to satisfy justice and your own fears , and not to press upon my Conscience . My Lords , I hope you know what a tender thing Conscience is . Yet I must declare unto you , that to satisfy my People I would do great matters . But in this of Conscience , no fear , no respect whatsoever , shall ever make me go against it . Certainly , I have not so ill deserved of the Parliament at this time , that they should press me in this tender point , and therefore I cannot expect , that you will go about it . Nay , I must confess for matter of misdemeanor , I am so clear in that , that though I will not chaulk out the way , yet let me tell you , that I do think my Lord of Strafford , is not fit hereafter to serve me or the Common-wealth in any place of Trust , no not so much as to be a High-Constable : Therefore I leave it to you my Lords , to find some such way as to bring me out of this great streight , and keep your Selves and the Kingdom from such Inconveniences . Certainly , he that thinks him guilty of High Treason in his Conscience , may Condemn him of Misdemeanor . The House of Commons as soon a they returned , seemed to be much discontented with what the King had spoken , and immediately Adjourned till Monday following , on which day being the Third of May Mr. Pim makes known to the House , that there are divers Informations given of desperate Designs , both at home and abroad , against the Parliament and the Peace of the Nation , and that the persons engaged in it , are under an oath of Secresie , that there is an endeavour to disaffect the Army , not only against the proceedings of the Parliament , but to bring them up against the Parliament : That there is a design upon the Tower , that there is an endeavour for the Earl of Strafford to escape ; That those Combinations at home , have a Correspondency with practises abroad ; and that the French are drawing down their Forces in all hast to the Sea-side , and that there is cause to fear their intent is upon Portsmouth ; That divers persons of Eminency about the King ( as by good Information appears ) are deeply ingaged in the Plot : That it is necessary the Ports be stopt ; and that His Majesty be desired to Command , that no person attending upon the King , Queen , or Prince , do depart without leave of His Majesty , with the humble Advice of His Parliament . The Commons hereupon fell into serious debate of this matter , and the same day came to a Resolution of taking a Protestation , which was accordingly taken by the Speaker , and about 300 Members then present , Man by Man. WE the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Commons-House in Parliament , finding to the grief of our hearts , that the Designs of the Priests and Jesuits , and other Adherents to the See of Rome , have of late been more boldly and frequently put in practise than formerly , to the undermining and danger of the true Reformed Protestant Religion , in His Majesties Dominions established : And finding also , that there hath been , and having just cause to suspect there still are , even during the Sitting in Parliament , endeavours to subvert the Fundamental Laws of England and Ireland , and to introduce the exercise of an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government , by most pernicious and wicked Counsels , Practises , Plots , and Conspiracies ; and that the long intermission , and unhappier breach of Parliaments , hath occasioned many illegal Taxations , whereby the Subjects have been prosecuted and grieved . And that divers Innovations and Superstitions have been brought into the Church , Multitudes driven out of His Majesties Dominions , Jealousies raised , and fomented between the King and his people : A Popish Army levied in Ireland , and two Armies brought into the Bowels of this Kingdom , to the hazard of His Majesties Royal Person , the Consumption of the Revenue of the Crown , and the Treasure of this Realm . And lastly , finding the great causes of jealousie , that endeavours have been , and are used , to bring the English Army into a misunderstanding of this Parliament , thereby to encline that Army by force to bring that Army to pass those wicked Counsels ; have therefore thought good to joyn our Selves in a Declaration of our united affections and Resolutions , and to make this ensuing Protestation . The Protestation . I A. B. Doe in the presence of God Promise , Vow , and Protest , to maintain and Defend , as far as lawfully I may with my Life , Power , and Estate , the true Reformed Protestant Religion , expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England , against all Popery , and Popish Innovation within this Realm , contrary to the said Doctrine , and according to the Duty of my Allegiance , I will Maintain and Defend His Majesties Royal Person , and Estate . As also the Power and Priviledge of Parliaments , the lawful Rights and Liberties of the Subjects ; And every Person that shall make this Protestation , in whatsoever he shall do , in the lawful pursuance of the same ; And to my power , as far as lawfully I may , I will oppose , and by all good ways and means endeavour , to bring to condigne punishment all such as shall by Force , Practise , Counsels , Plots , Conspiracies , or otherwise do any thing to the contrary in this prsent Protestation contained . And further , That I shall in all Iust and Honourable ways endeavours to preserve the Union and Peace betwixt the Three Kingdoms of England , Scotland , and Ireland , and neither for Hope , Fear , or any other Respects , shall relinquish this Promise , Vow , and Protestation . This Protestation was read by Mr. Mainard . Here followeth the Names of the Members of the House of Commons , who took the same , May 3. 1640. viz. WIll . Lenthal , Esq Speak . Edward Hide . George L. Digby . Lord Faulkland . Sir Iohn Culpepper . Iohn Selden . Orlando Bridgeman . Sir William Pennyman . Sir Henry Herbert . Sir Tho. Fanshaw . Sir William Widdrington . Sir Fredreick Cornwallis . Robert Holborne , Esq Tho. Chicheley , Esq Sir George Wentworth . William Mallory , Esq Io. Bellasis , Esq Sir Guy Palmes . Edm. Waller , Esq Sidney Godolphin , Esq : Sir Nich. Slany . Sir Hen. Slingsby . Tho Iermin , Esq Sir Tho. Peyton . Sir Philip Musgrave . Sir Patricius Curwin . Sir Iohn Stowel . Sir Iohn Strangwayes . Sir Iohn Paulet . Sir Rich. Wynn. Tho. Tomkins , Esq Arthur Capel , Esq Iames L. Compton . Sir Ralph Hopton . Geofrey Palmer , Esq Io. Vaughan , Esq Edw. Montague , Esq Geo. Montague , Esq Will. Plydell , Esq Sir Iohn Paulet . Charles Price , Esq Herbert Price , Esq Sir Ralph Sidenham . Fitzwilliam Cognisby , Esq Baptist Noel , Esq Sir Roger Palmer . Iohn Coventry , Esq Edw. Seymor , Esq Sir Arthur Ingram . Sir Tho. Ingram . Sir Edw. Verney . Sir Ralph Verney . Eranics Newport , Esq Ben. Weston , Esq Lord Mansfield . Sir William Carnaby . Sir Nicholas Slaning . Io. Craven , Esq William Constantine , Esq Sir Edw. Deering . Sir Geo. Dalston . Sir Tho. Bowyer . Io. Hamden , Esq Henry Pelham , Esq Sir Tho. Widdrington . Sir Henry Herbert . Sir Edw. Bainton . Iames Cambel , Esq Sir Tho. Heale . Sir Henry Anderson . Sir Harbottle Grimston : Sir Robert Pye , Senior . Ferd. L. Fairfax . Sir Henry Mildmay . Sir William Armyn . Sir Roger North. Sir Walter Deaveraux . Tho. Hatcher , Esq Sir Chr. Yelverton . William L. Russel . Sir Philip Stapleton . Sir Henry Cholmly . Sir Iohn Hotham . Iohn Pym , Esq Sir Ben. Rudyard . Herbert , Esq Digby , Esq Sir Gilbert Gerrard . Lord Ruthen . Sir Nevil Pool . Denzil Hollis , Esq Iohn Maynard , Esq Sir Robert Harly , Iohn Glyn , Esq Sir Tho. Barrington . William Stroud , Esq Nathan . Fines Esq Henry Martin , Esq Iohn Bodvil , Esq Sir Fran. Knoles . Rich. Shettleworth , Esq Iohn Moor , Esq Sir Simon D'Ewes . Sir Iohn Wray . Sir Chr. Wray . Sir Martin Lomly . Herbert Morly , Esq Tho. L. Grey , Rog. Burgoine , Esq Sir Edw. Hungerford . Sir Iohn Curson . Will. Perepoint , Esq Iohn Marstal , Esq Hugh Owen , Esq Norton Knatchbold , Esq Sir Ed. Hales . Sir Ed. Master — Iohn Cowcher , Esq Sir William Strickland . Sir Edw. Boys . Sir Tho. Walsingham . Sir Peter Wrath. Tho. Maleveror , Esq Edw. Bainton , Esq Oliver Cromwel , Esq Sir Gilbert Pickering . Will. Whittaker , Esq Mich. Oldsworth , Esq Sir Iohn Harrison . Sir Hugh Cholmley . Isaack Penington , Esq George Peard , Esq Sir Io. Howard . Henry Vaughan , Esq Ed. Kirton , Esq Ed. Bagshaw , Esq Sir Walter Smith . Rich. Harding , Esq Bulstred Whitlock , Esq Will. Price , Esq Henry Lucas , Esq Gilbert Willington , Esq Sir Tho. Huchinson . Sir Will. Morly . Sir Henry Bellingham . Sir Iohn Frankland . Sir Iohn Clotworthy . Sir Edw. Munford . Will. Kage , Esq Iohn Northcot , Esq Sir Tho. Middleton . Sir Iohn Salisbury . Sir Ro. Nappier . Tho. Lower , Esq Fran. Gerrard , Esq Perigrin Pelham , Esq Tho. Fountain , Esq Hen. Vernon , Esq Lord Lisle . Ed. Dawx , Esq Ro. Scowen , Esq Sir Dudly North. Lawrance Whitaker , Esq Sir Humphry Tufton . Henry Heyman , Esq Tho. Hiblethwait , Esq Arthur Iones , Esq Will. Bell , Esq Io. Harvy , Esq Io. Ash , Esq Geo. Gallop , Esq Io. Nash , Esq Edw. Ash , Esq Rich. Seaburn , Esq Cornelius Holland , Esq Edm. Dunch , Esq Rich. Barwis , Esq Humph. Hook. Esq Ro. Trelawny , Esq Rich. Weston , Esq Iohn Goodwin , Esq Nath. Stephen , Esq Io. White , Esq Sir Ed. Griffin . Rich. Albrough , Esq Dr. Sam. Turner . Ral. Snead , Esq Ed. Patridge , Esq Sir Peter Temple . Poynings Moore , Esq Sir Will. Lewis . Peter Venebles , Esq Hen. Killagrew , Esq Iohn Harris , Esq Io. Moston , Esq Peter Leigh , Esq Dr. Tho. Eaden . Will. Glanvil , Esq Arthur Goodwin , Esq Edw. Owner , Esq Tho. Toll , Esq Iohn Polwhil , Esq Simon Thelwal , Esq Oliv. St. Iohn Regis Sol. Sir Will. Allynson . Io. Crew . Rich. Catelin , Esq Ro. Goodwy , Esq Io. Blakeston , Esq Sir Will. Brereton . Miles Corbet , Esq Phil. Smith , Esq Sir Rich. Vivion . — Ravenscroft , Esq Sir Tho. Middleton . Rich. Kingsly , Esq Ralph Ashton , Esq Will. Fitzwilliams , Esq Henry Bellasis , Esq Sir Edw. Ascue . Sir Edm. Fowel . Sir Io. Price Rich. Boyle , Lord Dungarven . Edw. Pool , Esq Roger Hill , Esq Sir Io. Eveling . Edw. Prideaux , Esq Giles Green , Esq Dennis Bond , Esq Roger Mathews , Esq Zouch Pate , Esq Io. White , Esq Rich. Moore , Esq Rich. Reeves , Esq Tho. Pewry , Esq Will. Pewrifoy , Esq Will. Spurs●ow , Esq Simon Snow , Esq Rich. Ferris , Esq Ed. Thomas , Esq Serj. Wild. Humphrey Salway , Esq Tho. Leeds , Esq Will. Harrison , Esq Gervis Clifton . Will. Herbert , Esq Iohn Woogan , Esq Henry Brett , Esq Iohn Trevanion , Esq Walter Lloyd , Esq Sir Rich. Leigh . Sir Tho. Ingram . Sir Ro. Crane . Iohn Upton , Esq Iohn Arundel , Esq Iona. Rashly , Esq Rich. Arundel , Esq Iohn Woddon , Esq Iohn Pearsival , Esq Sir Will. Portman . Theobald Gorge , Esq Tho. Smith , Esq Sir Martin Lister . Sir Tho Che●k . Tho. Hayle , Esq Anthony Beding field , Esq Sir Tho Smith . Ralph Ashton , Esq Iohn Potts , Esq Francis Rowse , Esq Pierce Edcomb , Esq Sir Walter Earl. Sir Will. Masham . Iohn Gourdon , Esq Iohn Role Esq Tho. Arundel , Esq Ioseph Iane , Esq Sir Philip Parker . Arthur Ains●ow , Esq Geo. Hartnal Esq Edw. Wingate , Esq Robert Sicil Esq Sir William Litton . Sir Iohn Iennings . Sir Oliv Luke . Sir An. Nichols . Iohn Broxam , Esq Iohn Allured , Esq Geo. Buller , Esq Iames Fines , Esq Nich. Weston , Esq Sir Beauchamp St. Iohn . Sir Richard Ans●ow . Sir Io. Corbet . Sir Alex. Denton . Sir Io. Parker . Sir Ro. Parkhurst . Sir Ambrose Brown. Sir Sam. Owfield . Sir Rich. Buller . Alex. Carew , Esq Sir Nath. Barnadiston . Sir Harvy Baggott . Simon Norton , Esq Samson Evers , Serj. at Law. Philip Sidney , Lord Lisle . Iohn Alford , Esq Sir Ch. Williams . Rich. Herbert , Esq Sir Edw. Alford . Sir William Plaitor . Francis Gamull , Esq Sir Ioh. Stepney . Sir Io. Brook. Io. Fenwick , Esq Will. Chadwell . , Esq Alex. Lutterell , Esq Io. Burlace , Esq Sir Io. Cook. Tho. Cook , Esq Tho. May , Esq Sir Richard Lewison . Iohn Griffith , Esq Matthew Davis , Esq Iohn Fettiplace , Esq Geo. Loe , Esq Rich. Edgcomb , Esq Sir Ed. Redny . Sir Arth. Ha●welrig . Sir Fran. Barnham . Sir Tho. Gervis . Ro. Wallop , Esq Iames Rivers , Esq Will. Haveningham , Esq Will. Cawly , Esq Iohn Button , Esq Tho. Gervis Esq Sir Hen. Worsly . Hen. Darly , Esq Valentine Walton , Esq Sam. Vassal , Esq Hen. Campion , Esq Io. Merrick , Esq Herbert Price , Esq Tho. Earle , Esq Will. Marlet , Esq Will. Drake , Esq Sir Ed. Littleton . Sir And. Ludlow . Rich. Harman , Esq Rich. Shettleworth , Esq Sir Iohn Draidon . Will. Ellis , Esq Will. Thomas , Esq Io. Pine , Esq Will. Iepson , Esq Iohn Hotham , Esq Tho. Hodges , Esq Tho. Moore , Esq Godfrey Boswell , Esq Antho. Staply , Esq Io. Moyle , Esq Will. Hay , Esq Ferdinando Stanhop , Esq Harbottle Grimston , Esq Iohn Craven , Esq Rob-Crooke , Esq Edw. Philips , Esq Rob. Reynolds , Esq Sir Tho. Pelham . Ben. Valentine , Esq Sir Tho. Fanshaw . Matthew Cradock , Esq — Lloyd , Esq Sir Will. Dalson . Sir Tho. Woodhouse , Francis Godolphin , Esq Framlingham Gaudy , Esq Anthony Irby , Esq Lord Wenman . Iohn Lowry , Esq Sir Tho. Danby . Iohn Eveling , Esq — Long , Esq George Parry , Esq Will. Morgan , Esq Walter Kirk , Esq Sir Tho. Parker . — Grantham , Esq — Tailor , Esq Iohn Trenchard , Esq Rob. Sutton , Esq Iohn Whistler , Esq An. Hungerford , Esq Tho. Eversfield , Esq George Searl , Esq Cha. Baldwin , Esq Rich. Whitehead , Esq Gerrard Napier , Esq Hen. Garton , Esq Mich. Noble . , Esq Serjeant Creswel . Sir Iohn Holland . Sir Will. Ogle . Sir Charles Gross . Sir Geo. Stonehouse . Ro. Hurst , Esq Will. Basset , Esq Ralph Godwin , Esq Ro. Nichols , Esq Sir Er. Knowles . Nathan . Hollow , Esq Ambros Mannaton , Esq Ro. Walker , Esq Sir Rich. Brown. A Message was immediately sent to the Lords to acquaint them , that the Commons had just cause and ground to suspect , that there hath been , and still is a secret practise , to discontent the Army with the proceedings of the Parliament , to ingage them in some design of dangerous consequence to the State , and by some mischievous ways , to prevent the happy success and conclusion of this Assembly , and to desire their Lordships , that a Select Committee might be appointed to take the Examinations upon Oath , concerning this desperate Plot and Design , in the presence of some of the Commons , and to move His Majesty in the name of the Parliament , that upon this great and weighty occasion , no Servant of His Majesty , the Queen , or Prince , may depart the Kingdom without leave of his Majesty , with the Advice of His Parliament , until they appear and be examined . And the Commons immediately agreed upon a Letter to the Army , and sent it away by an Express , to assure them of the care the Parliament took , to provide Moneys for them , and did not doubt but the Army will give a fair testimony of their affections to the Parliament , notwithstanding the evil deportments of some persons , who have endeavoured to discontent them . At the same time the Commons passed several Resolves , in order to the security of the Nation , viz. That strict enquiry be made what Papists , Priests , and Iesuits , be now about the Town ; That the 1500 Barrels of Powder going to Portsmouth may be stayed . That the Forces in Wiltshire and Hampshire be drawn towards Portsmouth . And the Forces in Kent and Sussex towards Dover : And they did declare , that whosoever should give Counsel or Assistance , or joyn any manner of way , to bring any Forreign Force into the Kingdom , unless it be by Command from His Majesty , with consent of both Houses of Parliament , shall be adjudged and reputed as publique Enemies to the King and Kingdoms . These Resolves the Commons made known to the Lords for their concurrence , and also desired them to move His Majesty for the stop of the Ports ; and that the Lord Admiral should place such Trusty Commanders in the Ships , for the security of the Nation , as they could confide in ; in all which , the Lords did most readily concur . The Commons did further communicate unto the Lords , the Protestation which they had taken in their house , desiring the Lords it might also be taken by every Member of their House : It was sent to the House of Lords by Mr. Hollis , who at the delivery thereof , did ( amongst other passages ) express himself to this effect ; MY LORDS , THe Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the House of Commons , having taken into their serious Consideration , the present State and Condition of this Kingdom ; they find it surrounded with variety of pernicious , and destructive Designs , Practises and Plots against the well being of it , Nay , the very Being of it , and some of those designs hatched within our own Bowels , and Viper-like , working our own destruction . They find Jesuits and Priests conspiring with ill Ministers of State , to destroy our Religion ; they find ill Ministers conjoyned together , to subvert the Laws and Liberties ; they find obstructions of Justice ( which is the Life and Blood of every State ) The Parliament of late years have been like the Fig-tree in the Gospel , without Efficacy , without Fruit , commonly taken away , as Elias was with a whirlwind , never coming to any maturity . The same ill Councils which first raised that storm , and almost shipwrackt the Common-wealth , do still continue , they blow strong like the East wind , that brought the Locusts over the Land ; Is it not time then my Lords , that we should unite and concentrate our selves , and defeat the Counsels of these Achitophels , which would involve us , our Religion , our King , our Laws , our Liberties , all that can be near and dear unto an honest Soul , in one universal and general desolation , to defeat I say , the Counsels of such Achitophels , the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the House of Commons ( knowing themselves to be specially intrusted with the preservation of the whole , and in their Conscience perswaded , that the dangers are so eminent , as they will admit of no delay ) have thought fit to declare their united affections , by entring into an Association amongst themselves , by making a Solemn Protestation and Vow unto their God , that they will unanimously endeavour to oppose and prevent the Counsels and Counsellors , which have brought upon us all these Miseries and the Fears of greater , to prevent the ends , and bring the Authors of them to condigne punishment , and thereby discharge themselves the better before God and Man. Here the Protestation was read unto the Lords , together with the Grounds and Reasons which induced the House of Commons to make it , which are prefixed before it , by way of Preamble . The Kings Speech on Saturday last to both Houses , being publiquely known in the City , rumours were spread abroad , concerning desperate Plots and Designs against the Parliament , which occasioned multitudes of people to resort the Monday following being May 3. to both Houses of Parliament , in such a Confluence as hath not been usual ; they tendred Petitions to both Houses , crying Iustice , Iustice against the Earl of Strafford , and when the Houses arose , they departed . Tuesday the 4th of May , the Lords desired a Conference with the Commons , which was managed by the Lord Privy Seal , who spake to this effect : That the occasion of the Conference was so visible , that he should not need to say more of it , the multitudes without bespake the business and matter of it ; That which he had to say was by Command from the King to the Peers , to be communicated to both Houses of Parliament ; That His Majesty takes notice , that the People do assemble in such unusual numbers , that the Council , and Peace of the Kingdom may be thereby interrupted , , and therefore as a King that loveth Peace , and taketh care , that all proceedings in Parliament may be free and in a peaceable manner , he desires that these Interruptions may be removed ; and wisheth both Houses to devise a course , how the same may be done . At the same time the Lord Privy Seal communicated to the Commons , a Petition , which the Lords had the day before received , from the multitude of people that flock'd together in the Palace-yard , which was to this effect : THat whereas your Petitioners did yesterday petition , for the redress of many Grievances , and for the execution of Justice upon the Earl of Strafford , and other Incendiaries , and to be secured from some dangerous Plots and Designs on foot , to which your Lordships have this day given Answer , that you have the same under present consideration ; Your Petitioners do render humble thanks : But forasmuch as your Petitioners understand , that the Tower of London is presently to receive a Garrison of Men , not of the Hamblets , ( as usually they were wont to do ) but consisting of other persons , under the Command of a Captain , a great Confident of the Earl of Straffords , which doth increase their fears of the suddain destruction of King and Kingdom ; wherein your Lordships and Posterity are deeply interessed , and this is done to make a way for the escape of the Earl of Strafford , the grand Incendiary . They humbly pray that instant course may be taken for the discovery thereof , and that speedy execution of Justice be done upon the Earl of Strafford . Whereupon the Lords sent six Peers of their House to the Tower , to understand what truth there was in this Information , and to demand of the Lieutenant who chose those men to be lodged in the Tower , whether he was privy to it himself , and what Order he had to receive them , and what Captain was to Command them ? To the two first , he said he was wholly ignorant , and for the Third he said , he had His Majesties Command , to receive One hundred men into the Tower , and Captain Billingsly to Command them , and to receive only such men as he should bring unto him ; but now understanding their Lordships Order , he did promise , that no other Guard should come into the Tower , unless it were the Hamblet-men . The Lords did further declare at the Conference , that they were drawing to a conclusion of the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford , but were so encompassed with multitudes of People , that their Lordships might be conceived not to be free , unless they were sent home , whose flocking hither was the only hindrance to the dispatching of that Bill : and therefore desired the Commons to joyn with their Lordships , to find out some way how this Concourse about both Houses might be avoided . And then they debated the Protestation , and passed it , and took the same . After that the Commons returned to the House , Doctor Burgess was desired to acquaint the Multitude with the Protestation , which both Houses had taken , which being read by him , and also made known unto them , that the Parliament desired , that they would return home to their houses , they forthwith departed . The said Protestation was afterward tendred to the whole Kingdom , with this intimation , that whosoever refused to take it , should be noted as disaffected to the Parliament . The Commons forthwith ordered the bringing in of a Bill , for the continuance of this present Parliament , that it might not be Dissolved without the consent of both Houses , which was read the First and Second time , and committed . That day the Earl of Strafford writ this ensuing Letter to His Majesty . May it please Your Sacred Majesty , IT hath been my greatest grief in all these Troubles , to be taken as a person which should endeavour to represent and set things amiss between Your Majesty and Your People , and to give Counsels tending to the disquiet of the Three Kingdoms . Most true it is , ( that this mine own private Condition considered ) it had been a great madness , ( since through Your Gracious Favour I was so provided ) as not to expect in any kind to mend my fortune , or please my mind more , than by resting where Your bounteous Hands had placed me . Nay , it is most mightily mistaken ; for unto your Majesty it is well known , my poor and humble Advices concluded still in this , That Your Majesty , and Your People could never be happy , till there were a right understanding betwixt You and them ; and that no other means were left , to effect and settle this happiness , but by the Counsel and Assent of Your Parliament , or to prevent the growing Evils of this State , but by intirely putting Your Self in this last resort , upon the Loyalty and good Affections of Your English Subjects . Yet such is my misfortune , that this Truth findeth little credit ; yea , the contrary seemeth generally to be believed , and my self reputed as one who endeavoured to make a separation between You and Your People ; under a heavier censure than this , I am perswaded no Gentleman can suffer . Now I understand the minds of Men are more and more incensed against me , notwithstanding Your Majesty hath Declared , That in Your Princely opinion I am not Guilty of Treason , and that You are not satisfied in Your Conscience , to pass the Bill . This bringeth me in a very great streight , there is before me the ruine of my Children and Family , hitherto untouch'd in all the Branches of it , with any foul crime : Here are before me the many ills , which may befall Your Sacred Person and the whole Kingdom , should Your Self and Parliament part less satisfied one with the other , than is necessary for the preservation both of King and People : Here are before me the things most valued , most feared by mortal men , Life or Death . To say Sir , that there hath not been a strife in me , were to make me less man , than , God knoweth , my Infirmities make me ; and to call a destruction upon my self and young Children , ( where the intentions of my heart at least have been innocent of this great offence ) may be believed , will find no easy consent from Flesh and Blood. But with much sadness I am come to a Resolution of that , which I take to be best becoming me , and to look upon it , as that which is most principal in it self , which doubtless is the prosperity of Your Sacred Person , and the Common wealth , things infinitely before any private mans interest . And therefore in few words , as I put my self wholly upon the Honor and Iustice of my Peers , so clearly , as to wish Your Majesty might please to have spared that Declaration of Yours on Saturday last , and intirely to have left me to their Lordships ; So now to set Your Majesties Conscience at liberty , I do most humbly beseech Your Majesty for prevention of evils , which may happen by Your refusal to pass this Bill ; and by this means to remove ( praised be God ) I cannot say this accursed ( but I confess ) this unfortunate thing , forth of the way towards that blessed agreement , which God I trust , shall ever establish between You and Your Subjects . Sir , My Consent shall more acquit you herein to God , than all the World can doe besides ; To a willing man there is no injury done , and as by Gods Grace I forgive all the World , with a calmness and meekness of infinite contentment to my dislodging Soul : So Sir , to you I can give the life of this world , with all the chearfulness imaginable , in the just acknowledgment of your exceeding favours ; and only beg , that in Your Goodness , You would vouchsafe to cast Your Gracious regard upon my poor Son , and his Three Sisters , less or more , and no otherwise than as their ( in present ) unfortunate Father , may hereafter appear more or less guilty of this death . God long preserve Your Majesty . Tower , May 4. 1641. Your Majesties most Faithful , And Humble Subject , And Servant , STRAFFORD . WEdnesday the 5th of May there happened to be a strange Hubbub in the City , upon a false Alarm , That the Parliament-House was beset , and on fire , and all their lives in danger , which occasioned such running up and down in a confused manner , to come to protect them , that the like hath scarce been seen . This Hubbub and Alarm happened upon this occasion , Sir Walter Earl was making a Report to the House of some Plot and Design to blow up the House of Commons ; Whereupon , some Members in the Gallery stood up , the better to hear the Report , and Mr. Moyle of Cornwal , and Mr. Middleton of Sussex , two persons of good bigness , weighed down a board in the Gallery , which gave so great a crack , that some Members thought that it was a Plot indeed ; and Sir Iohn Wray speaking out , he smelt Gunpowder , hastening back out of the Gallery ; some Members and others in fear , running out of the House , frighted people in the Lobby , who ran into the Hall , crying out , The Parliament House was falling , and the Members were slaine , and the people running in a hurry through the Hall , Sir Robert Mansel drew his Sword , bid them stand for shame ; he saw no Enemy to hurt the Parliament , nor heard no noise of the fall of the Parliament-House ; but some of them hastened by Water from Westminster , and carryed the Alarm into London , which occasioned so great a resort of People in multitudes to Westminster , to save the Parliament , and one Regiment of Trained-Bands , Commanded by Colonel Manwaring , upon beat of Drum , were instantly Armed , and marched as far as Covent-Garden ( beyond their Liberties ) to secure the Parliament , but finding the Alarm false , they returned again . The same day the Commons passed the Bill for the continuance of the present Parliament , and carried the same up to the Lords . The House of Commons commanded all their Members to attend the House , and not to depart the Town . The next day the Committee appointed to joyn with the Lords , for taking Examinations concerning the Plot , did acquaint the House , that 6 or 8 of the chief Conspirators were fled , of which Mr. Henry Iermin , and Mr. Henry Piercy , Members of the House , were two , and that they were gone towards Portsmouth ; Upon which Report , present Information came , that the Queen was preparing to go to Portsmouth , thereupon both Houses had a Conference , and agreed to move Her Majesty to stay Her journey for the security of Her Person , Her Majesty not knowing what danger she might be exposed to in those parts : In the mean time , One Lord and Two Commoners were dispatch'd to Portsmouth , with private Instructions , to propose certain Queries to the Governor there , and to take further care for the security of the Place and Haven of such Importance , and they took an Oath of Secresie , as those Lords and Commons had done , who were appointed to examine the Plot. His Majesty was desired by both Houses , to issue out a Proclamation , for the calling in Mr. Peircy , and Mr. Iermin within a time limited , which was accordingly granted . And the Lords were desired by the Commons , to hasten the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford . To prevent further discontents in the Army , this Letter was sent by Order , to Sir Iacob Ashly , and Sir Iohn Coniers , to be communicated to the Army in the North. WHereas there hath been just cause of jealousie , that there hath been some secret Attempt and Practises , to infuse into the Army a mistake of this Parliament , to some dangerous intent and purpose againk this State ; and that now the matter is grown to strong presumption upon further discoveries , and by reason that some of those which were suspected to have been active therein , are fled upon the first stirring thereof , before ever they were once named . It pleaseth this House to Declare , That notwithstanding they intend to search into the bottom of this Conspiracy , yet purposing to proceed , especially against the principal Actors therein , this House hath resolved , whereunto the House of Peers hath likewise consented , that for such of the Army as the Conspirators have endeavoured to work upon , if they shall testify their Fidelity to the State , by a total discovery of that which they know , and can testify therein ; they shall not only be free from all punishment , but also shall be esteemed to have done that , which is for the service of the State , in the discovering so dangerous a Plot , and for such of the Army as are and shall be found no ways tainted with the Design , or knowing any thing thereof , shall make such discovery as aforesaid , as this House shall no ways doubt of their Loyalty and Fidelity , so it will have a special care , not only to satisfy all such Arrears , as this House hath formerly promised to discharge , but also give a fair testimony of the sence they have of their present and past wants ; And it is ordered by this House , that immediately after the receipt hereof , you should communicate this their Declartion unto all the Officers and Members of the Army , under your Command . This Plot consisted of Three Heads , the first was the design upon the Tower ; The Second , to engage the Army ; The Third , to bring in foreign Forces . For the Tower it appeared to be thus , Captain Billingsly being examined upon oath , confessed that he was acquainted with Sir Iohn Suckling , that the said Sir Iohn lately offered him imployment in one of the Kings Ships then at Portsmouth ; afterwards imployment for Portugal ; That this Deponent having notice to meet at the Privy Lodgings at Whitehall , did there receive Orders to get 100 men to serve in the Tower under him , and if he did fail , he should answer it with his life : and afterwards meeting with Sir Iohn Suckling , and acquainting him therewith , he told him he would furnish him with the said number . Sir Will. Bellfower , Lieutenant of the Tower being examined , said , That he had a Command to receive Capt. Billingsly with 100 Men into the Tower , who should be under his Command . That the Earl of Strafford at that time , expostulating with him about his escape , told him he would attempt nothing in that kind without his privity , and that he should have the Kings Warrant for his Indemnity , and that the Warrant should be to Command him to remove the said Earl of Strafford from the Tower to some other Castle , and he would then take his opportunity to escape ; That the Lieutenant of the Tower not giving any complying Answer thereunto , the said Earl sent again to intreat him to come to him , and would have perswaded him to let him make an escape ; saying , without your concurrence it cannot be done , and if you will consent thereunto , I will make you present payment of Twenty two thousand pounds , besides , you shall have a good Marriage for your Son. To which the Lieutenant of the Tower replyed , he was so far from concurring therein , that he was not to be further moved in such a thing ; thus much the Lieutenant delivered upon Oath . Three other Witnesses were examined , who did Depose , That being desirous to see the Earl of Strafford , they were carried to the back door of the Gallery where his Lodgings were , and heard the Earl of Strafford discourse , as he was walking with Mr. Slingsby ( as afterwards they understood his name to be ) about his escape , as they conceived it , for they heard him say , Where is your Brothers Ship ? to which he answered , in such a place , and that he might be there in three hours , if the Lieutenant of the Tower were sure to him . And heard the Earl further say , That if the King could have done any thing , His Majesty would by His Warrant have done it before now , and have sent for him to be removed ; but now there was nothing to be thought upon but an escape ; And also heard the said Earl say , If this Fort could be guarded two or three months , there would aid enough come . The Plot concerning the Army was thus . Col. Goring upon his Examination in the House of Commons , did confess that Sir Iohn Suckling was the first Person that ever made any overture unto him concerning the Armys marching towards London ; afterwards being in the Queens Lodgings , he met with Mr. H. P. which was about the beginning or middle of Lent last , and Mr. P. told him , there was a Consultation of Officers to be had , concerning the good of the Army , and desired him to go along with him to his Chamber , where the meeting was to be ; there were present at the same meeting Comissary Wilmott , Col. Ashburnham , Capt. Pollard , Sir Iohn Berkly , Dan. O-Neal , Mr. Iermin and himself . That Mr. P. said , there were Propositions to be made , which were of great concernment , and that it was necessary there should be an Oath of Secresie taken , before any thing was propounded ; That the Oath should be to this purpose , that we should neither directly nor indirectly discover any part of the Consultation , nor ever to think our selves dissolved from that Oath , by any other Oath , which might be imposed upon us hereafter . which Oath was read out of a Paper , when it was tendred unto them , and that thereupon they were sworn by laying their hands upon the Bible , That he and Iermin were sworn together , for the rest had taken the Oath before . Then three Propositions were made unto them , being the same in substance , expressed in Mr. P. Letter . He further said , That the whole number there met , were of opinion , that the Army should not march towards London , till a Declaration had been first sent up to the Parliament . That he the said Goring answered , it was a nice point to interpose in the proceedings of the Parliament , and did propound some difficulties to allay the business , to divert Comissary Wilmot , and those other persons from so dangerous a business , and said , that he did think it was a design of Folly to undertake it , for they must think that the Scots would take the advantage upon the Armys removal Southwards , whose correspondency was so great with the City , and for them to begin to shew their Teeth , and not be able to bite , would argue little prudence . That they should either undertake it so , as to goe thorough with it , or to let it alone ; That he did ask them , What Ammunition they had to accommodate so great an Army , and whether they could command the Ammunition in the Tower. That Wilmot , Pollard , and Ashburnham , then made answer , they had no purpose to go to London , for to surprize the Tower , was to conquer the Kingdom . That this amongst other passages , was part of the discourse at the first meeting . That shortly after , there was another meeting of the same persons , and in the same place in Mr. Peircies Chamber , where there were Propositions of another nature , Desperate and Impious on the one hand , and foolish on the other : and that he endeavoured by Argument to divert them , by propounding an impossibility to effect the same : For how could the Army lodged in several Quarters , unpaid , and at such a distance , march on a sudden to London , and surprize what they had in Design ? That Mr Iermin was the person that first proposed the marching of the Army towards London ; That he for his part , declared himself absolutely against it : That Mr. Iermin replyed to him in private ; You do not dislike the Design , for you are as ready for any wild mad undertaking , as any man I know , but you dislike the temper of those persons who are ingaged in the business . He did further confess , That he propounded , that Suckling might also be admitted to the Consultation , but Wilmot , Ashburnham , and Pollard would not hear of it ; and they three did then declare themselves against the Armys marching towards London . Then he took occasion to say , That he did acquaint some Members of both Houses , whom he could name , that there were some of the Army whom they did not think so well of , were more faithful and serviceable to the Parliament , than they were aware of , which time would produce , and named them ; and they did accordingly give testimony of his Integrity , so far as general Terms could discover the design : He confessed , that Mr. Iermin did make some offers unto him , to relinquish the Government of Portsmouth , upon some other terms of advantage ; but he said , he did not conclude any thing , for he would first see the performance of what was offered , so had no further discourse with him concerning that business , but he doth believe that Suckling and Iermin did confer together about the Design ; he said , they did desire his opinion about a General ; some were for Essex , some for Holland , but he with Iermin , were for Newcastle . Being again examined upon his Oath , before the Committee of Lords and Commons , and pressed more particularly to answer questions not before proposed unto him ; He did confess , that meeting with Mr. Iermin in the Queens Drawing-Chamber , Her Majesty came and told him , the King would speak with him , and meeting with His Majesty , he told him , he was minded to set His Army into a good posture , being advised thereto by the Earl of Bristol ( as he said ) and His Majesty then Commanded him to joyn with Mr. Peircy , and some others in that business . As for the Designs from beyond Seas , the Committee did make Report to the House , that it was clear'd unto them , that Iermin endeavoured to have got the possession of Portsmouth ; That the King of France had drawn down great Forces to the Sea-side ; That the Governor of Calice had examined some Englishmen , whether the Earl of Straffords Head was yet off ? and this was in point of time the First of May , according to the English stile , and Sir Philip Cartwright , Governor of Guernsey , wrote Letters also , which came in great haste ; That he understood the French had a Design upon that Island , or some part of England . It also appeared to the Committee by divers of the Letters , which were opened coming from beyond Sea , that they expected the Earl of Strafford there , and that they hoped the Horseleeches should be starved for want of Blood ; and in some of those Letters , there was advice to the Cardinal , to bestir himself betimes , to interrupt the height of the proceedings here in England . Also examination of some Priests were taken in Lancashire , and sent up to London , which were there taken the 3 of May , which did testify , That the Priests did say , The Parliament should be suddenly Dissolved , for the Army was to march up thither with all speed , and they would be seconded by Forces out of France ; and that Mountague did write out of France to Mr Peircy ( which was also intercepted ) That if he did perform what he had undertaken , he would be made a Knight of the Garter Mr. Peircys Letter to the Earl of Northumberland , and by him presented to the Parliament WHat with my own Innocency , and the Violence I hear is against me , I find my self much distracted ; I will not ask your Counsel , because it may bring prejudice upon you , but I will with all Faithfulness and Truth tell you , what my part hath been , that at least it may be cleared by you , whatsoever becomes of me . When there was 50000 l. designed by the Parliament for the English Army , there was ( as I take it ) a suddain Demand by the Scots at the same time , of 25000 l , of which there was 15000 l. ready ; this they pressed with much necessity , so as the Parliament did ( after an Order made ) think it fit for them to Reduct 10000 l. out of the 50000 l. formerly granted , upon which , the Soldiers in our House were much scandalized , amongst which was one , and sitting by Wilmot and Ashburnham , Wilmot stood up and told them , If that the Scots could procure Money , he doubted not but the Officers of the English Army might easily do the like ; but the first Order was reversed notwithstanding , and 10000 l , given to the Scots , this was the cause of many discourses of dislike among us , and came to this purpose , That they were disobliged by the Parliament , and not by the King , this being said often to one another , we did Resolve , that Wilmot , Ashburnham , Pollard , O-Neal , and my Self , to make some expressions of serving the King in all things he would Command us , that were Honourable for Him and us , being likewise agreeing to the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom , that so far we would live and dye with him . This was agreed upon with us , not having any communication with others , that I am coupled now with all ; and further , by their joynt consent , I was to tell His Majesty thus much from them , but withal , I was to order the matter so , as the King might apprehend this as a great Service done unto him at this time , that when affairs were in so ill a condition , and they were most confident they would ingage the whole Army thus far , but further , they would undertake nothing , because they would neither infringe the Liberty of the Subjects , nor destroy the Laws ; to which I and every one consented ; and having their sence , I drew the Heads up in a Paper , which they all approved of when I read it , and then we did by an Oath , promise one another , to be constant and secret in all this , and did all of us take this Oath together ; then I said , Well Sirs , I must now be informed , what your particular desires are , that so I may be the better able to serve you , which they were pleased to do ; and so I did very faithfully serve them therein , as far as I could : This is the Truth , and all the Truth , upon my Soul. In particular discourses after that , we did fall upon the petitioning to the King and Parliament for Moneys , there being so great Arrears due to us , and so much delays made in the procuring of them , but that was never done . The Heads were these . 1. Concerning the Bishops Functions and Votes . 2. The not disbanding of the Irish Army , until the Scots were disbanded to . 3. The endeavouring to settle His Majesties Revenue to that proportion it was formerly . And it was resolved by us all , if the King should require our assistance in those things , that as far as we could , we might contribute thereunto , without breaking the Laws of the Kingdom . And in case the King should be denyed , those things being put to them , we would not fly from him : all these persons did Act and Concur in this as well as I. This being all imparted to the King by me from them , I perceived he had been Treated with by others , concerning some things of our Army which agreed not with what was proposed by me , but tended to a way more sharp and high , not having limits , either of Honor or Law. I told the King he might be pleased to consider with himself , which of the ways it was fit for him to hearken unto ? for us , we were resolved not to depart from our grounds ; we should not be displeased whosoever they were , but the particular of the Designs , or the Persons , we desired not to know , though it was no hard matter to guess at them ; In the end , I believe the danger of the one , and the justice of the other made the King tell me , he would cast off all thoughts of other Propositions but ours , as things not practicable , but desired notwithstanding , that Goring and Iermin , who were acquainted with the other proceedings , should be admitted amongst us ; I told him , I thought the other Gentry would never consent to it , but I would propose it , which I did , and we were all much against it , but the King did press it so much , as at the last it was consented unto , and Goring and Iermin came to my Chamber there : I was appointed to tell them , after they had sworn to Secrecy , what we had proposed , which I did ; But before I go into the Debate of the way , I must tell you , Iermin and Goring were very earnest Suckling should be admitted , which we did all decline , and was desired by all our men to be resolute in it , which I was , and gave many Reasons ; whereupon Mr. Goring made answer , he was ingaged with Suckling , his being imployed in the Army ; but for his meeting with us , they were content to pass it by : Then we took up again the ways that were proposed , which took great debate , and theirs differed from ours in Violence and Heigth , which we all protested against , and parted disagreeing totally , yet remitted it to be spoken of by me and Iermin to the King , which we both did , and the King constant to his former Resolutions , told them these wayes were all vain and foolish , and would think of them no more . I omit one thing of Mr. Goring , he desired to know how the Chief Commands were to be disposed of , for if he had not a Condition worthy of himself , he would not go along with us ; We made answer , That no body thought of that ; we intended , if we were sent down , to go all in the same capacity we were in , he did not like that by any means , and by that did work so with Mr. Chidley , that there was a Letter sent by some of the Commanders , to make him Lieutenant-General ; and when he had ordered this matter at London , and Mr. Chidley had his Instructions , then did he go to Portsmouth , pretending to be absent when this was a working ; we all desired , my Lords of Essex or Holland to be General , but Goring and Iermin were for Newcastle . They were pleased to give Report , that I should be General of the Horse , but I protest , neither to the King , nor any else , did I so much as think of it ; My Lord of Holland was made General , and so all things were laid aside : and this is the Truth , and all the Truth I knew of these proceedings ; and this I will , and do protest unto you upon my Faith , and Wilmot , Ashburnham , and O-Neal , have at several times confessed and sworn ; I never said any thing in the business , they did not every one agree unto and justify . This Relation I sent you , rather to inform you of the truth of the matter , that you may the better know how to do me good , but I should think my self very unhappy to be made a betrayer of any body ; what concerned the Tower , or any thing else , I never medled withal , nor ever spake with Goring , but that night before them all , and I said nothing but what was consented unto by any party ; I never spake one word with Suckling , Carnarvan , Davenant , or any other creature . Methinks , if my Friends and kindred knew the Truth and Justice of the matter , it were no hard matter to serve me in some measure . Afterwards was read Father Philips's Letter to Mr. Mountague , as followeth ; THe good King and Queen are left very naked ; the Puritans , if they durst , would pull the good Queen in pieces . Can the good King of France , suffer a Daughter of France , his Sister , and her Children to be thus affronted ? Can the wise Cardinal endure England and Scotland to unite , and not be able to discern , in the end , it is like they will joyn together , and turn head against France ? A stirring active Ambassador might do good here ; I have sent you a Copy of the Kings Speech on Saturday last , at which time he discharged his Conscience concerning the Earl of Strafford , and was advised to make that Speech by the Earl of Bristol , and the Lord Savile . This Speech did much operate to the disadvantage of the Earl of Strafford , for the Commons were thereby much incensed and inflamed against him , and this brought forth the next day , being Monday , a Protestation which was taken in both Houses of Parliament of the same nature , but rather worse than the Scotch Covenant . The Londoners , who are very boysterous , came upon Monday , 5 or 600 , and were so rude , that they would not suffer the Lords to come and go quietly and peaceably to their House , but threatened them , that if they had not Justice , and if they had not his Life , it should go hard for all those that stood for him ; following them up and down , and call●g for Iustice , Iustice , Iustice. There was in the House of Commons Fifty six that denyed to pass the Earl of Straffords Bill ; their Names were taken , and they were fixed upon Posts in divers parts in London , and there was written over head , These are Straffordians , the Betrayers of their Countrey . By this means it came to pass , that the Lords and Judges were much affrighted , and the most of his friends in the Lords House forsook him , all the Popish Lords did absent themselves , the Lords of Holland and Hartford were absent , so was Bristol and others ; Savil and the Duke only stuck close and faithfully to him , and some few other Lords ; God knows , the King is much dejected , the Lords much affrighted , which made the Citizens and the House of Commons shew their heads ; some have braved little less than to Unthrown His Majesty , Who , if He had but an ordinary Spirit , might easily quash and suppress these people . Our good Queen is much afflicted , and in my conscience , the Puritans , if they durst , would tear her in pieces . This cannot be for the Honor of France , to endure a Daughter of that Nation , to be oppressed and affronted . The Earl of Holland is made General of the Army , whither he is gone down ; the Earl of Newport , Master of the Ordinance ; Ballfower , Lieutenant of the Tower , hath proved an errand Traitor to the King , who Commanded him upon his Allegiance , to receive a Captain and 100 Men into the Tower , which he most Traiterously refused to do . There was a Report in London , that the Parliament House was on fire , whereupon there were many thousands of people very suddainly gathered together ; whereby you may easily see the height and violence of the peoples affections , May the 6th . Ann. Dom. 1641. Upon the reading of this Letter , and exceptions taken to his expression , That the Puritans would tear the Queen in pieces , and to other passages in the Letter ; and upon Information also given , of his endeavouring to seduce the Kings Subjects to the Popish Religion : it was ordered he should be sent for to be examined ; who thereupon applyed himself to His Majesty , and the King told him , he would know what the business was before he should go , as Philips told the Serjeant , and so refused to come with him ; Hereupon the House of Commons desired Mr. Treasurer to acquaint His Majesty , That they had some cause to examine Francis Philips , a Romish Priest , and to that end sent him a Summons , which he doth refuse to obey , and makes His Majesties House a Sanctuary in case of High Treason ; That in respect to His Majesty , the House doth forbear to take further course herein , till His Majesty be further acquainted with it . Hereupon Father Philips appeared , and was called to the Bar of the House , where he first kneeled , and afterwards stood up , and being demanded the reason , wherefore he appeared not ? He answered , because the Warrant was to apprehend Francis Philips , and his name was Robert Philips , and that the Queen wish'd him to stay till he had spoken with the King , and the King told him , the House may send for him , when they call for any of his Servants , till then he need not goe ; and the Letter before mentioned , being produced unto him , he confessed the same to be his own Hand-writing . The further examination of this business , was referred to the Committee for the Popish Hierarchy , who drew up this Impeachment following , The Impeachment , and Articles of Complaint against Father Philips , the Queens Confessor , lately committed to the Tower by the Parliament . I. THat the said Father Philips hath been observed to be a great cause , both in himself and his Adherents , of a great part of the unquietness of this State. II. He , with Parsons , and others their Assistants , were the only cause that the Pope was stirred up to some Breves to these Kingdoms of England and Scotland , to hinder the Oath of Allegiance , and lawful Obedience of the Subjects to Our Gracious King , that so they may still fish in troubled waters . III. The damnable Doctrine which he and other Jesuits have taught , to Destroy , and Depose Kings , hath been the cause of the Civil Wars , like to befall these Kingdoms , if God in his mercy do not prevent it . IV. They have been the cause of the Monopolies projected in this Kingdom , especially concerning Soap , the Forrest of Dean , and marking of Butter-Cask , where all the Parties were Partners , and Confederates with them , as Sir Basil Brook , Sir Iohn Winter , and a Brother-in-law of the said Sir Iohn , that lived in Worcestershire , and Mr. Ployden , whose Servant named Baldwin , hath been seen to deliver to Captain Read , a Substitute of the Jesuits , an hundred pound at a time to one Jesuite . V. Father Philips hath been a great Actor with the Superior of the Capuchins , who is a most turbulent Spirit , and was sent thither by Cardinal Richlieu of France , to be a spy at this Court for the French Faction : And hath therefore laboured by all means to breed dissentions ; for the French aim at nothing more , then to make a Schism betwixt the English and the Scots , that this State might so be weakened , and made unable to withstand them , that so they might have an opportunity to conquer these Kingdoms ; these unquiet Spirits having access to Her Majesty , may importune things not fit for the State. VI. The said Father Philips hath been guided by a Gray Fryer , who by degrees hath intruded himself to be a Clerk of Her Majestys Chappel , and Chaplain Extraord . in time of progress , who when he is out of London , goeth by the name of Mr. Wilson , but his true name is Will. Thomson Dr. of Divinity , as some Jesuits have affirmed ; but a most furious Spirit , and unquiet , and therefore by Nickname , is by some called Cacafugo , that is as much as if in English you should say Shit-fire ; by whom Father Philips hath been so led , that he hath been very officious to perform whatsoever he would have done . These two have ruled all the business concerning the two Kingdoms on the Papists parts , and for the most part of Rome also . VII . The said Father Philips hath placed many unfit persons about Her Majesty , viz. Sir Iohn Winter to be Her Majesties Secretary , Signior Georgeo come late Agent from the Pope , his Brother was by his means admitted to be Servant Extraordinary to the Queen , a man altogether unfit for that place , a most scandalous person , having three Wives , all now alive . VIII . Sundry persons by the said Father Philips have been admitted to be the Queens Servants Extraordinary , by some supposed Office or other , as Mr. Laburn , Geo. Gage , ( Brother to Col. Gage ) have both Oratorian Priests , the one of the French Faction very seditious , the other of the Spanish , whose Brother is now left Resident at Rome for them , by his Master Mr. William Hamilton late Agent at Rome ; Penrick is sworn Servant Extraordinary to Her Majesty , who is a sworn Spaniard , and Intelligencer for Rome , in respect his Brother is Agent here by Father Philips ; these and many others , who are factious and turbulent spirits , have by Father Philips his means , received protection from the Queens Majesty . IX . The said Philips hath been much ruled by Sir Toby Mathews , Sir Iohn Winter , and Mr. Walter Mountague . X. He was very forward with his Complices , for the breaking of the Ice to begin the Treaty here for the Popes Honors sake , and when Sir Robert Dowglas , and Signior Georgio were nominated , whom he thought most fit , Cardinal Richlieu was thought fittest to be the man who should direct him to begin the correspondency between the Pope and the Queen , and therefore he was sent to France with many Letters , and from thence he was dispatched for Rome by the Cardinal , where he was received with great respect ; and after a Viatick , he was dispatched again for England with some few small Gifts , as Pictures , Crosses , Agnus Dei's , and such like Popish stuff , to Father Philips . XI . The said Father Philips was the chief Agent in correspondency with , and bringing in of Signior Georgio Parsons , the Oratorian Priest , by whose direction this Priest , being at Paris , left wearing of Priests Cloaths , and went in the Habit of a Gentleman ; and because he had a shaven Crown , therefore he wore a Periwig , and Father Philips directed all those that sent to write to him , as to an Italian Gentleman , desirous to see these Kingdoms , and by Father Philips's direction , he afterwards came hither , who did here contrive for the space of two years , practising great and dangerous Innovations from place to place , and then having dispatched his business , returns to Rome with great Presents from the Catholicks of the greater sort . XII . Whereas it hath pleased God to bless us with a hopeful Prince , to the comfort of our King and Kingdom , yet the said Father Philips hath attempted to traduce his tender years to Popery ; but God hath prevented him of his purpose , and let us pray to God to preserve that Royal Race from Popery , and the whole Land from all Innovations , that Our Gracious King may rule Gloriously , and the whole Land live in peace to the Honor of God , and Comfort of us all , Amen . Resolved , That Mr. Henry Peircy in the Months of March and April last , in the Parish of St. Martins , in the County of Middlesex , did compass , Plot , and Conspire with others , to draw the Army together , and imploy the same against the Parliament , and by force and dread thereof , to compel the Parliament to agree to certain Propositions by them contrived , and to hinder and interrupt the Proceedings of the Parliament ; The like Resolution in the same words concerning Mr. Iermin , Sir Iohn Suckling , &c. Resolved , That in pursuance of the said Design , the said Henry Peircy by the Plot and Combination aforesaid , did endeavour to perswade divers Members of the House of Commons of the said Parliament and others , being Officers of the said Army , that is to say , Wilmot , Ashburnham , Berkley , Pollard , and Daniel O-Neal , that they were disobliged by the Parliament , thereby to incense them , and to affect them against the Parliament , and did hold divers consultations with the said parties , to effect the said wicked and dangerous Design ; and to that purpose , did set down in Writing certain Propositions to the effect as followeth , viz. The preserving of Bishops in their Functions and Votes ; The not Disbanding of the Irish Army , until the Scots were Disbanded ; And the endeavouring to settle the Kings Revenue to the proportion it was formerly . Resolved , That the said Henry Peircy did in pursuance of the Plot and Combination aforesaid , and for the more secret carriage thereof , administer to the said parties a wicked and unlawful Oath , whereby they did swear upon the Holy Evangelists , not to reveal any thing , that was spoken concernig the business , that was in Consultation , directly or indirectly , nor to think themselves absolved by any other Oath that should be after taken by them , from the Secresie enjoyned by the said Oath . Resolved , That the said Henry Peircy at the time of the said Oath was taken , and at divers other times did propound and endeavour to perswade the persons before-named , and other Officers of the said Army , to put the said Army into a Warlike posture , and to bring them up to London , and likewise to make themselves sure of the Tower , and so by force to compel the Parliament to conform to their Will , and he with Suckling , &c. did endeavour to work a belief in the said Army , that the King and Parliament would disagree , and so to persuade them to adhere to His Majesty against the Parliament ; and said , that all the French about the City of London would assist them , and to the great scandal of the King , That the Prince and the Earl of Newcastle were to meet the Army at Nottingham , with a Thousand Horse ; and that Suckling to encompass the Design of gaining the Tower , did contrive , that 100 Men under Capt. Billing sley should be designed for that purpose , when the opportunity was offered . To the end the City of London should not be able to make any resistance , when the said Army should come up , according to the forementioned Design ; and Suckling by the means and Plot aforesaid , did thereby endeavour , that the Earl of Strafford , then Prisoner in the Tower , might the better incompass his escape . That Berkley and O-Neal being questioned , did flye for the same . Resolved , That upon the whole matter , Mr. Pierce shall be charged with High Treason , the like for Iermin and Suckling . That 3000 l. of the Pole-money be paid to Col. Goring , for the use of the Garrison of Portsmouth . Resolved , That Col. Goring in his Depositions concerning this Discovery , hath done nothing contrary to Justice and Honour , but hath therein deserved very well of the Commons of this House . Friday the 7th of May , the Lords passed the Bill of Attainder , as also the Bill for the Continuance of this present Parliament . Saturday the 8th of May , Mr. Hotham was sent with a Message to the House of Lords , to desire their Lordships to joyn with them , to move His Majesty for his Consent to the Bill of Attainder , in regard , the peace of the Ringdom doth so much depend upon the execution of that Bill , which had passed both Houses ; and accordingly a certain number of the House of Peers were sent unto His Majesty , to acquaint him therewith ; and also with the Bill for the Continuance of this present Parliament . The House being informed , That Ships were ready to be put to Sea , but that Mariners could not be got . It was the same day Resolved , That a Bill should be drawn to enable the Pressing of Mariners for a certain time , the House being very tender of bringing the way of Pressing into example by a Law. Sunday the 9th of May , the King called His Privy Council together at Whitehall , and propounded several scruples unto them concerning that Bill , some of the Judges and Bishops were present also , to whom His Majesty imparted his doubts , and had their opinions therein . In Fine , His Majesty gave Order for a Commission to impower the Earl of Arundel , the Lord Privy Seal , and two other Lords , to give his Assent to the Bill , for the Execution of the Earl of Strafford upon Wednesday following ; as also to the other Bill for the continuance of this present Parliament . Monday the 10th of May , the Commission passed the Great Seal accordingly , and the Commons were sent for to the House of Lords , to be present at the giving the Royal Assent to both those Bills . The same day His Majesty sent a Message to both Houses , that the Irish Army should be instantly disbanded , and that he would that night dispatch an Express for the expediting thereof . It was hereupon moved , That Mr. Treasurer be desired by the House of Commons to return their Humble thanks to His Majesty , and to assure him , that they would make him as Glorious a Potentate , and as rich a Prince , as any of His Predecessors , His Majesty continuing still to take the advice of His Great Council the Parliament along with him , in the management of the great affairs of the Kingdom . The Earl of Strafford understanding that His Majesty had passed the Bill , did Humbly Petition the House of Peers . SEEing it is the good Will and pleasure of God , that your Petitioner is now shortly to pay that Duty which we all owe to our frail Nature ; he shall in all Christian Patience and Charity , conform and submit himself to your Justice , in a comfortable assurance of the great hope laid up for us , in the Mercy and Merits of our Saviour blessed for ever . Only he humbly craves to return your Lordships most Humble thanks for your Noble Compassion towards those Innocent Children , whom now with his last blessing , he must commit to the protection of Almighty God , beseeching your Lordships to finish his pious intentions towards them , and desiring that the reward thereof may be fulfilled in you , by him that is able to give above all we are able to ask or think ; Wherein I trust the Honourable House of Commons will afford their Christian Assistance . And so beseeching your Lordships Charitably to forgive all his Omissions and Infirmities , he doth very heartily and truly recommend your Lordships to the Mercies of Our Heavenly Father , and that for his Goodness he may perfect you in every good Work , Amen . THO. WENTWORTH . WHereas the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the House of Commons in this present Parliament Assembled , have in the name of themselves , and of all the Commons of England , Impeached Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason , for endeavouring to subvert the Antient and Fundamental Laws and Government of His Majesties Realms of England and Ireland , and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law in the said Kingdoms , and for exercising a Tyrannous and exorbitant Power over , and against the Laws of the said Kingdoms , and the Liberties , Estates , and Lives of His Majesties Subjects ; and likewise having by his own Authority Commanded the Laying and Assessing of Soldiers upon His Majesties Subjects in Ireland , against their consents , to compel them to obey his unlawful Summons and Orders made upon Paper-Petitions in Causes between Party and Party , which accordingly was executed upon divers of His Majesties Subjects in a Warlike manner , within the said Realm of Ireland ; and in so doing , did Levy War against the Kings Majesty and His Liege People in that Kingdom ; And also for that he , upon the unhappy Dissolution of the last Parliament , did slander the House of Commons to His Majesty , and did Counsel and Advise His Majesty , That he was loose and absolved from the Rule of Government , and That he had an Army in Ireland , by which he might reduce this Kingdom ; for which he deserves to undergo the Pains and Forfeitures of High Treason . And the said Earl hath been an Incendiary of the Wars between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland ; all which Offences have been sufficiently proved against the said Earl upon his Impeachment . Be it therefore Enacted by the Kings Most Excellent Majesty , and by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled , and by the Authority of the same , that the said Earl of Strafford , for the Heinous Crimes and Offences aforesaid , stand , and be adjudged and attainted of High-Treason , and shall suffer such Pain of Death , and incurr the Forfeitures of his Goods and Chattels , Lands , Tenements and Hereditaments of any Estate of Freehold , or Inheritance in the said Kingdoms of England and Ireland , which the said Earl , or any other to his use , or in trust for him , have or had the day of the first sitting of this Parliament , or at any time since . * Provided , that no Judge or Judges , Justice , or Justices whatsoever , shall adjudge or interpret any act or thing to be Treason , nor hear or determin any Treason in any other manner than he or they should , or ought to have done before the making of this Act , and as if this Act had never been had or made ; Saving always unto all and singular Persons , Bodies Politick and Corporate , their Heirs and successors , others then the said Earl and his Heirs , and such as Claim from , by , or under him all such Right Title and Interest of , in , and to all and singular such of the said Lands , Tenements and Hereditaments , as he , they , or any of them had before the first day of this present Parliament , any thing herein contain'd to the contrary notwithstanding . Provided , That the passing of this present Act , or His Majesties Assent thereunto , shall not be any determination of this present Sessions of Parliament ; But that this present Sessions of Parliament , and all Bills and Matters whatsoever depending in Parliament , and not fully Enacted or Determined , and all Statutes and Acts of Parliament , which have their continuance until the end of this present Session of Parliament , shall remain , continue , and be in full force as if this Act had not been . The day following , the King wrote this Letter to the Lords on the behalf of the Earl of Strafford , and sent it by the Prince . My Lords , I Did yesterday satisfie the Iustice of the Kingdom , by passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford ; but Mercy being as inherent and inseparable to a King as Iustice , I desire at this time in some measure to shew that likewise , by suffering that unfortunate Man to fulfil the Natural Course of his Life in a Close Imprisonment ; Yet so , if ever he make the least offer to escape , or offer directly , or indirectly to meddle in any sort of publick business , especially with me , either by Message or Letter , it shall cost him his Life , without further Process ; This if it may be done without the Discontentment of my People , will be an unspeakable contentment to me ; to which end , as in the first place , I by this Letter do earnestly desire your Approbation , and to endear it more , have chosen him to carry it , that of all your house is most dear to me ; So I desire that by a Conference , you will endeavour to give the House of Commons Contentment , assuring you that the Exercise of Mercy is no more pleasing to me , than to see both Houses of Parliament Consent for my sake , that I should moderate the severity of the Law in so important a Case . I will not say , that your Complying with me in this my intended Mercy , shall make me more Willing , but certainly 't will make me more Chearful , in Granting your Iust Grievances . But , if no less then his life can satisfie my people , I must say , Fiat Justitia . Thus again , recommending the Consideration of my Intention to you , I rest , Your unalterable and affectionate Friend , Charles R. Whitehall , 11th of May , 1641. If he must dye , is were Charity to Reprieve him till Saturday . This Letter , all Written with the Kings own Hand , and delivered by the Hand of the Prince , was twice Read in the House , and after serious and sad Consideration , the House resolved presently to send 12 of the Peers Messengers to the King , humbly to signifie , That neither of the Two Intentions , expressed in the Letter , could , with duty in them , or without danger to Himself , his dearest Consort the Queen , and all the Young Princes their Children , possibly be Advised ; all which being done accordingly , and the Reasons shewed to His Majesty , He suffered no more words to come from them : but , out of the fulness of His heart , to the observance of Justice , and for the Contentment of His People , told them , That what He intended by His Letter was , with an ( if ) if it might be done without Discontentment of His People ; if that cannot be , I say again , the same I Writ , Fiat Justitia : My other Intnetion proceeding out of Charity for a few days Respite , was upon certain Information , that his Estate was so distracted , that it necessarily required some few days for settlement thereof . Whereunto the Lords Answered ; Their purpose was to be Suitors to His Majesty , for favour to be shewed to his Innocent Children ; and if himself had made any provision for them , the same might hold . This was well-liking unto His Majesty , who thereupon departed from the Lords : At His Majesties parting they offered up into His hands the Letter it self which He had sent ; but He was pleased to say , My Lords , What I have Written to you , I shall be content it be Registred by you in your House ; In it you see my mind , I hope you will use it to my Honour . This , upon return of the Lords from the King was presently Reported to the House by the Lord Privy-Seal , and Ordered that these Lines should go out with the Kings Letter , if any Copies of the Letter were dispersed . The House being informed , That the Queen-Mother apprehending Her self in some danger , by reason that divers words were scattered among the Tumultuous Assembly , as if they had some design upon Her Person , and those Priests which she had for Her own Houshold , desired a Guard for Her Security , Concluded , that as to the Security of Her own Person , they were bound in honour not to suffer any Violence to be done unto Her , and so referred it to a Committee , to consider what was fit to be done in order thereto : Which being Reported by Mr. Henry Martyn , he declared , That the Committee had duely considered Her Majesties just Fears , and therefore should agree to all good ways and means , that might conduce to the safety of her Person . But fearing that the said means may notwithstanding prove ineffectual for Her Protection , That therefore the House would intreat the Lords to joyn with them , humbly to beseech His Majesty , That the Queen Mother may be moved to depart the Kingdom , the rather for the Quieting of those Jealousies in the Hearts of His Majesties well-affected Subjects , occasioned by some ill Instruments about the said Queens Person , by the flocking of Priests and Papists to Her House , and by the Use and Practice of the Idolatry of the Mass. Wednesday the 12th of May. THe Earl of Strafford was brought from the Tower to the Scaffold upon Tower-Hill , where the Bishop of Armagh , the Earl of Cleeveland , Sir George VVentworth , Brother to the said Earl of Strafford , and others of his Friends , were present , to take their Leaves of him . But before he fitted himself to Prostrate his Body to Execution , he desired patience of the People to hear him speak a few words , which the Author took from his Mouth , being then there on the Scaffold with him , viz. MY Lord Primate of Ireland , and my Lords , and the rest of these Noble Gentlemen , It is a great Comfort to me to have your Lordships by me this day , because I have been known to you a long time , and I now desire to be heard a few words . I come here , my Lords , to pay my last Debt to Sin , which is Death ; And through the Mercies of God to rise again to Eternal Glory . My Lords , if I may use a few words , I shall take it as a great Curtesie from you ; I come here to submit to the Judgment that is passed against me ; I do it with a very quiet and contented Mind ; I do freely forgive all the World ; a forgiveness not from the Teeth outward ( as they say ) but from my heart ; I speak in the presence of Almighty God , before whom I stand , that there is not a displeasing thought that ariseth in me against any Man : I thank God I say truly , my Conscience beares me Witness , that in all the Honor I had to serve His Majesty , I had not any Intention in my heart , but what did aime at the Joynt and Individual prosperity of the King and His People ; although it be my ill hap to be misconstrued ; I am not the first Man that hath suffered in this kind : It is a Common Portion that befalls men in this Life , Righteous Judgment shall be hereafter ; here we are subject to Error , and Misjudging one another . One thing I desire to be heard in , and do hope , that for Christian Charities sake I shall be believed ; I was so far from being against Parliaments , that I did always think Parliaments in England to be the happy Constitution of the Kingdom and Nation , and the best means , under God , to make the King and His people happy : As for my Death , I do here acquit all the World , and beseech God to forgive them ; In particular , I am very glad His Majesty conceives me not meriting so severe and heavy a punishment , as the utmost Execution of this Sentence ; I do infinitely rejoyce in it , and in that Mercy of His , and do beseech God to Return Him the same , that He may find Mercy when He hath most need of it . I wish this Kingdom all prosperity and happiness in the World : I did it Living , and now Dying it is my Wish . I profess heartily my apprehension , and do humbly recommend it to you , and wish that every Man would lay his hand on his heart , and consider seriously , Whether the beginning of the peoples Happiness should be Written in Letters of Blood ? I fear they are in a Wrong Way ; I desire Almighty God , that no one drop of my Blood rise up in judgement against them ; I have but one word more , and that is for my Religion . My Lord of Armagh , I do profess my self seriously , faithfully , and truly to be an obedient Son of the Church of England ; In that Church I was born and bred , in that Religion I have lived , and now in that I dye ; Prosperity and Happiness be ever to it . It hath been said I was inclined to Popery , if it be an Objection worth the answering , let me say truly from my heart , that since I was Twenty one years of age unto this day , going on 49 years , I never had thought or doubt of the truth of this Religion , nor had ever any the boldness to suggest to me the contrary , to my best remembrance . And so being reconciled to the Mercies of Jesus Christ my Saviour , into whose bosom I hope shortly to be gathered , to enjoy Eternal Happiness , which shall never have an end ; I desire heartily to be forgiven of every Man , if any rash or unadvised Words or Deeds have passed from me ; and desire all your Prayers ; and so my Lord farewel ; and farewel all things in this world . The Lord strengthen my Faith , and give me Confidence and Assurance in the Merits of Christ Jesus ; I trust in God we shall all meet to live Eternally in Heaven , and receive the accomplishment of all Happiness , where every Tear shall be wiped from our Eyes , and sad thoughts from our Hearts ; And so God bless this Kingdom , and Jesus have Mercy on my Soul. Then turning himself about , he saluted all the Noblemen , and took a solemn leave of all considerable persons on the Scaffold , giving them his Hand . And after that he said , Gentlemen , I would say my Prayers , and I intreat you all to pray with me , and for me : Then his Chaplain laid the Book of Common Prayer upon the Chair before him , as he kneeled down , on which he prayed almost a quarter of an hour , then he prayed as long or longer without a Book , and ended with the Lords Prayer : then standing up , he spyed his Brother Sir George Wentworth , and call'd him to him , and said , Brother , We must part , remember me to my Sister , and to my Wife , and carry my blessing to my eldest Son , and charge him from me , that he fear God , and continue an obedient Son of the Church of England , and that he approve himself a faithful Subject to the King , and tell him , that he should not have any private Grudge or Revenge towards any concerning me , and bid him beware to meddle not with Church Livings , for that will prove a Moth and Canker to him in his Estate , and wish him to content himself to be a Servant to his Countrey , as a Justice of Peace in his County , not aiming at higher preferments : Carry my Blessing also to my Daughter Ann , and Arrabella , charge them to fear and serve God , and he will bless them , not forgetting my little Infant , that knows neither good nor evil , and cannot speak for it self , God speak for it , and bless it . Then said he , I have nigh done ; One stroak will make my Wife Husbandless , my dear Children Fatherless , and my poor Servants Masterless , and seperate me from my dear Brother , and all my Friends , but let God be to you and them all in all . After , that , going to take off his Doublet , and to make himself unready , he said , I thank God I am no more afraid of Death , nor daunted with any discouragements arising from any fears , but do as chearfully put off my Doublet at this time , as ever I did when I went to Bed ; Then he put off his Doublet , and wound up his Hair with his Hands , and put on a white Cap. Then he called , Where is the man that should do this last Office ? ( meaning the Executioner ) call him to me ; When he came and ask'd him forgiveness , he told him , he forgave him and all the World ; then kneeling down by the Block , he went to Prayer again himself , the Bishop of Armagh kneeling on the one side , and the Minister on the other ; to the which Minister after Prayer he turned himself , and spoke some few words softly , having his Hands lifted up , the Minister closed his Hands with his ; then bowing himself to the Earth , to lay down his Head on the Block , he told the Executioner , that he would first lay down his Head to try the fitness of the Block , and take it up again , before he laid it down for good and all , and so he did ; and before he laid it down again , he told the Executioner , That he would give him warning when to strike by streatching forth his Hands , and then laid down his Neck on the Block , stretching out his Hands , the Executioner struck off his Head at one blow , then took the Head up in his Hand ; and shewed it to all the People , and said ; God save the King. A Copy of the Paper containing the Heads of the Lord Straffords last Speech , written by his own Hand , as it was left upon the Scaffold . 1. I Come to pay the last debt we ow to Sin. 2. Rise to Righteousness . 3. Dye willingly . 4. Forgive all . 5. Submit to what is voted Iustice , but my intentions innocent from Subverting , &c. 6. Wishing nothing more than great Prosperity to King and People . 7. Acquit the King constrained . 8. Beseech to Repent . 9. Strange way to write the beginning of Reformation , and Settlement of a Kingdom in Blood on themselves . 10. Beseech that Demand may rest there . 11. Call not Blood on themselves . 12. Dye in the Faith of the Church . 13. Pray for it , and desire their Prayers with me . GIve me leave here to add two pretty passages more : The first is when My L. of Strafford , the night before the day of Execution , had sent for the Lieutenant of the Tower , and asked him , Whether it were possible he might speak with the Archbishop ; The Lieutenant told him , he might not do it without Orders from the Parliament . Master Lieutenant ( said he ) you shall hear what passeth betwixt us ; it is not a time either for him to plot Heresie , or me to plot Treason . The Lieutenant answered , that he was limited , and therefore desired his Lordship , that he would petition the Parliament for that favour : No , ( said he ) I have gotten my dispatch from them , and will trouble them no more ; I am now petitioning an Higher Court , where neither Partiality can be expected , nor Error feared . But my Lord , said he , ( turning to the Primate of Ireland then present ) what I should have spoken to my Lords Grace of Canterbury , is this , You shall desire the Archbishop to lend me His Prayers this night , and to give me his Blessing when I go abroad to morrow , and to be in his Window , that by my last farewel , I may give him thanks for this , and all other his former Favours . My Lord Primate having delivered the Message without delay , the Archbishop replyed , That in Conscience he was bound for the First , and in Duty and Obligation to the Second ; but he feared his Weakness and Passion would not lend him Eyes to behold his last departure . The next morning at his coming forth , he drew near to the Archbishops Lodgings , and said to the Lieutenant , Though I do not see the Archbishop , give me leave I pray you to doe my last observance towards his Rooms : In the mean time , the Archbishop advertised of his approach , came out to the Window , then the Earl bowing himself to the ground , My Lord ( said he ) Your Prayers , and your Blessing ; the Arch-Bishop lift up his Hands and bestowed both , but overcome with Grief , fell to the ground in Animi diliquio ; the Earl proceeding a little further , bowed the Second time , saying , Farewel my Lord , God protect your Innocency . The next is , When he was marching to the Scaffold , more like a General at the Head of an Army , as many of the spectators then said , to breath Victory , than like a Condemned man , to undergo the Sentence of death ; The Lieutenant desired him to take Coach , for fear the people should rush in upon him and tear him in pieces ; No ( said he ) Master Lieutenant , I dare look death in the Face , and I hope the People too ; have you a care that I do dot escape , and I care not how I dye , whether by the hand of the Executioner , or the madness and fury of the people , if that may give them better content , it is all one to me . He left these Three Instructions for his Son in Writing . FIrst , That he should continue still to be brought up under those Governors , to whom he had committed him , as being the best he could pick out of all those within his knowledge , and that he should not change them , unless they were weary of him ; that he should rather want himself , than they should want any thing they could desire . Secondly , If his Prince should call him to publique Service , he should carefully undertake it , to testify his obedience , and withal , to be faithful and sincereto his Master , though he should come to the same end that himself did . Thirdly , That he foresaw that ruine was like to come upon the Revenues of the Church , and that perhaps they might be shared amongst the Nobility and Gentry , but I charge you never to meddle with any of it , for the curse of God will follow all them that meddle with such a thing , that tends to the destruction of the most Apostolical Church upon Earth . A brief Account of some Interlocutory passages in Parliament , in which my Lord of Strafford so discovered his Wit and Temper , that the Court took particular notice of him . IN the month of September , 1626. The King having special occasions , to be furnished with Money , suitable to the importance of his undertakings , for the relief of the King of Denmark , His Majesty came to this Resolution : That the urgency of affairs not admitting the way of Parliament , the most speedy , equal , and convenient means were by a general Loan from the Subject , according as every man was Assessed in the Rolls of the last Subsidy . Upon which Result , the King forthwith chose Commissioners for the Loan , and caused a Declaration to be published , wherein he alledged for this course of Supply , the Reasons set down at large in his late Declaration , touching the Dissolution of the Parliament 2 o Car. adding farther , That the urgency of the occasion would not give leave to the calling of a Parliament . In the said year 1626. Sir Thomas Wentworth having a Privy Seal sent unto him about the Loan-money , and to advance the sum of 40 l. to the King , he ( amongst other things in the County of York ) refused to lend the same , as being a Demand contrary to the Right and Property of the Subject , to part with their Money , but by consent of Parliament . The Non-Subscribers of high Rank , and Rate in most Counties , were bound over by Recognizance , to tender their appearance at the Council Table , and divers of them were committed to prison ; but others also of Quality , were appointed to several Confinements , not in their own , but in remote Counties . Sir Thomas Wentworth and Geo. Ratcliffe , Esq ( afterwards Sir George ) were sent by Messengers from the Council , and removed out of the County of York into the County of Kent , and there secured by Confinement , and during this Restraint and Confinement , a Parliament was called , which was to meet March 17. 3 Car. 1627. In the month of Iuly , before the calling of this Parliament , the Lord Conway , Secretary of State , brought a Message from the King to Arch-bishop Abbot , that it was His Majesties pleasure , he would withdraw from his Houses at Lambeth and Croydon , and go to Canterbury , and reside there . What is my fault ( said the Arch-Bishop ) that brings this message of Removal and Confinement upon me ? Although ( said the Secretary ) I have no Commission to tell you , it is for a Book you would not Licence for the Kings Service ; and afterwards the Arch-Bishop understood more particularly , that besides that , it was because Sir Thomas Wentworth made resort to the Arch-Bishops House , at times of Dinner and Supper . As for Sir Thomas Wentworth , he had good occasion to send unto me , and sometimes to see me , because we were joynt Executors to Sir George Savile , who married his Sister , and was my Pupil at Oxford , to which Son also , Sir Thomas Wentworth and I were Guardians , as may appear in the Court of Wards , and many things passed between us in that behalf ; yet to my remembrance , I saw not this Gentleman but once these three quarters of a year last past , at which time he came to see his Brother-in-law the Lord Clifford , who was then with me at Dinner at Lambeth . Saturday , March the 22th . THe time of the House was spent in opening the Grievances , and State of the Kingdom , as Billeting of Soldiers , Benevolencies , and Privy Seals , and the imprisoning certain Gentlemen , who refused to lend upon that account , &c. Sir Francis Seymor spake first , and said , THis is the great Council of the Kingdom , and here ( if not here alone ) His Majesty may see , as in a true Glass , the State of the Kingdom , &c. We are called hither by His Majesties Writs , to give him faithful Council , such as may stand with His Honor ; but this we must do without flattery , we are sent hither by the Commons to discharge the Trust reposed in us , by delivering up their just Grievances , and this we must do without fear : Let us not therefore be like the Cambyses Judges , who being demanded of their King , Whether it were not lawful for him to do what in it self was unlawful , they ( rather to please the King than to discharge their own Consciences ) Answered , That the Persian Kings might do what they listed , &c. Flattery tends to mischief , being fitter for reproof than imitation , and as Flattery , so Fear taketh away the Judgement ; let us not then be possessed with Fear or Flattery , of corruptions the basest : For my own part , I shall shun both these , and speak my Conscience with as much Duty to His Majesty as any man , but not neglecting the Publique , in which His Majesty and the Common-wealth have an interest : but how can we shew our Affections , whilst we retain our Fears ? or how can we think of giving Subsidies , till we know whether we have any thing to give or no ? For if His Majesty be perswaded by any to take from His Subjects what He will , and where it pleashim , I would gladly know what we have to give ? After Sir Francis Seymor had ended his Speech , Sir Thomas Wentworth stood up and said , THis Debate carrys a double Aspect , towards the Soverign and the Subject , though both be innocent , both are injured , and both to be cured : Surely in the greatest humility I speak it , these illegal ways are punishments and marks of indignation , the raising of Loans strengthened by Commission , with unheard of Instructions and Oaths ; the Billeting of Soldiers by the Lieutenants , and Deputy-Lieutenants , have been as they could have perswaded Christian Princes , yea , Worlds , that the right of Empires , had been to take away by strong Hands , and they have endeavour'd as far as possible for them to do it : This hath not been done by the King ( under the pleasing shade of whose Crown , I hope we shall ever gather the Fruits of Justice ) but by Projectors , who have extended the Prerogative of the King , beyond the just Symetry , which maketh a sweet harmony of the whole : They have brought the Crown into greater want than ever , by anticipating the Revenues ; and can the Shepherd be thus smitten , and the Sheep not scattered ? They have introduced a Privy Council , ravishing at once the Spheres of all antient Government ; imprisoning us without Bail or Bond ; They have taken from us , ( what shall I say indeed , what have they left us ? ) all means of supplying the King , and ingratiating our selves with him , taking up the root of all Propriety , which if it be not seasonably set again into the ground by His Majesties own Hands , we shall have instead of Beauty , Baldness . To the making of those whole , I shall apply my self , and propound a remedy to all these Diseases : by one and the same thing have King and People been hurt , and by the same must they be cured ; To vindicate which , shall we propound new things ? No , our antient vital Liberties by enforcing the antient Laws made by our Ancestors , by setting forth such a Character of them , as no Licentions Spirit shall dare to enter upon them , will do the business ; and shall we think this is a Way to break a Parliament ? No , our desires are Modest and Just , I speak truly , both for the interest of King and People ; if we enjoy not these , it will be impossible for to releive him . Therefore let us never fear , they shall not be accepted by his goodness , wherefore I shall shortly descend to my Motions , consisting of four Parts , two of which have relation to our Persons , two to the propriety of Goods for our Persons ; First , the Freedom of them from imployment abroad , contrary to the antient Customs : For our Goods , that no Levies be made , but by Parliaments . Secondly , No Billeting of Soldiers : It is most necessary , that these be resolved , that the Subject may be secured in both . Monday , March 24. SEcretary Cook renewed the Motion of Supply for His Majesty ; yet so , that Grievances be taken into Consideration ; We all think ( said he ) that both these goe hand in hand together : but let me put you in mind of that which concerns the King , let him have the Precedency of Honor , if not of Time ; Let Heads of the Kings Supply be first propounded : No King is more ready to hear the complaints of His Subjects ; and withal , you know , no King is more sensible of all reproaches which touch his Honor : Would it not be fit to grant him this Honor to have the Precedency , this will have good Aspect abroad , it will prevent Divisions at home , &c. The first sower of Seeds of Distractions amonst us , was an Agent from Spain ( Gundemore ) that did his Master great service here and at home ; since that , we have other Ministers that have blown the fire ; the Ambassador of France , who told his Master at home , that he had wrought divisions here between King and People , and he was rewarded ; Whilst we sate here in Parliament , there was another intended Parliament within a mile of this place ; this was discovered by Letters sent to Rome , and the place of their meeting is now changed ; I desire the meanest judgement will consider what may follow in giving precedency to His Majesty ; in so doing , we shall put from our selves many Imputations ; This matter coming to no resolution this day , Secretary Cook the next day tendred to the House certain Propositions from the King , touching Supply . viz. Wednesday , March 26. 1628. THe Propositions tendred the day before by Secretary Cook from His Majesty , were now Received and Read , but the Debate thereof was referred to another day : the Propositions were these , viz. 1. To furnish with Men and Victuals , Thirty Ships to guard the narrow Seas , and along the Coasts . 2. To set out 10 other Ships for the relief of the Town of Rochelle . 3. To set out 10 other Ships for the preservation of the Elbe , the Sound , and Baltick Sea , &c. Wednesday , April 2. 4. Car. 1. The business of Confinement came into Debate in the House of Commons , whereupon Sir Francis Seymour spake to this effect . That it is said , the greatest Grievance is want of Supply , but I hold it a greater Grievance , that His Majesty is brought into these necessitys , especially , considering the Supplys that of late have been given to the King , of two Subsidies in Parliament , besides Privy Seals ; and that the late Loan , whereby Five Subsidies were forcedly , and unadvisedly taken ; that it is not then what the Subjects do give , unless His Majesty do employ men of integrity and experience ; otherwise , all that we give , will be as cast into a bottomless Bag. Upon this occasion Sir Thomas Wentworth stood up and spake as followeth ; I Cannot forget that Duty I owe to my Countrey ; unless we be secured as to our Libertys we cannot give : I speak not this to make diversions , but to the end , that giving , I may give chearfully . As for the Propositions made to induce us to give , and to be considered of , I incline to decline them , and to look upon the State of our Countrey , whether it be fit to give or no. Are we come to an end for our Countreys Libertys ? have we entrenched on the right of the Deputy-Lieutenants ? are we secured for time future ? Whereupon Mr. Selden speaking also upon this occasion of the Confinement of Sir Tho. Wentworth , &c. said , THat though Confinement is different from Imprisonment , yet it is against the Law that any should be Confined to his House or elsewhere . I know not what you can call a punishment , but here is some grounds of it , or mention thereof in Acts of Parliament , Books of Records , but for this Confinement I find none ; Indeed Iews have been Confined in former times to certain places , as here in London to the Iewry , now called the Old Iewry , &c. Hereupon Sir Tho. Wentworth spake briefly as to Sir Peter Heymans enforced Imployment beyond Seas ; That if any man ows a man a displeasure , and shall procure him to be put into Forreign employment , it will be a matter of high Concern in the Effect . We know the Honor and Justice of the King , but we know not what his Ministers , or the mediation of Ambassadors may do , to hold their own wrath upon any man. April 11. 4 Car. 1. MR. Secretary Cook moved for expediting of Subsidys , and turning of the Votes into an Act ( saying ) We have Finally and Chearfully given the King Five Subsidies , but no time is appointed , and Subsidy without time is no Subsidy , let us appoint a time . To which Sir Dudly Diggs spake thus ; We have ( said he ) freely concluded our Libertys ; we have offered Five Subsidys , His Majesty hath given us Gracious Answers , and nothing is done that the King can take notice of , &c. Hereupon Sir Tho. Wentworth proposed a middle way , ( viz. ) That when we set down the time , be sure the Subjects Libertys go hand in hand together with the Kings Supply ; then to resolve of the time , but not to report it to the House till we have a ground , and a Bill for our Liberties ; This is the way to come off fairly , and prevent jealousies ; Hereupon the Committee of the whole House Resolved , That Grievances and Supply goe hand in hand . May 1. 4 Car. MR. Secretary Cook delivered a Message from His Majesty , viz. To know whether the House would relye on His Royal Word or no , Declared to them by the Lord Keeper ? which if they do , the King assured them it should be Royally performed . Sir Robert Phillips of Somersetshire spake upon this occasion , and said ; That if the words of Kings strike impressions in the Hearts of Subjects , to speak in a plain Language , said he , We are now come to the end of our journey , and the well disposing of an Answer to this Message , will give Happiness or Misery to this Kingdom ; Let us set the Common-wealth of England before the Eyes of His Majesty , that we may justify to the world , that we have demeaned our selves , as dutiful Subjects to His Majesty . Hereupon Sir Thomas Wentworth stood up and concluded the Debate , saying , That never House of Parliament trusted more in the goodness of their King , for their own private , than the present ; but we are ambitious , that His Majestys goodness may remain to Posterity , and we are accountable to publique Trust , and therefore seeing there hath been a publique violation of the Laws by His Ministers , nothing will satisfy him but a publique Mends ; and to our desire vindicate the Subjects Rights by Bill , is no more than is laid down in former Laws , with some modest provision for Restriction , Performance , and Execution ; and this so well agreed with the sense of the House ; that they made it the subject of a Message to be delivered by the Speaker to His Majesty . Whilst the Lords afterwards were in Debate of the Petition of Right , they were pleased at a Conference to propose to the Commons , this following addition to the Petition of Right , viz. 1. We present this our Humble Petition to Your Majesty , with the care , not only of preserving our own Liberties , but with due regard to leave intire the Sovereign Power , wherewith Your Majesty is trusted for the Protection , Safety , and Happiness of the People . Upon this , Sir Edward Cook spake , saving , This is Magnum in Parvo , This is propounded to be a conclusion of our Petition ; it is a matter of great weight , and to speak plainly , it will overthrow all our Petition , it trenches on all parts of it . Look into the Petition of former times , they never Petitioned , wherein there was a saving of the Kings Sovereignty ; I know the Prerogative is part of the Law , but Sovereign Power is no Parliamentary word &c. Sir Thomas Wentworth spake next , and said , IF we do admit of this Addition , we shall leave the Subjects worse than we found them , and we shall have little thanks for our labour when we come home ; let us leave all Power to His Majesty to punish Malefactors , but these Laws are not acquainted with Sovereign Power , we desire no new thing , nor do we offer to trench upon His Majestys Prerogative , we may not recede from this Petition , neither in part or in whole ; To add a saving is not safe , doubtful words may beget an ill construction , and the words are not only doubtful words , but words unknown to us , and never asked in one Act or Petition before . 2. Now he began to be more generally taken notice of by all men , and his Fame to spread abroad , where publique Affairs , and the Criticismes of the times were discoursed by the most refined Judgments ; those who were infected with popularity , flattering themselves , that he was inclined to support their inclination , and would prove a Champion upon that account ; but such discourse , as it endeared him to his Countrey , so it begot to him an interest in the bosom of his Prince , who , ( having a discerning Judgment of Men ) quickly made his observation of Wentworth , that he was a person framed for great affairs , and fit to be near His Royal Person and Councils . About this time , in the heat of so general a report of him ; Sir Richard Weston , then Lord High Treasurer after Earl of Portland , a person also eminent for his acute and clear parts , coveted acquaintance with this Gentleman ; and there not being wanting discreet Agents to accomplish what my Lord Treasurer desired , it was soon effected . After the first view a familiarity was begotten , and next a deep friendship . It happened , that in some Conferences , they touched upon the popular Humor ( as they termed it ) then appearing in the House of Commons , and the present ways they were in as tending to no good , he proposed the most rational and plausible mediations that could be , for the present juncture of affairs , in somuch , that his judgment in things was much valued and followed . In some time after he was made Baron Wentworth , and had so gained His Majesties opinion , that he was also created Viscount Wentworth of Wentworth-Woodhouse , made one of His Majestys Privy Council , Lord-Lieutenant of the County of York , and Lord-President of the North ; In this Trust he Governed himself with such skill , especially in those high contested points then in consultation , that he pleased his Prince , and improved His Majesties Revenue . His frequent appearance at the Council-Board , quickly gave occasion to that Great Prelate Archbishop Laud ( then Bishop of London ) and himself , to discern one anothers parts , begetting a right understanding betwixt them , which grew into so inviolable a friendship , that nothing but the inevitable stroke of death could separate them , who , whilst they lived , constantly united their great Hearts and Understandings , for the advancing the Church , and the service of their Prince . The Cedar was still growing , though perhaps , to the dislike of some Emulators , yet to the general satisfaction of all such as had ability enough to judge of his Parts . His next advance was to be Lord-Deputy , and Chief Governor of Ireland : The affairs of that Realm being in much disorder by the temper of the Popish party there , who did not with moderation , make use of the Kings Clemency to them , in relaxation of the rigor of some penal Statutes . He began with the Church , in the Reformation of his Kingdom , and first procured of the King , by the joynt mediation of the Archbishop , That all the Impropriations then in the Crown , would be restored to the Church in that Nation , though to some diminution of the Royal Revenue , and advanced Learned men , whose Judgments were for Episcopacy . He raised in Ireland Eight Regiments for the Kings service , each consisting of 1000 men , in Ten Companies , besides Two more , which he intended to be raised in the nearest part of Wales . Before this Army already raised , was dispersed into their several quarters , all which were in the Province of Ulster , near the Sea , in sight of Scotland , the Lord-Lieutenant returned into England by His Majesties Command , where an Army-Royal was Levied , in opposition to the Scotish design , leaving an Honourable person Mr. Christopher Wandesford , Master of the Rolls , Lord-Deputy ; the Command of General of that Royal Army in England , was given to the Earl of Northumberland , then Lord-Admiral of England , upon whose sickness the Earl of Strafford was made Lieutenant-General , who having undertaken the Command of this Army , signified by Letter from Dublin to the Archbishop Laud , that he durst venture ( upon peril of his Head ) to drive the Scots out of England , but that he did not hold it proper , as the case then stood for him to advise that course ; but if any of the Lords would advise the King to try his fortune in Battle , he doubted not of sending them home in more hast than they came ; but this severity and indiscretion of his against that Kingdom when things were ripe , did much hasten his ruine and destruction , as may be seen by the following Impeachment . The Charge of the Scotish Commissioners against Thomas Earl of Strafford . IN our Declarations we have joyned with Canterbury , the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland , whose Malice hath set all his Wits and Power on work , to devise , and do mischief against our Kirk and Countrey . No other cause of his malice can we conceive , but , First his Pride , and Supercilious disdain of the Kirk of Scotland , which in his opinion , declared by his Speeches , hath not in it almost any thing of a Kirk , although the Reformed Kirks , and many worthy Divines of England , have given ample testimony to the Reformation of the Kirk of Scotland . Secondly , Our open opposition against the dangerous Innovation of Religion intended and very far promoted in all His Majesties Dominions , of which he hath shewed himself in his own way , no less zealous than Canterbury himself , as may appear by advancing of his Chaplain , Dr. Bramhal , not only to the Bishoprick of Derry , but also to be Vicar-General of Ireland ; a man prompted for exalting of Canterburian Popery , and Arminianism , that thus himself might have the power of both Swords , against all that should maintain , the Reformation , by his bringing of Dr. Chappel , a man of the same Spirit , to the University of Dublin , for poysoning the Fountains , and corrupting the Seminarys of the Kirk . Thirdly , When the Primate of Ireland did press a new ratification of the Articles of that Kirk in Parliament , for barring such Novations in Religion , he boldly menaced him with the burning by the hand of the Hangman , all of that Confession , although confirmed in former Parliaments . When he found that the Reformation began in Scotland did stand in his way , he left no means unassaied to rub disgrace upon us , and our Cause . The Pieces printed at Dublin , viz. Examen conjurationis Scotianae , the Ungirding of the Scotish Armor : and the Pamphlet , bearing the counterfeit name of Lisimachus Nicanor , all three so full of Calumnies , Slanders , Scurril●ys against our Countrey , and Reformation , that the Jesuits in their greatest spite , could not have said more , yet not only the Authors were countenanced and rewarded by him , but the Books must bear his Name , as the great Patron both of the Work and Workman . When the National Oath and Covenant warranted by our general Assemblies , was approved by Parliament , in the Articles subscribed in the Kings Name , by His Majesties High Commissioner , and by the Lords of the Privy-Council , and commanded to be sworn by His Majesties Subjects of all ranks , and particular , and plenary information was given unto the Lieutenant , by men of such quality , as he ought to have believed of the Loyalty of our hearts to the King , of the lawfulness of our proceedings , and innocency of our Covenant , and whole course , that he could have no excuse : yet his desperate malice made him to bend his Craft and Cruelty , his Fraud and Forces against us . For first , he did craftily call up to Dublin some of our Countreymen , both of the Nobility and Gentry , living in Ireland , shewing them that the King would conceive , and account them as Conspirers with the Scots in their rebellious courses , except some remedy were provided ; and for remedy , suggesting his own wicked invention , to present unto him , and his own wicked invention , to present unto him and his own wicked Council , a Petition , which he caused to be framed by the Bishop of Rapho , and was seen and corrected by himself , wherein they petitioned to have an Oath given them , containing a formal renunciation of the Scotish Covenant , and a deep assurance , ne-never so much as to protest against any of His Majesties Commandments whatsoever . No sooner was this Oath thus craftily contrived , but in all hast it is sent to such places of the Kingdom , where our Countreymen had residence ; and Men , Women , and all other persons above the years of Sixteen , constrained either presently to take the Oath , and thereby renounce their National Covenant , as Seditious and Traiterous , or with violence and cruelty to be haled to the Jail , Fined above the value of their Estates , and to be kept close prisoners , and so far as we know , some are yet kept in prison , both Men and Women of good quality , for not renouncing that Oath which they had taken 40 years since , in the obedience to the King , who then lived . Besides , a cruelty ensued , which may paralel the pesecutions of the most unchristian time : for weak Women dragged to the Bench to take the Oath , dyed in the place both Mother and Child , hundreds driven to hide themselves , till in the darkness of the night they might escape by Sea into Scotland , whether thousands of them did flye , being forced to leave Corn , Cattle , Houses , and all they possessed , to be a prey to their persecuting enemies , the Lieutenants Officers . And some Indicted and Declared guilty of High Treason , for no other guiltyness , but for subscribing our National Oath , which was not only impiety and injustice in it self , and an utter undoing of His Majestys Subjects , but was a weakening of the Scotch Plantation , to the prejudice of that Kingdom , and His Majesties Service , and was a high scandal against the Kings Honor , and intolerable abuse to His Majesties Trust and Authority , His Majesties Commission , which was procured by the Lieutenant , bearing no other penalty , than a certification of Noting the names of the refusers of the Oath . But this his restless Rage , and insatiable Cruelty against our Religion and Countrey , could not rest here , nor be kept within the bounds of Ireland , but proceeded further , so that by this means a Parliament is called , and although by the Six Subsidies granted in Parliament not long before , and by the base means which himself and his Officers did use ( as is contained in a late Remonstrance ) that Land was extreamly impoverished , yet by his Speeches full of Oaths and Asseverations , that we were Traitors and Rebels , casting off all Monarchical Government , &c. He extorted from them four new Subsidies , & indicta causa , before we were heard , procured that a War was undertaken , and Forces should be levied against us , as a rebellious Nation , which was also intended to be an example and precedent to the Parliament of England , for granting Subsidies , and sending a joynt Army for our utter ruine . According to his appointment in Parliament , the Army was gathered , and brought down to the Coast , threatning a daily invasion of our Countrey , intending to make us a conquered Province , and to destroy our Religion , Liberties , and Laws , and thereby laying upon us , a necessity of vast charges , to keep Forces on foot on the West Coast , to wait upon his coming . And as the War was denounced , and Forces levied before we were heard ; So before the denouncing of the War , our Ships and Goods on the Irish coast were taken , and the owners cast in prison , and some of them in Irons . Frigats were sent forth to scour our Coasts , by which they did take some , and burn others of our Barques . Having thus incited the Kingdom of Ireland , and put his Forces in order there against us , with all hast he cometh to England . In his parting , at the giving up of the Sword , he openly avowed our utter ruine and desolation , in these or the like words , If I return to that Honourable Sword , I shall leave of the Scots neither root nor branch . How soon he cometh to Court , as before he had done very evil Office against our Commissioners , clearing our proceedings before the point ; So now he useth all means to stir up the King and Parliament against us , and to move them to a present War , according to the precedent , and example of his own making in the Parliament of Ireland . And finding that his hopes failed him , and his designs succeeded not that way , in his nimbleness he taketh another course , that the Parliament of England may be broken up , and despising their Wisdom and Authority , not only with great gladness accepteth , but useth all means that the conduct of the Army in the expedition against Scotland , may be put upon him ; which accordingly he obtaineth as General Captain , with power to invade , kill , slay , and save at his discretion , and to make any one or more Deputies in his stead , to do , and execute all the Power and Authorities committed to him . According to the largeness of his Commission , and Letters Patents of his devising , so were his deportments afterwards ; for when the Scots , ( according to their Declarations sent before them ) were coming in a peaceable way , far from any intention to invade any of His Majesties Subjects , and still to supplicate His Majesty for a setled Peace , he gave order to his Officers to fight with them on the way , that the two Nations once entred in Blood , whatsoever should be the success , he might escape Trial , and censure , and his bloody designs might be put in execution against his Majesties Subjects of both Kingdoms . When the Kings Majesty was again enclined to hearken to our Petitions , and to compose our differences in a peaceable way , and the Peers of England convened at York , had , as before , in their great wisdom and faithfulness , given unto His Majesty Counsels of Peace , yet this Firebrand still smoaketh , and in that Honourable Assembly , taketh upon him to breath out threatenings against us as Traitors , and enemies to Monarchical Government ; and threatened that we be sent home home again in our blood , and he will whip us out of England . And as these were his Speeches in the time of the Treaty appointed by His Majesty at Rippon , that if it had been possible , it might have been broken up . So when a cessation of Arms was happily agreed upon there , yet he ceaseth not , but still his practises were for War ; his under-Officers can tell who it was that gave them Commission to draw near in Arms beyond the Teese , in the time of the Treaty at Rippon . The Governor of Berwick and Carlisle can shew from whom they had their Warrants for their Acts of hostility , after the cessation was concluded . It may be tryed how it cometh to pass , that the Ports of Ireland are yet closed , our Countreymen for the Oath still kept in Prison , Traffique interrupted , and no other face of affairs , then if no cessation had been agreed upon . We therefore desire , that your Lordships will represent to the Parliament , that this great Incendiary upon these and the like offences , not against particular persons , but against Kingdoms and Nations , may be put to a Tryal , and from their known and renowned Justice , may have his deserved punishment . THis Noble Earl was in person of a tall stature , something inclining to stooping in his Shoulders , his Hair black and thick , which he wore short , his countenance of a grave well composed Symetry , and good Features , only in his Forehead he exprest more Severity than Affability , yet a very courteous Person . And as he went from the Tower to the Scaffold , his Countenance was in a Mild posture , between dejection in contrition for Sin , and a high Courage , without perceiving the least affection of disguise in him . He saluted the People as he walked on foot from the Tower to the Scaffold , often putting off his Hat unto them , sometimes to the right , and sometimes to the left hand , being apparelled in a Black cloth Suit , having White Gloves on his Hands . And tho at this time there were gathered together on the great open place on Tower-Hill , where the Scaffold stood , a numerous croud of people , standing as thick as they could by one another , over all that great Hill ; insomuch , as by the modest computation , they could not be esteemed to be less than 100000 people ; yet as he went to the Scaffold , they uttered no reproachful or reflecting Language upon him . He had Three Wives , the First the Lady Margaret Clifford , Sister to the Earl of Cumberland , who left no issue . The Second , the Lady Arabella Hollis , Sister to the Earl of Clare , who left him his only Son William , now Earl of Strafford , and Two Daughters . The Third Wife , was Daughter to Sir Francis Rhodes of Yorkshire , by whom he had one Daughter , an Infant at the time of his death . On the First of December in the 17th year of the Kings Reign , by His Majesties Letters Patents , his Son William was restored to all his Fathers Dignities and Titles , and was made Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter , having doubled his Paternal Glorys and his own , by marrying the worthy Daughter of two incomparable Parents , Henrietta Maria , the Daughter of Iames Earl of Darby , and Charlotte , Daughter of Claude , Duke de Temoille and Charlotte of Nassaw , Daughter to William , Prince of Orange . A brief Account of his Secretary Slingsby . MR. Slingsby his Secretary , after the death of this Noble Lord , presently left the Kingdom , and was received beyond the Seas into the Queens favour , and by Her Majesty designed Secretary to the Prince of Wales ( now Our Gracious Sovereign ) but in his zeal to the Kings service , and to enable himself to attend Her Majesty upon Her Landing , he transported himself into Cleveland , where he had but a small Estate , but so much a bigger Interest , that in a very short time , he levied Eight hundred Foot , and Eighty Horse , with intention to make up a full Regiment , and Troop to wait upon the Queen . He made his Quarters at Gisborough in Cleveland , but before the Foot were disciplined in the use of Arms , he was attacqued by Sir Hugh Cholmley with 1500 Horse and Foot , and some Brass Drakes , Mr. Slingsby ( who was wholly educated in Civil affairs , never in the active Military part ) having timely notice of his Adversaries approach , thought not of any retreat , but addresses himself and party immediately , to draw out and fight the Enemy , notwithstanding the inequality in number . At his first charge Mr. Slingsby ( having seasoned old Soldiers in his Troop , which he brought out of Holland ) worsted their Horse , and had some pursuit and execution , but being allarmed behind , by the noise of an engagement , betwixt the Bodys of Foot , found his Regiment totally dissipated , beyond all hopes of rallying ; whereupon he employed his Courage upon the Enemies Foot , in which Charge his Horse fell , and himself wounded with many Case-shot , and became prisoner . The relation of Bloud moved Sir Hugh Cholmly to a generous regard and care of him , he was carried back to Gisborough , where ( in order to the saving of his life ) both his Legs were cut off above the knee , after which he lived three days . The Lady Slingsby his disconsolate Mother , hastened from York ( betwixt hopes of Life and fear of Death ) to Gisborough , where she found the late hopes of her Family , and support of her age lying dead ; and Sir Hugh was as much concerned as his Parent , for the loss of so accomplished a Gentleman . His Body was carried to York , and there with very Honourable Solemnitys interred in the Cathedral-Church , after a Sermon preached by Dr. Bramhall , then Bishop of London-derry , and late Primate of Ireland , who had a large experience of him . He was eldest Son of Sir Guilford Slingsby , of the Family of Screuen , and Red-House , in the County of York ; his Fathers Estate did lye in Cleveland in the said County ; he was Educated first at the University at St. Andrews in Scotland , and afterwards studied some years in the University of Oxford . Sir Guilford his Father dying , the Earl of Strafford received this Gentleman in his Retinue , among other young Gentlemen of Quality , upon his going first into Ireland , where his Deportment , after some time , made his Lord to promote him to be Secretary , and afterwards Lieutenant of the Ordinance , and Vice-Admiral of Munster . Lastly , his Lord made choice of him before all others , to stand by him , and manage all his Papers , during his Confinement and Trial ; And immediately after the Bill of Attainder did pass both Houses , the Earl wrote this ensuing Letter unto him . A Letter from the Earl of Strafford to his Secretary Guilford Slingsby , Esq after the passing of the Bill of Attainder , under his own Hand . I Would not , as the case now stands , for any thing , you should endanger your self , being a person in whom I shall put a great part of my future Trust ; and therefore in any case absent your self for a time , yet so , as I may know where you are , and therefore send your man back , that I may know whither to direct any thing I have to impart to you , and that presently , and after that , let your man come as little about this place as may be : your going to the King is to no purpose , I am lost , my Body is theirs , but my Soul is Gods ; there is little trust in man , God may yet ( if it please him ) deliver me , and as I shall ( in the best way he shall enable me unto ) prepare my self for him , so to him I submit all I have ; the person you were last withal at Court , sent to move that business we resolved upon , which if rightly handled , might perchance doe something ; but you know my opinion in all , and what my belief is in all these things ; I should by any means advise you to absent your self , albeit never so innocent , as you are , till you see what becomes of me ; if I live , there will be no danger for you to stay , but otherwise keep out of the way till I be forgotten , and then your return may be with safety . I mean indeed , to leave you one in Trust for my Children , and thank you for your readiness to look after it . Time is precious , and mine I expect to be very short , and therefore no part of it to be lost . God direct and prosper you in all your ways ; and remember there was a person whom you were content to call Master , that did very much value and esteem you , and carried to his death a great stock of his affection for you , as for all your services , so for this your care towards me all this time of my Tryal and Affliction ; and however it be my misfortune to be decryed at present , yet in more equal times , my friends ( I trust ) shall not be ashamed to mention the Love to their Children , for their Fathers sake . Your Affectionate Friend , STRAFFORD . The Reflections of King CHARLES the I. upon the Earl of Straffords Death . I Looked upon my Lord of Strafford as a Gentleman , whose great abilities might make a Prince rather afraid , than ashamed to imploy him , in the greatest affairs of State. For those were prone to create in him great confidence of undertakings , and this was like enough to betray him to great errors , and many enemies : whereof he could not but contract good store , while moving in so high a sphear , and with so vigorous a Luster , he must needs ( as the Sun ) raise many envious exhalations , which condensed by a Popular odium , were capable to cast a cloud upon the brightest merit and integrity . Though I cannot in my judgment approve all he did , driven ( it may be ) by the necessities of times , and the temper of that people , more than led by his own disposition to any height and rigor of Actions : yet I could never be convinced of any such criminousness in him , as willingly to expose his life to the stroke of Justice and Malice of his enemies . I never met with a more unhappy conjuncture of affairs , than in the business of that unfortunate Earl ; when between my own unsatisfiedness in Conscience , and a necessity ( as some told me ) of satisfying the importunities of some people ; I was perswaded by those , that I think wished me well , to chuse rather what was safe , than what seemed just : preserring the outward peace of my Kingdoms with Men , before that inward exactness of Conscience before God. And indeed , I am so far from excusing or denying that compliance on my part ( for plenary consent it was not ) to his destruction , whom in my judgment I thought not , by any clear Law guilty of death ; that I never did bear any touch of Conscience with greater regret : which , as a sign of my repentance , I have often with sorrow confessed , both to God and Men , as an act of so sinful frailty , that it discovered more a fear of man , than of God , whose Name and Place on Earth no man is worthy to bear , who will avoid inconveniencies of State , by Acts of so high injustice , as no publique convenience can expiate or compensate . I see it a bad exchange to wound a mans own conscience , thereby to salve State sores ; to calm the storms of popular discontents , by stirring up a Tempest in a mans own bosom . Nor hath Gods Justice failed in the event and sad consequences , to shew the world the fallacy of that Maxim , Better one man perish ( though unjustly ) than the people be displeased or destroyed . For , in all likelyhood , I could never have suffered with my people , greater calamities ( yet with greater comfort ) had I vindicated Straffords innoncency , at least by denying to Sign that destructive Bill , according to that justice which my Conscience suggested to me , then I have done since I gratified some mens unthankful importunities with so cruel a favour ; and I have observed , that those , who counsell'd me to Sign that Bill , have been so far from receiving the rewards of such ingratiatings with the people , that no men have been harassed and crushed more than they : he only hath been least vexed by them , who counselled me , not to consent against the Vote of my own Conscience ; I hope God hath forgiven me and them the sinful rashness of that business . To which , being in my Soul so fully conscious , those Judgments God hath pleased to send upon me , are so much the more welcome , as a means ( I hope ) which his mercy hath sanctified so to me , as to make me repent of that unjust Act ( for so it was to me ) and for the future to teach me , that the best rule of policy is to preferr the doing of Justice before all enjoyments , and the peace of my Conscience , before the preservation of my Kingdoms . Nor hath any thing more fortified my resolutions , against all those violent importunities , which since have sought to gain a like consent from me , to Acts , wherein my Conscience is unsatisfied , than the sharp touches I have had for what passed me , in my Lord of Straffords business . Not that I resolved to have employed him in my affairs , against the advice of my Parliament ; but I would not have had any hand in his death , of whose guiltlesness I was better assured , than any man living could be . Nor were the crimes objected against him so clear , as after a long and fair hearing , to give convincing satisfaction to the major part of both Houses ; especially that of the Lords , of whom scarce a third part were present , when the Bill passed that House : And for the House of Commons , many Gentlemen disposed enough to diminish my Ld. of Straffords Greatness and Power , yet unsatisfied of his Guilt in Law , durst not condemn him to dye : who for their integrity in their Votes , were , by posting their Names , exposed to the popular Calumny , Hatred , and Fury , which grew then so exorbitant in their clamors for Iustice , ( That is , to have both my Self , and the Two Houses Vote , and do as they would have us ) that many ( 't is thought ) were rather terrified to concur with the condemning party , than satisfied , that of right they ought so to do . And that after Act , vacating the Authority of the precedent , for future imitation , sufficiently tells the world , that some remorse touched even his most implacable enemies , as knowing he had very hard measure , and such as they would be very loath should be repeated to themselves . This tenderness and regret I find in my Soul , for having had any hand ( and that very unwillingly , God knows ) in shedding one mans Bloud unjustly ( though under the colour and formalities of Justice and pretences of avoiding publique mischiefs ) which may , I hope , be some Evidence before God and Man , to all posterity , that I am far from bearing justly , the vast Load and Guilt of all that Blood which hath been shed in this unhappy War ; which some Men will needs charge upon me , to ease their own Souls , who am , and ever shall be more afraid , to take away any mans Life unjustly , than to lose my own . An ACT for Reversing the Earl of Strafford's Attainder . WHereas Thomas late Earl of Strafford , was impeached of High-Treason , upon pretence of endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws , and called to a publique and solemn Arraignment , and Tryal before the Peers in Parliament , where he made a particular Defence to every Article objected against him ; insomuch that the turbulent party then seeing no hopes to effect their unjust Designs , by any ordinary way and method of proceedings , did at last resolve to attempt the Destruction and Attainder of the said Earl , by an Art of Parliament , to be therefore purposely made to condemn him upon accumulative Treason , none of the pretended crimes being Treason apart , and so could not be in the whole , if they had been proved , as they were not ; and also adjudged him guilty of Constructive Treason ( that is , of Levying War against the King ) though it was only the Commanding an Order of the Council-Board in Ireland , to be executed by a Sergeant at Arms , and three or four Soldiers , which was the constant practice of the Deputies there for a long time : To the which end , they having first presented a Bill for this intent , to the House of Commons , and finding there more opposition than they expected , they caused a multitude of tumultuous persons to come down to Westminster , armed with Swords and Staves , and to fill both the Palace-yards , and all the approaches to both Houses of Parliament , with Fury and Clamor , and to require Justice , speedy Justice against the Earl of Strafford ; and having by those and other undue practices , obtained that Bill to pass the House of Commons , they caused the Names of those resolute Gentlemen , who in a Case of innocent Blood , had freely discharged their Consciences , being Fifty nine , to be posted up in several places about the Citys of London and Westminster , and stiled them Straffordians . and Enemies to their Countrey , hoping thereby to deliver them up to the fury of the People , whom they had endeavoured to incense against them , and then procured the said Bill to be sent up to the House of Peers , where it having some time rested under great deliberation ; at last , in a time , when a great part of the Peers were absent , by reason of the tumults , and many of those who were present , protested a gainst it , the said Bill passed the House of Peers ; and at length His Majesty , the late King CHARLES the I. of Glorious Memory , granted a Commission for giving His Royal Assent thereunto , which nevertheless was done by His said Majesty , with exceeding great sorrow then , and ever remembred by him with unexpressible grief of Heart , and out of His Majestys great Piety , he did publiquely express it , when His own Sacred Life was taken away by the most detestable Traytors that ever were . For all which Causes be it Declared and Enacted by the Kings most Excellent Majesty , by , and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled , That the Act Entituled , An Act for the Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason , and all and every Clause and Article , and thing therein contained , being obtained as aforesaid , is now hereby Repealed , Revoked , and Reversed . And to the end that Right be done to the memory of the deceased Earl of Strafford aforesaid ; Be it further Enacted , That all Records and Proceedings of Parliament , relating to the said Attainder , be wholly Cancell'd , and taken off the File , or otherwise Defaced , and Obliterated , to the intent , the same may not be visible in after ages , or brought into example , to the prejudice of any person whatsoever . Provided , That this Act shall not extend to the future questioning of any person or persons , however concerned in this business , or who had any hand in the tumults , or disorderly procuring the Act aforesaid , Any thing herein contained to the contrary thereof notwithstanding . THE TABLE . A. ABstract of the Earls Answer to the 28 Articles , Pa. 22. to 30 Account Introductive of several Passages previous to the Tryal of Thomas Earl of Strafford . p. 1. Accusation of High Treason , of Thomas Earl of Strafford , p. 3. Accusation of Sir George Ratcliffe , p. 4. Act of Attainder at large , 756. Mr. St. Johns Argument of Law , concerning the same , 675. to 705. It is read a Second time , 47. Lord Digby's Speech to that Bill , 50. Exceptions taken thereat by some Members , 55 Act of Attainder , as also the Act for continuance of this present Parliament past the Lords , 755 A Message to the Lords to send to His Majesty for His consent to the Bill of Attainder , and the continuance of this present Parliament , 755. Act of Reversal of this Bill of Attainder , 778 Adjournment of the Commons upon the Kings Speech , May 1. 735. Answer of the Earl read , containing 200 sheets of Paper , 22. Army in Ireland new levied , to be disbanded , 18 and 42 Eight Articles against the Earl in maintainance of his Accusation , 8 , 9. Articles of High Treason voted against Sir George Ratcliffe , 17. Twenty eight Articles against the Earl , sent up to the Lords , 20. They are at large inserted , 61. Article II. read , charging the Earl with words , saying The Kings little finger should be heavier than the loins of the Law , &c. 149. Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exception taken , Interlocutory Passages , Defence and Reply , as to that Article , 149 to 155. Artice III. read , charging him with words , saying , That Ireland was a conquered Nation , that the King might do with it as he pleased , 155 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exception taken , Interlocutory passages ; Defence and Reply as to that Article , 156 to 172 Artic. IV. read , charging him with words , that he would make all Ireland know , That any Act of State there made , should be as binding as an Act of Parliament , 173. Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 174 to 185. Article V. read , charging him , that he did procure to be given against the Lord Mountnorris sentence of death in a Council of War , 186 , and the sentence read 187. Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 188 to 204. Article VI. read , charging him with putting the Lord Mountnorris out of possession of his Freehold , upon a Paper-Petition , 205. Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply , as to that Aticle , 205 to 213. Article VIII read , Charging him with causing the Lord Loftus , Lord Chancellor of Ireland , to be close prisoner , 221. Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 222 to 235. Article IX . read , Charging him with assuming a Power above Law , to give a general Warrant to the Bishops Officers , to Arrest the Body of such as do not obey Ecclesiastical Decrees , Sentences , &c. and to commit them , and a Copy produced , 236 237. Passages Interlocutory , Defence and Reply , 238 to 240. Article X. read , Wherein he is charged with procuring the Customs to be Farmed to his own use ; and did procure the Native Commodities of Ireland to be rated in the Book of Rates for the Customs , 241 The Case stated by Mr. Maynard , 242 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 243 to 250 Article XI , Agreed for the present to be laid aside , 252 Article XII . read , Charging him with making a Monopoly of Tobacco , getting the whole Trade into his hands , 401 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 402 to 412 Article XIII . read , Charging him with getting great quantities of Flax into his hands , enjoyning the working thereof into Yarn and Thread , &c. 416 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 416 to 428 Article XIV . Laid aside for the present , 425 Article XV. read , Charging the Earl with imposing great sums of Money upon people without Warrant or colour of Law , and causing the same to be levied by Troops of Soldiers , 426 The Charge opened by Mr. Geoffrey Palmer , 427 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 427 to 454 , &c. Article XVI . read , charging him with putting forth a Proclamation , commanding the Nobility , &c. not to depart that Kingdom without his Licence , 460 The Article opened by Mr. Palmer , who proceeded to manage the Evidence , 461 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article , 462 to 481 Interlocutory passages after the Reply , 484 to 487 Article XIX . read , Charging him , that he did with his own Authority , contrive and frame a new and universal Oath against the Scots in Ireland , 489 The Article opened by Mr. Whitlock , 490 The Oath tendred to the Scots , read , 494 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , and Defence . 494 to 498 More Interlocutory passages , 499 to 502 The Oath tendred to some of the Scotch Nation refident in England , 503 The Reply to the Earls Defence , 508 Article XX. read , Charging him with endeavouring to perswade , and provoke His Majesty to an Offensive War against His Subjects of Scotland , &c. 515 Article XXI . read , Charging him with compelling His Majesty to call a Parliament in England , with design to break the same , and by Force and Power to raise Money , 516 Article XXII . read Charging him to have procured the Parliament in Ireland , to declare their assistance in a War against the Scots , and to raise an Army of 8000 Foot , and 1000 Horse , for the most part Papists , tending to the subversion of the Fundamental Laws in England , 517 Article XXIII . read ; Wherein he is changed with Words , That His Majesty having tryed the Parliament , he was loose and absolved from all Rules of Government , and was to do every thing that Power would admit . &c. 518 Article XXIV . Read , charging him , that he declared that the Parliament had forsaken the King , in denying to supply him ; and that the King was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness of the People , 519 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply , as to that Article , 520 to 581 Article XXV . read , Charging the Earl , that the Lord Mayor and Aldermen refusing to certify the Names of such Citizens as were able to lend Money , he said they deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome , and some of the Alderm . hanged up , 582 The Charge opened by Mr. Maynard , 583 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply as to that Article 583 to 587 Article XXVI . read , Charging him , that he did approve of two wicked Projects , to seize upon the Bullion and Money in the Mint . and embase His Majestys Coyn with a mixture of Brass , &c. 589 The Charge opened by Mr. Maynard , 590 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply , 590 to 597 &c. Article XXVII . read , Wherein the Earl is charged , that he did by his own Authority , impose a Tax on His Majestys Subjects for the payment of the Soldiers , and caused the same to be levied by force , 600 The Article opened by Mr. Maynard 601 The Petition of the Gentry of York read , as Evidence , 602 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exceptions taken , Interlocutory passages , Defence and Reply , as to that Article , 603 to 627 More passages Interlocutory 629 to 632 Attainder , see Act and Bill . Bill brought in for continuance of the Parliament , 743 Bill of Attainder , and Bill for Continuance of the present Parliament , passed the Lords House , 755 Bill to be drawn up for the Pressing of Mariners , 755 A. Bishop of Canterbury settles an inviolable friendship with the Earl , 769 The Bishops decline giving their Suffrages in matters criminal , 41 Bishops enabled in Ecclesiastical affairs , by Warrant from the Earl of Strafford , see Art. 9. 236 Bishops , Iudges , &c. sent for to attend the King at Whitehall , the day before His Majesty consented to pass the Bill of Attainder , 756 Bullion in the Mint to be seized , see Art. 26. 589 C. CLosets placed in Westminster-Hall , whither the King , Queen , and Prince retired , 41 Commissioners of Scotland to bring in their proofs against the Earl , 18 Commissions granted to the Earl of Worcester and his Son , for levying of Horses , to be drawn into the Charge against the Earl of Strafford , 19 Committee appointed to be present at the private Examination of Witnesses , 6 Committee touching the Examination of Members named , 14 , 15 , 16 A select Committee of both Houses , appointed to meet at a Conference concerning the Trial of the Earl , 33 Commons House approves of the Petition delivered by certain Peers to the King at York , for the calling of a Parliament , 6 Right of the Commons in the proceedings in the Lords House , in Cases of Impeachment , to be considered of by a Committee , 21 The Commons to meet only as a Committee of the whole House at the Trial of the Earl ; and in the House constantly at two of the clock in the afternoon , during the time of Trial , 42 Names of the Members of the House of Commons , who are desired to be present as Witnesses at the Trial of the Earl , 44 Conference , That all the Ports in Ireland be open , 4. Conference about sending for Sir George Ratcliffe , a Member of Parliament in Ireland , 4 Conference about disbanding the new levied Irish Army . 18 Conference to Sequester the Earl from his Offices , 20 Conference as to place of Trial , as to the persons present , as to Conncil and management of the Evidence , 34 to 37 Conference is desired with the Lords , to know to what purpose the Earls Council should be heard , 47 Council of the Earl , concerning matters of Law , to be to morrow heard in Westminster-Hall , 47 In Criminal matters the Bishops decline giving their Suffrages , 41. Interlocutory passages , about admitting Sir Pierce Crosby to be examined , 109 Customs Farmed for the Earls use , see Art. 10. 241 D. LOrd Digby goes up to the Lords to desire a free Conference concerning Articles against the Earl , 9 His Speech to the House of Commons to the Bill of Attainder , 50 Sir Kenelm Digby to be removed from Court 42 Lord Dillon's Case of Ireland , to be reported by the Committee 19 E. LOrd Viscount Ely his Case in Ireland to be reported by the Committee , 19 The Evidence against the Earl , to be managed by a Committee of the House of Commons , 32 Evidence offered by the House to the Committee , to corroborate the latter part of the 23 Article , 45 Evidence for the Earl to be recollected by him to morrow , which done , the managers are to state their Evidence , 47 Examinations taken before the Lords , to be delivered to the Commons appointed to draw up the Charge against the Earl , 19 Examination of the Lord Primate of Ireland debated , 44 Exceptions by the Earl , and other unnecessary delays , to be prevented , 43 Exceptions taken by some Members to the Lord Digby's Speech , 55 F. FIne and Ransome to be put upon those who refuse to lend Money , see Art. 25 582. Flax , a great quantity thereof in the Earl of Straffords hands , &c. see Art. 13. 416 Forces made use of to Levy Money , see Art. 25. 426 Forces in Wiltshire , Hampshire , Kent and Sussex , be drawn towards Portsmouth and Dover , 740 G. MR. Glyn's Reply , 706 to 733 Gondamore , an Agent from Spain , a sower of Seeds of Distraction among us , 765 Col. Goring his Examination , 746 His Vindication by Vote of the House , 755 H. EArl of Holland General of the Army , 751 Lord Hollis his Speech to the Lords , to promote the taking a Protestation , 741 Hubub in the City , that the House was beset , and in danger , I. IMpeachment against the Earl read , 101 He is declared an Incendiary of the War with Scotland , see Art. 20. 515 The Introductive Speech of Mr. Pym , as to the Preamble of the Earls Answer . 102 to 109 Petitions and Complaints from Ireland there reported by Mr. Whistler , 10 Irish Affairs to be considered of by a Committee of the whole House , 1 Irish Remonstrance reported by Mr. Whistler , 7 Irish Remonstrance read , 11 , 12 , 13 New levied Irish Army , a Conference about disbanding them , 18 , 42 Irish Army consented by the King to be disbanded , 756 Irish Army , words spoken , &c. tending to the bringing the same into England , 46 , 725 E. EArl of Kildare his Case of Ireland , to be reported , 19 The King declares the Ports in Ireland to be open , 6. King , Queen , and Prince come to their private Closets , placed in Westminster-Hall during the Trial , 41 King 's little finger heavier than the loins of the Law , see Art. 2. 149 King's Letter on behalf of the Earl , 757 Sir Robert King , a Member of Parliament in Ireland , sent for as a Witness against the Earl , 4. L. LEtter to Sir Jacob Ashley , and Sir John Conyers , to prevent a Design to engage the Army against the Parliament , 745 Letter from the King , to moderate the severity of the Law against the Earl , 755 Letter from the Earl to his Secretary Slingsby before his death , 774 Loftus , Lord Chancellor , made a close prisoner , see Art. 8. 221 Twelve Lords send to His Majesty , to shew favour to his innocent Children , 758 M. MAriners , a Bill to be drawn to enable the pressing of them , 755 Members of Parliament in Ireland sent for by the Commons , 4 , 5 , 6. A Committee , touching the Examination of Members of both Houses named , 14 , 15 , 16 Members make a protestation of Secresie , 16 Four Members , viz. Mr. Selden , Palmer , Maynard , and Whitlock , added to the Committee for the Earl , who made their Protestation of Secresie , 32 Members appointed to view the place of Trials , 39 Members desired by the Earls Petition , to be heard as Witnesses , 40 Some Members of the Lords House desired by the Commons to be made use of as Witnesses , 44 Members names of the House of Commons , whom the House desires to be present at the Trial as Witnesses , 44 Message from the Lords for a Conference by a Committee of Thirty of their House , with a proportionable number of this House , touching the examination of Members , &c. 10 Message to the Lords about disbanding the new levied Irish Army , 42 Message to the Lords , to appoint a day for the Earl to conclude his Trial ; 44 Both Houses agree , that if the Earl come not to morrow , the House of Commons may sum up their Evidence and conclude , 45 Message to acquaint the Lords , that the Proceedings by Bill , stand in no way of opposition to what hath been already done , 48 Moneys without Parliament to be raised by force , see Art. 21. 516 Monopoly made of Tobacco , see Art. 12. 402 Sir Walter Montague , Sir Toby Mathews &c. to be removed from Court , 42 Lord Montnorris his Case of Ireland , to be reported by the Committee . Montnorris sentence of death pronounced against him , see Art. 5. 186 Sentence read , 187 Concerning his being put out of possession of his Freehold , see Art. 6. 205 Multitudes of people assembled in Westminster , 742 Petition from them , desiring Iustice against the Earl , communicated to the Commons , ibid. They depart upon the Lords taking the Protestation . 742 N. LYsimachus Nicanor , his scandalous Pamphlet Printed , 770 Earl of Northumberland made General of the Royal Army in England , upon whose sickness , the Earl of Strafford was made Lieutenant-General , Anno 1640. 769 Earl of Northumberland communicates Mr. Percies Letter to the Peers , 748 Earl of Northumberland Lord High Admiral of England , 769 O. OAth contrived against the Scots in Ireland , see Art. 19. 489 The like to the Scots in England , 503 Offensive War against the Scots , urged by the Earl , see Art. 20. 515 A Troop of Reformed Officers to be disbanded , 15 Officers , &c. Warrant to them , see Art. 9. 236 P. PAper posted up at Sir William Brunkards House in the Old Palace-yard , declaring the names of many persons to be enemies of Iustice , 59 Parliament in Ireland declare against the Scots , see Art. 22. 517 People assemble in multitudes at Westminster , 742 Petitions , Orders , and Books of Entries of Impositions , &c. sent for out of Ireland , 8 Petitions and Complaints of proceedings in Ireland reported , 10 Petition of the Parliament of Ireland to the King , read 15 Petition of the Earl , to examine some Members of this House , read 40 Two Petitions of the Citizens of London , read , 55 One of them concerning Grievances inserted , 56 Petition from a multitude of people at Westminster , desiring Iustice against the Earl , communicated to the Commons 742 A discovery in the Petition of Soldiers , to be brought into the Tower , ibid. Father Philips's Letter to Mr. Walter Montague read , 751 He is called to the Bar , and is impeached , 752 Mr. Piercy's Letter concerning the Plot , 748 to 750 Mr , Piercy , and Sir John Suckling voted to be guilty of High Treason , 754 Plot discovered in England , 735 Upon which the House resolves on a Protestation , ibid. Preamble thereunto , ibid. The Protestation read , 736 Names of the Protestors , 736 to 740 The Plot still suspected to be carried on , 740 Ports in Ireland to be open , 46 1500 Barrels of Powder gone to Portsmouth to be stayed , 740 Lord Primate of Ireland his Examination debated , 44 Proceedings by way of Bill , no way in opposition to what hath been already done , 48 Proclamation to issue out against Sir George Ratcliffe , if he appear not at the day limited , 16 Proclamation by the Earl , commanding the Nobility to reside in Ireland , see Art. 16. 460. Protestation of Secresie taken by the Members 16 The same taken by the four Members added to the Committee for the Earl , 32 Protestation of the Lords , denying that they did approve of the Earls raising Money in Yorkshire , 37 , 38 Protestation resolved on by the House , upon the discovery of the Plot in England , 735 Carried up to the Lords , to take the same , 741 Mr. Hollis's Speech to the Lords , to promote the taking thereof , 742 The Protestation taken by the Lords , and the multitude depart , ibid. Q. THe Queen came to her private Closet in Westminster-Hall , during the Trial , 41 Queen-Mother apprehending her self in danger of the Multitude , Mr. Martyn moved the House that she may depart the Kingdom , 758 R. LOrd Ranelaghs , debate about his Examination , 174 Not to be examined , 175 Sir George Ratcliffe not to speak with , or write to the Earl of Strafford , 15 A Proclamation to issue out against him , if he appear not at the day limited , 16 Articles of High-Treason voted against him , 17 Records of Attainder , a Committee appointed to search those Cases in the Kings-Bench , 7 Reformado-Officers to be disbanded 15 Remonstrance of Ireland reported by Mr. Whistler , 7 Remonstrance of the House of Commons in Ireland read , 11 , 12 , 13 , 114. No Replication to be put in to the Earls Answer , 32 Strafford . A Committee of Irish Affairs , of the whole House designed in order to his Accusation . 1 He is in a great Dilemma in the North 2 His intended Impeachment of some Members disappointed , ibid. He is accused of High-Treason ; 3 Sequestred from the Parliament , and Committed to the Black Rod , ibid. Examination of Witnesses to be taken , previous to his Tryal in the presence of some of the Commons , 6 Records of Attainder in the Kings Bench to be search'd , in order to a Bill of Attainder , 7 Irish Remonstrance reported , which reflected on his proceedings in Ireland , 7 and 10 Petitions , Orders , and Books of Proceedings upon Paper-Petitions , and of Entries relating to the Custom-House in Ireland sent for , 7 , 8 Articles , in maintainance of the Accusation of the said Earl , 8 , 9 Free Conference concerning the said Articles , 9 A select Committee agreed upon for the Examination of Witnesses concerning him , 10 Members of both Houses to be examined concerning him , 14 , 15 , 16 Parliament of Ireland , their Petition to the King against him , 15 Sir George Ratcliffe not to speak with him , 15 Scotch Commissioners to bring in their charge , and Proofs against him , 18 See the Charge 769 Conference to Sequester him from his Offices , 20 Debate about admitting him Council at his Trial , 21 His Answer read , containing 200 sheets of Paper , 22 Abstract of his Answer to the 28 Articles , 22 unto 30 The Evidence against him to be managed by a Committee of the House of Commons , 32 No Replication to be put in unto his Answer , ibid. The Commons aver the Charge against him , and will manage the Evidence by Members of their own ; the Names of the Members to that purpose appointed , 33 A Committee of 48 of the Commons , appointed to meet a Committee of 24 of the Lords , at a free Conference concerning his Tryal , 33 Conference as to place of Tryal , Persons present , Council , and management of Evidence against him , 34 unto 37 Protestation entred in the Lords House , denying that they did approve of his raising Money in Yorkshire , 37 , 38 Resolved that the Commons be present , as a Committee of the whole House , at his Tryal , &c. 38 Some Members appointed to view the place for his Trial , 39 His Petition to examine some Members of this House read , 40 The manner of his coming to his Tryal in Westminster-Hall , 41 The manner of bringing him into the Hall , the Ax not being suffered to be carried before him till after Tryal , 41 Suffrages in matters criminal declined to be given by the Bishops , entring their Protestation , &c , 41 The House to meet at Two in the afternoon , constantly during the Tryal 42 His Exceptions , and frequent Adjournment of the Lords House , occasioned thereby , with other unnecessary delays reported , how to prevent the same , 43 A Peremptory day to be appointed for him to conclude his Tryal , 44 Both Houses agree , that if the Earl come not to morrow , the Commons may sum up their Evidence , and conclude , 45. Resolved by the Lords , that to morrow be recollect his Evidence , which being done , the Managers are to state theirs , 47 The Act of Attainder read a Second time , and referred to a Committee of the whole House . ibid. The Council appointed by the Lords to be here to morrow morning , concerning matter of Law , 47 Resolved , that it is sufficiently proved that he hath endeavoured to subvert the antient and Fundamental Laws of the Realms of England , Scotland , and Ireland , and to introduce Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law , 48 Lord High Steward , his Speech unto him the first day of Tryal , 101 The Impeachment against him read , 101 The-Speech Introductive of Mr. Pym , concerning the Preamble to his Answer , 102 Lord Digby's Speech to the Bill of Attainder , 50 Names of Witnesses , their Evidence , Exception taken , Interlocutory Passages , Defence and Reply , 109 , &c. Sentence against the Lord Montnorris read , 187 Some Interlocutory Passages and Speeches in the Petition of Right made by him in Parliament ; much notice thereof being taken by the Court , 763 His Confinement in Kent for refusing Lone-Money , 763 Complained of at Court , for frequenting Archbishop Abbots Table with Sir Dudly Digs , &c. 764 Sentence against the Lord Montnorris read , 187 Earl of Straffords Summary Account of his Evidence , 633 to 660 The Speech of Mr. Pym thereupon , 661 , to 674 Mr. Glyn's Reply , to the Earls Summary of his Evidenee , 706 to 733 King's Speech in favour of the Earl , 734 The Earls Letter to him , to set His Majesties Conscience at Liberty , 743 Concerning an endeavour for the Earl to escape out of the Tower , 746 Sir John Suckling voted Guilty of Treason , 754 The Earl brought to the Scaffold , his Speech then , 759 Copy of the Paper , containing the heads of his last Speech , written with his own Hand , and left on the Scaffold , 760 He desires before he dies , to speak with the Archbishop of Canterbury , but refused , 762 He sees the Archbishop the next morning at his window , as he was going to the Scaffold , and desires his Blessing , 762 He went to the Scaffold more like a General at the Head of an Army , after obtaining Conquest in Battel , than like a man going to execution by Death , 762 His Instructions to his Son in Writing , ibid. A Description of his Person , and an account of the Noble Relations to his Family , 772 A brief Account of his Secretary Mr. Slingsby ; and of his death , by having his Legs cut off above the knees , 773 His Letter to his Secretary before his death , 774 The King's Reflections upon the Earls death , 775 T. TAx imposed on the Subjects , see Art. 27 , 598 Tobacco made a Monopoly , see Art. 12. 402 Westminster-Hall the place of Tryal , appointed to be viewed by Members , 39 The fitness thereof reported by Sir John Culpeper , ibid. The First day of Tryal , March 22. 1640. 101 , 102 , &c. The manner of his coming to Tryal , 41 U ULster the place of Rendezvous for the Irish Army in fight of Scotland , 769 Ungirding of the Scotch Army , 770 W SIr Christopher Wandesford , made Lord Deputy of Ireland , by the Earl , 769 Warrant given to Officers of the Ecclesiastical Courts to Attach and commit persons , see Art. 9. 236 Warrant produced , 237. Sir Richard Weston , Lord Treasurer , first courted the Earl after the Dissolution of the Parliament , 4 Car. 1. 768 Sir Iohn Winter to be removed from Court , 42 Some Lords desired to be made use of as Witnesses , 49 Earl of Worcester and his Sons Commission for levying of Forces , to be drawn into the charge of the Earl of Strafford , 19 Words spoken , tending to the bringing of the Irish Army into England , 46 , 725 Words wherewith the Earl was charged in several Articles of Impeachment , see Art. FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A57925-e590 See Historical Collections the First Part. Pa. 500. Notes for div A57925-e920 Resolved to Accuse the E. of strafford of High Treason . Report of the Message of High Treason . Message of Sequestration of E. of Strafford . The Lord Keeper to the E. of Strafford . Message from the Lords . Conference , that Ports of Ireland shall be open . Committee how to send for Sir George Ratcliff . Mr. Speaker to sit at the Grand Committee for Irish Affairs . Irish Affairs . Committee concerning the Earl of Strafford . Resolutions thereupon . Sir Robert King to be sent for . Expedition . Mr. Treasurer Reports the Message from the King. No Member to visit the Earl of Strafford without leave . Message to the Lords for a Committee to examine Witnesses . Approbation of the Lords Petitioners for a Parliament . Petition to be Entred . Speedy examinations against the Earl of Strafford by Members of both Houses . Committee to search Attainders . Report Irish Remonstrance . Book of Petitions sent for over . Warrants for Taxes upon Tobacco . Entries of Impositions . Articles against the Earl of Strafford . Articles to be engrossed . Conference concerning the Earl of Strafford's Articles . Articles ingrossed . Mr. Pym gets leave to speak . Mr. Pym Reports the Conference . Thank 's to Mr. Pym. Message for a Conference . Answer . Mr. Whistler's Report from the Committee for Irish Affairs . A Committee to meet a Committee of the House of Lords about the Examination of Witnesses , in the Case of the E. of Strafford . Petition from the Parliament in Ireland read . Sir George Ratcliff not to speak with , or write to the E. of Strafford . A Troop of Reformado Officers in the Army to be disbanded . A Message for a Conference for some of the Members to be present at the Examination of Witnesses . Mr. Pym's Report . A Message by the Commons . Sir George Ratcliff to come in by a day . A Report of the Conference for the Lords Members to be examined . Another Message concerning Members to be present at the Examination . A Protestation of Secrefie . Articles against Sir George Ratcliff . A Message . Ratcliff . Irish Army . Petitions referred to the Sub-Committee . Depositions concerning the Earl of Strafford . A Message concerning Examinations . The further Impeachment of the Earl of Strafford . Sequestration of Thomas Earl of Strafford . To open Letters . Concerning Council for the Earl of Strafford . The little Finger of the Law Ireland a Conquered Nation Lawyers not to dispute the Orders of the Council-Board , in the Earl of Cork's Case . Lord Mountnorris sentenced to suffer death by Martial Law. The Lord Mountnorris put out of Possession . Lord Dillon his Patent questioned . The Lord Loftus close Prisoner , not delivering the Great Seal . The Earl of Kildare Committed . Committee to consider of the Proof . Members to manage the Evidence . No Replication to the Earl's Answer . Concerning the manner of the Trial of the Earl. Concerning the place of Trial , and the Council for the Earl. The time of the Trial. Concerning the Place for the Trial. Members appointed to View the place of Trial. E of Strafford's Petition read . The great Hall in Westminster appointed for the Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford . Menday . ( Afternoon . ) ( Afternoon . ) The Petition of divers Citizens of London to both Houses of Parliament , wherein is an accompt of their Grievances , together with their desires for Justice to be executed upon the E. of Strafford , and other Delinquents . A Memorial of the Member that first took the Names . Notes for div A57925-e31100 The Prisoner at the Barr. Lord High Steward . Lord High Steward . E. of Strafford . Lord High Steward . Lord High Steward . Mr. Pym. Lord High Steward . Mr. Pym. E. of Strafford . Lord High Steward . Mr. Pym. Lord High Steward . E. of Strafford . Mr. Maynard . Lord High Steward . Mr. Pym. Mr. Maynard . Lord Fligh Steward . Mr. Pym. Sir Io. Clotworthy , a Witness . The Question . Sir Io. Clotworthy . Lord Ranulagh a Witness . E. of Strafford . Lo. Ranulagh . L. Mountnorris a Witness . Nicholas Barnewell a Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Pym. Mr. Egor a Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. Remonstrance . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. Remonstrance . Manager . Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord High Steward . Witness . Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Witness . E of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Witness . Manager . Witness . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord High Steward . E. of Straffords Speech . Lord High Steward . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Witness . Kings Warrant read . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Billetting of Soldiers in Dublin . Increase of Shipping . Jurors Sentence in the Star-Chamber . Manager . Lord High Steward . Mr. Maynard Manager . Article 1. Manager . Manager . Witness . Witness . Witness . Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord High Steward . Manager . F. Thorpe a Witness . Manager . Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord High Steward . E. of Strafford . Lord High Steward . Manager . F. Thorpe a Witness . George Hawes a Witness . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Straffords Defence . Manager . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . The Managers Reply . Article 2. Manager . Witness . Sir Tho. Leyton a Witness . Lord High Steward . Tho. Harrison a Witness . E. of Straffords Defence . Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord Steward . Managers Relpy . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord High Steward . Sir David Fowles a Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Article 3. E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E of Strafford . E of Strafford . Manager . Robert Kennyday a Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Lord Corke a Witness . Manager . Lord Gorminstone a Witness . Lord Killmallock a Witness . Sir Pierce Crosby a Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Slingsby a Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Manager . Manager . E. of Strafford . Managers Relpy . Managers Reply . Mr. Fitzgarret a Witness . E. of Strafford . Lord Gorminstone a Witness . Lord Killmallock a Witness . Manager . Article 4. Manager . Lord Ranulagh a Witness . E. of Strafford . Witness . E. of Stafford . E. of Corke 2 Witness . Iohn Waldron a Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Castlehaven a Witness . Manager . Lord High Steward . Roger Lotts a Witness . Manager . E. of Strafford . Article 5. Manager . Manager . Lord Mountnorris a Witness . Witness . Witness . Witness . Lord Dillom a Witness . Lord Ranulagh a Witness . Manager . Earl of Cork a Witness . William Castigatt a Witness . Lord Dillon a Witness . Patrick Gough a Witness . Lord Conway a Witness . E. of Strafford's Defence . Manager . E. of Strafford . Lord Willmott a Witness . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Sir Robert Farrer a Witness . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Manager . Manager . Manager . Earl of Ely a Witness . Manager . Manager . Manager . Article 6. Manager . Thomas Little a Witness . E. of Strafford . Lord Mountnorris a Witness . Mr. Anslow a Witness . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Corke a Witness . Lord Ranulagh a Witness . S. Adam Loftus a Witness . Lord Mountnorris a Witness . Earl of Bath a Witness . E. of Strafford . Manager . Manager . Mr. Anslowe a Witness . William Brettergh a Witness . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Straffords Defence . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Article 8. Manager . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . Manager . Mr. Hoy a Witness . Thomas Hibbots a Witness . Lord Mountnorris a Witness . Earl of Cork a Witness . Manager . Manager . Manager . Lord Corke a Witness . Lord Primate a Witness . Lord Renula a Witness . Manager . Lord Renula a Witness . E. of Strafford . Lord Dillon a Witness . Sir Philip Manwareing a Witness . The Managers Reply . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Article 9. Sir Ia. Montgomery a Witness . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . E. of Strafford . Manager . Article 10. Lord Ranulagh a Witness . Sir Iames Hey a Witness . Robert Goodwyn a Witness . Henry Brawd a Witness . Robert Cogan a Witness . Iohn Welsh a Witness . Lord Renula a Witness . Patrick Allen a Witness . E. of Straffords Defence . Lord Cottington a Witness . E. of Strafford . Lord Cottington a Witness . E. of Strafford . Lord Cottington a Witness . Sir Arthur Ingram a Witness . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Lord Dillon a Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Maynard's Reply . Article XII . Charge . Mr. Maynard . Proclamation . Proclamation . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Crosby . Witness . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Allen. Winness . Mr. Welsh . Witness . Mr. Gough . Witness . Patrick Gough . Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Blunkett . Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Crosby . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Gibson . Mr. Slings by . E. of Strafford . Lord Robert Dillon . E. of Strafford . Mr. Gibson . Mr. Maynard Mr. Gibson . Article XIII . Charge . Benjamin Croky , Witness . Sir Iohn Clotworthy Witness . E. of Strafford . L. Rainalaugh . Sir Iohn Clotworthy Witness . L. Rainalaugh Witness . Mr. Gough , Witness . Mr. Firzgarret Witness . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Glyn. Article XV. Charge . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Savill , Witness . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Savill . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Savill . Mr. Maynard . L. Strafford . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Pym. Mr. Savill Witness . Mr. Palmer . L. Steward . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Savill . Gough Witness . Richard Welsh Witness . Patrick Cleare . Witness . Nicholas Ardah Witness . Berne . Witness . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Kennedy . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Little Witness . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Maynard . Lord Strafford Lord Rana . laugh . Mr. Palmer , Mr. Palmer . E. of Strafford Defence . Lord Dillon . Mr. Palmer . E. of Strafford . Lord Dillon . Tyrringham . Conley , Witness . Henry Dillon . Tyrringham . Ranailaugh . Strafford . Palmer . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Pym. Mr. Palmer . E. of Strafford . Ardah Witness . Savill , Witness . Dillon . Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Palmer . Reply . Sir Arthur Tyrringham . Article XVI Charge . Iohn Loftus Witness . Wade Witness . Lorky Witness . Richard Wade Witness . Mr. Palmer . Lord Roche Witness . E. of Strafford . Nash Witness Parry Witness E. of Strafford Mr. Palmer , Afterwards His Majesties Attorney-General . Linch Witness . Fitz-gerard Witness . Mr. Palmer . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Mr. Riley , Witness . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Ralton . E. of Strafford . Mr. Gibson . Dillon Wit. ness . Mr. Maynard Mr. Maynard . E. of Strafford . Mr. Wether inge . Ralton . E. of Strafford . Slingsby Witness . Little Witness . E. of Strafford Mr. Palmers Reply . Mr. Palmer . Torky Witness . E. of Strafford . E. of Strafford . Richard Wade Witness . Patrick Gough Witness . Mr. Glyn. Article XIX Charge . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Maxwel . Mr. Whitlock . Sir Iohn Clotworthy Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Salmon , Witness . Iohn Loftus Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Defence . E. of Strafford . Robert Lord Dillon Witness Manwaring . Sir Adam Loftus Witness . Maynard . Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Slingsby Witness . Trueman Witness . Little , Witness . Ralton . Sir Philip Manwaring Witness . Robert Lord Dillon Witness . Sir Adam Loftus Witness . Sir Philip Manwaring . Witness . Whitlock's . Reply . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Maynard . Stroud . E. of Strafford . Stroud . E. of Strafford . Article XX. Charge . Article XXI . Charge . Article XXII Charge . Artic. XXIII Charge . Art. XXIV . Charge . L. High Steward . Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Whitlock . Maynard . L. H. Steward . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Maynard . E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Glyn. E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Traquair Mr. Whitlock . E. of Traquair . Mr. Palmer . Mr. Maynard . E. of Strafford . E. of Traquair . E. of Strafford . L. Digby . Mr. Glyn. E. of Strafford Mr. Glyn. E. of Traquair . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Glyn. E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . L. H. Steward . E. of Morton . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Traquair . Witness . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Whitlock . Sir Henry Vane Witness . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Northumberland . Witness . Bish. of London Witness . Mr. Barnewell Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Archbishop of Armagh Witness . L. Conway Witness . Sir Henry Vane Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Sir Ro. King. Witness . L. Ranalaugh Witness . L. Ranalaugh Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Maynard . Sir Thomas Barrington Witness . King Witness Ranalaugh Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Sir Tho. German , Witness - E. of Bristol Witness . E. of Holland Witness . Mr. Whitlock . Sir Henry Vane Witness . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Clare . L. H. Steward . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. E. of Strafford . Slingsby , Witness . E. of Strafford . Marquis Hamilton Witness . Mr. Slingsby , Witness . Sir George Wentworth . Mr. Maynard . E. of Strafford . L. Treasurer Witness . Mr. Maynard . L. Treasurer Witness . L. Cottington . Mr. Maynard L. Cottington . Mr. Maynard . L. Cottington . Marq. Hamilton , Witness . E. of Strafford . M. Hamilton . L. Goring Witness . Mr. German , Witness . Mr. Glyn. L. Treasurer . L. Cottington . E. of Strafford Mr. Whitlock's Reply . L. Conway . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Glynn . L. Cottington . Mr. Glynn . Mr. Pym. Artic. XXV . Charge . Mr. Maynard . L. Treasurer . Tho. Wiseman Witness . Tho. Wiseman , Witness . E. of Berkshire . Garaway , Lord Mayor of London . E. of Strafford . Garaway . Defence of the E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. Art. XXVI . Charge . Robert Edwards , Witness . Palmer Witness . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Henley , Witness . E. of Straffords Defence . I. Cottington Witness . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Maynards Reply . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Strowd . Garaway Witness . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Strowde . Art. XXVII . Charge . Mr. Maynard . Sir Hugh Cholmeley Witness . Sir Henry Cholmley Witness . Hotham Witness . Stapleton Witness , L. Wharton Witness . Pennyman 〈◊〉 Mr. Maynard . Griffin , Witness . Lord Clare . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Strickland , Witness . Burroughes Witness . Cholmeley Witness . Dowsen , Witness . Pierson Witness . Ingram , Witness . Griffin , Witness . Cholmley , Witness . Mr. Maynard E. of Straffords Defence . Neale . Witness . Osborne , Witness . Mr. Maynard . Pennyman . Witness . E. of Strafford L. Wharton . L. Wharton . Pennyman Witness . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Glynn . Mr. Maynard . E. Strafford . Pennyman Witness . Savill Witness . Pennyman Witness . Osborne Witness . Savill Witness . Rhodes Witness . Danby Witness Mr. Maynard . Wentworth , Witness . E. of Strafford Strickland , Witness . Edw. Osborne . Wil. Pennyman , E. of Strafford . Mr. Maynard . Cholmeley Witness . E. of Strafford . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Whitlock . E. of Strafford . Mr. Whitlock . Mr. Maynard . Mr. Glyn. Mr. Maynard . Mr. Glyn. Object . Answ. Object . Answ. Owen ' s Case of Sandwich in Kent . The House of Commons Adjourned upon this Speech of the Kings , in some dissatisfaction . May the 3. the Commons having a Plot discovered , fall into the Debate thereof . And the same day Resolve upon a Protestation . The Preamble to the Protestation . The Commons send a Message to the Lords , concerning the Plot. And desire a Select Committee to take Examinations upon Oath . And that no Servant of the King or Queens Majesty , departs the Kingdom till they be examined . And sent a Letter to the Army , to assure them of the Parliaments care of them . The Commons past several Resolves . These Resolves and the Protestation commuicated to the Lords . Mr. Hollis his Speech in a Message to the Lords about the Plot. Multitudes of people flock to Westminster crying Iustice , Iustice , &c. The people assemble again in multitudes , which the Lords communicate to the Commons at a Conference . And communicates the Petition of the multitude , as followeth . Desiring Justice and Execution upon the Earl of Strafford . To be secured against Plots . And against a Garrison newly put into the Tower. To make way forth Earl of Straffords escape . The Lords send Six Peers to the Tower , to inquire of this business . The Lieutenant said , he had His Majesties Command to receive 100 men The Lords at the Conference declared , That the Tumults hindred their proceeding upon the Bill of Attainder . The Lords took the Protestation . And the multitudes departed . A Bill for the continuance of the present Parliament , twice read . The Earl of Straffords Letter to the King. A great Hubbub in the City . Conspirators fled . The Queen desigas to goe to Portsmouth . Proclamation to call in the Conspirators . A Letter to prevent the design to engage the Army against the Parliament . sent to Sir Iacob Ashly , and Sir Iohn Conyers . The Plot consisted of thre heads . Capt. Bilingsly his Examination , that he had Orders to get 100 men into the Tower . The Earl expostulates about his escape . Examination of three Witnesses more , as as to the Earls escape . Col : Gorings examination about the Plot. Mr. Peircy his better against the Plot. Father Philips his Letter against the Parliament . Earl of Holland General of the Army . Father Philips to be sent for . He appears Several Votes against Ar. Peircy about the Plot. Barkley and O-Neal are fled . Mr. Peircy charged with High Treason . A Vote to vindicate Col. Goring . Bill of Attainder , and for continuance of the Parliament , passed Message to the Lords to move the King for His Consent to pass the Bill of Attainder . To Press Mariners . The King , Judges , and Bishops consult about Strafford . The King gives Warrant for a Commission to give His Assent to the Bill for execution of the Earl of Strafford . The Royal Assent given this day , and the Bill passed . The King consents that the Irish Army should be instantly disbanded . Thanks returned to His Majesty . The Earl of Strafford's Petition to the House of Peers . The Bill of Attainder . * This Proviso hath occasioned the common discourse and opinion that this Judgment against the Earl was Enacted never to be drawn into President . The Kings Letter on behalf of the Earl of Strafford . Twelve Lords sent to the King. QueenMother The Earl of Strafford brought to the Scaffold . His Speech . His Majestys Propositions tothe House of Commons touching Supply . See page in the First Part of Historical Collections . The Charge of the Scotch Commissioners presented to the Parliament . The description of his Person and Family . Mr. Slingsby's Interment . His Extraction and Education . 
A57919	----	Historical collections of private passages of state Weighty matters in law. Remarkable proceedings in five Parliaments. Beginning the sixteenth year of King James, anno 1618. And ending the fifth year of King Charls, anno 1629. Digested in order of time, and now published by John Rushworth of Lincolns-Inn, Esq; Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. 1659 Approx. 2845 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 394 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A57919 Wing R2316A ESTC R219757 99831205 99831205 35668 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A57919) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 35668) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 2040:14) Historical collections of private passages of state Weighty matters in law. Remarkable proceedings in five Parliaments. Beginning the sixteenth year of King James, anno 1618. And ending the fifth year of King Charls, anno 1629. Digested in order of time, and now published by John Rushworth of Lincolns-Inn, Esq; Rushworth, John, 1612?-1690. [18], 616, 621-668, 667-701, [1], 59, 17 p., [3] leaves of plates : port. printed by Tho. Newcomb for George Thomason, at the sign of the Rose and Crown in St Pauls Churchyard, London : 1659. The words "Private .. Parliaments." are bracketed together on title page. "Appendix. His Majesties declaration to all his loving subjects, of the causes which moved him to dissolve the last Parliament, March 10. 1628." has caption title; register and pagination are separate. Includes index and final leaf of advertisement. Text and register are continuous despite pagination. Stained, affecting legibility of text. Reproduction of original in the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign Campus). Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Great Britain -- History -- James I, 1603-1625 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- History -- Charles I, 1625-1649 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1603-1625 -- Early works to 1800. Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1625-1649 -- Early works to 1800. 2003-03 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-05 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-03 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2005-03 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Historical Collections OF Private Passages of STATE . OF Weighty Matters in LAW . OF Remarkable Proceedings in Five Parliaments . BEGINNING The Sixteenth Year of KING JAMES , ANNO 1618. And ending the Fifth Year of KING CHARLS , ANNO 1629. Digested in Order of TIME , And now Published By JOHN RUSHWORTH of Lincolns-Inn , Esq Prima est Historiae lex , nè quid falsi dicere audeat ; deinde , nè quid veri non audeat : nè qua suspicio gratiae sit in scribendo , nè qua simultatis . M.T. Cicer. de Orat. London , Printed by Tho. Newcomb for George Thomason , at the Sign of the Rose and Crown in St Pauls Churchyard . 1659. A. This Paw points out the Caledonian Iarres , Sad Harbingers to our intestine Warres . B. The Lion passant gardant wonders much The Paw should da● presume his Chiefe , to touch . C. Strange , y● from Stooles at Scotish Prelates 〈◊〉 Bellona's dire Alarm's should rouze the World ▪ D. The Lion , & the Paw bent to engage ▪ Make Peace at Tweed , so change the Scene , & Stage . E The double-headed - Eagle wide doth Spread Her Wings , to fan the Coales , y● seem'd as dead . F. And makes y● Lionesse●n ●n Instrument To breake that Peace , and a fourth Parl'ament . G. The Paw invades y● Lion at Tine Flood ; They fight , make Truce , & stop from shedding Blood. H. The British Notes sound flat , to those more sharp Divisions , Eccho'd from the Irish Harp. I. The Parl'ament conven'd , the Lion try'd By Charging Five , The Members to divide . K. First Iustice , next no Bishop , Priviledge last Cry Multitudes , who to the Houses haste . L. The Lions third Roare , prooving fatall , drew Such Woes , as rarely former Ages knew . M T was a Curst Cow kickt down the Milk shee gaue : Let us old Englands Lawes , and Freedome hau● ! N. Caelestiall Manna ! thy Spirituall Food . O.P. Fed Them with Peace , & Plenty , all that's Good. Q. A blazing Comet thy Backsliding showes , R Predicteth Ruine , & presenteth woes . S. The Faithfull build them Churches , but are stopt By Papists , who at th e Aurea Bulla mockt . T. Great Caesar to y● Romans Crown doth 〈◊〉 His Stately Nephew , and creates him King V Prague gives the Crown in Frederick & 〈◊〉 His Sword to assert the Germans , & their 〈◊〉 W. Then from high Windowes , vnnawares were 〈◊〉 The Emperors Councell , ere the Charge was 〈◊〉 X.Y. The Blow neer Prague was struck , The People 〈◊〉 Like Iehu out . Warre ● sweet before 't is 〈◊〉 Z What Decollations then ! What Blood ! What 〈◊〉 Outacted Tragick Scenes ensu'd that 〈◊〉 TO HIS HIGHNESS RICHARD LORD PROTECTOR of the Commonwealth of England , Scotland , and Ireland , and the Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging . May it please your Highness , THe Poor Widow came far short of others in her offers into the Treasury , and yet when she had given her two Mites , she had given all she had : I must fall short of her ; she gave of her own , ( for the two Mites appear to have been so ) but such is the weakness of my condition , and the nature of this ensuing Discourse , that I neither can , nor shall herein present to Your Highness any thing of my own . The words , actions , and atchievements herein related , belong all to other Persons , and I can challenge but the bare Representation , and the molding them into such a Body , wherein they now appear : A Body , not of so compleat a shape or pourtraiture as may be worthy Your Highness Aspect . It s not amiss for Princes to hear of , and read the Actions or Miscarriages of Princes , nay of lesser persons : Indeed they can hardly set more useful Books before their Eyes . It is hard for the Pilot to escape , unless he hath first discovered those Shelves and Rocks , upon which others have been split : What is that we call Prudence or Policy , but a Systeme of Observations and Experiences deducted from other Mens Principles , Practises , Purposes , and Failings ? As to the matter contained in this Story , relating to Arbitrary courses , given way unto by former Princes , I shall make bold to use the expression of an eminent person in his time , spoken in full Parliament at the Tryal of the Earl Strafford , who speaking of an endeavor that had been used to subvert the Laws , and to introduce Arbitrary Government , has ( among other Passages ) this Observation , There is in this Crime a Seminary of all Evils hurtful to a State , and if you consider the Reasons of it , it must needs be so . The Law is that which puts a difference betwixt Good and Evil , betwixt just and unjust ; if you take away the Law , all things will fall into a confusion , every man will become a Law to himself ; which in the depraved condition of Humane Nature , must needs produce many great enormities ; Lust will become a Law , and Envy will become a Law , Covetousness and Ambition will become Laws ; and what Dictates , what Decisions such Laws will produce , may easily be discerned . The Law is the Safeguard , the Custody of all private Interest ; your Honors , your Lives , your Liberties , and Estates , are all in the keeping of the Law ; without this every man hath a like right to every thing ; what can be more hurtful , more pernicious , then Arbitrary Power ? &c. Thus far that Gentleman : Your Highness will finde here the mention of a great Prince , who was wont to say , He was an old experienced King , and to him belonged the Calling , Sitting , and Dissolving of Parliaments ; and he publickly said ( I speak in his own phrase ) That he had broke the neck of Three Parliaments , yet at last he did comply with his last Parliament ; and said , He saw he should be in love with Parliaments , having understood many things by them , which otherwise he should never have known . Moreover here You will have in view a succeeding Prince , who also broke Three Parliaments , one after another , and how fatal that was to him succeeding times have abundantly declared . The Observation is not mine , but of much more ancient date , those Princes who did most consult with their People in Parliament , ( that being the Common Council of the Nation ) have most prospered in their courses , there being both Safety and Love gained from such Counsellors and Councils . And Parliaments in the nature of them , are good Physick to cure and redress the Diseases and Distempers of the Body Politick , which mostly grow and overflow in the Intervals of them ; yet many think Parliaments are but an ill constant Dyet , which certainly moved Queen Elizabeth , of famous Memory , who was well acquainted with the Constitution of the Body of this Nation , to call Parliaments frequently , but to continue none very long . By this means she wrought her self into the good opinion of her People , and by becoming the Mistress of their Affections , she also became in some sort the Mistress of their Purses , which were always opened unto her upon the just and urgent occasions of the Nation ; but the Help and Aid which comes from the People by strains , contrary to the Laws of the Nation , and Liberties of the People , being drawn from them through fear , wants the perfume of a willing Heart , and has no longer continuance then whilst the impression of that fear lasts . But few words are best to Princes ; vouchsafe Your Highness Pardon to him who thus presumes to make so mean an Oblation at so high an Altar ; Your good Acceptation will be the greatest Honor to it , and to Your Highness humblest and most Obedient Servant JOHN RUSHWORTH . THE PREFACE . MY Business in this ensuing Work , is to render a faithful account of several Traverses of State , and of the most important Passages in debate , between the respective Advocates for Prerogative and Liberty : the Dispute was ominous and fatal , as being the Introduction , and that which gave the Alarm to a Civil War ; a War , fierce , unnatural , and full of wonderful coincidences , both in the Causes and Consequences of it , Humanum est humanis casibus ingemiscere . Therefore if I studied to please my self , and gratifie the inclination of my own temper and affection , you might peradventure hear from me , of the Courage , Exploits , and Success of my Countrey-men in Forein Expeditions , but not of their Animosities in Domestick Encounters : Yet certainly of some use it may be to us , and of concernment also to those that may come after us , Infandum renovare dolorem , to consider indifferently how we came to fall out among our selves , and so to learn the true causes , the rises and growths of our late Miseries , the strange Alterations and Revolutions ; with the Characters of divers eminent Persons , the Mutability of Councils , the Remarkableness of Actions , the Subtilty of Pretentions , the Drifts of Interests , the Secrets of State , and ( which are the words of an Act of Parliament ) the deportment of a Prince , wisely dissimulating with his People . From such premisses , the best Deduction which can be made , is , to look up to , and acknowledge God , who onely is unchangeable , and to admire his Wisdom and Providence even in Humane Miscarriages : For Empires , and Kingdoms , and Commonwealths every where in the World have their Periods , but the Histories thereof remain and live , for the Instruction of Men , and Glory of God. I finde an Expression in Sir Walter Raleighs Preface to his History of the World , which seems to suit well with these Collections . I shall make so far bold with that Memorable Person , whose death bears a sad part in this Story , as to borrow his own words . It is not the least debt ( saith he ) which we ow unto History , that it hath made us acquainted with our dead Ancestors , and delivered us their Memory and Fame : Besides , we gather out of it a Policy no lesswise then Eternal , by the Comparison and Application of other Mens fore-passed Miseries , with our own-like Errors , and ill-deservings ; but it is neither of Examples the most lively Instructions , nor the Words of the wisest Men , nor the Terror of future Torments , that hath yet so wrought in our blinde and stupified Mindes , as to make us remember , That the infinite Eye and Wisdom of God doth so pierce through all our pretences , as to make us remember , That the Iustice of God doth require no other accuser then our own Consciences . And though it hath pleased God to reserve the art of reading mens thoughts to himself ; yet as the Fruit tells the name of the Tree , so do the outward Works of men , so far as their Cogitations are acted , give us whereof to ghess at the rest : No man can long continue masqued in a counterfeit behaviour ; The things that are forced for pretences , having no ground of truth cannot long dissemble their own natures . And although Religion ( saith he ) and the truth thereof be in every mans mouth , what is it other then an universal dissimulation ? We profess that we know God , but by works we deny him : Beatitudo non est divinorum cognitio , sed vita divina . There is nothing more to be admired , nothing more to be lamented , then the private contention , the passionate dispute , the personal hatred , &c. about Religion amongst Christians , insomuch as it hath well near driven the practice thereof out of the world : So that we are in effect ( saith he ) become Comedians in Religion ; For , Charity , Justice , and Truth , have but their being in Terms amongst us . In the close of his Preface , he adviseth the Reader to take heed how he follows Truth too close at the heels , lest it strike out his teeth . I hope this Story begins with a distance of time , not so far off , as the footsteps of Truth are worne out ; nor yet so near , as the heels of it need to be feared . But this I am sure , That had I not gone so far back as I do , I had not reached the Fundamentals to the History of these Times . It hath been observed by some , That most Historians speak too much , and say too little : I doubt others will think , I speak too little , and say too much . So it will be difficult to please all . I know very well , the Collections which I publish will receive no advantage nor commendation from the Collector : And that it may likewise receive no prejudice , I am as ready to confess , as any man in the world is to object , my wants and inabilities ; which indeed to men of sober discourse , may render me unfit to be entertained in the Council , but not unqualified to be impanelled of the Jury : For I began early to take in Characters , Speeches and Passages at Conferences in Parliament , and from the Kings own mouth , when he spake to both the Houses ; and have been upon the Stage continually , and an Eye and Ear-witness of the greatest Transactions ; imployed as an Agent in , and intrusted with Affairs of weightiest concernment ; Privy also both to the Debates in Parliament , and to the most secret Results of Councils of War , in times of Action . Which I mention without ostentation ; only to qualifie me to report to Posterity , what will rather be their wonder at first , then their belief : It is pity they should altogether be deprived of the Advantages which they may reap from our Misfortunes . Hereafter they will hear , that every man almost in this Generation durst fight for what either was , or pretended to be Truth : They should also know that some durst write the Truth ; whilst other mens Fancies were more busie then their hands , forging Relations , building and battering Castles in the Air ; publishing Speeches as spoken in Parliament , which were never spoken there ; printing Declarations , which were never passed ; relating Battels which were never fought , and Victories which were never obtained ; dispersing Letters , which were never writ by the Authors ; together with many such Contrivances , to abet a Party or Interest . Pudet haec opprobria . Such practices , and the experience I had thereof , and the impossibility for any man in After-ages to ground a true History , by relying on the printed Pamphlets in our days , which passed the Press whilst it was without control , obliged me to all the pains and charge I have been at for many years together , to make a Great Collection ; and whilst things were fresh in memory , to separate Truth from Falshood , things real from things fictitious or imaginary . Whereof I shall not at all repent , if I may but prove an ordinary Instrument to undeceive those that come after us . If you demand why my Collections commence so early , and start at such a distance of time so remote , I must answer , That it was at first in my purpose to begin with the Parliament which met Nov. 3. 1640. But after I had perused , ordered , and compared my Printed and Manuscript-Relations of the First Year of that Parliament , I found they pointed at , and were bottomed upon some Actions of the late King , in dissolving four preceding Parliaments : And thereupon , the zeal I had to clear the truth of the Differences between the King and Parliament , forced me to a longer Adventure ; especially seeing the Essay had been very imperfect , and but a meer fragment , if I had only writ the Death , and not the Life of a Prince , who , in the first Speech that ever he made in his first Parliament , did reflect upon some passages in a former Parliament , that advised his Father to break off the two Treaties with Spain , touching a Marriage , and Restitution of the Palatinate ; and so engaged the Father in a War , which the Son was by him left to prosecute . And this Consideration put me upon a further enquiry concerning the aforesaid Treaties , the causes and grounds of the War in the Palatinate , and how far the same concerned England , and the oppressed Protestants in Germany : And finding those proceedings to have their rise in the Year 1618. ( in which Year the Blazing-Star appeared ) I resolved that very Instant should be the Ne plus ultra of my Retrospect . I allow and accept it ▪ as a good Memento , which I meet with in a late Author ; That most Writers now adays appear in Publique , not crook-backed , ( as it is reported of the Iews ) but crook-sided , warped , and bowed to the right , or to the left . For I have heartily studied to declare my self unbiassed , and to give an instance , That it is possible for an Ingenuous man to be of a Party , and yet not partial . If any one engaged on the King's side , come forth in Print with the like moderation , fairness and indifferencie , without heat and personal reflections , our Posterity may be confident of a full discovery of Truth , which is every honest mans desire and expectation . And besides , the Vertues and Reasons of men concerned , may shine and give satisfaction even to those who are not of the same Judgment . I pretend onely in this Work to a bare Narrative of matter of Fact , digested in order of time ; not interposing my own Opinion , or interpretation of Actions . I infuse neither vinegar nor gall into my Ink : If I mention a Charge or Impeachment , it relates also to the Defence that was made by the Accused . And though in these latter times , Titles Names and Dignities are altered , yet I use the Language of that Time of which I write , speaking as the then Parliaments spake , and not robbing any man of the Honor or Epithite which they then pleased to give him . If I speak of any transactions which I my self did not see or hear , I do so with all the caution imaginable , having first consulted Records , conferred with Persons of unquestionable esteem , interessed in the very actions , or perused their known hand-writings of those times ; and where I make mention of any Letters or Passages scattered in print , I first well weighed the same , and out of whose Closets they came , and found many of them concredited before I inserted them . And lastly , where I doubted , I perfected my Intelligence by Forein correspondencies , fetching my satisfaction in divers particulars , out of Germany , Spain , and Italy . Here you will have an intermixture of Secrets of State useful for States-men , and of matters of Law , which may be of some use , not only to the Professors of it , but to every Englishman ; for though few profess the Law , yet all live by it ; for it hedges in , and upholds the Rights , Liberties , and Properties : The matters of Law are not all bound up in one bundle , but you will finde them dispersed in interlocutory Speeches and Discourses ; some of them in Historical Narrations ; and lastly , in Polemical Debates and Arguments , taken by a Gentleman , then a young Student of the Law , which you will finde in an Appendix placed at the end of the Book ; and I hope the Reader will not think his minutes ill bestowed in reading of them though out of place . A great part of the Work is filled up with remarkable Transactions in Parliament , and the Course and Proceedings thereof , wherein you will finde , not onely great wit and wisdom , but choice Eloquence , and excellent Orators , Diggs , Wentworth , Phillips , Elliot , Glanvile , and others not much inferior to the Roman Demagogue . I durst not presume to contract them to an Epitomie or Abridgement , lest by essaying that , I might trespass too much upon the Soil of other mens Inventions and Judgements , or prejudice Truth , or the Persons , whose natural Off-springs they are . Here you have Debates , Siftings , and Consultations of each House apart ; and also by Conferences each with other ( Alterius sic Altera poscit opem Domus & consultat amicè ) and Resolutions of Parliaments , and some Laws which were the ultimate productions of these Councels and Debates . I have but a word to say to my good and worthy Friends of the Army , and it must be by way of Apology , that this Treatise contains not what may be expected by them from me , the Relation of the Motions , Actions , and Atchievements of the Army , which I acknowledge was the first thing in my thoughts and intentions : But upon further consideration I thought it necessary to look somewhat backwards , that we may the better understand the Causes and Grounds which brought the late War upon us , before we set forth the Actions of the War. In the former we may see the vigilancy and care of our Ancestors to secure and uphold our Liberties and Properties , and to transmit the same , in as much purity as might be , to their Posterity , in the latter , which are the Actions of the War , you shall see their Courage and Magnanimity , setting a higher value upon the Rights and Liberties of the Nation , then upon their own Lives . Whom therefore , when I come in order of time to mention , and shall also have occasion to magnifie for their perseverance in maintaining and defending those Laws and Liberties ( so redeemed with the price of their blood ) against Arbitrary wayes and courses ; how joyfull shall I be to employ my Pen to Chronicle such of their Names to Posterity , who justly merit that Character , as worthy of Double Honor. In the second Part of my Collections ( which is to follow , according to the entertainment which this findes abroad ) I shall write with the more confidence , because I did personally attend and observe all Occurrences of moment during the Eleven years Interval of Parliament , in the Star-Chamber , Court of Honor , and Exchequer-Chamber , when all the Judges of England met there upon extraordinary Cases ; at the Council Table , when great Causes were heard before the King and Council : And when matters were agitated at a greater distance , I was there also , and went on purpose out of a curiosity to see and observe the passages at the Camp at Berwick , at the Fight at Newborn , at the Treaty at Rippon , at the great Council at York , and at the meeting of the Long Parliament . The Observations I made during all the said time , shall be further known , if I be encouraged to proceed , and that this my Forlorn be not repelled and defeated . Thus have I ( good Reader ) acquainted thee in plain English , with the Lines and rude Draughts of what hath been , and what is like to be , multorum annorum opus ; in which , as I never did approve , so neither could I perswade my self to tread in their Steps , who intermingle their Passion with their stories , and are not content to write of , unless they write also for a Party , or to serve an Interest ; and so declare themselves far better Advocates then Historians●● . I profess , that in singleness of heart , I aim at truth , which to me has alwayes seemed hugely amiable , even without the tires and advantages of Wit and Eloquence : And therefore , in order to my greatest purpose , I have esteemed the most unaffected and familiar Stile the best ; Altum alii teneant . ) And so irresistible is the force of Truth , and the Divine Providence so great , that howsoever all possible diligence may have been used to carry things in secret , and to act by colourable Pretences ( men often acting like Tumblers that are squint-eyed , looking one way , and aiming another ) Yet hath God in these our dayes brought to light such Secrets of State , such private Consultations , such str●nge Contrivances ( discovered by Letters , Papers , and Cabinet-memorials seised on in time of the War ) as otherwise probably , neither we nor our Posterity should have ever known . I conclude with the learned Spaniards opinion : Satis est Historiae , si sit vera ; quae ut reliqua habeat omnia , si veritatem non habet , obtinere nomen suum non potest . J. RUSHWORTH . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ( h.e. ) Anglorum leges , Suadam , consulta Senatus , ausáque , cuncta loquor , tempore quaeque suo . Excipis adverso si pectore , & ore maligno , pluribus invideas Zoile , nemo tibi . The Printer to the Reader . BEing obliged to get this Book finished against the ensuing Term , I was constrained to make more haste then ordinary ; so that possibly some Faults have escap'd , which I request the Courteous Reader to Pardon and Amend as they shall be met with . VALE . The right high and most mightie Monarch ●AMES by the Gra●ce of God King of great Britaine Fraunce and Ireland &c Defendor of the Faith. Historical Collections . THe grand business of State in the latter times of King Iames , was the Spanish Match , which had the Kings heart in it , over-ruled all his Counsels , and had a mighty influence upon the Universal State of Christendom : This King affecting the name of a King of Peace , and Peace-maker , as his chief glory , had designed , what in him lay , the setling of a general Peace in Europe , and the reconciling of all Parties ; and professed , that if the Papists would leave their King-killing , and some other grosser Errors , he was willing to meet them half way ; moreover , he was ever zealous for the honor and height of regal Majesty , and to maintain the glory of it in his Successors ; 't was his chief desire and care to match his Son with some Princess of most high descent , though of a different Religion . There had been a Treaty of Marriage between the late Prince Henry and a Daughter of Spain , which on the Spaniards part was found a meer Complement , carried on by the accustomed gravity and formality of that Nation . For Cecil Earl of Salisbury , the great States-man of that time , pursued and drove the matter to that point , that the Duke of Lerma , finding no evasion , disclaimed the being of a Marriage Treaty . Nevertheless the Spanish Ambassador , to acquit himself to this State , and to clear his own honesty , at a full Council produced his Commission , together with his Letters of Instruction given under the Duke's hand : Such manner of dealing might have been sufficient Cause of just Indignation against any future motion of this Alliance . After death of Prince Henry , the King set his thoughts upon a Daughter of Henry the Fourth , late King of France , as the fittest Match for Prince Charles , and by Sir Thomas Edmonds his Legier Ambassador , endeavored to know the minde of that State , but could not discern their affections , and was not willing to discover his own : At length taking occasion to send the Lord Hayes Extraordinary Ambassador to the French King , to Congratulate his Marriage with Anne the Infanta of Spain , he resolved to make a thorow Trial : The matter was put forth , and in appearance well taken , but proved of no effect . For the Duke of Savoy was before-hand , and prevailed for his Son the Prince of Piedmont . During this Negotiation of Alliance with France , the Duke of Lerma frequently intimated unto Sir Iohn Digby Ambassador , Resident in Spain , an extraordinary desire in the King his Master , not onely to maintain Peace and Amity with the King of great Britain , but to lay hold on all means that might be offered for the nearer uniting of their Majesties , and their Crowns ; as also a disposition in this regard , to match his second Daughter to the Prince of Wales : The Ambassador replyed , that His Majesty had little reason to give ear to this overture , having not long since , in the Treaty for the late Prince , received such an unexpected Answer , and Demands so improper and unworthy ; and that there needed more then ordinary assurance , to induce him to believe that there was now so great a change , and the match desired in good earnest , and not propounded meerly to divert the match with France : wherefore he expected the proposal of such terms of advantage and certainty , as might gain a belief of their sincere Intentions : Lerma promised a further Conference . But by reason of a strong report that the Match with France was absolutely concluded , and within few dayes to be published , the business lay asleep , until Sir Iohn Digby , going for England , was desired by the Duke to give him notice of the state of this Affair : From hence Digby gives him to understand , that there was no cause of dispair concerning this new overture , unless the difficulty of the Conditions should make it desperate ; but if the Demands in point of Religion were no more then what would satisfie another Catholick Prince , and to which his Majesty might yeild with Honor , he knows that divers persons , not of the meanest power , were well inclined , and ready to give their helping hand : He said further , that it were much better not to revive this motion , then by impossible and unfitting Propositions from either side , to give distaste , and lessen the Friendship between the two Crowns . The Duke returned answer , that all assurance and satisfaction shall be given concerning this Alliance : And after Sir Digby's arrival at the Court of Spain , he protested to him solemnly , that the King desired it , and swore for himself , that he desired nothing more : Hereupon Digby debated with him , That the remembrance of their former Demands was yet unpleasing in England ; the difference of Religion , the Opinions of Divines , and the Cases of Conscience were still the same ; insomuch , that his Majesty and his Servants had just cause to cease for ever from all thoughts this way . Nevertheless , they did not slight nor disrelish an Alliance with Spain ; for many of the greatest eminency in England judge it equally valuable with any other of Christendom , though it be esteemed a matter of infinite difficulty . Here the subtil Spaniard might perceive our forwardness , though our Ambassador seemed to speak aloof off , and with reservation . The debate had this result , that the difficulties should be digested into certain Heads , and select Persons appointed for Conference ; but the Intent thereof was , that the Kings on either side should not be interessed , nor their names therein used , till by the clearing of particulars , there should be great appearances that the business would take effect : Now because the difference of Religion , was supposed the onely difficulty of moment , it was thought fit to break the matter to the Cardinal of Toledo , and the Kings Confessor , and one Father Frederick a learned Jesuite , having the repute of a Moderate man. Upon the review of these proceedings , Sir Iohn Digby advised the King not to suffer his other resolutions to be interrupted by this Overture , which might be set on foot as a meer device to stagger the French Treaty , and to keep his Majesty from declaring himself opposite to Spain in the business of Cleves and Iuliers , which still remained uncompounded ; nevertheless , he might be pleased for a while to suspend the conclusion of the Match with France , and entertain this motion ; and to this end he desired from him not a formal Commission to treat , but onely a private Instruction for his Direction and Warrant . Such remote Conferences made way for that solemn slow-paced Treaty of the many years following , wherein the advantage lay on the Spaniards side , who were indeed very formal and specious in it , but no way vehement and vigorous , if we might suppose them in any sort real : But the King of England having a prevalent inclination this way , when he was once drawn in and elevated with hope , was so set upon it , that he would grant all things possible , rather then break it off , and was impatient of dissembling his own eagerness : The business was mainly carried on by Conde Gondomar , who was exquisitely framed for it , and by facetious wayes , taking the King in his own humor , prevailed mightily . The King removes all blocks that lie in the way of this Darling Design , and studies all the wayes of rendring himself acceptable to Spain . The Wall of this Island the English Navy , once the strongest of all Christendome , now lyes at road unarmed , and fit for ruine : Gondomar [ as was the common voice ] bearing the King in hand , that the furnishing of it would breed suspition in the King his Master , and avert his minde from this alliance : Moreover the Town of Flushing , the Castle of Ramakins in Zealand , and Brill in Holland , which were held by way of caution from the united Provinces , to insure their dependency upon England , the King resolved to render up , as being meerly cautionary , and none of his Propriety : He rid his hands of those places to prevent requests and Propositions from the King of Spain , who claimed the propriety in them , and Gondomar put hard for them , being accounted the Keys of the Low Countries : Such was the Kings care and contrivance to keep faith with those Confederates , and not offend Spain : And to render this a politick action , it was urged that the advantage of those Holds was countervailed by the vast expence in keeping them . Howbeit the power of the English Interest in that State was by this means cut off , and taken away ; and the alienation between King Iames and the United Provinces , which appeared in latter times , and was nourished by Bernevelt the head of the Arminian Faction , and a Pensioner of Spain , is now increased by the discovery and observation of these late Spanish compliances . But the King of Spain and his Ministers had given but slender proof of any great affection , yea or of sincere intention and upright dealing in this great affair . For Sir Iohn Digby received certain Articles in matter of Religion after a Consultation had with their Divines , which appeared very unworthy , and were utterly rejected by him : Yet afterwards upon a private Conference between him , and some others to whom the cause had been committed , a Qualification was therein conceived , though not delivered as a matter there approved . And the same Speeches after his return into England , proceeded between him and Gondomar , and were brought to that Issue , that the King thought fit to acquaint a select number of his Council therewith , who having heard the report of the former proceeding , delivered their opinion , That they found very probable ground for him to enter into a publike Treaty , with as much assurance of good success as in such a case might be expected ; whereupon Sir Iohn Digby by Commission under the Great Seal , was authorized to treat and conclude the Marriage ; and because the matter of Religion was in chief debate , those qualified Articles that were brought out of Spain were sent back signed with the Kings hand , who added something to them by way of clearer explanation : They were to this effect : THat the Popes Dispensation be first obtained by the meer Act of the King of Spain . That the Children of this Marriage be not constrained in matter of Religion , nor their Title prejudiced in case they prove Catholikes . That the Infanta's Family being Strangers may be Catholikes , and shall have a decent place appointed for all Divine Service according to the use of the Church of Rome ; and the Ecclesiasticks and Religious persons may wear their proper Habits . That the Marriage shall be celebrated in Spain by a Procurator according to the Instructions of the Council of Trent ; and after the Infanta's arrival in England , such a solemnization shall be used , as may make the Marriage valid , according to the Laws of this Kingdome . That she shall have a competent number of Chaplains , and a Confessor , being Strangers , one whereof shall have power to govern the Family in Religious matters . In the allowing of these Articles , the King thus exprest himself : Seing this Marriage is to be with a Lady of a different Religion from us , it becometh us to be tender , as on the one part to give them all satisfaction convenient ; so on the other to admit nothing that may blemish our Conscience , or detract from the Religion here established . The People of England having yet in memory the intended Cruelty of 88. and hating the Popish Religion , generally loathed this Match , and would have bought it off at the dearest rate , and what they durst , opposed it by speeches , counsels , wishes , prayers ; but if any one spake lowder then his fellows , he was soon put to silence , disgrac'd , and cross'd in Court-preferments ; when as in Spain and Flanders , Books were penned , and Pictures printed to disgrace the King and State : For which the English Ambassadors sought satisfaction , but in vain : The Roman Catholicks desired the Match above measure , hoping for a moderation of Fines and Laws , perhaps a Toleration , yea , a total Restauration of their Religion ; for they gained more and more Indulgence by the long-spun Treaty : The Articles of Religion were long hammered upon the Spanish Anvil , inlarged and multiplied by new Demands without end . The Conde Gondomar , an active subtil Instrument to serve his Masters ends , neglected no occasion tending thereunto , which he mainly shewed in the particular of Sir Walter Rawleigh , wherein he put forth all his Strength to destroy him , being one of the last Sea-Commanders then living , bred under Queen Elizabeth , and by her flesh'd in Spanish blood and ruin . He did first under-work his Voyage to Guienna , which seemed to threaten loss and danger to the spreading power of Spain in the West-Indies , and after his return with misfortune , he pursued him to death . In the beginning of the Kings Reign , this Gentleman , with others , was arraigned and condemned for Treason ; 't was a dark kinde of Treason , and the vail is still upon it . The King had ground enough to shew mercy , which some of that condemned party obtained . After many years imprisonment , Sir Walter Rawleigh , desirous of liberty and action , propounded an American voyage upon the assurance of gaining a Mine of Gold in Guienna . The King hearkned to him , and gave him power to set forth Ships and Men for that Service , but commanded him upon his Allegiance , to give under his hand , the number of his Men , the burden and strength of his Ships , together with the Country and River which he was to enter . All this was done , and came so timely to Gondomars knowledge , that Advertisement was sent to Spain , and thence to the Indies , before this English Fleet departed out of the Thames . The Action proved unfortunate , and the Mine was inaccessible ; the Spaniards at St. Thomas opposed their passage up the River , and this engaged them to assault the Town , which they took , sacked and burnt . Gondomar hereat incensed , with a violent importunity demanded the reparation of this wrong : And the Spanish Faction urged , that this irruption might make a breach both of the Match and Peace with Spain . The Kings fears kindled his wrath ; he disavowed the Action , and to prevent the like for the future , put forth a severe Proclamation . Hereupon the storm of Passion ceased , and Rawleigh knowing nothing but that he might appear in England with safety , put in at Plimouth , and was no sooner landed , but by secret intimation , understanding his danger , sought to escape beyond Sea , but was taken in the attempt , brought to London , and recommitted to the Tower ; and at length his life was offered up a Sacrifice for Spain , but not upon such grounds as the Ambassador had designed ; for he desired a Judgment upon the pretended breach of Peace , that by this occasion he might slily gain from the English an acknowledgment of his Masters right in those places , and hereafter both stop their mouths , and quench their heat and valor . But the late voyage was not brought in question , onely his former Condemnation was revived ; his Araignment at Winchester many years before was now laid open , and he at the Kings Bench demanded , why Execution should not be done upon him according to the Sentence therein pronounced . Rawleigh answered , That the Kings late Commission gave him a new life and vigor : For he that hath power over the lives of others , ought to be Master of his own . This Plea was not accepted , but the former Judgment took place , and accordingly he lost his Head upon a Scaffold erected in the Old Pallace at Westminster . Whilest Spain and England were thus closing , the fire brake out in Germany between the States and Princes Protestant , and the House of Austria : These commotions involved and drew along the affairs of most Christian Princes , especially of the two Potent Kings now in Treaty . The Catholick Cause , and the Lot of the House of Austria , engaged the King of Spain who was the strongest Branch of that Stock . King Iames must needs be drawn in , both by common and particular Interest ; the Religion which he professed , and the State of his Son in Law the Elector Palatine , who became the principal part in those Wars , and the most unfortunate . It was an high business to the whole Christian World , and the issue of it had main dependence upon the King of England , being the Mightiest Prince of the Protestant Profession : But this Kings proceedings were wholly governed by the unhappy Spanish Treaty . The clouds gather thick in the German skie ; jealousies and discontents arise between the Catholicks , and the Evangelicks , or Lutherans of the Confession of Ausburge . Both parties draw into Confederacies , and hold Assemblies ; the one seeking by the advantage of power to incroach and get ground , the other to stand their ground , and hold their own . The potency of the House of Austria , a House devoted to the Persecution of the Reformed Religion , became formidable . The old Emperor Matthias declared his Cousin German the Archduke Ferdinand to be his adopted Son and Successor , and caused him to be chosen and crowned King of Bohemia and Hungary , yet reserving to himself the sole exercise of Kingly power during his life . The Iesuits triumph in their hopes of King Ferdinand ; the Pope exhorted the Catholicks to keep a day of Jubilee , and to implore aid of God for the Churches high occasions . To answer this Festival , the Elector of Saxony called to minde , that it was then the Hundreth year compleat since Martin Luther opposed the Popes Indulgences , which was the first beginning of Protestant Reformation . Whereupon he ordained a Solemn Feast of three days for Thanksgiving , and for Prayer to God , to maintain in peace the purity of the Word , and the right administration of the Sacraments . The Professors of the Universities of Lipsick and Wittemberg , the Imperial Towns of Franckford , Worms , and Noremburg , yea , the Calvinists also observed the same days of Jubilee against the Romish Church ; and much Gold and Silver was cast abroad in memory of Luther , whom they called Blessed . In these times the Emperor wrote Letters , both to the Elector Palatine , and to the Protestant Provinces , and States of the Empire then assembled at Hilbrun , advising them to acquiesce in what was done touching the designation of his adopted Son to the Empire , to observe the Golden Bull , ( the Magna Charta of the Empire ) and the matter of it concerning the Electoral Bonds , and to dissolve their League . The Protestants in their Answer acknowledged the good will of the Emperor their Cheif , and shewed that the Catholicks had oppressed them contrary to the Pacification ; and having sought Redress in vain , they were compelled to use means of preserving Publick Tranquillity according to the Laws . That their League and Union consisting onely of Protestant Germans , was a known practice in the Empire , and not against the Golden Bull , and tended not to a separation from his Imperial Majestie ; but the Catholicks made their League with strangers , and declared a stranger cheif over them . The Count of Thurne , and other Defenders Evangelick , with the Estates of Bohemia , assembled at Prague to advise of publick safety , and conservation of priviledges . The Emperor required his Council held at the Castle of Prague , to oppose and hinder this Assembly , which he said was called to raise Sedition , and to plot against his person and Government . Nevertheless in all their publick worship the Evangelicks prayed to God to confound the Emperors enemies , and to grant him long to live and reign over them in Peace and Justice . The Bohemian troubles took their first rise from the breach of the Edict of Peace concerning Religion , and the Accord made by the Emperor Rodolph , whereby the Protestants retained the free exercise of their Religion , enjoyed their Temples , Colledges , Tithes , Patronages , places of Burial , and the like , and had liberty to build new Temples , and power to chuse Defenders to secure those Rights , and to regulate what should be of service in their Churches . Now the stop of building certain Churches on Lands within the Lordships of the Catholick Clergy , ( in which places the Evangelicks conceived a Right to build ) was the special grievance and cause of Breach . On the Twenty third of May , the cheif of the Evangelicks went armed into the Castle of Prague , entred the Council Chamber , and opened their Grievances , but inraged by opposition , threw Slabata the Cheif Justice , and Smesansius one of the Council , and Fabritius the Secretary , from an high Window into the Castle Ditch ; others of the Council temporising in this Tumult , and seeming to accord with their demands , were peaceably conducted to their own houses . Hereupon the Assembly took advice to settle the Towns and Castle of Prague with new Guards ; likewise to appease the people , and to take an Oath of Fidelity . They chose Directors , Governors and Counsellors Provincial to govern affairs of State , and to consult of raising forces against the enemies of God , and the King , and the Edicts of his Imperial Majesty . They banished the Iesuits throughout all Bohemia : Moreover to defend their own cause , and to give an accompt of their late proceedings , and present posture , a Declaration was drawn up and sent with Letters to the Estates of Moravia , Silesia , and Lusatia , and to all the Princes and States , their Allies , throughout the Empire , with request of aid in case of need . They declare to this effect . THat they had endured infinite Injuries and Afflictions , by certain Officers , Ecclesiastick and Civil , and by the Iesuits above all others , who sought to bring them under the yoke of Popery , reviled them with the names of Hereticks , heaved them out of places of Dignity , provoked the Magistrates to pursue them with Fire and Sword : That their Ministers were banished , and their Charges given to Roman Catholicks . The Senators of Prague , who were Evangelicks , were evil-intreated , and divers persons persecuted for Religion , under pretence of Civil Offences . And whereas in case of difference touching the Agréement and Edict of Peace , the Estates of both parties were to hear and judge ; their Enemies procured Commands from the Emperor to bear them down before a due hearing : Their lawful Méetings to advise and séek redress , were declared to be manifest Sedition and Rebellion , and themselves threatned with loss of estates and lives . This Declaration they sent likewise to the Emperor , with a submissive Letter , asserting their own Fidelity , and praying for the removal of those evil Counsellors that threaten so much danger to his Majesty , and his Kingdoms . The Emperor herewith was no way pacified , but charged them with an evil design , required them to lay down Arms , and to make no more Levies , but to live in peace as becometh faithful Subjects : Upon which terms , he promised to disband his own Soldiers , to forgive what was past , and to protect all that will obey him . This prevailed nothing , but the breach grows wider . The Emperor published a Manifesto in Answer to the Apology of the Bohemian States , and wrote Letters to the Electors , Princes , and States of the Empire , with high Aggravations of the violence offered at Prague to his principal Officers , against Divine and Humane Rights , the Constitutions of the Kingdom , and the Customs of all Nations , without hearing , without summoning , without any form of Proces , yea , without giving a moment of time to Repent , or make Confession , or receive the Sacrament , which is never denied to the worst offenders . Forthwith a pernicious War , and all confusion breaks out . The Emperor raised forces under the conduct of divers Commanders , of whom the cheif were Count de Buquoy , and Count de Ampiere . The Evangelicks raised two Armies under Count de Thurne , and Count Mansfelt . Moravia , Silesia , and Lusatia , with all the Estates Protestant , Germans and Neighbors of Bohemia , ( very few excepted ) assist the Evangelicks with Counsel , Men , and Money : Likewise the Prince of Orange , and the States of the United Provinces promised to aid them with their forces . The Electors and Princes Protestant favoring the Bohemians , whose Countrey the Imperialists destroy with Fire and Sword , perswade the Emperor to stop the rage of Civil War ; the success whereof is doubtful , and the end ever miserable . The Emperor propounded an Arbitration of these differences by the Elector of Mentz , and the Duke of Bavaria , Princes Catholicks , and by the Electors Palatine , and of Saxony , Princes Protestants , and Pilsen should be the place of Treaty : The Evangelicks consent to the Arbitration , but dislike the place , where the people were wholly Catholicks , and followed the Emperors party ; besides the Directors had designed the besieging of it . New Actions of War made the overtures of peace more difficult : Several Armies were now raising throughout Bohemia , and the Neighboring Provinces : As yet the Elector of Saxony stood Neutral ; the Duke of Bavaria cast in his lot with the Emperor , whose estate was then every where imbroiled . At this time there appeared a Comet which gave occasion of much discourse to all sorts of men ; among others a Learned Knight , our Countreyman confidently and boldly affirmed , [ That such persons were but abusers , and did but flatter greatness , who gave their verdict , that that Comet was effectual , as some would have it , or signal , as others judge it , onely to Africa ; whereby they laid it far enough from England : When this Knight out of the consideration of the space of the Zodiack which this Comet measured , the inclination of his Sword and Blade , and to what place both the head and tail became Vertical , together with other secrets . ] Said , That not onely all Europe , to the elevation of Fifty two degrees , was liable to its threatnings , but England especially ; yea , That person besides , in whose fortune we are all no less imbarked , then the Passenger with the Ship is in the Pilot that guideth the same ; the truth whereof , said he , a few years will manifest to all men . And it was observed by Dr. Bainbridge , a famous Astronomer , that toward the Declination of it , the Eleventh of December it past over London in the morning , and so hasted more Northwards , even as far as the Orcades . Amidst these distractions , the House of Austria made no small improvement of their interest in the King of Great Brittain , who in the hot pursuit of the Spanish Match , was earnest to oblige them . And the Spaniards made shew , that on their part nothing under Heaven was more desired then this Alliance ; and in their Discourses magnified the King , Queen , and Prince of England . For the state of their Affairs did press them hard , if not to close really , yet at least to fain a pressing towards it . For the French administred cause of discontent ; the Truce with the United Provinces was near expiring ; but above all they took to heart the Bohemian War , and resolved to set the main stock upon it : Wherefore the King of Spain gave commandment , that his Treasure should be gathered together for the Infanta's vast portion , being no less then Two Millions , and gave hopes of the payment of half a Million beforehand , as was desired , and with himself all Dispatches seemed to pass freely . But his Ministers gave not the same satisfaction , and proceeded so slackly in the business , that they were suspected either not to intend it at all , or not so soon as was pretended : Besides , the wiser here observed and repined , that all difficulties , hazards , and odious passages , must rest on the English side , which Spain did little value . That King Iames did that to gratifie the Spaniard , which rendred him disgusted by his Subjects ; but if Favor were granted to any Subject of his by the King of Spain , it was not without design to engage him in his own Service . Which resentments may be collected from a Letter written by a great Minister of State , to Mr. Cottington , his Majesties then Agent in Spain ; which for clearer satisfaction you have here at large . GOod Mr. Cottington , I doubt not but that before these come to your hands , you will have heard of the Receipt of all your former Letters : These are in answer of your last of the Eighth of October , wherein you advertise of the arrival of the Conde Gondomar , at Lerma , and of his entertainment by that Duke . It seemeth unto us here in England , that he hath gone but very slowly in his journey ; and divers ( seeing how long time he hath spent in the way ) do make conjecture , That it proceedeth from the small affection that he judgeth to be there , towards the effecting of the main business ; saying , If the Ambassador were assured that his Master did so really desire the speedy effecting thereof , as is pretended , he would have made more haste homeward ; and that it hath not been sincerely intended , but meerly used by that State as an amuzement to entertain and busie his Majesty withal , and for the gaining of time for their own ends : And this is muttered here by very many , but I hope we shall ere long receive such an account from thence of their proceedings , as will give sufficient satisfaction . For my own part , I must confess I am yet well perswaded of their intentions ; for if there be either Honor , Religion , or Moral honesty in them , the Protestations and Professions which I have so often heard them make , and you likewise daily advertise hither , are sufficient to perswade a man that will not judge them worse then Infidels , to expect sincere dealing in the business ; and whensoever I shall perceive that they go about to do otherwise , I must confess my self to have been deceived , as I shall ever be on the like terms ; while I deal with inmost care ; but withal , I shall judge them the most unworthy and persidious people of the World , and the more , for that his Majesty hath given them so many testimonies of his sincere intentions toward them , which he daily continueth , as now of late , by the causing Sir Walter Rawleigh to be put to death , cheifly for the giving them satisfaction ; whereof his Majesty commanded me to advertise you , and concerning whom , you shall by the next receive a Declaration , shewing the Motives which induced his Majesty to recal his mercy , through which he had lived these many years a condemned man. In the mean time , I think it ●it , that to the Duke of Lerma , the Confessor , and the Secretary of State , you do represent his Majesties real manner of proceeding with that King and State ; and how for the advancing of the great business , he hath endeavored to satisfie them in all things , letting them see how in many actions of late of that nature , his Majesty hath strained upon the affections of his people , and especially in this last concerning Sir Walter Rawleigh , who died with a great deal of courage and constancy ; and at his death moved the common sort of people to much remorse , who all attributed his death to the desire his Majesty had to satisfie Spain . Further , you may let them know how able a man Sir Walter Rawleigh was to have done his Majesty service , if he should have been pleased to imploy him ; yet to give them content , he hath not spared him , when by preserving him , he might have given great satisfaction to his Subjects , and had at command , upon all occasions as useful a man as served any Prince in Christendom ; and on the contrary , the King of Spain is not pleased to do any thing which may be so inconvenient unto him , as to lessen the affections of his people , or to procure so much as murmuring or distractions amongst them : And therefore it is to be expected , that on his part , they answer his Majesty at least with sincere and real proceeding , since that is all they are put to , the difficulties and hazards being indeed on his Majesties side . And truly , I should think it ●it , that not by way of commination , but as it were out of zeal to the Peace and Amity betwixt these two Crowns , you did intimate to the Duke and the other Ministers , how impossible you held it to have peace long continued betwixt their Majesties ; if in this business wherein so much hath been professed , there should be found any indirectness . But herein you must be cautious and temperate ; for as on the one side , you and I well know , that this stile most perswades with them , so on the other side , the decency and buen termine that is to be observed betwixt great Princes , will hardly admit of Threats or Revenge for a Wooing Language ; but this I know falleth into so discreet a hand , that I little fear the handsome carriage of it . And I hope , that before these Letters arive with you , we shall hear from you , in such a stile , that this advice of mine shall be of no use . I pray you be very earnest with the Conde Gondomar , that he will not forget to negotiate the liberty of Mr. Mole , for whom I hope ( now my Lord Ross is dead ) for that which you and I know , it will not be so difficult to prevail . You may put him in minde how when Father Baldwills liberty was granted unto him , although he could not absolutely promise Mr. Moles release , yet he then faithfully protested he would use the mediation of the Duke of Lerma , and of the Kings Confessor , and of that King if need were ; and that he would try the best friends he had for the procurement of his enlargement , wherein you may desire him to deal effectually , for that there is great expectance that he should proceed honorably and really therein . I my self likewise will use all the means I can for his relief ; for it is a thing which is very much desired here , and would give a great deal of satisfaction . As touching Osulivare , it is very fit that you let them know , that the report of the honor they did him , hath come unto his Majesties ears , and that although they will alleage , that in the time of Hostility betwixt England and Spain , it may be he did them many services , and may then have deserved well at their hands ; for which they have just cause to reward him : Yet since by his Majesties happy coming to these Crowns , those differences have had an end , and that there is a perfect League and Amity betwixt them , his Majesty cannot chuse but dislike that they should bestow upon him any title or dignity , which onely or properly belongeth unto him towards his own Subjects ; that therefore he would be glad that they would forbear to confer any such titulary Honors upon any of his Subjects without his Privity . This you shall do well to insist upon , so that they may understand that his Majesty is very sensible , that they should endeavor to make the Irish have any kinde of dependence on that State. Queen Anne died this year at Hampton Court , and was thence brought to her Palace at Denmark-house in the Strand : The common people who were great Admirers of Princes , were of opinion , that the Blazing-Star rather be-tokened the Death of that Queen , then that Cruel and Bloody War which shortly after hapned in Bohemia , and others parts of Germany . IN the beginning of the year One thousand six hundred and n●neteen , the Emperor Matthias died ; but immediately before his death , to engage Persons of Honor in the Service of the Empire , he instituted Knights of several Orders for the defence of the Catholick Religion ; who were bound by Oath to be faithful to the Apostolick Sea , and to acknowledge the Pope their cheif Protector . The Count Palatine of Rhine , who in the interregnum is cheif Vicar of the Empire , published his right by the Golden Bull , to govern in cheif till a new Emperor be chosen , and by Advice assumed the Power , requiring the people to demean themselves peaceably under his Government . King Ferdinand in his broken Estate , propounded a Cessation of Arms , and offered fair terms of peace , but was not answered , for the breach would not be made up . The Bohemians declared that their Kingdom was Elective not Hereditary , that the States-General ought to have the free Election of their King , who always ought to be one of the Royal House of Bohemia : That Ferdinand took the Government upon him by vertue of his Coronation in the Emperors life time , and had thereby made the Kingdom a Donative . The Evangelicks in the Upper Austria demanded equal Priviledges with the Catholicks , and resolved to make union with the Bohemians . The Protestant States of Moravia , Silesia , and Hungaria , banish the Jesuites . The Bohemians prospered in these beginnings , but the Austrian party received vigor by supplies out of Hungary and Flanders , and were able to stand their ground ; and the Emperor capitulated with the Duke of Bavaria to levy forces to his use ; for the expence of which service , he engaged part of his Country to him . The War grows to a great height , and the King of England interposed in these differences , and sent the Viscount Doncaster Extraordinary Ambassador to mediate a Reconciliation . His constant love of Peace , and his present fear of the sad issue of these Commotions , and the request of the King of Spain , moved him to take this part in hand . It was the Spaniards policy to make him a Reconciler , and by that means to place him in a state of Neutrality , and so frustrate the hopes of that support , which the Princes of the Union might expect from him by the Interest of the Count Palatine : For which cause the King of Spain speaks out large promises , That he should be the sole and grand Arbiter of this Cause of Christendom . Nevertheless his Mediation was slighted by the Catholick Confederates , and his Ambassador shufled out of the business : And at the same time , Mr. Cottington being very sensible of their unworthy dealings in the Court of Spain , professed , That his most useful service and best complying with his own Conscience , would be to disengage the King his Master . The Archbishop of Ments , the Representers of the Duke of Saxony , and the other Electors , Brandenburgh , Cullen , and Tryers , met at Franckford to chuse the Emperor . Upon the Eighth day of August , Ferdinand was chosen King of the Romans ; and upon the Nineteenth of September had the Imperial Crown set upon his Head. Ambassadors from the Elector Palatine came to oppose Ferdinand , but were denied entrance at Franckford : The Bohemians disclaimed the said Election , and being assembled for that purpose , with the consent of their Confederates , elected for their King , Count Frederick Palatine of Rhine . At that time Bethlem Gabor , Prince of Transylvania , made known to the Directors Evangelick , his great sense of their condition since those troubles began , desired union with them , and offered to come in with an Army , hoping for the Great Turks consent to peace , during the time of that Service . The Directors return their thanks , accept the offer , and Prince Bethlem immediately entred Hungary , to the Emperors great vexation , danger , and detriment ; marching with an Army even to the Walls of Vienna . The Count Palatine Elected King of Bohemia , craved advice to his Father in Law , the King of Great Brittain , touching the acceptation of that Royal Dignity : When this important business was debated in the Kings Council , Archbishop Abbot , whose infirmities would not suffer him to be present at the Consultation , wrote his minde and heart to Sir Robert Nanton , the Kings Secretary . That God had set up this Prince , his Majesties Son in Law , as a Mark of Honor throughout all Christendom , to propagate the Gospel , and to protect the oppressed . That for his own part , he dares not but give advice to follow where God leads ; apprehending the work of God in this , and that of Hungary : That by peece and peece , the Kings of the Earth that gave their power to the Beast , shall leave the Whore , and make her desolate . That he was satisfied in Conscience , that the Bohemians had just cause to reject that proud and bloody man , who had taken a course to make that Kingdom not Elective , in taking it by the Donation of another . The slighting of the Viscount Doncaster in his Ambassage , gave cause of just displeasure and indignation : Therefore let not a Noble Son be forsaken for their sakes who regard nothing but their own ends . Our striking-in will comfort the Bohemians , honor the Palsgrave , strengthen the Princes of the Union , draw on the United Provinces , stir up the King of Denmark , and the Palatines two Uncles , the Prince of Orange , and the Duke of Bouillon , together with Tremouille , a rich Prince in France , to cast in their shares . The Parliament is the old and honorable way for raising of Money , and all that may be spared is to be turned this way . And perhaps God provided the Iewels which were laid up in the Tower by the Mother , for the preservation of the Daughter , who like a Noble Princess hath professed that she will not leave her self one Iewel , rather then not maintain so religious and righteous a Cause . Certainly if countenance be given to this Action , many brave Spirits will offer themselves : Therefore let all our Spirits be gathered up to animate this business , that the World may take notice that we are awake when God calls . The Life and Zeal of these Expressions from a Person of such Eminency , may discover the Judgment and Affection of the Anti-Spanish party in the Court of England . But the King was engaged in those ways , out of which he could not easily turn himself . Besides , it did not please him , that his Son should snatch a Crown out of the Fire : And he was used to say , That the Bohemians made use of him as the Fox did of the Cats foot , to pull the Apple out of the Fire for his own eating . In the mean while before the King could answer , the Palsgrave desiring advice in that behalf , the Bohemians had wrought and prevailed with him to accept of their Election ; whereof he sent Advertisement into England , excusing the suddenness of the Action ; for that the urgency of the cause would admit of no deliberation . King Iames disavowed the Act , and would never grace his Son in Law with the stile of his new Dignity . But Sir Richard Weston and Sir Edward Conway were sent Ambassadors into Bohemia , to close up the breach between the Emperor , and the Elector Palatine . The King being not a little troubled and jealous , that the Palatines nearness to him might give cause of suspition to his Brother of Spain , that this Election had been made by his procurement or correspondence with the German Protestants , commands his Agent Cottington to give that King plenary Information of all proceedings ; As , That his Ambassador being sent to compound the differences , and to reduce the Bohemians to the quiet obedience of the Emperor , instead of finding the Emperor so prepared , and such a way made for his Mediation as was promised and expected , received answer , That the business was already referred to four of the Electors , insomuch , that no place was left for his Authority to interpose . Of this exclusive answer , as he had just cause to be sensible , considering that he had entred into that Treaty meerly at the instance of the King of Spain , and his Ministers ; so there followed a further inconvenience , That the Bohemians having long expected the fruit and issue of this Mediation , and finding little hope by this means , did instantly , as out of desperation , Elect the Count Palatine for their King : Wherefore being tender of his own honor and reputation , especially in the opinion of the King of Spain , he would not have it blemished by the least misunderstanding . And for that end , he tendred to his view , such Letters as from time to time he had written to the Princes of the Union , and to the Palatine himself , whereby he might plainly see his dislike of the Bohemians engaging against their King , and his industry to contain those Princes in peace and quietness , and to make a fair Accord between the disagreeing parties . Reply was made , as touching the answer given to the Viscount Doncaster , That he was admitted a Compounder in such form as was possible , the Arbitration having been committed by the late Emperor into the hands of three of the Electors , and the Duke of Bavaria ; that nevertheless he might have proceeded in the Negotiation , and by his Masters Authority have over-ruled any difficulty which might have hapned on the Emperors side ( on whose behalf the reference was made ) if he had reduced the Bohemians to the acceptance of any reasonable conditions : But he presently , to the Emperors great disservice , labored to suspend the Election of the King of the Romans , till the Bohemian Controversie were first compounded , which was absolutely to defeat King Ferdinand of that Crown , and to disturb and put in danger his Election to the Empire . This was the more confirmed by his desire to make Bonfires in Liege , when the Count Palatine was made King of Bohemia . As touching the Kings integrity in the whole business , the satisfaction tendred was received with great applause ; and it was further said , That it would gain the more authority and estimation if he should continue to disclaim that which had been done so contrary to his opinion , and against his Friends and Allies , as are all the Princes of the House of Austria . But the Lot was cast in Germany , and for the Palsgrave there was no going back ; forces pour in a main on both sides . The King of Poland aided the Emperor in Hungary , to bound and check the incursions of Prince Bethlem ; the Duke of Saxony did not brook his Fellow Electors advancement to Regal Majesty , and condemned his joyning with Bethlem Gabor ; Who , saith he , came in with the Turks consent to make a desolution in the Empire . King Frederick visited the several parts of his Kingdom to confirm the people to him , and to receive the Oath of Fidelity : And the Emperor published a Proscription against him , wherein he proclaims him guilty of High Treason , excludes him out of the publick peace , and declares his resolution to prosecute him as the publick Enemy of the Empire , and a contemner of his Imperial Majesty , and absolves all his Subjects from their Oaths and Duties to him , and commands all persons whatsoever to abandon him and his adherents . Christian , Prince of Anhalt , was appointed Generalissimo of the Bohemian Forces , and governed all affairs , which was some eclipse and discontent to Thurne and Mansfet , who had hitherto stood the shock of the Imperial Armies . The Princes of the Union raised forces for the defence of the Palatinate , and their own interest , under the Marquess Ansbach . The Evangelicks were put to the worst by General Buquoy in several encounters , and were much terrified by the Duke of Bavaria , who marched with an Army of Fifteen thousand Horse and Foot , and a Train of Artillery proportionable ; and they were weakned by a Cessation of Arms in Hungary , between the Emperor and the Prince of Transylvania . In Spain they make all possible preparations for this War ; onely the King of England will not take the Alarm , abhorring War in general , and distasting the Palsgraves cause , as an ill president against Monarchy , and fed with hopes of composing all differences by the success of the Spanish Treaty . For which purpose Sir Walter Aston was then sent Ambassador into Spain , and Gondomar returned into England , there to abide till the long debated Match be fully effected . The Articles of Religion for securing Liberty of Conscience to the Infanta and her Family , were greatly inlarged by the Commissioners designed for the Treaty , and were allowed by the King of England ; but without a dispensation from Rome , the transactions between the two Kings were but Nullities . And for this cause it was expected , that our King should propound such conditions for the increase and great advantage of the Roman Catholick Religion , that the Pope may deliberate whether they be of that nature as may perswade and merit the dispensation : To this demand the King made answer in his Letter to the King of Spain , That he had done as much in favor of the Catholicks as the times would bear , and promised in the word of a King , That no Roman Priest or other Catholick should thenceforth be condemned upon any capital Law. And although he could not at present rescind the Laws , inflicting onely pecuniary mulcts ; yet he would so mitigate them as to oblige his Catholick Subjects to him . And if the Marriage took effect , his Daughter in Law should finde him ready to indulge all favors which she should request for those of her Religion . Herein the Spanish Council acknowledged great satisfaction given , and a Paper was conceived and drawn up by a Iunto of Canonists , Lawyers , and Divines , to perswade the Pope to act his part . IN the mean while an Army of Thirty thousand was levying in Flanders , under the command of Marquess Spinola . The King of England sent to know the cause of so great preparations . The Marquess gave answer , That he received his Commission sealed up with a charge not to open it till his Army were compleated , and brought together to a Rendevouz : But the King had proof enough to assure him , that this Army was intended for the Palatinate . Yet no more then one Regiment under the Command of Sir Horatio Vere could be obtained from him , though two more were promised : When Spinola had his Rendevouz where he mustered Six and twenty thousand Foot , and Four thousand Horse , he opened his Commission , which required him to make War against all those which should be confederate with the Bohemian Rebels ; and he communicated the same to the Ambassador of Great Brittain . At the same time the English began their march ; as brave a Regiment as hath appeared in any age , consisting most of Gentlemen under a most worthy Leader , who was accompanied with the Earls of Oxford and Essex , persons innobled as well by their own vertues , as by their Progenitors . Other Commanders in this Regiment were Sir Edward Sackvile , Sir Gerard Herbert , Sir Robert Knolles , Captain Stafford , Captain Wilmot , Captain William Fairfax , Sir Iohn Burlacy , Cap. Burroughs , Cap. Robert Knightly , &c. This handful of men reached the Palatinate with some difficulty , by the aid and conduct of Henry Prince of Nassau . The Imperial forces became exceeding numerous by large supplies from several Countreys and Provinces . The States Protestant of the Upper and Lower Austria , upon the approach of the Bavarian Army , seeing nothing but manifest ruine , renounce their Confederacy with the Bohemians , and submit to the Emperor , saving to themselves their Rights and Priviledges in Religion : Whereupon the Bohemians and their King being but Twenty thousand strong , besides an addition of Ten thousand Hungarians from Bethlem Gabor , and fearing least Bavaria and Buquoy joyning their forces , should fall into Bohemia , thought it best to fortifie the Frontiers , and to defend their Country , which they conceived they might well do , if the Elector of Saxony would continue in his Neutrality . The Emperor sent to the said Elector to execute his Ban or Declaration of Treason against the Count Palatine , and the Bohemian Rebels . The Bohemians by their Ambassadors requested him , if he would not own their Cause , yet at least to remain Neutral . The Duke of Saxony replied to King Frederick , That he had often represented to him what ruine was like to follow him by taking an others Crown ; and for his own part , being called upon by the Emperor , to execute his Ban , and chastise the Rebels , he could not disobey that just command : The Protestant Princes sent to him again , and gave him notice of Spinola's advance to subdue the Palatinate , but this did nothing move him . He entred Lusatia with some forces , and quickly reduced a part of that Province . In the Palatinate , Spinola having got the start of the English , by means of a far shorter march , had no sooner arived , but he took in divers Towns , and prevailed greatly over a spiritless people ; yet he warily declined the hazard of Battel with the Princes of the Union : Neither was the Marquess Ansbach very forward to engage , or to seek or take advantages . The Dutch slowness was not excusable , howbeit the great access of strength to the Emperors party , and this slender aid from the King of Great Brittain , to preserve his Childrens Patrimony , must needs dishearten the German Princes , and help to dissolve the Union . After a while , the season of the year drew them into their Winter Quarters ; the Princes retired into their several Countreys , and the English Regiment was disposed into three principal Garisons : Sir Horatio Vere commanded in Manheim , Sir Gerard Herbert in Heidelborough , and Captain Burroughs in Frankendale , having onely power to preserve themselves within those Walls , whilest the enemy ranged round about them . A Letter written from the Marquess of Buckingham to Conde Gondomar , discovered the bent of the Kings minde and will touching the German War , That he was resolved to continue Neuter for Conscience , Honor , and Examples sake . In regard of Conscience , judging it unlawful to inthrone and dethrone Kings for Religions sake ; having a quarrel against the Jesuites for holding that opinion : Besides he saw the World inclined to make this a War of Religion , which he would never do . In point of Honor ; for that when he sent his Ambassador into Germany to treat of Peace , in the interim his Son in Law had taken the Crown upon him . And for Example sake ; holding it a dangerous president against all Christian Princes to allow a sudden translation of Crowns by the Peoples Authority . Nevertheless he could not sit still , and see his Children dispossessed of their Hereditary Rights , and hopes his Son in Law will make Overtures of Peace , which if slighted by the Emperor , he will not lose the season to prepare for the defence of the Palatinate . But if his Son will not hearken to his advice , he shall be inforced to leave him to his proper Counsels . Notwithstanding this open , wary and tender proceeding with all care and patience to observe the Spanish humors , our State Ministers that were most addicted to Spain , discerned their trifling with us , which they did not spare to censure , and resolved to use a freer Language ; yet still discovered a willingness to wait their further leisure , for the English Patience seemed invincible . In the mean time the Privy Council having an eye to the support of the Palatinate , began the raising of Moneys by way of free gift , and directed Letters of the tenor following , to divers Earls , Viscounts , Bishops , and Barons , the same Letter being sent to each respectively . YOu may formerly have heard how the Palatinate being the ancient Heritage of the Count Palatine , his Majesties Son in Law , and to discend to his Majesties Grand-children , is now invaded by a Foreign Enemy ; many principal Towns are surprised , a great part of the Countrey in the possession of strangers , and the inhabitants forced to take an Oath against their Natural Prince . Whereupon his Majesty out of considerations of Nature , Honor , and State , hath declared himself in the course of an Auxiliary War for the defence and recovery of the same ; the occasion being so weighty and pressing , hath moved his Majesty by the general advice of us his Council , to think of some course for provision of that nature , as may serve as well to the maintenance and preserving of the present succors already sent , as for the reinforcing them out of those Countries , as the occasion of the War shall require : And for that the swiftness of the occasion would not permit a supply by other means for the present , so readily as was needful , we have all concurred to begin with our selves , in offer of a voluntary gift unto his Majesty , for the advancement of the present occasion ▪ nothing doubting , but that your Lordship being a Peer of the Kingdom , will chearfully and readily follow the example of us begun . And if there were much alacrity and readiness found in the Nobility , and others , to contribute at the motion of his Majesties Sons Ambassador , at what time the Palatinate was not invaded , neither had his Majesty declared himself , you will much more and in a better proportion do it now these two weighty Motives do concur ; and so nothing doubting of your Lordships readiness herein , we bid , &c. To the Marquess of Winchester , To the Earl of Cumberland , To the Earl of Darby , To the Earl of Northumberland , &c. Also a Letter of the same form was written to the Lord Major of London . But the short Reign of King Frederick was near its period : The Imperial Forces under Bavaria , Buquoy , and D. Balthazar , advance towards Prague ; and the Bohemians quit their Garrisons , to make their Army the more compleat : Yet neither Count Mansfield nor the English Forces were there . On the Eighth day of November , being the Lords day , both Armies met for the fatal decision of the great Controversie . The Bohemians stood upon the advantage-ground betwixt the Imperialists and Prague : But the Enemy breaking through , scattered and ruined their whole Army , and pursued the Victory . The King and Queen surprised with this Discomfiture , among a wavering people in a City not very defensible , were constrained to ●lie the next morning . Diminution of Honor was added to the Calamity of this Prince ; because he suffered his Soldiers to mutiny for Pay , when he had a mass of Money by him , which was left behind to augment the Enemies Conquest . Neither was Anhalt the General a fit person for the high trust reposed in him ; who not long after the Defeat , sought and obtained the Emperors favor , and was made one of his Generals to debel the Protestant cause and party . But Count Mansfield , whom Anhalt slighted , and closed not with him to bring him up to this Fight , made good his fidelity , and with his Flying Army became a continual vexation to the Emperor , harasing his Countries and forcing Contribution . King Iames , upon the news of the Palsgrave's overthrow , and upon a Narration of the state of Affairs in those parts made unto His Majesty by the Earls of Oxford and Essex newly returned from the Palatinate , was pleased to call a full Council together to consider of this great and weighty affair . The Order ensuing relates the particulars . At the Court at Whitehall , Jan. 13. 1620. Present , Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Chancellor Lord Treasurer Lord Privy Seal Lord Steward Lord M. Hamilton Lord Chamberlain Earl of Arundel Earl of Kelly Lord V. Doncaster Lord V. Falkland Lord Carew Lord Digby Mr. Treasurer Mr. Secr. Naunton Mr. Secr. Calvert Mr. Chanc. of the Exchequer Master of the Rolls Master of the Wards . HIs Majesty being resolved to make some Royal preparations for the Recovery and Protection of the Palatinate , being the antient Inheritance of his Majesties Son in law , and Grandchildren , did in his high wisdom think méet to appoint some persons of knowledge and experience in the Wars to consider of , and give their Advice in such Propositions as shall be made unto them by the Board , for the better expediting of that service . To which purpose the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Essex , the Earl of Leicester , the Lord Uiscount Wilmot , the Lord Danvers , the Lord Calfield , Sir Edward Cecyl , Sir Richard Harrison Knights , and Captain Danbingham were called to the Table , and made acquainted with His Majesties pleasure , That they , or any Five or more of them , together with Sir Horace Vere , and Sir Edw. Conway Knights ( if they return into England while this Committee doth continue ) shall undertake this service , and have their méetings and assemblies in the whole Council-chamber here in Whitehall touching the affairs above-mentioned : And that for their better assistance they call unto them such others of experience , whose advice and opinion they shall think fit to make use of in their several Consultations , upon such things as shall be so referred unto them from the Board . Which they are to prosecute without intermission or delay . And they shall make Report of their Opinions , which is to be done in writing under Five of their hands at least . The Particulars offered to their Consideration , are these ; First , What proportion or number of men , as well Horse as Foot , with Munition , Victuals , Shipping , and Treasure , will be sufficient for that Enterprise . And secondly , By what time it will be meet that their Forces be in readiness ; And where the Arms , Munition , and Victuals may best be provided ; with such other Circumstances as are incident to any of these Heads . For the better direction herein , Mr. Secretaries will acquaint them with such Intelligences as they have received touching the strength of the Enemies Forces now in the Palatinate . Moreover , The King to encourage the Princes of the Union , and to keep them in Arms , sent them Thirty thousand pounds ; yet withall resolved to treat for Peace , and dispatched Sir Edward Villers into Silesia to fetch the Palsgraves Submission to the Emperor , upon Conditions to be conceived according to equity and conveniencie . Never did the Spaniards more flatter King Iames , then after the Defeat at Prague . They affirm that he shall ordain according to his pleasure in the Palsgrave's Restitution , and be obeyed ; That the Infanta's Portion was preparing , and that the Pope was obliged to grant the Dispensation , from whom they resolve to take no denial . Cottington the Agent in Spain now attested the Honesty of Gondomar's Dispatches hither , and cryed him up for a Cordial man , and well deserving His Majesties favor . This notable Spanish Engine had so wrought himself into the Kings affections , that he gained the accoss of a Favorite rather then of an Ambassador from a Foreign Prince . Some in the English Court were then suspected to be Pensioners to Spain ; as may be gathered from the Spanish Ambassadors Instructions received from the King his Master . BEsides that which I enjoin you in your General Instructions given you for England , whither I send you to reside , I thought good to advertise you apart by themselves of the chiefest things of Importance which you shall there negotiate , and endeavor to further and advance . It is well known , that I have desired and endeavored to favor the Cause of the Catholicks of that Kingdom , and to further it to their best advantage , as well in the time of the Queen deceased who did so much prosecute and oppress them , as since the time that the present King hath succeeded ; yet that calamity still continues upon them , by reason of the ill offices done unto them by the Puritans and Protestants ( of whom the greater part of that Kings Council doth consist : ) Howbeit because it is a thing that I could not well urge or press , without breeding jealousies , and so cause thereby a greater harm to the Catholicks , I have proceeded on my part with that wariness and dissimulation as is fit . D.A. shall inform you of what hath passed in this matter , as also in what estate things are at this present , and how you shall govern your self for the time to come , according to the orders given unto him , whose example we wish you to follow . And of this take special heed : That although it be believed that we may be very confident of the trustiness of those Catholicks by whose means the business of the rest is undertaken , that they will be secret ; notwithstanding lest any Heretick shall come in the name or shew of a Catholick only to make some discovery ; It shall be fit , that in all speeches you shall have with them concerning that which shall touch the Catholicks , that you tell them how much I desire to see them freed from those pressures under which Queen Elizabeth put them , and that God would inspire the Kings heart that he may reduce himself to the obedience of the Roman Catholick Church : And advise them to endeavor to win the King unto them , by shewing themselves good and loyal and obedient Subjects , in temporal duties , and not to meddle any thing against his State ; that by their deeds he may see what security may be expected from them , and may also bind himself to favor them ; these being things that do no way contradict the observing the Catholick Religion , and are due from them to the dignity of their King and Natural Lord : And for the same reason they ought to abstain from all ill practices , or unfitting speech or actions against his Person , as is said some heretofore have used ; especially seeing no good hath , or can come thereof , and thereby they shall justly provoke him against themselves ; and by holding this course they shall win the Kings good will , and the Peace shall be preserved , and by the Peace by little and little be won and attained that which is desired . By this manner of proceeding it is certain there can come no inconvenience : But in case that this your manner of dealing shall come to the Kings knowledge ( as possibly it may ) it will breed a great obligation of brotherhood and friendship between us , when he shall see that I carry my self in this sort in his affairs , and consequently will be the more confident of our amity , and will thereby be induced the better to subdue all malice in them that shall endeavor to perswade the contrary . And therefore you shall have a special care to do this dexteriously , in due time and season ; and to inform your self very particularly from the said D. A. concerning those with whom you may deal confidently , and how far you may trust the Negotiants for the Catholicks ; though you shall do well alway to proceed with the aforesaid caution and wariness . You shall understand from the said D.A. what Pensions are allotted to certain Ministers of that King , and to other persons : It will be necessary to inform your self throughly of all that concerns this point , and that you know both the Persons and Pensions to serve your self of them , and to make the best use of them in all occasions that shall be most behoveful for your better direction in the Businesses given you in charge , and all others that may be offered of consequence , seeing the said Pensions were appointed to that end . Whatsoever of the said Pensions you shall find unpaid for the time past , D. A. is to discharge , and you shall undertake for the time to come ; telling every one what his Pension is , to the end they may be deceived of no part thereof by the Third person who conveys it unto them ; and let it be punctually paid at the days , that their good payment may bind them to persevere and do their service punctually ; for the which you shall be furnished with all that shall be necessary . And have a special care to advertise me how such persons employ themselves in the things that shall occur , disguising their names in such manner as D.A. doth . Above all , You must take great care to dive into the estate of the affairs of that King : What his Treasure is ; In what Estimation he is with his Subjects , and what Correspondeneie and good meaning there is betwixt them ; How the English , Scotch and Irish stand affected among themselves and one towards another , and towards their Neighbors , and how they are bent against me and my Common Estates , or any of my particular Kingdoms ; whence they draw their Intelligences , and particularly what amity and correspondencie that King entertaineth with France , and with the Neutrals of Holland and Zealand , and with the Venetians , and upon what causes it is founded , what matters they treat of , what designs they have in hand . All which is very necessary to be known ; for the attaining of which D.A. will open unto you some ways which you must follow , besides those which your self shall discover : And you shall advertise me of whatsoever you shall understand the learn , governing your self in all occurrents with that wariness and discretion , as your zeal to my service doth assure me of . These were the Arts of Spain , to corrupt divers in the Court of England . Buckingham and his Dependants followed the Kings inclinations : The Duke of Lenox , Marquis Hamilton , and William Earl of Pembroke disliking the Kings course , did not contest with him , but only intimated their dissent . It was said of Gondomar , That when he returned into Spain , he gave in his Account of Disbursments for Pensions given in England , ( amongst others ) To Sir Robert Cotton 1000 l. a person of great Integrity , and one who was ever averse to the House of Austria . Which Sir Robert getting notice of by the English Agent then in Spain , demanded reparation , which was obtained , but with a salvo to the Ambassadors honor , the error being said to be committed by a Dependent upon the Ambassador , and not by himself . The King being jealous of uncomptrolled Soveraignty , and impatient of his Peoples intermedling with the Mysteries of State , had fallen into a great dislike of Parliaments , and for many years before had given way to Projects and Monopolies : And many of his Ministers perhaps fearing an enquiry into their own actions , might suggest to him , that he might better furnish himself by those ways , and the Match now in treaty , then by Subsidies , usually accompanied with the redress of Grievances . Nevertheless , he was now minded to call a Parliament , conceiving it might be of special use : For he observed the affections of the People to be raised for the Recovery of the Palatinate ; and then concluded , that those affections would open their purses to the supply of his wants ; and the Treaty with Spain would effect the business without the expence and troubles of War , and the good accord between him and his people would quicken the Spaniard to conclude the Match . And accordingly Writs were issued forth to assemble them the 30. of Ianuary . In the calling of this Parliament he recommended to his Subjects the choice of such Members as were of the wisest , gravest , and best affected people , neither superstitious , nor turbulent , but obedient Children to this their Mother-Church . In the mean while in Germany , the Protestant Union continually declined by the gradual falling away of the several partakers . The Elector of Saxony reduced the remainder of Lusatia . The Province of Moravia , upon the approach of Buquoy , seeing the Count de Latiere came not in to their succor , prayed that they might enjoy their Priviledges in matter of Religion , and be received into the Emperors grace and favor : which submission was well received at Vienna . Likewise the States of Silesia failing of assistance from the Elector Palatine , were constrained to make their peace . Then the Palatine propounded to the Elector of Saxony an Overture of Peace , declaring , That he took the Crown upon him to preserve the Protestants in the free exercise of their Religion . The Saxon replied , That he had no way to make his Peace , but to renounce the Kingdom of Bohemia , and the Provinces Incorporate , and to beg the Emperors pardon . Afterwards the Elector Palatine goeth to Brandenburgh , and then to Segenburgh , where there was an Assembly of Princes and States Protestant to oppose the exploits of Spinola . In the mean while Count Mansfield stirs in Bohemia , pillages several Towns , and the Goods of all those that cryed , God save King Ferdinand ! The relation of England to these affairs of Foreign States , had caused a general liberty of discourse concerning matters of State : which King Iames could not bear , but by Proclamation commanded all from the highest to the lowest , not to intermeddle by Pen or Speech with State-concerments and secrets of Empire , either at home or abroad ; which were no fit Themes or Subjects for Vulgar persons , or Common meetings . On the Thirtieth day of Ianuary the Parliament began to sit , and the King came in person and made this Speech . MY Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and you the Commons ! Cui multiloquio non deest peccatum . In the last Parliament I made long discourses , especially to them of the Lower House : I did open the true thoughts of my heart ; but I may say with our Saviour , I have piped to you , and you have not danced ; I have mourned , and you have not lamented . Yet as no mans actions can be free , so in me God found some spices of vanity , and so all my sayings turned to me again without any success . And now to tell the reasons of your calling , and this meeting , apply it to your selves , and spend not the time in long Speeches . Consider that the Parliament is a thing composed of a Head and a Body , The Monarch and the Two Estates ; It was first a Monarchy , then after a Parliament . There are no Parliaments but in Monarchical Governments ; For in Venice , the Netherlands , and other Free Governments there are none . The Head is to call the Body together : And for the Clergy , the Bishops are chief ; for Shires , their Knights ; and for Towns and Cities , their Burgesses and Citizens . These are to treat of difficult matters , and to counsel their King with their best advice to make Laws for the Commonweal . And the Lower House is also to petition their King , and acquaint him with their Grievances , and not to meddle with their Kings Prerogative . They are to offer supply for his Necessity , and he to distribute in recompence thereof Justice and Mercy . As in all Parliaments it is the Kings office to make good Laws , ( whose fundamental cause is the Peoples ill manners ) so at this time , that we may meet with the new Abuses and the incroaching Craft of the times : Particulars shall be read hereafter . As touching Religion , Laws enough are made already . It stands in two points , Perswasion and Compulsion : Men may perswade , but God must give the blessing . Iesuites , Priests , Puritans and Sectaries , erring both on the right hand and left hand , are forward to perswade unto their own ends ; and so ought you the Bishops , in your example and preaching : But Compulsion to obey , is to bind the Conscience . There is talk of the Match with Spain : But if it shall not prove a Furtherance to Religion , I am not worthy to be your King : I will never proceed but to the glory of God , and content of my Subjects . For a Supply to my Necessities : I have reigned Eighteen years , in which time you have had Peace , and I have received far less supply than hath been given to any King since the Conquest : The last Queen of famous memory , had one year with another above a Hundred thousand pounds per annum in Subsidies ; And in all my time I have had but Four Subsidies and Six Fifteens . It is Ten years since I had a Subsidy ; in all which time I have been sparing to trouble you : I have turned my self as nearly to save expences as I may ; I have abated much in my Household expences , in my Navies , in the charge of my Munition ; I made not choice of an old beaten Soldier for my Admiral , but rather chose a * Young man , whose honesty and integrity I knew , whose care hath been to appoint under him sufficient men , to lessen my Charges , which he hath done . Touching the miserable dissentions in Christendom , I was not the cause thereof ; For the appeasing whereof I sent my Lord of Doncaster , whose journey cost me Three thousand five hundred pounds . My Son in law sent to me for Advice , but within three days after accepted of the Crown ; which I did never approve of , for three Reasons . First for Religion's sake , as not holding with the Jesuites disposing of Kingdoms ; rather learning of our Saviour to uphold , not to overthrow them . Secondly , I was not Iudge between them , neither acquainted with the Laws of Bohemia . Quis me Judicem fecit ? Thirdly , I have treated a Peace , and therefore will not be a Party ; Yet I left not to preserve my Childrens Patrimony : For I had a Contribution of my Lords and Subjects , which amounted to a great sum ; I borrowed of my Brother of Denmark Seven thousand five hundred pounds to help him , and sent as much to him as made it up Ten thousand ; and Thirty thousand I sent to the Princes of the Union , to hearten them . I have lost no time : Had the Princes of the Union done their parts , that handful of men I sent had done theirs . I intend to send by way of Perswasion , which in this Age will little avail unless a strong hand assist : Wherefore I purpose to provide an Army the next Summer , and desire you to consider of my Necessities , as you have done to my Predecessors . Qui cito dat , bis dat . I will engage my Crown , my Blood , and my Soul in that Recovery . You may be informed of me in things in course of Justice ; but I never sent to any of my Iudges to give sentence contrary to Law. Consider the Trade , for the making thereof better ; and shew me the reason why my Mint for these eight or nine years hath not gone . I confess I have been liberal in my Grants ; but if I be informed , I will amend all hurtful Grievances : But who shall hasten after Grievances , and desire to make himself popular , he hath the spirit of Satan : If I may know my Errors , I will reform them . I was in my first Parliament a Novice ; and in my last there was a kind of beasts called Undertakers , a dozen of whom undertook to govern the last Parliament , and they led me . I shall thank you for your good office , and desire that the World may say well of our agreement . In this Parliament the Commons presented Sir Tho. Richardson for their Speaker . The King minded his former engagements , and in the beginning of the Parliament sends Sir Iohn Digby , now made Lord Digby , into Flanders to the Archduke Albertus , to gain a present Cessation from War , and to make way for a Treaty of Peace with the Emperor . And also about the same time he sent Mr. George Gage to Rome , to join with Padre Maestre the Spanish Agent in negotiating the Popes Dispensation . The Archduke at Bruxels assented to a Reconciliation in favor of our King , and obtained from Marquis Spinola a suspension of all hostility against the Country and Subjects of the Elector Palatine , which continued till the death of Archduke Albert , who died 17º Iulii following . So the Lord Digby returned into England , bringing the Cessation of Arms , about the same time that Sir Edward Villers brought the Palsgrave's Submission . But the Twelve years Peace between Spain and the United Provinces at this time expiring , Spinola returned into Flanders , and left the Palatinate to the Imperial Forces . After the Assembly at Segenburgh , the Palatine and his Princess took their journey into Holland , where they found a refuge and noble entertainment with the Prince of Orange , who gave a high testimony of honor to the Electress at her first arrival , for her magnanimous carriage in Bohemia . The Ambassage of Weston and Conway prevailed little . The Emperor went on in a severe Reformation , and frequent Executions among that vanquished people : He destroyed most of their antient Laws , and made new Ordinances ; declaring a soveraignty over them , not as an Elected King , but as a Lord by right of Conquest . More Princes of the Union reconcile themselves to the Emperor ; The Imperial Protestant Towns , Strasburgh , Worms , and Nuremburgh , subscribe to Conditions of Peace . The reconciled Princes and States intercede for the Elector Palatine ; but their motion displeased the Emperor , who alleadged , that the Palatine did not acknowledge his faults nor sue for Pardon , but made Levies in Holland and elswhere , to renew the War in the Empire . For the King of Denmark , the United Provinces , and divers German Princes did adhere to the Palsgrave's cause , and stickle for him . But the Princes Confederates being already scattered , and the heart of the Union broken , Those counsels and enterprises of War on his behalf , in stead of repressing the progress of the Austrian party , did minister occasion of their more absolute and plenary Conquest . But to return to the Parliament in England . They petition the King for the due execution of Laws against Jesuites , Seminary Priests and Popish Recusants . Likewise they take in hand to redress the Peoples Grievances by illegal Patents and Projects , and chiefly that of Inns and Alehouses , for which there was a great Fine , and an Annual Revenue throughout the Kingdom ; and the Monopoly of Gold and Silver-thread , whereby the People were abused with base and counterfeit Wares . But the examination of these Abuses was accompanied with the grant of Two Subsidies , which was very acceptable to the King. Sir Giles Mompesson was convented before the House of Commons for many heinous offences and misdemeanors in this kind , to the intolerable grievance of the Subject , the great dishonor of the King , and the scandal of his Government . This Delinquent was committed to prison , but he escaped thence and got beyond sea , and was pursued by the Kings Proclamation . The Commons at a Conference with the Lords offered to prove , That the Patents of Gold and Silver-Thread , of Inns and Alehouses , and of power to Compound for obsolete Laws , of the Price of Horse-meat , Starch , Cords , Tobacco-pipes , Salt , Train-oil , and the rest , were all illegal : Howbeit they touch'd not the tender point of Prerogative ; but in restoring the Subjects liberty , were careful to preserve the Kings honor . The Lords resolved to admit no other business , till this were ended . Hereupon the King came to the House of Lords , and there made a Speech . MY Lords , The last time I came hither , my errand was to inform you ( as well as my memory could serve me of things so long past ) of the verity of my proceedings , and the caution used by me in passing those Letters-Patents which are now in question before you , to the effect that they might not be abused in the execution . And this I did by way of Declaration . But now I am come ( understanding the time of your Censure at hand ) to express my readiness to put in Execution ( which is the life of the Law ) those things which ye are to sentence ; ( For even the Law it self is a dead letter without Execution ) For which office God hath appointed me in these Kingdoms . And though I assure my self , that my former behaviour in all the course of my life hath made me well known for a just King ; yet in this special case I thought fit to express my own intentions out of my own mouth , for punishment of things complained of : The first proof whereof I have given by the diligent search I caused to be made after the person of Sir Giles Mompesson , who though he were fled , yet my Proclamation pursued him instantly : And as I was earnest in that , so will I be to see your Sentence against him put in execution . Two reasons move me to be earnest in the execution of what ye are no sentence at this time . First , That duty I owe to God who hath made me a King , and tied me to the care of Government by that Politique Marriage betwixt me and my People : For I do assure you in the heart of an honest man , and by the faith of a Christian King , ( which both ye and all the world know me to be ) had these things been complained of to me before the Parliament , I would have done the office of a just King , and out of Parliament have punished them as severely , and peradventure more , then ye now intend to do . But now that they are discovered to me in Parliament , I shall be as ready in this way , as I should have been in the other : For I confess I am ashamed ( these things proving so as they are generally reported to be ) that it was not my good fortune to be the onely Author of the Reformation , and punishment of them by some Ordinary Courts of Justice . Nevertheless , since these things are new discovered by Parliament , which before I knew not of , nor could so well have discovered otherwise , in regard of that Representative Body of the Kingdom which comes from all parts of the Countrey , I will be never a whit the slower to do my part for the execution : For ( as many of you that are here , have heard me often say , and so I will still say ) so pretious unto me is the Publick Good , that no private person whatsoever , ( were he never so dear unto me ) shall be respected by me , by many degrees , as the Publick Good ; not onely of the whole Commonwealth , but even of a particular Corporation that is a Member of it . And I hope that ye , my Lords , will do me that right to publish to my people this my Heart and purpose . The second Reason is , That I intend not to derogate or infringe any of the Liberties or Priviledges of this House , but rather to fortifie and strengthen them : For never any King hath done so much for the Nobility of England , as I have done , and will ever be ready to do . And whatsoever I shall say , and deliver unto you as my thought ; yet when I have said what I think , I will afterwards freely leave the Judgment wholly to your House . I know you will do nothing but what the like hath been done before : And I pray you be not jealous that I will abridge you of any thing that hath been used ; For whatsoever the Precedents ( in times of good Government ) can warrant , I will allow ; For I acknowledge this to be the Supream Court of Justice , wherein I am ever present by Representation . And in this ye may be the better satisfied by my own presence coming divers times among you . Neither can I give you any greater Assurance , or better Pledge of this my purpose , then that I have done you the honor to set my onely Son among you ; and hope that ye with him shall have the means to make this the happiest Parliament that ever was in England . This I Profess , and take comfort in , That the House of Commons at this time , have shewed greater love , and used me with more respect in all their proceedings , then ever any House of Commons have hitherto done to me , or I think to any of my Predecessors . As for this House of yours , I have always found it respective to me , and accordingly do I , and ever did favor you , as you well deserved . And I hope it will be accounted a happiness for you , that my Son doth now sit among you , who when it shall please God to set him in my place , will then remember that he was once a Member of your House , and so be bound to maintain all your lawful Priviledges , and like the better of you all the days of his life . But because the World at this time talks so much of Bribes , I have just cause to fear the whole Body of this House hath bribed him to be a good Instrument for you upon all occasions : He doth so good Offices in all his Reports to me , both for the House in general , and every one of you in particular . And the like I may say of one that sits there , Buckingham , he hath been so ready upon all occasions of good Offices , both for the House in general , and every Member in particular . One proof thereof , I hope my Lord of Arundel hath already witnessed unto you , in his Report made unto you of my Answer touching the Priviledges of the Nobility , how earnestly he spake unto me of that matter . Now , my Lords , the time draws near of your Recess ; whither formality will leave you time for proceeding now to Sentence against all , or any of the persons now in question , I know not ; but for my part , since both Houses have dealt so lovingly and freely with me , in giving me a free gift , Two Subsidies , in a more loving manner than hath been given to any King before , and so accepted by me : And since I cannot yet retribute by a General Pardon ( which hath by Form usually been reserved to the end of a Parliament ) the least I can do , ( which I can forbear no longer ) is to do something in present , for the ease and good of my people . Three Patents at this time have been complained of , and thought great Grievances . 1. That of the Inns and Hosteries . 2. That of Ale-houses . 3. That of Gold and Silver Thred . My purpose is to strike them all dead ; and that time may not be lost , I will have it done presently : That concerning Ale-houses I would have to be left to the Managing of Justices of the Peace as before . That of Gold and Silver Thred was most vilely executed , both for wrong done to mens persons , as also for abuse in the Stuff ; for it was a kinde of false Coyn. I have already freed the persons that were in prison , I will now also damn the Patent , and this may seem instead of a Pardon . All these three I will have recalled by Proclamation , and wish you to advise of the fittest Form to that purpose . I hear also there is another Bill among you against Informers . I desire you , my Lords , that as you tender my Honor , and the good of my People , ye will put that Bill to an end as soon as you can ; and at your next meeting to make it one of your first works . For I have already shewed my dislike of that kinde of people openly in Star-Chamber ; and it will be the greatest ease to me , and all those that are near about me at Court , that may be : For I remember that since the beginning of this Parliament , Buckingham hath told me , he never found such quiet and rest , as in this time of Parliament , from Projectors and Informers , who at other times miserably vexed him at all hours . And now I confess , that when I looked before upon the face of the Government , I thought ( as every man would have done ) that the people were never so happy as in my time : For even as at divers times I have looked upon many of my Coppices , riding about them , and they appeared on the outside very thick and well-grown , unto me ; but when I turned into the midst of them , I found them all bitten within , and full of Plains , and bare spots ; like an Apple or Pear , fair and smooth without , but when ye cleave it asunder , you finde it rotten at the Heart . Even so this Kingdom , the External Government being as good as ever it was , and I am sure as Learned Judges as ever it had , and I hope as honest Administring Justice within it ; and for Peace , both at home and abroad , I may truly say , more setled and longer lasting then ever any before ; together with as great plenty as ever . So as it was to be thought that every man might sit in safety under his own Vine and Fig-Tree : Yet I am ashamed ( and it makes my hair stand upright ) to consider , How in this time my people have been vexed and polled by the vile execution of Projects , Patents , Bills of Conformity , and such like ; which besides the trouble of my people , have more exhausted their Purses , then Subsidies would have done . Now , my Lords , before I go hence , since God hath made me the Great Judge of this Land under him , and that I must answer for the Justice of the same : I will therefore according to my place , remember you of some things , though I would not teach you ; For no mans Knowledge can be so good , but their Memories will be the better to be refreshed . And now because you are coming to give Judgment , ( all which moves from the King ) that you may the better proceed , take into your care two things , 1. To do Bonum . 2. To do it Bene. I call Bonum , when all is well proved whereupon ye Judge ; for then ye build upon a sure Foundation . And by Bene , I understand , that ye proceed with all Formality and Legality , wherein you have fit occasion to advise with the Judges , who are to assist you with their Opinions in cases of that nature ; and wo be to them , if they advise you not well . So the ground being good , and the form orderly , it will prove a course fitting this High Court of Parliament . In Sentence ye are to observe two parts : First , To recollect that which is worthy of judging and censuring ; and secondly , To proceed against these as against such-like crimes properly . We doubt there will be many matters before you ; some complained of out of Passion , and some out of just cause of Grievance : Weigh both , but be not carried away with the impertinent discourses of them that name as well Innocent men as guilty . Proceed judicially , and spare none where ye finde just cause to punish : But let your proceedings be according to Law , and remember that Laws have not their Eyes in their Necks , but in their Foreheads . For the Moral Reason for the punishment of Vices in all Kingdoms and Commonwealths , is , because of the Breach of Laws standing in force : For none can be punished for Breach of Laws by Predestination , before they be made . There is yet one particular that I am to remember you of . I hear that Sir Henry Yelverton ( who is now in the Tower upon a Sentence given in the Star-Chamber against him , for deceiving my trust ) is touched concerning a Warrant Dormant which he made while he was my Attorney . I protest I never heard of this Warrant Dormant before ; and I hold it as odious a matter , as any is before you . And if for respect to me ye have forborne to meddle with him in Examination , because he is my Prisoner , I do here freely remit him unto you , and put him into your hands . And this is all I have to say unto you at this time , wishing you to proceed justly and nobly , according to the Orders of your House ; and I pray God to bless you , and you may assure your selves of my assistance . Wishing that what I have said this day among you , may be entred into the Records of this House . The Lords pronounced Sentence upon Sir Giles Mompesson , who was fled beyond Sea. 1. THat he shall be degraded of the Order of Knighthood , with reservation of the Dignity of his Wife and Children . 2. That he shall stand perpetually in the degree of his person , Outlawed for Misdemeanor and Trespass . 3. That his testimony be received in no Court , nor he to be of any Inquisition or Iury. 4. That he shall be excepted out of all General Pardons to be hereafter granted . 5. That he shall be imprisoned during life . 6. That he shall not approach within Twelve miles of the Court , or Prince , nor of the Kings High Court usually held at Westminster . 7. And the Kings Majesty shall have the profit of his Lands for life , and all his Goods and Chattels so forfeited ; and that he shall undergo Fine and Ransome , which was set at Ten thousand pounds . 8. Disabled to hold or receive any Offce under the King , or for the Commonwealth . 9. That he shall be ever held an infamous person . 10. And his Majesty added thereunto perpetual Banishment . Sir Francis Michel , a Projector , and Mompessons Compartner , was fined One thousand pound , degraded and imprisoned in the same place in Finsbury Fields , which he had prepared for others : For the Tower was thought too honorable for such a person . He rode likewise from Westminster into London with his face to the Horse-tail . Likewise the King revoked his Letter Patents , Commissions , and Proclamations concerning Inns and Ale-houses , and the Manufactures of Gold and Silver Thred . To these Reformations the King gave encouragement by his Third Speech in Parliament , wherein he declared much against Corruption and Bribery in Judicatures ; professing , That no person should be preferred before the publick good , and that no offender should go unpunished . In the same Speech he gave them thanks for the Subsidies given in the beginning of the Parliament , and for the Title of the Grant , and proceeded to open his present state in relation to his Son in Law , the Prince Elector Palatine ; how the sums granted by the Act of Subsidy were taken up beforehand for the defence of the Palatinate , and the maintenance of his Children expelled out of their Countrey , and for the raising of an Army for that recovery : That he had procured a short Truce , and did hope to obtain a general peace . But the charges of sending Ambassadors over Christendom , or an Army into the Palatinate , in case a peace were not setled , could not be borne , but by the Grant of more Subsidies . Moreover he protested before God , That he would not dissolve the Parliament till the matters in agitation were finished . Soon after the Lord Chancellor Bacon was proceeded against , and a Conference of both Houses was held concerning him : Where , first , the Commons observed his incomparable good parts , which they highly commended ; secondly , They magnified the place he held , from whence Bounty , Justice , and Mercy , were to be distributed to the Subjects ; whither all great Causes were drawn , and from whence there was no Appeal , in case of injustice , or wrong done , save to the Parliament . Thirdly , He was accused of great Bribery and Corruption in this eminent place , and the particulars were laid open : Then they concluded that this matter which concerned a person of so great eminency , might not depend long before their Lordships ; but that the Examination of Proofs be expedited , that as he shall be found upon tryal , either he or his accusers might be punished . After this the Marquess of Buckingham , Lord Admiral , declared to the House of Lords , That he had received a Letter from the Chancellor , expressing , that he was indisposed in health , but whither he lived or died , he would be glad to preserve his Honor and Fame as far as he was worthy , desiring to be maintained in their good opinions without prejudice , till his cause was heard ; that he should not trick up Innocency with cavillation , but plainly and ingenuously declare what he knew or remembred ; being happy , that he had such Noble Peers , and Reverend Prelates to discern of his Cause : That he desired no priviledge of greatness for subterfuge of guiltiness , but meaned to deal fairly and plainly with their Lordships , and to put himself upon their Honors and Favors . But the Charge came home upon him , insomuch , that he abandoned all defence , and onely implored a favorable judgment in this humble Submission and Supplication to the House of Lords . May it please your Lordships , I Shall humbly crave at your hands a benign interpretation of that which I shall now write : For words that come from wasted spirits , and oppressed mindes , are more safe in being deposited to a noble construction , then being circled with any reserved Caution . This being moved ( and as I hope obtained of your Lordships ) as a protection to all that I shall say , I shall go on ; but with a very strange entrance , as may seem to your Lordships at first : For in the midst of a state of as great affliction as I think a mortal man can endure ( Honor being above Life ) I shall begin with the professing of gladness in some things . The first is , That hereafter the greatness of a Iudge or Magistrate , shall be no sanctuary or protection to him against guiltiness , which is the beginning of a Golden Work. The next , That after this example , it is like that Iudges will flie from any thing in the likeness of Corruption ( though it were at a great distance ) as from a Serpent ; which tends to the purging of the Courts of Iustice , and reducing them to their true honor and splendor . And in these two points ( God is my witness ) though it be my fortune to be the Anvile upon which these two effects are broken and wrought ) I take no small comfort . But to pass from the motions of my heart , ( whereof God is my Iudge ) to the merits of my Cause , whereof your Lordships are Iudges , under God , and his Lieutenant ; I do understand there hath been heretofore expected from me some justification ; and therefore I have chosen one onely justification , instead of all others , out of the justification of Job . For after the clear submission and confession which I shall now make unto your Lordships , I hope I may say and justifie with Job in these words , I have not hid my sin as did Adam , nor concealed my faults in my bosome . This is the onely justification which I will use . It resteth therefore , That without Fig-leaves I do ingenuously confess and acknowledge , that having understood the particulars of the Charge , not formally from the House , but enough to inform my conscience and memory : I finde matter sufficient and full , both to move me to desert my Defence , and to move your Lordships to condemn and censure me . Neither will I trouble your Lordships by singling these particulars which I think might fall off . Quid te exempta juvat spinis de pluribus uva ? Neither will I prompt your Lordships to observe upon the proofs where they come not home , or the scruple touching the credits of the Witnesses . Neither will I represent to your Lordships , how far a Defence might in divers things extenuate the Offence , in respect of the time and manner of the guilt , or the like circumstances ; but onely leave these things to spring out of your more noble thoughts , and observations of the evidence , and examinations themselves , and charitably to winde about the particulars of the Charge , here and there , as God shall put into your minde , and so submit my self wholly to your Piety and Grace . And now I have spoken to your Lordships as Iudges , I shall say a few words unto you as Peers and Prelates , humbly commending my Cause to your noble mindes , and magnanimous affections . Your Lordships are not simply Iudges , but Parliamentary Iudges ; you have a further extent of Arbitrary power then other Courts ; and if you be not tyed by ordinary course of Courts , or Precedents , in points of strictness and severity , much less in points of Mercy and Mitigation : And yet if any thing which I shall move , might be contrary to your honorable and worthy End ( the introducing a Reformation ) I should not seek it . But herein I beseech your Lordships to give me leave to tell you a story . Titus Manlius took his Sons life for giving battel against the Prohibition of his General : Not many years after the like severity was pursued by Papitius Cursor , the Dictator , against Quintus Maximus ; who being upon the point to be sentenced , was by the intercession of some particular persons of the Senate spared : Whereupon Livie maketh this grave and gratious observation , Neque minus firmata est Disciplinae Militaris periculo Quinti Maximi , quàm miserabili supplicio Titi Manlii . The Discipline of War was no less established by the questioning of Quintus Maximus , then by the punishment of Titus Manlius ; and the same reason is in the Reformation of Iustice. For the questioning of men in eminent places , hath the same terror , though not the same rigor with the punishment . But my Cause stays not there ; for my humble desire is , That his Majesty would take the Seal into his hands , which is a great downfal , and may serve I hope in it self for an expiation of my faults . Therefore if Mercy and Mitigation be in your Lordships power , and no way cross your ends , Why should I not hope of your favor and commiseration ? Your Lordships will be pleased to behold your cheif pattern , the King our Soveraign , a King of incomparable Clemency , and whose heart is instructable for Wisdom and Goodness ; And your Lordships will remember there sate not these Hundred years before , a Prince in your House , and never such a Prince , whose presence deserveth to be made memorable by Records , and Acts mixt of Mercy and Iustice. Your selves are either Nobles ( and compassion ever beateth in the Veins of Noble Blood ) or Reverend Prelates , who are the Servants of him that would not break the bruised Reed , or quench the smoaking Flax. You all sit upon a high stage , and therefore cannot but be sensible of the change of humane conditions , and of the fall of any from high place . Neither will your Lordships forget , that there are Vitia temporis , as well as Vitia hominis ; and the beginning of Reformation hath the contrary power to the Pool of Bethesda ; for that had strength to cure him onely that was first cast in , and this hath strength to hurt him onely that is first cast in ; and for my part I wish it may stay there , and go no further . Lastly , I assure my self , your Lordships have a noble feeling of me , as a member of your own Body , and one that in this very Session had some taste of your loving affections , which I hope was not a lightning before the death of them , but rather a spark of that grace which now in the conclusion will more appear : And therefore my humble suit to your Lordships , is , That my penitent Submission may be my Sentence , the loss of my Seal my punishment , and that your Lordships would recommend me to his Majesties Grace and Pardon for all that is past . Gods holy Spirit be among you . The Parliament not satisfied with this general Acknowledgment , do require the Chancellor either to confess the particulars of the Charge , or they would descend to proof against him . Hereupon he came to an express and plain Acknowledgment , even to confess his Servants receipt of a dozen of Buttons , as a gift in a Cause depending before him ; and put himself upon their Lordships Mercy . And he further said , That he was never noted for an avaritious man ; and the Apostle saith , Coveteousness is the root of all evil ; and hoped their Lordships did finde him in a state of Grace , for , that in all particular charges against him , there were few or none that were not almost two years old : Whereas those that have the habit of corruption , do commonly wax worse and worse ; and for his estate it was so mean and poor , That his care was now cheifly to satisfie his Debts . The Lords afterwards pronounced him guilty of the Charge exhibited against him , and in the presence of the Commons gave Sentence , That he should undergo Fine and Ransome , and be made incapable to bear office , &c. This Learned Peer , eminent over the Christian World for his many Writings extant in Print , was known to be no admirer of Money , yet had the unhappiness to be defiled therewith : He treasured up nothing either for himself or his family , for he both lived and died in debt ; he was over indulgent to his Servants , and connived at their takings , and their ways betrayed him to that error ; they were profuse and expensive , and had at command what ever he was master of . The gifts taken were for the most part for interlocutory Orders ; his Decrees were generally made with so much Equity , that though gifts rendred him suspected for injustice , yet never any Decree made by him was reversed as unjust , as it hath been observed by some knowing in our Laws . About the same time Sir Henry Yelverton was accused by the Commons ; who by charging him , rendred him the less offender ; and he thereby had the opportunity to speak that at the Bar , which he durst not say in the Tower , where he was yet a prisoner upon a late Sentence in the Star-Chamber , for passing some Clauses in the City Charter , when he was Attorney General , not agreeable to His Majesties Warrant . The matter charged against him by the Commons , was for committing divers persons for not entring into Bonds to restrain their own Trades : That he signed Dormant Warrants , having no Authority for the same : That he advised the Patents of Gold and Silver Thred , to be resumed into the Kings hands , conceiving the same to be a Monopoly , and advised the Patentces to proceed by Contract with the King : That Four thousand Quo Warranto's were granted by him touching the Patents of Inns , and but two to come to trial : That he commenced divers Suits in the Exchequer , touching the Gold and Silver Thred , but did not prosecute the same . Which Charge being read unto him , he said , He thought himself happy in the midst of His Majesties disfavor , that His Majesty was pleased to cast the Grace upon him , as to send him to this Honorable House ; That Innocence hath her present Answer , but Wisdom requires time . Therefore he made it his humble suit , for time to give his further Answer ; adding withal , That the cheif Complaint against him was concerning the two Patents of Gold and Silver Thred , Inns and Osteries . He said , That if he deserved well of His Majesty , it was in that matter ; That the King and Subjects were more abused by that Patent , then by any other ; and that he suffered at that day for opposing that Patent as he took it . The King being informed of this passage in his Speech , came in person to the House of Peers , took notice thereof , saying , It seemed strange unto him , that Sir Henry Yelverton should be questioned here upon any thing , save the Patent of Gold and Silver Thred : For His Majesty did not conceive that any matter was complained of against him touching the Inns and Osteries , whereof he was also examined : Touching which Patent Mompesson had made complaint to His Majesty , that Yelverton refused to send any Proces of Quo Warranto against a multitude of Innkeepers ; and His Majesty accepted Yelvertons modest Answer , That he misliked those proceedings against his Subjects . His Majesty to clear himself , did lay open the many former just mislikes which he had against Sir Henry , and his gentle proceedings against him for the same . And when His Majesty intended to question him , Buckingham , Lord Admiral , besought him not to think of any private wrongs done to his Lordship ; His Majesty added , That in the Examination of the business touching the Charter of London , Yelverton had first justified himself by His Majesties Warrant ; and that by that Warrant , he might have given away all London from him ; yet at length he made a good Submission in the beginning , but in the end he said he had not wronged His Majesty in his Prerogative . And sith that now Yelverton doth tax His Majesty , that he suffered for his good service done His Majesty , requires the Lords who are able to do him Justice , to punish Yelverton for his slander . Sir Henry Yelverton coming shortly after before the Lords , gave his particular Answer to each particular charge in serie temporis , and spake moreover as followeth . I Cannot but present my self this day before Your Highness , and my Lords , with much fear , with more grief ; for I am compassed with so many terrors from His Majesty , as I might well hide my head with Adam . His Lordships ( meaning Buckingham ) displeasure wounds me more , then the conscience of any these facts ; yet had I rather die , then the Commonwealth should so much as receive a scrach from me . I that in none of my actions feared that great man , on whom they ( viz. Sir Edward Villers and Sir Giles Mompesson ) did depend , much less would I fear them who were but his shadow . But my most Noble Lords knowing that my Lord of Buckingham was ever at His Majesties hand , ready upon every occasion to hew me down , out of the honest fear of a Servant not to offend so gracious a Master as His Majesty hath ever been to me , I did commit them ( videlicet ) the Silkmen . And speaking concerning the Patent of Inns , he said , I cannot herein but bemoan my unhappiness , that in the last cause laboring by all lawful means to advance the honest profit of His Majesty ; and in this ( with the sight almost of my own ruine ) to preserve His Majesties honor , and the quiet of the people , I am yet drawn in question , as if I had equally dishonored His Majesty in both . When Sir Giles saw I would not be wooed to offend His Majesty in his direction , I received a Message by Mr. Emmerson , sent me from Sir Giles , That I would run my self upon the Rocks , and that I should not hold my place long , if I did thus withstand the Patent of Inns , or to this effect . Soon after came Sir Giles himself , and like an Herauld at Arms , told me to this effect , He had a Message to tell me from the Lord of Buckingham , that I should not hold my place a moneth , if I did not conform my self in better measure to the Patent of Inns ; for my Lord had obtained it by his Favor , and would maintain it by his Power : How could I but startle at this Message , for I saw here was a great assuming of power to himself , to place , and displace an Officer ; I saw my self cast upon two main Rocks , either treacherously to forsake the standing His Majesty had set me in , or else to indanger my self by a by blow , and so hazard my Fortune . I humbly beseech your Lordships : Nature will struggle when she sees her place and means of living thus assaulted ; for now it was come to this , Whither I would obey His Majesty , or my Lord , if Sir Giles spake true . Yet I resolved in this to be as stubborn as Mordecai , not to stoop or pass those gracious Bounds His Majesty had prescribed me . Soon after I found the Message in part made good ; for all the profits almost of my place were diverted from me , and turned into an unusual Channel , to one of my Lords Worthies , That I retained little more then the name of Attorney . It became so fatal and so penal , that it became almost the loss of a Suit to come to me . My place was but as the seat of Winds and Tempests . Howbeit , I dare say if my Lord of Buchingham had but read the Articles exhibited in this place against Hugh Spencer , and had known the danger of placing 〈◊〉 displacing Officers about a King , he would not have pursued me with such bitterness . But my opposing my Lord in this Patent of Inns , in the Patent of Ale-houses , in the Irish Customs , and in Sir Robert Nantons Deputation of his place in the Court of Wards : These have bin my overthrow , and for these I suffer at this day in my Estate and Fortune ( not meaning to say , I take it , but as I know ) and for my humble oppositions to his Lordship ) above Twenty thousand pounds . The King hearing of this Speech , commanded the Lord Treasurer to acquaint the House of Lords , That he understood that Yelverton being called before them the other day as a Delinquent , answered not as a Delinquent , but as a Judge , or accuser of a Member of that House the Lord of Buckingham ; saying , He suffered for the Patent of Inns , or to that effect : That he was so far from excusing or extenuating of his Offence the last day here , that he hath aggravated the same . Wherefore His Majesties pleasure is , That himself will be judge of what concerns His Majesty ; for that which concerns the Lord of Buckingham , his Lordship hath besought His Majesty that that might be left to the House , and so His Majesty leaves that wholly to their Lordships . The Lords made an humble Return to His Majesty , That forasmuch as he was once pleased to make their House Judge of those words formerly spoken by Sir Henry Yelverton , which touched His Majesties Honor , that His Majesty will be pleased not to resume the same out of their hands , but so far to tender the Priviledges of their House , as to continue his first resolution , which afterwards the King condescended unto . The Lords first examining Emerson ( who varied in the matter he was examined about ) proceeded to Sentence Sir Henry Yelverton , not upon the Charge exhibited against him by the Commons , but for the words spoken by the by ; and declared , That the said Sir Henry Yelverton for his Speeches uttered here in the Court , which do touch the Kings Majesty his Honor , shall be fined to the King in Ten thousand Marks , be imprisoned during the Kings pleasure , and make a Submission unto His Majesty . And for the scandal committed in these words of his against the Lord Marquess of Buckingham , That he should pay him Five thousand Marks , and make his Submission . As soon as the Judgment was pronounced against him , the Lord Marquess of Buckingham stood up , and did freely remit him the said ▪ Five thousand marks ; for which Sir Henry humbly thanked his Lordship , and the House of Peers agreed to move His Majesty to mitigate Sir Henry Yelvertons Fine , and the Prince his Highness offered to move His Majesty therein ; which accordingly was done , and Sir Henry was set at liberty , the Duke reconciled to him ; he afterwards preferred to be a Judge , and was esteemed a man Valde eruditus in Lege . But the Treaties with the Emperor and the King of Spain were much disrelished ; Gondomar had raised the peoples fury , and was reviled and assaulted in London streets : Whereupon the day following the Privy Council commanded the Recorder of London to be careful in the strict Examination of an Insolent and Barbarous affront offered to the Spanish Ambassador , and his people , for which the King would have exemplary Justice done . And forasmuch as His Majesty was informed that there was a fellow already apprehended , though not for casting stones or threatning the Ambassadors person , as some are said to have done ; yet for using railing speeches against him , calling him Divel or words to that purpose , it was His Majesties pleasure that that fellow without any further delay , on the morrow in the forenoon , be publickly and sharply whipt thorow London , beginning at Algate , and so through the streets , along by the place where the affront was offered , towards Fleetstreet , and so to Temple-Bar , without any manner of favor . The people were enraged at Gondomar , through a perswasion that he abused the King and State to advance the designs of Spain . By means of his power with the King , he had transported Ordinance and other warlike Provisions to furnish the Spanish Arsenals ; and it was believed that he underhand wrought the sending of Sir Rob. Mansel into the Mediterranean Sea , to fall upon the Pirates of Algier . The Merchants of this Kingdom by them much infested , being also induced to move for this Expedition , wherein the English fleet performed gallantly , and advancing within the reach of Cannon and small shot , which from the Land showred like Hail upon them , fired the Pirates ships within their own Harbor . Nevertheless hereby our Strength was diverted , our Treasure exhausted , and the Spanish fleet and Merchants secured from those Robbers , and Spain left at liberty to assist in subduing the Palatinate . In the mean while our Kings Affairs in Germany , notwithstanding the many Complaints , grew more and more desperate . In Bohemia the Emperor having well nigh subdued and setled the Country , proceeded to the Tryal and Execution of the Authors of the late Commotions ; some were condemned to perpetual imprisonment , and others to death ; and the Heads of many eminent persons were fixt on the Towers in Prague , and their bodies quartered . After this the Emperor began both in Austria and Hungaria to imprison divers that assisted the Bohemians , and caused Proces to be made against them . The Marquess of Iagerndorfe who stirred in the County of Glatsburgh , and raised forces by Commission from the Elector Palatine , published Letters against the Executions in Bohemia , as cruel and barbarous . The Emperor put forth an Answer , and said , That the Marquess published those things maliciously ; forasmuch as in Bohemia was the Original sedition , and the head that infected the members : That some few persons , Authors of the troubles , not in hatred of their Religion , but for their Rebellion , have been punished by the hand of Justice . And he declared further , That the like exemplary Justice should not be done in other places , but that the Articles of the Peace should be observed . By this time the Parliament having sate about four moneths , King Iames was desirous to give them a time of vacancie . The Lord Treasurer by the Kings command declared unto the Houses , That his Majesty by the advice of his Privy Council thought fit to adjourn the Parliament , lest the season of the year , by the continual concourse of people , should cause Infection . Also , that the Lieutenans and Justices might be in the Country ; And the Adjournment keeping the Parliament still in being , was better then Proroguing . That his Majesty had already redressed corruption in Courts of Justice , and by his Proclamation called in the Patents of Inns , of Osteries , and of Gold and Silver-Thread , and cherished the Bill against Informers and Monopolies . The Commons were troubled at this Message , and desired a Conference with the Lords , and moved them to petition the King to forbear the Adjournment . The King takes notice of it ; and the Treasurer acquainted the Lords , that a Petition of this nature could not be pleasing to his Majesty , it seeming to derogate from his Prerogative , who alone hath power to call , adjourn , and determine Parliaments . The Commons , at a further Conference , declared their hearty sorrow and passionate grief at the Kings resolution ; which they said cut off the performance of what they had consulted , and promised for the Publique weal. The Lords sitting in their Robes , the King came and made a Speech , takes notice of his Message to both Houses , and gave their Lordships thanks for obeying the same , and acknowledging his power to call , adjourn , and dissolve Parliaments , and for refusing to join with the Commons in the Petition for Non-adjournment . And whereas some had given out , that no good had been done this Parliament ; He put them in mind , that the two Patents grievous to the Commonwealth were called in , and that the Parliament had censured the Offenders for an example to all ages . And if they desired it , he offered them eight or ten days longer sitting to expedite Bills ; but said , that at the request of the Commons he would not grant it . The Lords had a Conference with the Commons ; after which they moved the King to continue their sitting for fourteen days , which was granted , and the Commons were satisfied with the resolution of Adjournment . A Committee of both Houses afterwards attending the King , he told them how ill he took it , that the Commons should dispute his reasons of Adjournment ; all power being in him alone to call , adjourn , prorogue , and dissolve Parliaments . And on Iune 4. he declared for an Adjournment till November following ; And that he will in the mean time of his own authority redress Grievances . And his Majesty as General Bishop of the Land , did offer his prayers to God for both the Houses ; and admonished them , That when they go into the Country , they give his people a good accompt and satisfaction both as to the Proceedings , and to the Adjournment of the Parliament . The House of Commons immediately before their recess , taking to heart the miseries of the Palatinate , resolved that the drawing back in so good a Cause should not be charged on their slackness ; And thereupon drew up this following Declaration with an universal consent . THe Commons assembled in Parliament taking into most serious consideration the present state of the Kings Children abroad , and the generally afflicted estate of the true Professors of the same Christian Religion professed by the Church of England , in Foreign parts ; And being touched with a true sense and fellow féeling of their distresses , as Members of the same Body , do with unanimous consent in the name of themselves , and the whole body of the Kingdom ( whom they represent ) declare unto his most excellent Majesty , and to the whole World , their hearty grief and sorrow for the same ; and do not only join with them in their humble and devout prayers unto Almighty God 〈◊〉 protect his true Church , and to avert the dangers now threatned , but also with one heart and voice do solemnly protest , That if His Maies●●● pious endeavors by Treaty , to procure their peace and safety , shall not take that good effect which is desired in Treaty , ( Wherefore they humbly beseech His Majesty not to suffer any longer delay ) That then upon signification of His Majesties pleasure in Parliament , they shall be ready to the utmost of their powers , both with their lives and fortunes to assist him so , as that by the Divine help of Almighty God ( which is never wanting unto those who in his fear shall undertake the Defence of his own Cause ) He may be able to do that with his sword , which by a peaceable course shall not be effected . After the recess of Parliament , the King by Proclamation declared his Grace to his Subjects in matters of Publique Grievance : And taking notice that many great affairs debated in Parliament could not be brought to perfection in so short a time , And that the Commons thought it convenient to continue the same Session in course of Adjournment ; And withall observing that divers of those Particulars required a speedy determination and settlement for his peoples good , and that they are of that condition and quality , as that he needeth not the assistance of Parliament to reform the same , and would have reformed them before the Parliament , if the true state of his Subjects Grievances had been made known unto him ; He hath determined , and doth declare an immediate redress therein by his own Regal authority , as in the business of Informers , of Miscarriages of Ministers in Chancery , of the Patents for Gold and Silver-Thread , for Licensing Pedlers and Petty-Chapmen , for the sole Dressing of Arms , for the Exportation of Lists and Shreds , and for the sole making of Tobacco-pipes , Cards , and the like . And besides the redress of these Grievances , he will enlarge his grace unto other kindes for the Subjects ease ; And that both his own , and the ears of his Privy-Council shall be open to his Peoples modest and just Complaints . Moreover , a second Proclamation was issued forth against Excess of Licentious speech touching State-affairs : For notwithstanding the strictness of the Kings former Command , the Peoples inordinate liberty of unreverend speech increased daily . Wherefore the King threatned severity as well against the Concealers of such Discourses , as against the boldness of Audacious Tongues and Pens . On the Tenth of Iuly , Iohn Williams Doctor of Divinity , and Dean of Westminster , was sworne Keeper of the Great Seal of England . The King was plyed from Spain and Rome , to enlarge his favors to Popish Recufants : For , reports were then brought to Rome , That the Catholicks of England , Scotland , and Ireland were cruelly used . And besides this there went a rumor , that King Iames in a Speech in Parliament had declared , That notwithstanding the Marriage with Spain , the English Catholicks should not be one jot in better condition . But the King said no more then this , That if any of that party did grow insolent , let his People count him unworthy to reign , if he gave not extraordinary punishment . Thus was the King entangled in the ways which he had chosen : For it was not possible for him at once to please his People , and to satisfie his Foreign Interests . About the same time the Lord Digby , who was sent Ambassador to the Emperor , had Audience at Vienna . The principal heads of his Embassie were these . That the Elector Palatine , and the Children of the King of Great Britain his Master , might be received into the Emperors favor , and restored to all their Hereditary Goods , and the Prince Elector himself to the Title which he enjoyed before the troubles of Bohemia : That the Ban Imperial published against him should be revoked , and the execution thereof suspended ; which being done , the King of Great Britain will undertake that the Palatine shall render due obedience to his Imperial Majesty , and submit to Conditions meet and honest . To these Demands he received Answer , That the Emperor had a very good will to gratifie the King of Great Britain , and those other Kings and Princes that had made the same request for the Palatine : But he could not grant it , because the Palatine to this hour useth the Counsels of many of the Electors and Princes , in opposition to the Emperor ; And when the Emperor had agreed to a Cessation of Arms , according to the desires of the King of Great Britain , and had ordered the suspending of all Hostility in the Lower Palatinate , at the same time the Palatine gave Commission to raise Forces and do acts of Hostility , which was put in execution by Count Mansfeld and Marquis Iagerndorf , to begin new troubles in Bohemia , Silesia , and Moravia . Nevertheless the Emperor having appointed an Assembly to meet at Ratisbone , will there make known the desires of the King of Great Britain , who shall know what Resolution is there taken concerning the Palatine . Albert Archduke of Flanders , at the request of King Iames , had made intercession for the Palsgrave . After his decease , the Archduchess his wife continued the same mediation by Letters to the Emperor . And withall , the Kings Ambassador further proposed these Conditions for a Cessation of Arms , and a Suspension of the Ban Imperial ; That Mansfeld and Iagerndorf shall observe the Agreement , otherwise the Prince Palatine shall revoke their Commissions , and declare them his Enemies , and that their Garrisons in Bohemia shall be rendred to the Emperor . The Emperor answered the Archduchess , That the Archduke her husband in his life-time had exceedingly recommended the Interposition of the King of Great Britain , and the great prudence of that King in not approving the Actions of the Palatine : Which Recommendation , as to a Treaty and Cessation of Arms , he shall entertain , and consult thereupon with the Deputies of the Electors and Princes of the Empire . The English Ambassador departed from Vienna to the Duke of Bavaria , who had then entred the Upper Palatinate , and had published the Emperors Declaration against Mansfeld and his Adherents , and exhorted the States and Princes there to execute the same ; and the rather , for that he had not heard of any King , Elector , Prince or State , no not so much as the King of Great Britain , that had approved the seditious Revolt of the Bohemians , except some few States and Princes who for interest did countenance the same . The Ambassador found the Bavarian acting hostility and committing great spoils in the Country , and resolving to reject all Propositions of Peace or Cessation . Nor could the Emperor agree upon any Truce without the Duke of Bavaria : First in respect of his agreement neither to make War or Peace without the consent of the said Duke ; which happened , because upon the former Truce made with the Archduke , the Soldiers that were in the Lower Palatinate , and wanted employment , came up into the Higher Palatinate to Count Mansfeld , and much infested the Duke of Bavaria . Secondly , in regard the Duke of Bavaria had a great part of Austria in pledge for his satisfaction . Thirdly , because the Emperor was barred from all other passages but through Bavaria , by Bethlem Gabor , Jagerndorf , and Budiani . And the Duke , upon receipt of the Emperors Letter touching the Truce , sent the Lord Digby a deriding Answer ; That there was no need to labor for a Truce , for the Wars were at an end , in that he agreed with Count Mansfeld ; nor did he doubt of keeping both Palatinates in peace , till the Emperor and Palsgrave were agreed . So the King received but a slender return of the Lord Digby's Embassie to the Emperor for the restoring of the Elector Palatine . But the Emperors full meaning in the business may be found at large in his own Letter to Don Baltazar de Zuniga , a prime Councellor of State in Spain , to be by him represented to the King his Master , to this effect . THat beholding the admirable providence of God over him , he is bound to use that most notable Victory to the honor of God , and the extirpation of all Seditions and Factions , which are nourished chiefly among the Calvinists ; lest that Iudgment which the Prophet threatned the King of Israel should fall upon him ; Because thou hast dismissed a man worthy of death , thy soul shall be for his soul. The Palatine keeps now in Holland , not only exiled from the Kingdom which he rashly attempted , but despoiled almost of all his own Territories , expecting as it were the last cast of Fortune : whom if by an impious kind of commiseration , and his subtile petitioning , he shall be perswaded to restore , and nourish in his bosom as a trodden half-living snake , what can he expect less then a deadly sting from him , who in regard of his guilt can never be faithful , but will alway gape for occasions to free himself from his fears , and the genius of whose sect will make him an Enemy , or an unsound Friend , to the House of Austria , and all other Catholick Princes . Wherefore firmly casting in his minde , that the Palatine cannot be restored , He hath freely offered the Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria , a most eager Defender of the Catholick cause ; by which means the Empire will always remain in the hand of Catholicks , and so by consequence in the House of Austria : And in so doing he shall take away all hope from the Palatine , and those that sollicite so importunately for his restitution ; And it is to be hoped that the Lutheran Princes , especially the Duke of Saxony , will not so far disallow this translation as to take up Arms , seeing Charls the Fifth upon a far lighter cause deprived John Frederick Duke of Saxony of the Electorate , and conferred it on Maurice this Dukes great Uncle : Besides , no less is the Lutherans hatred of the Calvinists , then of the Catholicks . Such were the effects which the Kings Treating had wrought with the Emperor . The Parliament that was to meet November the Fourteenth , the King by Proclamation adjourned to the Eighth of February , and expressed the cause to be the unseasonableness of the time of the year . But this long Recess was shortned , and the King declared , That upon Important Reasons he had altered his former Resolutions , and did adjourn it for no longer time then from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth of this instant November . Upon which day it Reassembled , and the King being absent by reason of his indisposition in health , commanded a Message to be delivered to both Houses , by the Lord Keeper , the Lord Digby , and the Lord Treasurer . In the first place he acquainted the Two Houses with His Majesties indisposition of health , which was the occasion of his absence at the opening of the Parliament , yet he could not say he was absent , so long as he was represented by a Son , who was as dear to the Kingdom as to His Majesty . As to the occasion of calling the Parliament by way of Antecedent , he took notice of several effects of His Majesties gracious care over the Nation , since the last Recess of the Parliament in His Majesties answering several Petitions concerning Trade , Importation of Bullion , Conservation of Coyn in the Land , and prohibiting the Transportation of Iron Ordinance ; and that His Majesty by His Proclamation reformed Thirty six or thirty seven several matters complained of as Publick Grievances , all of them without the least Trucking or Merchandising with the People , a thing usual in former times . He further said , That His Majesty did principally fix the occasion of the calling a Parliament upon the Declaration Recorded , and divulged far and near by the Representative Communalty of this Kingdom , to assist His Majesty to carry on the War to recover the Palatinate ; yet withal his Lordship gave an account how His Majesty was since the last Parliament , encouraged to travel a little longer in his pious endeavors to procure a peace by way of Treaty , and that the Lord Digby was sent Ambassador upon that occasion , and since returned , but not with such success as was to be hoped for . He minded both Houses of one Heroical Act of His Majesties since the last Parliament , in the advancement of Forty thousand pounds to keep together a Body of an Army in the Lower Palatinate , which otherwise had been dissolved before this Parliament could be assembled : And that unless the Parliament take further resolution , and imitate rather Ancient then Modern principles , and be expeditious in what they do , the Army in the Palatinate will fall to the ground . And lastly , Told them that His Majesty did resolve that this Parliament should continue till seven or eight days before the Festivals , and to be renewed again the eighth of Februa●● to continue for the Enacting of Laws and Perioding of things of Reformation , as long as the necessity of the State shall require the same . After the Lord Keeper had done , the Lord Digby ( having received a Command from His Majesty to that purpose ) gave a brief account of his Negotiation with the Archduke about the Treaty of Peace ; how the Archduke consented thereunto , and writ accordingly to the Emperor and the King of Spain of his proceedings ; who also writ to Spinola for a Cessation of Arms , the Archduke having the Command of the Spanish forces in Germany ; but the Duke of Bavaria would not consent thereunto ; and the Lord Digby informed the two Houses , that by the carriage of the Duke of Bavaria , and by other circumstances , he did evidently discover , That from the beginning that Duke affected to get unto himself the Palatinate , and the Title of Elector . He further declared , That if Count Mansfield was not speedily supplied , he could not keep his Army together . Then he gave an account , how bravely Sir Horatio Vere had behaved himself in the Palatinate , and that by his wisdom and valor , there was kept from the enemy , Heidelburg , Mainheim , and Frankendale ; the last of which places had then endured a moneths siege . He also spoke Honorably of Capt. Burroughs , and concluded , That the fittest Redress was to furnish and keep up the Army already there ; which must be done by supplies of Money , and more Forces must be prepared against the next Spring , that we may have there an Army of our own for the strengthning of the Palatinate , and encouragement of the Princes of the Union . Then the Lord Treasurer spake , and acquainted both Houses ; how empty the Kings Coffers were , and how he had assisted the Palatine , and Princes of the Union , with great sums which had exhausted his Treasure , and that His Majesty was much in debt . Nevertheless , though the King declared for War , he pursued Peace , and resolved to close with Spain , hoping to heal the Breach by that Alliance . The House of Commons before they granted Subsides , resolved to try the Kings Spirit by this Petition and Remonstrance , which laid open the distempers of those times , with their causes and cures . Most Gratious and Dread Soveraign , WE Your Majesties most Humble and Loyal Subjects , the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses , now Assembled in Parliament , who represent the Commons of Your Realm , full of hearty sorrow , to be deprived of the Comfort of Your Royal Presence , the rather for that it proceeds from the want of Your health ; wherein we all unfeignedly do suffer ; In all humble manner calling to minde Your Gracious Answer to our former Petition concerning Religion , which notwithstanding Your Majesties Pious and Princely intentions , hath not produced that good effect , which the danger of these times doth séem to us to require : And finding how ill Your Majesties goodness hath béen requited by Princes of different Religion , who even in time of Treaty have taken opportunity to advance their own ends , tending to the subversion of Religion , and disadvantage of Your Affairs , and the Estate of Your Children : By reason whereof , Your ill affected . Subjects at home , the Popish Recusants , have taken too much encouragement , and are dangerously increased in their number , and in 〈◊〉 insolencies . We cannot but be sensible thereof , and therefore humbly represent what we conceive to be the causes of so great and growing Mischeifs , and what be the Remedies . I. The Uigilancy and Ambition of the Pope of Rome , and his dearest Son , the one aiming at as large a Temporal Monarchy , as the other at a Spiritual Supremacy . II. The Devillish Positions and Doctrines , whereon Popery is built and taught with Authority to their Followers , for advancement of their Temporal ends . III. The distressed and miserable estate of the Professors of true Religion in Foreign parts . IV. The Disasterous accidents to Your Majesties Children abroad , expressed with rejoycing , and even with contempt of their persons . V. The strange Confederacy of the Princes of th● Popish Religion , aiming mainly at the advancement of theirs , and subverting of ours , and taking the advantages conducing to that end upon all occasions . VI. The great and many 〈◊〉 raised , and maintained at the charge of the King of Spain , the 〈◊〉 of that League . VII . The expectation of the Popish Recusants of the Match with Spain , and féeding themselves with great hopes of the consequences thereof . VIII . The interposing of Forein Princes and their Agents , in the behalf of Popish Recusants , for connivance and favor unto them . IX . Their open and usual resort to the Houses ; and which is worse , to the Chappels of Foreign Ambassadors . X. Their more then usual concourse to the City , and their frequent Conventicles and Conferences there . XI . The education of their Children in many several Seminaries and Houses of their Religion in Forein parts , appropriated to the English Fugitives . XII . The Grants of their just Forfeitures intended by Your Majesty as a Reward of Service to the Grantees ; but beyond Your Majesties intention , transferred or compounded for , at such mean rates , as will amount to little less then a Toleration . XIII . The Licentious Printing and dispersing of Popish and Seditious Books , even in the time of Parliament . XIV . The swarms of Priests and Iesuits , the Common Incendiaries of all Christendom , dispersed in all parts of your Kingdom . And from these causes as bitter Roots , we humbly offer to Your Majesty , That we foresée and fear there will necessarily follow very dangerous effects , both to Church and State. For , I. The Popish Religion is incompatible with ours , in respect of their Positions . II. It draweth with it an unavoidable dependency on Forein Princes . III. It openeth too wide a gap for Popularity , to any who shall draw too great a party . IV. It hath a restless spirit , and will strive by these Gradations ; if it once get but a connivancy , it will press for a Toleration ; if that should be obtained , they must have an equality ; from thence they will aspire to Superiority , and will never rest till they get a Subversion of the true Religion . The Remedies against these growing Evils , which in all Humility we offer unto Your most Excellent Majesty , are these . I. That séeing this inevitable necessity is faln upon Your Majesty , which no Wisdom or Providence of a peaceable and pious King can 〈◊〉 , Your Majesty would not omit this just occasion , spéedily and e●●ectually to take Your Sword into Your hand . II. That once undertaken upon so honorable and just grounds , Your Majesty would resolve to pursue , and more publickly avow the aiding of those of our Religion in Forein parts , which doubtless would reunite the Princes and States of the Union , by these disasters disheartned and disbanded . III. That Your Majesty would propose to Your Self to manage this War with the best advantage , by a diversion or otherwise , as in Your déep judgment shall be found fittest , and not to rest upon a War in these parts onely , which will consume Your Treasure , and discourage Your People . IV. That the bent of this 〈◊〉 and point of Your S●●●d , may be against that Prince ( whatsoever opinion of potency he hath ) whose Armies and Treasures have first diverted , and since maintained the War in the Palatinate . V. That for securing of our Peace at home , Your , Majesty will be pleased to review the parts of our Petition formerly delivered unto Your Majesty , and hereunto annexed , and to put in execution by the care of choice Commissioners to be thereunto especially appointed , the Laws already , and hereafter to be made for preventing of dangers by Popish Recusants , and their wonted evasions . VI. That to frustrate their hopes for a future age , our most Noble Prince may be timely and happily married to one of our own Religion . VII . That the Children of the Nobility and Gentry of this Kingdom , and of others ill-affected and suspected in their Religion , now beyond the Seas , may be forthwith called home by your means , and at the charge of their Parents or Governors . VIII . That the Children of Popish Recusants , or such whose Wives are Popish Recusants , be brought up during their Minority with Protestant Schoolmasters and Teachers , who may sow in their tender years the Séeds of true Religion . IX . That Your Majesty will be pleased spéedily to revoke all former Licences for such Children and Youth to travel beyond the Seas , and not grant any such Licence hereafter . X. That Your Majesties Learned Council may receive Commandment from Your Highness , carefully to look into former Grants of Recusants Lands , and to avoid them , if by Law they can ; and that Your Majesty will stay Your Hand from passing any such Grants hereafter . This is the sum and effect of our humble Declaration , which we ( no ways intending to press upon Your Majesties undoubted and Regal Prerogative ) do with the fulness of our Duty and Obedience , humbly submit to Your most Princely consideration : The glory of God whose cause it is ; the zeal of our true Religion , in which we have béen born , and wherein ( by Gods grace ) we are resolved to die ; the safety of Your Majesties person , who is the very life of Your people ; the happiness of Your Children and Posterity ; the honor and good of the Church and State dearer unto us then our own lives , having kindled these affections truly devoted to Your Majesty . And séeing out of our duty to Your Majesty we have already resolved to give at the end of this Session , one intire Subsidy , for the present relief of the Palatinate onely , to be paid in the end of February next , which cannot well be effected but by passing a Bill in a Parl●●mentary course before Christmas ; We most humbly beséech Your Majesty ( as our assured hope is ) that You will then also vouchsafe to give life by Your Royal Assent to such Bills as before that time shall be prepared for Your Majesties honor , and the general good of Your people : And that such Bills may be also accompanied ( as hath béen accustomed ) with Your Majesties Gracious Pardon , ( which procéeding from Your own méer Grace , may by Your Highness direction be drawn to that Latitude , and Extent , as may best sort with Your Majesties bounty and goodness . And that not onely Felons and Criminal Offenders may take benefit thereof , but that Your good Subjects may receive ease thereby . And if it shall so stand with Your good pleasure , That it may extend to the relief of the old Debts and Duties to the Crown before the First year of Your Majesties Reign , to the discharge of Alienations without Licence , and misusing of Liveries , and Oustre le Maine before the first Summons of this Parliament , and of concealed Wardships , and not suing of Liveries , and Oustre le Maines before the Twelfth year of Your Majesties Reign . Which gratious Favor would much comfort Your good Subjects , and ease them from vexation , with little loss or prejudice to Your own profit . And we by our daily and devout Prayers to the Almighty , the Great King of Kings , shall contend for a blessing upon our endeavors ; and for Your Majesties long and happy Reign over us ; and for Your Childrens Children after You for many and many Generations . The House had sufficient cause to set forth the danger of true Religion , and the Miseries of the Professors thereof in Foreign parts ; when besides the great wound made in Germany , and the cruelties of the prevailing House of Austria , the Protestants in France were almost ruined by Lewis the Thirteenth , being besieged at once in several places , as in Montauban by the King , and in Rochel by Count Soysons , and the Duke of Guise : And for their relief , the King of England prevailed nothing by sending of Sir Edward Herbert , since Baron of Cherbury , and after him the Viscount Doncaster , Ambassador for Mediation . The King having Intelligence of the former Remonstrance , wrote his Letter to the Speaker . To Our Trusty and Welbeloved Sir Thomas Richardson Knight , Speaker of the House of COMMONS . Mr : Speaker , WE have heard by divers Reports , to our great grief , That our distance from the Houses of Parliament , caused by our indisposition of health , hath imboldned the fiery and popular Spirits of some of the House of Commons , to argue and debate publickly of the matters far above their reach and capacity , tending to our high dishonor , and breach of Prerogative Royal. These are therefore to command you to make known in our Name unto the House , That none therein shall presume henceforth to meddle with any thing concerning our Government , or deep matters of State , and namely not to deal with our dearest Sons Match with the Daughter of Spain , nor to touch the honor of that King , or any other our Friends and Confederates : And also not to meddle with any mans particulars , which have their due motion in our ordinary Courts of Iustice. And whereas we hear they have sent a Message to Sir Edwin Sandis , to know the reasons of his late restraint , you shall in our Name resolve them , That it was not for any misdemeanor of his in Parliament ; but to put them out of doubt of any question of that nature that may arise among them hereafter , you shall resolve them in our Name , That we think our self very free and able to punish any mans misdemeanors in Parliament , as well during their sitting as after : Which we mean not to spare hereafter , upon any occasion of any mans insolent behavior there that shall be ministred unto us : And if they have already touched any of these points , which we have forbidden , in any Petition of theirs which is to be sent unto us , it is our pleasure that you shall tell them , That except they reform it before it come to our hands , we will not deign the hearing nor answering of it . Dated at New-Market , 3 Dec. 1621. Hereupon they drew up another Petition , which they sent accompanied with the former Remonstrance . Most Dread and Gratious Soveraign , WE your most humble and loyal Subjects , the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses , Assembled in the Commons House of Parliament , full of grief , and unspeakable sorrow , through the true sence of your Majesties displeasure , expressed by your Letter lately sent to our Speaker , and by him related and read unto us : Yet comforted again with the assurance of your grace and goodness , and of the sincerity of our own intentions and procéedings , whereon with confidence we can relie , In all humbleness beséech your most Excellent Majesty , that the loyalty and dutifulness of as faithful and loving Subjects as ever served , or lived under a gratious Soveraign , may not undeservedly suffer by the mis-information of partial and uncertain Reports , which are ever unfaithful Intelligencers : But that your Majesty would in the clearness of your own Iudgment , first vouchsafe to understand from our selves , and not from others , what our humble Declaration and Petition ( resolved upon by the Universal voice of the House , and proposed with your gratious Favor to be presented unto your Sacred Majesty ) doth contain . Upon what occasion we entred into consideration of those things which are therein contained , with what dutiful respect to your Majesty , and your service , we did consider thereof , and what was our true intention thereby . And that when your Majesty shall thereby truly discern our dutiful affections , you will in your Royal Iudgment frée us from those heavy charges wherewith some of our Members are burthened , and wherein the whole House is involved . And we humbly beséech your Majesty , that you will not hereafter give credit to private Reports , against all or any of the Members of our House , whom the whole have not censured , until your Majesty have béen truly informed thereof from our selves : And that in the mean time , and ever , we may stand upright in your Majesties grace and good opinion , than which , no worldly consideration is , or can be dearer unto us . When your Majesty had Reassembled us in Parliament by your Royal Commandment , sooner then we expected , and did vouchsafe by the mouths of thrée honorable Lords , to impart unto us the weighty occasions moving your Majesty thereunto ; and from them we did understand these particulars . That notwithstanding your Princely and pious endeavors to procure peace , the time is now come that Janus Temple must be opened . That the voice of Bellona must be heard , and not the voice of the Turtle . That there was no hope of peace , nor any truce to be obtained , no not for a few days . That your Majesty must either abandon your own Children , or engage your self in a War , wherein consideration is to be had , what Foot , what Horse , what Money will be sufficient . That the Lower Palatinate was seised upon by the Army of the King of Spain , as Executor of the Ban there in quality of Duke of Burgundy , as the Upper Palatinate was by the Duke of Bavaria . That the King of Spain at his own charge , had now at least five Armies on foot . That the Princes of the Union were disbanded , but the Catholick League remained firm , whereby those Princes so dissevered , were in danger one by one to be ruined . That the estate of those of the Religion in Foreign parts was miserable ; and , that out of these considerations we were called to a War , and forthwith to advise for a supply for kéeping the forces in the Palatinate from disbanding , and to foresee the means for raising and maintaining the Body of an Army for the War against the Spring . We therefore out of our zeal to your Maiesty and your Posterity , with more alacrity and celerity than ever was presidented in Parliament , did Address our selves to the service commended unto us . And although we cannot conceive , That the honor and safety of your Maiesty and your Posterity , the Patrimony of your Children invaded , and possessed by their enemies , the welfare of Religion , and State of your Kingdom , are matters at any time unfit for our déepest consideration in time of Parliament ; And though before this time we were in some of these points silent , yet being now invited thereunto , and led on by so iust an occasion , we thought it our duties to provide for the present supply thereof , and not onely to turn our eyes on a War abroad , but to take care for the securing of our peace at home , which the dangerous increase and insolency of Popish Recusants apparently , visibly , and sensibly , did lead us unto . The consideration whereof did necessarily draw us truly to represent unto your Maiesty , what we conceive to be the causes , what we feared would be the effects , and what we hoped might be the remedies of these growing Evils ; among which , as incident and unavoidable , we fell upon some things which séem to touch upon the King of Spain , as they have relation to Popish Recusants at home , to the Wars by him maintained in the Palatinate against your Maiesties Children , and to his several Armies now on foot , yet as we conceived without touch of dishonor to that King , or any other Prince your Maiesties Confederate . In the Discourse whereof , we did not assume to our selves any power to determine of any part thereof , nor intend to incroach or intrude upon the Sacred Bounds of Your Royal Authority , to whom , and to whom onely , we acknowledge it doth belong to resolve of Peace , and War , and of the Marriage of the most Noble Prince your Son : But as your most loyal and humble Subjects and Servants , representing the whole Commons of your Kingdom ( who have a large Interest in the happy and prosperous estate of your Majesty , and your Royal Posterity , and of the flourishing estate of our Church and Commonwealth ) did resolve out of our Cares and Fears , truly and plainly to demonstrate these things to your Majesty , which we were not assured could otherwise come so fully and clearly to your knowledge ; and that being done , to lay the same down at your Majesties féet , without expectation of any other Answer of your Majesty touching these higher points , then what at your good pleasure , and in your own time should be held fit . This being the effect of that we had formerly resolved upon , and these the Occasions and Reasons inducing the same , Our humble suit to your Majesty and confidence is , That your Majesty will be gratiously pleased to receive at the hands of these our Messengers , our former humble Declaration and Petition , and vouchsafe to read and favorably to interpret the same ; and that to so much thereof as containeth our humble Petition concerning Iesuits , Priests , and Popish Recusants , the Passage of Bills , and Granting your Royal Pardon , you will vouchsafe an Answer unto us . And whereas your Majesty by the general words of your Letter , séemeth to restrain us from intermedling with Matters of Government , or Particulars which have their motion in the Courts of Iustice , the generality of which words in the largeness of the extent thereof , ( as we hope beyond your Majesties intention ) might involve those things which are the proper Subjects of Parliamentary occasions and discourse . And whereas your Majesty doth séem to abridge us of the Antient Liberty of Parliament for Fréedom of Spéech , Iurisdiction , and Iust Censure of the House , and other procéedings there ( wherein we trust in God we shall never transgress the bounds of Loyal and Dutiful Subjects ) a Liberty which we assure our selves , so Wise and so Iust a King will not infringe , the same being our antient and undoubted Right , and an Inheritance received from our Ancestors ; without which we cannot fréely debate , nor clearly discern of things in question before us , nor truly inform your Majesty : In which we have béen confirmed by your Maiesties most gratious former Spéeches and Messages . We are therefore now again inforced in all humbleness to pray your Maiesty to allow the same , and thereby to take away the Doubts and Scruples your Maiesties late Letter to our Speaker hath wrought upon us . So shall we your loyal and loving Subiects ever acknowledge your Maiesties Iustice , Grace , and Goodness , and be ready to perform that service to your Maiesty , which in the true affection of our hearts we profess , and pour out our daily and devout Prayers to the Almighty for your Maiesties long life , happy and religious Reign , and prosperous Estate , and for your Royal Posterity after you for ever . The King having rejected the first Petition , gave to the later this Answer following . WE must here begin in the same fashion that we would have done , if the first Petition had come to our hands before we had made a stay thereof , which is to repeat the first words of the late Queen of famous memory , used by her , in answer to an Insolent Proposition made by a Polonian Ambassador unto her ; that is , Legatum expectabamus , Heraldum accipimus . For we had great reason to expect that the first Message from your House should have been a Message of Thanksgiving for our continued gratious behavior towards our people , since your last Recess ; not onely by our Proclamation of Grace , wherein were contained Six or seven and thirty Articles , all of several points of Grace to the people ; but also by the labor we took for the satisfaction of both Houses in those three Articles recommended unto us in both their names , by the Right Reverend Father in God , the Archbishop of Canterbury , and likewise for the good Government of Ireland , we are now in hand with , at your request ; but not onely have we heard no news of all this , but contrary , great complaints of the danger of Religion within this Kingdom , tacitely implying our ill Government in this point . And we leave you to judge , whether it be your duties that are the Representative Body of our people , so to distaste them with our Government ; whereas by the contrary it is your duty , with all your endeavors , to kindle more and more a dutiful and thankful love in the peoples hearts towards us , for our just and gratious Government . Now whereas in the very beginning of this your Apology you tax us in fair terms of trusting uncertain Reports , and partial Informations concerning your proceedings , we wish you to remember that we are an old and experienced King , needing no such Lessons , being in our Conscience freest of any King alive from hearing or trusting idle Reports , which so many of your House as are nearest us , can bear witness unto you , if you would give as good ear to them , as you do to some Tribunitial Orators among you : And for proof in this particular , we have made your own Messengers confer your other Petitions sent by you , with the Copy thereof , which was sent us before : Between which , there is no difference at all ; but that since our receiving the first Copy , you added a conclusion unto it , which could not come to our hands , till it was done by you , and your Messengers sent , which was all at one time . And if we had had no Copy of it before-hand , we must have received your first Petition to our great dishonor , before we had known what it contained , which would have enforced us to return you a far worse Answer , then now we do ; for then your Messengers had returned with nothing , but that we have judged your Petition unlawful , and unworthy of an Answer : For as to your conclusion thereof , it is nothing but Protestatio contraria facto ; for in the Body of your Petition , you usurpe upon our Prerogative Royal , and meddle with things far above your reach , and then in the conclusion you protest the contrary ; As if a Robber would take a mans purse , and then protest he meant not to rob him . For first you presume to give us your advice concerning the Match of our dearest Son with some Pro●●stant ( we cannot say Princess , for we know none of these fit for h●m ) and disswade us from his Match with Spain , urging us to a presen● War with that King ; and yet in the conclusion , forsooth , ye protest ye intend not to press upon our most undoubted and Regal Prerogative ; as if the Petitioning of us in matters that your selves confess ye ought not to meddle with , were not a meddling with them . And whereas ye pretend , That ye were invited to this course by the Speeches of Three honorable Lords ; yet by so much as your selves repeat of the Speeches , nothing can be concluded , but that we were resolved by War to regain the Palatinate , if otherwise we could not attain unto it . And you were invited to advise forthwith upon a Supply for keeping the forces in the Palatinate from disbanding , and to foresee the means for the raising , and maintenance of the Body of an Army for that War against the Spring . Now what inference can be made upon this , that therefore we must presently denounce War against the King of Spain , break our dearest Sons match , and match him to one of our Religion , let the World judge : The difference is no greater , than if we would tell a Merchant that we had great need to borrow Money from him for raising an Army ; that thereupon it should follow that we were bound to follow his advice in the direction of the War , and all things depending thereupon : But yet not contenting your selves with this excuse of yours , which indeed cannot hold water , ye come after to a direct contradiction to the conclusion of your former Petition , saying , That the honor and safety of us and our Posterity , and the Patrimony of Our Children invaded and possessed by their enemies , the Welfare of Religion , and State of our Kingdom , are matters at any time not unfit for your deepest considerations in Parliament . To this generality , we answer with the Logicians , That where all things are contained , nothing is omitted . So as this Plenipotency of yours , invests you in all power upon Earth , lacking nothing but the Popes to have the Keys also both of Heaven and Purgatory : And to this vast generality of yours , we can give no other answer ; for it will trouble all the best Lawyers in the House to make a good Commentary upon it : For so did the Puritan Ministers in Scotland bring all kinde of causes within the compass of their jurisdiction , saying , That it was the Churches office to judge of slander ; and there could no kinde of crime or fault be committed , but there was a slander in it , either against God , the King , or their Neighbor , and by this means they hooked into themselves the cognisance of all causes : Or like Bellarmines distinction of the Popes power over Kings , in Ordine ad Spiritualia , whereby he gives them all Temporal Jurisdiction over them . But to give you a direct Answer to the matter of War , for which you are so earnest . We confess we rather expected you should have given us thanks for the so long maintaining a setled Peace in all our Dominions , when as all our Neighbors about are in miserable combustion of War ; but dulce bellum inexpertis . And we indeed finde by experience , that a number of our Subjects are so pampered with Peace , as they are desirous of change , though they knew not what . It is true , that we have ever professed ( and in that minde with Gods grace we will live and die ) that we will labor by all means possible , either by Treaty or by force , to restore our Children to their ancient Dignity and Inheritance : And whatsoever Christian Princes or Potentates will set themselves against it , we will not spare any lawful means to bring our so just and honorable purpose to a good end ; neither shall the match of our Son , or ●ny other worldly respect be preferred to this our resolution . For by our credit and intervention with the King of Spain , and the Arch-Dutches , and her Husband now with God , we preserved the Lower Palatinate one whole year from any further conquering in it , which in eight days space , in that time might have easily been swallowed up by Spinola's Army without any resistance . And in no better case was it now at our Ambassador the Lord Digbies coming through Heidelburgh , if he had not extraordinarily succored it . But because we conceive that ye couple this War of the Palatinate with the Cause of Religion , we must a little unfold your eyes herein . The beginning of this miserable War , which hath set all Christendom on fire , was not for Religion , but only caused by our Son-in-law his hasty and harsh resolution , following evil Counsel , to take to himself the Crown of Bohemia . And that this is true , himself wrote Letters unto us at that time , desiring to give assurance both to the French King and State of Venice , that his accepting of the Crown of Bohemia had no reference to the Cause of Religion , but only by reason of his right of Election ( as he called it . ) And we would be sorry that that aspersion should come upon our Religion , as to make it a good pretext for dethroning of Kings , and usurping their Crowns ; And we would be loth that our people here should be taught that strange doctrine : No , let us not so far wrong the ●esuites , as to rob them of their sweet Positions and practice in that very point . And upon the other part , We assure our self so far of your charitable thoughts of us , that we would never have constantly denied our Son in law both the Title and assistance in that point , if we had been well perswaded of the justice of his quarrel . But to conclude ; This unjust usurpation of the Crowns of Bohemia and Hungaria from the Emperor , hath given the Pope and all that party too fair a ground , and opened them too wide a gate for curbing and oppressing of many thousands of our Religion in divers parts of Christendom . And whereas you excuse your touching upon the King of Spain , upon occasion of the incidents by you repeated in that place , and yet affirm that it is without any touch to his honor ; We cannot wonder enough that ye are so forgetful both of your words and writs : For in your former Petition ye plainly affirm , That he affects the Temporal Monarchy of the whole Earth ; then which there can be no more malice uttered against any great King , to make all other Princes and Potentates both envy and hate him : But if ye list , it may easily be tryed whether that speech touched him in honor , or not , if ye shall ask him the question whether he means to assume to himself that title , or no : For every King can best judge of his own honor . We omit the particular ejaculations of some foul-mouthed Orators in your House , against the Honor of that Kings Crown and State. And touching your excuse of not determining any thing concerning the Match of our dearest Son , but only to tell your Opinion , and lay it down at our feet : First we desire to know how you could have presumed to determine in that point , without committing of High Treason ? And next you cannot deny but your talking of his his Match after that manner , was a direct breach of our commandment and declaration out of our own mouth at the first sitting down of this Parliament , where we plainly professed that we were in Treaty of this Match with Spain ; and wished you to have that confidence in our Religion and Wisdom , that we would so manage it , as our Religion should receive no prejudice by it : And the same we now repeat unto you , professing that we are so far engaged in that Match , as we cannot in honor go back , except the King of Spain perform not such things as we expect at his hands . And therefore we are sorry that ye should shew to have so great distrust in us , as to conceive that we should be cold in our Religion ; Otherwise we cannot imagine how our former publique Declaration should not have stopt your mouths in this point . And as to your request , That we would now receive your former Petition ; We wonder what could make you presume that we would receive it , whereas in our former Letter we plainly declared the contrary unto you . And therefore we have justly rejected that suit of yours : For what have you left unattempted in the highest points of Soveraignty , in that Petition of yours , except the striking of Coin ? For it contains the violation of Leagues , the particular way how to govern a War , and the Marriage of our dearest Son , both Negative with Spain , nay with any other Popish Princess , and also Affirmatively as to the matching with one of our Religion ; which we confess is a strain beyond any providence or wisdom God hath given us , as things now stand . These are unfit things to be handled in Parliament , except your King should require it of you : For who can have wisdom to judge of things of that nature , but such as are daily acquainted with the particulars of Treaties , and of the variable and fixed connexion of affairs of State , together with the knowledge of the secret ways , ends and intentions of Princes in their several Negotiations ? otherwise a small mistaking of matters of this nature , may produce more effects then can be imagined : And therefore Ne Sutor ultra crepidam . And besides , the intermedling in Parliament with matters of Peace or War , and Marriage of our dearest Son , would be such a Diminution to us and to our Crown in Foreign Countries , as would make any Prince neglect to treat with us either in matters of Peace or Marriage , except they might be assured by the assent of Parliament . And so it proved long ago with a King of France , who upon a Trick procuring his States to dissent from some Treaty which before he had made , was after refused Treating with any other Princes to his great reproach , unless he would first procure the assent of his Estates to their Proposition . And will you cast your eyes upon the late times , you shall find that the late Queen of famous memory was humbly petitioned by a Parliament to be pleased to marry : But her Answer was , That she liked their Petition well , because it was simple , not limiting her to place or person , as not befitting her liking to their fancies ; And if they had done otherwise , she would have thought it a high presumption in them . Judge then what we may do in such a case , having made our publique declaration already ( as we said before ) directly contrary to that which you have now petitioned . Now to the points in your Petition whereof you desire an Answer , as properly belonging to the Parliament ; The first and the greatest point is , that of Religion : Concerning which at this time we can give you no other Answer then in the general ; which is , That you may rest secure that we will never be weary to do all we can for the propagation of our Religion , and repressing of Popery : But the manner and form you must remit to our care and providence , who can best consider of times and seasons , not by undertaking a Publique War of Religion through all the World at once , ( which how hard and dangerous a task it may prove , you may judge . ) But this puts us in mind , how all the World complained the last year of plenty of Corn ; and God sent us a Cooling-card this year for that heat : And so we pray God , that this desire among you of kindling Wars ( shewing your weariness of peace and plenty ) may not make God permit us to fall into the miseries of both . But as we already said , our care of Religion must be such , as on the one part we must not by the hot persecution of our Recusants at home irritate Foreign Princes of contrary Religion , and teach them the way to plague the Protestants in their Dominions , with whom we daily intercede , and at this time principally , for ease to them of our profession that live under them ; Yet upon the other part , we never mean to spare from due and severe punishment any Papist that will grow insolent for living under our so mild Government . And you may also be assured , we will leave no care untaken , as well for the good Education of the Youth at home , especially the children of Papists , as also for preserving at all times hereafter the Youth that are or shall be abroad , from being bred in dangerous places , and so poisoned in Popish Seminaries . And as in this point , namely the good education of Popish youth at home , we have already given some good proofs both in this Kingdom and in Ireland , so will we be well pleased to pass any good Laws that shall be made either now , or at any time hereafter to this purpose . And as to your request of making this a Session , and granting a General Pardon ; It shall be in your defaults , if we make nor this a Session before Christmas . But for the Pardon , ye crave such particulars in it , as we must be well advised upon , lest otherwise we give you back the double or treble of that we are to receive by your entire Subsidy , without Fifteens . But the ordinary course we hold fittest to be used still in this case is , That we should of our free grace send you down a Pardon from the Higher House , containing such points as we shall think fittest , wherein we hope ye shall receive good satisfaction . But we cannot omit to shew you how strange we think it , that ye should make so bad and unjust a Commentary upon some words of our former Letter , as if we meant to restrain you thereby of your antient priviledges and liberties in Parliament . Truly , a Scholar would be asham'd so to misplace and misjudge any sentences in another mans book . For whereas , in the end of our former Letter , we discharge you to meddle with matters of Government , and Mysteries of State , namely matters of War or Peace , or our dearest Son's Match with Spain ; by which particular denominations we interpret and restrain our former words ; And then after we forbid you to meddle with such things as have their ordinary course in Courts of Justice : Ye couple together those two distinct sentences , and plainly leave out these words , Of Mysteries of State ; so as ye erre à bene divisis ad male conjuncta : For of the former part concerning Mysteries of State , we plainly restrain our meaning to the particulars that were after mentioned ; And in the latter , we confess we meant it by Sir Edward Cook 's foolish business . And therefore it had well became him , especially being our Servant , and one of our Council , to have complained unto us , which he never did , though he was ordinarily at Court since , and never had access refused unto him . And although we cannot allow of the stile , calling it Your antient and undoubted Right and Inheritance ; but could rather have wished that ye had said , That your Priviledges were derived from the grace and permission of our Ancestors and Us , ( For most of them grow from Precedents , which shews rather a Toleration then Inheritance : ) Yet we are pleased to give you our Royal assurance , that as long as you contain your selves within the limits of your duty , we will be as careful to maintain and preserve your lawful Liberties and Priviledges , as ever any of our Predecessors were , nay as to preserve our own Royal Prerogative . So as your House shall only have need to beware to trench upon the Prerogative of the Crown ; which would enforce us , or any just King , to retrench them of their Priviledges , that would pare his Prerogative , and Flowers of the Crown : But of this we hope there shall be never cause given . Dated at Newmarket the Eleventh day of December , 1621. The Lord Keeper Williams advised , That the harshness of this Answer should be mitigated with a Letter from his Majesty to the Houses . For ( said he ) his Majesty rightly inferrs , That their Priviledges which they claim to be their Natural birthrights , are but the favors of former Kings : Now the Kings assertion and their Claim may easily be reconciled , if men were peaceably disposed , and affected the dispatch of Common business . These Priviledges were originally the favor of Princes ; neither doth his Majesty go about to impair or diminish them . Therefore if his Majesty would be pleased to qualifie the passage with some mild and noble expression , and require them strictly to prepare things for a Session , and to leave those needless disputes , He shall make it appear to all wise and just men , that those persons are opposite to those Common ends , whereof they vaunt themselves the onely Patrons . Will the King be pleased to add in this Letter , That if they will not prepare Bills for a Session , he will break up the Parliament without any longer Prorogation , acquainting the Kingdom with their undutifulness and obstinacie , and supply the present wants by some other means : Or else will he adjourn the present Assembly to the appointed Eight of February . This latter course is fitter for further Advice ; but the former , to express a just indignation . The Lord Digby minded the Peers , That this Session was called for the present support of the Palatinate , as was declared by the Message from his Majesty to both Houses in the beginning thereof . He reported also , That he had received many great Advertisements of that Countries present distress and danger , by the Duke of Bavaria ; and that the Army of Mansfeld who came in for defence , if he be not speedily supplied with monies , is in a possibility of deserting the service : For he hath fair offers of making his Peace ; but nothing will take with him , being in hopes of relief from England . But the Parliament thought it their duty as well to advise his Majesty , as to supply his wants . December 19. The Prince delivered to the Clerk the Commission for an Adjournment to the Eight of February : Which discontented the Commons and good people of England , foreseeing a Dissolution by Gondomar's means . Before the Adjournment , in vindication of their Parliamentary rights and Priviledges , the Commons made and entred this Protestation following . THe Commons now assembled in Parliament , being justly occasioned thereunto concerning sundry Liberties , Franchises and Priviledges of Parliament amongst others here mentioned , do make this Protestation following . That the Liberties , Franchises , Priviledges and Iurisdictions of Parliament , are the antient and undoubted Birth-right and Inheritance of the Subjects of England ; And that the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the King , State , and Defence of the Realm , and of the Church of England , and the maintenance and making of Laws , and redress of mischiefs and grievances which daily happen within this Realm , are proper subjects and matter of Councel and Debate in Parliament ; And that in the handling and procéeding of those businesses , every Member of the House of Parliament hath , and of right ought to have freedom of spéech , to propound , treat , reason and bring to conclusion the same ; And that the Commons in Parliament have like liberty and fréedom to treat of these matters in such order as in their judgments shall seem fittest ; And that every Member of the said House hath like freedom from all Impeachment , Imprisonment and molestation ( other then by Censure of the House it self ) for or concerning any speaking , reasoning , or declaring of any matter or matters touching the Parliament , or Parliament-business ; And that if any of the said Members be complained of and questioned for any thing done or said in Parliament , the same is to be shewed to the King by the advice and assent of all the Commons assembled in Parliament , before the King gave credence to any private information . But how the King was moved by the Protestation of the House of Commons , will appear by this Memorial . Whitehall , Decemb. 30. 1621. HIs most Excellent Majesty coming this day to the Council , the Prince his Highness , and all the Lords and others of His Majesties Privy Council sitting about him , and all the Iudges then in London , which were six in number , there attending upon His Majesty ; the Clerk of the Commons House of Parliament was called for , and commanded to produce his Iournal-book , wherein was noted , and Entries made of most passages that were in the Commons House of Parliament ; and amongst other things there was written down the form of a Protestation concerning sundry Liberties , Priviledges , and Franchises of Parliament ; with which form of Protestation His Majesty was justly offended . Nevertheless His Majesty in a most gracious manner there expressed , That he never meant to deny that House of Commons any lawful Priviledges that ever they had enjoyed ; but whatsoever Priviledges or Liberties they had by any Law or Statute , the same should be inviolably preserved unto them ; and whatsoever Priviledges they enjoyed by Custom , or uncontrolled and lawful president , His Majesty would be careful to preserve . But this Protestation of the Commons House so contrived and carried as it was , His Majesty thought fit to be razed out of all Memorials , and utterly to be annihilated , both in respect of the manner by which it was gained , and the matter therein contained . For the manner of getting it , First in respect of the time : For after such time as His Majesty out of his Princely grace , and to take away all mistakings , had directed his Letters to Secretary Calvert dated at Royston 16 Decembris , and therein had so explained himself in the point of maintaining the priviledges of the House of Commons , as that most of the said House rested fully satisfied , and freed from any scruple of having their liberties impeached ; And after that by His Majesties Letters directed to the Speaker dated 18 December , being Tuesday , His Majesty at the humble suit of the House of Commons , condescended to make this Méeting a Session before Christmas , and for that purpose had assigned Saturday following . Now upon this very Tuesday , and while the Messengers from the House of Commons were with His Majesty at Theobalds to return thanks unto His Majesty , and therewith an excuse from them not to make it a Session in respect of the strait of time whereunto they were driven ; which deferment His Majesty admitted of at their desires , and thereupon gave order for the adjournment of the Parliament until the Eight of February next , which was the first day formerly appointed by His Majesty for the méeting together of the Parliament : And whilst their messengers were with His Majesty , and had received a gracious Answer to return unto their House ; even that afternoon , a Committee was procured to be made for taking their Liberties into consideration : And this afternoon a Protestation was made ( to whom appears not ) concerning their Liberties ; and at six a clock at night , by candle-light , the same Protestation was brought into the House by the Committee , and at that time of night it was called upon to be put to the Question , there not being the third part of the House then present ; whereas in all matters of weight , their usual custom is to put nothing of importance to the Question , till the House be full ; And at this time many of them that were present expected the Question would have been deferred to another day , and a fuller House , and some then present stood up to have spoken to it , but could not be seen nor heard in that darkness and confusion . Now for the matter of the Protestation , it is penned in such ambiguous and general words , as may serve for future Times to invade most of Rights and Prerogatives annexed to the Imperial Crown ; the claim of some priviledges being grounded upon the words of the Writ for assembling the Parliament , wherein some words , viz. Arduis Regni , are cunningly mentioned ; but the word quibusdam , which restraineth the generality to such particular Cases as His Majesty pleaseth to consult with them upon , is purposely omitted . These things considered , His Majesty did this present day in full assembly of his Council , and in the presence of the Iudges , declare the said Protestation to be invalid , annulled , void and of no effect : And did further manu sua propria take the said Protestation out of the Iournal-book of the Clerk of the Commons House of Parliament , and commanded an Act of Council to be made thereupon , and this Act to be entred in the Register of Council-causes . On the Sixth of Ianuary the King by Proclamation dissolved the Parliament ; shewing that the assembling , continuing , and dissolving of Parliaments doth so peculiarly belong unto him , that he needs not give an accompt thereof unto any : Yet he thought fit to declare , That in this Dissolution he had the advice and uniform consent of his whole Council . And that some particular Members of the House of Commons took inordinate liberty not only to treat of his high Prerogatives , and sundry things not fitting to be argued in Parliament , but also to speak with less respect to Foreign Princes : That they spent the time in disputing Priviledges , descanting upon the words and syllables of his Letters and Messages : And that these Evil-tempered spirits sowed tares among the corn , and by their cunning devices have imposed upon him a necessity of discontinuing this present Parliament , without putting unto it the name or period of a Session . And lastly he declared , That though the Parliament be broken off , yet he intended to govern well , and shall be glad to lay hold on the first occasion to call a Parliament again at convenient time . The King was highly displeased with some of the Commons House , whom he called Ill-tempered spirits . Sir Edward Cook , Sir Robert Philips were committed to the Tower ; Mr. Selden , Mr. Pym , Mr. Mallery to other Prisons and Confinements . Order was given for the sealing up the locks and doors of Sir Edward Cooks Chambers in London and in the Temple , for the seising of his Papers ; and the Council debating about the General Pardon that should have passed this last Parliament , had consulted about the ways of excluding him from that benefit , either by preferring a Bill against him before the publication of the Pardon , or by exempting him by name , whereof they said they had presidents . Likewise Sir Dudley Diggs , Sir Tho. Crew , Sir Nathaniel Rich , and Sir Iames Perrot for punishment were sent into Ireland , joined in Commission with others under the Great Seal of England , for the enquiry of sundry matters concerning his Majesties service , as well in the Government Ecclesiastical and Civil , as in point of his Revenue and otherwise , within that Kingdom . Proclamations had formerly issued out against the Peoples too liberal speaking of matters above their reach : Which at this time occasioned Letters from the Council to the Judges of the next Assises , taking notice of licentious and undutiful speeches touching State and Government , notwithstanding several Proclamations prohibiting the same , which the King was resolved no longer to let pass without severest punishment ; and thereupon required the Judges to give this in Charge in their several Circuits , and to do exemplary Justice where they find any such Offenders . The King still walked in his beaten path of Sollicitations and Treaties , after the constant bad success of his former Mediations : For at the very time when he treated of Peace , his Son in law was despoiled of his Hereditary patrimony by the Emperors commandment ; who after the suspension of the Ban or Proscription , commanded the taking up of Arms again in the Lower Palatinate , the Upper Palatinate being already subdued . Which misery King Iames acknowledged to be the fruit of his own patience , delays , and doubtfulness . Nevertheless he ceaseth not to pursue the favor of an implacable Enemy : He wrote to the Emperor Ferdinand , declaring his earnest endeavors to appease the Bohemian War , and his ardent zeal for Peace from the beginning ; and expressed the Terms which he had prescribed to his Son in law : As , That he shall for himself and his Son renounce all pretence of Right and Claim to the Crown of Bohemia ; That he shall from henceforth yield all constant due devotion to the Imperial Majesty , as do other obedient Princes Electors of the Empire ; That he shall crave pardon of the Imperial Majesty ; That he shall not hereafter any manner of way demean himself unfittingly toward the Imperial Majesty , nor disturb his Kingdoms and Countries ; And that he shall upon reasonable Conditions reconcile himself to other Princes and States of the Empire , and hold all good correspondence with them ; And he shall really do whatsoever like things shall be judged reasonable and necessary . King Iames requested of the Emperor the acceptance of these Conditions as a notable testimony of his Imperial Majesties ▪ goodness and grace , which he said should be by himself acknowledged in all willing service and unfeigned friendship to the Emperor himself , and the most renowned House of Austria . But if these his just Demands and well-willed Presentations shall not find acceptance , or be slightly waved by some new tergiversation , or a pretence of that long and tedious way of Consultation with the Princes of the Empire , he is resolved to try his utmost power for his Childrens relief , judging it a foul stain to his Honor , if he shall leave them and their Partizans without counsel , aid and protection . The Emperor replied and confessed , That in this exulcerate business , so much moderation and respect of justice and equity hath shined forth in the King of Great Britain , that there is not any thing that he should refuse to render thereunto , reserving his Cesarean authority , and the Laws of the Empire : Yet that Person whom it most concerns , hath given no occasion by the least sign of repentance to a condescension to this Treaty of Pacification : For he is still so obstinate , as by continual machinations by Iagerndorf and Mansfeld , and other cruel disturbers of the publique peace , to call up Hell rather then to acquiesce in better counsels , and desist from the usurped Title of a Kingdom . Howbeit , in favor of the King of Great Britain he shall consent to a Treaty to be held at Bruxels , wherein he would devolve his power upon the Illustrious Elizabetha Clara Eugenia Infanta of Spain . The appointment of the Treaty at Bruxels was accepted by King Iames , whither he sent his Ambassador Sir Richard Weston Chancellor of the Exchequer . In the mean while misfortune and misery over-ran the Palatinate : The Enemy having prevailed in several grand encounters , proceeded to subdue the Country , without regard to the Treaty of Peace at Bruxels . Which was more easily effected , the Commotions in Hungaria , Bohemia , Silesia , Moravia being now ended in a Treaty of Peace between the Emperor and Bethleem Gabor , the Emperor having made use of the Palsgrave's submission , and resignation of the Crown of Bohemia , to accelerate this Treaty . About this time Philip the Third , King of Spain , departed this life ; and the Lord Digby was sent Extraordinary Ambassador into Spain , as well to condole his death , as ●o advance the Match , and by all means possible to bring it to a final conclusion . To which end he was accompanied with Letters from his Majesty , and the Prince , to that King , as also a private Letter to Don Baltazar de Zuniga . MOst Serene and Potent Prince , Kinsman , and dearly beloved Friend , when we heard of the Death of your Majesties Father , Philip the Third , with whom we had great Amity , and by our Amity , managed very important Matters , which he being dead , could not but of necessity be interrupted : It was no less grief to us , then if he had been our own natural and most intimate Brother : Which grief we have certified both to your Majesty by our Letters , as was fitting , and intimated to our people in a solemn and due manner . And thus far we have satisfied our selves ; but in the next place we must also give Custom its due . For which end we send unto your Majesty our Publick Ambassador and Messenger of this our Grief , the Baron John Digby , our Counsellor and Vice-Chamberlain , adjoyning unto the rest of his Instructions , this our wish , That your Serenity may rule your Fathers Kingdoms , which you have received under a most prosperous Star , with his and your Ancestors Prudence , and that we may really finde that love , which alway passed between your Father of most happy memory and us , propagated with the same candor unto you his Successor , the which we also hope , Given at our Pallace of Theobalds , Mar. 14. 1621. Your Majesties most Loving Brother I. R. Jacobus , &c. Serenissimo & Potentissimo Principi ac Domino Philippo Quarto , &c. SErenissime & Potentissime P. Frater , Consanguinee & Amice Charissime : Quum aliquot abhinc annis ( pro affinitate nostra arctiori , totiusque orbis Christiani bono ) deliberatio suscepta fuerit de Matrimonio inter Charissimum silium nostrum Carolum P. Walliae & Illustrissimam Infantem Dominam Mariam ( Serenitatis vestrae sororem natu minorem ) contrahendo ; quod superstite adhuc R. Philippo Tertio , ( felicissimae memoriae ) Patre vestro , eo per gradus devectum erat , ut ille si non expirasset , hoc multo antehac consummatum iri spes esset , nunc denuo , Serenitatem vestram interpellandam duximus , jam tandem ut velit operi bene inchoato fastigium imponere ; & expectato deliberationes praeteritas exitu coronare . Matura jam filii aetas , filii Unici , rerumque & temporum ratio conjugem videntur efflagitare ; nobisque in senectutis limine constitutis felicissimus illuceret dies , quo cernere liceret posterorum etiam amicitiam optato hoc affinitatis foedere constrictam . Misimus itaque ad Serenitatem vestram Legatum nostrum Extraordinarium , Praenobilem virum Iohannem Digbeum , Baronem de Sherbone , Consiliar●um & Vice-Camerarium nostrum , jam olim de hac affinitate & Domus Austriacae honore bene meritum , cui una cum Legato nostro Ordinario quicquid reliquum est hujus Negotii , tractandum , transigendum , absolvendumque Commisimus . Quicquid illis illic videbitur , ratum hic habituri . Utinam etiam vestre Serenitatis bonitate levaretur aliquando altera illa nostra de Palatinatu Sollicitudo , de ●ilia & genero & insontibus eorum liberis ex avito jam extorribus Patrimonio . Quam vellemus vestiae Potissimum Serenitati beneficium hoc in solidum debere , cujus tot modo experti sumus ea in re Amicissima Officia ! Non nos unquam capiet tantae benevolentiae oblivio , Posterisque Haereditarium studebimus relinquere amorem illum , quo vestram Serenitatem & memoriae optimae Patrem semper sumus amplexi , semper amplexuri . Unum hoc superest ut si quid aliud in re quacunque proposuerit Legatus hic noster , eam ei fidem adhibere , ac si nos praesentes essemus , dignetur Serenitas vestra : Quam Deus Optimus Maximus perpetuo incolumem conservet . Serenitatis vestrae Frater Amantissimus Jacobus R. Dat. è Regia nostra Theobald , 14 Die Martii , An. Dom. 1621. Iames , &c. To the most Serene and most Potent Prince and Lord , Philip the Fourth , &c. MOst Serene and Potent Prince , Kinsman , and Wel-beloved Friend ; Forasmuch as some years ago ( for our nearer Alliance , and the good of the whole Christian World ) we had resolved to make a Marriage between our Wel-beloved Son Charls , Prince of Wales , and the most Illustrious Infanta , the Lady Mary , your Serenities yongest Sister , which in the life time of your Father , King Philip the Third , of most happy memory , was so far advanced , That if he had not died , it had been brought to perfection long ere now : We have therefore thought good to Treat now again with your Serenity , that at length you would put a period to a work so well begun , and crown our by-past Deliberations with an expected issue . The age of our Son arived now to maturity , and he our onely Son ( besides the condition of the times and our affairs ) doth require him to marry . And we being at the brink of old age , it would rejoyce us to see the day wherein our Posterities Friendship should be bound up in this most desired Bond of Affinity . We have therefore sent unto your Serenity our Extraordinary Ambassador , the Right Honorable the Lord Digby , Baron of Sherborne , our Counsellor , and Vice-Chamberlain , who has formerly deserved well of this Alliance , and the honor of the House of Austria ; unto whom , together with our Ordinary Ambassador , we have intrusted the remainder of this business , to be treated , transacted , and finished , and shall be ready to ratifie and approve here , what ever they shall agree upon . We wish likewise , that your Serenity out of your goodness would ease our other care , touching the Palatinate , which concerns our Daughter and Son in Law , and their innocent Children , banished from their Ancestors Inheritance . How gladly would we ow this good turn solely to your Serenity , who have already done us so many friendly offices in that business ! No Oblivion shall ever blot out of our minde , the acknowledgment of so great a favor , and we will endeavor to transmit to our Posterity , that Hereditary good will wherewith we have ever affected your Serenity , and your Royal Father of most worthy memory , and shall ever affect you . One thing remains , That if this our Ambassador shall propose any other matter touching what business soever , your Serenity will be pleased to give him Credence , as if we our self were present . The most gracious and great God ever preserve your Serenity in safety . Your Serenities most Loving Brother J. R. Given at our Pallace of Theobalds , 14 March. 1621. Prince Charls to the King of Spain . MOst Serene and Potent Prince , and wel-beloved Kinsman , some years ago our most Serene Parents begun to treat about a Match between us and the most Serene , our dearly beloved Princess , the Lady Mary , your Majesties most honored Sister . The condition and success of which affair and treaty , our most Serene and Honored Lord and Father , out of his Fatherly affection towards us , was pleased upon all occasions , so much the more willingly to impart unto us , by how much greater propension and apparent signs of true affection he discovered in us thereunto ; For which cause the Baron Digby , his Majesties Vice-Chamberlain and Extraordinary Ambassador , and one of our Privy Chamber , being now bound for Spain , with most ample Instructions to bring unto an happy issue , that which was prosperously begun , advanced before your most gracious Father our Uncle of happy memory departed this life : We thought it no less becoming us , by these our Letters , most affectionately to salute your Majesty ; who , if you shall perswade your self , that we highly esteem of your affection as we ought to do , and that by a most near bond of affinity , we desire to have it inlarged and confirmed towards us , that very perswasion will not a little adde to the measure of our love . It remains , that we intreat your Majesty to give full credit to such further Proposals as the Baron Digby shall make in our name . In the mean time we will hope for such a success of the principal business , as may give us occasion to use a more familiar stile hereafter in our Letters , as an argument of a nearer relation ; which if it shall happen , this will also follow , That we shall most readily embrace all occasions , whereby to evidence unto your Majesty the progress and increase of our affection , as well towards your self , as your most Serene Sister . The most great and good God preserve your Majesty long in safety . Your Majesties most loving Kinsman , C. P. Given at Our Palace of Saint Iames , 14 Martii , 1621. To the Right Honorable the Lord Balthazar of Zuniga . Right Honorable and Wel-beloved Friend , BEcause we have divers times been informed by your Friends of your singular propension and zeal towards our Affairs , we neither will , nor ought to leave you unsaluted at this time , you have so well deserved of us : But it will be no small accession of your good will , if you continue as you have begun , to promote by your assistance , our concernments with his Majesty our Welbeloved Brother ; which by what way it may best be done , our Ambassador the Baron John Digby will be able to direct you , to whom we have intrusted the residue of that matter . And if during his residence there , he may make use of your singular Humanity and Favor with the King in his Negotiation , it will be most acceptable to us , and render us , who were by your deservings already forward to oblige you , most forward for the future to deserve well of you ; which we shall most willingly testifie , as occasion offers , not onely in word but in deed . J. R. Given at our Palace of Theobalds , March 14. 1621. Sir Walter Aston , the Leiger Ambassador , had managed that Treaty by directions received from Digby , and now Digby remained at large in it , and had communication of the Passages from him . The Spaniards proceed in the Match with a very formal appearance ; for at this very time the Emperors Ambassador in Spain had discoursed of a Marriage between his Masters Son and the Infanta ; but was presently answered , That the Kings hands were tied by a Treaty on foot with the King of Great Brittain ; and in this particular they seemed ( as said the English Agent ) to deal above board . In the mean time the Privy Council by the Kings Commandment consulted about the raising of Moneys to defend the Palatinate . They appointed the Keeper of the Records in the Tower , to search for all such writings as concerned the Levies of Men at the Publick charge of the Countrey , from the time of King Edward the Third , until this present . Likewise they directed Letters of the tenor following to the Justices of the Courts at Westminster , and to the Barons of the Exchequer . WHat endeavors his Majesty hath used by Treaty , and by all fair and amiable ways to recover the patrimony of his Children in Germany , now for the most part withholden from them by force , is not unknown unto all his loving ●ubjects , since his Majesty was pleased to communicate to them in Parliament his whole proceedings in that business : Of which Treaty , being of late frustrate , he was inforced to take other resolutions ; namely , to recover that by the Sword , which by other means he saw no likelihood to compass . For which purpose it was expected by his Majesty , that his people in Parliament would ( in a cause so nearly concerning his and his Childrens interest ) have chearfully contributed thereunto . But the same unfortunately failing , his Ma●esty 〈◊〉 constrained in a case of so great necessity , to try the dutiful affections of his ●●ing Subjects in another way , as his Predecessors have done in former times , by propounding unto them a voluntary contribution . And therefore as your selves have already given a liberal and worthy example ( which his Majesty doth take in very gratious part ) so his pleasure is , and we do accordingly hereby authorise and require your Lordships , as well to countenance and assist the service by your best means in your next Circuits , in the several Counties where you hold General Assizes ; as also now presently with all convenient expedition , to call before you all the Officers and Attorneys belonging to any his Majesties Courts of Iustice ; and also all such others of the Houses and Societies of Court , or that otherwise have dependence upon the Law , as are meet to be treated withal in this kinde , and have not already contributed ; and to move them to joyn willingly in this contribution in some good measure , answerable to that your selves and others have done before us , according to their means and fortunes : Wherein his Majesty doubteth not , but beside the interest of his Children , and his own Crown and Dignity , the Religion professed by his Majesty and happily flourishing under him , within this Kingdom , ( having a great part in the success of this business ) will be a special motive to incite and perswade them thereunto . Nevertheless , if any persons shall out of obstinacy or disaffection , refuse to contribute herein , proportionably to their Estates and Means , you are to certifie their names unto this Board . And so recommending this service to your best care and endeavor , and praying you to return unto us Notes of the names of such as shall contribute , and of the sums offered by them , We bid , &c. Letters to the same effect were directed to the High Sheriffs and Justices of Peace of the several Counties ; and to the Majors and Bailiffs of every City and Town-Corporate within the Kingdom , requiring them to summon all of known Abilities within their Jurisdictions , and to move them to a chearful contribution according to their Means and Fortunes in some good measure , answerable to what others well-affected had done before them . And to make choice of meet Collectors of the Moneys , and to return a Schedule of the names of such as shall contribute , and the sums that are offered by them ; that his Majesty may take notice of the good inclinations of his Subjects to a cause of such importance ; as likewise of such others , if any such be , as out of obstinacy or disaffection shall refuse to contribute . About this time George Abbot , Archbishop of Canterbury , began to fall into disgrace at Court ; his enemies taking the advantage of a late sad misfortune , for shooting at a Deer with a Cross-bow in Bramzil Park , he casually killed the Keeper . Upon this unhappy accident , it was suggested to the King , who already disgusted him for opposing the Match with Spain , That in regard of his eminent rank in the Church , it might administer matter of Scandal ; which was aggravated by such as aspired unto his place and dignity . The Bishop of Lincoln , then Lord Keeper , informed the Marquess of Buckingham , That by the Common Law of England , the Archbishops whole estate was forfeited to the King ; and by the Common Law , which is still in force , he is made irregular ipso facto , and so suspended from all Ecclesiastical Function , until he be restored by his Superior , which was the Kings Majesty , in this rank and order of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction . To adde affliction to the afflicted ( said he ) will be against his Majesties nature ; yet to leave a man of Blood , Primate , and Patriark of all his Churches , is a thing that sounds very harsh in the Old Councils and Cannons , and the Papists will not spare to censure it . The King made choice of the Lord Keeper , the Bishops of London , Winton , Rochester , St. Davids , and Exeter , Sir Henry Hobart , Justice Doderidge , Sir Henry Martin , and Doctor Stuart , to inform him of the nature of this cause , and the scandal that might arise thereupon ; and to certifie what the same may amount unto , whither to an irregularity , or otherwise ; and what means may be found for redress . However this consultation was managed , the Archbishop was not deprived ; but a Plant was growing up that over-topped him whilst he lived , and after his decease obtained the Primacy . Doctor Laud who was first chosen to the Bishoprick of St. Davids , by the Mediation of the Lord Keeper Williams , and was consecrated by the Bishops of London , Worcester , Chichester , Ely , Landaff , and Oxon ; the Archbishop in the mean time was not thought irregular for the Casual Homicide . This Bishop , Doctor Laud , was looked upon in those times as an Arminian , and a fierce opposer of Puritans ; and while he lived in Oxford , suspected to incline to Popish Tenents , as may appear by his Letter of Complaint sent to his Patron , Doctor Neal , then Bishop of Lincoln , against a Sermon preached by Robert Abbot , Doctor of the Chair in Oxford ; in which Letter he inclosed this ( amongst other Passages ) of the Doctors Sermon , viz. That men under pretence of Truth and Preaching against the Puritans , strike at the heart and root of Faith and Religion now established among us . That this Preaching against the Puritans was but the practice of Parsons and Campions counsel , when they came into England to seduce yong Students : And when many of them were afraid to lose their places , if they should professedly be thus , the counsel they then gave them was , That they should speak freely against the Puritans , and that should suffice . And they cannot intend that they are accounted Papists , because they speak against the Puritans . But because they indeed are Papists , they speak nothing against them . If they do at any time speak against the Papists , they do beat a little upon the Bush , and that softly too , for fear of troubling or disquieting the Birds that are in it . I Came time enough ( saith Mr. Laud ) to be at the rehearsal of this Sermon , upon much perswasion , where I was fain to sit patiently , and hear my self abused almost an hour together , being pointed at as I sate . For this present abuse , I would have taken no notice of it , but that the whole University apply it to me , and my own Friends tell me I shall sink my credit if I answer not Dr. Abbot in his own . Nevertheless in a business of this kinde , I will not be swayed from a patient course ; onely I desire your Lordship to vouchsafe me some direction what to do , &c. The Arminian Sect opposed by King Iames , and by his special concurrence lately broken in the Netherlands , by the beheading of Barnevalt the cheif of them , began in his latter times to spring up in England , and was countenanced by the said Prelate , who had newly obtained the opinion and favor of the Marquess of Buckingham : The Kings main design then not suffering the suppressing of that way which in common judgment was inclined to Popery ; or he thought to recover all his losses , and to salve all misfortunes by the Spanish Match . And for this cause he released multitudes of Priests and Popish Recusants then imprisoned , which the Spaniards professed to be a great demonstration of the Kings sincere affection , to confirm the correspondence and amity between the Crowns . And that this enlargement might be the more expedite and less chargeable , the King gave directions to the Lord Keeper Williams , Bishop of Lincoln . THat whereas he had formerly given order for the release of Recusants by removing them from the several Goals of this Kingdom , to be bailed before the Justices of his Bench : And finding that this course will be troublesome to the poorer sort of them , he doth now require that Writs be directed to the Justices of Assizes , enabling and requiring them to enlarge such Recusants as they shall finde in their several Goals , upon such conditions and securities as were required by the Judges of his Bench. Accordingly the Writs were issued forth under the Great Seal , and the Lord Keeper wrote to the Judges on this manner . THat the King having upon deep Reasons of State , and in expectation of the like correspondence from Forein Princes to the Professors of our Religion , resolved to grant some Grace to the imprisoned Papists , had commanded him to pass some Writs under the Broad Seal for that purpose : Wherefore it is his Majesties pleasure , that they make no niceness or difficulty to extend his Princely favor to all such as they shall finde prisoners in the Gaols of their Circuits for any Church Recusancy , or refusing the Oath of Supremacy , or dispersing of Popish Books , or any other point of Recusancy that shall concern Religion onely , and not matters of State. But a general offence was taken at this Indulgence to Papists , and the Lord Keepers Letter to the Judges , which , how the Keeper endevored to renounce , may be seen in his Letter written to a Person of Honor. AS the Sun in the Firmament appears unto us no bigger then a Platter , and the Stars are but as so many Nails in the Pummel of a Saddle , because of the enlargement and disproportion between our eye and the object : So is there such an unmeasurable distance between the deep resolution of a Prince , and the shallow apprehensions of common and ordinary people ; That as they will ever be judging and censuring , so they must needs be obnoxious to error and mistaking : The King is now a most Zealous Intercessor for some case and refreshment to all the Protestants in Europe , which were unreasonable , if he did now execute the rigor of his Laws against the Roman Catholicks . Our Viperous Countrymen , the English Iesuites in France , had many moneths before this favor granted , invited the French King , by writing a malicious Book , to put all the Statutes in execution against the Protestants in those parts , which were Enacted in England against the Papists , and ( as they falsly informed ) severely executed . Besides , these Papists are no otherwise out of prison , then with their shackles about their heels , sufficient Sureties , and good Recognizances to present themselves at the next Assizes ; and their own demeanor , and the success of his Majesties Negotiations must determine whether they shall continue in this Grace . But to conclude from the favor done to the English Papists , that the King savors the Romish Religion , is a composition of Folly and Malice , little deserved by a gratious Prince , who by Word , Writing , Exercise of Religion , and Acts of Parliament , hath demonstrated himself so resolved a Protestant . As for his own Letter to the Iudges , he said it recited onely four kindes of Recusancy capable of the Kings clemency , not so much to include them , as to exclude many other Crimes bearing the name of Recusancy , as , using the Function of a Romish Priest , seducing the Kings Leige-people from the established Religion , aspersing the King , Church , or State , or the present Government . All which Offences , being outward practices , and no secret motions of the Conscience , are adjudged by the Laws of England to be meerly Civil and Political , and are excluded by the Letter from the benefit of those Writs . But because the peoples mouths were open , and some Preachers were too busie , and the Puritan party increased , the King gave directions for the regulation of the Ministry , in his Letters to the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury . MOst Reverend Father in God , Right trusty and intirely beloved Counsellor , we greet you well . Forasmuch as the abuses and extravagancies of Preachers in the Pulpit , have been in all times suppressed in this Realm by some Act of Council , or State , with the Advice and Resolution of grave and learned Prelates , insomuch that the very Licencing of Preachers had beginning by an Order of Star-Chamber , the Eighth day of July , in the Nineteenth year of the Reign of King Henry the Eighth , our Noble Predecessor : And whereas at this present divers yong Students by reading of late Writers , and ungrounded Divines , do broach many times unprofitable , unsound , seditious , and dangerous Doctrines , to the scandal of the Church , and disquiet of the State and present Government . We upon humble Representations unto us of these Inconveniencies by your self , and sundry other grave and reverend Prelates of this Church , as also of our Princely care and zeal for the extirpation of Schism and Dissention growing from these Seeds , and for the settling of a religious and peaceable Government , both in Church and Commonwealth , Do by these our special Letters , straitly charge and command you to use all possible care and diligence , that these Limitations and Cautions herewith sent unto you , concerning Preachers , be duly and strictly from henceforth put in practice , and observed by the several Bishops within your Iurisdiction . And to this end our pleasure is , that you send them forthwith Copies of these Directions , to be by them speedily sent and communicated unto every Parson , Vicar , Curate , Lecturer , and Minister in every Cathedral or Parish Church within their several Diocesses ; and that you earnestly require them to employ their utmost endeavors in the performance of this so important a business ; letting them know , That we have a special eye unto their proceedings , and expect a strict accompt thereof , both from you and every of them . And these our Letters shall be your sufficient Warrant and Discharge in that behalf . Given under our Signet at our Castle of Windsor , &c. Directions concerning Preachers sent with the Letter . I. THat no Preacher under the Degree and Calling of a Bishop or Dean of a Cathedral , or Collegiat Church ( and they upon the Kings days , and set Festivals ) do take occasion by the expounding of any Text of Scripture whatsoever , to fall into any set discourse or common place , otherwise then by opening the Coherence and Division of the Text ; which shall not be comprehended and warranted in Essence , Substance , Effect , or Natural inference , within some one of the Articles of Religion set forth One thousand five hundred sixty and two ; or in some of the Homilies set forth by Authority of the Church of England : Not onely for a help for the Non-Preaching , but withal for a pattern and boundary ( as it were ) for the Preaching Ministers . And for their further Instructions for the performance hereof , that they forthwith read over and peruse diligently the said Book of Articles , and the two Books of Homilies . II. That no Person , Vicar , Curate , or Lecturer , shall Preach any Sermon or Collation hereafter , upon Sundays and Holidays in the afternoon , in any Cathedral or Parish Church throughout the Kingdom ; but upon some part of the Catechism , or some Text taken out of the Creed , Ten Commandments , or the Lords Prayer , ( Funeral Sermons onely excepted . ) And that those Preachers be most encouraged , and approved of , who spend the Afternoons Exercise in the Examination of Children in their Catechism , which is the most antient and laudable custom of Teaching in the Church of England . III. That no Preacher of what Title soever under the degree of a Bishop or Dean at the least , do from henceforth presume to Preach in any Popular Auditory , the deep points of Predestination , Election , Reprobation , or of the Universality , Efficacy , Resistibility , or Irresistibility of Gods Grace , but leave those Themes rather to be handled by the Learned Men , and that Moderately and Modestly by way of Use and Application , rather then by way of Positive Doctrines , being fitter for the Schools , then for simple Auditories . IV. That no Preacher of what Title or Denomination soever , from henceforth shall presume in any Auditory within this Kingdom , to declare , limit , or bound out , by way of Positive Doctrine in any Lecture , or Sermon , the Power , Prerogative , and Jurisdiction , Authority or Duty of Sovereign Princes , or otherwise meddle with matters of State , and the differences between Princes and the people , then as they are instructed and presidented in the Homilies of Obedience , and the rest of the Homilies and Articles of Religion set forth ( as before is mentioned ) by Publick Authority , but rather confine themselves wholly to those two heads of Faith and good Life , which are all the Subject of the Antient Sermons and Homilies . V. That no Preacher of what Title or Denomination soever , shall presume causelesly , or ( without invitation from the Text ) to fall into bitter Invectives and undecent railing Speeches against the persons of either Papists or Puritans , but modestly and gravely , when they are occasioned thereunto by the Text of Scripture , free both the Doctrine and the Discipline of the Church of England from the aspersions of either Adversary , especially where the Auditory is suspected to be tainted with the one or the other infection . VI. Lastly , That the Archbishops and Bishops of the Kingdom ( whom his Majesty hath good cause to blame for their former remissness ) be more wary and choice in their Licencing of Preachers , and revoke all Grants made to any Chancellor , Official , or Commissary , to pass Licences in this kinde : And that all the Lecturers throughout the Kingdom of England ( a new body severed from the Antient Clergy , as being neither Parsons , Vicars , nor Curates ) be Licenced hence-forward in the Court of Faculties , by Recommendation of the party , from the Bishop of the Diocess under his Hand and Seal , with a Fiat from the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury , a Confirmation under the Great Seal of England . And that such as do transgress any one of these Directions , be suspended by the Bishop of the Diocess , or in his Default by the Archbishop of the Province , Ab officio & beneficio , for a year and a day , until his Majesty by the Advice of the next Convocation shall prescribe some further punishment . These Directions were warily communicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Bishops within his Province . The King lost no time in pursuing the Match with Spain ; but the Dispensation from Rome , which was the Key of the business , had long lain in a kinde of Dead-Palsie , till the new King of Spain had by a Letter quickned the Pope ; whereupon there ensued a Congregation of Cardinals to determine the matter , and afterwards the Popes assent : And then the Court of Spain declared such an intire Agreement for the Alliance with England , that King Iames was satisfied , and could expect no further difficulty . But his intelligence from Bruxels , and all other parts of the World , did quickly cool , and almost quench his hopes . Sir Richard Weston was a man approved by Gondomar , who commended the Kings wisdom in the Election of so fit a Minister for the Treaty at Bruxels ; yet the man so well disposed and suited to the Kings designs , wrote desperate Letters of the Infanta's cold and unworthy manner of Treating in that important business of restoring the Palsgrave . Whilest the King of Englands proceedings were so just and clear , the Count Palatine was retired to Sedan , and there sojourned with his Uncle the Duke of Bouillon , and his Partizans , Duke Christian of Brunswick , and Count Mansfield , the pretended obstacles of the Treaty , were removed , and had taken another course . Mansfield went for Holland , where the States intended to use him for the raising of the siege of Bergen , by cutting off the Convoys between Antwerp and the Spanish Leagure : And King Iames had lately offered , That in case the forces of Mansfield and Brunswick would not rest , but still perturb the Treaty , he would joyn with the Emperor , and the Arch-Dutchess , to quiet them : And the English Companies in the Palatinate being penned up in Garrisons , could not cause disturbance . In the mean while , that miserable Countrey was burnt and sacked in the sight of the English Ambassador . And now the Imperial and Bavarian forces fall to the besieging of Heidelburgh . When the Ambassador at Bruxels complained of these proceedings , he received frivolous Answers mixed with Recriminations . All that Weston obtained , was , onely Letters of intreaty from the Infanta to the Emperors Generals to proceed no further , though she had before acknowledged a full power from the Emperor to conclude the desired Cessation : But they pretended that they would restore all , when all was taken . For this cause Sir Richard Weston acquainted the Marquess of Buckingham , that he could not discern how the weak Hopes given him at Bruxels , could agree with those strong Assurances given by the Lord Digby from the Court of Spain . Moreover to protract the Palsgraves business , the Emperor takes occasion to appoint a Dyet at Ratisbone , contrary to his own promise , as himself acknowledged . Mr. Gage returned from Rome , with no better fruit of his Agency ; for the Dispensation cannot pass , till the King give satisfaction to a number of new Conditions , which before were never dreamed of , and had this mischief in them to bring the King in jealousie with the greatest part of his Subjects . A peece of Juggling was observed in this Negotiation : For some points of larger Indulgence whereunto King Iames had yielded , were concealed from the Pope by the Ministers of the King of Spain . The Court then devised to put a good face upon an ill Game , and good Sawce to an unsavory Dish : For all the World expecting that Gage should bring the Dispensation at his first arival , they made him give out , That it was passed in Rome , and sent from thence to Spain . But the King made a close pursuit , and resolved they should not escape him . The Popes Demands superadded to the Articles of Marriage were taken in hand , and Resolutions were given upon them in manner following . To the Demand of a Publick Church in London , besides a Domestick Chappel , assigned to the Infanta and her Family , the King made Reply , That it was more then was assumed by himself , or his Son the Prince , That the Chappel allowed was not a private Oratory , but in effect a Church , where the World might take notice of the Religion which the Infanta professed in publick manner . To another Demand , That the Superior Minister having Ecclesiastical Authority , be in Ordine Episcopali ; he answered , That he would leave it to the King of Spain to appoint as he shall judge expedient . But whereas the Pope required , That the Ecclesiasticks be subject to no Laws but of their own Ecclesiastical Superiors ; his answer was , That exemption seemed strange , as not allowed in all States and Countreys that were of the Roman Religion . As for the Education of the Children under the Mothers government ; Let the King of Spain judge indifferently ( said the King ) how unfit it were for us to declare to the World , That we engaged our self to permit our Grand-children to be brought up unto years of Marriage , in a Religion which we profess not , and which is not publickly professed in our Kingdom . And further then we have already assented in general , to leave the Children under the Mothers tuition for a longer or shorter time , according to their constitution and health , ( which may possibly reach unto the time required by the Pope ) We can by no means condiscend , unless the King of Spain think it fit to limit the time to a certainty . And whereas the Pope expected some larger offers for the general good of the Roman Church ; the King shewed , That the Articles of Religion agreed upon between himself , and the late King of Spain , were accounted so satisfactory in the judgment of the Learnedst , and greatest Clergy of Spain , That they declared their opinion , that upon the offer of such Conditions , the Pope ought not to withhold the Dispensation . And he said further , That the Pope was satisfied , that he of his own Authority could not grant a general Liberty of exercising the Roman Religion ; And what is it that they would have ? For setting that aside , he had in a manner done already all that was desired , as all the Roman Catholicks have found , out of his gratious Clemency towards them , and will no doubt acknowledge . This Resolution the King sent into Spain ( for he would not seem to Treat with Rome ) and therewith this Letter to the Lord Digby , now made Earl of Bristol . Right Trusty and Welbeloved , OUr pleasure is , that immediately you crave Audience of that King , and represent unto him the merit that we may justly chalenge to our self , for our sincere proceedings with the Emperor and him : Notwithstanding the many Invitations and Temptations , we have had to engage our self on our Son in Laws part . That we have both from the Emperor , and from him , hopes given us from time to time of extraordinary respect , ( howsoever our Son in Law had deserved ) which we have attended and expected , even to the last with much patience , and in despight as it were of all opposition , which might shake our Resolution in that behalf : If now , when all impediments are removed ▪ and the way is so prepared , as that the Emperor may give an end unto the War , and make some present Demonstration of his respect towards us , in leaving us the honor of holding those poor places which yet remain quietly , and peaceably , until the general Accommodation , the same shall nevertheless be violently taken from us ; What can we look for , if the whole shall be in his hands and possession ? who amuzing us with a Treaty of Cessation , and protracting it industriously ( as we have reason to believe ) doth in the mean time seize himself of the whole Countrey . Which being done , our Ambassador shall return with scorn , and we remain in dishonor : And therefore as we have heretofore sundry times promised in testimony of the sincerity of our proceedings , and of our great desire to preserve the Amity inviolable between us , and the whole House of Austria ; that in case our Son in Law would not be governed by us , that then we would not onely forsake him , but take part and joyn our forces with the Emperors against him . So you may fairly represent unto that King , That in like manner we have reason to expect the same measure from him : That upon the Emperors aversness to a Cessation , and Accommodation , he will likewise actually assist us for the recovery of the Palatinate , and Electoral Dignity to our Son in Law , as it hath been often times intimated from Spain . Yet our meaning is to carry all things fair with that King , and not to give him any cause of distrust or jealousie , if you perceive that they intend to go really and roundly on with the Match : Wherein nevertheless we must tell you , That we have no great cause to be well-pleased with the diligencies used on that part , when we observe that after so long an expectance of the Dispensation , upon which the whole business , as they will have it , depends , there is nothing yet returned but Queres and Objections . We have thought fit to let you know , how far we are pleased to enlarge our self concerning those points demanded by the Pope : And further then that , since we cannot go without much prejudice , inconvenience , and dishonor to our self , and our Son ; we hope and expect that the King of Spain will bring it instantly to an issue without further delay , which you are to press with all diligence and earnestness : But if respite of time be earnestly demanded , and that you perceive it not possible for them to resolve until an answer come from Rome , We then think it fit , that you give them two moneths time after your Audience , that we may understand that Kings final Resolutions before Christmas next at the furthest . Likewise the Conde Gondomar who was lately called home , is roused by a Letter from England , on this manner . HEre is a King , and a Prince , and a faithful Friend and Servant , Buckingham , besides a number of other Friends , to whom every day seems a year , till the Match be accomplished ; all things are prepared on our parts , Priests and Recusants are at liberty , and the Prisons are filled with zealous Ministers : Orders are published for the Universities and Pulpits , that none shall hereafter be medling , but that all Preach Christ crucified . His Majesty never looked to the rising or falling hopes of his Son in Laws fortunes , but kept in the same course that seems most agreeable to Honor and Justice , and the Peace of Christendom . And Gondomar did beseech the King to suffer himself once to be deceived by Spain , and promised when the Match was first moved , and the King perswaded to break with France , That he should be prest to nothing , but what might stand with Conscience and Honor , and the love of his people . And whereas the Pope would know what Bonum Publicum will be granted , We remit it to your Conscience , whither the favors daily granted to Catholicks , which the King resolves to continue , if not to increase , be not a real publick good , considering if the Match break off , his Majesty will be importunately urged by his people , to whose assistance he must needs have recourse , to give life and execution to all Penal Laws , now hanging over the heads of Catholicks . According to the Kings direction , the Earl of Bristol presented a Memorial to the King of Spain , and from him and his Ministers received this return . That for the accomplishing of the Match on their part , there should not one day be lost ; for the dispatch thereof imported them no less then the King of Great Britain : And for the Palatinate , they will seek his intire satisfaction ; and they refer it to his own just judgment , whether their forces were called out of the Palatinate , with an evil intention , or meerly for the defence of Flanders , which otherwise had been put in great hazard by Count Mansfield : That the besieging of Heidelburgh was no way by their consent , or knowledge , but was generally disapproved by them . And if it should be taken , and the Emperor refuse to restore it , or to condiscend to such Accommodation as should be adjudged reasonable , the King of Great Britain shall be infallibly assisted with the Arms of Spain for the restoring of the Palatine . And as concerning the Match , Bristol seemed so confident as to declare to the King his Master , That he should not willingly give his Majesty hope upon uncertain grounds ; so he would not conceal what the Spanish Court professed , which was to give his Majesty both real and speedy satisfaction . And he affirmed , If they intended it not , they were falser then all the Devils in Hell , for deeper Oaths and Protestations of Sincerity could not be made . But in the mean while , the Town and Castle of Heidelburgh were taken , and the English Companies put to the Sword , and Sir Edward Herbert the Governor was slain , after he had broken four Pikes in charging the Enemy . The besieging of Manheim , and the blocking of Frankendale , followed the loss of Heidelburgh . King Iames provoked by the continual progress of these Indignities , was impatient of staying for a Reply from Spain to his former Letters , but seconded those Resolutions with a vehement new dispatch , the Third of October , in a peremptory stile , as it well became him ; Commanding the Earl of Bristol , to let that King understand how sensible he was of the Emperors proceedings towards him ; and withal , not a little troubled to see that the Infanta at Bruxels , having an absolute Commission from the Emperor , to conclude a Cessation and Suspension of Arms , should now at last , when all Objections were answered , and the former solely pretended Obstacles removed , not onely delay the Conclusion of the Treaty , but refuse to lay her Commands upon the Emperors Generals for abstaining from the Garisons , during the Treaty , upon a pretext of want of Authority : So as for the avoiding of further dishonor , he hath been forced to recal both his Ambassadors , as well the Chancellor of his Exchequer from Bruxels , as also the Lord Chichester , whom he intended to have sent unto the Emperor to the Dyet at Ratisbone . He further enjoyned his Ambassador , That having delivered his sense of things , he should demand of the King of Spain a promise under his Hand and Seal , that the Town and Castle of Heidelburgh shall be delivered to the Palatine within seventy days after the Audience , and the like for Manheim and Frankendale , if they be taken . That within the said term of seventy days a Suspension of Arms in the Palatinate be concluded upon the Conditions last propounded by Sir Richard Weston at Bruxels ; and that a general Treaty shall be again set on foot upon such honorable terms as were tendered to the Emperor in November last . But if these particulars be refused or delayed by the Emperor , that the King of Spain shall joyn forces with the King of Great Britain , for the recovery of his Childrens Honors and Patrimony . And if he cannot give assistance , that he will at least allow him a free and friendly passage through his Territories for the forces to be employed in that service . Of these points distinctly , if the Ambassador should not receive a direct assurance , he was to take his leave of that King , and to return into his Masters presence . But the King annexed this private Instruction , That in case a Rupture happened , it might be managed to the best advantage . Wherefore he should not instantly come away , but send him secret intelligence , and in publick give out the contrary . Immediately upon these Demands , an Order was sent from Spain to Bruxels , for the relief of Manheim , but it came too late ; for before the arival thereof , the Town was yielded into the hands of Tilly : But had it come in season , the effect thereof might be guessed by Tilly's Reasons presented to the Arch-Dutchess against raising the siege of Manheim , and the restoring of Heidelburgh , to this purpose . That he could not do it without the Emperors express consent , and that the winning of Manheim was to be hastned to prevent the machinations of evil Neighbors , who were plotting new Commotions in favor of the Count Palatine , and especially to obviate the designs of Count Mansfield . And lastly , That the Emperor and the Catholick League , having setled all Germany , might give the Law to their Opposites , and settle a peace upon their own terms . How little the Emperor attributed to the Kings Humanity , and upright dealing , which he applauded in shew , might be discerned by sure Advertisements of his purpose , to propound in the Dyet at Ratisbone , his promise of translating the Palatine Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria , as a thing irrevocable . Moreover , the King of Spain , the Fifth of November , 1622. in the height of those Professions made to the English Ambassador , touching the Marriage , wrote on this manner to his Grand Favorite , the Conde Olivares . THe King my Father declared at his Death , That his intent never was to marry my Sister , the Infanta Donna Maria with the Prince of Wales , which your Uncle Don Balthazar understood , and so treated this Match ever with intention to delay it ; notwithstanding it is now so far advanced , that considering all the aversness unto it of the Infanta , it is time to seek some means to divert the Treaty , which I would have you finde out , and I will make it good whatsoever it be . But in all other things procure the satisfaction of the King of Great Britain ( who hath deserved much ) and it shall content me , so that it be not in the Match . Olivares wrote a Letter deliberative , the Eighth of November , 1622. and propounded an Expedient to the King of Spain , in these words . SIR , Considering in what estate we finde the Treaty of Marriage between Spain and England , and knowing certainly how the Ministers did understand this business that Treated it in the time of Philip the Third , that is in Heaven , that their meaning was never to effect it , but by enlarging the Treaties and Points of the said Marriage , to make use of the Friendship of the King of Great Britain , as well in matters of Germany , as those of Flanders : And imagining likewise that your Majesty is of the same opinion ( though the Demonstrations do not shew so ) joyning to these Suppositions ; that it is certain the Infanta Donna Maria is resolved to put her self into a Monastery the same day that your Majesty shall press her to this Marriage : I have thought fit to represent unto your Majesty , that which my good zeal hath offered me in this occasion , thinking it a good time to acquaint your Majesty withal , to the end you may resolve of that which you shall finde most convenient , with the advice of those Ministers you shall think fit to make choice of . The King of Great Britain doth finde himself at this time equally engaged in two businesses ; the one is this Marriage , to which he is moved by the conveniencies he findes in your Majesties friendship , by making an Agreement with those Catholicks that he thinks are secretly in his Kingdom ; and by this to assure himself of them , as likewise to marry his Son to one of the House of Austria , knowing , that the Infanta Donna Maria is the best born Lady in the World. The other business is , the restitution of the Palatinate , in which he is more engaged ; for beside that his Reputation is at stake , there is added the love and interest of his Grand-children , Sons of his onely Daughter : So that both by the Law of Nature and Reason of State , he ought to put that forward , whatever inconveniencies might follow by dissembling what they suffer . I do not dispute whither the King of Great Britain be governed in this business of the Palatinate by Act or Friendship ; I think a man might say he used both , but as a thing not precisely necessary to this Discourse , I omit it . I hold it for a Maxim , that these two Engagements in which he findes himself , are inseparable ; for although the Marriage be made , we must fail of that which in my way of understanding is most necessary , the restitution of the Palatinate . This being supposed , Having made this Marriage in that form as it is Treated , your Majesty shall finde your self , together with the King of Great Britain , engaged in a War against the Emperor and the Catholick League : A thing which to hear , will offend your godly ears , or declaring your self for the Emperor , and the Catholick League , as certainly your Majesty will do , then you will finde your self engaged in a War against the King of England , and your Sister married with his Son ; with the which , all whatsoever reasons of Conveniency that were thought upon in this Marriage , do cease . If your Majesty shall shew your self Neutral , as it may be some will propound ; That , first , will cause very great scandal , and with just reason , since in matters of less opposition , then of Catholicks against Hereticks , the Arms of this Crown have taken the godly part , against the contrary party ; and at this time the Frenchmen fomenting the Hollanders against your Majesty , your Piety hath been such , that you have sent your Arms against the Rebels of that Crown , leaving all the great considerations of State , onely because these men are Enemies to the Faith , and the Church . It will oblige your Majesty , and give occasion to those of the League to make use of the King of France , and of other Catholick Princes ill-affected to this Crown ; for it will be a thing necessary for them to do so : And those even against their own Religion , will foment and assist the Hereticks for hatred to us . Without doubt they will follow the other party , onely to leave your Majesty with that blemish , which never hath be●aln any King of these Dominions . The King of England will remain offended and enraged , seeing that neither interest , nor helps do follow the Alliance with this Crown , as likewise with Pretext of particular resentment , for having suffered his Daughter and Grand-children to be ruined for respect of the said Alliance . The Emperor though he be well-affected and obliged to us in making the Translation at this time , as businesses now stands , ( the Duke of Bavaria being possessed of all the Dominions ) although he would dispose all according to our Conveniencies , it will not be in his power to do it , as your Majesty and every body may judge ; and the Memorial that the Emperors Ambassador gave your Majesty yesterday , makes it certain ; since in the List of the Soldiers , that every one of our League is to pay , he sheweth your Majesty , that Bavaria for himself alone , will pay more then all the rest joyned together ; the which doth shew his power and intention , which is not to accommodate matters , but to keep to himself the Superiority of all in this broken time , the Emperor is now in the Dyet , and the Translation is to be made in it . The Proposition in this estate , is by considering the means for a Conference , which your Majesties Ministers will do with their Capacities , Zeal , and Wisdom ; and it is certain they will herein have enough to do . For the difficulty consists to finde a way to make the present estate of affairs straight again , which with lingring , as it is said , Both the power and time will be lost . I suppose the Emperor , as your Majesty knoweth by his Ambassador , desires to marry his Daughter with the King of Englands Son. I do not doubt but he will be likewise glad to marry his Second Daughter with the Palatines Son : Then I propound that these two Marriages be made , and that they be set on foot presently , giving the King of England full satisfaction in all his Propositions for the more strict Union and Correspondency , that he may agree to it . I hold for certain , that all the Conveniences that would have followed the Alliance with us , will be as full in this ▪ and the Conveniencies in the great Engagement are more by this ; for it doth accommodate the matter of the Palatinate , and Succession of his Grand-children with Honor , and without drawing a Sword , and wasting Treasure . With this Interest , the Emperor with the Conveniencies of the King of England and the Palatinate , the onely means in my way of understanding to hinder those great dangers that do threaten , may accommodate the business , and not sever himself from the Conveniencies and Engagements of Bavaria ; and after I would reduce the Prince Elector , that was an enemy , to the obedience of the Church , by breeding his Sons in the Emperors Court with Catholick Doctrine . The Business is great , the Difficulties greater perchance then have been in any other case . I have found my self obliged to present this unto your Majesty , and shall shew , if you command me , what I think fit for the disposing of the things , and of the great Ministers which your Majesty hath . I hope , with the particular Notes of these things , and all being helped with the good zeal of the Conde Gondomar , it may be , God will open a way to it , a thing so much for his , and your Majesties service . Such Consultations had the Catholick King in his Cabinet-Council , whilst he pretended so much zeal to a Closure with England : Insomuch that King Iames professed to have taken great contentment in the Dispatches of the Earl of Bristol , as full and satisfactory . And though the Order sent to the Archduchess for the Relief of Anheim arrived too late , yet he acknowledged it to be an argument of that Kings sincere intentions . But the Kings hopes were still deferred , and these Delays were palliated by the stop of the Dispensation , till the Pope were further satisfied in the time of the Childrens education under the Mothers government , and the exemption of Ecclesiastical persons from all Secular jurisdiction . And the Spaniards did not spare to stretch the Kings ductile spirit : For he was willing to stand obliged by a private Letter , that the Children should be kept under the Mothers wing till the age of Nine years ; but he desired for Honors sake , that no more then Seven might be exprest in the Publique Articles . But this Enlargement would not satisfie ; He must come up to the allowance of Ten years , which was the lowest of all to be expected ; and so he was brought at length to wave his Honor , and to insure this Concession by a Publique Ratification . And for the Exemption of Ecclesiasticks from the Secular power ; thus far he yielded , That the Ecclesiastical Superior do take notice of the offence that shall be committed , and according to the merit thereof , either by Degradation deliver him to Secular Justice , or banish him the Kingdom . Bristol's importunate Negotiation procured this Answer from the King of Spain . First , touching the Marriage , being desirous to overcome all difficulties that might hinder this union , he had endeavoured to conform himself with the Resolutions given by the King of Great Britain to the Popes Propositions , and had dispatched a Post to Rome ; that his Holiness judging what hath been here concluded , and held sufficient , might grant the Dispensation , which he engageth to procure within three or four moneths at the farthest : And in the interim , that no time be lost , the remaining Temporal Articles shall be treated and concluded . As touching the Palatinate , by his late Dispatches into Flanders , due course is taken to settle all things as may be desired : But until it be known what effects the same hath wrought , and what the Emperor will reply , no Answer can be given in writing to the Particulars contained in the Ambassadors Memorial . Moreover , the Popes Demands to which King Iames took exceptions , being now accommodated by the King of Spain , were sent into England , and presently signed by the King and Prince , without the change of a word . King Iames having strong assurance that the Dispensation must needs be granted speedily , appointed his Agent Gage , who was now again at Rome , to present to the Pope and certain Cardinals those Letters which lay in his hand to be delivered at a fit season . The Kings Letter to the Pope , gave him the stile of Most Holy Father . Likewise he directed the Earl of Bristol to proceed to the Temporal Articles , and to consummate the whole business . But while the King had so much zeal and confidence in his Applications to Spain and Rome , the Palatinate is left at random , upon the Spaniards loose and general promises : For , Colonel Papenheim had block'd up Frankendale , the onely Hold whereby the Palsgrave kept a footing in his ruined Country . The Imperialists laughed to think that the English Garrison should expect Relief by the Orders sent from Spain to Bruxels : And when the King had made an offer to sequester the Town of Frankendale into the Infanta's hands , upon the same assurance from her which herself had offered before the loss of Manheim , ( which was to restore the place , whether a peace with the Emperor , or a rupture followed ) she was fallen away from that proposition , and would accept the sequestration only upon a simple trust to render it again at the expiration of eighteen moneths . In this state of affairs , the King wrote thus to his Ambassador in the Spanish Court. Concerning the unfortunate knotty affair of the Palatinate , to say the truth , as things now stand , we cannot tell what you could have done more then you have already done . Moreover he shewed , That the reason of his late peremptory Instructions concerning a direct Promise of Restitution , was the gross delay at Bruxels while Heidelburgh was taken , and Manheim beleaguered : As also Gages coming from Rome , and in stead of the Dispensation , presenting him with new demands to engage him in a Dispute or Treaty with the Pope , which he said he never intended . Wherefore at the instance and perswasion of his Council , he was moved to urge the matter so , as to bring it to a sudden period : Not but that the precisest of them were always of opinion , That if the Match were once concluded , the other business would be accommodated to his satisfaction . Then was the Ambassador required to stir up that King to use all effectual means for diverting the Translation of the Electorate in the present Diet : Likewise to make him an offer of Frankendale by way of sequestration , upon condition of restoring it in the case as now it stands , whether the Peace succeed or not . But in the Diet held at Ratisbone , the Emperor declared the Palatine to be the Cause and groundwork of all those Wars and miseries ; and that the Electorate of this proscribed Enemy being devolved into his hands , he had conferred it upon the Duke of Bavaria , who in this Cause and service had spent his Treasure , and hazarded his blood against his own Nephew the Palsgrave . The Protestant Princes desired the Emperor to consider , That in so high a Cause as the disposing of an Electorate , and so principal a Person in the Colledge of Electors , who uncited , unheard , and without all knowledge of the Cause hath been condemned , and against all Equity oppressed by the Publication of the Ban ; His Imperial Majesty should not have proceeded so rigorously without the advice and consent of the other Electors , as was agreed upon in the Capitulation Royal , and Fundamental Law of the Empire . And since the Diet was called for restoring the Peace of the Empire , it were necessary in the first place ro remove the Obstacles , those extreme Executions in Bohemia , which may make that people desperate , and which the Lutheran States following the Augustane Confession have their eyes upon . And though it be given out , that the severity there exercised is merely for private Justice , yet it is so linked with the Publique Cause , that unless it be speedily ended , and the two Churches in Prague again opened , and the free exercise of Religion permitted , they can see no sure Peace , but desolation and ruine like to follow . And for the Prince Palatine , seeing he is already sufficiently punished , it were commendable in his Imperial Majesty to restore him , upon submission , to his Lands and Dignities ; otherwise there is no likelihood of restoring Peace . And in transferring the Electorate , if it must be so , this main thing were to be considered , Whether the exclusion of the Palsgrave's person doth exclude his Children , who by the providence of their Ancestors , before this act of their Father , had an hereditary right thereunto : Or whether that Prince's Brother , or other of the Kindred who have no way offended , should be in this case neglected ? This will be ill resented by the other Electors and Princes allied to the Palatine , who have been quiet hitherto upon confidence of the Emperors clemencie ; But perceiving all hopes of recovering the Electoral Dignity to their Family taken away , must needs have recourse to Arms. They further added , That the Palatine was young , and abused by evil Counsels , and no way the Author of the stirrs in Bohemia . Wherefore they give their advice , That his restoring will quiet the otherwise endless troubles of the Empire , and for ever engage him and all his Allies , and the whole Electoral Colledge to his Imperial Majesty . The Catholick Princes answered , That the Palatinate being devolved upon the Emperor , he may bestow it according to his own pleasure ; And that he cannot safely hold any terms of Amity with the Palatine : That the impunity of so great an Offender , will encourage others to offend : And as for by-past sufferings , there hath been little difference between his and the Emperors , though the Cause were far different : And that Mansfeld his General is yet in the Field , and prosecutes his Cause by force of Arms. The other Party replied , That the security of the Imperial Dignity and the safety of the Empire consisted in the Concord between the Emperor and the Princes Electors ; And if his Imperial Majesty shall use this rigor , the Princes of Lower Saxony are of opinion that there can be no Peace established : But this desired Reconciliation will give the Emperor a quiet possession of the Provinces recovered by the aid of the Electors and Princes ; otherwise there is a fair pretension left for the renewing of the War , for that the Palatines Sons and Brother are passed by in the translation of the Electorate ; and the King of Great Britain cannot but take it ill , to see his endeavors produce no better effect , but that his onely Daughter and her Children are left in Exile . The Emperor takes up the debate , and sheweth , That before the Ban was published , he desired nothing more then that a Diet might be convoked ; which being impeded by the prosecution of the War , he could do no less then publish this Proscription to repress the Palatine ; which some that now dispute it , did then declare to be legal and necessary : And this proscribed Enemy he will not restore to the Electoral Dignity , nor yet defer to compleat the number of Electors . Thus have we good words from Spain , and miserable usage from all the rest of the House of Austria . Sir Dudley Carlton Ambassador Resident at the Hague , assured the Marquis of Buckingham , That though the Spanish Ambassador D' Ognat in publique opposed the Emperor in transferring the Electorate , yet the judgment generally made upon it was this , That it was a meer Patelinage with a secret understanding to abuse King Iames his goodness . Likewise the Emperor not content to have chased the Palsgrave out of Germany , in the Propositions of the former Diet , made this an Article to make War upon the United Provinces , because ( among other quarrels ) they gave refuge to the expulsed Palatine . Nevertheless King Iames resolved to wait upon the Match with Spain , as the onely means to consolidate these publique fractures in Christendom . And now behold a strange Adventure and Enterprise ! The Prince and the Marquis of Buckingham , accompanied with Cottington and Endimion Porter , Post in Disguise to Spain to accelerate the Marriage . The 17. of February they went privately from Court , and the next day came to Dover , where they imbarqued for Boloign , and from thence rode Post to Paris , where they made some stop . The Prince , shadowed under a bushy Peruque , beheld the splendor of that Court , and had a full view of the Princess Henrietta Maria , who was afterwards his Royal Consort . For besides the great privacie of the Journey , they had so laid the English Ports , that none should follow or give the least advertisement , until they had gotten the start of Intelligencers , and passed the bounds of France . Howbeit they escaped narrowly , and a swift Intelligence sent to the King of Spain from Don Carlos Coloma was even at their heels before they arrived at Madrid . The Prince and Buckingham being in the Territories of Spain , to make but little noise , rode Post before their Company . The 7. of March they arrived at Madrid the Royal residence , and were conveyed with much secrecie into the Earl of Bristols house . The next morning the Earl acquainted Gondomar with the arrival of the Marquis of Buckingham : Olivares sends immediately to desire leave to visit the Marquis , which was by no means permitted ; but in the evening the Marquis went privately accompanied with the Earl of Bristol , Sir Walter Aston , and Conde Gondomar , and met this great Conde in a place near the Palace , and after some Converse was led by a back-way into the Kings quarter , and had private Audience of the King ; who received him with extraordinary courtesies , and expressions of so great joy , that might signifie he was not ignorant of the Princes arrival also : Insomuch that the Conde Olivares having procured the Kings leave , went back with the Marquis of Buckingham and kissed the Princes hands . After this , the King and State devise how to give his Highness the most honorable reception . Instantly they decree , That upon all occasions of meeting he shall have the precedencie of the King ; That he shall make his entrance into the Royal Palace in that form of State which is used by the Kings of Spain on the day of their Coronation , and that one of the chief quarters in the Kings house shall be prepared for his Lodgings ; That an Hundred of the Guard attend him , and all the Council obey him as the Kings own person . The Common sort did magnifie this brave Adventure , and express his Welcom by shouts and acclamations of joy , and presently they marry him to the Infanta as it were by publique voice . And the King , to please him with a sight of his Mistress , went abroad to visit a Monastery , with the Queen , the Infanta , and his Brothers Don Carlos and the Infant-Cardinal : So that his Highness had the happiness of a full View in several places . The King in person gave him several Visits , and forced him to take the hand and place of him . Divers Grandees and prime Officers of State came to present their service , and as yet none did visit him but by the Kings special order . A General Pardon was published ; the Prisons were opened , and hundreds of Offenders were set at liberty ; And a late Proclamation against Excess in Apparel was revoked . Neither may we forget the Kings strain of Complement in the Advancement of Gondomar , to whom he ascribed his great contentment and honor received by his Highness's presence ; That he had made the Conde ( whom he was pleased to term an English-man ) one of his Council of State , to the end that his Highness might be confident of their Proceedings , and privy to all their Passages . The Prince , on the day of Publique Entrance , was attended in the morning by the Conde Gondomar , and divers Councellors of State , to S. Ierom's Monastery , the place whence the Kings of Spain are wont to make their solemn entrance into Madrid on the day of their Coronation : There the Prince was feasted , and served by divers great Officers of State waiting bare-headed . After dinner , the King came to conduct his Highness through the Town to the Royal Palace , having prepared all things for the Solemnity in the greatest magnificence and splendor . The King setting the Prince on his right hand , they rode in great glory under a Canopy of State supported by the Regidors of the Town , who were arrayed in Cloth of Tissue : The Nobility and Grandees of Spain attended by their several Liveries , all very rich and costly , went before ; And after came the Marquis of Buckingham , and the Conde Olivares , executing their places of Masters of the Horse ; After them followed the Earl of Bristol and Sir Walter Aston , accompanied with divers Councellors of State , and Gentlemen of the Kings Chamber . And being alighted at the Palace-gate , the King led the Prince to the Queens quarters , where having entred her chamber , he was met and received by her with great respect , in manner becoming the state of great Princes ; three Royal seats were placed , the Queen sate in the middle , the Prince on her right hand , and the King on the left . His Highness was thence conducted by the King to the Lodgings prepared for him ; where after they had conversed a while , the King left him . After a little pause , the Queen by her Major-domo gave him a further and very noble Welcom with sundry rich Presents , as Perfumes and costly Wearing-Linen . The King sent him two Golden Keys , which would open all his Privy-lodgings and his Bed-chamber , giving him to understand that he had free access unto him at all hours . The Councellors of State presented themselves to let him know , That by the Kings express command they were to obey his Highness as exactly as the King himself . He was constantly attended and served with Grandees and Tituladoes , and was entertained with many Shews and Triumphs , and several daily Pastimes . And one day running at the Ring in company of divers of the Nobility , his Higness was the onely Person that bore the Ring away , and that in presence of the Infanta his Mistress , which was interpreted a good Omen at the beginning of his Atchievement . In fine , there wanted nothing which the wit of man could devise for the height of outward glory : The Governors of the Town presented the Marquis of Buckingham with the rich Cloth of State which was borne over the King and Prince in the great Solemnity , as a Fee belonging to the Place which he then executed . From the Court of England many Lords and Gentlemen went after the Prince , that by a splendid Train and Retinue of his own People he might appear as the Prince of England . And the Marquis of Buckingham was then made a Duke , by a Patent sent from England . This magnificent Entertainment , and the universal Joy in Spain , was grounded on the hope of the Prince's turning Catholick : For the voice of the people went , That he was come to be a Christian : And the Conde Olivares , when he gave him the first Visit , did congratulate his Arrival with these expressions ; That the Match should be made presently , and that the Kings of Spain and England should divide the World between them ; For that he did not question , but he came thither to be of their Religion . Whereunto the Prince answered , That he came not thither for Religion , but for a Wife . But there wanted no endeavors to reconcile the Prince , and by him the British Dominions to the Sea of Rome . Gregory the Fifteenth , then Pope , * exhorted the Bishop of Conchen Inquisitor-General of Spain , to improve the opportunity : And he sought to charm the Prince , by writing a very smooth Letter to him : Yea , he condescended to write to Buckingham his Guide and Familiar , to incline him to the Romish religion . And the Pope also wrote a Letter to the Prince , the tenor whereof followeth . MOst Noble Prince , We wish you the health and light of Gods grace . Forasmuch as Great Britain hath always been fruitful in vertues , and in men of great worth , having filled the one and the other World with the glory of her renown , She doth also very often draw the thoughts of the Holy Apostolical Chair to the consideration of her praises . And indeed , the Church was but then in her infancie , when the King of Kings did choose her for his inheritance , and so affectionately , that 't is believed the Roman Eagles were hardly there before the Banner of the Cross. Besides that , many of her Kings instructed in the knowledge of the true salvation , have preferred the Cross before the Royal Scepter , and the Discipline of Religion before Covetousness , leaving examples of piety to other Nations , and to the Ages yet to come : So that having merited the Principalities and first places of blessedness in Heaven , they have obtained on Earth the triumphant ornaments of Holiness . And although now the state of the English Church is altered , We see nevertheless the Court of Great Britain adorned and furnished with Moral vertues which might serve to support the charity we bear unto her , and be an ornament to the name of Christianity , if withall she could have for her defence and protection the Orthodox and Catholick truth . Therefore by how much the more the glory of your most Noble Father , and the apprehension of your Royal inclination delights us , with so much more zeal we desire that the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven might be opened unto you , and that you might purchase to your self the love of the Universal Church . Moreover , it being certain that Gregory the Great of most blessed memory hath introduced to the people of England , and taught to their Kings the law of the Gospel , and the respect of Apostolical authority ; We , as inferior to him in holiness and vertue , but equal in name and degree of dignity , think it very reasonable , that we following his blessed footsteps , should endeavor the salvation of those Provinces , especially at this time when you design ( most Noble Prince ) elevates us to the hope of an extraordinary advantage . Therefore as you have directed your journey to Spain towards the Catholick King , with desire to ally your self to the House of Austria , We do commend your design , and indeed do testifie openly in this present business , that you are he that takes principal care of our Prelacy : For seeing that you desire to take in marriage the Daughter of Spain , from thence we may easily conjecture , that the antient seeds of Christian piety which have so happily flourished in the hearts of the Kings of Great Britain , may ( God prospering them ) revive again in your soul. And indeed it is not to be believed , that the same man should love such an Alliance , that hates the Catholick Religion , and should take delight to oppress the Holy Chair . To that purpose we have commanded that most humble prayers be made continually to the Father of lights , that he would be pleased to put you as a fair Flower of Christendom , and the onely Hope of Great Britain , in possession of that most noble Heritage which your Ancestors purchased for you , to defend the authority of the Soveraign High-Priest , and to fight against the Monsters of Heresie . Remember the days of old , enquire of your Fathers , and they will tell you the way that leads to Heaven , and what way the Temporal Princes have taken to attain to the everlasting Kingdom . Behold the gates of Heaven opened ! The most holy Kings of England , who came from England to Rome accompanied with Angels , did come to honor and do homage to the Lord of Lords , and to the Prince of the Apostles in the Apostolical Chair ; their actions and their examples being as so many voices of God , speaking and exhorting you to follow the course of the lives of those , to whose Empire you shall one day attain . Is it possible that you can suffer that the Hereticks should hold them for impious , and condemn those whom the faith of the Church testifies to reign in the Heavens with Iesus Christ , and have command and authority over all Principalities and Empires of the Earth ? Behold how they tender you the hand of this truly happy Inheritance , to conduct you safe and sound to the Court of the Catholick King , and who desire to bring you back again into the lap of the Roman Church ; beseeching with unspeakable sighs and groans the God of all mercy for your salvation , and do stretch out to you the arms of the Apostolical charity to embrace you with all Christian affection , even you that are her desired Son , in shewing you the happy hope of the Kingdom of Heaven . And indeed , you cannot give a greater consolation to all the people of the Christian world , then to put the Prince of the Apostles in possession of your most noble Island , whose authority hath been held so long in the Kingdom of Britain for the defence of Kingdoms , and for a Divine Oracle . The which will easily come to pass , and that without difficulty , if you open your heart to the Lord that knocks ; upon which depends all the happiness of that Kingdom . It is from this our great charity , that we cherish the praises of the Royal Name , and that which makes us desire that you and your Royal Father may be stiled with the names of Deliverers and Restorers of the antient and paternal Religion of Great Britain . This is it we hope for , trusting in the goodness of God , in whose hands are the hearts of Kings , and who causeth the people of the earth to receive healing , to whom we will always labour with all our power to render you gracious and favorable . In the interim take notice by these Letters of the care of our charity , which is none other then to procure your happiness : And it will never grieve us to have written them , if the reading of them stir but the least spark of the Catholick faith in the heart of so great a Prince ; whom we wish to be filled with long continuance of joy , and flourishing in the glory of all Vertues . Given at Rome in the Palace of S. Peter , the 20. of April , 1623. in the Third year of our Popedom . Gregorius P. P. XV. Duci Buckinghamiae . NObilis Vir , Salutem & lumen Divinae gratiae . Authoritas qua Nobilitatem tuam in Britanna Regia florere accepimus , non modo meritorum praemium , sed virtutis patrocinium habetur . Egregium plane decus , atque adeo dignum , cui populi illi addi cupiant diuturnitatem . Verum vix dici potest quantus ei cumulus gloriae in orbe terrarum accederet , si ( Deo favente ) foret Catholicae religionis praesidium ; facultatem certe nancisceris , qua te eorum Principum conciliis inserere potes , qui nominis immortalitatem adepti ad coelestia regna pervenerunt . Hanc tibi à Deo tributam , & à Pontifice Romano commendatam occasionem , ne elabi patiare , Nobilis vir . Non te praeterit , regalium consiliorum conscium , quo in loco Britanna res hac aetate sit , quibusque Spiritus sancti loquentis vocibus , Principum tuorum aures quotidie personent . Quae gloria esset nominis si te hortatore ac suasore , Anglicani Reges coelestem illius gloriae haereditatem recuperarent quam Majores eorum amplissimam in iis regnis reliquerunt , divini cultus incrementa curando , & Pontificiae authoritatis ditione , non solum tuenda , sed etiam propaganda ! Multi fuerunt , atque erunt in posterum , quos benevolentia Regum perituris divitiis locupletavit , & invidiosis titulis auxit ; atque ut id Nobilitas tua consequatur , non ideo sempiternis laudibus nomen tuum memor posteritas colet ; at enim si consilia tua potentissimos Reges populosque ad Ecclesiae gremium reducerent ; scriberetur nomen tuum in libro viventium quos non tangit tormentum mortis ac te Historiarum Monumenta in eos sapientes referrent in quorum splendore Reges ambulaverunt ▪ Quibus autem te praesentis vitae solatiis & futurae praemiis remunetaretur Deus ille , qui dives est in mise●icordia , omnes facile provident quibus nota est ars , & vis , qua Regnum Coelorum expugnatur . Tantae te saelicitatis compotem fieri ut cupiamus efficit non solum Pontificia Charitas , ad cujus curas totius humani generis salus pertinet , sed etiam genetricis tuae pietas , quae cum te mundo peperie Romanae etiam ecclesiae quam ipsa matrem suam agnovit iterum parere cupit : Proin cum in Hispanias profectionem paret dilectus Filius religiosus vir Didacus de la Fuente , qui gravissima principum tuorum negotia in urbe fapienter Administravit , ei mandavimus ut Nobilitatem tuam adeat atque has Apostolicas literas deferat quibus Pontificiae Charitatis magnitudo & salutis tuae cupido declaretur . Cum ergo audire poteris sententiae nostrae interpretem , atque iis virtutibus instructum quae exterarum Nationum amorem Catholico etiam & Religioso Sacerdoti conci●lare potuerunt . Ille quidem ea do te in hac orbis Patria praedicavit , ut dignus sit quem singulari affectu complectaris & Authoritate tua Munias Britannorum Regum populorumque saluti & gloriae inservientem nos quidem Patrem Misericordiarum Orabimus ut Nobilitati tuae coelestis Regni fores patefaciat & frequentia praebeat Clementiae suae documenta . Datum Romae apud sanctam Mariam Majorem sub Annulo Piscatoris , die 19 Maii. 1623 , Pontificatus nostri Tertio . Pope Gregory to the D. of Buckingham . RIght honorable , we wish you health and the light of Gods grace . The authority which we understand you have in the Court of England , is accounted not only the reward of merit , but the patronage of vertue . A remarkable honor indeed , and of such worth , that the people there ought to pray for its continuance : But it can scarce be exprest what an access of glory it would receive in the world , if by the grace of God it should become the safeguard of the Catholick Religion . You have the means to ingraft your self into the assembly of those Princes , who having obtained an immortal name , have purchased the heavenly inheritance . Suffer not , Hononorable sir , this ocasion to slip out of your hands , afforded you by God , and recommended to you by the Pope of Rome . You are not ignorant ▪ as intimate in the Kings counsels , in what condition the affairs of England are in this our Age , and with what voices of the Holy Ghost speaking — the ears of your Princes daily tingle . How greatly would you be renown'd , if by your perswasion and admonition the King of England should obtain the heavenly inheritance of that glory which their Ancestors left them most ample in those kingdoms , by taking care of the increase of Gods worship , and not only defending , but propagating the dominions of the Pope's authority ! There have been , and will be many hereafter , whom the favor of Kings hath much enriched with wealth that fadeth away , and honored with envious titles : And if your Honor attain this , Posterity will therefore adore your memory with everlasting praises : But if your advice should reduce Potent Kings and Nations to the Lap of the Church , your name would be written in the Book of the Living , whom the pangs of death assault not , and the Records of Historians would number you among those Sages in whose light and conduct Kings have walked . And with what comfort of the present life , and reward of the future , that God who is rich in mercy would recompence you , they easily foresee who are acquainted with the skill and violence by which the Kingdom of Heaven is conquered : That we wish you to be partaker of so great happiness , not onely our Papal Charity moves us ( to whose care the salvation of mankinde belongeth ) but also the Piety of your Mother , who having brought you forth to the World , desires to bring you forth again to the Church of Rome , whom she acknowledges for her Mother . Therefore Didacus de la Fuente our beloved Son , a Fryer , who hath prudently managed the most important affairs of your Princes here in Rome , being to go to Spain , we have commanded him to wait upon your Honor , and to deliver you those Apostolical Letters to evidence the greatness of our Papal Charity , and our desire of your salvation . You may be pleased to hearken to him , as the interpreter of our minde , and one adorned with those vertues , which have been able to purchase the love of Foreign Nations to a Catholick and a Regular Priest. Truly he hath spoken such things of you in this Country of the World , that he is worthy whom you should cherish with a singular affection , and protect with your Authority , as one studious of the glory and safety of the King and People of Great Britain . We will pray the Father of Mercies , that he would open the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven to your Honor , and afford you frequent evidences of his Clemency . Given at Rome apud sanctam Mariam Majorem sub Annulo Piscatoris , 19 Maii , 1623. being the First year of our Reign The Prince of Wales returned this following Answer to the Popes Letter ( according to a Copy preserved by some then in Spain at the Treaty . ) CAROLVS Princeps Gregorio P.P. XV. Sanctissime Pater , BEatitudinis vestrae Litteras non minore gratitudine & observantia accepimus , quam exigat ea qua novimus exaratas insignis benevolentia , & pietatis affectus . Atque illud imprimis gratum fuit , nunquam satis laudata Majorum exempla inspicienda Nobis à vestra Sanctitate atque imitanda fuisse proposita : Qui licet multoties omnium fortunarum & vitae ipsius discrimen adiverint , quo fidem Christianam latius propagarent , haud tamen alacriori animo in infestissimos Christi hostes , Crucis Christi vexilla intulerunt , quam nos omnem opem & operam adhibebimus ut quae tam diu exaltavit pax & unitas , in Christianam Rempublicam postliminio reducatur . Cum enim Discordiarum Patris malitia inter illos ipsos qui Christianam profitentur Religionem tam infelicia seminarit dissidia , hoc vel maxime necessarium ducimus ad Sacrosanctam Dei & Salvatoris Christi gloriam faelicius promovendam . Et minori nobis honori futurum existimabimus , tritam Majorum Nostrorum vestigiis insistentes viam , in piis ac Religiosis susceptis illorum aemulos atque imitatores extitisse , quam genus nostrum ab illis atque originem duxisse . Atque ad idem nos istud plurimum in●lammat perspecta no●is Domini Regis ac Patris nostri voluntas , & quo flagrat desiderium ad tam Sanctum opus porrigendi manum auxiliatricem , tum qui Regium pectus exedit dolor , cum perpendit quam saevae exoriantur strages , quam deplorandae calamitates ex principum Christianorum dissensionibus . Judicium vero quod Sanctitas vestra tulit de nostro cum domo ac Principe Catholico Affinitatem & Nuptias contrahendi desiderio , & Charitati vestrae est consentaneum , nec a sapientia invenietur alienum . Nunquam tanto quo ferimur studio , nunquam tam arcto & tam indissolubili vinculo ulli Mortalium conjungi cuperemus , cujus odio Religionem prosequeremur . Quare Sanctitas vestra illud in animum inducat , ea modo nos esse semperque futuros moderatione , ut quam longissime abfuturi simus ab omni opere quod odium testari possit ullam adversus Religionem Catholicam Romanam : Omnes potius captabimus occasiones quo leni benignoque rerum cursu sinistrae omnes suspiciones e medio penitus tollantur . Ut sicut omnes unam individuam Trinitatem , & unum Christum Crucifixum confitemur , in unam fidem unanimiter coalescamus : Quod ut assequamur , labores omnes atque vigilias , Regnorum etiam atque vitae pericula parvi pendimus . Reliquum est ut quas possumus maximas , pro literis quas insignis muneris loco ducimus , gratias agentes , Sanctitati vestrae omnia prospera & faelicitatem aeternam comprecamur . Datum Matriti , 20 Iunii . 1623. Prince Charles to Pope Gregory XV. Most Holy Father , WE have received your Letter with no less thankfulness and respect , then is due to the singular good will and godly affection wherewith we know it was written . It was most acceptable unto us , that the never enough Renowned Examples of our Ancestors were proposed to us by your Holiness for our inspection and imitation ; who though they often hazarded their lives and fortunes to propagate the Christian Faith , yet did they never more chearfully display the Banners of the Cross of Christ against his most bitter enemies , then we will endeavor to the utmost , that the Peace and Union which so long triumphed , may be reduced into the Christian World , after a kinde of Elimination or Exile . For since the malice of the Father of Discords hath sowed such unhappy Divisions amongst those who profess the Christian Religion , We account this most necessary thereby to promote with better success , the glory of God and Christ our Saviour ; nor shall we esteem it less honor to tread in their footsteps , and to have been their Rivals and Imitators in holy undertakings , then to have been discended of them . And we are very much encouraged to this , as well by the known inclination of our Lord and Father , and his ardent desire to lend a helping hand to so pious a work , as by the anguish that gnaws his Royal brest , when he considers what cruel destructions , what deplorable calamities arise out of the dissentions of Christian Princes . Your Holiness conjecture of our desire to contract an Alliance and Marriage with a Catholick Family and Princess , is agreeable both to your Wisdom and Charity ; for we would never desire so vehemently to be joyned in a strict and indissoluble Bond with any Mortal whatsoever , whose Religion we hated . Therefore your Holiness may be assured , That we are , and always will be of that Moderation , as to abstain from such actions which may testifie our hatred against the Roman Catholick Religion ; we will rather embrace all occasions whereby through a gentle and fair procedure all sinister suspitions may be taken away ; That as we all confess one Individual Trinity , and one Christ Crucified , we may unanimously grow up into one Faith. Which that we may compass , we little value all Labor and Watchings , yea , the very hazard of our lives . It remains , that we render thanks to your Holiness for your Letter , which we esteem as a singular present , and wish your Holiness all prosperity and eternal happiness . Dated at Madrid . 20 Iunii , 1623. Orations , Processions , and pompous shews were made in Spain , to allure the Prince to Popery ; Popish Books were dedicated , and Popish Pictures presented to him . They carried him to the most Religious places , and to persons famous for pretended Miracles . And they shew him of what importance his Conversion is , to the gaining of a large entrance into the Infanta's affection , and a smooth path to this Catholick Marriage . And in case a Rebellion in England should follow his change of Religion , they offer an Army to subdue the Rebels . But the Prince remained stedfast in his Religion ; neither did he express any shew of change . But as to the interior carriage of Affairs , notwithstanding his splendid entertainment to the height of Princely State , yet in the main business he was meanly dealt with , and in his Addresses to the Infanta , unworthily restrained and undervalued . The Dispensation sticks long in the Birth , but after a tedious Travel , it was brought forth : Mr. George Gage advertised the King from Rome , That the Cardinals made mention of him in most honorable Language , and had a firm opinion , that the former Rigor towards Catholicks , hath risen from others , but the Graces vouchsafed to them from himself ; and they were now confident that such potent intercessions having been made with him , and all civil jealousies removed , he will not onely command a real performance of what is promised , but according to his own Loyal heart , will enlarge the benefit . Furthermore , he assured the King , That such difficulties as were already spent , and were yet to come , have been laid hold on by the Cardinals ; neither to frustrate , nor prolong this Treaty , but ou● of an opinion , that otherwise they could not secure their Consciences , proceed upon a just and valuable ground , and satisfie the judgments of such discreet persons , as may in times to come , understand the Passages of this great Business . So the long solicited Dispensation came from Pope Gregory the Fifteenth , to the Court of Spain . But whereas it was expected full and absolute , it came with a Clog , a Clause thrust in of purpose to retard the proceedings . That whereas there were certain Articles condiscended unto by the King of England , in favor of the Roman Catholicks in his Dominions , Caution should be given for the performance of those Concessions . The King answered , That he could give no other Caution , then his own and the Princes Oath , exemplified under the Great Seal of England . But this would not satisfie , unless some Sovereign Catholick Prince would stand engaged for them . Hereupon the frame of things was like to fall a sunder , and a rumor went , that the Prince intended to get away covertly . Amidst the heats of this dispute , Olivares ( whither in a humor or good earnest ) propounded three ways of accomodation : The first was , That Prince Charls should become Catholick . The second , That the Infanta should be delivered to him upon the former security , without further condition . The third was , to binde him as fast as they could , and not trust him with any thing . And of these three ways , he said , The two former were good , but the last was a bad one . At length the King of Spain proffered to engage himself by Oath on the behalf of the King and Prince for the performance of the Articles . Provided , That he first consult with his Ghostly Fathers , whither he might do it with a safe Conscience . This was a fair contrivance , whereby that King might not onely oblige our King and Prince , but lay the ground-plot of a fair pretence of War against England , if the Roman Catholicks received not satisfaction in the enjoyment of the Freedom promised . Besides he would form a party in these Dominions to a Dependance upon his Protection . A Iuncto of Divines were called to determine upon the Case , and they go very gravely and tediously to work , and protract the time almost beyond the bounds of the Princes patience ; but they conclude at last Affirmatively . And in case the King of England fail to execute what was stipulated , the King of Spain was to vindicate his Oath , and right himself by the Sword. Then was the Match declared publickly , and the Prince had frequent access to the Infanta , yet always in a publick manner , and in the Kings presence . Whilest these things were forging in Spain , there were not wanting such as warned the King , and tendred safer Counsels . The Archbishop of Canterbury was bold to press him close in this serious Letter . May it please Your Majesty , I Have been too long silent , and am afraid by my silence I have neglected the duty of the place it hath pleased God to call me unto , and your Majesty to place me in : But now I humbly crave leave , I may discharge my Conscience towards God , and my duty to your Majesty ; and therefore I beseech you freely to give me leave to deliver my self , and then let your Majesty do with me what you please . Your Majesty hath propounded a Toleration of Religion , I beseech you take into your consideration what your Act is , what the consequence may be . By your Act you labor to set up the most Damnable and Heretical Doctrine of the Church of Rome , the Whore of Babylon : How hateful it will be to God , and grievous to your good Subjects , the Professors of the Gospel , That your Majesty who hath often disputed , and learnedly written against those Heresies , should now shew your self a Patron of those wicked Doctrines which your Pen hath told the World , and your Conscience tells your self , are Superstitious , Idolatrous , and detestable . And hereunto I adde what you have done in sending the Prince into Spain without consent of your Council , the Privity and Approbation of your People : And although you have a Charge and Interest in the Prince , as Son of your Flesh ; yet have the people a greater , as Son of the Kingdom , upon whom next after your Majesty are their Eyes fixed and welfare depends ; and so tenderly is his going apprehended , as ( believe it ) however his return may be safe ; yet the drawers of him into this Action , so dangerous to himself , so desperate to the Kingdom , will not pass away unquestioned , unpunished . Besides , this Toleration which you endeavor to set up by your Proclamation , cannot be done without a Parliament , unless your Majesty will let your Subjects see that you will take unto your self ability to throw down the Laws of your Land at your pleasure . What dread consequence these things may draw afterward , I beseech your Majesty to consider , and above all , lest by this Toleration and discountenancing of the true Profession of the Gospel , wherewith God hath blessed us , and this Kingdom hath so long flourished under it , your Majesty do not draw upon this Kingdom in general , and your self in particular , Gods heavy wrath and indignation . Thus in discharge of my duty towards God , to your Majesty , and the place of my Calling , I have taken humble leave to deliver my Conscience . Now Sir , do what you please with me . The King would not admit any Motion of drawing back , but in going forward , he would yield to all demands , and was accordingly scrued up to the greatest height . So at last the Difficulties in Rome and Spain were all surmounted ; and then these following Articles [ Stiled by the Cardinals , Propositions for the right Augmentation and Weal of the Roman Catholick Religion ] were sworn unto by the King , Prince and Privy Council . I. THat the Marriage be made by Dispensation of the Pope , but that to be procured by the endeavor of the King of Spain . II. That the Marriage be once onely celebrated in Spain , and ratified in England , in form following . In the Morning after the most Gratious Infanta hath ended her Devotions in the Chappel , she and the most Excellent Prince Charls , shall meet in the Kings Chappel , or in some other Room of the Palace , where it shall seem most expedient ; and there shall be read all the Procurations , by vertue whereof the Marriage was celebrated in Spain ; and as well the most Excellent Prince , as the most Excellent Infanta , shall ratifie the said Marriage celebrated in Spain , with all solemnity necessary for such an Act ; so as no Ceremony or other thing intervene , which shall be contrary to the Roman Catholick Apostolick Religion . III. That the most Gratious Infanta , shall take with her such Servants and Family as are convenient for her service ; which Family , and all persons to her belonging , shall be chosen and nominated by the Catholick King : So as he nominate no Servant which is Vassal to the King of Great Britain , without his will and consent . IV. That as well the most Gratious Infanta , as all her Servants and Family , shall have free use and publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion , in manner and form as is beneath capitulated . V. That she shall have an Oratory and Decent Chappel in her Palace ; where , at the pleasure of the most Gratious Infanta , Masses may be celebrated ; and in like manner she shall have in London , or wheresoever she shall make her abode , a Publick and Capacious Church near her Palace , wherein all Duties may be solemnly celebrated , and all other things necessary for the Publick Preaching of Gods Word , the Celebration and Administration of all the Sacraments of the Catholick Roman Church , and for burial of the Dead , and Baptizing of Children . That the said Oratory , Chappel , and Church , shall be adorned with such decency as shall seem convenient to the most Gratious Infanta . VI. That the Men-servants and Maid-servants of the most Gratious Infanta , and their Servants , Children , and Descendents , and all their Families of what sort soever serving her Highness , may be freely and publickly Catholicks . VII . That the most Gratious Infanta , her Servants and Family , may live as Catholicks in form following . That the most Gratious Infanta shall have in her Palace , her Oratory and Chappel so spatious , that her said Servants and Family may enter and stay therein ; in which there shall be an ordinary and publick door for them , and another inward door , by which the Infanta may have a passage into the said Chappel , where she and other as abovesaid may be present at Divine Offices . VIII . That the Chappel , Church , and Oratory , may be beautified with decent Ornaments of Altars , and other things necessary for Divine Service , which is to be celebrated in them according to the custom of the Holy Roman Church ; and that it shall be lawful for the said Servants and others , to go to the said Chappel and Church at all hours , as to them shall seem expedient . X. That the care and custody of the said Chappel and Church shall be committed to such as the Lady Infanta shall appoint , to whom it shall be lawful to appoint Keepers , that no body may enter into them to do any undecent thing . XI . That to the Administration of the Sacraments , and to serve in Chappel and Church aforesaid , there shall be Four and twenty Priests and Assistants , who shall serve weekly or monethly , as to the Infanta shall seem fit , and the Election of them shall belong to the Lady Infanta , and the Catholick King. Provided , That they be none of the Vassals of the King of Great Britain , and if they be , his will and consent is to be first obtained . XII . That there be one Superior Minister or Bishop , with necessary Authority upon all occasions which shall happen belonging to Religion ; and for want of a Bishop , that his Vicar may have his Authority and Jurisdiction . XIII . That this Bishop or Superior Minister , may Correct and Chastise all Roman Catholicks who shall offend , and shall exercise upon them all Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical : And moreover also the Lady Infanta shall have power to put them out of her service , whensoever it shall seem expedient to her . XIV . That it may be lawful for the Lady Infanta and her Servants , to procure from Rome , Dispensations , Indulgences , Jubilees , and all Graces , as shall seem fit to their Religion , and Consciences , and to get and make use of any manner of Catholick Books whatsoever . XV. That the Servants and Family of the Lady Infanta , who shall come into England , shall take the Oath of Allegiance to the King of Great Britain : Provided , That there be no clause therein which shall be contrary to their Consciences , and the Roman Catholick Religion ; and if they happen to be Vassals to the King of Great Britain , they shall take the same Oath that the Spaniards do . XVI . That the Laws which are or shall be in England against Religion shall not take hold of the said Servants ; and onely the foresaid Superior Ecclesiastical Catholick may proceed against Ecclesiastical persons , as hath been accustomed by Catholicks : And if any Secular Judge shall apprehend any Ecclesiastical person for any offence , he shall forthwith cause him to be delivered to the aforesaid Superior Ecclesiastick , who shall proceed against him according to the Canon Law. XVII . That the Laws made against Catholicks in England , or in any other Kingdom of the King of Great Britain , shall not extend to the Children of this Marriage ; and though they be Catholicks , they shall not lose the right of Succession to the Kingdom and Dominions of Great Britain . XVIII . That the Nurses which shall give suck to the Children of the Lady Infanta , ( whither they be of the Kingdom of Great Britain , or of any other Nation whatsoever ) shall be chosen by the Lady Infanta , as she pleaseth , and shall be accounted of her Family , and enjoy the priviledges thereof . XIX . That the Bishop , Ecclesiastical and Religious persons of the Family of the Lady Infanta , shall wear the Vestment and Habit of their Dignity , Profession , and Religion , after the Custom of Rome . XX. For security that the said Matrimony be not dissolved for any cause whatsoever : The King and Prince are equally to pass the Word and Honor of a King ; and moreover , that they will perform whatsoever shall be propounded by the Catholick King for further confirmation , if it may be done decently and fitly . XXI . That the Sons and Daughters which shall be born of this Marriage , shall be brought up in the company of the most Excellent Infanta , at the least , until the age of Ten years , and shall freely enjoy the right of Successions to the Kingdoms as aforesaid . XXII . That whensoever any place of either Man-servant , or Maid-servant , which the Lady Infanta shall bring with her ( nominated by the Catholick King her Brother ) shall happen to be void , whether by death or by other cause or accident , all the said Servants of her Family are to be supplied by the Catholick King as aforesaid . XXIII . For security that whatsoever is capitulated , may be fulfilled , The King of Great Britain , and Prince Charls are to be bound by Oath ; and all the Kings Council shall confirm the said Treaty under their hands : Moreover the said King and Prince are to give their Faiths in the Word of a King , to endeavor , if possible , That whatsoever is capitulated , may be established by Parliament . XXIV . That conformable to this Treaty , all these things proposed , are to be allowed and approved of by the Pope , t●at he may give an Apostolical Benediction , and a Dispensation necessary to effect the Marriage . The Oath taken by the King and Prince , was as followeth . WE Ratifying and confirming the aforesaid Treaty , and all and every Capitulation contained , and specified in the same , do approve , applaud , confirm , and ratifie of our certain knowledge , all and every of these things in as much as they concern our Selves , our Heirs , or our Successors : And we promise by these presents in the word of a King , to kéep , fulfil , and observe the same ; and to cause them to be kept , fulfilled and observed inviolably , firmly , well and faithfully , effectually , Bona fide , without all exception , and contradiction . And we confirm the same with an Oath , upon the Holy Evangelists , in the presence of the Illustrious and Noble John de Mendoza , Charls de Colona , Ambassadors of the most Gratious Catholick ●ing , residing in our Court. In Testimony and Witness of all and every the premises , we have caused our Great Seal to be put to those Articles subscribed by our Hands there , in the presence of the most Reverend Father in Christ , George Archbishop of Canterbury , Primate of all England , and the Reverend Father in Christ , John Bishop of Lincoln , Lord Kéeper of the Great Seal of England , Lionel Cranfield , Cheif Treasurer of England , Henry Uiscount Mandevil , President of our Council , Edward Earl of Worcester , Kéeper of the Privy Seal , Lewis Duke of Richmond , and Lenox Lord Steward of our Houshold , James Marquess Hamilton , James Earl of Carlisle , Thomas Earl of Kelly , Oliver Uiscount Grandeson , &c. and George Calvert , Knight , one of our Cheif Secretaries of State , and all of our Privy Council . Given at our Palace of Westminster , &c. JACOBUS Rex . After this the King did swear to certain private Articles , in favor of Papists , and for the advancement of the Roman Religion . JAMES by the grace of God of Great Britain King , Defender of the Faith , &c. To all to whom this present-writing shall come , gréeting . Inasmuch as among many other things which are contained within the Treaty of Marriage betwéen our most dear Son Charls Prince of Wales , and the most renowned Lady Donna Maria Sister of the most renowned Prince and our welbeloved Brother Philip the Fourth King of Spain , It is agréed , That we by our Oath shall approve the Articles under-expressed to a word : 1. That particular Laws made against Roman Catholicks , under which other Vassals of our Realms are not comprehended , and to whose observation all generally are not obliged ; as likewise general Laws under which all are equally comprised , if so be they are such which are repugnant to the Romish religion , shall not at any time hereafter by any means or chance whatsoever directly or indirectly be commanded to be put in execution against the said Roman Catholicks ; and we wil cause that our Council shall take the same Oath as far as it pertains to them , and belongs to the execution which by the hands of them & their Ministers is to be exercised . 2. That no other Laws shall hereafter be made anew against the said Roman Catholicks , but that there shall be a perpetual Toleration of the Roman Catholick Religion within private houses throughout all our Realms and Dominions , which we will have to be understood as well of our Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland as in England ; which shall be granted to them in manner and form as is capitulated , decreed & granted in the Article of the Treaty concerning the Marriage . 3. That neither by us , nor by any other interposed person whatsoever , directly or indirectly , privately or publikely , will we treat ( or attempt ) any thing with the most renowned Lady Infanta Donna Maria , which shall be repugnant to the Romish Catholick religion ; Neither will we by any means perswade her that she should ever renounce or relinquish the same in substance or form , or that she should do any thing repugnant or contrary to those things which are contained in the Treaty of Matrimony . 4. That We and the Prince of Wales will interpose our authority , and will do as much as in us shall lie , that the Parliament shall approve , confirm and ratifie all and singular Articles in favor of the Roman Catholicks , capitulated between the most renowned Kings by reason of this Marriage ; And that the said Parliament shall revoke and abrogate particular Laws made against the said Roman Catholicks , to whose observance also the rest of our Subjects and Vassals are not obliged ; as likewise the general Laws under which all are equally comprehended , to wit as to the Roman Catholicks , if they be such as is aforesaid , which are repugnant to the Roman Catholick Religion ; And that hereafter we will not consent that the said Parliament should ever at any time enact or write any other new Laws against Roman Catholicks . MOreover I Charls Prince of Wales engage my self ( and promise that the most Illustrious King of Great Britain , my most honored Lord and Father , shall do the same both by word and writing ) That all those things which are contained in the foregoing Articles , and concern as well the suspension as the abrogation of all Laws made against the Roman Catholicks , shall within thrée years infallibly take effect , and sooner if it be possible , which we will have to lie upon our Conscience and Royal honor . That I will intercede with the most illustrious King of G. Britain my father , that the ten years of the education of the children which shall be born of this marriage , with the most illustrious Lady Infanta their mother , accorded in the 23 Art. ( which term the Pope of Rome desires to have prorogued to twelve years ) may be lengthened to the said term ▪ And I promise fréely and of my own accord , and swear , That if it so happen that the entire power of disposing of this matter be d●volved to me , I will also grant and approve the said term . Furthermore I Prince of Wales oblige my self upon my faith to the Catholick King , That as often as the most illustrious Lady Infanta shall require that I should give ear to Divines or others whom her Highness shall be pleased to employ in matter of the Roman Catholick religion , I will hearken to them willingly without all difficulty , and laying aside all excuse . And for further caution in point of the frée exercise of the Catholick religion , and the suspension of the Law above-named , I Charls Prince of Wales promise and take upon me in the word of a King , that the things above promised and treated concerning those matters , shall take effect and be put in execution as well in the Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland , as of England . The Privy-Councellors Oath was this : I A.B. do swear , That I will truly and fully observe , as much as belongeth to me , all and every of the Articles which are contained in the Treaty of Marriage betwéen the most gracious Charls Prince of Wales , and the most gracious Lady Donna Maria , Infanta of Spain . Likewise I swear , that I will neither commit to execution , nor cause to be executed either by my self , or by any inferior Officer serving me , any Laws made against any Roman Catholick whatsoever , nor will execute any punishment inflicted by any of those Laws , but in all things which belong to me will faithfully observe his Majesties word given in that behalf . But in the taking of the solemn Publick Oath , it is said there arose a difficulty between the King and the Spanish Ambassadors concerning the Popes title , Most holy ; which the King refused to pronounce openly in the Chappel at Whitehall , alleadging that it was repugnant to his Religion , and might be an impeachment to his honor : But the Ambassadors would proceed no further , till the King had yielded to give him that Title . There was another rub , which the King soon removed . The Ambassadors had heard , that in the Kings Chappel when they should come to see the swearing of the Articles , they should be present at such Prayers and Singing as were used in the Protestant Church ; whereunto they declared that they could not yield , since the end of their coming thither was to maintain and warrant the Catholick , Apostolical , and Roman Church . Whereupon the King commanded , that nothing should then be sung , but what was chanted when the Constable of Castile did swear the Peace between the two Crowns , which was a Hymn of Joy in praise of Peace . At that time England had swarms of Priests and Jesuites , who were busie in drawing the people from the Protestant religion : And a titular Bishop of Calcedon privately came to London , to exercise Episcopal jurisdiction over the Catholicks of this Kingdom . 'T is said that King Iames had now so much confidence of the Match , as to say openly in the Court , That now all the Devils in hell could not break it . In Spain the Infanta was stiled the Princess of England , and was kept no longer in her Virgin-retirements . In England a Chappel was building for her at S. James , and Don Carlos de Colona laid the first stone : Her Picture was every-where to be seen , and a Fleet was prepared for her passage : And the greatest Enemies to this Alliance submitted to the Kings will. But in all this Capitulation between the two Crowns , hitherto the Restitution of the Palatinate was laid aside ; the King conceiving that the Consummation of the Match would overrule and settle that affair to his entire satisfaction . In the height of the Spanish Treaty , there was a notable Letter writ from Mr. Alured to the Duke , perswading him not only to endeavor the breaking off the Match with Spain , but also the preventing of any Match with a Princess of a different Religion . THe Parable in the Gospel ( said he ) tells of a great King that married his Son , and bade many thereunto ; yea , upon the excusal of some , and re●usal of others , all of whatsoever condition , as well out of the high-ways ( as the high-places ) were called and invited . As every true Christian hath an interest in the Marriage of that Kings Son of Heaven , so every good Subject , as well as every great Subject , hath an interest in the Marriage and welfare of the Kings Son here on Earth . Which occasions so many ( and me the meanest of those many ) to wish that it may bring with it glory to Him on high , good will and peace to those on earth . Which is much doubted cannot be from Spain , since the motioning of that Match makes a general fear , that it can neither be safe for the Kings person , nor good for his Church and Commonwealth , because that thereby there may be an inlet to the Romish Locusts , who like the Cankerworm may in an instant smite our Gourd , under whose shadow we sit safe . To address this poor discourse to your Lordships more particular : Kings have almost ever used to have their Favorites : Alexander had long since his Ephestion , and Henry the Third of France of late his Espernon , and Philip of Spain had since his Lermas . Yea , the best Princes have not wanted them : For after the reckoning of David's great Officers , Hushai the Archyte is called the Kings Friend , and Ira the Iarite is set down to have been Chief about David . Which stands to Reason , and agrees with Nature : For every private man is left to affect as he likes ; neither can Affection be forced . Now to disallow or confine that in a King , which is left at liberty in the meanest Subject , were preposterous and injurious : For though they command Nations as they are Kings , yet they are subject to their Passions as they are men . And if I may alleadge it without misinterpretation of others , as I am free from ill meaning my self , Who knows but Christ , the rather to shew himself a Natural man , expressed so much ●he more his Passion in his often weeping , and his Affection to divers particulars , but especially to S. John , if I may not say his Favorite , certainly the Disciple whom Iesus loved more then any of the rest . It is Gods blessing , and your happiness , if you account it so , to be the Kings Favorite . As Peter therefore not presuming to ask Christ who it was he spake of , beckoned to the Disciple whom Iesus loved , on whose breast he leaned , to ask for him ; so since most men neither may , or ought to be so bold to ask or advise the King in this business so much spoken of , yet they point at you , who the higher you are in the Kings favor , the more you are in the Peoples eye and observation , and they expect you will not be wanting in the duty of a Subject , a Councellor , and a Favorite . We do not read of any servant almost better respected of his Lord and Master , then Eliezar of Damascus , whom Abraham had meant , had he died childless , to have made his heir ; and we read not of any service he did Abraham more , at least greater , then in choice of a Wife for his son Isaac . Among the Servants of our Patriarch , the Defender of our Faith , we observe none better respected then your self ; For the King hath manifested , he loves not your person only , but takes care for your soul , and labors to make you as good as great , and as happy in another world , as high in this : Yet we know not wherein you can do him better service , then with Eliezar to help to choose a Rebeccah for our hopeful Prince . We have not heard ( said he ) of any Protestant King that ever married with a contrary Religion , save the last Henry of Navar with the last Margaret of France : which Marriage so unfortunate to the parties ( having never Issue ) and being afterwards divorced , was also so fatal to our Religion , that there was more Blood spilt at those Nuptials , then Wine spent : For while the Protestants dreamed of the glory and security they should have by the Match , they were most miserably massacred . And who doubts but what the French Papists committed in their own Country upon that colour and occasion , the Spanish Papists would be glad to see done in this Kingdom upon the like ? For without breach of charity we may doubt of their sincere meaning , though there be a Treaty of a Match : since in Eighty Eight , even while there was a Treaty of Peace , their Armado came upon us . Again , we shall find it was forbidden in the best people in the world , to marry with a differing Religion . The injunction , the reason , and the effect are laid down in Deuteronomy to the Jews . And if we descend to our own Books and Chronicles , we shall find that God hath crossed ( if not cursed ) our alliance and association particularly with the Spanish Nation ; the position of that Country , and the disposition of that People being as it were so malignant and ill-agreeing with us . The Prince of the greatest performance that ever this Kingdom or Christendom had , was the Black Prince : Yet our Chronicle records , that going into Spain to settle Don Pedro in that Kingdom , besides the monstrous ingratitude and peafidiousness of the Spaniard , who failed in the performance of those Conditions he had promised , which caused the miserable Revolt in France to the loss of our inheritance , the Prince was so poisoned in that Country , that he never had his health after . Moreover he beseeched his Lordship to observe , that all the Marriages which the Heirs and Princes of this Crown have made in England for these last six-score years , except the several second Matches of Henry the Eight , have been onely and no-where else but with Spain ; which how little God hath blest , the success shews . Prince Arthur married the Spanish Kings daughter : We know God took him away suddenly within a very small time , and without any issue . In a Politick respect , we would yet make a second Match ; so Prince Henry ( afterwards King ) married the same daughter : But doubtless God was less pleased with that Match , which was less lawful ; and therefore God took away all the male-children of it , and left only a daughter , in whose short Reign was shed more blood for the true Religion in six years , then for the false in these succeeding sixty years . We made then a third Adventure and Marriage with Spain , Queen Mary with King Philip : which was so discontenting to the People , that it caused Wyats Rebellion ; so discomfortable to the Queen , that it brake her heart , being left and neglected of her Husband ; and so dishonorable and prejudicial to the Kingdom , that merely for the Spaniards sake , we having no difference at all with France , we lost Calis in six days , which had been above two hundred years in our possession . He added lastly , Though I have not so much judgment , nor so little wit as to presume to advise where to match ; yet I assume so much , as to think , a Match at home cannot be held any ways inconvenient . We find the first and the last of our Kings that ever matched with their Subjects , were Ed. 4. and Hen. 8. From which two Matches , God ( as it were to shew , the less we rely upon others abroad , the more he will help us himself at home ) gave two daughters , two Elizabeths , two such Queens , then which there were never two more blessed Instruments of Gods glory and this Kingdoms good , by establishing Peace in the Land , and Religion in the Church , until his Majesties happy coming who brought both with him . The French were very jealous of the Conjunction between Spain and England , and thought it the safest way to make peace at home , and imploy their strength to bound the Incroachments of Spain and the House of Austria : By which means a bitter Persecution ceased in that Kingdom ; The Protestants of France were permitted to call home their banished Ministers , to build their ruined Temples , and to enjoy their liberty in Religion . This benefit did the Kings closing with Spain procure to a people almost ruined . But after all the Kings concessions , the Spaniards contrived new delays , and proposed harder terms . The Pope had obliged the Catholick King to see the Conditions performed , and to protract the Marriage , till matters in England were in perfect execution . Whereupon the Divines advise that King , that the Promises of Marriage be made presently , but the Consummation thereof and the delivering of the Infanta be deferred till May the year following . And the death of Pope Gregory did strengthen this contrivance : For the Spanish Ministers pretended , that in regard there was no Contract , but a Treaty only on foot , the Dispensation which lay in the Nuncio's hands was by the Popes death suspended , and a Ratification from the new Pope was requisite before any further progress could be made . Cardinal Barberine was chosen Successor to Gregory the Fifteenth , and took the name of Urban the Eight . Soon after his election , he wrote these ensuing Letters , the one to King Iames , the other to Prince Charls . Serenissimo IACOBO Magnae Britanniae Regi Illustri , URBANUS P. ● . VIII . SErenissime Rex , salutem & lumen Divinae gratiae . Scotiae regnum quod inclytos terris Reges , sanctissimosque coelo cives peperit , cum ad Cardinalatus nostri patrocinium pertinuerit , laetitiae simul ac moeroris uberem nobis materiam afferebat . Exultabamus gaudio , cogitantes in ea Regione , quam Romanorum arma expugnare omnino non potuerunt , Romanae Ecclesiae fidem feliciter triumphasse , Scotumque Regem nullum hactenus extitisse , qui Pontificiae authoritatis hostis obierit . At enim vertebatur in luctum cythara nostra , cum ad praesentium temporum miserias , oculos lachrymis manantes converteremus : Videmini enim , laborante discordiarum patre , obliti esse eum qui nutrivit vos , & contristati nutricem vestram Hierusalem . Quare Apostolica sedes , quae populos istos jampridem Christo genuit , moerore conficitur , dum tam praecla●am haereditatem verti videt ad extraneos , damnique sui magnitudinem Britannorum Regum laudibus istarumque Provinciarum gloria metitur . Id vero praeter caetera dolendum orbi Christiano videtur , Jacobum regem Catholicorum regum prolem , & sanctissimae Parentis filium , à Pontifice Maximo atque à Majoribus suis in Religionis cultu dissentire . Si enim sublime istud ingenium , quod literarum studiis & prudentiae artibus Rex celeberrimus excoluisti , affulgenti Patri luminum assentiretur , facilè conjicit Christiana Respublica quanto publicae concordiae bono factum esset , ut Nationes istas Insulasque , aut montium claustris , aut Oceani gurgitibus dissitas , Scoticus rex imperio conjungeres . Videtur enim Majestas tua ob eam rem facta esse tot Provinciarum domina , ut ab eo , cui parent , facilius celeriusque Regna ista medelam ac salutem acciperent . Quare assiduis precibus jam tum eum venerabamur , qui dat salutem Regibus , ut to Divinae clementiae beneficia , quibus in conspectu Potentium admirabilis es , ad Britanniae incolumitatem & Ecclesiae gaudium conferret . Affulsit autem nobis non ita pridem beata spes oriens ex alto , cum te Austriacae affinitatis cupidum cognovimus , ex Catholica matre progigni exoptantem eos , qui tuam haereditatem adire , populosque istos ditione tenere debent . Proin vix dici potest , quod nobis solatium obtulit sanctissimae recordationis Pontifex Gregorius XV. Praedecessor noster , dum nos in eorum Cardinalium coetum ascivit quos Anglicani matrimonii causam cognoscere voluit . Enituit in nobis tantum negotium disserentibus singularis quaedam propensio in Majestatem tuam , cujus cum faveremus laudibus , felicitati etiam consultum cupiebamus . Nunc autem cum per Apostolici senatus suffragia ad hanc stationem pervenimus , ubi pro omnibus terrarum regibus excubandum est , non satis explicare possumus quanta nobis cura & desiderium sit Magnae Britanniae , ac tanti Regis dignitas . Divinitus vero accidisse videtur , ut primae literae quae nobis in B. Petri sede regnantibus redderentur , eae fuerint quas Praedecessori nostro Nobilissimus Carolus Walliae Princeps scripserat , testes suae in Romanos Pontifices voluntatis . Nunc autem cum venerabile illud Conjugium , benedicente Domino , perfici cupiamus , alloqui te decrevimus , nullis Majestatis tuae literis expectatis . Charitas enim Pontificii Imperii decus est ; & quamvis in sede hac potentissimorum regum obsequiis culti commoremur , magnificum tamen nobis existimamus , suadente charitate , ad humiles etiam preces descendere , dum animas Christo lucremur : Primum ergo credere omnino te volumus nullum esse in orbe Christiano Principem , à quo plura expectare possis paternae benevolentiae documenta , quàm à Pontifice Maximo , qui te desideratissimum filium Apostolicae charitatis brachiis complecti cupio . Scimus quibus te literis nuper ad tantum decus adipiscendum excitavit Gregorius XV. Cum in ejus locum venerimus , ejus in te propensionem non imitabimur solum , sed etiam superabimus . Speramus enim Nuntios è Britannia propediem allatum iri , qui Majestatem tuam rei Catholicae favere testentur , Catholicosque isthic commorantes , quos Pater misericordiarum asseruit in libertatem ●iliorum Dei , poenarum formidine liberatos , Regali tandem patrocinio perfrui . Remunerabitur ille qui dives est in misericordia , ejusdmodi consilium , illustri aliqua felicitate : Tum nomini Majestatis tuae plaudent regna terrarum , & militabunt acies coelestis exercitus : Frendant licet dentibus suis peccatores , minetur seditione potens impietas , sperat Europa se visuram Jacobum Regem in Romana ecclesia triumphantem , & Majorum suorum exempla novis pietatis operibus augentem . Non diffidimus adesse jam tempus Divini beneplaciti , quo illiqui Britannicae religionis laudes monumentis consignant , non semper alterius seculi facta loquentur , sed praesentis etiam Principatus decora consequentibus aetatibus proponere poterunt ad imitandum . Majores illi tui te vocant , qui tibi tantae claritudinis & potentiae haereditatem reliquerunt , qui coelestis regni fores Pontificiis clavibus generi humano patefieri crediderunt . Certè fieri non potest , ut Majestas tua tot saeculorum fidem , & Regum de te praeclarè meritorum , judicium aut contemnere audeat , aut condemnare . Nonne vides sententia Majestatis tuae iis omnino coelum eripi , qui tibi Regnum reliquerunt , dum eos in Religionis cultu aberrasse contendis ? Ita fieret , ut quos universa Ecclesia cives coeli & cohaeredes Christi in aeterna patria dominari credit , tu exipsorum sanguine prognatus tuo suffragio è coelo detraheres , atque in errorum abyssum , & poenarum carcerem detruderes . Non sentis tanti cogitatione facinoris ingrati animi tui viscera perhorrescere ? Nonne ejusmodi consiliis Regalis ingenii indoles reclamitat ? quam tamen tot Europae Nationes , dum ab Apostolica sede dissentit , reprehendere coguntur . Alliciat oculos tuos tantae gloriae splendor , quae tibi è coelo caput ostentat , & manum porrigit , in Sanctuarium Dei Britannos Reges per te reductura , comitantibus Angelis , hominibusque plaudentibus . Jacebat olim in orbe terrarum deformata aerumnis Christiana religio tyrannorum minas expavescens . Eam vero non solum è latibulis eduxit , sed ad imperium etiam vocavit Imperator ille , quem Magnae Britanniae debemus , Constantinus Magnus , Pontificiae authoritatis Propugnator , & Romanae fidei assertor : Hic aptum Majestatis tuae Regalis imitationis exemplar , non Reges illi qui sunt transgressi dissipantes foedus sempiternum : In ejus gloriae Societatem nos ex hac terrarum specula te vocamus , exoptissime Fili. Impone praeteritis annis diem unum , grata totius posteritatis memoria celebrandum . Impone Mitram capiti tuo honoris aeterni , ut te rerum potiente dicere cum Sancto Apostolo possimus , Vidi in Britannia Coelum novum & Civitatem novam descendentem de coelo , & super muros ejus Angelorum custodiam . Id si continget , Pontificatus nostri tempora generi humano faelicia affulsisse arbitrabimur . Coeterum tibi Sollicitudinem hanc nostram adeo gratam fore existimamus , ut omnino speremus te his literis acceptis statim Catholicorum isthic degentium commoda aucturum . Quod si praestiteris , & nos tibi mirum in modum devinxeris , & Majestati tuae tanti beneficii debitorem delegabimus ipsum Regem Regum ; qui dum Regalem istam Domum illustri aliqua faelicitate sospitabit , Romanae Ecclesiae votis annuet , & Sacrorum Antistitum gaudio consulet . Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris , die XV Oct. MDCXXIII . Pontificatus 1o. To the most Illustrious Prince IAMES King of Great Britain . MOst serene King , We wish you health , and the light of Gods grace . When the Kingdom of Scotland which hath brought forth famous Kings to earth , and most holy Citizens to heaven , was under our protection whilst we were yet Cardinal , it afforded us plentiful matter of joy and sorrow . We were exceeding joyful when we considered , that the faith of the Roman Church hath happily triumphed in that Country which the Roman Armies could never conquer ; and that there was never yet King of Scotland , who died an Enemy to the Popes authority . But our harp was turned into mourning , when we cast our eyes flowing with tears upon the miseries of the present times ; For you seem ( while the Father of discords is active ) to have forgotten him who nourished you , and to have made sad your nurse Ierusalem . Wherefore the Apostles seat which brought forth that people to Christ , is pierced with sorrow , while it beholds so famous an inheritance to be given away to strangers , and measure the greatness of its loss by the praises of the British Kings , and the glory of those Dominions . But this above all ought most to be lamented by the Christian world , that King James , the offspring of Catholick Kings , and the Son of a most holy Mother , should dissent from the Pope of Rome , and from his own Ancestors in point of Religious worship . For if those eminent parts which you a most famous Prince have polished with Learning and Arts of Prudence , would assent to the Father of lights illuminating the Christian world , We easily apprehend how much it would conduce to the Publick peace , that being King of Scotland , you should join in one Kingdom those Nations and Islands divided either by the bars of the Mountains , or by the depths of the Ocean . For your Majesty seems for that very reason to be made Lord of so many Provinces , that they might more easily and quickly receive healing and salvation from him whom they obey . Wherefore we even then besought God by continual ●rayers , who gives salvation to Kings , that so many blessings by his grace conferred upon you , by which you are admirable in the sight of Potentates , might bring safety to Britain , and joy to the Church . A blessed hope from above not long ago shined upon us , when we understood that you were desirous of a Catholick alliance , and that the ●ssue which should succeed in the inheritance and government of those Nations might be begotten of a Catholick mother . We can scarcely express how much joy Gregory the Fifteenth of blessed memory , our Predecessor , brought us , when he made us one of the Congregation of those Cardinals whom he would have to take cognisance of the English Match : While we discoursed of a matter of so great importance , we expressed a singular propension of mind towards your Majesty , and were both tender of your praises , and desirous to provide for your happiness . And now being by the consent of the Apostolical Senate advanced to this station , where we are to watch and ward for all earthly Monarchs , we cannot sufficiently declare what a care and desire we have of Great Britain , and the honor of so great a King. It seems to have been a special providence of God , that the first Letters which we received reigning in the seat of S. Peter , were those which the most noble Charls Prince of Wales wrote to our Predecessor , as a testimony of his affection to the Popes of Rome . And since we now desire that this venerable Marriage should by the blessing of God be perfected , we resolved to write unto you , without expecting Letters first from you ; for Charity is the honor of the Papal Empire ; and although most powerful Kings do homage to us in this seat , yet we account it glorious ( charity so perswading ) to descend to humble prayers , so that we may gain souls to Christ. First therefore we desire you to perswade your self , that there is no Prince in the Christian world , from whom you can expect more evidence of fatherly affection then from the Pope , who desires to embrace you a most desired Son with the arms of Apostolical charity . We know with what a Letter Gregory the Fifteenth excited you to obtain so great a glory ; And since we have succeeded him , we will not only imitate his inclinations towards you , but will exceed them . We hope we shall shortly have news out of England , that your Majesty is favorable to the Catholick interest ; and that the Catholicks who live there , whom the Father of mercies hath vindicated into the liberty of the sons of God , being freed from the fear of punishment , enjoy your Royal protection . He who is rich in mercy , will reward such a purpose with some signal happiness : The Kingdoms of the Earth will applaud your Majesty , and the Host of Heaven will wage war for you : Though sinners gnash their teeth , and Impiety powerful to raise sedition threaten , yet Europe hopes she shall see King James triumphing in the Roman Church , and increasing the example of his Ancestors by new works of Piety . We do not distrust that the time of Gods good pleasure is now at hand , when they who recommend to History the praises of the British Religion , shall not always speak of the deeds of another Age , but may be able to propose the present Government as a pattern of imitation to the Ages following . Your Ancestors call upon you , who have left you so powerful and so famous an inheritance ; who believed that the gates of the kingdom of Heaven were opened to mankind with the Popes keyes . Certainly it cannot be , that your Majesty should dare either to contemn or condemn the belief of so many Ages , and the judgment of so many Kings , who have deserved well of you . Do you not see , that by your Majesties opinion they are deprived of Heaven , who left you a Kingdom , while you contend that they erred in the worship of their Religion ? By this means it would be , that whom the Universal Church believes to be Citizens of Heaven , and to reign as Coheirs with Christ in that everlasting Country , you who are descended of them should snatch them out of Heaven , and thrust them into the bottomless pit of Error , and the prison of hellish torments . Do you not perceive your bowels yearn at the thought of so ungrateful an offence ? Are not such deliberations repugnant to your Royal temper ? which nevertheless so many Nations of Europe are forced to reprehend , while it dissents from the Seat of the Apostles . Let the splendor of so great glory allure your eyes , which looks out of Heaven upon you , and reaches you out a hand ready to reduce by your means the Kingdom of Britain into the Sanctuary of God , with the conduct of Angels and acclamations of men . A long time ago , Christian religion lay all along in the world squalid and deformed with anguish , affrighted with the threats of Tyrants : But that Emperor whom we owe to Great Britain , Constantine the Great , the Defender of the Popes authority , and the Avoucher of the Roman Faith , did not only bring her out of her lurking places , but called her to an Empire . He is a fit pattern of imitation for your Majesty ; not those Kings who have transgressed and dissipated the Everlasting Covenant . We call you , O most wished for Son , from this Watch-Tower of the World , into the Society of his Glory : Adde one day to your past years , which all posterity may celebrate with a grateful memory . Put a Mitre of Eternal Glory upon your head , that in the time of your Reign , we may say with the Holy Apostle , I have seen a new Heaven in Britain , and a new City descending from Heaven , and a guard of Angels upon her Walls . If that should come to pass , we shall make reckoning , that our Reign hath been happy to mankinde . This our Sollicitude we believe will be so grateful unto you , That we verily hope upon the receipt of our Letter , you will forthwith increase the advantage of the Catholicks which live there : Which if you shall do , you will exceedingly oblige us , and we shall consign to you the King of Kings debtor of so great benefit , who so long as he shall preserve your Royal Family in eminent Happiness , shall second the wishes of the Roman Church , and bring ioy to the holy Prelates . Dated at Rome at St. Peters , sub annulo Piscatoris , 15 Octob. 1623. The first year of our Reign . Nobilissimo Viro Carolo Principi Walliae , Urbanus Papa Octavus . NObilissime Princeps , salutem & lumen Divinae gratiae . Primae literae , quae Nobis ad Apostolatus solium elatis redditae sunt , illae fuerunt quas ad Sanctissimae memoriae Gregorium Decimum-quintum Praedecessorem nostrum ex Hispania misisti . Manus ad coelum sustulimus , & Patri mise●icordiarum gratias egimus , cum in ipso nostri Regiminis exordio Pontificem Romanum eo Officii genere colere Britannus Princeps inciperet . Singulari nostri quadam animi propensione rei Anglicanae jamdiu favemus , quo factum est , ut in hoc Antistitum ▪ Conventu , & Nationum Patria , Scoti tui , dum Cardinalem ageremus , se in nostram potissimum Fidem ac clientelam contulerint . Patrocinium autem tam splendidae Provinciae suscipientes , identidem majorum tuorum res gestas , & Britannicarum Insularum landes contemplabamur . Eos antem quo illustriores orbi terrarum anteactae aetates ostentabant , eo ▪ nos impensius cupiebamus consimilibus Christianae pietatis triumphis haec tempora illic insigniri . Cum autem Magnae Britanniae Rex , Pater tuus , non minorem ex disciplinarum fama , quam ex potentiae vigloriam concupierit , optavimus semper , supra quam dicí potest , ei divinitus insignem aliquam offerri occasionem generis humani demerendi , & coelestis haereditatis adipiscendae . Nunc autem advenisse tempus credimus quo votis nostris frui liceat , cum ad tantum decus potentissimo parenti aditum patefacere in praesens videaris , Filius in maximarum rerum spem genitus . In ea enim sententia sumus ut arbitremur , tantum quo ●lagras , Catholici conjugii desiderium , quandam Dei te vocantis , & suaviter omnia disponentis , vocem esse . Nam opus Omnipotenti non est tonare semper voce magnitudinis suae , quia ipsa arcana consilia dirigentia mortales in viam salutis , verba sunt quibus aeterna sapientia loquitur , & jubentis Numinis mandata declarat . Quare omni semper studio elaboravimus , ut conjugium hoc honorabile , benedicente Domino , perficeretur . Hinc conjicere potes , non potuisse alium ad sacrum hoc rerum humanarum fastigium provehi , à quo plura sperate possis documenta benevolentiae & beneficentiae fructus . Te enim Principem Nobilissimum Pontificiae charitati commendant majores tui , Haereticae Impietatis domitores , & Romanae Hierarchiae non cultores modo , sed vindices . I● en●m cum dogmatum novorum portenta in ea Septentrionalis Oceani propugnacula irrumperent , impiorum conatus salutaribus armis compescuerunt , nec commutaverunt veritatem Dei in mendacium . Quod si , ut scribis , reipsa magis gloriaberis de avitae imitatione Religionis , quam de Regii sanguinis Haereditate , facilè prospicimus quantam ejusmodi verba , in libro viventium exaranda , Romanae Ecclesiae laetitiam , & Britannicis Regnis faelicitatem polliceantur . Haec à te beneficia desideratissime Fili , exigit atque expectat venerandum illud Regum Scotorum Concilium , quorum facta absque dubio condemnat qui ab illorum Religione desciscit . Hoc à te Catholici totius Europe Reges ●●agitant ; quomodo enim eorum concordia potest votum esse solicitudinis tuae , donec ab eis in maxima re , id est , in Sacrorum cultu dissentias ? Romana Ecclesia , quam Magistram veritatis Anglia tam diu coluit , cujus fidem tibi non invisam esse fateris , cupit tibi coelestis Regni fores quam primum patefacere , & te in Majorum tuorum possessionem reducere . Cogita te nunc in Hispania Regia spectaculum esse factum Deo & hominibus , semperque fore desiderium & curam Pontificatus nostri . Cave ne consilia eorum , qui terrenas rationes coelestibus anteferunt , obdurent cor tuum , nobilissime Princeps laetifica tandem Militiam Coelestis exercitus , in tuis castris demicaturam , ac faventibus Angelis , hominibusque plaudentibus , redi , Fili exoptatissime , ad Ecclesiae te cupientis amplexus , ut in Matrimonio tuo gestientes gaudio canere possimus , Dominus regnavit , & decorem indutus est . Omnino qui Catholicae Virginis nuptias concupiscis , Coelestem etiam illam sponsam tibi assumere debes , cujus forma se captum fuisse Solomon ille Regum sapientissimus gloriatur . Haec enim sapientia est , per quam Reges regnant , cujus dos est splendor gloriae , & Principatus sempiternus . Eam vero à terrarum contagione secretam , atque in sinu Dei recubantem , in Romanae Ecclesiae Sanctuario Majores tui quaesiverunt . Qui tibi has hortationes conscribimus , & benevolentiam Pontificiam testamur , cupimus perpetuis Historiarum Monumentis nomen tuum commendari ; atque in eos Principes referri , qui praeclare merentes in terra de Regno Coelesti , fiunt posteritati virtutis exemplar & votorum mensura . Oramus Patrem luminum , ut beata haec spes , qua nobis tanti Principis reditum , deducente Spiritu Sancto , pollicetur , quam primum ferat fructus suos , & Magnae Britanniae salutem , totique orbi Christiano pariat laetitiam . Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum sub annulo Piscatoris , Die 15 Octob. 1623. Pontificatus nostri Anno Primo . To the most Noble Prince Charles , Pope Vrban the Eight . MOst Noble Prince , we wish you health and the light of Gods Grace . The first Letters which were delivered to us after we were preferred to the Throne of the Apostleship , were those which you sent out of Spain to Gregory the Fifteenth of famous memory , our Predecessor . We listed up our hands to Heaven , and gave thanks to the Father of Mercies , when in the very entry of our Reign , a British Prince began to perform this kinde of obeissance to the Pope of Rome . We have been a long time favorable to England by a natural bent and inclination , whence it came to pass that your Scotchmen recommended themselves to our especial Trust and Patronage in this Assembly of Prelates , and Country of all Nations , while we were yet Cardinal . When we undertook the protection of so famous a Kingdom , we did often contemplate the Exploits of your Ancestors , and the Elogies of the British Islands ; and by how much former ages did represent them more glorious ●o the World , by so much did we more earnestly desire that these times might there be made remarkable with the like triumphs of Christian Pie●y : And seeing the King of Great Britain , your Father , loveth no less the glory of Learning , then that of Might and Power ; we have always heartily wished above what we are able to express , that God would be pleased to put into his hand some eminent occasion , whereby to oblige mankinde , and obtain an eternal Inheritance . And now we believe the time is come to enjoy our wishes , since you seem at present to open the way for so great a fame to your most Noble Father , a Son begotten unto the hope of the greatest concernments ; for we are of opinion , that your so vehement desire of a Catholick marriage , is a certain voice of God calling you , and disposing all things sweetly . For it is not necessary that the Omnipotent should always thunder with the voice of his greatness ; because secret counsels themselves , directing men into the way of Salvation , are words by which the Eternal Wisdom speaks and declares the command of a Deity . Wherefore we have ever endeavored to the utmost of our power , that this Honorable Marriage , by the blessing of God , might be finished . From hence you may perceive , that none could have been advanced to this heighth of humane Affairs , from whom you may expect more expressions of good will or fruits of bounty . For your Ancestors which tamed Heretical Impieties , and not onely revered , but vindicated the Roman Hierarchy , do recommend you a most Noble Prince to the Papal Charity : For when Monsters of new Opinions broke into the Bulwarks of the Northern Ocean , they bridled the endeavors of the wicked with wholesome arms , and did not change the truth of God into a lye . And if you , as you write , shall in good earnest glory more in the imitation of your Ancestors , then that you are descended of Kings , we easily foresee how great joy to the Church of Rome and how great felicity to the British Kingdoms these words do promise , which deserve to be written in the Book of Life . Such good turns , O most desired Son , the venerable Assembly of the Scotish Kings exacts and expects from you ; whose actions without doubt he condemns , who revolts from their Religion . The Catholick Kings of all Europe require this of you ; for how can their Concord be the Vow of your care , as long as you dissent from them in a matter of the greatest importance , that is , in the veneration of holy Rites ? The Roman Church which England reverenced long ago , as the Mistress of Truth , whose belief you confess you hate not , desires forthwith to open unto you the Gates of the Heavenly Kingdom , and to bring you back into the possession of your Ancestors . Think that now in Spain you are become a spectacle to God and Men , and that you shall always be the desire and care of our Reign . Take heed most Noble Prince , that the Counsels of those who prefer worldly interests before heavenly , do not obdure your heart . Make glad the Host of Heaven which will fight in your Camps ; and return , O most wished for Son , into the embraces of the Church which desires you with the applause and favor of Men and Angels ; that so rejoycing in your Marriage , we may sing with joy , The Lord hath reigned and put on comeliness . Certainly you who desire the Marriage of a Catholick Virgin , ought to espouse the heavenly Bride , with whose beauty Solomon the wisest of Kings , boasts himself to have been enamored . For this is the Wisdom by which Kings reign , whose Dowry is the splendor of Glory , and an eternal Principality , and your Ancestors sought her in the Sanctuary of the Roman Church , severed from the contagion of the World , and reposing in the Wisdom of God. We who write to you this Exhortation , and testifie our Papal Charity , desire to have your name renowned in the Histories of all Ages , and that you may be recorded amongst those Princes , who deserving well on Earth of the Kingdom of Heaven , are become the example of Vertue to posterity , and the measure of wishes . We beseech the Father of Lights , that this blessed hope by which he promiseth us the return of so great a Prince , by the conduct of the Holy Ghost , may forthwith fructifie and bring Salvation to Great Britain , and joy to all the Christian World. Dated at Rome at St. Peters sub annulo Piscatoris , die 15 Octob. 1623. in the First year of our Reign . Notwithstanding this great business of State began to look with an ill aspect , by the concurrence of various Passages tending to a Rupture of the Treaty . In England the Spanish Ambassadors demands grew high and peremptory ; yet the King to give them content , directed the Lord Keeper and other Commissioners to draw up a Pardon of all Offences past , with a Dispensation for those to come , to be granted to all Roman Catholicks obnoxious to any Laws against Recusants ; and then to issue forth two General Commands under the Great Seal of England : The one to all Judges and Justices of Peace ; and the other to all Bishops , Chancellors , and Commissaries , not to execute any Statute against them . The General Pardon was passed in as full and ample manner as themselves could desire , or pen it : But to that vast Prohibition to the Judges and Bishops , some stop was made by the Advice of the Lord Keeper , for these Reasons . First , Because the publishing of this General Indulgence at one push , might beget a General Discontent , if not a Mutiny ; but the instilling thereof into the peoples knowledge by little and little , by the favors done to particular Catholicks , might indeed loosen the Tongues of a few particular persons , who might hear of their Neighbors Pardon , and having vented their dislikes , would afterwards cool again ; and so his Majesty might with more conveniency by degrees inlarge his favors . Secondly , Because to forbid the Judges against their Oaths , and the Justices of Peace , who are likewise sworn to execute the Law of the Land , is a thing unpresidented in this Kingdom , and would be a harsh and bitter Pill to be digested without some preparative . The two Ambassadors with much ado consented , That the matter should rest till the end of Six Moneths , or the Infanta's arival ; yet they did it with a shew of discontent , as if the King performed nothing . The disaffection of these Ministers was supposed to be one rub in the way of this Alliance . And on the other side , some of the Princes followers in Spain , being zealous of the Protestant Religion , disliked the Match , and shewed their aversness to it . Sir Edmund Verney struck an English man , a Sorbon Doctor , a blow under the Ear , for visiting and laboring to pervert one of the Princes Pages , who was sick of a mortal Feaver . Divers derided the Popish Ceremonies , and Spanish Garb , and slighted the Country , and some committed irreverent actions in the Kings own Chappel . Hereupon they began to disgust the English , and to rail at Gondomar for informing the King and State , That the Prince might be made a Catholick . Moreover those many Irish that subsisted by Pensions from the Crown of Spain , did no good offices ; and the French and Venetian Ambassadors in that Court , were conceived not to be idle : But there were greater things then these . The Duke of Buckingham , the Princes Companion and Guardian , was much disrelished by the Court of Spain . His French garb , the height of his spirit , and his over-great familiarity with the Prince , were things opposite to the way , and temper of that grave , sober , and wary people . And the Council of Spain took exceptions , that he should come with such a superintendent power in that great affair , among so many grave Statesmen , to the prejudice of so able a Minister as the Earl of Bristol , who had laid the first stone in that building : Whereupon his power was called in question , and found imperfect , in regard it was not confirmed by the Council of England : Moreover , the Duke lay open to some affront , which inraged him sore against the Conde Olivares ; and things grew to that extremity between the Duke and that Kings Ministers , that they did not stick to say , That they would rather put the Infanta headlong into a Well , then into his hands . Nevertheless , in the Prince himself they observed an extraordinary well staid temper and grave comportment . In the present action , Buckingham and Bristol ran different ways with great animosity : Bristol had the advantage in Spain , yea , in the Court of England he had gained a great esteem and powerful party , and had wrought himself into the Kings opinion by his strenuous Negotiation and pleasing Services . As concerning the Dukes demeanor , the opinions in England were very different : By the people in general who loathed the Match , he was favored for his care of his King , Prince , and Country ; but by the Court he was much maligned and censured , as the occasion of those delays , by diverting and changing the ways wherein they began to treat : But the King himself was very reserved , either still loving the Duke , or over-awed by his intimacy and power with the Prince . For in all occurrences the Prince closed with him , and seemed to give him a large room in his heart . Now the Dukes friends at Court pressed him to return speedily , and by all means with the Prince , and assured him , That the longer he stayed there , the stronger he made his enemies , and himself the weaker . And Buckingham well observed , that he had little obligation to Spain , and had reason to seek some surer props to uphold his greatness . And to draw him further off , the Secretary of the Prince Palatine coming to Madrid , under pretence of praying the Duke to be God-father to one of his Masters Children , labored to engage him against the Marriage : For the Palatine could not relie on the new overture of Marriage between his Eldest Son , and the Emperors yongest Daughter , it being a labyrinth out of which no Thred would guide him , were the Proposals already granted : For being an act of so many various parts , as the Pope , the Emperor , the King of Spain , the Duke of Bavaria , and divers others , it must needs be full of tedious intricacies . What Money or other conditions could be offered , that were like to satisfie the honor , humor , and huge expence of the Bavarian , for quitting his conquest to an irreconcileable Neighbor ? What Forein Alliance is able to perswade the Emperor , who hath changed all Tenures of Election into Succession , and shaken the antient Freedom of the German Princes , that he should revive his Enemies dead forces to the prejudice of all that he enjoys , or aspires unto ? Would the Pope be won to suffer Heidelburgh , which he accounted the most dangerous Nest of Hereticks after Geneva , to return to her former strength ? Besides the Education of the Palsgraves Son in the Emperors Court , and the Sequestration of his Country , during his Sons Nonage , would be required as necessary to that Conjunction . By this time the King must needs be full of jealousies , and the Princes patience well nigh spe●t by the Spaniards intricate proceedings ; for the Divines insisted stifly , That the Consummation of the Marriage , and the delivering of the Infanta , should be deferred to the next year ; which seemed a rigorous Proposal . Howbeit , that King promised to abate the rigor , and engaged himself to accomplish the Marriage at Christmas following , i● the Prince would continue there so long . But the resolution touching the delivering of the Infanta , was unalterable . The English Papists apprehending that a Rupture was like to follow , were much perplexed : A great Stickler , Sir Toby Matthews by name , did press his Catholick Majesty to give the Prince some foot of ground , upon which he might be able to stand with honor , in complying with that extraordinary affection which he beareth to the Infanta . Moreover he protested to him , That if the Catholicks of these Dominions should grow liable to persecution or affliction by the occasion of this breach , through the disgust of the King and his Council , or through the power which the Puritans assembled in Parliament will infallibly have with him , that blood or misery may be partly required at their hands who have advised his Majesty not to accept those large Conditions which the King and Prince had condescended unto , and that more then Moral security which they had offered for the performance thereof . Now the Prince is thinking to leave the Court of Spain , and they say he wrote to his Father a Letter of high Despair , wherein was this passage , You must now Sir look upon my Sister and her Children , never thinking more of me , and forgetting that ever you had such a Son : Whereupon King Iames sent swift dispatches to hasten his return . The King and Council of Spain seemed to be startled at these Resolutions , and his Majesty importuned the Prince , That having staid so many years for a wife , he would stay some few moneths longer : And if he pleased to give way that the Infanta's journey might be put off till the following Spring , he would give him a Blank to write his own Conditions touching the surrender of the Palatinate . But when his Highness urged Reasons for his departure , they took the matter in debate afresh , and consented upon Oath first given , as well by his Catholick Majesty , as by the Prince , to accomplish the Marriage , and to make the Espousals within ten days after the Ratification should come from Rome : To which purpose the Prince made a Procuration to the King of Spain , and Don Carlos his Brother , to make the Espousals in his Name , and left it in the Earl of Bristols hands . Nevertheless he left in the hand of one of the Dukes Creatures , a private Instrument , with Instructions to be delivered to the Earl of Bristol , to stay the delivery of the Proxies , till further direction from him , pretending , That the Infanta might retire into a Cloister , and defraud him of a Wife . But these Instructions were to be concealed from the Earl till the Ratification came from Rome . The Duke not regarding a Ceremonious Farewel at Court , departed hastily a little before the Prince , pretending to prepare the English Navy that lay at the Port of St. Andrew for the Princes transportation . Olivares and he had but a harsh parting ; for he told Olivares , That he was obliged to the King , Queen , and Infanta , in an eternal tye of gratitude ; and that he would be an everlasting Servant to them , and endeavor to do the best Offices for concluding the Match , and strengthning the Amity between the Crowns : But as for himself , he had so far disobliged him , that he could not without flattery make the least profession of friendship to him . The Conde replied short , That he accepted of what he had spoken . The Duke departing with so little satisfaction , the Spaniards concluded , that he would endeavor by all means possible to hinder the Marriage . But the Prince for his part had gained an universal love , and was reported by all , to be a truly Noble , discreet , and well-deserving Prince ; his grave comportment suited with the very genius of that Nation , and he carried it from the first to the last with the greatest affability , gravity , and constancy ; and at his farewel , with unparallel'd bounty ; and he left behinde him Gems of inestimable value for the Infanta and several Grandees . His departure from Madrid , being the Twelfth of September , was very solemn , the Queen and the Infanta were prepared in great magnificence with a Train of Grandees , and Ladies , to receive his farewel : And among other passages , this one was taken to be an Argument of the Infanta's real love to the Prince , That she caused many divine duties to be performed for the safety of his return into England . The King brought him on his way to the Escurial , and there feasted him , and at the Minute of parting , declared the Obligation which the Prince had put upon him by putting himself into his hands , a thing not usual with Princes ; and he protested , That he earnestly desired a nearer Conjunction of Brotherly affection , for the more intire unity betwixt them . The Prince replying to him , magnified the high favors which he found during his abode in his Court and presence , which had begotten such an estimation of his worth , that he knew not how to value it ; but he would leave a Mediatrix to supply his own defects , if he would make him so happy as to continue him in the good opinion of her his most fair , and most dear Mistress . From thence he was attended with a Train of Spanish Courtiers to the English Navy , where he feasted the Dons aboard his own Ship ; and when he was bringing them back to shore , there arose a furious storm wherewith the Barge was so driven , that it could neither fetch the Land , nor make to the Ships again . The night came on , and the tempest and darkness meeting , made their condition desperate ; till at length espying a light from a Ship , near which the winds had driven them , they made towards it , and then with extream hazard were reimbarqued . It was observed , That the first words his Highness spake after he was embarqued , were , That it was a great weakness and folly in the Spaniard , after they had used him so ill , to grant him a free departure . The Prince arived at Portsmouth , October the Fifth , and no sooner was he landed , but it appeared , that he was the Kingdoms darling , the peoples hearts did burn to see him , and unanimously praised God without any Publick Edict of Thanksgiving . Publick Societies and private Families every where abounded in all expressions , both of Religious and Civil rejoycing . When he entred London , the Bonfires which the peoples universal joy had kindled , seemed to turn the City into one flame . Immediately after the Princes departure from the Court of Spain , a rumor was spread that the Ratification was come from Rome , and that it came plenary and absolute . By which means the Princes private Instructions were anticipated by the Earl of Bristol ; for the Iuncto pretended full Warrant to proceed , and summoned the Earl of Bristol to attend them , and earnestly pressed him , That the Articles might speedily be ingrossed and signed . Hereupon the party in whose hands the Prohibition left by the Prince , lay dormant , either conceiving the Ratification to be come indeed , or apprehending that it was the Princes meaning to prevent the sudden concluding of matters , delivered to Bristol that Letter of private Instructions , the very day that the Prince arived at St. Andero . In reading it , the Earl was troubled exceedingly , and said to the other , That it must for a time be concealed , lest the Spaniards coming to the knowledge of it , should give order to stay the Prince . It vexed Bristol , that his building of so many years should at once be pulled in sunder . He resolves to wave this private Order , and if the Ratification came , to deliver the Proxies , and to support himself by his Publick Warrant under the Great Seal of England . Now the Prince and Duke being jealous that Bristol would counter-work them , left Sir Walter Aston joyned in Commission with him , and acquainted Aston , that the Princes meaning was never to Match there , without the restitution of the Palatinate , and the conservation of his Honor in all respects intire . Immediately the Earl of Bristol sent dispatches into England , laboring to satisfie the King and Prince in all things touching the Marriage : And shewing , that he had exactly set down the Case , how a Woman betrothed , may before the consummation of Marriage , betake her self to a Religious life , and all the sorts of Security for the preventing of such a course ; and that the King of Spain , his Sister , and all his Ministers do offer all security that may stand with decency and honor , for the performance of the whole agreement . And though the point of portion were a tough and knotty peece , yet when by the original Papers and Consulto's of the last King , the Iuncto found it to be no less then Two Millions , they resolved to make it good ; notwithstanding they alleadged that this sum was four times as much as ever was given in Money with any Daughter of Spain . Moreover he did woo the Prince by argument , That as the King his Father , so himself had thought this to be the fittest Match in all the World : And though the Spaniards had committed many Errors , yet he had already passed them by , and overcome the main difficulties : That by his Journey he had satisfied himself of the Infanta's person , who for her birth and portion , was no where to be matched ; and for her vertue and setled affection to his Highnesses person , deserved him better then any Woman in the World : That the Match was sure , the Portion and Temporal Articles now setled , but the delay of the Desponsorios will grieve the Princess , and bring a cloud of distrust and jealousie upon the whole business . The personal distastes of Ministers indiscreet and passionate carriages should not hazard that which hath been brought to the present State with so much cost , and pains , and patience ; and which being well accomplished , will procure so much good to the Christian World , and contrariwise so much trouble and mischeif , if it should miscarry , and break to peeces . Now upon these Grounds and Motives he made intreaty , That with all speed a Post might be sent unto him , bringing Authority to deliver the Powers upon the arival of the Dispensation . But the Prince and Buckingham made haste to engage the King , and making a plausible Narration of their own proceedings , the Spaniards delays , and Bristols miscarriages , drew him to alter the whole state of the Treaty . Hereupon the King sends an express command to Bristol , to deliver his thanks to the King of Spain for the high entertainment , personal kindness , respect , and favor , received by his Son the Prince , who was returned so well satisfied , as that he was not able to magnifie it sufficiently . And further to let him know , That to make a firm and indissoluble union between their Families , Nations , and Crowns , and withal not to abandon his own Honor , nor at the same time to give joy to his only Son , and to give his onely Daughter her Portion in Tears , he had by the advice of that Kings Ambassadors entred into a Treaty for the Restitution of the Palatinate ; that he always understood and expected that upon the effecting of this Marriage , he should obtain the restoring of his Son-in-law , both to his Countrey and Dignity ; and that the Emperor , either by sinding out some great Title , or by increasing the number of the Electoral Stiles , might satisfie the Duke of Bavaria . And for these Reasons the King commanded Bristol instantly to procure from that King , a punctual Answer touching the course he resolves to take , for the restitution of the Palatinate , and Electorate , and what assurance shall be given for his contentment , if the Emperor or Duke of Bavaria should oppose any part of the expected restitution . Moreover , he gave direction , and signified his special desire , that the Espousals should be made in one of the Christmas Holidays , because that holy and joyful time would best become an action so notable and blessed . The Earl of Bristol , with the Concurrence of Sir Walter Aston , took boldness to demur upon these new Instructions ; and yet again to represent to his Majesty the state of these affairs , they inform him , that by deferring the Epousals till Christmas , the powers were made altogether useless and invalid , there being a Clause in the body of them , That they shall remain in force till Christmas , and no longer . And the suspending of the execution of the powers , till the validity of them be expired , is an effectual revoking of them : Besides , the pretexts of this delay are no new , but old matters , which were often under debate , but never insisted on to retard the main business . And it will be thought , that they should rather have hindered the Grant of these powers , then the execution of them being granted . Surely , a staggering in the former resolutions will be suspected , and the clearing thereof between Spain and England will cost much time . As concerning the Prince Palatine , it was the care of the Spanish Ministers , that that business might be well compounded before the Infanta's coming into England : For they say , that otherwise they might give a Daughter , and a War presently follow . Besides , the Instructions given under his Majesties hand , were indeed to insist upon the restoring of the Prince Palatine , yet not so to annex it to the Treaty , as thereby to hazard the Match : For he seemed to be confident , that the one would never grow to a conclusion , without a setled resolution to effect the other : And the Prince and Duke during their being in Spain , observed the same course . Moreover the Palatinate affairs have relation to many great Princes interessed therein , and cannot be ended but by a formal Treaty , which will require a great length of time ; and if the conclusion of the Match should depend thereon , the Prince may be long enough unmarried , for the advancement of their interest who desire he should so continue , or not match with Spain . The preparations for the Marriage go on chearfully , the Popes Dispensation is hourly expected , with an intention to demand the powers immediately , and upon what pretext shall they be detained ? Shall we alledge his Majesties pleasure , that the solemnity be performed in the Christmas Holidays ? But that is impossible , for the powers are then expired . Shall we urge the restoring of the Palatine ? This was not made a condition , but was treated as a business a part . The delay of the Desponsario's will put a scorn upon the Infanta , and upon the King of Spain , who hath called himself the Infanta's Desponsado . And this cannot stand with that exact and honorable dealing which his Majesty hath hitherto used . Now upon these Inducements , in the result and close of all , the Ambassador humbly advised the King to return to the former state of the Treaty , and to nominate a day for the delivery of the Proxies , and resolved somewhat to protract the time for the receiving of his Majesties further direction . Thus did the Earl of Bristol endeavor to restore the business ; and the better to bring it on , Sir Walter Aston labored to reconcile the Duke to Spain by this manner of Insinuation : He believed that his Grace was infinitely provoked to be an enemy to this Match , and might have many Reasons suggested , how much it concerned him to break it with all the force he hath ; yet he could not believe that the Error of one Man , can make him an enemy to that which carries in it so much content to the King and Prince , nor that his judgment can be led by these Arguments , which under colour of safety , would bring him into a dangerous labyrinth . For the most prosperous War hath misfortune enough to make the Author of it unhappy ; and how innocent soever his Grace might be , yet the occasions which have been given him , will make him liable to such an aspersion . But if the Match proceed , and take effect , he will have the honor thereof , and the Infanta being duly informed , must needs acknowledge him to be the person unto whom , in that behalf , she is most obliged . But these Motions incensed Buckingham : And now having the Prince linked to him , he could over-rule the King , and bear down all his Adversaries . The Prince and the Duke began to take a popular way , and to close with those of the Privy Council and the Nobility that were opposite to Spain , and best liked of by the Puritan party : They projected also the calling of a Parliament to consult the Nation , and to clear the Kings integrity , and to gain to themselves a great esteem in the hearts of the people . And some there were that suggested to the King , that the Dukes design was to prevent the Princes Marriage , not onely with Spain , but any where else , that his own greatness might still be absolute . For , say they , were it love to his Countrey that led him to a breach and War with Spain , there was as much reason for a breach of the Match and Peace , when the Parliament urged it , as now there is . And they said , That the approaching Parliament was to marry the Duke to the Commonwealth , that he might stand not onely by the King , but by the people and popular humor , which of late he hath courted earnestly ; and so they warned the King to have more special care of his own preservation . But the Earl of Bristol was straightly commanded to follow the new Instructions ; namely , before he deliver the Powers , or move to the Contract , to procure from the King of Spain , either by Publick Act , or by Answer , under his Hand and Seal , a direct Engagement for the Restitution of the Palatinate , and the Electoral Dignity ; by Mediation , or by the assistance of Arms , if Mediation fail , together with a limitation of the time , when the way of Mediation shall determine , and the assistance of Arms begin . And the King declared , That he had reason infinitely to think it requisite to deal plainly and clearly with his Brother of Spain , because the Berkstrot in the Palatinate , the prime flower of his Son-in-laws Revenue , was taken by the Arms of Spain , and put into the possession of a Spanish Garison , or under their command ; and the Countrey or Revenue thereof , was contrary to the Contract with the Infanta at Bruxels ; and upon an old pretence , freshly delivered into the hands of the Bishop of Mentz , being none of those to whom Interest or Mediation had been formerly used , or thought of ; who were onely the Emperor , the King of Spain , and the Duke of Bavaria . And concerning the Marriage Portion , he absolutely rejected both Jewels and yearly Revenue , as contrary to the first Agreement , and expected the Total sum in specie , at reasonable times of payment . As touching the Espousals , he commanded the Suspension of the Powers left , and sent the Powers renewed by the Prince , for a larger time , that no blame might light on him , or his Son , in case that King could not give satisfaction in so short a time , as that where in the former powers would become invalid . In the mean while he said he was ready to propound good ways to satisfie the Duke of Bavaria in point of Title and Honor , and to continue the Negotiation for Matching the Palatines Eldest Son with the Emperors Daughter . The Earl of Bristol had a difficult part to act in Spain , and in England the Duke set all his strength to crush him . The Surrender of the Palatinate to the Kings contentment was not probable , after it was ransacked and alienated , and as a common Booty shared in parcels to several Princes . Nevertheless as yet the King hoped by Treaty to compose the whole business , and to satisfie the several Interests . And having by his continued patience and industry reduced Matters to a Circle of lesser extent then the former generalities , tendered to the Palatine these terms of hope . In the first place , That he make a due submission to the Emperor under convenient Limitations , which shall first be granted in Conformity to that which is Noble , with Assurance requisite for the free and safe going and return of his Person and Train . And that this being done , a Present and full Restitution of all the Palatinate shall be made to the person of his Son , and that he himself shall be his Administrator during life ; and that after the death of the Duke of Bavaria , his Son shall be established in the Electoral Dignity . Moreover , if the Marriage between his eldest Son , and one of the Emperors Daughters should take effect , it would ensure the enjoyment of all according to the present Contract , and make way for the bettering of the Conditions to his own person . In Contemplation of which Mariage , the other party have approached a degree nearer , to wit , That the Electorate shall return to his own person after the death of the Duke of Bavaria . And as touching the many difficulties in the Treaty of this Mariage , to wit , The Education of his Son , he had devised a way for the satisfaction of parties , which was , That he should be brought up , neither at the Hague , nor in the Emperors Court , but with his own Son , the Prince of Wales , and in the presence of the Infanta of Spain , after her arival in England . Upon these Overtures the King adviseth his Son-in-law to have recourse to his own Wisdom , and after mature deliberation , to make a choice agreeable to the honor and safety of his estates . And he delivered his own opinion , That a ready entrance into the possession of his own estate , with a kinde of present liberty , and an assurance in time to recover more , was to be chosen rather then his present bare condition and hazardous expectation upon other uncertain means . Upon the tender of these Proposals , Letters of Consultation were sent to the King from his Son-in-law , and from Sir Dudley Carlton to the Duke of Buckingham ; who , for the greatness of his power , was to be courted and made a friend in all transactions . To the submission in the first place required , reply was made , That in natural order , the Restitution which was material and substantial , ought to precede the same , which was but a point of Ceremony , or at least , it is necessary that all things be resolved , and setled in such assurances as shall be held convenient , otherwise a submission might be yielded , and the Restitution never follow . Besides , if the Emperors intentions be sincere , and real , and without any aims to take advantage upon the Palsgraves person ( as the Emperor , Charls the Fifth , did upon the Landgrave of Hessen , under the subtile distinction of a syllable in the safe conduct ) the Submission might as well be made by a Deputy ; by which means he might be freed from those apprehensions , which the Executions at Prague , and other cruelties used by the Imperialists , might impress in his minde . Moreover , a Submission under the specified Condition of yielding the Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria , will prejudice his cause for ever : For the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh , who have always protested against the Translation , and the other Princes of Germany who have like-feeling , will disavow their own Protestations in regard of him who shall abandon his own pretensions ; and instead of favoring him , may be made his enemies . The experience of things may shew what issue is like to follow a consent to the like Conditions ; for the Emperor had manifestly abused him in two Overtures already . First , The Instrument signed for the Conditional Resignation of the Crown of Bohemia , in the year One thousand six hundred twenty and one , serued the Emperor to accelerate the Treaty then on foot with Bethlem Gaber . Secondly , The Ratification of the Suspension of Arms the last Summer , served to intimidate the Electors of Brandenburgh and Saxony , that they may not undertake any thing against the Emperor . For both the one , and the other , were for these very ends divulged by the Emperor before any thing was therein concluded : And so will the Emperor make his advantage of the present Proposition , both to hinder the Progress of Gaber , and to continue the intimidation of the Princes of Germany . Furthermore , in this Submission it were necessary to take care that his undue Proscription and Banishment , being to the prejudice of the Constitutions of the Empire , and held by the Electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh of no validity , may not be approved , and a mark of Infamy set upon the Palatine and his posterity . And lastly , shame and disgrace will be the end of this Submission , there being assurance of no better dealing then was used to the deposed House of Saxony by Charls the Fifth , an Emperor not worse then this ; the heir of which House , being one of the worthiest Princes in Germany , is now in hard conditions before the eyes of the exiled Palatine . Unto the second point , the exclusion of the Palsgraves person , and the setling upon his Son , it was thus replied , That Spain had always given hope , and the Earl of Bristol great assurance , even when the Marriage was not so far advanced as now it is : That in case of the Emperors refusal , they would assist his Majesty , and compel the Emperor to an intire Restitution . Besides , there is little ground of hope from these Treaties as they are managed , and wire-drawn by the House of Austria , from whom we have ever new Overtures in Winter , and new Ruptures in Summer : For the Emperor wanteth but two or three years leisure , which he will easily gain by a Treaty of Marriage to establish in Germany the Translation of the Electorate and Palatinate without any hope of Recovery : Therefore sufficient Assurances should ever precede the Treaties : For the present Season did offer a very fair opportunity of recovering the Estate and Dignity . The Palatines pretentions were not prejudiced by a long interposition of time , the memory of the undue proceedings in the Ban , and the Translation , and the seisure of his Inheritance are fresh in the mindes of the Princes , who by their own Interests are moved to a greater compassion . As for the hope of Restitution from the Match with Spain , there is little reason to put a difference between the Spaniards and the Imperialists , who have with joynt consent conspired the ruine of the Palatinate , with the same Forces , Counsels , and Designs : And whilest things have been some times upon terms , and always in talk of an Accommodation , the Electorate is given to the Duke of Bavaria , and avowed by a Congratulatory Message from the Arch-Dutchess ; the Upper Palatinate is setled in the Bavarians possession , and a Portion allowed the Duke of Newburgh for his contentment . A principal part of the Lower Palatinate is given to the Elector of Mentz , by the consent of those at Bruxels , and the rest is promised to be parcelled among other Princes . Now for the hopes of a surer way to regain an happy settlement , by the Concurrence of the King , his Allies and Confederates , and the whole Protestant party in Europe ; let these Matters be weighed in the Ballance of Common Judgment . The Electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh , and all the Princes save those of the Catholick League , have declared , That the Peace of Germany depends upon the restoring of the Palatine : Besides , the Levies which they made in the beginning of the last Summer , though by the unfortunate accident of Duke Christian of Brunswick , they were soon dismissed , do testifie the same affections still remaining in them , and the same Resolutions to embrace any good occasion for recovering the liberty of Germany . The number of those that have this conjoyned Interest , is great and mighty , yea , the greater part of the people , both Horse and Foot , which marched under the Catholick Banner , were of a contrary Religion and Affection , and more inclined to the ruine , then preservation of the Catholick League . All that is wanting is the concurrence and conduct of some great Prince that may support them against the House of Austria : The King of Denmark being a Prince full of circumspection , and being unwilling to enter into play alone , made answer to all instances , That as other Princes have their eyes on him , so he hath his eyes on the King of Great Britain . Wherefore , although for these two or three years past Affairs on this side have gone in a continual decadence , and a final ruine be now threatned , unless it be withstood by some Princely resolution , not of petty but of great Princes ; yet there is no such despondency in the good party , but sufficient vigor yet remaining not onely to subsist , but to rise , and flourish again . And one of those Kingdoms which are in his Majesties possession having wrought great effects in the affairs of Europe , even when counter-ballanced by the other two , doth demonstrate what may be done by the joynt forces of all three together , especially when the peoples affections are raised to the enterprise . Thus did the Palsgraves Counsels dissent from our Kings Proposals . And there were not wanting , both of the Kings Counsel at home , and of his Agents in Foreign parts , such as frequently warned him of the disappointment and dishonor that would follow those ways of Treating with implacable , though flattering Enemies ; and shewed him the sure and honorable way of reestablishing his Children in their Patrimony ; not by their Enemies curtesie , but by the united strength of the Protestant Arms in all parts of Christendom , of which party , the King might have made himself the Head and great Commander . In the languishing , and almost expiring Condition of the Spanish Treaty , the United Provinces in the Netherlands , appeared ready to embrace the opportunity of renewing the antient Union with England , in all mutual confidence , and strong assurance . And the King was moved to return to those old Confederates , the surest supports of his Crowns and Family : For it hapned that in latter times , a distrust and strangeness had grown betwixt them . Bernevelt and the Arminian Faction had drawn the States to new Alliances , and commonly procured Answers to be given to King Iames , and his Ministers , in a harsh and peremptory stile . In like manner the King did not care to own them fully , esteeming them an evil example for a Monarch to cherish . Nevertheless , he did them many good turns worthy of acknowledgment , and particularly in opposing the Faction of Arminius and Vorstius , and the rest of that sort , who caused great distractions in the Belgick Church and State : Nay , he was thought to have done more then requisite , in rendring the Cautionary Towns , and in conniving with too much patience at the insolencies and misdemeanors of their Mariners . But the Prince of Orange expressed good will to an intire friendship with England , and assured the English Resident at the Hague , That whensoever the King would be to those Provinces , as Queen Elizabeth was in her time , they would be the same to him , as they had been to Queen Elizabeth : But as yet they keep themselves reserved , because they suspect that the Introductions , and Tentatives to a Union with them , have been to no other end , but to indear the English Merchandize , and to inhaunce its price to the King of Spain : For they conclude , that Spain will never Match with England , but for hope , or fear ; hope of reducing those Provinces by the Match , or fear , if the Match proceed not , that the King will joyn with the Provinces in opposition to Spain ; and in either of these cases they hold the Match as made : As for themselves , they represent this assurance of a firm Conjunction ; for that instead of giving an ear to Overtures and Concessions , which from day to day were presented to them , they have put themselves to the Offensive , by preparing a strong Fleet , which is ready to set sail to the West-Indies , to the end they may at least interrupt the peaceable Annual return of the Gold and Silver of those parts , by which the House of Austria do continually advance their greatness . And this preparation , together with their Voyages into the East-Indies , will make them irreconcileable to Spain . These enterprises were commended to the King , as approved by all good men , to be a principal means to cast down the fearful power of Spain : Onely it was too vaste a design for that little Countrey ; but if the King were pleased thoroughly to close with them , their Affections and constant interest would so binde them to him , that he might absolutely dispose of them , and by their forces by Sea and Land , conjoyned with his own , be able to give the Law to Europe . And the present state of the Provinces might incite the King to this Conjunction . For the last Summer , if the Imperialists had joyned with the Spaniards , they had undoubtedly made an irruption into the borders of that State ; and they are like to break in this next year , except some notable Turn shall intervene ; and then our best Link for a Bond of Friendship is broken , and those Provinces of a strong Staff will become a broken Reed . Such R●presentations were made to the Court of England ; but the Counsels then prevailing were not propense to this Conjunction , and Interest , although we were then breaking with Spain , and the House of Austria . About the beginning of December , when the Ratification came from the new Pope , Bonfires were made throughout all Spain , and the great Ordnance thundred out reports of joy : And that King to satisfie his Oath made to the Prince of Wales , prepared for the Espousals , and a day was prefixed , and all things appointed for the Solemnity , according to the Magnificence of that Court. The Infanta's Family was setled , her Officers distinguished , and the beginning of March was the time for her journey into England . From the Princes departure , she had applied herself to the learning of the English Tongue . The English Ambassadors carried themselves like Subjects towards her , as being their Masters Wife , or Spouse . Many rich presents had she prepared for her future Lord and Husband . And the Earl of Bristol had provided many costly Liveries for his Attendants in the Solemnity of the Espousals . But all things were instantly discomposed by the opening of the new commands from England to the Earl , which were to procure an intire surrender of the Palatinate and Electorate , before he move one step further towards the Contract . In the Court of Spain there was great resentment of these new delays , and they discerned a breach towards : The Infanta gave over the study of English , and was no more stiled the Princess of England ; but to the Demands from England , the King of Spain replied , That if a Treaty be set on foot , and the Emperor , and Duke of Bavaria , will not come to Terms of Conformity , he will joyn Arms with England , to recover the Palatinate : The Spaniards confessing the Demand just , but unseasonable , professed , the Desponsorio's past , the Infanta on her knees should have been a Suiter to the King to restore the Palatinate , making it thereby her act , and drawing the Obligation wholly to her . These offers did not satisfie , Bristol was called home , and all was dashed to peeces . It was an amazement to the Christian World , that when the Match was brought to such perfection , the motion should be rejected by that side which pursued it with so much eagerness , and patience , as being the master-peece of all their designs . In the latter part of this long tedious act , the Spaniard appeared real , but in the former part their reality was questionable : For our parts , the business shall remain as we finde it , a dark Riddle and Mystery . The Earl of Bristol having demurred upon the new Instructions , to prevent ( as he desired ) the embroiling of the whole Treaty , was to make his Apology to the King his Master , and for himself he thus pleaded , That he understood the Infanta was his yong Masters wife , or Spouse at least , and that both the King and Prince infinitely desired the Match . The powers were drawn by the intervention of both parties , the King of Spain ▪ accepting them , and the Prince legally delivering them , and they were deposited with him in trust , as the Ambassador of the King of Great Britain , with a Publick Declaration , how and when he was to deliver them ; and this was drawn into an Instrument by the Secretary of State : According to this state of things , he appeals to any Censure which were the more prudent , honest , and dutiful way ; whether to put a disgrace upon so great and worthy a Princess , who was to be his Masters Wife , and a scorn upon the King of Spain , by nominating a day for the Marriage , when the powers would be expired , and not at all to insist upon making good the Publick Trust reposed in him by two so great Monarchs , to the hazard and overthrow of so great and important a business ; or contrariwise to represent to his Majesty the state of things in Truth and Sincerity , with his humble opinion of the wrong and disgrace to the Infanta , by deferring the Marriage , and of the indignity offered to the King of Spain , and the danger of the whole Treaty , by the detention of the Powers without the pretence of some emergent cause : And after all this , when his Majesty had declared his pleasure , there was ready an exact obedience . Wherefore in the confidence of his own innocencie , he professeth as great a confidence of his Majesties accustomed grace and favor . Bristol being called home , acquainted the Conde Olivares with the Letters of Revocation , and desired withall to have a day assigned him to take his leave of the King. Olivares answered , That he had much to say to him by his Majesties order ; and spake to this effect in the presence of Sir Walter Aston , and the Conde Gondomar : That the King had received large advertisements with what malice and rancor his Enemies did prosecute him , and how powerful they are in England ; And in regard that the Envy which was drawn upon him proceeded from his earnest endeavors to accomplish the Match , and that the particular fault laid to his charge was in point of delivering the Proxies deposited in his hands , that his Majesty takes it to heart , and judgeth himself touched in his honor , if for this cause his Enemies shall prevail so far as to work his ruine or disgrace ; And therefore he will write to the King of Great Britain , and send a particular Ambassador , if it be needful , to mediate for him ; for that he had served his Master with that exactness and fidelity , which deserved not only to be assisted by all good offices , but to be rewarded and published : And his Majesty , for the example of his own Subjects , and for the encouragement of all such as should serve their Princes with the like loyalty , had sent him a Blank signed by himself , wherein he might set down his own Conditions both in point of Title and Fortune . And this he did in no wise to oblige another Princes Subject , but only to give encouragement to honest and faithful proceedings : And therefore he would not make these offers in private , but open and justifiable to all the world ; and would accompany all that he should do with a Declaration or Patent , That what he had done for the Earl of Bristol , was for the fidelity wherewith he had served his own Master . Hereunto the Earl made answer , That he was sorry and much afflicted to hear such language ; And desired that they should understand , that neither this King nor Spain were beholding to him ; For whatsoever he had done , he thought the same to be fittest for his Masters service and his own honor , having no relation to Spain ; and that he served a Master , from whom he was assured both of justice and due reward ; And nothing doubted but his own Innocencie would prevail against the wrong intended by his powerful Adversaries : And were he sure to run into imminent danger , he had rather go home and cast himself at his Masters feet and mercy , and therein comply with the duty and honor of a faithful Subject , though it should cost him his head , then be Duke or Infantado of Spain : And that with this resolution he would imploy the utmost of his power to maintain the Amity between the two Kings and their Crowns , and to serve his Catholick Majesty . After he had taken his leave and was ready to come away , he had another Profer made unto him in private of Ten thousand Crowns to take with him in his purse , to make his way and go through with his troubles , if haply his own monies might be seised upon : And it was told him , no body should know it . Yes , said he , one would know it , who he was assured would reveal it to his Majesty , viz. the Earl of Bristol himself , and it would make him not so clear in his own heart as now he was ; and so he refused the offer . The Match was now truly broken , but as yet the breach was not declared , nor the Treaty quite fallen to the ground , but continued after a languishing manner in the hands of Sir Walter Aston . The Spaniards by all Advertisements from England were advised to expect a War , and accordingly they went seriously to work , and prepared themselves for what might happen ; And Aston being there upon the place , conceived it high time that King Iames should resolve upon some course to allay the storm arising , or to go hand in hand with them in equal preparations . All that was left alive of the Marriage-business , was no more , then that those Jewels which the Prince had left at his Farewel were not yet returned : But if the Letter then expected from England brought no better Answer to their last Offer concerning the Palatinate , then such as they had hither to received , they will return the Jewels , and declare the Marriage broken . For by this time they had received intelligence of the Princes treating a Marriage with a Daughter of France , the Lady Henrietta Maria. And so it was , that King Iames had lately sent the Lord Kensington , afterwards Earl of Holland , to enquire covertly whether the Match were feasible , before he would enter into a Publick Treaty . The Lord Kensington returned this Accompt of his Negotiation : That there appeared in the face of that Court an extraordinary sweetness , smoothness and clearness towards an Alliance with England ; The Princess herself was observed seldom to have put on a more cheerful countenance , then she had done the first night of his appearance in that Court ; The Queen , though a Daughter of Spain , wished this Match more then that intended with her own Sister ; And the Queen-mother who will have the chief stroke in the business , expressed her good will and favor , as much as might stand with her Daughters honor . For the French observe the aspiring of the King of Spain to the Monarchy of Christendom , and his approaches to the Kingdom of France , and his encompassing it on all sides ; And they discern that an Alliance with England is the surest way to oppose the mightiness of that King : And upon the same accompt they promised brave assistance to the United Provinces , gave great encouragement to Count Mansfield and Duke Christian of Brunswick ; A Gentleman of the Religion was sent to Liege to offer them the Kings protection , if that Town will seek it . Nevertheless they have not directly embraced this Overture of Marriage , because we have not as yet wholly abandoned the Treaty with Spain ; lest they should lose the Friendship of a Brother-in-law , to gain another which may possibly fail them . But they say that their hearts are not capable of more content , then to see this Motion upon a Publick Commission , and all that may touch upon the way of Spain dissolved . Neither are they like to strain us to unreasonable Conditions in favor of the Roman Catholicks in his Majesties Dominions : For in that matter their Pulse beats so temperately , as to promise a good Crisis therein : And in case his Majesty be drawn to banish the Priests and Jesuites , and to quicken the Laws against other Catholicks , to keep a good Intelligence with his Parliament , yet they say , they hope he will not tie his hands from some moderate favor to flow hereafter from the mediation of that State , which is all they pretend unto for the saving of their honor , who otherwise would hardly be reputed Catholicks . Thus the Lord Kensington having rendred an accompt of his diligence , advised to go on roundly with the Match , lest otherwise , though never so well affected , they be altered with the Arts of Spain : For ( saith he ) undoubtedly the King of Spain will resolve , if possible , to oblige one side ; And as the French do think he may please England with the restitution of the Palatinate , so we may think he will please the French with rendring of the Valtoline . But without the assistance of Parliament , and compliance with the people , the King could not go through with those weighty works which he was now to take in hand . Now the things which troubled the People , were set forth to the King in three particulars : As , That for the Subsidies granted in the two last Parliaments , they received no retributions by Bils of Grace : That some of their Burgesses were proceeded against after the Parliament was dissolved : And that when they have satisfied the Kings demands , he will nevertheless proceed to the conclusion of the Spanish Match . Hereupon some of his nearest Council perswaded him to begin the work by removing the peoples Jealousies ; and to cast away some crums of his Crown amongst them , and those crums would work miracles and satisfie many thousands . And whereas the aim of the former Treaties was the setling of an universal peace in Christendom , and since the malice of deceitful men hath crost those fair ways , abusing his Majesties trust & goodness , he must cast about and sail by another point of the Compass , whereby he might securely and easily attain to his noble and pious ends . The means whereunto were these : First , that his Enemies know the Lyon hath teeth & claws ; Next , that he imbrace and invite a strict association and friendship with those , whom neighborhood , alliance , and common Interest of State and Religion had joined to him . Feb. 19. the Parliament began at Westminster : The King being set in the Throne , spake thus . I Have assembled you at this time , to impart to you a secret and matter of great importance as can b● to my State , and the State of my Children ; wherein I crave your best and safest advice and counsel , according as the Writ whereby you were assembled imports , That the King would advise with you in matters concerning his Estate and Dignity . And as I have ever endeavored by this & the like ways to procure and cherish the love of my people towards me , so do I hope , and my hope is exceeded by faith ; for I fully now believe , that never any King was more beloved of his people : whom as you my Lords and Gentlemen do here represent , so would I have you truly ●o represent their loves all to me ; that in you as in a true Mirror or glass I may perfectly behold it , and not as in a False glass that represents it not at all , or otherwise then it is indeed . Give me your free and faithful counsels in the matter I propose , of which you have often heard , the Match of my Son : wherein , as you may know , I have spent much time , with great cost , in long Treaties , desiring always therein ( and not without reason hoping to have effected my desires ) the advancement of my State and Children , and the general Peace of Christendom , wherein I have always constantly labored , depending upon fair hopes and promises . At the earnest instance of my Son , I was contented ( although it was of an extraordinary nature ) to send him to prosecute his desires in Spain , and for his more safety sent Buckingham ( in whom I ever reposed most trust of my person ) with him , with this command , continually to be present with him , and never to leave him till he returned again fafely unto me . Which he perform'd , though not with that effect in the busines that I expected , yet not altogether without profit ; For it taught me this point of wisdom , Qui versatur in generalibus , is easily deceived , and that Generality brings nothing to good issue ; but that before any matter can be fully finished , it must be brought to particulars : For when as I thought the affair had been before their going , produced to a narrow point , relying upon their general propositions , I found when they came there the matter proved to be so raw , as if it had never been treated of ; the generals giving them easie way to evade , and affording them means to avoid the effecting of any thing . The particulars that passed in the Treaty , I mean not now to discover to you , the time being too short ; I refer you to Charls & Buckingham , and the Secretaries Reports , who shall relate unto you all the particulars . And after that , super totam materiam , I desire your best assistance to advise me what is best and fittest for me to do for the good of the Commonwealth , and the advancement of Religion , and the good of my Son and my Grandchildren of the Palatine . And of our estate I know you cannot but be sensible , considering that your welfare consists in ours , and you shall be sure to have your share in what misery shall befall us : And therefore I need to urge no other Argument to you in this behalf , in offering me your wisest and surest Counsel and Furtherance . And I assure you in the faith of a Christian King , that it is res integra presented unto you , and that I stand not bound nor either way engaged , but remain free to follow what shall be best advised . To plant is not sufficient , unless like good Gardiners you pluck up the weeds that will choak your labors : And the greatest weeds among you , are Jealousies ; root them out . For my Actions , I dare avow them before God ; but Jealousies are of a strange depth . I am the Husband , and you the Wife , and it is subject to the Wife to be jealous of her Husband : Let this be far from you ! I can truly say , and will avouch it before the seat of God and Angels , that never King governed with a purer , sincerer , and more uncorru●● heart then I have done , far from all will and meaning of the least error or imperfection in my Reign . It hath been talked of my remisness in maintenance of Religion , and suspition of a Toleration : But as God shall judge me , I never thought nor meant , nor ever in word expressed any thing that savored of it . It is true , that at times , for reasons best known to my self , I did not so fully put those Laws in execution , but did wink and connive at some things which might have hindred more weighty affairs ; But I never in all my Treaties ever agreed to any thing to the overthrow and disagreeing of those Laws , but had in all a chief preservation of that Truth which I have ever professed : And as in that respect I have a charitable conceit of you , I would have you have the like of me also . In which I did not transgress : For it is a good Horse-mans part , not always to use his spurs ▪ and keep strait the rein , but sometimes to use the spurs and suffer the reins more remiss ; so it is the part of a wise King , and my age and experience in Government hath informed me sometimes to quicken the Laws with strait executions , and at other times upon just occasion to be more remiss . And I would also remove from your thoughts all jealousies , that I might , or ever did question or infringe any of your lawful Liberties or Priviledges ; but I protest before God , I ever intended you should enjoy the fulness of all those that former Times give good warrant and testimony of ; which , if need be , I will enlarge and amplifie . Therefore I would have you , as I have in this place heretofore told you , as S. Paul did Timothy , avoid Genealogies and curious Questions , and nice Querks and Jerks of Law , and idle Innovations ; And if you minister me no just occasion , I never yet was , nor never shall be curious or captious to quarrel with you : But I desire you to avoid all doubts and hinderances , and to compose your selves speedily and quietly to this weighty affair I have proposed ; for that I have found already , delayes have proved dangerous , and have bred distraction of this business ; and I would not have you by other occasions to neglect or protract it . God is my Judge , I speak it as a Christian King , Never any waifaring man that was in the Desarts of Arabia , and in danger of death for want of water to quench his thirst , more desired water , then I thirst and desire the good and comfortable success of this Parliament , and blessing upon your Counsels , that the good issue of this may expiate and acquit the fruitless issue of the former . And I pray God your Counsels may advance Religion and the Publick weal , and the good of me and my Children . Feb. 21. The Commons presented Sir Thomas Crew for their Speaker , who prayed an Excuse ; which being denied , he made this Speech . SInce I cannot bring an Olive-branch in my mouth , as a sign of my peace , and that God ( in whose hands are the hearts of Kings ) without whose providence a sparrow doth not fall to the ground , whom no man can resist , hath inclined your Majesty to cast your eye of grace on me , and to confirm me in this place ; I am taught in the best School , that Obedience is better then Sacrifice ; And will only say with a learned Father , Da Domine quod jubes , & jube quod vis . Otherwise I have great cause to be afraid of such a Charge , to be executed before so great a Majesty , and in so great an Assembly , but that I hope your Majesty will extend your Scepter of grace , as Ahashuerus did , to sustain me in my fainting . Your Majesty is Princeps Haereditarius , descended from both the Roses , and hath united both the Kingdoms : At your first entrance you wrought a wonder in the Tumult of our Cares , and Cloud of our Fears happening upon the death of the late Queen , by the bright beams of your Sunshine ; which a Poet elegantly expressed , Mira cano , sol occubuit , nox nulla secuta est . There was a David in Hebron , and no Ishbosheth to disturb your peaceable entrance , but the Acclamations of all your Subjects and Commons concurring to express their great contentment . This was no sudden flash of joy , but a constant blessing by the continuance of the Gospel and true Religion , maugre the malice and hellish invention of those who would have blown up all at once ; but God laughed them to scorn , and they fell into their own trap . These things I leave to your Majesties Royal remembrance as a duty to be practised , and to be expressed by our thankfulness to our holy God ; for it is a good thing to be thankfull : Non est dignus dandis , qui non agit gratias pro datis . Since my designment to this place , I called to mind these Statutes of late times , and find two of especial note : The first of 32 H. 8. which was called Parlamentum doctum , for the many good Laws made for the setling of Possessions : The other 39 Eliz. which by a reverend Divine was called Parlamentum pium , because the Subjects thereby were enabled to found Hospitals without Licence of Mortmain , or Ad quod damnum ; And other charitable Laws which I omit , being not perpetual . And I likewise called to mind many glorious offers made by your Majesty , and other good Provisions at the two last Meetings . Now your Majesty hath stretch'd forth your Scepter to call us to you again , and hath made a Declaration , that all jealousies and distractions might be removed , and the memory of Parliament-Nullities might be buried . And my desire is , that your Majesties influence may distill upon us , and you proceed in such a sweet harmony and conjunction , that Righteousness and Peace may kiss each other , and that Mercy and Truth may meet ; and the World may say , Ecce quàm bonum & quàm jucundum Regem & Populum convenire in unum ! And for perfecting of this work , the good Bills against Monopolies , Informers and Concealers may now pass , and receive strength with a general , liberal , and Royal Pardon , according to the bounty of the late Queen : That so this Parliament may be called Felix , Doctum , & Pium ; which will be good to your Subjects , and no diminution to your Revenue , or derogation to your Prerogative , which in your Majesties hands is as a Scepter of gold , but in others hands is a Rod of iron . I need not speak in the praise of the Fundamental Common-Laws : Veritas temporis filia , Time hath sufficiently justified them . Monarchy is the best Government ; and of Monarchies , those which are hereditary . The best supply of your Majesties wants is in Parliament , where the Subject is bound by his own consent ; other courses of Benevolence come heavily . The Subjects enjoy the Gospel freely by your protection , and your Majesty may be safe in their Loyalty : Other safeties are but as Ajax his Shield , a weight rather then a defence . Their desire is , that the good Laws for Religion may be confirmed ; and that the generation of Locusts , the Jesuites and Seminary-Priests , which were wont to creep in corners , and do now come abroad , may be by the execution of these good Laws , as with an East-wind , blown over the Sea. Our late Queen Elizabeth lived and died in peace ; the Pope cursed her , but God blessed her : And so shall your Majesty , having God to your Friend , find safety in the Ark of true Religion , and when you are old and full of days , land you in Heaven ; And then our hopeful Prince which sprang out of your own loins , shall sway that Scepter , which you must leave , to enjoy a Crown celestial : And God in his due time will restore the distressed Princess , her Husband and Royal Issue , to that Inheritance which is now possessed by the usurping sword of their Enemies . Whereof we are the more confident , because that Country was heretofore a Sanctuary in our distress , when Religion was here persecuted . Cato was wont to say , Hoc sentio , & Carthago destruenda est : But I say , Hoc sentio , & Palatinatus recuperandus est . The question was put to a Lacedemonian , Why their City wanted Walls ? Who answered , Concord was their Walls . Your Majesty under God is a sole and entire Monarch , whose Walls are the Ocean without , and fortified within with a Wall of Brass , the bond of Unity and Religion : And happy is that place , of which it may be said as of Ierusalem , It is a City at unity within it self . Neither is your Government confined within the limits of this Kingdom , but extends it self to Ireland , where your Majesties care and pains in our late Imploiment gave divers provident Directions for the setting forth of Religion , the reforming of Courts of Justice , and inflicting punishment on the Disturbers of the Publick peace : And I was Ocularis testis , that you have made these ample Endowments of Churches out of your own Excheated Revenue , as will be to your honor in all posterity . But my desire is , as well in the beginning , as in all other our proceedings , our words may be vera , pauca , & ponderosa . Therefore with your Gratious Favor , according to antient Presidents , we are humble Suitors , That you would be pleased to allow our antient Priviledges . And that for our better Attendance , our Persons , Goods , and necessary Attendants may be free from Arrests ; and that we may have liberty of free Speech , not doubting but we shall confine our selves within the limits of Duty . And because this great business may give us occasion often to resort to your Majesty , That upon our Publick Suit you will be pleased to give us your own fit time of access : And that all our actions may have a benign interpretation , and a good acceptation and opinion . Lastly , That I may not onely be a Speaker , but an humble Suitor , protesting by the great God , by whom Kings do reign , That whatsoever I have said , hath proceeded from a Loyal Heart , I therefore desire that may be covered with the vail of your Gratious Construction , or acquitted by your Gratious Pardon . The King having referred the whole business of the Spanish Match to the Advice of Parliament , the Duke of Buckingham made to both Houses in the Pallace at Whitehal , a long Narration of all the Transactions in Spain , which was accompained with the Princes Attestation . In the Narration it self his Grace observed Six distinct and several parts . The first was , the Motives of the Prince his Iourney to Spain . The second , the Treaty of the Marriage set on foot in Spain , severally and by its self . The third , the Treaty of the Marriage and Restitution , united together by a Reciprocal Subordination . The fourth , the Prince his Highness return from Spain . The fifth , his Majesties subsequent proceedings in both the Treaties , since the return . The last was , the stating of the Question , super totam materiam , wherein both the Houses were to offer unto his Majesty their humble Advice and Counsel . Of these parts his Grace spake very distinctly and orderly . I. The Motives to the Princes Journey to Spain . THe Negotiation of Master Chancellor of the Exchequer with the Arch-Dutchess , which ministred unto his Majesty the first occasion of Jealousie , and made a kinde of discovery of the Spaniards indirect dealing with this State : Then was read the aforementioned Letter of the Third of October , 1622. from the King to the Earl of Bristol , wherein Bristol was required to let the King of Spain know , how sensible King Iames was of the Emperors proceedings towards him ; and that he should demand of the King of Spain a promise under Hand and Seal , that Heidelburgh should be delivered within Seventy days after Audience , and the like for Manheim and Frankendale , if they be taken ; and if this be denied , to press to have leave to march through the King of Spains Territories with an Army , for the recovery of his Childrens Patrimony ; and that the King of Spain should assist us with his Forces . The Duke desired the Houses to take for truth what ever he should say ▪ granted and attested by the Princes presence ; and declared , That this Letter was not put home to the uttermost by Bristol . Hereupon a Dispatch was sent away to my Lord of Bristol , expresly commanding him to press his Directions more home then yet he had done , and in case he should be denied or delayed by the King of Spain , then to take his leave , and come away : This was not so fully exacted by my Lord of Bristol . Porter that carried these Letters was commanded not to stay above Ten days , who after he had been there some Four or five days , and saw nothing towards a Dispatch , went himself to the Conde Olivares ( having been his Creature ) and desired him that he would speed his Dispatch ; Olivares asked him what he would have ? who replied , No more then what had been formerly promised ; that in case the Emperor should deny the Restitution of the Palatinate , the King of Spain should assist our King by Arms to recover it , or else give way to our Forces to March thither , through his Countrey . Olivares replied , That this was a preposterous demand ; What to assist with Arms against the Kings Uncle , and the Catholick League ? Porter speaking to him of the Marriage of our Prince with the Infanta of Spain , he told him , That he understood not a word of it . Porter acquainting Bristol herewith , he said , He would call Olivares to an account , if he held this Language with him , and would make him understand , That an Earl of England , was as good a ma● as a Conde of Spain . But sending for Porter the next morning , he changed his resolution , and concluded to carry the business more calmly , and said the Conde was so reserved , because he was slie and dainty to report those Mysteries with that freedom to him , who was not qualified as a Publick Minister . The Conde was angry with Porter for communicating what he said to Bristol . Mr. Porter returned with a Dispatch fraught with Generalities , without any one particular or certainty at all made in relation to the Prince's Highness ; who thereupon took his resolution to go in person to Spain , and gave himself these Reasons for the enterprise . He saw his Fathers Negotiation plainly deluded , Matters of Religion gained upon , and extorted ; his Sisters cause more and more desperate ; and that this was the way to put things off or on ; and that in this particular , delay was worse then a denial ; and that according to the usual Proverb , A desperate disease , must have a desperate remedy . Hereupon the King commanded the Duke to accompany his Highness in his Journey . II. The Treaty of the Marriage severed , and by it self . WHen the Prince had arived at Madrid , the Conde gave him a visit , magnified exceedingly the Princes journey , amplified the Obligations his Highness had put upon that King ; and said , That now without all peradventure it must be a Match , and we must part and divide the whole World between us . The next day the Conde taking the Duke into his Coach , and Mr. Porter , for his Interpreter , falling into discourse of the Match , he said unto the Duke , Let us dispatch this Match out of hand , and strike ● up without the Pope : The Duke answered , He liked the manner very w●ll , but desired to understand the Means . The Means , quoth the Conde , is very easie ; it is but the Conversion of the Prince ; which we cannot conceive but his Highness intended upon his Resolution for this Journey . The Duke answered forthwith , That with freedom they came thither , and with freedom they would return again ; they were no Juglers , neither came they to Spain to make new bargains : That the Prince was setled in his Religion ; his Conscience was troubled with no scruples in that kinde : If they struck any more upon that string , they would mar all the harmony . Then said the Conde , there is no way but to send to Rome to hasten the Dispensation ; to which the Duke assented . Hereupon the Conde wrote his Letter to the Cardinal Lodovisia , the Popes Nephew ; which being shewed to the Duke , seemed to him to be very heavy ; the Duke therefore desired to quicken it with this Postscript , That now the Prince being arived , must not be sent back without a Wife ; that delay to a Suitor , is a kinde of refusal ; that Clogging Instructions would amount to a denial , and new Conditions to an absolute breach . The Conde fell into Choller , said directly it could not be done . This the Prince affirmed to be acted in his presence : But the Earl of Bristol made a more benign construction thereof , the Duke a right-down conclusion , That this people never intended either Match or Restitution ; and so wished his Highness fairly at home again : However the Messenger was dispatched to Rome . Four or five days after his Highness was placed to see his Mistress in her passage through the streets , as she made her visits from Church to Church : But pressing for access , he was delayed , but at last obtained a visit : But a very strange one ! He was not suffered to speak unto her , but as they had set it down in words and syllables in writing , saying , They were no Astrologers , and could not foresee the event of this Marriage ; and therefore they resolved to admit him as a Prince onely , and not as a Suitor . But the Conde salved this up with a Complement , That if the Dispensation were once returned , he should lie with her even that very night ; nay , have her he should upon any terms . If he could not be qualified to enjoy her as a Wife , yet he should have her as a Mistress . Soon after riding in a Coach , it was urged by the Conde ; That the Infanta was of a tender Conscience , and if she should come into England , and finde the Prince an enemy to her Religion , it would quite dishearten her . His Highness consented to hear her upon this subject , because he was as like to convert her , as she was to pervert him . A Conference with Divines was pressed upon his Highness , which he refused , and said , If after Disputation with them , they should not prevail against a yong man , they would remain much disgusted and ill-affected to the whole Negotiation . This kinde of importunity was still used toward the Prince , till the return of the Dispensation . Six weeks after the Princes arival came the Dispensation ; but his Highness understood from Rome by Mr. Gage , that the Dispensation was returned much clogged in Matter and Manner , especially with the annexed new Condition . The King of Spain before the receiving of the Dispensation , was to take an Oath to see all the Articles performed , whereupon Faculty was issued , really performed , or else to make War in case of any failer upon the King of England . His Highness signified his Resolution unto them , that he neither could nor would adde or alter any thing of the first Articles sent to England . A Iuncto of Divines are appointed to meet and consider , whether the King might safely take the Oath . By this time the Prince had gone through all the Articles , sitting in person with the Committee ; onely leaving three undiscussed , That of the Church , that of the Nurse , and that of the Education of the Children ; which his Highness reserved till he should speak with the King. Then said the Conde , Now the business is in a better way then ever it was , a Match , and without more ado she was his Wife . But the next day came Gondomar and spake unto the Prince of the same Match , as of a new thing , and told him plainly , That unless his Highness came to all the Conditions of the Dispensation as they were sent from Rome , clearly and entirely , nothing would be done ; for they had no power to remove or alter a word of false Latine . Whereupon his Highness was justly distasted , and offered to break . Then they pressed the Prince , that he would be pleased to stay twenty days , until the King of Spain might receive an Answer from England . The Prince resolved to stay , upon condition that Sir Francis Cottington might be dispatched away within two days , and some Messenger that might overtake him with the Articles that should be sent after , as soon as ever they could be made ready : But the two days of their hammering spun out to twenty ; at the end thereof they brought them with new Additions . The Articles being at last sent to England , the Iuncto of Divines delivered their opinions , that the Infanta could not be sent over before the Spring ; at which his Highness was offended , but the Conde prevailed with him to stay until their Ambassadors should certifie out of England , that the Articles were assented unto by King Iames , and put in execution , and then the Lady should go with the Prince . The Bishop of Segovia was pleased to say to the Duke , That he had heard something of the State of our Kingdom , and had received it from good hands ; That our King could not make a Toleration without a Rebellion , and easily believed it ; because the King of Spain is not able in his Dominions to effect the like enterprise , without incurring the like danger ; therefore he concluded , it was unsafe to send the Lady thither at this time , because we having granted as much in effect as a Toleration , it was very probable she should be welcomed with a rising and rebellion . To which the Duke replied , That if the favors which the King his Master had exhibited to his Catholicks at the Mediation of that King , and the Advice of that very Committee , of which that Bishop was one , be of so dangerous a consequence ; it seems their Lordships , who gave the Advice for that Article , though they pretended Religion , intended plain and open Rebellion . But you must know quoth , the Duke , if his Highness had been of my Lord Bishops opinion , That these Conferences had amounted to a Toleration , he had never accepted of these Articles to have gained any allowance : For what was agreed unto , was but a Temporary Suspension of Penal Laws , but no Toleration ; for that could not be done , but by consent of Parliament . Then Gondomar hereupon said , That for his part , he did not hold it fit to send the Infanta thither , before the Articles be perfectly put in execution . And Gondomar privately infused to the Prince his Highness , being incensed against the Duke , That the Duke was in heart , ( as he said all his Kinred were ) a Roman Catholick ; and he said to a Jesuite of great account and zeal in those parts , That the Duke was a most obstinate , perverse , and refractory Puritan . About this time it was reported that the Prince intended to steal away , whereupon they laid in wait to intercept him : Hereupon the Duke was sent to tell them , That although they had stoln thither out of love , they would never steal thence out of fear . About this time the Prince sent a Message to his Father , That if he should receive any Advertisement , that he was detained by that State as a Prisoner , he would be pleased for his sake , never to think upon him any longer as a Son , but reflect upon the good of his Sister , and the safety of his own Kingdoms . III. The Treaty of the Match and Restitution , reciprocally subordinated . IT is fit to observe this passage , which is the thing whereupon all his Highness subsequent Actions are turned and moved . He had never staid a sevennight longer in Spain ; he had never left any Proxy with Bristol ; he had never taken any Oath at the Escurial ; or ever so much as written a Letter of Complement to the Lady ; but that he had still before his eyes , as his Cynosure , the Promise made by the Co●de , for the Restitution of the Palatinate . To hasten the Delivery of the Lady , the Duke presented unto the Conde , how his Master was now in years , the Prince his onely Son ; and he would suffer in Honor and Reputation , to return home without his Wife . The Conde consented hereunto , and desired the Prince would name a day for his departure . This news came to the Infanta , who seemed to be Apprehensive of the Princes going away , and prevailed with his Highness to return this Complement unto her , That rather then he would give her Alteza any disgust , he would stay for her seven years . By this time Sir Francis Cottington is arived with all things perfected by the King , and Letters from the Ambassadors of full satisfaction , and a command from the King to his Highness , to make his return within one moneth . Now began the Conde to enter into the Treaty for the Restitution of the Palatinate , saying , The Lady should by no means go to England , before that business was accommodated . And it was projected , That there should be a Restitution of the Land to the Prince Palatine , upon a Condition of Marriage with the Emperors Daughter , and that he should be bred in the Emperors Court. The Prince demanding of the Conde , whether in case the Emperor proved refractory , the King his Master would assist him with Arms to reduce him to reasonable terms ? The Conde answered Negatively , because they had a Maxim of State , that the King of Spain must never fight against the Emperor ; for they would not employ their forces against the House of Austria . Hereupon his Highness made his Protestation to the Conde ; Look to it Sir , for if you hold your self to that , there is an end of all ; for without this you may not relie upon , either Marriage or Friendship . By this time the Prince is grown cheap and vulgar in the Court of Spain , so that they will scarce bestow a visit upon him , and the Conde came very seldom to him : And two Letters came to the Dukes hands , which shewed , that all that the Conde did , was nothing but slashes and lightning ; notwithstanding he seemed at this time to be in a good humor , and told the Duke , That now certainly it must be a Match , and the Devil could not break it : The Duke replied , He thought so , and the Match had need be very firm and strong , it had been seven years in Soadering . The Conde denied , and said plainly , it had not been really intended seven moneths ; and said , I will fetch that out of my Desk , that shall assure you thereof ; and so produced two Letters , the first was written with the King of Spains own hand , Dated the Fifth of November , 1622. And the other from the Conde Olivares of the Eighth of November , 1622. Both which Letters are mentioned before . IV. The Princes return from Spain . ANd now the Prince returning for England , being engaged to leave his Proxy , did de●osite the same in the hands of the Earl of Bristol , who was to keep it , and use it as his Procurator ; that is , As he should receive his Highness Direction from time to time : His words for the present were ( said the Duke ) That if the Confirmation came from Rome clear and intire , ( which it did not ) then within so many days he should deliver it to the King of Spain . The second Direction sent to him , was by a Letter which his Highness sent him , between his departure from the Escurial , and coming to the Sea side , to this effect , That for fear a Monastery should rob him of his Wife , he should stay the delivery of the Powers until the doubts were cleared ; and that his Highness would send him in the Premisses some further Directions ? Here because my Lord of Bristol in his Letter of the First of November , 1623. doth press so vehemently the Prince his Highness concerning this Proxy , and the Prince vowed openly before both Houses , that he had never by Oath or Honor engaged himself not to revoke the Powers , more then by the clause De non revocando Procuratore inserted in the Instrument it self , and that he conceived the clause to be matter of Form ; and although Essentially of no binding power , yet usually thrust into every such Instrument ; and that the Civilians do hold , That it is lawful by the Civil and Canon Law , for any man to revoke his Proxy of Marriage , notwithstanding it hath the clause De non revocando Procuratore inserted in it . Therefore as to this point the Duke concluded , That the Earl of Bristol in charging this matter so highly on the Prince , had much forgot himself . V. The Subsequent proceedings of his Majesty in both the Treaties , since the return of his Highness . THe Prince by the Mercy of God came to Royston , and made his Relation to the King of all that had passed . His Majesty was glad , and told him , That he had acted well the part of a Son ; and now the part of a Father must come upon the Stage , which was to provide with all circumspection , That his onely Son should not be married with a Portion of Tears to his onely Daughter . And therefore his Majesty commanded by an express dispatch , the stay of the Proxy in the Earl of Bristols hands , until he had some better assurance of the Restitution of the Palatinate . Then was read his Majesties Letter to the Earl of Bristol , dated the Eighth of October , 1623. wherein the Earl of Bristol was positively required by the King , That before he deliver the Powers , or move to the Contract , to procure from the King of Spain a direct Restitution of the Palatinate , and the Electoral Dignity , or to assist with Arms within a time limited . You would perceive that by this Dispatch , Bristol would lay hold on all hints and emergent occasions to put off the Desponsorios without this required Assurance by Arms first obtained ; but the truth is , he did not so . For first , the Confirmation came from Rome clogged and mangled ; and instead of challenging thereupon , he labors with no small strength of wit to hide and palliate the same . Secondly , In the Temporal Articles , the Portion was altered , Six hundred thousand pounds in ready cash , to some Eighty thousand pounds in money , and a few Jewels , and a Pension of Two thousands pounds per annum . Instead of quarrelling this main alteration , he seems to approve and applaud the payment . Thirdly , For the Assurance of Restitution of the Palatinate , the main Foundation both of Match and Friendship , he is so far from providing for it before ( which was the Method prescribed him by the King ) that he leaves it to be mediated by the Infanta after the Marriage . Lastly , Instead of putting off the Contract , as any man in the world ( upon the Dispatch from Royston ) would have done , he comes to prefix a precise day for the Desponsorios . Now from this rash fixing of the day for the Desponsorios in Spain , which was controlled again by an Express , from hence issued an unnecessary discourtesie put upon the King , and in a manner upon the Infanta by the Earl of Bristol : From that proceeded a greater affront put upon the Prince , the taking away the title La Princesa from the Infanta , and the debarring of our Ambassadors from any further Access to her person . Then was produced an Answer of the King of Spain to the Memorial of the Ambassador , implying a Refusal to assist by Arms for the recovery of the Palatinate , in case the Emperor consent not to a Restitution , which we have inserted in series of time : VI. The Stating of the Question Super totam Materiam . THis Question the Duke stated on this manner , Whether this being the full effect and product of all the Negotiation , which I have opened unto you , be sufficient , Super totam Materiam , for his Majesty to relie upon with any safety ; as well for the Marriage of his onely Son , as for the relief of his onely Daughter : Or , that these Treaties set aside , his Majesty were best to trust in his own strength , and to stand upon his own feet ? So the Duke ended with this Conclusion , That if the bringing us from darkness to light , did deserve any thanks , we ow it and must wholly ascribe it to the Prince his Highness . The Prince was present at this Narration , and assisted the Duke of Buckingham therein , and certified many particulars thereof ; and it being reported the same day to the House , his Highness approved thereof there also . The Spanish Ambassador took great offence at the Dukes Relation , as reflecting upon his Masters Honor , and demanded his Head for satisfaction . The House of Lords by a general Vote acquitted the Duke from the Accusation of the Spanish Ambassador , and justified his Relation , and intended to signifie as much to his Majesty by a Committee of the whole House , That the Duke may be encouraged to proceed in his faithful service to the State : Unto which , the Commons so directly and fully answered , as if the two Houses had been Twins ; and what one had said , thought , and done , the other had thought , said , and done the same . And the Commons desired to joyn with the Lords , in signifying this to his Majesty , which was done by the ensuing Address . YOur Majesties most Loyal Subjects , the Lords , Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses , Assembled at this time in both Houses of Parliament , being informed of a Complaint made unto your most Excellent Majesty against the Duke of Buckingham , That in the Narrative , which by your Majesties command , he made unto both Houses , the Four and twentieth of February last , he should let fall some passages , grievous to the Honor of the King of Spain , and inferred to be of so high a nature , as if the same had been delivered by any Subject of that King against your Majesty , it could not have been otherwise expiated then with the loss of his Head that spoke it : Taking this into their mature deliberation , and conceiving that this Accusation doth in an oblique manner fasten an Aspersion upon themselves also ; do in all submission and humility make unto your Majesty a Threefold Representation : First , Concerning that great King ; secondly , Concerning that eminent Lord ; thirdly , Concerning themselves . First , Concerning that King , they do with an unanimous Vote of both Houses , absolutely acquit , and clear the Lord Duke from letting fall any words at all derogatory to the Honor of that King. For the second , That concerns my Lord , they do in the like humility attest unto your most Sacred Majesty , That if my Lord the Duke had omitted any matter represented unto them that day , he had for so much failed in the performance of that duty and fidelity which he oweth unto your Majesty , and to the business , and unto both Houses . For the last , which concerneth themselves , they make bold in like humility to represent unto your Majesty , That they do much honor my Lord the Duke for that Narration , and do render unto him all possible thanks , for that fidelity and industry expressed therein ; and so without your further trouble , Do humbly beseech your most Excellent Majesty , to interpret fair of this their Representation , which they held themselves bound to offer unto your Majesty , for the clearing of so eminent a person , who as they verily believe , hath in this Negotiation , well deserved of your Majesty and the Commonwealth : So they heartily pray unto God to preserve your most Excellent Majesty . To which Representation his Majesty returned this Answer . MY Lords and Gentlemen all , I might have reason to speak nothing in regard of the person whereof you spake ; but in regard of your Motion , it were not civil : For if I be silent , I shall wrong neither my self , nor that Nobleman which you now spake of , because he is well known to be such a one , as stands in no need of a Prolocutor , or Fidejussor , to undertake for his fidelity , or well carrying of the business : And indeed to send a man upon so great an Errand , whom I was not resolved to trust for the carriage thereof , were a fault in my discretion scarce compatible to the love and trust I bear him . It is an old and true saying , That he is a happy man that serves a good M●ster ; and it is no less truth , That he is a happy Master that enjoys a faithful Servant . The greatest fault ( if it be a fault ) or at leastwise the greatest error , I hope he shall ever commit against me , was his desiring this Justification from you ; as if he should have need of any Justification from others towards me , and that for these Reasons . First , Because he being my Disciple and Schollar , he may be assured . I will trust his own Relation . Secondly , Because he made the same Relation unto me , which he did afterward unto both Houses ; so as I was formerly acquainted both with the matter and manner thereof : And if I should not trust him in the carriage , I was altogether unworth● of such a Servant . He hath no interest of his own in the business ; he had ill thoughts at home for his going thither with my Son , although it was my command , as I told you before . And now he hath as little thanks for his Relation on the other part : Yet he that serveth God and a good Master , cannot miscarry for all this . I have noted in his Negotiation these three remarkable things , Faith , Diligence , and Discretion , whereof my Son hath borne record unto me ; yet I cannot deny , but as he thought to do good service to his Master , he hath given ill example to Ambassadors in time to come , because he went this long journey upon his own charges . This would prove an ill example , if many of my Ambassadors should take it for a President . He run his head into the yoke with the people here , for undertaking the journey ; and when he there spent above Forty or fifty thousand pounds , never offered his accompt , nor made any demand for the same , or ever will. I hope other Ambassadors will do so no more . I am a good Master , that never doubted of him ; for I know him to be so good a Schollar of mine , that I say without van●ty , he will not exceed his Masters Dictates : And I trust the Report not the worse he made , because it is approved by you all ; yet I believe an honest man , as much as all the World , and the rather , because he was a Disciple of mine . And I am glad he hath so well satisfied you , and thank you heartily for taking it in so good part , as I finde you have done . The Lords having debated those high Matters of State , which the King put into their hands , delivered their opinions , That his Majesty cannot with honor and safety , and with the conveniency of State and Religion , proceed any further in the Treaty of the Princes Marriage , nor relie any longer upon the Treaty for the recovery of the Palatinate ; in which Vote , the Commons concurred with them . And in this manner both Houses Addressed themselves to the King. May it please your most Excellent Majesty , WE are come unto you , imployed from your most faithful Subjects and Servants , the Lords and Commons assembled in this present Parliament . And first , They and we do give most humble and hearty thanks unto Almighty God , that out of his gracious goodness he hath been pleased now at last to dispel the Clouds and Mists which for so many years have dimmed the eyes of a great part of Christendom , in the business whereof we do now consult . And secondly , We acknowledge our selves most bound unto your Majesty , that you have been pleased to require the humble Advice of us your obedient Subjects in a Case so important as this is , which hitherto dependeth between your Majesty and the King of Spain . Which we jointly offer from both Houses , no one person there dissenting or disagreeing from the rest . And it is upon mature consideration , and weighing many particulars of sundry natures , that finding so much wan● of Sincerity in all their Proceedings , We super totam materiam present this our humble Address unto your Majesty ; That the Treaties both for the Marriage and the Palatinate may not any longer be continued with the honor of your Majesty ▪ the safety of your People , the welfare of your Children and Posterity , as also the assurance of your antient Allies and Confederates . Reasons were also presented , to fortifie this Vote . Whereas the Propositions of the Match were at the first no more then Liberty of Conscience to the Infanta and her Family , which the King might in honor grant ; The Spaniards taking advantage of the Prince's being in Spain , importuned a General Connivence of Religion , to the diminution of the Kings Soveraignty , and against the usage of other Catholick Princes in the like Treaties , and to the discouragement of all his well-affected Subjects . And this they have labored with the Pope , being of mischievous consequence . During this Treaty , the Popish Faction hath mightily increased : And whereas heretofore they were wont to be divided , some taking part with the Secular Priests , and some with the Iesuites , they are united ; which is a matter of great consequence , considering they do as well depend on Spain for Temporal matters , as on Rome for Spiritual : And they cannot be suppressed , as long as the Treaty holds . They have by this Treaty devoured our Allies , and the Protestant party in Germany and elswhere , to the decay of true Religion , and to the jealousie of our Friends beyond the Seas . During this Treaty of Love , they have spoiled his Majesties Son-in-law of his Lands and Honors ; and notwithstanding promises of Restitution , still invaded his Rights , and at length turned pretended Difficulties into apparent Impossibilities . They have deluded our King , and offered indignity to our Prince , by importuning him again and again to a Conversion , contrary ●o the Law of Hospitality , and the Priviledge of Princes . The Insincerity of their Proceedings is to be seen by that former Overture of Marriage for the late Prince Henry , which after many specious Motions , was followed with a disavowing of their own Ambassador , and a scornful Proposition made to the King , of the Prince's altering his Religion . As also by the Treaty of Bruxels , where the Lord Weston found nothing but Delays , and Deceit ; and after divers peremptory Commands from Spain for his Majesties satisfaction , it wrought no other effect then the Besieging and taking of Heidelburgh ; insomuch that the Ambassador was forced to protest , and return . To these things were added , the Translation of the Electorate to the Duke of Bavaria , and the Letter of the King of Spain to Conde Olivares , with the Conde's Answer , which imported that the Match was never intended . As also after the Prince had taken a hazardous Journey , they devised a shift by a Iuncto of Divines , to let him come home without the Lady . These Reasons were presented to the King by the universal consent of the House of Commons . Hereupon the King came to Parliament , and made a Speech deliberative , enquiring into the Condition of the War which they advised , and the means to uphold and carry it on . My Lords and Gentlemen all , I Have cause first to thank God with my heart and all the faculties of my mind , that my Speech which I delivered in Parliament hath taken so good effect amongst you , as that with an unanimous consent you have freely and speedily given me your Advice in this great Business , for which I also thank you all as heartily as I can . I also give my particular thanks to the Gentlemen of the Lower House , for that I heard when some would have cast Jealousies and Doubts between me and my people , they presently quelled those motions , which otherwise might indeed have hindred the happy Agreement I hope to find in this Parliament . You give me your Advice to break off both the Treaties , as well concerning the Match , as the Palatinate : And now give me leave , as an old King , to propound my Doubts , and hereafter to give you my Answer . First it is true , that I who have been all the days of my life a peaceable King , and have had the honor in my Titles and Impresses to be stiled Rex Paci●icus , should be loth without necessity to imbroil my self with War , far from my Nature , and from my Honor which I have had at home and abroad , in endeavouring to avoid the effusion of Christian blood , of which too much hath been shed , and so much against my heart . I say , that unless it be upon such a Necessity , that I may call it , as some say merrily of Women , Malum necessarium , I should be loth to enter into it . And I must likewise acquaint you , that I have had no small hope given me of obtaining better Conditions for the Restitution of the Palatinate , and that even since the sitting down of the Parliament : But be not jealous , or think me such a King that would under pretence of asking your Advice , put a scorn upon you by disdaining and rejecting it : For you remember , that in my first Speech unto you , for proof of my love to my People , I craved your Advice in this great and weighty affair ; But in a matter of this weight , I must first consider how this Course may agree with my Conscience and Honor ; and next according to the Parable uttered by our Saviour , after I have resolved of the Necessity and justness of the Cause , to consider how I shall be enabled to raise Forces for this purpose . As concerning the Cause of my Children , I am now old ; and as Moses saw the Land of Promise from an high mountain , though he had not leave to set his foot in it , so it would be a great comfort to me , that God would but so long prolong my days , as if I might not see the Restitution , yet at least I might be assured that it would be ; That then I might with old Simeon say , Nunc dimittis Servum tuum , Domine , &c. Otherwise it would be a great grief unto me , and I should die with a heavy and discomforted heart . I have often said , and particularly in the last Parliament , and I shall ever be of that mind , That as I am not ambitious of any other mens Goods or Lands , so I desire not to enjoy a Furrow of Land in England , Scotland or Ireland , without Restitution of the Palatinate : And in this mind I will live and die . But let me acquaint you a little with the Difficulties of this Cause . He is an unhappy man , that shall advise a King to War ; and it is an unhappy thing to seek that by Blood , which may be had by Peace . Besides , I think your intentions are not to engage me in War , but withal you will consider how many things are requisite thereunto . I omit to speak of my own Necessities , ( they are too well known : ) Sure I am , I have had the least help in Parliament of any King that ever reigned over you these many years . I must let you know that my Disabilities are increased by the Charge of my Son's journey into Spain , which I was at , for his honor , and the honor of this Nation : By sending of Ambassadors , by maintaining of my Children , and by assisting of the Palatinate , I have incurred a great Debt to the King of Denmark , which I am not able yet to pay . The Low-Countries , who in regard of their nearness are fittest to help for the Recovery of the Palatinate , are at so low an ebb , that if I assist them not , they are scarce able to subsist . The Princes of Germany that should do me any good , are all poor , weak and disheartned , and do expect assistance from hence . For Ireland , I leave it to you , whether that be not a back-door to be secured . For the Navy , I thank God , it is in a better case then ever it was , yet more must be done ; and before it can be prepared as it ought to be , it will require a new Charge as well for its own strength , as for the securing of the Coasts . My Children , I vow to God , eat no bread but by my means ; I must maintain them and not see them want . In the mean time , my Customs are the best part of my Revenues , and in effect the substance of all I have to live on ; All which are farmed out upon that condition , That if there be War , those Bargains are to be disannulled , which will enforce a great defalcation . Subsidies ask a great time to bring them in : Now if you assist me that way , I must take them up beforehand upon credit , which will eat up a great part of them . This being my Case , To enter into War without sufficient means to support it , were to shew my teeth , and do no more . In the mean time I heartily thank you for your Advice , and will seriously think upon it , as I pray you to consider of those other parts . My Treasurer , to whose Office it appertains , shall more at large inform you of those things that concern my Estate . Thus freely do I open my heart unto you : And having your hearts , I cannot want your helps ; for it is the heart that openeth the purse , not the purse the heart . I will deal frankly with you : Shew me the Means how I may do what you would have me , and if I take a Resolution by your Advice to enter into a War , then your selves by your own Deputies shall have the disposing of the Money ; I will not meddle with it , but you shall appoint your own Treasurers . I say not this with a purpose to invite you to open your Purses , and then to slight you so much as not to follow your Counsel , nor engage you before I be engaged my self . Give me what you will for my own means ; but I protest , none of the Monies which you shall give for those uses , shall be issued but for those ends , and by men elected by your selves . If upon your offer I shall find the means to make the War honorable and safe , and that I resolve to embrace your Advice , then I promise you in the word of a King , That although War and Peace be the peculiar Prerogatives of Kings , yet as I have advised with you in the Treaties on which War may ensue , so I will not treat nor accept of a Peace , without first acquainting you with it , and hearing your advice ; and therein go the proper way of Parliament , in conferring and consulting with you : And happily , the Conditions of Peace will be the better , when we be prepared for War ; according to the old Proverb , That Weapons bode Peace . Your kind carriage gives me much content ; And that comforts me , which my Lord of Canterbury said , That there was not a Contrary voice amongst you all ; like the Seventy Interpreters , who were led by the breath of God. I am so desirous to forget all rents in former Parliaments , that it shall not be in my default , if I am not in love with Parliaments , and call them often , and desire to end my life in that entercourse between me and my people , for the making of good Laws , reforming of such Abuses as I cannot be well informed of but in Parliament , and maintaining the good Government of the Commonwealth . Therefore go on cheerfully , and advise of these Points , and my Resolution shall then be declared . Hereupon the House of Commons immediately took into consideration the matter of Supply : And Sir Edward Sackvile , afterwards Earl of Dorset , spake thus to that Subject . SInce Supply unto his Majesty is now in question , of which I hope there will be no question , I humbly ask leave of this Honorable Assembly to speak my Opinion ; assuring you , That when a Treaty of Grievances shall be on foot , it shall appear I will not sit silent , if I find my self able to say any thing that may lend a hand to unload my Country of that heavy burthen it now groans under by reason of the innumerable number of Monopolies , which like so many Incubusses and Succubusses exhaust the Vital spirits , and so press down those Parts which ought to enjoy free respiration , as without some speedy remedy is like to run to extreme hazard . But this I refer to its proper time , and reserve my self for it , and now proceed to the matter in hand . Sure , I do think there are very few that serve in this House ( if there be any ) who do not confidently believe , that the chief Motive which induced his Majesty at this time to assemble this Parliament , was a meer Necessity to be by us enabled for the Recovery of the Patrimony belonging to the King of Bohemia , now almost traversed from him , and in the possession of a powerful Enemy . If there be any who doubt of this truth , I hope he may easily rest satisfied , when I shall assure him ( out of my own knowledge ) that many days before this Session , his Majesty commanded a select number of Noblemen and Gentlemen , the most part whereof have been Commanders in the Wars , and some yet are , to consult together of what Number of men an Army ought to be composed , which might be able to recover the Palatinate , and protect it from a second Invasion . These according to his Majesties good pleasure divers days met together at one appointed place , and there contributed their best endeavors : At least they have finished their task ; advised the King of the Number of Soldiers ; they have estimated the present Charge his Majesty must be at for the Relieving , Arming , Clothing , Munition and Habiliments of War ; These have likewise calculated the Annual Expence for the maintenance of them . The first I will now inform you ; And for the last Point , because of a greater Charge and Consequence , I will allow more time of Consideration . Twenty five thousand Foot , and Five thousand Horse , is the portion they all agree on ; and less they could not consider to be sent , considering they were to combat with an Enemy so far from hence , already in possession of a great part of the Country , well fortified in many places , Master of an Army composed with Twenty thousand Foot and Four thousand Horse , most Veterane Soldiers , commanded by the best Captains now known in the Christian world , except the Prince of Orange ; after whom to be esteemed second , is the highest praise : I say , all these respects duly weighed , there could not in their judgments be abated of this proportion : And this Army was framed on that mould which the Secretaries of State gave them of the Enemies strength . The issue of Battels is in the hands of God : The eyes of Humane providence cannot see beyond its horizon ; It cannot ascertain future Contingents , it can only judge of what seems fit to be done , guided by the Rules of Probability and Reason . Events happen often contrary , and never more contrary then in matters of Warfare : Yet admit a sinister success to happen , a Counsel wisely taken ought not therefore to lose the due commendations . Sirs , I have told you the Number ; You now expect to know the present Charge , in which I shall deal most truly with you . Believe me , His Majesty must disburse Thirty thousand pounds for provision of Necessities to furnish such an Army to be sent ; The most part of the Provisions must be made beyond the Seas , for there Arms are best , and best cheap : This Army must ( if such an Army ) go by the end of April . It was God that said , Let there be light , and it was so : Kings ( though they be stiled Gods ) enjoy no such power , incommunicable to any Kings . Whatever their ends or desires are , they must allow time to the consummation of them : They be Soveraigns over us , but subject unto Time. But what need I add spurs to a forward horse ? In my conscience , there are few Members in this House , that to that Holy War ( as I may justly stile it ) would not as willingly and as heartily contribute the service of their persons , as the assistance of their purses . I know I speak the Language of all your Hearts , let us shew our Faith by our works : Time was to have done much better then now we can ; time is that we may do well ; but if we attend somewhat longer , time will be past : So as all we do then will be so out of season , as it can produce neither any great , nor any good effect . But stay , methinks I hear some say , Why his Majesty told us , that by way of Treaty he hoped so to prevail , as the Palatinate should be restored . I confess I heard so to ; and Heaven be pleased to crown his actions with success , as the piousness of his intentions deserves . But I must be excused , if I doubt it , if I fear it , if I despair of it : For it is no article of my Faith to believe in Miracles . But suppose this might be brought to pass , what then , shall this gift of ours be lost , or cast away ? No sure , it will be well bestowed , if as a Sacrifice of our thankfulness we offer it unto his Maj●sty , by whose Wisdom that is regained ; which certainly by any other course , must needs have exposed our persons to great danger , and our purses to much more expence . And in this we shall do as he that receiveth a rich present , and returns a small reward . Perhaps this way may not quadrate with every mans conceipt ; if not , then let this which his Majesty demands to make provision for a Foreign Army , be employed in rearing a Magazin here at home , since so great is the want of Munition , as I wonder we all cry out for want of Money , and never think how to be stored of that , which of the two , is more necessary : Seeing by the one , we are onely enabled to live more plenteously and sumptuously ; and by the other , our lives are preserved free from misery and slavery . In matters of moment , I know it is as laudable to use Deliberation before a Resolution , as after that once taken , Celerity in execution . Council is the Compass by which all great Actions ought to be guided ; it is the Stear by which wise men do shape their courses . I allow it , I commend it , I advise it ; yet to be so slow , so discussive , so long in resolving , all we then can do , will be no more worth then a Physitian after death . Sure such a dulness , must needs accuse us of much weakness , if it admit of no worse construction , ( bis dat qui cito dat ) freeness in giving graceth the gift ; dimidium facti qui bene coepit habet . We have a long journey to go , and to set forward is half the way . How pressing the occasion is , my Tongue faints to tell , ( Vox faucibus haeret ) The Foxes have Holes , and the Birds of the Air have Nests ; but the Daughter of our King and Kingdom scarce knows where to lay her head , or if she do , not where in safety . Lastly , When we had no other object in our Contemplations , but the memory of her vertue ( which remaineth in durable Characters in the heart of every honest man ) what a forwardness and ferventness did we express in these our voluntary contributions , notwithstanding that some base , sordid , and avaritious men who adored their Mammon , deterred men from that noble and pious work . They were then but Panick terrors , clouds cast before the Sun which now shines out so bright , as all those mists are vanished . His Majesty calls to us for aid , he invites us to it , and he that was born to Command , now vouchsafes to entreat us : Now if ever , now is the time to do our Country good . Do we desire to sweep all Grievances out of this Land ? Do we desire to extinguish the care of them , that they may never more germinate in this Commonwealth ? Do we desire to destroy those Spiders that spin this Net ? Now if ever , now is the time to effect it . And to arive at this blessing , methinks I discover a plain and easie way ; let us please the King first , and I speak it with Faith , He will be gratiously pleased to reward us : Prove rich Merchants , and make a brave return . Great and generous spirits are then most apt to make requests , when first they have obtained their own . In the Region of Kings , the way to conquer is to submit ; and nothing more obligeth an honest heart to perform what is expected , then to believe and trust in him . This is the way to make his Majesty not onely love , but fall in love with Parliaments : This is the way to recal them home from exile , and again render them frequent amongst us : This is the way to fix this , until we have purchased present ease , and future happiness to our Country . Let his Majesty have hearts ease amongst us , and we shall receive from his Royal Hand that Dictamum which must expel these Arrows that hang in the sides of the Commonwealth . Thus have I delivered my opinion , which if it be not the same with every one here present , I shall beg that favorable censure which Charity commands me to afford to all . Let him believe , I have spoken my Conscience , as I shall of him , though he happen to dissent from my opinion : For from what Circumference soever the Lines be drawn , the Center is the same , which is our Countreys good ; at which , the desire of every man ought to aim , and the duty of every man ought to desire . He that would take another course , and have Grievances first preferred ; if he wished that out of a good to his Countrey , as unwilling to innovate antient proceedings ; of this man I will onely say , Optime sentit Cato , sed nocet interdum Reipublicae : But if there be any other who out of a corrupt and imposthumate heart , looking to false and foreign ends , would endeavor to put a Partition-Wall between the King and his people , this man I dare pronounce neither good Subject , nor good Englishman , nor good Christian ; but the Agent of base and beggerly Promoters , needy and greedy Projectors , and a friend to those Monsters , which I hope have no Generation ; who not born to any Fortune , nor having Vertue , nor Industry , by which they might hope to obtain any , yet like Harpies greedy to devour other mens Possessions , care not what way they take to become masters of them , sleighting the latter day of Judgment , so they may rest secured from yielding any account in this World. I have no more to say , but that God would be pleased to incline our hearts to do that which may be most for his glory , next for the Kings service , then for the Countreys happiness . SInce Supply unto his Majesty is now in question , of which I hope there will be no question , I humbly ask leave of this Honorable Assembly to speak my Opinion ; assuring you , That when a Treaty of Grievances shall be on foot , it shall appear I will not sit silent , if I find my self able to say any thing that may lend a hand to unload my Country of that heavy burthen it now groans under by reason of the innumerable number of Monopolies , which like so many Incubusses and Succubusses exhaust the Vital spirits , and so press down those Parts which ought to enjoy free respiration , as without some speedy remedy is like to run to extreme hazard . But this I refer to its proper time , and reserve my self for it , and now proceed to the matter in hand . Sure , I do think there are very few that serve in this House ( if there be any ) who do not confidently believe , that the chief Motive which induced his Majesty at this time to assemble this Parliament , was a meer Necessity to be by us enabled for the Recovery of the Patrimony belonging to the King of Bohemia , now almost traversed from him , and in the possession of a powerful Enemy . If there be any who doubt of this truth , I hope he may easily rest satisfied , when I shall assure him ( out of my own knowledge ) that many days before this Session , his Majesty commanded a select number of Noblemen and Gentlemen , the most part whereof have been Commanders in the Wars , and some yet are , to consult together of what Number of men an Army ought to be composed , which might be able to recover the Palatinate , and protect it from a second Invasion . These according to his Majesties good pleasure divers days met together at one appointed place , and there contributed their best endeavors : At least they have finished their task ; advised the King of the Number of Soldiers ; they have estimated the present Charge his Majesty must be at for the Relieving , Arming , Clothing , Munition and Habiliments of War ; These have likewise calculated the Annual Expence for the maintenance of them . The first I will now inform you ; And for the last Point , because of a greater Charge and Consequence , I will allow more time of Consideration . Twenty five thousand Foot , and Five thousand Horse , is the portion they all agree on ; and less they could not consider to be sent , considering they were to combat with an Enemy so far from hence , already in possession of a great part of the Country , well fortified in many places , Master of an Army composed with Twenty thousand Foot and Four thousand Horse , most Veterane Soldiers , commanded by the best Captains now known in the Christian world , except the Prince of Orange ; after whom to be esteemed second , is the highest praise : I say , all these respects duly weighed , there could not in their judgments be abated of this proportion : And this Army was framed on that mould which the Secretaries of State gave them of the Enemies strength . The issue of Battels is in the hands of God : The eyes of Humane providence cannot see beyond its horizon ; It cannot ascertain future Contingents , it can only judge of what seems fit to be done , guided by the Rules of Probability and Reason . Events happen often contrary , and never more contrary then in matters of Warfare : Yet admit a sinister success to happen , a Counsel wisely taken ought not therefore to lose the due commendations . Sirs , I have told you the Number ; You now expect to know the present Charge , in which I shall deal most truly with you . Believe me , His Majesty must disburse Thirty thousand pounds for provision of Necessities to furnish such an Army to be sent ; The most part of the Provisions must be made beyond the Seas , for there Arms are best , and best cheap : This Army must ( if such an Army ) go by the end of April . It was God that said , Let there be light , and it was so : Kings ( though they be stiled Gods ) enjoy no such power , incommunicable to any Kings . Whatever their ends or desires are , they must allow time to the consummation of them : They be Soveraigns over us , but subject unto Time. But what need I add spurs to a forward horse ? In my conscience , there are few Members in this House , that to that Holy War ( as I may justly stile it ) would not as willingly and as heartily contribute the service of their persons , as the assistance of their purses . I know I speak the Language of all your Hearts , let us shew our Faith by our works : Time was to have done much better then now we can ; time is that we may do well ; but if we attend somewhat longer , time will be past : So as all we do then will be so out of season , as it can produce neither any great , nor any good effect . But stay , methinks I hear some say , Why his Majesty told us , that by way of Treaty he hoped so to prevail , as the Palatinate should be restored . I confess I heard so to ; and Heaven be pleased to crown his actions with success , as the piousness of his intentions deserves . But I must be excused , if I doubt it , if I fear it , if I despair of it : For it is no article of my Faith to believe in Miracles . But suppose this might be brought to pass , what then , shall this gift of ours be lost , or cast away ? No sure , it will be well bestowed , if as a Sacrifice of our thankfulness we offer it unto his Maj●sty , by whose Wisdom that is regained ; which certainly by any other course , must needs have exposed our persons to great danger , and our purses to much more expence . And in this we shall do as he that receiveth a rich present , and returns a small reward . Perhaps this way may not quadrate with every mans conceipt ; if not , then let this which his Majesty demands to make provision for a Foreign Army , be employed in rearing a Magazin here at home , since so great is the want of Munition , as I wonder we all cry out for want of Money , and never think how to be stored of that , which of the two , is more necessary : Seeing by the one , we are onely enabled to live more plenteously and sumptuously ; and by the other , our lives are preserved free from misery and slavery . In matters of moment , I know it is as laudable to use Deliberation before a Resolution , as after that once taken , Celerity in execution . Council is the Compass by which all great Actions ought to be guided ; it is the Stear by which wise men do shape their courses . I allow it , I commend it , I advise it ; yet to be so slow , so discussive , so long in resolving , all we then can do , will be no more worth then a Physitian after death . Sure such a dulness , must needs accuse us of much weakness , if it admit of no worse construction , ( bis dat qui cito dat ) freeness in giving graceth the gift ; dimidium facti qui bene coepit habet . We have a long journey to go , and to set forward is half the way . How pressing the occasion is , my Tongue faints to tell , ( Vox faucibus haeret ) The Foxes have Holes , and the Birds of the Air have Nests ; but the Daughter of our King and Kingdom scarce knows where to lay her head , or if she do , not where in safety . Lastly , When we had no other object in our Contemplations , but the memory of her vertue ( which remaineth in durable Characters in the heart of every honest man ) what a forwardness and ferventness did we express in these our voluntary contributions , notwithstanding that some base , sordid , and avaritious men who adored their Mammon , deterred men from that noble and pious work . They were then but Panick terrors , clouds cast before the Sun which now shines out so bright , as all those mists are vanished . His Majesty calls to us for aid , he invites us to it , and he that was born to Command , now vouchsafes to entreat us : Now if ever , now is the time to do our Country good . Do we desire to sweep all Grievances out of this Land ? Do we desire to extinguish the care of them , that they may never more germinate in this Commonwealth ? Do we desire to destroy those Spiders that spin this Net ? Now if ever , now is the time to effect it . And to arive at this blessing , methinks I discover a plain and easie way ; let us please the King first , and I speak it with Faith , He will be gratiously pleased to reward us : Prove rich Merchants , and make a brave return . Great and generous spirits are then most apt to make requests , when first they have obtained their own . In the Region of Kings , the way to conquer is to submit ; and nothing more obligeth an honest heart to perform what is expected , then to believe and trust in him . This is the way to make his Majesty not onely love , but fall in love with Parliaments : This is the way to recal them home from exile , and again render them frequent amongst us : This is the way to fix this , until we have purchased present ease , and future happiness to our Country . Let his Majesty have hearts ease amongst us , and we shall receive from his Royal Hand that Dictamum which must expel these Arrows that hang in the sides of the Commonwealth . Thus have I delivered my opinion , which if it be not the same with every one here present , I shall beg that favorable censure which Charity commands me to afford to all . Let him believe , I have spoken my Conscience , as I shall of him , though he happen to dissent from my opinion : For from what Circumference soever the Lines be drawn , the Center is the same , which is our Countreys good ; at which , the desire of every man ought to aim , and the duty of every man ought to desire . He that would take another course , and have Grievances first preferred ; if he wished that out of a good to his Countrey , as unwilling to innovate antient proceedings ; of this man I will onely say , Optime sentit Cato , sed nocet interdum Reipublicae : But if there be any other who out of a corrupt and imposthumate heart , looking to false and foreign ends , would endeavor to put a Partition-Wall between the King and his people , this man I dare pronounce neither good Subject , nor good Englishman , nor good Christian ; but the Agent of base and beggerly Promoters , needy and greedy Projectors , and a friend to those Monsters , which I hope have no Generation ; who not born to any Fortune , nor having Vertue , nor Industry , by which they might hope to obtain any , yet like Harpies greedy to devour other mens Possessions , care not what way they take to become masters of them , sleighting the latter day of Judgment , so they may rest secured from yielding any account in this World. I have no more to say , but that God would be pleased to incline our hearts to do that which may be most for his glory , next for the Kings service , then for the Countreys happiness . To the Doubts which the King propounded , the Parliament gave Solution by a Committee of both Houses , in the Declaration following , delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury , with this Introduction . May it please your Sacred Majesty , WE are come to you again , from your most Faithful Subjects and Loyal Servants , the Lords and Commons assembled in this present Parliament . And first , We humbly let your Majesty know , how much we hold our selves bounden unto Almighty God , that he hath sent a King to rule and reign over us ; who is pleased in the greatest and weightiest causes , to speak and to be spoken to in Parliament by his good and loving people , which causeth the King to understand them , over whom he beareth rule , and them again to understand him : And is a true Bond that tieth the heart of the Sovereign to the Subject , and of the Subject reciprocally to their Leige Lord and Sovereign . And next , we rejoyce that your Majesty hath shewed your self sensible of the insincerity of the King of Spain , with whom of late you have had a double Treaty ; and of the indignities offered by them unto your Blessed Son , the Prince , and to your Royal Daughter . And that your Kingly heart is filled with an earnest desire to make Reparation to her noble Consort , and her self , of the Palatinate their Patrimonial Possession , which is agréeable to Iustice , and to all Laws of God and Man. For the effecting whereof , to certifie with what alacrity , with what expediteness and uniformity of heart , both your Houses of Parliament , in the name of your whole Kingdom , have borne themselves unto your Majesty , with offer to give their Royal assistance , we have digested it into writing ; lest by the verbal or vocal Delivery of any person , it may miscarry ; or the expression of our zeal , be weakned or diminished . Which we humbly pray your Majesty to give leave to be read unto you . Most Gratious Sovereign , WE your Majesties most humble and Loyal Subjects , the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled , Do first render to your Sacred Majesty our most dutiful thanks , for that to our unspeakable comfort , you have vouchsafed to express your self so well satisfied with our late Declaration made unto your Majesty , of our general Resolution , in pursuit of our humble Advice to assist your Majesty in a Parliamentary way with our persons and abilities . And whereas your Majesty in your great Wisdom and Iudgment , foreséeing that it will make a déeper Impression both in the Enemies of that Cause , and in your Friends and Allies , if they shall not onely hear of the chearful Offers , but also sée the real Performance of your Subjects towards so great a Work. Your Majesty was pleased to descend to a particular Proposition for the Advancing of this great business , We therefore in all humbleness , most ready and willing to give your Majesty and the whole World , an ample Testimony of our sincere and dutiful Intensions herein , Upon mature Advice and Deliberation , as well of the weight and importance of this great Affair , as of the present Estate of this your Kingdom ( the Weal and Safety whereof is in our Iudgments , apparently threatned , if your Majesties Resolution for the dissolving of the Treaties now in question , be longer deferred ; and that Provision for defence of your Realm , and aid of your Friends and Allies , be not seasonably made ) have with a chearful consent of all the Commons ( no one Dissenting ) and with a full and chearful Consent of the Lords , resolved , That upon your Maiesties Publick Declaration , for the Dissolution and utter Discharge of both the said Treaties of the Marriage , and of the Palatinate , in pursuit of our Advice therein , and towards the support of that War which is likely to ensue , and more particularly for those Four Points proposed by your Majesty ; namely , For the Defence of this your Realm ; the securing of Ireland ; the assistance of your Neighbors ; the States of the United Provinces , and other your Majesties Friends and Allies , and for the setting forth of your Royal Navy , We will grant for the present the greatest Aid which ever was given in Parliament : That is to say , Thrée intire Subsidies , and thrée Fiftéens , to be all paid within the compass of one whole year , after your Majesty shall be pleased to make the said Declaration , the Money to be paid into the hands and expended by the direction of such Committées or Commissioners , as hereafter shall be agréed upon at this present Session of Parliament . And we most humbly beséech your Majesty to accept of these first-fruits of our hearty Oblation , dedicated to that work which we infinitely desire , may prosper and be advanced . And for the future to rest confidently assured , That we your loyal and loving Subjects will never fail in a Parliamentary way to assist your Majesty in so Royal a design , wherein your own honor , and the honor of your most Noble Son , the Prince , the antient renown of this Nation , the welfare and very subsistence of your Noble and onely Daughter , and her Consort , and their Posterity , the safety of your own Kingdom , and People , and the prosperity of your Neighbors and Allies , are so déeply engaged . Herunto his Majesty replied . My Lords and Gentlemen all , I Have nothing to say to the Preamble of my Lord of Canterbury , but that he intimated something in it which I cannot allow of : For whereas he said I have shewed my self sensible of the insincerity of those with whom I had lately to deal , and of the indignity offered to my Children : In this you must give me leave to tell you , that I have not expressed my self to be either sensible or insensible of the good or bad dealing . It was Buckinghams Relation to you which touched upon it ; by it you must not bar me , nor make Iupiter speak that which Iupiter speaks not : For when I speak any such thing , I will speak it with that reason , and back it with that power which becomes a King. As for the matter of the Declaration unto my Demands , which you have couched in that Paper , which I now heard read unto me , I confess it is without example that any King hath had such an offer . And with your favor I need fear nothing in this World , having so much the hearts of my people . For the large offer of assistance , I hold it to be more then Millions of Subsidies ; and indeed it is an ample reward for the trust and freedom which I have used with you But my Lords and Gentlemen , you must give me leave on the one side , to consider the possibility of the action : For in this case I must do as a man that maketh a Fortification , which must have Out-works and Inworks ; so I must not deal onely with mine own people , but with my Neighbors advice to assist me in so great a business for recovery of the Palatinate . And in this case it is not sufficient to have the hearts of my Subjects , without the help of my Neighbors and Allies ; on the other side , unless particular means be set down , it will neither be a Bridle to our Enemies , nor a comfort to my Friends , who shall joyn with me . General words will not carry it , therefore I must resort to particular means , and follow the Counsel of our Saviour Christ in the Gospel , before I begin a War , to see how I can maintain it . God knows it is a longsome work , yet I desire with Moses , as I said before , but to see the Land of Promise , though I live not till it be recovered . But unless particular means be discovered , it is little to the point : Therefore since you give me such fair general promises , I will deal freely with you , I will tell you in particular , the way I will propose , either by way of Subsidies or otherwise ; which being done in Parliament , is a Parliamentary way . I would require you to be pleased to bestow upon me Five Subsidies and Two Fifteens to every Subsidy for the War : And for mine own necessities , my crying debts are so heavy , that no man can bear them with a greater grief of heart , and sting of Conscience , then I have done and do . And I now growing old , would be glad to see a means for the satisfying of my debts , before I go out of the World. And for this end , I desire you would give me one Subsidy and two Fifteens yearly , until my debts be paid . Here the Prince his Highness taking notice of an Objection made , that this might seem contradictory to that which his Highness had told the Committee of both Houses , That the Kings Majesty would ask nothing for his own particular , till the Wars were provided for : The Prince said , That the Duke of Buckingham in his absence hath moved this doubt unto the King. Whereupon the Duke affirmed , That speaking with the King about it , his Majesty was pleased to say , If we would adde one Subsidy and two Fifteens to make it up Six Subsidies and Twelve Fifteens for the War , he was well content to quit that which he hath asked for his own necessities . The King proceeded . If this may be done , or that I may see a fair way for it , I will follow your Advice ; for I would never have asked your Advice to reject it , or to put a scorn upon you : For the levying of these Subsidies and Fifteens , I would have you consider how to clear these two difficulties . If you levy them too suddenly , it may be heavy for the people ; if you stay too long , it will not serve the turn . But this I leave to your consideration : And since I leave it to your selves to receive the Money , and expend it by your own Committees of both Houses , you may be the more secure . And yet I would not have you to be too hasty in the levying of it , that no extremity be shewed to my people by imposing too heavy a burthen upon them , which God forbid . On the other side , the business will not suffer too long lingring about it . I told you before , I had in this great business , to look to my Conscience and Honor , as well as to the Means . For the Means , I must have it from you ; my Conscience and Honor is mine own , of which I have thought , and do think daily . And how I shall be able to discharge them as a King ought to do , yet not without taking help of your Advice , which I would never have moved , unless I had meant to follow it . Here again the Prince , said he , had spoken with his Father , to know of him whether he were satisfied in Honor and Conscience , that he might in this case undertake a War ; and that his Majesty answered , He was already satisfied and resolved therein ; but for the manner of publishing it , he would take your Advice . Then the Duke of Buckingham said , the reason why his Majesty used these words , was , That having formerly spoken of his Honor and Conscience , if he should now have left them out , it might have been thought that money onely had drawn him to it : But the King said , He was already satisfied , and resolved , yet would have your Advice for the manner of declaring of it . The King again proceeded . I told you before , that this was the way to make me in love with Parliaments , and to shew mine inclination to continue them still . My Resolution is to make this a Session for the passing of as many good Laws , as in convenient time may be prepared ; and at Michaelmas , or within a few days after to have a new Session , and another at the Spring . And in the mean time , you may go down and acquaint your selves with the grievances of my people ; and you shall see my care to make good Laws , and to reform abuses ; that so my Subjects may finde the good fruits of Parliaments , and rejoyce in them . And I protest , as I have asked your Advice in these Points , which I needed not to have done ; so I will never enter any Agreement or Treaty of Composition for Peace , which is the end of War ( else it is unjust and unchristian ) without your Advice ; and I will help you my self , if we enter into a War , to make it allowable to the World , and Honorable for me . So the King resolved and declared his Resolution to dissolve the Treaties . Hereupon Bonfires were made in London , and the Bells rung for joy . Then the Parliament made haste to pass the Act for the grant of three Subsidies , and three Fifteens , to be employed for the use aforesaid ; and by the same Act , Treasurers were appointed to receive and disburse the Moneys , and a Council of War to manage the Design . The King made the ensuing Declaration to both Houses of Parliament . MY Nobles and Gentlemen , the last time I spake to you anent this great business , I told you what in my opinion was necessarily required to the beginning of it . The Reasons whereof you have truly set down out of my last Speech , wherein I shewed you what good it would do , and what harm it might free us from ; to express particular Aids at this time , as well as general Promises . It is true , I must confess that how far you declare your selves , is sufficient for the present entrance into the business , though a great deal short of what I told you it would require . But as God bears me Record , and I think the hearts of all my loving Subjects will testifie for me , I never did stick for Money , but onely desired you to clear your selves by particulars , that I may see how I may be able to go through so great a matter , at least to make a good beginning of the War ; for what the end will be , God knows . So on the other part , I gave you thanks for your general offer , by which you did engage your selves in your Lives and Estates , which is more then Forty Subsidies , if you had named them , and more worth then a Kingdom ; for the strength of a King , next under the protection of God , stands in the hearts of his people . And I must needs say in this particular , it is without example , that ever any Parliament for a beginning , gave to a King so great a supply to be levied in so short a time : This may well serve for a preparation . And for my part , first , considering your general offer , ( which is ten times more to me then all Subsidies ) and next considering that these particulars coming from you , be as much as at once you are able to pay in so short a time , being within a year , and as much as may be well expected : Therefore with as much love , and as great thanks , as a loving and kinde King can give to so loving and dutiful a people . I thank you for your offer , and do accept it . I told you before , that I would never have craved your Advice to reject it , and so to put a scorn upon you : Think me not the Man. It is true , I think no wise King can undertake so great a bargain , but he must well be-think himself before-hand : And I account it better that a King advise well before he take a Resolution , then advise rashly , and after repent . Therefore , my Lords and Gentlemen , I declare unto you , That as I am willing to follow your Advice in the annulling and breach of the two Treaties , both of the Match , and of the Palatinate : so on the other part , I assure my self , you will make good what you have said , That what you advise me unto , you will assist me with your Wisdom , and Council , and Forces , if need require . I pray you have a charitable opinion of me , as you are to have of a King who hath so long ruled and governed over you , ( and I may vaunt my self thus far to have done it with Justice and Peace . ) But , as I told you before , all my forbearance hath been for sparing the effusion of Christian Blood , and as the most easie and probable way for recovering the Palatinate for my Children . It is true , I have been so long delayed , and paid with generals , that I dare not trust longer unto that which made me erre . The Duke of Buckingham made a particular relation unto you , of all that business ; and I am sure such an accompt was never before given in Parliament , that thereby you may know what to trust to . I could in this case have resolved my self , but I thought it could not but be both a strength and honor to me to have the Advice of my people . My Lords , in the late Parliament I then declared it unto you , that I was resolved without respect of Friendship , or Match , or whatsoever , to have the Palatinate one way or other : I hope you remember it . God is my Judge and Saviour , I never had any other end , and it is pitty I should live to have any other end ; and for my part , except by such means as God may put into my hands , I may recover the Palatinate , I could wish never to have been born . I am old , but mine onely Son is yong , and I will promise for my self and him both , that no means shall be unused for the recovery of it ; and this I dare say , as old as I am , if it might do good to the business , I would go in mine own person , and think my labor and travel well bestowed , though I should end my days there . For if I should spare any means possible for the recovery of it , then let me not be thought worthy to Reign over you ; and in good faith , I never resolved to live with other minde ; and I will say more , there was never any Enemy of my Son-in-law , with whom I talked on of the business , or any that I ever spake with of the same ; which did not say , and confess I had reason to have the Palatinate , one way or other : And when they say that it is good reason , and themselves allow it , it is a good spur to me to think on it . My Lords and Gentlemen , thus far assure your selves , I will go chearfully about it , to prepare all things possible for it ; and as you have given the means , so will I employ them toward it . In the next degree , I hope you will think of me , but that I leave to your own Counsel and Consideration . But I protest to God , a penny of this Money shall not be bestowed but upon this Work , and by your own Committees ; and I assure my self , you will think of me for a double Reason . My Customs are likely to fall , by occasion of the War , and my Charges increase ; but undertaking the War , I must go through with it one way or other , though I sell my Jewels and all . In the next Session you will consider how this hath been husbanded ; and according to that , think what is next to be done ; and it will spur you the more to enable me for the rest , whereof I spake to you before . His Majesty further said , I will clear you in some things ; for I will not deal with you in any thing , but fairly and clearly as a King : Though I have broken the Necks three of Parliaments , one after another , I hope that in this Parliament you shall be so resolved of the sincerity of my heart , and of your duties and affections , that this shall be a happy Parliament , and make me greater and happier then any King of England ever was . In my last Speech I promised you , that if I accepted your offer , I would follow your Advice , and would not after hearken to any Treaty of Peace , without first acquainting you , and requiring your Advice ; and I likewise promised nothing should be spent of your Moneys , but by your own Committees . But I desire you to understand , That I must have a faithful secret Counsel of War , that must not be ordered by a multitude , for so my designs may be discovered before hand ; and one penny of this Money shall not be bestowed , but in sight of your own Committees . But whether I shall send Twenty thousand pounds , or Ten thousand pounds ; whether by Sea or Land , East or West , by Diversion , or otherwise by Invasion upon the Bavarian or Emperor , you must leave that to your King. Assure your selves ; my delay hitherto was upon hope to have gotten it without a War. I held it by a hair , hoping to have gotten it by a Treaty ; but since I see no certainty that way , I hope that God who hath put it into your hearts thus to advise me , and into my heart to follow your Advice , will so bless it , that I shall clear my Reputation from obliquy ; and in despight of the Devil , and all his Instruments , shew that I never had but an honest heart . And I desire , that God would bless our labors for the happy Restitution of my Children ; and whosoever did the wrong , I deserved better at their hands . After this , the King purposing to signifie to the King of Spain , That his Parliament had advised him to break off the Treaties , and to recover the Palatinate by War : The notice of a sharp Petition against Popish Recusants framed by the House of Commons , and sent up to the Lords for their Concurrence , did a little stagger his Resolution , as appeareth by the following Letter written with his own hand to Secretary Conway . I Doubt not but you have heard what a stinging Petition against the Papists , the Lower House have sent to the Higher House this day , that they might joyntly present it unto me . Ye know my firm resolution not to make this a War of Religion ; and seeing I would be loth to be Coney-catched by my people , I pray you stay the Post that is going to Spain , till I meet with my Son , who will be here to morrow morning : Do it upon pretext of some more Letters ye are to send by him ; and if he should be gone , hasten after him to stay him upon some such pretext ; and let none living know of this , as you love me . And before two in the afternoon to morrow , you shall without fail hear from me , Farewell . James R. The Petition which the King called a stinging one , was intended to be presented to his Majesty from both Houses in form as followeth . May it please your most Excellent Majesty , WE your Majesties most humble and Loyal Subjects , the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled , having to our singular Comfort received your Princely Resolution upon our humble Petition , to dissolve the two Treaties of the Match , and of the Palatinate ; and having on our parts with all alacrity and readiness humbly offered our assistance to your Majesty , to maintain the War which may ensue thereupon : Yet withal sensibly finding what Seditious and Traiterous Positions those Incendiaries of Rome , and professed Engines of Spain , the Priests and Iesuites , infuse into your natural born Subjects ; what numbers they have seduced , and do daily seduce , to make their dependance on the Pope of Rome and King of Spain , contrary to their Allegiance to your Majesty their Liege Lord ; What daily resort of Priests and Iesuites into your Kingdoms ; what Concourse of Popish Recusants , much more then usual , is now in and about the City of London ; what boldness , yea , what insolency they have discovered out of the opinion conceived of their foreign Patronage ; what publick resort to Masses , and other Exercises of the Popish Religion , in the houses of foreign Ambassadors there is daily , to the great grief and offence of your good Subjects ; what great preparations are made in Spain , sit for an Invasion , the bent whereof is as probable to be upon some part of your Majesties Dominions , as upon any other place ; what encouragement that may be to your Enemies , and the Enemies of your Crown , to have a party , or but the opinion of a party within your Kingdoms , who do daily increase and combine themselves together for that purpose ; what disheartening of your good and loving Subjects , when they shall see more cause of fear from their false-hearted Countreymen at home , then from their professed Adversaries abroad ; what apparent dangers by Gods providence , and your Majesties wisdom and goodness they have very lately escaped , which the longer continuance upon those Treaties , upon such unfitting Conditions , fomented by your own ill-affected Subjects , would surely have drawn upon your Majesty , and your State ; Do in all humbleness offer unto your sacred Majesty these their humble Petitions following . I. That all Iesuites and Seminary Priests , and all others , having taken Orders by any Authority derived from the Sea of Rome , may by your Maiesties Proclamation be commanded forthwith to depart out of this Realm , and all other your Highness ' s. Dominions ; and neither they , nor any other to return or come hither again , upon peril of the severest penalty of the Laws now in force against them ; and that all your Majesties Subjects may hereby also be admonished not to receive , entertain , comfort or conceal any of that viperous brood , upon penalties and forfeitures which by the Lawes may be imposed upon them . II. That your Majesty would be pleased to give streight and speedy charge to the Iustices of Peace in all parts of this Kingdom , that ( according to the Laws in that behalf made , and the Orders taken by your Majesties Privy-Councel heretofore for policy of State ) they do take from all Popish Recusants legally convicted , or justly suspected ; all such Armor , Gunpowder , and Munition of any kinde , as any of them have either in their own hands , or in the hands of any other for them , and to see the same safely kept , and disposed according to the Law , leaving for the necessary defence of their house and persons , so much as by the Law is prescribed . III. That your Majesty will please to command all Popish Recusants , and all other who by any Law or Statute are prohibited to come to the Kings Court , forthwith under pain of your heavy displeasure and severe Execution of your Laws against them , to retire themselves , their wives and families from or about London , to their several dwellings , or places by your Laws appointed , and there to remain confined within five miles of their dwelling places , according to the Lawes of this your Realm : And for that purpose to discharge all By-past Licences granted unto them for their repair hither ; And that they presume not any time hereafter to repair to London , or within ten miles of London , or to the Kings Court , or to the Princes Court , wheresoever . IV. That your Majesty would forbid and restrain the great resort and concourse of your own Subjects , for the hearing of Masse , or other Exercises of the Romish Religion , to the houses of foreign Ambassadors , or Agents , residing here for the service of their several Princes or States . V. That where of late in several Counties in this Realm some have been trusted in the places of Lord-Lieutenants , Deputy-Lieutenants , Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer , Iustices of Peace , and Captains of their Countries , which are either Popish Recusants , or Non-Communicants by the space of a year now last past , or which do not usually resort to the Church to Divine service , and can bring no good Certificate thereof ; that your Majesty would be pleased to discharge them from these places of trust , by which they have that power in the Countrey where they live , as is not fit to be put into the hands of persons so affected . VI. That your Majesty would be pleased generally to put the Lawes in due Execution , which are made , and stand in force against Popish Recusants ; And that all your Iudges , Iustices , and Ministers of Iustice , to whose care these things are committed , may by your Maiesties Proclamation be commanded to do their duty therein . VII . That seeing we are thus happily delivered from that danger which these Treaties now dissolved , and that use which your ill-affected Subiects made thereof , would certainly have drawn upon us ; and cannot but foresee and fear least the like may hereafter happen , and unevitably bring such peril to your Maiesties Kingdoms : We are most humble Suitors to your gracious Maiesty , to secure the hearts of your good Subiects by the engagement of your Royal word unto them ; that upon no occasion of Marriage or Treaty , or other request in that behalf from any foreign Prince or States whatsoever , you will take off , or slacken the Execution of your Laws against the Popish Recusants . To which our humble Petitions , proceeding from our most loyal and dutifull affections toward your Maiesty , our care of our Countries good , and our confident perswasion that this will much advance the glory of Almighty God , the everlasting honor of your Maiesty , the safety of your Kingdom , and the encouragement of all your good Subiects : We do most humbly beseech your Maiesty to vouchsafe a gracious Answer . This Petition , after a Conference between both Houses , was reduced to another form , and so presented to the King. To which his Majesty returned this Answer . My Lords and Gentlemen of both Houses , I Cannot but commend your zeal in offering this Petition to me , yet on the other side , I cannot but hold my self unfortunate , that I should be thought to need a spur to do that which my Conscience and duty bindes me unto . What Religion I am of , my Books do declare , my profession and behavior doth shew ; and I hope in God I shall never live to be thought otherwise ; surely I shall never deserve it ; and for my part , I wish it may be written in Marble , and remain to Posterity as a mark upon me , when I shall swerve from my Religion ; for he that doth dissemble with God , is not to be trusted with men . My Lords , for my part , I protest before God , that my heart hath bled when I have heard of the increase of Popery ; God is my Iudge it hath been such a great grief to me , that it hath been as Thorns in my Eyes , and Pricks in my Sides ; and so far I have been , and shall be from turning another way . And my Lords and Gentlemen , you shall be my Confessors , that one way or other it hath been my desire to hinder the growth of Popery ; and I could not be an honest man if I should have done otherwise . And this I may say further , that if I be not a Martyr , I am sure I am a Confessor ; and in some sence I may be called a Martyr , as in the Scripture Isaac was persecuted by Ishmael by mocking words : for never King suffered more ill Tongues then I have done , and I am sure for no cause ; yet I have been far from persecution ; for I have ever thought that no way more encreased any Religion then persecution , according to that saying , Sanguis Martyrum est Semen Ecclesiae . Now my Lords and Gentlemen , for your Petition , I will not onely grant the substance of what you crave , but add somewhat more of my own ; for the two Treaties being already annulled ( as I have declared them to be ) it necessarily follows of it self , that which you desire , and therefore it needs no more ; But that I do declare by Proclamation ( which I am ready to do ) that all Iesuites and Priests do depart by a day ; but it cannot be as you desire by our Proclamation to be out of all my Dominions ; for a Proclamation here extends but to this Kingdom . This I will do and more , I will Command all my Iudges when they go their Circuits , to keep the same courses , for putting all the Laws in Execution against Recusants , as they were wont to do before these Treaties ; for the Laws are still in force , and were never dispenced with by me : God is my Iudge they were never so intended by me ; but as I told you in the beginning of the Parliament , you must give me leave as a good horseman , sometimes to use the Reins , and not alwayes to use the Spurs : So now there needs nothing but my Declaration for the disarming of them , that is ready done by the Laws , and shall be done as you desired : and more , I will take order for the shamefull disorder of the resorting of my Subjects to all foreign Ambassadors ; for this I will advise with my Councel how it may be best reformed . It is true , that the houses of Ambassadors are priviledged places ; and Major though they cannot take them out of their houses , yet the Lord and Mr Recorder of London , may take some of them as they come from thence , and make them examples ; another point I will add concerning the education of their children , of which I have had a principal care , as the Lord of Canterbury , and the Bishop of Winchester , and other Lords of my Councel can bear me witness , with whom I have advised about this business ; for in good faith it is a shame their Children should be bred here , as if they were at Rome . So I do grant not onely your desire , but more . I am sorry I was not the first mover of it to you , but had you not done it , I would have done it my self . Now for the second part of your Petition , you have here given me the best advice in the world ; for it is against the rule of wisdom that a King should suffer any of his Subjects to transgress the Laws by the intercession of other Princes : and therefore assure your selves that ( by the Grace of God ) I will be carefull that no such conditions be foisted in upon any other Treaty whatsoever ; for it is fit my Subjects should stand or fall to their own Laws . This Petition was furthered by the Duke of Buckingham , who still retained the memory of his ill-usage in Spain , and the Spanish Ambassador being netled thereat , accused him to the King , not without some reflection upon the Prince himself ; with some difficulty they procured a secret entercourse with the King , and suggested unto him matters of near and high concernment to his Royal dignity and person . They tell him , that being besieged , and closed up by the Dukes Servants and Vassals , he was no more a freeman : That he was to be confined to his Countrey-house and Pastimes , the Prince having years and parts answerable for publick Government . That the Duke had reconciled himself to all popular men , such as Oxford , Southampton , Essex , Say , and others , and sought to raise an opinion of his own greatness , and to make the King grow less ; and that all looked towards the rising Sun. Hereupon they advise the King to free himself from this Captivity , and eminent Danger , and to cut off so ungratefull an affecter of Popularity , and greatness , and so he should shew himself to be as he was reputed , the oldest and wisest King in Europe . These secrets were quickly blown abroad , and brought to the Dukes Ear. But whatsoever impression the King received from them , the thing whereupon he insisted openly , was , the demand of particular proofs . But all their Answers consisted of Arguments against declaring the names of the Conspirators ; whereupon the Kings Privy-Counsellors , and other principal Subjects were examined upon oaths , and Interrogatories most pertinent to the Accusation were propounded to them ; but this examination discovered nothing . The King turned again to the Ambassadors with new instances to make a clear discovery , but they still resolved to conceal the Authors . And it was alledged by their Partakers , and intimated to the King , that the things were such as could not be evidenced by Legal proofs , because the persons by whose testimony they may be confirmed , do for fear of a most potent Adversary withdraw themselves , and the Ambassadors never had the freedom personally to speak to his Majesty in the absence of the Duke of Buckingham ; an example ( say they ) unusual with other Kings , and never to be taken well , except when the King is weak in judgement , and wants experience , and a man wise and circumspect supplies his place . But here ( said the Ambassador , ) is a prudent King , and a Favorite young , rash , and heady , whose continual presence did argue guilt and fear ; and his Majesties most faithfull Servants dare not so much as disclose their minds . Moreover they suggest that the business of the Palatinate was by him taken out of the hands of the Kings Council , and referred to the Parliament ; that he did arrogate to himself the thanks of all things acceptable , and was stiled the Redeemer of his Country ; and he would have it believed , that he hath a dominion over the Kings and Princes will. And things standing thus , though many may be found that will speak against the King , yet none will appear to speak against the Duke : For which causes these close Informers besought his Majesty to free his Vassals from fear and diffidence , who otherwise will dare discover nothing for his preservation . But these dark Intelligences had no other issue , then the moving of King Iames to represent to the King of Spain the miscarriages of his Ambassadors , remitting the cause unto him , with a demand of Justice and reparation , for that the Information was sufficient to put impressions in him of perpetual jealousies of the Duke . Hereupon when the Ambassadors were returned home , they suffered a few dayes confinement , but were afterwards rather rewarded and further imployed : For in the Court of Spain , Buckinghams name was odious , and the Princes honor of little value , and the Kings reputation at a low ebb : divers particular Enmities were already begun between the Subjects of both Crowns , the English Merchants were oppressed in the Spanish Ports . Notwithstanding the Dukes vast power and popularity , the Earl of Bristol refused to bow before him . The Earl , though his charge were heavy , and his Cause strongly prejudiced , did not abandon his own defence , but protested against the Dukes Narration of the Spanish Affairs , and was committed to the Tower , being not admitted into the Kings presence , nor to plead his Cause before him . He was to the Duke a stout and dangerous Enemy ; insomuch , that he was said to violate the rules of the prudent Mariner , who in a Storm and foul weather , is accustomed rather to pull down , then to hoise up Sailes . Saturday the 29 of May , the King being come to the House of Peers , and his Majesty and the Lords in their Robes , Sir Thomas Crew Speaker , being come to the Bar , and the Commons present , he made this Speech . THat God to his own great glory had brought this Session of the Parliament so happily begun , to so happy an end , that both Houses and every particular Member thereof had given their willing assent even with one voice , unto the Advice which his Majesty was pleased so low to descend as to demand of them . As there was not an hammer heard in the building of the House of God , so in this great Business there was not a Negative voice , nor any jarring among them : But their time was wholly spent in the business of Parliament , in which they had prepared many Bills profitable for the Common-wealth , and shewed the several natures of those Bills : some for the service of God , and restraint of Recusants ; some to redress the Enormities of the Commonwealth ; others of his Majesties grace and bounty to his people ; and some concerning the Prince's Highness touching his own Lands , and others to settle strife in particular Estates ; all which do wait for and humbly desire his Majesties Royal assent . He shewed also what great joy they all received for the Dissolution of the two Treaties with Spain ; and that Commissioners are required to see the Edicts performed against Recusants and Iesuites , the Locusts of Rome , wherein will consist his Majesties chiefest safety . And they do render him humble thanks for their antient Priviledges , which they fully enjoyed this Parliament , and their so often access unto his Majesties presence ; and more especially for his Majesties general , large , liberal and free Pardon , shewing the benefit thereof , and reciting the particulars . He also presented the Bill of Three entire Subsidies , and Three Fifteens and Tenths granted this Session , and declared the cheerfulness of the grant thereof : And making his earnest prayers unto Almighty God to direct his Majesties heart to make his own Sword his Sheriff to put his Son-in-law in possession of his Palatinate , the antient Inheritance of his Royal Grandchildren , he ended , humbly craving pardon for himself and his own errors committed this Session . Unto which his Majesty presently made answer , beginning with the last of the Speakers Speech touching their Freedom , which he promised to continue unto them in as large a manner as ever they enjoyed the same . And for the Restitution of his Son-in-law , protested his continual care thereof , and his great grief if he should not see an assured hope before he died ; and vowed that all the Subsidies , for which he heartily thanked them , though it had not been so tied and limited , should have been bestowed that way . His Majesty remembred them , that nothing was given to relieve his own wants ; which he expecteth at the ne●● Session the beginning of Winter . He acknowledged the obedience and good respect of the Commons in all things this Parliament , for which ( as he was pleased to say ) he thanks them heart●ly and without complement ; and if they please to continue the same at their next meeting , it will make this the happiest Parliament that ever was . His Majesty spake also of the Grievances presented unto him yesterday by the Commons at Whitehall , promising them a full Answer at their next meeting : That he had looked over them , and was glad they were of no greater importance . His Majesty remembred the House to handle Grievances at their next meeting , and to hunt after none , nor to present any but those of importance : He promised to go over them all , and to give a free answer , such as should be good for his People , not respecting any Creature whatsoever , and that he will advise herein with his Council and Judges . At this time his Majesty said , he would shew them his grievances ; first , that they grieve at the Reformation of Building about London with Brick , which he intendeth onely for the Beauty and more ●afety of the City , therefore he will go through with it ; and if the Commissioners offend herein , let the party aggrieved complain , and he will redress it ; that the form of proceedings used by the Commons in this Parliament is also a grievance unto his Majesty , for that they did not call the Commissioners , whom they complained of , before them , touching their complaint against Doctor Aynan ; his Majesty said their oath of Supremacy forbids them to meddle with Church matters : besides they complain against him , and never heard him Touching their complaint against the Apothecaries , his Majesty protested his care therein to be onely for his peoples health ; it is dangerous for every one to meddle with Apothecaries ware , and the Grocers have a Trade beside . His fourth grievance is , that Seditious Books are so frequently printed , which he will be carefull to prevent hereafter . Fifthly , for calling in so many Patents , appointing the Patentees to wait so many days with their Council , and never to hear them ; wherefore his Majesty warned them to call for no more hereafter , unless they first knew them to be grievous to the people ; and so his Majesty concluded with thanks for the Commons good carriage towards him and his Lords this Session . Then the Lord Keeper spake to the particulars of the Speakers Speech , and by his Majesties command approved them all , alluding the general consent of both Houses to the Septuagint directed by the Holy Ghost ; and touching the Speakers desire for the Kings assent to the Bills past both Houses , he said the royal assent is proper to the Lawgiver ; and shewed , that it is best for the people ; that this is in his Majesties power , and not in themselves ; for the King knoweth what is best to be granted unto his people , as may appear by the Petition that Bathsheba made to King Solomon , to give unto Adonijah Abishag to wife , which had Solomon granted , he had given Adonijah means to usurp the Kingdom , contrary to Bathsheba's meaning ; and such is his Majesties intent this day for such Bills which he will not pass . That his Majesty had given his consent to all the Bills of Grace , and to the Bill of the continuance of some Statutes , and repeal of others , so necessary , and for the good of the people . That his Majesty accepteth in good part their thanks for his general Pardon which he hath so freely granted unto his Subjects ; but his special command is that those that are in Office , do look strictly to the execution of Laws against Recusants ; the Subsidies his Majesties graciously accepteth , and therefore imitates not the Story in Macrobius of one who had all his debts paid , and instead of thanks answered , mihi nihil ; though this be given to the Palatinate , his Majesty interpreteth it as given to himself , and rendreth to you all hearty thanks for the same . The Lord Keeper having ended his Speech , the Clerk of the Crown stood up , and read the title of the Bills passed both Houses ; and the Clerk of the Parliament read his Majesties Answer to each Bill , which being done , his Majesty remembred the breaking up of three Parliaments together , and the happy conclusion of this Session , and puts the Commons again in minde , that at their next meeting they do so carry themselves that this Parliament may be as happily continued to the end . At the Parliament holden at Westminster by Prorogation , the Nineteenth day of February , Anno Regis Iacobi Angliae , Franciae & Hiberniae vicesimo primo , & Scotiae quinquagesimo septimo , These Acts were passed . 1. AN Act for making perpetual an Act made Anno 39 Eliz. Entituled , An Act for the Erecting of Hospitals and Workhouses for the Poor . 2. An Act for the quiet of the Subject against Concealments . 3. An Act concerning Monopolies , and Dispensations with Penal Laws . 4. An Act for ease of the Subjects concerning Informations upon Penal Statutes . 5. An Act , That Sheriffs , their Heirs &c. having a Quietus est , shall be discharged of their Accompts , with the Judges opinion therein . 6. An Act concerning Women convicted of small Felonies . 7. An Act to repress Drunkenness , and to restrain the haunting of Inns , &c. 8. An Act to punish Abuses in procuring Supersedeas of the Peace out of the Courts at Westminster , and to prevent the Abuses in procuring Writs of Certiorari out of the said Courts , &c. 9. An Act for the Free Trade of Welsh Clothes , &c. in England and Wales . 10. An Act to repeal a Branch of the Statute An. 34 H. 8. Entituled An Act for certain Ordinances in the Kings Dominions , and Principality of Wale . 11. An Act for Confirmation of a Judgment given for his Majesty in a Scire facias against Henry Heron , and for Declaration of the Letters Patents therein mentioned to be void . 12. An Act to make perpetual the Act for ease in pleading against troublesom Suits prosecuted against Justices of the Peace , Mayors , &c. 13. An Act for the further reformation of Jeofails . 14. An Act to admit the Subject to plead the General Issue in Informations of Intrusion brought on the Kings behalf , and to retain his Possession till Trial. 15. An Act to enable Judges and Justices to give restitution of Possession in certain cases . 16. An Act for Limitation of Actions , and for avoiding of Suits in Law. 17. An Act against Usury . 18. An Act for the Continuance of a former Statute made 4º Iac. Entituled , An Act for the true making of Woollen Clothes . 19. An Act for the further Description of a Bankrupt , and relief of Creditors against such as shall become Bankrupts , and for inflicting of Corporal punishment upon them in some Cases . 20. An Act to prevent Swearing and Cursing . 21. An Act concerning Hostlers and Inholders . 22. An Act explaining a Statute An. 3 , 4 , & 5 E. 6. concerning the Traders of Butter and Cheese . 23. An Act to avoid Delaies by removing of Actions out of Inferior Courts . 24. An Act for relief of Creditors against such as die in Execution . 25. An Act for relief of Patentees , Tenants and Farmers of Crown-Lands and Duchy-Lands . 26. An Act against such as shall levy any Fine , suffer any Recovery , knowledge any Statute , Recognisance , Bail or Judgment in the name of any person not privy thereunto . 27. An Act to prevent the murthering of Bastard-children . 28. An Act to continue divers Statutes , and repeal others . 29. An Act to enable Prince Charls to make Leases of Lands parcel of the Duchy of Cornwal , or annexed to the same . 30. An Act to assure York-House and other Lands to the King , and to assure the Manors of Brighton , Santon , and other Lands to the Archbishop of York , &c. 31. An Act for the good Government of the Makers of Knives in Hallam-shire in the County of York . 32. An Act to make the Thames Navigable from Bercot to Oxon. 33. An Act for the Subsidies of the Clergy . 34. An Act for Three Subsidies , Three Fifteens and Tenths granted by the Temporalty , with the Judges opinions . 35. An Act for the Kings General Pardon . Private Acts. 36. An Act for the Confirmation of Wadham-Colledge in Oxon , and the Possessions thereof . 37. An Act for the Naturalizing of Philip Burlemacchi . 38. An Act for the Naturalizing of Giles Vandeput . 39. An Act to enable William Earl of Hereford , and Sir Francis Seymor Knight , to sell Lands for the paiments of Debts , and establishing other Lands . 40. An Act for the Naturalizing of Sir Robert Anstrother , Sir George Abercromy Knights , and Iohn Cragge Doctor of Physick . 41. An Act to confirm the Copiholders Estates of Stepney and Hackney , according to a Decree in Chancery between the Lord of the Manor and the said Copiholders . 42. An Act to confirm an assurance of Lands sold by Sir Thomas Beaumont Knight and his wife , to Sir Thomas Cheek Knight . 43. An Act to erect a Free-school and Alms-house , and House of Correction in Lincolnshire . 44. An Act to enable Martin Calthorp to sell Lands for preferment of younger Children , and paiment of Debts . 45. An Act for setling the Manor of Goodneston and other Lands of Sir Edward Ingram Knight . 46. An Act to enable Dame Alice Dudley wife of Sir Robert Dudley Knight , to assure the Manor of Killingworth and other Lands to Prince Charls . 47. An Act to confirm an Exchange of Lands between Prince Charls and Sir Lewis Watson Knight and Baronet . 48. An Act for the setling of the Lands of Anthony Vicount Montague , for paiment of his Debts and raising of Portions . 49. An Act to enable Sir Richard Lumley Knight to sell Lands for the paiment of his Debts and preferment of Children . 50. An Act to confirm a Decree in Chancery made by the consent of the Lord of Painswick in Com. Glouc. and his Customary Tenants there . 51. An Act for the Naturalization of Sir Francis Steward Knight , Walter Steward , James Maxwell , William Car , and Iames Levingston , Esquires . 52. An Act for the Naturalization of Iohn Young Doctor of Divinity . 53. An Act for the Naturalizing of Iane Murrey Widow , and William Murrey Esquire . 54. An Act to make good a Conveyance of Little Munden made from Sir Peter Vanlore Knight , and Sir Charls Caesar Knight , unto Edmond Woodhall Esquire and his heirs . 55. An Act to enable Vincent Low to sell Lands for paiment of his Debts . 56. An Act to enable Toby Palyvicine to sell Lands for the paiment of Debts and preferment of Children . 57. An Act for Naturalizing of Sir Robert Car Knight . 58. An Act to confirm the Manor of New-Langport and Seavans , and other Lands late being the Inheritance of Sir Henry James Knight in a Premunire convicted , unto Martin Lumley Lord Mayor of London , Alice Woodriff widow , and Edward Cropley , &c. 59. An Act for Naturalizing of Sir Stephen Leisure . 60. An Act for Naturalizing of Iames Marquis of Hamilton . 61. An Act for Naturalizing of Sir William Anstrother Knight , Doctor Balcanqual , and Patrick Abercromy . 62. An Act to confirm the Sale of Lands made by Sir Edward Heron Knight unto Bevel Moulsworth Esquire , and to enable the said Sir Edward to sell other Lands for paiment of Debts , and to settle other Lands upon Robert and Edward Heron. 63. An Act for the Naturalizing of Abigal Little , and William Little her son . 64. An Act for the etablishing of Lands upon Iohn Mohun Esquire son of Sir Rowland Mohun Knight and Baronet , according to the Agreements made between them . 65. An Act to enable Edward Alco●k to fell the Manor of Rampton and other Lands . 66. An Act to explain a Statute made Anno 13 Eliz. for assuring of Eighty two pounds ten shillings per annum to the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield for ever , out of Manors and Lands thereby assured to Edmund Fisher and his heirs . 67. An Act for the establishing of Three Lectures in Divinity , according to the Will of Thomas Wettenhall Esquire . 68. An Act for the repairing of the River running to Colchester , and paving of the Town there . 69. An Act to enable Francis Clerk Knight to sell Lands for the paiment of Debts and raising of Portions . 70. An Act for altering of Gavelkind-Lands , being late the Lands of Thomas Potter Esquire , Sir George Rivers Knight , and Sir Iohn Rivers Baronet , and to settle the Inheritance of them upon Sir Iohn Rivors and his heirs . 71. An Act to make the Lands of Thomas Earl of Middlesex subject to the paiment of his Debts . 72. An Act for the Sale of the Manor of Abbots-Hall , late the Possessions of Sir Iames Pointz deceased , that the Monies thereby raised may be distributed amongst his Creditors according to his Last Will. 73. An Act for the Naturalizing of Elizabeth Vere and Mary Vere , the Daughters of Sir Horatio Vere Knight . This Summer , Four Regiments of Foot were raised for the service of the United Provinces , to be imployed against the Emperor , under the Command of four Noble Colonels , the Earls of Oxford , Essex , and Southampton , and the Lord Willougby . The Town of Frankendal having been sequestred into the hands of the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia Infanta of Spain , for the term of Eighteen moneths , and that time now growing to an end , being to expire about the middle of October next ; The King commanded those Lords and others that were Commissioners in that Treaty between his Majesty and the Archduchess , to assemble and deliberate what was fit to be done concerning the remanding , receiving , and ordering of that Town . The Commissioners unanimously were of opinion , That it was fit for his Majesty both in Honor and Interest to remand it , and according to the Capitulation to place therein a Garrison of Fifteen hundred Foot and Two hundred Horse , with sufficient Victuals for six moneths , and a sufficient quantity of all Munition : The Infanta having accorded in the Treaty to give them a passage through the King of Spain's Low-Countries ; The King approved and resolved to follow the Advice , and gave Order to the Council of War to consider and discuss the manner of demanding the Town , and the way and means of raising the men , and conducting them thither , and of maintaining and supplying the Garrison with Munition and all things necessary . On the day that Frankendal was to be redelivered , Spinola with his Forces marcheth out of the Town ; and finding none of the King of Great Britains Forces ready to enter it , instantly re-enters and takes possession , pulls down the King of England's Arms , and sets up the King of Spain's . Yet did the Noble Spaniard leave standing the Monument of two Brothers , fighting and stout Enemies of theirs , in opposition of whose valor the Spaniard had gained much honor , but overcame them at last . The Monument is standing in the Dutch Church in Frankendal upon a fair Tomb , with this Inscription , In beatissimam memoriam Dom. Generosi Gulielmi Fairfax Anglo-Britanni , Honoratissimi Domini Thomae Fairfax de Denton in Com. Ebor. Equitis Aurati filii , Cohortis Anglicani Ducis insignis ; Qui annis natus circiter XXVI . post animi plurima edita testimonia invictissimi , unà cum Joanne fratre suo juniore , in obsidione Francovalenti , hic factâ eruptione arreptus , ille ictu bombardae percussus , occubuere . Anno M.DC.XXI . This Monument was erected by the Town of Frankendal , in memory of those two Brothers , who were Uncles to that Valiant , Victorious , and Self-denying General , THOMAS Lord FAIRFAX , late Commander in Chief of the Parliaments Armies in England . In France , the Marriage-Treaty was not so fair , smooth and plausible in the progress , as in the entrance . King Iames , admiring the Alliance of mighty Kings , though of a Contrary Religion , as also fearing the disgrace of another Breach , desired the Match unmeasurably ; which the French well perceived , and abated of their forwardness , and enlarged their Demands in favor of Papists ( as the Spaniards had done before them ) and strained the King to the Concession of such Immunities , as he had promised to his Parliament , that he would never grant upon the mediation of Forein Princes . The Cardinal Richlieu being in the infancie of his favor , and appointed to the managing of the Treaty , assured the Catholicks of Great Britain , that the most Christian King remembring that he was born and raised up no less for the propagation of the Catholick Cause , then for the enlarging of his own Dominions , was resolved to obtain honorable Terms for Religion , or never to conclude the Match : And for his own part , such was his compassion towards them , that if he might work their deliverance , or better their condition , not only with Counsel , interest and authority , but with his life and blood , he would gladly do it . However , this Treaty held fewer moneths , then the years that were spent in that of Spain . Indeed , the Motion from England had a braver expression , seeing a Wife was here considered as the only object of the Treaty ; whereas that of Spain was accompanied with a further expectation , to wit , the rendring of the Palatinate to King Iames his children . In August the Match was concluded , and in November the Articles were sworne unto by King Iames , Prince Charls , and the French King. The Articles concerning Religion were not much short of those for the Spanish Match . The Conclusion of the Treaty was seconded in France with many outward expressions of Joy , as Bonfires and the like : Whereupon the Privy-Council sent to the Lord Mayor of London , requiring the like to be done here . This year Count Mansfield arrived in England , whose reception was splendid and honorable : He was entertained in the Prince his House in S. Iames's , and served in great state by some of the Kings Officers . A Press went through the Kingdom for the raising of Twelve thousand Foot , with two Troops of Horse , to go under his Command for the Recovery of the Palatinate . These Forces were intended to pass through France into Germany , the French having promised as well an Addition of Strength , as a free passage . In the mean while there were those that secretly sollicited the King to return into the way of Spain , and raised suspitions of Mansfields Enterprise , saying he was the Palsgraves Scout and Spy ; And if the Puritans desired a Kingdom , they did not wish it to the most illustrious Prince Charls , his Majesties best and true Heir , but to the Palatine . That it was the Dukes Plot , and the Parliaments Fury , to begin a War with Spain ; but it will be the glory of his Majesties blessed Reign , that after many most happy years , that Motto of his ( Blessed be the Peace-makers ) might even ●o the last be verified of him in the letter , and be propounded for imitation to the most illustrious Prince , and that the experience of his happy Government should carry the Prince in a connatural motion to the same Counsels of Peace . And at the same time , the more circumspect party in the Spanish Court , held it fit to continue the state of things in a possibility of an Accommodation with the King of Great Britain , and Gondomar was coming again for England to procure a Peace ; notwithstanding the Duke of Bavaria used all diligence , to combine himself with that Crown , offering to depend wholly thereon , so that he may be thereby protected in his new acquired Dignity . But in these Motions the Elector of Saxony with many Reasons , advised the Emperor to apply himself to the setling of a Peace in Germany , and with much instance besought him not to destroy that antient House of the Palatinate . Count Mansfield was at this time in England , and the Forces raised in the several parts of the Kingdom for the recovery of the Palatinate , were put under his Command ; and Marching to their Rendezvous at Dover , committed great Spoils and Rapines in their passage through the Counties . At that Rendezvous the Colonels and Captains were assigned to receive their several Regiments and Companies from the Conductors employed by those several Counties where the Men were raised . A List of some of the Regiments of Foot designed for that Expedition . I. EArl of Lincoln , Colonel . Lieut. Col. Allen. Serjeant Major Bonithon . Sir Edward Fleetwood . Captain Wirley . Capt. Reynolds . Capt. Babbington . Sir Matthew Carey . Capt. Barlee . Capt. Cromwel . II. Viscount Doncaster , Colonel . Sir Iames Ramsey , Lieut. Colonel . Alexander Hamilton , Serjeant Major Capt. Archibald Duglas . Capt. Zouch . Capt. Iohn Duglas . Capt. Pell . Capt. William Duglas . Capt. George Kellwood . Capt. Andrew Heatly . III. Lord Cromwel , Colonel . Lieut. Col. Dutton . Serjeant Major Gibson . Capt. Basset . Capt. Lane. Capt. Vincent Wright . Capt. Ienner . Capt. Vaughan . Capt. Owseley . Capt. Crane . IV. Sir Charles Rich , Colonel . Lieut. Col. Hopton . Serjeant Major Killegrew . Sir Warham St. Leiger . Sir W. Waller . Capt. Burton . Capt. Francis Hammond . Capt. Winter . Capt. Goring . Capt. Fowler . V. Sir Andrew Grey , Colonel . Lieut. Col. Boswel . Serjeant Major Coburne . Capt. David Murray . Capt. Murray . Capt. Forbois . Capt. Carew . Capt. Ramsey . Capt. Williams . Capt. Beaton . VI. Sir Iohn Borrough , Colonel . Lieut. Col. Bret. Serjeant Major Willoughby . Capt. William Lake . Capt. Roberts . Capt. Webb . Capt. Skipwith . Capt. Thomas Woodhouse . Capt. George . Capt. Mostian . The Duke of Buckingham , Lord Admiral , was required to employ those Ships that were now in the Narrow Seas , or in the Havens ready bound for any Voyage , for the Transporting this Army from Dover . Count Mansfield received his Commission from King Iames , bore date the Seventh of November , One thousand six hundred twenty and four , and was to this effect , That his Majesty at the Request of the Prince Elector Palatine , and the Kings Sister his Wife , doth impower Count Mansfield to raise an Army for the recovering of the Estate and Dignity of the Prince Elector , and appoints that the Forces so raised should be under the Government of the said Count Mansfield , for the end aforesaid . And his Majesty further declares , by way of Negative , That he doth not intend that the said Count shall commit any spoil upon the Countreys or Dominions of any of his Majesties Friends and Allies ; and more particularly , He doth require the said Count not to make any invasion , or do any act of War against the Countrey or Dominion , which of right appertain and are in truth , the just and lawful possession of the King of Spain , or the Lady Infanta Isabella : And in case any such Hostility shall be acted contrary to this his Majesties intention , all such Commissions which shall be granted to that purpose by the said Count Mansfield , his Majesty doth declare to be void ; and that all payments shall cease : That on the contrary , if Obedience be given hereunto , the King wisheth the Count all good success for the recovery of the Palatinate , and reestablishment of the Peace in Germany against the Duke of Bavaria , and those that are the troublers of the Peace . And for the performance hereof , the King caused Count Mansfield to take an Oath , That he would conform according to the Contents of the said Commission and Declaration of his Majesty ; which Oath was almost in Terminis of what is before expressed . This Army consisting of Twelve Regiments , was intended to Land in France ; but being ready for Transport , the French notwithstanding their Promise , and the Treaty of Marriage , demurred ( yet not plainly denied ) their passage . Nevertheless , the whole Army was shipped , and put over to Calice ; and after a tedious stay in hope yet to land and pass through the Countrey , they were forced to set sail for Zealand . Neither were they suffered to land there , coming so unexpectedly upon the States , and in a hard Season for Provision of Victuals . Thus they were long pent up in the Ships , and suffered the want of all Necessaries , by which means a Pestilence came among them , and raged extreamly ; so that they were thrown into the Sea by Multitudes ; insomuch , that scarce a Third part of the men were landed , the which also afterward mouldred away , and the Design came to nothing . The Papist formerly danted by the Breach of the Spanish Match , was now again revived by the Marriage-Treaty with France . And at this time upon the Death of William , Titular Bishop of Calcedon , most of the English Secular Priests did Petition the Pope , that another Bishop might be sent over into England , there to Ordain Priests , give Confirmation , and exercise Episcopal Jurisdiction . Among others , Matthew Kellison and Richard Smith were presented . And though the Regulars were opposite to the Seculars in this matter , yet those of the Order of St. Benedict joyned with the Seculars , and Rudesin Barlo President of the English Benedictines at Doway , wrote a Letter in their behalf to the Congregation at Rome , named of the Propagation of the Faith. Dated the Twelfth of December , One thousand six hundred twenty and four . In which Letter was this passage , That there were above Sixty Benedictine Monks in England ; and that it is not to be doubted ( said he ) [ For that it is already seen the good success under the First Bishop . ] That another Bishop being Constituted , there would be more joyful fruits within one two years in the English Mission , then hitherto hath been for Sixty years now elapsed . But not long after , the Episcopal party prevailing , Pope Urban the Eight created Richard Smith Bishop of Calcedon , and sent him into England with Episcopal Authority over the Priests within the English Dominions . King Iames after he had been troubled with a Tertian Fevor four Weeks , finding himself near the end of his days , called unto him Charles Prince of Wales , his onely Son , to whom he recommended the Protection of the Church of England , advised him to love his Wife , but not her Religion ; and exhorted him to take special care of his Grand-Children , the Children of the Elector Palatine , by his Daughter ; and to employ the power he left him , to reestablish them in the Estate and Dignities of their Father : And lastly , he recommended to him his Officers who had faithfully served him , and on the Seven and twentieth of March gave up the ghost . And shortly after Bishop Laud delivered to the hands of the Duke of Buckingham , brief Annotations or Memorables of the Life and Death of King Iames , ( viz. ) I. HE was a King almost from his Birth . II. His great Clemency that he should Reign so long , and so moderately , that knew nothing else but to Reign . III. The difficult times in Scotland , during his Minority , as much perplexed with Church as State Factions . IV. His admirable Patience in those yonger times , and his Wisdom to go by those many and great difficulties , till God opened him the ways to his just Inheritance of this Crown . V. His peaceable Entry into this Kingdom , contrary to the fears at home , and the hopes abroad , not without Gods great blessing both on him and us . VI. His Ability as strong in Grace as Nature , to forgive some Occurrences . VII . The continuance of full Two and twenty years reign all in Peace , without War , from Foreign Enemy , or Rebellion at home . VIII . The infinite advantage , which people of all sorts might have brought to themselves , and the enriching of the State , if they would have used such a Government with answerable care , and not made the worst use of peace . IX . Gods great mercy over him in many deliverances from private Conspirators , and above the rest , that which would have blown up his Posterity and the State by Gun-powder . X. That in all this time of his Reign of England , he took away the life of no one Nobleman , but restored many . XI . That the sweetness of his nature was scarce to be paralleld by any other . XII . It is little less then a Miracle , that so much sweetness should be found in so great a heart , as besides other things , sickness and death it self shewed to be in him . XIII . Clemency , Mercy , Justice , and holding the State in Peace , have ever been accounted the great Vertues of Kings , and they were all eminent in him . XIV . He was not onely a preserver of Peace at home , but the great Peace-maker abroad ; to settle Christendom against the common enemy the Turk , which might have been a glorious work , if others had been as true to him , as he was to the common good . XV. He was in private to his Servants , the best Master that ever was , and the most free . XVI . He was the justest Man that could sit between parties , and as patient to hear . XVII . He was bountiful to the highest pitch of a King. XVIII . He was the greatest Patron to the Church which hath been in many Ages . XIX . The most Learned Prince that his Kingdom hath ever known for matters of Religion . XX. His integrity and soundness in Religion , to write and speak , believe and do , live and die one and the same , and all Orthodox . XXI . His tender love to the King his Son , our most gratious Soveraign that now is , and his constant Reverence in performance of all duties to his Father , the greatest Blessing and greatest Example of this , and many Ages . XXII . The Education of his Majesty whom we now enjoy ( and I hope and pray we may long and in happiness enjoy ) to be an able King as Christendom hath any , the very first day of his Reign ; the benefit whereof is ours , and the Honor his . XXIII . His sickness at the beginning more grievous then it seemed , a sharp melancholy humor set on fire , though ushered in by an ordinary Tertian Ague . XXIV . He was from the beginning of his sickness scarce out of an opinion that he should die ; and therefore did not suffer the great Affairs of Christendom to move him more then was fit , for he thought of his end . XXV . His devout receiving of the Blessed Sacrament . XXVI . His Regal Censure of the Moderate Reformation of the Church of England , and particularly for the care of retaining of Absolution , the comfort of distressed Souls . XXVII . His continual calling for Prayers , with an assured confidence in Christ. XXVIII . His death as full of patience as could be found in so strong a death . XXIX . His Rest , no question is in Abrahams Bosome , and his Crown changed into a Crown of Glory . Another writes thus of that King in the Book entituled the Reign of King Charles . IN the stile of the Court he went for Great Britains Solomon ; nor is it any Excursion beyond the Precincts of Verity to say , That neither Britain nor any other Kingdom whatsoever , could ever since Solomons days glory in a King ( for recondite Learning and abstruse Knowledge ) so near a Match to Solomon , as he . And though he was an Universal Schollar , yet did he make other Sciences ( their most proper employment ) but Drudges and Serviteurs to Divinity , wherein he became so transcendently eminent , as he notoriously foiled the greatest Clerks of the Roman See. Nor did his Theological Abilities more advantage the Cause of Religion abroad then at home , they keeping the new-fangled Clergy aloof , and at distance , as not daring to infuse into so solid a Judgment their upstart and erroneous Fancies , no nor disquiet the Churches peace with Heterodox Opinions . A stout Adversary he was to the Arminians and Semipelagians , whom he called as Prosper before him , The Enemies of Gods Grace . And as slender a Friend to the Presbytery , of whose Tyrannical and Antimonarchical Principles , he had from his Cradle smart experience . He was an excellent Speaker , the Scheme of his Oratory being more stately then pedantick , and the Expressions argued him both a King and a Schollar . In his Apparel and Civil Garb , he seemed naturally to affect a Majestick carelesness , which was so Hectick , so Habitual in him , as even in Religious Exercises , where the Extern Demeanor is a grand part of that Sacred Homage , he was somewhat too incurious and irreverent . He was indulgent a little to his Palate , and had a smack of the Epicure ; in Pecuniary Dispensations to his Favorites , he was excessive liberal ; yea though the exigence of his own wants pleaded Retension . Studious he was of Peace , somewhat overmuch for a King , which many imputed to pusillanimity ; and for certain , the thought of War was very terrible unto him ; whereof there needs no further demonstration , then his management of the Cause of the Palatinate : For had he had the least scintillation of Animosity or Majestick Indignation , would he have so long endured his Son-in-Law exterminated from his Patrimony , while the Austrian Faction ( to his great dishonor ) cajoled and kept him in delusory Chat with specious fallacies ? would he in those several Negotiations of Carlisle , Bristol , Belfast , and Weston , have trifled away so vast sums , the Moity whereof , had they been disposed in Military Levies , would have Modelled an Army able ( when Heidelburgh , Manheim , and Frankendale defended themselves ) to have totally dissipated all the Forces of the Usurpers , to have mastered the Imperious Eagle , enforcing her to forego her Quarry , and reestated the Palsgrave ? would he so shamefully have Courted the Alliance of Spain , to the very great regret of his Subjects whom his Predecessors had so often baffled , and whom England ever found a worse Friend then Enemy ? What stronger evidence can be given in of a wonderful defect of Courage ? As this lipothymie , this faint-heartedness , lost him the reputation and respects of his people ; so his heavy pressures upon them , and undue Levies by Privy Seals , and the like , alienated their Affections , especially considering how those Moneys were mis-employed , indeed rather thrown away ; partly in the two dishonorable Treaties of Spain and Germany , and the Consequential Entertainments ; and partly in Largesses upon his Minion Buckingham . Between this disaffection and contempt in his people , there was generated a general disposition to turbulent and boisterous Darings and Expostulations , even against his Darling Prerogative : And though those dismal calamities which befel his Son , were doubtless ampliated by a superfetation of Causes ; yet was their first and main existency derivative from those seminalities . Let Court-Pens extol the calmness of his Halcyonian Reign with all artifice of Rhetorick , yet can they never deny but that admired Serenity had its set in a Cloud ; and that he left to his Successor , both an empty Purse and a Crown of Thorns . Sir Francis Bacon when King Iames was living , gave this Character of him . WHerefore representing Your Majesty many times unto my minde , and beholding you not with the eye of Presumption to discover that which the Scripture tells me , is inscrutable ; but with the observant eye of Duty and Admiration , leaving aside the other parts of your Virtue and Fortune , I have been touched , yea , and possessed with an extream wonder at these your Virtues and Faculties which the Philosophers call Intellectuals , [ The largeness of your Capacity , the faithfulness of your Memory , the swiftness of your Apprehension , the penetration of your Judgment , and the facility and order of your Elocution . ] And I have then thought , that of all the persons living that I have known , Your Majesty were the best instance to make a man of Plato's opinion , That all Knowledge is but Remembrance , and that the Minde of Man by Nature knoweth all things , and hath but her own Native and Original Notions ( which by the strangeness and darkness of the Tabernacles of the Body , are sequestred ) again revived and restored . Such a Light of Nature I have observed in your Majesty , and such a readiness to take flame and blaze from the least occasion presented ; or the least spark of anothers Knowledge delivered . And as the Scripture saith of the wisest King , That his heart was as the Sand of the Sea , which though it be one of the largest Bodies , yet it consisteth of the smallest and finest Portions : So hath God given your Majesty a composition of Understanding admirable , being able to compass and comprehend the greatest Matters , and nevertheless to touch and apprehend the least ; wherein it should seem an impossibility in Nature for the same Instrument to make it self fit for great and small Works . And for your gift of Speech , I call to minde what Cornelius Tacitus saith of Augustus Caesar , Augusto pros●uens & quae Principem deceret Eloquentia fuit : For if we mark it well , Speech that is uttered with labor and difficulty ; or Speech that savoreth of the affectation of Arts and Precepts ; or Speech that is framed after the imitation of some pattern of Eloquence , though never so excellent ; all this hath somewhat servile and holding of the Subject . But your Majesties manner of Speech is indeed Prince-like , flowing as from a Fountain , and yet streaming and branching it self into Natures order , full of Facicility and Felicity , Imitating none , and inimitable by any , &c. And there seemeth to be no little contention between the excellency of your Majesties gifts of Nature , and the universality and perfection of your Learning ; for I am well assured of this , that what I shall say is no amplification at all , but a positive and measured truth , which is , That there hath not been since Christs time , any King or Temporal Monarch , which hath been so learned in all Literature and Erudition , Divine and Humane : For let a man seriously and diligently revolve and peruse the Succession of the Emperors of Rome , of which Caesar the Dictator , who lived some years before Christ , and Marcus Antonius , were the best learned ; and so descend to the Emperors of Graecia , or of the West , and then to the Lines of France , Spain , England , Scotland , and the rest , and he shall finde this Judgment truly made : For it seemeth much in a King , if by the compendious extractions of other Mens Wits and Learning , he can take hold of any superficial Ornaments and shews of Learning ; or if he countenance or prefer Learning and Learned Men. But to drink indeed of the true Fountain of Learning , nay , to have such a Fountain of Learning in himself , in a King , and in a King born , is almost a miracle ; and the more , because there is met in your Majesty a rare conjunction as well of Divine and Sacred Literature , as of Prophane and Humane . So as your Majesty stands invested of that Triplicity which in great veneration was ascribed to the Antient Hermes , The Power and Fortune of a King , the Knowledge and Illumination of a Priest , and the Learning and Universality of a Philosopher . This Propriety inherent and individual Attribute in your Majesty , deserveth to be expressed not onely in the Fame and Admiration of the present time , nor in the History or Tradition of the Ages succeeding , but also in some solid Work , fixed Memorial , and Immortal Monument , bearing a Character or Signature , both of the Power of a King , and the Difference and Perfection of such a King. Memoria Iusti cum laudibus , & impiorum nomen putrescit . He that hath lately writ the History of Great Britain , thus expresseth himself concerning King Iames. HE was a King in understanding , and was content to have his Subjects ignorant in many things ; as in Curing the Kings Evil , which he knew a device to ingrandize the vertue of Kings when Miracles were in fashion ; but he let the World believe it , though he smiled at it in his own Reason , finding the strength of imagination a more powerful agent in the Cure , then the Plaisters his Surgeons prescribed for the Sore . It was a hard question , whither his Wisdom and Knowledge exceeded his Choler and Fear ; certainly the last couple drew him with most violence , because they were not acquisitious , but natural ; if he had not had that allay , his high towering and mastering Reason had been of a rare and sublimed excellency ; but these Earthly dregs kept it down , making his Passions extend him as far as Prophaneness ( that I may not say Blasphemy ) and Policy superintendent of all his Actions , which will not last long , ( like the violence of that humor ) for it often makes those that know well , to do ill , and not be able to prevent it . He had pure Notions in Conception , but could bring few of them into action , though they tended to his own preservation ; for this was one of his Apothegms which he made no timely use of , [ Let that Prince that would beware of Conspiracies , be rather jealous of such whom his extraordinary favors have advanced , then of those whom his displeasure hath discontented . These want means to execute their pleasures , but they have means at pleasure to execute their desires . ] Ambition to rule is more vehement then Malice to revenge : Though the last part of this Aphorism he was thought to practise too soon , where there were no causes for prevention and neglect too late when time was full ripe to produce the Effect . Some paralleld him to Tiberius for Dissimulation , yet Peace was maintained by him , as in the time of Augustus , and Peace begot Plenty , and Plenty begot Ease and Wantonness , and Ease and Wantonness begot Poetry , and Poetry swelled to that bulk in his time , that it begot strange monstrons Satyrs against the Kings own person , that hanted both Court and Countrey ; which expressed , would be too bitter to leave a sweet perfume behinde him . And though bitter ingredients are good to imbalm and preserve dead Bodies , yet these were such as might endanger to kill a living Name , if Malice be not brought in with an Antidote . And the Tongues at those times more fluent then my Pen , made every little miscarriage ( being notable to discover their true operations , like small Seeds hid in Earthy darkness ) grow up and spred into such exuberant Branches , that evil report did often pearch upon them . So dangerous it is for Princes by a remiss comportment , to give growth to the least Error ; for it often proves as fruitful as Malice can make it . But alass good King ! Here was an end of his Earthly Empire , and little did he imagine that the last period to Great Britains Monarchy , should not much exceed the time of his own Reign , and in the true extent come short of it . There is a Book said to be writ by a Knight of Kent , and intituled King James Court , which renders a further Character of that King ; we forbear to particularize any thing thereof ( no name being put to the Book ) but leave the Reader to his freedom . The Bishop of Lincoln , then Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England , in his Sermon at King Iames Funeral , speaking of Solomon and King Iames , ( his Text being 1 Kings 11.41 , 42 , 43. ) hath these Expressions . I Dare presume to say , you never read in your lives , of two Kings more fully parallel'd amongst themselves , and better distinguished from all other Kings besides themselves . King Solomon is said to be Unigenitus coram Matre sua , the onely Son of his Mother , Prov. 4.3 . So was King Iames. Solomon was of Complexion white and ruddy , Cant. 5.10 . So was King Iames. Solomon was an Infant-King , puer parvulus , a little Childe , 1 Chron. 22.5 . So was King Iames a King at the Age of Thirteen Moneths . Solomon began his Reign in the life of his Predecessor , 1 Kings 1.32 . So , by the force and compulsion of that State , did our late Soveraign King Iames. Solomon was twice crowned and anointed a King , 1 Chro. 29.22 . So was King Iames. Solomons Minority was rough through the quarrels of the former Soveraign ; so was that of King Iames. Solomon was learned above all the Princes of the East , 1 Kings 4.30 . So was King Iames above all Princes in the Universal World. Solomon was a Writer in Prose and Verse , 1 Kings 4.32 . So in a very pure and exquisite manner was our sweet Soveraign King Iames. Solomon was the greatest Patron we ever read of to Church and Churchmen ; and yet no greater ( let the House of Aaron now confess ) then King Iames. Solomon was honored with Ambassadors from all the Kings of the Earth , 1 Kings 4. ult . And so you know was King Iames. Solomon was a main improver of his home Commodities , as you may see in his trading with Hiram , 1 Kings 5.9 . And God knows it was the daily study of King Iames. Solomon was a great maintainer of Shipping and Navigation , 1 King. 10.14 . A most proper Attribute to King Iames. Solomon beautified very much his Capital City with Buildings and Water-works , 1 Kings 9.15 . So did King Iames. Every man lived in peace under his Vine and his Fig-Tree , in the days of Solomon , 1 Kings 4.25 . And so they did in the blessed days of King Iames. And yet towards his end , King Solomon had secret enemies , Razan , Hadad , and Ieroboam , and prepared for a War upon his going to his Grave , as you may see in the Verse before my Text. So had , and so did King Iames. Lastly , Before any Hostile Act we read of in the History , King Solomon died in peace , when he had lived about Sixty years , as Lyra and Tostatus are of opinion ; and so you know did King Iames. And as for his words and eloquence , you know it well enough ; it was rare and excellent in the highest degree . Solomon speaking of his own faculty in this kinde , divides it into two several heads ; a ready Invention , and an easie Discharge and Expression of the same . God hath granted me to speak as I would , and to conceive as is meet , for the things spoken of , Wisd. 7.15 . And this was eminent in our late Soveraign . His Invention was as quick as his first Thoughts , and his Words as ready as his Invention . God had given him to conceive ; the Greek word in that place is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , that is , to make an Enthymem or a short Syllogism ; and that was his manner . He would first winde up the whole substance of his discourse into one solid and massie Conception ; and then spred it and dilate it to what compass he pleased ; Prosluenti & quae Principem deceret eloquentia ( as Tacitus said of Augustus ) in a flowing and a Princely kinde of Elocution . Those Speeches of his in the Parliament , Star-Chamber , Council Table , and other Publick Audiences of the State ( of which , as of Tullies Orations , Ea semper optima , quae maxima , the longest still was held the best ) do prove him to be the most powerful Speaker that ever swayed the Scepter of this Kingdom . In his Stile you may observe the Ecclesiastes , in his Figures the Canticles , in his Sentences the Proverbs , and in his whole Discourse Reliquum verborum Solomonis , all the rest that was admirable in the Eloquence of Solomon . How powerfully did he charge the Prince with the care of Religion and Justice , the two Pillars ( as he termed them ) of his future Throne ? How did he recommend unto his love , the Nobility , the Clergy , and the Communalty in the general ? How did he thrust , as it were , into his inward bosom , his Bishops , his Judges , his near Servants , and that * Disciple of his whom he so loved in particular ? and concluded with that Heavenly Advice to his Son , concerning that great act of his future Marriage , To marry like himself , and marry where he would : But if he did marry the Daughter of that King , he should marry her Person , but he should not marry her Religion . Having in our Collections met with the Transcript of a Letter from King Iames to Pope Clement , dated Anno 1599. We have thought fit ( though it be not placed in order of time ) to conclude his Reign with it , and with the Instructions given to Mr. Drummond who was sent with the same to Rome . Iacobus Rex , Clementi Papae . BEatissime Pater , cum variis ad nos perlatum fuisset rumoribus , quàm diligenter nostrae sortis aemuli saepius egissent , ut authoritatis vestrae acies in nos distringeretur , quaque constantia id pro vestra prudentia hactenus fuerit recusatum : Committere noluimus quin accepti memores beneficii gratias ageremus , opportunam nacti occasionem , cum lator praesentium , natione nostras , vester ascriptitius , in fines ditionis vestrae reverteretur ; quem pro sua indole vestris ornatum beneficiis vestrae Sanctitati Commendamus , ut eum in iis quae nostro nomine habet impartienda , audire placide non dedignetur : Et quia adversus malevolorum calumnias , qui nostras in Catholicos injurias commemorando , nobis invidiam , & ipsis gratiam conciliant , nullum tutius remedium agno●cimus , quàm ut è nostratibus aliqui , veritatis studiosi , quan●umvis à Religione quam nos à prima hausimus Infantia , abhorrentes , honestam in curia Romana demorandi occasionem semper haberent , ex quibus vestra Sanctitas certo possit , in quo statu res nostrae sint , ediscere ; hoc nomine Episcopum Vazionensem vobis commendamus , qui ut sortis suae qualecunque incrementum vestrae Sanctitati duntaxat refert acceptum , ita Cardinalatus honorem prioribus beneficiis , nostra praesertim gratia , adjici obnixe rogamus . Sic Inimicorum cessabunt Calumniae , praesentibus qui rerum gestarum veritatem possint adstruere . Nec actionum nostrarum ullam aequos rerum aestimatores cupimus latere , qui in ea Religionis , quam profitemur , puritate enutriti , sic semper statuimus nihil melius tutiusque quam citra fucum in iis promovendis , quae Divini Numinis gloriam serio spectant , pie contendere , & remotis invidiae stimulis , non tam quid Religionis inane nomen , quam verae pietatis Sacrosancta tessera requirat , charitatis semper adhibito fomento , diligenter considerare . Sed quia de his copiosius cum latore praesentium , viro non inerudito , & in rebus nostris mediocriter versato , disseruimus , longioris Epistolae taedio censuimus abstinendum . Beatudinis vestrae obsequentissimus Filius I. R. E Sancta Cruce , 24 Sept. 1599. King James Letter to Pope Clement . MOst Holy Father , having understood by several Reports how diligent the Rivals of our Condition have been , that the Sword of your Authority should be unsheathed against us , and with what constancy your Prudence hath hitherto refused it ; we could do no less then return thanks for such a good turn received ; especially upon so fair an occasion , when the Bearer of these , a Scotchman by Nation , but a Roman by Adoption , was returning unto your Dominions ; we recommend him to your Holiness ( to whom for his good parts you have already been beneficial ) that you would attentively hear him in those things which he shall deliver in our Name : And because we know there is no better remedy against the Calumnies of ill Willers , ( who by commemorating our injuries done to Catholicks procure envy to us , and thank to themselves ) then that some of our Countreymen Zealous of the Truth , though differing from the Religion which we have suckek from our Infancy , should have an honorable occasion of making their abode in the Court of Rome , from whom your Holiness may be certainly informed of the state of our Affairs . In this regard we recommend unto you the Bishop of Vazion , who as he doth impute whatsoever increase of his condition to your Holiness alone ; so we are earnest Suitors , that for our sake especially , the honor of a Cardinals Cap may be added to his former advantages . By this means the Calumnies of our Enemies will cease , when such are present with you , who may be able to assert the truth of our doings . We do not desire any of our actions should be concealed from just Arbitrators ; for though we have been bred up in the truth of that Religion which we now profess , yet we have always determined that there is nothing better and safer , then piously and without ostentation , to endeavor the promoting of those things which really belong to the glory of Gods Name , and laying aside the goa●ds of Envy , and applying the warmth and fomentation of Charity , diligently to consider what belongeth not to the empty name of Religion , but to the holy Symbol of true Piety . But because we have discoursed more at large of these things with the bearer hereof , a man not unlearned , and indifferently well conversant in our Affairs , we have thought best to be no more tedious by a long Letter . Your Holiness most dutiful Son J. R. From Holy Rood , 24 Sept. 1599. SUmma mandatorum Edwardi Drummond Jurisconsulti , quem ad Pontificem Maximum , Ducem Etruriae , Ducem Sabaudiae , caeterosque Principes & Cardinales ablegamus . Salutabis imprimis nostro nomine quàm potes officiosissimè , Pontificiem Maximum , caeterosque Principes & Cardinales ; datisque nostris literis fiduciariis significabis , Capere nos vehementer eum , quem decet , amoris & benevolentiae modum cum iis conservare , omnemque removere non suspicionem modo , sed & suspicionis levissimam quamcunque occasionem . Quod quamvis in ea persistimus Religione , quam à teneris hausimus annis , non tamen ita esse Charitatis expertes , quin de Christianis omnibus bene sentiamus ; modo in officio primum erga Deum Optimum Maximum , deinde erga Magistratus , quorum subsunt imperio , permanserint . Nullam nos unquam saevitiam contra quoscunque Catholicos Religionis ergo exercuisse . Et quia plurimum interest nostra ut pari diligentia qua malevoli mentiuntur , nos per amicos & subditos veritatem possimus adstruere ; idcirco inniteris in hoc totis viribus ut Pontifex Maximus tam rogatu nostro quam precibus Illustrissimorum Principum , quos per literas nostras ad hoc rogavimus , ad hoc induci possit ut Episcopus Vazionensis in Cardinalium Collegium adsciscatur ; in quo si profeceris , ut de eo redditi fuerimus certiores , ulterius progrediemur . Cavebis ne in hoc negotio ad Pontificem Maximum , aut Illustrissimos Cardinales , ulterius progrediaris , nisi prius subsit certa spes optati eventus . This Letter was conveyed by Edward Drummond the Lawyer , whom the King sent to the Pope , the Duke of Tuscany , the Duke of Savoy , and other Princes and Cardinals . First , You shall most respectively Salute in our Name the Pope , and those other Princes and Cardinals ; and having delivered our Letters of Credence , shall signifie , That we exceedingly desire to reserve with them the measure of Love , and good Will , which is sitting to remove not onely all suspition , but any thing that may be the cause of Suspition . That although we persist in the Religion which we suck'd in from our Infancy , yet we are not so void of Charity , but to think well of all Christians if so be they continue in their duty , first towards God , and then towards the Magistrate , whose Subjects they are . That we never exercised any cruelty against the Catholicks , for Religion sake . And because it doth very much concern us , that we may be able to assert the truth by our Friends and Subjects , with the same diligence that slanderers lie ; therefore you shall endeavor to the utmost to perswade the Pope , as well at our entreaty , as for the desire of these most Illustrious Princes , whom in our Letters we have sollicited in our behalf , to make the Bishop of Vazion Cardinal , wherein if you be successful , as soon as we shall be certified thereof , we will proceed further . You must be cautelous not to proceed any further in this business , either with the Pope or the most Illustrious Cardinals , unless there be a certain hope of our wished event . The High & mighty Monarch Charles by the grace of God King of Great Brittaine France & Ireland Defender of the Faith. Historical Collections . Primo CAROLI . ON the same day when King Iames departed this life at Theobalds , the Lord President of the Council , and the Lord Marshal of England , were immediately sent by the Body of the Council to Prince Charles , who was then retired to his Chamber , to give him notice of his Fathers decease , and that they were all there ready to present themselves unto him , if his pleasure were to admit them ; but he being in sadness , wished them to forbear their coming till the next morning . In the mean time , the Privy-Counsellors assembled themselves , drew up the form of a Proclamation to proclaim King Charles , which was forthwith published at the Court-Gate at Theobalds ; which being done , the King signified his pleasure , that the Lord Keeper , the Lord Treasurer , the Lord President , the Lord Chamberlain , the Treasurer of the House , and the Comptroller should attend him ; they all came and rendred up their Offices and Places to him , which his Majesty presently restored to them again . The Privy-Counsellors gave notice to the Lord Major of London , that he and all the Aldermen should that day appear in their Robes at Ludgate , whither the Lords and others would repair , to proclaim King Charles : Accordingly , the Lords went from Theobalds to the Palace of Whitehall , where the Nobility then about London were gathered together . At Whitehall-Gate the King was proclaimed by sound of Trumpet , all the Nobility , Privy-Counsellors and Gentry being on Horse-back , went thence , and proclaimed the King at Charing-Cross , Denmark-house , Temple-Bar , at the great Conduit in Fleetstreet , and thence they rode up to Ludgate , where the Lord Major and Aldermen were on Horse-back , expecting within the Gates , and the Lords and others entered and proclaimed him there , and then they rode all to Cheapside-Cross , where they proclaimed the King again ; and the Lords returning thence , left order with the Lord Major to go on with the Proclamation in other parts of the City . The same day King Charles removed from Theobalds , and came to St Iames's in the Evening , and the Corps of the deceased King remained at Theobalds , attended by all the Servants in Ordinary . The day following , the Privy-Counsellors to the late King , with all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal then about London , were in the Council Chamber at Whitehall by Eight of the Clock in the morning , ready to go together , and present themselves to his Majesty ; but there came in the mean a Commandment from the King , by the Lord Conway and Sir Albertus Morton , Principal Secretaries of State to the deceased King ; that the Lord Keeper of the Great-Seal should be sworn of his Majesties Privy-Council , and that he should give the Oath to the Lord President , by whom all the rest of the late Kings Council should be sworn Counsellors to his present Majesty : The Lord Keeper of the great Seal , the Lord President , the Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury , the Lord Treasurer of England , the Lord Privy-Seal , the Duke of Buckingham Lord Admiral of England , the Earl of Pembrook Lord Chamberlain , the Earl of Montgomery , the Earl of Kellye , the Earl of Arundel Earl Marshal of England , the Lord Viscount Grandison , the Lord Conwey , the Lord Brook , Mr Treasurer , Mr Comptroller , the Master of the Wards , Mr Secretary Morton , Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer , and the Master of the Rolls , were this day sworn accordingly ; the Lord Keeper did take an Oath apart , as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal ; the Lord Treasurer , as Lord Treasurer of England ; the Lord President , as Lord President of the Kings Privy-Council , and the Lord Conwey , and Sir Albertus Norton , as principal Secretaries of State ; the Lords which were not of his Majesties Privy-Council repaired by themselves to St Iames's , and presented themselves to the King , and kissed his hand . The Council sat immediately , and advised of the most important and pressing matters to be offered to the King for his present service , and resolved upon these particulars . That a Commission be granted to authorize the Great-Seal , Privy-Seal , and Signet , till new ones be prepared ; also Commissions for authorizng of Judges , Justices of Peace , Sheriffs , and other such Officers for Government ; that there be a general Proclamation for continuation of Proceedings , preservation of Peace , and administration of Justice ; that Letters be prepared for the Ambassadors with foreign Princes , to authorize their services to the King ; that special Messengers be sent unto foreign Princes ; that the like Proclamations to those of England , be sent into Scotland ; that Commissions be renewed into Ireland , to the Deputy and Officers there ; that the Mint for Coyning of money go on , and all things be mannaged by the Officers as then they stood , till the Kings pleasure be further known ; that a Parliament be summoned when the King shall appoint ; that the Kings pleasure be known concerning the time of his Fathers Funeral , and where the Corps shall rest in the mean time , as also the time of his Majesties Coronation . This being done , the whole Council attended the King at St Iames's , where the Lord Keeper , in the name of all the rest , presented their humble thanks , that it had pleased his Majesty to have affiance in those that had been Counsellors to his Father , to receive them all to be of his Privy-Council ; the Lord President represented to the King the matters before mentioned , which the King allowed , and gave order , that those of them which required speed should be put in execution , and most of the powers he signed presently : And first , because by the death of the late King , the Authorities and powers of the greatest number of Offices and places of Government did cease and fail , by the failing of the Soveraign Person from whom the same were derived ; a Proclamation issued forth , signifying his Majesties pleasure , that all persons whatsoever , who at the decease of the late King were invested in any Office or Place of Government Civil or Martial within the Realms of England and Ireland , and namely , Presidents , Lieutenants , Vice-Presidents , Judges , Justices Sheriffs , Deputy Lieutenants , Commissaries of Musters , Justices of Peace shall continue in their several Offices , till his Majesties pleasure were further known . In another Proclamation of the same date , the King took notice of his Fathers death , and that he being his onely Son , and undoubted Heir , is invested and established in the Crown Imperial of this Realm , and all other his Majesties Realms , Dominions and Countries , with all the Royalties , Preeminencies , Stiles , Names , Titles and Dignities to the same belonging ; and he declared , That as he for his part shall by Gods grace shew himself a most benign and gracious Soveraign Lord to all his good Subjects , in all their lawfull Suits and Causes ; so he mistrusteth not , but that they on their parts will shew themselves unto him their natural Liege Lord , most loving , faithfull , and obedient Subjects . The Council resolved to move the King , that his Fathers Funeral might be solemnized within five weeks , and within a few dayes after the Ceremonial Nuptials in France , and before the Parliament began in England : These Resolves the Lord President represented unto the King , who accepted of the advices , and said , he would follow them . Moreover , he summoned a Parliament to begin the seventeeth of May ; but by the advice of his Privy-Council , Prorogued it to the one and thirtieth of May , afterwards to the thirteenth of Iune , and then to the eighteenth of the same moneth ; which Prorogations were occasioned by the Kings going to Dover to receive the Queen . April 23. The Body and Herse of King Iames was brought from Theobalds to London , being conducted by the Officers of the Guard of the Body , all in Mourning , every one having a Torch , and attended by all the Lords of the Court , and great numbers of other persons of quality , and was placed in Denmark-House in the Hall of the deceased Queen Anne . The seventh of May was the day of Burial , the Body and Herse were taken from the said Hall of State , and brought in great Pompe and Solemnity to Westminster , where the Kings of England use to be interred : The new King , to shew his Piety towards his deceased Father , was content to dispense with Majesty ; he followed in the Rear , having at his right hand the Earl of Arundel , at his left the Earl of Pembrook , both Knights of the Garter ; his Train was born up by twelve Peers of the Realm : So King Iames , who lived in Peace , and assumed the title of Peace-maker , was peaceably laid in his Grave in the Abby at Westminster . King Charles in his Fathers life time was linked to the Duke of Buckingham , and now continued to receive him into an admired intimacy and dearness , making him Partaker of all his Counsels and Cares , and Chief Conductor of his Affairs ; an Example rare in this Nation , to be the Favorite of two succeding Princes . The Publick State of Religion , and the steering of Church-matters , had an early inspection and consultation in the Cabinet Council . Bishop Laud , who , in King Iame's life time had delivered to the Duke a little book about Doctrinal Puritanism , now also delivered to the Duke a Schedule , wherein the names of Ecclesiastical persons were written under the letters O and P , O standing for Orthodox , and P for Puritans ; for the Duke commanded that he should thus digest the names of eminent persons to be presented unto the King under that Partition . King Charles in the entrance of his Reign proceeds with preparations for a War , begun in his fathers time ; the Militia of the Kingdom , through the long continued Peace was much decayed , and the Musters of the Trained-bands were slight and seldom taken , and few of the Commons were expert in the use of Arms ; wherefore the Lords Lieutenants were commanded , by order of the Council , to make a general Muster of the Trained Horse and Foot in their several Counties , and to see to the sufficiency of the Men , Horse , and Arms , and that all be compleat according to the best modern form , and be in readiness for all occasions , and especially now the affairs of Christendom stand upon such uncertain Terms ; and more particularly , that the Maritine Towns be well manned , and their men duely exercised ; and the King declared his will and pleasure , that the Lord Lieutenants of the several Shires , should have the nomination of their Deputy Lieutenants . In the beginning of May Warrants were issued forth for a Leavy of Souldiers , to be imployed in the service of his Majesties Brother and Sister , the Prince and Princess Palatine , whereof eight thousand were pointed to Rendezvous at Plymouth by the five and twenty of this Moneth , and the charge of Coat and Conduct was ordered to be disbursed by the Country , and the Country to be repaid out of the Kings Exchequer , after the President of former times ; in like manner , two thousand men were appointed to Rendezvous at the Port of Hull , to be transported into the Netherlands for the service of the United-Provinces , and two thousand were to be returned thence into England for his Majesties present service ; the mingling of a good proportion of old Souldiers and Officers , with the new raised Companies , was the ground of this exchange . The remembrance of the late violence committed by Count Mansfield's Army in their passage to Dover , occasioned a Proclamation to repress and prevent the like attempts of Soldiers , as they now passed through the Counties to the places of their Rendezvous , threatning the Offendors with the strictest proceedings against them for an Example of Terror , and straitly commanding the Officers who have the charge of the Conduct , for the removing of all occasions and pretences of disorders , to see their Companies duely paid , and provided of all necessaries , and to be alwayes present with them , and carefully to conduct them from place to place ; in like manner to prevent their Outrages when they should come to Plymouth , or the parts adjoyning , a Commission was sent , impowering persons of trust , upon any robbery , fellony , mutiny , or other misdemeanors ( punishable with death by Martial Law ) committed by the Souldiers , or other dissolute persons joyned with them , to proceed to the trial and condemnation of all such Delinquents , in such Summary course and order , as is used in Armies in time of War , according to the Law Martial ; and to cause Execution to be done in open view , that others may take warning and be kept in due obedience . The consummation of King Charles his Marriage with Henrietta Maria , Daughter of France , was near at hand . The Treaty had proceeded far in his Fathers life time , but was not in all points concluded ; the Articles were signed the year before by King Iames on the eleventh of May , and by the French King on the Fourteenth of August . On the Thirteenth of March this present year , ( the Earls of Carlisle and Holland being then Ambassadors and Commissioners in France for this Marriage ) King Charls signed the Articles . Besides the general , there were other private Articles agreed upon in favor of the Papists of this Kingdom . That the Catholicks , as well Ecclesiasticks as Temporal , imprisoned since the last Proclamation which followed the Breach with Spain , should all be set at liberty . That the English Catholicks should be no more searched after nor molested for their Religion . That the Goods of the Catholicks as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal , that were seised on since the forementioned Proclamation , should be restored to them . And on the Tenth of May , as the first fruits of this promised Indulgence and favor , the King granted unto Twenty Roman Priests a special Pardon of all Offences committed against the Laws then in force against Papists . The Dispensation being come from Rome about the beginning of May , the Espousals were made in Paris by Cardinal Richelieu : The Ambassadors having first presented to the King the Contract of Marriage , which was read openly by the Chancellor , and his Majesty of France agreed thereunto ; The Duke of Chevereux likewise shewed his Procuration of power which the King of England had given him concerning the said Marriage . The Archbishop of Paris pretended that it belonged to him to perform this Solemnity ; but the Cardinal carried it , as well for the eminencie of his Dignity , as for that he was chief Almoner and prime Curate of the Court. Sunday following , the day appointed for these Nuptials , the Bride went from the Louure about Nine in the morning , to be dressed in the Archbishops house ; and afterwards the King , Queen , and Princesses , and all the Court in rich Attire , parted likewise from the Louure , and came to the said house of the Archbishop , and thence conducted the Bride to a Theatre exected on purpose before the Frontispiece of Nostre-Dame : The Duke of Chevereux had Black habit , lined with Cloth of Gold , and beset with Diamonds ; The Earls of Carlisle and Holland , Ambassadors , were both clad in Beaten-Silver , and went on each side of the Duke of Chevereux : A Canopy being placed upon the Scaffold , the King of France and Monsieur his Brother consigned the Queen of Great Britain their Sister into the hands of the Duke of Chevereux , and the Marriage was solemnized according to the ordinary Ceremonies of that Church . Which being performed , they went in the same order and solemnity to Nostre-Dame , the Duke of Chevereux going before the King. When they came to the door of the Quire , they made great Reverence to the King and Queen ; and then the Ambassadors retired into the Bishops house , while Mass was said in the Church . The Mass being ended , the Duke of Chevereux and the Ambassadors came again to the door of the Quire to take their places , and the same Order was observed in returning as in going ; And so they came from the Church into the Hall of the Archbishops house , where the Feast Royal was made in as great magnificence as can be expressed . The King sate under a Canopy at the middle of the Table , and the Queen of Great Britain at his left hand , and the Queen-Mother at his right ; the Duke of Chevereux sate next the Queen of England , and the Earls of Carlisle and Holland next to the Duke . To the intent that all sorts of persons might partake of the Publick Joy , Prisoners for Debts were set at liberty , and Pardon was granted to several Criminals , as an earnest of the Kings respect and love to his Sister , after this new Alliance . The Duke of Buckingham was sent into France to his Christian Majesty , to send away the Wife to the King of Great Britain , and to be her Convoy . He arrived at Paris the 24. of May , with the Earl of Montgomery and other English Lords , and was lodged in the Palace of the Duke of Chevereux , who with his Lady was to conduct the Queen into England , there to render her to the King her Husband . During the seven days stay which the Duke made at Park , the Feastings and Rejoicings were renewed and multiplied , Bonfires shining and Canons playing ; but none did equalize the Feast that was made by the Cardinal of Richelieu . The Second of Iune was the time appointed for our Queens departure : The King of France sent to the Towns in her way , to render her Majesty all due honors , as if it were to himself . The King of England having notice that the Queen was gone from Amiens , sent a Royal Navy to Boloign to transport her ; the Fleet saluted the Town with a hundred peece of Canon . Among other great Ladies , the Duchess of Buckingham was sent to kiss the Queens hands as from the King her Husband , desiring her to take her own time of coming over with most conveniencie to her own person . The 22. of Iune ( New Stile ) the Queen imbarqued at Boloign , and within Twenty four hours arrived at Dover : And as the King was preparing to receive her , she sent to his Majesty to desire him not to come till the morrow , because she had been somewhat indisposed at Sea. She passed that night at Dover , and the next day about Ten of the clock the King was there with the Flower of the Nobility , and after some Complements past , caused every-body to retire , and they were half an hour together in the Closet . Thence his Majesty conducted the Queen to Canterbury , and the same evening the Marriage was there consummated . Then the Queen , in testimony of her respect and love to the King her Husband , made it her first suit , ( as afterwards the King made known ) That he would not be angry with her for her faults of Ignorance , before he had first instructed her to eschew them ; For that she being young , and coming into a strange Country , both by her years , and ignorance of the Customs of the Nation , might commit many Errors : And she desired him in such cases to use no Third person , but by himself to inform her , when he found she did ought amiss . The King granted her request , and thanked her for it , desiring her to use him even as she had desired him to use her ; which she willingly promised . The Knights and Gentlemen of Kent , together with the Trained Bands , were by Order of the Council commanded to attend and receive the Queen at the most convenient places as she passed , in such solemn manner and equipage as beseemed the dignity of his Majesty , and the quality of her person . Likewise the Magistrates of the Cities and Towns were commanded to attend at her passage , in such Formalities as are used in principal and extraordinary Solemnities . On the Sixteenth of Iune , the King and Queen came both to London : Great preparations were made and intended for her Majesties reception ; but the Plague then increasing , those Ceremonies were laid aside . A Chappel at Somerset-house was built for the Queen and her Family , with Conveniencies thereunto adjoining for Capuchin-Friers , who were therein placed , and had permission to walk abroad in their Religious habits . Thence-forward greater multitudes of Seminary-Priests and Iesuites repaired into England out of Forein parts . This Summer , the Pestilence raged in London . At the entrance of the late King there was a great Plague in the City , but this was far greater , and the greatest that ever was known in the Nation : For which cause a great part of Trinity-Term was adjourned from the First Return to the Fourth , by the advice of the Privy-Council and the Justices of the Courts at Westminster ; and some few days in the beginning and ending thereof were holden for the better expediting and continuing of Causes and Suits , and the returning and suing out of Processes , and such like business as might be done in the absence of the Parties by their Attornies . On the Eighteenth day of Iune , the Parliament began at Westminster . The King being placed in his Royal Throne , the Lords sitting in their Robes , the Commons also being present , his Majesty spake thus . I Thank God , that the Business to be treated on at this time is of such a nature , that it needs no Eloquence to set it forth ; For I am neither able to do it , neither doth it stand with my Nature to spend much time in words . It is no new business , being already happily begun by my Father of blessed memory , who is with God ; therefore it needeth no Narrative : I hope in God you will go on to maintain it , as freely as you advised my Father to it . It is true , He may seem to some to have been slack to begin so just and so glorious a work ; but it was his wisdom that made him loth to begin a work , until he might find a means to maintain it : But after that he saw how much he was abused in the confidence he had with other States , and was confirmed by your Advice to run the Course we are in , with your Engagement to maintain it , I need not press to prove how willingly he took your Advice ; for , the Preparations that are made are better able to declare it , then I to speak it . The assistance of those in Germany , the Fleet that is ready for action , with the rest of the Preparations which I have only followed my Father in , do sufficiently prove that he entred into this Action . My Lords and Gentlemen , I hope that you do remember that you were pleased to imploy me to advise my Father to break off those two Treaties that were on foot ; so that I cannot say , that I came hither a free unengaged man. It 's true , I came into this business willingly and freely like a Young man , and consequently rashly ; but it was by your interest , your engagement : So that though it were done like a Young man , yet I cannot repent me of it , and I think none can blame me for it , knowing the love and fidelity you have borne to your King , having my self likewise some little experience of your affections . I pray you remember , that this being my first Action , and begun by your Advice and intreaty , what a great Dishonor it were to you and me , if this Action so begun should fail for that Assistance you are able to give me . Yet knowing the constancie of your love both to me and this Business , I needed not to have said this , but only to shew what care and sense I have of your Honors and mine own . I must intreat you likewise to consider of the Times we are in , how that I must adventure your lives ( which I should be loth to do ) should I continue you here long ; and you must venture the Business , if you be slow in your resolutions . Wherefore I hope you will take such grave Counsel , as you will expedite what you have in hand to do : Which will do me and your selves an infinite deal of honor ; You , in shewing your love to me ; and me , that I may perfect that work which my Father hath so happily begun . Last of all , Because some malicious men may , and as I hear , have given out , that I am not so true a Keeper and Maintainer of the true true Religion that I profess ; I assure you that I may with S. Paul say , that I have been trained up at Gamaliels feet ; And although I shall be never so arrogant as to assume unto my self the rest , I shall so far shew the end of it , that all the World may see , that none hath been , nor ever shall be more desirous to maintain the Religion I profess , then I shall be . Now because I am unfit for much speaking , I mean to bring up the fashion of my Predecessors , to have my Lord Keeper speak for me in most things : Therefore I have commanded him to speak something unto you at this time , which is more for formality , then any great matter he hath to say unto you . Then the Lord Keeper Coventry declared , That the Kings main reason of calling the Parliament , besides the beholding of his Subjects faces , was to mind them of the great Engagements for the Recovery of the Palatinate , imposed on his Majesty by the late King his Father , and by themselves who brake off the two Treaties with Spain . Also to let them understand , That the succeeding Treaties and Alliances , the Armies sent into the Low-Countries , the repairing of the Forts , and the Fortifying of Ireland , do all meet in one Centre , The Palatinate ; And that the Subsidies granted the last Parliament , are herein already spent , whereof the Accompt is ready , together with as much more of the Kings own Revenue . His Lordship further commended three Circumstances : First , The Time ; All Europe being at this day as the Pool of Bethesda , the first stirring of the waters must be laid hold on : Wherefore his Majesty desires them to bestow this Meeting on him , or rather on their Actions ; and the next shall be theirs , as soon , and as long as they please , for Domestick business . Secondly , Supply : If Subsidies be thought too long and backward , his Majesty desires to hear , and not to propound the way . Thirdly , The Issue of Action ; which being the first , doth highly concern his Majesties Honor and Reputation , for which he relies upon their Loves with the greatest confidence that ever King had in his Subjects ; witness his Royal Poesie , Amor Civium Regis Munimentum : And he doubts not but as soon as he shall be known in Europe to be their King , so soon shall they be known to be a loving and loyal Nation to him . Iune 21. The Commons presented Sir Thomas Crew Knight and Serjeant at Law for their Speaker , ( who was also Speaker in the last Parliament of King Iames ) and his Majesty approved the Choice . After the House of Commons had setled their General Committees , there were various Debates amongst them : Some insisted upon the Grievances mentioned , but not redressed by King Iames in the last Parliament ; others pressed for an accompt of the last Subsidies granted for recovery of the Palatinate ; others for the putting of Laws in execution against Priests and Jesuits , and such as resorted to Ambassadors Houses , and the questioning of Mr. Richard Montague , for his Book intituled An Appeal to Caesar ; which ( as they said ) was contrived and published to put a jealousie between the King and his well-affected Subjects , and contained many things contrary to the Articles of Religion established by Parliament ; and that the whole frame thereof was an encouragement to Popery . Others again declared , how the King no sooner came to the Crown , but he desired to meet his people in Parliament , it being the surest way to preserve a right understanding between him and them ; that since he began to reign , the Grievances are few or none ; and when he was Prince , he was observed to be very instrumental in procuring things for the Subjects benefit . Wherefore it will be the wisdom of this House to take a course to sweeten all things between King and People , and to express their duty to the King by giving Supply , and therewith to offer nothing but a Petition for Religion , that Religion and Subsidies may go hand in hand . And whatsoever they did , it was needful to do it quickly , considering how greatly the Plague increased , and the Bell was tolling every minute while they were speaking . The Commons moved the Lords to joyn in a Petition to the King for a Publick Fast , whereunto their Lordships readily concurred ; and the King consenting , a Proclamation was issued forth for a Fast throughout the Kingdom . Several particular Committees were appointed . One to enquire of the Subsidies given the last Parliament , another to consider of Tonnage and Poundage . The Imposition on Wines was Voted upon the Merchants Petition , to be presented as a Grievance . Sir Edward Cook went to the House of Peers with a Message from the Commons , desiring their concurrence in a Petition concerning Religion , and against Recusants ; which being agreed unto and presented to the King , his Majesty answered , That he was glad that the Parliament was so forward in Religion , and assured them they should finde him as forward ; that the Petition being long , could not be presently answered . Mr. Richard Montague was brought to the Bar of the Commons House for his fore-named Book . This Cause began in the One and twentieth of King Iames , when he had published a former Book which he named A New Gagg for an Old Goose , in answer to a Popish Book , entituled A Gagg for the New Gospel . The business was then questioned in Parliament , and committed to the Archbishop of Canterbury , and ended in an Admonition given to Montague . Afterwards the Bishops of the Arminian Party , consulting the Propagation of the Five Articles condemned in the Synod of Dort , concluded that Mr. Montague being already engaged in the quarrel , should publish this latter Book at first attested by their Joynt-Authorities , which afterwards they withdrew by subtilty , having procured the Subscription of Doctor Francis White , whom they left to appear alone in the Testimony , as himself ofttimes complained publickly . The Archbishop disallowed the Book , and sought to suppress it ; nevertheless , it was Printed and Dedicated unto King Charles , whereby that party did endeavor to engage him in the beginning of his Reign . The House appointed a Committee to examine the Errors therein , and gave the Archbishop thanks for the admonition given to the Author , whose Books they Voted to be contrary to the Articles established by the Parliament , to tend to the Kings dishonor , and disturbance of Church and State , and took Bond for his appearance . Hereupon the King intimated to the House , that the things determined concerning Mountague without his Privity did not please him ; for that he was his Servant and Chaplain in Ordinary , and he had taken the business into his own hands , whereat the Commons seemed to be much displeased . Howbeit , to take away all occasion of disgust from the King at the entrance of his Reign , both Houses did humbly present two Subsidies granted to his Majesty as the first-fruits of their love , whereof they craved acceptance . The Lord Conway , Secretary of State , signified to the House of Lords ( the Commons being present ) the Kings gracious acceptance of the Bill of Two Subsidies ; Yet that the necessities of the present Affairs were not therein satisfied , but required their further Counsels : He reminded them , that the late King was provoked beyond his nature to undertake a War for the recovery of his Childrens Antient Patrimony : The charges of this War appeared by Computation to amount unto Seven hundred thousand pounds a year to support the Netherlands , and to prevent the Emperors design of concluding with the Princes of Germany , ( utterly to exclude the Palsgrave ) he levied an Army under Count Mansfield . The Kings of Denmark and Sweden , and the Princes of Germany levied another ; France , Savoy , and Venice , joyned together for a War of Diversion ; and to uphold the Netherlands , the charges of Mansfield and Denmarks Army must yet continue . After this the Lord Keeper delivered a short Message from the King to both Houses , That to the Petition of the Lords and Commons touching Religion , his Majesty was pleased at the first to answer Gratiously ; but now he hath sent them a fuller Answer , even an assurance of his real performance in every particular . The Houses were preparing several Acts , as against giving and taking of Bribes for places of Judicature ; about pressing of Soldiers , and Tonnage and Poundage , &c. But by reason of the great increase of the Plague , as appeared that week by the Bill of Mortality , the King being moved by the Houses to grant a short Recess , adjourned the Parliament to Oxford , to reassemble the first of August following . And for the same reason , the receipt of the Kings Exchequer was removed from Westminster to Richmond , and all Fairs within Fifty miles of London were prohibited to prevent a more general contagion . In the time of this Recess , the Vantguard , a principal Ship of the Royal Navy , with seven Merchant Ships of great burden and strength , were lent to the French King , and employed against Rochel , which was thus brought about . King Iames in his life time , being in Treaty for a Marriage between his Son , and the now Queen ; and entring into a War against the King of Spain , and his Allies in Italy and the Valtoline , had passed some Promise for the procuring or lending of ships to the French King , upon reasonable Conditions ; but in no wise intending they should serve against Rochel , or any of our Religion in France : For the French Ministers pretended , that the Ships should be employed onely against Genoa ; but afterwards the Protestants in France intimating their suspition , that the design for Italy was a meer pretence to make up an Army to fall upon the Rochellers and others of the Religion , King Iames willing to perform his promise , and yet to secure the Protestants , directed , that the greater number of those that served in the Ships should be English , whereby he might keep the power in his own hands . For the performance of this Engagement , the forenamed Ships were at this time commanded to the Coasts of France : Nevertheless there wanted a sufficient care to prevent the abusing and inslaving them to the designs of the French King. Captain Iohn Pennington , the Admiral of this Fleet , was much unsatisfied , and presented to the Duke of Buckingham , Lord High Admiral , his Exceptions to the Contract between his Majesty and that King , and chiefly for that the Companies were bound to fight at the French Kings Command , against any Nation except their own ; and that the French might put aboard them as many of their own people as they pleased . The Vantguard arived at Deep , but the rest lingred behinde ; for , the Companies understanding that the French design was to surprise the Ships and to block up the Harbor of Rochel , resolved to sink rather , then go against those of their own Religion . Captain Pennington received Letters from the Duke , and a Warrant from Secretary Conway in the Kings Name , to command him to deliver up the Ships to the hands of such Frenchmen as his Christian Majesty shall appoint , but withal directing him not to dissert his charge , by which latter passage he was willing to understand , that it was not the Dukes intention that he should dispossess himself and his Companies of them ; for he supposed his Grace had no such unjust thought as to continue him there alone . These Orders were delivered unto him by the hands of the French Ambassador , together with a Letter from the French King , which willed him to receive his Soldiers , and his Admiral , the Duke of Montmorance , and joyn with his Fleet against his Rebellious Subjects . Whereupon the Ambassador urged the Surrender of the Ship , and nothing would satisfie him , but a present possession , and a discharge of the English Soldiers , save a very few , in case they were willing to be entertained in the service . Pennington after much dispute , although he were promised an ample reward in Money to be given him at the Surrender , and of a Royal Pension during his life , came to this resolute Answer ; That without an express and clear Warrant he would not surrender nor discharge a man of his Company . Whereupon the French Ambassadors Secretary came two several times to the Ship to protest against the Captain , as a Rebel to his King and Countrey ; but at the making of the last Protest , which was accompanied with threatning Speeches , the Soldiers and Mariners grew into such a fury and tumult , that they got up their Anchors and set fail for England , saying , They would rather be hanged at home , then surrender the Ship or be Slaves to the French , and fight against their own Religion . All which Captain Pennington did not gainsay nor oppose ; but when they came to Anchor in the Downs , he advertised the Duke of all that had hapned , and craved further direction , but complained of the Bondage of this Engagement , assuring him , That the Mariners would rather be hanged , then return again into France : So in all the rest of the Ships , the Captains and Companies utterly refused the Service , and protested against it , though they were tempted with Chains of Gold , and other Rewards . All this while the Body of the Council were ignorant of any other design then th● of Genoa ; then divers persons came over from the Duke of Rohan , and the Protestants of France , to sollicit the King and Council against lending of the Ships , and received fair Answers from them both . But the King sent an express and strict Order to Pennington , requiring him without delay to put his former Command in Execution , for the consigning of the Ship called the Vantguard , with all her furniture , into the hands of the Marquess D' Effiat , assuring the Officers of the Ships , that he would provide for their Indempnity ; and further commanding him to require the Seven Merchants Ships in his name , to put themselves into the Service of the French King , and in case of backwardness or refusal , to use all means to compel them thereunto , even to their sinking . Upon this Pennington went back to Deep , and put the Vantguard into the absolute Power and Command of the French King to be employed in his Service at pleasure , and commanded the rest of the Fleet to the like Surrender . At the first , the Captains , Masters , and owners refused to yield , weighed Anchor , and were making away ; but when Pennington shot , they came in again , but Sir Ferdinando Gorge came away with the Ship called the Neptune : The Companies unanimously declined the Service , and quitted the Ships , all but one Man , who was a Gunner ; and Pennington hasted to Oxford where the Parliament was Reassembled , but as was voiced , was there concealed till the Parliament was dissolved . On the First of August the Parliament Reassembled at Oxford , whether the news of the Ships lent to the French against the besieged Rochellers , did quickly flie , and exasperate the spirit of that great Assembly against the Duke of Buckingham . The Grievances insisted upon , were the mis-spending of the Publick Treasure , the neglect of guarding the Seas , insomuch that the Turks had leisure to land in the Western parts , and carry away the Subjects Captives . The Commons appointed a Committee to consider of secret Affairs , and to examine the Disbursements of the Three Subsidies and the Three Fifteens given to King Iames , for the Recovery of the Palatinate , and they prepared to assault the Duke . Also Mr. Richard Montague was summoned to appear according to the Condition of his Bond , and a Committee was appointed to proceed in the further Examination of that business . Mr. Montagues Cause was recommended to the Duke by the Bishops of Rochester , Oxford , and St. Davids , as the Cause of the Church of England . They shew that some of the Opinions which offended many , were no other then the resolved Doctrine of this Church , and some of them are curious Points disputed in the Schools , and to be left to the liberty of Learned Men to abound in their own sense , it being the great fault of the Council of Trent , to require a Subscription to School Opinions , and the approved Moderation of the Church of England , to refuse the apparent Dangers and Errors of the Church of Rome ; but not to be over-busie with Scholastical Niceties . Moreover in the present case , they alleage , that in the time of Henry the Eighth when the Clergy submitted to the Kings Supremacy , the Submission was so resolved , That in case of any difference in the Church , the King and the Bishops were to determine the Matter in a National Synod ; and if any other Judge in Matters of Doctrine be now allowed , we depart from the Ordinance of Christ , and the continual practice of the Church . Herewithal they intimated , That if the Church be once brought down below her self , even Majesty it self with soon be impeached . They say further , That King Iames in his rare wisdom and judgment approved all the Opinions in this Book ; and that most of the contrary Opinions were debated at Lambeth , and ready to be published , but were suppressed by Queen Elizabeth , and so continued , till of late they received countenance at the Synod of Dort , which was a Synod of another Nation ; and to us no ways binding , till received by Publick Authority . And they affirm boldly , That they cannot conceive what use there can be of Civil Government in the Common-wealth , or of External Ministry in the Church , if such fatal Opinions as some are , which are opposite to those delivered by Mr. Montague , be publickly taught and maintained . Such was the Opinion of these forenamed Bishops ; but others of Eminent Learning were of a different Judgment . At Oxford in a late Divinity Disputation held upon this Question , Whether a Regenerate Man may totally and finally fall from Grace ? The Opponent urging the Appeal to Caesar , the Doctor of the Chair handled the Appellator very roughly , saying , He was a meer Grammarian , a Man that studied Phrases more then Matter ; That he understood neither Articles nor Homilies , or at least perverted both ; That he attributed he knew not what vertue to the sign of the Cross , Dignus Cruce qui asserit ; and concluded with an Admonition to the Juniors , That they should be wary of reading that and the like Books . On the Fourth of August , the Lords and Commons were commanded to attend his Majesty in Christs-Church Hall in Oxford , where he spake unto them in manner following . MY Lords , and you of the Commons , We all remember that from your Desires and Advice , my Father now with God , brake off those two Treaties with Spain that were then in hand : Well you then foresaw , that as well for regaining my dispossessed Brothers Inheritance , as home defence , a War was likely to succeed ; and that as your Councils had led my Father into it , so your assistance in a Parliamentary-way to pursue it , should not be wanting . That aid you gave him by Advice , was for succor of his Allies , the guarding of Ireland , and the home part , supply of Munition , preparing and setting forth of his Navy . A Council you thought of , and appointed for the War , and Treasurers for issuing of the Moneys : And to begin this Work of your Advice , you gave Three Subsidies , and as many Fifteens , which with speed were levied , and by direction of that Council of War ( in which the preparation of this Navy was not the least ) disbursed . It pleased God at the entrance of this Preparation ( by your Advice begun ) to call my Father to his Mercy , whereby I entred as well to the care of your Design , as his Crown . I did not then as Princes do of Custom and Formality Reassemble you , but that by your further Advice and Aid , I might be able to proceed in that which by your Counsels my Father was engaged in . Your love to me , and forwardness to further those Affairs , you expressed by a Grant of Two Subsidies yet ungathered ; although I must assure you , by my self and others , upon credit taken up and aforehand disbursed , and far short as yet to set forth that Navy now preparing ; as I have lately the estimate of those of care , and who are still employed about it , whose particular of all expences about this preparation shall be given you , when you please to take an accompt of it . His Majesty having ended his Speech , commanded the Lord Conway , and Sir Iohn Cook , more particularly to declare the present state of Affairs ; which was done to this effect . THat our Soveraign Lord King Iames of Famous Memory , at the Suit of both Houses of Parliament , and by the powerful operation of his Majesty that now is , gave consent to break off the Two Treaties with Spain , touching the Match and the Palatinate , and to vindicate the many wrongs and scorns done unto his Majesty and his Royal Children : Besides , if the King of Spain were suffered to proceed in his Conquests under pretence of the Catholick Cause , he would become the Catholick Monarch which he so much affects , and aspires unto . Also amidst these Necessities , our late King considered , That he might run a hazard with his people , who being so long inured to Peace , were unapt to War ; that the uniting with other Provinces in this undertaking , was a Matter of exceeding Difficulty . This drew him to new Treaties for regaining his Children right , which were expulsed by the Friends and Agents of Spain ; and wherein his Majesty proceeded as far as the wisest Prince could go , and suffered himself to be won unto that which otherwise was impossible for his Royal Nature to endure . He considered also the many Difficulties abroad , the Duke of Bavaria by Force and Contract had the Palatinate in his own possession , most of the Electors and Princes of Germany were joyned with him . The Estates of the other Princes most likely to joyn in a War of Recovery , were seized and secured , and all by a Conquering Army : Besides , the Emperor had called a Diet , in which he would take away all possibility of recovering the Honor and Inheritance of the Palatinate ; thus it stood in Germany . And in France the King there chose to sheath his Sword in the Bowels of his own Subjects , rather then to declare against the Catholick Cause . In the Low-Countreys the Sect of the Arminians prevailed much , who inclined to the Papists rather then to their own safety , notwithstanding that the Enemy had a great and powerful Army near them ; so that his Majesty was inforced to Protect and Countenance them with an Army of Six thousand from hence , with a Caution of the like Supply from thence , if required . Moreover he sought Alliance with France , by a Match for his Royal Majesty that now is , thereby to have Interest in that King , and to make him a Party . The last consideration was his Majesties own Honor , who had labored with the two Kings of Denmark and Sweden , and the German Princes , from whom he received but cold Answers ; they refusing to joyn , unless they first saw his Majesty in the Field . But of this he was very tender , unless the League were broken , or he first warred upon . The Forces of an Army were considered , and the way of proceeding , whether by Invasion or Diversion : The Charges thereof appeared in Parliament to be Seven hundred thousand pounds a year ; besides , Ireland was to be fortified , the Forts here repaired , and a Navy prepared ; he thought it feasible to enter into a League with the French King , and the Duke of Savoy and Venice . Hereupon an Army was committed to Count Mansfield , the charge whereof came to Seventy thousand pounds a Moneth for his Majesties part ; also he commanded the preparing of this great Fleet : All which so heartned the Princes of Germany , that they sent Ambassadors to the Kings of Denmark and Sweden ; and those two Kings offered a greater Army both of Horse and Foot , to which his Majesty was to pay a proportion . Count Mansfields Army ( though disastrous ) produced these happy effects ; First , It prevented the Diet intended by the Emperor . Secondly , The German Princes gained new courage to defend themselves , and oppose their Enemies . Thirdly , The King of Denmark hath raised an Army , with which he is marched in person as far as Minden . Moreover , the Confederates of France and Italy have prosecuted a War in Milan , and Peace is now made by the French King with his own Subjects ; so that by this means breath is given to our Affairs . This Parliament is not called in meer Formality upon his Majesties first coming to the Crown , but upon these Real Occasions to consult with the Lords and Commons ; Two Subsidies are already given , and gratiously accepted ; but the Moneys thereof , and much more are already disbursed . A Fleet is now at Sea and hastning to their Rendezvous , the Army is ready at Plimouth , expecting their Commanders . His Majesties Honor , Religion , and the Kingdomes safety , is here engaged ; besides , he is certainly advised of Designs to infest his Dominions in Ireland , and upon our own Coasts , and of the Enemies increase of Shipping in all parts . These things have called the Parliament hither , and the present Charge of all amounts to above Four hundred thousand pounds ; the further prosecution whereof , the King being unable to bear , hath left it to their Consultations . His Majesty is verily perswaded , That there is no King that loves his Subjects , Religion , and the Laws of the Land , better then himself ; and likewise that there is no people that better loves their King , which he will cherish to the uttermost . It was thought that this place had been safe for this Assembly , yet since the Sickness hath brought some fear thereof , his Majesty willeth the Lords and Commons to put into the Ballance with the fear of the Sickness , his and their great and weighty occasions . Then the Lord Treasurer added , That the late King when he died , was indebted to the City of London 120000 l. besides Interest , and indebted for Denmark and the Palatinate 150000 l. and indebted for his Wardrobe 40000 l. That these debts lie upon his Majesty that now is , who is indebted upon London 70000 l. That he hath laid out for his Navy 20000 l. and 20000 l. for Count Mansfield . And for Mourning and Funeral expences for his Father 42000 l. For expences concerning the Queen 40000. The Navy will require to set it forth in that Equipage as is requisit for the great Design his Majesty hath in hand , and to pay them for the time intended for this Expedition , 300000 l. After this Conference , the Commons fell into high Debates , alleaging , That the Treasury was mis-employed ; that evil Councels guided the Kings Designs ; that our Necessities arose through Improvidence ; that they had need to Petition the King for a strait hand and better Counsel to Manage his Affairs : And though a former Parliament did engage the King in a War , yet ( if things were managed by contrary Designs , and the Treasure misemployed ) This Parliament is not bound by another Parliament , to be carried blindfold in Designs not guided by sound Counsel ; and that it is was not usual to grant Subsidies upon Subsidies in one Parliament , and no Grievances redressed . There were many Reflections upon the Dukes miscarriages ; likewise they reassumed the Debate concerning Montague ; and they resolved , That Religion should have the first place in their Debates ; and next unto it , the Kingdoms Safety , and then Supplies . Other particulars were likewise insisted on , That the King be desired to Answer in full Parliament to the Petition concerning Religion , and that his Answer be Inrolled with the force of an Act of Parliament : Also that the House consider of the new prepared Fleet and Army , and whither intended , no Enemy being yet declared ; That great Sums of Money were given for places , to the value of an Hundred and forty thousand pounds at least ; that the King should contribute to help the Palatinates Cause with his own Estate ; that the time of the year was too far spent for the Fleet to go forth in Service ; that inquiry be made , whether the Duke brake not the Match with Spain , out of Spleen and Malice to Conde Olivares ; whether he made not the Match with France upon harder terms ; and whether the Ships lent against Rochel were not maintained with the Subsidies given for the relief of the Palatinate ; that an Advised Counsel for the Government of the present Affairs , and to look into the Kings Estate , is necessary ; that his Majesty be desired to give his Answer concerning the Imposition on Wines ; and Select Committees draw out these Heads at large to be presented to the King : The doing whereof , they said was no Capitulation with his Majesty , but an ordinary Parliamentary course : Without which , the Commonwealth could never supply the King , nor indeed subsist . Soon after the Commons had a Conference with the Lords , desiring their Concurrence in presenting to the King , these Matters following . That notwithstanding the Lords and Commons at their last Meeting this Session , did Petition his Majesty for the advancing of Gods true Religion , and the suppressing of Popery ; unto which his Majesty vouchsafed as well from his own Mouth , as by the Lord Keeper , to return such Answer as assured them of his Royal performance : yet at this Meeting they finde , That on the 12 of Iuly last his Majesty granted a Pardon unto Alexander Baker a Jesuite , and unto Ten other Papists , which ( as the Commons have been informed ) was gotten by the importunity of some Foreign Ambassador , and passed by immediate Warrant , and was recommended by the Principal Secretary of State , without the payment of the ordinary Fees. And further , That divers Copies of Letters and other Papers being found in the house of one Mary Estmonds in Dorsetshire , by two Justices of Peace , who thereupon tendred her the Oath of Alleagiance , and upon her refusal committed her to the Constable , from whom she made an escape , and complained to the King. The Principal Secretary did write to those two Justices in favor of her . Upon these Passages the Commons made Observations ; first , upon the date of the Pardon , which was the next day after his Majesties Answer by the Lord Keeper to their Petition concerning Religion ; secondly , That the Pardon dispenced with several Laws , as of the 21 and 27 of Queen Elizabeth , and of the Third of King Iames , provided to keep the Subjects in due obedience ; thirdly , That the Pardon was signed by the Principal Secretary of State ; and therefore the Commons declared , that these actings tended to the prejudice of true Religion , his Majesties dishonor , the discountenancing of the Ministers of Justice , the grief of the good people , the animating of the Popish party , who by such examples grew more proud and insolent , and to the discouragement of the High Court of Parliament : All which they humbly desire his Majesty to take into due consideration , and to give effectual and speedy Redress therein . The Lord Conway principal Secretary of State , being called to give an Accompt of this business , answered , That he ever hated the Popish Religion ; That the Pardon was granted before the King answered their Petition , though it bore not date till afterwards ; That the King commanded the doing thereof , and that no Fees should be taken ; That he was commanded by the King to write a Letter in favor of the Woman in Dorset-shire , and what he did therein was to take off all scandal from the King , though it lighted upon himself . This Conference no sooner ended , but both Houses were ordered to meet at Christ-Church , to receive an Answer to their Petition concerning Religion ; To every Clause whereof his Majesty answered in a Parliamentary way . The Petition , Remedies , and the Kings Answer we give you intermixt , for the better understanding the Answer to every respective Clause distinctly . To the Kings most Excellent Majesty . Most Gracious Soveraign , IT being infallibly true , that nothing can more establish the Throne , and assure the peace and prosperity of the people , then the unity and sincerity of Religion ; We your most humble and loyal Subjects , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons of this present Parliament assembled , hold our selves bound in conscience and duty to represent the same to your Sacred Majesty , together with the dangerous Consequences of the increase of Popery in this Land , and what we conceive to be the principal Causes thereof , and what may be the Remedies . The Dangers appear in these particulars . I. In their desperate ends , being both the subversion of Church and State ; and the restlesness of their spirits to attain these ends , the Doctrine of their Teachers and Leaders perswading them that therein they do God good service . II. Their evident and strict dependencie upon such Forein Princes as no way affect the good of your Majesty and this State. III. The opening a way of Popularity to the Ambition of any who shall adventure to make himself Head of so great a Party . The principal Cause of the Increase of Papists . I. The want of the due execution of Laws against Iesuites , Seminary Priests , and Popish Recusants ; occasioned partly by the connivencie o● the State , partly by defects in the Laws themselves , and partly by the manifold acuse of Officers . II. The interposing of Foreign Princes by their Ambassadors and agents , in favor of them . III. Their great Concourse to the City , and frequent Conferences and Conventicles there . IV. The open and usual resort to the Houses and Chappels of Forein Ambassadors . V. The Education of their Children in Seminaries and Houses of their Religion in Foreign parts , which of late have been greatly multiplied and enlarged for entertaining of the English. VI. That in some places of your Realm , your people be not sufficiently instructed in the knowledge of true Religion . VII . The licentious printing and dispersing of Popish and Seditious Books . VIII . The imployment of men ill-affected in Religion in places of Government , who do , shall , or may countenance the Popish party . The Remedies against this outragious and dangerous disease , We conceive to be these ensuing . I. That the Youth of this Realm be carefully educated by able and Religious Schoolmasters , and they to be enjoined to Catechise and instruct their Scholars in the grounds and principles of true Religion . And whereas by many Complaints from divers parts of the Kingdom it doth plainly appear , That sundry Popish Scholars dissembling their Religion , have craftily crept in and obtained the places of Teaching in divers Counties , and thereby infected and perverted their Scholars , and so fitted them to be transported to the Popish Seminaries beyond the Seas ; That therefore there be great care in Choice and admitting Schoolmasters , and that the Ordinaries make diligent enquiries of their demeanors , and procéed to the removing of such as shall be faulty or justly suspected . His Majesties Answer . This is well allowed of ; And for the better performance of what is desired , Letters shall be written to the two Archbishops , and from them Letters to go to all the Ordinaries of their several Provinces to see this done ; the several Ordinaries to give accompt of their doings herein to the Archbishops respectively , and they to give accompt to his Majesty of their proceedings herein . II. That the antient Discipline of the Universities be restored , being the famous Nurseries of Literature and Uertue . Answ. This is approved by his Majesty ; and the Chancellor of each University shall be required to cause due execution of it . III. That special care be taken to enlarge the Word of God throughout all the parts of your Majesties Dominions , as being the most powerful means for planting of true Religion , and rooting out of the contrary : To which end , among other things , let it please your Majesty to advise your Bishops , by Fatherly intreaty and tender usage to reduce to the peaceable and orderly service of the Church , such able Ministers as have been formerly silenced , that there may be a profitable use of their Ministry in these needful and dangerous times ; And that Nonresidencie , Pluralities and Commendams may be moderated . Where we cannot forbear most humbly to thank your Majesty for diminishing the number of your own Chaplains ; not doubting of the like Princely care for the well-bestowing of the rest of your Benefices , both to the comfort of the people , and the encouragement of the Universities , being full of grave and able Ministers unfurnished of Livings . Answ. This his Majesty likes well , so as it be applied to such Ministers as are peaceable , orderly , and conformable to the Church-Government . For Pluralities and Nonresidencies , they are now so moderated , that the Archbishops affirm , there be now no Dispensations for Pluralities granted ; nor no man now is allowed above two Benefices , and those not above thirty miles distant : And for avoiding Non-residence , the Canon in that case provided shall be duly put in execution . For Commendams , they shall be sparingly granted , only in such case where the exility and smalness of the Bishoprick requireth . Also his Majesty will cause that the Benefices belonging to him shall be well bestowed . And for the better propagating of Religion , his Majesty recommendeth to the House of Parliament , that care may be taken and provision made , That every Parish shall allow a competent maintenance for an able Minister ; And that the Owners of Parsonages Impropriate would allow to the Vicars , Curates and Ministers in Villages and places belonging to their Parsonage , sufficient Stipend and Allowance for Preaching Ministers . IV. That there may be strict provision against transporting of English Children to the Seminaries beyond the Seas , and for the recalling of them who are already there placed , and for the punishment of such your Subjects as are Maintainers of those Seminaries , or of the Scholars ; considering , that besides the seducing of your people , great sums of money are yearly expended upon them , to the impoverishing of this Kingdom . Answ. The Law in this case shall be put in execution : And further , there shall be Letters written to the Lord Treasurer , and also to the Lord Admiral , That all the Ports of this Realm , and the Creeks and Members thereof be strictly kept , and strait Searches made to this end : A Proclamation shall be to recall both the Children of Noblemen , and the Children of any other men , and they to return by a day ; Also Maintainers of Seminaries or Scholars there , shall be punished according to Law. V. That no Popish Recusant be permitted to come within the Court , unless your Majesty be pleased to call him upon special occasion , agreeable to the Statute of 3 Jac. And whereas your Majesty for the preventing of apparent mischiefs both to your Majesty and the State , hath in your Princely wisdom taken order , that none of your natural born Subjects not professing the true Religion , and by Law established , be admitted into the service of your Royal Consort the Queen , We give your Majesty most humble thanks , and desire that your Order herein may be observed . Answ. If his Majesty shall find or be informed of any Concourse of Recusants to the Court , the Law shall be strictly followed : And his Majesty is pleased , that by Proclamation the British and the Irish Subjects shall be put in the same case . And as his Majesty hath provided in his Treaty with France , so his purpose is to keep it , That none of his Subjects shall be admitted into his service , or into the service of his Royal Consort the Queen , that are Popish Recusants . VI. That all the Laws now standing in force against Iesuites , Seminary-Priests , and others having taken Orders by Authority derived from the Sea of Rome , be put in due execution . And to the intent they may not pretend to be surprised , That a spéedy and certain Day be prefixed by your Majesties Proclamation for their departure out of this Realm , and all other your Dominions , and not to return upon the severest Penalties of the Law now in force against them ; And that all your Majesties Subjects may be thereby admonished not to receive , comfort , entertain , or conceal any of them , upon the Penalties which may be lawfully inflicted : And that all such Papists , Iesuites , and Recusants , who are and shall be imprisoned for Recusancie or any other cause , may be so strictly restrained , as that none shall have conference with them , thereby to avoid the contagion of their corrupt Religion : And that no man who shall be suspected of Popery , be suffered to be a Kéeper of any of your Majesties Prisons . Answ. The Law in this case shall be put in execution , and a Proclamation shall be to the effect desired ; And such Restraint shall be made , as is desired ; And no man that is justly suspected of Popery , shall be suffered to be Keeper of any his Majesties Prisons . VII . That your Majesty be pleased to take such Order as to your Princely wisdom shall be expedient , That no natural born Subject , or strange Bishops , nor any other by authority from the Sea of Rome , confer any Ecclesiastical Orders to exercise any Ecclesiastical Function whatsoever , toward or upon your Majesties natural Subjects within your Dominions . Answ. This is fit to be ordered according as is provided , And it shall be so published by Proclamation . VIII . That your Majesties Learned Council may receive Order and commandment to consider of all former Grants of Recusants lands , that such of them may be avoided as are made to the Recusants use or interest , out of which the Recusant receiveth any benefit , which are either void , or voidable by they Law. Answ. The King will give order to his Learned Council to consider of the Grants , and will do according as is desired . IX . That your Majesty will be likewise pleased strictly to command all your Iudges and Ministers of Iustice , Ecclesiastical and Temporal , to sée the Laws of this Realm against Popish Recusants to be duly executed ; And namely , that the Censure of Excommunication be declared and certified against them ; and that they be not absolved but upon publick satisfaction by yielding to Conformity . Answ. His Majesty leaves the Lawes to their Course , and will order in the point of Excommunication as is desired . X. That your Majesty will be pleased to remove from places of Authority and Government all such persons as are either Popish Recusants , or according to direction of former Acts of State , to be justly suspected . Answ. This his Majesty thinks fit , and will give order for it . XI . That present order be taken for disarming all Popish Recusants , legally convicted , or justly suspected , according to the Laws in that behalf , and the Orders taken by his late Majesties Privy-Council upon reason of State. Answ. The Laws and Acts in this Case shall be followed , and put in due execution . XII . That your Majesty be also pleased in respect of the great resort of Recusants , to and about London , to command forthwith upon pain of your indignation and severe execution of the Laws , that they retire themselves to their several Countries , there to remain confined within Five miles of their places . Answ. For this the Laws in force shall be forthwith executed . XIII . And whereas your Majesty hath strictly commanded and taken order , that none of the natural born Subjects repair to the hearing of Masses , or other Superstitious Service at the Chappels or Houses of Foreign Ambassadors , or in any other places whatsoever ; we give your Majesty most humble thanks , and desire , that your Order and Commandment therein may be continued and observed , and that the Offenders herein may be punished according to the Laws . Answ. The King gives assent thereto , and will see that observed which herein hath been commanded by him . XIV . That all such Insolencies , as any that are Popishly affected have lately committed , or shall hereafter commit to the dishonor of our Religion , or to the wrong of the true Professors thereof , be exemplarily punished . Answ. This shall be done as is desired . XV. That the Statute of 1 Eliz. for the payment of Twelve-pence every Sunday by such as shall be absent from Divine service in the Church without a lawfull excuse , may be put in due execution , the rather for that the penalty by Law is given to the poor , and therefore not to be dispenced withal . Answ. It is fit that this Statute be executed , and the Penalties shall not be dispenced withal . XVI . Lastly , That your Majesty would be pleased to extend your Princely care also over the Kingdom of Ireland , that the like courses may be there taken for the restoring and establishing of true Religion . Answ. His Majesties cares are , and shall be extended over the Kingdom of Ireland ; and he will do all that a Religious King should do for the restoring and establishing of true Religion there . And thus ( most gracious Soveraign ) according to our duty and zeal to God and Religion , to your Majesty and your safety , to the Church and Common-wealth , and their peace and prosperity , we have made a faithfull Declaration of the present Estate , the causes and remedies of this increasing disease of Popery ; humbly offering the same to your Princely care and wisdom . The Answer of your Majesties Father , our late Soveraign of famous memory , upon the like Petition , did give us great comfort of Reformation ; but your Majesties most gracious promises made in that kinde , do give us confidence and assurance of the continual performance thereof . In which comfort and confidence reposing our selves , we most humbly pray for your Majesties long continuance in all Princely felicity . The Petition and Answer being read , it was further intimated to the Commons , That as his Majesty took well their minding him of the care of Religion , so he would have done and granted the same things , though they had never petitioned him ; neither doth he place his Answer to this Petition , as a wheel to draw on other affairs and designs , but he leaves them to move in their own Sphere ; and what he hath done in this particular comes from these two Fountains , Conscience , and Duty to his Father , who in his last speech recommended unto him the Person , but not the Religion of his Queen . At the same time the Duke signified to both Houses , that by the Kings command , he was to give an account of the Fleet , and the preparations thereof ; and said , that the first and last time he had the happiness to speak in that Auditory , it was of the Spanish Treaty , and then he was so happy , as to be honored and applauded by both Houses of Parliament ; and he made no question , but speaking now with the same heart , he should be no less acceptable to them . And he made this request to the House of Commons , to believe , that if any hath spoken , or shall speak in discharge of his conscience , his zeal of Reformation , any thing which may seem to reflect upon some particular persons , he shall be the last man that will apply this to himself , because he is confidently assured of two things : first , that they are just not to fall upon him without cause ; and secondly , that himself shall do nothing that unbecomes a faithfull Englishman . And for the Method of his ensuing ▪ Discourse , he chose rather to speak by way of Objection and Answer , then in one continued Speech , as a speedier means to give the Commons satisfaction . Object . 1. By what Counsel those Designs and Actions of War were carried and enterprised ? Answ. By the Counsel of the Parliament appointed according to the Act of both Houses , the 23. of March 1623. by those Counsels his Majesty was guided , and applied himself accordingly for the defence of the Realm , the securing of Ireland , the assisting of our Neighbors and others our Friends and Allies , and for the setting forth the Navy-Royal . His Majesty looking into his purse , saw enough to do all the former Actions , but not this latter : For when he came to consider of the Navy , there was neither money nor preparations ; yet looking upon the Affairs of Christendom , he found that of most necessity : Hereupon his Majesty of famous memory did him ( viz. the Duke ) the honor , as to write from Newmarket to him at London a Letter to this effect ; That looking into the Affairs of Christendom , he found it necessary , that a Royal-Fleet shou●d be prepared and set in readiness , but that he had no Money ; wherefore himself ( meaning the Duke ) and his Friends must begin to lay it out , and no doubt but others would follow ; and by this means the King might lie the longer concealed and undiscovered in the Enterprise , as bearing the name of the Subject onely , and other Princes in hope to draw him on , would sooner come to the business . Upon this Letter , the Duke said , he leaped into the Action with all alacrity , and having received all he had from his Majesty , was most desirous , and held it a happiness to pour it out upon his service and occasions , and had laid out of his own purse Four and forty thousands pounds ; and the Treasurer of the Navy , at his request , had laid out Fifty thousand pounds ; that he entred not into this business upon his own head , but fortified with the Advice and Counsel of those worthy persons , the Lord Conway , the Lord Chichester , Lord Grandison , Lord Carew , Sir Robert Mansel , and Sir Iohn Cook. Their last consultation was of the War , next of the means ; but both one and the other was justified by more then himself ; he never did any thing but by them ; he either repairing unto them , or else they did him the honor to resort to his Chamber ; afterward the business , with the Kings leave , was imparted to all the Lords of the Council , and the account was made unto them , and allowed by them , who said there openly , his Majesty being present , that if this were put in execution , it would do well , and gave some Attribute unto it . And Sir Iohn Cook justified the shewing and the approving of these Accounts at the Council Table ; the Accounts consisted of long particulars of Souldiers to be levied , Mariners to be pressed , forwarding of Ships and provisions , and that nothing wanted but Money . He proceeded yet further , and shewed , that he was so Religious to guide these great Affairs by Council , as that at his journey into France , which fell out about this time , he desired his Majesty to recommend the business to a select Council , which his Majesty did , who in his absence took care of the same . Object . 2. Why did not his Majesty declare the Enemy presently upon granting those three Susidies ? Answ. His Majesty considered the State of Christendom at that Season , and found it full of danger to declare the Enemy for three Reasons : First , because the great Enemy would be more prepared ; secondly , Spain being the Enemy , our Merchants goods would be imbarged which are now drawing home ; thirdly , our Friends finding us so long unprepared after our Declaration , would never believe any reality in our intentions . Object . 3. Whether a considerable sum of money be yet required ? Answ. Forty thousand pounds is yet necessary , but our Master is exhausted , his Treasure anticipated , his Lands pawned , his Plate offered to be pawned , but not accepted , and yet his Majesty must be maintained . Object . 4. Why was not this want of Money foreseen , but now onely thought upon unexpectedly , and dangerously considering the sickness ? Answ. It was foreseen before , but interrupted by unfortunate accidents ; the death of the late King ; the Funeral , which for decency could follow no sooner ; the Journey into France , and the Marriage , which procured more delay then was expected , but necessary . At the opening of the Parliament his Majesty did declare this Necessity , and told the House plainly , that this sitting must not be for Counsel , but Resolution ; and when he understood the grant of two Subsidies , he conceived that money to be a matter of Custom to welcom him to the Crown . Object . 5. Who gave counsel to his Majesty so suddenly when the sickness was so dangerously spread , to convene this Parliamant ? Answ. His Majesty commanded him ( the Duke ) to say , that it was the business it self that gave this counsel , and the necessity of it , else his Majesty would not have hazarded the two Houses nor the rest of the Kingdom , if he had been able any way without the Parliaments Supply to set out the Navy . Object . 6. Is not the time of the year too far spent for the Navy to go forth ? Answ. The King answered this formerly , better half the Navy perish then the going thereof should be stayed ; it would argue such want of Counsel , Courage and Experience in the Design , such beggerliness in being not able to go through with it , that it may not be diverted , the season of the year suiting with the Design , as could be demonstrated , if the Design might not be published thereby . Object . 7. Whether those Eight Ships lent to the French King , which were imployed against the Rochellers , were not paid with the Subsidy-money ? Answ. Those Eight Ships were imployed at the charge of the French King : Secondly , it is not alway fit for Kings to give account of their Counsels ; judge the thing by the event . Object . 8. Whether the Duke , having been our Servant to break the Match with Spain , made not a worse Match with France ; and upon harsher terms ? Answ. I hope the contrary will appear by the Answer to your Petition . Object . 9. Did not the Duke serve us in breaking the two Treaties with Spain , out of spleen and malice to Conde Olivares ? Answ. There was no cause to hate Olivares , who was the means to make him happy ; for out of his hands came those papers by which the Duke gained the love of this Nation , which before thought not so well of him ; he was not vindicative in his Nature ; he can forgive those which had no such natural respect to their Country , as Olivares had ; neither doth the Duke love that any man should be an instrument by ill means to do a good Action , as Olivares intended to serve his Master and Kingdom by indirect means ; and he could make a proof , that he was not vindicative , he can forgive one of our own Nation that concurred with Olivares , but he was minded to leave that business asleep , which if it should awake , would prove a Lion to devour him , who ( as he said ) he meant one of our * Nation , who cooperated with Olivares . Object . 10. It will be objected , That hitherto the Duke speaketh of immcense charges , which the Kingdom is not able to bear ; as to assist the King of Denmark with Thirty thousand pounds per Moneth , Count Mansfield with Twenty thousand pounds per Moneth , the Low-Countries with Eight thousand pounds per Moneth , and Two thousand six hundred pounds per Moneth for Ireland ? Answ. Make the King Chief of the War by a diversion , and he will give a greater advantage to all his Allies , then by allowing of them Fifty thousand pounds , nay , a Hundred thousand pounds per Moneth . What is it for his Allies to scratch with the King of Spain , to take a Town to day , and lose it to morrow ? for it is almost impossible to hope for a Conquest in this kinde , the King of Spain being so able by Land ; but let the King our Soveraign be Master of the Wars elsewhere , and make a Diversion , and let the Enemy be compelled to spend his Money and Men in other places , and our Allies in those parts will be suddenly and perceivedly strengthened and enabled ; and by this kinde of War you send no Coyn out of the Land , you issue nothing but Beef , Mutton , and Powder , and the Kingdom is not impoverished , but may make good Returns . Object . 11. But where is the Enemy ? Answ. Make the Fleet ready to go out , and the King bids you name the Enemy your selves ; put the Sword into his Majesties hands , and he will improve it to your honor , and the good of Religion ; as you issue nothing that is loss , so you will bring home something that is gain , and henceforward maintain the War by the perquisites thereof ; make but once an Entrance , it may afterwards be maintained with profit ; when the Enemy is declared , you may have Letters of Mart , none shall be denied : I have not been so idle , but I shall make Propositions of advantage , whither your selves may go , and shall have the honey of the business . August 9. 1625. After the Commons returned from the House of Lords , they made Report of this Business unto the House , which occasioned variety of Opinions : Some were for giving the King present Supply , who had made so gracious an Answer to the Petition for Religion , and given direction that the same should be Inrolled , pressing further , That this Supply was not for the Kings own particular Wants , but for the Honor and Defence of the Kingdom , and that it might prove dangerous not to comply with the King in a modest and just desire . Others were of a contrary minde , and said , It was requisite to present to his Majesty the means how he may live glorious at home , and how he may be feared abroad , by having his Designs better mannaged , and an Enemy Declared : Then may spurs be added to the Sea-horse , and the King of Spain infested at a lesser charge , and we better secured from Papists at home , whose hearts are knit with the Spaniard , and whose Estates may liberally contribute to the War ; and the great Sums given for Honors and Offices , would go far in setting forth a Fleet at Sea , and the Subject not be always importuned for Supply . But the further Debate of this Business was put off till the next day being Wednesday the Tenth of August . The next day the King sends a Message to the Commons , wherein he takes notice , that the House intended to enter into Consideration of divers heads concerning the King and the Common-wealth , that he was pleased with their good intentions , but desired them to consider his Affairs , which require a speedy dispatch ; the season of the year was far spent , yet the time not unseasonable for the Design ; that if the Plague should happen in the Navy , the Action would be lost ; that if any of the House should be touched with the sickness , much inconvenience would ensue by an abrupt breaking up ; therefore desires a present Answer about Supply ; if not , he will take more care of the Commons then they will of themselves , and will make as good a shift for himself , as he can , to go through with this present occasion , and offereth that the Parliament shall meet again in Winter , at what time they please , upon his Royal word , and hold together till they have perfected all things for the good of the Common-wealth and the King , which are now in conception ; and desires them to consider it was the first Request that ever he made unto them . Hereupon some earnestly pressed the giving of two Subsidies , and two Fifteens , his Majesties honor , and the Necessity of his Affairs requiring it , as it appeared out of Considerations already frequently represented . Others replied , that Necessity is a dangerous Counsellor , and is a continual Argument of Supplies in all Parliaments ; that those Counsellors who have put the King and Kingdom into such a Necessity and hazard , ought to answer for it , whosoever they be ; that if the State of things will not admit a Redress of Grievances , surely there is not so much necessity for money ; to give Subsidy upon Subsidy in one Parliament is not usual ; in the Eighteenth year of Henry the third , there was one punished for pressing of more Subsidies , when Subsidies had been granted before in that Parliament . In the end it was proposed , that a Report be made to the King , that they have regard to his Honor , Necessity and Safety , and the safety of the Kingdom , and that they will assist his Majesty in any honorable Action , grounded upon sound Councils ; and that something be drawn up in writing to that purpose ; accordingly the House agreed upon a short Declaration , which was assented unto without a Negative . WE the Knights Cittzens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament , being the Representative body of the whole Commons of this Realm , abundantly comforted in his Majesties late gracious Answer touching Religion , and his Message for the care of our health , do Solemnly protest and vow before God and the world , with one heart and voice , that we are all resolved , and do hereby declare , that we will ever continue most Loyal and obedient Subjects to our most gracious Soveraign Lord King Charles ; and that we will be ready in convenient time , and in a Parliamentary way freely and dutifully to do our utmost endeavors , to discover and reform the Abuses and Grievances of the Realm and State , and in like sort of afford all necessary Supply to his most Excellent Majesty , upon his present , and all other his just Occasions and Designs ; most humbly beseeching our said Dear and Dread Soveraign in his Princely wisdom and goodness , to rest assured of the true and hearty affections of his poor Commons , and to esteem the same to be ( as we conceive it is indeed ) the greatest worldly reputation and security that a just King can have ; and to accompt all such as slanderers of the peoples affections , and Enemies to the Common-wealth , that shall dare to say the contrary . This Declaration was sent to the King by such of the Privy-Council as were Members of the House . Notwithstanding , the King perceiving the House resolved against Supply , without Redress of Grievances , and in their Debates to reflect upon some great Persons near unto him ; the 12th of August sent to the House of Peers a Commission , directed to several Lords , for the Dissolution of the Parliament ; whereupon the Gentleman-Usher was commanded to signifie to the Speaker of the House of Commons , that the Lords had received his Majesties Commission , which was read unto both Houses ; whereupon the Commons with their Speaker went up presently to the Lords , heard the Commission read , and the Parliament declared to be dissolved . At this Parliament begun and holden by Prorogation at Westminster the 18th day of Iune , Anno Regis Caroli Primo , 1625. these Acts were passed . 1. AN Act for the punishing of divers Abuses committed on the Lords-Day , commonly called Sunday . 2. An Act to enable the King to make Leases of Lands , parcel of the Dutchy of Cornwal . 3. An Act for the ease of obtaining Licenses of Alienation , and in the pleading of Alienations with licence , or of Pardons of Alienations without licence in the Court of Exchequer or elsewhere . 4. An Act to restrain Tipling in Inns and Ale-houses . 5. An Act for the Subsidy of the Clergy . 6. An Act for the two Subsidies of the Temporalty . 7. An Act that this Session of Parliament shall not determine by his Majesties assent to this and some other Acts. 8. An Act to confirm an Agreement between the King and the Copy-holders of Macclesfield , in Com. Cestr. &c. 9. An Act for he settlement of an Agreement of the Tenants of Chelvenham , and Ashby , alias Charleton , between the King and Sir Giles Grival Knight . The Parliament being dissolved , the King followed his Design of War , and resolved that the Fleet should speedily put out to Sea ; he also entered into a League with the United-Provinces , against the Emper or and King of Spain , for restoring the Liberties of Germany ; the States by their Ambassadors sought this Union , and the Duke of Buckingham , with the Earl of Holland were sent to the Hague to conclude the same , as also to comfort the Kings distressed Sister with hopes of a Restitution . Soon after his Majesty issued forth a Proclamation , whereby he commanded the return , within limitted time , of all such children of Noblemen , and others his natural Subjects , who were now breeding up in Schools and Seminaries , and other houses of the Popish Religion beyond the Seas : That their Parents , Tutors , and Governors take present order to recal them home , and to provide that they return by the day prefixt , at the utmost severity of his Majesties Justice ; and he commanded further , That no Bishop , Priest , or any other person having taken Orders under any Authority derived from the Sea of Rome , do presume to confer Ecclesiastical Orders , or exercise Ecclesiastical Function or Jurisdiction towards any of his natural Subjects in any of his Dominions ; and that all Statutes in force be put in due execution against Jesuites , Seminaries , and others in Popish Orders , prefixing a day for their departure out of his Dominions , not to return again upon the severest penalties of the Law. In the time of the late King , very many of the natural Subjects of these Dominions had by publick permission betaken themselves to the service of the Emperor , the King of Spain , and Archdutchess of the Low-Countries , and by this means they fought against others of their Country-men that were imployed by the States of the United-Provinces , and on the behalf of the exiled Palatine : But now the King foreseeing how improper and unnatural it were , that his own natural Subjects should upon any occasion or accident draw their swords one against the other , or any of them against their own Soveraign , did by advice of his Privy-Council straitly command all those his Subjects who were under the pay of the Emperor , the King of Spain or Archdutchess , speedily to return to their Native Countries , where they should be received and imployed , as occasion served , according to their several qualities . The dissolution of the Parliament preventing the Act of Subsidies , the King drew Supplies from the people by borrowing of persons able to lend , such competent sums of money as might discharge the present occasions ; accordingly he directed Letters of the following Tenor to the Lords-Lieutenants of the Counties . Right Trusty and Welbeloved , &c. IT hath been so usual a thing for Kings and Princes of this Realm to make use of their Subjects good affections , by borrowing some such competent Sums of Money of Persons able to lend , as might supply those present occasions for Publick Service , which cannot attend that length of time wherein it can be raised by contribution by the generality of our Sujects : As we have not onely present occasion to make the like Trial , by borrowing from some private Gentlemen and others , but also of your sincerity and endeavors in furtherance of the service ; that is to say , in taking some course either out of your own knowledg and experience , or by any other Means or Instruments which you like best , to make Collection of as many Persons Names within the County wherein you are Lieutenant , as may be of ability to furnish us with several Sums at this time ; and therefore to return in a Book , both the Names of the Persons , their Dwellings , and what Sums you think they may spare ; that we may thereupon direct our Privy-Seals unto them , according to the form of this inclosed . And for your further instruction in this Case , on whose Trust we do so much repose , we wish you to advise herein with your Deputy Lieutenant , as those from whom we have special cause to promise our selves all good Offices of duty and affection : To which we must add thus much further , That we do not intend at this time to deal with any Nobleman ; neither are you to deal with any of the Clergy ; because we have reserved that Direction to the Metropolitans of the several Provinces , to proceed onely with some special persons that are known to be men of wealth and ability , and not meerly subsisting upon those Livings , which in most places are far inferior to that Maintenance we could wish them . By which course and consideration of ours , though you may perceive how much we desire to procure this Loan without inconvenience to any , which is only intended for the service of the Publique , yet must we assure you , that we had no greater cause at any time then now to make use of your integrity and industry in respect of your election of the Lenders , and of your constant demonstration both of diligence and affection to the service . Having now delivered unto you as much as for the present can be expected from us , We will refer you for any further direction unto our Privy-Council , as hereafter occasion shall require : To whom our pleasure is , you do return your Certificates in manner and form as is aforesaid , at the most within Twenty days after the Receipts of these our Letters . Given at , &c. The Comptroller of the Kings Houshold , by the Councils Order , issued forth Letters in the Kings name under the Privy-Seal to the several persons returned for the Loan of Money , in form as followeth . Trusty and Welbeloved , &c. HAving observed in the Presidents and Customs of former Times , that all the Kings and Queens of this Realm upon extraordinary occasions have used either to resort to those Contributions which arise from the generality of Subjects , or to the private helps of some well-affected in particular by way of Loan : In the former of which courses , as we have no doubt of the love and affection of our People when they shall again assemble in Parliament , so for the present we are enforced to proceed in the latter course , for supply of some portions of Treasure for divers Publick services , which without manifold inconveniences to us and our Kingdoms cannot be deferred . And therefore this being the first time that we have required any thing in this kind , we doubt not but we shall receive such a testimony of your good affection from you ( amongst other of our Subjects ) and that with such alacrity and readiness , as may make the same so much the more acceptable , especially seeing we require but that Sum which few men would deny a Friend , and have a mind resolved to expose all our Earthly fortune for preservation of the General . The Sum which we require of you by these Presents , is — Which we do promise in the name of Us , our Heirs and Successors , to repay to you or your Assigns within Eighteen moneths after the paiment thereof unto the Collector . The person whom we have appointed to collect it , is To whose hands we do require you to send it within Twelve days after you have received this Privy-Seal ; which together with the Collectors Acquittance shall be sufficient Warrant unto the Officers of our Receipt for the repaiment thereof at the time limited . Given at , &c. The Collectors of this Loan were appointed to pay into the Exchequer the Sums received , and to return the Names of such as discovered a disposition to delay or excuse the paiment of the Sums imposed . Amidst the preparations for War with Spain , the Privy-Council issued out Warrants for the disarming of Popish Recusants , grounding their Order upon the Petition of the late Parliament . HIs Majesty and we of his Council having received information from so many several parts , of the bold and impudent spéeches used by many Romish Catholicks of this Realm , declaring how much they are offended with the gracious satisfaction given by his Majesty to the Lords and Commons in Parliament in the points concerning the Conservation of true Religion , as it is at this day by Authority preached in the Church of England ; And having just cause to doubt , that many violent Papists , through the instigation of Iesuited Priests , may be inclined to take part with such as we well understand at this time practise with the Kings Subjects to raise stirs and tumults , which they do not only foment by perswasions and instigations , but with promise of assistance and seconding them with Arms , their pretext being Religion , but their ends Conquest , pushed thereunto by an unlimited Ambition to a General Monarchy , of which we have too large and clear proof : And although we do not misjudge and condemn all his Majesties Subjects Romish Catholicks , but believe that many of them will imploy their Arms and lives in his service ; Yet because we are not able to distinguish betwéen the well and worse-affected , We have seconded with one Advice his Majesties Princely inclination , following the example of his wi●e Predecessors of happy memory and government , to take out of the possession of all Romish Recusants convicted or justly suspected , according to the Acts of State heretofore expressed , all such Martial Ammunitions , Arms and Weapons as shall be found in their houses , or discovered to be in the houses of any other persons belonging by right to any of the said Romish Recusants ; But so that the said Arms be only taken to be safely kept , and the Property to be reserved to the Owners , according to the former Presidents in like Cases . This Design proceeded , and the Council directed their Letters to these Lords Recusants , viz. The Marquis of Winchester and the Lord St. John his son , Lord Viscount Mountague , Lord Viscount Colchester , Lord Peter , the Earl of Castlehaven , Lord Morley , Lord Vaux , Lord Eures , Lord Arundel of Warder , Lord Tenham , Lord Herbert , Lord Windsor ; requiring them to render their Arms and Furniture thereunto belonging , together with all their Habiliments of War , to be removed into places convenient , and to remain there till the King shall determine otherwise . Moreover the Privy-Council having received information from the Lords-Lieutenants in divers parts of the Kingdom , That there was great and unaccustomed Resort to the houses of Papists , and that other Courses justly to be suspected were held among them , Authorised the Lords-Lieutenants to examine the truth and reason of such Assemblies and Entertainment , and of the conveyance and intercourse of Letters ; as also to enquire and search if there were any preparation of Men or Arms , or Practice of Arms , or endeavors of Alteration among persons discontented with the present Government . In the mean time the Fleet was ready , and Ten brave Regiments were designed for this Expedition . The Duke not going in person , Sir Edward Cecil was created Lord Viscount Wimbleton , and made Commander in Chief . In the Choice of the Officers for this service , Sir Robert Mansel an experienced Sea-Commander was neglected , which much disgusted the Mariners . The Common Censure that passed both upon the Duke and this Enterprise , may be known by the Lord Cromwels free language to the Duke in this Letter . THey offer to lay wagers , the Fleet goes not this year ; And that of necessity shortly a Parliament must be , which when it comes , sure it will much discontent you . It is wondred at , that since the King did give such great Gifts to the Duchess of Chevereux , and those that then went , how now a small Sum in the Parliament should be called for at such an unseasonable time : And let the Parliament sit when it will , begin they will where they ended . They say , the Lords of the Council knew nothing of Count Mansfield's Iourney , or this Fleet ; which discontents even the best sort , if not all . They say , it is a very great burden your Grace takes upon you , since none knows any thing but you : It is conceived , that not letting others bear part of the burden you now bear , it may ruine you , ( which Heaven forbid . ) Much discourse there is of your Lordship here and there , as I passed home and back ; And nothing is more wondred at , then that one Grave man is not known to have your ear , except my good and Noble Lord Conway . All men say , if you go not with the Fleet , you will suffer in it : because if it prosper , it will be thought no act of yours ; and if it succeed ill , they say it might have been better , had not you guided the King. They say , your undertakings in the Kingdom will much prejudice your Grace : And if God bless you not with goodness as to accept kindly what in duty and love I here offer , questionless my freedom in letting you know the discourse of the world , may much prejudice me . But if I must lose your favor , I had rather lose it for striving to do you good in letting you know the talk of the wicked world , then for any thing else ; so much I heartily desire your prosperity , and to see you trample the ignorant multitude under foot . All I have said is the Discourse of the World ; and when I am able to judge of Actions , I will freely tell your Lordship my mind : Which when it shall not always incline to serve you , may all Noble thoughts forsake me . But whilst the English Fleet was preparing for this Voyage , great Reports were given out , that the Spaniard would land Forces upon the Coast of Essex . Wherefore the Earl of Warwick was commanded with Three thousand of the Trained Bands of Essex to secure the Port of Harwich , and Langer-Point ; which service he performed with much readiness : But upon the Blocking up of Dunkirk with Ships belonging to the English and to the States of the United Provinces , his Lordship was ordered to dismiss his men . Presently after , Advertisements came to the Council , That both the English and Dutch Ships designed to block up Dunkirk , whilst our Fleet was gone to Spain , were dispersed by a sudden storm ; and that Two and twenty Ships of Dunkirk , Men of War , having Four thousand Land-soldiers , were at liberty to rove up and down and do mischief at Sea. Hereupon the Council by their Letters to the Lords Lieutenants of the Counties upon the Seacoasts , required that the Trained-Bands be in readiness with compleat Armor and other Furniture , to march upon all Alarms to what place soever the necessary defence thereof shall require . Also upon intelligence , that these Two and Twenty Dunkirkers intended to land their Four thousand men in Ireland , in case their design failed as to England ; Letters were expedited to the Lord Deputy of Ireland to guard those Sea-coasts ; for that it were alike mischievous , if they should land in either Kingdom . In the beginning of October , the Fleet consisting of Eighty Ships great and small , the Anne-Royal a Ship of Twelve hundred Tun being Admiral , put forth from Plimouth for the Coasts of Spain , with these Regiments aboard the Fleet , according as we find it mentioned in an old List , viz. The Duke of Buckingham's , The Lord Wimbleton's , Sir William St. Leger's ( Serjeant-Major-General ) and Colonel Burrough's Regiments were shipped in the Admirals Squadron , which carried 2093 Seamen , and 4032 Land-soldiers . The Lord Valentia's Regiment , The Earl of Essex's , and Colonel Harwood's — — were shipped in the Vice-Admirals Squadron , carrying 1765 Seamen , and 3008 Land-soldiers . The Earl of Essex was Vice-Admiral , and commanded this Squadron . Sir Charls Rich his Regiment , Sir Edward Conway's , and Colonel Regiments were shipped in the Rear-Admirals Squadron , carrying 1833 Mariners , 2998 Soldiers . The Fleet , after four days sail , was encountred with a furious storm , which so dissipated the Ships , that of Fourscore no less then Fifty were missing for seven days . Afterwards they all came together upon the Coasts of Spain , where they found a Conquest ready , the Spanish Shipping in the Bay of Cadez , the taking whereof was granted feasible and easie , and would have satisfied the Voyage both in point of honor and profit : This was either neglected , or attempted preposterously . Then the Army landed , and Sir Iohn Burroughs took a Fort from the Spaniard ; but the Soldiers finding good store of Spanish Wines , abused themselves , and hazarded the ruine of all , ( had the Enemy known in what condition they were ) notwithstanding all Commands to the contrary . So they were presently shipp'd again ; and the General putting to Sea , intended to wait about Twenty days for the Plate-Fleet , which was daily expected from the West-Indies : But the evil condition of his Men , by reason of a general Contagion , enforced him to abandon the hopes of this great Prize . So the English having effected nothing , returned home with dishonor in November following . It gave no small occasion of clamor , That a Fleet so well provided and manned should land their men in an Enemies Country , and return without some honorable Action . But where the fault lay , hath not been yet adjudged , neither was any ever punished for failing in that duty . The General for some time was not admitted into the Kings presence , and some of the Colonels of his Army accused him , and some Seamen aggravated the Accusation : The General was examined before the Council , and laid the fault on others in the Fleet , who let the King of Spain's Ships pass without fighting them according to Order : They on the other hand said , they had no Order from their General to fight . Thus was there fending and proving , which contributed little to salve the dishonor which the Nation sustained by this unprofitable and ill-managed Design . Upon the Fleets return to Plimouth in December , and Consideration of the present use of the Soldiers therein imployed , a Proclamation issued forth to command that no Soldiers of the Fleet should depart from their Colours , or be discharged of their Service , till the King shall signifie his pleasure , how and when he will use their further Service . So the Forces that returned from Cades were kept on foot , and dispersed into several parts of the Kingdom . There was also a strict Commandment , That no Subject of this Realm of England shall have intercourse of Trade with any of the Dominions of the King of Spain , or the Arch-Dutches of Flanders , upon pain of Confiscation both of Ships and Goods that shall be found upon Voyage of Trade into any of the said Dominions . Moreover , in regard of the Subjects apparent danger , and the encouragement of the Enemies of this State , by putting Ships to Sea , being weakly manned and ill furnished , the King ordained that none should set forth any Ship or Pinnace of the burthen of Threescore Tuns or upwards , unless they furnish the same with serviceable Muskets and Bandaliers , sufficient for the arming of half the number of persons that sail therein , together with a quantity of Ammunition answerable to the length of their intended Voyage . Furthermore , for the instructing and exercising of the Trained-Bands , as well Officers as Soldiers , by men experienced in Military Exercises , The King gave Commandment , that divers Low-Countrey Soldiers should be assigned to the several Counties , and that the Trained-Bands should be ready at the times appointed , for their Direction in their Postures and use of Arms. The Plague still continuing in London and Westminster , and the places near adjoyning , the King to prevent a general infection , had adjourned a part of Michaelmas Term from the Utas thereof , to the Fourth Return , and afterwards to the Fifth , and then the residue of the Term from the City of Westminster ; as also the Receipt of the Revenue from Richmond to the Town of Reading in Berkshire . In which Term , a Commission issued forth under the Great Seal , for executing the Laws against Recusants , according to the Petition of the late Parliament , which was read in all the Courts of Judicature at Reading : Which Commission , together with Pricking of Sir Edward Cook , and certain other Gentlemen , Sheriffs , who had appeared the last Parliament against the Duke , and being Sheriffs , could not be chosen Parliament-men , gave occasion of discourse , and hopes of a new Parliament . At Hampton Court in December following , this ensuing Order was made . WHereas Four Articles concerning the Oath used to be taken by the High Sheriffs of Counties , were this day presented unto the Board , unto which Articles Sir Edward Cook Knight , at this present High Sheriff of the County of Bucks , Did upon tender of the Oath unto him , take Exceptions , and sent his Exceptions and the Reasons thereof in writing to Mr. Attorny General , who by direction of the Board , did attend all the Iudges of England , to receive their Advice thereupon ; and the said Iudges having advised thereof , did with one unanimous consent Resolve and so Report to the Lord Keeper , That they found no cause to alter the said Oath , but onely in one of the said Articles hereafter mentioned . It is thereupon this day Ordered by their Lordships , according to the unanimous Advice of all the Iudges of England , and his Majesties pleasure signified therein , That the First Article propounded , viz. [ You shall do all your pain and diligence to destroy and make to cease , all manner of Heresies and Errors , commonly called Lollaries , within in your Bayliwick from time to time , to all your power , and assist and be helping to all Ordinaries and Commissioners of the Holy Church , and favor and maintain them as oftentimes as you shall be required ] shall be left out in the Oath to be given to Sir Edward Cook , and shall ever hereafter be left out in all Oaths to be given to the High Sheriffs of Counties hereafter . And their Lordships do likewise Order , according to the unanimous Advice of all the Iudges of England , That the other thrée Articles doubted of , shall stand in the said Oath to be ministred to the said Sir Edward Cook , and to all other High Sheriffs , as heretofore hath béen accustomed ; and that the Lord Keeper do ▪ give order to such Officers and Clerks in the Court of Chancery , to whom it appertained , to make out the Oath for the time to come according to present Order . The expectation of a Parliament , gave encouragement to the Bishop of Lincoln ( who yet retained the name of Lord Keeper , notwithstanding his Sequestration several moneths before from the presence of the King , the Council Table , and the custody of the Seal ) to make an Address to his Majesty for a favorable interpretation of his actions : But his carriage towards the Duke at the Parliament at Oxford was fresh in memory , where the Bishop told the Duke in Christ-Church , upon the Dukes rebuking him , for siding against him , That he was engaged with William Earl of Pembroke , to labor the Redress of the Peoples Grievances , and was resolved to stand upon his own Legs . If that be your resolution ( said the Duke ) Look you stand fast , and so they parted ; and shortly after that he was sequestred , though the Seal was not disposed from him till the Thirtieth of October ; at which time it was given to Sir Thomas Coventry at Hampton-Court , who was that day sworn of the Privy Council , and sate there and sealed some Writs , and afterwards came to the Term at Reading , and sate there as Lord Keeper and heard Causes . The King being pressed with his own Necessities , and the Cry of the Nation against the Fruitless Voyage of Cadiz , summoned a Parliament to meet in February ; and before the time of meeting , his Majesty enjoyned the Archbishops and Bishops in both Provinces , to proceed against Popish Recusants by Excommunication , and other Censures of the Church , and not to omit any lawful means of bringing them to Publick Justice ; especially he recommended to their vigilant care , the unmasking and repressing of those who were not professed Papists , yet disaffected to the true Religion , and kept close their evil and dangerous affection , and by secret means and slights , did encourage and advance the growth of Popery . This Command was seconded by a Proclamation , requiring , That all Convicted Papists should according to the Laws of this Realm , remain confined to their dwelling places , or within five miles thereof , unless upon special Licences first obtained in Cases necessary . Immediately before the Parliament , Bishop Laud procured the Duke of Buckingham to sound the King concerning the Cause , Books , and Tenets of Mr. Richard Montague ; and understanding by what the Duke collected , That the King had determined within himself to leave him to a Tryal in Parliament , he said , I seem to see a Cloud arising and threatning the Church of England , God for his Mercy dissipate it . About the same time , the King declared his purpose to celebrate the Solemnity of his Coronation on Candlemas-day at the Palace of Westminster ; and required all persons , who by reason of their Offices and Tenures , were bound to perform any Duties at the Solemnitie , to give their attendance , and to be furnished in all respects answerable to an action of so high State according to their places and dignities . Wherefore by a Commission under the Great Seal of England , Sir Thomas Coventry Lord Keeper of the Great Seal , Iames Lord Say High Treasurer of England , Edward Earl of Worcester Keeper of the Privy Seal , Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey Earl Marshal of England , William Earl of Pembroke Lord High Chamberlain , Edward Earl of Dorset , and Sir Randol Crew Cheif Justice of the Common Pleas , were authorised to receive and determine the Claims exhibited by any Person concerning Services to be performed at the approaching Coronation . And the more to credit the Solemnity , the King resolving to make certain of his Servants and other Subjects , in regard of their Birth , good Service , and other Qualities , Knights of the Bath , Authorised Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey , and Earl Marshal of England , William Earl of Pembroke Lord Chamberlain , to perform in his Majesties Name and behalf , all the Rites and Ceremonies belonging thereto . At the same time Writs were directed to all Sheriffs in the Realm of England , and Dominions of Wales , commanding them to make Proclamation , That all such as had Forty pounds a year or more , of Lands or Revenues in their own hands , or the hands of Feoffees , for their use for the space of Three years , and are not yet Knights , do at their perils prepare to present themselves in his Majesties Presence by the One and thirtieth of Ianuary , to receive the Order of Knighthood . Upon the asswaging of the great Pestilence , through the Mercy and Goodness of God in withdrawing and almost removing the Scourge , the King by His Royal Authority , ordained a Publick and General Thanksgiving to be celebrated upon the Nine and twentieth of Ianuary , being the Lords day , in the Cities of London and Westminster , and the places adjacent ; and on the Nineteenth of February in all other places of the Kingdom ; the manner and form whereof , was prescribed by a Book composed by the Bishops according to his Majesties special Direction . The Contagion ceasing , the restraint enjoyned to the Citizens of London from resorting to Fairs for a time , was taken off . The number of those that died this year within and without the Walls of the City of London , and in the Liberties and Nine out Parishes , from the Sixteenth of December 24. to the Fifteenth of December 25. Was in Total Fifty four thousand two hundred sixty and five , whereof of the Plague Thirty five thousand four hundred and seventeen . On Candlemas-day King Charls was Crowned ; Bishop Laud had the cheif hand in compiling the Form of the Coronation , and had the honor to perform this Solemnity , instead of the late Lord Keeper Williams , who ( through the Kings disfavor ) was sequestred from this Service , which belonged to his place as he was Dean of Westminster . Mr. Iohn Cosens ( as Master of the Ecclesiastical Ceremonies ) kneeled behinde the Bishop when the Prayers were read , and directed the Quire when to answer . The Ceremony in going to , and all the Coronation , was briefly thus . THe King went that day from Westminster-Hall to the Abbey Church , attended by the Aldermen of London , Eighty Knights of the Bath in their Robes , the Kings Serjeants at Law , Solicitor and Attorney Generals , the Judges , Barons , Bishops , Viscounts , and such of the Earls ( who bore no particular Office that day ) in their Parliament Robes , going two by two before the King all uncovered ; and after them followed his Officers of State ( being Eight Earls and one Marquess ) those persons according to their respective places and offices carried the Swords , the Globe , the Scepter , the Crown ; and the Lord Major of London carried the short Scepter ; two Bishops carried , the one the Golden Cup , and the other the Plate for the Communion . Next before his Majesty went the Earl of Arundel as Earl-Marshal of England , and the Duke of Buckingham as Lord High-Constable of England for that day . The King being cloathed in White Sattin , went under a rich Canopy , supported by the Barons of the Cinque Ports , the King having on each hand a Bishop , and his Train of Purple-Velvet was carried up by the Master of the Robes , and the Master of the Wardrobe . At the entring into the Church , Bishop Laud delivered into the Kings hands the Staff of King Edward the Confessor , with which the King walked up to the Throne ; then the Archbishop of Canterbury presented his Majesty to the Lords and Commons there present , East , West , North , and South , who gave their consent to his Coronation , as their lawful Soveraign . After Sermon was done , the King went to the Altar ( where the Old Crucifix amongst other Regalia stood ; as also the Ointment consecrated by a Bishop ) to take the Coronation Oath , which ( as is said ) was performed in this manner , viz. SIS ( says the Archbishop ) will You grant and kéep , and by Your Oath confirm to the People of England , the Laws and Customs to them granted by the Kings of England , Your Lawful and Religious Predecessors , and namely the Laws , Customs , and Franchises , granted to the Clergy by the glorious King St. Edward Your Predecessor , according to the laws of God , the true Profession of the Gospel established in this Kingdom , agréeable to the Prerogative of the Kings thereof , and the Antient Customs of the Realm ? I grant and Promise to keep them . Sir , will You kéep Peace and Godly Agréement ( according to Your Power ) both to God , the Holy Church , the Clergy and the People ? I will keep it . Sir , will You ( to Your Power ) cause Law , Justice , and Discretion to Mercy and Truth , to be executed to Your Judgment ? I will. Sir , will You grant to hold and kéep the Laws and Rightful Customs which the Communalty of this Your Kingdom have ; and will You defend and uphold them to the honor of God , so much as in you lyeth ? I grant and promise so to do . Then one of the Bishops read this Passage to the King. Our Lord and King , we beseech You to Pardon , and to Grant , and to Preserve unto us , and to the Churches committed to Your Charge , all Canonical Priviledges , and do Law and Iustice ; and that You would Protect and Defend us , as every good King to His Kingdoms ought to be Protector and Defender of the Bishops , and the Churches under their Government . The King answereth . With a willing and devout Heart I promise , and grant my Pardon ; and that I will preserve and maintain to you , and the Churches committed to your Charge , all Canonical Priviledges , and due Law and Justice ; and that I will be your Protector and Defender to my Power , by the assistance of God , as every good King in his Kingdom in right ought to protect and defend the Bishops and Churches under their Government . Then the King arose and was lead to the Communion Table , where he takes a Solemn Oath in sight of all the People , to observe all the Premisses , and laying his hand upon the Bible , said , The things which I have here promised , I shall perform and keep . So help me God , and the Contents of this Book . After the Oath , the King was placed in the Chair of Coronation , and was Anointed by the Archbishop with a costly Ointment , and the Antient Robes of King Edward the Confessor was put upon him , and the Crown of King Edward was put upon his Head , and his Sword girt about him ; and he offered the same , and two Swords more , together with Gold and Silver at the Communion Table . He was afterwards conducted by the Nobility to the Throne , where this Passage was read to his Majesty . [ Stand and hold fast from henceforth the place , to which You have been Heir by the Succession of Your Forefathers , being now delivered to You by the Authority of Almighty God , and by the hands of us , and all the Bishops and Servants of God : And as You see the Clergy to come nearer to the Altar then others , so remember that ( in all places convenient ) You give them greater honor , that the Mediator of God and Man may establish You in the Kingly Throne , to be a Mediator betwixt the Clergy and the Laity ; and that You may Raign for ever with Iesus Christ , the King of Kings , and Lord of Lords . ] Afterwards the Nobility were sw●rn to be Homagers to the King , and some other Ceremonies were performed ; which being done , the Lord Keeper by the Kings command read a writing unto them , which declared the Kings free Pardon to all his Subjects who would take the same under the Great Seal . The Ceremonies of the Coronation being ended , the Regalia were offered at the Altar by Bishop Laud in the Kings Name , and then reposited . The Bishop of Lincoln faln into disgrace by the displeasure of the Duke of Buckingham , had not received his Writ of Summons which he represented to the King with Submission to his Majesties pleasure ( denied as he said , to no Prisoners or condemned Peers in his Fathers Reign ) to enable him to make his Proxy , if his Personal attendance be not permitted . Likewise he besought his Majesty , That he would be pleased to mitigate the Dukes causless anger towards him , who was so little satisfied with any thing he could do or suffer , that he had no means left to appease him , but his Prayers to God and his Sacred Majesty : Also , that in his absence in this Parliament , no use might be made of his Majesties Sacred Name to wound the Reputation of a poor Bishop , who besides his Religion and Duty to that Divine Character which his Majesty beareth , hath affectionately honored his very person above all Objects in this World , as he desired the Salvation of the World to come : And he craveth no Protection against any other Accuser or Accusation whatsoever . On Monday the Sixth of February , began the Second Parliament of the Kings Reign . The King being placed in his Royal Throne , the Lords in their Robes , and the Commons below the Bar , it pleased his Majesty to refer them to the Lord Keeper for what he had to say . The Lord Keepers Speech . My Lords , ANd you the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the House of Commons , you are here assembled by his Majesties Writs and Royal Authority to hold a new Parliament , the general Antient and Powerful Councel of this Renowned Kingdom ; whereof if we consider aright , and think of that incomparable distance between the Supream height and majesty of a Mighty Monarch , and the submissive aw and lowliness of a Loyal Subject , We cannot but receive exceeding comfort and contentment in the frame and constitution of this Highest Court ; wherein not onely the Prelates , Nobles , and Grandees , but the Commons of all degrees have their part , and wherein that high Majesty doth descend to admit or rather to invite the humblest of his Subjects to Conference and Council with him , of the great , weighty , and difficult Affairs of the King and Kingdom : A benefit and favor whereof we cannot be too sensible and thankful ; for sure I am , that all good hearts would be both sensible and sorrowful , if we did want it . And therefore it behooveth all , with united hearts and mindes free from distraction and diversion , to fix their thoughts upon Counsels and Consultations worthy of such an Assembly , remembring , That in it is presented the Majesty and Greatne●s , the Authority and Power , the Wisdom and Knowledge of this great and famous Nation ; and it behooveth us to magnifie and bless God , that hath put the power of Assembling Parliaments in the hands of him , the vertue of whose person doth strive with the greatness of his Princely Lineage and Descent ; whether he should be accounted Major or Melior , a greater King , or a better Man ; and of whom you have had so much tryal and experience , That he doth as affectionately love , as he doth exactly know and understand the true use of Parliaments ; witness his daily and unwearied Access to this House , before his Access to the Crown ; his gratious readiness to all Conferences of Importance ; his frequent and effectual Intercession to his Blessed Father of never dying Memory , for the good of the Kingdom , with so happy success , That both this and future generations shall feel it , and have cause to rejoyce at the success of his Majesties Intercession . And when the Royal Diadem descended upon himself , presently in the midst of his Tears and Sighs for the departure of his most Dear and Royal Father , in the very first Consultation with his Privy Council , was resolved to meet his People in Parliament : And no sooner did the heavy hand of that Destroying Angel forbear those deadly strokes , which for some time did make this place inaccessible , but his Majesty presently resolved to recal it , and hath now brought you together , and in a happy time , I trust , to treat and consult with uniform Desires and united Affections , of those things that concern the general good . And now being thus Assembled , his Majesty hath commanded me to let you know that his Love and Affection to the Publick , moved him to call this Parliament ; and looking into the danger and the spreading of that late Mortality , and weighing the multitude of his Majesties pressing occasions and urging affairs of State , both at home and abroad , much importing the safety and state of this Kingdom ; the same affection that moved him to call it , doth forbid him to prolong the sitting of this Parliament : And therefore his Majesty resolving to confine this meeting to a short time , hath confined me to a short Errand ; and that is , That as a thing most agreeable to the Kingly Office , to the example of the best times , and to the frame of Modern Affairs , his Majesty hath called you together to consult and to advise of provident and good Laws , profitable for the Publick , and fitting for the present times and actions ; for upon such depends the assurance of Religion and of Justice , which are the surest Pillars and Buttresses of all good Government in a Kingdom : For his Majesty doth consider , that the Royal Throne on which God out of his Mercy to us hath set him , is the Fountain of all Justice , and that good Laws are the Streams and Quits , by which the benefit and use of this Fountain is dispersed to his people . And it is his Majesties care and study , that his people may see with comfort and joy of heart , that this Fountain is not dry , but they and their Posterity may rest assured and confident in his time , to receive as ample benefit from this Fountain , by his Majesties Mercy and Justice , as ever Subjects did in the time of the most eminent Princes amongst his Noble Progenitors ; wherein , as his Majesty shews himself most sensible of the good of the Publick , so were it an injury to this great and honorable Assembly , if it should be but doubted , that they shall not be as sensible of any thing that may adde to his Majesties honor : which cannot but receive a high degree of Love and Affection , if his Majesty succeeding so many Religious , Wise , and Renowned Princes , should begin his Reign with some Additions unto those good Laws which their happy and glorious times have afforded . And this his Majesty hath caused me to desire at this time , especially above others ; for his Majesty having at his Royal Coronation , lately solemnized the Sacred Rites of that Blessed Marriage between his people and him ; and therein by a most holy Oath , vowed the Protection of the Laws , and Maintenance of Peace both to Church and People , no time can be so fit for his Majesty to advise and consult at large with his people , as this present time , wherein so lately his Majesty hath vowed Protection to his People , and they have protested their Alleagiance and Service to him . This is the sum of that charge which I have received from his Majesty to deliver unto you , wherein you see his Majesties intent to the Publick : And therefore his desire is , That according to that conveniency of time which his Affairs may afford , you will apply your selves to dispatch the business of this Parliament . The Wednesday following the Commons presented Sir Hennage Finch Knight , Serjeant at Law and Recorder of London , for their Speaker ; who having made the accustomed Excuses , and acknowledged his Majesties Approbation , made this Speech . SInce it hath pleased your Majesty not to admit my humble Excuse , but by your Royal Approbation to crown this Election ; after my heart and hands first lifted up to God , that hath thus inclined your Royal Heart , I do render my humblest thanks to your Majesty , who are pleased to cast so gratious an eye upon so mean a Subject , and to descend so low as in a service of this Importance , to take me into your Princely Thoughts . And since we all stand for Hundreds and Thousands , for Figures and Cyphers , as your Majesty , the Supream and Soveraign Auditor , shall please to place and value us , and like Coyn to pass , are made currant by your Royal Stamp and Impression ; onely I shall neither disable nor under-value my self , but with a faithful and chearful heart , apply my self with the best of my strength and abilities , to the performance of this weighty and publick Charge , wherein as I do and shall to the end , most humbly desire your gratious acceptance of my good intentions and endeavors : So I could not but gather some confidence to my self , that your Majesty will look favorably upon the works of your own hands . And in truth , besides this particular , these publick things which are obvious to every Understanding , are so many Arguments of Comfort and Encouragement , where I contemplate and take a view of those great and inestimable blessings , which by the goodness of God , we do enjoy under your Majesties most pious and prudent Government . If we behold the frame and the face of the Government in general , we live under a Monarchy , the best of Governments , the nearest resemblance unto the Divine Majesty which the Earth affords , the most agreeable to Nature , and that in which other States and Republicks do easily fall and reverse into the Ocean , and are naturally dissolved as into their Primam Materiam . The Laws by which we are governed , are above any value my words can set upon them ; time hath refined and approved them ; they are equal at least to any Laws Humane , and so curiously framed and fitted , that as we live under a temperate climate , so the Laws are temperate , yielding a due observance to the Prerogative Royal , and yet preserving the Right and Liberty of the Subject ; That which Tacitus saith of two of the best Emperors , Res olim insociabiles miscuerunt , imperium & libertas , and so far is this from the least diminution of Soveraigns , that in this your Majesty is truly stiled Pater Patriae , and the greatest King in the World , that is King of such and so many Free-born Subjects , whose persons you have not onely power over , but , which is above the greatest of Kings , to command their hearts . If time or corruption of manners breed any Mists or Grievance , or discover any defects in the Law , they are soon reformed by Parliament , the greatest Court of Justice , and the greatest Council of the Kingdom , to which all other Courts and Councils are subordinate . Here your Royal Person sits inthroned in the Seat of Majesty , attended by a Reverend and Learned Prelacy , a great and full Nobility inthroned like Stars in the Firmament ; some of a greater , some of a lesser magnitude , full of light and beauty , and acknowledging to whom they owe their lustre ; and by a choise number of worthy Knights and Gentlemen that represent the whole body of your Commons . But to leave generals ; We live not under a Monarchy only the best of Goverments , and under a Government the best of Monarchies , but under a King the best of Monarchs . Your Royal Person , and those eminent graces and vertues which are inherent in your Person , ( in whom Greatness and Goodness contend for superiority ) it were presumption in me to touch , though with never so good a meaning ; they will not be bounded within the narrow compass of my discourse : And such Pictures of such a King are not to be made in Limning , but for Publick things and actions which the least eye may see and discern , and in them obliquely and by reflexion cheerfully and with comfort behold your Person . What Age shall not record and eternise your Princely magnanimities in that Heroick action or venturous Journey into Spain , or hazarding your Person to preserve the Kingdom ? Fathers will tell it to their children in succession ; After-ages will then think it a Fable . Your piety to the Memory of your dear Father , in following and bedewing his Herse with your tears , is full in every mans memory . The Publick Humiliation when Gods hand lay heavy upon us , and the late Publick Thanksgiving to Almighty God for removing his hand , both commanded and performed in person by your Majesty , is a work in piety not to be forgotten , and I trust the Lord will remember them and reward them with mercy and blessing to your Majesty and the whole Kingdom . Your love to Justice , and your care in the administration of Justice , we all behold with comfort and rejoice to see it ; The great Courts of Justice from the highest to the lowest furnished with Judges of that wisdom and gravity , learning and integrity : The Thrones of Kings are established by Justice ; and may it establish , and I doubt not but it will establish the Throne of your Majesty in your Person and in your Royal Line , to the end of time . But above all , and indeed it is above all as far as Heaven is distant from Earth , your care and zeal for the advancement of Gods true Religion and Worship , are cleerly and fully exprest and do appear both in your Person , and by your many Publick Acts and Edicts . It is true that is said of Princes , Quod faciunt , praecipiunt : Of your Majesty both are true , and a Proposition made convertible . We have received a most gracious Answer from your Majesty to all our late Petitions concerning Religion , seconded with a Publick Declaration under the Great Seal , and Inrolled in all the Courts of Justice , for your Royal pleasure and direction to awaken and put life into these Laws by a careful Execution , with provision that the Penalties be not converted to your Private Coffers , ( and yet the Coffers of Kings are not Private Coffers ) but by your express direction set apart to Publick uses , such as concern the immediate Defence of the Kingdom , wherein we all have our share and interest . Your Royal Proclamation hath commanded those Romish Priests and Jesuites to Banishment , those Incendiaries that infect the State of this Church and Commonwealth . Their very entrance into this Kingdom , is by a just and provident Law made Treason ; their aims being in truth ( how specious soever their pretences be ) nothing else but to plot and contrive Treason against the State , and to seduce your Natural born Subjects from their true obedience , nourishing in their posterities Factions and Seditions : Witness those many Treasons and Conspiracies against the person of that glorious Lady , whose memory will never die ; and that horrible matchless Conspiracie , the Powder-Treason , the Master-piece of the Devil . But God that preserved her and your Royal Father against all their treacherous Conspiracies , and hath given you a heart to honor him , will honor and preserve you : Religion will more truly keep your Kingdoms , then the Seas do compass them : It is the joy of heart to your Majesties loyal and well-affected Subjects , and will ever be the honor of your Regal Diadem , and the Crown of your Crown . The Spanish Invasion in Eighty Eight I hope will ever be remembred in England , with thankful acknowledgment to God for so great a deliverance : And I assura my self it is remembred in Spain , but with another mind , a mind of Revenge ; they are too constant to their Counsels , to acquit their Resolutions and Purposes that drew on that Attempt . It was long before discovered , and since printed not without their liking , That they affect an Universal Monarchy . Videor mihi vidore ( saith Lipsius of their State ) Solem orientem ab Occidente ; a Monster in Nature . And one of their own , speaking of the two great Lights which God hath placed in the Firmament , makes the Pope Luminare majus presidens urbi & orbi ; and the King of Spain , Luminare minus ut subdatur urbi & dominetur per totum orbem : A great flattery , and a bold and impudent elusion . But I trust , as God hath put it into the heart of your blessed Father , by that matchless Book of his written to all Christian Monarchs and Princes , ( a Work by which he raised a Monument to himself more lasting then Marble ) to denounce War to that Adversary of God and Kings , the Pope ; so he hath set your sacred Majesty upon the Throne of your Father , to do as many things worthy to be written , as he had written things worthy to be read : amongst them , to restrain that unlimited pride and boundless ambition of Spain , to reduce it to their proper current & channel ; who under the title of Catholick King , makes his pretence to more Countries and Kingdoms then his own ; and by color of disguised Treaties he invades the Palatinate , and dispossesseth that Incomparable Lady your Royal Sister , and the Children of this Kingdom , of their right and their antient Patrimony and Inheritance , to the discomfort and dishonor of this great and glorious Nation . God in his mercy soon repair this breach by your Royal head ; and I assure my self , the hearts , the hands , and the purses of all good Subjects will say Amen . But I may weary your Majesty , and lose my self , and forget for whom I am a Speaker . Custom gives me the priviledge as an humble Suitor on the behalf of the House , to present their few Petitions unto your Majesty . 1. The first , That for our better attending this Publick and important service , our selves and our necessary Attendants may with your Majesties tender allowance be free both in our persons and goods from Arrests and troubles , according to our antient Priviledges . 2. The next ; That since for the preparing and drawing to conclusion such Propositions as shall be handled in the House , Debate and Dispute will be necessary , and by variety of opinions Truth is oftentimes best discerned , your Majesty will likewise according to your antient usage and priviledge vouchsafe us liberty and freedom of speech , from which I assure my self duty and loyalty to your Majesty will never be severed . 3. That when occasions of moment shall require , your Majesty upon our humble suit , and at such times as may best sort with your occasions , will vouchsafe us access to your Royal person . 4. That the Proceedings of the House may receive a favorable Interpretation at your gracious hands , and be free from misconstructions . The Houses began their work with rendring thanks to the King for his gracious Answer to their late Petition for Religion . An Act was tendred and read , To administer an Oath for the rendring a true Accompt of all General and Publick Taxes , Rates and Collections . Another against Scandalous Ministers . It was moved , some Provision might be made against Scandalous Livings , as well as against Scandalous Ministers . The Commons further fell into Examination of the Publick Grieveances , and the Carriage , or rather Miscarriage of the Fleet to Cadiz ; The Evil Counsellors about the King ; Misgovernment and Misimployment of the Kings Revenue ; An Accompt of the Subsidies and Three Fi●teens granted 21 Iacobi ; And resolved of a Committee for secret Affairs , and another for Grievances , to sit every Friday and Wednesday during the Parliament . And Mr. Whitby was commanded to the Chair for the Committee for Grievances ; where were delivered these ensuing Consultations . I. [ The State of the King in the Constant Revenue of the Crown . ] 1. What it was , and how for the Introitus and Exitus they are ordered . 2. What now it is , either in cleer , or by Lands , by Customs and Impositions , or by Casualties . 3. The means how it is abated , By gifts of Lands ex mero motu , and no valuable consideration , and this may be revoked . By grants of Pensions , now 120000 l. before but 80000 l. Good Times have resumed them , or contracted them upon Necessity . By increase of Houshold from 45000 l. to 80000 l. the Purveyors more , and the Tables less furnished then formerly . By fruitless Ambassadors , with larger allowance then formerly : To reduce them to the Ordinary of the late Queen . By treble increase of the Privy-Purse . By double increase of the Treasury of the Chamber and Great Wardrobe . In all by not using the best course of Assignments , whereby the Creditors are delayed in the paiment , and the King surcharged in the price ; the Exchequer-man making his profit from the Kings wants . II. [ The Condition of the Subject in his Freedom . ] 1. Formerly in Taxes by Parliaments , as by Subsidies and Fifteens , spent onely on Defence of the State , or Aid of our Allies ; by Tonage and Poundage , imployed in Guard of the Seas ; Loans rarely , and those imployed intirely for the Publick ; Imposition by Prerogative of old Customs , rated easily by the Book of Rates , if any , either limited to time or measure . 2. New Impositions and Monopolies multiplied , and settled to continue by Grants , Customs Inhannced by the new Book of Rates . Tonage and Poundage levied , though no Act of Parliament , nor Seas guarded ; the Times , the Wayes , and the Persons that induce these . 3. The Imploiment or Waste of the Treasure : What Sums have been granted for the Defence of the State , the last Three years ; How in particular spent , and where ; By what Advice , as by the direction of the Council of War appointed by Parliament , by full Order of the Council , by any other then those , and by whom . First , Publick Treasury is to be examined . Secondly , The Kings Subjects , how many , and when transported and imployed as to the Palatinate , Count Mansfields Land-soldiers in the last Fleet : The Designs where they were sent ; the Council that directed it ; the success of the Action ; and the Return of the persons in number , and the Loss . Thirdly , In Ships and Munition our own , The Number and Quantity imployed severally ; the Number imbarqued in those Ships ; and what prejudice and discouragement of Trade ; the Council that directed such Imploiments ; the several success , as at Algier and Cadiz . Strangers , and those Ships either of Allies or Enemies : Allies hired by Contract to serve , and how used , or taken as Prize ; if so , how then delivered and dealt withal in the course of Justice ; what success hath followed upon Injustice done them , as the Arrest of our Goods in France and Germany , whereby our Merchants are at a stand ; The number and true value of the Goods , the Accompt thereof made to his Majesty or his Officers ; the dismissing and discharging any of them , or the Goods , viz. by whom , the Directions , the Pretence , the Value of the Goods , the Place whither they went. Honor of the King ; which , as in all other things , consists in what formerly hath been done : How formerly we stood a Nation feared , renowned , victorious : We made the Netherlands a State , when they were none ; Recovered Henry the Fourth of France his Kingdom , when he had nothing left but the Town of Diep ; Conquered the Invincible Navy of Spain , in Anno 1588. Took Towns in Portugal the Year following , and marched One hundred miles upon the Firm ground ; Fired or brought away the Spanish Navy before Cadiz , and sack'd the Town , took the Spanish ships daily , and spoiled the Port-Towns of the West-Indies , never losing but one ship during the Spanish War ; reducing the Condition of that King from a Fifth Monarchy to so low an Ebb , that in one Year he paid Two thousand five hundred Millions of Duckets for Interest ; so as after he was enforced to beg Treaties of Peace and low Terms at the last Queen-Regents hands . III. [ The Cause of the good Success then . ] A Carriage and readiness to assist their Soveraign in purse and person ; A Wisdom and Gravity of Council , who ordered nothing but by publick Debate , and then assisted with the Military Professors either by Land or Sea of the best repute , and such only imployed . IV. [ In what Condition we now stand . ] By the loss of Reputation , by the ill success in the Voyage for Algier , in the Palatinate , in the Expedition with Mansfield , in the last to Cadiz . The Reasons are , The uncheerfulness we have either to adventure our purses or persons , occasioned by a distrust we have of the success , the want of the like Courses and Councils that were formerly used . It was wished , that for every of the Four Heads there were a particular Committee to examine and prepare a Report for the Houses ; and the House upon every Report to put it self into a Committee of the whole Assembly , and after a full and deliberate Debate , to order a Model or Form for a Conference with the Lords , and so together humbly to present to his Majesty a Remonstrance of their Labor ; offering withall a second Consultation and Debate amongst themselves for finding out the fittest means both for the defence of the State and our Allies , Reformation of the Errors , and a constant way to raise such Supplies as may enable his Majesty to proceed cheerfully , and as they hoped assuredly in this his glorious Action , not only for himself and State , but all that profess the same Religion , and are like to be overwhelmed in the Ambition of the Spanish Monarchy . Also a Committee was named concerning Religion , and the Growth o● Popery ; and Montague's [ Appeal to Caesar ] was again brought in question . This Book the Commons referred to the Committee for Religion , from whom Mr. Pym Reported to the House the several Erroneous Op●nions therein contained ; and the House passed their Votes thereupon , That Mr. Montague endeavored to reconcile England to Rome , and to alienate the Kings affections from his well-affected Subjects . The Articles exhibited against him were these . Articles exhibited by the Commons against Richard Montague Clerk. THat he the said Richard Montague , in or about the 21. year of the Reign of our late Soveraign Lord King Iames of famous memory , hath caused to be Printed , and in his name to be Published , one Book called , An Answer to the late Gagg of Protestants ; and in or about Anno 22. of the same King , he caused to be Printed and Published one other Book , Entituled , A Treatise of the Invocations of Saints ; and likewise in the First year of his Majesties Reign that now is , he procured to be Printed , and in his name to be Published another Book , Entituled , An Appeal to Caesar : In every of which Books he hath maintained and confirmed some Doctrine contrary or repugnant to the Articles agreed by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces , and the whole Clergy , holden in the Convocation at London , Anno Domini 1562. according to the computation of the Church of England , for avoiding Diversity of Opinions , and for establishing Consent touching true Religion : All which appears in the places hereafter mentioned ; and in divers other places and passages of the same Books ; And by his so doing hath broken the Laws and Statutes of this Realm in that Case provided , and very much disturbed both the Peace of Church and Commonwealth . I. Whereas in the Five and thirtieth Article of the Articles aforementioned , it is declared , That the Second Book of Homilies doth contain a Godly and wholesom Doctrine ; in the sixteenth Homily of which Book , it is determined , That the Church of Rome , as it is at present , and hath been for the space of Nine hundred years and odd , is so far wide from the nature of a True Church , that nothing can be more : He , the said Richard Montague , in several places of his said Book , called , The Answer to the Gagg , and in his other Book , called , The Appeal , doth advisedly maintain and affirm , That the Church of Rome is and ever was a True Church since it was a Church . II. Whereas in the same Homily it is likewise declared , That the Church of Rome is not built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles ; and in the Eight and twentieth Article of the said Articles , That Transubstantiation overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament ; and in the Five and twentieth of the same Article , That five other reputed Sacraments of the Church of Rome , are not to be accounted Sacraments ; yet contrary and repugnant hereunto , he , the said Richard Montague , doth maintain and affirm in his Book aforesaid , called , The Answer to the Gagg , That the Church of Rome hath ever remained firm upon the same Foundation of Sacraments and Doctrine instituted by God. III. In the nineteenth of the same Article , it is further determined , That the Church of Rome hath erred , not onely in their living and matters of Ceremony ; but also in matters of Faith. He the said Richard Montague , speaking of those Points which belong to Faith and good manners , Hope and Charity , doth in the said Book , called , The Gagg , affirm and maintain , That none of these are controverted in their Points , meaning the Protestants and Papists ; and notwithstanding that in the One and thirtieth Article , it is resolved , That the Sacrifice of Masses , in which , as it is commonly said , the Priest did offer Christ for the Quick and the Dead , to have remission of Pain and Guilt too , is a Blasphemous Fable , and dangerous Deceit , this being one of the Points controverted between the Church of England and the Church of Rome . The said Richard Montague in his Book , called The Gagg , doth affirm and maintain , That the controverted Points are of a lesser and inferior nature , of which a man may be ignorant without any danger of his Soul at all , a man may resolve to oppose this or that without peril of perishing for ever . IV. Whereas in the second Homily , Entituled , Against Peril of Idolatry , contained in the aforesaid Book of Homilies , approved by the Seven and thirtieth mrticle aforementioned ; It is declared , That Images teach no good Lesson , neither of God nor Godliness , but all Error and Wickedness : He the said Richard Montague , in the Book of Gagg aforesaid , doth affirm and maintain , That Images may be used for the instruction of the Ignorant , and excitation of Devotion . V. That in the same Homily it is plainly expressed , That the attributing the defence of certain Countries to Saints , is a spoiling God of his honor , and that such Saints are but Dii tutelares of the Gentiles Idolators : The said Richard Montague hath notwithstanding in his said Book , Entituled , A Treatise concerning the Invocation of Saints , affirmed and maintained , That Saints have not onely a Memory , but a more peculiar Charge of their Friends ; and that it may be admitted , That some Saints have a peculiar Patronage , Custody , Protection and Power , as Angels also have , over certain Persons and Countries by special deputation ; and that it is no impiety so to believe : Whereas in the seventeenth of the said Articles , it is resolved , That God hath certianly Decreed by his Counsel , secret to us , to deliver from Curse and Damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankinde , and to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation ; wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God , be called according to Gods purpose , working in due season , they through Grace obey the Calling , they be justified freely , walk Religiously in good works , and at length by Gods mercy attain to everlasting felicity : He , the said Richard Montague , in the said Book , called The Appeal , doth maintain and affirm , That men justified may fall away , and depart from the state which once they had ; they may arise Again , and become new men possibly , but not certainly nor necessarily . and the better to countenance this his opinion , he hath in the same Book wilfully added , falsified and charged divers words of the sixteenth of the Articles before mentioned , and divers other words , both in the Book of Homilies , and in the Book of Common-Prayer , and so misrecited , and changed the said places he doth alleadge in the said Book , called , The Appeal , endeavouring thereby to lay a most wicked and malicious scandal upon the Church of England , as if he did herein differ from the Reformed Churches of England , and from the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas , and did consent to those pernitious Errors , which are commonly called Arminianism , and which the late famous Queen Elizabeth , and King Iames of happy memory , did so piously and diligently labour to suppress . That the said Richard Montague , contrary to his Duty and Allegiance hath endeavored to raise great Factions and Divisions in this Common-wealth , by casting the odious and scandalous name of Puritans upon such his Majesties loving Subjects as conform themselves to the Doctrine and Ceremony of the Church of England , under that name laying upon them divers false and malicious Imputations , so to bring them into jealousie and displeasure with his most Excellent Majesty , and into reproach and ignominy with the rest of the people , to the great danger of Sedition and Disturbance in the State , if it be not timely prevented . That the Scope and end of the said Richard Montague in the Books before mentioned , is to give encouragement to Popery , and to withdraw his Majesties Subjects from the true Religion established , to the Roman Superstition , and consequently to be reconciled to the Sea of Rome ; All which he laboreth by subtile and cunning ways , whereby Gods True Religion hath been much scandalized , those Mischiefs introduced which the wisdom of many Laws hath endeavored to prevent , the Devices and Practices of his Majesties Enemies have been furthered and advanced , to the great peril and hazard of our Soveraign Lord the King , and of all his Dominions and loving Subjects . That the said Richard Montague hath inserted into the said Book , called The Appeal , divers passages dishonorable to the late King , his Majesties Father of famous memory , full of bitterness , railing and injurious Speeches to other persons , disgracefull and contemptible to many worthy Divines both of this Kingdom , and of other Reformed Churches beyond the Seas , impious and profane in scoffing at preaching , meditating and conferring , Pulpits , Lectures , Bible , and all shew of Religion ; all which do aggravate his former Offences , having proceeded from malicious and envenomed heat against the Peace of the Church , and the sincerity of the Reformed Religion publickly professed , and by Law established in this Kingdom . All which Offences , being to the dishonor of God , and of most mischievous effect and consequence against the good of this Church and Commonwealth of England , and of other his Majesties Realms and Dominions . The Commons assembled in Parliament , do hereby pray , That the said Richard Montague may be punished according to his Demerits , in such exemplary manner , as may deter others from attempting so presumptuously to disturb the Peace of Church and State , and that the Book aforesaid , may be suppressed and Burnt . Whether an Answer was made to these Articles by Mr Montague , we cannot tell , for upon search we can finde none . About the same time his Majesty being informed that there was great liberty taken by divers of his Subjects to resort to the hearing of Masse at Durham-house in the Lodgings of a Foraign Ambassodor ; the Privy Council taking notice thereof , and accounting it scandalous to this Church , and of ill example to be suffered at any time , but much more in this time of Parliament , required the Bishop of Durham to apprehend such of his Majesties Subjects as should be present at the Masse , and to commit them to Prison . There was also a Letter sent from the Attorney-General to the Judges of the Circuits , to direct their Proceedings against Recusants , to this effect . THat their Lordships will not omit to publish the Kings Gracious and Religious Determination , to go on really and constantly in this way , and that out of his bounty and goodness he hath published his Resolution under the Great Seal of England , That whatsoever Revenue or Benefit shall arise hereby , from Purses of Popish Recusants , shall be set apart from his own Treasure , and be wholly imployed for the Service of the Commonwealth , and shall not be dispensed with to any of what degree soever , nor diverted by any the Suits of his Servants or Subjects . 2. That their Lordships will be pleased at their first coming into every County within their Circuit , to command the Clerk of Assise , and Clerk of the Peace , to be carefull for the Indictment of Popish Recusants , without respect of Persons , of what Degree of Honor or Office soever ; and that they neither make , nor suffer to be made any omission , or mistaking in their Indictment , or other proceedings ; and that the next Term , within ten dayes of the beginning of the Term they give or send to him ( viz. the Attorney ) a note in writing , who stand indicted of new , and that they fail not to certifie the Recusants convicted into the Exchequer by that time . That at their Lordships first coming into the County they call the Iustices of Peace then present , and the Grand-Iury men to give their Lordships true Information of the Recusants of any Note or Name in that Country ; and that thereupon their Lordships will be pleased to take care that the Grand-Iury men , either by Evidence , or their own Knowledge indict them which are not already indicted , before the end of the Assises ; and that their Lordships admit no Traverse , unless the Persons convicted have first yeilded their bodies into the custody of the Sheriff , as their Lordships know well all the Iudges with one voice resolved the Law to be . 3 , That there be special care taken of Schoolmasters and Teachers of any kinde , who are Popish , that they be presented and proceeded against . 4. That their Lordships give knowledge to the Counties where they sit , that the married Women , who are Popish Recusants , convicted by the Law ought to be committed to the Common-Goal without Bail , unless their husbands redeem their liberty by the constant payment of 10 l. a moneth , and that it must be executed . Your Lordships ready to be commanded , ROB. HEATH . Inner-Temple , Mar. 7. 1625. The Commons proceeded in the Examination of Grievances , and had a Report made unto them , That the reason wherefore our Merchants Ships and Goods were seised in France , was by reason of Sir Iames Bagg , Vice-Admiral for Cornwal , and other mens dealings towards the French in seising upon their goods in several Ports in England , and particularly the seising of the Ship called the Peter of New-haven , and brought into Plymouth by order from the Lord Duke , after the King and Council had ordered this Ship to be restored upon a just Claim , and that the Court of Admiralty had also released her ; That till this action the French did not begin to seise any English Goods or Ships ; That twenty and three bags of silver , and eight bags of gold were by Sir Francis Steward delivered to the Lord Duke ; the Duke having notice hereof , said , he would justifie the stay of the Ship by order from the King. The Council of War appointed to manage the business for the relief of the Palatinate , were called into the House of Commons , and this Question was propounded unto them ; Whether their Advice was followed which they gave for the four Ends mentioned in the Act of Parliament 21 Iacobi , for which the moneys given by that Act were to issue ? Lord Carey Earl of Totnes , and Lord Brook desired to be excused from answering ; the Lord Vere said , He had been much absent in the Low-Countries , and could say little ; the Lord Grandison said , that since Iuly last they had seldom met ; Sir Robert Mansel , and Sir Iohn Oyle desired a Copy of the Question , and that they might all confer together before they gave Answer to a Question of this Concernment : Afterwards the same persons ( except the Lord Vere ) were called in again , who gave unsatisfactory answers , when they were pressed to deal clearly and fully in the business ; It was answered by some of them , That they conceived by the Act of Parliament they were bound to make no other Answer then what they had done : Others desired before they answered , that they might have the Kings consent first ; That obtained , and a special Order of the House requiring an Answer , Sir Robert Mansel declared his readiness to give a cleer and full Account . While matters were thus debated , Mr Secretary Cook delivered a Message from the King to the Commons , declaring his Majesties occasion for Supply . This Message was strengthened by a Conference which the Lords , desired with the Commons ; where William Earl of Pembrook represented the Affairs of Christendom , how they stood before the breach of the Treaties with Spain , and how at that present ; shewing , That the condition of the Palatinate was nothing bettered ; That Count Mansfiels Army was raised for the diversion of the League Catholick in Germany ; That the King of Denmark had thereupon engaged himself to stand or fall in this Quarrel , in case of Supplies ; That the Swedes were forward ; and lastly , That his Majesty had made a strict Alliance with the Hollander upon these terms , That they shall bear a fourth part of the expence of our Navy , and onely have a fourth part of the spoils ; the Lands and Cities conquered to be the Kings : The fruits of all rich advantages will be lost , if a speedy Assistance be not resolved on . The Commons not thinking fit to take into consideration the matter of Supply at present , call for a Report from the Committee appointed to consider of the Causes and Remedies of Evils , which being made by Mr Wandesford ; it was resolved , That the Diminution of the Kingdom in strength and honor , is a general Evil which we suffer under ; a second , the increase and countenancing of Papists ; a third , the not guarding of the narrow Seas ; a fourth , Plurality of Offices in one hand ; a fifth , sales of Honors and places of Judicature ; a sixth , delivery up of Ships to the French ; a Seventh , misimployment of three Subsidies and three fifteens , &c. And they further ordered , That the Duke whom these Misdemenors especially reflected on , have notice that the Commons House intend suddenly to resume the debate of these things , and Mr Clement Cook said openly , That it were better to die by an Enemy , then to suffer at home . The Lords at that time , more readily complying with the Kings desires , appointed a Committee to consider of the safety and defence of the Kingdom in general , and particularly of the safeguard of the Seas , the store of Ammunition and Arms , and all things incident thereunto , and of strengthening the Forts ; for this the King gave them thanks , and desired them to proceed with alacrity . The Committee of Lords made haste and reported their advice to the House , That one Fleet be presently set to Sea against the King of Spain to annoy him , and to prevent the Invasion of this Kingdom : That another be set out to defend our own Coasts , and the Merchants from Pirats ; and that consideration be had of maintaining the Armies under the King of Denmark and Count Mansfield ; but the House would give no opinion thereupon , till they had Conference with the House of Commons , which was desired upon this occasion . To which Message the Commons onely returned this Answer , That they desire to have a good correspondency with their Lordships , and will be ever carefull of the safety and defence of the Kingdom , and maintain their own priviledges , as is fitting , and immediately proceed with the debate concerning the Duke , which was a little interrupted , as well by a Letter of the Kings to the Speaker , as by a Message delivered by Sir Richard Weston touching Supply . King Charles to the Speaker . Trusty and Welbeloved , &c. HAving assembled the Parliament early in the beginning of the year , for the more timely help and advice of our People in our great and important Affairs ; and having of late , not onely by Message , but also of our self , put our House of Commons in minde of our pressing occasions , and of the present Estate of Christendom , wherein they have equal interest with us , as well in respect of their own former engagements , as of the common Cause ; we shall not need to tell them with what care and patience we have in the middest of our Necessities attended their Resolutions ; but because their unseasonable slowness may produce at home as ill effects as a Denial , and hazard the whole Estate of things abroad ; we have thought fit by you the Speaker , to let them know , that without more loss of time , we look for a full and perfect Answer of what they will give for our Supply , according to our expectation and their promises ; wherein , as we press for nothing beyond the present state and condition of our Subjects , so we accept no less then is proportionable to the greatness and goodness of the Cause ; neither do we press them to a present Resolution in this , with a purpose to precipitate their Counsels , much less to enter upon their Priviledges , but to shew , that it is unfit to depend any longer upon uncertainties ; whereby the whole weight of the Affairs of Christendom may break in upon us upon the sudden , to our dishonor and the shame of this Nation : And for the business at home , we command you to promise them in our Name , that after they have satisfied us in this our reasonable Demand , we shall not onely continue them together at this time so long as the season will permit , but call them shortly again to perfect those necessary businesses which shall be now left undone ; and now we shall willingly apply ●it and seasonable remedies to such just Grievances which they shall present unto us in a dutifull and mannerly way , without throwing an ill odor upon our present Government , or upon the Government of our late blessed Father ; and if there be yet who desire to finde fault , we shall think him the wisest reprehendor of errors past , who without reflecting backward , can give us counsel how to settle the present estate of things , and to provide for the future safety and honor of the Kingdom . The Heads of Sir Richard Westons Message for drawing a more speedy resolution from the House , besides that formerly understood concerning the King of Denmark , Count Mansfield and his Majesties Army in the Low-Countries , were these . I. THat his Majesties Fleet being returned , and the victuals spent , the men must of necessity be discharged , and their wages paid , or else an assured mutiny will follow , which may be many wayes dangerous at this time . II. That his Majesty hath made ready about forty ships to be set forth on a second voyage to hinder the Enemy , which want onely victuals and some men , which without present supply of money cannot be set forth and kept together . III. That the Army which is appointed in every Coast must presently be disbanded , if they be not presently supplied with victuals and clothes . IV. That if the Companies of Ireland lately sent thither be not provided for , instead of defending that Country , they will prove the Authors of Rebellion . V. That the season of providing healthfull victuals will be past if this Moneth be neglected . And therefore his Majesty commanded me to tell you , that he desired to know without futher delaying of time , what supply you will give him for these his present occasions , that he may accordingly frame his course and counsel . Which Message produced this Answer from the Commons . Most gracious Soveraign , YOur Majesties Dutifull and Loyal Subjects the Commons now assembled in Parliament , in all humility present unto your Royal wisdom this their Loyal Answer to the Message which your Majesty was pleased by the Chancellor of your Exchequer to send unto them , desiring to know without any further deferring of time , what Supply they would give to your Majesty for your present and extraordinary occasions , that you might accordingly frame your Courses and Counsels : First of all , they most humbly beseech your Majesty to know and rest assured , That no King was ever dearer to his people , then your Majesty ; no people more zealous to maintain and advance the Honor and Greatness of their King , then they ; which , as upon all occasions they shall be ready to express , so especially in the Support of that Cause wherein your Majesty and your Allies are now justly engaged . And because they cannot doubt but your Majesty in your great wisdom , even out of Justice , and according to the Example of your most famous Predecessors , will be pleased graciously to accept the faithfull and necessary Information and Advice of your Parliament , which can have no end but the service of your Majesty , and safety of your Realm , in discovering the Causes , and proposing the Remedies of these great Evils which have occasioned your Majesties Wants and your Peoples Grief : They therefore , in confidence and full assurance of Redress therein , do with one consent propose ( though in former time such Course hath been unused ) that they really intend to assist and supply your Majesty in such a way , and in so ample a measure , as may make you safe at home , and feared abroad ; for the dispatch whereof they will use such diligence , as your Majesties pressing and present occasions shall require . His Majesty makes this Reply to the Commons Answer . Mr Speaker , THe Answer of the Commons delivered by you , I like well of , and do take it for a full and satisfactory Answer , and I thank them for it , and I hope you will with all Expedition take a Course for performance thereof , the which will turn to your own good as well as mine ; but for your Clause therein of presenting of Grievances , I take that but for a Parenthesis in your Speech , and not a Condition ; and yet , for answer to that part , I will tell you , I will be as willing to hear your Grievances , as my Predecessors have been , so that you will apply your selves to redress Grievances , and not to enquire after Grievances . I must let you know , that I will not allow any of my Servants to be questioned amongst you ; much less such as are of eminent place , and neer unto me : The old question was , What shall be done to the man whom the King will honor ? but now it hath been the labor of some , to seek what may be done against him whom the King thinks fit to honor . I see you specially aim at the Duke of Buckingham ; I wonder what hath so altered your affections towards him ; I do well remember that in the last Parliament in my Fathers time , when he was an Instrument to break the Treaties , all of you ( and yet I cannot say all , for I know some of you are changed , but yet the House of Commons is alwayes the same ) did so much honor and respect him , that all the honor conferred on him was too little ; and what he hath done since to alter or change your mindes , I wot not ; but can assure you , he hath not medled , or done any thing concerning the Publick or Commonwealth , but by special directions and appointment , and as my Servant , and is so far from gaining or improving his Estate thereby , that I verily think he hath rather impaired the same . I would you would hasten for my Supply , or else it will be worse for your selves ; For if any ill happen , I think I shall be the last shall feel it . Afterwards the Commons fell upon the Duke , as the chief Cause of all Publick Miscarriages . Doctor Turner a Physitian propounded in the House these Questions , which were then commonly called Queries against the Duke of Buckingham , and were grounded upon Publick Fame . 1. Whether the Duke being Admiral , be not the Cause of the loss of the Kings Royalty in the Narrow-Seas ? 2. Whether the unreasonable , exorbitant and immense Gifts of Money and Lands bestowed on the Duke and his Kindred , be not the Cause of impairing the Kings Revenue , and impoverishing of the Crown ? 3. Whether the Multiplicity of Offices conferred upon the Duke and others depending upon him , ( whereof they were not capable ) be not the Cause of the Evil Government of this Kingdom ? 4. Whether Recusants in general , by a kind of Connivencie , be not borne out and increased by reason of the Dukes Mother and Father-in-law , being known Papists . 5. Whether the Sale of Honors , Offices , and Places of Judicature and Ecclesiastical Livings and Promotions , ( a scandal and hurt to the Kingdom ) be not through the Duke ? 6. Whether the Dukes staying at home , being Admiral and General in the Fleet of the Sea , and Land-Army , were not the Cause of the bad success and overthrow of that Action ; And whether he did give good direction for that Design ? ( All these are famed to be so . ) Hereupon two Questions were moved in Parliament . 1. Whether the Six Heads delivered by Doctor Turner to be the Cause of the Evils that were grounded upon Common Fame , be to be debated in Parliament ? 2. Whether an Accusation upon Common Fame by a Member of this House , be a Parliamentary way ? It was declared by Sir Tho. Wentworth , Mr. Noy , and other Lawyers in the Debate , That there was a difference between Common Fame and Rumor : For the General voice ( Vox populi ) is Common Fame : And if Common Fame might not be admitted as an Accuser , Great men would be the onely safe men ; for no Private person dare adventure to enquire into their Actions : But the House of Commons is a House of Information and Presentment , but not a House of Definitive Judgment . So the House came to this Resolution ; That Common Fame is a good ground of Proceeding for this House , either by Enquiry , or presenting the Complaint ( if the House finds cause ) to the King or Lords . The Commons the next day proceeding in that Debate , Sir Richard Weston delivered to the House this Message from his Majesty . THat his Majesty had taken notice of a seditious Speech uttered in the House by Mr. Clement Cook : The words are said to be to this effect ; That it were better to die by an Enemy , then to suffer at home . Yet his Majesty in his wisdom hath forborne to take any course therein , or to send to the House about it , not doubting but the House would in due time correct such an Insolence . But his Majesty hath found that his patience hath wrought to an ill effect , and hath imboldened one since to do a strange act , in a strange way and unusual ; that is , Doctor Turner ; who on Saturday last , without any ground of knowledge in himself , or Proof tendred to the House , made an Enquiry of sundry Articles against the Duke of Buckingham , as he pretended , but indeed against the Honor and Government of the King and his late Father . This his Majesty saith is such an Example , that he can by no means suffer , though it were to make Enquiry of the meanest of his Servants , much less against one so neer unto himself ; and doth wonder at the foolish impudencie of any man that can think he should be drawn out of any end to offer such a Sacrifice , much unworthy the greatness of a King , and Master of such a Servant . And therefore his Majesty can no longer use his wonted patience , but desireth the Justice of the House against the Delinquents ; not doubting but such course will be taken , that he shall not be constrained to use his Regal authority to right himself against these two Persons . Upon this Message , Doctor Turner made a short Explanation of himself , desiring to know wherewith he was charged : What he said , he said the House can witness ; and what he said , he spake for the general good of the Commonwealth , and not upon the least reflection of any in particular . This he thought a Parliamentary way warranted by antient Presidents . To accuse upon Common Fame , he finds warranted first by the Imperial Roman Laws and the Canons of the Church , which allowed Common Fame sufficient to accuse any man. And they that are learned amongst them , give two reasons : First , for Greatness ; Next , for Cunning. Our Ancestors within these walls have done the like , and that to a Duke , the Duke of Suffolk in the time of King H. 6. who was accused upon Fame . And lastly ( he said ) Mr. Chancellor himself did present the Common Undertakers upon Particular Fame ; and why he should not have as ample priviledge in this place , he knew no reason to the contrary . The Commons having appointed another day for the Debate of this Business , in the mean time came this Letter from Doctor Turner to the Speaker . SIR , THese Lines first Petition you to signifie to the Honorable House of Commons , That my desires are still the same to have made my personal appearance before you , but my ability and strength to perform it are not the same ; And therefore that I humbly desire them to excuse me on that part , and to accept of this my Answer unto the matter I shall speak to . I do confess , that on Saturday last in the afternoon I did deliver in certain Accusations of Common Fame into the House of Parliament against my Lord Admiral ; and that out of so many ( all bearing the signiture of Vox populi ) I chose out some few , not because they were greater , or more known Grievances , but because they did seem to direct us to find out the Griever , or the first Cause : For I did think it was then full time to agree the Agent and the Actions , and that it was time also to leave considering Grievances in Arbitration . I do now also agree unto you that which hath been reported unto you by Mr. Wandesford ; and by that , if you shall think sit , will put my self unto your Censure : hoping and assuring my self , that you will find my design to include nothing else within it but duty and publick service to my Country ; and also that my addressing those Accusations unto the House of Parliament , shall by you be found to be done by a mannerly and Parliamentary way . But howsoever it becomes me to submit my Cause to your Wisdoms and equal Iudgments ; which I do heartily ; and whatsoever you shall please to appoint me , I shall dutifully satisfie , when God shall be pleased to restore me able to attend your service . I doubt not but to give you an honest accompt of all my Actions herein ; And if I shall first to my grave , I desire , if you find me cleer , the reputation of an Honest man and an English-man may attend me thereunto . Thus I rest Your dutiful and humble Servant , SAMUEL TURNER . To the Honorable Sir Henage Finch , Speaker of the House of Commons . The Monday following , Sir W. Walter ( if the Name be not miswritten in our Collections ) represented to the House , That the Cause of all the Grievances was , for that ( according as it was said of Lewis the Eleventh King of France ) All the Kings Council rides upon one horse . And therefore the Parliament was to advise his Majesty , as Iethro did Moses , to take unto him Assistants with these qualities . 1. Noble from among all the People ; not Upstarts , and of a Nights growth . 2. Men of Courage ; such as will execute their own Places , and not commit them to base and undeserving Deputies . 3. Fearing God ; who halt not betwixt two opinions , or incline to False worship in respect of a Mother , Wife or Father . 4. Dealing truly ; for Courtship , Flattery and Pretence become not Kings Councellors , but they must be such as the King and Kingdom may trust . 5. Hating Covetousness ; No Bribers nor Sellers of Places in Church or Commonwealth , much less Honors and Places about the King , and least of all such as live upon other mens ruines . 6. They should be many , set over Thousands , Hundreds , Fifties and Tens , ( one Man not ingrossing all . ) Where there is abundance of Counsel , there is Peace and Safety . 7. They must judge of small matters ; the greater must go to the King himself , not all to the Council , much less any one Counsellor must alone manage the whole weight , but Royal actions must be done only by the King. 8. Lastly , Moses chose them Elders , not Young men ▪ Solomon by miracle and revelation was wise being young ; but neither his Son nor his young Counsellors had that priviledge : No more is it expected in any of our Counsellors , until by age and experience they have attained it . Sir Iohn Elliot continued the Debate , and thus spake . WE have had ( says he ) a representation of great fear , but I hope that shall not darken our understandings . There are but two things considerable in this business : First , the Occasion of our Meeting ; and secondly , the present State of our own Country . The first of these we all know , and it hath at large been made known unto us , and therefore needeth no dispute . The latter of these we ought to make known , and draw and shew it as in a Perspective in this House : For our wills and affections were never more clear , more ready as to his Majesty , but perhaps bauk'd and check'd in our forwardness by those the King intrusts with the affairs of the Kingdom . The last Action , was the Kings first Action ; and the first Actions and Designs of Kings are of great observance in the eye of the World ; for therein much dependeth the esteem , or disesteem of their future proceedings : And in this Action the King and Kingdom have suffered much dishonor ; We are weakned in our strength and safety , and many of our men and ships are lost . This great Design was fixed on the person of the Lord General , who had the whole Command both by Sea and Land : And can this great General think it sufficient to put in his Deputy , and stay at home ? Count Mansfield's Actions were so miserable , and the going out of those men so ill managed , as we are scarce able to say they went out . That handful of men sent to the Palatinate , and not seconded , what a loss was it to all Germany ? We know well who had then the Kings ear . I could speak of the Action of Algier , but I will not look so far backward . Are not Honors now sold , and made despicable ? Are not Judicial Places sold ? and do not they then sell Justice again ? Vendere jure potest , emerat ille prius . Tully in an Oration against Verres notes , That the Nations were Suitors to the Senate of Rome , that the Law De pecuniis repetundis might be recalled : Which seems strange , that those that were Suitors for the Law , should seek again to repeal it ; but the reason was , it was perverted to their ill . So it is now with us ; besides inferior and subordinate persons that must have Gratuities , they must now feed their great Patrons . I shall to our present Case cite two Presidents . The first is 16 H. 3. The Treasure was then much exhausted , many Disorders complained on , the King wronged by some Ministers ; many Subsidies were then demanded in Parliament , but they were denied : And then the Lords and Commons joined to desire the King to reassume the Lands which were improvidently granted , and to examine his great Officers , and the Causes of those Evils which the People then suffered . This was yielded unto by the King , and Hugo de Burgo was found faulty and was displaced , and then the Commons in the same Parliament gave Supply . The second President was in the Tenth year of Richard the Second : Then the Times were such , and Places so changeable , that any great Officer could hardly sit to be warmed in his Place : Then also Monies had been formerly given , and Supply was at that Parliament required ; but the Commons denied Supply , and complained that their Monies were misimployed , That the Earl of Suffolk then overruled all ; and so their Answer was , They could not give : And they petitioned the King , that a Commission might be granted , and that the Earl of Suffolk might be examined . A Commission at their request was awarded , and that Commission recites all the Evil then complained of ; and that the King upon the Petition of the Lords and Commons had granted that Examination should be taken of the Crown-Lands which were sold , of the Ordering of his Houshold , and the Disposition of the Jewels of his Grandfather , and Father . I hear nothing said in this House of our Jewels , nor will I speak of them , but I could wish they were within these walls . We are now in the same case with those former Times ; we suffer alike , or worse : And therefore unless we seek redress of these great Evils , we shall find disability in the wills of the People to grant . I wish therefore that we may hold a dutiful pursuance in preparing and presenting our Grievances . For the Three Subsidies and Three Fifteens which are proposed , I hold the proportion will not suit with what we would give ; but yet I know it is all we are able to do or can give ; and yet this is not to be the stint of our affections , but to come again to give more upon just occasions . In the heat of these Agitations , the Commons notwithstanding remembred the Kings Necessities , and took the matter of Supply into consideration , and Voted Three Subsidies and Three Fifteens to be paid the last day of Iune , and the last of October next following ; and that the Act be brought in as soon as Grievances are presented to , and answered by the King. And the Commons the same day resumed the Debate again concerning the Duke , and Misgovernment and Misimployment of the Revenue , &c. Ordered the Duke to have notice again thereof . The next day the King sent a Message to the House of Commons , That they do to morrow at Nine of the clock attend his Majesty in the Hall at Whitehall , ( and in the mean time all Proceedings in the House and Committee to cease . ) Where his Majesty made this ensuing Speech . My Lords and Gentlemen , I Have called you hither to day , I mean both Houses of Parliament ; but it is for several and distinct reasons : My Lords , you of the Upper House , to give you thanks for the Care of the State of the Kingdom now ; and not only for the Care of your own Proceedings , but for inciting your Fellow-House of the Commons to take that into their consideration . Therefore ( my Lords ) I must not only give you thanks , but I must also avow , that if this Parliament do not redound to the good of this Kingdom , ( which I pray God it may ) it is not your faults . And you Gentlemen of the House of Commons , I am sorry that I may not justly give the same thanks to you ; but that I must tell you , that I am come here to shew you your errors , and as I may call it , Unparliamentary proceedings in this Parliament . But I do not despair , because you shall see your faults so cleerly by the Lord Keeper , that you may so amend your Proceeding , that this Parliament shall end comfortably and happily , though at the beginning it hath had some rubs . Then the Lord Keeper , by the Kings command , spake next . MY Lords , and you the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons : You are here assembled by his Majesties commandment , to receive a Declaration of his Royal pleasure ; which although it be intended only to the House of Commons , yet his Majesty hath thought meet , the matter being of great weight and importance , it should be delivered in the presence of both Houses , and both Houses make one General Council : And his Majesty is willing that the Lords should be Witnesses of the Honor and Justice of his Resolutions . And therefore the Errand which by his Majesties direction I must deliver , hath relation to the House of Commons . I must address my self therefore to you Mr. Speaker , and the rest of that House . And first his Majesty would have you to understand , That there was never any King more loving to his People , or better affectioned to the right use of Parliaments , then his Majesty hath approved himself to be , not only by his long patience since the sitting down of this Parliament , but by those mild and calm Directions which from time to time that House hath received by Message , and Letter , and from his Royal mouth ; when the irregular humors of some particular persons wrought diversions and distractions there , to the disturbance of those great and weighty Affairs , which the Necessity of the Times , the honor and safety of the King and Kingdom , called upon . And therefore his Majesty doth assure you , that when these great Affairs are setled , and that his Majesty hath received satisfaction of his reasonable Demands , he will as a just King hear and answer your just Grievances , which in a dutiful way shall be presented unto him ; and this his Majesty doth avow . Next his Majesty would have you know of a surety , That as never any King was more loving to his People , nor better affectioned to the right use of Parliaments ; so never King more jealous of his Honor , nor more sensible of the neglect and contempt of his Royal Rights , which his Majesty will by no means suffer to be violated by any pretended colour of Parliamentary Liberty ; wherein his Majesty doth not forget that the Parliament is his Council , and therefore ought to have the liberty of a Council ; but his Majesty understands the difference betwixt Council and Controlling , and between Liberty and the Abuse of Liberty . This being set down in general , his Majesty hath commanded me to relate some particular passages and proceedings whereat he finds himself agrieved . First , Whereas a seditious speech was uttered amongst you by Mr. Cook , the House did not , as they ought to do , censure and correct him . And when his Majesty understanding it , did by a Message by Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered to the House , require Justice of you , his Majesty hath since found nothing but protracting and delaies . This his Majesty holds not agreeable to the wisdom and the duty which he expected from the House of Commons . Secondly , Whereas Doctor Turner in a strange Unparliamentary way , without any ground of knowledge in himself , or offering any particular proof to the House , did take upon him to advise the House to enquire upon sundry Articles against the Duke of Buckingham , as he pretended , but in truth to wound the Honor and Government of his Majesty , and of his renowned Father ; And his Majesty first by a Message , and after by his own Royal mouth did declare , That that Course of Enquiry was an Example which by no way he could suffer , though it were against his meanest Servant , much less against one so neer him ; and that his Majesty did much wonder at the foolish insolencie of any man that can think that his Majesty should be drawn out of any end to offer such a Sacrifice so unworthy of a King , or a good Master : Yet for all this , you have been so far from correcting the Insolencie of Turner , that ever since that time your Committees have walked in the steps of Turner , and proceeded in an Unparliamentary Inquisition , running upon generals , and repeating that whereof you have made Fame the groundwork . Here his Majesty hath cause to be exceeding sensible , that upon every particular he finds the Honor of his Father stained and blemished , and his own no less ; and withal you have manifested a great forwardness rather to pluck out of his bosom those who are neer about him , and whom his Majesty hath cause to affect , then to trust his Majesty with the future reformation of these things which you seem to aim at : And yet you cannot deny but his Majesty hath wrought a greater Reformation in matters of Religion , Execution of the Laws , and concerning things of great importance , then the shortness of his Reign ( in which he hath been hindred partly through sickness , and the distraction of things which we could have wished had been otherwise ) could produce . Concerning the Duke of Buckingham , his Majesty hath commanded me to tell you , That himself doth better know then any man living the sincerity of the Dukes proceedings ; with what cautions of weight and discretion he hath been guided in his publick Imployments from his Majesty and his blessed Father ; what Enemies he hath procured at home and abroad ; what peril of his person and hazard of his estate he ran into for the service of his Majesty , and his ever blessed Father , and how forward he hath been in the service of this House many times since his return from Spain . And therefore his Majesty cannot believe that the aim is at the Duke of Buckingham , but findeth that these Proceedings do directly wound the Honor and Judgment of himself , and of his Father . It is therefore his Majesties express and final commandment , That you yield obedience unto those Directions which you have formerly received , and cease this Unparliamentary Inquisition , and commit unto his Majesties care , and wisdom , and justice , the future reformation of these things which you suppose to be otherwise then they should be : And his Majesty is resolved , that before the end of this Session , he will set such a Course both for the amending of any thing that may be found amiss , and for the setling of his own Estate , as he doubteth not but will give you ample satisfaction and comfort . Next to this his Majesty taketh notice , That you have suffered the greatest Council of State to be censured and traduced in the House , by men whose Years and Education cannot attain to that depth : That Forein businesses have been entertained in the House , to the hinderance and disadvantage of his Majesties Negotiations : That the same Year , yea the first Day of his Majesties Inauguration , you suffered his Council , Government , and Servants , to be parallel'd with the Times of most Exception : That your Committees have presumed to examine the Letters of Secretaries of State , nay his own , and sent a general Warrant to his Signet-Office , and commanded his Officers not only to produce and shew the Records , but their Books and private Notes , which they made for his Majesties service . This his Majesty holds as unsufferable , as it was in former times unusual . Next I am to speak concerning your Supply of Three Subsidies and Three Fifteens , which you have agreed to tender to his Majesty . You have been made acquainted with the greatness of his affairs both at home and abroad , with the strong Preparation of the Enemy , with the Importance of upholding his Allies , strengthening and securing both England and Ireland , besides the encountring and annoying the Enemy by a powerful Fleet at Sea ; and the Charge of all : This having been calculated unto you , you have professed unto his Majesty by the mouth of your Speaker , your carefulness to support the Cause wherein his Majesty and his Allies are justly engaged ; your unanimous consent and real intention to supply his Majesty in such a measure , as should make him safe at home , and feared abroad ; And that in the dispatch hereof you would use such diligence , as his Majesties pressing and present occasions did require . And now his Majesty having erected a proceeding suitable to this engagement , he doth observe that in two days onely of twelve , this business was thought of , and not begun till his Majesty by a Message put you in minde of it , whilest your Inquisition against his Majesties direction proceeded day by day . And for the measure of this supply , his Majesty findeth it so far from making himself safe at home and feared abroad , as contrariwise it exposeth him both to danger and disesteem ; for his Majesty cannot expect without better help , but that his Allies must presently disband , and leave him alone to bear the fury of a provoked and powerful Enemy : So as both he and you shall be unsafe at home , and ashamed and despised abroad . And for the manner of the Supply , it is in it self very dishonourable , and full of distrust ; For although you have avoided the literal word of a Condition , whereof his Majesty himself did warn you when he told you of your Parenthesis , yet you have put to it the effect of a Condition , since the Bill is not to come into your house until your Grievances be both preferred and answered . No such thing was in that expression and engagement delivered by your Speaker , from which his Majesty holdeth that you have receded both in matter and manner to his great disadvantage and dishonour . And therefore his Majesty commandeth that you go together , and by Saturday next return your final Answer , what further Supply you will add to this you have already agreed on , and that to be without condition , either directly or indirectly for the supply of these great and important Affairs of his Majesty , which for the reasons formerly made known unto you , can endure no longer delay ; and if you shall not by that time resolve on a more ample Supply , his Majesty cannot expect a Supply this way , nor promise you to sit longer together ; otherwise , if you do it , his Majesty is well content , that you shall sit so long as the season of the year will permit ; and doth assure you , that the present addition to your supply to set forward the work , shall be no hinderance to your speedy access again . His Majesty hath commanded me to add this , That therein he doth expect your chearfull obedience , which will put a happy issue to this Meeting , and will enable his Majesty , not onely to a Defensive War , but to imploy his Subjects in Foreign Actions , whereby will be added to them both experience , safety , and honor . Last of all , his Majesty hath commanded me in explanation of the gracious goodness of his Royal intention , to say unto you , that he doth well know , that there are amongst you many wise and well tempered men , well affected to the Publick and to his Majesties service , and that those that are willingly faulty , are not many ; and for the rest his Majesty doubteth not , but after his gracious Admonition , they will in due time observe and follow the better sort ; which , if they shall do , his Majesty is most ready to forget whatsoever is past . Then his Majesty spake again , I must withall put you in minde a little of times past ; you may reremember , that in the time of my blessed Father , you did with your counsel and perswasion perswade both my Father and me to break off the Treaties ; I confess I was your Instrument , for two reasons ; one was , the fitness of the time ; the other , because I was seconded by so great and worthy a body , as the whole body of Parliament ; then there was no body in so great favor with you as this man whom you seem now to touch , but indeed , my Fathers Government and mine . Now that you have all things according to your wishes , and that I am so far ingaged , that you think there is no retreat ; now you begin to set the Dice , and make your own Game ; but I pray you be not deceived , it is not a Parliamentary way , nor it is not a way to deal with a King. Mr Cook told you , It was better to be eaten up by a Foreign Enemy , then to be destroyed at home ; Indeed , I think 't is more honor for a King to be invaded , and almost destroyed by a Foreign Enemy , then to be despised by his own Subjects . Remember that Parliaments are altogether in my power for their Calling , Sitting , and Dissolution ; therefore , as I finde the fruits of them good or evil , they are to continue or not to be ; And remember , that if in this time , instead of mending your Errors , by delay you persist in your Errors , you make them greater and irreconcileable : Whereas , on the other side , if you do go on cheerfully to mend them , and look to the distressed State of Christendom , and the Affairs of the Kingdom as it lieth now by this great Engagement ; you will do your selves honor , you shall encourage me to go on with Parliaments ; and I hope all Christendom shall feel the good of it . The Commons upon the Debate of what fell from his Majesty and the Lord Keeper , turned the House into a Grand Committee , ordered the doors to be locked , and no Member to go forth ; and that all Proceedings in all other Committees shall cease till the House come to a Resolution in this business . His Majesty being informed that some things in his own Speeches and the Lord Keepers Declaration were subject to misunderstanding ; commanded the Duke to explain them at a conference of both Houses in the Painted-Chamber , held for that purpose . WHereas it is objected by some who wish good Correspondency betwixt the King and People , that to prefix a day to give , or to break , was an unusual thing , and might express an inclination in the King to break ; to remove this , as his Majesty was free from such thoughts he hath descended to make this Explanation . That as his Majesty would not have you condition with him directly or indirectly , so he will not lye to a day , for giving further Supply ; but it was the pressing occasion of Christendom that made him to pitch upon a day . His Majesty hath here a Servant of the King of Denmark , and another from the Duke of Weymer , and yesterday received a Letter from his Sister the Queen of Bohemia ; who signified , that the King of Denmark hath sent an Ambassador with Power to perfect the Contract which was made at the Hague ; so it was not the King , but time and the things themselves that pressed a time . Therefore his Majesty is pleased to give longer time , hoping you will not give him cause to put you in minde of it again , so that you have a greater ▪ Latitude , if the business require to think further of it . I am commanded further to tell you , that if his Majesty should accept of a less sum then will suffice , it will deceive your expectations , disappoint his Allies , and consume the Treasure of the Kingdom : whereas if you give largly now , the business being at the Crisis , it comes so seasonably , it may give a Turn to the Affairs of Christendom . But while we delay and suffer the time to pass , others abroad will take advantage of it , as the King of Spain hath done by concluding a Peace , as 't is though , in Italy for the Vatoline , whereby our work is become the greater , because there can be no diversion that way . As it was a good Rule to fear all things and nothing , and to be Liberal was sometimes to be Thrifty ; so in this particular , if you give largly , you shall carry the War to the Enemies door , and keep that Peace at home that hath been : Whereas , on the contrary , if you draw the War home , it brings with it nothing but disturbance and fear , all Courses of Justice stopt , and each mans Revenues lessened , and nothing that can be profitable . Another Explanation I am commanded to make touching the grievances , wherein his Majesty means no way to interrupt your Proceedings , but hopes you will proceed in the antient wayes of your Predecessors ; and not so much seek faults , as the means to redress them . I am further commanded to tell you , That his Majesty intends to elect a Committee of both Houses , whom he will trust to take the view of his Estate , the Defects whereof are not so fit for the Eyes of a Multitude ; and this Committee will be for your ease , and may satisfie you without casting any ill odour on his Government , or laying open any weakness that may bring shame upon us abroad . That which is proposed is so little , that when the payment comes , it will bring him to a worse estate then now he is in ; therefore wishes you to enlarge it , but leaves the augmentation to your selves ; but is sorry , and touch'd in Conscience , that the burthen should lie on the poorest , who want too much already ; yet he will not prescribe , but wish , that you who were the Abettors and Counsellors of this War , would take a greater part of the Burthen to your selves ; and any man that can finde out that way , shall shew himself best affected , and do the best service to the King and State. The Duke then made his Address to them in his own behalf . My Lords and Gentlemen , YOu were all witnesses yesterday how good and gratious a Master I serve ; and I shall be likewse glad that you be witnesses how thankful a heart I have . And I protest I have a heart as full of zeal to serve my Master , as any man ; and it hath been my study to keep a good correspondency betwixt the King and his people : And what ever thought hath been entertained of me , I shall not alien my heart from that intention , but shall adde spurs to my endeavours and actions , to vindicate my self from ill opinion . And however I lye under the burthen of the same , it lies in your hands to make me happy , or not ; and for my part , I wish my heart and actions were known to you all ; then I assure my self , you would resume me to your good opinions . When I had with some hazard waited on my Master into Spain , it is well known what Testimony I gave of my Religion ; and no man that comes to a true and near view of my action , can justly charge me . Let me be excused , If I give accompt of this particular when I should speak of the general ; for this goes near my heart , and to dissemble with my Conscience , no ends of Fortunes in the World can make me do it : For if I had any ill inclination , I had such offers made to me in Spain , as might have tempted me . If I would have been converted my self , I might have had the Infanta to put in my Masters Bed ; and if my discontent should have risen here , I might have had an Army to have come with me : But I thought the offer foolish , ridiculous , and scornful , in that point of Religion . I will now take the boldness to speak a little in the general business ; and I call it boldness to speak after one who did so well the other day : But I had rather suffer in my own particular , then not refresh your Memories with that which is materially needful . I shall not need to reflect so far back as to the beginning of those Counsels which engaged my Master into the War , they are well known ; onely I will so far touch it , as to say , That the last years preparations were not Voluntary , or out of Wantonness , but out of Necessity . My Master had good intelligence that the King of Spains eye was malitiously bent this way , which had been pursued accordingly , if the employment of the Low-Countrymen to the Bay of Todos los Santos had not diverted it . Now for the Counsel which was used for sending out the Fleets , I will refer you to the Relation of the Lord Conway , who as well in this as other Resolutions , can tell you , That nothing was carried with single Councils : And for my self , I know that in all those actions no man can stand up against me , to say that I ever did go with single Councils , or made breach of any ; but have been an obedient Servant and Minister unto their Resolutions : The proof whereof will appear in a Journal thereof which my Lord Conway keeps . I confess all Councils were not ever as your selves would , nor have wished they should ; if you had known them as my Master did , in whom the former Affairs of State had bred such affections , that the business being altered , they were not to be trusted with the Change. I will now give you an accompt of all my Negotiations , since my being at Oxford , both at home and abroad ; and because there it was charged , that those things were carried with single Counsels , I was more careful to advise the King to have his Counsel with him in the Country , being to enter into War with an Active King. And for my part I did diligently wait on the Council , left all Recreations , all personal occasions , studying to serve my Master , and to gain the good opinion of both Houses . The Council of Woodstock generally advised the going out of the Fleet. And though it were objected that the Season were not fit , yet the action shewed the contrary , for they all arived in safety . And for what was also objected , that the Provision was not good , experience tells you the contrary ; for the preparations were all good in quality and proportion . And if the Success were not such as any honest man could wish , I hope I shall not be blamed , being not there in person , though I made the greatest suit for it to my Master , that ever I did for any thing : But his Majesty thought my Service more useful in the Low-Countreys , to comfort his Sister , and to treat with the Kings o● Denmark , Sweden , and the States . And though the Success ( as I said ) of the Fleet were not answerable to the desires of honest men ; yet it had these good effects , first , It put our Enemy to great charge in fortifying his Coasts ; secondly , They took so many Ships as caused many of his Merchants to break , whereby the Army in Flanders suffered much ; And lastly , They could carry no Treasure out to pay their Forces in Flanders . And for Omissions of what more might have been done , I leave that to its proper place and time , and let every man bear his own burden . From Oxford the Council went to Southampton , where the States Ambassadors did wait often on the King and Council , and a League Offensive and Defensive betwixt us and them was thought fit to be resolved on ; whereof some Reasons I will express , but not all . First , They are of our own Religion ; secondly , They are our near Neighbors , for situation so useful , as when they are in distress , it is policy in us to give them relief ; therefore the King thought fit to do it in such manner , as might lay an Obligation on them ; which if it had not been done , they had been pressed with a long War , and such a Faction among themselves , as if the King had not joyned , and in a manner appeared their Protector , they had broke among themselves . And in this the Kings care was not onely of them , but of all Christendom , and of his own particular . For as before he onely assisted them , his Majesties care now used Arguments to draw them to Contribution ; so that they bear the fourth part of the charge of the War at Sea , according to such Conditions as by the Lord Chamberlain you have heard . This League being perfected betwixt the States and us , his Majesty by Advice of his Council thought fit to send me to get such a League with the other Princes as I could : The Rendezvous was in the Low-Countreys , being in a manner the Centre for repair for England , France , and Germany ; I had Latitude of Commission to make the League with most advantage I could . Now I had discovered from Monsieur B. The French Ambassador here , that a League Offensive and Defensive would be refused ; and I found the King of Denmark shie , and loth to enter into such a League against the King of Spain ; and so partly out of Necessity , and partly out of Reason of State , I was forced to conclude the League in general Terms , for the restoring of the Liberty of Germany , without naming the King of Spain , or the Emperor , that other Princes might come in ; and this to continue till every one had satisfaction , and nothing to be treated of , debated , or concluded on , but by consent of all parties . It did appear , that the Charge was so great , that the Kingdom could not endure it ; and therefore I endeavored in the Low-Countreys to lessen it , and so the Sea charge was helped , and the Land assistance given unto them , is to cease Six moneths hence , which the Lord Conway said was to end in September next . Also by this Treaty it is conditioned with the King of Denmark , That when my Master shall by Diversion equal to this Contribution with his own Subjects , enter into an Action , then this Charge to cease : Or if the King of France may be drawn in , of which there is great hope ( though he hath now made peace in Italy ) for that the policy of France may not give way unto the greatness of the House of Austria , and ambition of Spain , whose Dominions do grasp him in on every side . And if the business be well carried , his Engagement to the King of Denmark may draw him in ; so there is great possibility of easing our Charge . But all is in the discreet taking of the time ; for it not , we may think the King of Denmark will take hold of those fair Conditions which are each day offered him ; and then the Enemies Army will fall upon the River of Elve , and ( the Lord Conway added ) upon East-Friezland , from whence they would make such progress , as ( in my poor experience ) would ruine the Low-Countreys . And thus I think I have satisfied all of you , or at least given an account of my Negotiation in the Low-Countreys , with the King of Denmark , Sweden , and the rest . I should be glad before I end , to say somewhat of my self , but I shall request your favorable construction , for I have been too long already ; but I fear I shall offend , and therefore I will restrain my self to generals . If in any of these employments , my Errors may be shewed me , I shall take him for my best friend that will manifest them in particulars ; I have bent all my thoughts on nothing but my Masters Honor , the Service of the State , and safety of them both . I never had any end of mine own , and that may be perceived and proved by the expence of mine own estate . I am ashamed to speak it , and it would become another mans tongue better then mine own . My Journey into Spain , was all at mine own charge ; my Journey into France , was at my Masters charge ; my Journey into the Low-Countreys , was all at mine own charge . I am accused by common Fame , to be the cause of the loss of the Narrow Seas , and the damage there sustained . That I can say , is this , Since the War begun with Spain , I have always had Twelve Ships on the Coasts , and allowance but for Four , the rest my own care supplied . And for the Office of Admiral , when I came first to it , I found the Navy weak , not neglected by my Noble Predecessor ( for I cannot speak of him , but with honor ; and I shall desire to go to my Grave with the honor he carried hence ) but by the not paying of moneys in time , there were such defects his care could not prevent ; that if the War had then broken out , there would have been found few Ships , and those unserviceable . I was first perswaded to take this Office by perswasion of Sir Robert Munseld , and though I objected I was yong , and unexperienced , yet he said that by my favor with my Master , I might do more good in procuring payment for that charge . And because I was yong and unexperienced , I took advice , as I do in all things , and am not ashamed of it . I desired my Master to grant a Commission as it were over me . I have found a great Debt , the Ships defective , and few in number , the yearly charge of Fifty four thousand pounds , which was brought to Thirty thousand pounds per annum ; we built every year two Ships , and when so many were built as were requisite , we brought it to Two and twenty thousand pounds per annum , which comes not to my hands , but goes into its proper streams , and issues from the Officers to that purpose deputed . Now if any can shew me a Project , how to maintain War against Spain , Flanders , and the Turkish Pirates , with less charge , he shall do a great work and good service : I have had sometimes Twenty , sometimes Thirty Ships , though sometime disastred by Tempest , which disperst the Hollanders Ships , and caused them to cut their Masts , and forsake their Anchors . There are now Twelve Ships victualled for two Moneths ; and though many Reports have been , that they do not do their duty , yet I have advertised them thereof from time to time , and finde no such fault in them . There are Thirty Ships more at Plimouth , victualled for six Moneths , and Ten more ready , so soon as they may be victualled : I have been so frugal of making use of the old remain , that there is no need of Ammunition , or other necessaries . Besides all these , there are Twenty Ships to come from the Low-Countreys ; so you have Twelve , Twenty , Thirty , and Ten more , which I think you have not heard of . And therefore if any have blamed me , I do not blame him , but think he hath done well ; but when you know the truth , and when all this shall appear , I hope I shall stand right in your opinions . Gentlemen , It is no time to pick quarrels one with another ; we have enemies enough already , and therefore more necessary to be well united at home . Follow not examples , at least not ill examples of Gondomar and Ynojosa , who would have had my head , when you thought me worthy of a salute . Now though I confess there may be some Errors , I will not justifie my self ; yet they are not such gross defects , as the World would make them appear . I desire they may be admitted Cum Nota. They are no Errors of Wilfulness , nor of Corruption , nor oppressing of the People , nor Injustice , but the contrary ; and then may I say , for what good done by me , do I suffer ? And now I might Answer more particulars , but I have been long , and so will forbear ; and will conclude , if your Supply answer not your Promises and Engagements to my Master ; you will make this place which hath been in Peace when others were in War , the Seat of War when others are in Peace . Now Gentlemen , You that were Antient Parliament-men when this Council was first given , strive to make good your own Engagement , for the Honor of your King , and your own safety . Let Religion , in which I would be glad to be more watchful and industrious then any , unite your hearts both at home and abroad ; and you that are yong men , may in these active times gain honor and reputation , which is almost sunk , and gain the Antient Glory of your Predecessors : And remember it is for restoring to her Inheritance , the most viruous Lady I think in the World. I have nothing more , but to intreat your charitable opinion of me and my actions . For the further vindicating of the Duke , the Lord Conway stood up and said , THat whereas divers jealousies have been raised in the House , that the Moneys have been expended unusefully and without Council ; himself who was the onely Secretary , and had the hand in guiding the business , could best give an accompt of it . When King Iames of glorious Memory , at the Request of both Houses , had broken both the Treaties , he considered how to maintain the War ; for he saw that the King of Spain was awaked , and that the Palatinate must be got by the Sword , and that Spain would oppose it with all the power they could ; and computing the charges , found the Subsidies granted too short ; for that it could not be done without an Army of Five and twenty thousand Foot , and Five thousand Horse , which would amount to Six hundred thousand pounds for the Armies yearly , and Three hundred thousand pounds for the Navy ; but finding all his means short , and as the Proverb is , Not knowing of what Wood to make his Arrows to hit the Mark withal , Count Mansfield stirred up by his own judgment came over and made overture , That for Twenty thousand pounds a moneth he would raise an Army of Thirty thousand men , and draw in the French King , Denmark , Sweden , Venice , Savoy , the Cantons of the Switzers perhaps , and some other German Princes , and raise a War in Alsatia , of great consequence to make a Diversion . Now about this time the Council of Austria resolved to call a Dyet , and exclude the Count Palatine , and put in a Popish Elector ; and for that end offered a general Peace in Germany , and so left not a crevice to look into for assistance ; but if any of them should aid the Count Palatine , he should be out of the Peace . The King accepts Mansfields offer , conditionally that he draw in the French King : So Mansfield went over into France , and the King by Advice of his Council sent Ambassadors into France , Denmark , Venice , Savoy , and Cantons of the Switzers , from whom he received cold Answers ; for King Iames had stood so long on terms of Peace , as they doubted he would not be brought to enter into War. But Count Mansfield procured the King of France to Contract to receive our Troops , with promise to enter into the War , upon condition it might be regulated by the Council of the French King and England . This favor to Count Mansfield , That France agreed that his Armies should joyn with the Kings Troops , wrought the Princes of Germany to believe , that the King would enter into a War. Thereupon the Imperialists left their Dyet , and sent Tilly to Friezland , and to take up the River of Embden ; which if he had obtained , they would have trampled the Low-Countreys under foot , and would have become Governors of the Sea. Upon this the King of Denmark sent to our King , and offered to raise an Army of Thirty thousand men , if our King would allow Thirty thousand pounds a Moneth , and said , He would admit no time of respite ; for if Tilly had not been presently met and headed , all had been lost . Whereupon our King called a Counsel , and appointed Commissioners ; and from that time all the Warrants for the issuing of the Moneys , were all under the Kings own hand to the Council of War , and from them to the Treasurers ; and the Warrants were from the Lords of the Council for the Levying of Men , and for Coats and Conduct-Money . A List whereof is hereunder specified . Thereupon the Duke asked the Question , Whether any thing was done by single Council . To which the Lord Conway answered , No. For the Treaty of Denmark , Project of Count Mansfield , Treaties with France , and the business of the Navy , were done all by the King himself ; and who can say it was done by single Council , when King Iames commanded it , whose Council every man ought to reverence , especially in matters of War , whereunto that King was not hasty ? The Total of Moneys paid by Warrants of the Treasurers of the Subsidy Money . IN Toto for the Four Regiments of the Low-Countries , from the Thirtieth of Iune , 1624. till the One and twentieth of Iuly , 1624. 99878 l. 00 s. 06 d. For the Navy , from the Thirteenth of Iuly , 1624. till the Three and twentieth of December . 37530 l. 08 s. 04 d. For the Office of the Ordinance and Forts in England , from the Twentieth of Iuly , 1624. till the Fifteenth of Iune , 1625. 47126 l. 05 s. 05 d. To defray Charges for Forts in Ireland , about October , 1624. 32295 l. 18 s. 04 d. For the Service under Count Mansfield ; for Provisions of Arms ; transporting of Soldiers , from the Fourth of October , 1624. till the Tenth of December , 1624. 61666 l. 13 s. 04 d. Sum Total 278497 l. 04 s. 11 d. MEmorandum , That over and above the several Services before specified , and the several Sums issued , and to be issued by our Warrants for the same , We did long since resolve and order accordingly , that out of the Moneys of the Second and third Subsidies , these further Services should be performed , and Moneys issued accordingly , viz. In full of the Supply of all the Forts and Castles before-mentioned ( Surveyed per Sir Richard Morison , Sir Iohn Ogle , Sir Iohn Kay , in September , 1613. ) with all sorts of Munitions according to several Proportions and Warrants for the same — 4973 l. In full for the Reparations of all the said Forts and Castles according to the said Survey — 10650 l. 06s . 08 d. But the said Subsidies being not like to afford means to perform these so necessary Works , We humbly commend the supply of what shall be wanting for the same unto your Majesties Princely consideration . Whilest the Commons were inquiring into Publick Grievances , the Lords represented to the King a Grievance to their own Order in this following Petition . To the Kings most Excellent Majesty . The Petition of your ever Loyal Subjects , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal now in Parliament Assembled . In all humility sheweth ; THat whereas the Péers and Nobility of this Your Kingdom of England , have heretofore in Civility yeilded as to strangers Precedency , according to their several degrées , unto such Nobles of Scotland and Ireland , as being in Titles above them , have resorted hither . Now divers of the natural born Subjects of those Kingdoms resident here with their Families , and having their cheif Estates among us , do by reason of some late created Dignities in those Kingdoms of Scotland and Ireland , claim Precedency of the Péers of this Realm , which tends both to the disservice of Your Majesty , and these Realms , and to the great disparagement of the English Nobility , as by these Reasons may appear . I. It is a novelty without president , that men should inherit Honors where they possess nothing else . II. It is injurious to those Countreys from whence their Titles are derived , that they should have a Uote in Parliament , where they have not a foot of Land. III. It is a grievance to the Country where they inhabite , that men possessing very large Fortunes and Estates , should by reason of Foreign Titles , be exempted from those Services of Trust and Charge , which through their default become greater pressures upon others who bear the burthen . IV. It is a shame to Nobility , that Persons dignified with the Titles of Barons , Viscounts , &c. should be obnoxious and exposed to arrest , they being in the view of the Law no more then méer Plebeians . We therefore humbly beséech your Majesty , That you will be pleased according to the examples of the best Princes and times , upon consideration of these inconveniencis represented to Your Majesty , by the nearest Body of Honor to Your Majesty , that some course may be taken , and an order timely setled therein by Your Princely Wisdom , so as the inconvenience to Your Majesty may be prevented , and the prejudice and disparagement of the Péers and Nobility of this Kingdom be redressed . To this Petition the King gave Answer , That he would take order therein . The Earl of Bristol who continued under Restraint , and was debarred Access to his Majesty ever since his return out of Spain , had been examined touching his Negotiation there , by a Committee of Lords appointed by the King. Certain Propositions were tendred unto him in order to his Release , and composing of that Affair , concerning which he had written to the Lord Conway , and about this time received the ensuing Letter from him . The Lord Conway to the Earl of Bristol . My Lord , I Received a Letter from your Lordship , dated the Fourth of this Moneth , written in Answer to a former Letter which I directed to your Lordship by his Majesties Commandment . This last Letter according to my duty I have shewed unto his Majesty , who hath perused it , and hath commanded me to write back to you again , That he findes himself nothing satisfied therewith . The Question propounded to your Lordship from his Majesty , was plain and clear , Whether you did rather chuse to sit still without being questioned for any Errors past in your Negotiation in Spain , and enjoy the benefit of the late gratious Pardon granted in Parliament , whereof you may have the benefit : Or whether for the clearing of your Innocency ( whereof your self and your friends and followers are so confident ) you will be content to wave the advantage of that Pardon , and put your self into a legal way of Examination for the Tryal thereof ? His Majesties purpose thereby , is not to prevent you of any favors the Law hath given you ; but if your Assurance be such as your words and Letters import , he conceives it stands not with that Publick and resolute Profession of your Integrity to decline your Tryal . His Majesty leaves the choice to your self , and requires from you a direct Answer without circumlocution or bargaining with him for future Favors beforehand ; but if you have a desire to make use of that Pardon which cannot be denied you , nor is any way desired to be taken from you , his Majesty expects you should at the least forbear to magnifie your Service , and out of an opinion of your Innocency , cast an aspersion upon his Majesties Iustice , in not affording you that present fulness of Liberty and Favor which cannot be drawn from him , but in his good time and according to his good pleasure . Thus much I have in Commandment to write to your Lordship , and to require your Answer clearly and plainly by this Messenger sent on purpose for it , and so I remain Whitehal , 24 March. 1625. Your Lordships humble Servant Edw. Conway . My Lord , I Have received your Letter of the Four and twentieth of March , the Twenty eighth ; and I am infinitely grieved to understand that my former Answer to yours of the Fourth of March , hath not satisfied His Majesty , which I will endeavor to do by this , to the best of my understanding ; and to that end shall answer to the particular points of your present Letter , with the greatest clearness I am able . First , Whereas you say in your Letter , that the Question propounded to me was plain and clear , viz. Whether I would chuse to sit still without being questioned for any Errors past in my Negotiation in Spain , and enjoy the benefit of the late gratious Pardon , whereof I may take the benefit ? Or whether being contented to wave the advantage of that Pardon , I should put my self into a legal way of Examination for the Tryal thereof ? &c. First , Your Lordship may be pleased to remember , that your last Proposition was , Whether I desired to rest in the Security I was in , which you now express , Whether I will chuse to sit still ? Secondly , Your Proposition was , Whether I would acknowledge the gratious Favor of his Majesty that now is , who had been pleased not to question my actions ; when it is best known to your Lordship , That by a Commission of the Lords , I was questioned upon Twenty Articles , divers involving Felony and Treason . Although it be true , That when I had so answered ( as I am confident their Lordships would have cleared me ) I was so unhappy as their Lordships never met more about that business . But now your Proposition is , Whether I will now chuse to sit still without being further questioned for Errors past , whereas before it was required I should acknowledge that I had not been questioned at all , which is a different thing ? But conferring both your Letters together , and gathering the sense and meaning by making the latter an Explanation of the former , which I could have wished your Lordship would have more clearly explained , I return unto your Lordship this plain and direct Answer . That understanding by the Security I am in , and sitting still , and not being further questioned , I am restored to the bare Freedom and Liberty of a Subject and Peer ( For a man being called in question by his Majesty , if after his Majesty shall be pleased out of his goodness , that he rest quiet and secure , and that he shall not be further questioned , I conceive that it is not apparent that his liberty naturally revolveth unto him , when by his Majesties Grace he is pleased to declare , he shall not be further questioned , but may live in further Security . ) So that understanding your Letter in this sort ( for no direct Answer can be made , until the sense of the Question be truly slated ) I do most humbly acknowledge and accept his Majesties Grace and Favor , and shall not wave any thing that shall come to me by the Pardon of the 21 Jac. Regis , nor by the Pardon of his Majesties Coronation ; and am so far from bargaining , as you are pleased to express it for future favor ( though I hope my humble and submissive courses of Petitioning his Majesty , neither hath nor shall deserve so hard an expression ) that I shall not presume so much as to press for any favor , until my dutiful and loyal Behavior may move his Majesties Royal and Gratious Heart thereunto , but receive with all humbleness this my Freedom and Liberty ; the which I shall onely make use of in such sort , as I shall judge may be most agreeable to his Majesties pleasure . As for the second part of your Letter , wherein you say , That if I desire to make use of that Pardon , his Majesty expects that I should at least forbear to magnifie my Services ; or out of an opinion of my own Innocency cast an aspersion upon his Majesties Iustice. To this point I answer , That as I hope I shall never erre in that sort of immodesty of valuing my Services , which I acknowledge to have been accompanied with infinite weaknesses and disabilities ; so I trust it shall not displease , that I make use to mine own comfort , and the honor of my Posterity , of those many Written Testimonies which my late most Blessed Master hath left me , of his gratious Acceptance of my Services for the space of Twenty years . So likewise I hope the modest avowing of mine Innocency will not be thought to cast any aspersion upon his Majesties Honor or Iustice. I most freely confess unto your Lordship , I am much afflicted to see Inferences of this nature made , both in your Lordships last Letter , and in this . For if it shall be inferred as a thing reflecting upon the Kings Honor , that a man questioned , shall not endeavor to defend his own Innocency , before he be convict , it will be impossible for any man to be safe ; for the Honor of his Majesty is too Sacred a thing for any Subject , how innocent soever , to contest against . So likewise , God forbid that it should be brought into Consequences , ( as in your former Letter ) as a Tax upon the Government and Iustice of his late Majesty , and Majesty that now is , that I should have suffered so long time , not being guilty . For as I never have been heard so much as to repine of Injustice in their Majesties in all my sufferings , so I well know , That the long continuance of my troubles may well be attributed unto other Causes ; as to my own Errors of Passion , or other Accidents : For your Lordship may well remember , That my Affairs were almost two years since upon the point of a happy Accommodation , had it not been interrupted by the unfortunate mistaking of the Speeches I used to Mr. Clark. I shall conclude by entreating your Lordships favor , That I may understand from you , as I hope for my comfort , that this Letter hath given his Majesty satisfaction ; or if there should yet remain any scruple , That I may have a clear and plain signification of the Kings pleasure , which I shall obey with all Humility . Your Lordships humble Servant , BRISTOL . The Earl of Bristol petitions the House of Lords , shewing , That he being a Peer of this Realm , had not received a Summons to Parliament , and desires their Lordships to mediate with his Majesty , that he may enjoy the Liberty of a Subject , and the Priviledge of his Peerage , after almost two years restraint , without being brought to a Tryal . And if any Charge be brought in against him , he prayeth that he may be tryed by Parliament . The business is referred to the Committee of Priviledges , and the Earl of Hartford reported from that Committee , That it is necessary that their Lordships humbly beseech his Majesty , that a Writ of Summons may be sent to the Earl of Bristol ; as also to such other Lords whose Writs are stopped , except such as are made uncapable to sit in Parliament , by Judgment of Parliament , or some other Legal Judgment . Hereupon the Duke signified to the House , That upon the Earl of Bristols Petition to the King , His Majesty had sent him his Writ of Summons : And withal , he shewed to the Lords the Copy of a Letter written from the King unto the said Earl , being as followeth . WE have received your Letter addressed unto us by Buckingham , and cannot but wonder , that you should through forgetfulness make request to us of favour , as if you stood evenly capable of it , when you know what you behaviour in Spain deserved of us , which you are to examine by the observations we made , and know you well remember ; how at our first coming into Spain , taking upon you to be so wise as to foresee our intention to change our Religion , you were so far from disswading us , that you offered your advice and secresie to cocurre in it ; and in many other Conferences pressing to shew how convenient it was to be a Roman Catholick ; it being impossible in your opinion to do any great action otherwise : And how much wrong , disadvantage , and disservice you did to the Treaty , and to the Right and Interest of our dear Brother and Sister , and their Children ; what disadvantage , inconvenience and hazard you intangled us in by your Artifices , putting off and delaying our return home ; the great estimation you made of that State , and the low price you set this Kingdom at , still maintaining , that we under colour of friendship to Spain , did what was in our power against them , which you said they very well knew : And last of all , your approving of those Conditions , that our Nephew should be brought up in the Emperors Court ; to which Sir Walter Ashton then said , that he durst not give his consent , for fear of his head ; you replying unto him , that without some such great Action , neither Marriage nor Peace could ●e had . Upon the receipt of the Writ , Bristol again Petitions the House of Lords , and annexes to his Petition the Lord Keepers Letter , and his own Answer thereto , and desires to be heard in accusation of the Duke . The humble Petition of Iohn Earl of Bristol . Humbly shewing unto your Lordships , THat he hath lately received his Writ of Parliament , for which he returneth unto your Lordships most humble thanks , but ioyntly with it a Letter from my Lord Keeper , commanding him in his Majesties name to forbear his personal attendance ; and although he shall ever obey the least intimation of his Majesties pleasure , yet he most humbly offereth unto your Lordships wise considerations , as too high a point for him , how far this may trench upon the Liberty and Safety of the Peers , and the Authority of their Letters Patents , to be in this sort discharged by a Letter missive of any Subject without the Kings hand : And for your Lordships due information , he hath annexed a Copy of the said Lord Keepers Letter , and his Answer thereunto . He further humbly Petitioneth your Lordships , That having been for the space of two years highly wronged inpoint of his Liberty , and of his Honor , by many sinister aspersions which have been cast upon him , without being permitted to answer for himself ; which hath been done by the power and industry of the Duke of Buckingham , to keep him from the presence of his Majesty and the Parliament , l●st he should discover many crimes concerning the said Duke . He therefore most humbly beseecheth , That he may be heard both in the point of his Wrong , and of his Accusation of the said Duke : wherein he will make it appear how infinitely the said Duke hath both abused their Majesties , the State , and both the Houses of Parliament . And this he is most confident will not be denied , since the Court of Parliament never refuseth to hear the poorest Subject seeking for redress of Wrongs , nor the Accusation against any , be he never so powerfull : And herein he beseecheth your Lordships to mediate to his Majesty for the Suppliants coming to the House in such sort as you shall think fitting ; assuring his Majesty , That all he shall say shall not onely tend to the Service of his Majesty and the State , but highly to the Honor of his Majesties Royal Person , and of his Princely vertues : And your Suppliant shall ever pray for your Lordships prosperity . The Lord Keeper to the Earl of Bristol , March 31. 1626. My very good Lord , BY his Majesties commandment I herewith send unto your Lordship your Writ of summons for the Parliament ; but withal signifie his Majesties pleasure herein further , that howsoever he gives way to the awarding of the Writ ; yet his meaning is thereby , not to discharge any former directions for restraint of your Lordships coming hither , but that you continue under the same restriction as you did before ; so as your Lordships personal attendance is to be forborn , and therein I doubt not but your Lordship will readily give his Majesty satisfaction ; And so I commend my service very heartily unto your Lordship , and remain Your Lordships assured Friend and Servant , THO. COVENTRY , C.S. Dorset-Court , March 31. 1626. His Answer to the Lord Keeper . May it please your Lordship , I Have received your Lordships Letter of the 31 of March , and with it his Majesties Writ of Summons for the Parliament : In the one his Majesty commandeth me , that all excuses set aside , upon my Faith and Allegiance I fail not to come to attend his Majesty : And this under the Great Seal of England . In the other , as in a Letter missive , his Majesties pleasure is intimated by your Lordship , that my personal attendance should be forborn ; I must crave leave ingenuously to confess unto your Lordship , that I want judgement rightly to direct my self in this Case ; as likewise that I am ignorant how far this may trench upon the Priviledges of the Peers of this Land , and upon mine and their safety hereafter : For if the Writ be not obeyed , the Law calleth it a Misprission , and highly fineable , whereof we have had late examples ; and a missive Letter being avowed or not , is to be doubted would not be adjudged a sufficient discharge against the Great-Seal of England : On the other side , if the Letter be not obeyed , a Peer may De facto be committed upon a Contempt , in the interim , and the Question cleared , afterwards ; so that in this case it is above mine abilities . I can onely answer your Lordship , that I will most exactly obey ; and to the end I may understand which obedience will be in all kindes most suitable to my duty , I will presently repair to my private Lodging at London , and there remain , until in this and other Causes I shall have petitioned his Majesty , and understand his further pleasure . For the second part of your Lordships Letter , where your Lordship saith , That his Majesties meaning is not thereby to discharge any former directions for restraint of your Lordships coming hither , but that you continue under the same restriction as before , so that your Lordships personal attendance here is to be forborne : I conceive your Lordship intendeth this touching my coming to Parliament onely ; for as touching my comning to London , I never had at any time one word of prohibition , or colourable pretence of restraint ; but on the contrary , having his late Majesties express leave to come to London to follow my affairs , out of my respect to his Majesty then Prince , and to the Duke of Buckingham , I forbore to come until I might know whether my coming would not be disagreeable unto them ; whereunto his Majesty was pleased to answer both under the hand of the Duke , and of Mr Secretary Conway , That he took my respect unto him herein in very good part , and would wish me to make use of the leave the King had given me : since which time I never received any Letter or Message of restraint ; onely his Majesty by his Letter bearing date June the last , commandeth me to remain as I was in the time of the King his Father , which was with liberty to come to London to follow mine own affairs as I pleased , as will appear unto your Lordship , if you will afford me so much favor as to peruse them . I have writ this much unto your Lordship , because I would not through misunderstanding fall into displeasure by my coming up , and to intreat your Lordship to inform his Majesty thereof : And that my Lord Conway , by whose Warrant I was onely restrained in the late Kings time of famous memory , may produce any one word . that may have so much as any colourable pretence of debarring my coming up to London . I beseech your Lordship to pardon my desire to have things clearly understood , for the want of that formerly hath caused all my troubles ; and when any thing is misinformed concerning me , I have little or no means to clear it ; so that my chief labor is to avoid misunderstanding . I shall conclude with beseeching your Lordship to do me this favor , to let his Majesty understand that my coming up is onely rightly to understand his pleasure , whereunto I shall in all things most dutifully and humbly conform my self : And so with my humble service to your Lordship , I recommend you to Gods holy protection , and remain , Your Lordships most humble Servant . BRISTOL . Sherborn , April 12. 1626. Hereupon the Lord Keeper delivered this Message from the King to the House of Lords . THat his Majesty hath heard of a Petition preferred unto this House by the Earl of Bristol , so void of duty and respects to his Majesty , that he hath great cause to punish him ; That he hath also heard with what duty and respectfulness to his Majesty their Lordships have proceeded therein , which his Majesty conceiveth to have been upon the knowledge they have , that he hath been restrained for matters of State ; and his Majesty doth therefore give their Lordships thanks for the same , and is resolved to put the Cause upon the honor and justice of their Lordships and this House . And therefore his Majesty commanded him ( the Lord Keeper ) to signifie to their Lordships his Royal pleasure , That the Earl of Bristol be sent for as a Delinquent to answer in this House his Offences , committed in his Negotiations before his Majesties being in Spain , and his Offences since his Majesties coming from Spain , and his scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham immediately , and his Majesty by reflection , with whose privity and by whose directions the Duke did guide his Actions , and without which he did nothing . All which his Majesty will cause to be charged against him before their Lordships in this House . The Lords appointed a Committee to attend the King , and to present their humble thanks to his Majesty for the trust and confidence he had placed in the honor and justice of their House . About this time the Marshal of Middlesex petitioned to the Committee of the House of Commons , touching his resistance in seising of Priests goods . A Warrant was made by Mr Attorney General to Iohn Tendring Marshal of Middlesex , and other therein named , to search the Prison of the Clink , and to seise all Popish and Superstitious matters there found . A Letter also was directed to Sir George Paul a Justice of Peace in Surrey , to pray him to take some care and pains to expedite that service . On Good Friday , April 7. Sir George Paul was ready by six a clock in the morning , five or six Constables being charged , and about an hundred persons to aid and assist them . The Marshall being attended with the persons named in the Warrant , and divers others of his own servants , and the Aid being provided by Sir George Paul , came to the Clink , and finding a door open without any Porter or Door-keeper at all , entred without resistance at the first appearing : But immediately upon discovery of his purpose , the Concourse of people without , and his unexpected entrance giving occasion thereto , the Porter steps up , shuts the door , and keeps the Marshal and some few that entred together with him , within , and his Aid without , resisting them that would enter , their Warrant being shewed notwithstanding , until by force another door was broken open , by which the other persons named in the Warrant , the Marshals men with the Constables , and others appointed for their assistance with Halberts did enter also , leaving sufficient company without to guard the three several doors belonging to the House . Being within , the Marshall gave direction to his followers to disperse themselves into several parts of the House , to the end , that whilest he did search in one part , the other parts and places might be safely guarded , and so he proceeded in his search ; in the prosecution whereof he found four several Priests in the house ; viz. Preston , Cannon , Warrington , Prator . Preston was committed to the Clink about 16 years since , and discharged of his imprisonment about 7 years ago , yet remained there in the Prison still , attended with two women servants , and one man servant , who , as it was suspected , had continued with him ever since the Gunpowder Treason , 1605. The keeping there by himself apart from the Keeper of the Prison , and had for his Lodging three or four several Chambers , part of the Bishop of Winchesters House , into which there was a passage made through the Prison yard , no other entrance in or out of the same being discovered ; and he affirmed , That he had a Warrant or Licence from the Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury for his residence there , with liberty freely for himself and all Company that would resort to him thither . There was found in his Chamber five or six Cart-loads of Books set up with Shelves , as in a Library or Book-sellers shop , supposed to be worth Two thousand pounds at least ; besides which , it was affirmed by the Keeper of the Prison , that he had a far greater Library abroad ; for which the Keepers Examination was taken before Sir Edm. Bower and Sir George Paul Knights , Justices of Surrey ; wherein it was said , that Preston is either licenced , warranted , or protected by the Bishop of Canterbury , Durham or Winchester , to that effect . There were also found two Altars ready furnished for Masse , one more publick in an upper Chamber , the other more private in a Study ; many rich Copes , Surplices , Wax-candles , Crosses , Crucifixes very rich , Beads , Jewels , Chains , Chalices of Silver and of Gold , five or six Bags of money which were not opened , and loose money to the quantity of 100 l. lay thrown up and down in his Desk ; abundance of Manuscripts , and a Packet of Letters bound up together with a thread . In Cannon's Chamber was found an Altar ready furnished with many Plates , Jewels , Church-stuff , and many rich Pictures , divers Letters and Manuscripts , Wax-candles , and other such Popish materials ; a great deal of his Chamber being shelved about , and full of Books ; in one of his Studies also there wee Books set in order upon shelves , as in Preston's Chamber , to a great value , and a private altar furnished for Mass , his Hallowed bread ready fitted , and his Holy water , which Cannon himself cast out into the chimney . In another Study of Cannon's were found great store of curious Tools and Engines to work withal , three Swords or Rapiers , one Pistol and a Fowling-peece : Amongst other things were found Pictures of Queen Elizabeth , King Iames , Queen Anne , and King Charls ; the taking whereof , being set apart with other stuff to be removed , did exceedingly move the Priest to impatience . Of whom also it is to be noted , that he had in his custody all the Keepers Warrants for Commitment of his Prisoners , which were found in his Chamber , together with some store of Plate , which he said was by him kept for the Keepers wife . In Warrington's Chamber were found Books , Beads , Boxes of Oil for Extreme Unction , and such like trash ; but the wall thereof was broken down into another house adjoining to the Prison , through which it is conceived that all the rest of Warrington's Provision was conveyed away , in the interim of the search made in the two former Chambers . The fourth Priest named Prator , was first committed to Gloucester-Goal , being suspected to be the Archbishop of those parts , and lay there till Lent-Assizes last drew on ; but for fear of the severity of the Laws ( as Davison and the Keeper did affirm ) a Warrant was procured by the Papists for his remove from Gloucester to the Clink , where he was found a Prisoner . It was informed by the Keeper , that this Prator brought up from Gloucester a Gentlewoman who lies in a Chamber next adjoining to his Lodging , and that he paid Two shillings six pence a week for her Chamber , and maintained a Maid-servant to attend her : It is supposed that this Prison is her protection from the lawful proceedings that might be had against her in the Country for Recusancie . In the Porters Chamber were found seven or eight Popish Books . In the Keepers Lodging was found a Closet or Study , wherein store of Writings , Letters , and long Catalogues of Books were found , with their several prices , one rich Picture or Crucifix , a Picture of Mary Magdalen ; of which two the Keeper affirmed , that one of them cost thirty pounds ; and also many other rich Pictures , amongst which one was a Picture of an old Priest named Collington , of whom Cannon affirmed in scoffing manner , that that mans beard had done King Iames more hurt then an Army of ten thousand men could have done . Prestons servants being one man , two maids , the Gentlewoman that came from Gloucester , and her servant , and the Keeper himself , and Robert Davison his man , were all examined before the said Justices . During the Marshals tarrying in the Clink , it was observed , that both Preston and Cannon used all the means they could to have notice of the matter then in hand given to the Lord of Canterbury , and were very pensive until they perceived he had notice of it . Whereupon they expressed much joy , being assured , as they said , that then there should be nothing removed out of the house . And it came to pass accordingly : For whilest the Marshal and his servants were in the search of the third Chamber , and had locked up divers other Chambers , wherein as it was informed there was store of Wealth , Church-stuffe , Books , and other matters , which would have been found if the search had been prosecuted ; A countermand was brought from the Archbishop , and Master Attorney , whereby the proceeding of that business was staid , and the Marshal was forbidden to remove or take away any thing so much as a paper . The Keeper and his wife , and the Priests did grievously threaten the Marshal , and all his Assistants with very high tearms , especially with Arrests and Imprisonments for their attempt in this service ; one of them saying , that they should be imprisoned , as once one Harrison a Messenger , who for performing the like service in the Clink , was committed to the Marshalsey , and kept there three years , until in the end he was discharged by an Order in the Parliament , as is credibly reported . Furthermore it is also humbly informed by the said Marshal , That upon the twenty second of March last by a like Warrant from the Lord Conway , he did search the Bishops Prison , called the New Prison in Maiden-lane in London , where he found six several Priests Prisoners in several Chambers , an Altar with all Furniture thereto belonging ; with Church-Books and stuff , which were as much as three Porters could carry away , and it is now in the hands of the Lord Conway ; of which service if this Honourable House will call for a more particular Accompt , the Marshal is ready to give further satisfaction . He humbly prayeth the Honourable favour of this House for his encouragement and further abilities to the like services . Archbishop of Canterbury's Letter in behalf of the Priests in the Clink , directed to Master Attorney-General . Good Mr. Attorney , I Thank you for acquainting me what was done yesterday at the Clink : But I am of opinion , that if you had curiously enquired upon the Gentleman who gave the Information , you should have found him to be a Disciple of the Iesuites ; for they do nothing but put tricks on these poor men , who do live more miserable lives then if they were in the Inquisition in many parts beyond the Seas . By taking the Oath of Allegiance , and writing in defence of it , and opening some points of high consequence , they have so displeased the Pope , that if by any cunning they could catch them , they are sure to be burnt or strangled for it . And once there was a plot to have taken Preston as he passed the Thames , and to have shipt him into a bigger Vessel , and so to have transported him into Flanders , there to have made a Martyr of him . In respect of these things , King James always gave his protection to Preston and Warrington , as may be easily shewed . Cannon is an old man well-affected to the Cause , but medleth not with any Factions or Seditions , as far as I can learn. They complain their Books were taken from them , and a Crucifix of Gold , with some other things , which I hope are not carried out of the house , but may be restored again unto them ; For it is in vain to think that Priests will be without their Beads , or Pictures , Models of their Saints ; and it is not improbable that before a Crucifix they do often say their prayers . I leave the things to your best consideration ; and hope that this Deed of yours , together with my Word , will restrain them for giving offence hereafter , if so be that lately they did give any . I heartily commend me unto you , and so rest Your very loving Friend , G. Canterbury . By this time the Commons had prepared an Humble Remonstrance to the King , in Answer to his Majestie 's and the Lord Keeper's Speech . Most Gracious Soveraign , WHereas your Majesty hath béen pleased of late at sundry times and by several means to impart unto us your Royal pleasure touching some passages and procéedings in this present Parliament ; We do first with unspeakable joy and comfort acknowledge your Majesties grace and favor , in that it hath pleased you to cause it to be delivered unto us by the Lord Kéeper of your Great Seal in your own Royal presence , and before both Houses of Parliament , That never King was more loving to his people , nor better affected to the right use of Parliaments ; withal professing your most gracious resolution to hear and redress our just Grievances . And with like comfort we acknowledge your Majesties goodness shining at the very entrance of your glorious Reign , in commanding the Execution of the Laws established to preserve the true Religion of Almighty God , in whose service consisteth the happiness of all Kings and Kingdoms . Yet let it not displease your Majesty , that we also express some sense of just Grief intermixed with that great Ioy , to sée the careful procéedings of our sincere Intentions so misreported , as to have wrought effects unexpected , and we hope undeserved . First , touching the Charge against us in the matter concerning Mr. Cook , We all sincerely protest , That neither the words mentioned in your Maiesties Message , nor any other of seditious effect were spoken by him , as hath béen resolved by the House without one Negative voice . Howsoever , in a Spéech occasionally uttered , he let fall some few words which might admit an ill construction ; whereat the House being displeased at the delivery of them , as was expressed by a general and instant Check , he forthwith so explained himself and his intention , that for the present we did forbear to take them into consideration , which since we have done : And the effect thereof had before this appeared , if by important businesses of your Maiesties service we had not béen interrupted . The like interruption did also befall us in the Case of Doctor Turner ; wherein the Question being formerly stated , a Resolution was ordered to have béen taken that very day , on which we received your Maiesties command to attend you . But for our own procéedings , We humbly beséech your Maiesty to be truly informed , That before that Overture from Doctor Turner , ( out of our great and necessary care for your honor and welfare of your Realm ) We had taken into serious Consideration the Evils which now afflict your people , and the Causes of them , that we might apply our selves unto the fittest remedies : In the pursuit whereof our Committées ( whatsoever they might have done ) have in no particular proceeded otherwise , then either upon ground of knowledge in themselves , or proof by examination of Witnesses , or other Evidence . In which course of service for the publick good , as we have not swerved from the Parliamentary ways of our Predecessors , so we conceive that the discovery and reforming of Errors is so far from laying an aspersion upon the present Time and Government , that it is rather a great honor and happiness to both , yielding matter to great Princes wherein to exercise and illustrate their noblest vertues . And although the grievous Complaints of the Merchants from all parts , together with the Common service of the Subiects well-affected to those who profess our Religion , gave us occasion to debate some businesses that were partly Forein , and had relation to affairs of State ; yet we beseech your Maiesty to rest assured , it was exceeding far from our intention either to traduce your Counsellors , or disadvantage your Negotiations . And though some examples of great and potent Ministers of Princes heretofore questioned in Parliament have been alleadged , yet was it without paralleling your Maiesties Government , or Councils to any Times at all , much less to Times of Exception . Touching the Letter of Your Majesties Secretary , it was first alleaged by your Advocate for his own Iustification , and after by direction of the Committée produced to make good his Allegation . And for the search at the Signet Office , the Copy of a Letter being divulged as in your Majesties Name , with pregnant cause of suspition , both in the Body and Direction thereof to be supposititious , the Committée out of desire to be cléered therein , did by their Order send some of themselves to the Signet Office , to search whither there were any Records of Letters of that nature , without Warrant to the Officer for any , much less for a general search . But touching Publick Records , we have not forborn as often as our businesses have required , to make search into them , wherein we have done nothing unwarranted by the Laws of your Realm , and the constant usage of Parliaments . And if for the ease of their Labors , any of our Committées have desired the help of the Officers , Repertories , or Breviats of Direction , We conceive it is no more then any Subject in his own affairs might have obtained for ordinary Fées . Now concerning Your Majesties Servants , and namely , the Duke of Buckingham , We humbly beséech Your Majesty to be informed by us your Faithful Commons , who can have no private end but your Majesties Service , and the good of our Countrey , That it hath béen the antient , constant , and undoubted Right and Usage of Parliaments , to question and complain of all persons of what degree soever , found grievous to the Commonwealth , in abusing the power and trust committed to them by their Soveraign . A course approved not onely by the examples in your Fathers days of famous memory , but by frequent presidents in the best , and most glorious Reigns of your Noble Progenitors , appearing both in Records and Histories ; without which liberty in Parliament , no private man , no servant to a King , perhaps no Counsellor , without exposing himself to the hazard of great enmity and prejudice , can be a means to call great Officers into question for their misdemeanors , but the Commonwealth might languish under their pressures without Redress : And whatsoever we shall do accordingly in this Parliament , we doubt not but it shall redound to the Honor of the Crown , and welfare of your Subjects . Lastly , We most humbly beseech Your Majesty gratiously to conceive , that though it hath been the long Custom of Parliaments to handle the matter of Supply with the last of their businesses , yet at this time out of extraordinary respect to your Person , and care of your Affairs , We have taken the same into more speedy consideration , and most happily on the very day of your Majesties Inauguration , with great alacrity and unanimous consent : After a short Debate , we grew to the Resolution for a present Supply well-known to your Maiesty . To. which , if Addition may be made of other great things for your Service , yet in Consultation amongst us , we doubt not but it will appear , That we have not receded from the Truth of our first Intention , so to supply you as may make you safe at home , and feared abroad , especially if your Maiesty shall be pleased to look upon the way intended in our promise , as well as to the measure of the gift agreed . With like humility we beseech your Majesty not to give ear to the officious reports of private persons for their own ends , which hath occasioned so much loss of time , nor to judge our proceedings whilst they are in agitation , but to be pleased to expect the issue and conclusion of our labors , which we are confident will manifest and justifie to your Majesty the sincerity and Loyalty of our hearts , who shall ever place in a high degree of happiness the performing of that duty and service in Parliament , which may most tend to your Majesties Honor and the good of your Kingdom . Unto this Remonstrance the King said , He could give no present answer , but desired the House to adjourn for a week as the Lords had done ; and they adjourned accordingly . In the interim it was intimated in Writing to the Duke , that he should procure his Majesty to signifie to a certain number of Lords , that he hath endeavored to divert the Charge against the Duke , because his Majesty hath had sound knowledge and experience of his service and fidelity . That his Majesty may let them know , that he is now pleased to reveal some secrets and mysteries of State. That the King his Father finding the Palatinate more then in danger to be lost , and his Majesty being in Spain , and there deluded , and his abode and return both unsafe , it was a necessity of State to sweeten and content the Spaniard with the hope of any thing which might satisfie and redeem those Engagements . And that therefore the King willed the Duke to yield discreetly to what he should find they most desired , and this was chiefly the point of Religion ; So as in this , and all of the like kind , the Duke upon his Majesties knowledge was commanded , and but the Instrument trusted by the King in this Exigent , or if you will say , Extremity . Upon the same ground , though not in so high a degree , the sending of the Ships to Rochel may be excused . Touching the vast Creation of Nobility , his Majesty may declare that his Father who was born a King , and had long experience of that Regiment , found that this State inclined much to popularity ; and therefore thought fit to enlarge the number of his Nobles , that these being dispersed into several Counties , might shine as Lamps of Soveraignty in protecting their own degrees , and at their own cha●●e inure the people with respect and obedience to greatness . And the King may protest that this was a child of his Fathers best Judgment , and the Duke the Instrument thereof . And if you say , there was money many times given for these Honors ; nay , if you say , that money hath been given for places of Clergy and Judicature , take this of me , it is so in all other Countreys , as in France and Spain , &c. though I am not satisfied in this opinion . And if it be said , the King should have had the money which the Duke took to his own use , I beleeve this last ( may the King say ) is more then any man can prove ; Neither will I deliver what I know therein , onely this I will say , I know the Dukes particular service , and affection towards me , and that he and his will lay down themselves and all they have at my feet . Is it for a King to use his Servant and Instrument as he doth his Horses , and being by hard riding in his service foundred and lame , to turn them out to Grass or to the Cart ? I must therefore ( may the King say ) in right of the King , my Fathers Honor , protect a man ( though justly seeming guilty , yet ) in my own knowledge innocent : Will you therefore deny the King to favor whom he pleaseth , which the King never denied to you that are his Subjects ? Well , commend me to my Lords , and tell them that if any thing hath been formerly done amiss by others , I have power and will to redress it , and to prevent the like . At this time the King commanded all the Bishops to attend him , and when they were come before him , being fourteen in number , he reprehended them , that in this time of Parliament they had not made known unto him what might be profitable for the Church , whose cause he was ready to promote . And he laid this Charge upon them , that in the Cause of Bristol and Buckingham , their Consciences being their Guides , they should follow onely proofs , and not rumors . The Commons sent again to the Duke by Sir Iohn Epsley , to let him know that they were passing Articles against him , and that they had given the Messengers leave to take Notes thereof out of the Clerks Book , whereof he might take a Copy if he pleased ; and that they expected his Answer that day before ten of the Clock , if he pleased to send any . This the Duke signified to the Lords , who did not think fit that he should answer , as appears by the ensuing Report made by Sir Iohn Epsley . This day his Grace gave us this Answer , ( after he had moved the Lords ) that he should with great care make all due acknowledgment of your respect and favors in giving him this notice , which though it do invite him to render unto you such a satisfaction that he hopes may acquit and restore him to your good opinion , and might prevent your proceedings , which otherwise by a Parliamentary course are like to follow ; Yet according to his duty , having moved the Lords of the Upper House , upon your notice given him , they would by no means , as things now stand , give him leave to answer , in regard he is not ignorant you are presently to enter into consideration of his Majesties Message ; and that by a delay therein your own purposes will be in some sort disappointed , and the affairs of Christendome much prejudiced ; but for that upon a resolution you have deferred and respited that service until those things depending against him be first determined , he out of fear that his necessary defence would spin out a great deal of time , which is more precious , is the willinger to obey their Lordships , that so he might hasten without obstacle or interruption given unto him , to keep day with his Majesty ; And this he doth as he conceives to his own infinite prejudice , knowing how grievous it is to be transmitted as a Grievance by the voice of this House : But he doth profess he will rather hazard the safety of his Fortunes , Reputation , and himself , then to be the least occasion of any that may work dis-affection or mis-understanding between the King and his People . And it is his Protestation , that whatsoever interruption is made by his actions , his endeavors shall be as long as he hath any favor with his gracious Master , to take opportunity of doing good offices to this House , and of rendring all that he can be able for the safety of the State , and the general good of the Common-wealth . And this he saith you may the easier beleeve , because his Majesty can witness , that he hazarded in his Fathers time the loss of the best affection of the best of Masters to obtain for them their desire . In this zeal he was desirous to have appeared unto you ever since the beginning of this Parliament , and in this zeal he doth now present himself unto you . But to return to the main point , he , lest we should be mistaken , gave us occasion in plain words to remember you , that it is not he that doth refuse to answer , but the Lords commanded him not to answer , which he the cheerfullier obeyed , in respect of his fidelity to prefer the Universal Weal before his own particular . And in the mean time he desireth the charitable opinion of this Noble House , until he be convinced that he shall appear not worthy of it , which his own innocency maketh him confident that he shall not . Whilst the Duke stood ready to be impeacht , his Grace propounded to the Lords of the Council to have it moved to the King , that in regard of the important services by Sea , the usual pay to the Sailers might be raised from Fourteen to Twenty shillings a Moneth , which was as much as they ordinarily received for Merchants wages : The King being therein moved , was consenting . Nevertheless multitudes of the pressed Mariners ran away , leaving his Majesties Ships unfurnished , and his Service disappointed . There was a great Debate in the House of Commons , Whether the Committee of Twelve ( where Mr. Glanvile had the Chair ) shall consider of any new matter not heretofore propounded in the House against the Duke ? And it was resolved in the Affirmative . Mr. Glanvile reports from the Committee the Examination concerning a Plaister and a Posset applied and given to King Iames in his sickness , when the Kings sworne Physicians had agreed upon other Directions . Hereupon it was resolved , That this should be annexed to the Charge against the Duke , as a transcendent Presumption of dangerous consequence . Hereupon his Majesty sent this Message to the Commons . THat he having given way to Enquiry about the Duke of Buckingham , and hearing that there is new matter intended to be brought against him , nevertheless leaveth the House to their own way to present the business to him , or to the Lords ; withal adviseth them to consider of the season of the year , and to avoid all loss of time . It was Ordered , That thanks should be returned to his Majesty for this Message . On Monday the First of May , the Gentleman-Usher brought the Earl of Bristol to the Bar , according to their Lordships Order ; and the Lord Keeper acquainted him , That the King had commanded his Attorney General to charge the Earl of Bristol before their Lordships with High Treason , and other Offences and Misdemeanors of a very high nature , that they might proceed in a Legal course against him , according to the Justice and usual proceedings of Parliament . I. Offences done and committed by the Earl of Bristol , before His Majesties going into Spain , when he was Prince . I. THat the said Earl being trusted and employed by the said late King as his Ambassador to Ferdinando , then and now Emperor of Germany ; and to Philip the Fourth , then and now King of Spain , in Annis 1621.22 . and 23. And having Commission , and particular and special Direction to Treat with the said Emperor , and the King of Spain , for the plenary restoring of such parts of the Dominions , Territories , and Possessions of the Count Palatine of Rhine , who married with the most Excellent Lady Elizabeth his now Royal Consort , the onely Daughter of the said late King Iames ; which were then wrongfully and in hostile manner taken , and possessed with and by the Armies of the said Emperor , and King of Spain , or any other ; and for preserving , and keeping such other parts thereof as were not then lost , but were then in the protection of the said late King Iames , and to the use of the said Count Palatine and his Children : And also to Treat with the said King of Spain for a Marriage to be had between the most High and Excellent Prince Charls , then Prince of Wales , the onely Son and Heir Apparant of the said King Iames , and now our most Soveraign Lord , and the most Illustrious Lady Donna Maria the Infanta of Spain , Sister to the now King of Spain : He the said Earl contrary to his duty and Alleagiance , and contrary to the trust and duty of an Ambassador , at Madrid in the Kingdom of Spain , to advance and further the designs of the said King of Spain against our said Soveraign Lord , his Children , Friends , and Allies ; falsly , willingly , and traiterously , and as a Traitor to our said late Soveraign Lord the King , by sundry Letters and other Messages sent by the said Earl from Madrid in the years aforesaid unto King Iames , and his Ministers of State of England ; did confidently and resolutely , inform , advise , and assure the said late King , That the said Emperor , and King of Spain , would really , fully , and effectually make restitution and plenary restauration to the said Count Palatine , and his Children of the said Dominions , Territories , and Possessions of the said Count Palatine , and of the said Electoral Dignity . And that the said King of Spain did really , fully , and effectually intend the said Marriage between the said Lady his Sister , and the said Prince our now Soveraign Lord , according to Articles formerly propounded between the said Kings : Whereas in truth , the said Emperor and King of Spain , or either of them , never really intended such restitution as aforesaid . And whereas the said King of Spain never really intended the Marriage according to those Articles propounded , but the said Emperor and King of Spain , intended onely by those Treaties , to gain time to compass their own ends and purposes , to the detriment of this Kingdom , ( of all which , the said Earl of Bristol neither was nor could be ignorant . ) The said late King Iames by entertaining those Treaties , and continuing them upon those false Assurances given unto him by the said Earl , as aforesaid , was made secure , and lost the opportunity of time , and thereby the said Dominions , Territories , and Possessions of the said Count Palatine , and the Electoral Dignity became utterly lost ; and some parts thereof were taken out of the actual possession of the said King Iames , unto whose protection and safe keeping they were put , and committed by the said Count Palatine ; and the most Excellent Lady Elizabeth his Wife , and their Children , are now utterly dispossessed and bereaved thereof , to the high dishonor of our said late Soveraign Lord King Iames , to the disherison of the said late Kings Children , and their Posterity , of their Antient Patrimony , and to the disadvantage and discouraging of the rest of the Princes of Germany , and other Kings and Princes in Amity and League with his Majesty . II. That the said Earl of Bristol being Ambassador for his late Majesty King Iames , as aforesaid , in Annis supradictis , and having received perfect , plain , and particular Instructions and Directions from his said late Majesty , That he should put the King of Spain to a speedy and punctual Answer , touching the Treaties aforesaid : And the said Earl well understanding the effect of those Instructions and Directions so given unto him , and taking precise knowledge thereof ; and also knowing how much it concerned his late Majesty in honor and safety ( as his great Affairs then stood ) to put these Treaties to a speedy conclusion : Yet nevertheless he the said Earl , falsly , willingly , and traiterously , contrary to his Alleagiance , and contrary to the trust and duty of an Ambassador , did continue those Treaties upon Generalities , without effectual pressing the said King of Spain unto particular Conclusions , according to his Majesties Directions , as aforesaid ; and so the said Earl intended to have continued the said Treaties upon Generalities , and without reducing them to Certainties , and to direct Conclusions : To the high dishonor of his said late Majesty , and to the extream danger and detriment of his Majesties person , his Crown , and Dominions , Confederates , and Allies . III. That the said Earl of Bristol being Ambassador for his said late Majesty as aforesaid , in the years aforesaid , to the intent to discourage the said late King Iames , for the taking up of Arms , entring into Hostility with the said King of Spain , and for resisting him and his Forces , from attempting the Invasion of his said late Majesties Dominions , and the Dominions of his said late Majesties Confederates , Friends , and Allies ; the said King of Spain having long thirsted after an Universal Monarchy in these Western parts of the World , hath many times both by words and Letters to the said late King and his Ministers , extolled and magnified the greatness and power of the said King of Spain , and represented unto his said late Majesty , the supposed dangers which would ensue unto him , if a War should happen between them ; and affirmed and insinuated unto his said late Majesty , That if such a War should ensue , his said late Majesty , during the rest of his life , must expect neither to Hunt nor Hawk , nor eat his Meat in quiet : Whereby the said Earl of Bristol did cunningly and traiterously strive to retard the Resolutions of the said late King , to declare himself an enemy to the said King of Spain , ( who under colour of Treaties and Alliances , had so much abused him ) and to resist his Arms and Forces , to the loss of opportunity of time , which cannot be recalled or regained , and to the extream danger , dishonor , and detriment of this Kingdom . IV. The said Earl of Bristol upon his dispatch out of this Realm of England , in his Ambassage aforesaid , having communication with divers persons in London , within this Realm of England , before his going into Spain , in and about his Ambassage concerning the said Treaty : For the Negotiating whereof , the said Earl purposely was sent ; and he the said Earl being then told , That there was little probability that these Treaties would or could have any good success , he the said Earl acknowledged as much ; and yet nevertheless , contrary to his duty and alleagiance , and to the faith and truth of an Ambassador , he the said Earl said and affirmed , That he cared not what the success thereof would be ; for he would take care to have his Instructions , and to pursue them punctually ; and howsoever the business went , he would make his Fortune thereby , or used words at that time to such effect ; whereby it plainly appeareth , That the said Earl from the beginning herein , intended not the Service or Honor of his late Majesty , but his own corrupt and sinister ends , and for his own advancement . V. That from the beginning of his Negotiation , and throughout the whole managing thereof , by the said Earl of Bristol , and during his said Ambassage , He the said Earl contrary to his faith , and duty to God , the true Religion professed by the Church of England , and the Peace of this Church and State , did intend and resolve , that if the said Marriage so treated of as aforesaid , should by his Ministry be effected , that thereby the Romish Religion and Professors thereof should be advanced within this Realm , and other his Majesties Realms and Dominions , and the true Religion and Professors thereof discouraged and discountenanced : And to that end and purpose , the said Earl during the time aforesaid , by Letters unto his late Majesty , and otherwise , often counselled and perswaded his said late Majesty to set at liberty the Jesuites and Priests of the Romish Religion ; which , according to the good Religious and Politick Laws of this Kingdom , were imprisoned or restrained , and to grant and to allow unto the Papists and Professors of the Romish Religion , free Toleration , and silencing of all the Laws made , and standing in force against them . VI. That by the false Informations and Intelligence of the said Earl of Bristol , during the time aforesaid unto his said late Majesty , and to his Majesty that now is , ( being then Prince ) concerning the said Treaties ; and by the Assurances aforesaid given by the said Earl , his said late Majesty , and the Prince his now Majesty , being put into hopes , and by the said long delay used , without producing any effect , their Majesties being put into jealousies and just suspition , that there was no such sincerity used towards them as they expected , and with so many Answers from the Earl had on their part been undertaken , the said Prince our now gratious Soveraign , was inforced out of his love to his Countrey , to his Allies , Friends , and Confederates , and to the peace of Christendom , who all suffered by those intolerable delays , in his own person , to undertake his long and dangerous journey into Spain , that thereby he might either speedily conclude those Treaties , or perfectly discover ; that on the Emperors and King of Spains part , there was no true and real intention to bring the same to conclusion , upon any fit and honorable terms and conditions , and did absolutely and speedily break them off . By which journey , the person of the said Prince being then Heir-Apparant to the Crown of this Realm , and in his person , the peace and safety of this Kingdom , did undergo such apparant , and such inevitable danger , as at the very remembrance thereof , the hearts of all good Subjects do even tremble . II. Offences done and committed by the said Earl , during the time of the Princes being in Spain . VII . THat at the Princes coming into Spain , during the time aforesaid , the Earl of Bristol , cunningly , falsly , and traiterously moved and perswaded the Prince , being then in the power of a foreign King of the Romish Religion , to change his Religion , which was done in this manner . At the Princes first coming to the said Earl , he asked the Prince for what he came thither , the Prince at first not conceiving the Earls meaning , answered , You know as well as I. The Earl replied , Sir , Servants can never serve their Master industriously , although they may do it faithfully , unless they know their meanings fully . Give me leave therefore to tell you what they say in the Town is the cause of your coming , That you mean to change your Religion , and to declare it here . And yet cunningly to disguise it , the Earl added further . Sir , I do not speak this , that I will perswade you to do it ; or that I will promise you to follow your example , though you will do it ; but as your faithful Servant , if you will trust me with so great a secret , I will endeavor to carry it the discreetest way I can . The Prince being moved at this unexpected motion again , said unto him , I wonder what you have ever found in me , that you should conceive I would be so base and unworthy , as for a Wife to change my Religion . The said Earl replying , desired the Prince to pardon him , if he had offended him , it was but out of his desire to serve him . Which perswasions of the said Earl was the more dangerous , because the more subtile ; whereas it had been the duty of a faithful Servant to God , and his Master , if he had found the Prince staggering in his Religion , to have prevented so great an error , and to have perswaded against it , so to have avoided the dangerous consequence thereof to the true Religion , and to the State , if such a thing should have hapned . VIII . That afterwards during the Princes being in Spain , the said Earl having conference with the said Prince about the Romish Religion , he endeavored falsly and traiterously to perswade the Prince to change his Religion , and to become a Romish Catholick , and to become obedient to the usurped Authority of the Pope of Rome : And to that end and purpose , the said Earl traiterously used these words unto the said Prince , That the State of England never did any great thing , but when they were under the obedience of the Pope of Rome , and that it was impossible they could do any thing of note otherwise . IX . That during the time of the Princes being in Spain , the Prince consulting , and advising with the said Earl , and others , about a new offer made by the King of Spain , touching the Palatinates Eldest Son to marry with the Emperors Daughter , but then he must be bred up in the Emperors Courts ; the said Earl delivered his opinion , That the Proposition was reasonable , whereat when Sir Walter Aston then present , falling into some passion , said , That he durst not for his head consent to it ; the Earl of Bristol replied , That he saw no such great inconvenience in it , for that he might be bred up in the Emperors Court in our Religion . But when the extream danger , and in a manner the impossibility thereof , was pressed unto the said Earl , he said again , That without some great Action , the Peace of Christendom would never be had ; which was so dangerous , and so desperate a Counsel , that one so near the Crown of England should be poysoned in his Religion , and become an unfriend to our State , that the consequences thereof , both for the present and future times , were infinitely dangerous ; and yet hereunto did his disaffection to our Religion , the blindness in his Judgment misled by his sinister respects , and the too much regard he had to the House of Austria , lead him . III. Offences done and committed by the said Earl after the Princes coming from Spain . X. THat when the Prince had clearly found himself and his Father deluded in these Treaties , and hereupon resolved to return from the Court of Spain ; yet because it behoved him to part fairly , he left the powers of the Desponsories with the Earl of Bristol , to be delivered upon the return of the Dispensation from Rome , which the King of Spain insisted upon ; and without which , as he pretended , he would not conclude the Marriage . The Prince foreseeing and fearing lest after the Desponsories , the Infanta that should then be his Wife , might be put into a Monastery , wrote a Letter back to the said Earl from Segovia , thereby commanding him not to make use of the said Powers , until he could give him assurance that a Monastery should not rob him of his Wife ; which Letter the said Earl received , and with speed returned an Answer thereto into England , perswading against this Direction , yet promising Obedience thereunto . Shortly after which , the Prince sent another Letter to the said Earl into Spain , discharging him of his farther command . But his late Majesty by the same Messenger sent him a more express direction , not to dispatch the Desponsories until a full Conclusion were had of the other Treaty of the Palatinate , with this of the Marriage ; for his Majesty said , That he would not have one Daughter to laugh , and leave the other Daughter weeping . In which Dispatch although there were some mistaking , yet in the next following the same was corrected , and the Earl of Bristol tyed to the same Restriction , which himself confessed in one of his Dispatches afterwards , and promised to obey punctually the Kings command therein ; yet nevertheless , contrary to his Duty and Alleagiance , in another Letter sent immediately after , he declared , That he had set a day for the Desponsories , without any Assurance , or so much as treating of those things which were commanded to him as Restrictions ; and that so short a day , that if extraordinary diligence with good success in the Journey had not concurred , the Princes hands might have been bound up ; and yet he neither sure of a Wife , nor any assurance given of the Temporal Articles . All which in his high presumption he adventured to do , being an express breach of his Instructions ; and if the same had not been prevented by his late Majesties vigilancy , it might have turned to the infinite dishonor and prejudice of his Majesty . XI . Lastly , That he hath offended in a high and contemptuous manner in preferring a scandalous Petition to this honorable house , to the dishonor of his Majesty of blessed memory deceased , and of his sacred Majesty that now is , which are no way sufferable in a Subject towards his Soveraign ; and in one Article of that Petition specially , wherein he gives his now Majesty the Lye , in denying , and offering to falsifie that Relation which his Majesty affirmed , and thereunto added many things of his own remembrance to both Houses of Parliament . ROBERT HEATH . The Earl of Bristol upon the Attorney Generals accusing him of high Treason , thus exprest himself . THat he had exhibited his Petition to the House April 19 , that he might come up and be heard in his Accusation of the Duke of Buckingham , and that thereupon he being a Peer of this Realm is now charged with Treason . That he had heretofore in●ormed the late King of the Dukes unfaithfull service , and thereupon the Duke labored that he might be clapt up in the Tower presently upon his return out of Spain : That he importuned the late King , that he might be heard before himself , and his Majesty promised it ; I pray God ( said he ) that that promise did him no hurt , for he died shortly after : And for the Kings promise he vouched the Lord Chamberlain for a witness ; and he desired the Lords to take notice , that their House was possessed already of his said Petition , and of his Accusation of the said Duke : And therefore desired first that they would receive his charge against the Duke and the Lord Conway , and not to invalid his Testimony against them by the Kings Charge against him ; and that he might not be impeached , till his Charge of so high a nature be first heard . So he tendred to the House the Articles against the Duke , which the Clerk received , and he withdrew , and his Petition exhibited the 19 of April was read ; and the Lords resolved upon the Question , That the said Earls Charge against the Duke of Buckingham and the Lord Conway should be presently read . The Earl being shortly after called in again to the Bar of the Lords House , concerning his Articles against the Duke , made this speech . FIrst , he craved pardon of their Lordships for his earnest Speeches the other day , confessing them to have been in passion , saying , That unexpected accusation of Treason would warm any honest heart , but would hereafter amend it . Then he rendred their Lordships humble thanks , for their manner of proceeding against him ; and desired to know from Mr Attorney , whether that were his whole Charge or not , Mr Attorney answered , That he had Commandment to open no more against him , peradventure upon the opening of the Charge some particulars might arise , and be urged , but no new matter should . Then the Earl desired to know of Mr Attorney , who was the Relator to his Charge , and that he might understand who was his Accuser : Mr Attorney answered , That the King himself out of his own mouth had given him directions for his own Relation against him , and corrected many things that were added : Unto which the Earl answered , That he would not contest with the King , neither did it beseem him so to do ; neither esteemed he his life or his fortunes so much , as to save them by contesting with his Soveraign ; and therefore would make no reply or answer , were it not that his Religion and Honor were joyntly questioned with his life ; but this being to descend to his Posterity , for their sakes he was an humble Suitor unto his Majesty , that he would not take indignation at his own just defence , yet would he be ready to make any humble submission to his Majesty ; and heartily desired some means might be made , that he might make it personally to himself ; wherein he would submit himself most willingly to some such act of humiliation and submission , ( not wronging his innocency ) that never Subject did towards his Soveraign : And also , That his Majesty would be pleased to set himself in his Throne of Justice , and declare out of his Royal justice , that he would have the Duke and him upon equal terms , and that neither of their causes should be advanced before others . These were his humble Petitions which he besought their Lordships to present unto his Majesty , and to take into their considerations of how dangerous a consequence it would be , if the King should be Accuser , Judge , Witness , and should have the Confiscation . As touching the Charge against him , he said , He had once answered it all , except that of his Petition ; and he doubted not but to clear himself before their Lordships of every particular of it ; he said , he expected not to have heard of this again , having once answered it : He rather expected to have been charged with some practise with Spain against the State ; or the receipt of Ten or Twenty thousand pounds , for the perswading and procuring of the delivery up of some Town , of which the Crown was in possession , as might be the Town of Flushing , the Brill , or the like ; or for being the means of lending the Kings Ships to a Forein Nation , and that against those of our own Religion ; or for revealing his Majesties highest Secrets , which none above two or three dares know ; or for treating the greatest affairs , as it were by his own Authority , without formal Instructions in the points ; or for having taken Rewards , or been corrupted by a Foreign Prince ; or to have broken his Instructions in any Ecclesiastical point ; or , as the Law calleth it , to have committed an overt Act of disloyalty , and not to be charged after seven Ambassages , with Discourses and Inferences . Then he desired their Lordships that he might have a Copy of his Charge in writing , and time allowed him for his Answer , and Counsel assigned him to plead his Cause ; and said , there was a great difference between the Duke of Buckingham and him ; for the Duke was accused of Treason , and yet at large , and in the Kings favour ; and he being accused but of that which he had long since answered , was a Prisoner ; and therefore he moved that they might be put in equal condition . And as touching the Lord Conway , in as much as he had given in Articles against him , he desired his Lordship might not meddle in that particular business , nor use the Kings name against him ex officio ; he also besought their Lordships to be Suitors to his Majesty on his behalf , that all the particular dispatches of his own Ambassages , and Sir Walter Ashtons might be brought thither , and that he might make use of them for his defence , as his Evidence ; then he desired their Lordships not to think it tedious for him to proceed and lay open his Case unto them ; which being granted , he began as followeth . HE said that he had the honor to serve the late King his Master of happy memory , for the space of twenty years , and a long time as a Counsellor , and in seven Forein Ambassages : In all which time , in point of his Negotiation he had never received one check or rebuke , until the return of the Duke of Buckingham out of Spain , and therefore from thence he would begin his present Narration . The very day that his Majesty departed from Spain , he was pleased to tell him , That he had no wayes offended him , but did him the honor to trust him with the custody of the powers for his Marriage , and after his return into England , wrote unto him some Letters , which did in no kinde express any distrust or displeasure against him . About the same time he wrote unto his Majesty several Letters , as in duty he was bound , not for any earthly respect whatsoever , to conceal from him the true state of his Affairs ; in which Letter he set down truly and honestly , That he conceived that the distastes grown there betwixt the King of Spain , and his Ministers , and the Duke of Buckingham , would disorder and utterly overthrow all his affairs , if his wisdom prevented it not , hinc illae lacrymae : The Duke of Buckingham got a sight and knowledge of the Letters , and fearing lest the Earl at his return should discover unto his said late Majesty his practises and misdemeanors in Spain , he resolved , That his access to the King was no wayes to be admitted , and therefore labored and endeavored that he might be committed to the Tower presently upon his arrival ; and conceiving That the Lord Maquess Hamilton in regard of his Friendship with the Earl and the Alliance which was then intended between them , might oppose this course , he earnestly pressed him therein , and moved him to deal with my Lord Chamberlain to the same purpose , vowing , That there was no hurt intended to the Earl ; but onely , that he feared , that if he should be admitted to the King , he would cross and disturb the Course of Affairs ; but they were so honorable , that neither of them would condescend thereunto , and so that intention of his took no effect ; and therein the Earl desired my Lord Chamberlain , that he would be pleased upon his Honor to deliver his knowledge . This Design of the Duke not taking , he fell upon other things , indeed to have frightened the Earl out of his Country and honor , and thereupon laid some great and sinister aspersions upon him in both Houses of Parliament , thinking thereby to have terrified him that he should not return , saying , That if he kept not himself where he was , and laid hold of those great offers which he heard were made unto him in Spain , it would be worse with him . Then the Earl of Bristol proceeded and said , That the knowledge of these aspersions cast upon him in the Parliament , came first unto him at Burdeaux in France , where he was coming home at leisure in the company of his wife and family , having formerly sent a Post of purpose to the Lord Conway , to know if his speedy return would be any way useful to his Majesties service : Who answered him , That he might very well return at leisure with his family . And in the mean time he was fallen upon by the Duke of Buckingham in Parliament , in such sort as your Lordships well remember ; of whose Declaration he said he would boldly affirm unto their Lordships , that there was scarce any one thing concerning him in it , which was not contrary to , or different from the truth . From Burdeaux the Earl took Post , making haste , for that he hoped to clear his Honor in Parliament before it should break up ; and being arrived at Calis , he sent over to have one of the Kings Ships , for which there was publick Order given ; but although both wind and weather were as fair as could be , and the Kings Ships lay at Boloign , having carried over Count Mansfield , and might every day within three hours have been with him , yet the Ship came not in eight days expectance ; so that the Earl fearing the Parliament would be dissolved , was enforced to pass the Sea in a Boat with six Oars , as he did , having with him Thirty or Forty thousand pounds of the Kings Jewels . Upon his landing at Dover , hoping that if his Arrest should have been deferred until his coming to London , he might have gotten directly to the Kings presence , which the Duke resolved was by no means to be admitted ; The Earl was there by a Letter of the Lord Conway's delivered unto him by a Servant of his , in his Majesties name , commanded to retire himself to his House , and not to come to the Court or the Kings presence , until he should have answered to certain Questions which his Majesty would appoint some of the Lords of the Council to ask him . Hereupon he sent presently to his Majesty , who sent him word , That his restraint was neither for any ill meaning unto him , nor that it should last long , but was intended for his good , to keep the Parliament from falling violently upon him . And the same reason the Duke alleadged to some of his Friends ; and all those his troubles which have followed upon his first restraint , have been procured by the Dukes Art under colour of Favor . But the Earl having received his Message from the King , became a most humble Suitor unto his Majesty , that he would expose him to the Parliament ; for that if he had not served him honestly in all things , he deserved no favor , but to be proceeded against with all severity . And in this particular he pressed the King as far as could stand with duty and good manners ; but received answer from his Majesty , That there should but few more days pass before he would put an end to his affairs : And about this time the Parliament was dissolved . He still continued his sollicitation to be admitted to the Kings presence ; Who sent him word , and confirmed it by oath , That as soon as he should have answered the Questions which the Commissioners were to propound to him , he would both see him , and hear him , and wondred that he should so much doubt thereof . He then sollicited with all earnestness to have the Questions sent unto him , which was promised should be within few days . In the interim his Majesty being desirous that the business should have been accommodated , sent secretly to him by a Gentleman ( who is ready to depose it ) this Message ; That he should write a fair Letter to the Duke , and leave the rest to Him. Hereupon the Duke sent a Gentleman ( one Mr. Clark ) with fair Propositions , offering to procure him whatsoever he could reasonably pretend ; only he must not be admitted to the Kings presence for some time ; and that the Duke would have the disposing of his Vice-chamberlains Place , having been therein formerly engaged . The Earl told the Gentleman , That to condescend to any such Course , were jointly to confess himself faulty in some kind , which he would not do for any respect in the world ; and let him know the great wrong that the Duke had already done him , and therefore it would be more honorable for him to procure him some reparation , then to press him further . Moreover , not by way of message , but by way of information of the said Mr. Clark , he let him know , how fit it were for the Duke not to press these things , who could not but be conscious of his own Faults , and knew his Innocencie ; and withall shewed him a Paper that he had made ready for the King , containing the Particulars wherein the Duke had disparaged him . Mr. Clark making the Duke acquainted herewith , the Duke wrote a Letter the next day to the Earl , bearing date 7 Iulii , telling him , That he had willingly intended the accommodation of his affairs ; but by what he had now said to Mr. Clark , he was disobliged , unless he should be pleased to relent it . Whereupon the Earl answered with that directness he thought befitting him in point of Honor. The Course of Mediation was interrupted , and the Duke so far incensed , that he swore he would have him questioned for his life . In the interim , ( which the Earl desired might be known to the Lords ) His late Majesty was so far from thinking him a Delinquent , or any way dishonest , that he was often heard to say , and swear , That he held him an honest man , and that he would answer for him , that he had neither committed Felony nor Treason . And this divers are ready to depose . The which he well confirmed , for that he gave general leave to all Gentlemen of the Court , Privy-Counsellors , and to his Secretary of State to have free access unto him ; yea even so far as to admit of Visits and Entercourses with Spanish Ambassadors , and the Padre Maestre , as is best known to my Lord Conway , by whose Letter he received his Majesties leave in that particular . Then he resumed the state of his business where he left it , which was in the hands of the Commissioners , and they were to frame Interrogatories for him ; the which although he had promised should be sent him within a few days , yet such art was used , that six or seven weeks were spent in the framing of them , to the end that his Majesties Progress beginning , there might be no means for the further clearing of the business : And so supposing that for the answering of the Twenty Interrogatories of so high a nature , the Earl would take some time , they caused the said Interrogatories to be delivered unto him within a few days before the beginning of the Progress ; but he used so much diligence , that he made ready to answer in persona , though it were in the nature of a Delinquent . Unto which his Majesty answered most graciously , That out of his favor , and for that he would not do him wrong , he would not admit of it , but that he should send his Answer , and he would instantly put an end to his businesses ; as will appear by Letters . Hereupon the Duke was put into a great strait how to keep him any longer from his Majesty , but desired that only a few Questions more might be asked of him ; which the King upon great urging and instance condescended unto , so that the Questions might be presently sent him : But herein were such Artifices used , that the bringing of any was delayed until the King had begun his Progress ; and then within a day or two the Lord Conway sent him word , That he had Order indeed for the sending of him some more Questions , but out of his affection to him he forbore the sending of them , unless he should press for them . Whereupon the Earl instantly wrote unto him , that they might be sent unto him . My Lord Conway made him answer by his Letter , That he wished rather the course of Mediation might be pursued , for that would but further exasperate ; but if he would needs have the Questions , they should be sent to him . Whereupon he sent to sollicit his Lordship for them with all earnestness , insomuch as to petition his late Majesty twice that the said Questions might be sent : But when the turn was served of keeping him from the Kings presence , the said Questions were never more heard of until this day . So likewise the Earl having sent his Answer to all the Commissioners , who most of them made not nice to declare that they were fully satisfied , and when it was perceived that the Commissioners would certainly clear him , and that he thereby should be restored unto his Majesties favor , they were never more permitted to meet : A proceeding which , as he conceived , their Lordships would think hardly to be parallel'd , that a Commission should be appointed to condemn , if there had been cause , but not to clear . After the Progress was ended , he began again to sollicit his Majesty , and wrote particularly unto the Duke of Buckingham . Whereupon the Duke was pleased to send four or five Propositions , which he desired he should acknowledge ; the which Propositions contained nothing but what had been already propounded and satisfied in the former Interrogatories ; And if he would make his acknowledgment , he then promised to imploy his force and power with the King and Prince , that he should be admitted to kiss their hands and be received into their gracious favor ; but otherwise in a menacing sort , That he should lay his hands upon his breast , and so that would be the best for him . And in the preface of the said Propositions he writeth in these words which follow : It is an assertion not granted , that the Earl of Bristol by his Answer had satisfied either the King , the Prince , or me of his Innocencie . A presumptuous commination for any Subject . But these Propositions were so unjust , that he wrote unto the Duke , that in stead of an Acknowledgment he had sent him an Answer unto them ; unto which if either himself or any man living was able to reply , he would submit himself to any thing that should be demanded . But this no way satisfied the Duke , although it did his late Majesty , who in the Dukes presence said , I were to be accounted a Tyrant , to enjoin an Innocent man to confess faults of which he was not guilty . And thereupon sent him word , That he should make his Answer , but acknowledge nothing he was not faulty in . And although he received this Message from the Kings own mouth , as will be deposed , yet the Duke at the same time wrote unto him , That the conclusion of all that had been treated with his Majesty , was , That he should make the Acknowledgment in such manner as was set down in this paper . And at this time likewise it was that his Majesty sent him word , That he would hear him concerning the Duke of Buckingham , as well as he had heard the Duke concerning him . And this was not long before his Majesties sickness : And in the interim , as he had heard by several ways , the King suffered much , and was infinitely pressed by the Duke concerning the said Earl and his affairs ; and this he said was the suffering he had spoken of to their Lordships the other day . The Earl craved leave of their Lordships to specifie some other particulars , whereby it should appear that his Majesty was in no kind ill opinioned of him till his dying day , viz. That several persons will depose , that they have heard his Majesty say , that he esteemed him an honest man ; And that he was pleased to accept of Toyes by way of Present from him graciously and in good part ; and at last was likewise pleased to give him leave to come to London and to follow his own affairs , and that his pleasure was signified unto him by the Duke his own Letter . Whereupon he determined to come to London , intimated to the Duke his intention of going to his Lodging in Whitehall ; but the Duke was therewith incensed again , and said he mistook the Kings meaning , which was , that he might privately follow his own business . And this he said was the true State and Condition , when it pleased God to take unto his mercy his late most gracious Majesty . Upon his Majesties coming to the Crown , he said he wrote a most humble Letter unto his Majesty , imploring his grace and goodness , and desiring the Dukes mediation : But he was pleased to answer by his Letter of 7 Maii 1625. That the resolution was to proceed against him , without a plain and direct Confession of the Point which he had formerly required him to acknowledge ; and in a Courtly manner of menace telleth him , That he would take the freedom to advise him to bethink himself in time what will be most for his good . But in the interim his Majesty was graciously pleased that his Writ of Parliament should be sent him ; and thereupon he wrote unto the Duke of the receipt of the said Writ , but that he should do nothing but what he should understand to be most agreeable to his Majesties pleasure . Whereunto the Duke answered in his Letters of May in this manner : I have acquainted his Majesty with your requests towards him touching your Summons to the Parliament , which he taketh very well , and would have you rather make excuse for your absence notwithstanding your Writ , then to come your self in person . Whereupon he sent humbly to desire a Letter of leave under his Majesties hand for his Warrant ; but in stead thereof he received from the L. Conway an absolute Prohibition , and to restrain and confine him in such sort as he hath been in the late Kings time : And although he was indeed absolutely set free , he could never get cleared by the Lord Conway , though he sent him all the Papers to examine ; and when he could make no further reply , he said he conceived he was under restraint , and that his liberty expired with the late Kings death ; when indeed Restraint may expire , but Liberty is natural . After this he continued for the space of three quarters of a year in the Country without moving , in which time he was removed from those Places and Offices he held during his late Majesties life ; and the greatest part of his Estate being laid out in their Majesties service by their particular appointment , he could never be admitted so much as to the clearing of Accompts . Yet hereof he never made the least complaint : But against the time of his Majesties Coronation , he thought it fit to lay hold of that occasion , when Princes do Acts of grace and favor , to be a most humble Suitor to his Majesty for his grace and goodness ; and addressed his Letters unto the Duke of Buckingham , from whom he received a Letter all written in his own hand , and therein a Letter inclosed from his Majesty , so different from some gracious Message which he had received from his Majesty since the said Earl returned into England , upon the occasion of a great sickness ; and likewise from his speeches several times delivered to his Wife , to wit , That he had never offended him , and that for his faults , he no ways held them criminal , but to be expiated by any easie acknowledgment : That he confessed he knew not what judgment to make of the said Letter , neither hath presumed hitherto to make any Answer thereto ; although by reducing the occasions of speeches , and circumstances to his Majesties memory , he no ways doubteth but he shall be able to give unto his Majesty such satisfaction to every particular , as his Majesty would not remain with the least scruple in any one point . After this he said , that his Writ of Parliament was detained ; whereupon he addressed himself to the Lord Keeper , that he would be a Suitor to his Majesty for him in that behalf : which diligences not taking effect , by Petition he became a Suitor to their Lordships for their Honorable mediation to his Majesty , and thereupon his Writ of Parliament was awarded : But the Duke of Buckingham upon that took occasion , as he had published Copies of the said Letter over all the Kingdom , to read it likewise in that Honorable House , as was best known unto their Lordships , and the Writ was accompanied with a Prohibition from the Lo●d Keeper ; whereupon he addressed himself for Justice to that Honorable House , ( being possessed of his Cause by his Petition ) for both redress of his own wrongs , and likewise of Complaints against the Duke for many Crimes : And that Honorable House being possessed of his Cause by his Petition , there is preferred against him a succeeding Complaint amounting as high as Treason ( as it is pretended ) although he for divers years hath not been questioned ; yet since his Complaint against the Duke , he hath been fetcht up like a Prisoner , and brought into that House as a Delinquent ; And the Duke , of whom he hath complained for his great Crimes , is admitted still to sit in the House as one of his Judges . The which with all that he hath formerly said , together with his Life , Fortunes and Honor , he did with all willingness , humility and duty , submit to the Justice and Honor of that House . Then the Lords asked him , When he would bring in his Answer ? He promised to answer as soon as might be , but knew not how far he should have occasion to use his antient Dispatches . The Lord Keeper told him , that Mr. Attorney might help him by letting him know it : The Attorney said , that his Charge should in nothing look further back then to the year 1621. Which he desired might be recorded . Whereupon the Earl thanking their Lordships for their patience , he was carried away by Mr. Maxwell the Gentleman-Usher , in whose house and custody he remained . Then were read the Earls Articles against the Duke and the Lord Conway , viz. Articles of the Earl of Bristol , whereby he chargeth the Duke of Buckingham , bearing Date the First day of May , 1626. I. THat the Duke of Buckingham did secretly combine with the Conde of Gondomar Ambassador for the King of Spain , before his the said Ambassadors last return into Spain , in the Summer An. 1622. To carry his Majesty ( then Prince ) into Spain , to the end he might be informed and instructed in the Roman Religion , and thereby have perverted the Prince , and subverted the true Religion established in England : From which misery this Kingdom ( next under Gods mercy ) hath by the wise , religious , and constant carriage of his Majesty been almost miraculously delivered , considering the many bold and subtile attempts of the said Duke in that kind . II. That Mr. Porter was made acquainted therewith and sent into Spain ; and such Messages at his return framed , as might serve for a ground to set on foot this Conspiracie ; The which was done accordingly , and thereby the King and Prince highly abused , and their Consents thereby first gotten to the said Journey , that is to say , after the return of the said Mr. Porter , which was about the end of December , or the beginning of Ianuary 1622. whereas the said Duke had plotted it many moneths before . III. That the said Duke , at his arrival in Spain , nourished the Spanish Ministers not only in the belief of his own being Popishly affected , but did ( both by absenting himself from all Exercises of Religion constantly used in the Earl of Bristols house , and frequented by all other Protestant English , and by conforming himself to please the Spaniards in divers Rites of their Religion , even so far as to kneel and adore their Sacrament ) from time to time give the Spaniards hope of the Prince his Conversion : The which Conversion he endeavored to procure by all means possible ; and thereby caused the Spanish Ministers to propound far worse Conditions for Religion , then had been formerly by the Earl of Bristol and Sir Walter Aston setled and signed under their Majesties hands , with a Clause in the King of Spain's Answer of Decemb. 12. 1622. That they held the Articles agreed upon sufficient , and such as ought to induce the Pope to the granting of the Dispensation . IV. That the Duke of Buckingham having several times in the presence of the Earl of Bristol moved and pressed his late Majesty , at the instance of the Conde of Gondomar , to write a Letter unto the Pope , and to that purpose having once brought a Letter ready drawn , wherewith the Earl of Bristol by his Majesty being made acquainted , did so strongly oppose the writing of any such Letter , that during the abode of the said Earl of Bristol in England the said Duke could not obtain it ; yet not long after the Earl was gone , he procured such a Letter to be written from his late Majesty unto the Pope , and to have him stiled [ Sanctissime Pater . ] V. That the Pope being informed of the Duke of Buckingham's inclination and intention in point of Religion , sent unto the said Duke a particular Bull in parchment , for to perswade and encourage him in the perversion of his Majesty then Prince . VI. That the said Dukes behaviour in Spain was such , that he thereby so incensed the King of Spain and his Ministers , as they would admit of no reconciliation , nor further dealing with him . Whereupon the said Duke seeing that the Match would be now to his disadvantage , he endeavored to break it , not for any service to the Kingdom , nor dislike of the Match in it self , nor for that he found ( as since he hath pretended ) that the Spaniards did not really intend the said Match , but out of his particular ends and his indignation . VII . That after he intended to cross the Marriage , he put in practice divers undue courses ; as namely , making use of the Letters of his Majesty ( then Prince ) to his own ends , and not to what they were intended ; as likewise concealing divers things of high importance from his late Majesty , and thereby overthrew his Majesties purposes , and advanced his own ends . VIII . That the said Duke , as he had with his skill and artifices formerly abused their Majesties , so to the same end he afterwards abused both Houses of Parliament by his sinister Relation of the carriage of Affairs , as shall be made appear almost in every particular that he spake unto the said Houses . IX . As for scandal given by his personal behaviour , as also the imploying of his power with the King of Spain for the procuring of Favors and Offices , which he bestowed upon base and unworthy persons for the recompence and hire of his Lust ; These things , as neither fit for the Earl of Bristol to speak , nor indeed for the House to hear , he leaveth to your Lordships wisdom how far you will be pleased to have them examined ; It having been indeed a great infamy and dishonor to this Nation , that a Person of the Dukes great quality and imployments , a Privy-Counsellor , an Ambassador , eminent in his Masters favor , and solely trusted with the Person of the Prince , should leave behind him in a Forein Court so much scandal , as he did by his ill behaviour . X. That the Duke hath been in great part the Cause of the ruine and misfortune of the Prince Palatine and his Estates , in as much as those Affairs had relation unto this Kingdom . XI . That the Duke of Buckingham hath in his Relations to both Houses of Parliament wronged the Earl of Bristol in point of his Honor by many sinister aspersions which he hath laid upon him , and in point of his Liberty by many undue Courses through his power and practices . XII . That the Earl of Bristol did reveal unto his late Majesty both by word and letter , in what sort the said Duke had disserved him and abused his trust : And that the King by several ways sent him word , That he should rest assured he would hear the said Earl , but that he should leave it to him to take his own time . And thereupon , few days before his sickness , he sent the Earl word , that he would hear him against the said Duke , as well as he had heard the said Duke against him . Which the Duke himself heard ▪ And not long after his blessed Majesty sickned and died , having been in the interim much vexed and pressed by the said Duke . Articles of the Earl of Bristol against the Lord Conway , bearing Date 1 Maii 1626. I. THat the Lord Conway is so great a Servant of the Duke of Buckingham's , that he hath not stuck to send the Earl of Bristol plain word , That if businesses could not be accommodated betwixt him and the Duke , he must then adhere and declare himself for the said Duke ; and therefore unfit to be a Judge in any thing that concerneth the Duke or the Earl. II. That the said Lord Conway professeth himself to be a Secretary of the Duke of Buckingham's creation , and so acknowledgeth it under his own hand : And although that he be the Kings Secretary of State , and a Privy-Counsellor , he usually beginneth his Letters to the Duke , [ Most gracious Patron . ] III. That as a Creature of the said Dukes , the said Lord Conway hath been made the Instrument of keeping the Earl of Bristol from the Kings presence , and of imprisoning of him by Warrants only under his own hand ; for which he cannot ( as the Earl conceiveth ) produce any sufficient Warrant . IV. That by the space of Twelve moneths last past , the said Lord Conway hath been the Cause of the Earls restraint , only by misinforming his Majesty , and procuring a Letter of restraint upon undue grounds : And when it was made apparent unto him , that the said Earl was restored to his liberty freely to follow his own affairs by his late Majesty of blessed memory , he replied , That that liberty given him by his Majesty expired with the Kings death . V. That the Earl of Bristols Mother lying sick upon her death-bed , desired for her comfort to see her Son , and to give him her last blessing : Whereupon the Earl wrote to the Lord Conway , to desire him to move the King for his leave ; which he putting off from day to day , told the person imployed , That by reason of the Dukes sickness , he could not find opportunity to get the Dukes leave to move the King ; And having spoken with the Duke , he made a Negative answer in the Kings name . Wherewith the Earl acquainting the King by some of his Bedchamber , his Majesty was in a very great anger , swearing the Secretary had never moved him , and that to deny the said Earl leave , was a barbarous part ; and thereupon sent him presently free leave ; which the Secretary hearing of , sent likewise afterwards a Letter of leave , but with divers clauses and limitations differing from the leave sent him from the Kings own mouth . VI. That having the businesses of the Earl of Bristols in his hands , and the Earl being commanded by the King to address himself in his occasions unto his Lordship , He would never deliver any Message from the said Earl , without acquainting the said Duke and receiving his directions , and in a noble manner of freeness stuck not to send him word . VII . That the Earl of Bristol having received from the Lord Conway Twenty Interrogatories in his late Majesties name , drawn up by a Commission of the Lords appointed to search into the Proceedings and Imploiments of the said Earl , in which search there was more then two moneths spent , divers of the said Interrogatories involving Felony and Teason ; And his Majesty having been pleased to assure the said Earl both by Message and Letters , that upon satisfaction given to himself , and the Commissioners by his Answers , he would presently put an end to the Earl of Bristol's Businesse : The Earl of Bristol having so fully answered as would admit of no reply ; and that many of the Commissioners declared themseves to be fully satisfied : The said Lord Conway ( being the Secretary in the Commission , to whom it properly belonged to call the Lords to assemble ) perceiving the Earl of Bristol was like to be cleared , never moved for any further meeting , neither have they ever been permitted to meet until this day , whereby the troubles of the Earl of Bristol have been kept on foot till this present , and the said Earls Imprisonment hath been enlarged Twenty moneths ; And by the Artifices of the said Duke of Buckingham and the said Lord Conway ( as shall be made appear ) the said Earl hath been insensibly involved and stauked into the troubles he is now in , which he doubteth not but your Lordships will judge to be a very considerable Case . VIII . That for a colour of keeping the Earl from his late Majesties presence , it being pretended after the Answer to the twenty Interrogatories , that there were some few Questions more to be added ; whereunto when he should have answered , his Majesty swore solemnly , that without any delay he should be admitted to his presence , and that within two or three dayes he should have the said Questions sent unto him ; the Lord Conway , notwithstanding he acknowledged under his hand , that he had received his Majesties directions for the sending of the said Articles , and was often thereunto sollicited on the behalf of the said Earl , would never send the said Questions , and at last answered , That he had no more to do with the Earls businesses . IX . That the Earl of Bristol being set free by his late Majesty , to come to London to follow his own Affairs as he pleased , and thereupon having his Writ of Parliament sent unto him , without any Letter of Prohibition ; but the Earl of Bristol , out of his great desire to conform all his actions to that which he should understand , would best please his Majesty , sent to know whether his going or stay would be most agreeable unto his Majesty ; who was pleased to answer by a Letter from my Lord Duke of Buckingham , That he took in ve●● good part the said Earls respect unto him ; but wished him to make some excuse for the present : The which accordingly he did , and moved , That he might have a Letter under the Kings hand to warrant his absence ; but under colour of this Letter of leave , upon the Earl of Bristol's own motion and desire , the Lord Conway sent a Letter from his Majesty absolutely forbidding his coming to Parliament ; and therein likewise was inserted a Clause , That the Earl should remain restrained , as he was in the time of his late Majesty ; and so thereby a colour of restraint under his Majesties hand was gotten , which could never be procured in his late Majesties time ; whereby the Earl of Bristol hath been unduly restrained ever since , without being able to procure any redress , or to make the Lord Conway willing to understand his Case , although he sent him all the Papers , whereby he might clearly see , that the Earl was not under restraint in his late Majesties time ; but never other Answer could be procured from him , but That he judged the said Earl to be under restraint , and that his Liberty was expired by the late Kings death , as is aforesaid . X. That the Lord Conway , knowing that the Match for the marrying of the King of Bohemia's eldest Son with the Emperors Daughter , and being bred in the Emperors Court , was allowed and propounded by his late Majesty : And that his Majesty by his Letters unto his Son-in-law , declareth , That he thinketh it the fairest and clearest way for the accommodation of his Affairs , and that he will take sufficient care for his breeding in true Religion . And notwithstanding that the said Earl received a Copy of the said Letter by the late Kings order , with other Papers , setting down all that had been done in the said business , and his Majesties assent thereunto from the Lord Conway himself ; yet hath he suffered all to be charged , as a crime against the Earl of Bristol , both in the twentieth Interrogatory , and in his Majesties last Letter , that he should consent to the breeding of the young Prince in the Emperors Court. And further in the Interogatory he alledgeth it as an aggravation against the said Earl , That the breeding of the said Prince in the Emperors Court inferred to the perversion of his Religion , when he knew that his said breeding was never thought nor spoken of by the King , nor any other , but with that express Clause and Condition , That he should be bred in his own Religion , and have such Tutors and Servants , as his Father should appoint . XI . That the Lord Conway hath been the cause of all the Earl of Bristol's Troubles , by his dubious and intrapping Dispatches , and in●erring , That the said Earl hath failed in his Directions , when it shall be made appear , that his Dispatches contained no such Directions as he hath alledged were given . The House not being satisfied to commit the Earl to the Tower , let him remain where he was before , with the Gentleman Usher ; and further ordered , That the Kings Charge against the Earl of Bristol be first heard , and then the Charge of the said Earl against the Duke ; yet so that the Earls Testimony against the Duke be not prevented , prejudiced , or impeached . The day following the Lord Keeper delivered a Message from the King to the House of Lords . THat his Majesty taketh notice of the Articles exhibited against the Duke of Buckingham by the Earl of Bristol ; and he observeth that many of them are such , as himself is able to say more of his own knowledge then any man for the Dukes sincere carriage in them : That one of them , touching the Narrative made in Parliament in the One and twentieth of King Iames , trencheth as far upon himself as the Duke ; for that his Majesty went as far as the Duke in that Declaration ; and that all of them have been closed in the Earls own breast now for these two years , contrary to his Duty , if he had known any crime of that nature by the Duke ; and now he vents it by way of recrimination against the Duke , whom he knows to be a principal Witness to prove his Majesties Charge . And therefore , That his Majesty gave them thanks , that they gave no way to the Earl of Bristol's unreasonable motion , of putting the Duke under the same restraint that they had put the Earl , thereby eschewing what the Earl aimeth at , to alter their dutifull Procedings toward his Majesty : That thereby they had made his Majesty confident , that as they have , so they will put a difference between his Majesties Charge against one that appeareth as a Delinquent , and the recrimination of the Earl of Bristol against his Majesties Witness ; and they will not equal them by a proceeding Pari Passu . At this time there was an endeavor to take the Earls Cause out of the House , and to proceed by way of Indictment in the Kings-Bench : To which manner of proceeding why the Lords should not give way , these ensuing Reasons were offered to consideration . I. IT was ordered , That in all Causes of moment , the Defendants shall have Copies of all Depositions both pro and contra after publication , in convenient time , before hearing , to prepare themselves ; and if the Defendants will demand that of the House in due time , they shall have their learned Council to assist them in their defence : And their Lordships declared , That they did give their assents thereto ; because in all Cases , as well Civil as Criminal and Capital , they hold , That all lawfull help could not before just Judges make one that is guilty avoid Justice ; and on the other side , God defend that an Innocent should be condemned . II. The Earl of Bristol by his Petition to the House complained of his restraint , desiring to be heard here , as well in points of his wrongs , as in his accusations against the Duke ; whereof his Majesty taking consideration , signified his pleasure by the Lord Keeper April the 20 , That his Majesty was resolved to put his Cause upon the honor and justice of this House ; and that his pleasure was that the said Earl should be sent for as a Delinquent to answer the offences he committed in his Negotiation before his Majesties going into Spain , whilest his Majesty was there , and since his coming thence ; and that his Majesty would cause these things to be charged against him in this House ; so as the House is fully possessed of the Cause , as well by the Earls Petition , as by the Kings assent , and the Earl brought up to the House as a Delinquent to answer his offences there ; and Mr. Attorney hath accordingly delivered the Charge against him in the House , and the Earl also his Charge against the Duke : And now if he be proceeded withal by way of Indictment in the Kings-Bench , these dangerous inconveniences will follow ; viz. 1. He can have no Counsel . 2. He can use no Witness against the King. 3. He cannot know what the Evidences against him will be , in a convenient time to prepare for his Defence ; and so the Innocent may be condemned , which may be the Case of any Peer . 4. The Liberties of the House will be thereby infrigned , the Honor and Justice thereof declined , contrary to the Kings pleasure expresly signified by the Lord Keeper . All these things are expresly against the Order . 5. The Earl being indicted , it will not be in the power of the House to keep him from Arraignment , and so he may be disabled to make good his Charge against the Duke . Therefore the way to proceed according to the Directions and true meaning of the Order , and the Kings pleasure already signified , and preserve the Liberties of the House , and protect one from injury , will be First , To have the Charge delivered into the House in writing , and the Earl to set down his Answer to it in writing ; and that the Witnesses may be examined , and Evidences on both sides heard , by such course and manner of proceedings as shall be thought fit by the House ; and if upon full hearing ▪ the House shall finde it to be Treason , then to proceed by way of Indictment ; if doubtfull in point of Law , to have the opinion of the Judges to clear it ; if doutfull in matter of Fact , then to refer it to a regal Fait ; And the rather for that 1. It appears that the Earl , in the space of two years ( till now he complained ) hath not been so much as questioned for matter of Treason . 2. He hath been examined upon twenty Interrogatories , and the Commissioners satisfie that his Answer would admit of no Reply . 3. The Lord Conway by several Letters hath intimated , That there was nothing against him but what was pardoned by the Parliament . Pardon of 21 Iac. And signified his Majesties pleasure , That he might rest in that security he was , and sit still . His Majesty hath often declared both to the Countess of Bristol and others , That there was neither Fellony nor Treason against him , nor ought else , but what a small acknowledgment would expiate . Some Cases happened in Parliament 1 & 2 Caroli ; wherein the Judges opinions were had ; viz. THis Question was put to all the Justices ; Whether a Peer impeached for Treason shall be tried in Parliament ? And the chief Justice , in the name of all the Justices , delivered his opinion that the course by Law was Indictment , and this to be signified in Parliament before the Lord Steward ; vide 10 Edward 4.6 . or by Bill , and an Act of Parliament to attaint the Party . An Order was made in the Upper-House of Parliament 21 Iac. That any Peer shall have Counsel in case Criminal or Capital ; and upon the Accusation of the Earl of Bristol in Parliament , he made a motion for Counsel ; which matter was commended to the King by the Lords , with voucher of the said former Order : The King returned Answer that this was contrary to the Fundamental Laws of the Realm ; but inasmuch as it was for his Benefit and Prerogative , with which he may dispence ; therefore out of his grace he would allow the Earl of Bristol to have his Counsel , with protestation that he would advise in the general ; and the same Order was made without his privity , and without hearing the Justices or his Counsel . And upon the Trial of the Lord Middlesex , in a Case Criminal and not Capital , afterward , that is to say Friday after , upon the assembly of all the Justices , the Attorney of the King , by commandment of the King , demanded their opinion ; and they with one voice agreed , That where the Trial is upon Indictment , no Counsel in Fellony or Treason is to be allowed , unless a matter of Law happen , or upon the Indictment , or upon Plea of the Defendant , or upo● Evidence , and in such Cases the Prisoner may have Counsel , but not otherwise . The Lords by Order referred to the Justices this Question ; Whether the King may be a Witness in case of Treason ? Secondly , Admit that this be for Treason done , when he is privy : Whether in this case he may be a Witness , or not ? and before the Resolution , this Message and Command came from the King to the Justices , that in this general Question they do not deliver any opinion ; but if any point come in particular , they upon mature deliberation may give their advice . And this was declared by the Cheif Justice in the Upper House of Parliament , and the said Matter surceased . Sitting this Parliament , the Duke of Buckingham was deputed Procurator by several Peers , whose Votes on any occasion , he had power to make use of , viz. By the Earls of Bath , Exeter , Cumberland , Northumberland , Lord Teinham , Colchester , Tunbridge , Evers , Darcy , Meynel , Noel , St. John of Basing , Mansfield , and Roberts . Whereupon the House of Peers made an Order , That after this Session , no Lord of this House shall be capable of receiving above two Proxies , nor more to be numbred in any Cause voted . About a fortnight after , the Charge was given in against the Earl of Bristol , the Earl gave in his Answer , which we have chosen to insert here for the Readers more conveniency , though a little out of time . And having the Answer in his hand , ready to deliver to their Lordships , he did crave leave , that by way of Introduction he might speak a few words , and began thus . I Am not insensible upon what disadvantages I come to tryal in this Cause : For first , I am faln into this Majesties heavy displeasure , and am to encounter with a potent Adversary highly in favor , and am accused for Treason ; for which , all Counsel and Friends abandon me as a man infected with the Plague ; I am become bound and under restraint , whereas a man who is to encounter for his life and honor , and with a strong Adversary , had need to come upon equal terms . But as to the Matter , I finde my self charged with divers Articles of High Treason ; but looking into them with the eyes of my best understanding , with the opinion also of my Council lately assigned me , and taking them apart one Article from another , I finde not any thing in them like Treason , or that hath so much as the shew or countenance of a fault , either in act or words ; onely by laying all things together , and by wresting the wrests with a strained Construction , directly contrary to the true sence and meaning of them , and the occasion whereupon they were spoken , it is informed , and that by way of inference onely , That the intent was evil , and the matter to prove the intent to be evil , depends upon two props , viz. Ill affection to Religion , and too much affection to Spain ; which if I shall clear , the Inference grounded upon these props , will fall of it self . Therefore I crave leave of your Lordships , before I give my Answer to the Charge , that I may give you an account of these two particulars ; and I humbly beseech you , that what I shall speak in my just defence , may not be conceived to proceed of vain ostentation . And first for Religion , I was in my Childhood bred in the Protestant Religion , and rather after the stricter manner then otherwise . When I grew in years fit , I travelled into France , Italy , and Rome it self : In all which Travels , I can produce some that I consorted withal , who will witness with me , that I ever constantly used the Religion I professed , without the least prevarication ; no man being able to charge me , that so much as out of curiosity I ever was present at any of the exercises belonging to the Roman Religion , or did the least act of Conformity to any of their Rites or Ceremonies . Secondly , After my return home I was received into the service of his late Majesty of Blessed Memory , whom I served some years as a Gentleman of his Privy Chamber , and Carver ; in which time , none of his Majesties Servants received the Holy Sacrament , frequented Sermons , and other exercises of our Religion , more then I. Thirdly , In that time of my youth , not to avoid idleness , but out of affection to Religion , I translated that excellent Book of our Faith , and great Points of our Religion , Written by Monsieur Moulins ; which his late Majesty having sometimes after seen , approved so well , that he would needs have it Printed ; which accordingly was Printed in the name of Mr. Sampford , my Chaplain , to whom I gave the honor : But it was my own act , as Mr. Sampford will not deny , though to this hour I had never before spoken of it . Fourthly , About Seven or eight and twenty years of my age , I was employed Ambassador into Spain in that great business of the Treaty of the Marriage ; and whereas others before me , carried with them but one Chaplain , I had two , viz. Mr. Sampford and Mr. Boswel ; and at my arival at the Court of Spain , I caused it to be published , that such a day ( God willing ) I purposed to have a Communion , to the end that such English as were in the Town , might resort thither . Whereat the Duke De Lerma and other the great Ministers of Spain took offence , and told me ▪ they might well perceive I brought no good affection to the business I came about , that would so publickly and avowedly in that Court , where never the like was done , proclaim there a Communion ; and with high expression perswaded me to decline it . Whereunto I answered , I came to do my Master service , which I would heartily and effectually endeavor , but would not omit my service to God , no though my Master commanded . And at the Communion there were present One hundred persons , some of them Brothers , Kinsmen , and near dependence upon some of their Lordships , whom I see there in my eye . This I did in Spain ; the like I did in Germany in the Emperors Courts in his Ambassage thither . Fifthly , I had in my several employments into Spain and Germany above Five hundred persons of all qualities attending upon me , and never one perverted in Religion : My Children carefully instructed and bred in the same Religion . I had constantly every Sabbath a Sermon in my House , and Sacraments , and other exercises of our Religion frequented . Sixthly , A foul-mouthed Shimei railed against our late King and Religion in Spain ; how I caused that to be revenged by a near Kinsman of my own , is well known . Seventhly , One of the English dying in the Town of Madrid , of whose Religion there was some question made ; and the Kings Chaplains telling me that they at the day of his death had been with him , and taken an accompt of his Faith , and that he died a Protestant : I caused him to be brought home to my House , and there buried according to our Rites ; whereat much ado was made , and it was threatned , that the Inquisitors and other Officers would come , and fetch him out , and bury him after their manner : I stood upon it , and that it was the King of Englands House , and openly protested , that whosoever should come thither with such intent , I would shoot at him with a Peece ; and exhorted all my people , That if such an attempt should be , they should rather then suffer such a dishonor to our Religion , die with me in that quarrel , and hoped such English as were in the Town would do the like . Eighthly , There having been a Monastery for English Jesuites , founded and setled at Madrid before my coming thither , and the English Arms set up , I labored to suppress it , and having written thereof to the late King , his Majesty advised me not to run my Head against the Rock ; for it was an impossible thing for me to do : Yet I undertook it , and it pleased God so to bless my endeavors , That I absolutely dissolved and overthrew it . For which , the Bishop of Winchester , Montague ( now with God ) wrote unto me by his Majesties direction , a Letter of his Majesties gratious acceptance of so great a Service , telling me , Besides the service I had done to the Church and Commonwealth , it should remain a Trophy of Honor to me and my Posterity for ever : And the King himself with his own hand wrote unto me , beginning his Letter , Good Fortune Digby , your good luck in your Service well deserves that stile . Ninethly , In all Negotiations in Spain , in point of Religion , I ever straightned my Instructions . Tenthly , The Match with Spain was not moved by me , I ever advised a Protestant Match , and shewed many Reasons both of Conscience and State ; but if with a Catholick , then rather with Spain then France , so as good Conditions might be made for Religion ; as appears by a Letter I wrote and delivered to the Prince , at his first going upon the employment ; for which I had like then to have been ruined for being a Puritan , as I am now for being a Papist , and all by one and the same hand . Eleventhly , And I appeal to the Testimony of Dr. Mason and Dr. Wren , the Kings Chaplains with me in Spain , and to Mr. Sampford , Mr. Boswel , and Mr. Frewen , my own Chaplains there . And that such Papists as have been my antient Acquaintance and Friends , being men of worth , well known to many of their Lordships , may be examined upon Oath , Whether I have not in all places as well in Spain as in England , and at all times upon fit occasions , avowed my self a Protestant , without the lest prevarication ? Or whether I did ever any the least act that was not suitable to the same Profession ? And that Mr. Frewen , Mr. Wake , my own Chaplains , may give their Testimonies , whether in the time of several dangerous sicknesses which I had of late years faln into , I have not in the time of such my sicknesses ( when no man can be supposed to dissemble with the World , being ready to leave it ) made before them a Confession of my Faith , and made my Peace with God , resolving to die as besitted a Protestant , and good Christian. This I tell your Lordships , was my Religion I was bred in , have ever professed and lived in , and was resolved , by Gods Grace to die in ; and yet was so unhappy by reason of employment , to be distasteful to many good men , that I have been suspected even by them , not well knowing me : And this hath been the rise the Duke hath now taken against me . Then for my love to Spain , I wonder from whence that opinion should grow , since I was there hated and shamed , as the man whom of all others they desired to have the least to do withal ; having stood ever stricter in point of Religion , then by my Instructions I might have done ; as after the Capitulation concluded on , they understood by some intelligence , which caused their hatred towards me . Sure I am , I shewed it not by the service I did them ; for divers years together there was not a Letter sent by that King to any other State , that the King my Master had not a Copy of before , or by that time it came to the place whither it was directed . There was not any great action on foot , whereof I had not the private Instructions , and sent them hither ; not any expedition by Sea or Land , wherein I had not some Ministers or Intelligencers , that gave me from time to time Advertisement of their Actions , and most private Intentions , whereof I advertised his Majesty from time to time . I used such industry as to get all the Papers of that Kings private Cabinet into my hands ; took Copies and Notes of such of them as I thought useful ; and upon every of them , set my private mark before they were conveyed back again , to the end , that if I should have had an occasion to have charged him with any thing mentioned in the same Papers , I might have let him see I knew it , by telling him in what Paper it was , and marked with such a mark . There was not a Port in Spain that I had not caused the depth of it to be sounded , nor a Fort whereof I knew not the strength , both for the Garison , Munition , and other matters of advantage and disadvantage ; insomuch as if it should please the King to appoint a Committee of the Lords to take accompt of me , I should by the stores I gathered there , and brought with me , make it appear I was as useful a Servant to His Majesty in a War , as in Peace . Whereas at his Majesties coming out of Spain the powers for the Desponsories were to be deposited in some mans hands ; and the Duke upon pretence of doing me honor , but intending to break my Neck by it , moved , they might be left with me , and the King of Spain was contented ; and so they were put into my hands , not as an Attorney onely for the Prince : But the King of Spain having taken the substitution of them by his Secretary of State entred in Legal form ; whereby that King was then become interessed in them by their occupation , as well as the Prince by granting of them . And becoming the Instrumentum stipulatum , wherein they were both interessed , they were deposited in my hands , as an indifferent person trusted between the King of Spain and the Prince , with a Declaration of the Trust. And now the Duke was returned out of Spain , he plotted my ruine , and put it in execution in this manner . He concealed that the powers were to expire at Christmas , and procured his Majesty to write a Letter , ( not a direct Commandment ) but expressing a desire that the Desponsories should not be till one of the days in Christmas , intending thereby to draw me into a Dilemma , That if I proceeded in the Match , this Letter should , as now it is , have been inforced against me , as a breach of Instructions : If I had not proceeded , then I had broken my trust between the Prince and King of Spain , overthrown the Marriage so long sought and labored , it being the main scope of my Ambassage , contrary to express Warrant , and that upon a Letter I must needs know to be a mistake . And when I had written into England to have a direct Warrant in the point , the Duke then seeing that Plot would not take , he dealt with divers great Lords , as was well known to some of their Lordships there present , to have me upon my arival in England , committed to the Tower , before I should ever come to speak with the King ; which the Spanish Ambassador here in England , having gotten private notice of , gave advertisement thereof to that King : Who thereupon foreseeing my danger , and consulting with his Council , and Divines , what were fit for him in Honor and Conscience to do in that Case , they resolved , That seeing my Sufferings grew by being an honest man , and endeavoring to perform the trust reposed in me by that King as well as the Prince ; That King was bound both in Honor and Conscience , not onely to preserve me from ruine , but to make me a reparation for any loss I should sustain by occasion of the Trust : Whereupon at his departure , going to Court to take his leave , the Conde de Olivares told me what was plotted against me in England ; and in respect of the danger , by reason of the greatness of my Adversary , p●rswaded me to stay there ; and in his Masters Name made an offer , not in secret , but in the presence of Sir Walter Aston . Here he repeated those offers of Reward , Honor , and Preferment , which we have mentioned before in order of time , and at present pass it by ; he then proceeded and said , Upon what grounds and hope came I to encounter with those dangers ? Not upon hope of my greatness in Court , and strength of Friends , there to bolster out an ill Cause ; no sure , my strength was too weak , and my adversaries too powerful : But I knew my Conscience was clear , and my Cause was good , and trusted in God Almighty . And to him now , and to their Lordships judgments , recommended my self , and my Cause . And then he delivered his Answer , desiring their Lordships it might be after Recorded in Parchment , that it might remain to posterity ; which being read by one of his Council , the Lord Keeper asked him , Whether he desired to say any more then he had done ? he answered , That he had something more to say , but knew not the order , or whether Mr. Attorney would speak first ; but he being desired to speak , He desired their Lordships he might put them in minde of what he conceived they had already promised , which was , That the Duke whom he accused in that House of far higher offences then any , with which he was charged , might be proceeded with as he was , and that they might be upon equal Conditions . And that such heads as he had delivered against the Duke , being of such Matters as he met withal in his Negotiation as an Ambassador ; and which he had according to his duty acquainted the State withal , might by their Lordships care and order be put into Legal form , and prosecuted ; for so was the use when he had the honor to sit at the Council Table . He said , He conceived he had already done his part to inform , and would be ready to make it good , it concerning their Lordships to see it prosecuted , it not being to be expected that he should solicit it ; or if he would , he could not , being under restraint . And he desired likewise , that the Judges might deliver their opinions , Whether the matter charged against him , were Treason ; that if it should not so be in their opinions , he might not lie under so heavy a burthen . He put their Lordships in minde , that it was a strange manner of proceeding , that upon a displeasure , a Peer of the Kingdom complaining of those that had practised against him , and had been the causers of his Sufferings , should then , and never but then , be charged with Treason . He told them it was not his case alone , but it equally concerned them and their Posterity , and it might be some others hereafter , more then him now . For he said he thanked God he had some experience in the World , and thereby and by those things he had kept , was able to make his innocency appear , which perhaps would not be every mans hereafter ; and so many an honest heart in a good cause distracted with fears , and abandoned of Friends , might perish through the malice of a potent Adversary . The Lords again asked him whether he had any thing more to say ; he answered No , but desired leave onely to explain himself in two things ; one in his Speech now spoken , and the other when he was first brought to the House . That in his Speech this day , was , where he affirmed he had like to have been ruined in his Negotiation : First , For being a Puritan , and now for being a Papist , and both by one hand ; he explained it to be by the hand of the Duke of Buckingham . And the other when he first came to the House , saying there , For Redress of former sufferings , and meeting on the sudden with Treason charged upon him , he spake in Passion , expressing the Wrongs and Injuries done him by the Duke ; and told their Lordships , he had used means to convey part of his Sufferings to the late King his Master , who in the Dukes hearing , sware he would ( after he had heard the Duke against him ) hear him also against the Duke ; for which his Majesty suffered much , or to some such purpose . Now he understandeth this Speech to reflect upon what was in Agitation in the Lower House ; but he said , although he could not well excuse the Dukes indiscretion in that point ; yet he spake it not any ways to corroborate that opinion ; For howsoever the Duke were his enemy , yet he could not think so dishonorably of him . The Answer of the Earl of Bristol to the Articles of several High Treasons , and other great and enormous Crimes , Offences , and Contempts , supposed to be committed by him against our late Soveraign Lord King James of Blessed Memory , deceased , and our Soveraign Lord the Kings Majesty that now is ; wherewith the said Earl is charged by his Majesties Attorney-General , on his Majesties behalf , in the most High and Honorable Court of Parliament , before the King and the Lords there . And not acknowledging any the supposed Treasons , Crimes , Offences , and Contempts , wherewith he is charged in , and by the said Articles to be true ; and saving to himself all advantages , benefit , and exception , to the Incertainty and Insufficiency of the said Articles ; and of the several Charges in them contained : And humbly praying , that his Cause may not suffer for want of Legal form , whereunto he hath not been used , but may be judged according to such real and effectual Grounds and Proofs , as may be accepted from an Ambassador ( the ground of the Charge growing thence ) and that he may have leave to explain himself , and his own meaning in any thing that may seem of a doubtful Construction . For Answer , saith as followeth . I. THe First Article he denieth ; and because the Matters contained in the said Article consist of several parts , viz. The loss of the said Palatinate , and the Match with the said Lady of Spain , and of the several Employments ; as of one Extraordinary Ambassage to the Emperor , and another to the King of Spain , in the years 1621.22 . and 23. He humbly craves leave of this most Honorable Court to separate the businesses , and distinguish the times . And beginning with the Palatinate first , to give an account of his Ambassage to the Emperor , and so to make as brief a Deduction as he could of the whole carriage in that business , from the beginning of his employment to the time he left it in his Ambassage to the Emperor , he propounded all things faithfully according to his Instructions , and the Answers which he returned to his late Majesty of Blessed Memory , were the very same and no other , then such as were given by the Emperor under his Hand and Imperial Seal ; the which , according to his duty , he faithfully sent unto his said Majesty , and withal did honestly and truly advertise his said Majesty what he understood and thought then upon the place ; but was so far from giving to his Majesty any ill-grounded hopes in that behalf , that he wrote unto the Lords of the Council here in England from Vienna , 26 Iuly , 1624. in such sort as followeth . I Am further to move your Lordships , That there may be a Dispatch made presently into Spain to his Majesties Ambassador , and Mr. Cottington , that they deal effectually for the repairing and ripening of the business against my coming ; that they use some plain and direct Language , letting the Ministers there know , That the late Letter sent by the King of Spain to the Emperor , was colder and more reserved then his Master had reason to expect . I shall conclude with telling your Lordships , That although I dispair not of good success in that knotty business , yet I hope his Majesty and your Lordships , lay not aside the care of all fitting preparations for a War , in case a Peace cannot be honorably had . And amongst other things , I most earnestly commend unto your Lordships , by your Lordships unto his Majesty , the continuing yet abroad for some small time of Sir Robert Mansels Fleet upon the Coasts of Spain ; which , in case his Majesty should be ill used , will prove the best Argument we can use for the Restitution of the Palatinate . And this his Advice , he saith , was wholly intended by his Actions , by being the cause as he returned homeward out of Germany , to bring down Count Mansfield , whereby the Town of Frankendale was relieved by supplying of his Majesties Army then in great distress , with Moneys and Plate , to the value of 10000 l. meerly out of his zeal and affection to the good of the King and his Children , having no Warrant or Order , but that his heart was ever really bent in effects more then in shews , to serve the Kings Son-in-law and his cause , as by the discourse of this business will appear . And how acceptable these Services were , will more appear by the Letters of the Queen of Bohemia , in these words following . My Lord , HAving understood from Heidelburgh , how you have shewed your affection to the King and me in all things , and in the help of Money you have lent our Soldiers ; I cannot let so great Obligation pass , without giving many thanks for it by these lines , since I have no other means to shew my gratefulness unto you : Howsoever assure your self that I will never be forgetful of the Testimonies you give me of your love , which I intreat you to continue , in doing the King and me , all good Offices you can to his Majesty . You have been an eye-witness of the miserable estate our Countreys are in ; I intreat you therefore to solicite his Majesty for our help , you having given me an assurance of your affection . I intreat you now to shew it in helping of us by your good endeavors to his Majesty , and you shall ever binde me to continue as I am already Your very affectionate Friend ELIZABETH . Which Letters were seconded with others about the same time , both from the King of Bohemia and Council of Heidelburgh , to the same effect : And how much satisfaction his late Majesty received in that behalf , and touching that business , will plainly appear several ways , and particularly by his Speech in Parliament . And the said Earl likewise appealeth to both Houses of Parliament , to whom by his late Majesties Order , he gave a just and true accompt of that employment , with what true zeal he proceeded ; and how he pressed , that single Treaty and Promises no longer be relied on , but that a fitting preparation for War might go along hand in hand with any Treaty of Accommodation . And for a conclusion , among many of his late Majesties approbations of his carriage in this employment , he humbly desireth that a Letter of the Duke of Buckinghams under his own hand , bearing date the Eleventh of October , 1621. may be produced , being as followeth . My Lord , I Am exceeding glad that your Lordship hath carried your self so well in this employment , that his Majesty is infinitely pleased for your Service you have done ; for which he commanded me to give your Lordship thanks in his Name , until he see you himself . You of all men have cause to commend his Majesties choice of such a man , that unless your heart had gone with the business , you could never have brought it to so good a pass . Amongst other things , his Majesty liketh very well the care of clearing his Honor , whereof he will advise further with your Lordship at your next coming over . I hope you will not finde your Negotiation with the Infanta of such difficulty as you seem to fear in your Letter , seeing my Brother Edward hath brought with him a Letter from his Majesties Son in Law , whereby he putteth himself solely to his Majesties advice and pleasure for his Submission , as you will perceive by the Copy of the Letter it self , which I here send your Lordship ; wherein though there be many things impertinent , yet of that point you may make good use for the accomplishment of the business , wherein I have written to the Spanish Ambassador to use his Means and Credit likewise ; which I assure my self he will effectually do , especially seeing the impediments are taken away by Count Mansfields Composition , and the Conformity of his Majesties Son in Law to this Submission . For the Money your Lordship hath so seasonably laid forth , his Majesty will see you shall sustain no loss , holding it very unconscionable you should suffer by the care of his Service ; which you have shewed so much to his contentment , to the great joy of your Lordships faithful Servant . Geo. Buckingham . Having given this Accompt of his employment with the Emperor , he humbly craveth leave to make it known in what sort before this his employment he endeavored to serve the Prince Palatine and his Cause , which will best appear by his Majesties own Testimony , upon the going of Sir Francis Nethersole to the Prince Palatine ; at which time his Majesty being out of his Royal and just heart , desirous to do a faithful Servant right , commanded Sir Francis Nethersole to let the Prince Palatine understand how good a Servant the said Earl had been unto him , and how Active in his Affairs , as will best appear by a Dispatch of Sir Francis Nethersole , written all with his own hand to Sir George Calvert , dated in Prague August 11. 1620 , and sent by his late Majesty to the said Earl for his comfort , being as followeth . Right Honorable , THat you may be the better assured , that I have neither forgotten nor neglected the Commandments received from his Majesty by your Honor ; you will be pleased to have the patience to hear me report what I said to this King upon the delivery of my Lord Deputies Letters to his Majesty ; which was , That the King my Master , whose Iustice is so renowned over the World , did use to shew it in nothing more then in vindicating his Servants from wrongfull Opinions , whereof he knew noble hearts more sensible then of Injuries done to their Persons or Fortunes ; That out of his Royal Disposition his Majesty having found my Lord Digby mistaken by some of his own people at home , by occasion of his being by him employed in the Affairs with Spain , having thereupon conceived a jealousie that the same noble Lord might be also misreported , hitherto his Majesties hands in that respect gave me a particular commandment to assure his Majesty , he had not a more truly affectionate Servant in England : And for proof thereof , to let his Majesty understand , That whereas the Baron of Doncaster , now his Majesties Ambassador for England , had since his coming hither obtained but three great Boons for his Majesties service ; viz. The Loan of Money from the King of Denmark , the Contribution in England of the City and Countries , and the sending Ambassadors to the contrary parties , that my Lord Digby had been the first propounder of all those to the King my Master , before his Majesties Ambassador , or any other of his servants in England ; although his Lordship were contented that others who were but set on should carry away the thanks and prayers , because his Lordship being known to be the first mover therein might possibly weaken the credit he hath in Spain , and to render himself the more valuable to serve both his own Master and his Majesty ; in which respect I humbly prayed his Majesty to keep this to himself . By which testimony it may appear , as the said Earl conceiveth , how he the said Earl bestowed himself before his Ambassage , and in his said Ambassage with his said late Majesties approbation thereof . Now he humbly craveth leave to give your Lordships accompt how he proceeded after his return from the Emperors Court. Assoon as he came into England , he discovered unto his Majesty and the Lords of the Councel , in what great wants he had left the Forces in the Palatinate , and sollicited the present sending away of money ; thereupon Thirty thousand pound was borrowed of Sir Peter Vanlore , Sir Baptist Hicks , and Sir William Cortine , and presently sent unto the Palatinate , besides the Ten thousand pounds which he lent for which he paid the interest out of his Purse for six moneths , having also given not long before Five hundred pounds by way of benevolence to the service of the said Palatinate . Now in the interim betwixt his return from the English Coasts , which was in November 1621 , and his going into Spain in May 1622 , he first gave his Accompt as aforesaid of his Ambassage to both Houses of Parliament , and moved them as effectually as was possible for the supplying of his Majesty , and that the money might wholly be imployed for the Succor of the Palatinate . The Parliament being dissolved , he sollicited with great care and industry the setling of some Course for the supplying of the Palatinate , and his Majesty was perswaded to maintain Eight thousand Foot and Sixteen hundred Horse under his own Standard , and at his own purse in the Palatinate , to establish a certain course for due payment of the said Army : The Lord Chichester was upon the said Earls motion sent for out of Ireland , and the said Earl by his Majesties command took order for his Dispatch . In this estate the said Earl left his Affairs at his departure towards Spain in May 1622 , nothing doubting but that all things would have effectually constantly been pursued , according to the order which was setled and resolved on at his departure . At his arrival at the Court of Spain he presently proceeded according to his Instructions , pressing the business of the Palatinate as effectually as he could , and faithfully labored and effected from time to time ( as far as to the point of Negotiation ) all particulars that were given him in charge , as it will appear by his late Majesties Letters upon every particular occasion ; and if by the accidents of War for that Summer , the Marquess of Baden , the Count Mansfield , and the Duke of Brunswick received each of them an overthrow , ( the ordering of whose Affairs his Majesty so far complained of to his Son-in-law , as to give order for the withdrawing of his Forces , as will appear by his Majesties Letters on the third of Iune 1622 , and also by his Letters unto Sir Horace Vere , and the Lord of Chichester of the same date , if there were not a speedy redress ) if by any of those accidents those businesses have miscarried , the said Earl hopes he shall not be liable to the blame , it having no relation to him , or to his imployment , having so far and so honestly with his best affections imployed his care and utmost services in the businesses , as his Majesty was pleased by many several Letters upon several Actions to signifie his gracious acceptance of his service , as in his Letters of November 24. 1622. written as followeth ; Viz. Your Dispatches are in all points so full , and in them we receive so good satisfaction , as in this we shall not need to inlarge any further , but onely tell you , we are well pleased with this diligent and discreet imployment of your endeavors , and all that concerneth our service ; so are we likewise with the whole proceedings of our Ambassador Sir Walter Aston . Thus we bid you heartily farewel . Newmarke● , Novemb. 24 ▪ 1622. And afterwards his Majesty was likewise pleased in his Letters of 8 Ianuary 1622. a little before our gracious Soveraign Lord the King , then Prince , his coming into Spain ; Viz. as followeth . Concerning that knotty and unfortunate Affair of the Palatinate , to say the truth , as things stand , I know not what you could have done more then you have done already . And whereas it is objected , the Palatinate should be lost by the hopes he the said Earl gave by his Letters out of Spain , it is an Objection of impossibility ; for there was nothing left but Mainheim and Frankendale when his first Letters out of Spain could possibly come to his late Majesties hands ; for he did not begin to Negotiate that business until August 1622. and about that time Heidelberg , and all but Mainheim and Frankendale was lost ; and Mainheim he had saved by his industry , had it not been so suddenly delivered , as is by his Majesty acknowledged by Letters of 24 November 1622. written thus ; Viz. And howsoever the Order given to the Infanta for the relief of Mainheim arrived too late , and after the Town was yielded to Tilly ; yet must we acknowledge it to be a good effect of your Negotiation , and an Argument of that Kings sincere and sound intention . And Frankendale being by the said Earls means once saved , was again the second time saved meerly by the said Earls industry ; and procuring a Letter from the King of Spain , dated the second of February 1623. whereupon followed the Treaty of Sequestration , which hath since continued ▪ And he the said Earl was so far from hindring Succors by any Letter or Counsel of his , that he was the Sollicitor , and in great part the procurer of most of the Succors that had been sent thither , as is formerly set down . And when his Royal Majesty that now is , and the Duke of Buckingham arrived at the Court of Spain , they found the Business of the Palatinate in so fair a way , that the Spanish Ministers told them , the King should give his late Majesty a Blank , in which we might frame our own Conditions ; and the same he confirmeth unto us now ; and the like touching this Blank was likewise acknowledged by the Duke of Buckingham in his Speech in Parliament , after the return of his Majesty out of Spain . And it will appear by the Testimony of Sir Walter Aston , and by his and the said Earls Dispatches , that the said Earl wanted not industry , and zeal in the business ; insomuch as the last Answer the said Earl procured herein from the King of Spain , was fuller then he the said Earl was ordered by his late Majesties latest Letters to insist upon . So as by that which hath been alledged , the said Earl hopeth your Lordships will be satisfied , not onely that he wanted neither will nor industry , but that he hath with all true zeal and affection , and with his own means faithfully served their Majesties , and the Prince Palatine in this Cause : And for assurance in that Affair , he had all that could be between Christian Princes ; and if in the said Assurances there hath been any deceit , as by the said Article is intimated , which he never knew nor believed , he referred it to God to punish their wickedness : For betwixt Princes there can be no greater Tye then their Words , their Hands , and Seals , all which he procured in that behalf ; and both the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston were so confident that the business would be ended to his late Majesties satisfaction , that in a joynt Dispatch to his late Majesty of 24 November 1623. after his now Majesties return into England , they wrote as followeth ; Viz. We hope that your Majesty may , according to your desire signified to me the Earl of Bristol by the Letters of October 8 , give to your Majesties Royal Daughter this Christmas the comfortable news of the near expiring of her great troubles and sufferings , as unto the Prince your Son the congratulation of being arrived to a most excellent Princess . And having thus given your Lordships an Accompt of his Proceedings touching the Palatinate , he will by your Lordships good favors proceed to the other part of that Charge concerning the Marriage . And first touching his hopes and assurances that he is charged to have given to his late Majesty and Ministers of State here in England , of the Spaniards real proceedings in the said Match , when he said he knew they never meant it : He saith , he never gave any hopes of their proceedings , but such , and the very same that were first given to him , without adding or diminishing ; neither could he have done otherwise either with honesty or safety . And he further saith , That the hopes he gave were not upon any Intelligence ; but as well in that of the Match , as the other of the Palatinate , his Advertisements were grounded upon all the Assurances both of Words and Writing , that could possibly pass between Christians ; as will be made evidently appear by his Dispatch of 9 September 1623 ; which he humbly desires may be read , if the length of it may not displease . The substance being to shew all the Engagements and Promises of the King of Spain , that he really intended the Match . And the causes why the Conde Olivares pretended to the Duke of Buckingham , that the Match was not formerly meant , was onely thereby to free himself from Treating any longer with the said Earl , to the end that he might treat for larger Conditions in point of Religion with the said Duke : The said Conde Olivares taking advantage of having the Person of his Majesty , then Prince , in his hands . And with this Dispatch the said Earl acquainted his Majesty that now is , in Spain before he sent it . And by this Dispatch the Earl doubteth not but that it will appear to this Honorable Court , that whilest the Treating of this business was in hand , he proceeded in that , not onely with care and industry , but with some measure of vigilancy . And for clearing an Objection that hath been alleadged , that the Match was never meant before the Dukes coming into Spain , nor after ; the Earl craveth leave to set down some few Reasons of many , which caused him to believe that the said Match was , and had been really meant , and that it was so conceived by both their Majesties , and the King of Spain , and their Ministers on both sides . For first , The Duke of Buckingham certified his late Majesty , that the business of the Marriage was brought to a happy Conclusion ; whereupon his late Majesty was pleased to give order to the Duke and Earl to proceed in the Business , which his said Majesty would not have Treated till the said Marriage was concluded , as will appear by a Letter of his said late Majesty joyntly to the Duke of Buckingham and the said Earl , of the 23 Iuly , 1623. Secondly , It will appear by Letters of the said Lord Conway to the Duke of Buckingham , bearing date September 4. 1623. That the said Duke had good assurance of the Conclusion of the said Match ; and upon this confidence were all things put in due execution in England , as had been Capitulated ; And the Lord Conway and others faithfully agreed , and setled all the Points of Immunity and Liberty for the Roman Catholicks , for the use of their Religion , as was set down in the Declaration , August 9. 1623. hereafter mentioned in the Answers to the Fifth Article of this Charge . Thirdly , the very day his now Majesty and the Duke of Buckingham departed from the Escurial in Spain towards England , the said Duke solemnly swore the Treaty of the said Marriage , and the furtherance of it all that should be in his power , upon the holy Evangelists , in the presence of the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston . Fourthly , The Treaty of the said Marriage had been formerly signed , sealed , and solemnly sworne by the King of Spain : And when his Majesty and that King took their leaves , he did solemnly in the words of a King faithfully and punctually protest to perform all that had been capitulated in the Treaty of Marriage ; and thereupon imbraced his Majesty at his departure , and sent the very next day a Letter written all with his own hand to his Majesty , vowing and protesting to make all good that he had capitulated or promised unto his Majesty at his departure the day before . So that if there were no true meaning on the part of Spain to make the Marriage , as by Mr. Attorney is pretended , yet certainly the Earl hath not been sleightly deceived ; neither can it be , as he conceiveth , any fault in him , since not only his late Majesty , but also his Majesty that now is and the Duke of Buckingham being then both upon the place , did confidently believe , and that upon other grounds then misinformations , suggestions and perswasions of the said Earl , that the Marriage was really intended : And to that effect both his late Majesty of blessed memory , and his most Excellent Majesty that now is , after his return into England , wrote unto him the said Earl several Letters , assuring him that their intents and pleasures were to have the said Match proceeded in , and thereupon the Proxies of his Majesty then Prince were again inrolled and sent unto the said Earl. So that the said Earl having so many , and so great causes to be assured that the Match was really intended on both sides , he conceiveth it will be hard for Mr. Attorney to make good that part of his Charge , wherein he affirmeth that the Earl should know the contrary , or the Assurance to be upon false grounds , as in the said Article is alleadged . II. To the Second Article , He directly denieth all the supposed Offences wherewith he stands charged by the said Article . And for a clear declaration and manifestation of the truth and manner of his proceedings , He saith , First , as to the continuing the Treaties upon Generalities , That the Temporal Articles were by Agreements on both sides not to be treated or setled , until such time as the Articles of Religion were fully agreed on ; For that it was held most proper and honorable for both sides , first to see if the Difficulty of Religion might be removed , before they passed to any further Engagements . And the said Articles of Religion , by reason of the Popes new Demands sent into England by Mr. Gage , were not signed nor condescended unto by his late Majesty , nor his Majesty that now is , then Prince , until Ian. 5. 1622. and were then sent away in Post out of England to the said Earl by Mr. Simon Digby , who arrived with them at Madrid in Spain about the 25. of the same moneth . But the Earls care was such to have no time spent in the setling of the Temporal Articles ; that before he would condescend so much as de bene esse unto the Articles of Religion , that they should be sent back to Rome , he procured the King of Spain to promise , That within the time limited for procuring the Desponsories , which was by March or April following the furthest , all the Temporal Articles should be setled and agreed , to the end that the Infanta might be delivered at the Spring ; as by the King of Spain his Answer in writing , was declared to be the Kings intention . And accordingly Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl did not deal in general , but did most industriously labor to settle all in particular , viz. That the Portion should be Two Millions , it appearing that it was so agreed by the late King of Spain : That the Dispensation coming , the Desponsories should be within Forty days after ; And that Don Duarte de Portugal should be the man that should attend the Infanta in the Journey . And all other Particulars necessary for the Conclusion of the said Treaties , were by Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl , and the Spanish Commissioners , drawn up into heads in writing , and after many Debates they were consulted with that King ; and 2 Martii 1623. stilo vet . the Conde Gondomar , and the Secretary Don Andreas de Prada , were appointed to come home to the house of the said Earl , to signifie unto Sir Walter Aston and himself , as they did , That the King of Spain had declared his resolution in all the Particulars , and given them order to come to a speedy Conclusion with them in all things : And that Kings Answer to that Conclusion the Earl saw , and read all written with the King of Spain's own hand . On the seventh day of the said moneth of March 1623. the Kings ▪ Majesty , then Prince , and the Duke of Buckingham arrived at Madrid ; And then the Spaniards took new laws , and the Negotiation was put into a new form . So that whereas it is objected against the Earl , that he entertained and continued the Treaties so long upon Generalities ; He conceives it is not meant upon the Spiritual Articles , for they were such as were sent from Rome into England , and from thence they came to the Earl : And for the Temporal Articles , they were not to be setled and treated , till the Articles of Religion were concluded . He conceiveth it cannot be alleadged with any colour , that his Majesty was entertained with Generalities , since the time that the said Articles of Religion were brought unto the said Earl by Mr. Simon Digby , being about the 25. of Ianuary . There were but six weeks until March 7. following , when his Majesty then Prince arrived in Madrid ; and in the interim all the above-mentioned Particulars were setled : And the time that hath been spent in this Treaty hath not been through his the said Earls default in continuing upon Generalities without pressing to Particulars , but hath been caused as well by Difficulties which the business brought with it , as also with exterior Accidents , viz. The Wars of Bohemia , the death of two Popes and of the late King of Spain , without the least fault of the said Earl , as is acknowledged by his late Majesty of blessed memory , in the said Earl his Instructions on the 14. of March 1621. Neither could any delay herein be attributed unto him the said Earl ; For he was imployed in those times into Germany and Flanders , and Sir Walter Aston and Sir Francis Cottington for the space of three or four years were resident in Spain ; from whence the hopes they gave were upon all the discreet grounds that Ministers can expect from a State : But the Earl reassumed this business six moneths before his Majesties coming into Spain ; and he was so desirous to see his Majesty then Prince bestowed , that he pressed nothing so much both to the King and Prince , as that the Prince might lose no more time , and rather to break the Match with Spain then suffer any further delays ; as will appear by his Dispatches from his first arrival at the Court of Spain , until his Majesties then Prince his coming . For in his Letters of Iune 20. 1622. being the first he wrote after his first Audience , he was so desirous that no time might be lost , that in them he craveth leave of his Majesty , that in case he should find any Delays in Spain , he might without expecting any Order take his leave and come home . Upon the return of Sir Francis Cottington , in September following , he wrote both to the King , and his Majesty then Prince . To the King as followeth . I Shall presume to add to that which Mr. Cottington shall deliver unto your Majesty by word of mouth of the present estate of the Match , what I conceive to be the right way to bring it to a speedy issue : That your Majesty will be pleased positively to declare what you will do in point of Religion , and that you will appoint me a certain limited time by which this King should procure the Dispensation , or conclude the Match without it ; And in case there shall be any further delay therein , that I may then declare your Majesty to be free and disengaged , to bestow the Prince in such sort as you shall judge most convenient . And to the Prince at thesame wrote in these subsequent words , viz. THat which will be necessary for his Majesty presently to do on his Majesties part , is to declare himself how far he will be pleased to yield in point of Religion , as Mr. Cottington will approve unto your Highness : And that he set a prefixed time to break or conclude the Match , either with the Dispensation , or without the same . For the rest , it may be left to my Negotiation : But your Highness may be pleased to hasten his Majesties resolution with all possible speed . And the said Earl saith , That having received from his said late Majesty his resolution in point of Religion , and a limited time according to his desire , he was so precise and punctual therein , that although the making or breaking of the Marriage depended upon it , he would not give one moneths respite longer time for the procuring of the Dispensation , until he had first acquainted his late Majesty therein , and received his Directions under his own hand ; as will appear by his Majesties Letters of Octob. 25. 1622. as followeth . RIght Trusty and welbeloved Cousin and Counsellor , We greet you heartily well . Whereas by your last Letter written to our Secretary , dated Sept. 29. you are desirous to have our pleasure signified unto you under our own hand , Whether we will be content or not to grant a Moneths time longer for the coming of the Dispensation from Rome , then we have already limited unto you , in case they shall there conclude all things else to our contentment , with a Resolution to send the Infanta hither the next Spring : We do hereby declare unto you , that in that case you shall not break with them for a Moneths longer delay . We also wish you not to trouble your self with the rash Censure of other men , in case your business should not succeed ; resting in that full assurance of our Iustice and Wisdom , that we will never judge a good and faithful Servant by the effect of things so contingent and variable . And with this assurance we bid you heartily farewell . And he further saith , That when he had agreed to the Articles of Religion , and that a certain time was set for the coming of the Dispensation , and a Conclusion of the Match , although he would bind himself to nothing without his Majesties approbation , yet for that no time might be lost , he agreed to the Propositions De bene esse , sent by Mr. Porter Decemb. 10. 1622. to the end the Articles might immediately be sent to Rome , without losing so much time as to hear first from England : And humbly moved ; that in case his Majesty should like of the said Articles , he would send his Approbation directly to Rome for the gaining of time ; which his Majesty was pleased to do . And at the same time he wrote both to his said late Majesty , and his Majesty then Prince , as followeth , viz. To his Majesty . This is the true state of the business as it now standeth . If your Majesty approve of what is done , I hope it will be a happy and a short Conclusion : If your Majesty think it not fit to allow and condescend to the said Articles , I have done the uttermost of my endeavors , and shall humbly perswade your Majesty not to lose a day longer in the Treaty , so much it importeth your Majesty and your Kingdoms , that the Prince were bestowed . And to the Prince in Letters of the like date in this sort . I have presumed to write to his Majesty , that which I think my duty to say to your Highness ; That in case you shall not approve of what is now conditionally agreed , you permit not a day more to be lost in this Treaty : For it is of so great consequence that your Highness were bestowed , that it importeth almost as much that you were speedily , as ●itly matched . But I hope his Majesty and your Highness will in such sort approve of this last Agreement , as you will speedily bring this long Treaty to a happy conclusion . I am out of hope of bringing things to any better terms ; therefore I deal clearly with your Highness , and do not only most humbly perswade , but on my knees beg it of you , that you either resolve to conclude this Match as you may , or speedily to break it and bestow your self elswhere ; for no less then the happiness of your Kingdom , and the security of the King your Father and your self depend upon it . All which things being considered , the Earl most humbly submitteth himself to the Judgment of that most high and honorable Court , whether the Delays which accidents have brought forth in this business can be attributed to his fault ; since on the one side it will evidently appear to your Lordships , that be never moved his Majesty and the Prince to admit of delays , but rather to think of some other course ; and it will on the other side appear by all the Dispatches , that he pressed things with the Ministers of Spain to as speedy a conclusion , as the uttermost terms of fair Negotiation and good manners would bear . And whereas it is pretended that the Spaniards should take occasion by entertaining the said Treaties to abuse his said late Majesty , ( which he knoweth not ) yet he saith he used all the vigilancie and industry that a careful Minister could do , and had from the Spaniards all the assurances by oaths , words and writings , which could be expected from Christians ; the which , without adding or diminishing , he faithfully presented unto his said late Majesty ; and his said late Majesty was pleased in those times to conceive upon those assurances , that they dealt really with him : And he conceiveth that his Majesty that now is , then Prince , and the Duke of Buckingham were pleased to write as much to the late Kings Majesty at their first coming into Spain , and that all which the said Earl had written touching that imploiment was there avowed by the Conde Olivarez and Conde Gondomar to the said Prince and Duke , at their arrival at Madrid ; and he hopeth that if that Dispatch may be perused , it will as well appear and be adjudged that he served his Majesty with some measure of vigilancie , as well as fulness of fidelity . III. To the Third Article the said Earl saith , That he did not either by words or by Letters to his late Majesty or his Ministers , extol , or magnifie the greatness and power of the King of Spain , nor represented to his late Majesty the supposed dangers that might ensue unto him , if a War should happen between him and the King of Spain , nor affirmed nor insinuated the same , as in the said Article is mentioned ; but if he did at any time speak or write of the power and greatness of the King of Spain , or represented any danger to his said late Majesty that might ensue by entring into Hostility with the said King of Spain , it was as a faithful Counsellor and Servant to his Majesty by way of his advice and opinion , which he ever delivered sincerely , faithfully , and truly , according to the present occasion , and in no wise with such as intent as in the said Article is mentioned , nor to any other evil intent and purpose whatsoever . But he hath been so far from disswading his late Majesty to take Arms , that he hath upon all just occasions advised , that all fitting preparations for War might be made , as beginning with the year 1621. from which time he is onely charged , will appear by his Speech in Parliament presently after his return out of Germany ; and that he hoped his Majesty would no longer relie upon single Treaties , but make all fitting preparations for War ; and that the Parliament would enable his Majesty thereunto ; and by the care he took before his going again upon his Ambassage into Spain , that the establishment of an Army under his Majesties own Standard , of Horse and Foot , and under his own pay , might be setled and provided for ; as likewise his advice to the Lords of the Council , that his Majesty might have a curb upon the King of Spain upon all occasions , by continuing of Sir Robert Mansfields Fleet upon the Coasts of Spain , as will appear by his Letter written from Vienna , 26 Iuly , 1621. mentioned in the Answer to the first Article . By all which it appeareth , That he labored and endeavored as much as in him lay , that his Majesty might be well prepared for any occasions of War that should happen . And he no way remembreth to have discouraged , or to have spoken or written any thing that might have been understood to have tended to the discouraging of his said late Majesty for the taking of Arms , and entring into hostility with Spain , or for resisting of him and his Forces , from attempting the Invasions of his late Majesties Dominions , or the Dominions of his late Majesties Confederates , Friends , or Allies , as by the said Article is charged against him ; neither remembreth that he had any cause so to do . But if he have in any kinde spoken or written of Spain , or the power thereof , it may have been to his late Majesty , or his Majesty that now is , by way of discourse , speaking of the solidness of the Spanish proceedings , of their serious and deliberate debating of business before they resolve on them , of the constant pursuing of them when they are once resolved , wishing that England and other Nations would therein imitate them : For he supposeth the right way to impeach their greatness , was to grow as wise as they , and to beat them at their own Weapons . But otherwise he is confident never to have been heard to speak or write any thing that might give any terror or discouragement , to his late Majesty or his cheif Ministers , knowing that England well-ordered , need to take little terror at the power of Spain , having almost in all attempts and enterprises won honor upon them . And as for the preventing of dangers that might ensue upon a War , though he knew not what is aimed at in that particular ; yet he is most confident out of the Integrity of his own Conscience , That he neither said , nor advised any thing but what befitted a faithful Counsellor and an Ambassador , which was truly to deliver his opinion as he understood it upon the present occasion : And as for affirming that his Majesties quiet should be disturbed , and he not to be permitted to Hawk or to Hunt , he remembreth not what discourse he may have had , or written to any person , how fit it might be upon the being broiled in a great War , seriously to intend it , and to make it our whole work . But as he is confident it will appear , that what discourse soever it might have been , it wanted not true zeal and affection which he hath ever borne to the Kings service . And he hopeth it will not be found to want due respect and reverence on his part , which he ought to shew to so gratious a Master . Neither can it be conceived , that the considerations of Hunting and Fowling , should be considerations worthy so great and prudent a King , to withhold from a War for the good of Christendom , and his Kingdom , if he should have been justly provoked thereunto . IV. To the Fourth Article the said Earl saith , That he did not any thing contrary to his duty and alleagiance , or contrary to the faith and duty of an Ambassador , as by this Article is alleaged , but did intend the service and honor of his late Majesty , and no corrupt and sinister ends of his own advancement , as by this Article is also alleaged . And as for the Conferences which is pretended he should hold concerning the Treaty , That being told there was little probability that the said Treaties would or could have good success , he should acknowledge as much ; and yet said , he cared not what the success thereof might be , but that he would take care to have his Instructions perfect , and to pursue them punctually , and would make his Fortune thereby , or words to that effect ; he doth not ever remember to have held such discourse . Though it be true , the time hath been many years since , when he thought the Match very unlike to be effected , in regard unequal Answers were given in Prince Henries days , and of the unlikelihood of accommodating the differences of Religion . And saith further , That the reviving of the Treaty of the said Match for his Majesty that now is , was not by his means , for he ever declared his opinion clearly , both to his late Majesty and to his Majesty that now is , That in the first place he wished and advised a Protestant Match , but in the duty of a Servant understanding that both their Majesties desired the Match really with Spain , he did really and faithfully intend the service and honor of their Majesties , and effectually endeavored to procure their ends . And it is very likely he might say , he would get his Instructions perfect , and pursue them punctually , as he conceiveth was lawful and fit for him ; but the latter part of this Conference , that he should say he would make his fortune by it , or any other words to that effect ; he was in Anno 1621. and ever since of that rank and quality , both in regard of his Imployments , Fortunes , and his Majesties favors , that he assureth himself he did not , and dares Answer so far for his discretion , That it was impossible for him to hold so mean and unworthy discourse . V. To the Fifth Article he saith , That what is therein alleaged , is so far from being so , that contrarily upon all occasions to the uttermost of his power , he did labor to prevent all the inconveniences in point of Religion that might come by matching with a Princess of a different Religion , as well appeareth by the Paper of his opinion , that his Majesty should marry with a Lady of his own Religion , hereafter mentioned in his Answer to the Seventh Article . And for further proof thereof , he saith , That in the whole Treaty with Spain he stood more strict in points of Religion , then by his Instructions he needed to have done , as will appear by the Testimony of Sir Walter Aston , and his Dispatches of the Twelfth of December , 1622. and other Dispatches , which he desireth may be read . And as for concealing or perswading to set at liberty the Priests or Jesuits , he utterly denieth to have done any such thing , as before he hath answered . Although it be true , that the Ambassage in Spain be far different from the employment in other places , where there is a Body of our Reformed Religion , and whereby his Majesty hath Kinred and Allies ; whereby his Majesties Ministers may be informed of the necessary Occurrents of State , without the helps of Priests or Jesuites . But in Spain there being none but Roman Catholicks , nor any manner of correspondency or intelligence but by them , the Ambassadors must make use of all sorts of people , especially of Jesuites and Priests , and to that end Ambassadors sent thither have a large and particular Warrant under the Kings hand , to treat , and make use of Priests and Jesuites , and all other sorts of men , unless it be such as are proclaimed Rebels : And divers times the Ministers employed in Spain , to gratifie some whom there they employed for the Kings service , have as he believeth , at their partiticular Suit moved his Majesty to extend Grace and Favor to some parcular Friend , and Kinsman of his , being a Roman Catholick , and imprisoned in England ; and that he remembreth to have hapned to others , but doth not remember himself to have written to his late Majesty in that kinde : And as concerning his advice and counsel , to set at liberty Jesuites and Priests , and the granting to the Papists a Toleration , or the silencing of the Laws against them , he said , that his late Majesty was engaged by the Treaty of Madrid , 1617. in divers matters concerning Religion ; likewise by promise to Conde Gondomar , and his Letters to the King of Spain , 17 April , 1620. wherein he is pleased to promise some particulars in favor of Roman Catholicks , as by the said Letters will appear : And notwithstanding the said Earl had sufficient Warrant under the Kings own hand , to assure the King of Spain whatsoever was agreed in the said Article , or in the said Letters , his Majesty would sincerely perform ; yet the said Earl was so cautious in that point , that when for the conclusion of the Match the other Articles of Religion being allowed , it was pressed by the Spanish Ministers , that a Clause of Convenience might be inserted with Protestation , That the form and way thereof should be wholly left to his Majesties wisdom and clemency , and that his Majesties Roman Catholick-Subjects should acknowledge this Grace to have come from the Kings Majesties mercy and goodness : Yet the said Earl would not condescend hereunto De bene esse , as by his Letters to Master Secretary Calvert , 8 October , 1622. will appear , hereby to give his Majesty time to have recourse unto his second Consultation , and to take it into consideration before he would engage or binde himself in this point : But his late Majesty and his Majesty that now is , were pleased to condiscend hereunto by signing the said Articles with their own hands ; and likewise by writing their private Letters of the Eight of Ianuary , 1622. to that effect to the King of Spain , as by the said Letters will appear . Neither did the said Earl by Letters , or otherwise , ever counsel or perswade his late Majesty , to grant or allow unto the Papists or Professors of the Roman Religion a free Toleration , and Silencing of the Laws made and standing in force against them , but ever protested against any such Toleration ; and when any such Provision hath been offered to be made in Spain , he ever refused so much as to give ear to it , or to suffer it to be propounded ; although it be true , that he hath since seen a Paper touching Pardons , Suspensions , and Dispensations for the Roman Catholicks , bearing date the Seventh of August , 1623. signed by the Lord Conway , and others , which in effect is little less then a Toleration ; which Paper is that which followeth . Salisbury , 7 August . 1623. The Declaration touching the Pardons , Suspensions , and Dispensations of the Roman Catholicks . FOr the satisfaction of their Excellencies , the Marquess of Ynojosa , and Don Carlos de Colonia , the Lord Ambassadors for the King of Spain ; and to the end it may appear that his Majesty of Great Britain will presently and really put in execution the Grace promised and intended to the Roman Catholicks his Majesties Subjects , and of his own Grace more then he is tyed to by the Articles of Treaty of Marriage . We do declare in his Majesties Name , That his Majesties will and pleasure is , that a Legal and Authentical Pardon shall be passed under the Great Seal , wherein shall be freely pardoned all those Penalties , Forfeitures , and Seisures , Indictments , Convictments , and Incumbrances whatsoever , whereunto the Roman Catholicks are lyable or have been proceeded against , or might be , as well Priests , as others , for matters of Conscience onely , and to which the rest of his Majesties Subjects are not liable . And to the end his Majesty may make himself clearly understood , where it shall happen that any of those Forfeitures and Pecuniary Mul●s have béen given away under his Majesties Great Seal , his Majesty will not hide that it is not in his power so to make void those Letters Patents , except they be voidable by Law ; and then his Majesty is well pleased that all Roman Catholicks may in these Cases plead in Law , if they finde it good , and shall have equal and legal Tryal . And his Majesty is likewise pleased that his General Pardon shall remain in being Five years , to the end , all that will may in that time take it out ; and his Majesty will give order for the comfort of the poorer sort , that the Pardon shall not be costly , but such like course shall be taken as was in a like occasion at his majesties coming into England ; and that it shall be lawful to put as many as can be possible into one Pardon . And we do further Declare , That his Majesties will and pleasure is , to the end the Roman Catholicks his Majesties Subjects , may have a present and a frée fruition of as much as is intended them by the Articles of Treaty of Marriage , to cause a present Suspension under his Majesties Seal of all those Penal Laws , Charges , and Forfeitures , whereunto the Roman Catholick Subjects of his Majesty have heretofore béen subject , and to which the rest of his Majesties Subjects have not béen liable ; and in the same Grant and under the same Seal , to give a Dispensation and Toleration to all the Roman Catholicks his Majesties Subjects , as well Priests , as Temporal persons and others , of and from all the Penalties , Forfeitures , Troubles , and Incumbrances , which they have béen or may be subject to , by reason of any Statute or Law whatsoever , to the observation whereof , the rest of his Majesties Subjects are not bound . We do likewise declare , That his Majesty hath promised in his Royal Word , that the execution shall be no ways burthensome or penal to the Roman Catholicks , but that for the manner of priviledging , and fréeing them from that , he must confer with Bishops and Advocates , into which he will presently enter and expedite by all means . And we do further declare , That his Majesties intention is presently to pursue his former Directions ( which had béen before executed , if their Excellencies had so thought good ) to put under his Seal severally the said Pardon , and Suspension , and Dispensation ; and that his Majesties Attorney , and learned Council shall have referred to them the charge to pen them with all those effectual words , clauses , expressions , and reservations , which may presently give fruition to the Roman Catholicks his Majesties Subjects , and make them inviolable in the fruition of all that is intended and promised by his Majesty in the Articles of Marriage , and his Majesties further Grace . And we do declare , That his Majesties further will and pleasure is , for the better satisfaction and discharge of the care and endeavor of their Excellencies the Ambassadors , that it shall be lawful to them to assign a discréet person to entertain such sufficient Lawyers as shall be thought sit to take care to the strength , validity , and security of the said Grants ; and his Majesties Attorney shall have charge to receive and admit the said Lawyers to the sight and judgment of the said Draughts , and in any doubts to give them satisfaction , or to use such legal , necessary , and pertinent words and phrases , as he the said Lawyer shall propound for the security of the Roman Catholicks , and sure making of the said Grants . And we do further declare , That his Majesties pleasure is , to make a Dispatch into Ireland un●o his Deputy there , by the hands of the Lord Treasurer and Secretary of State , Sir George Calvert , for the present confirming and sealing the things concerning the Roman Catholicks answerable to the Articles of Treaty , his Royal Promise and Procéedings here . And for Scotland , That his Majesty according to the constitution of his Affairs there , and regard to the Publick good , and peace of that Kingdom , and as soon as possible , will do all that shall be convenient for the accomplishment of his Promise in Grace and Favor of the Roman Catholicks his Subjects , conformable to the Articles of Treaty of Marriage . But this Declaration , the said Earl saith and affirmeth was the effect of the Duke of Buckinghams Negotiation , and treated and concluded by the Lord Conway with the Spanish Ambassador here , whilst the Prince was in Spain ; neither was his privity or advice in it : For if he had known it , he should have protested against it . All which , together with the difference betwixt the Conditions of Religion agreed at the Treaty of Madrid , 12 December , 1622. by the said Earl , and the said Sir Walter Aston , being by their Lordships considered , the said Earl doubteth not but it will manifestly appear whose endeavor it was to advance the Romish Religion , and the Professors thereof ; and judge the said Earl most unfortunate to be charged with an Article of this kinde . VI. To the Sixth Article the Earl saith , That the Assurances which he gave his late Majesty , and his Majesty that now is , concerning the Treaties , were such , That it had been dishonesty and breach of his duty and trust , for him to have held them back , being the same that were given him by the Emperor , and the King of Spain , and their Ministers , upon as great Assurances as can pass between Ministers of Princes in the like case . And for the Delays of Spain , they could be never so ill , and with so little colour complained of , as at the time of his Majesties coming thither ; for that a certain time was before then prefixed for the coming of the Dispensation , viz. in April , 1623. at the furthest , which was the next moneth after the Princes arival at Madrid ; the Desponsories were to be within four days following , and the Infanta to begin her journey into England twenty days after : So as three moneths patience longer would have shewed the issue of the business without putting of the person of the Prince , being Heir-Apparant to the Crown , in so eminent a hazard for the trying of an experiment . And it is an argument of great suspition , because the Spaniards were suspected to have dealt falsly , and so the less to be trusted with the person of the Prince , to be put into their hands to try conclusions : But the truth is , though that were made the pretended ground , and the occasion of the journey , it was neither the Assurances of the said Earl , nor the Jealousies of Spain , but other Motives that were the original cause of his Majesties said journey , as shall be sufficiently made apparent in due time . And the said Earl having got an inkling of it by something that was let fall from the Conde Gondomar to that purpose , instantly dispatched away Mr. Grisley to his late Majesty to have this journey prevented ; who upon the Confines of France , met with his Majesty and the Duke of Buckingham on his journey towards Spain , and told them as much . So that although he confesseth what is laid in the Charge to be true , viz. That by the said journey , the person of the Prince , the peace and safety of the Kingdom did undergo further danger ( at the remembrance thereof the hearts of all good Subjects do tremble ) yet the blame is due to the Authors and Advisers of the same journey , and not to the said Earl : And although it pleased God , to the exceeding great joy and comfort of the said Earl , and of all good men , to send his gratious Majesty home with safety ; yet never was the person of any Prince , upon such grounds , exposed to so great an hazard , and in such Cases ; not the Success but the Counsellors , are considerable . VII . To the Seventh Article the said Earl saith , That he did not move or perswade his Majesty , then Prince , to change his Religion , neither in the manner in the said Article mentioned , nor in any other manner whatsoever : Neither doth he conceive , that the charge in it self as it is laid , will in any reasonable construction bear any such inference as is made therein ; so as he conceiveth he needeth not make any further or other Answer thereunto . Yet that it may appear that the manner he used to the said Prince , was not traiterously , falsly , or cunningly , nor without ground , or to any such intent as in the said Article is supposed . And to manifest unto this most high and honorable Court , how far he was from all such intention , he saith , That he doth acknowledge that within few days after his Majesties coming into Spain , whilst he had that great honor to have his Majesty lodged in his House , and to have so Royal a Guest , finding by the Spanish Ministers , That there was a general opinion , that his Majesties coming thither was with an intention to become a Roman Catholick ; and the Conde Gondomar having that very morning pressed the Earl not to hinder so pious a work ( as he termed it ) of his Majesties Conversion , and seeming to be assured of the Duke of Buckinghams assistance therein , his Majesty being all alone in a withdrawing Room in the said Earl his House , the said Earl kneeled unto him , and told him , That he had a business to impart unto him , which highly imported his Majesty to know , so that he might be assured his boldness therein might be pardoned ; which his Majesty gratiously promised . And thereupon the said Earl told his Majesty , That the general opinion of that Court was , that his Majesties coming into Spain , was with an intention to be a Roman Catholick , and there to declare it . And he confesseth , That at the same time in regard of those things he had heard , he humbly besought his Majesty to deal freely with him as a Servant , of whose fidelity he might be confident , or words to that effect : But he was so far from perswading his Majesty to be a Roman Catholick , that without respecting his Majesties Answer , he declared himself to be a Protestant , and so should always continue ; yet he said he should always serve his Majesty , and labor to advance his and the King his Fathers affairs , with as much fidelity and honesty , as any Catholick whatsoever : And his Majesty was pleased then to make unto the said Earl a full and clear Declaration of his Religion , and of his constant resolution therein ; and seemed to be much displeased , that any should have so unworthy an opinion of him , as to think he would for a Wife , or any other Earthly respect whatsoever , so much as waver in his Religion . Whereupon the said Earl besought his Majesty to pardon his boldness , and then intreated him not to suffer his business to be overthrown by permitting that conceit of his Conversion any longer to remain in the Spaniards , nor do any thing that might give them hope therein , alleaging , That it was impossible the Marriage could be without a Dispensation ; and so long as the Spaniards , who were to procure the Dispensation , should have hope of his Majesties Conversion , they would never content themselves with a part ; to which they were tied by the Articles agreed upon with the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston . At which time his Majesty was pleased to approve of his opinion , and said he would expect the Dispensation , and did thereupon afterwards send Mr. Andrews to Rome to hasten it ; and the next day the said Earl dealt very roundly with the Conde Olivares and Gondomar , telling them it was a discourteous manner of proceeding to press his Majesty to further Conditions then were formerly agreed upon in point of Religion , and to make his Conditions the worse , for the great Obligation he had put upon them by putting himself into their hands ; whereat they took such great offence , that they estranged themselves from him for a long time after . And that the said Earl did thus proceed with the said Condes , and that it was not a new framed Answer to satisfie present Objections ; but that which really , and indeed passed , will really appear by his Dispatches unto his late Majesty of Blessed Memory ; and before his Majesty that now is came out of Spain , they were there shewed unto his Majesty , bearing date the Nineth of September , 1623. So that although it be true , That he the said Earl did not disswade his Majesty , for that there was no cause for it ; yet without expecting his Majesties Answer , he first made a clear and true Profession of his own Religion : And when his Majesty had declared to him his zeal and constancy , he humbly besought him , That the Spaniards might not for any respect be longer held in hopes of that point . And because point of Religion is that which all men of honor and honesty should cheifly desire to clear , especially having an imputation of that nature laid upon them , as the said Earl hath in the said Article , He humbly beseecheth your Lordships , that he may not seem to digress from his Charge ; intending your Lordships satisfaction in that particular , not by the aforesaid verbal discourse onely , which he professeth was in much zeal to Religion and dutiful care to the Prince in that kinde , but by some written Testimony of his former Opinion both of the Match and Religion . When he was first employed into Spain for the Treaty of this Marriage , 1617. his late Majesty having commanded him to give an accompt thereof unto his Majesty that now is , he at his departure towards Spain , presumed to give unto his Majesty that now is , his opinion in Writing , signed with his own hand to be kept as a testimony of future Actions , the Copy whereof is this as followeth . SIR , THe Opinion which I have ever presumed humbly to offer unto his Majesty concerning your Highness Marriage , hath been , that both in regard of Conscience and satisfaction unto his Majesties People and Alleys ; likewise for the security and quiet of your Majesties estates , Your Highness might take for Wife some Protestant Princess , although she neither were Daughter to a King , nor had so ample a Portion as might relieve the Kings present Necessities and Wants ; for then there might be many ways found to help the Kings wants , either by some few years providence , and frugality , or by winning the affections of the people to the supplying of his Majesty by way of Subsidies in Parliament ; whereas contrariwise , if the number and power of the Papists shall be increased , as undoubtedly they will be by your Highness matching with any Catholick Princess , through the Concession which must be of necessity for the exercise of her Religion for her self and Family , within your Highness Courts , and thereby by degrees these two different Religions shall grow to an equality of power ; it will be of great hazard and disquiet to the State , and not to be redressed without great danger , and courses of more violence , then is usual for this State to put in practice . But in case his Majesty out of his wisdom and consideration , best known to himself , hold it fittest that your Majestie match with France , or Spain , or any other Catholick , either for that the present time affordeth no Protestant Princess , who is for years or Blood suitable for your Highness , or that can in any considerable measure by the portion , supply his Majesties present wants , I then conceive that the Match by which this State shall suffer least inconveniency and cumbers , and whereby his Majesties necessities shall by the greatness of the Portion be the most relieved , is with Spain , is such a Match may be made with such Conditions of Religion , as other Catholick Princes will contract themselves withall . Thus much I thought sit humbly to present unto your Highness , for that I see my Imployment liable to the Censure of many worthy Persons , with whom though I concur in my Opinion , yet I seem much to differ from them many ways ; For that it is more proper to me to be true to my Masters ends and services , then by declaring this to procure their satisfaction : Only to your Highness I thought fit to make this Declaration ; and shall be a Suitor to you for your favor , as you shall see me really labor to put this in effect . And if his Majesty shall either upon motion of Parliament , or any other Proposition that can be made unto him , think it fit to proceed with a Protestant Match , as I shall wish as well unto it as any man living , so I hope in such sort to manage the present business that I have in hand , that it shall rather much further , then any way cross or hinder it . But in case his Majesty shall not be drawn to any Proposition for a Protestant Match , I then conceive that your Highness both doth , and will approve , that I really and effectually labor to procure a Match for your Highness in Spain , upon such Conditions in point of Religion and Portion , as to his Majesty shall seem fit . Besides which Declaration of his Opinion , He hath all the days of his life , and in all places , lived and allowed himself to be a Protestant , never having done any the least act that was not suitable to that Profession : And in all his former Imployments for the space of Fourteen years , of more then Five hundred persons of all qualities that attended on him , there was never any perverted in his Religion , saving two Irish Footmen , who in Ireland had been bred Papists . And he humbly desireth the Testimony of Doctor Mason and Doctor Wren , his Majesties Chaplains , who were with his Majesty in Spain , and of Master Sampford one of the Prebends of Canterbury , Master Boswell Parson of S. Laurence in London , and Master Frewen Divinity-Reader in Magdalen-Colledge in Oxford , and now one of his Majesties Chaplains , who were his Majesties Chaplains in Spain ; as well for the frequent use of the Sacrament , as constant profession and exercises of Religion , and the testimony of such Catholicks as are known to have been his antient Acquaintance and Friends , to examine them upon oath , Whether publickly or privately in Spain , or in England ; they had known him in any kind to make shew , or so much as to forbear upon all occasions to declare the Religion he professeth . And that the said Mr. Frewen and Mr. Wake may be also examined , Whether in extremity of several sicknesses whereinto he hath of late years fallen , he hath not ever setled his Conscience withthem towards God , and made a Confession of his Faith , resolving as be-fitting a Protestant or good Christian. VIII . To the Eighth Article the Earl saith , That he did not at any time or in any place endeavor to perswade the Prince touching his religion to become a Roman Catholick , and to be obedient to the usurped authority of Rome ; Neither did the said Earl to that end and purpose , or otherwise , use unto his Majesty then Prince , the words in the Article mentioned . But the said Earl acknowledgeth , that upon occasion of a Letter that came to his Majesty then Prince , putting his Majesty in mind of the great actions of his Royal Progenitors in the Holy War , that the great Kings of those times did not only imploy their Forces , but in their persons went into the Holy Land ; The Earl believeth that by way of discourse only , and not otherwise , he may have said , That in regard of the difference in Religion , it was of more difficulty to undertake such great actions now , then in former Ages ; and it might well be instanced in the present Treaty of the Marriage , wherein the Popes consent was to be obtained . And to this effect , and upon the like grounds , he is confident there were very many that have , nay few of neerness about his late Majesty that have not often heard his Majesty say , That he was the true Martyr , that suffered more for his Religion then all the Princes of Christendom besides ; instancing in divers particulars , but especially in this , That he could not match his Children with Kings of his own rank , without the Popes leave . But the said Earl saith , He never alleaged any such thing to any other purpose , then to shew that only Conscience and love to Truth , ( in which regard Protestants suffered much ) not any temporal respects , made men constant and zealous to the profession of our Religion . By which discourse he ever attributed much to the honor and security of Protestant religion , but never used it as an argument to perswade to the contrary , as in the Accusation is insinuated . Besides , he conceiveth by way of Answer thereunto the said Question may be asked , which his Majesty was pleased to ask of the Earl in the Seventh Article , viz. What the said Earl saw in his Majesty , that he should think him so unworthy as to change his Religion for a Wife , or any earthly respect whatsoever ? So why should it be thought , that being more fit to undertake great actions in the world ( being a meer moral and temporal respect ) should be an argument to perswade in conscience so religious and wise a Prince , and so well instructed as his Majesty is ; as though the soul of a Christian Prince was to be wrought upon in point of Truth and Belief , by temporal and worldly respects of Conveniencies and Greatness ? It were necessary for the proving that the said Earl perswaded his Majesty touching Religion , to produce some arguments that he used out of Scripture to satisfie him in point of Conscience in some Tenents of the Roman Church , or that he produced any Conference with Learned men for his satisfaction in point of Religion : Otherwise the Articles used in this against the said Earl , do ( as he conceiveth ) ca●ry little strength to prove the Charge of perswading his Majesty , either in regard of it self , or in regard of his Majesties piety . IX . To the Ninth Article the said Earl saith , That there was a Discourse in Spain of the way of accommodating the Prince Palatine his affairs ; and by way of discourse it was moved , That the Marriage of his eldest Son with a Daughter of the Emperor , and his Son to be bred in the Emperors Court , would be the fairest way for the pacifying of , and accommodating those businesses . And the Earl by way of discourse , and not otherwise , did say , That he thought his late Majesty could not be adverse either to the said Match , or to the breeding of the Prince Palatine his Son with the Emperor ; so as thereby the whole Patrimonial Estate of the Prince Palatine , and the Dignity Electoral might be fully restored , and that his Son might be bred in his own Religion , and have such Preceptors , and such a Family , as his late Majesty and his Father , meaning the Prince Palatine , should appoint , and they to have free exercise of Religion : For so his late Majesty hath often declared himself to the said Earl , and wished him to lay hold on any occasion for the entertaining of any such Proposition . And otherwise then so , and upon the terms aforesaid , and by that way of Conference and discourse only , he delivered not any Opinion to his Majesty at his Majesties being in Spain : For the said Earl is very confident that his Majesty was returned out of Spain , before any Proposition was made for the said Marriage , other then by way of discourse , as aforesaid ; The same , as the said Earl believeth , being first moved and debated on by way of Proposition between Mr. Secretary Calvert and the Ambassador of the King of Spain , Octob. 2. 1628. His late Majesty , upon a relation made unto him by a Letter of Mr. Secretary Calvert , approved of the said Proposition , and declared the same to be the onely way , as he conceived , to accommodate with honor those great businesses : And wrote to that purpose to his Son-in-law the Prince Palatine , by his Letters dated 9 Novemb. 1623. A Copy of which he , together with Mr. Secretary Calverts Relation , and the Lord Conway by his late Majesties commandment , sent unto the said Earl ; the Tenor of which translated out of French , is as followeth . WE have thought good , that we may provide best and most soundly for your Affairs , not only to procure , but also to assure your Peace , were to cut up by the very roots that Evil which hath been setled in the heart of the Emperor , by the great displeasure and enmity he hath conceived against you . For the removing and quite extinguishing of which , it seemeth to us no better or more powerful means can be used , then a good Alliance which may be proposed by us between your eldest Son and the Daughter of the said Emperor ; upon the assurance we have we shall not be refused in this nature , if you on your part will give your consent . And for the more surety of the good success thereof , we are determined , before any such Proposition be made to the Emperor , to interess the King of Spain with us in the business , who we trust will lend us his helping hand , as well for the effecting of it and bringing it to a good conclusion , as in procuring likewise that the Conditions be duly observed . Amongst which Conditions , if it happen that the Emperor should demand that your Son during his minority should be brought up in his Court , We shall tell you that we for our own part see no reason why you should stick at it , upon such Conditions as he might be tied unto , to wit , That the young Prince should have with him such Governor as you should please to appoint him , although he be no Roman Catholick ; And that neither he , nor any of his should be any way forced in matter of their Conscience . And our meaning is so to order our proceeding in this Treaty , that before your said Son be put into the hands of the Emperor , we will have a clear and certain assurance of an honorable , entire , and punctual restitution of all whatsoever belonging to you : As also we will take care to provide accordingly as fully and exactly for the Assurances requisite for the Liberty of Conscience for him and his Domesticks , as they have done here with us touching those that have been granted them for the Infanta . And therefore seeing there is no Inconvenience at all that may cause your aversness or backwardness in this business , which we for our parts think to be the best , shortest , and most honorable way that you can take for the compassing of the entire Restitution , and making your Peace sure with the Emperor , We hope your opinion will concur with us herein , and shall intreat you by the first to send us your Answer . By which Letter after his Majesties coming out of Spain , it appeareth to your Lordships that there was no Proposition of the Marriage betwixt the Son of the Prince Palatine and the Emperors Daughter , when that Letter was written ; For therein his Majesty saith , he was determined to interess the King of Spain in the business , before any such Proposition should be made to the Emperor . And it will also thereby appear , that his late Majesties opinion was of the Conveniencie thereof ; which the said Earl hopeth will acquit him , if by way of discourse only he declared what his Majesties inclination was , which with honesty he could not have concealed . And the said Earl saith , he doth not remember what answer Sir Walter Aston made upon that discourse which he then delivered , nor what replies the said Earl made ; but sure he is , whatsoever the said Earl said , or what answer or reply soever was made , as it was by way of discourse , and not otherwise , so it was according to that which he truly conceived to be the best and easiest way to accommodate the business , and to be his Majesties pleasure , ( which the said Sir Walter Aston may be ignorant of , as he is confident that he was ) and not out of any disaffection to our Religion , or for any sinister respect or regard to the House of Austria , as by the said Article is intimated : For he did not conceive the breeding of the Prince Palatine's Son with the Emperor , having a Governor appointed by his late Majesty and his Father , and he and his Domesticks to have free use of their own Religion , to be a matter of impossibility , or such dangerous consequence in point of Religion , as to imply his Conversion , as by the Article is intimated ; well knowing that in the Emperors Court all Princes there , though his Prisoners , and others his Counsellors and Servants about his person , and of great Command in his Armies , being avowed Protestants , have the free use of their Religion : And it is not to be supposed the Son of the Prince Palatine , Grandchild to the King of Great Britain , should be matched , and no care taken to capitulate for the use of his Religion , being ever granted to the meanest Prince that is bestowed . And his Majesties special care in this point is fully seen in the said Letter . X. To the Tenth Article he saith , That by comparing of this Article of his too much Forwardness , with the Second Article , whereby he is charged with continuing the Treaty upon Generalities , without reducing them to Certainties and direct Conclusions , Your Lordships will perceive how impossible it was for him to avoid an Exception . But for direct Answer to the present Charge he saith , That he did not presumptuously , nor yet to his knowledge , break his Instructions , nor set any day at all for the Desponsories ; but was therein meerly passive , in admitting the day nominated by the King of Spain according to the Capitulation before made : Nor did he presumptuously , wilfully , or willingly disobey any Commandment or Direction of his Majesty that now is , then Prince , which he could understand not to be countermanded either by present or future Instructions otherwise explained . And for the better manifestation of the truth of his proceedings in and concerning the same , he saith , That on the day of the departure of his Majesty then Prince from the Escurial in Spain , his Highness delivered unto him in presence of the Commissioners his Proxies powers , with publick Declaration taken in writing by the Secretary to the King of Spain , of the Prince his pleasure , and how the said Earl should use them , viz. That he should deliver them to the King of Spain upon the coming of the Dispensation cleared from Rome , according to that which had been agreed , which was to be within ten dayes after the coming of the Dispensation . And he further saith , That it is true that the Prince afterwards by his Letters sent by one Mr Clark , commanded him the said Earl not to deliver the said Proxies till he should have received security that the Infanta after her being betrothed should not enter into any Religious Order , and that before he proceeded he should send to his Majesty , then Prince , such securities as should be offered , that he might judge whether it were sufficient or not . Whereupon the said Earl , as became a faithfull Servant , presented unto his Majesty that now is , then Prince , such Assurances as were offered unto him for securing of that point , together with such Reasons as he conceived were fit to be offered to their considerations ; which gave unto his late Majesty , and his Majesty that now is , then Prince , such satisfaction , as they were pleased to dispatch a Post presently unto him , absolutely discharging him of that Commandment , as by their several Letters dated October 8. 1623. will appear as followeth . We have received your Letters by Grisley , and the copy of them to our dear Son ; and we cannot forbear to let you know how well we esteem the dutifull , discreet and judicial Relation and humble advice to our Son : Whereupon , having ripely deliberated with our-self , and communicated with our dear Son , we have resolved , with the good liking of our Son , to rest upon that security in point of doubt for the Infanta's taking a Religious Order , which you in your judgement shall think meet . And by that other Letter of his Majesty that now is , then Prince , as followeth ; Viz. Your Letters to the King and me concerning that doubt I made after I came from St Laurence , hath so satisfied us both , that we think it fit no longer to stick upon it , but leave it to your discretion to take what security you shall think fitting . Whereby he was absolutely freed of that command ; and being so freed thereof , he then remained under the Order which his Majesty , then Prince , had left with him at his departure , which was to proceed according to the Capitulations , and his Highness Declaration when he delivered the said Proxies unto him : And so he intended to have done , till by his Highness's Letters November 13. 1623. he was directly commanded the contrary ; which Commandment he most readily and punctually obeyed . And for such his intentions , till he was countermanded , he conceiveth he had not onely sufficient warrant , but had highly offended if he had done otherwise . For first , for his proceedings to consummate the Match , he had warrant and instruction under his late Majesties hand . Secondly , It was the main scope of his Ambassage . Thirdly , He was injoyned by the King and Prince his Commission under the Great Seal . Fourthly , He had positive Order under his Majesties hand by Letters since . Fifthly , It was agreed by Capitulation , that it should be within so many dayes after the coming of the Dispensation . Sixthly , His late Majesty , and his Majesty that now is , then Prince , signified by their Letters unto him at the same time when they discharged him of his Commandment touching the Infanta's entring into Religion , that they intended to proceed in the Marriage , as by his Majesties Letters October 8. 1623. will appear . Seventhly , The Proxies were to that end left in his hands , and after again renewed after his Majesties return into England . Eighthly , He had overthrown the Marriage without order : For although Sir Walter Aston and himself used all possible means for the gaining of time , and deferring the Desponsories ; yet the King of Spain caused it to be protested , that in case he the said Earl should insist upon the deferring of the Desponsories , he would free himself from the Treaty by the said Earls infringing of the Capitulations : And in truth , although the King of Spain should have condescended to have prolonged the Desponsories until one of the dayes of Christmas , as by the Letter was required ; yet the Prince's Proxies had been before that time expired , and he durst not without a precise Warrant put such a scorn upon so noble a Lady , whom he then conceived was likely to have been the Prince his wife , as to nominate a day of marriage when the Proxies were out of date , and he was himself sworn to the Treaty . And lastly , he could not in honor and honesty , but endeavor to perform that publick Trust reposed in him when the Proxies were deposited in his hands , with publick and legal Declaration , with an instrument by a Secretary of State to the King of Spain , leading and directing the use of them , and the same being then instrumentum stipulatum , wherein as well the King of Spain was interessed by the acceptation of the substitution , as the Prince by granting of the Proxies , he could not in honesty fail the publick Trust without clear and undoubted warrant ; which as soon as he had , he obeyed . So as the Case standing thus , the said Earl is very confident that the supposed Countermands , Directions and Restrictions , when they should be perused and considered of , will appear to have been very slender and insufficient warrant against the aforesaid Orders and Reasons before specified : And is also as confident , That what is assured out of his the said Earls Dispatches , will also appear to be misunderstood ; and that if he had proceeded to the execution of the Desponsories before he received direct and express commandment to the contrary by the aforesaid Letters November 13. 1623. which he readily and punctually obeyed , he had not under favor broken his Instructions , or deserved any blame for lack of assurance of the restitution of the Palatinate and Temporal Articles . And first of the Palatinate , his said Majesty did not send to the said Earl express Directions not to dispatch the Desponsories until a full conclusion were had of the other Treaty of the Palatinate , together with that of the Marriage , as by the said Article is alledged ; onely his late Majesty , by the aforesaid Letters of October 8. required the said Earl so to endeavor , that his Majesty might have the joy of both at Christmas . Whereas his Instructions of May 14. 1621. were express , that he should not make the business of the Palatinate a condition of the Marriage . And his late Majesties Letters of December 30. 1623. were fully to the same effect . Yet did the said Earl , according to what was intimated by the said Letters of October 8. so carefully provide therein , as that before the Proxies were to be executed , he had an absolute answer in the business of the Palatinate , the same should be really restored according to his late Majesties desire ; and the Conde Olivarez , both in his Majesties name , and in his own , desired the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston that they would assure his Majesty of the real performance of the same , and intreated , if need were , they should engage their honor and life for it , as by their joynt Dispatches of November 23. 1623. will appear ; and so much the said Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl agreed should be delivered to them in writing , before they would have delivered their Proxies , and so the said Earl declared it ; the which Answer in writing should have been the same which since was given them of Ianuary 8. 1623. And both Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl were confident therein , as they by their said Letters of November 23. wrote to his late Majesty as followeth ; Viz. That his Majesty might , according to his desire signified to the said Earl by his Letters of October 8. give as well to his Majesties Daughter that Christmas the comfortable news of the expiring of her great troubles and sufferings , as to his Son the Prince the Congratulation of being married to a most worthy and excellent Princess . By which it will evidently appear , he meant not to leave the business of the Palatinate loose , when he intended to proceed to the Marriage ; but he confessed that he was ever of opinion , that the best pawn and assurance his late Majesty could have of the real proceedings of the Palatinate , was , That they proceeded really to the effecting of the Match ; and of the same opinion was his late Majesty also , and the Lords Commissioners here in England , as appeareth by his Instructions dated March 14. 1621. which opinion still continued in them , as appeareth by his late Majesties Letters of Ianuary 7. 1622. And as for the Temporal Articles , the said Earl saith , when the Desponsories were formerly appointed to have been , as he remembreth on Friday August 29. before the departure of his Majesty , then Prince , out of Spain , which was onely hindred by the not coming of the Dispensation , the Prince appointed him and Sir Walter Aston to meet with the Spanish Commissioners , and they drew up the heads of the Temporal Articles , wherewith the Prince and the Duke of Buckingham were acquainted ; and in case the Dispensation had come , and the Desponsories been performed on that day , there had been no other provision made for them before the Marriage ; but presently upon the Prince his departure , he the said Earl caused them to be drawn into form , and sent them to his late Majesty September 27. 1623. desiring to understand his Majesties pleasure with all speed , especially if he disapproved any thing in them ; but never received notice of any dislike thereof , until the aforesaid Letters of November 13. 1623. which put off the Desponsories . So as it appeareth the said Earl was so far from breaking his Instructions , or from having any intention to have proceeded to the execution of the Desponsories before his Majesty and the Prince were satisfied of this point of the Infanta entring into Religion , or before convenient assurance as well for the restitution of the Palatinate , as performance of the Temporal Articles , that he deserveth , as he conceiveth under favor , no blame , so much as in intention ; but if he had erred in intention onely ( as he did not ) the same being never reduced into Act , the Fault ( as he conceiveth ) was removed by his obedience before the intention was put into execution : For so it is in Cases towards God. And as to the matter of aggravation against him , that he appointed so short a time for the Desponsories , as that without extraordinary diligence the Prince had been bound , he thereto saith , as he said before , that he set no day at all thereunto , nor could defer it after the Dispensation came from Rome , without a direct breach of the Match so long labored in , and so much desired ; yet he and Sir Walter Aston having used all possible industry to discover how the motion of deferring the Match would be taken ; and finding an absolute resolution in the King of Spain to proceed punctually , and to require the Proxies according to the Capitulations , within ten dayes after the coming of the Dispensation ; and that time also getting advertisement from Rome , that the Dispensation was granted , and would presently be there ; he , the said Earl , to the end in so great a Cause he might have a clear and undoubted understanding of his late Majesties pleasure , sent a Dispatch of November 1. with all diligence unto his Majesty , letting his Majesty know that it could not be possible for him to protract the Marriage above four dayes , unless he should hazard the breaking , for which he had no warrant . But that this was no new Resolution , nor the King so straitned in time , as by the said Article is pretended , will appear by the said Earls Dispatch of September 28. 1623. In which upon scruple that was then made of the Infanta's entring into Religion , he wrote to the same effect ; Viz. That if the Dispensation should come , he knew no means how to detain the Proxies above twenty or twenty four dayes . So that although difficulty happened until the middest of November 1623. yet it was foreseen that it must of necessity happen whensoever the Dispensation should come ; and then was warning of two moneths given thereof ; viz. from September 24. until November 29. which was the time appointed for the Desponsories . So as he most humbly submits himself unto your Lordships which of the two wayes was the safer or dutifuller for him to take ; whether upon inferences and conjectures to have overthrown so great a business ; or on the otherside , first to have presented unto his Majesty the truth and sincerity as he did , the true estate of his Affairs , with his humble opinion therein , with an intimation , that if his Majesty should resolve to break the Match , that for the said Earl his honest discharge of the publick Trust reposed in him when the Proxies were deposited in his hands , and for his sufficient warrant in so great a cause , his Majesty would be graciously pleased to give him clear and express order ( which he had not ) and in the interim , whilest his Majesty might take into consideration the great inconveniences that might ensue , the said inconveniences might be suspended , and the business kept upon fair terms , that his Majesty might have his way and choice clear and unsoiled before him . And as to the evil Consequences which are pretended would have followed if the said Earl had proceeded to the consummation of the Match , before he had express order and warrant to the contrary ; he supposeth his Majesty should speedily have seen the Marriage which he so long sought to have effected ; that the Prince should have had a worthy Lady whom he loved ; that the Portion was much greater then ever was given in money in Christendom ; that the King of Spain had engaged himself for restitution of the Palatinate ; for which the said Earl conceived a daughter of Spain , and Two Millions had been no ill pawn , besides many other additions of advantage to the Crown of England : Whereas on the contrary side , he foresaw that the Prince would be kept a year longer unmarried , a thing that so highly concerneth these Kingdoms ; he doubteth that the recovery of the Palatinate from the Emperor and Duke of Bavaria by force would prove a great difficulty , and that Christendom was like to fall into a general Combustion : So that desiring that his Majesty should have obtained his ends , and have had the honor and happiness , not onely to have given peace , plenty , and increase unto his own Subjects and Crowns , but to have compounded the greatest differences that had been these many years in Christendom : And by his Piety and Wisdom , to have prevented the shedding of so much Christian Blood , as he feared would ensue , if these businesses were disordered . These Reasons , he confesseth , and the zeal unto his Majesties service made him so earnestly desire the effecting of this business , and cannot but think himself an unfortunate man ( his Majesties affairs being so near setling to his Majesties content , as he conceived they were , and hoping to have been unto his Majesty not onely a faithful Servant , but a successful Servant ) to see the whole estate of his affairs turned up-side down without any the least fault of his ; and yet he the onely Minister on the English and Spanish side that remained under disgrace . XI . To the Eleventh Article the said Earl saith , That the Article is grounded upon a Petition by him preferred to this Honorable House , supposed to be scandalous ; which your Lordships ( as he conceiveth ) according to the Customs and Priviledges of the House of Peers , would have been pleased first to have adjudged so to have been , either for matter appearing in it self , or upon hearing the said Earl ; for if the matter appearing in the Petition it self , be not to be excepted unto , it cannot as he conceiveth by Collateral accidents be taken for a Scandal , till it be examined and found false . For a plain and direct Answer thereunto , he saith , That the said Petition is such as will not warrant any such inference , as by the said Article is inforced . And that he hopeth to justifie the Contents of the said Petition in such sort as shall not displease his Majesty , nor deserve that expression which is used in the Charge ; but contrarily what he hath said , or shall say therein in his defence , shall in all things tend to the Honor and Service of his Majesty , by reducing into his Memory divers Circumstances , and laying before him the passages of divers particulars , which by undue practices have been either concealed from his Majesty or mis-related to him . Having thus offered to this High and Honorable Court , such Proofs and Reasons , as he hopeth shall in your Lordships W●sdom and Justice clearly acquit him of any capital Crime or wilful Offence ▪ if it shall appear that out of Errors of Judgment , too much ferventness of zeal to his Majesties service , or the ignorance of the Laws of this Realm , ( wherewith he hath not been able to be so well acquainted as he ought , by reason of Foreign Employments by the space of many years ) or by any other ways or means he hath faln into the danger of the Laws for any thing pardoned in the General Pardon made in the Parliament holden at Westminster , Anno Vicesimo primo Regni , Imp. Iacobi Angliae , &c. of Blessed Memory , he humbly prayeth allowance of the Pardons , and the benefit thereof ( with this Clause , That he doth and will aver that he is none of the persons excepted out of the same ) although he is very confident he shall not need the help of any pardon , having received many significations as well from his Majesties own mouth , that he had never offended his Majesty , as lately by several Letters from the Lord Conway , that he might rest in the security he was in , and sit still , and should be no further questioned . But he hopes your Lordships will not onely finde him so far from blame , but that he hath served his late Majesty of Blessed memory , and his most gratious Son , the Kings Majesty that now is , with that fidelity , care , and industry , that your Lordships will take such course as you in your wisdoms shall think fit , not onely for the upholding the Honor and Reputation of a Peer of this Realm , after so many employments , but likewise become humble and earnest Suitors to his Majesty on his behalf ( which he humbly prayeth ) That he may be restored to his Majesties most gratious Favor , which above all worldly things he most desireth . The Eighth of May , the Commons brought up their Charge against the Duke , which was delivered at a Conference of both Houses , and spun out two days time . It was managed by Eight Members and Sixteen more as Assistants . The Eight cheif managers were , Sir Dudley Diggs , Mr. Herbert , Mr. Selden , Mr. Glanvile , Mr. Pym , Mr. Sher●and , Mr. Wandesford , and Sir Iohn Elliot . Sir Dudley Diggs by way of Prologue , made this Speech . My Lords , THere are so many things of great importance to be said in very little time to day , that I conceive it will not be unacceptable to your Lordships , if ( setting by all Rhetorical Affectations ) I onely in plain Country Language , humbly pray your Lordships favor to include many excuses necessary to my manifold infirmities in this one word , I am Commanded by the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Commons House , to present to your Lordships their most affectionate thanks for your ready condescending to this Conference ; which , out of confidence in your great Wisdoms , and approved Justice , for the service of his Majesty , and the welfare of this Realm , they desired upon this occasion . The House of Commons by a fatal and universal Concurrence of Complaints , from all the Sea-bordering parts of this Kingdom , did finde a great and grievous interruption and stop of Trade and Traffick : The base Pirates of Sally ignominiously infesting our Coasts , taking our Ships and Goods , and leading away the Subjects of this Kingdom into Barbarous captivity ▪ while to our shame and hindrance of Commerce , our enemies did ( as it were ) besiege our Ports , and block up our best Rivers mouths . Our friends on slight pretences , made Imbargoes of our Merchants Goods , and every Nation ( upon the least occasion ) was ready to contemn and slights us : So great was the apparent diminution of the antient Honor of this Crown , and once strong Reputation of our Nation . Wherewith the Commons were more troubled , calling to remembrance how formerly in France , in Spain , in Holland , and every where by Sea and Land , the Valors of this Kingdom had been better valued , and even in latter times , within remembrance , when we had no Alliance with France , none in Denmark , none in Germany , no Friend in Italy ; Scotland ( to say no more ) ununited , Ireland not setled in peace , and much less security at home ; when Spain was as ambitious as it is now under a King ( Philip the Second ) they called their Wisest ; the House of Austria as great and potent , and both strengthned with a malitious League in France , of persons ill-affected , when the Low-Countreys had no Being ; yet by constant Councils , and old English ways , even then that Spanish pride was cooled , that greatness of the House of Austria , so formidable to us now , was well resisted ; and to the United Provinces of the Low-Countreys such a beginning , growth , and strength was given , as gave us honor over all the Christian World. The Commons therefore wondring at the Evils which they suffered , debating of the Causes of them , found they were many drawn like one Line to one Circumference of decay of Trade , and strength of Honor and Reputation in this Kingdom ; which as in one Centre , met in one great Man , the cause of all , whom I am here to name , The Duke of Buckingham . Here Sir Dudley Diggs made a little stop , and afterwards read the Preamble to the Charge , viz. The Commons Declaration and Impeachment against the Duke of Buckingham . FOr the speedy Redress of great Evils and Mischeifs , and of the cheif cause of these Evils and Mischeifs which this Kingdom of England now grievously suffereth , and of late years hath suffered ; and to the honor and safety of our Soveraign Lord the King , and of his Crown and Dignity ; and to the good and welfare of his people , The Commons in this present Parliament by the Authority of our said Soveraign Lord the King assembled , Do by this their Bill shew and declare against George Duke , Marquess and Earl of Buckingham , Earl of Coventry , Viscount Villers , Baron of Whaddon , Great Admiral of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland , and of the Principality of Wales , and of the Dominions and Islands of the same , of the Town of Calais , and of the Marches of the same , and of Normandy , Gascoigne , and Guienne , General-Governor of the Seas and Ships of the said Kingdom , Lieutenant-General Admiral , Captain-General and Governor of his Majesties Royal Fleet and Army lately set forth , Master of the Horse of our Soveraign Lord the King , Lord Warden , Chancellor and Admiral of the Cinque Ports , and of the Members thereof , Constable of Dover Castle , Iustice in Eyre of all the Forests and Chases on this side the River Trent , Constable of the Castle of Windsor , Gentleman of his Majesties Bed-Chamber , one of his Majesties most Honorable Privy Council in his Realms , both in England , Scotland , and Ireland , and Knight of the most Honorable Order of the Garter ; The Misdemeanors , Misprisions , Offences , Crimes , and other Matters , comprised in the Articles following ; and him the said Duke do accuse and impeach of the said Misdemeanors , Misprisions , Offences , and Crimes . My Lords , THis lofty Title of this Mighty Man , methinks doth raise my spirits to speak with a Paulò Majora Canamus ; and let it not displease your Lordships , if for Foundation , I compare the beautiful structure and fair composition of this Monarchy wherein we live , to the great work of God , the World it self : In which , the solid Body of incorporated Earth and Sea , as I conceive , in regard of our Husbandry , Manufactures , and Commerce by Land and Sea , may well resemble us the Commons . And as it is incompassed with Air , and Fire , and Sphears Celestial , of Planets and a Firmament of fixed Stars ; all which receive their heat , light , and life , from one great , glorious Sun , even like the King our Soveraign . So that Firmament of fixed Stars I take to be your Lordships ; those Planets the great Officers of the Kingdom ; that pure Element of Fire , the most Religious , Zealous , and Pious Clergy ; and the Reverend Judges , Magistrates , and Ministers of Law and Justice , the Air wherein we breathe : All which encompass round with cherishing comfort , this Body of the Commons , who truly labor for them all ; and though they be the Foot stool , and the lowest , yet may well be said to be the setled Centre of the State. Now ( my good Lords ) if that glorious Sun , by his powerful Beams of Grace and Favor , shall draw from the Bowels of this Earth , an exhalation that shall take Fire , and burn and shine out like a Star , it needs not be marvelled at , if the poor Commons gaze and wonder at the Comet ; and when they feel the effects , impute all to the incorruptible matter of it : But if such an imperfect mixture appear , like that in the last age in the Chair of Cassiopeia , among the sixed Stars themselves , where Aristotle and the old Philosophers conceived there was no place for such corruption , then as the Learned Mathematicians were troubled to observe the irregular motions , the prodigious magnitude , and the ominous prognosticks of that Meteor ; so the Commons when they see such a blazing Star in course so exorbitant in the Affairs of this Commonwealth , cannot but look upon it , and for want of Perspectives , commend the nearer examination to your Lordships , who may behold it at a nearer distance . Such a prodigious Comet the Commons take this Duke of Buckingham to be ; against whom , and his irregular ways , there are by learned Gentlemen legal Articles of Charge to be delivered to your Lordships , which I am generally first commanded to lay open . 1. The Offices of this Kingdom , that are the Eyes , the Ears , and the Hands of this Commonwealth , these have been ingrossed , bought and sold , and many of the greatest of them holden even in the Dukes own hands ; which severally gave in former ages , sufficient content to greatest Favorites , and were work enough for wisest Counsellors ; by means whereof , what strange abuses , what infinite neglects have followed ? The Seas have been unguarded , Trade disturbed , Merchants oppressed , their Ships , and even one of the Royal Navy , by cunning practice , delivered over into Foreign hands ; and contrary to our good Kings intention , employed to the prejudice ( almost to the ruine ) of Friends of our own Religion . 2. Next Honors ( those most pretious Jewels of the Crown ) a Treasure inestimable , wherewith your Noble Ancestors ( my Lords ) were well rewarded for eminent and publick Service in the Common-wealth at home ; for brave exploits abroad , when covered all with dust and blood , they sweat in service for the honor of this Crown . What back-ways , what by-ways , have been by this Duke found out , is too well known to your Lordships ? whereas antiently it was the honor of England ( as among the Romans ) the way to the Temple of Honor , was through the Temple of Vertue . But I am commanded to press this no further , then to let your Lordships know , one instance may ( perhaps ) be given of some one Lord compelled to purchase Honor . 3. As divers of the Dukes poor Kinred have been raised to great honors , which have been and are likely to be more chargeable and burthensome to the Crown ; so the Lands and Revenews , and the Treasuries of his Majesty , have been intercepted and exhausted , by this Duke and his Friends , and strangely mis-employed with strange confusion of the Accounts , and overthrow of the well established antient Orders of his Majesties Exchequer . 4. The last of the Charges which are prepared , will be an injury offered to the person of the late King of Blessed memory , who is with God , of which ( as your Lordships may have heard heretofore ) you shall anon have further information . Now upon this occasion , I am commanded by the Commons to take care of the honor of the King our Soveraign that lives , ( long may he live to our comfort , and the good of the Christian World ) and also of his Blessed Father who is dead ; on whom , to the grief of the Commons , and their great distaste , the Lord Duke did ( they conceive ) unworthily cast some ill odor of his own foul ways ; whereas Servants were antiently wont to bear , as in truth they ought , their Masters faults , and not cast their own on them undeservedly . It is well known the King ( who is with God ) had the same power , and the same wisdom , before he knew this Duke , yea , and the same affections too ; through which ( as a good and gratious Master ) he advanced and raised some Stars of your Lordships Firmament ; in whose hands this exorbitancy of will , this transcendency of power , such placing and displacing of Officers , such irregular runing into all by-courses of the Planets , such sole and single managing of the great Affairs of State , was never heard of . And therefore , onely to the Lord Duke , and his procurement , by mis-informations , these faults complained of by the Commons , are to be imputed . And for our most Gratious Soveraign that lives , whose name hath been used , and may perhaps now be for the Dukes justification , the Commons know well , That among his Majesties most Royal Virtues , his Piety unto his Father , hath made him a pious nourisher of his Affections ever to the Lord Duke , on whom , out of that consideration , his Majesty hath wrought a kinde of wonder , making Favor Hereditary ; but the abuse thereof must be the Lord Dukes own : And if there have been any Commands , such as were or may be pretended , his mis-informations have procured them ; whereas the Laws of England teach us , That Kings cannot command ill or unlawful things , when ever they speak , though by their Letters Patents , or their Seals . If the things be evil , these Letters Patents are void , and whatsoever ill event succeeds , the Executioners of such Commands must ever answer for them . Thus , my Lords , in performance of my duty , my weakness hath been troublesome unto your Lordships ; it is now high time , humbly to entreat your pardon , and give way to a learned Gentleman to begin a more particular charge . Then were read the First , Second , and Third Articles , viz. 1. THat whereas the great Offices expressed in the said Dukes Stile and Title , heretofore have been the singular Preferments of several Persons eminent in Wisdom and Trust , and fully able for the weighty Service , and greatest Employments of the State , whereby the said Offices were both carefully and sufficiently executed by several Persons of such Wisdom , Trust , and Ability : And others also that were employed by the Royal Progenitors of our Soveraign Lord the King in places of less Dignity , were much encouraged with the hopes of advancement . And whereas divers of the said places severally of themselves , and necessarily require the whole care , industry , and attendance of a most provident , and most able person ; He the said Duke being yong and unexperienced , hath of late years with exorbitant Ambition , and for his own profit and advantage , procured and ingrossed into his own hands , the said several Offices , both to the danger of the State , the prejudice of that Service , which should have been performed in them , and to the great discouragement of others ; who by this his procuring and ingrossing of the said Offices , are precluded from such hopes , as their Vertues , Abilities , and Publick Employments , might otherwise have given them . II. Whereas by the Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom of England , if any person whatsoever , give or pay any sum of Money , Fee , or Reward , directly or indirectly , for any Office or Offices , which in any-wise touch or concern the Administration or Execution of Justice , or the keeping of any of the Kings Majesties Towns , Castles , or Fortresses , being used , occupied , or appointed for places of strength and defence ; the same person is immediately upon the same Fee , Money , or Reward , given or paid , to be adjudged a disabled person in the Law , to all intents and purposes , to have , occupy , or enjoy the said Office or Offices , for the which he so giveth or payeth any sum of Money , Fee , or Reward . He the said Duke did , in or about the Moneth of Ianuary in the Sixteenth year of the late King Iames of Famous memory , give and pay to the Right Honorable Charles , then Earl of Nottingham , for the Office of Great Admiral of England and Ireland , and the Principality of Wales , and for the Office of General-Governor of the Seas and Ships of the said Kingdoms , and for the Surrender of the said Offices , then made to the said King by the said Earl of Nottingham , being then Great Admiral of the said Kingdoms , and Principality , and General-Governor of the Seas and Ships , to the intent the said Duke might obtain the said Offices to his own use , the sum of Three thousand pounds of lawful Money of England ; and did also about the same time , procure from the said King a further Reward for the Surrender of the said Office to the said Earl , of an Annuity of One thousand pounds by the year , for and during the life of the said Earl ; and by the procurement of the said Duke , the said late King of Famous memory , did by his Letters Patents dated the Seven and twentieth of Ianuary , in the said year of his Reign , under the Great Seal of England , grant to the said Earl the said Annuity ; which he the said Earl accordingly had and enjoyed , during his life , and by reason of the said sum of Money , so as aforesaid paid by the said Duke . And of his the said Dukes procurement of the said Annuity , the said Earl of Nottingham did in the same Moneth surrender unto the said late King , his said Offices and his Patents of them ; and thereupon , and by reason of the premisses , the said Offices were obtained by the Duke for his life , from the said King of Famous Memory , by Letters Patents made to the said Duke , of the same Offices , under the Great Seal of England , dated the Eight and twentieth day of Ianuary , in the said Sixteenth year of the said late King. And the said Offices of Great Admiral and Governor as aforesaid , are Offices that highly touch and concern the Administration and Execution of Justice , within the provision of the said Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom ; which notwithstanding , the said Duke hath unlawfully ever since the first unlawful obtaining of the said Grant of the said Offices , retained them in his hands , and exercised them against the Laws and Statutes aforesaid . III. The said Duke did likewise in or about the beginning of the Moneth of December , in the Two and twentieth year of the said late King Iames of Famous memory , give and pay unto the Right Honorable Edward late Lord Zouch , Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , and of the Members thereof , and Constable of the Castle of Dover , for the said Offices , and for the Surrender of the said Offices of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , and Constable of the said Castle of Dover , to be made to the said late King of Famous memory , the sum of One thousand pounds of lawful Money of England ; and then also granted an Annuity of Five hundred pounds yearly to the said Lord Zouch , for the life of the said Lord Zouch ; to the intent that he the said Duke might thereby obtain the said Offices to his own use . And for , and by reason of the said sum of Money so paid by the said Duke , and of the said Annuity so granted to the said Edward Lord Zouch , he the said Lord Zouch the Fourth day of December , in the year aforesaid , did surrender his said Offices , and his Letters Patents of them to the said late King : And thereupon and by reason of the premisses ▪ he the said Duke obtained the said Offices for his life , from the said late King , by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England , dated the Sixth day of December , in the said Two and twentieth year . And the said Office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , and of the Members thereof , is an Office that doth highly touch and concern Administration and Execution of justice ; and the said Office of Constable of the Castle of Dover , is an Office that highly concerneth the keeping and defence of the Town and Port , and of the said Castle of Dover , which is and hath ever been appointed for a most eminent place of strength and defence of this Kingdom ; which notwithstanding , the said Duke hath unlawfully ever since this first unlawful obtaining of the said Office , retained them in his hands , and exercised them against the Laws and Statutes aforesaid . These Three Articles were discoursed upon by Mr. Herbert , and touching Plurality of Offices , he observed , That in that vast power of the Duke ( a young unexperienced man ) there is an unfortunate complication of Danger and Mischeif to the State , as having too much ability , if he be false , to do harm , and ruine the Kingdom ; and if he be faithful , and never so industrious , yet divided amongst so many great places ( whereof every one would employ the industry of an able and provident man ) there must needs be in him an insufficiency of performance , or rather an impossibility , especially considering his necessary attendance likewise upon his Court places . To the Second and Third , namely , The buying the Office of Admiralty and Cinque-Ports ( both which he comprised in one ) he said , That to set a price upon the Walls and Gates of the Kingdom , is a Crime which requires rather a speedy remedy than an aggravation , and is against the express Law of 5 Edw. 6. upon this foundation , That the buying of such places doth necessarily introduce corrupt and insufficient Officers . And in the Parliament of 12 Edw. 4. it is declared by the whole Assembly , That they who buy those places ( these are the express words ) binde themselves to be Extortioners and Offenders ; as if they pretended it warrantable , or as if they did lay an Obligation upon themselves to sell again . And though the buying of such places be not against any particular Law enjoyning a penalty for them ( the breach whereof is a particular Offence ) yet as far as they subvert the good , and welfare , and safety of the people ; so far they are against the highest Law , and assume the nature of the highest Offences . IV. Whereas the said Duke by reason of his said Offices of Great Admiral of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland , and of the Principality of Wales , and of Admiral of the Cinque Ports , and General Governor of the Seas and Ships of the said Kingdoms ; and by reason of the trust thereunto belonging , ought at all times since the said Offices obtained , to have safely guarded , kept , and preserved the said Seas , and the Dominion of them ; and ought also whensoever there wanted either Men , Ships , Munition , or other strength whatsoever that might conduce to the better safeguard of them ; to have used from time to time , his utmost endeavor for the supply of such wants to the Right Honorable , the Lords and others of the Privy Council , and by procuring such supply from his Soveraign , or otherwise : He the said Duke hath ever since the dissolution of the two Treaties mentioned in the Act of Subsidies of the One and twentieth year of the late King Iames of Famous memory ( that is to say ) the space of Two years last past , neglected the just performance of his said Office and Duty , and broken the said Trust therewith committed unto him : And hath not according to his said Offices , during the time aforesaid , safely kept the said Seas , insomuch that by reason of his neglect and default therein , not onely the trade and strength of this Kingdom of England hath been during the said time much decayed , but the same Seas also have been , during the same time , ignominiously infested by Pirates and Enemies , to the loss both of very many Ships and Goods , and of many of the Subjects of our Soveraign Lord the King ; and the Dominion of the said Seas ( being the antient and undoubted Patrimony of the Kings of England ) is thereby also in most eminent danger to be utterly lost . V. Whereas about Michaelmas last past , a Ship called the St Peter of Newhaven , ( whereof Iohn Mallerow was Master ) laden with divers Goods , Merchandise , Monies , Jewels and Commodities , to the value of Forty thousand pounds or thereabouts , for the proper accompt of Monsieur de Villieurs , the then Governor of Newhaven , and other Subjects of the French King , being in perfect Amity and League with our Soveraign Lord the King , was taken at Sea by some of the Ships of his Majesties late Fleet , set forth under the command of the said Duke , as well by direction from him the said Duke as great Admiral of England , as by the Authority of the extraordinary Commission which he then had for the command of the said Fleet , and was by them , together with her said goods and lading brought into the Port at Plymouth , as a prize among many others , upon probabilities that the said Ship or Goods belonged to the Subjects of the King of Spain : And that divers parcels of the said goods and lading were there taken out of the said Ship of St Peter ; ( that is to say ) Sixteen Barrels of Cocheneal , Eight Bags of Gold , Twenty three Bags of Silver , two Boxes of Pearl and Emeralds , a Chain of Gold , Jewels , Monies and Commodities to the value of Twenty thousand pounds or thereabouts , and by the said Duke were delivered into the private custody of one Gabriel Marsh , servant to the said Duke ; and that the said Ship with the residue of her goods and lading was from thence sent up into the River of Thames , and there detained ; whereupon there was an arrest at Newhaven in the Kingdom of France on the seventh day of December last , of two English Merchants Ships trading thither , as was alleadged in certain Petitions exhibited by some English Merchants trading into France , to the Lords and others of his Majesties most honorable Privy-Council ; after which ( that is to say ) on the 28 day of the said moneth , his Majesty was pleased to order , with the advice of his Privy-Council , that the said Ship and Goods belonging to the Sucjects of the French King should be redelivered to such as should re-claim them , and accordingly intimation was given unto his Majesties Advocate in the chief Court of Admiralty by the right honorable Sir Io. Cook Knight , one of his Majesties principal Secretaries of State , for the freeing and discharging of the said Ship and Goods in the said Court of Admiralty : And afterwards , that is to say , on the Six and twentieth of Ianuary last , it was decreed in the said Court by the Judge thereof , with the consent of the said Advocate , That the said Ship with whatsoever Goods so seised or taken in her , ( Except Three hundred Mexico Hides , Sixteen Sacks of Ginger , one Box of gilded Beads , Five Sacks of Ginger more mentioned in the said Decree ) should be clearly released from further detention , and delivered to the Master ; and thereupon under Seal a Commission was in that behalf duty sent out of the said Court to Sir Allen Appesly , Sir Iohn Worstenholme , and others , for the due execution thereof : The said Duke , notwithstanding the said Order , Commission and Decree , detained still to his own use the said Gold , Silver , Pearls , Emeralds , Jewels , Monies and Commodities so taken out of the said Ship as aforesaid : And for his own singular avail and covetousness , on the sixth day of February last , having no information of any new proof , without any legal proceeding , by colour of his said Office , unjustly caused the said ship and goods to be again arrested and detained , in publick violation and contempt of the Laws and Justice of this Land , to the great disturbance of Trade , and prejudice of the Merchants . These were enlarged by Mr Selden , who said , That by nature of his Office the Duke as Admiral ought to have guarded the Seas : By his Patent he is made Magnus Admirallus Angliae , Hiberniae & Walliae , Normaniae , Aquitaniae , Villae Calesij , & Marchiarum ejusdem , & praefectus generalis classium Marium dictorum regnorum . The Seas of England and Ireland are committed to the Admiral , as a part of the Demesne and Possessions of the Crown of England ; not as if he should thereby have Jurisdiction onely , as in case of the Admirals in France or Spain . The State of Genoa , Catalonia , and other Maritine parts of Spain , the Sea-Towns of Almain , Zeland , Holland , Friezland , Denmark , Norway , and divers other parts of the Empire , shew , That the Kings of England , by reason that their said Realm hath used , time out of minde , to be in peaceable possession , are Lords of the Seas of England , and of the Islands belonging to them . And though Grotius that Hollander wrote of purpose to destroy all Dominion in the East-Ocean ; yet he speaks nothing against the Dominion of our English Seas , howsoever he hath been misapprehended ; but expressly elsewhere saith , Meta Britanicis littora sunt oris ; the utmost limits of the Demesne of the Crown of England , are the Shores of the neighbouring Countries ; the whole Sea , or the Territorium maximum that intervenes , being parcel of the possession of the Crown : the keeping and safe-guard of these committed to the Lord Admiral by the name of the Praefectus Marium & Admirallus , being but the same anciently : Before the use of the word Admiral came in , which was under Edw. 1. the Admirals had the Titles of Custodes Maris . And this Praefectura or Custodia , or Office of safe-guarding the Seas , binds him to all care and perpetual observance of whatsoever conduceth to that safe-guard , as in Custos sigilli , Custos Marchiarum , Custos portium , & custos comitatuum , agreeable to the practice of former times . 1. In certifying yearly to the King , and his Council , the many Forces both of the Kings ships , and ships of Merchants , the names of the owners , the number of Marriners , &c. That the King and his Council may always know his force by Sea. 2. In shewing wants of ships &c. for the safe-guarding of the Seas , with the Estimates of the Supply , that so they might be procured . In personal attendance upon the service of guarding the Seas upon all occasions of weight : In 7 H. 4. Nich. Blackborn , and Rich. Cliderowe one of the Knights of Kent were made Admirals for keeping the Seas , upon consideration had of it in Parliament , and the other Knight being Robert Clifford , it was agreed in Parliament that he should have the voices of both , because the other must of necessity be absent : And they both amongst other things petitioned the Council , that if the King in his Person should come on the Sea , they might have such a liberty to wait upon him , as they might make their Lieutenant during the time for the service of their places . But the Council that allowed the rest , or most of their demands , answered to that , Le Councel ne pent faire . Then he estimated the nature of the offence , by the consequences which follow the not guarding of the Seas , viz. 1. The losses already shewed . 2. The prevention of Trade , which gives life to the wealth of the Kingdom . 3. The weakning of the Naval strength , the Merchants being thereby discouraged from building ships which they cannot use . In 1 Rich. . 2. the Commons opened the two chief and almost whole Causes of the weakning the Kingdom at that time ; the neglect of Chivalry and eminent vertue not regarded nor rewarded ; the decay of Trade since the Navy was grown weak , besides all the loss of quiet possession of so large a Territory as the Seas of England and Ireland , by the free use of which the ancient glory and greatness of the Crown of England hath so constantly subsisted . Then he instanced in Michael de la Pool , Lord Chancellor , who in 9 Rich. 2. mis-spent Subsidies given pro salva custodia maris , as appears in the Roll , and was adjuged in Parliament ( though for other offences , because some other Lords of the Council had been trusted with him , and it was not fit to impeach him sans les companions ) they taking it for a crime without question fit to be complained of . Secondly , in William Duke of Suffolk , who for the same fault , being Admiral onely in the right of Henry Earl of Exeter his Ward , was by the King extraordinarily commanded into banishment . Then he brought examples of such who had been put to death , and confiscated for not safe-guarding Towns , and Castles , and Forts , which are of like nature with not safe-guarding the Seas , and with losing the possession of the Crown . To the Fifth he said , The staying of the ship called the Peter of Newhaven , and detaining part of the goods , was against the Marine Laws of England , against the Common Laws , against the Laws of Merchants , and consequently the Law of Nations . By the Marine Laws agreeable to the Civil Laws , sentence given by any Subject or other against the King , may upon new proof be revoked , but not without new proof . He made by his Patent a Judge of all Maritine Causes , as well as Keeper of the Seas , his Jurisdiction was to be exercised juxta leges nostras civiles & Maritimas , and accordingly to hear all Causes , and generally to proceed ex officio mero mixto & promoto secundum leges nostras Civiles & Maritimas . Against the Common-Laws , All Justices and all other deputed to do Law or Right , are commanded by Act of Parliament to permit the course of ordinary Justice ; and although they be commanded to do the contrary , that they do execution aright , and according to justice as far as in them lies , and so for any Letters of Commandment which may come unto them from us , or from any other , or by any other cause . Against the Law of Nations . Against what is agreed by the Leagues between us and Forain Nations , That the Subjects of Nations in Amity with us shall be well used , and permitted without Molestation , for what cause or occasion soever , according to the Laws and Customs of the places where they shall be . Lastly , against the Laws of Merchants which is to have Celerem justitiam . The Consequences of this Offence are ; 1. Great damage to our English Merchants , that have suffered by reason of it in Forain Parts , as they alleadge . 2. It is a discouragement to those that are Subjects to the Marine Jurisdiction . 3. An example that may serve hereafter to justifie all absolute Authority in the Admiral , without Law or Legal course , over the ships and good of all Merchants whatsoever , and so no security to Merchants . Lastly , He instanceth in the Duke of Suffolk , who was adjudged in Parliament for Treason , and among other offences it was laid to his charge , that he took to his own use goods Piratically taken , and expresly against the Order determined by the Lord Protector and the whole Council , whereunto his hand had been for the restitution of them . Next were read the Sixth , Seventh and Eighth Articles ; viz. VI. Whereas the honor , wealth , and strength of this Realm of England is much increased by the Traffick , chiefly of such Merchants as imploy and build great warlike Ships , a consideration that should move all Counsellors of State , especially the Lord Admiral to cherish and maintain such Merchants . The said Duke abusing the Lords of the Parliament in the One and twentieth year of the late King Iames of famous memory , with pretence of serving the State , did oppress the East - India Merchants and extorted from them Ten thousand pounds , in the subtil and unlawfull manner following . About February in the year aforesaid , he the said Duke hearing some good success that those Merchants had at Ormus , in the parts beyond the Seas , by his Agents cunningly in or about the moneth aforesaid in the year of the said late King , endeavored to draw from them some great sum of money , which their poverty , and no gain by that success at Ormus made those Merchants absolutely to deny ; whereupon he the said Duke perceiving that the said Merchants were then setting forth in the course of their Trade , four Ships , and two Pinaces laden with goods and merchandise of very great value , like to lose their voyage if they they should not speedily depart . The said Duke on the first of March then following , in the said year of the said late King , did move the Lords then assembled in the said Parliament , whether he should make stay of any Ships which were then in the Ports , ( as being high Admiral he might ) and namely , those ships prepared for the East - India voyage , which were of great burthen and well furnished ; which motion being approved by their Lordships , the Duke did stay those ships accordingly ; but the fifth of March following , when the then Deputy of that Company , with other of those Merchants , did make suit to the said Duke for the release of those Ships and Pinaces ; he the said Duke , said he had not been the occasion of their staying , but that having heard the motion with much earnestness in the Lords House of Parliament , he could do no less then give the order they had done ; and therefore he willed them to set down the reasons of their suit , which he would acquaint the House withall , yet in the mean time he gave them leave to let their said ships and Pinaces fall down as low as Tilbury . And the tenth of March following an unusual joynt action was by his procurement entred in the chief Court of Admiralty , in the name of the said late King and of the Lord Admiral , against them for Fifteen thousand pound taken Piratically by some Captains of the said Merchants ships , and pretended to be in the hands of the East - India Company ; and thereupon the Kings Advocate in the name of Advocate for the then King and the said Lord Admiral , moved and obtained one Attachment , which by the Serjeant of the said Court of Admiralty was served on the said Merchants in their Court the sixteenth day of March following ; whereupon the said Merchants , though there was no cause for their molestation by the Lord Admiral , yet the next day they were urged in the said Court of Admiralty to bring in the Fifteen thousand pounds , or go to prison : wherefore immediately the Company of the said Merchants did again send the Deputy aforesaid and some others to make new suit unto the said Duke for the release of the said Ships and Pinaces ; who unjustly endeavoring to extort money from the said Merchants , protested that the Ships should not go except they compounded with him ; and when they urged many more reasons for the release of the said Ships and Pinaces , the Answer of the said Duke was , That the then Parliament must first be moved . The said Merchants therefore being in this perplexity , and in their consultation , the three and twentieth of that moneth , even ready to give over that Trade , yet considering that they should lose more then was demanded by unlading their ships , besides their voyage , they resolved to give the said Duke Ten thousand pounds for his unjust demands . And he the said Duke by the undue means aforesaid , and under colour of his Office , and upon false pretence of Rights , unjustly did exact and extort from the said Merchants the said Ten thousand pounds , and received the same about the 28. of April following the discharge of those Ships , which were not released by him till they the said Merchants had yielded to give him the said Duke the said Ten thousand pounds for the said Release , and for the false pretence of Rights made by the said Duke as aforesaid . VII . Whereas the Ships of our Soveraign Lord the King , and of his Kingdoms aforesaid , are the principal strength and defence of the said Kingdoms , and ought therefore to be always preserved and safely kept under the command , and for the service of our Soveraign Lord the King , no less then any the Fortresses and Castles of the said Kingdoms ; And whereas no Subject of this Realm ought to be dispossessed of any his Goods or Chattels without order of Justice , or his own consent first duly had and obtained : The said Duke being Great Admiral of England , Governor-General and Keeper of the said Ships and Seas , and thereof ought to have and take a special and continual care and diligence how to preserve the same ; The said Duke in or about the end of Iuly last , in the first year of our Soveraign Lord the King , did under the colour of the said Office of Great Admiral of England , and by indirect and subtile means and practices , procure one of the principal Ships of his Majesties Navy-Royal called the Vantguard , then under the Command of Captain Iohn Pennington , and six other Merchants Ships of great burden and value , belonging to several Persons inhabiting in London , the Natural Subjects of his Majesty , to be conveyed over with all their Ordnance , Munition , Tackle and Apparel , into the parts of the Kingdom of France , to the end that being there , they might the more easily be put into the hands of the French King , his Ministers and Subjects , and taken into their possession , command and power ; And accordingly the said Duke by his Ministers and Agents , with menaces and other ill means and practices , did there without order of Justice , and without the consent of the said Masters and Owners , unduly compel and inforce the said Masters and Owners of the said six Merchants Ships , to deliver their said Ships into the said possession , command and power of the said French King , his Ministers and Subjects ; and by reason of his compulsion , and under the pretext of his power as aforesaid , and by his indirect practices as aforesaid , the said Ships aforesaid , as well the said Ship Royal of his Majesty , as the others belonging to the said Merchants , were there delivered into the hands and command of the said French King , his Ministers and Subjects , without either sufficient security or assurance for redelivery , or other necessary caution in that behalf taken or provided either by the said Duke himself , or otherwise by his direction ; contrary to the duty of the said Offices of Great Admiral , Governor-General , and Keeper of the said Ships and Seas , and to the faith and trust in that behalf reposed , and contrary to the duty which he oweth to our Soveraign Lord the King in his place of Privy-Counsellor , to the apparent weakening of the Naval strength of this Kingdom , to the great loss and prejudice of the said Merchants , and against the liberty of those Subjects of our Soveraign Lord the King that are under the Jurisdiction of the Admiralty . VIII . The said Duke , contrary to the purpose of our Soveraign Lord the King , and his Majesties known zeal for the maintenance and advancement of the true Religion established in the Church of England , knowing that the said Ships were intended to be imployed by the said French King against those of the same Religion at Rochel and elswhere in the Kingdom of France , did procure the said Ship Royal , and compel as aforesaid the said six other Ships to be delivered unto the said French King , his Ministers and Subjects as aforesaid , to the end the said Ships might be used and imployed by the said French King in his intended War against those of the said Religion in the said Town of Rochel and elswhere within the Kingdom of France : And the said Ships were and have been since so used and imployed by the said French King , his Ministers and Subjects , against them . And this the said Duke did as aforesaid in great and most apparent prejudice of the said Religion , contrary to the purpose and intention of our Soveraign Lord the King , and against his duty in that behalf , being a sworne Counsellor to his Majesty , and to the great scandal and dishonor of this Nation . And notwithstanding the delivery of the said Ships by his procurement and compulsion as aforesaid , to be imployed as aforesaid , the said Duke in cunning and cautelous manner to mask his ill intentions , did at the Parliament held at Oxford in August last , before the Committee of both Houses of Parliament , intimate and declare , that the said Ships were not , nor should they be so used and imployed against those of the said Religion as aforesaid , in contempt of our Soveraign Lord the King , and in abuse of the said Houses of Parliament , and in violation of that Truth which every man should profess . These three Articles were aggravated by Mr. Glanvile . MY Lords ( said he ) In this great business of Impeachment against the Duke of Buckingham , I am commanded by the Commons in Parliament to bear a part of some importance . The Articles allotted to my Charge are three , the Sixth , Seventh , and Eighth ; which I shall open with as much brevity and perspicuity as I may : The substance of several Cases concerning the same ; The Evidence to make them good , together with such Observations as naturally arise out of the matter ; whereby your Lordships may the better discern wherein the Dukes faults do consist , and what punishment may be answerable to such offences . The Sixth Article is a distinct Charge different from the other two ; wherefore I will handle it , with the Incidents thereof , by it self . The Seventh and Eighth Articles being of one nature and subject , are indeed several parts of one Charge , rather then several Charges , and have such a connexion in themselves , that with your Lordships leaves I will handle them both together without dividing them , which I hold will be the shortest and fittest way to do right to the Cause , and to your Lordships . The Sixth Article giveth me occasion ( my Lords ) thus to enlarge my self . In a Treaty the 18. of August 1604. between our late Soveraign King Iames of glorious memory , and Philip the Third King of Spain , It was agreed , That there should be perfect Amity and Peace to endure for ever by Land , Sea , and Fresh-waters , between these Kings , their Heirs and Successors , their Dominions , Liege-men and Subjects then being , or which should be ; And that either party should then after abstain from all depradations , offences and spoils , by Sea , Land , and Fresh-waters , in what Dominions or Government soever of the other , and should cause restitution to be made of all depradations which then after should be comitted , and the damages growing by means thereof ; And that the said Kings shall take care that their Subjects should from thenceforth abstain from all force and wrong-doing , and that they likewise should revoke all Commissions and Letters-Patents of Reprisal or Mart , or otherwise , containing Licence to take Prizes ; All which are declared by the said Treaty it self to be void , and that whosoever should do any thing contrary should be punished not only criminally according to the merit of his offence , but should also be compelled to make restitution and satisfaction for the losses to the parties damnified requiring the same . Lastly it was concluded , That between them and every of their Subjects might be free Commerce in all the Dominions by Sea , Land , and Fresh-waters , in which before the Wars there hath been Commerce , and according to the use and observance of the antient Leagues and Treaties before the Wars , the Customs as they were at that present rated according to the Ordinance of the Places being paid . This Treaty being setled and continuing , his late Majesty King Iames by his Highness Letters-Patents bearing date the 14. of September , An. 13. of his Reign , did grant unto the Governors of the Merchants of London trading into the East-Indies , and to their Successors , in case they be justly provoked or driven thereunto , in defence of their persons , goods or ships , by any disturbance or hinderance in their quiet Course of Trade , or for recompence or recovery of the persons , ships or goods of any of his Majesties Subjects that had been formerly in , or neer the East-Indies , or for any other just cause of their defence , or recompence of losses sustained ; That then the Captains or principal Commanders of the said Company , or any other under their government , should or might attempt , surprise , or take the persons , ships and goods of any Prince or State , by whose Subjects they should sustain any wrong or loss in manner as aforesaid , as by the said Letters-Patents appeareth : Some years after the granting of these Letters-Patents , under pretext that the said Treaty was broken , there was some interruption and violence offered by the King of Spain's Subjects in the Ports of East-India to the Merchants of the East-India Company trading into those parts , whereby they were much damnified ; and thereupon suspecting that it might be in vain to complain for redress in an ordinary course of Justice in the East-India , or in default thereof to return into Spain to make complaint to that purpose , where nothing was likely to be done till they had sent from thence again into the East-Indies , and received an answer ; And after all this , upon denial of Justice in Spain , to come into this Kingdom for Letters of Request , without which in ordinary course they should not use Reprisal , and many years would be spent before they could come to have an end of these suits ; It is true that thereupon , partly in their defence , and partly for amends , and partly for revenge , they did by pretext of the said Letters-Patents take some goods of the Portugals in the East-Indies , Subjects to the King of Spain ; and afterwards being commanded by the King of Persia to transport certain Forces of his in Ormus an Island situate in the Country of Persia , some goods of Portugals subjects to the King of Spain were there taken by Captain Blith and Captain Wedel , and others of their Company , being servants and in pay under the East-India Company . In Iuly 1623. Two ships called the Lyon and the Ionas , being part of a Fleet belonging to the said Company , returned from Ormus aforesaid out of an East-Indian Voyage , and arrived in the Downs richly laden with goods and merchandise lawfully belonging to the said Company , and estimated to the value of One hundred thousand pounds . The Duke of Buckingham , in or about October 1623. being advertised thereof , well knowing the Company to be rich , and apprehending in himself a probable ground how he might exact and extort some great sum of money from the said Company out of the profit of these ships and their lading , by colour of his Office of Lord Admiral of England , and out of his power and greatness , his Office being used for a groundwork of his design therein , did thereupon pretend that the lading of the said ships was for the most part with goods Pyratically taken at Sea in the parts about Ormus aforesaid , and that a Tenth part or some other great share thereof did belong to him in the right of his said Office of Lord Great Admiral of England , and by vertue of his Letters-Patents and Grant from his late Majesty in that behalf ; alleadging withall , howsoever the said Company might peradventure answer the matter , yet there would and might be strong opposition against them . These words were used to possess them with fear , and to make them stand in awe of his power , when he should come afterwards particularly to press them to yield to his unjust demands . Having once resolved of his ends , which was to get money , he thus proceeded to effect the same . In the moneths of November , December , January and February then next following , he had divers times Treaties by himself and his Agents with the the then Governor and others of the said Company , for the effecting of his said designs ; wherein he still unlawfully pretended that a Tenth part , or some other great share out of the Lading of the said ships belonged unto him ; albeit the said Company upon right information of their Cause to their Council , both Civilians and Common-Lawyers , were advised that there did no Tenths or other such shares belong to the said Duke , as he pretended . And whereas the said Duke by this time finding that he could not prevail to get his Ends by any fair course , continued yet resolute to make his gain upon the Company by right or wrong , as he might ; and to that purpose made use of the following opportunities and advantages , in such cunning and abusive manner as I shall further open to your Lordships . The said Duke well knowing th●t the said Company had then four Ships , called the Great James , the Ionas , the Star , and the Eagle , and two Pinaces called the Spy and the Scout , the said Ships and Pinaces , with their Victuals , Store and Ordnances , were of the value of Fifty four thousand pounds and more , laden with Lead , Cloth , and other Merchandise in them to the value of Twenty thousand pounds and more , and having in them also about Thirty thousand pounds in Royals of Spanish money ; in all , One hundred thousand pounds and more . These Ships and Pinnaces were well near ready to set sail for a Voyage into the East-Indies by the first day of March , in the One and twentieth year of his said late Majesties reign ; and he well-knowing how great a hinderance it would be to the said Company , if the said Ships and Pinnaces should be stayed for any long time , the rather in regard if they did not set sail about that time of the year , or within Twenty days after , they had utterly lost their voyage for that year ; the reason thereof dependeth upon a Secret of Winds , called the Man-sounds , which are constantly six moneths Easterly , and six moneths Westerly every year at their set times in those parts of Africa , about the Cape of Bona Speranza ; ( for of those Winds , all Ships going from hence into the East-Indies , are to make their use in the usual and due time , which yet cannot be done , if men take not their opportunity by coming to the Cape in their proper and due season , and in so long and dangerous a voyage wherein the Equinoctial Line is twice to be passed , it is no good discretion to stay the utmost time in going from hence , in confidence of fair Winds , but rather to take time enough before-hand , for fear of the contrary : Nor can the Lord Admiral of England , who is Custos marium domini Regis , and hath jurisdiction of all Foreign parts super altum mare be admitted to pretend himself ignorant of this Secret , or of any other particulars belonging to the Seas and Voyages . ) The Duke therefore apprehending and well weighing how great a hinderance , or rather what an absolute loss it would be to the company if these their Ships and Pinnaces of so great value , and bound forth in so instant , and difficult a voyage , should be stayed for any long time now they were ready to set sail , and the season of going upon point to expire : The said Duke upon the said First day of March , 1623. to effect his designs upon the said Company , and to get that by circumvention and surprisal , which in a legal and due course of Justice he had not hopes to obtain : Not thinking it sufficient , that the sense of his displeasure lying over the Company as an ominous cloud threatning a storm , if they did not appease him by some great sacrifice ; and to cast them yet further into a farther streight , not sparing to abuse your Lordships in Parliament , by making you unwilling Instruments to give colour and advantage to his secret and unlawful practises . Upon the said First day of March , he put your Lordships sitting in Parliament in minde , touching the great business likely to ensue upon dissolution of the then Treaties with Spain , and that a speedy resolution thereof was necessarily required , for that the Enemy would pretermit no time ; and if we should lose the benefit of that Spring , he said it would be irrevokable ; and thereupon he took occasion to move that House , Whether he should make stay of any shipping that were then in the Ports ( as being High Admiral he might ) and namely , the said Ships prepared for the East-Indian Voyage , which were of great burthen , well furnished , and fit to guard our own Coasts : Which motion was generally approved of the whole House , knowing nothing of the Dukes secret designs and private intentions . And the same day a Motion was made amongst the Commons in Parliament to the same effect by Sir Edward Seymour Knight , the Vice-Admiral to the Duke of the County of Devon ; which , in respect of the time when , and person by whom it was propounded , is very suspitious , that it issued all from one Spirit , and that he was set on by the Duke , or some of his Agents ; the truth whereof , your Lordships may be pleased to search out and examine as you shall see cause . By colour of this Order of the Lords House of Parliament , the Duke caused Iohn Pexal , Marshal of the Admiralty , to make stay to be made of the said Ships and Pinnaces ; howbeit , notwithstanding all the occasion pretended for the defence of the Realm , there were not any other Ships staid at this time . The Company perceiving by the course of things , from whence their Evils moved , upon the Fifth of March , 1623. became earnest Suitors to the said Duke for a Releasement of their said Ships and Pinnaces , whereunto the said Duke replied , That he had not been the cause of their stay ; but having heard the Motion in the Lords House , he could do no less then order as they had done : Yet to incline his ends , and put them in some hope of favor by his means , he told them withal , That he had something in his Pocket that might do them good , and willed them to set down what Reasons they would for their Suit , and he would acquaint the House therewith : Nevertheless about this time he presumed of himself at Theobalds to give leave for the Ships and Pinnaces to fall down as far as Tilbury , there to attend such further Directions as should be given unto them , with leave so to signifie by word of mouth to the Serjeant of the Admiralty , for that the Duke had then no Secretary with him . Thus some while by threatning of strong oppositions and terrors , and other while by intimating hopes of favor , and good assistance , the Duke sought to accomplish his purpose , yet prevailed not ; and so the Tenth of March , 1623. the Kings Advocate , Mr. Dr. Reeves . as Advocate for the King , and Lord Admiral , made Allegation in the Admiralty on the Dukes behalf ; and by his procurements , that it appeared by Examinations there taken , that 150000 l. and more Pyrattically taken by the said Captain Blith , and Wedel , and their Complices upon the Sea near Ormus , and in other parts within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty , was come into the Possessions of the Treasurers of the East-India Company , and remained in their hands , and prayed it might be attached ; and the said Treasurers be monished to appear the Wednesday then next following , and there to bring in the 150000 l. to remain in Deposit with the Register of that Court. The same Tenth of March a Warrant issued forth accordingly , directed to the Marshal of the said Court ; and upon the said next Wednesday the Seventeenth of March , the same Warrant was returned by the said Marshal , That the day before he had attached the said Moneys in the hands of Mr. Stone , then present in the Court , and had admonished him , and Mr. Abbot the Deputy-Governor of that Company , and divers others then present , to bring in the same into Court. Upon the same Wednesday also it was prayed by the Kings Advocate , That Mr. Stone and all that had an interest in this money , might be pronounced as in Contumacy , and therefore be arrested and detained until 150000 l. were brought into the Register . Hereupon Sentence of Contumacy was pronounced , but the payment thereof was respited until Friday following . Upon which Seventeenth of March this Sentence being pronounced , Mr. Stone , Mr. Abdy , and others , Officers of the said Company then present , informed how the Governor was lately dead , and buried but the day before , and that upon Wednesday then next following , they had appointed a Court for Election of a new Governor , and until then they could resolve of nothing , and therefore desired further respite . The Advocate nothing relenting at this reasonable excuse , and desire of the Company , did again earnestly press their Imprisonment ; but the Judge took time to consider of it . The Company finding by these extraordinary and extream courses , the drift of the Duke , whose greatness and power seemed unresistable , and his minde implacable without satisfaction to his own content , and withal observing what a streight they were cast into by reason of the stay of their Ships ; which , if it were much longer , they must needs lose their Voyage utterly for this year , and the very unloading of them would endamage them to the value of the sum extorted : And being told that the Eye of the State was upon this business , and that it would light heavy upon them ; and hearing the Duke protest their Ships should not go , unless they compounded with him , and finding that he made difficulty of releasing their Ships , by saying , The Parliament must be moved before they could be discharged , albeit the wind were now fair for them . And making overture of some resonable grounds of composition , by offering to grant Letters of Mart to the said Company for the future against the Subjects of the King of Spain , while yet the Peace and Treaty between his late Majesty , and the King of Spain , were not broken or dissolved . The said Company being intangled by the Dukes subtilty , and overcome at last by the terror of his power and greatness , was drawn to make offer of Six thousand pounds to the said Duke , which was rejected as a base offer : And now the time pressing them on very hard , some consultations were had amongst them , Whether it were better for them to make use of a clause in their Patent , allowing them three years to draw home their Estates ; and so to let their Company die , and be dissolved , or else to yeild to the Dukes desire : Yet in conclusion they were drawn in to offer him Ten thousand pounds for their peace , if it could serve , which offer was made unto him accordingly , but at first he would not accept it ; howbeit , about the Three and twentieth of March , 1623. they agreed to give him the said Ten thousand pounds , which he accepted ; and forthwith moving the Lords of Parliament , or acquainting them therewith , he retracted their Ships , and gave them leave to depart on their Voyage , which they accordingly did , setting sail the Seven and twentieth day of the same moneth from the Downs . And afterwards upon the Fifth of April , 1624. the Duke signified unto the Lords House of Parliament , That his Majesty at the humble Petition of the East-India Company , had commanded him to discharge the East-Indian Ships , which he had once stayed according to the order of this House , made the First day of March then last past , and moved , That the said Order might be countermanded ; and thereupon it was ordered ; that the Clerk of that House should cross the said Order of the First of March , out of his Book , which was done accordingly , and afterwards the said Ten thousand pounds was paid unto the said Duke ; which he received and accepted accordingly . And upon the Eight and twentieth of April aforesaid , suffered a colourable Sentence in the Admiralty to be given against him for their discharge , in such sort , as by the same Sentence appeareth . And for a colour he sealed and delivered unto the said Company , a Deed of Acquittance or Release of the said Ten thousand pounds , and of all his pretended rights against them , as by the Deed thereof also appeareth . And whereas it may be imagined by some misconceit , that out of this an Aspersion may be laid upon his late Majesty , in regard the Duke was pleased to say in the Conference between both Houses , 18 March last , That the said King had Ten thousand pounds of the said Company by occasion of this business . The House of Commons have been very careful in their proceedings in this , as in all other things they have , and ever shall be , to do nothing which may reflect upon the Honor of their Kings : And in this particular , by that which hath been here at first declared of the manner and occasion of the said Goods and Moneys taken from the said Portugals , and receiving the same as aforesaid , while the said Peace was continuing , and the said Treaties indissolved ; it appeareth , that it had not been safe for the said Company to stand out a Suit concerning that business , wherein they might have need of his Majesties Mercy and Pardon , but it was both safe and good for them to give Ten thousand pounds ; and it well stood with his late Majesties Honor , for that sum to grant them a Pardon , which he did to their great contentment and satisfaction ; and yet we finde that this Ten thousand pounds also was paid into the hands of Mr. Oliver , the Dukes servant , but finde not any Record , by which it doth appear unto us , that ever it came unto his late Majesties use . And it is observable in this case , That the oppression fell upon the same Company shortly after the great affliction which hapned unto some of them at Amboyna in the East-Indies , by means of the Dutch , which might have moved a Noble minde rather to pitty , then punish the Company after such a Distress so lately suffered . Having now finished the Narrative part belonging to this Charge , I shall observe unto your Lordships upon the whole matter , the nature of the Dukes offences by this Article complained of , and what punishment it may deserve . His fault consisteth in the unjust extorting and receiving the Ten thousand pounds from the East-India Company against their wills by colour of his Office. Yet as offenders in this kinde , have commonly some colour to disguise and mask their Corruptions , so had he : His colour was the Release of his pretended right to the Tenth part , or some other share of the Goods , supposed to be Piratically taken at Sea by the Captain , and their Servants of the Company : And though his Lordship may perhaps call his act therein , a lawful Composition , I must crave pardon of your Lordships to say thus , That if his supposed right had been good , this might peradventure have been a fair Composition : The same pretence being unsound , and falling away , it was a meer naked Bribe , and unjust extortion ; For if way should be given to take money by colour of Releases of pretended rights , men great in power , and in evil , would never want means to extort upon the meaner sort at their pleasures with impunity . It remains therefore that I should prove unto your Lordships onely two things : First , That a pretence of right by the Duke , if he had none , will not excuse him in this case , and in the next place , to shew by reason and good warrant , That he had in Law no right at all to Release . For the former , I will relie upon the substance of two noteable presidents of Judgments in Parliament , the one antient in the 10 Rich. 2. At which time the Commons preferred divers Articles unto the Lords in Parliament against Michael de la Pool , Earl of Suffolk , Lord Chancellor of England , accusing him amongst other things by the first Article of his Charge , That while he was Lord Chancellor he had refused to give Livery to the cheif Master of St. Anthonies , of the profit pertaining to that Order , till he had security from them , with Sureties by Recognisance of Three thousand pounds , for the payment of One hundred pounds per annum to the Earl , and to Iohn his Son , for their lives . The Earl by way of Answer , set forth a pretended Title in his Son , to the cheif Mastership of that Order , and that he took that One hundred pound per annum , as a Composition for his Sons right . The Commons replied , shewing amongst other things , That the taking of Money for that which should have been done freely , was a selling of the Law , and so prayed Judgment . In conclusion , the pretended right of his Son not being just , or approved , the offence remained single by it self a sale of Law and Justice , as the Law termeth it , and not a Composition for the Release of his Interest . So the Earl for this , amongst the rest , was sentenced and greatly punished , as by the Records appeareth . The other President of like nature , is more Modern in the Case of the Earl of Middlesex , late Lord Treasurer of England , who was charged by the Commons in Parliament , and transmitted to your Lordships for taking of Five hundred pounds of the Farmers of the Great Customs , as a Bribe for allowing of that Security for payment of their Rent to the late Kings Majesty , which without such reward of Five hundred pounds , he had formerly refused to allow of . The Earl pretended for himself , That he had not onely that Five hundred pound , but Five hundred pounds more , in all One thousand pounds , of those Farmers for a Release of his Claim , to Four of Two and thirty parts of that Farm : But upon the proof , it appearing to your Lordships , That he had not any such part of that Farm as he pretended , it was in the Thirteenth day of May , in the Two and twentieth year of his late Majesties reign , Adjudged by your Lordships in Parliament ( which I think is yet fresh in your Memories ) That the Earl for this , amongst other things , should undergo many grievous Censures , as appeareth by the Records of your Lordships house , which I have lately seen and perused . And now being to prove , that the said Duke had no title to any part of the Goods by him claimed against the East-India Company , I shall easily make it manifest , if his Lordships pretence by his own Allegation in the Admiralty were true , That the Goods whereof he claims his share , were Piratically taken . From which Allegation , as he may not now recede , so is it clear by Reason and Authority , That of such Goods , no part or share whatsoever is due to the Lord Admiral in right of his Office , or otherways . 1. For that the parties from whom the same were taken , ought to have restitution , demanding it in due and reasonable time ; and it were an injury to the intercourse , and Law of Nations , if the contrary should be any way tolerated . 2. Secondly by Law ; for so are the Statutes of this Kingdom , and more especially in 27 Edw. 3.13 . whereby it was provided , That if any Merchant , privy or stranger , be robbed of his Goods upon the Sea , and the same come afterwards into this Realm , the owner shall be received to prove such Goods to be his , and upon proof thereof , shall have the same restored to him again . Likewise , 1 , 2 , 3 Edw. 6.18 . in the Act of Parliament , touching Sir Thomas Seymour , Great Admiral of England , who therein amongst divers other things is charged with this , That he had taken to his own use Goods Piratically taken against the Law , whereby he moved almost all Christian Princes to conceive a grudge and displeasure , and by open War to seek remedy by their own hands : And therefore for this , amongst other things , he was attainted of High Treason , as appeareth by that Act wherein the Law is so declared to be as before is expressed . But if it should be admitted , that the Duke had a right in this case , for which he might compound ; yet the manner of his seeking to try and recover such his right , is in it self an high Offence , and clearly unlawful in many respects , whereof I will touch but a few . As in making the most Honorable House of Parliament an Instrument to effect his private ends for his profit : In proceeding to arest and stay the Ships of men not apt to flie , but well able to answer and satisfie any just Suits which he might have against them , though their Ships had gone on in their Voyage : In prosecuting things so unseasonably , and urging them so extreamly by his Advocate , for bringing in of so great a sum of money upon the sudden , and formally under colour of Justice and Service of the State : In reducing that Company into that straight and necessity , that it was as good for them to compound , though the Duke had no title ; as to defend their own just right against him upon these disadvantages , which by his power and industry he had put upon them . Then he read the Seventh and Eighth Articles , which he handled joyntly , as being not two Charges , but two sevearl parts of one and the same Charge ; and when he had read them , he went on speaking further to their Lordships , as followeth . YOur Lordships may have observed how in handling the former Articles , I have in my Discourse used the method of time , which I hold to be best for the discovery of the truth : I shall therefore by your Lordships patience , whereof now I have had some good experience , use the like order in my enlargment upon these later Articles ; touching which , that which I have to say , is thus . In or about the Two and twentieth year of the reign of our late dear Soveraign Lord King Iames of famous memory , there being then a Treaty between our said late Soveraign and the French King , for a Marriage to be had between our then most Noble Prince ( now our most gratious King ) and the French Kings Sister ( our now Queen ) and for entring into an Active War against the King of Spain , and his Allies in Italy , and the Valtoline . Our said late Soveraign passed some promise to the French Kings Ambassador here , the Marquess D' Effiat , for procuring or lending some Ships to be employed by the French in that Service , upon reasonable conditions ; but without thought or intent that they should be employed against the Rochellers , or any others of our Religion in France : For it was pretended by the French Kings Ministers to our King , That the said Ships should be employed particularly against Genoa , and not otherwise . But afterwards some matter of Suspition breaking forth from those of our Religion in France , that the Design for Italy was but a pretence to make the Body of an Army fall upon the Rochellers , or other of our Religion in that Kingdom ; the King grew so cautious in his Conditions , that as he would perform his promise to lend his Ships , so to preserve those of our Religion , he contracted or gave directions , that the greater part of the Men in the same Ships should be English , whereby the power of them should be ever in his hands . And the Duke of Buckingham then and yet Lord Great Admiral of England , well knowing all this to be true , pretended he was and would be very careful , and proceed with art to keep the said Ships in the hands of our King , and upon our own Coasts ; and yet nevertheless under hand he unduly intended , practised , and endeavored the contrary : For afterwards by his direction or procurement in or about the Two and twentieth year aforesaid , a Ship of his Majesties called the Vantguard , being of his Majesties Royal Navy , was allotted and appointed to be made ready for the service of the French King , and seven other Merchants Ships of great burthen and strength , belonging to several persons Natural Subjects of our said late Soveraign Lord , were by the Dukes direction impressed as for the service of his said late Majesty , and willed to make themselves ready accordingly . The Names and Tunage of the said Seven Merchants Ships were as followeth . 1. The Great Neptune , whereof Sir Ferdinando Gorge was Captain . 2. The Industry , of the burthen of Four hundred and fifty Tuns , whereof Iames Moyer was Captain . 3. The Pearl of Five and forty Tuns , Anthony Tench was Captain . 4. The Marigold of Three hundred Tuns , Thomas Davies Captain . 5. The Loyalty of Three hundred Tuns , Iasper Dare Captain . 6. The Peter and Iohn of Three hundred and fifty Tuns , Iohn Davies Captain . 7. The Gift of God of Three hundred Tuns , Henry Lewen Captain . Also about the same time a Contract was made by and between Sir Iohn Cooke , and other the Commissioners of his Majesties Navy , as on behalf of his Majesty for his said Ship the Vantguard , and on behalf of the Captains , Masters , and Owners of the said Seven Merchants Ships , but without their privity or direction for the service of the French King , upon conditions to be safe and reasonable for our King , this Realm , and State ; as also for the said Captains , Masters , and Owners of the said seven Merchants Ships , and for the Companies . For Sir Iohn Cooke drew the Instructions for the Direction of the said Contract , which Instructions passed and were allowed by the King , and such of the Council , as were made acquainted therewith , and used in this business . In which Instructions , as Sir Iohn Cooke hath since alleaged in the House of Commons , there was care taken for provision to be made , that the said Ship of his Majesty called Vantguard , should not serve against the City or Inhabitants of Rochel , or those of the Religion in France , nor take into her more men of the French then she could from time to time be well able to command and master . But whether the Instructions for the Merchants Ships , and the Kings said Ship were all one , is not yet cleared unto the Commons , howbeit it appeareth not , but that the intent of our King and State , was to be a like careful for both . Nevertheless a Form of Articles dated the Five and twentieth day of March , in the Three and twentieth year of his said late Majesties raign , was prepared , ingrossed , and made ready to be sealed without the knowledge of the Captains , Masters , and Owners of the said Merchants Ships , between the said Marquess D' Effiat the Ambassador , on the one part , and the several Owners of the said Merchants Ships respectively on the other part , viz. A several Writing or Instrument for every of the said Ships respectively , whereby amongst other things , as by the same appeareth , it was covenanted and agreed , by and on the part and behalf of the owners , to and with the said Marquess D' Effiat , to this effect , namely . 1. That their said Ships respectively , with a certain number of men for every of them limitted , with Ordnance , Munition , and other necessaries , should be ready for the French Kings service , the Thirteenth of April then next following . 2. That they should go on in that Service under a French General , to be as Captain in every of the said Merchants Ships respectively ; of the appointment of the French King , or his Ambassador . 3. That they should serve the French King against any whomsoever , but the King of Great Britain . 4. That they should take in as many Soldiers into their said several Ships , as they could stow or carry , besides their Victual and Apparel . 5. That they should continue six moneths or longer in the Service , so that the whole time did not exceed eighteen moneths . 6. That they should permit the French to have the absolute Command of their Ships , for Fights and Voyages . And it was amongst the said Articles , besides other things , Covenanted and agreed by the said Marquess D' Effiat ; as , for and on the behalf of the French King , to this effectly , namely . I. That there should be paid to every owner a moneths freight in hand , after the rate agreed on ; and freight for two moneths more after the same rate , within Fifteen days after the date of the Articles ; the computation of the moneths to begin from the 28 of March. II. And that the Ships should be ready in a certain form prescribed at the end of the Service . When all things were in a readiness for circumvention and surprisal of the Owners , Captains , and Masters of the said Ships , then and not before , they were suddenly pressed to Seal the Countreparts of the prepared Articles ; and they were about the same time released and discharged from the Imprest of his Majesties Service , and acquainted and designed to serve the French King , the said three moneths pay being offered , and afterwards paid unto them before-hand , as a bait to draw on and intangle them in the business . Nevertheless , the Captains and Owners of the said Merchants Ships doubted upon some points ( to wit ) first , Against whom they should be employed ? secondly , What Foreign power they should be bound to take into their Ships ? and thirdly , What sufficient security they should have for their freight , and redelivery of their Ships . But there were private Instructions given to Captain Iohn Pennington , Captain of the Kings Ship , the Vauntguard ; as for him and the whole Fleet , that he should observe the first Instructions , to wit , Not to serve against those of the Religion , and to take into his Ship no more Frenchmen then they could master . The pretence for Genoa , and these private Instruments for Pennington , were but a further Artifice of the Dukes to draw the Ships into France , and to conceal the breaking forth of the matter here in England : And the more to endear them , and confirm them in an opinion of right intention , they were commanded to conceal these private Instructions , as if the Duke and his Agents hast trusted them more then they did the Ambassadors . By these and other like cunning and undue proceedings of the said Duke , the said Marquis d' Effiat sealed one part , and the Owners of the said Merchants ships respectively sealed the other parts of the said pretended Articles , trusting they should not be bound to the strict performance thereof , by reason of the said private Instructions to the contr●● . After the passing of these Articles , the said ships being formerly ready , the said Duke May 8. 1625. made a Warrant under the Great-Seal , to call the Companies aboard which had been raised and fitted for the said French service , according to former Instructions , and with first opportunity to go to such Port as the French Ambassador should direct , &c. there to expect Directions of the Party that should be Admiral of the said Fleet so prepared , with a requiry of all Officers to be assistant hereunto . All things being now in readiness , Captain Pennington being Admiral of this whole Fleet , in May 1625. went with the Kings said ship the Vantguard , and the seven Merchants ships aforesaid to Diep in France : There instantly the Duke of Memorancy , Admiral of France , would have put Two hundred French Souldiers aboard the ship called the Industry , being no more men then she could stow , but a far greater proportion of men then her proper Company was able to command or master ; and offered also to do the like to every one of the said ships ; telling the said Captain Pennington , and other the said English Captains and Owners , and their Companies in direct tearms , that they were to go , and should go to serve against the City and Inhabitants of Rochel , and against those of our Religion : whereunto they all shewing themselves unwilling , there were Chains of Gold , and other Rewards offered unto some of the Captains , Masters and Owners , to induce them : All which they utterly refused , protesting unanimously against the Design , and would not take in above a fit number of men , such as they might be able to command . Also the Company of the Kings ship did there inform Captain Pennington of this Overture made to go against Rochel , and exhibited a Petition to him against the same , subscribing their names to the Petition in a Circle or Compass , that it might not appear who was the beginner of the same , and then they laid it under his Prayer-Book , where he found and read it . Whereupon Captain Pennington and the rest consulted more seriously of the matter , and by a general assent returned all back to the Downs , where they arrived about the end of Iune , or beginning of Iuly 1625. From thence Captain Pennington sent a Letter to the Duke of Buckingham by one Ingram , with the said Petition , and imployed him to become a Suitor to get a discharge from serving against Rochel : Ingram delivered the Letter to the Duke , and saw him read it , together with the said Petition ; whereby , as by other former and later means , he had full notice of the Design , and intent of the French to go against the Rochellors : Iames Moyer also about the same time came to the Court , and had conference with my Lord Conway and Sir Iohn Cook , ( now Secretary ) acquainting them what had passed at Diep , praying them to acquaint the Duke , which they did , and the Duke delivered the said Letter and Petition to Sir Iohn Cook. The Duke of Chevereux and Monsieur de Villocleer being now come into England , as extraordinary Ambassadors from the French King , they and the said Marquis d' Effiat , more especially d' Effiat , sollicited and got a Letter from the Lord Conway by the Dukes means , dated Iuly 1O . 1625 . directed to Captain Pennington , whereby he took upon him to express and signifie his Majesties pleasure to be , That his Majesty had left the command of the ships to the French King , and that now Captain Pennington should receive into them so many men as that King should please for the time contracted , and recommended his Letter to be as a sufficient Warrant in that 〈◊〉 All this while the King or Body of the Council were never made acquainted with any other design then that of Genoa , nor heard any thing of the passages at Diep , nor of the design for Rochel , nor of our Masters & Companies Petitions , Informations or Complaints thereupon . This Letter of the Lord Conways was sent by Parker from Hampton-Court unto Pennington , being now about the Downs , and was not long after delivered into his hands . About this time Monsieur de la Touche , and others , as from the Duke de Rohan , and others of the Protestant party in France , sollicited our King and Council against the going of the ships , and had good words and hopes from both , but from the Duke the contrary , who told them , the King his Master was obliged , and so the ships must and should go . The ships remained still in the Downs , and afterwards , viz. about Iuly 15. 1625. there was a Treaty at Rochester between the three Ambassadors Extraordinary of France , and Iames Moyer , and Anthony Touchin for themselves and other English Captains and Masters of ships , &c. The said Moyer and Touchin being by Message commanded to attend the Duke of Buckingham at Rochester , for conclusion and settlement to be had of this business , the said Ambassadors did there proffer and offer to the said Moyer and Touchin an Instrument in French purporting thus ; viz. 1. That the said English Captains and their Companies should consent and promise to serve the French King against all , none excepted but the King of great Britain , in conformity of the Contract formerly passed between d' Effiat and them . 2. That they should consent and agree , in consideration of the assurance given them by the Ambassadors , to the Articles of March 25. 1625. whereby the French King should be made Master of the said ships by indifferent Inventory ; that then they should by him be warranted against all hazards of Sea-fight , and if they miscarried , then the value thereof to be paid by the French King , who would also confirm this new Proposition within fifteen dayes after the ships should be delivered to his use by good caution in London . 3. That if the French King would take any men out of the said ships , he might , but without any diminution of freight for or in respect thereof . The said Iames Moyer having gotten the French Instrument interpreted , answered , 1. they would not go to serve against Rochel ; 2. nor send their ships , without good warrant for their going ; and 3. not without sufficient security to their liking for payment of their freight , and reddition of their ships , or the value thereof ; for the Ambassadors security was by them taken not to be sufficient , and they protested against it , and utterly refused this peraffetted Instrument : Here also Sir Iohn Epsley and Sir Thomas Love disswaded the Duke from this enterprise , telling him , he could not justifie nor answer the delivery of the ships to the French. The Lord Duke being at Rochester , and there acquainted with all these proceedings , commanded the said Moyer and the rest , before these Ambassadors , that they should obey the Lord Conways Letter , and return to Diep to serve the French , and that so was our Kings pleasure ; howbeit herein his Majesties pleasure appeared not , but the contrary : yet privately at the same time the Duke told them , that the security offered or formerly given by the Ambassador , was insufficient , and that though they went to Diep , yet they might and should there keep their ships in their own power till they had made their own conditions to their own liking . Iuly 16. 1625. The Duke of Chevereux and Monsieur Villocleox finding that they could not accomplish their designs at Rochester , but they must be fain to defer the getting thereof till the coming of the ships back again to Diep , where it was thought that better opportunity and more advantage for their ends would be had , did to that purpose make and ordain the Marquis d' Effiat their Deputy to contract with the Captains and Masters of the English ships for the French Kings service , as effectually as themselves might do , thereby transferring their power in that behalf to the said d' Effiat , who intended to go over to Diep forthwith about this business . The Duke of Buckingham having thus the second time dealt with the Captains and Masters to go to Diep , and armed and prepared d' Effiat how and in what manner there to circumvent them , sent over to Diep privately , and underhand , his Secretary Mr Edward Nicholas , together with d' Effiat . Mr Nicholas at and before the going over , had Instructions from the Duke by word to see the execution of the Kings pleasure signified by the Letter from my Lord Conway , and to procure the Captains and Masters of the said Merchants ships to deliver over their ships into the hands of the French , upon the security peraffetted at Rochester by the three French Ambassadors , and by them delivered to the Duke of Buckingham , who committed the same to the said Mr Nicholas , as the security which in that behalf he was to take and accept . Mr Nicholas according to those Instructions , went to Diep with d' Effiat , and was there very urgent to get the ships delivered to the French , according to the said Instructions at their coming over to Diep : d' Effiat entred a Suit and Protest against our Captains and Masters , and their original Articles , the better to enforce them to perform the same , without respect to the Dukes verbal pretences or Allegations made to the Captains and Masters at Rochester , and in other places formerly to the contrary . The Captains and Masters came over again to Diep about Iuly 20. where they found themselves in a strait by reason of the said Protest there entred against them , the Dukes instructions by word being too weak to exempt them from obtaining their Contract under their Hands and Seals ; also Mr Nicholas using the Kings name with threatning words , was there very earnest from day to day , and very vehemently pressed them to deliver over their ships before security given to their content , contrary to the former Proposition , ( viz. the Lord Dukes word to them at Rochester ) which they refusing to yeild unto , Advertisement thereof was speedily sent to the Duke of Buckingham , and to his Agents into England , and Mr Nicholas continued still at Diep about his former Negotiation . Iuly 27. 1625. Sir Ferdinando Gorge , Anth. Touching , James Moyer Henry Lewen , Tho. Davies , Jasp. Dard , and Iames Davies , as owners and Captains of the said seven English ships hired for the French , did express in writing , that they held it fit they should not quit ships their till they had made their own reasonable conditions , and were freed from the questions , and troubles they were in ; and in particular , 1. They prayed to be free of the said Protest , that they might the better treat of their affairs . 2. If the the French King would have delivery of their ships into his power and possession , that then they might have security by money deposited in London , without Revocation for satisfaction of their ships , the former security by Merchants being insufficient , and a stop already made of their pay , which upon that security they know not how to come by . 3. Because their ships being Fortresses of this Kingdom , and the delivery of them over into the hands of a Forein Prince without good warrant , concerneth even their very lives , that they might have a warrant in that behalf under the Great-Seal of England before they should be bound to deliver them over . 4. To be free of their bonds entred into for not selling their Ordnance , and also free of punishment in that behalf , and they shewed how they were more cautious herein , for that Commissioners drew the first Articles , which were now wholly broken , and these Articles were to be done by themselves . And this writing they sent from their ships by one Mr Basset Cole , to present on shore to the Marquis d' Effiat at Diep , appointing the said Mr Cole to treat for a speedy conclusion according to these Articles ; who treated accordingly : And the said Marquis , to induce him to yield to his demands , shewed a Letter in French signed by the Duke of Buckingham , whereby the Duke promised his endeavors to get the Marquis's turn served touching these ships . The next day , viz. 28 Iuly 1625. Mr Nicholas came aboard the Neptune , and declared in writing under his hand , how and why he was sent over by the Duke of Buckingham , as before , and craved the Captain and Masters Answer in writing under their hands , whether they would conform to the Lord Conways Letter , and to the Instrument peraffetted at Rochester , for delivery over of the said ships , yea or no , offering to procure them a sufficient discharge to their contentment for their so doing . The same day also Sir Ferdinando Gorge and the rest , by writing under their hands subscribed , did declare as followeth ; namely , That they were willing to obey our King , but held not the security peraffetted at Rochester by the three Ambassadors to be sufficient ( though honorable ) and so they absolutely refused to deliver their ships upon that security , desiring better caution in that behalf . 1. By Merchants of Paris . 2. To be transferred to London . 3. Irrevocable . 4. And such as might not be protected by Prerogative ; and to have this under the Hands and Seals of both Kings . All this while our King or body of the Council knew nothing in certain of any other design of the French , then only of their pretence against Genoa , and believed that all the Articles and Instruments that had passed between the French and us , or the Captains , Masters , and Owners of the English ships had been penned and contrived with full and good Cautions accordingly , for p●evention of all dangers that might grow to the contrary . Also the same 28 Iuly , the Captains and Masters taking notice of Mr. Nicholas pressing them to deliver their ships before security given to their content , contrary to former Propositions , which they held unreasonable , did make answer unto the Marquis in writing , That until they should have security to their contentment , they would not quit the possession of their ships unto the French ( which was but reasonable ) and they sent therewith a valuation of their several ships as they would stand to . They likewise demanded a performance of all things formerly sent to his Lordship from them by Mr. Nicholas ( save only for the security by money deposited ) saying , that for all the rest they durst not proceed otherwise . Lastly they prayed for a speedy Answer , that the delay in this business may not seem to be in them . But D' Effiat being confident of the Duke of Buckingham's Letters , promises , and proceedings aforesaid , would not consent to these reasonable demands of the Captains and Masters of the English ships , protracting the time till he might hear further from the said Duke out of England . While these things were thus in handling both in France and in England , there were written over out of France into England Letters of advertisement , how and upon what ground , or by what act or means procured or occasioned , appeareth not ; yet from one Mr. Larking a servant to the Earl of Holland , and a kind of Agent , a person some way imployed by our State , or under some of our Ambassadors or Ministers in France ; That the Peace was concluded with those of our Religion in France , and that within fourteen days the War would break forth or begin in Italy , with a Design upon Genoa , a matter of great importance for annoying the Spaniard . This Letter of Larking came to the English Court at Richmond 28 Iuly , when the Duchess of Chevereux Child was there Christened , and the Contents thereof ( as hath been alleaged ) were confirmed by the Ambassadors of Savoy and Venice : By the advantage and colour whereof the Duke of Buckingham drew the King ( who all this while knew nothing of the Design upon Rochel or those of our Religion , but thought the ●ormer Articles had been safe and well penned both for him and his Subjects ( according to the most religious and politick intention , and Instructions in that behalf originally given by his late Father ) to write a Letter dated at Richmond the same 28 Iuly directed to the said Captain Pennington to this effect , viz. His Majesty did thereby charge and command the said Captain Pennington without delay to put his Highness former Command in execution , for consigning the Vantguard into the hands of the Marguis D'Effiat for the French , with all her Furniture , assuring her Officers his Majesty would provide for their Indemnity ; And to require the seven Merchants ships in his Majesties name to put themselves into the service of the French King , according to the promise his Majesty had made unto him ; And in case of backwardness or refusal , commanding him to use all forcible means to compel them , even to sinking ; with a Charge not to fail , and this Letter to be his Warrant . This Letter was sent by Captain Thomas Wilbraham to Captain Pennington , who was yet in the Downs . In the beginning of August 1625. Captain Pennington went over again to Diep , carrying with him the said Letters of his Majesty , and certain Instructions in writing from the Duke of Buckingham to Mr. Nicholas , agreeable in substance to the former verbal Instructions given by the Duke to him at Rochester , as the said Nicholas alleadgeth ; who also affirmeth , that in all things what he did touching that business , he did nothing but what was warranted by the Dukes Instructions to him ; which if it be true , then the Duke of Buckingham who commanded and imployed him therein must needs be guilty of the matters so acted by the said Mr. Nicholas . If there be any subsequent act or assent of Council , or of some Counsellors of State for the going of these ships to the French , or for putting them into their power , it was obtained only for a colour , and was unduly gotten by misinforming the Contents of the sealed Articles , and concealing the Truth , or by some other undue means : Neither can any such latter act of Council in any sort justifie the Dukes proceedings , which by the whole current of the matter appears to have been indirect in this business even from the beginning . About the time of Captain Pennington's coming over to Diep the second time , Mr. Nicholas did in his speeches to the Captains and Masters of the seven Merchants ships threaten and tell them , That it was as much as their lives were worth , if they delivered not their ships to the French as he required ; which put them in such fear as they could hardly sleep : And thereupon two of them were once resolved to have come again away with the ships ; and because the former threats had made them afraid to return into England , therefore to have brought and left their ships in the Downs , and themselves for safety of their lives to have gone into Holland . Captain Pennington being the second time come into Diep , there forthwith delivered and put the said ship the Vantguard into the absolute power and command of the French King , his Subjects and Ministers , to the said French Kings use , to be imployed in his service at his pleasure ; and acquainted the rest of the Fleet with the effect of his Majesties Letter and Command , and demanded and required them also to deliver and put their ships into the power and command of the French King accordingly . The Captains , Masters , and Owners of the seven Merchants ships refused so to do , as conceiving it was not the Kings pleasure they should so do without security for redelivery of their ships , or satisfaction for the same to their good contentment . Hereupon Pennington went on shore at Diep , and there spake with D'Effiat the Ambassador , and shortly after returned aboard , and gave the Captains , Masters and Owners an Answer , resting upon the validity , and urging the performance of the former Contract made and peraffetted in England . Then the said Masters and Captains prepared to be gone , and weighed anchor accordingly . Whereupon Captain Pennington shot at them , and forced them to come again to anchor , as yielding themselves for fear to his mercy and disposal . Upon this , Captain Pennington and the Frenchmen that now commanded the Vantguard , came aboard the Merchants ships , and there proposed unto them a new way for their security touching their ships , namely to accept the security of the Town of Diep : Whereupon they all went ashore except Sir Ferdinando Gorge , who with his ship the Great Neptune adventured to come away , as not liking these new and unreasonable Propositions . At their coming ashore they spake with Mr. Nicholas , and there by his enforcement came to a new Agreement to accept the Security of the Town of Diep , upon certain hard Conditions ; namely , The said Marquis d' Effiat as Extraordinary Ambassador in England , and as having power by deputation from the Duke of Chevereux and Villocleer , on or about August 15. 1625 , did agree and promise to the said Moyer , Touchin , Thomas Davies , Dard , John Davies , Lewen , as Captains and Owners of the said ships , called the Industry , the Pearl , the Marigold , the Loyalty , the Peter and Iohn , and the Gift of God , then being in the Road of the Town of Diep , That the French King should give and furnish to the said Owners ( they being present , and accepting it in this Town ) this sufficient security , That within fifteen dayes after the said French King should be in possession of the said ships , he should give sufficient caution in London , for the sum of Two hundred and thirteen thousand Livres , whereat the said ships were estimated , with all that appertaineth to them , as Cannons and other Munitions of War ; viz. Fifty thousand pounds . And in or about the same 15 August , 1625. the Commonalty of the said Town of Diep entred security , and bound the goods of their Commonalty to the said English Captains and Owners , That the said French King and his Ambassadors should furnish the security within the City of London within the time , and for the sum aforesaid . On or about August 16. 1625. the said Marquis d' Ef●iat , as well in his quality of being Ambassador , as by vertue of his said Deputation , did by a publick Act promise unto the said Moyer , Touching , &c. to give and furnish to them ( they being present , and requiring it in the Town of Diep ) sufficient security in the City of London , within fifteen dayes after the French King should be in peaceable possession of the said ships , for the sum of Two hundred and thirteen thousand Livres Turnoys , whereat the said ships were valued , namely , for the said ship called the Industry , and so a several sum for every ship , which security should remain for assurance to pay to every of them the prices of their ships before specified in that Act , in case they should be left in the French Kings hands , with other particulars in the said Act mentioned , without derogating nevertheless from the Clauses of the said Contract March 25. 1625. Albeit , because the said Ambassadors had found it good now to discharge the English Mariners out of the said ships , that therefore the freight agreed upon by the said former Contract should not be wholly paid , but only for the space of the first six moneths ; yet if the French King would use them for twelve moneths longer , or for any less time , that then he should pay freight for the same according to a new particular rate and manner expressed in the said Articles , and bound the goods of himself and the said Duke of Chevereux and Monsieur Villocleer for the performance hereof , as by the said Article it self ; reference being thereunto had , amongst other things more fully appeareth . This Article being passed and recorded at Diep , all the said seven Merchants ships , except the Great-Neptune , who was gone away in detestation of the action intended by the French were forthwith delivered into the absolute possession , power , and command of the French King , and of his said Ambassador d' Effiat , and other the Ministers and Subjects of the French King , to be imployed by him in his service at his pleasure , and not one of all the English Company , Man or Boy , ( other then one onely man , a Gunner as it should seem ) would stay in any of those ships , to serve against the Rochellors , or those of our Religion . As soon as these ships were thus delivered into the possession and power of the French , the said Ambassador then moved them , and dealt earnestly with them for the sale of their ships . Mr Nicholas having finished the work he went for , at his coming from Diep he recei-a Diamond-Ring worth Fifty pounds , and a Hatband set with Sparks of Diamonds , worth One hundred Marks , of the Ambassador , as a recompence for his pains taken in this Imployment , which ( although Ambassadors do confer greater rewards sometimes at their parting upon persons of Mr Nicholas his quality , for less service done ) yet was it more then so ill an office as he was imployed in could in any sort deserve . The said Captain Pennington returned speedily into England , and took his journey towards the City of Oxford , where the Parliament was then sitting , by adjournment from Westminster thither , and there several Propositions were taken into debate for the good of our Religion , and the supply of his Majesties occasions : For the well resolving and setling whereof the true knowledg how , and upon what occasions and terms the several ships were sent , delivered , imployed , and to be imployed , was very requisite . Afterwards neverthertheless upon or about August 6. 1625. at a meeting and conference between both the Houses of Parliament in Christchurch-Hall , after the reading there of his Majesties most gracious Answer to a Petition of the Lords and Commons formerly exhibited unto his Majesty touching our Religion , and much for the good thereof , the Duke of Buckingham well knowing all the passages which I have now related to your Lordships to be true , did not onely cautelously conceal the same , but also much boldly and untruely , by colour of a Message delivered from his Majesty to both the Houses , affirm unto them touching those ships to this effect ; That it was not alwayes fit for Kings to give accompt of their Counsels , and that about five of the six Moneths were already past , and yet the said ships were not imployed against Rochel ; willing and advising the said Lords and Commons to judge the things by the event , to which he seemed to refer the matter . By which cunning Speeches the Duke intended , and accordingly did make the Lords and Commons then to believe , That the said ships were never meant , or any way in danger to be imployed against the Rochellors , or those of our Religion in France ; and herein he did great injury and disservice to his Majesty , to the great scandal and prejudice of our Religion and Affairs , and highly abused both the Lords and Commons by this cautelous and subtile Speech and Insinuation , and thereby gave both Houses occasion to forbear Petitioning or suing to his Majesty for Redress in this Business , while the time was not then passed ; for the ships were not as then actually imployed against the Rochellors , albeit in truth they were then delivered into the French Kings power . And the same time before the Parliament was dissolved , Captain Pennington , who could have opened the whole truth of the business for the Service of the King and the Realm , came to Oxford , but was there drawn to conceal himself by means of the Duke , and not to publish in due time his knowledge of the Premisses , as was there shortly after reported . The truth whereof the Lords in this Parliament may be pleased to examine , as they shall see cause ; the Parliament at Oxford being shortly after , viz. Aug. 12. unhappily dissolved . In or about September 1625. The said ships were actually imployed against the Rochellors and their Friends , to their exceeding great prejudice , and almost utter ruine . It hath been said by some of the French , that the Vantguard , she mowed them down like grass : To the great dishonor of our Nation , and the scandal of our Religion , and to the disadvantage of the great affairs of this Kingdom , and all Christendom . Also the Ships themselves were in eminent peril to be utterly lost , for lack of sufficient Cautions . If they be come home since this Parliament sate down , long after the matter was here expounded and taken into examination ; It may be well presumed that it is by some underhand procuring of the Duke , and the secret complying of the French with him , to colour out the matter ; which the Lords may examine as they see cause . The one and onely English-man that presumed to stay in one of the Ships , and serve against the poor Rochellors of our Religion , at his return was slain in charging a Peece of Ordnance not by him well sponged . In February last 1625. Monsieur de la Touche having speech with Master Thomas Sherwell a Member of the Commons House of Parliament , at Salisbury , as he was coming up to the Parliament , and Monsieur de la Touche going down into Somerset-shire to Master John Pawlets to Monsieur Sobysa ; He told Master Sherwell , in the hearing also of one Master Iohn Clements of Plymouth , who is now in Town , the words that the Duke had spoken to him the last Summer touching these Ships ; and thereupon used these words , Ce Duque est un meshant homme . Upon this whole Narration of the Fact touching the manner of Delivery of the Ships to the French , divers things may be observed wherein the Dukes offences do consist : As , In betraying a Ship of the Kings Royal Navy unto a Foreign Princes hand , without good Warrant for the same ; The dispossessing the Subjects of this Realm of their Ships and Goods by many artifices and subtilties , and in conclusion with high hand and open violence against the good will of the Owners ; In breaking the duty of Lord Admiral and Guardian of the Ships and Seas of this Kingdom ; In varying from the original good Instructions , and presuming to give others of his own head in matters of State ; In violating the duty of a sworne Privy-Counsellor to his Majesty ; In abusing both Houses of Parliament by a cautelous Misinformation , under a colour of a Message from his Majesty ; And in disadvantaging the Affairs of those of our Religion in Foreign parts : Offences of an high and grievous nature . For the proof of some parts thereof , which are not the least , I offer to your Lordships consideration the Statute of the 2 & 3 E. 6. touching the Duke of Somerset ; wherein is recited , That amongst other things , he did not suffer the Piers called the Newhaven and Blackerst in the parts beyond the Seas , to be furnished with victuals and money , whereby the French were encouraged to invade and win the same ; Aud for this offence amongst others , it was Enacted , That a great part of his Land should be taken from him . And if Non-feazance in a matter tending to lose a fixed Castle belonging to the King , be an high offence ; then the actual putting of a Ship Royal of the Kings into the hand of a Foreign Prince , which is a moveable and more useful Castle and Fortress of the Realm , must needs be held a greater offence . I will forbear to cite any more Presidents of this kind , because some of those who have gone before me have touched at divers Presidents of this nature , which may be applied to this my part . Only , because the abuse of the Parliament , which is the chiefest Council of State and Court of Judicature in the Realm , is not the least offence in this business , I shall desire your Lordships to take into consideration the Statute of Westm. 1. cap. 30. whereby such as seem to beguile Courts of Justice , are to be sore judged in the same Courts , and punished , as by that Statute appeareth . So he concluded , and left the Duke to their Lordships equal Justice . The Ninth and Tenth Articles were read next . IX . Whereas the Titles of Honor of this Kingdom of England were wont to be conferred as great Rewards , upon such vertuous and industrious Persons as had merited them by their faithful service ; The said Duke , by his importunate and subtile procurement , hath not only perverted that antient and most honorable way , but also unduly for his own particular gain he hath enforced some that were rich ( though unwilling ) to purchase Honor : As the Lord R. Baron of T. who by practice of the said Duke and his Agents was drawn up to London , in or about October in the Two and twentieth year of Reign of the late King Iames of famous memory , and there so threatened and dealt withall , that by reason thereof he yielded to give , and accordingly did pay the sum of Ten thousand pounds to the said Duke and to his use : For which said sum , the said Duke in the moneth of Ianuary , in the Two and twentieth year of the said lake King , procured the Title of Baron R. of T. to the said Lord R. In which practice , as the said Lord R. was much wronged in his particular , so the Example thereof tendeth to the prejudice of the Gentry , and dishonor of the Nobility of this Kingdom . X. Whereas no Places of Judicature in the Courts of Justice of our Soveraign Lord the King , nor other like Preferments given by the Kings of this Realm , ought to be procured by any Subject whatsoever for any Reward , Bribe , or Gift ; He the said Duke in or about the moneth of December in the Eighteenth year of the Reign of the late King Iames of famous memory , did procure of the said King the Office of High Treasurer of England to the Lord Vicount M. now Earl of M. Which Office at his procurement was given and granted accordingly to the Lord Vicount M. And as a Reward for the said procurement of the same Grant , he the said Duke did then receive to his own use of and from the said Lord Vicount M. the sum of 20000 l. of lawful money of England . And also in or about the moneth of Ianuary in the sixteenth year of the Reign of the said late King , did procure of the said late King of famous memory the Office of Master of the Wards and Liveries to and for Sir L. C. afterward Earl of M. which Office was upon the same procurement given and granted to the said Sir L.C. And as a reward for the same procurement , he the said Duke had to his own use , or to the use of some other person by him appointed , of the said Sir L.C. the sum of Six thousand pounds of lawful money of England , contrary to the Dignity of our Soveraign Lord the King , and against the duty that should have been performed by the said Duke unto him . These , as also the Eleventh Article , were enlarged and aggravated by Mr. Pym , in this manner . My Lords , ALthough I know that I shall speak to my own disadvantage , yet I shall labor to speak with as little disadvantage to the matter as I can . I have no learning or ornament whereby I might shew my self , and I shall think it enough plainly to shew the matter ; For all that I aim at is , that I may lose nothing of the Cause . And therefore , my Lords , I shall apply my self with as much convenient brevity , as one that knows that your Lordships time is much more precious then my words : Your Lordships being such Judges , as will measure things by true and natural proportions , and not by the proportion of the action or expression . The first entrance into my service must be reading the Articles . My Lords , This Charge for matter of Fact is so notorious and apparent , that it needs no proof that these Honors have been procured : And therefore I will only insist upon the Consequence . First I will shew , That by this fact the Duke hath committed a great Offence : And secondly , That this Offence hath produced a great Grievance to the Commonwealth . And I will conclude , in strengthening the whole by some Presidents of former times , that Parliaments have proceeded in that course in which your Lordships are like to proceed . First to prove it a fault or an offence , I must prove that there was a duty ; for every fault presupposeth a duty : And in this case the first work is to shew , that the Duke was bound to do otherwise : For which I need to alleage nothing else , then that he is a sworne Servant and Counsellor to the King , and so ought to have preferred his Majesties honor and service before his own pride in seeking to Ennoble all that Blood that concerned him . And it is not enough to say , that it is not questionable ; For there have been Great men questioned in the like cases . There be some Laws made that are particular according to the temper and occasions of several States : There are other Laws that be coessential and collateral with Government ; and if those Laws be broken , all things run to disorder and confusion . Such is that Rule observed in all States , of suppressing Vice to encourage Vertue , by apt Punishment and Rewards : And this the fittest Law to insist upon in a Court of Parliament , when the Proceedings are not limited either by the Civil or Common Laws , but matters are adjudged according as they stand in opposition or conformity with that which is suprema lex , Salus populi . 2. By this late Law , whoever moves the King to bestow Honor , which is the greatest reward , binds himself to make good a double proportion of Merit in that Party who is to receive it ; The first of value and excellence ; the second of continuance and durableness . And as this Honor sets men up above others , so they should be eminent in vertue beyond others : As it is perpetual , not ending with their persons , but descending upon their posterity ; so there ought to be in the first root of this Honor some such active merit in the service of the Commonwealth , as might transmit a vigorous Example to his Successors , whereby they may be raised to an Imitation of the like Vertues . He said , he would for bear to urge this point further , out of a modest respect to those persons whom it did collaterally concern , professing his Charge to be wholly against the Duke of Buckingham . 3. From the consideration of Honor , together with the price of Money : The which being compared together , may be reduced to two heads , ( may it please your Lordships : ) The one being earthly and base , may be bought with a proportionable price of white and red earth , Gold and Silver ; The other which is spiritual ( which is sublime ) to which Money cannot be a proportionable price . Honor is transcendent , in regard it was held a sacred and divine thing , insomuch that there was a Temple dedicated to her by the Romans : And so I conclude by prescription , that Honor is a divine thing ; for the Scripture calls Kings Gods ; and then those that are about Kings must needs be resembled to those Powers and Principalities that attend next to the Throne : And if Honor be such a divine thing , it must not then be bought with so base a price as Money . 4. Lastly , Honor is a Publick thing , it is the reward of Publick Deserts . And thus your Lordships have seen , that the sale of Honor is an offence unnatural against the Law of Nature . Now what an offence this is , your Lordships may discern , considering the kinds of the offence , and the Adjuncts , which I now fall upon . 1. It extremely de●lowers the Flowers of the Crown ; for it makes them cheap to all beholders . 2. It takes from the Crown the most fair and frugal Reward of deserving Servants : For when Honor comes to be at so mean a rate as to be sold , there is no Great man will look after it . 3. It is the way to make a man more studious for lucre and gain , then of sufficiencie in Vertue ; when they know that they shall be preferred to Titles of Honor according to the heaviness of purse , and not for the weightiness of their merit . 4. It introduceth a strange confusion , mingling the meaner with the more pure and refined metal . 5. Lastly , It is a prodigious scandal to this Nation , ( as the House of Commons think . ) For Examples and Presidents , I am confident there are none ; and your Lordships can look for none , because it is not parallel'd to any President . But certainly it is now a fit time to make a President of this man , this great Duke , that hath been lately raised to this transcendent height in our Sphere ; who thinketh he cannot shine enough , unless he dim your Lordships Honors in making the same contemptible through the sale of it , by the commonness of it . Yet I am commanded further to observe another step of Unworthiness in this Gentleman , who hath not only set Honor to sale by his Agents , but compelled men likewise unwilling to take Titles of Honor upon them . For the particular , that Noble Gentleman that this concerns , I am commanded to say of him from the House of Commons , That they conceive of him that he was worthy of this Honor , if he had not come to it this way ; They can lay no blame upon him , that was constrained to make this bargain to redeem his trouble . But we must distinguish of this , as Divines do betwixt the Active and Passive Usurers ; they condemn the Active , speaking favorably of the Passive . And I must here observe to your Lordships by the direction of the House of Commons , That it seems strange to them , that this Great man , whom they have taken notice of to be the principal Patron and Supporter of a Semipelagian and a Popish Faction set on foot to the danger of this Church and State , whose Tenets are Liberty of Free-will , though somewhat mollified ; That a man imbracing these Tenets should not admit of Liberty in Moral things : And that he should compel one to take Honor and Grace from a King whether he will or no , what is that but to adde Inhumanity and Oppression to Injury and Incivility ? But here I must answer a President or two , which may be by misunderstanding inforced against me . 5 H. 5. There was Martin and Babington , and others , which were chosen to be Serjeants , and they did decline from it out of their modesty , and doubted that their Estates were not answerable to their Place : yet upon the Charge of the Warden of England , they accepted it and appeared to their Writs . Likewise there is a Writ in the Register , That many by reason of the Tenure of their Lands may be compelled to be made Knights . But this makes rather against , then for this Faction : For it is true , that this is the wisdom and policie of the Common-Law , that those that be thought fit men for Imployment , may be drawn forth to be imployed for the good of the Commonwealth , where otherwise they would not take it upon them : But that any man for his own gain should force a man to take Degrees of Honor upon him , certainly this is beyond all Presidents , and a thing not to be exampled either in our Nation or any other . And further I am commanded to tell your Lordships , That it is dangerous , that if a great Lord by his power or strength may compel a Subject to take such Honors , why may he not compel them as well to take his Lands at what price he will , and to sell them again as he thinks fit ; yea , to marry his Children as it pleaseth him ? The conference of this is great , if that it be well considered ; And they conceive that it is of so great a consequence , that if it be not stopped , it may come in time to make way for a dangerous Subversion , and demonstrates a great Tyranny of a Subject , under a most wise , most gracious , and most moderate King. And thus ( my Lords ) I have done with the first Article allotted to my Charge , and so I proceed to the next . My Lords , Before I enter into the enforcement of this Article , I shall by way of Protestation from the House of Commons do in this as I did in the other Article . And first for the Kings Majesty under whom we are now happily governed and placed , I must by their direction say for his honor , and our comfort , and with humble acknowledgment confess , That since his coming to the Crown there have been men of as great parts and learning advanced into Places in Church and Commonwealth , as any have been heretofore . And then for the first of those Lords whose names are mentioned in this Article , I must say , that they do not intend to reflect at all upon him ; nay they think his person so worthy , as to be advanced to as high a place without any price at all , and that he ought to have kept it longer , if those that shuffled in those times , had not shuffled him out . Now to the matter of this Article , which is the Sale of Places of Judicature , being an offence : And to prove this , is all one as to make the glass clear by painting of it . The grounds whereon I shall go , shall be laid open Magna Charta cap. 29. The words are these ; Nulli vendemus , nulli negabimus Justitiam . It may be said , this comes not close to my purpose : Yet by your Lordships favor I shall make it good that it doth , and I shall begin with the latter of the two first , Nulli negabimus : For if any that hath power or favor with the King , should procure him to delay the making of Judges , when there were Judges to take it , it will not be denied that they do their best endeavor to make the King break his word ; For if any use their favor about the King to procure Places of Judicature for money , they do what in them lies to make Justice it self saleable : For it is plain that he that buyes must sell , and cannot be blamed if he do sell. I shall open the evil Consequences that depend upon the sale of Places of Judicature , or any Places of great trust . 1. By this means unable men shall be sure of the precedence unto Places ; For they being conscious of their own want of Merits , they must be made up by the weight in Gold. 2. It must needs hence follow , that Suits , Contentions , Brawls and Quarrels shall be increased in the Commonwealth : For when men come to seats of Judicature by purchase , they must by increase of Suits increase their own profit . 3. Men will not study for sufficiencie of Learning to be able to discharge their Places , but how they may scrape together Money to purchase Places . 4. It will follow , that those that have the best Purses , though worst Causes , will carry away the victory always . 5. It will follow , that when they be preferred for money to those Places , they are tied to make the best of those Places viis & modis : And then the Great man that sold those Places to them , must uphold them in their Bribery ; and he is tied to it , because they are his Creatures ; nay further he is tied to support them in their Bribery , to advance their Places upon the next remove . 6. And lastly , when good men and well deserving come to any Place , they shall not continue there , but they shall be quarrelled at , so that there may be a vacancie in that Place , and then some other shall suddenly step into the saddle by giving a competent price . Upon these and the like reasons , this fact of selling and buying Places and Offices of Trust , hath not only been declaimed against by Christians , but also by Moral Pagans . Aristotle in his 5 lib. of Ethicks cap. 8. gives it as a Caveat , That no man amongst the Thebans was to take upon him any Place of Government in the Commonwealth if that he were a Merchant , unless there were ten years distance between . And the reason is this ; Because Merchants are used to buying and selling , It is their Trade and Art to to 〈◊〉 Money , so that their fingers are accustomed to that which they cannot leave when they come to Places of Trust and Judicature . Nay further , in honor of the Merchants , He is accounted the wisest Merchant that gains most ; so that if any such comes to Offices and Places of Trust , he thinks it best to advance his profit . Next to the Pagans , the Popes , a Generation full of Corruption , yet they by their Bulls are full of Declamation against such . And this is plain by a Bull of Pius Quintus , who lays the Penalty of Confiscation of Goods of any that do for money acquire any Offices , and condemns them by his Papal sentence to be great sinners . So Gregory the Thirteenth condemns the like . And now to come nearer home , to come to that which will principally lead your Lordships , which are the Judgments of your Ancestors in Parliament ; wherein it appears by the Statute of 5 H. 6. that the same Statute condemns the Seller and Receiver , as well as the Buyer and Giver . It further appears by the Preamble of that Statute , that such offences were against the Law , and they foresaw the Corruptions of those that came into those Places by those means , and that it is a hinderance of sufficient and worthy men from those Places . And also 2 , & 3 E. 6. which was likewise cited in the Case of the Duke of Somerset , by which he was to forfeit his Estate , that one thing was for selling of Places in the Commonwealth for money . And certainly , with your Lordships favor , it is most just and probable , that they that profess themselves to be Patriots , and shew by their actions that they aim at their own lucre , and labor to hinder the distributing of Iustice , it is most just and proper that those men should return back again to the Publick Treasury of the King and Kingdom , what they have by their unsatisfied lucre gotten . And so , my Lords , craving Pardon of you for my boldness , confusion and distractions in going through this business , I humbly leave my self to the judgments of your favors and charities , and this Great man the Duke to your wise Censure and Justice . Then was read the Eleventh and Twelfth Articles . XI . That he the said Duke hath within these ten years last past procured divers Titles of Honor to his Mother , Brothers , Kindred and Allies ; as the Title of Countess of Buckingham to his Mother , while she was Sir Thomas Compton's wife ; the Title of Earl of A. to his younger Brother Christopher Villiers ; the Titles of Baron of M. P. Vicount F. and Earl of D. to his Sisters Husband Sir W. F. the Titles of Baron of S. and Vicount P. to Sir Iohn Villiers elder Brother unto the said Duke ; and divers more of the like kind to his Kindred and Allies : whereby the Noble Barons of England , so well deserving in themselves and in their Ancestors , have been much prejudiced , and the Crown disabled to reward extraordinary Vertues in future times with Honor ; while the small Estates of those for whom such unnecessary Advancement hath been procured , ar● apparently likely to be more and more burthensom unto the King , notwithstanding such Annuities , Pensions , and Grants of Lands annexed to the Crown , of great value , which the said Duke hath procured for those his Kindred to support these their Dignities . XII . He the said Duke 〈◊〉 contented with the great Advancement formerly received from the late King of famous memory , by his procurement and practice in the Fourteenth year of the said King , for the support of the many Places , Honors and Dignities conferred on him , did obtain a grant of divers Manors , Parcel of the Revenue of the Crown and of the Duchy of Lancaster , to the yearly value of One thousand six hundred ninety seven pounds two shillings halfpenny farthing of the old Rent , with all Woods , Timber , Trees , and Advowson ; part whereof amounting to the sum of Seven hundred forty seven pounds thirteen shillings four pence , was rated at Two and thirty thousand pounds , but in truth of a far greater value . And likewise in the Sixteenth year of the same Kings reign , did procure divers other Manors annexed to the Crown of the yearly value , at the old Rent , of Twelve hundred pounds or thereabouts , according as in a Schedule hereunto annexed appeareth : In the Warrant for passing of which Lands , he by his great favour procured divers unusual Clauses to be inserted ( viz. ) that no Perquisites of Courts should be valued , and that all Bailiffs Fees should be reprised in the particulars upon which those Lands were rated ; whereby a president hath been introduced , which all those who since that time have obtained any Lands from the Crown , have pursued to the damage of his late Majesty , and of our Soveraign Lord the King that now is , to an exceeding great value . And afterwards he surrendred to his said Majesty divers Mannors and Lands , parcel of those Lands formerly granted unto him , to the value of Seven hundred twenty three pounds eighteen shillings and two pence half-penny per annum ; in consideration of which surrender , he procured divers other Lands of the said late King to be sold and contracted for by his own Servants and Agents , and thereupon hath obtained grants of the same to pass from his late Majesty to several persons of this Kingdom , and hath caused Tallies to be stricken for the money , being the consideration mentioned in those Grants in the Receipt of the Exchequer , as if any such monies had really come to his Majesties Coffers ; whereas the Duke , ( or some other by his appointment ) hath indeed received the same sums , and expended them upon his own occasions . And notwithstanding the great and inestimable gain by him made by the sale of Offices , Honors , and by other Suits by him obtained from his Majesty , and for the countenancing of divers Projects , and other Courses burthensom to his Majesties Realms , both of England and Ireland ; The said Duke hath likewise by his procurement and practise received into his hands , and disbursed to his own use exceeding great sums , that were the monies of the late King of famous memory , as appeareth also in the said Schedule hereunto annexed : And the better to colour his doings in that behalf , hath obtained several Privy-Seals from his late Majesty , and his Majesty that now is , warranting the payment of great sums to persons by his named , causing it to be recited in such Privy-seals , as if those sums were directed for secret Services concerning the State , which were notwithstanding disposed of to his own use ; and other Privy-seals by him have been procured for the discharge of those Persons without accompt ; and by the like fraud and practice , under colour of free gifts from his Majesty he hath gotten into his hands great sums , which were intendded by his Majesty to be disbursed for the preparing , furnishing and victualling of his Royal Navy ; by which secret and colourable devices , the constant and ordinary course of the Exchequer hath been broken , there being no means by matter of Record to charge either the Treasurer or Victualler of the Navy with those sums which ought to have come to their hands , and to be accompted for to his Majesty ; and such a confusion and mixture hath been made between the Kings Estate and the Dukes , as cannot be cleared by the Legal Entries and Records , which ought to be truely and faithfully made , and kept , both for the safety of his Majesties Treasure , and for the indempnity of his Officers and Subjects whom it doth concern . And also in the Sixteenth year of the said King , and in the Twentieth year of the said King , he did procure to himself several Releases from the said King of divers great sums of the Money of the said King by him privately received , and which he procured , that he might detain the same for the support of his Places , Honors and Dignities . And these things , and divers other of the like kinde , as appeareth in the Schedule annexed , hath he done , to the exceeding diminution of the Revenues of the Crown , and in deceit both of our Soveraign Lord the King that now is , and of the late King Iames of famous memory , and to the detriment of the whole Kingdom . Before Mr Sherland entred to open and enlarge upon the Twelfth Article , he discoursed in general concerning Honors , mentioned in the preceding Article , and spake as followeth . My Lords , IT hath pleased God ( who hath the disposing even of all things in his hands ) to cast this service now upon me , who did formerly my endeavor to decline it , considering the weightiness of the business , the greatness of this presence , and my manifold defects , best known to my self : But another that should have with better contentment , I doubt not , performed this service , being fallen now sick , there is a necessity imposed on me by the House of Commons , wherein I shall be very plain , and short , according to the warning I had ; yet I shall deal plainly and faithfully , according to the sense of that House by whose command I now appear : And since I am now thrust as a Bush into the Gap , I hope your Lordships will not expect such a composure and strength of Speech which you have had from others of my Companions . The Subject that falls to my lot to speak of before your Lordships , are Honor , and Iustice , two great Flowers of the Crown : I confess my self exceeding unfit and unable to speak of these Points before so great an Assembly of such Persons of so great Honor , and such Superior Judges of this Kingdom ; but I must take my Lot : It pleaseth your Lordships , as in Sphere , to take knowledge of the Grievances presented by the Commons House , which I desire and hope your Lordships will not take presumption . May it please your Lordships , the parts of this Charge , as you discern upon the reading of it , are two ; the one general , the other particular : The general is , perverting the ancient and noble course of attaining to the Titles of Honor. 2. The other , the compulsion or inforcement of men unwilling to purchase Honor. For the first by way of Protestation , I am commanded by the House of Commons , to say , that they repine not at their advancement upon whom those Honors were conferred , but they think them worthy thereof ; yet they wish for their sakes , and the safety of this Nation , their vertues had solely raised them , and that they had not been forced and constrained to contribute to this bottomless Gulf to attain their Titles . They complain again of this unworthy way brought in by this great man , they fall upon this in this manner , and found the Evils under which the Commonwealth suffers , and the Causes of them being two principal Evils , which are the decay and stopping of the Trade , and the Determination of Honor. In examination of which second Evil , the Trade and Comerce of Honor , we have , as the Commons do conceive , confitentem reum : For he endeavouring to colour the matter , sayes for himself , That he was not the onely introducer and first bringer in of this ▪ but they finde that he was the first that defiled this Virgin of Honor so publickly , making an accompt , that all things and persons should stoop and subject themselves to his vain desires and extravagancy . Now that this comerce of Honor is an Offence ; then to prove what kinde of Offence it is , is the onely thing I shall trouble your Lordships with . 1. And first that it is an Offence , I shall draw my first Argument from the Nature of Honor ; Honor is a Beam of Vertue ; now this Honor can be no more fixed upon an undeserving Person for Money , then Fire can be struck out of a Stick . 2. From the Suject of Honor , which is Merit , for the which no price ought to be paid to any great man ( by any undeserving ) person for the same , but their own merit and desert . Then he passed to the Grievances which are caused by the selling of Titles , and they are Three . 1. First it is prejudicial to the Noble Barons of this Kingdom . 2. To the King , by disabling him to reward extraordinary vertues . 3. To the Kingdom which comprehends both King , Lords , and people . For the first , He said , he would not trouble their Lordships with recital , how Ancient , how Famous the Degree of Barons hath been in these Western Monarchies ; He said , the Baronage of England hath longer upheld that Dignity , and doth yet retain a greater height then in any other Nation ; they are great Judges , a Court of the last resort , they are great Counsellors of State , and not onely for the present , but as Law-makers , Counsellors for the time to come ; and this not by Delegacy and Commission , but by Birth and Inheritance : So that when any man shall be made a Member of this great Body , who is not qualified for the performance of such noble Functions , it must needs be a prejudice to the whole body , and dishonor to the head . As if a little water be put into a great vessel of Wine , as it receives spirit and strength from the Wine , so it doth impart some degrees of its own infirmity and coldness to the Wine . Secondly , It is prejudicial to the King ; not that it can disable him from giving Honor ( for that is a power inseparable ) but by making Honor ordinary , it becomes as an incompetent Reward for extraordinavertue ; when men are made noble , they are taken out of the Press of the common sort , and how can it chuse but fall in estimation , if Honor it self be made a Press ? Thirdly , It is prejudicial to the Kingdom ; the Stories and Records are full of the great assistance which the Crown hath received from the Barons , both in Forein and Domestick Actions , not onely by their own persons , but by their Retinue and Tenants , and therefore they are called by Bracton , Robur Belli ; how can we now expect the like from such as have no Tenants , and are hardly able to maintain themselves ? But this is not all ; for the prejudice grows not primitively by defect of that assistance which they might give the State , but positively they have been a great burthen to the Kingdom by Gifts and Pensions already received , and yet stand in need of more for the future support of their Dignities . This makes the Dukes offence the greater , that in this weakness and consumption of the Commonwealth , he hath not been contented alone to consume the qublick Treasure , ( which is the blood and nourishment of the State ) but hath brought in others to help him in this work of destruction . And that they might do it more eagerly , by inlarging their Honors , he hath likewise inlarged their Necessities , and their Appetites . He did second his Charge with two Presidents ; the first , 28 Henry 6. in the Complaint against the Duke of Suffolk , in the One and thirtieth Article of that Complaint , this was one of his Charges , That he William de la Pool Duke of Suffolk , had procured one who had married his Niece to be made Earl of Kendal , and obtained for him One thousand pounds per annum in the Dutchy of Guienne ; and yet this Party was the Son of a Noble and well deserving Father . So you see this is no new thing for the House of Commons to complain , that those that are neer the King should raise their Kindred to an unnecessary Honor ; and if that were worthy of punishment for advancing of one , then what punishment is he worthy of that hath advanced so many ? The second President is 17 Edw. 4. There passed an Act of Parliment , for the Degrading of Iohn Nevil , Marquis Montague , and Duke of Bedford ; the reason expressed in the Act is , because he had not a Revenue sufficient for the maintaining of that Dignity ; to which is added another reason of that nature , that when men of mean birth are called to a high Estate , and have not livelihood to support it , it induceth great poverty , and causeth briberies and extortions , imbraceries and maintenance . And now my Lords , how far these Reasons shall lead your Judgements in this Case , I must leave it to your Lordships . Then he read the Twelfth Article , being the second part of his Charge ; the Title whereof was , The Exhausting , Intercepting and Misimploying the Kings Revenues . My Lords , This Article consists of several Clauses , which in some respects may be called so many distinct Charges ; for though they all tend to one end and scope , the diminishing the Kings Treasure , yet it is by divers wayes , so that every Clause is a particular Branch . Therefore he desired to break it into parts , and to select the most material , either in point of offence or grievance , inten●ing to pass through them with this order ; first , to declare the state of the proof , and then to add such reasons and inforcements as he did conceive most conduceable to that Judgement which the Commons were to expect from their Lorships . He made two main Branches of this Article . The first concerns Lands obtained from the Crown ; the second concerns Money in Pensions , Gifts , Farms , and other kinde of profit . Touching the Lands he observed four Things . 1. The sum of Three thousand thirty five pounds per annum of old Rent , besides the Forest of Layfield , of which we have no value , and we can finde no Schedule granted by the late King to my Lord of Buckingkham within ten years past , as appeareth by the several Grants vouched in the Schedule annexed ; and it was in it self a great grievance , That in a time of such necessity , when the Kings Revenues are not able to support such a great charge , that so much Land should be conveyed to a private man ; This he acknowledged was not the Dukes case alone , for others had received divers Grants from the King , but none in so great measure . And because the Commons aim not at Judgement onely , but at Reformation , he wished , That when the King should bestow any Land for support of Honors , that the caution which was wont to be carefully observed might again return into use ; that is , to annex those Lands to the Dignity , lest being obtained and wasted , the Party repair to the King for a new support ; by which provision the Crown will reap this Benefit , That as some Lands go out by new Grants , others will come in by spent Intails . He said he would not trouble their Lordships with repetition of the Laws heretofore made for preventing the alienation of the Kings Lands , and for resuming those that had been alienated , nor of the Ordinances made in this high Court for the same purpose , and Fines set upon those that presumed to break such Ordinances ; he onely added as a further enforcement of the Grievance , That when the Kings Revenues be unable to defray publick necessities , the Commons must needs be more burthened with Supplies . 2. His second Point was , the unusual Clauses which the Duke by his greatness hath procured to be inserted into the Warrants for passing of those Lands , of which two were mentioned ; the first , That the casual profits should not be rated in the particulars ; the second , That all Bailiffs Fees should be reprised : Both which are to be proved by the Warrants remaining with the Auditor of the Rates , and other Auditors ; whereupon he presented these Considerations . First , That it was a mark of Ingratitude and Insatiableness in the Duke , thus to strain the Kings Bounty beyond his intention ; and that he would not receive this Bounty by the ordinary way , but by the way of Practice . Secondly , It argued Unfaithfulness in him , that being a sworne Counsellor , he should put the King into such Courses of so much prejudice , deceitfully , in concealing the value of that which he bought ; so that the King gave he knew not what ; For under the proportion of Two thousand pounds , he gives it may be Four thousand pounds . And by this the King did not only sustain great loss for the present , but it opened a way of continual loss , which hath ever since been pursued by all those who have passed Lands from the Crown . Thirdly , The King is hereby not left Master of his own Liberality , neither in proportion , nor certainty ; for it might so fall out , that the Quantity passed from him , might be treble to that he intended . 3. The third was , The Surrender of divers Parcels of these Lands back to the King , after he had held them some years , and taking others from the King in exchange . Where he noted , That the best of the Lands and most vendible being passed away , the worst lay upon the Kings hand ; that if he shall have occasion to raise money by sale of Lands , that Course is not like to furnish him . Besides , that in the mean time betwixt the Grants and the Surrenders , opportunity was left to the Duke to cut down Woods , to infranchise Copiholds , to make long Leases ; and yet the old Rent remaining still , the Land may be surendred at the same value . Whether this have been practised , he could not affirm , not having had time to examine it ; yet he desired the Lords to enquire after it , the rather for that the Manor of G. in Lincolnshire being dismembred , and Seventeen pounds of the old Rents sold out of it , was by a Surrender turned back upon his Majesty . 4. The fourth point of this Branch was , The colourable Tallies divers parcels of these Lands had from the Crown in lieu of this surrender , being sold and contracted for by his own Agent , and the money received by himself or to his use , and yet Tallies were stricken out , as if it had really come to the Exchequer for his Majesties service . This is to be proved by his own Officers , by the Officers of the Exchequer , and by the Tallies themselves , which Tallies amount unto 20563 l. 16 s. 8 d. Whence he observed , First , That there ran a trade of Falshood toward the King throughout all this his dealing . Secondly , That this was a Device thought upon to prevent the wisdom of Parliament ; for by this means the Grant seems to have the face of valuable purchases , whereas they were indeed free gifts . Thirdly , If the Title of those Lands should prove questionable , it appearing by Record as if the King had received the money , he was bound in honor to make restitution , and yet the Duke had the profit . But it may be said , This was the Purchasors desire for their own security . Of which objection he made this use , That the Subjects generally took notice of so much Lands given to the Duke , that there is good cause 〈◊〉 expect a Resumption . In the second general branch of this Article concerning Money , the first point observed was , the Total sum received by him in Ten years space , amounting to 162995 l. besides the Grant he hath of the Overplus above Three thousand pounds per annum to be made of the Third imposed upon Strangers goods , and besides the Moyetie of Seven thousand pounds out of the Customs of Ireland , which he is bound to pay to the King ; but whether it hath been paid , or no , is doubtful . This he delivered as a Sum Estimative , yet so computed as it may be more , but not less . And this Total ariseth by free gifts , by Pensions to himself ; else by profit of Farms , by Pensions to others ; For Offices , whereof he received the profit , as the Admiralty , and Mastership of the Horse . All which appear by a Schedule annexed to this Charge . The Grievances consist in this ; That the Commonwealth hath been bereaved of the use and imployment of so Publick Treasure , in a time of as great want , and great occasions in this State , as it hath had in many Ages , when the expences of the Kings Court can hardly be supplied , when his Houses and Castles are unfurnished , when the Seas have been unguarded , the Coasts subject to the incursion and spoil of Enemies by default of provision in the Navy , to the dishonor of the Nation , and damage of the Subjects , and the hazard of the whole . And the offence in this , that the wants in the Navy and the Stores being within his own Charge , he was no more sensible of them ; whereby it appears , he preferred the serving of his own turn before his duty , and before the safety of this State. The second point observed in this branch , was , That the Duke under pretence of secret services , hath procured great sums of money to be issued by Privy-seals to sundry persons named by himself , but afterward imployed to his own use . Hereof two instances are propounded : The one of Eight thousand pounds paid to Sir Robert Pye , 12 Aug. 1620. and by him disbursed for the Dukes purchase of Burleigh , and Sir Robert Pye discharged by another Privy-seal , 4 Iunii following . The second instance is of Sixty thousand pounds paid to Burlimach by a Privy-seal , in September 1625. Which time he rather noted , because the Parliament at Oxford was broken up a little before out of discontent that the King was not supplied for the setting out of the Fleet , which would have been done with a less sum . For the proof of that , the House of Commons will offer to your Lordships Witnesses . The quality of this offence he left to their Lordships judgment ; yet propounding some things by way of enquiry , from whence it might receive measure and proportion . 1. Whether it had not affinity with the Crime in the Civil Law , called Crimen peculatus ; which was , when a man did unjustly turn to his own use that money which was either sacra , dedicated to Gods service religiously ; or religiosa , used about Funerals and Monuments of the dead ; or publica , of which kind the matter now in question is ? And this offence by that Law was Death , and Confiscation of goods and estate . Which he notes the rather , that their Lordships might perceive , that in the wisest State the Publick Treasure was held in the same reputation with that which was dedicated to God and Religion . 2. And whether it doth not resemble● other Crime in the same Law termed Crimen falsi , and is defined to be when a man shall imitatione veri suum compendium alieno dispendio per dolum facere , by semblance of truth make gain to himself of other mens losses : Which in the case of a Bondman was Death , and in case of another man Banishment and Confiscation , or otherwise very penal , as the Judges should find cause of moderation , or rigor , in the nature and circumstances of the Fact. 3. Whether their Lordships will estimate it according to any Sentences in the Star-chamber , which have been very frequent in cases of Fraud : Or according to the Common-Law , which so much detests this kind of dealing , as that they term it Covin , and make it vitiate ordinary and lawful actions . Or lastly , whether they will measure it by that Judgment which the Duke hath pass'd against himself in the guilt of his own Conscience ? ( Direct Actions are not afraid to appear open-faced ; but Injustice and Fraud desire to be masked with Subtilty and Closeness . ) It were offence enough , if there were no more but a cunning concealing of unthankfulness to hide his Majesties bounty , or guilt of unworthiness , as if he durst not avow the receit of that which he had not merited ; both which proceed from Malum culpae : Or else that other kind of guilt which proceeds from Malum poenae , the fear of punishment , foreseeing this Inquisition into his actions , and hoping under this disguise of Publick service to escape their Lordships censure . The third point in this branch is , That he hath received sundry sums of money intended for the maintenance of the Navy : whereof there are two instances ; the one whereof is 20000 l. the other of 30000 l. both in Ianuary 1624. By Privy-seal , by the which these sums are issued , they appear to be Free gifts : But by the affirmation of some in answer for the Duke , it hath been said , He was only the hand to convey them to the Treasury of the Navy . If the truth be according to the Privy-seal , they are to be added to the former Total as parcel of his own gain : If according to that allegation , it may prove a president of greater damage to the King , then the money is worth ; for by this way his Majesty hath no means by matter of Record to charge the Treasurer of the Navy with these sums , and may lose the benefit of the Act of Parliament 13 Eliz. whereby Accomptants Lands are made liable to the paiment of their Debts to the King , and in many cases may be sold for his Majesties satisfaction . The Treasurer of the Navy is a worthy man ; but if he should die , the King loseth the benefit . The fourth point of this branch is , That he hath caused so great a mixture and confusion between the Kings Estate and his own , that they cannot be distinguished by the Records and Entries which ought to be kept for the safety of his Majesties Treasure , and indempnity of the Subject . This is proved in divers instances , whereof the last alleaged is one , and others follow . By the wisdom of the Law in the constitution of the Exchequer , there be three Guards set upon the Kings Treasure and Accompts . The first is a legal Impignoration , whereby the Estates personal and real of the Accomptants are made liable to be sold for the discharge of their Debts , which I mentioned before . The second , an apt Controlment over every Office ; by which the King relies not upon the industry and honesty of any one man ; but if he fail in either , it may be discovered by some other sworne to take notice of it , and either to correct his Errors , or amend his Faults . The third is , a durable Evidence and Certainty , not for the present time only , but for perpetuity ; because the King can neither receive , or pay , but by Record . All these Guards have been broken by the Duke , both in the Cases next before recited , and in these which follow . The Custom of the Exchequer is the Law of the Kingdom , for so much as concerneth the Kings Revenue . Every breach of a Law by a particular offence , is punishable ; but such an offence as this , being destructive of the Law itself , is of a far higher nature . The fifth point of this second branch , is concerning two Privy-seals of Release ; the one 16 , the other 20 Iac. whereby this Duke is discharged of divers sums secretly received to his Majesties use , but by vertue of these Releases to be converted to the support of his own Estate : The proof hereof is referred to the Privy-seals themselves . From which he made one observation , of the subtilty he used to winde himself into the possession of the Kings money , and to get that by cunning steps and degrees , which peradventure he could not have obtained at once . A good Master will trust a Servant with a greater sum that is out of his purse , then he would bestow upon him being in his purse ; and yet after it is out of his hands , may be drawn more easily to make a Release , then at first to have made a Free gift . This is a proper instance to be added to the proof of the point of mingling his own Estate with the Kings ; and of the same kind be other particulars mentioned in the Schedule , though not expressed in the Charge ; as Twenty thousand pounds received in Composition for the Earl of M. his Fine , which cannot be discovered whether part or all be converted to the Dukes benefit , and yet it appears by a Privy-seal to be cleerly intended to the Kings own service for the Houshold and Wardrobe , till by the Dukes practice it was diverted into this close and by-way . Another instance in this , is , His endeavor to get the money which should be made of Prize-goods into his own hands : And for this purpose , he first labored to procure that his man Gabriel Marsh might receive it ; and when it was thought fit some Partner should be joined with him , trial was made of divers , but none of any credit would undertake the Charge with such a Consort . And the Commons have reason to think there was good cause of this refusal ; for he is so ill an Accomptant , that he confessed in their House ( being examined ) that by authority from the Duke he received divers bags of gold and silver out of the S. Peter of Newhaven , which he never told . When this practice of imploying his own man would take no effect , then he procured a Commission from Sir William Russell , who is indeed without exception an able and worthy Officer ; but that is not enough for the Kings security ; For howsoever he was to receive the money , it was to be disbursed by and to the Dukes warrant and profit . Which Clause hath been altered since this was questioned in Parliament ; and now it is to be issued from an immediate Warrant from his Majesty : But as it was before , it may be noted as an incroachment upon the Office of my Lord Treasurer , whereby he might make a more easie way to some sinister end of his own ; so that upon the matter , Sir William was but a safeguard of the money for the Duke himself . And this I must note of some guilt in the very act of it . The last point upon this whole Charge , was a reduction of the value of the Land , together with the mony into one totall , and to that purpose , he rated the Land , being valued at a reasonable value , at forty years purchase , for although some of it was sold for thirty , yet a great part was worth more then a hundred years purchase , so as forty years is conceived to be an easy Medium ; at this rate 3035 l. amounteth to 121400 l. which being added to the total of the mony received 162995 l. both together make the sum of 284395 l. besides the Forrest of Leyfeild , and besides the profit made out of the thirds of Strangers goods , and the Moyetie of the profit made out of the Customes of Ireland . This is a great sum in it self , but much greater by many Circumstances ; if we look upon the time past , never so much came into any private mans hands out of the publique purse ; if we respect the time present , the King never had so much want , never so many forreign occasions , important and expensive ; the Subjects never have given greater supplies , and yet those supplies unable to furnish these expences . But as the Circumstances make the sum greater , so there be other Circumstances which make it less , if it be compared with the inestimable gain he hath made by the sale of Honors and Offices , and by projects hurtfull to the State , both of England and Ireland ; or if it be compared to his profusion , it will appear but a little sum . All these gifts , and other ways of profit notwithstanding , he confest before both Houses of Parliament , that he was indebted 100000 l. If this be true , how can we hope to satisfie his prodigality ? if false , how can we hope to satisfie his Covetousness ? and therefore their Lordships need not wonder if the Commons desire , and that earnestly , to be delivered from such a Grievance . That this complaint and proceedings of theirs may appear to be suitable to the proceedings of their Predecessors in like Cases ; he alleaged three Presidents , which he said were Presidents in kinde , but not in proportion , because there hath never been the like . The first 10 Rich. 2. in the Complaint against Michael de la Pool , Earl of Suffolk ; out of which he took Three Articles , the first , That being Chancellor and sworn to the Kings profit , he had purchased divers Lands from the King , more then he had deserved , and at an under rate ; yet this was thought to be an offence against the State. The second , That he had bought of one Tydman an Annuity of Five hundred pound per annum ; which Grant was void by the Laws , yet he being Chancellor , procured the King to make it good by a new Grant upon Surrender of the old . This was complained of in Parliament , and there punished . The third , Whereas the Master of St. Anthonies being a Schismatick , had forfeited his Possessions into the Kings hand ; this Earl took them in Farm at Twenty Marks a year , converting the overplus which was One thousand Marks to his own profit , which should have come to the King. The next President II Rich. 2. in the Judgment against Robert de Vere of Oxford , and others ; out of which , he took two Articles , the Fifth and the Seventh : The Fifth was for taking Mannors and Lands annexed to the Crown , whereby they themselves were inriched , and the King made poor ; the Seventh was for intercepting the Subsidies granted for the defence of the Kingdom . The third President is that of 28 Hen. 6. in the Parliament Roll , out of the Complaint against William de la Pool , Duke of Suffolk , Article 29. That he being next and primest of Council to the King , he had procured him to grant great Possessions to divers persons , whereby the King was much impoverished , the expence of his House unpaid , Wages , Wardrobe , Castles , Navy , Debts unsatisfied ; and so by his subtile Council , and unprofitable Labor , the Revenues of the Crown and the Dutchy of Lancaster , and other the Kings Inheritances so much diminished , and the Commons of the Kingdom so extreamly charged , that it was near to a final destruction . The fourth was , That the Kings Treasure was mischievously distributed to himself , his friends , and well-willers ; so that for lack of Money , no Army , nor Ordnance could be provided in time ; and because these great persons were not brought to judgment upon these Articles alone , but for other misdemeanors , he made this observation , That ravening upon the Kings Estate is always accounted with other great faults that deserve judgment . Then he said he had done with that which had been left to him ; and so he left the Duke to their Lordships Justice , That as he had exceeded others in this Offence , so he might not come behinde them in punishment . And so he humbly desired their Lordships to be pleased to pardon his Delivery , and to give a favorable censure of him . Lastly , The Thirteenth Article was read . XIII . Whereas especial care and order hath been taken by the Laws of the Realm , to restrain and prevent the unskilful Administration of Physick , whereby the health and life of men may be much endangered . And whereas most especially , the Royal Persons of the Kings of the Realm , in whom , we their Loyal Subjects , humbly challenge a great interest , are and always have been esteemed by us so sacred , that nothing ought to be prepared for them , or administred unto them in the way of Physick or Dyet in the times of their sickness , without the consent and direction of some of their sworn Physitians , Apothecaries , or Surgeons . And the boldness of such ( how near soever to them in place and favor ) who have forgotten their Duties so far , as to presume to offer any thing unto them beyond their experience , hath been always ranked in the number of high Offences and Misdemeanors . And whereas the sworn Physitians of our late Soveraign Lord King Iames of Blessed memory , attending on his Majesty in the moneth of March , in the Two and twentieth year of his most glorious Raign , in the times of his sickness , being an Ague , did in due and necessary care of , and for the recovery of his health and preservation of his Person , upon and after several mature Consultations in that behalf had and holden , at several times in the same moneth , resolve and give directions , That nothing should be applied or given unto his Highness , by way of Physick or Dyet , during his said sickness , but by and upon their general advice and consents , and after good deliberation thereof first had , more especially by their like care , and upon like consultations ; did justly resolve and publickly give warning to and for all the Gentlemen , and other Servants and Officers of his said late Majesties Bed-chamber , That no Meat nor Drink whatsoever should be given unto him , within two or three hours next before the usual time of and for the coming of his Fit in the said Ague , nor during the continuance thereof , nor afterwards , until his cold Fit were past . The said Duke of Buckingham being a sworn Servant of his said late Majesty , of and in his Majesties said Bed-chamber , contrary to his duty and the tender respect which he ought to have had of his Majesties most Sacred Person ; and after the Consultations , Resolutions , Directions , and Warning aforesaid , did nevertheless without any sufficient warrant in that behalf , unduly cause and procure certain Plaisters , and a certain Drink or Potion to be provided for the use of his said Majesty , without the direction or privity of his said late Majesties Physitians , not prepared by any of his Majesties sworn Apothecaries or Chirurgeons , but compounded of several ingredients to them unknown . Notwithstanding the same Plaisters , or some Plaister like thereunto , having been formerly administred unto his said Majesty , did produce such ill effects , as that some of the said sworn Physitians did altogether disallow thereof , and utterly refused to meddle any further with his said Majesty , until these Plaisters were removed , as being hurtful and prejudicial to the health of his Majesty ; yet nevertheless the same Plaisters , as also a Drink or Potion , was provided by him the said Duke ; which he the said Duke , by colour of some insufficient and slight pretences , did upon Monday the One and twentieth day of March , in the Two and twentieth year aforesaid , when his Majesty by the judgment of his said Physitians , was in the declination of his Disease , cause and procure the said Plaisters to be applied to the Brest and Wrists of his said late Majesty . And then also at and in his Majesties Fit of the said Ague , the said Munday , and at several times within two hours before the coming of the same Fit , and before his Majesties then cold Fit was passed , did deliver , and cause to be delivered , several quantities of the said Drink or Potion to his said late Majesty ; who thereupon at the same times , within the seasons in that behalf prohibited by his Majesties Physitians as aforesaid , did by the means and procurement of the said Duke , drink and take divers quantities of the said Drink or Potion . After which said Plaisters , and Drink or Potion , applied and given unto , and taken and received by his said Majesty as aforesaid , great distempers and divers ill symptoms appeared upon his said Majesty , insomuch , That the said Physitians finding his Majesty the next morning much worse in the estate of his health , and holding a Consultation thereabout , did by joynt consent send to the said Duke , praying him not to adventure to minister to his Majesty any more Physick , without their allowance and approbation . And his said Majesty himself finding himself much diseased and affected with pain and sickness , after his then fit , when by the course of his Disease he expected intermission and ease , did attribute the cause of such his trouble unto the said Plaister and Drink , which the said Duke had so given , and caused to be administred unto him . Which said adventrous act by a person obliged in duty and thankfulness , done to the Person of so great a King , after so ill success of the like formerly administred , contrary to such Directions as aforesaid , and accompanied with so unhappy event , to the great grief and discomfort of all his Majesties Subjects in general , is an Offence and Misdemeanor of so high a nature , as may justly be called , and is by the said Commons deemed to be an act of transcendent presumption , and of dangerous consequence . Mr. Wandesford deputed to enlarge and aggravate upon the Thirteenth Article , commended the charity and providence of that Law , which makes it penal for unskilful Empyricks , and all others , to exercise and practice Physick upon common persons , without a lawful Calling and Approbation , branding them that thus transgress , as Improbos , Ambitiosos , Temerarios , & Audaces homines : But he that without skill and calling shall direct a Medicine , which upon the same person had wrought bad effects , enough to have disswaded a second adventure ; and then when Physitians were present , Physitians selected for Learning and Art , prepared by their Office and Oaths , without their consent , nay , even contrary to their Direction , and in a time unseasonable , He must needs ( said he ) be guilty , albeit towards a common person of a precipitate and unadvised rashness , much more towards his own Soveraign . And so pious are our selves to put the Subjects in minde of their duty towards their Princes , Persons so Sacred , that in the attempt of a Madman upon the King , his want of Reason , which towards any of his fellow Subjects might have quit him of Felony , shall not excuse him of Treason . And how wary and advised our Ancestors have been not to apply things in this kinde to the Person of a King , may appear by a President , 32 Hen 6. where Iohn Arundel , and others , the Kings Physitians and Chirurgeons , thought it not safe for them to administer any thing to the Kings Person , without the assent of the Privy Council first obtained , and express Licence under the Great Seal of England . This Medicine found his Majesty in the declination of his desease , ( and we all wish it had left him so ) but his better days were shortly turned into worse ; and instead of health and recovery , we hear by good testimony ( that which troubles the poor and loyal Commons of England ) of great distempers , as Droughts , Raving , Fainting , an intermitting Pulse , strange effects to follow upon the applying of a Treacle Plaister . But the truth is , Testimony tells us , That this Plaister had a strange smell , and an invective quality striking the malignity of the disease inward ; which Nature otherwise might have expelled outward . Adde to this the Drink twice given to his Majesty , by the Duke his own hands , and a third time refused , and the following Complaint of that blessed Prince , the Physitians telling him , to please him for the time , That his second impairment was from cold taken , or some other ordinary cause : No , no , said his Majesty , it is that which I had from Buckingham . And though there be no President ( said he ) of an act offered to the Person of a King , so insolent as this , yet is it true that divers persons , as great as this , have been questioned and condemned for less offences against the Person of their Soveraign . It was an Article amongst others laid against the Duke of Somerset , for carrying Edward the Sixth away in the night time out of his own head but from Hampton Court to Windsor ; and yet he was trusted with the Protection of his person : Presidents failing us in this point , the Common Law will supply us . The Law judgeth a deed done in the execution of an unlawful act , Man-slaughter , which otherwise would but have been Chance-medley ; and that this act was unlawful , the House of Commons do believe , as belonging to the Duty and Vocation of a sworn and experimented Physitian , and not the unskilfulness of a yong Lord. And so pretious are the lives of men in the Eye of the Law , that though Mr. Stanford saith , If a Physitian take one into his Cure , and he die under his hands ; it is not Felony , because he did it not Feloniously . Yet it is Mr. Bractons opinion , That if one that is no Physitian or Chirurgeon undertake a Cure , and the party die under his hands , this is Felony . And the Law goeth further , making Physitians and Chirurgeons themselves accomptable for the Death of their Patients , if it appear they have transgressed the Rules of their own Art ; that is , by undertaking a thing wherein they have no experience , or having yet failed in the care and diligence . Lastly , He said he was commanded by the House of Commons to desire their Lordships , That seeing the Duke hath made himself a President in committing that which former Ages knew not , their Lordships will out of their Wisdom and Justice make him an example for the time to come . The several Articles being thus enlarged and aggravated by the said respective Members , Sir Iohn Elliot was appointed to make the Epilogue to the Impeachment , who spake thus . My Lords , YOur Lordships have heard in the Labors of these two days spent in this Service , a Representation from the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament , of their Apprehension of the present Evils , and dangers of this Kingdom ; of the Causes of the same ; and of the Application of them to the Duke of Buckingham , so clearly and fully , as I presume your Lordships expect I should rather conclude , then adde any thing to his charge . Your Lordships have heard how his Ambition was expressed in procuring , and getting into his hands , the greatest Offices of strength and power of this Kingdom ; by what means he had attained them ; and how Money stood for Merit . There needs no Argument to prove this but the common sense of the Miseries and Misfortunes which we suffer , adding but one , The Regality of our Narrow Seas , the Antient Inheritance of our Princes , lost or impeached . This I need not further to press , but from hence my Observation must descend to his other Virtues , and that by way of Perspective : I shall give it so near and short , as rather to exercise your Lordships Memory , then to oppress your patience . First , I propose unto your Lordships , the inward Character of the Dukes minde , which is full of Collusion and Deceipt , I can express it no better then by the Beast called by the Antients Stellionatus ; a Beast so blur'd , so spotted , so full of foul lines , that they knew not what to make of it : So do we finde in this mans practice , who first inveagled the Merchants , drawing them to Deep to be inchralled ; then dealt deceitfully with the King , to colour his Offences , his design being against Rochel , and the Religion : Next with the Parliament , to disguise his Actions , a practice no less dangerous and disadvantageous to us , then prejudicial to our Friends and Allies . Next I present to your Lordships , the Dukes high oppression , and that of strange latitude and extent , not to Men alone , but to Laws and Statutes , to Acts of Council , to Pleas and Decrees of Court , to the pleasure of his Majesty ; all must stoop to him , if they oppose or stand in his way . This hath been expressed unto you in the Ship called the St. Peter , and those of Deep , nay , he draws on the colour of his Majesties great Name to shadow his design . It had been his duty , nay , the trust of his place , not to have translated them into the hands of strangers ; that had his Majesty yeilded in that point , the Duke should have opposed it by his continual Prayers and Intercessions , making known unto his Majesty the Inconveniencies likely to ensue , and not to rest there , but to have reported it to your Lordships sitting in Council , to have desired and prayed your aid and assistance , in a matter of so great importance : And if this had failed , he should have entered into a Protestation against it . This hath been done by worthy Predecessors in that Office , and this had been the worthy discharge of the great trust reposed in his place . I heard the Ships were returned , but I know it not ; but if I knew so , this neither excuseth , nor qualifieth the Dukes offence . The French in this case are to be commended , not he excused ; he left them in the hands of a Foreign Power , who when they once had them , for any thing he knew , might easily have kept them . The third head is , The Dukes extortion in exacting from the East-India Company , without right or colour , Ten thousand pounds , exquisitely expressed , and Mathematically observed by the Gentleman ( you know by whom employed ) who by his Marine experience , learned this Observation , That if the Fleet gained not the wind by such time at the Cape , the Voyage was lost . Here one of the Lords interposing privately , It was the King that employed him ; Sir Iohn Elliot in the Name of the Commons makes this Protestation . Far be it from them to lay any Odium or Aspersion on his Majesties Name , they hold his Honor spotless , nor the least shadow of blemish can fix upon him in this business . Next to foul Extortion , is Bribery and Corruption in the Sale of Honor and Offices of Command . That which was wont to be the crown of Vertue and Merit , is now become a merchandise for the greatness of this man , and Justice it self made a prey unto him . All which particulars your Lordships have heard opened and enforced with Reasons and Proofs , what in themselves they are , and therefore I spare further to press them . In the fifth place , I observe a wonder in Policy and in Nature , how this man so notorious in evil , so dangerous to the State in his immense greatness , is able to subsist of himself , and keep a Being ? To this I answer , That the Duke hath used the help of art to prop him up : It was apparent , That by his skill he hath raised a party in the Court , a party in the Country , and a main party in the cheif places of Government in the Kingdom : So that all the most deserving Offices that require Abilities to discharge them , are fixed upon the Duke , his Allies , and Kinred . And thus he hath drawn to him and his , the Power of Justice , the Power of Honor , and the Power of Command , and in effect the whole Power of the Kingdom , both for Peace and War , to strengthen his Allies ; and in setting up himself , hath set upon the Kingdoms Revenues , the Fountain of Supply , and the Nerves of the Land. He intercepts , consumes , and exhausts the Revenues of the Crown , not onely to satisfie his own lustful desires , but the Luxury of others ; and by emptying the Veins the Blood should run in , he hath cast the Body of the Kingdom into a high Consumption . Infinite sums of Money , and mass of Land , exceeding the value of Money , Contributions in Parliament have been heaped upon him , and how have they been employed ? Upon costly Furniture , sumptuous Feasting , and magnificent Building , the visible evidences of the express exhausting of the State ; and yet his Ambition , which is boundless , resteth not here , but like a violent flame bursteth forth , and getteth further scope : Not satisfied with injuries , and injustice , and dishonoring of Religion , his attempts go higher , to the prejudice of his Soveraign , which is plain in his practice . The effects I fear to speak , and fear to think , I end this passage as Cicero did in a like case , Ne gravioribus utar verbis quam rei natura fert , aut levioribus quam causae necessitas postulat . Your Lordships have an Idea of the Man , what he is in himself , what in his affections . You have seen his power , and some I fear have felt it ; you have known his practice , and have heard the effects . It rests then to be considered , what ( being such ) he is in reference to the King and State ? how compatible or incompatible with either ? In reference to the King , he may be stiled the Canker in his Treasure ; in reference to the State , the Moth of all goodness . What future hopes are to be expected , your Lordships may draw out of his Actions and Affections . I will now see by comparison with others , to what we may finde him likened . I can hardly finde him a match or parallel in all Presidents ; none so like him as Sejanus , who is thus described by Tacitus , Audax , sui obtegens , in alios criminator , juxta adulator & superbus . To say nothing of his Veneries , if you please to compare them , you shall easily discern wherein they vary ; such boldness of the one hath lately been presented before you , as very seldom or never hath been seen . For his secret Intentions and Calumniations , I wish this Parliament had not felt them , nor the other before . For his Pride and Flattery , it is noted of Sejanus that he did Clientes suos Provinciis adornare . Doth not this Man the like ? Ask England , Scotland , and Ireland , and they will tell you . Sejanus pride was so excessive , as Tacitus saith , he neglected all Councel , mixed his businesses and service with the Prince , seeming to confound their Actions , and was often stiled Imperatoris laborum socius . How lately , and how often hath this Man commixed his Actions in Discourses with ACtions of the Kings ? My Lords , I have done , you see the Man ; onely this which was conceived by the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses , should be boldly by me spoken , That by him came all these evils , in him we finde the Cause , and on him we expect the Remedies , and to this we met your Lordships in Conference ; to which , as your Wisdom invites us , so we cannot doubt , but in your Lordships Wisdom , Greatness , and Power , we shall in due time finde Judgment as he deserves . I conclude by presenting to your Lordships , the particular Censure of the Bishop of Ely , reported in the 11 Rich. 1. and to give you a short view of his faults . He was first of all noted to be Luxurious ; secondly , He married his own Kinred to Personages of highest rank and places ; thirdly , No mans business was done without his help ; fourthly , He would not suffer the Kings Council to advise in Matters of State ; fifthly , He grew to such a height of Pride , that no man was thought worthy to speak unto him ; and lastly , His Castles and Forts of Trust , he did obscuris & ignotis hominibus tradere ; his doom was this , Per totam insulam publicè proclamatur , periat qui perdere cuncta festinat , opprimatur ne omnes opprimat . Sir Dudley Diggs having made the Prologu● , and Sir Iohn Elliot the Epilogue , in the Impeachment of the Duke , they were both by the Kings Command committed to the Tower. Upon the Impeachment of the Duke , a Paper was privately conveyed to the King , importing , THat this great opposition against the Duke , was stirred up and maintained by such as seek the destruction of this free Monarchy . Because they finde it not yet ripe to attempt against the King himself , they endeavor it through the sides of the Duke . The persons agreeing in this one mischeif , are of divers sorts and humors . First , Medling and busie persons , who love popular Speeches : Secondly , Govetous Landlords , Inclosers , Depopulators , &c. who being of the Parliament , ease themselves in Subsidies , and lay it on the true Commons , and cry out the grievances are caused by the Duke . Thirdly , Recusants who hate the Duke for the breach of the Spanish Match . Fourthly , Persons indebted , who by priviledge of Parliament avoid payment . Fifthly , Puritans and Sectaries , though two of them scarcely agree in what they would have : Haters of Government , and would have the Kings power extinguished in matters Ecclesiastical , and limited in Civil . Sixtly , Male-contents , who look upon the Duke with an evil eye , because themselves are not preferred . Seventhly , Lawyers , who are very fit in Parliaments to second any Complaint against ●oth Church and King , and all his Servants , with their Customs , Antiquities , Records , Statutes , Presidents , and Stories . Eighthly , Merchants and Citizens , who deceive the King of Custom . Ninethly , Innovators , Plebicolae . That since the time of Henry the Sixth , these Parliamentary discoursings might never be suffered , as being but certain symptomes of Subsequent Rebellions , Civil Wars , and the dethroning of our King , and no one Patriot daring to oppose them , least he incur the reputation of a Fool or Coward in his Countreys Cause . His Majesty therefore strengthned himself ever with some Favorite , as whom he might better trust , then many of the Nobility , tainted with this desire of Oligarchy , It behoveth without doubt his Majesty to uphold the Duke against them , who if he be but decourted , it will be the Corner Stone , on which the demolishing of his Monarchy will be builded : For if they prevail with this , they have hatched a thousand other demands to pull the Feathers of Royalty . They will appoint him Counsellors , Servants , Alliances , Limits of Expences , and accompt of his Revenue ; cheifly if they can , they will now dazle him in the beginning of his raign . Lastly , King James and King Charls are the Dukes Accusers , in all the Aspersions that are laid upon him . King James for the Money destined for the Wars in his time , spent in Treaties , &c. And his Majesty can testifie for the things done in his time . And all these , though actions of the King , are imputed to the Duke : Who if he suffer for obeying his Soveraign , the next attempt will be to call the King to accompt for any thing he undertakes , which doth not prosperously succeed , as all men would desire it . If it please his Majesty to remove and set aside all these disadvantages , he shall find the Charge against the Duke very empty and of small moment : And if his Majesty and the Dukes Grace think it no impeachment to their Honors , all that the Parliament hath objected against the Duke , except two or three things that may receive an Answer , is pardoned at the Kings Coronation , which benefit every poor Subject enjoyeth . May 11. The King came to the Parliament , and spake to the House of Peers as followeth . My Lords , THe cause , and onely cause of my coming to you this day , is to express the sense I have of all your Honors ; for he that toucheth any of you , toucheth me in a very great measure . I have thought fit to take order for the punishing some insolent speeches lately spoken . I have been too remiss heretofore in punishing such speeches as concern my self ; Not that I was greedy of their monies , but that Buckingham through his importunity would not suffer me to take notice of them , lest he might be thought to have set me on , and that he might come the forwarder to his Trial. And to approve his innocencie as touching the matters against him , I my self can be a Witness to clear him in every one of them . I speak not this to take any thing out of your hands ; but to shew the reason why I have not hitherto punished those insolent speeches against my self . And now I hope you will be as tender of my Honor , when time shall serve , as I have been sensible of yours . And so his Majesty was pleased to depart . The same day this following Message was brought from the Commons to the Lords , by Sir Nathanael Rich. THe Commons taking into serious consideration the many mischiefs and inconveniences which this renowned Kingdom doth now suffer , threatening apparent danger to the King and Common-wealth , have by search and disquisition into the Causes thereof , found that they do principally flow from the exorbitant power and abusive carriage of the Duke of Buckingham , whereof he hath this Parliament béen impeached before their Lordships by the Commons , besides an accusation of a Péer in their own House , who hath charged him ( as they are informed ) of High Treason : They therefore with one voice make an entire Declaration , That they hold it a thing of dangerous Consequence both for the present and future times , that a man of so great eminence , power and authority , being impeached and accused of such high Crimes and Offences , should yet enjoy his Liberty , hold so great a part of the strength of the Kingdom in his hands , sit as a Peer in Parliament , and be acquainted with the Counsels thereof , whereby inevitable mischief may suddenly fall upon the Kingdom . Wherefore they have thought it their duty to recommend this their unanimous desire to their Lordships , as agreeable to Law and reason , That they would be pleased forthwith to commit the person of the said Duke to safe Custody . Whereupon the Duke made this Speech in the Lords House . My Lords , IF I should hold my peace , it would argue guilt ; If I should speak , it would argue boldness , being so foully accused . Your Lordships see what Complaints are made against me by the House of Commons . How well I stood in their opinions not long since , your Lordships know it : What I have done since to lose their good opinions , I protest I know not . I cannot so distrust my own Innocencie , and my heart which abhors guilt , as to decline any Course , or Court of Justice : And had not they brought my Cause to your Lordships , it should have been my own work ; And they have done me a favor to deliver me out of their hands into your Lordships . I will not speak any thing to cast dirt at those , who have taken pains to make me so foul ; but to protest my innocencie in that measure , which I shall ever hope to prove , it being before such just Judges : I desire my Trial may be hastened , that I may no longer suffer then I must needs . And now that my Accuser hath not been content only to make my Process , but to prescribe to your Lordships the manner of your Judgment , and to judge me before I am heard , I shall not give way to any of their unjust Demands , &c. The Commons upon the Imprisonment of their Members , and the offence taken by the King at the words spoken by those two Gentlemen in impeaching the Duke , resolved to proceed in no other business till they were righted in their Liberties , and ordered that the House be turned into a Grand Committee presently to sit and consider of the best way and means to effect the same , and that no Member be suffered to go forth . At which time Sir Dudley Carlton observing that unusual , and as he termed it , sullen silence of the House , made this Speech . I Find by a great silence in this House , that it is a fit time to be heard , if you please to give me the patience . I may very fitly compare the heaviness of this House unto some of my misfortunes by Sea in my Travels : For as we were bound unto Marseillis , by oversight of the Mariners we mistook our Course , and by ill fortune met with a Sand ; That was no sooner overpast , but we fell on another ; and having escaped this likewise , we met with a third , and in that we stuck fast . All of the Passengers being much dismaied by this disaster , as now we are here in this House for the loss of those two Members : At last an old experienced Mariner upon consultation affirmed , That the speediest way to come out from the Sands , was to know how we came there ; So well looking and beholding the Compass , he found by going in upon such a point we were brought into that streight ; wherefore we must take a new point to rectifie and bring us out of danger . This House of Parliament may be compared to the Ship ; the Sands , to our Messages ; and the Commitment , to the Sands that the Ship did stick fast in ; and lastly the Compass , to the Table where the Book of Orders doth lie . Then I beseech you , let us look into the Book where the Orders are , whether the Gentlemen did go no further then the Order did warrant them . If they did not , it is fit that we should defend them whom we imployed in our behests : But if they have exceeded their Commission , and delivered that which they had not warrant for , it is just that we let them suffer for this presumption ; and this our Course will bring us from these Rocks . I beseech you Gentlemen , move not his Majesty with trenching upon his Prerogatives , lest you bring him out of love with Parliaments . You have heard his Majesties often Messages to you , to put you forward in a Course that will be most convenient . In those Messages he told you , That if there were not Correspondencie between him and you , he should be inforced to use new Counsels . Now I pray you consider what these new Counsels are , and may be : I fear to declare those that I conceive . In all Christian Kingdoms you know that Parliaments were in use antiently , by which their Kingdoms were governed in a most flourishing manner ; until the Monarchs began to know their own strength , and seeing the turbulent spirit of their Parliaments , at length they by little and little began to stand upon their Prerogatives , and at last overthrew the Parliaments throughout Christendom , except here only with us . And indeed you would count it a great misery , if you knew the Subject in Foreign Countries as well as my self ; to see them look not like our Nation , with store of flesh on their backs , but like so many Ghosts , and not men , being nothing but skin and bones , with some thin cover to their nakedness , and wearing only woodden shoos on their feet ; so that they cannot eat meat , or wear good clothes , but they must pay and be taxed unto the King for it . This is a misery beyond expression , and that which yet we are free from : Let us be careful then to preserve the Kings good opinion of Parliaments , which bringeth this happiness to this Nation , and makes us envied of all others , while there is this sweetness between his Majesty and his Commons ; lest we lose repute of a Free-born Nation , by our turbulencie in Parliament . For in my opinion , the greatest and wisest part of a Parliament are those that use the greatest silence , so as it be not opiniotory , or sullen , as now we are by the loss of these our Members that are committed . This good Correspondencie being kept between the King and his people , will so join their love and favor to his Majesty with liking of Parliaments , that his Prerogative shall be preserved entire to himself without our trenching upon it ; and also the Priviledge of the Subject ( which is our happiness ) inviolated , and both be maintained to the support of each other . And I told you , if you would hear me patiently , I would tell you what exception his Majesty doth take at those Gentlemen that are committed . You know that Eight Members were chosen to deliver the Charge against the Duke , but there were only Six imployed for that purpose ; insomuch that there was no Exception . As for Sir Dudley Diggs his part , that was the Prologue , and in that his Majesty doth conceive that he went too far beyond his Commission , in pressing the death of his ever blessed Father in these words , That he was commanded by the House , concerning the Plaister applied to the King , That he did forbear to speak further in regard of the Kings Honor , or words to that effect ; this his Majesty conceiveth to be to his dishonor , as if there had been any underhand dealing by his Majesty , in applying of the Plaister , and this may make his Subjects jealous of his doings : In this Point his Majesty is assured , that the House did not warrant him . Now for that which is excepted against Sir Iohn Elliot , his over bitterness in the Aggravation upon the whole Charge , and specially upon some of the heads of it : For if you please to remember , when I moved for putting of the St Peter of Newhaven out of the Charge against the Duke of Buckingham , and shewed my reasons for that purpose , you know how tender Sir Iohn Elliot was of it , as if he had been a child of his own , and so carefull in the handling thereof by a Stranger , that he would not suffer it to be touched , though with never so tender a hand , for fear it might prove a Changeling : which did manifest , how specious soever his pretences were , that he had occulum in Cauda : And I must confess , I was heartily sorry when he delivered his Aggravation to the Lords , to see his Tartness against the Duke ; when as he had occasion to name him , he onely gave him this Title of This man , and The man ; whereas the other observed more respect and modesty in their Charges against so great a Person as the Duke is , considering that then he was not convicted , but stood rectus in Curia . Lastly , for pressing the death of his late Majesty , you know that the Sense of the House concluded , That it is only an Act of Presumption ; nay , some of them expresly said , Nay God forbid that I should lay the death of the King to his Charge . If he without warrant from the House insisted upon the Composition of the Plaister , as if there were Aliquid latet quod non patet ; This was beyond his Commission from our House , and this is that which his Majesty doth except against ; And this I say drew his Majesty , with other insolent Invectives , to use his Regal authority in committing them to the Tower. Sir Dudley Diggs being charged for saying in the matter of applying the Plaister to his late Majesty , That he did forbear to speak further of that in regard of the Kings honor , or words to that effect ; There passed a Protestation of every man in particular for himself ; and it was Ordered in the House , That they that were sick in the Town , should have three of the House sent to them to take this Protestation likewise . I Protest before Almighty God and this House of Parliament , That never gave consent that Sir Dudley Diggs should speak these words that he is now charged withall , or any words to that effect ; And I have not affirmed to any that he did speak such words , or any to that effect . Within few dayes after Sir Dudley being released out of Prison , came into the House , and made Protestation concerning the Passage whereat his Majesty had taken offence , That speaking of the Plaister applied to the Body of the late King , he said , He would forbear to speak any further of it , in regard of the Kings honor , He protested , that this was far from his words , and that it never came into his thoughts . And he gave the House great thanks for their respect unto him , and said , That he had received from his Majesty a gracious testimony of his satisfaction . And the King himself signified to the House by the Vice-Chamberlain , That he understood out of some Notes which were taken at the Conference , that Sir Dudley Diggs had spoken the words wherewith he was charged , but now was satisfied that he did not speak them , nor any words to such effect : Nevertheless , the Duke affirmed to the House of Peers , that some words were spoken at this late Conference by Sir Dudley Diggs , which so far did trench upon the Kings Honor , that they are interpreted Treasonable ; and that ( had he not been restrained by order of the House ) he would then have reprehended him for the same : He therefore earnestly desired , for that divers constructions have been made of those words , and for that they have been diversly reported , that every one of the said Reporters would be pleased to produce their Notes taken at the Conference . This matter was much debated , and the House of Peers often put into a Committee , and reassumed again , but they came to no resolution therein . In fine , these Lords following , ( to the number of thirty six ) made this voluntary Protestation upon their Honors ; That the said Sir Dudley Diggs did not speak any thing at the said Conference , which did or might trench on the Kings Honor ; and if he had , they would presently have reprehended him for it . The Lord President affirmed , That he had reported the words in the same sence they were delivered unto him by the party himself , and though the connexion of them require to be explained , yet he agreed with the rest of the Lords , for the Parties good meaning , and made the same Protestation . The Lords who Protested were these ; viz. The Earl of Mulgrave . Earl of Cleveland . Earl of Westmerland . Earl of Bullingbrook . Earl of Clare . Earl of Denbigh . Earl of Cambridge . Earl of Devon. Earl of Warwick . Earl of Northampton . Earl of Bridgewater . Earl of Montgomery . Earl of Nottingham . Earl of Lincoln . Earl of Essex . Earl of Her●ford . Earl ef Kent . Earl of Oxon. Lord Grey of Warke . Lord Noell . Lord Montague . Lord Russel . Lord North. Lord Cromwell . Lord Vaux . Lord Dudley . Lord Morley . Lord Piercy . Lord Bishop o● Sarum . Lord Bishop of Landaffe . Lord Bishop of Chester . Lord Bishop of Cov. and Lich. Lord Bishop of Worcester . Lord Bishop of Norwich . Lord Vicount Say and S. Lord Vicount Rocheford . Not long after Sir Iohn Elliot also was released out of the Tower , and sent for to come into the House . Then the Vice-Chamberlain stood up , and by way of Explanation of his former Speech , said , That he intended not to charge him , but to give him an occasion to discharge himself . First , That all the others had used respective words in the Conference ; but for the manner of his Speech , he conceived it was too tart and harsh to the person of the Duke ; and that in representing a Character of his minde , by comparing him with a strange beast , he had out-gone his Commission . Secondly , That contrary to the sense of the House , as if they were ignorant of the return of the ships out of France , he said , They say they are come , but I know it not ; when the House knew it full well . That speaking of the Duke , he said , That man , which phrase in all Languages is accounted a great indignity to persons of Honor : That he made scandalous comparisons between the Duke and Sejanus , and the Bishop of Ely , which was likewise besides his Charge ; That he brake off ambiguously and abruptly with a Sentence of Cicero , as if something else might be which was not yet discovered . Sir Iohn Elliot thanked the Vice-Chamberlain for dealing so plainly with him , and giving him occasion to clear himself : And to the particular charged against him , he answered , First , considering the Dukes plurality of great and different Offices , together with his deceit and fraud , in perswading the Merchants to go to Diep , there to entrap them ; in colouring the Designs to the King , which he had plotted to serve against those of his Religion ; in abusing the Parliament at Oxford , and disguising his purpose , as if the ships were to go to Rochel . These particulars being so various , and of such a nature , he called by the name of Stellionatus , from a beast discoloured , uncertain , and doubtfull , that they knew not by what name to call it , or by what colour to describe it ; and these he called a Character of the minde , because they lie in the heart , and were deceits to abuse the King and Parliament . Secondly , as to his saying , He knew not the ships were come ; he answered , he did not know it then , and as yet he knew it not , though it was true that he had heard it . Thirdly , he denied not , that speaking of the Duke , he sometimes used this word , that man , though at other times he was not wanting to give him his due titles ; and said , That the Latines , speaking of Caesar , call him Ille Caesar , and that the same is usual in all Languages ; nor did he think the Duke to be a God. Fourthly he con●●ssed , That he paralleled him with the Bishop of Ely and Sejanus ; and though there were many particular censures of that Bishop , yet he produced none but such as were within the compass of his Charge ; nor did he apply the Veneries and Venefices of Sejanus to the Duke , but excluded them . Lastly , touching the Physick of the King , he said , he brake off so abruptly in aggravation of the Dukes offence , who not content with the injury of Justice , the wrong of Honor , the prejudice of the State , nor that of the Revenue , his attempts go higher , even to the person of the King , making on that his practice in such a manner , to such an effect , that he said , he feared to speak , nay , he doubted to think ; in which regard he left it , as Cicero did another thing , Ne gravioribus , &c. It was then resolved on the Question , That Sir Iohn Elliot hath not exceeded the Commission given him in any thing that passed from him , in the late Conference with the Lords : The like for Sir Dudley Diggs , both passed without a Negative ; the like Vote did pass for Mr Selden , Mr Herbert , Mr Glanvile , Mr Sherland , Mr Pym , and Mr Wandesford , who were also managers at that Conference . The King in the time of this Parliament had committed the Earl of Arundel to the Tower , but the cause of his Commitment was not expressed ; yet it was conceived to be about the Marriage of the Lord Maltravers , the Earls eldest son , to the young Duke of Lenox his sister , which was brought about by the contrivance of the Countess of Arundel and the old Dutchess of Lenox . The Lords were highly discontented at his commitment in time of Parliament ; concerning whose Liberties and their own Priviledges , they had presented several Petitions to his Majesty , but receiving no satisfactory answer thereto , agreed on this ensuing Petition occasioned by the release of Sir Dudley Diggs . May it please your Majesty , THe cause that moves us now to attend your Majesty , ( as at first we did ) is because we observe that the House of Commons have speedily received a Member of theirs who was committed : We the Peers , ambitious to deserve of your Majesty , and to appear to the eye of the world as much respected in our Rights and Priviledges , as any Peers or Commons have ever been , acknowledging you a King of as much goodness as ever King was ; do now humbly beseech that the Earl of Arundel , a Member of our House , may be restored to us ; it so much concerning us in point of Priviledge , that we all suffer in what he suffers in this Restraint . In March last when the Earl of Arundel was committed , the House of Lords purposed to take the same into their considerations , and so to proceed therein , as to give no just cause of offence to his Majesty , and yet preserve the Priviledges of Parliament . The Lord Keeper of the Great-Seal thereupon signified unto the House , that he was commanded to deliver this Message from his Majesty unto their Lordships ; viz. That the Earl of Arundel was restrained for a misdemeanor which was personal to his Majesty , and lay in the proper knowledge of his Majesty , and had no relation to matters of Parliament . Whereupon the House was put into a Committee ; and being resumed , The Lords Committees for Priviledges , &c. were appointed to search for Presidents Concerning the commitment of a Peer of this Realm during the time of Parliament ; and the Lord Chief Justice , Mr Justice Doderidge , and Mr Justice Yelverton , were appointed to attend their Lordships in that behalf . The day following the Lord Teasurer delivered another Message from the King in haec verba . WHereas upon a Motion made by one of your Lordships , the Lord Keeper did yesterday deliver a Message from his Majesty , that the Earl of Arundel was restrained for a misdemeanor which was personal to Majesty , and lay in the proper knowledge of his Majesty , and had no relation to matters of Parliament : His Majesty hath now commanded him to signifie to your Lordships , that he doth avow the Message in sort as it was delivered , to have been done punctually according to his Majesties own Direction , and he knoweth that he hath therein done justly , and not diminished the Priviledges of that House . And because the Committee appointed yesterday to search for Presidents , &c. had not yet made any Report to the House ; therefore the directions for this business were suspended for that time . Not long after the Earl of Hertford made report to the House , That the Lords Committees for Priviledges met on Monday last ; The first Question that arose amongst them was , Whether those Proxies were of any validity which are deputed to any Peer , who sitteth not himself in Parliament ? And it was conceived that those Votes were lost : Whereupon the Committee found this House to be deprived of five suffrages by the absence of the Earl of Arundel , unto whom they were intrusted : And the Committee finding by the Journal Book , that the Sub-Committee which was appointed to ●earch Presidents for Priviledges concerning the Commitment of a Peer in the time of Parliament , had not yet made report to the House : and then considering together their Notes of Presidents whereof they had made search , found , That no one Peer had been committed , the Parliament fitting , without trial of Judgement of the Peers in Parliament ; and that one only President of the Bishop of Winchester in the Book-Case , in the Third year of Edw. 3. which was here urged , cannot be proved to be in Parliament time ; and this the Lords of the Grand-Committee thought fit to offer to the consideration of the House . Hereupon the House was moved to give power to the Lords Sub-Committees for Priviledges , &c. to proceed in the search of Presidents of the Commitment of a Peer of this Realm during the time of Parliament ; and that the Kings Council might shew them such Presidents as they have of the said Commitment ; And that the said Sub-Committee may make the Report unto the House at the next access . All which was granted and agreed unto , and these Lords were called unto the said Sub-Committee ; viz. The Lord Treasurer . Lord President . Duke of Buckingham . Earl of Dorset . Earl of Devon. The Earl of Clare . The Vicount Wallingford . Vicount Mansfield . Lord North. And the Kings Council were appointed to attend the Lords . The Lord President reported the Proceedings of the said Sub-Committees for Priviledges , &c. upon Commitment of the Earl of Arundel ; viz. That the Kings Council had searched and acquainted the Lords Sub-Committees with all that they had found in Records , Chronicles , and Stories , concerning this matter : Unto which the said Lords Sub-Committees had given full Answer , and also shewed such Presidents as did maintain their own Rights . The Presidents being read , ( which for the length we forbear to mention ) It was resolved upon the Question by the whole House , Nemine dissentiente , That the Priviledge of this House is , That no Lord of Parliament , the Parliament sitting , or within the usual times of Priviledges of Parliament , is to be imprisoned or restrained without Sentence or Decree of the House , unless it be for Treason or Felony , or refusing to give Surety of the Peace . And it was thereupon ordered , That the said Lords Sub-Committees for Priviledges , &c. or any five of them , shall meet this afternoon to consider of a Remonstrance and Petition of the Peers concerning the Claim of their Priviledges from Arrests and Imprisonments during the Parliament . Which was conceived by the Lords Sub-Committees for Priviledges , according to the Order of the House , and was read openly , viz. May it please your Majesty , WE the Péers of this your Realm assembled in Parliament ●inding the Earl of Arundel absent from his place , that sometimes in this Parliament sate amongst us , his presence was therefore called for : But thereupon a Message was delivered unto us from your Majesty by the Lord Kéeper , That the Earl of Arundel was restrained for a misdemeanor which was personal to your Majesty , and had no relation to matters of Parliament . This Message occasioned us to enquire into the Acts of our Ancestors , and what in like cases they had done , that so we might not erre in any dutiful respect to your Majesty , and yet preserve our right and priviledge of Parliament . And after diligent search both of all Stories , Statutes and Records that might inform us in this case , We find it to be an undoubted right and constant priviledge of Parliament , That no Lord of Parliament , the Parliament sitting , or within the usual times of Priviledge of Parliament , is to be imprisoned or restrained , without Sentence or Order of the House , unless it be for Treason or Felony , or for refusing to give Surety for the Peace . And to satisfie our selves the better , we have heard all that could be alleaged by your Majesties Council learned at the Law , that might any way weaken or infringe this claim of the Peers ; And to all that can be shewed or alleaged , so full satisfaction hath been given , as that all the Peers of Parliament upon the Question made of this Priviledge , have una voce consented , That this is the undoubted Right of the Peers , and hath unviolably been enjoyed by them . Wherefore we your Majesties Loyal Subjects and humble Servants , the whole body of the Peers now in Parliament assembled , most humbly beseech your Majesty , that the Earl of Arundel , a Member of this Body , may presently be admitted with your gracious favor to come , sit , and serve your Majesty and the Commonwealth in the great Affairs of this Parliament . And we shall pray , &c. This Remonstrance and Petition to this Majesty was approved by the whole House , who agreed that it should be presented by the whole House to his Majesty ; and it was further agreed , That the Lord President , the Lord Steward , the Earl of Cambridge , and the Lord Great-Chamberlain should presently go to the King to know his Majesties pleasure when they shall attend him . These Lords returning , the Lord President reported , that his Majesty had appointed that day , between two and three of the clock , for the whole House to attend him with the said Remonstrance and Petition in the Chamber of Presence at Whitehall . And it was agreed , That the Lord Keeper should then read the same to the King , and present it unto his Majesty . The Twentieth of April , the Lord President reported the Kings Answer unto the Remonstrance and Petition of the Lords , to this effect : That their Lordships having spent some time about this business , and it being of some consequence , his Majesty should be thought rash if he should give a sudden Answer thereto ; and therefore will advise of it , and give them a full Answer in convenient time . The 21. of April 1626. It was ordered , That the House should be called on Monday next , being the 24. of April . Which was done accordingly : And the Earl of Arundel being called , the Lord Keeper signified unto the House , That his Majesty had taken into consideration the Petition exhibited by their Lordships the 19. of April concerning the Earl of Arundel , and will return an Answer thereunto with all expedition . The 2. of May it was ordered , That the Lord Keeper should move his Majesty from the House for a speedy and gracious Answer unto the Petition on the Earl of Arundels behalf . The 4. of May 1626. the Lord Keeper signified unto their Lordships , That according to the Order of the 2. of May , he had moved his Majesty from the House on the behalf of the Earl of Arundel : Who answered , It is a Cause wherein he hath had a great deal of care , and is willing to give their Lordships satisfaction , and hath it in his consideration how to do it , and hath been interrupted by other business , wherein Mr. Attorney hath had occasion of much conference with him , ( as their Lordships are acquainted : ) But will with all conveniencie give their Lordships satisfaction , and return them an Answer . The 9. of May 1626 , the House being moved to petition the King touching the Earl of Arundel , certain Lords were appointed to set down the form of the said Petition ; who reported the same in writing as followeth , viz. May it please your Majesty , WHereas the whole body of the Peers now assembled in Parliament , did the 19 day of April exhibit to your Majesty an humble Remonstrance and Petition concerning the Priviledge of Peers in Parliament , and in particular touching the Earl of Arundel , whereupon we received a gracious Answer , That in convenient time we should receive a fuller Answer , which we have long and dutifully attended : And now at this time so great a business being in handling in the House , we are pressed by that business to be humble suitors to your Majesty for a gracious and present Answer . Which being read , was approved of by the House , and the said Committee appointed to present the same unto his Majesty from the House , at such time as the Lord Chamberlain shall signifie unto them , that his Majesty is pleased to admit them to his presence . The 11 of May the Lord President reported the Kings Answer to the said Petition , That he did little look for such a Message from the House ; That himself had been of the House , and did never know such a Message from the one House unto the other : Therefore when he received a Message fit to come from them to their Soveraign , they shall receive an Answer . The Lord President further Reported , That the Lords Committees appointed to deliver the Petition to the King , did thereupon withdraw , and required him humbly to desire his Majesty to be pleased to let them know , unto what point of the said Petition he takes this Exception ; and that his Majesty willed him to say this of himself ; viz. The Exception the King taketh , is at the peremptoriness of the Term , To have a Present Answer ; And the King wonders at their impatience , since he hath promised them an answer in convenient time . Hereupon the House altered their former Petition , leaving out the word Present , and appointed the former Committee humbly to deliver the same to his Majesty . The 13 of May the Lord President reported the Kings Answer to the Petition ; viz. It is true , the word ( Present ) was somewhat strange to his Majesty , because they did not use it from one House to another ; but now , that his Majesty knows their meaning , they shall know this from him , that they shall have his Answer so soon as conveniently he can ; And this his Majesty will assure them , it shall be such an Answer , as they shall see will not trench upon the Priviledges of the House . The Lords having agreed on another Petition to the King , wherein they acknowledged him to be a Prince of as much goodness as ever King was . The 19 of May the Lord Chamberlain signified to their Lordships , That his Majesty being acquainted therewith , is pleased that this House attend him at two of the Clock this day in the Afternoon at Whitehall . On which day the Lords delivered the Petition to his Majesty ; who upon the 20 May returned this Answer . My Lords , I See that in your Petition you acknowledge me a King of as much goodness as ever King was ; for which I thank you , and I will endeavor , by the Grace of God , never to deserve other : But in this I observe that you contradict your selves ; for if you believe me to be such , as you say I am , you have no reason to mistrust the sincerity of my Promises : For , whereas upon often Petitions made by you unto me concerning this business , I have promised to give you a full Answer with all convenient speed ; by this again importuning of me you seem to mistrust my former promises : But it may be said there is an Emergent cause , for that I have delivered a Member of the Lower-House ? In this , My Lords , by your favour you are mistaken , for the Causes do no way agree ; for that he that was committed of the House of Commons was committed for words spoken before both Houses , which being such as I had just cause to commit him ; yet because I found they might be words onely misplaced , and not ill meant , and were so conceived by many honest men , I was content upon his interpretation to release him , without any suit from the Lower-House ; whereas my Lord of Arundel's fault was directly against my self , having no relation to the Parliament ; yet because I see you are so impatient , I will make you a fuller Answer then yet I have done , not doubting but that you will rest contented therewith . It is true , I committed him for a cause which most of you know , and though it had been no more , I had reason to do it ; yet , my Lords , I assure you , that I have things of far greater importance to lay to his charge , which you must excuse me for , not no tell you at this time , because it is not yet ripe , and it would much prejudice my service to do it ; and this , by the word of a King , I do not speak out of a desire to delay you , but as soon as it is possible , you shall know the cause , which is such as I know you will not judge to be any breach of your Priviledges : For , my Lords , by this I do not mean to shew the power of a King , by diminishing your Priviledges . This Answer being read , it was ordered , That the Committee for Priviledges should meet , and consider how farther to proceed with dutifull respect to his Majesty ; and yet so , as it may be for the preservation of the Priviledges of the Peers of this Land , and the Liberties of the House of Parliament . The 24 of May the Lord President reported the Petition agreed on by the Lords Committees for Priviledges &c. to be presented to the King , which was in haec verba . May it please your most Excellent Majesty , WHatever our care and desire is to preserve our right of Péers , yet it is far from our thoughts either to distrust , or to press any thing that stands not with the affection and duty of most dutiful and loyal Subjects : And therefore in all humility we cast our selves before your Majesty , assuring our selves in the word of a King , that with all conveniencie possible your Majesty will please either to restore the Peer to his place in Parliament , or express such a cause as may not infringe our Priviledges . The Petition was generally approved , and ordered to be presented to his Majesty by the whole House ; and the Earl of Carlisle and the Lord Carlton to go presently to know the Kings pleasure when they shall attend his Majesty . Who being returned , reported , That his Majesty hath appointed that Afternoon at two of the clock for the same . The 25. of May , the Lord Keeper delivered the Kings Answer unto the said Petition , to be read in haec verba , viz. My Lords , YOur often coming to me about this matter , made me somewhat doubt you did mistrust me : But now I see you rely wholly on me , I assure you it shall prevail more upon me then all importunities ; And if you had done this at first , I should have given you content . And now I assure you I will use all possible speed to give satisfaction , and at the furthest before the end of this Session of Parliament . This being read , the House was moved the second time , That all businesses might be laid aside , and that Consideration might be had how their Priviledges may be preserved unto posterity . And the House was put into a Committee for the freer Debate thereof , and afterwards resumed : And it was ordered , That the House be adjourned till to morrow , and all businesses to cease . The 26. of May , the Lord Keeper delivered this Message from the King to the House of Lords , viz. THat his Majesty hath willed him to signifie unto their Lordships , That he doth marvel his meaning in his last Answer should be mistaken : And for the better clearing of his intention , hath commanded him to signifie unto their Lordships his further Answer , which is , That their Lordships last Petition was so acceptable to his Majesty , that his intent was then , and is still , to satisfie their Lordships fully in what they then desired . Whereupon it was ordered , That all businesses be adjourned till that day seven night . At the same time the Duke of Buckingham signified unto their Lordships his desire to have the Kings Council allowed him to plead his cause : But the Lords would not hear him , because they would entertain no business : And so the House was adjourned to the second of Iune . At which time the House sitting again , the Lord Keeper delivered this Message from the King to the House of Lords , viz. HIs Majesty hath commanded me to deliver unto your Lordships a Message touching the Earl of Arundel ; That his Majesty hath thought of that business , and hath advised of his great and pressing affairs , which are such as make him unwilling to enter into dispute of things doubtful : And therefore to give you clear satisfaction touching that Cause , whereby you may more cheerfully proceed in the business of the House , he hath endeavored as much as may be to ripen it , but cannot yet effect it ; but is resolved that at the furthest by Wednesday sevennight , being the fourteenth of Iune , he will either declare the Cause , or admit him to the House . And addeth further upon the word of a King , That if it shall be sooner ripe , which he hath good cause to expect , he will declare it at the soonest . And further , That if the occasion doth enforce to stay to the time prefixed , yet he doth not purpose to set such a short end to the Parliament , but that there shall be an ample and good space between that , and the end of the Sessions , to dispatch affairs . This Message being delivered , the House was adjourned ad libitum , and put into a Committee ; And being resumed , it was agreed , That all businesses should cease , but this of the Earl of Arundel's concerning the Priviledges of the House ; and the House to meet thereon to morrow morning , and to be put into a Committee to consider thereof . And so the House was adjourned to the next day , Then the Lord Keeper delivered this Message from the King , Viz. THat in the matter concerning the Earl of Arundel , his Majesty hath been very careful and desirous to avoid all jealousie of violating the Priviledges of this House ; that he continueth still of the same mind , and doth much desire to find out some Expedient which might satisfie their Lordships in point of Priviledge , and yet not hinder his Majesties service in that particular . But because this will require some time , his Majesty , though his great affairs are urgent and pressing , is unwilling to urge their Lordships to go on therewith , till his Majesty hath thought on the other : And therefore hath commanded him to signifie his pleasure , That his Majesty is contented their Lordships adjourn the House till Thursday next ; and in the mean time his Majesty will take this particular business into further consideration . Hereupon the Lords agreed , That the Lord Keeper do render unto his Majesty from the House their humble thanks for his gracious respect unto their Priviledges . Then the Lord Keeper demanded of the Lords , whether their Lordships would adjourn the House till Thursday next ? Whereupon it was agreed by the Lords , and the House was so adjourned . On Thursday Iune 8. the Lord Keeper delivered this Message to the Lords from his Majesty , viz. THat on Saturday last his Majesty sent word to the House , That by this day he would send them such an Answer concerning the Earl of Arundel , as should satisfie them in point of Priviledge . And therefore to take away all dispute , and that their Priviledges may be in the same estate as they were when the Parliament began , his Majesty hath taken off the restraint of the said Earl , whereby he hath liberty to come to the House . The Earl of Arundel being returned to the House , did render his humble thanks unto his Majesty for this gracious favor towards him ; and gave their Lordships also most hearty thanks for their often intercessions for him unto the King , and protested his Loyalty and faithful service unto his Majesty . Much about this time , Mr. Moor a Member of the House of Commons , having spoken some words which seemed to reflect upon his Majesty , they were reported to the House , viz. That he said , We were born free , and must continue free , if the King will keep his Kingdom : Adding these words , Thanks be to God , we have no occasion to fear , having a just and pious King. The House for these words committed Mr. Moor to the Tower of London ; And his Majesty shortly after sent a Message , That he had passed by his offence . Whereupon he was released . While the Duke stood charged in the Parliament , the Chancellorship of Cambridge became void by the death of the Lord Howard Earl of Suffolk , who died on Whitsonday the 28. of May 1626. The University having understood by several hands , That it was the Kings express will and pleasure that the Duke should be chosen in his stead , were ambitious and forward to express their obedience to his Majesty in that behalf ; well knowing , that in regard of their multitude , and worthy Judgment and wisdom , that is esteemed and ought to be in those Electors , this was one of the most honorable Testimonies of Worth and Integrity that the Nation can afford : And that whereas all other the Dukes Honors did but help the rather to sink him with their weight , this would seem to shoar and prop him up . Letters were pretended to be sent from his Majesty , to the intent to disencourage all opposers : But though the pretence of Letters served mainly to effect their ends , yet the producing of them would have prejudiced the chief intendment of the Election , namely the honor of the Testimony in it ; which chiefly lying in the freedom of the Votes , had by Letters been cut off . Many Heads of Houses bestirr'd themselves according to their several power and interest in their respective Societies ; and Trinity-Colledge alone ( the Master whereof was Doctor Maw , one of the Kings Chaplains ) supplied the Duke with Forty three Votes , the third part of those which served the turn , for he had in all One hundred and eight . He was chosen the Thursday following the death of his Predecessor , namely the fourth day after the Vacancie , notwithstanding fourteen days are allowed by the University-Statute . His chief strength consisted in the Doctors ( whereof seventeen were for him , and onely one against him ) and in the Non-Regents , who are Masters of Art of five years standing and upward : Among the Regents ( who are Masters under five years ) thirty more were against him then for him , and four whole Colledges were entire against the Duke . For notwithstanding all the industry that could be imployed on his behalf , there was a Party so diligent and resolute , that the same morning the Choice was made , they jointly pitch'd upon the Lord Thomas Howard , second Son to the late deceased Chancellor , and Earl of Berkshire ; though they had no Head appearing for him , nor one man in the Uniuersity that was known to have any reference to him , excepting one Mr. Granado Chester , who was either his Chaplain or otherwise interessed in him : And notwithstanding all disadvantages , they lost it for the said Earl but by five Voices ; for the Duke had but One hundred and eight , and the Earl had One hundred and three , besides that two of the Dukes were void by Statute , as being given to the Vice-Chancellor by compromise , to dispose of as he should think fit . The Earl of Berkshire being afterwards acquainted with the intentions of the University towards him , wrote this Letter to Mr. Chester , a Divine related to his Lordship . Mr. CHESTER , THe infinite obligation which I owe to the University of Cambridge for the late most ample Testimony of their great love and affection towards me , imboldens me to borrow your help to make known unto them my unfained thankfulness : Wherein I confess that the love and favor which they have expressed unto me , joined with the fashion of it , doth far exceed the weak expression of so feeble a Stile as mine is . For they have been pleased out of their abundant affection , to name me to one of the greatest Honors of this Kingdom , without any suit or means of mine , which was the Chancellorship of the University : The Voting whereof in this noble fashion , I account as much as could befall me ; and do receive it with as much thankfulness , as if I were in full possession of the Place . I must therefore intreat you to disperse this my thankful Acknowledgment to all my worthy Friends there , who have so freely bestowed their Voices , and unsought for Favors upon me . And this labor I do the rather lay upon you , because , you know I put you to no making means for me ; which I should undoubtedly have done , if I had preconceived any intention of standing for this Dignity , so often wedded by men of high Places and Noble Families of this Realm ; whereof my honored Father deceased enjoyed the last Testimony , and my Uncle before him ; and not ceasing there , it was expressed unto me by an hereditary affection . Thus much I pray you make known for me , with this further assurance , That as I had my first Breeding , to my great Honor , in Cambridge , so I will live and die The true Servant of the University , Bershire . S. James , 2 Junii 1626. The Commons being informed of the aforesaid Proceedings in Cambridge , directed a Letter to be written to that University to signifie the Houses dislike thereof . Whereupon the King signifieth to the House his pleasure by Sir Richard Weston , that they forbear to send any such Letter , for that the Election had been made by the power of the Charters according to the Rules and Liberties of the University ; and that if there have been any Error in the form of the Election , it belongeth unto his Majesty to examine and reform it , and not unto the House . To which Message the Commons return this Answer . THat they do acknowledge they were about to Write to the University , because that the very Election it self , whereby the University is committed to the Government of one that is charged , and publickly complained of by the Commons in Parliament , whereof the Electors are a part , is in it self a very great Grievance , and prejudicial in example ; whereof they have Reason to be the more sensible , because they are informed , that in the manner of the Election there were many passages likewise done in contempt of the House : And do humbly beseech his Majesty to believe , That neither in this , nor any other thing , this House did or shall intend to enlarge their own Power and Jurisdiction , to the Diminution of his Majesties Right or Prerogative . Whereunto his Majesty replied by the said Sir Richard Weston . HIs Majesty saith , That Cambridge and all Corporations derive there right and priviledge from him ; and that he hath reason to esteem the Universities above any other , and is resolved to defend them against any , which either wilfully , or by chance , shall go about to infringe their Liberties . Concerning the Election it self , his Majesty is far from conceiving it a Grievance ; for he never heard that Crimes objected , were to be taken as proved ; or , that a man should lose his Fame or good Opinion in the World , upon an Accusation onely . But whereas you say in the manner of carriage of the Election , there were many passages done in it to the contempt of the House . His Majesty is well pleased , that you enquire and punish the Offenders , if there be any that have mis-behaved themselves in that respect . But for the Election it self , or the Form of it , his Majesty doth avow his first Message . The Duke returned this Acknowledgment to the University . MAster Vice-Chancellor , and Gentlemen of the University of Cambridge , There is no one thing that concerneth me more near , then the good opinion of Good and Learned honest Men : Amongst which number , as you have ever held the first rank in the estimation of the Common-wealth , and fame of the Christian World ; so in conferring this honor of Chancellorship upon me , I must confess you have satisfied a great ambition of mine , which I hope will never forsake me ; and that is , To be thought well of by men that deserve well , and men of your Profession . Yet I cannot attribute this Honor to any desert in me , but to the respect you bear to the Sacred memory of my Master deceased , the King of Schollars , who loved you , and honored you often with his presence , and to my Gratious Master now living ; who inherits with his Blessed Fathers Vertues , the affection he bore to your University . I beseech you , as you have now made your choice with so many kinde and noble Circumstances , as the Manner is to me as acceptable and grateful as the Matter ; so to assure your selves , That you have cast your Votes upon your Servant , who is as apprehensive of the time you have shewed your affection in , as of the Honor you have given him . And I earnestly request you all , that you would be pleased , not to judge me comparatively by the success and happiness you have had in your former choice of Chancellors ; who as they knew better perhaps by advantage of education in your University , how to value the deserts of men of your qualities and degrees , so could they not be more willing to cherish you then my self , who will make amends for my want of Schollarship , in my love to the Professors of it , and to the source from whence it cometh ; having now most just cause more cheifly to employ my utmost endeavors , with what favor I enjoy from a Royal Master , to the maintaining of the Charters , Priviledges , and Immunities of your University in general , and to the advancing of the particular merits of the Students therein . And since I am so far engaged to you , I will presume upon a further courtesie , which is , That you will be pleased to supply me with your advice , and suggest a way unto me ( as my self likewise shall not fail to think on some means ) how we may make Posterity remember you had a thankful Chancellor , and that both really loved you , and your University : Which is a resolution writ in an honest heart , by him that wanteth much to express his Affection to you , who will ever be Your faithful Friend and humble Servant George Buckingham . Also the King was pleased to write to the University of Cambridge , in approbation of the said Election . Trusty and Well-beloved , We greet you well . WHereas upon Our pleasure , intimated unto you by the Bishop of Durham , for the choice of your Chancellor , you have with much duty , as We expected , highly satisfied Us in your Election ; We cannot in Our Princely Nature ( who are much possessed with this Testimony of your ready , and Loyal Affections ) but for ever let you know , how much you are therein made partakers of Our Royal Approbation . And as We shall ever conceive , that an Honor done to a Person We favor , is out of a Loyal respect had unto Our Self : And as We shall ever justifie Buckingham worthy of this your Election , so shall you finde the fruits of it . For We that have found him a faithful Servant to Our dear Father of Blessed memory , and Our Self , cannot but undertake that he will prove such a one to you ; and will assist him with a Gratious Willingness in any thing that may concern the good of the University in general , or the particular Merits of any Students there . Given under Our Signet at Our Pallace of Westminster , the Sixth of June , in the Second year of Our Raign . Iune 8. Before the Duke gave in his Answer on that day unto the House of Peers , to the Impeachment of the House of Commons , he made this ensuing Speech . My Lords , IN a case of pressure considered by it self , I have a fair beginning , it is a due debt to your Lordships for this Honorable Favor in leaving it to my choice , whether I would answer to the particulars in the Aggravation , or not . I may without lessening my Obligation say , The favor is greater at first , it may be yours , or your Posterities hereafter . I have in a manner tied my self to my charge , hoping if I give your Lordships satisfaction in that , the Aggravations will fall of themselves . I could not well have followed the Aggravations , being composed of words , which I hope my actions have not deserved ; and I am sure my ears have not been made acquainted with , without some distraction of spirit ; yet I have left nothing of them unanswered that is material . I have used as much speed to come to an answer , as conveniently I could , without prejudice of my cause , having my Reputation too long upon the stage ; and had your Lordships called for it sooner , I had been as ready as now I was desirous , to detain your Lordships as little as may be ( with the expectation of my particular ) from weightier business . I was also grieved that my business should be a cause of the loss of this year from foreign attempts , and the hindrance of those resolutions that would have comforted our Friends abroad , and secured our selves at home : But in this , my Lords , I am sure you will easily acquit me in your thoughts . When I look upon my Charge in general ( as they did ) without searching into the integrity of mine own heart and actions , which are yet unknown to most of them , I wonder not so much at their proceedings , the particulars not being voted against me , nor unanimously ; but had they taken the means to have been better and trulier informed of the particulars , or have given me cause to have informed them , I assure my self they had not troubled your Lordships with this Charge : But I confess there hath been that contestation in the House of Commons concerning my Justification , that I cannot but acknowledge much favor there from many . And if the actions of some others in that House , do not conclude me of a worse disposition then I shall hereafter be found , there is none but may say with me , I am at peace with all . I shall onely for the present , apply my self to the clearing of my Reputation , and for the future , of those actions and endeavors which may repossess me of that I have counted one of my greatest losses , their good opinions . I would not speak nor profess this before your Lordships , if Reason and my own disposition did not warrant the performance of it . For first , Who accused me ? Common Fame . Who gave me up to your Lordships ? The House of Commons . The one is too subtile a Body , if a Body ; the other too great for me to contest with ; and I am confident , when my cause shall be tried , neither the one , or the other , or part of either , will be found to be my enemy . But as Fame is subtle , so it is often and especially in accusations false ; therefore the House of Commons have not wronged me : Yet I am confident it will at length be found , that Common Fame hath abused both them and me . I presume the House of Commons have proceeded against me out of an hearty and zealous affection , to do their King and Country service , I hope out of Christian Charity to punish and amend my faults ( if fame could have proved them ) and not to envy my Reputation , or destroy my Fortune . I shall never call such proceedings wrong , if seeking to cure my errors , give me opportunity to clear and publish my innocency : For the State it self , I have little to say , it is but a little , I will not abuse your Lordships patience . I was born and bred in it , I ow it my self ; I have been raised to Honors and Fortunes in it ( I freely confess ) beyond my Merits ; what I wanted in sufficiency and experience for the service of it , I have endeavored to supply by care and industry . And could there be the least alienation hereafter in my heart from the service of the State , for any thing that hath past , I should be the ungratefullest man living ; should but such a thought stain my heart , I should be content it were let blood . If my Posterity should not inherit the same fidelity , I should desire an inversion in the course of Nature , and be glad to see them earthed before me . My Answer to the several points in Charge , I shall crave leave to deliver in brief , and in form of Law , but as naked as truth loves to be ; and so I leave my self and my cause to your Lordships Justice . The humble Answer and Plea of George Duke of Buckingham , to the Declaration and Impeachment made against him , before your Lordships , by the Commons House of Parliament . THe said Duke of Buckingham being accused and sought to be impeached before your Lordships , of the many Misdemeanors , Misprisions , Offences , and Crimes , wherewith he is charged by the Commons House of Parliament , and which are comprised in the Articles preferred against him , and were aggravated by those , whose service was used by that House in the delivery of them , Doth finde in himself an unexpressible pressure of deep and hearty sorrow , that so great and so worthy a Body should have him suspected of those things which are objected against him ; whereas , had that Honorable House first known the very truth of those particulars , whereof they had not there the means to be rightly informed ; he is well assured in their own true judgments , they would have forborn to have charged him therewith . The Charge touching Plurity of Offices . To the first , which concerneth Plurality of Offices which he holdeth , he answereth thus , That it is true that he holdeth those several Places and Offices , which are enumerated in the preamble of his Charge , whereof onely three are worthy the name of Offices , viz. The Admiralty , the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports , and Mastership of the Horse ; the other are rather titulary and additions of Honor. For these Offices he humbly and freely ▪ acknowledgeth the bounty and goodness of his most Gratious Master who is with God ; who when he had cast an Eye of Favor upon him , and had taken him into a more near place of service about his Royal Person , was more willing to multiply his Graces and Favors upon him , then the Duke was forward to ask them ; and for the most part ( as many honorable persons , and his now most Excellent Majesty , above all others , can best testifie ) did prevent the very desires of the Duke in asking : And all these particular places , he can and doth truly affirm , his late Majesty did bestow them of his own Royal motion ( except the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports onely ) and thereto also he gave his approbation and encouragement . And the Duke denieth , that he obtained these places , either to satisfie his exorbitant ambition , or his own profit or advantage , as is objected against him : And he hopeth he shall give good satisfaction to the contrary in his particular Answers ensuing , touching the manner of his obtaining the places of the Admiralty , and the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports , whereunto he humbly desireth to refer himself . And for the Mastership of the Horse to his Majesty , he saith it is a meer domestick office of attendance upon the Kings person , whereby he receiveth some profit ; yet but as a conveniency to render him more sit for his continual attendance ; and in that place , the times compared , he hath retrenched the Kings annual charge to a considerable value , as shall be made apparent . And for the number of places he holdeth , he saith , That if the Commonwealth doth not suffer thereby , he hopeth he may without blame , receive and retain that , which the liberal and bountiful hand of his Master hath freely conferred upon him : And it is not without many Presidents , both in Antient and Modern times , That one man eminent in the esteem of his Soveraign , hath at one time held as great and as many Offices : But when it shall be discerned , That he shall falsly or corruptly execute those places , or any of them , or that the Publick shall suffer thereby ; he is so thankful for what he hath freely received , that whensoever his Gratious Master shall require it , without disputing with his Soveraign , he will readily lay down at his Royal Feet , not onely his Places and Offices , but his whole Fortunes and his life , to do him service . But the integrity of his own Heart and Conscience , being the most able and most impartial witnesses , not accusing him of the least thought of disloyalty to his Soveraign , or to his Country , doth raise his spirits again to make his just defence before your Lordships , of whose Wisdom , Justice , and Honor , he is so well assured , That he doth with confidence , and yet with all humbleness submit himself and his cause to your Examinations and Judgments , before whom he shall with all sincerity and clearness , unfold and lay open the secrets of his own actions , and of his heart ; and in his Answer shall not affirm the least Substantial , and as near as he can the least Circumstantial point , which he doth not believe he shall clearly prove before your Lordships . The Charge consisteth of Thirteen several Articles , whereunto the Duke , saving to himself the usual benefit of not being prejudiced by any words or want of form in his Answer ; but that he may be admitted to make further explanation and proof , as there shall be occasion , and saving to him all Priviledges and Rights belonging to him , as one of the Peers of the Realm , doth make these several and distinct Answers following , in the same order they are laid down unto him . For his buying of the Admirals place , the said Duke maketh this clear and true Answer . That it is true , that in Ianuary , in the Sixteenth year of his late Majesties Raign , his late Majesty did by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England , grant unto the Duke the Office of Admiralty for his life ; which Grant , as he well knoweth it , was made freely and without any Contract or Bargain with the late Lord Admiral , or any other ; and upon the voluntary Surrender of that Noble and wel-deserving Lord , so he is advised it will appear to be free from any defect in Law , by reason of the Statute of 5 Edw. 6. mentioned in this Article of his Charge , or for any other cause whatsoever : For he saith the true manner of his obtaining this Office , and of all the passages thereof , which he is ready to make good by Proof , was thus , That Honorable Lord , the late Earl of Nottingham , the Lord Admiral , being grown much in years , and finding that he was not then so able to perform that which appertained to his place , as in former times he had done to his great Honor ; and fearing lest his Majesties service , and the Commonwealth , might suffer by his defect , became an humble and earnest Petitioner to his late Majesty , to admit him to surrender his Office. His late Majesty was at the first unwilling unto it , out of his Royal Affection to his Person , and true Judgment of his worth : But the Earl renewed his Petitions , and in some of them nominated the Duke to be his Successor , without the Dukes privity or fore-thought of it . And about that time , a Gentleman of good place about the Navy , and of long experience , of himself came to the Duke , and earnestly moved him to undertake the place . The Duke apprehending the weight of the place , and considering his yong years , and want of experience to manage so great a charge , gave no ear unto it ; but excused it not for form , but really and ingenuously out of the apprehension of his then unfitness for it . This Gentleman not thus satisfied , without the Duke , applied himself to the late King , and moved his Majesty therein , and offered Reasons for it , That the Duke was the fittest man at that time , and as the State of the Navy then stood , for that place ; for , he said , it was then a time of peace . That the best service that could be done for the present , was to repair the Navy and Ships Royal , which then were much in decay , and to retrench the Kings charge , and to employ it effectually ; and that before there was like to be personal use of service otherwise ▪ the Duke being yong and active , might gain experience , and make himself as fit as any other ; and that in the mean time , none was so fit as himself , having the opportunity of his Majesties Favor and Means to his Person , to procure a constant assignment and payment of moneys for the Navy ; the want whereof , was the greatest cause of the former defects . These Reasons perswaded his late Majesty , and upon his Majesties own motion , perswaded the Duke to take the charge upon him : And thereupon the Earl voluntarily , freely , and willingly , and upon his own earnest and often suit , surrendred the place without any President ▪ Contract , or Promise whatsoever ; which might render the Duke in the least degree subject to the danger of the Law ( which was not then so much as once thought upon ) and upon that Surrender , the Grant was made to the Duke . But it is true , That his Majesty out of his Royal bounty , for recompence of the long and faithful service of the said Earl , and for an honorable memory of his deserts to him , and the Crown of England , did grant him a Pension of One thousand pounds per annum for his life ; which in all Ages hath been the Royal way of Princes , wherewith to reward antient and well-deserving Servants in their elder years ; when without their own faults they are become less serviceable to the State : And the Duke also voluntarily and freely , and as an argument of his noble respect towards so honorable a Predecessor , whom to his death he called Father ; whose Estate ●s he then understood , with his late Majesties privity and approbation , did send him Three thousand pounds in money ; which he hopeth no person of worth and honor will esteem to be an act worthy of blame in him . And when the Duke had thus obtained this place of great trust , he was so careful of his duty , that he would not relie upon his judgment or ability , but of himself humbly besought his then Majesty to settle a Commission of fit and able persons for the Affairs of the Navy ; by whose Council and assistance , he might manage that weighty business with the best advantage for his Majesties service ; which Commission was granted , and yet continueth , and without the advice of those Commissioners , he hath never done any thing of moment ; and by their advice and industry he hath thus husbanded the Kings money , and furthered the service , that where before the ordinary charge of the Navy was Fifty four thousand pounds per annum , and yet the Ships were very much decayed , and their Provisions neglected , the charge was returned to Thirty thousand pounds per annum , and with that charge , the Ships all repaired and made serviceable , and two new Ships builded yearly ; and for the two last years , when there were no new Ships built , the ordinary charge was reduced to Twenty one thousand six hundred pounds per annum . And now he dare boldly affirm , that his Majesties Navy is in better state by much , then ever it was in any precedent time whatsoever . For his buying the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports , he maketh this plain , ingenuous and true Answer . That in December , in the Two and twentieth year of his late Majesties Raign , he obtained the Office of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , and Constable of the Castle of Dover , ( being one entire Office ) upon the Surrender of the Lord Zouch , then Lord Warden . The manner of obtaining whereof , was thus , The Lord Zouch being grown in years , and with his almost continual lameness being grown less fit for that place , he discovered a willingness to leave it , and made several offers thereof to the Duke of Richmond , and Richard Earl of Dorset , deceased ; but he was not willing to part with it without recompence . Notice whereof coming to the Duke , by an offer made from the Lord Zouch , he finding by experience how much , and how many ways both the Kings service might , and many times did suffer ; and how many inconveniences did arise to the Kings Subjects in their Goods , Ships , and Lives , by the intermixture of the Jurisdictions of the Admiralty and Wardenship of the Cinque Ports , by the emulation , disaffection , and contention of their Officers , as clearly appear by these particulars , amongst many others which may be instanced . 1. Where the Admiral-Jurisdiction extends generally to all the Narrow Seas ; the Warden of the Cinque Ports hath and exerciseth Admiral-Jurisdiction on all the Sea Coasts , from Show-Beacon in Essex , to the Red Noor in Sussex ; and within those Limits there have been continual differences between the Lord Admiral , and the Lord Warden , whether the Lord Wardens Jurisdiction extends into the main Sea , or onely as far as the low Water Mark , and so much further into the Sea , as a man on Horsback can reach with a Launce , which occasioneth Questions between those cheif Officers themselves . 2. There are many and continual differences in executing of Warrants against offenders ; the Officers of the one , refusing to obey or assist the Authority of the other ; whereby the offenders protected or countenanced by either , easily escapeth . 3. Merchants and Owners of Goods questioned in the Admiralty , are often enforced to sue in both Courts , and often enforced for their peace to compound with both Officers . 4. The Kings service is much hindred for the most usual and ordinary Rendevouz of the Kings Ships , being at the Downs , and that being within the Jurisdiction of the Lord Warden , the Lord Admiral or Captains of the Kings Ships , have no Power or Warrant to press men from the shore , if the Kings Ships be in distress . 5. When the Kings Ships , or others , be in danger on the Goodwins , and other places within the view of the Portsmen , they have refused to help with their Boats , lest the Kings Ships should command them on board , whereby many Ships have perished , and much Goods have been lost . 6. When Warrants come to press a Ship at Road for the Kings service , the Officers take occasion to disobey the Warrants , and prejudice the Kings service . For if the Warrant come from the Lord Warden , they will pretend the Ship to be out of their Jurisdiction ; if the Warrant come from the Lord Admiral , they will pretend it to be within the Jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports : And so whilst the Officers dispute , the opportunity of the service is lost . 7. When the Kings Ships lie near the Ports , and the men come on shore , the Officers refuse to assist the Captains to reduce them to the Ships without the Lord Wardens Warrant . 8. If the Kings Ships , on the sudden , have any need of Pilots for the Sands Coasts of Flanders , or the like , wherein the Portsmen are best experienced , they will not serve without the Lord Wardens , or his Lieutenants Warrant , who perhaps are not near the place . 9. When for great occasions for the service of the State , the Lord Admiral and Lord Warden must both joyn their Authority ; if the Officers for want of true understanding of their several Limits and Jurisdictions , mistake their Warrants , the service which many times can endure no delay , is lost , or not so effectually performed . For these and many other Reasons of the like kinde , the Duke not being led , either with ambition or hope of profit as hath been objected ( for it could be no encrease of Honor to him , having been honored before with a greater place ; nor of profit , for it hath not yielded him in any matter any profit at all , nor is like to yield him above Three hundred pounds per annum at any time ) but out of his desire to make himself the more able to do the King and Kingdom service , and prevent all differences and difficulties which heretofore had , or hereafter might hinder the same ; He did entertain that motion , and doth confess , that not knowing , or so much as thinking of the said Act of Parliament before mentioned , he did agree to give the said Lord One thousand pounds in money , and Five hundred pounds per annum , in respect of his Surrender , he not being willing to leave his place without such consideration , nor the Duke willing to have it without his full satisfaction ; and the occasion why the Duke of Buckingham gave that consideration to the Lord Zouch , was , because the Duke of Richmond in his life time had first agreed to give the same consideration for it ; and if he had lived , he had had that place upon the same terms : And when the said Duke of Richmond was dead , his late Majesty directed the Duke of Buckingham to go thorow for that place , and for the Reasons before-mentioned , to put both these Offices together , and to give the same consideration to the said Lord , which the Duke of Richmond should have given , and his late Majesty said he would repay the money . And how far this act of his , in acquiring this Office , accompanied with these Circumstances , may be within the danger of the Law , the King being privy to all the passages of it , and encouraging and directing it , he humbly submitteth to your judgement ; and he humbly leaves it to your Lordships judgments , in what third way an antient servant to the Crown , by age or infirmity , disabled to perform his service , can in an honorable course relinquish his place ; for if the King himself give the Reward , it may be said it is a charge to the Crown ; if the succeeding Officer give the Recompence , it may thus be objected to be within the danger of the Law : And howsoever it be , yet he hopeth it shall not be held in him a crime , when his intentions were just and honorable , and for the furtherance of the Kings service ; neither is it without president , that in former times of great employment , both these Offices were put into one hand by several Grants . To this Article , whereby the not guarding of the Narrow Seas in these last two years by the Duke , according to the trust and duty of an Admiral , is laid to his charge ; whereof the consequence , supposed to have been meerly through his default , are the ignominious infesting of the Coasts with Pirats and Enemies , the endangering of the Dominion of these Seas , the extream loss of the Merchants , and the decay of the Trade and Strength of the Kingdom : The Duke maketh this Answer , That he doubteth not but he shall make it appear to the good satisfaction of your Lordships , that albeit there hath hapned much loss to the Kings Subjects within the said time of two years by Pirats and Enemies , yet that hath not hapned by the neglect of the Duke , or want of care and diligence in his place : For whereas in former times the ordinary Guard allowed for the Narrow Seas hath been but four Ships , the Duke hath since Hostility begun and before procured their number to be much increased ; for since Iune , 1624. there hath never been fewer then Five of the Kings Ships , and ordinarily Six , besides Pinnaces , Merchants Ships , and Drumblers ; and since open hostility , Eight of the Kings Ships , besides Merchants of greater number and Pinnaces and Drumblers ; and all these well furnished and manned , sufficiently instructed and authorised for the service . He saith , he hath from time to time , upon all occasions acquainted his Majesty , and the Council-Bord therewith , and craved their advice , and used the assistance of the Commissioners for the Navy in this service ; and for the Dunkirkers who have of late more infested these Coasts then in former years , he saith , There was that Providence used for the repressing of them , that his Majesties Ships , and the Hollanders joyning together , the Port of Dunkirk was blocked up , and so should have continued , had not a sudden storm dispersed them , which being the immediate hand of God , could not by any pollicy of man be prevented ; at which time , they took the opportunity to Rove abroad , but it hath been so far from endangering the Dominion of the Narrow Seas thereby , as is suggested , That his Majesties Ships or Men of War , were never yet mastered , nor encountred by them , nor will they endure the sight of any of our Ships ; and when the Duke himself was in person , the Dunkirkers run into their Harbors . But here is a necessity , that according to the fortune of Wars , interchangeable losses will happen ; yet hitherto notwithstanding their more then wonted insolency , the loss of the Enemies part hath been as much , if not more then what hath hapned to us ; and that loss that hath faln , hath cheifly come by this means , that the Dunkirkers Ships being of late years exercised in continual hostility with the Hollanders , are built of a Mold as fit for flight as for fight ; and so they pilfer upon our Coasts , and creep to the shore , and escape from the Kings Ships : But to prevent that inconvenience for the time to come , there is already order taken for the building some Ships , which shall be of the like Mold , light and quick of sail , to meet with the adverse party in their own way . And for the Pirates of Sallie , and those parts , he saith , it is but very lately that they found the way into our Coasts , where , by surprise , they might easily do hurt ; but there hath been that provision taken by his Majesty , not without the care of the Duke , both by force and treaty to repress them for the time to come , as will give good satisfaction . All which he is assured will clearly appear upon proof . To this Article the Duke maketh this Answer , That about September last , this Ship called the St. Peter ( amongst divers others ) was seised on as lawful prize by his Majesties Ships , and brought into Plimouth , as Ships laden by the Subjects of the King of Spain ; in the end of October , or beginning of November , they were all brought to the Tower of London , all of them were there unladen ; but the Peter and the bulk of her Goods was not stirred , because they were challenged by the Subjects of the French King ; and there did not then appear so much proof against her , and the goods in her , as against the rest . About the middle of November , Allegations were generally put in against them all in the Admiralty Court , to justifie the seisure , and all the Pretendants were called in upon these proceedings , divers of the Ships and Goods were condemned , and divers were released in a legal course ; and others of them were in suspence till full proof made . The Eight and twentieth day of December , complaint was made on the behalf of some Frenchmen at the Council-Board concerning this Ship and others , when the King by Advice of his Council ( his Majesty being present in person ) did order that the Ship of Newhaven called the Peter , and the Goods in her , and all such other Goods of the other prizes , as should be found to appertain to his Majesties own Subjects , or to the Subjects of his good Brother the French King , or the States of the United Provinces , or any other Princes or States in Friendship or Alliance with his Majesty , should be delivered : But this was not absolute , as is supposed by the Charge , but was thus qualified , so as they were not fraudulently coloured , and it was referred to a judicial proceeding . According to this just and honorable Direction , the Kings Advocate proceeded upon the general Allegations formerly put in the 26 of Ianuary , after there was a Sentence in the Admiralty , that the Peter should be discharged , and the Kings Advocate not having then any knowledge of further proof , consented to it . But this was not a Definitive Sentence , but a Sentence Interlocutory , as it is termed in that Court. Within few days after , this Ship prepared her self to be gone , and was falling down the River , then came new intelligence to the Lord Admiral , by the Lieutenant of the Tower , That all those Ships were laden by the Subjects of the King of Spain ; that the Amirantasco wasted them beyond the North Cape ; that they were but coloured by Frenchmen ; that there were Witnesses ready to make good this new Allegation ; neither was it improbable to be so , for part of the Goods in that Ship have been confessed to be lawful prize . This Ship being now falling down the River , and being a Ship of the most value of all the rest , the Duke acquainted the King therewith , and by his commandment made stay of the Ship , lest otherwise it would be too late , which the Duke in the duty of his place of Admiral , as he believeth , ought to have done without such command : And if he had not done so , he might worthily have been blamed for his negligence , and then instantly he sent for the Judge of the Admiralty to be informed from him how far the Sentence already past did binde , and whether it might stand with Justice to make stay of her again , she being once discharged in such manner as before : The Judge answered , As he was advised , that it might justly be done upon better proofs appearing ; yet discreetly in a matter of that moment , he took time to give a resolute answer , That in the interim he might review the Acts which had passed : The next day , or very shortly after , the Judge came again to the Duke , and upon Advice answered resolutely , That the Ship and the Goods might justly be stayed , if the proofs fell out to be answerable to the Information given ; whereof he said he could not judge , till he had seen the Depositions . And according to this resolution of the Judge , did five other Learned Advocates , besides the Kings Advocate , concur in opinion , being intreated by the Duke to advise thereof ; so cautious was the Duke , not to do any unjust act . Then he acquainted the King again therewith , and his Majesty commanded him to reseize this Ship , and to proceed judicially to the proofs ; and the Duke often required the Kings Advocate to hasten the examination of the Witnesses , and many Witnesses were produced and examined , in pursuance of this new Information . But the French Merchants impatient of any delay , complained again to the Council-Board , where it was ordered not barely , That the Ship and Goods should be presently delivered , but should be delivered upon security ; and upon security she had been then delivered , if it had been given , and security was once offered , but afterwards retracted : And when all the Witnesses produced , were examined and published , the Kings Advocate having duly considered of them , forthwith acquainted the Duke that the proofs came too short for the Peter ; and thereupon the Duke instantly gave order for her final discharge , and she was discharged by order of Court accordingly . By which true Narration of the Fact , and all the proceedings , the Duke hopeth it will sufficiently appear , That he hath not done any thing herein , on his part , which was not justifiable , and grounded upon deliberate and well-advised Councils and Warrant . But for the doing of this to his own lucre and advantage , he utterly denieth it ; for he saith , that there was nothing removed out of the Ship , but some moneys , and some small boxes of stones of very mean value , and other small Portable things lying above the Deck , easily to be imbezilled : And whatsoever was taken out of the Ship , was first publickly shewed to his Majesty himself , and then committed to the custody of Gabriel Marsh , in the Article mentioned , by Inventory , then and still Marshal of the Admiralty , by him to be safely kept ; whereof the money was employed for the Kings immediate service , and by his direction , and the rest was left in safe keeping , and are all since delivered and reimbursed to the owners , or pretended owners thereof , and not a penny profit thereof , or thereby , hath come to the Duke himself , as shall be made good by proof . And whereas the suggestion hath been made , that this accident was the cause of the Imbargo of the Ships and Goods of our Merchants trading in France , he saith , that is utterly mistaken , for divers of their Goods were imbarged before this hapned ; and if in truth , the French had therein received that as either they pretend or is pretended for them ; yet the imbarguing of the Goods of the English upon that occasion , was utterly illegal and unwarrantable : For by the mutual Articles between the two Kings , they ought not to have righted themselves before Legal Complaint , and a denial on our part , and then by way of Reprisal , and not by Imbargo . So that the Duke doth humbly leave it to the consideration of your Lordships , whether the harm which hath hapned to our Merchants , hath not been more occasioned by the unseasonable justifying of the actions of the French , which animated them to increase their injuries , then by any act either of the Duke , or any other . To this Article , which consisteth of two main Points , the one of the Extorting Ten thousand pounds unjustly , and without right from the East-India Company ; the other , admitting the Duke had a right as Lord Admiral , the compassing it by undue ways , and abusing the Parliament , to work his private ends , the Duke giveth this Answer , wherein a plain Narration of the Fact , he hopeth , will clear the Matters objected ; and in this he shall lay down no more then will fully appear upon Proof . About the end of Michaelmas Term , 1623. the Duke had information given him by a principal Member of their own Company , that the Company had made a great advantage to themselves in the Seas of East-India , and other parts of Asia and Africa , by rich prizes gotten there forcibly from the Portugals , and others ; and a large part thereof was due to his Majesty , and to the Duke as Admiral by the Law ; for which , neither of them had any satisfaction . Whereupon directions were given for a legal prosecution in the Court of Admiralty , and to proceed in such Matter as should be held fittest by the Advice of Council . In the Moneths of December and Ianuary , in that year divers Witnesses were examined in the Admiralty according to the ordinary course of that Court , to instruct and furnish Informative Processes in this behalf . After the Tenth of March , 1623. an Action was commenced in the Court in the joynt names of his Majesty , and the Admiral , grounded upon the former proceeding ; this was prosecuted by the Kings Advocate , and the demand at first was Fifteen thousand pounds . The Action being thus framed in both their names , by Advice of Council , because it was doubtful in the judgment of the Council , Whether it did more properly belong to the one , or to the other , or to both ; and the form of entring that Action being most usual in that Court , on the Eight and twentieth of April , 1624. the Judicial Agreement and Sentence passed thereupon in the Admiralty Court , wherein the Companies consent , and their own offer , plainly appeareth ; so that for the second part of the right , it were very hard to conclude that the Duke had no right , contrary to the Companies own consent , and the sentence of the Court , grounded on their Agreement , unless it shall fully appear , That the Company was by strong hand inforced thereto , and so the money extorted . Therefore to clear that scruple , That as the matter of the Suit was just , or at least so probable as the Company willingly desired it for their peace , so the manner was as just and honorable ; your Lordships are humbly entreated to observe these few true Circumstances . The Suit in the Admiralty begun divers moneths before the first mention of it in Parliament ; and some moneths before the beginning of it in that Parliament , it was prosecuted in a legal course , and upon such grounds as will yet be maintained to be just . The Composition made by the Company , was not moved by the Duke , but his late Majesty on the behalf of himself , and of the Duke , treated with divers Members of the Company about it , and the Duke himself treated not at all with them . The Company without any compulsion at all agreed to the Composition , not that they were willing to give so much , if they might have escaped for nothing , but that they were willing to give so much , rather then to hazard the success of the Suit : And upon this Composition concluded by his Majesty , the Company desired and obtained a Pardon for all that was objected against them . The Motion in Parliament about the stay of the Companies Ships then ready prepared and furnished , was not out of any respect to draw them the rather to give the Composition , but really out of an apprehension , that there might be need of their strength for the defence of the Realm at home ; and if so , then all private respects must give way to the Publick Interest . These Ships upon the importunity of the Merchants , and Reasons given by them , were suffered nevertheless to fall down to Tilbury , by his late Majesties direction to speed their Voyage the better , whilst they might be accommodated for this Voyage , without prejudice to the publick safety , they were discharged when there was an Accommodation propounded and allowed , which was , That they should forthwith prepare other Ships for the home service , whilst those went over with their Voyage , which they accordingly did . That the Motion made in the Commons House , was without the Dukes knowledge or privity . That when there was a rumor , that the Duke had drawn on the Composition by staying of the Ships which were then gone , the Duke was so much offended thereat , that he would have had the former Communication to have broken off , and have proceeded in a legal course , and he sent to the Company to that purpose ; but the Company gave him satisfaction , That they had raised no such rumor , nor would , nor could avow any such thing , and entreated him to rest satisfied with their publick acts to the contrary . That after this , their Ships being gone , themselves careful of their future security , solicited the dispatch of the Composition , consulted with Councel upon the Instruments which passed about it , and were at the charge thereof , and the money was paid long after the sentence , and the sentence given after the Ships were gone , and no security given at all for the money , but the sentence ; and when this mony was paid to the Duke , the whole sum ( but Two hundred pounds thereof onely ) was borrowed by the King , and employed by his own Officers , for the service of the Navy . If these things do upon proof appear to your Lordships , as is assured they will , he humbly submitteth it to your judgments , how far verbal Affirmations or Informations extrajudicial , shall move your judgments , when Judicial Acts , and those things which were acted and executed , prove the contrary ? To this Article , which is so mixt with Actions of great Princes , as that he dareth not in his duty publish every passage thereof , he cannot for the present make so particular an Answer as he may , hath , and will do , to the rest of his Charge . But he giveth this general Answer , the truth whereof he humbly prayeth may rather appear to your Lordships by the Proofs , then by any Discourse of his ; which in Reason of State , will happily be conceived fit to be more privately handled . That these Ships were lent to the French King at first , without the Dukes Privitie : That when he knew it , he did that which belonged to an Admiral of England , and a true English man : And he doth deny , that by menace , or compulsion , or any other indirect , or undue practice , or means , he by himself , or by any others , did deliver those Ships , or any of them , into the hands of the French , as is objected against him : That the Error which did happen , by what direction soever it were , was not in the intention any ways injurious , or dishonorable , or dangerous to this State , or prejudicial to any private man , interested in any of those Ships ; nor could have given any such offence at all , if those promises had been observed by others , which were professed and really performed by his Majesty and his Subjects on their parts . To this Article wherewith he is taxed to have practised for the employment of the Ships against Rochel , he answereth . That he was so far from practising or consenting that the said Ships should so be employed , that he shall make it clearly to appear , that when it was discovered , that they would be employed against those of the Religion , the Protestation of the French King being otherwise , and their pretence being , That there was a Peace concluded with those of the Religion , and that the French King would use those Ships against Genoa , which had been an action of no ill consequence to the Affairs of Christendom : The Duke did by all fit and honorable means , endeavor to divert that course of their employment against Rochel . And he doth truly and boldly affirm , That his endeavors under the Royal care of his most Excellent Majesty , hath been a great part of the means to preserve the Town of Rochel , as the Proofs , when they shall be produced , will make appear . And when his Majesty did finde that beyond his intention , and contrary to the faithful Promises of the French , they were so misemployed , he found himself bound in honor to intercede with the most Christian King , his good Brother , for the Peace of that Town , and of the Religion , lest his Majesties Honor might otherwise suffer : Which intercession his Majesty did so sedulously , and so successfully pursue , that the Town and the Religion there , do and will acknowledge the fruits thereof . And whereas it is further objected against him , That when in so unfaithful a manner he had delivered those Ships into the power of a foreign State , to the danger of the Religion , and scandal and dishonor of our Nation , which he utterly denieth to be so : That to mask his ill intentions , in cunning and cautelous manner , he abused the Parliament at Oxford , in affirming before the Committees of both Houses , That the said Ships were not , nor should be so used or employed ; he saith , ( under the favor of those who so understood his words , ) That he did not then use those words which are expressed in the Charge to have been spoken by him , but there being then a jealousie of the mis-employing of those Ships , the Duke having no knowledge thereof , and knowing well what the promises of the French King were , but was not then seasonable to be published ; he hoping they would not have varied from what was promised , did say , That the event would shew it was no undertaking for them , but a Declaration of that in general terms which should really have been performed , and which his Majesty had just cause to expect from them . That the Duke did compel the Lord R. to buy his Title of Honor , he utterly denieth ; and he is very confident , that the Lord R. himself will not affirm it , or any thing tending that way : Neither can he , nor any man else truly say so , but the said Duke is able to prove , that the Lord R. was before willing to have given a much greater sum , but could not then obtain it ; and he did now obtain it by solicitation of his own Agents . For the selling of places of Judicature by the Duke , which are specially instanced in the Charge , he answereth , That he received not , or had a penny of either of those sums to his own use ; but the truth is , the Lord M. was made Lord Treasurer by his late Majesty without contracting for any thing for it ; and after that he had the Office conferred upon him , his late Majesty moved him to lend him Twenty thousand pounds upon promise of repayment at the end of a year ; the Lord M. yielded to it , so as he might have the Dukes word that it should be repayed unto him accordingly : The Duke gave his word for it ; the Lord M. relied upon it , and delivered the said sum to the hands of Mr. Porter then attending upon the Duke , by the late Kings appointment , to be disposed as his Majesty should direct . And according to the Kings direction , that very money was fully paid out to others , and the Duke neither had , nor disposed of a penny thereof to his own use , as is suggested against him . And afterwards when the Lord M. left that place , and his money was not repayed unto him , he urged the Duke upon his promise ; whereupon the Duke being jealous of his Honor , and to keep his word , not having money to pay him , he assured Lands of his own to the Lord M. for his security . But when the Duke was in Spain , the Lord M. obtained a promise from his late Majesty of some Lands in Fee-farm , to such a value , as he accepted of the same in satisfaction of the said money , which were afterwards passed unto him ; and at the Dukes return , the Lord M. delivered back unto him the security of the Dukes Lands which had been given unto him as aforesaid . And for the Six thousand pounds supposed to have been received by the Duke , for procuring to the Earl of M. the Mastership of the Wards , he utterly denieth it ; but afterwards he heard that the Earl of M. did disburse Six thousand pounds about that time ; and his late Majesty bestowed the same upon Sir Henry Mildmay , his Servant , without the Dukes privity , and he had it and enjoyed it , and no penny thereof came to the said Duke , or to his use . To this Article the Duke answereth , That it is true that his late Majesty out of his Royal Favor unto him , having honored the Duke himself with many Titles and Dignities of his bounty ; and as a greater argument of his Princely Grace , did also think fit to honor those who were in equal degree of Blood with him , and also to ennoble their Mother who was the Stock that bare them : The Title of the Countess of Buckingham bestowed upon the Mother , was not without President ; and she hath nothing from the Crown but a Title of Honor which dieth with her . The Titles bestowed on the Viscount P. the Dukes Elder Brother , were conferred on him , who was a Servant of the Bed-chamber to his now Majesty , then Prince , by his Highness means ; the Earl of A. was of his late Majesties Bed-chamber , and the Honors and Lands conferred on him , was done when the Duke was in Spain . The Earl of D. hath the Honors mentioned in the Charge , but he hath not a foot of Land which came from the Crown , or the Kings Grant. But if it were true , That the Duke had procured Honors for those who are so near and so dear unto him ; the Law of Nature , and the Kings Royal Favor , he hopeth will plead for his excuse ; and he rather believeth he were worthy to be condemned in the opinion of all generous mindes , if being in such Favor with his Master , he had minded onely his own advancement , and had neglected those who were nearest unto him . To this Article his Answer is , That he doth humbly , and with all thankfulness acknowledge the bountiful hand of his late Majesty unto him ; for which he oweth so much to the memory of that deceased King , his most Excellent Majesty that now is , and their Posterity , that he shall willingly render back whatsoever he hath received , together with his life , to do them service . But for the immense sums and values which are suggested to have been given unto him , he saith , There are very great mistakings in the calculations which are in the Schedules in this Article mentioned ; unto which the Duke will apply particular Answers in another Schedule , which shall express the truth of every particular as near as he can collect the same , to which he referreth himself ; whereby it shall appear , what a great disproportion there is between Conjectures and Certainties : And those gifts which he hath received , though he confesseth , that they exceed his Merit , yet they exceed not Presidents of former times . But whatsoever it is he hath , or hath had , he utterly denieth that he obtained the same , or any part thereof , by any undue sollicitation , or practice , or did unduly obtain any Release of any sums of money he received ; but he having at several times , and upon several occasions disposed of divers sums of the moneys of his late Majesty , and of his Majesty that now is , by their private directions , he hath Releases thereof for his discharge , which was honorable and gratious in their Majesties , who granted the same for their Servants indempnity ; and he hopeth was not unfit for him to accept of , lest in future times , he or his might be charged therewith , when he could not be able to give so clear an account thereof , as he hopeth he shall now be well able to do . To this Charge , which is set forth in such an expression of words as might argue an extraordinary guiltiness in the Duke , who by such infinite bonds of duty and thankfulness was obliged to be tender of the life and health of his most dread and dear Soveraign and Master , he maketh this clear and true Answer : That he did neither apply nor procure the Plaister or Posset-drink , in the Charge termed to be a Potion , unto his late Majesty , nor was present when the same was first taken or applied : But the truth is this ; That his Majesty being sick of an Ague , took notice of the Dukes recovery of an Ague not long before , and asked him how he had recovered , and what he found did him most good ? The Duke gave him a particular answer thereto , and that one who was the Earl of Warwicks Physician had ministred a Plaister and Posset-drink to him ; and the chief thing that did him good was a Vomit , which he wished the King had taken in the beginning of his sickness . The King was very desirous to have that Plaister and Posset-drink sent for , but the Duke delayed it ; whereupon the King impatiently asked whether it were sent for , or not ? and finding by the Dukes speeches he had not sent for it , his late Majesty sent for Iohn Baker the Dukes servant , and with his own mouth commanded him to go for it : Whereupon the Duke besought his Majesty not to make use of it but by the advice of his own Physicians , nor until it should be tried of Iames Palmer of his Bed-chamber , who was then sick of an Ague , and upon two Children in the Town . Which the King said he would do : And in this resolution the Duke left his Majesty , and went to London ; and in the mean time in his absence the Plaister and Posset-drink was brought and applied by his late Majesties own command . At the Dukes return , his Majesty was in taking of the Posset-drink , and the King then commanded the Duke to give it him , which he did in the presence of some of the Kings Physicians , they then no ways seeming to dislike it , the same Drink being first tasted of by some of them , and divers others in the Kings Bed-chamber . And he thinketh this was the second time the King took it . Afterwards when the King grew somewhat worse then before , the Duke heard a rumor as if his Physick had done the King hurt , and that the Duke had ministred that Physick to him without advice . The Duke acquainted the King therewith , to whom the King with much discontent answered thus , They are worse then Devils that say it . So far from the truth it was , which now notwithstanding ( as it seemeth ) is taken up again by some , and with much confidence affirmed . And here the Duke humbly prayeth all your Lordships not only to consider the truth of this Answer , but also to commiserate the sad thought which this Article hath revived in him . This being the plain , clear and evident truth of all those things which are contained and particularly expressed in his Charge , ( the rest being in general requiring no Answer ) He being well assured that he hath herein affirmed nothing which he shall not make good by proof in such way as your Lordships shall direct ; He humbly referreth it to the judgment of your Lordships , how full of danger and prejudice it is to give too ready an ear and too easie a belief unto Reports or Testimony without Oath , which are not of weight enough to condemn any . He humbly acknowledgeth how easie it was for him in his younger years and unexperienced , to fall into thousands of errors in those ten years wherein he had the honor to serve so great and open-hearted a Soveraign and Master : But the fear of Almighty God , his sincerity in the true Religion established in the Church of England , ( though accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections , which he is not ashamed humbly and heartily to confess ) his awfulness not willing to offend so good and gracious a Master , and his love and duty to his Country have restrained him and preserved him ( he hopeth ) from running into heinous and high misdemeanors and crimes . But whatsoever upon examination and mature deliberation they shall appear to be , lest in any thing unwittingly within the compass of so many years he shall have offended , He humbly prayeth your Lordships not only in those , but as to all the said misdemeanors , misprisions , offences and crimes wherewith he standeth charged before your Lordships , to allow unto him the benefit of the free and general Pardon granted by his late Majesty in Parliament in the 21. year of his Reign , out of which he is not excepted ; and of the gracious Pardon of his now Majesty granted to the said Duke , and vouchsafed in like manner to all his Subjects at the time of his most happy Inauguration and Coronation : Which said Pardon under the Great Seal of England granted the said Duke , beareth date the 10. day of February now last past , and here is shewn forth unto your Lordships , on which he doth most humbly rely : And yet he hopeth your Lordships in your Justice and Honor , upon which with confidence he puts himself , will acquit him of and from those misdemeanors , offences , misprisions and crimes wherewith he hath been charged ; And he hopeth , and will daily pray , that for the future he shall by Gods grace so watch over his actions both publick and private , that he shall not give any just offence to any . The Duke having put in this Answer , earnestly moved the Lords to send to the Commons to expedite their Reply ; and the Commons did as earnestly desire a Copy of his Answer . The next day his Majesty wrote this Letter to the Speaker . TRusty and Welbeloved , We greet you well . Our House of Commons cannot forget how often and how earnestly we have called upon them for the speeding of that Aid which they intended us for our great and weighty affairs , concerning the safety and honor of us and our Kingdoms : And now the time being so far spent , that unless it be presently concluded , it can neither bring us Money nor Credit by the time which themselves have prefixed , which is the last of this Moneth , and being further deferred would be of little use , we being daily advertised from all parts of the great preparations of the Enemy ready to assail us ; We hold it necessary by these our Letters to give them our last and final admonition , and to let them know that we shall account all further delays and excuses to be express denials . And therefore we will and require you to signifie unto them , that we do expect that they forthwith bring in their Bill of Subsidy to be passed without delay or Condition , so as it may fully pass the House by the end of the next week at the furthest : Which if they do not , it will force us to take other resolutions . But let them know , if they finish this according to our desire , that we are resolved to let them sit together for the dispatch of their other affairs so long as the season will permit , and after their recess to bring them together again the next Winter . And if by their denial or delay , any thing of ill consequence shall fall out either at home or abroad , We call God and man to witness that We have done our part to prevent it , by calling our People together to advise with us , by opening the weight of our occasions unto them , and by requiring their timely help and assistance in these Actions wherein we stand engaged by their own Councels . And we will and command you that this Letter be publickly read in the House . About this time there happened , at three a clock in the afternoon , a terrible storm of Rain and Hail in and about the City of London , and with it a very great Thunder and Lightening : The graves were laid open in S. Andrews Church-yard in Holborn , by the sudden fall of the Wall which brought away the Earth with it , whereby many Coffins and the Corps therein were exposed to open view , and the ruder sort would ordinarily lift up the lids of the Coffins to see the posture of the dead Corps lying therein , who had been buried of the Plague but the year before . At the same instant of time there was a terrible Storm and strange Spectacle upon Thames by the turbulencie of the waters , and a Mist that arose out of the same , which appeared in a round Circle of a good bigness above the waters . The fierceness of the Storm bent it self towards York-House , ( the then habitation of the Duke of Buckingham ) beating against the stairs and wall thereof : And at last this round Circle ( thus elevated all this while above the water ) dispersed it self by degrees like the smoke issuing out of a Furnace , and ascended higher and higher till it quite vanished away , to the great admiration of the beholders . This occasioned the more discourse among the Vulgar , in that Doctor Lamb appeared then upon Thames , to whose Art of Conjuring they attributed that which had happened . The Parliament was then sitting , and this Spectacle was seen by many of the Members out of the windows of the House . The Commons agreed upon this ensuing Petition to his Majesty , concerning Recusants . To the Kings most Excellent Majesty . YOur Majesties most obedient and loyal Subjects the Commons in this present Parliament assembled , do with great comfort remember the many Testimonies which your Majesty hath given of your sincerity and zeal of the true Religion established in this Kingdom , and in particular your gracious Answer to both Houses of Parliament at Oxford , upon their Petition concerning the Causes and Remedies of the Increase of Popery ; That your Majesty thought fit , and would give order to remove from all Places of Authority and Government , all such persons as are either Popish Recusants , or according to direction of former Acts of State justly to be suspected ; which was then presented as a great and principal cause of that mischief . But not having received so full redress herein as may conduce to the peace of this Church , and safety of this Regal State , They hold it their duty once more to resort to your Sacred Majesty , humbly to inform you , that upon examination they find the persons underwritten to be either Recusants , Papists , or justly suspected according to the former Acts of State , who now do , or since the first sitting of the Parliament did remain in places of Government and Authority , and Trust in your several Counties of this your Realm of England , and Dominion of Wales . The Right Honorable Francis Earl of Rutland , Lieutenant of the County of Lincoln , Rutland , Northampton , Nottingham , and a Commissioner of the Peace , and of Oyer and Terminer in the County of York , and Justice of Oyer from Trent Northwards . His Lordship is presented to be a Popish Recusant , and to have affronted all the Commissioners of the Peace within the North-Riding of Yorkshire ▪ by sending a Licence under his Hand and Seal unto his Tenant Thomas Fisher , dwelling in his Lordships Mannor of Helmsley in the said North-Riding of the said County of York , to keep an Alehouse , soon after he was by an Order made at the Quarter-Sessions discharged from keeping an Alehouse , because he was a Popish convict Recusant , and to have procured a Popish Schoolmaster , namely , Roger Conyers to teach Schollers within the said Mannor of Helmsley , that formerly had his Licence to teach Schollers taken from him , for teaching Schollers that were the children of Popish Recusants , and because he suffered these children to absent themselves from the Church whilest they were his Schollers ; for which the said Conyers was formerly complained of in Parliament . The Right Honorable Vicount Dunbar , Deputy Justice in Oyer to the Earl of Rutland , from Trent Northward , and a Commissioner of Sewers , and a Deputy Lieutenant within the East-Riding of Yorkshire ; his Lordship is presented to be a Popish Recusant , and his Indictment removed into the Kings-Bench , and his Wife , Mother , and the greatest part of his Family are Popish Recusants , and some of them convicted . William Lord Eury in Commission for the Sewers in the East-Riding , a convict Popish Recusant , Henry Lord Abergaveney , John Lord Tenham , Edward Lord Wotton in Commission for Sewers , justly suspected for Popery ; Henry Lord Morley Commissioner of Sewers in Com. Lanc. himself suspected , and his wife a Recusant , Iohn Lord Mordant Commissioner of the Peace , Sewers , and Subsidie in Com. Northampton . Iohn Lord St Iohn of Basing , Captain of Lidley Castle in Com. Southampton , indicted for a Popish Recusant . Em. Lord Scroop , Lord President of his Majesties Council in the North , Lord Lieutenant of the County and City of York , & Com. Eborac . & Ville Kingston super Hull , presented the last time , and continuing still to give suspition of his ill-affection in Religion . 1. By never coming to the Cathedral Church upon those dayes wherein former Presidents have been accustomed . 2. By never receiving the Sacrament upon Common dayes , as other Presidents were accustomed , but publickly departing out of the Church with his servants upon those dayes when the rest of the Council , Lord Major , and Aldermen do receive . 3. By never or very seldom repairing to the Fasts , but often publickly riding abroad with his Hawkes on those dayes . 4. By causing such as are known to be firm on those dayes in the Religion established , to be left out of Commission , which is instanced in Henry Alured Esquire , by his Lordships procurement put out of the Commission of Sewers ▪ or else by keeping them from executing their places , which is instanced in Dr. Hudson , Doctor in Divinity , to whom his Lorship hath refused to give the Oath being appointed . 5. By putting divers other ill-affected persons in Commission of the Council of Oyer and Terminer , and of the Sewers , and into other Places of Trust , contrary to his Majesties gracious Answer to the late Parliament . 6. In October last 1625. being certified of divers Spanish ships of War upon the Coasts of Scarborough , his Lordship went thither , and took with him the Lord Dunbar , Sir Thomas Metham and William Alford , and lay at the house of the Lord Eury , whom he knew to be a convict Recusant , and did notwithstanding refuse to disarm him , although he had received Letters from the Lords of the Council to that effect ; and did likewise refuse to shew the Commissioners who were to be imployed for disarming of Popish Recusants , the original Letters of the Privy-Council , or to deliver them any Copies as they desired , and as his Predecessors in that place were wont to do . 7. By giving Order to the Lord Dunbar , Sir William Wetham , and Sir William Alford , to view the Forts and Store of Munition in the Town of Kingston upon Hull , who made one Kerton a convict Recusant , and suspected to be a Priest , their Clerk in that service . 8. By denying to accept a Plea tendred according to the Law by Sir William Hilliard Defendant , against Isabel Simpson Plaintiff , in an Action of Trover , that she was a convict Popish Recusant , and forcing him to pay costs . 9. By the great increase of Recusants since his Lordships coming to that Government in Ianuary 1619. It appearing by the Records of the Sessions , that there are in the East-Riding onely One thousand six hundred and seventy more convicted then were before , which is conceived to be an effect of his favor and countenance towards them . William Langdale Esquire convict of Popish Recusancy ; Iordan Metham , Henry Holm , Michael Partington , Esquires , George Creswell , Thomas Danby , Commissioners of the Sewers , and put in Commission by procurement of the Lord Scroop , Lord President of the North , and who have all Popish Recusants to their wives ; Ralph Bridgeman a Non-Communicant . Nicholas Girlington , whose wife comes seldom to Church ; Sir Marmaduke Wycel Knight and Baronet , presented the last Parliament , his wife being a convict Popish Recusant , and still continuing so . Sir Thomas Metham Knight , Deputy Lieutenant made by the Lord Scroop in Commission of the Council of the North ; and of Oyer and Terminer , and other Commissions of Trust ; all by procurement of the same Lord President since the Kings Answer ; never known to have received the Communion ; his two onely Daughters brought up to be Popish , and one of them lately married to Thomas Doleman Esquire , a Popish Recusant . Anthony Vicount Montague , in Commission of the Sewers in Com. Sussex , his Lorship a Recusant Papist . Sir William Wray Knight , Deputy Lieutenant , Colonel to a Regiment , his wife a Recusant ; Sir Edw. Musgrave , Sir Tho. Lampleigh Justices of Peace and Quorum ; Sir Thomas Savage Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of Peace , his wife and children Recusants ; Sir Richard Egerton a Non-Communicant . Thomas Savage Esquire , a Deputy Lieutenant , a Recusant , and his wife indicted and presented ; William Whitmore Commissioner of the Subsidy , his wife and children Recusants ; Sir Hugh Beeston Commissioner of the Subsidy , his Daughter and many of his Servants Recusants ; Sir William Massie Commissioner for the Subsidy , his Lady indicted for Recusancy , and his children Papists ; Sir William Courtney Knight , Vice-Warden of the Stannery , and Deputy Lieutenant , a Popish Recusant , Sir Thomas Ridley Knight , Justice of the Peace , his wife a Popish Recusant , and eldest son . Sir Ralph Conyers Knight , Justice of Peace , his wife a Popish Recusant ; Iames Lawson Esquire , a Justice of Peace , and one of the Captains of the Trained-band , his children Popish Recusants , and servants Non-Communicants . Sir Iohn Shelley Knight and Baronet , a Recusant ; William Scot Esq a Recusant ; Iohn Finch Esquire , not convict , but comes not to Church , in Commission of the Sewers . These are all convicted Recusants , or suspected of Popery . Sir William Mollineux Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of Peace , his wife a Recusant ; Sir Richard Honghton Knight Deputy Lieutenant , his wife and some of his daughters Recusants ; Sir William Norris Captain of the general Forces , and Justice of Peace , a Recusant ; Sir Gilbert Ireland Justice of Peace , a Recusant ; Iames Anderton Esquire , Justice of Peace , and one of his Majesties Receivers , his wife a Non-Communicant , his son and heir a great Recusant , and himself suspected . Edward Rigby Esquire , Clerk of the Crown , Justice of Peace , himself a good Communicant , but his wife and daughters Popish Recusants . Edward Criswell Esquire , Justice of Peace , his wife a Popish Recusant . Iohn Parker Gentleman , Muster-Master for the County , suspected for a Popish Recusant . George Ireland Esquire , Justice of Peace , his wife a Popish Recusant . Iohn Preston Esquire , Bow-bearer for his Majesty in Westmorland Forest , a Recusant . Thomas Covill Esquire , Jaylor , Justice of Peace and Quorum , his Daughter a Recusant married . Sir Cuthbert Halsal Justice of Peace , his wife a Recusant . Richard Sherborn Esquire , Justice of Peace , himself Non-resident , his wife and son Recusants . Sir George Hennage Knight , Sir Francis Metcalf Knight , Robert Thorall Esquire , Anthony Mounson Esquire , William Dallison Esquire , in Commissioner of the Sewers , and are justly suspected for Popish Recusants . Sir Henry Spiller Knight in Commission of Peace for Middlesex and Westminster , and Deputy Lieutenant ; Valentine Saunders Esquire , one of the six Clerks , both which are justly suspected to be ill-affected in Religion according to the Acts of State. Charles Jones Knight , Deputy Lieutenant , and Justice of Peace ; George Milburne Esquire , Justice of Peace , Edward Morgan Esquire , their wives are all Popish Recusants . William Jones Deputy Lieutenant , Justice of Peace , his wife suspected to be a Popish Recusant . Iohn Vaughan Captain of the Horse , suspected for Recusancy . Benedict Hall Receiver and Steward of the Dutchy of Lancaster , he and his wife are Popish Recusants . Sir Thomas Brudenel Knight and Baronet , Deputy Lieutenant , a Popish Recusant . Cuthbert Herone Esquire , now Sheriff of Northumberland , Justice of the Peace , his wife a Recusant . Sir William Selby Junior , Knight , Justice of Peace , his wife a Recusant . Sir Iohn Canning Knight , Justice of the Peace , his wife a suspected Recusant . Sir Ephraim Widdrington Knight , Justice of Peace suspected to be a Recusant . Sir Thomas Riddall Knight , Justice of Peace , his wife and eldest son are Recusants . Iohn Widdrington Esquire , who came out of the same County before his Majesties Proclamation was published , and is now at London attending the Council Table by Commandment , and yet not dismist . Sir Robert Pierpoint Esquire , Justice of Peace , his wife a Recusant . Sir Anthony Brown Knight , Justice of Peace , thought to be a Recusant , but not convict . Sir Henry Beddingfield Knight , Deputy Lieutenant , and Justice in Oyer and Terminer , and in Commission of Sewers , Justice of Peace , and Captain of a foot Company , his wife nor any of his children , as is informed , come to the Church . Thomas Sayer Captain of the Horse , his wife comes not to Church . Sir William Yelverton Baronet , and Justice of Peace , not suspected himself , but his eldest son and one of his daughters are known Recusants . Sir Henry Minne Knight , Justice of Peace and Quorum , neither he his wife or daughters can be known to have received the Communion , and have been presented at the Sessions for Non-conformity . Robert Warren Clerk , a Justice of Peace , justly suspected , and that for these Reasons . 1. He being in trust for one Ratcliff of Bury , deceased , for the educating of his son ; he took him from the School at Twelve years old , and sent him beyond the Seas , to be brought up there in a Popish Seminary , where he hath remained six or seven years , as was generally reported . 2. One of his Parishioners doubted in some points of Religion , being sick , and desired to be satisfied by him , who confirmed him in the Religion of the Church of Rome , which he told to his brothers before his death , who are ready to affirm the same , but this was divers years since . 3. There being Letters directed to four Knights of that County to call the Ministers and other officers before them , and to cause them to present all such as absented themselves from the Church , and were Popishly affected , he was desired to present those within his Parish Church of Welford , which he accordingly did , but left out at the least one half ; and being asked , why he did so , he answered , that he was no Informer : And being asked of some particulars , whether they came to the Church or not , his Answer was , they did not , and why then did he not present them ? he said , they might be Anabaptists or Brownists , and would not present them , and this certified by three Members of the House . 4. He having a brother dwelling in Sudbury that was presented for not coming to the Church , he came to one of the Ministers , and told him , that he took it ill they presented his brother , who answered , he did it not , but if he had known of it , he would ; whereupon he replied , He was glad he had a brother of any Religion . 5 One of his Parish , named Fage , having intelligence , that there was one in the said Parish , that could inform of a Private place , where Arms were in a Recusants House in the Parish , came to some of the Deputy Lieutenants in Commission for a Warrant to bring the same in form before them , to be examined concerning the same , and the said Fage delivered the Warrant to the Constable , he carried him before the said Mr Warren , who rated the said Fage for that he did not come to him first , telling him , that he was a factious fellow , and laid him by the heels for two hours , which the said Fage is ready to affirm . Sir Benjamin Titchburne Knight and Baronet , Justice of Oyer and Terminer , Justice of Peace , and Deputy Lieutenant , and in Commission for the Subsidue , his wife , children and servants indicted for popish Recusancy . Sir Richard Tichburne Knight , Justice of Peace , his wife presented the last Sessions for having absented her self from the Church for the space of two moneths . Sir Henry Compton Knight , Deputy Lieutenant , Justice of Peace , and Commissioner for the Sewers ; Sir Iohn Shelly Knight and Baronet , himself and his Lady Recusants . Sir Iohn Gage Knight and Baronet , a Papist Recusant . Sir Iohn Guilfor Knight , Their Ladies come not to Church . Sir Edward Francis Knight , Their Ladies come not to Church . Sir Genet Kempe Knight , some of his children come not to Church . Edward Gage Esq a Recusant Papist Commissioners of the Sewers . Tho Middlemore comes not to Church Commissioners of the Sewers . Iames Rolls , William Scot , Commissioners of Sewers , both Recusants Papists ; Robert Spiller comes not to Church . Sir Henry Guilford in Commission for Piracies , and for the Sewers , and Iohn Thatcher Esquire , Commissioner for the Sewers , they are either persons convicted or justly suspected . Sir Richard Sandford Knight , Richard Brewthwait Esquire , Gawen Brewthwait Esquire , their wives are Recusants . Sir William Ambrey Knight , Justice of Peace , a Recusant , Rees Williams a Justice of Peace , his wife a convict Recusant , and his children Popishly bred , as is informed . Sir Iohn Coney Knight a Justice of Peace , and Deputy Lieutenant , his wife a Popish Recusant . Morgan Voyle Esquire , Justice of Peace , his wife presented for not coming to Church , but whether she is a Popish Recusant is not known . Iohn Warren Captain of the Trained-band , one of his sons suspected to be Popishly affected . Wherefore they humbly beseech your Majesty not to suffer your loving Subjects to continue any longer discouraged by the apparent sence of that increase both in number and power , which by the favor and countenance of such like ill-affected Governors accreweth to the Popish Party ; but that according to your own wisdom , goodness and piety ( whereof they rest assured ) you will be graciously pleased to command that Answer of your Majesties to be effectally observed , and the Parties above named , and all such others to be put out of such Commissions and Places of Authority wherein they now are in your Majesties Realm of England , contrary to the Acts and Law of State in that behalf . A Committee was appointed to prepare an Answer to his Majesties Letter , which was ingrossed and allowed of , but the Copy thereof we cannot finde ; yet the Substance was delivered by the Speaker Sir Henage Finch , in these words . Most gracious and dread Soveraign , ACcording to that liberty of access , and liberty of speech which your Majesty and your Royal Progenitors have ever vouchsafed to your House of Commons , your Majesties most humble and Loyal Subjects , the Commons now assembled in Parliament have been Suitors for this access to your Royal Throne . And out of their consideration of the nature , and of the weight and importance of the business , they have thought the attendance of the whole house with their Speaker , not too solemn ; and yet they have not thought fit barely to commit those words , which express their thoughts , to the trust of any mans Speech , but are bold to present them in writing to your gracious hands , that they may not vanish , but be more lasting then the most powerfull words of a more able Speaker like to be . I have much to read , and shall therefore , as little as I can , weary your Majesty with Speeches . This Parchment contains two things , the one by way of Declaration , to give your Majesty an accompt and humble satisfaction of their clear and sincere endeavors and intentions in your Majesties service ; and the other an humble Petition to your Majesty for the removal of that great person the Duke of Buckingham from access to your Royal presence . For the first , They beseech your most excellent Majesty to beleeve , that no earthly thing is so dear and precious to them , as that your Majesty should retain them in your grace and good opinion ; and it is a grief to them beyond my expression , that any misinformation , or misinterpretation should at any time render their words or proceedings offensive to your Majesty . It is not proper for any to hear the Eccho of a voice , that hears not the voice ; and if Eccho's be sometimes heard to double and redouble , the Eccho of the Eccho is still fainter , and sounds not lowder . I need not make the Application , words misreported , though by an Eccho , or but an Eccho of an Eccho , at a third or fourth hand , have oft a lowder sound then the voice it self , and may sound disloyalty , though the voice had nothing undutifull , or illoyal in it . Such misinformations they fear have begot those interruptions and diversions which have delayed the ripening and expediting of those great Counsels which concern your Majesties important service , and have enforced this Declaration . I pass from that to the Petition in which my purpose is not to urge those Reasons which your Majesty may hear expressed in their own words in the language of the people . I am onely directed to offer to your great wisdom and deep judgement , that this petition of theirs is such as may stand with your Majesties honor and justice to grant . Your Majesty hath been pleased to give many Royal Testimonies and Arguments to the world how good and gracious a Master you are ; and that which the Queen of Sheba once said to the wisest King , may without flattery be said to your Majesty , Happy are those Servants which stand continually before you . But the Relations by which your Majesty stands in a gracious aspect towards your people , do far transcend , and are more prevalent and binding , then any relation of a Master towards a Servant ; and to hear and satisfie the just and necessary desires of your people , is more honorable , then any expression of grace to a servant . To be a Master of a Servant is communicable to many of your Subjects ; to be a King of people , is Regal , and incommunicable to Subjects . Your Majesty is truly stiled with that name which the greatest Emperors , though they borrowed names and titles from those Countries which they gained by conquest , most delighted in , Pater Patriae ; and desires of children are preferred before those of servants , and the servant abideth not in the house for ever , but the son abideth ever . The Government of a King was truely termed by your Royal Father , a Politick Marriage between him and his People ; and I may safely say , there was never a better union between a married Pair , then is between your Majesty and your People . Afterwards the Commons made what haste they could to perfect a Remonstrance or Declaration against the Duke , and concerning Tonage and Poundage taken by the King since the death of his Father , without consent in Parliament , which was no sooner finished , but they had intimation the King would that day dissolve the Parliament ; whereupon they ordered every Member of the House to have a Copy of the Remonstrance . And at the same time the Lords prepared this ensuing Petition to stay his purpose in dissolving the Parliament . May it please your Excellent Majesty , WE your faithfull and loyal Subjects the Peers of this Kingdom , having received this morning a Message from your Majesty , intimating an intention to dissolve this Parliament ; remembring that we are your Majesties hereditary great Council of the Kingdom , do conceive that we cannot deserve your Majesties gracious opinion expressed in this Message unto us , nor discharge our duty to God , your Majesty and our Country , if after expression of our great and universal sorrow , we did not humbly offer our loyal and faithfull advice to continue this Parliament , by which those great and apparent dangers at home and abroad signified to us by your Majesties command , may be prevented , and your Majesty made happy in the duty and love of your people , which we hold the greatest Safety and Treasury of a King ; for the effecting whereof our humble and faithfull endeavor shall never be wanting . The Lords sent the Vicount Mandevile Earl of Manchester Lord President of his Majesties Council , the Earl of Pembrook , the Earl of Carlile , and the Earl of Holland to intreat his Majesty to give audience to the whole House of Peers . But the King returned Answer , That his Resolution was to hear no motion to that purpose , but he would dissolve the Parliament ; and immediately caused a Commission to pass under the Great-Seal to that purpose , in haec verba . CAROLUS Dei gratia Angliae , Scotiae , Franciae & Hiberniae Rex , Fidei Defensor , &c. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri & fideli Consiliario nostro Georgio Archiepisc. Cantuar. totius Angliae Primati & Metropolitano : Ac perdilecto & fideli Consiliar . nostro Thom●e Coventry militi , Dom. Custod . Magni Sigilli nostri Angliae : Ac etiam Reverendiss . in Christo Patri Tobiae Archiep. Ebor. Angliae Primati & Metropolitano : Nec non charissimis Consanguineis & Consiliariis nostris Iacobo Comiti Marlborough , Thesaurario nostro Angliae ; Henrico Comiti Manchester , Dom. Presidenti Consilii nos●ri ; Edwardo Comiti Wigorn. Custod . Privati Sigilli nostri ; Georgio Duci Buckingham , Magno Admirallo nostro Angliae ; Willielmo Comiti Pembroke , Camerario Hospitii nostri : Ac etiam charissimo Consanguineo nostro Edwardo Comiti Dorset ; nec non charissimo & Consiliar . nostro Philippo Comiti Mountgomery ; charissimóque Consanguineo nostro Willielmo Comiti Northampton , Presidenti Consilii nostri infra Principalitatem & Marchias Walli●e ; ac chariss . Consanguineo & Consiliar . nostro Iacobo Comiti Carlol . Nec non charissimis Consanguineis nostris Iohanni Comiti de Clare , Thomae Comiti Cleveland , Edmundo Comiti de Mulgrave : Nec non charissimo Consanguineo & Consiliar . nostro Georgio Comiti de Totnes ; charissimóque Consanguineo nostro Henrico Vicecomiti Rochford : Ac etiam Reverendis in Christo Patribus Georgio Episcopo London , Richardo Episc. Dunclm . Reverendóque in Christo Patri & sideli Consiliar . nostro Lanceloto Episc. Winton . Nec non Reverendis in Christo Patribus , Samueli Episc. Norwicen . Willielmo Episc. Meneven . Ac perdilecto & fideli Consiliario nostro Edwardo Dom. Conway , uni primorum Secretarium nostrum , Ac etiam perdilecto & fideli nostro Samueli Dom. Scroop Presidenti Consilii nostri in partibus Borealibus ; perdilectóque & fideli Consiliar , nostro Fulconi Dom. Brook , Salutem . Cùm nuper pro quibusdam arduis & urgentibus negotiis , Nos statum & defensionem Regni nostri Angliae & Ecclesiae Anglicanae concernentibus , praesens hoc Parliamentum nostrum apud Civitatem nostram Westmonasterii sexto die Februar . Anno Regni nostri primo inchoari & teneri ordinaverimus , à quo die idem Parliamentum nostrum usque ad & instantem decimum quintum diem Iunii continuatum fuerat : Sciatis quòd nos pro certis urgentibus causis & considerationibus nos specialiter moventibus , idem Parliamentum nostrum hoc instanti decimo quinto die Iunii duximus dissolvendum . De fidelitate igitur , prudentia & circumspectione vestris plurimum confidentes , de avisamento & assensu Consilii nostri assignavimus vos Commissionarios nostros , dantes vobis & aliquibus tribus vel pluribus vestrum tenore praesentium , plenam potestatem & authoritatem hoc instanti decimo quinto die Iunii ad dictum Parlamentum nostrum nomine nostro plenariè dissolvendum ; & ideo vobis mandamus quòd vos , vel aliqui tres vel plures vestrum , idem Parliamentum nostrum hoc instante decimo quinto die Iunii , virtute harum Literarum nostrum patent . plenariè dissolvatis & determinetis . Et ideo vobis mandamus quòd praemissa diligenter intendatis , ac ●a in forma praedicta effectualiter expleatis & exequamini . Damus autem universis & singulis Archiepiscopis , Ducibus , Marchionibus , Comitibus , Vicecomitibus , Episcopis , Baronibus , Militibus , Civibus & Burgensibus , ac omnibus aliis quorum interest ad dictum Parliamentum nostrum conventurum , tenore praesentium firmiter in mandat . quod vobis in praemissis faciend . agend . & exiquend . pariant , obediant , & intendant in omnibus prout decet . In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras ●ieri fecimus patentes . Teste meipso apud Westm. decimo quinto die Iunii , Anno Regni nostri secundo . EDMONDS . This Commission being read , and the Commons present , the Parliament was dissolved on the Fifteenth day of Iune 1626. The intended Remonstrance was as followeth . Most Gracious Soveraign , WE your loyal and faithful Subjects the Commons assembled by your Majesties most Royal authority in this present Parliament , having with all dutiful affection from the time of our first méeting earnestly endeavored to procéed spéedily in those affairs that might best and soonest conduce to our dispatch of the intended supply of your Majesties great designs , to the enlargement of your support , and to the enabling of our selves and them whom we represent , to the full and timely performance of the same ; have notwithstanding by reason of divers informations , interruptions , and other preventions béen hitherto so retarded in the prosecution of these affairs , that we now thought it a necessary part of our most humble duties thus to declare both those interruptions and preventions , with the true original and continual cause of them , as also our most earnest devotion of the Parliamentary service of your most excellent Majesty , and of the careful safety and defence of your Dominions , Crown and Dignity : And we most humbly therefore beséech your most excellent Majesty to be graciously pleased here to cast your eye on some particulars , that have relation as well to your first Parliament , as to this ; out of which we cannot doubt but that your great Goodness may receive an ample satisfaction touching our most loyal and faithful intentions . In the first Parliament of the first Year of your Majesties most happy Reign over us , the Commons then assembled , after they had cheerfully presented to your Majesty as the first-fruits of their affections Two entire Subsidies , were excéedingly pressed by the means of the Duke of Buckingham , and for his own ends , as we conceive , to enlarge that Supply : which when he conceived would not be there effected , he procured for the same ends from your Majesty an Adjournment of the Parliament to the City of Oxford ; where the Commons then taking into just consideration the greatest mischiefs which this Kingdom variously hath suffered , and that chiefly by reason of the exorbitant power and frequent misdoings of the said Duke , were entring into a Parliamentary course of examination of those mischiefs , power , and misdoings : But no sooner was there any mention made of his Name to this purpose , but that he fearing lest his Actions might so have béen too much laid open to the view of your most excellent Majesty , and to the just Censure that might then have followed , presently through his misinformations to your Majesty of the intentions of your said Commons ( as we have just cause to believe ) procured a dissolution of the said Parliament : And afterwards also in the same year , through divers misreports made to your Majesty in his behalf touching some Members of the said Commons , who had more particularly drawn his Name into just question , and justly professed themselves averse to his ends there , procured ( as we cannot but conceive ) the said Members to be made the Sheriffs of several Counties for this year that followed , to the end that they might have all béen precluded from being chosen Members of the present Parliament , lest they should again have therein questioned him ; and by the like practice also ( as we are perswaded ) he procured soon after the said dissolution another * Member of the said House , because he had justly professed himself against his Ends , to be sent as Secretary of your Majesties last Fleet , hereby indeed to punish him by such drawing him from his practice of the Law , which was his Profession , under colour of an honorable Imployment . It pleased your Majesty afterwards in February last , to call this present Parliament , wherein ( though none of those whom the said Duke had so procured to be made high Shiriffs have sit as Members ; yet ) we finding in our selves the like affection , first to the Service of your Majesty , and next to the good of the Commonwealth , we took into serious Consideration several Propositions , how for the ●afety and happiness of your Majesties Kingdoms and Allies , we might enlarge your Supports , add to the Military Strength without charge to the poorer sort of your Subjects , and give a larger Supply to your Majesty for your instant and pressing occasions , then hath ever yet but once been given in Parliament : Whereupon for the enabling of our selves and those whom we represent , we conceive it first necessary to search into the Causes of those Mischiefs , which this your Kingdom suffereth , and divers of the Grievances that overburthen your Subjects ; without doing of which we could neither be faithful to your Majesty , nor to the Country that doth trust and imploy us , as your Royal Father also of blessed memory admonished the House of Commons in the fourth Session of his first Parliament . In this consideration we found that the most pressing and comprehensive Mischief and Grievance that we suffered , was fundamentally setled in the vast power and enormous Actions of the said Duke , being such , that by reason of his plurality of Offices , all gotten by ambition , and some for money , expresly against the Lawes of your Realm ; His breach of Trust , in not guarding the Seas ; his high injustice in the Admiralty ; his extortion ; his delivering over the Ships of this Kingdom into the hands of a Forein Prince ; his procuring of the compulsory buying of honor for his own gain ; his unexampled exhausting of the Treasures and Revenues of the Kingdom ; his transcendent presumption of that unhappy applying of Phisick to your Royal Father of blessed memory , few dayes before his death , and some other his Offences carefully and maturely examined by us , we made a Parliamentary Charge of the same matters and offences against him , to the Lords by your Majesty assembled in Parliament , there expecting some remedy by a speedy proceeding against him ; but , may it please your most excellent Majesty , not onely during the time of our examination of the matters and offences of the same Charge , we were diversly interrupted , and diverted , by Messages procured through misinformation from your Majesty , which with most humble duty and reverence we did ever receive , whence it first fell out , that so not onely much time was spent amongst us , before the same Charge was perfected , but also within two dayes next after the same Charge was transmitted by us to the Lords : Upon untrue and malicious misinformations privately and against the Priviledge of Parliaments , given to your Majesty of certain words supposed to have been spoken by Sir Dudley Digs and Sir John Elliot Knights , two of the Members of our House , in their service of the transmitting of the said Charge , both of them having been especially employed in the Chairs of Committees with us , about the examination of the said matters and offences , they were both by your Majesties command committed to close imprisonment in the Tower of London , and their Lodgings presently searched , and their papers there found presently taken away ; by reason whereof , not onely our known Priviledges of Parliament were infringed , but we our selves that upon full hope of speedy course of Iustice against the said Duke were preparing with all dutifull affection to proceed to the dispatch of the Supply , and other Services to your Majesty , were wholly , as the Course and Priviledge of Parliament bindes us , diverted for divers dayes , to the taking onely into consideration some Courses for the ratifying and preservation of the Priviledges so infringed , and we think it our duties , most gracious Soveraign , most rightly to inform hereby your most excellent Majesty of the Course held in the Commitment of the two Members : For whereas by your Majesties Warrant to your Messengers for the arresting of them , you were pleased to command , that they should repair to their Lodgings . And there take them ; Your Majesties principal Secretary the Lord Conway gave the said Messengers , ( as they affirmed ) an express command , contrary to the said Warrants , that they should not go to their Lodgings , but to the House of Commons , and there take them ; and if they found them not there , they should stay until they were come into the House , and apprehend them wheresoever else they should finde them . Which besides that it is contrary to your Majesties command , is an apparent Testimony of some mischievous intention there had against the whole House of Commons , and against the service intended to your Majesty . All which , with the several interruptions that preceded it , and the misinformation that hath caused all of them , we cannot doubt but that they were wrought and procured by the Duke to his own behoof , and for his advantage , especially because the said Interruptions have through misinformation come amongst us , onely at such times wherein we have had the matters and offences charged against him in agitation ; but your Majesty out of your great goodness and justice being afterwards informed truely of our Priviledge , and the demerit of the Cause that concerned our said two Members , graciously commanded the delivery of them out of the Tower , for which we render unto your Majesty most humble thanks ; and were then again by reason of our hopes of the dispatch of proceedings with the Lords , upon our Charge against him said the Duke , in a cheerfull purpose to go on with the matter of Supply , and other services to your Majesty , when again these hopes failed in us , by reason of some new exorbitancies now lately shewed in the exercise of his so great power and ambition ; for by such his power and ambition , notwithstanding our Declaration against him for his so great plurality of Offices , he also procured to himself , by the sollicitation of his Agents , and of such as depended upon him , the Office of Chancellor of the University of Cambridge ; whereas the same University having two Burgesses in Parliament , did by the same Burgesses a few weeks before , consent with us in the Charge against him for his ambition for procuring such a plurality of Offices ; such was his ambition to sue for it , such was his power to make them give it him contrary to what themselves had agréed in Parliament with all the Commons of England . And he procured also the same Office by the special labors and endeavors ( as we are informed ) of a Factious party , who adhereth to that dangerous Innovation of Religion , published in the seditious Writings of one Richard Montague Clerk ; of whom it is thence also , and heretofore upon other reasons it hath béen conceived , that the said Duke is , and long hath béen an Abettor and Protector . These Actions of the said Duke have thus among us hindred the service of your Majesty , by reason both of the interruptions that have so necessarily accompanied them , and of the prevention of our chéerfulness , which otherwise had long since béen most effectually shewed in us , that have nothing else in our cares next to our duty to God , but the loyal service of your Majesty , the safety of your Kingdom , and the subsistence of our selves and those whom we represent , for the continuance of that service and safety : Which we cannot hope for , and we beséech your most excellent Majesty graciously to receive this our humble and frée protestation , That we cannot hope for it , so long as we thus suffer under the pressures of the power and ambition of the said Duke , and the divers and false Informations so given to your Majesty on his behalf and for his advantage ; especially when we observe also that in such his greatness he preventeth the giving of true Information to your Majesty in all things that may any ways reflect on his own misdoings , to shew unto your Majesty the true state of your Subjects and Kingdoms , otherwise then as it may be represented for his own ends . And to that purpose also hath he procured so many persons depending on him , either by alliance or advancement , to places of eminencie near your Sacred person . Through his misinformations of that kind also , and power , we have séen to our great grief , both in the time of your Majesties Royal Father of blessed memory , and of your Majesty , divers Officers of the Kingdom so often by him displaced and altered , that within these few years past , since the beginning of his greatness , more such displacings and alterations have by his means happened , then in many years before them : Neither was there in the time of your Royal Father of blessed memory any such Course held , before it was by the practice of the said Duke thus induced . And since that time divers Officers of the Crown , not only in this your Kingdom of England , but also in Ireland , as they have béen made friends or adverse to the said Duke , have béen either so commended , or mispresented by him to his Soveraign , and by his procurement so placed , or displaced , that he hath always herein , as much as in him lay , made his own ends and advantage the measure of the good or ill of your Majesties Kingdoms . But now at length , may it please your most excellent Majesty , we have received from the Lords a Copy of the said Dukes Answer to our Charge transmitted against him ; whereunto we shall presently in such sort reply , according to the Laws of Parliament , that unless his power and practice again undermine our procéedings , we do not doubt but we shall upon the same have Iudgment against him . In the times also ( most gracious Soveraign ) of these Interruptions which came amongst us , by reason of the procurement of two of our Members committed , A gracious Message was formerly received from your Majesty , wherein you had been pleased to let us know , That if you had not a timely Supply , your Majesty would betake your self to New Counsels : which we cannot doubt were intended by your most excellent Majesty to be such as stood with Iustice and the Laws of this Realm . But these words New Counsels were remembred in a Speech made amongst us by one of your Majesties Privy-Council , and lately a Member of us , who in the same Speech told us , He had often thought of those words New Counsels ; That in his consideration of them , he remembred that there were such kinds of Parliaments antiently among other Nations , as are now in England ; That in England he saw the Country-people live in happiness and plenty , but in these other Nations he saw them poor both in persons and habit ; or to that effect : Which state and condition happened ( as he said ) to them , where such New Counsels were taken , as that the use of their Parliaments ended . This intimation , may it please your Majesty , was such as also gave us just cause to fear there were some ill Ministers near your Majesty , that in behalf of the said Duke , and together with him , who is so strangely powerful , were so much against the Parliamentary Course of this Kingdom , as they might perhaps advise your most excellent Majesty such New Counsels as these , that fell under the memory and consideration of that Privy-Counsellor . And one especial reason among others hath increased that fear amongst us , For that whereas the Subsidies of Tonnage and Poundage , which determined upon the death of your most Royal Father our late Soveraign , and were never payable to any of your Majesties Ancestors but only by a special Act of Parliament , and ought not to be levied without such an Act , yet ever since the beginning of your Majesties happy Reign over us , the said Subsidies have béen levied by some of your Majesties ministers , as if they were still due ; although also one Parliament hath béen since then begun , and dissolved by procurement of the said Duke , as is before shewed , wherein no Act passed for the same Subsidies . Which example is so much against the constant use of former times , and the known Right and Liberty of your Subjects , that it is an apparent effect of some new Counsels given against the antient setled Course of Government of this your Majesties Kingdom , and chiefly against the Right of your Commons , as if there might be any Subsidy , Tax or Aid levied upon them , without their consent in Parliament , or contrary to the setled Laws of this Kingdom . But if any such do so ill an office , as by the misrepresentation of the state and right of your Majesties loyal Subjects , advise any such new Counsels as the levying of any Aid , Tax or Subsidy among your people , contrary to the setled Laws of your Kingdom , We cannot , most gracious Soveraign , but esteem them that so shall advise , not only as Uipers , but Pests to their King and Commonwealth , ( as all such were to both Houses of Parliament expresly stiled by your most Royal Father ) but also Capital Enemies as well to your Crown and Dignity , as to the Commonwealth . And we shall for our parts in Parliament shew , as occasion shall require , and be ready to declare their offences of this kind , such as that may be rewarded with the highest punishment as your Laws inflict on any Offenders . These , and some of these things , amongst many other , ( Most gracious Soveraign ) are those which have so much prevented a right understanding betwéen your Majesty and us , and which have possessed the hearts of your people and loyal Commons with unspeakable sorrow and grief , finding apparently all humble and hearty endeavors misinterpreted , hindred , and now at last almost frustrated utterly , by the interposition of the excessive and abusive power of one man ; Against whom we have just cause to protest , not only in regard of the particulars wherewith he hath béen charged , which in Parliamentary way we are enforced to insist upon , as matters which lie in our notice and proof , but also because we apprehend him of so unbridled Ambition , and so averse to the good and tranquillity of the Church and State , that we verily believe him to be an Enemy to both : And therefore , unless we would betray our own duties to your Majesty , and those for whom we are trusted , We cannot but express our infinite grief , that he should have so great power and interest in your Princely affections , and under your Majesty wholly in a manner to engross to himself the administration of your Affairs of the Kingdom , which by that means is drawn into a Condition most miserable and hazardous . Give us then leave , most dear Soveraign , in the name of all the Commons of this your Kingdom , prostrate at the féet of your Sacred Majesty , most humbly to beséech you , even for the Honor of Almighty God , whose Religion is directly undermined by the practice of that Party whom this Duke supports ; For your Honor , which will be much advanced in the relieving of your people in this their great and general grievance ; For the honor , safety and welfare of your Kingdom , which by this means is threatned with almost unavoidable dangers ; And for the love which your Majesty as a good and loving Father bears unto your good people , to whom we profess in the presence of Almighty God ( the Searcher of all hearts ) you are as highly estéemed and beloved as ever any of your Predecessors were , That you would be graciously pleased to remove this Person from access to your sacred presence , and that you will not ballance this one man with all these things , and with the Affairs of the Christian world , which do all suffer so far as they have relation to this Kingdom , chiefly by his means . For we protest to your Majesty , and to the whole world , That until this Great person be removed from intermedling with the Great Affairs of State , we are out of hope of any good success ; and do fear that any money we shall or can give , will through his misimploiment be turned rather to the hurt and prejudice of this your Kingdom , then otherwise , as by lamentable experience we have found in those large Supplies we have formerly and lately given . But no sooner shall we receive redress and relief in this , ( which of all others is our most insupportable grievance ) but we shall forthwith proceed to accomplish your Majesties own desire , for Supply ; and likewise with all cheerfulness apply our selves to the perfecting of divers other great things , such as we think no one Parliament in any Age can parallel , tending to the stability , wealth , and strength , and honor of this your Kingdom , and the support of your Friends and Allies abroad : And we doubt not but through Gods blessing , as you are the best , so shall you ever be the best beloved , and greatest Monarch that ever sate in the Royal Throne of this famous Kingdom . The Grounds and Causes which the King held forth for dissolving of this , and the former Parliament , appear in the ensuing Declaration . THe Kings most Excellent Majesty , since his happy access to the Imperial Crown of this Realm , having by his Royal Authority summoned and assembled two several Parliaments ; the first whereof was in August last by Adjournment held at Oxford , and there dissolved ; and the other begun in February last , and continued until the Fiftéenth day of this present moneth of June , and then to the unspeakable grief of himself , and ( as he believeth ) of all his good and well-affected Subjects , dissolved also : Although he well knoweth that the Calling , Adjourning , Proroguing , and Dissolving of Parliaments , being his great Council of the Kingdom , do peculiarly belong unto himself by an undoubted Prerogative inseparably united to his Imperial Crown ; of which , as of his other Regal actions , he is not bound to give an Accompt to any but to God only , whose immediate Lieutenant and Uicegerent he is in these his Realms and Dominions by the Divine providence committed to his charge and government : Yet forasmuch as by the assistance of the Almighty , his purpose is , so to order himself , and all his Actions , especially the great and publck Actions of State , concerning the weal of his Kingdoms , as may justifie themselves not only to his own Conscience , and to his own People , but to the whole World ; His Majesty hath thought it fit and necessary , as the Affairs now stand both at home and abroad , to make a true , plain & clear Declaration of the Causes which moved his Majesty to assemble , and after enforced him to dissolve these Parliaments ; That so the mouth of malice it self may be stopped , and the doubts and fears of his own good Subjects at home , and of his Friends and Allies abroad may be satisfied , and the deserved blame of so unhappy Accidents may justly light upon the Authors thereof . When his Majesty by the death of his dear and Royal Father of ever blessed memory first came to the Crown , he found himself engaged in a War with a potent Enemy ; not undertaken rashly , nor without just and honorable grounds , but enforced for the necessary defence of himself and his Dominions , for the support of his Friends and Allies , for the redéeming of the antient Honor of this Nation , for the recovering of the Patrimony of his dear Sister , her Confort , and their Children , injuriously and under colour of Treaties and Friendship taken from them , and for the maintenance of the true Religion , and invited thereunto and encouraged therein by the humble Advice of both the Houses of Parliament , and by their large promises and protestations to his late Majesty , to give him full and real assistance in those Enterprises which were of so great importance to this Realm , and to the general peace and safety of all his Friends and Allies : But when his Majesty entred into a view of his Treasure , he found how ill provided he was to proceed effectually with so great an Action , unless he might be assured to receive such Supplies from his loving Subjects , as might enable him to manage the same . Hereupon his Majesty being willing to tread in the steps of his Royal Progenitors , for the making of good and wholsom Laws for the better Government of his people , for the right understanding of their true Grievances , and for the Supply of monies to be imployed for those publick services , he did resolve to summon a Parliament with all convenient spéed he might ; And finding a former Parliament already called in the life of his Father , he was desirous for the the spéedier dispatch of his weighty affairs , and gaining of time , to have continued the same without any alteration of the Members thereof , had he not beacute ; en advised to the contrary by his Iudges and Council at Law , for that it had béene subject to question in Law , which he desired to avoid . But as soon as possibly he could , he summoned a new Parliament , which he did with much confidence and assurance of the love of his people that those ( who not long before had with some importunity won his Father to break off his former Treaties with Spain , and to effect it had used the mediation of his now Majesty being then Prince , and a Member of the Parliament , and had promised in Parliament their uttermost assistance for the enabling of his late Majesty to undergo the War which they then foresaw might follow ) would assuredly have performed it to his now Majesty , and would not have suffered him in his first Enterprise of so great an expectation , to have run the least hazard through their defaults . This Parliament ( after some Adjourment ( by reason of his Majesties unavoidable occasions interposing ) being assembled on the Eightéenth day of June , It is true , that his Commons in Parliament taking into their due and serious Consideration the manifold Occasions which at his first entry did press his Majesty , and his most important Affairs which both at home and abroad were then in action , did with great readiness and alacrity , as a pledge of their most bounden duty and thankfulness , and as the first fruits of the most dutiful affections of his loving and loyal Subjects devoted to his service , present his Majesty with the frée and cheerful gift of two entire Subsidies : which their gift , and much more the freeness and heartiness expressed in the giving thereof , his Majesty did thankfully and lovingly accept : But when he had more narrowly entred into the consideration of his great affairs wherein he was imbarqued , and from which he could not without much dishonor and disadvantage withdraw his hand , he found that this sum of money was much short of that which of necessity must be presently expended for the setting forward of those great Actions , which by advice of his Council he had undertaken , and were that Summer to be pursued . This his Majesty imparted to his Commons house of Parliament ; but before the same could receive that debate and due consideration which was fit , the fearful Uisitation of the Plague in and about the Cities of London and Westminster , where the Lords and the principal Gentlemen of quality of his whole Kingdom were for the time of this their service lodged and abiding , did so much increase , that his Majesty , without extreme peril to the lives of his good Subjects , which were dear unto him , could not continue the Parliament any longer in that place . His Majesty therefore on the eleventh day of July then following , adjourned the Parliament from Westminster , until the first day of August then following , at the City of Oxford . And his Highness was so careful to accommodate his Lords and Commons there , that as he made choice of that place being then the fréest of all others from the danger of that grievous Sickness , so he there fitted the Parliament-men with all things convenient for their entertainment : And his Majesty himself being in his own heart sincere and frée from all Ends upon his people , which the Searcher of hearts best knoweth , he little expected that any misconstruction of his actions would have béen made , as he there found . But when the Parliament had béen a while assembled , and his Majesties affairs opened unto them , and a further Supply desired , as necessity required , he found them so slow , and so full of delays and diversions in their Resolutions , that before any thing could be determined , the fearful Contagion daily increased and was dispersed into all the parts of this Kingdom , and came home even to their doors where they assembled . His Majesty therefore rather preferred the safety of his people from that present and visible danger , then the providing for that which was more remot● , but no less dangerous to the State of this Kingdom , and of the affairs of that part of Christendom which then were , and yet are in friendship and alliance with his Majesty . And thereupon his Majesty not being then able to discern when it might please God to stay his hand of Uisitation , nor what place might be more secure then other at a time convenient for their re-assembling , his Majesty dissolved that Parliament . That Parliament being now ended , his Majesty did not therewith cast off his Royal care of his great and important affairs ; but by the advice of his Privy-Council , and of his Council of War , he continued his preparations , and former resolutions ; And therein not only expended those monies which by the two Subsidies aforesaid were given unto him for his own private use , whereof he had too much occasion as he found the state of his Exchequer at his first entrance , but added much more of his own , as by his credit , and the credit of some of his servants he was able to compass the same . At last , by much disadvantage , by the retarding of provisions and uncertainty of the means , his Navy was prepared and set to Sea , and the Designs unto which they were sent and specially directed , were so probable and so well advised , that had they not miscarried in the execution , His Majesty is well assured they would have given good satisfaction not only to his own people , but to all the world , that they were not lightly or unadvisedly undertaken and pursued . But it pleased God , who is the Lord of Hosts , and unto whose providence and good pleasure his Majesty doth and shall submit himself and all his endeavors , not to give that success which was desired : And yet were those Attempts not altogether so fruitless as the envy of the Times hath apprehended , the Enemy receiving thereby no small loss , nor our party no little advantage . And it would much avail to further his Majesties great affairs , and the Peace of Christendom , which ought to be the true end of all Hostility , were these first beginnings , which are most subject to miscarry , well seconded and pursued , as his Majesty intended , and as in the judgment of all men conversant in Actions of this nature , were fit not to have béen neglected . These things being thus acted , and God of his infinite goodness beyond expectation asswaging the rage of the Pestilence , and in a manner of a suddain restoring health and safety to the Cities of London and Westminster , which are the fittest places for the resort of his Majesty , his Lords and Commons to meet in Parliament ; His Majesty in the depth of winter , no sooner descried the probability of a safe assembling of his people , and in his princely wisdom and providence foresaw , that if the opportunity of seasons should be omitted , preparations both defensive and offensive could not be made in such sort as was requisite for their common safety , but he advised and resolved of the summoning of a new Parliament , where he might freely communicate the necessities of the State , and by the Council and advice of the Lords and Commons in Parliament , who are the Representative body of the whole Kingdom , and the great Council of the Realm , might proceed in these enterprises and be enabled thereunto , which concern the common good , safety and honor both of Prince and people ; and accordingly the sixth of February last , a new Parliament was begun . At the first meeting his Majesty did forbear to press them with any thing which might have the least appearance of his own interest , but recommended unto them the care of making of good Laws , which are the ordinary Subject for a Parliament . His Majesty believing that they could not have suffered many days , much less many weeks to have passed by , before the apprehension and care of the common safety of this Kingdom , and the true Religion professed and maintained therein , and of our Friends and Allies , who must prosper , or suffer with us , would have led them to a due and a timely consideration of all the means which might best conduce to those ends ; which the Lords of the Higher-House , by a Committee of that House did timely and seasonably consider of , and invited the Commons to a Conference concerning that great business : At which Conference there were opened unto them , the great occasions which pressed his Majesty ; which making no impression with them , his Majesty did , first by Message , and after by Letters , put the House of Commons in minde of that which was most necessary , the defence of the Kingdom , and due and timely preparations for the same . The Commons House after this , upon the 27 of March last , with one unanimous consent at first agreed to give unto his Majesty three intire Subsidies , and three Fifteens for a present supply unto him , and upon the 26 of April after , upon second Cogitations they added a fourth Subsidy , and ordered the dayes of payment for them all , whereof the first should have been on the last day of this present June . Upon this , the King of Denmark and other Princes and States being engaged with his Majesty in this common Cause , his Majesty fitted his occasions according to the times which were appointed for the payment of those Subsidies and Fifteens , and hasted on the Lords Committees , and his Council at War , to perfect their Resolutions for the ordering and setling of his designs , which they accordingly did , and brought them to that maturity , that they found no impediment to a final conclusion of their Councels , but want of mony to put things into action . His Majesty hereupon , who had with much patience expected the real performance of that which the Commons had promised , finding the time of the year posting away , and having intelligence not onely from his own Ministers and Sujects in Forrein parts , but from all parts of Christendom , of the great and powerfull preparations of the King of Spain , and that his design was upon this Kingdom , or the Kingdom of Ireland , or both , ( and it is hard to determine which of them would be of worst consequence ) He acquainted the House of Commons therewith , and laid open unto them truly and clearly , how the state of things then stood , and yet stand , and at several times , and upon several occasions reiterated the same : But that House being abused by the violent and ill-advised passions of a few Members of the House , for private and personal ends ill-beseeming publick persons , trusted by their Country , as then they were , not onely neglected , but wilfully refused to hearken to all the gentle admonitions which his Majesty could give them , and neither did nor would intend any thing but the prosecution of one of the Peers of this Realm , and that in such a disordered manner , as being set at their own instance into a legal way , wherein the proofs on either part would have ruled the cause , which his Majesty allowed , they were not therewith content , but in their intemperate passions , and desires to seek for Errors in another , fell into a greater Error themselves , and not onely neglected to give just satisfaction to his Majesty in several Cases which happened concerning his Regality , but wholly forgot their engagements to his Majesty for the publick defence of the Realm ; whereupon his Majesty wrote the forementioned Letter to the Speaker , dated the ninth day of June 1626. Notwithstanding which Letter read in the House , being a clear and gracious Manifest of his Majesties Resolutions , they never so much as admitted one Reading to the Bill of Subsidies , but instead thereof they prepared and voted a Remonstrance or Declaration , which they intended to prefer to his Majesty , containing ( though palliated with glossing terms ) aswel many dishonorable aspersions upon his Majesty , and upon the sacred memory of his deceased Father , as also dilatory excuses for their not proceeding with the Subsidies , adding thereto also coloured conditions crossing thereby his Majesties direction , which his Majesty understanding , and esteeming ( as he had cause ) to be a denial of the promised Supply , and finding that no admonitions could move , no reasons or perswasions could prevail when the time was so far spent , that they had put an impossibility upon themselves to perform their promises , when they esteemed all gracious Messages unto them to be but interruptions : His Majesty upon mature advisement discerning that all further patience would prove fruitless , on the fifteenth day of this present moneth he hath dissolved this unhappy Parliament : The acting whereof , as it was to his Majesty an unexpressible grief , for the memory thereof doth renew the hearty sorrow which all his good and well affected Subjects will compassionate with him . These passages his Majesty hath at the more length and with the true Circumstances thereof expressed and published to the world , least that which hath been unfortunate in it self , through the malice of the Author of so great a mischief , and the malevolent report of such as are ill-affected to this State , or the true Religion here professed , or the fears or jealousies of Friends and dutifull Subjects , might be made more unfortunate in the consequences of it , which may be of worse effect then at the first can be well apprehended ; and his Majesty being best privy to the integrity of his own heart , for the constant maintaining of the sincerity and unity of the true Religion professed in the Church of England , and to free it from the open contagion of Popery , and secret infection of Schism , of both which by his publick Acts and Actions he hath given good testimony , and with a single heart , as in the presence of God , who can best judge thereof , purposeth resolutely ; and constantly to proceed in the due execution of either ; and observing the subtilty of the adverse party , he cannot but believe that the hand of Joab hath been in this disaster , that the common Incendiaries of Christendom have subtilly and secretly insinuated those things which unhappily ( and as his Majesty hopeth , beyond the intentions of the Actors ) have caused these diversions and distractions : And yet notwithstanding , his most excellent Majesty , for the comfort of his good and well-affected Subjects , in whose loves he doth repose himself with confidence , and esteemeth it as his greatest riches ; for the assuring of his Friends and Allies , with whom , by Gods assistance , he will not break in the substance of what he hath undertaken ; for the discouraging of his Adversaries , and the Adversaries of his Cause , and of his Dominions , and Religion , hath put on this resolution , which he doth hereby publish to all the world , That as God hath made him King of this great people , and large Dominions , famous in former ages both by Land and Sea , and trusted him to be a Father and Protector both of their Persons and Fortunes , and a Defender of the Faith , and true Religion ; so he will go on cheerfully and constantly in the defence thereof , and ( notwithstanding so many difficulties and discouragements ) will take his Scepter and Sword into his hand , and not expose the persons of the people committed to his charge , to the unsatiable desires of the King of Spain , who hath long thirsted after an Universal Monarchy , nor their Consciences to the yoke of the Pope of Rome : And that at home he will take that care to redress the just grievances of his good Subjects , as shall be every way fit for a good King. And in the mean time his Majesty doth publish this to all his loving Subjects , that they may know what to think with truth , and speak with duty , of his Majesties actions and proceedings in these two last dissolved Parliaments . Given at his Majesties Palace at Whitehall this Thirtieth day of June , in the second year of his Majesties Reign of Great-Britain , France and Ireland . Moreover the King published a Proclamation , taking notice of a Remonstrance drawn by a Committee of the late Commons House , and by them intended to have been presented to him , wherein he said are many things contained to the dishonor of himself , and his Royal Father of blessed memory , and whereby through the sides of a Peer of this Realm they wound their Soveraigns honor ; as also that some Members of that House ill-affected to his service , to vent their own passions against that Peer , and to prepossess the world with an ill opinion of him , before his Cause were heard in a Judicial way , have beforehand scattered Copies of that intended Declaration , thereby to detract from their Soveraign . Wherefore his Majesty for the suppressing of this insufferable wrong to himself , doth command upon pain of his indignation and high displeasure , all persons of whatsoever quality , who have , or shall have hereafter any Copies or Notes of the said Remonstrance , or shall come to the view thereof , forthwith to burn the same , that the memory thereof may be utterly abolished , and may never give occasion to his Majesty to renew the remembrance of that , which out of his grace and goodness he would gladly forget . In another Proclamation the King declaring his Religious care of the Peace of this Church and Commonwealth of England , and other his Dominions , and taking notice that in all ages great disturbances both to Church and State , have ensued out of small beginnings , when the seeds of contention were not timely prevented ; and finding that of late some Questions and Opinions seem to have been broached in matters of Doctrine and Tenents of our Religion , at first onely intended against Papists , have afterwards by the sharp and indiscreet handling of some of either party , given much offence to the sober and well grounded Readers , and raised some hopes in the Roman Catholicks , that by degrees the Professors of our Religion may be drawn first to Schism , and afterwards to plain Popery . His Majesty in the integrity of his own heart , and singular providence for the peaceable Government of that people , which God hath committed to his charge , hath thought fit , by the advice of his reverend Bishops , to declare and publish , not onely to his own people , but also to the whole world , his utter dislike of all those , who to shew the subtilty of their Wits , or to please their own humors , or vent their own passions , shall adventure to start any new opinions , not onely contrary to , but differing from the sound and Orthodox grounds , of true Religigion , established in the Church of England ; and also to declare his full and constant resolution , that neither in Doctrine nor Discipline of the Church , nor in the Government of the State , he will admit of the least innovation , but by Gods assistance will so guide the Scepter of these Kingdoms , as shall be most for the comfort and assurance of his sober , religious and well-affected Subjects , and for the repressing and severe punishing of the insolencies of such , as out of any sinister respects , or disaffection to his Majesties Person or Government , shall dare either in Church or State , to disturbe the Peace thereof ; wherefore he doth straitly charge and command all his Subjects of his Realms of England and Ireland , of what degree soever , especially thes● who are Church-men , from hence-forth to carry themselves so wisely , warily and conscionably , that neither by Writing , Preaching , Printing , Conferences , or otherwise they raise , publish or maintain any other Opinions concerning Religion , then such as are clearly warranted by the Doctrine , and Discipline of the Church of England , 〈◊〉 by Authority . And enjoyneth his reverend Archbishops and Bishops in their several Diocesses speedily to reclaim and repress all such spirits , as shall in the least degree attempt to violate this bond of Peace ; And all the Ministers of Justice were required to execute his Majesties pious , and royal pleasure herein expressed ; and if any shall take the boldness to neglect this gracious Admonition , his Majesty will proceed against such offenders with that severity , as their contempt shall deserve , that by their exemplary punishment others may be warned , and that those that be studious of the peace and prosperity of this Church , and Commonwealth , may bless God for his Majesties pious , religious , wise , just and gracious Government . The effects of this Proclamation how equally soever intended , became the stopping of the Puritans Mouths , and an uncontrouled Liberty to the Tongues and Pens of the Arminian party . Shortly after an Information was preferred by the Kings special command in the Star-Chamber , against the Duke of Buckingham , for high Offences and Misdemeanors ; wherein he was charged ( amongst other things ) with the particulars mentioned in the last Article exhibited against him , by the House of Commons , concerning the Plaister applied to King Iames. To which , the Duke put in his Answer , and divers Witnesses were examined . But the cause came not to a judicial hearing in the Court , as it is afterwards expressed . And now the King taking into consideration the present streights and inconveniencies , into which the Revenue of the Crown was faln ; and the pressing necessity of his Affairs , did by the advice and instance of his Council , resolve and declare , That all men of what quality and condition soever , shall from henceforth upon pain of his displeasure , forbear for two years space to present or solicite any Suit for any thing prohibited in the Book of Bounty , published in King Iames his time , or any other things that shall import the Diminution of his Majesties Revenue . And for the advancement of the said Revenue arising by Customs , Subsidies , and Imposts upon all Goods and Merchandizes exported and and imported . The Privy Council declared , That it hath been constantly continued for many ages , and is a principal and most necessary part of the Revenue of the Crown , and that in the two last Parliaments it hath been thought upon , but could not be setled by their Authority by reason of their dissolution , before the matters therein treated could be brought to perfection : Nevertheless , that it was then intended to have been confirmed by Parliament , as it hath been from time to time by many Descents and Ages . Whereupon they Ordered , That all such Duties and Merchandizes shall be levied and paid : And they advised the King , That the Attorney General prepare for his Majesties Signature , an Instrument which may pass under the Great Seal of England , to declare his pleasure therein , until by Parliament , as in former times , it may receive an absolute settlement : Which passed the Great Seal accordingly . The Forfeitures arising to the Crown by the execution of the Laws against Priests , Jesuites , and Popish Recusants , were dedicated to the vast and growing charge of the Designs in hand . And Complaint being made against Inferior Officers , whose service was herein employed , that they had misdemeaned themselves , to the oppressing of Recusants , without advantage to the King. Commissioners of honorable Quality were appointed for the regulating of these proceedings , yet no Liberty given to the encouragement or countenance of such dangerous persons , as might infect the People , or trouble the Peace of Church and State. The King therefore Grants a Commission under the Great Seal , directed to the most Reverend Father in God , Toby , Archbishop of York , Sir Iohn Savile Knight , Sir George Manners , Sir Henry Slingsby , Sir William Ellis Knights , and to divers other Knights and Gentlemen , and therein recites , THat his Majesty hath received credible Information of the great loss and damages which the Kings Subjects living in Maritime Towns , especially in the Northern parts , do suffer by depredations , attempts , and assaults at Sea from Foreign Enemies , whereby Trade from those parts are interrupted , and the City of London much endamaged for want of Coals and other Commodities , usually transported thither from Newcastle upon Tine : For redress of which evil , his Majesty doth think fit to appropriate and convert all such Debts , sums of Money , Rents , Penalties , and Forfeitures of all Recusants inhabiting in the Counties of York , Durham , Northumberland , Cumberland , Westmorland , Lancaster , Nottingham , Derby , Stafford , and Chester , which at any time have grown due since the Tenth year of King James , and are not yet satisfied , or which hereafter shall grow due by reason of any Law or Statute against Recusants , to be employed for the maintenance , provision , arming , manning , victualling , and furnishing of Six able Ships of War for guarding and defending the Coast of this Realm , from the furthest North-East point of the Sea , unto the mouth of the River of Thames , his Majesty further expressing in the said Commission , That his Subjects who are owners of Coal●Pits , the Oast-men of Newcastle upon Tine , Owners of Ships , and Merchants , Buyers and Sellers of Newcastle Coals , have béen and are willing to contribute and pay for every Chaldron for the uses aforesaid . Wherefore his Majesty upon the considerations before-mentioned , doth by his said Commission give power unto the said Commissioners , or any four or more of them to treat and make Composition and Agréement with the said Recusants , inhabiting within the said Counties , for Leases of all their Manors , Lands , Tenements , &c. within those Counties for any term of years , not excéeding One and forty years ; and for all Forfeitures due since the Tenth year of King James for their Recusancy , in not going to Church to hear Divine Service , according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , under such Condition and Immunities , as they or any four of them shall sée méet and convenient , according to such Instructions as his Majesty hath or shall give for that purpose ; his Majesty rather desiring their Conversion then Destruction . And such Leases his Majesty doth declare , made to the said Recusants themselves , or to any persons for their use , shall be good and effectual , any Law or Statute to the contrary notwithstanding . And by the said Commission Sir Iohn Savile was appointed Receiver of all such sums of Money as shall be paid upon these Leases ; and Mr. Alexander Davison of the Town of Newcastle upon Tine , Merchant Adventurer , was appointed to receive out of the voluntary and free-wil Contribution of the Owners , Buyers , and Sellers of Coals , the Six pence per Chaldron of Coals . In pursuance of this Commission , the Recusants did make their Composition upon very easie terms , as was afterwards complained of in Parliament . A Proclamation was published , declaring the Kings Resolution to make his Revenue certain , by granting his Lands , as well holden by Copy , as otherwise , to be holden in Fee-farm . To the Nobles , the King sent particularly to let them know , That according to the Presidents of former times , wherein the Kings and Queens of England , upon such extraordinary occasions , have had recourse to those Contributions which arose from the Subjects in general , or to the private helps of some that were well affected ; he doth now expect from them such a large and chearful testimony of their Loyalty , as may be acceptable to himself , and exemplary to his people . His Majesty demanded of the City of London the Loan of an Hundred thousand pounds . But the peoples excuses were represented to the Council Table by the Magistrates of the City : Immediately the Council sent a very strict command to the Lord Major and Aldermen , wherein they set forth the Enemies strong preparations as ready for an Invasion , and the Kings great necessities , together with his gratious and moderate Proposals in the sum required , and the frivolous pretences upon which they excuse themselves : Wherefore they require them , all excuses being set apart , to enter into the business again , and to manage the same , as appertaineth to Magistrates so highly intrusted , and in a time of such necessities , and to return to his Majesty a direct and speedy Answer , that he may know how far he may relie upon their Faith and Duty ; or in default thereof , may frame his Counsels as appertaineth to a King in such extream and important occasions . Moreover , a peculiar charge was laid upon the several Ports and Maritime Counties to furnish and set out Ships for the present service . The Privy Council expressing his Majesties care and providence to guard his own Coasts , against attempts from Spain or Flanders , by arming as well the Ships of his Subjects , as of his own Navy , made a distribution to every Port , that with the Assistance and Contribution of the Counties adjoyning , they prepare so many Ships as were appointed to them severally ; and in particular the City of London was appointed to set forth Twenty of the best Ships that lay in the River , with all manner of Tackle , Sea-stores , and Ammunition , Manned and Victualled for Three Moneths . The Deputy Lieutenants , and Justices of the Peace of Dorset , having received the Kings Commandment for the setting forth of Ships from the Ports of Pool , Weymonth , and Lime , with the assistance of Contribution from the Counties adjoyning , presented to the Council Table an excuse in the behalf both of the Ports and County , and pleaded , That the Case was without President . The Council gave them a check , for that instead of Conformity they disputed the Case , letting them know , That State occasions , and the defence of the Kingdom in times of extraordinary danger , were not to be guided by ordinary Presidents . In like manner the Lord Major and Commonalty of London petitioned the Council for an Abatement of the Twenty Ships rated upon them , unto Ten Ships and two Pinnaces , alleadging disability ; whereunto the Council gave this following Answer , That the former Commandement was necessary , the preservation of the State requiring it ; and that the charge imposed on them was moderate , as not exceeding the value of many of their private estates : That Petitions and Pleadings to this Command , tend to the danger and prejudice of the Commonwealth , and are not to be received : That as the Commandment was given to all in general , and every particular of the City ; so the State will require an accompt both of the City in general , and of every particular . And whereas they mention Presidents , they might know , that the Presidents of former times , were Obedience , not Direction ; and that Presidents were not wanting for the punishment of those that disobey his Majesties Commands , signified by that Board , which they hope shall have no occasion to let them more particularly understand . Hereupon the Citizens were glad to submit , and declared their consent to the Kings Demands , and by Petition to the Council had the favor to nominate all the Officers of those Twenty Ships , the Captains onely excepted , the nomination of whom appertained to the Lord High Admiral of England . Then there were likewise issued forth Privy Seals to several persons , to others the way of Benevolence was proposed . And because the late Parliament resolved to have given the King Four Subsidies and Three Fifteens , the sums which the King required , were according to that proportion . And to prevent misunderstandings , it was declared unto the Countrey , That the Supplies now demanded were not the Subsidies and Fifteens intended to be given by the Parliament , but meerly a free gift from the Subject to the Soveraign , upon such weighty and pressing occasions of State. The Justices of Peace in the several Counties were directed by the Privy Council to send for persons able to give , and to deal with them singly , by using the most prevailing perswasions . Amidst these Preparations , the Kingdom being exposed to dangers , both Forein and Domestick ; a general Fast was observed on the Fifth of Iuly , in the Cities of London and Westminster , and places adjacent ; and on the Second of August throughout the Kingdom , to implore a blessing upon the endeavors of the State , and the diverting of those judgments which the sins of the Land deserve and threaten . And for the defence of this Realm , threatned with a powerful Invasion , extraordinary Commissions were given to the Lords Lieutenants of the several Counties , to Muster the Subjects of whatsoever degree or dignity , that were apt for War , and to try and array them , and cause them to be armed according to their degrees and faculties , as well Men of Arms as other Horsmen , Archers and Footmen , and to lead them against publick Enemies , Rebels , and Traytors , and their adherents , within the Counties of their Lieutenancy , to repress , slay , and subdue them , and to execute Martial Law , sparing and putting to death according to discretion . And in case of Invasions , Insurrections , Rebellions , and Riots , without the limits of their respective Counties , to repair to the places of such Commotions , and as need required to repress them by battel , or any forcible means , or otherwise either by the Law of this Realm , or the Law Martial . In like manner , lest the deserting of the Coasts , Ports , and Sea Towns , should expose those places to become a prey , and invite the Enemy to an Invasion , the Inhabitants and those that had withdrawn themselves to Inland places , were required to return with their Families , and Retinues , and there to abide during those times of Hostility and Danger . And for securing of the Coasts from Spain or Flanders , some of the Kings Ships were employed in the River Elbe , to prevent the furnishing of Spain from those parts with materials for shipping , which occasioned a great discontent in those of Hamburgh ; for that their Neighbors of Lubeck , and other Towns of the East Sea , were free from this restraint , insomuch that they resolved to force their passage by a Fleet of Fifty or threescore sail of Ships . Whereupon the Lord Admiral informed the Council , that his Majesties charge at Hamburgh was expended to little purpose , except also the Sound could be shut up against all shipping that should carry prohibited Commodities , especially since the Hamburgers send their Commodities by Land to Lubeck , to be transported from thence into Spain ; and that the States , and the King of Denmarks Ships are departed from the Elbe , and have left the English alone . Moreover the King prepared a Royal Fleet , which was now at Portsmouth , ready to put to Sea under the command of the Lord Willoughby , and given out to be designed for Barbary . The King of Denmark having put forth a Declaration of the Causes and Grounds wherefore he took up Arms against the Emperor , declared one cause thereof to be , FOrasmuch as the Elector Palatine by the procurement of the King of Great Britain , and him the King of Denmark had offered his Submission to his Imperial Majesty , and to crave Pardon ; and thereupon was in hopes to have his Patrimony with the Dignities of his Ancestors restored : Yet notwithstanding the Emperor did still commit great spotles and acts of hostility in his Countrey , giving no regard to the said Submission , and had much damnified the Lower Saxony by the Forces which he had brought thither under Tilly. Whereupon ( he sayes ) the Princes of the Lower Saxony have desired the aid and assistance of him the King of Denmark , to settle the Peace and Liberty of Germany , who was resolved to take up Arms , and with whom he was resolved for to joyn , having the like assurance from the King of Great Britain , who had déeply engaged to assist in this War , for the restitution of the Elector Palatine . Therefore the King of Denmark declares , That séeing all Prayers , Mediations , and Accessions cannot prevail with his Imperial Majesty , he will endeavor to procure a peace and settlement by force , which he should have béen glad would have béen ordained unto him upon fair terms of Treaty . In the beginning of the year , divers Towns were taken by the King of Denmark , and some retaken by Tilly , but the Seven and twentieth of August decided the Controversie ; on which day , the King of Denmark upon the approach of Tilly , ( desiring to decline battel with the Emperors old Soldiers , many of his own men being new levied Soldiers ) endeavored to make his retreat ; but Tilly followed so close his Rear-guard , that he kept them in continual action , till the King of Denmark saw no remedy , but that he must either fight , or lose the Rear of his Army and Train of Artillery . Whereupon his Commanders advised him to resolve of a place of advantage , and face about , and give battel ; which accordingly they did , and both Armies drew up near Luttern ; the Denmark Forces had the advantage of the Ground , Tilly being much scanted in the Rear of his Army , for want of ground to place his Reserves in . The Dane stood to the shock a while , but was presently put to his Retreat , and all his Infantry dispersed , Train of Artillery taken , and Two and twenty peeces of Cannon . He lost many great Commanders in the fight , and many were taken prisoners . In the Moneth of September , the King being informed of the disaster that had befaln his Uncle ( and principally also ) the King of Denmark , whose engagement was chiefly for the cause of the Elector Palatine , commanded his Council to advise by what means and ways he might fitly and speedily be furnished with moneys suitable to the importance of the undertaking . Hereupon , after a Consultation of divers days together , they came to this Resolution , That the urgency of Affairs not admitting the way of Parliament , the most speedy , equal , and convenient means were by a general Loan from the Subject , according as every man was assessed in the Rolls of the last Subsidy . Upon which Result , the King forthwith chose Commissioners for the Loan , and caused a Declaration to be published , wherein he alledged for this course of Supply , the Reasons set down at large in his late Declaration touching the Dissolution of the Parliament . Adding further , That the urgency of the occasion would not give leave to the calling of a Parliament , but assuring the People that this way should not be made a President for the time to come , to charge them or their Posterity to the prejudice of their just and antient Liberties enjoyed under his most Noble Progenitors ; endeavoring thereby to root out of their mindes the suspition that he intended to serve himself of such ways , to the abolishing of Parliaments : And promising them in the word of a Prince , first , To repay all such sums of Money as should be lent without Fee or Charge , so soon as he shall in any ways be enabled thereunto , upon shewing forth the Acquittance of the Collectors , testifying the Receipt thereof . And secondly , That not one penny so borrowed , should be bestowed or expended but upon those Publick and General Services , wherein every of them , and the Body of the Kingdom , their Wives , Children , and Posterity , have their Personal and common Interest . Private Instructions were given to the Commissioners , how to behave themselves in this Negotiation . As first , That they should themselves , for a good example to others , lend unto his Majesty the several sums of money required of them , testifying it by their names , with their own hands , That when they shall in his Majesties name require others to lend , they may discern the said Commissioners forwardness . Secondly , To take for their guide those Rates at which men were assessed in the Book of the last Subsidy , and to require the Loan of so much money , as the entire rate and value comes to , at which they are rated , and set ; as ( namely ) he that is set at a Hundred pounds in Goods , to lend a Hundred marks ; and he that is set at a Hundred pounds in Land , to lend a Hundred pounds in money ; and so per rata for a greater or lesser sum . Thirdly , To use all possible endeavors to cause every man willingly and chearfully to lend , opening unto them the necessity and unavoidableness of this course , the Honor and Reputation of the Nation , the true Religion , and common safety of Prince and People , of our Friends and Allies engaged in the common Cause ; that there is no time now of disputing , but of acting . Fourthly , That they appoint the days of payment to be within Fourteen days , and perswade such as shall be able , to pay it at one entire payment , the better to accommodate his Majesties occasion , otherwise to accept of the one half at Fourteen days , and the other to be paid before the Twentieth of December , now next coming . Fifthly , That they Treat apart with every one of those that are to lend , and not in the presence or hearing of any other , unless they see cause to the contrary . And if any shall refuse to lend , and shall make delayes , or excuses , and persist in their obstinacy , That they examine such persons upon Oath , whether they have been dealt withal to deny , or refuse to lend , or to make an excuse for not lending ? Who hath dealt so with him , and what speeches or perswasions he or they have used to him , tending to that purpose ? And that they shall also charge every such person in his Majesties name , upon his Allegiance , not to disclose to any other what his Answer was . Sixthly , That they shew their discretion and affections by making choice of such to begin with , who are likely to give the best examples ; and when they have a competent number of hands to the Roll or List of the Leaders , that they shew the same to others to lead them in like manner . Seventhly , That they endeavor to discover , whether any publickly , or underhand , be workers or perswaders of others to dissent from , or dislike of this course , or hinder the good disposition of others . And that , as much as they may , they hinder all discourse about it , and certifie to the Privy Council in writing the names , qualities , and dwelling places of all such refractory persons with all speed , and especially if they shall discover any Combination or Confederacy against these proceedings . Eightly , That they let all men know whom it may concern , that his Majesty is well pleased upon lending these sums required , to remit all that which by Letters in his name was desired upon the late Benevolence for free Grant ; and what ever hath been already paid upon that account , shall be accepted for part of this Loan ; and if it exceed the sum desired , that the overplus shall be repaid without Fee or Charge ; so likewise for Privy Seals , if any have been already paid : But if not , that the agreeing of the Loan of the sum required , be excused of the payment of the Privy Seal . Ninethly , That they admit of no Suit to be made , or Reasons to be given for the abating of any sum , the time and instant occasion not admitting any such dispute , which would but disturbe and protract the Sheriff . Lastly , The Commissioners were required and commanded upon their Faith and Allegiance to his Majesty , to keep secret to themselves , and not to impart or disclose these Instructions to others . To the Imposition of Loan , was added , The burthen of Billeting of Soldiers formerly returned from Cadiz , and the Moneys to discharge their Quarters were for the present levied upon the Countrey , to be repaid out of sums collected upon the general Loan . The Companies were scattered here and there in the Bowels of the Kingdom , and governed by Martial Law : The King gave Commissions to the Lords Lieutenants and their Deputies , in case of Felonies , Robberies , Murders , Outrages , or Misdemeanors , committed by Mariners , Soldiers , or other disorderly persons joyning with them , to proceed according to certain Instructions , to the Tryal , Judgment , and Execution of such Offenders , as in time of War ; and some were executed by those Commissions . Nevertheless , the Soldiers brake out into great disorders ; they mastered the people , disturbed the peace of Families , and the Civil Government of the Land ; there were frequent Robberies , Burglaries , Rapes , Rapines , Murthers , and Barbarous Cruelties : Unto some places they were sent for a punishment ; and where ever they came , there was a general outcry . The High-ways were dangerous , and the Markets unfrequented ; they were a terror to all , and an undoing to many . Divers Lords of the Council were appointed to repair into their several Countreys , for the advancement of the Loan , and were ordered to carry a List of the names , as well of the Nobility and Privy Counsellors , as of the Judges , and Serjeants at Law , that had subscribed to lend , or sent in money for the Publick service , to be a Patern and leading Example to the whole Nation . But Sir Randolph Crew shewing no zeal for the advancing thereof , was then removed from his place of Lord Chief Justice , and Sir Nicholas Hide succeeded in his room : A person , who for his parts and abilities , was thought worthy of that preferment , yet nevertheless came to the same with a prejudice , coming in the place of one so well beloved , and so suddenly removed ; but more especially by reason the Duke appeared in his advancement , to express a grateful Acknowledgment to that Knight , for the care and pains he took in drawing the Dukes Answer to the Impeachment in Parliament against him . This business of the Loan occasioned a Complaint to the Lords of the Council , against the Bishop of Lincoln , for publickly speaking words concerning it , which was conceived to be against the King and Government . Whereupon Sir Iohn Lamb , and Dr. Sibthorpe , informed the Council to this purpose , That many were grieved to see the Bishop of Lincoln give place to unconformable Ministers , when he turned his back to those that were conformable ; and how the Puritans ruled all with him , and that divers Puritans in Leicestershire being Convented , his Lordship would not admit proceedings to be had against them . That Dr. Sibthorpe being desired to stay at Leicester this year , as Commissary for the High Commission there , the Countrey being much over-spread with Puritanism , Sir Iohn Lamb and the said Doctor , did inform the Bishop of Lincoln , then at Bugden , what Factious Puritans there were in the County , who would not come up to the Table to receive the Communion kneeling ; and that there were unlawful Fasts and Meetings kept in the County ; and one Fast that held from nine in the Forenoon , till eight at night ; and that Collections for moneys were made without Authority , upon pretence for the Palatinate : And therefore they desired leave from the Bishop to proceed against those Puritans Ex Officio . The said Bishop replied , He would not meddle against the Puritans , for his part he expected not another Bishoprick ; they might complain of them , if they would , to the Council Table ; for he was under a Cloud already , and he had the Duke of Buckingham for his Enemy ; and he would not draw the Puritans upon him , for he was sure they would carry all things at last : Besides , he said , the King in the First year of his Reign , had given Answer to a Petition of the Lower House , in favor of the Puritans * . It appeared also by the Information of others who were present at the Conference at Bugden , That Sir Iohn Lamb , and Dr. Sibthorpe , did notwithstanding the Bishops aversness , again press the Bishop to proceed against the Puritans in Leicestershire ; the Bishop then asked them what manner of people they were , and of what condition ? For his part he knew of none . To which Sir Iohn Lamb replied ( Dr. Sibthorpe being present ) That they seem to the World to be such as would not Swear , Whore , nor Drink , but yet would Lie , Cozen , and Deceive : That they would frequently hear two Sermons a day , and repeat the same again too ; and afterwards pray , and sometimes fast all day long . Then the Bishop asked , whether those places where those Puritans were , did lend money freely upon the Collection of the Loan ? To which Sir Iohn Lamb and Dr. Sibthorpe replied , That they did generally resolve to lend freely : Then said the Bishop , no man of discretion can say , That that place is a place of Puritans : For my part ( said the Bishop ) I am not satisfied to give way to proceedings against them . At which Dr. Sibthorpe was much discontented , and said , He was troubled to see that the Church was no better regarded . These Informations being transmitted to the Council Table , were ordered to be sealed up and committed to the Custody of Mr. Trumbal , one of the Clerks of the Council ; nevertheless , the Bishop of Lincoln used such means as he got a Copy of them . For which , and some other matters , an Information was afterwards preferred against him in the Star-Chamber . Of which more at large , when we come in our next Volume to treat of the great and high proceedings of that Court. Bishop Laud , not long before this Passage with the Bishop of Lincoln , was informed , That the Bishop of Lincoln endeavored to be reconciled to the Duke ; and that night that he was so informed , he dreamed , That the Bishop of Lincoln came with Iron Chains , but returned freed from them : That he leaped upon a Horse , departed , and he could not overtake him . The Interpretation of this Dream may ( not unfitly ) be thus applied . His Chains might signifie the imprisonment of the Bishop of Lincoln afterwards in the Tower ; his returning free , to his being set at Liberty again at the meeting of the Parliament ; his leaping on Hors-back , and departing ; to his going into Wales , and there commanding a Troop in the Parliaments Service ; and that Bishop Laud could not overtake him , might portend that himself should become a Prisoner in the same place , and be rendred thereby incapable to follow , much less to overtake him . At this time the King had Six thousand Foot Soldiers in the Service of the United Provinces , under the Command of Sir Charls Morgan , Sir Edward Herbert , Sir Iohn Burlacy , Sir Iames Leviston , &c. for the assistance of the States , against the increasing power of Spinola . Upon the present occasion , these Forces were called off from the States services , to joyn with the King of Denmark , under the Command of Sir Charls Morgan , against the common enemy , the King of Spain , and his adherents . Some few moneths after , One thousand three hundred foot more were embarqued at Hull , to be transported by Captain Conisby to the Town of Stoad in Germany , and there to be delivered over to the charge of the aforesaid Sir Charls Morgan , General of the English Forces in the service of the King of Denmark ; a person of known Valor , and fit for conduct of an Army . But the Assessment of the general Loan did not pass currantly with the people ; for divers persons refused to subscribe their names , and to lend after the rate propounded ; and among others , certain of the Parish of Clement Danes , the Savoy , the Dutchy , and other parts within the Liberties of Westminster , who first alledged poverty : Whereunto reply was made , That if they would but subscribe , their ability should be enquired off before any thing were levied upon them ; and in case they were found unable , they should be discharged , notwithstanding what they had under written ; and unto some of them , the money demanded , was proffered to be given them : Nevertheless , they afterwards absolutely refused to subscribe their names , or to say , they were willing to lend , if able . Whereupon the Council directed their Warrant to the Commissioners of the Navy , to impress these men to serve in the Ships ready to go out in his Majesties service . The Non-Subscribers of higher Rank and Rate , in all the Counties , were bound over by Recognisance , to tender their appearance at the Council Table , and performed the same accordingly , and divers of them were committed to prison ; but the common sort to appear in the Military-Yard near St. Martins in the Fields , before the Lieutenant of the Tower of London , by him to be there inrolled , among the Companies of Soldiers ; that they who refused to assist with their Purses , should serve in their Persons for the common Defence . The same Loan being demanded of the Societies and Inns of Court , the Benchers of Lincolns Inn received a Letter of Reproof , from the Lords of the Council , for neglecting to advance the Service in their Society , and to return the names of such as were refractory . ANd for the advancement of the said Loan , Doctor Sibthorpe now publishes in Print , a Sermon Preached by him at Northampton , February the Two and twentieth , One thousand six hundred twenty and six , at Lent Assizes , entituled , Apostolick Obedience . This Book was Licenced by the Bishop of London , who did approve thereof , as a Sermon learnedly and discreetly Preached . It was dedicated to the King , and expressed to be the Doctors Meditations , which he first conceived upon his Majesties Instructions unto all the Bishops of this Kingdom , fit to be put in execution , agreeable to the necessity of the times ; and afterwards brought forth upon his Majesties Commission , for the raising of moneys by way of Loan . His Text was Romans 13.7 . Render therefore to all their dues . Among other passages he had this , And seriously consider , how as Jeroboam took the opportunity of the breach betwixt Rehoboam and his Subjects , to bring Idolatry into Israel : So the Papists lie at wait , if they could finde a Rent between our Soveraign and his Subjects ( which the Lord forbid ) to reduce Superstition into England . I speak no more then what I have heard from themselves , whilst I have observed their forwardness to offer double according to an Act of Parliament so providing , yea , to profess , That they would depart with the half of their Goods . And how , or why can this forwardness be in them , but in hope to cast the imputation of frowardness upon us ? and so to seem ( that which the Iesuite will not suffer them to be ) loving and loyal Subjects . Also the said Sermon holds forth , That the Prince who is the Head , and makes his Court and Council , it is his duty to direct and make Laws , Eccles. 8.3 and 4. He doth whatsoever pleases him . Where the word of the King is , there is power ; and who may say unto him ▪ What doest thou ? And in another place , he saith , If Princes command any thing which Subjects may not perform , because it is against the Laws of God , or of Nature , or impossible : Yet Subjects are bound to undergo the punishment , without either resistance , or railing , or reviling , and so to yield a Passive Obedience where they cannot exhibite an active one . I know no other case , saith he , but one of those three , wherein a Subject may excuse himself with Passive Obedience , but in all other he is bound to Active Obedience . It is not our purpose to repeat his Sermon , the Reader may at leisure inform himself more fully by the Printed Copy . Doctor Roger Manwaring promoted the same business in two Sermons Preached before the King and Court at Whitehal , wherein he delivered for Doctrine to this purpose . That the King is not bound to observe the Laws of the Realm concerning the Subjects Rights and Liberties , but that his Royal Will and Command in imposing Loans and Taxes , without common consent in Parliament , doth oblige the Subjects Conscience upon pain of eternal damnation . That those who refused to pay this Loan , offended against the Law of God , and the Kings Supream Authority , and became guilty of impiety , disloyalty , and Rebellion : And that the Authority of Parliament is not necessary for the raising of Aids , and Subsidies ; and that the flow proceedings of such great Assemblies , were not fitted for the Supply of the States urgent Necessities , but would rather produce sundry impediments to the just designs of Princes . The Papists at this time were forward and liberal on this occasion , insomuch , that it was said in those times , That in the point of Allegiance then in hand , the Papists were exceeding Orthodox , and the Puritans were the onely Recusants . Distastes and Jealousies had for a while been nourished between the Courts of England and France , which seemed to have risen from Disputes and Differences about the Government of the Queens family . By the Articles of Marriage it was agreed , That the Queen should have a certain number of Priests for her Houshold Chaplains , together with a Bishop who should exercise all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in matters of Religion . These with other Romish Priests within this Realm , began to practise and teach , That the Pope upon the Marriage Treaty , assumed to himself , or his Delegates , the Jurisdiction of the Queens whole family , especially the Institution and Destitution of the Ecclesiasticks ; and that the King of England had no power to intermeddle therein , because he was an Heretick , the Pope threatning to declare those to be Apostates that should seek their establishment from the King. Likewise the Queen insisted to have the ordering of her family , as her self pleased , and the naming of her Officers and Servants ; and being therein crossed , did somewhat distaste the King , and unkindness grew between them . These things the King represented to his Brother of France , imputing the same to the Crafty and Evil Counsels of her Servants , rather then to her own inclination ; And so declared , he could no longer bear with those that were the known causes and fomenters of these disturbances , but would presently remove them from about his Wife , if there were nothing more then this , That they had made her go to Tiborne in devotion to pray there . Which action ( as it was reported , his Majesty said ) can have no greater invective made against it , then the bare relation ; yet his Majesty acknowledged , That the deportment of some of them , was without offence ; but others of them had so much abused his patience , and affronted his Person ( reflecting most upon Madam Saint George ) that he was resolved no longer to endure it . So the King dismissed and sent back into France the Queens Retinue of French ( first paying all that was due for Wages or Salaries ) and gave the King of France an account of the action by the Lord Carlton , for the preserving of their mutual Correspondency and Brotherly Affection . But this Dismission was ill resented in France , and Audience denied to the Lord Carlton , and the matter was aggravated high at the French Court , as a great violation of the Articles of the Marriage . And those persons who returned into France ( being for the most part yonger-brothers , and had parted with their Portions at home , in expectation of raising their Fortunes in the service of the Queen of England ) did heighten the discontent . This jarring with France , breaks forth to a publick War , and King Charles is at once engaged against Two Great and Mighty Princes . It is not our purpose to relate the particulars of those private transactions which were here in England , concerning the preparing of a Fleet and Army , nor how the same was managed at first by an Abbot , who had relation to the Duke of Orleance , and had been disobliged by Cardinal Richlieu . This Man was full of Revenge against the Cardinal , and labored much ( and at last effected ) the dismissing of the French about the Queen ; his cheif end therein was , to put an affront upon Richlieu , and withal to heighten the differences between the Two Crowns of England and France ; to which purpose he remonstrated to the Duke of Buckingham , the Commotions and Discontents that were in France , and how hardly the Protestants there were treated , notwithstanding the Edict of Peace procured by the Mediation of the King of Great Britain . This Abbots Negotiation with the Duke , procured the sending of Devic from the King of England to the Duke of Rhoane , who was drawn to engage to raise Four thousand Foot , and Two hundred Horse , upon the landing of the English Army in France , but not before . This private transaction was also managed by Mr. Walter Montague , but in another capacity : The Duke of Sobiez and Monsieur St. Blanchard , contributed their endeavors also to hasten the Fleet , and the raising of the Army in England against the French , for the relief of those of the Reformed Religion there . The King declared as a ground of his War with France , That the House of Austria ( conspiring the ruine of all those of the Reformed Religion throughout Christendom , as ( he said ) plainly appeared in the affairs of Germany ) had such an influence upon the Council of France , as to prevail with them to obstruct the landing of Count Mansfields Army , contrary to promise , with whom the French should have joyned forces , for the relief of the Palatinate and the German Princes ; which failer of performance in them , proved the ruine of that Army , the greatest part whereof perished , and was by consequence the loss of the whole Protestant Party in Germany . His Majesty further declared , That having by his Mediation prevailed for a Peace between the French King and his Protestant Subjects , and engaged his word , That the Protestants should observe the Articles of Agreement : Nevertheless , the King of France contrary to the said Articles , blocked up their Towns , Garisons , and Forts , and had committed many spoils upon them , when they had done nothing in violation of the Edict of Peace . And that the King of France had committed an example of great injustice in full Peace , to seise upon One hundred and twenty English Ships , with all their Merchandise and Artillery ; for which Reasons , the King was resolved to send a powerful Army and Navy to require satisfaction . The Duke of Buckingham was made Admiral of this Fleet , and Commander in chief of the Land forces , and had a Commission to that purpose , wherein it is expressed , That his Majesty hath taken into his Princely consideration , the distressed estate of his dear Brother-in-law , and onely Sister , the Prince and Princess Elector Palatine , and their Children , and finding himself in Nature and Honor nearly bound unto them ; At their request , and for their just Relief , in recovering their rightful Patrimony taken from them , by the Advice of his Privy Council , did the last year , prepare and set out to Sea , a Royal Fleet for Sea-service ; for performance of such services , as on his Brother-in-laws and Sisters behalf , his Majesty had designed . And for the doing of those designs , and for the honor and safety of his people , his Majesty hath now prepared a new Fleet , which he intends with all convenient expedition to set out , to be employed as well by way of Offence as of Defence , as shall be most behoveful for his said Brother-in-Law his service ; and therefore doth by the said Commission appoint the Duke of Buckingham to be Admiral , Captain-General , and Governor of his said Royal Fleet , with such Soldiers and Land-forces as shall be conveyed therein , for the accomplishment of such execution and employment as they shall be designed unto , according to such private Instructions as his Majesty shall give unto the said Duke . His Majesty by the said Commission giving to the Duke power to lead and conduct the said Navy and Army , and with them to fight against his said Brother-in-law , and Sisters enemies , or the enemies of the Crown of England ; and to advance to the Order of Knighthood , such persons employed in the Fleet , Forces , and Supplies , as by their Valor , Desert , and good Service in this Expedition shall be thought fit in his the said Dukes discretion to merit the same , and as to the Office of Captain-General doth appertain . On the Seven and twentieth of Iune the Duke set fail from Portsmouth , ( in order to the Relief of the Palatinate ) with the Fleet , consisting of One hundred fail of Ships , whereof Ten were of the Kings Royal Navy , having aboard about Six or seven thousand Land-soldiers ; and towards the latter end of Iuly he appeared with his Fleet before Rochel , who once much longed for their coming , but now shut their Gates at their appearance . Hereupon the Duke of Sobiez went a shore with Sir William Beecher from the Duke of Buckingham , ( Sir William Beecher being also accompanied with a Letter of Credence from his Majesty of Great Britain ) they were at last admitted into the Town ; and the Magistrates called an Assembly , and there Sir William Beecher declared unto them , That the Duke of Buckingham was come with a great Fleet and Army to their assistance , which his Master had sent out of a fellow-feeling of their sufferings , and to require from the King of France a performance of the Articles of Peace , made by the King of Englands Mediation , on the behalf of the Protestants in France . And further declared unto them , That if they do now refuse to give their assistance , by joyning forces with the English , he said he would , and did protest before God and Man , in the name of the King his Master , That his said Master was fully acquit of his engagement of Honor and Conscience for their Relief . But notwithstanding this Declaration , and Sobiez his earnest solicitation and endeavor , The Magistrates and wealthier sort of People in the Town , ( being possessed with the fear of the King of France his Army , then upon a march against them ; and there being a Court party also prevalent in the Town ) could be drawn to give no other answer at that time , but this , That they did render all humble and hearty thanks to his Majesty of Great Britain for the care he had of them ; and to the Duke , for his forwardness and readiness to do his best service for their good ; but said , They were bound by Oath of Union , to do nothing but by the common and unanimous consent of the rest of the Protestant party in France : And therefore prayed the King of Great Britain to excuse them , in that they did suspend the Conjunction of Forces , till they had sent to the rest of the Protestant Towns , who were of the Union with them : And in the mean time , their Prayers and Vows should be for the happy progress of such actions as the Fleet and Army should undertake . Notwithstanding this Answer , Sobiez had strong assurance from a well-affected party in the Town , That they could and would be able to preserve the same , for the encouragement of the English , and to assist them also with supplies from thence . When Sobiez went from the Fleet into Rochel , with Sir William Beecher , the Duke of Buckingham was pleased to communicate his design to Sobiez , by reason of his knowledge of the Countrey , as well as for his interest in that Kingdom , to raise forces ; that his full purpose and intention was to land his Army in the Isle of Oleran , near unto Rochel , and not at the Isle of Rhee , being a little further distant : Which Sobiez well approved of , as a thing feasible at the first entrance , the forces therein being few , and the Forts weakly manned and victualled ; and besides , it was of advantage for the Oyls , Wines , and other Commodities therein ; whereas the Isle of Rhee ( as he said to the Duke ) was furnished with a considerable force , both of Horse and Foot , which would make the landing there very difficult ; and besides , they had a Cittadel well fortified to retreat unto . The Duke not staying for Sobiez his return from Rochel , alters his resolution , and directs his course to the Isle of Rhee , ( Toras the Governor thereof having before taken the alarum by the sight of the Fleet at Sea ) marches with his forces to impede their landing , but maugre their opposition , and the Fort La Prie. Sir Iohn Burroughs , Sir Alexander Bret , Sir Charles Rich , together with Monsieur St. Branchard , and other brave Commanders land first ashore , and after them about Twelve hundred men , who were presently encountred with the French horse and foot , and a sore fight happened thereupon , being a long time well maintained on both sides , and many Commanders fell , both of the English and French , few of the English were unwounded ; but at last the English forced their way , the enemy was constrained to retreat , and to permit the whole Army to land . In this combate Monsieur St. Blanchard was slain , whose loss was much lamented by the Protestant party in France , Sir William Heyden , and some hundreds of the English were slain . The foot which engaged on both sides were much equal in number , but in horse the French had a great advantage . The Victory was not pursued by a speedy march after Toras , who retreated to his Cittadel at St. Martins with his wounded men ; for five days time was spent before the Army moved , whereby Toras got not onely time to encourage his men to hold out , ( being much discomfited at this fight ) but to get in assistance of Men and provision of Victuals out of the Island into the Cittadel , which he improved to great advantage . The Fort La Prie , near unto the landing place , and meanly Victualled and Manned , was all this while the Army staid neglected , omitted , or contemned , as inconsiderable ; the gaining whereof ( as was said ) would have secured a retreat for the English , and impeded the landing of the French ( during the siege ) of the Fort at St. Martins . This landing of the English was a great astonishment in the Court of France ; and if the taking of the Fort had immediately followed , there would have appeared a great change of Affairs ; for the King fell sick about the same time , and great discontent there was at Court , and the King sent his Resolution , to give the Protestants honorable terms , if they will not joyn with the English ; sent to the Duke of Rhoan to content him with money , and other proffers , and renders the landing of the English to other Protestant Towns to be a thing not to be complied withal . The Duke in two days march came with his Army before St. Martins , and published a Manifesto , justifying his Masters taking up of Arms against the King of France , declaring ( amongst other Reasons ) as one cause thereof , the Frenches employing of the English Ships against Rochel contrary to promise , and lodgeth his Army at the Burgh of St. Martins , at Rhee , which ( upon the approach of the Duke ) the enemy quit , and retreated into the City , and quit a Well which was about thirty paces from their Counterskarf ; which being not at first coming of the Army , made totally unserviceable to the enemy , they presently drew a work unto it , and so secured the same for their use ; by which they subsisted , during all the time of the siege . The Duke blocks up the Cittadel , draws his forces round about it in order to a close siege , and disposes his Fleet so , as to hinder Relief by Sea , and resolves to take it by Famine , upon presumption ( and as the truth was ) that they were not provided with Victuals in the Cittadel for a long siege , and being Master at Sea , he might in short time be Master of the Cittadel . But whilst the Duke employs his time in drawing a Line of Circumvallation , and raising of Bulwarks and Batteries , let us see what they are doing in England . Those Gentlemen who stood committed for not parting with moneys upon the Commission for Loans , were appointed to several Confinements not in their own , but Foreign Counties . Sir Thomas Wentworth , afterwards Earl of Strafford , and George Ratcliff Esq afterwards Sir George , Yorkshire Gentlemen , were sent for by Messengers , and removed out of the County of York into the County of Kent , and there secured by Confinement . Sir Walter Earl , and Sir Iohn Strangwayes , who were Dorsetshire men , were secured in the County of Bedford . Sir Thomas Grantham , and some others of the County of Lincoln , were removed and secured in the County of Dorset . Sir Iohn Heveningham , and others of the County of Suffolk , were secured in the County of Somerset . Richard Knightly Esq and others of the County of Northampton , were secured in the County of Southampton and Wiltshire . Sir Nathaniel Barnardiston of the County of Suffolk , and William Coriton Esq of the County of Cornwal , were secured in the County of Sussex . Sir Harbotle Grimston of the County of Essex , and Sir Robert Points , were secured in Northamptonshire . Iohn Hampden Esq and others , of the County of Bucks , were secured in Hampshire ; and the like course was taken with the Gentry of other Counties who refused the Loan . And the Council ordered that all those Refractory persons before-named ( for so they are called in the Order ) who are appointed by his Majesties command to their several Commitments , shall presently obey the Order of the Board sent with their Messenger in that behalf , or be committed close prisoners , any pretence of inability , want of conveniency , or any excuse whatsoever notwithstanding . Many of those Gentlemen were afterwards sent for by Pursevants out of those Counties where they were confined by Order of the Council , and committed to several Prisons ; some to the Fleet , some to the Marshalsey , and Gatehouse , and others remained in the custody of the Messengers : And from the Gatehouse Sir Iohn Elliot sends this Petition to his Majesty . To the Kings most Excellent Majesty . The humble Petition of Sir Iohn Elliot Knight , Prisoner in the Gate-house , concerning the Loan . Sheweth , THat your poor Suppliant affected with sorrow and unhappiness , through the long sense of your Majesties displeasure , willing in every act of Duty and Obedience to satisfie your Majesty of the loyalty of his heart , then which he hath nothing more desired , that there may not remain a jealousie in your Royal Brest , that stubbornness and will have béen the motives of his forbearing to condescend to the said Loan , low as your Highness foot , with a sad , yet a faithful heart ; for an Apology to your Clemency and Grace , he now presumes to offer up the Reasons that induced him , which he conceiveth necessity of his Duty to Religion , Justice , and your Majesty , did inforce . The Rule of Iustice he takes to be the Law , impartial Arbiter of Government and Obedience , the support and strength of Majesty , the observation of that Iustice by which Subjection is commanded . This and Religion ( added to this Power not to be resisted ) binds up the Conscience in an Obligation to that Rule , which ( without open prejudice and violence of these duties ) may not be impeached . In this particular therefore of the Loan , being desirous to be satisfied how far the Obligation might extend , and resolving where he was left Master of his own , to become Servant to your Will , he had recourse unto the Laws , to be informed by them ; which in all humility he submitteth to your most Sacred view in the Collections following . In the time of Edward the First , he findeth that the Commons of that age were so tender of their Liberties , as they feared even their own frée acts and gifts might turn them to a Bondage and their Heirs . Wherefore it was desired , and granted , That for no business such manner of Aids , Taxes , nor Prizes , should be taken , but by common assent of the Realm , and for the common profit thereof . The like was in force by the same King , and by two other Laws again Enacted , That no Tallage or Aid should be taken or levied , without the good will and assent of the Archbishops , Bishops , Earls , Barons , Knights , Burgesses , and other Freeman of the Land. And that Prudent and Magnanimous Prince , Edward the Third , led by the same Wisdom , having granted , That the greatest gift given in Parliament for the Aid and speed of his matchless undertaking against France , should not be had in Example , nor fall to the prejudice of the Subject in time to come ; did likewise adde in Confirmation of that Right , That they should not from thenceforth be grieved to sustain any Charge or Aid , but by the Common Assent , and that in Parliament . And more particularly upon this point , upon a Petition of the Commons afterwards in Parliament , it was established , That the Loans which are granted to the King by divers persons , be released , and that none from henceforth be compelled to make such Loans against their Wills , because it is against Reason and the Franchises of the Land , and Restitution be made to such as made such Loans . And by another Act upon a new occasion , in the time of Richard the Third , it was ordained , That the Subject in no wise be charged with any such Charge , Exaction , or Imposition , called a Benevolence , nor such like Charge ; and that such like Exactions be damned and annulled for ever . Such were the Opinions of these times , for all these Aids , Benevolences , Loans , and such like Charges exacted from the Subject not in Parliament , which they held to be Grievances contrary to their Liberties , and illegal ; and so pious were their Princes in Confirmation of their Liberties , as having secured them for the present by such frequent Laws and Statutes , they did likewise by them provide for their Posterity ; and in some so strictly , that they bound the Observation with a Curse , as in that of 33 Edw. 1. And also under pain of Excommunication ; as by the other of the Five and twentieth of the same King , which was to be denounced against all those that violate or break them ; which Act extends to us . And these Reasons he presents to your Majesty as the first Motive taken from the Law. There are others also , which in his humble apprehension he conceived from the Action it self , which he likewise tenders to your most Excellent Wisdom . First , That the Carriage and Instructions accompanied with the Authority of the Great Seal , imported a Constraint , such Requests to Subjects being tacite and implied Commands , and so preventing that readiness and love which in a frée way would have far excéeded those Demands , whereas the wonted Aids given to your happy Ancestors were Ex spontanea voluntate , & charitate populi , whereby they made that Conjunction of their Hearts at home , which wrought such power and reputation to their acts abroad . Whereas the firmest Obligation of that readiness and love , is the benignity of Princes , giving and preserving to their People , just and decent Liberties , which to this Kingdom are derived from the Clemency and Wisdom of your Progenitors , to whom there is owing a Sacred Memory for them : He could not as he feared , without pressure to these immunities , become an actor in this Loan , which by imprisonment and restraint , was urged , contrary to the Grants of the Great Charter , by so many glorious and victorious Kings so many times confirmed , being therein most confident of your Majesty , that never King that raigned over us ; had of his own benignity and goodness , a more pious disposition to preserve the just Liberties of his Subjects , then your Sacred Self . Though we were well assured by your Majesties Royal Promise , whose words he holds as Oracles of Truth , that it should become a president , during the happiness of your Raign ( the long continuance whereof , is the daily subject of his Prayers ) yet he conceived from thence a fear , that succeeding Ages might thereby take occasion for Posterity to strike at the propriety of their Goods , contrary to the piety and intention of your Majesty so graciously exprest . And these being the true Grounds and Motives of his forbearance to the said Loan , shewing such inconveniences in Reason , and representing it an Act contradicting so many of your Laws , and most of them by the most prudent and happiest of our Princes granted which could not without presumption beyond pardon in your Suppliant , in taking to himself the Dispensation of those Laws , so piously Enacted , by him be violated or impeached . In the fulness of all Submission and Obedience , as the Apology of his Loyalty and Duty , he lowly offers to your most Sacred Wisdom , for the satisfaction of your Majesty , most humbly praying your Majesty will be graciously pleased to take them into your Princely consideration , where when it shall appear ( as he doubts not , but from hence it will to your déep judgment ) that no factious humor , nor disaffection led on by stubbornness and will , hath herein stirred or moved him , but the just Obligation of his Conscience , which binds him to the service of your Majesty , in the observânce of your Laws ; he is hopeful ( presuming upon the Piety and Iustice of your Majesty ) that your Majesty according to your innate Clemency and Goodness , will be pleased to bestow him to your Favor , and his Liberty , and to afford him the benefit of those Laws which in all humility he craves . Notwithstanding the said Petition , he still continued a prisoner in the Gate-house , till the general Order of Discharge came . Sir Peter Hayman refusing to part with Loan-money , was called before the Lords of the Council , who charged him with refractoriness , and with an unwillingness to serve the King ; and told him , if he did not pay , he should be put upon service . Accordingly they commanded him to go upon his Majesties service into the Palatinate ; and having first setled his estate , he undertook and performed the journey , and afterwards returned into England . Archbishop Abbot having been long slighted at Court , now fell under the Kings high displeasure for refusing to Licence Doctor Sibthorps Sermon , as he was commanded , intituled , Apostolical Obedience , and not long after he was sequestred from his Office , and a Commission was granted to the Bishops of London , Durham , Rochester , Oxford , and Doctor Laud , Bishop of Bath and Wells , to execute Archiepiscopal Jurisdiction . The Commission as followeth . CHARLS by the Grace of God , King of England , Scotland , France , and Ireland , Defender of the Faith , &c. To the Right Reverend Father in God , George , Bishop of London ; and to the Right Reverend Father in God , Our Trusty and Welbeloved Counsellor , Richard , Lord Bishop of Durham ; and to the Right Reverend Father in God , Iohn , Lord Bishop of Rochester ; and Iohn , Lord Bishop of Oxford ; to the Right Reverend Father in God , Our Right Trusty and Welbeloved Counsellor , William , Lord Bishop of Bathe and Wells , Greeting . WHereas George , now Archbishop of Canterbury , in the right of the Archbishoprick hath several and distinct Archiepiscopal , Episcopal , and other Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Powers and Iurisdictions , to be exercised in the Government and Discipline of the Church within the Province of Canterbury , and in the Administration of Iustice in Causes Ecclesiastical within that Province , which are partly executed by himself in his own person , and partly , and more generally by several persons nominated and authorised by him , being learned in the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm , in those several places whereunto they are deputed and appointed by the said Archbishop : Which several places , as We are informed , they severally hold by several Grants for their several lives , as namely , Sir Henry Martin Knight , hath and holdeth by the Grants of the said Archbishop , the Offices and places of the Dean of the Arches , and Iudge , or Master of the Prerogative Court for the Natural life of the said Sir Henry Martin . Sir Charls Caesar Knight , hath and holdeth by Grants of the said Archbishop , the places or Offices of the Iudge of the Audience , and Master of the Faculties for the term of the Natural life of the said Sir Charls Caesar. Sir Thomas Ridley Knight , hath and holdeth by the Grant of the said Archbishop , the place or Office of Uicar-General to the said Archbishop . And Nathaniel Brent , Doctor of the Laws , hath and holdeth by Grant of the said Archbishop , the Office or place of Commissary to the said Archbishop , as of his proper and peculiar Diocess of Canterbury . And likewise the several Registers of the Arches , Prerogative , Audience , Faculties , and of the Uicar-General and Commissary of Canterbury , hold their places by Grants from the said Archbishop respectively . Whereas the said Archbishop in some or all of these several places and Iurisdictions , doth or may sometimes assume unto his personal and proper Iudicature , Order , or Direction , some particular Causes , Actions , or Cases at his pleasure . And forasmuch as the said Archbishop cannot at this present , in his own person , attend these Services which are otherwise proper for his Cognisance and Iurisdiction , and which as Archbishop of Canterbury , he might and ought in his own person to have performed and executed in Causes and Matters Ecclesiastical , in the proper Function of Archbishop of that Province , We therefore , of Our Regal Power , and of Our Princely Care and Providence , that nothing shall be defective in the Order , Discipline , Government , or Right of the Church , have thought fit by the Service of some other Learned and Reverend Bishops , to be named by Us , to supply those things which the said Archbishop ought or might in the Cases aforesaid to have done , but for this present cannot perform the same . Know ye therefore , That We reposing special Trust and Confidence in your approved Wisdoms , Learning , and Integrity , have nominated , authorised , and appointed , and do by these presents , nominate , authorise , and appoint you the said George , Lord Bishop of London ; Richard , Lord Bishop of Durham ; John , Lord Bishop of Rochester ; John , Lord Bishop of Oxford ; and William , Lord Bishop of Bathe and Wells , or any four , thrée , or two of you , to do , execute , and perform all and every those Acts , Matters , and things any way touching , or concerning the Power , Iurisdiction , or Authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury , in Causes or Matters Ecclesiastical , as amply , fully , and effectually , to all intents and purposes as the said Archbishop himself might have done . And We do hereby Command you and every of you , to attend , perform , and execute this Our Royal Pleasure , in and touching the premisses , until We shall declare Our Will and Pleasure to the contrary . And We do further hereby , Will and Command the said Archbishop of Canterbury , quietly , and without interruption , to permit and suffer you the said George , Bishop of London ; Richard , Bishop of Durham ; John , Bishop of Rochester ; John , Bishop of Oxford ; and William , Bishop of Bathe and Wells , any four , thrée , or two of you , to execute and perform this Our Commission according to Our Royal Pleasure thereby signified . And We do further Will and Command all and every other person and persons whom it may any way concern in their several places or Offices , to be Attendant , Observant , and Obedient to you and every of you , in the execution and performance of this Our Royal Will and Command , as they and every of them will answer the contrary at their utmost perils . Nevertheless We do hereby declare Our Royal Pleasure to be , That they the said Sir Henry Martin , Sir Charls Caesar , Sir Thomas Ridley , and Nathaniel Brent , in their several Offices and places aforesaid , and all other Registers , Officers , and Ministers , in the several Courts , Offices , and Iurisdictions , appertaining to the said Archbishop , shall quietly , and without interruption , hold , use , occupy and enjoy their several Offices and places , which they now hold by the Grant of the said Archbishop , or of any other former Archbishop of Canterbury , in such Manner and Form , and with those Benefits , Priviledges , Powers , and Authorities , which they now have , hold , and enjoy therein , or thereout , severally and respectively , they , and every of them in their several places , being Attendant and Obedient unto you the said George , Bishop of London ; Richard , Bishop of Durham ; John , Bishop of Rochester ; John , Bishop of Oxford ; and William , Bishop of Bathe and Wells , or to any four , thrée , or two of you , in all things according to the Tenor of this Our Commission , as they should or ought to have béen to the said Archbishop himself , if this Commission had not béen had or made . In witness whereof , We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patents , witness Our Self at Westminster , The Nineth day of October in the Third year of Our Reign . Per ipsum Regem . Edmonds . For a Memorial of these Proceedings , the Archbishop left to Posterity , this following Narrative penned with his own hand . Archbishop ABBOT his NARRATIVE . Pars Prima . IT is an Example , so without Example , that in the Sunshine of the Gospel , in the midst of Profession of the true Religion , under a Gratious King , whom all the World must acknowledge to be blemished with no Vice ; a man of my place and years , who have done some service in the Church and Commonwealth , so deeply laden with some furious infirmities of Body , should be removed from his ordinary Habitation , and by a kinde of deportation should be thrust into one end of the Island ( although I must confess into his own Diocess ) that I hold it fit , that the reason of it should be truly understood , least it may someways turn to the scandal of my Person and Calling . Which Declaration notwithstanding , I intend not to communicate to any , but to let it lie by me privately , That it being set down impartially , whilst all things are fresh in memory , I may have recourse to it hereafter , if Questions shall be made of any thing contained in this Relation . And this I hold necessary to be done , by reason of the strangeness of that , which by way of Censure was inflicted upon me , being then of the age of Sixty five years , incumbred with the Gout , and afflicted with the Stone , having lived so many years in a place of great service ; and for ought I know , untainted in any of my actions , although , my Master King Iames , who resteth with God , had both a searching Wit of his own to discover his Servants whom he put in trust , whether they took any sinister courses , or no ; and wanted not some suggesters about him to make the worst of all mens actions whom they could misreport : Yet this Innocency and good Fame to be overturned in a moneth , and a Christian Bishop suddenly to be made Fabula Vulgi , to be tossed upon the Tongues of Friends and Foes , of Protestants and Papists , of Court and Countrey , of English and Foreigners , must needs in common opinion , presuppose some Crime , open or secret : Which being discovered by the King , albeit not fully appearing to the World , must draw on indignation in so high a measure . I cannot deny , that the indisposition of my Body kept me from Court , and thereby gave occasion to Maligners to traduce me , as withdrawing my self from publick services ; and therefore misliking some courses that were taken , which abstaining perhaps neither pleased the King , nor the great man that set them on foot . It is true , that in the turbulency of some things , I had no great invitements to draw me abroad , but to possess my Soul in Patience , till God sent fairer weather : But the true ground of my abstaining from solemn and publick places , was the weakness of my Feet , proceeding from the Gout ; which disease being hereditary unto me , and having possessed me now nine years , had debilitated me more and more : So that I could not stand at all , neither could I go up or down a pair of Stairs ; but besides my Staff , I must have the service of one , at least , of my men , which was not fit to be admitted in every place where I was to come . And although I was oft remembred by the wisest of my Friends , that I might be carried as the old Lord Treasurer Burleigh was , yet I did not think my service so necessary for the Commonwealth , as his Lordships by long experience was found to be . I did not value my self at so high a rate , but remembred that it was not the least cause of overthrow to Robert Earl of Essex , that he prized himself so , as if Queen Elizabeth and the Kingdom could not well have stood , if he had not supported both the one and the other . Now for me thus enfeebled , not with Gout onely , but with the Stone also and Gravel , to wait on the King or the Council Table , was by me held a matter most inconvenient . In the Courts of Princes , there is little feeling of the infirmities belonging to old age , they like them that be yong and gallant in their actions , and in their cloaths , they love not that men should stick too long in any room of greatness . Change and alteration bringeth somewhat with it . What have they to do with Kerchiefs and Staves , with lame or sickly men ? it is certainly true , There is little compassion upon the bodily defects of any . The Scripture speaketh of men standing before Kings , it were an uncouth sight to see the Subject sit the day before the Coronation , when on the morrow I had work enough for the strongest man in England , being weak in my Feet , and coming to Whitehal to see things in a readiness against the next day ; yet notwithstanding the Stone and Gout , I was not altogether an inutile servant in the Kings Affairs , but did all things in my house that were to be done ; as in keeping the High Commission Court , doing all inferior Actions conducing thereunto , and dispatching References from his Majesty that came thick upon me . These Relations which are made concerning me , be of certain truth , but reach not to the reason wherefore I was discarded . To understand therefore the verity , so it is , That the Duke of Buckingham being still great in the favor of the King , could endure no man that would not depend upon him ; among other men had me in his eye for not stooping unto him so , as to become his Vassal . I that had learned a Lesson , which I constantly hold , To be no mans servant but the Kings ( for mine Old Royal Master , which is with God , and mine own Reason , did teach me so ) went on mine own ways , although I could not but observe , That so many as walked in that path , did suffer for it upon all occasions , and so did I , nothing wherein I moved my Master , taking place ; which finding so clearly , as if the Duke had set some ill character upon me , I had no way but to rest in patience , leaving all to God , and looking to my self as warily as I might . But this did not serve the turn , his undertakings were so extraordinary , That every one that was not with him , was presently against him ; and if a hard opinion were once entertained , there was no place left for satisfaction or reconciliation . What befel the Earl of Arundel , and Sir Randal Crew , and divers others , I need not to report , and no man can make doubt but he blew the Coals . For my Self , there is a Gentleman called Sir H. S. who gave the first light what should befal me : This Knight being of more livelihood then wisdom , had married the Lady D. Sister to the now Earl of E. and had so treated her , that both for safeguard of her Honor , blemished by him scandalously , and for her Alimony or maintenance ( being glad to get from him ) she was inforced to endure a Suit in the High Commission Court : So to strengthen his party , he was made known to the Duke , and by means of a Dependant on his Grace , he got a Letter from the King , That the Commissioners should proceed no further in hearing of that Cause , by reason that it being a difference between a Gentleman and his Wife , the Kings Majesty would hear it himself . The Solicitor for the Lady finding that the course of Justice was stopped , did so earnestly ; by Petition , move the King , that by another Letter there was a relaxation of the former restraint , and the Commissioners Ecclesiastical went on : But now in the new proceeding , finding himself by Justice like enough to be pinched , he did publickly in the Court refuse to speak by any Councel , but would plead his cause himself ; wherein he did bear the whole business so disorderly , tumultuously , and unrespectively , that after divers reproofs , I was enforced for the Honor of the Court , and Reputation of the High Commission , to tell him openly , That if he did not carry himself in a better fashion , I would commit him to Prison . This so troubled the yong Gallant , that within few days after being at Dinner or Supper , where some wished me well , he bolted it out , That as for the Archbishop , the Duke had a purpose to turn him out of his place , and that he did but wait the occasion to effect it . Which being brought unto me constantly , by more ways then one , I was now in expectation what must be the issue of this great mans indignation , which fell out to be as followeth . There was one Sibthorpe , who not being so much as a Batchellor of Arts , as it hath been credibly reported unto me ; by means of Doctor Peirce , Dean of Peterborough , being Vice-Chancellor of Oxford , did get to be conferred upon him the Title of a Doctor . This man is Vicar of Brackley in Northamptonshire , and hath another Benefice not far from it in Buckinghamshire . But the lustre of his Honor did arise from being the Son-in-law of Sir Iohn Lamb , Chancellor of Peterborough , whose Daughter he married , and was put into the Commission of Peace . When the Lent Assizes were in February last at Northampton , the man that Preached before the Judges there , was this worthy Doctor ; where magnifying the Authority of Kings , ( which is so strong in the Scripture , that it needs no flattery any ways to extol it ) he let fall divers Speeches which were distasteful to the Auditors ; and namely , That they had power to put Poll-Money upon their Subjects heads , when against those challenges , men did frequently mourn . He being a man of a low Fortune , conceived that the putting his Sermon in Print , might gain favor at Court , and raise his Fortune higher , on he goeth with the Transcribing of his Sermon , and got a Bishop or two to prefer this great Service to the Duke ; and it being brought unto the Duke , it cometh in his head , or was suggested unto him by some malicious body , that thereby the Archbishop might be put to some remarkable strait : For if the King should send the Sermon unto him , and command him to allow it to the Press , one of these two things would follow , That either he should Authorize it , and so all men that were indifferent , should discover him for a base and unworthy Beast ; or he should refuse it , and so should fall into the Kings indignation , who might pursue it at his pleasure , as against a man that was contrary to his service . Out of this Fountain flowed all the Water that afterwards so wet : In rehearsing whereof , I must set down divers particulars , which some man may wonder how they should be discovered unto me . But let it suffice once for all , that in the word of an honest man , and of a Bishop , I recount nothing , but whereof I have good warrant , God himself working means . The matters were revealed unto me , although it be not convenient that in this Paper , I name the manner how they came unto me , least such as did by well-doing further me , should receive blame for their labor . Well! resolved it is , That I must be put to it , and that with speed ; and therefore Mr. William Murrey , Nephew ( as I think ) unto Mr. Thomas Murrey , sometimes Tutor unto Prince Charls ; and the yong man now of the Kings Bed-chamber , is sent unto me with the Written Sermon , of whom I must say , That albeit he did the King his Masters business , yet he did use himself temperately and civilly unto me . For avoiding of inquit and inquam ( as Tully saith ) I said this , and he said that , I will make it by way of Dialogue , not setting down every days conference exactly by it self , but mentioning all things of importance in the whole , yet distinguishing of times ; where for the truth of the Relation , it cannot be avoided . Murrey . My Lord , I am sent unto you by the King , to let you know that his pleasure is , That whereas there is brought unto him a Sermon to be Printed , you should allow this Sermon to the Press . Archb. I was never he that authorised Books to be Printed ; for it is the work of my Chaplains to read over other mens writings , and what is fit , to let it go , what is unfit , to expunge it . Murrey . But the King will have you your self to do this , because he is minded that no Books shall be allowed , but by you and the Bishop of London : And my Lord of London authorised one the other day ( Cousens his Book ) and he will have you do this . Archb. This is an occupation that my old Master King Iames did never put me to , and yet I was then yong , and had more abilities of body then now I have ; so that I see I must now learn a new lesson , but leave it with me ; and when I have read it , I shall know what to say unto it , a day or two hence you shall understand my minde . When I had once or twice perused it , I found some words which seemed unto me to cross that which the King intended , and in a sort to destroy it ; and therefore upon his return , a day or two after I exprest my self thus . Mr. Murrey . I conceive that the King intendeth that this Sermon shall promote the service now in hand about the Loan of Money , but in my opinion it much crosseth it ; for he layeth it down for a rule , and because it should not be forgotten , he repeateth it again , That Christians are bound in duty one to another , especially all Subjects to their Princes according to the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom wherein they live . Out of this will men except this Loan , because there is neither Law nor Custom for it in the Kingdom of England . Secondly , In my judgment there followeth a dangerous Speech , Habemus necessitatem vindicandae libertatis . For this was all that was then quoted out of Calvin , no mention being made of any the other words which are now in the Printed Copy : For when by the former Rule he hath set men at liberty , whether they will pay or no , he imposeth upon them a necessity to vindicate this Liberty , and Vindicare may be extended to challenge with violence cum vi . But for my part I would be most unwilling to give occasion to Sedition and Mutiny in the Kingdom . Again , here is mention made of Poll-Money , which as I have heard hath already caused much distaste where the Sermon was Preached . Moreover , what a Speech is this , That he observes the forwardness of the Papists to offer double , according to an Act of Parliament so providing , yea , to profess that they would part with the half of their Goods , where he quoteth in the Margent Anno 1 Caroli ; the Act for the Subsidy of the Layty , whereby Popish Recusants were to pay double ; when indeed there is no such Act. And in the fifth place it is said in this Sermon , that the Princes of Bohemia have power to depose their Kings , as not being Hereditary , which is a great question . Such a one as hath cost much blood , and must not in a word be absolutely defined here , as if it were without controversie . I pray you make his Majesty acquainted with these things , and take the Book with you ( where it is to be noted , That all this time we had but one single Copy , which was some time at the Court , and sometime left with me . ) Murrey . I will faithfully deliver these things to the King , and then you shall hear further from me . Some two or three days after he returneth again unto me , and telleth me , That he had particularly acquainted the King with my Objections , and his Majesty made this Answer . First , For the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom , he did not stand upon that , he had a President for that which he did , and thereon he would insist . Archb. I think that to be a mistaking , for I fear there will be found no such President . King Henry the Eighth , as the Chronicle sheweth , desired but the Sixth pa●t of mens estates , Ten groats in the pound ; our King desireth the whole Six parts full out , so much as men are set at in the Subsidy Book : And in the time of King Henry , although he were a powerful King , yet for that Taxation there began against him little less then a Rebellion ; so that he held it wisdom to desist , and laying the blame upon Cardinal Wolsey , professed , That he knew nothing of the matter . Murrey . Secondly , The King saith for the words Habemus necessitatem vindicandae libertatis , he taketh them to be for him ; and he will stand on his Liberty . Thirdly , For Poll-money he thinketh it lawful . Fourthly , It is true , there was no such Act passed , and therefore it must be amended ( and yet in the Printed Book it is suffered still to stand . Such slight , and I may say , slovenly care was had by them that published this Sermon . ) And fifthly , For that of Bohemia , he hath crossed it out of the Book . Some other matters there were , against which I took exception , but Mr. Murrey being a yong Gentleman , although witty and full of good behavior , I doubted that being not deeply seen in Divinity , he could not so well conceive me , nor make report of my words to his Majesty : And therefore I being lame , and so disabled to wait on the King , did move him , That he would in my name humbly beseech his Majesty to send the Bishop of Bathe and Wells unto me , and I would by his means make known my Scruples ; and so I dismissed Mr. Murrey , observing with my self , that the Answers to my Five Objections , especially to two or three , were somewhat strange : As if the King were resolved , were it to his good or to his harm , to have the Book go forth . After one or two days more , the yong Gentleman cometh to me again , and telleth me , That the King did not think it fit to send the Bishop of Bathe unto me ; but he expecteth I should pass the Book . In the mean time had gone over one High Commission day , and this Bishop who used ( otherwise ) very few days to fail , was not there , which being joyned to his Majesties Message , made me in some measure to smell , that this whole business might have that Bishops hand in it , especially I knowing in general the disposition of the man. The mindes of those that were Actors for the publishing of the Book , were not quiet at the Court , that the thing was not dispatched ; and therefore one day the Duke said to the King , Do you see how this business is deferred , if more expedition be not used , it will not be Printed before the end of the Term ; at which time it is fit that it be sent down into the Countreys . So eager he was , That either by my Credit his undertakings might be strengthned , or at least I might be contemned and derided as an unworthy fellow . This so quickned the King , that the next Message which was sent by Mr. Murrey , was in some degree minatory , That if I did not dispatch it , the King would take some other course with me . When I found how far the Duke had prevailed , I thought it my best way to set down in writing many Objections , wherefore the Book was not fit to be published ; which I did modestly , and sent them to the King. The words were these which I culled out of the Written Sermon . 1. Page 2. Those words deserve to be well weighed , And whereas the Prince pleads not the Power of Prerogative . 2. Page 8. The Kings duty is first to direct and make Laws . There is no Law made till the King assent unto it ; but if it be put simply to make Laws , it will make much startling at it . 3. Page 10. If nothing may excuse from active obedience , but what is against the Law of God , or of Nature , or impossible . How doth this agree with the first Fundamental Position ? Page 5. That all Subjects are bound to all their Princes according to the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom wherein they live . This is a fourth Case of Exception . 4. Page 11. The Poll-Money , mentioned by him in St. Matthew , was imposed by the Emperor as a Conqueror over the Iews , and the execution of it in England , although it was by a Law , produced a terrible effect in King Richard the Second's time , when onely it was used , for ought that appeareth . 5. Page 12. It is in the bottome , view the Reign of Henry the Third , and whether it be fit to give such allowance to the Book , being surreptitiously put out ? 6. In the same Page , let the largeness of those words be well considered , Yea all Antiquity to be absolutely for absolute Obedience to Princes in all Civil and Temporal things . For such cases as Naboths Vineyard may f●ll within this . 7. Page 14. Sixtus Quintus was dead before the year One thousand five hundred and eighty . 8. In the same Page weigh it well , How this Loan may be called a Tribute , and when it s said , We are promised it shall not be immoderately imposed ? How that agreeth with his Majesties Commission and Proclamation which are quoted in the Margent ? It should seem that this Paper did prick to the quick , and no satisfaction being thereby accepted , Bishop Laud is called , and he must go to answer to it in writing : This man is the onely inward Counsellor with Buckingham , sitting with him sometimes privately whole hours , and feeding his humor with malice and spight . His life in Oxford was to pick quarrels in the Lectures of the Publick Readers , and to advertise them to the then Bishop of Durham , that he might fill the ears of King Iames with discontents , against the honest men that took pains in their places , and setled the truth ( which he called Puritanism ) in their Auditors . He made it his work to see what Books were in the Press , and to look over Epistles Dedicatory , and Prefaces to the Reader , to see what faults might be found . It was an observation what a sweet man this was like to be , that the first observable act that he did , was the marrying of the Earl of D. to the Lady R. When it was notorious to the World , that she had another Husband ; and the same a Nobleman , who had divers Children then living by her . King Iames did for many years take this so ill , that he would never hear of any great preferment of him , insomuch , that the Bishop of Lincoln , Doctor Williams , who taketh upon him to be the first promoter of him , hath many times said , That when he made mention of Laud to the King , his Majesty was so averse from it , that he was constrained oftentimes to say , That he would never desire to serve that Master which could not remit one fault unto his Servant . Well , in the end he did conquer it , to get him to the Bishoprick of St. Davids ; which he had not long enjoyed , but he began to undermine his Benefactor , as at this day it appeareth . The Countess of Buckingham told Lincoln , that St. Davids was the Man that undermined him with her Son ; and verily , such is his aspiring nature , that he will underwork any man in the World , so that he may gain by it . This Man who believeth so well of himself , framed an Answer to my Exceptions . But to give some countenance to it , he must call in three other Bishops , that is to say , Durham , Rochester , and Oxford , tryed men for such a purpose , and the whole stile of the Speech runneth , We and We. This seemed so strong a confutation , that for reward of their service , as well as for hope , that they would do more , Doctor Neal , Bishop of Durham , and the Bishop of Bath , were sworn of the Privy Council . The very day being Sunday , Mr. Murrey was sent unto me with a Writing , but finding me all in a sweat by a fit of the Stone which was then upon me , he forbore for that time to trouble me , and said , That on the morrow he would repair unto me again . I got me to Bed , and lying all that night in pain , I held it convenient not to rise the next day : And on the Monday Mr. Murrey came unto me , which was the Eighth time that he had been with me , so uncessantly was I plyed with this noble work . I had shewed it before to a friend or two , whereof the one was a Learned Doctor of Divinity , and the other had served many times in Parliament with great commendation . We all agreed , That it was an idle work of a Man that understood not Logick , that evidently crossed himself , that some times spake plausibly , and in the end of his Sermon fell so poor and flat , that it was not worth the reading . Mr. Murrey coming to my Bed-side , said , That he was sent again by the King , and had a Paper to be shewed unto me . Archb. You see in what case I am , having slept little all this last night , but nevertheless since you come from the King , I will take my Spectacles and read it . Murrey . No my Lord , you may not read it , neither handle it ; for I have charge not to suffer it to go out of my hands . Archb. How then shall I know what it is ? Murrey . Yes , I have order to read it unto you , but I may not part with it . Archb. I must conceive , that if I do not assent to it , his Majesty will give me leave to reply upon it , which I cannot do , but in my Study , for there are my Books . Murrey . I must go with you into your Study , and sit by you till you have done . Archb. It is not so hasty a work , it will require time , and I have not been used to Study , one sitting by me , but first read it I pray you . The yong Gentleman read it from the one end to the other , being two or three sheets of Paper . Archb. This Answer is very bitter , but giveth me no satisfaction , I pray you leave the Writing with me , and I shall batter it to peeces . Murrey . No , my Lord , I am forbidden to leave it with you , or to suffer you to touch it . Archb. How cometh this about ? Are the Authors of it , afraid of it , or ashamed of it ? I pray you tell his Majesty that I am dealt with neither Manly nor Schollar-like . Not Manly , because I must fight with Adversaries that I know not ; not Shollar-like , because I must not see what it is that must confute me . It is now Eight and forty years ago that I came to the University , and since that time I have ever loved a Learned Man , I have disputed and written divers Books , and know very well what appertaineth to the Schools . This is a new kinde of Learning unto me , I have formerly found fault , that the Author of this Sermon quoteth not the places whereupon he grounds his Doctrine ; and when I have oft called for them , it is replied unto me , that I must take them upon the credit of the Writer , which I dare not do ; for I have searched but one place which he quoted in general , but sets down neither the words , nor the Treatise , nor the Chapter , and I finde nothing to the purpose , for which it is quoted ; and therefore I have reason to suspect all the rest . I pray you therefore in the humblest manner to commend my service to the King my Master , and let him know , that unless I may have all the Quotations set down , that I may examine them , and may have that writing , wherein I am so ill used , I cannot allow the Book . Before I go further , it shall not be amiss to touch some particulars of that which I sent in writing to the King. The first was Page 2. Those words deserve to be well weighed , And whereas the Prince pleads not the Power of Prerogative . To this Mr. Murrey said , The King doth not plead it : But my Reply was , By what then doth he coerce those Refractories ; for I have not heard of any Law whereby they are imprisoned , and therefore I must take it to be by the Kings Prerogative . To the second Page 8. The Kings duty is first to direct and make Laws . There is no Law made till the King assent unto it ; but if it be put simply to make Laws , it will cause much startling at it . To this I remember not any material thing answered , neither to the third . Page 10. If nothing may excuse from active obedience , but what is against the Law of God , or of Nature , or impossible : How doth this agree with the first Fundamental Position ? Page 5. That all Subjects are bound to all their Princes according to the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom wherein they live . This is a fourth Case of Exception . And here before I go to the rest , the Doctor did truly hit upon a good point , in looking to the Laws and Customs , if he could have kept him to it ; for in my memory , and in the remembrance of many Lords , and others that now live , Doctor Haresenet , the then Bishop of Chichester , and now of Norwich , in Parliament time Preached a Sermon at Whitehal , ( which was afterward burned ) upon the Text , Give unto Caesar , the things that be Caesars . Wherein he insisted , That Goods and Money were Caesars ▪ and therefore they were not to be denied unto him . At this time , when the whole Parliament took main offence thereat , King Iames was constrained to call the Lords and Commons into the Banqueting-house at Whitehal , and there his Majesty calmed all by saying , The Bishop onely failed in this , when he said the Goods were Caesars ; he did not adde , They were his according to the Laws and Customs of the Countrey wherein they did live . So moderate was our Caesar then , as I my self saw , and heard , being then an eye and ear witness , for I was then Bishop of London . To the fourth , The Poll-Money , in St. Matthew , was imposed by the Emperor , as a Conqueror over the Iews , and the execution of it in England , although it was by a Law , produced a terrible effect in King Richard the Second's time , when onely it was used , for ought that appeareth . Here the Bishop in the Paper excepted divers things , as , That sometimes among us by Act of Parliament , strangers are appointed to pay by the Poll , which agreeth not with the Case ; and that it was not well to bring examples out of weak times , whereas we live in better ; but that it was a marvelous fault , the blame was not laid upon the Rebels of that Age. Those are such poor things , that they are not worth the answering . But my Objection in truth prevailed so far , that in the Printed Book it was qualified thus . Poll-Money , other persons , and upon some occasions ; where obiter I may observe , That my refusing to sign the Sermon , is not to be judged by the Printed Book , for many things are altred in one , which were in the other . To the fifth , Page 12. It is in the bottome , view the Reign of Henry the Third , whether it be fit to give such allowance to the Book being surreptiously put out . To this it was said , That being a good passage out of a blame-worthy Book , there was no harm in it . But before the Question of Sibthorps Treatise , the Bishop of Bathe himself being with me , found much fault with that Treatise , as being put out for a scandalous Parallel of those times . To the sixth in the same Page , Let the largeness of those words be well considered , Yea , all Antiquity to be absolutely for absolute Obedience to Princes , in all Civil or Temporal things : For such Cases ( as Naboths Vineyard ) may fall within this . Here the Bishop was as a man in a rage , and said , That it was an odious comparison ; for it must suppose , that there must be an Ahab , and there must be a Iezabel , and I cannot tell what : But I am sure my Exception standeth true , and reviling , and railing , doth not satisfie my Argument , All Antiquity taketh the Scripture into it ; and if I had allowed that proportion for good , I had been justly beaten with my own Rod. If the King the next day had commanded me to send him all the Money and Goods I had , I must by mine own rule have obeyed him ; and if he had commanded the like to all the Clergy-men in England , by Doctor Sibthorps proportion , and my Lord of Canterburies allowing of the same , they must have sent in all , and left their Wives and Children in a miserable case . Yea , the words extend so far , and are so absolutely delivered , That by this Divinity , if the King should send to the City of London , and the Inhabitants thereof , commanding them to give unto him all the wealth which they have , they were bound to do it : I know our King is so gratious , that he will attempt no such matter ; but if he do it not , the defect is not in these flattering Divines , who if they were called to question for such Doctrine , they would scarce be able to abide it . There is a Meum and a Tuum , in Christian Commonwealths , and according to Laws and Customs , Princes may dispose of it , that saying being true , Ad Reges potestas omnium pertinet , ad singulos proprietas . To the seventh , Page 14. Pius Quintus was dead before the year One thousand five hundred and eighty . They make no Reply , but mend it in the Printed Book , changing it into Gregory the Thirteenth . To the last in the same Page , weigh it well , How this Loan may be called a Tribute ; and when it is said , We are promised shall not be immoderately imposed . How that agreeth with his Majesties Commission and Proclamation which are quoted in the Margent , they make no Answer ; but in the published Sermon distinguisheth a Tribute from a Loan or Aid , whereby they acknowledge it was not well before , and indeed it was improper and absurd , worthy of none but Dr. Sibthorpe . I have now delivered the Grounds whereupon I refused to authorise this Book , being sorry at my heart , that the King , my Gratious Master , should rest so great a building upon so weak a Foundation , the Treatise being so slender , and without substance , but that it proceeded from a hungry man. If I had been in Council when the Project for this Loan was first handled , I would have used my best Reasons to have had it well grounded ; but I was absent , and knew not whereupon they proceeded , onely I saw it was followed with much vehemency : And since it was put in execution , I did not interpose my self to know the Grounds of one , nor of the other . It seemed therefore strange unto me , That in the upshot of the business , I was called in to make that good by Divinity , which others had done ; and must have no other inducement to it , but Doctor Sibthorps contemptible Treatise . I imagined this for the manner of the carriage of it , to be somewhat like unto the Earl of Somersets Case , who abused the Wife of the Earl of Essex , must have her divorsed from her Husband , and must himself marry her : And this must not be done , but that the Archbishop of Canterbury must ratifie all judicially . I know the Cases are different , but I onely compare the manner of the carriage . When the Approbation of the Sermon was by me refused , it was carried to the Bishop of London , who gave a great and stately allowance of it ; the good man being not willing that any thing should stick which was sent unto him from the Court , as appeareth by the Book which is commonly called The Seven Sacraments , which was allowed by his Lordship with all the Errors , which since that time have been expunged , and taken out of it . But before this passed the Bishops File , there is one accident which fitly cometh in to be recounted in this place . My Lord of London hath a Chaplain , Doctor Worral by name , who is Schollar good enough , but a kinde of free Fellow-like man , and of no very tender Conscience . Doctor Sibthorps Sermon was brought unto him , And hand over head ( as the Proverb is ) he approved it , and subscribed his name unto it . But afterwards being better advised , he sendeth it to a learned Gentleman of the Inner Temple , and writing some few lines unto him , craveth his opinion of that which he had done , the Gentleman read it : But although he had promised to return his Judgment by Letter , yet he refused so to do , but desired that Doctor Worral would come himself ; which being done , he spake to this purpose , What have you done , you have allowed a strange Book yonder ; which if it be true , there is no Meum or Tuum , no man in England hath any thing of his own : If ever the Tide turn , and Matters be called to a Reckoning , you will be hanged for publishing such a Book . To which the Doctor answered , Yea , but my hand is to it , what shall I do ? For that the other replied , You must scrape out your name , and do not suffer so much as the sign of any Letter to remain in the Paper . Which accordingly he did , and withdrew his finger from the Pye. But what the Chaplain well-advised would not do , his Lord without sticking accomplished ; and so being unsensibly hatched , it came flying into the World : But in my opinion , the Book hath perswaded very few understanding men , and hath not gained the King six pence . Pars Secunda . HItherto I have declared at length all Passages concerning the Sermon , and to my remembrance I have not quitted any thing that was worthy the knowing . I am now in the second place to shew what was the issue of this not allowing the worthy and learned Treatise . In the height of this Question , I privately understood from a Friend in the Court , That for a punishment upon me , it was resolved that I should be sent away to Canterbury , and confined there . I kept this silently , and expected Gods pleasure , yet laying it up still in my minde , esteeming the Duke to be of the number of them , touching whom Tacitus observeth , That such as are false in their love , are true in their hate . But whatsoever the event must be , I made that use of the Report , that Iacula praevisa minus feriunt . The Duke at the first was earnest with the King , That I must be presently sent away before his going to Sea : For , saith he , if I were gone , he would be every day at Whitehal , and at the Council Table , and there will cross all things that I have intended . To meet with his Objection , I got me away to Croyden a moneth sooner then in ordinary years I have used to do ; but the Term was ended early , and my main fit of the Stone did call upon me to get me to the Countrey , that there on Hors-back I might ride upon the Downs ; which I afterwards performed , and I thank God found great use of it , in recovering of my Stomack which was almost utterly gone . The Duke hastned his preparations for the fleet , but still that cometh in for one Memorandum , That if he were once absent , there should no day pass over , but that the Archbishop would be with the King , and infuse things that would be contrary to his proceedings . What a miserable and restless thing Ambition is , when one talented , but as a common person , yet by the favor of his Prince , hath gotten that interest , that in a sort all the Keys of England hang at his Girdle ( which the wife Queen Elizabeth would never endure in any Subject yet standeth in his own heart in such tickle terms , as that he feareth every shadow , and thinketh that the lending of the Kings ear unto any grave and well-seasoned Report , may blow him out of all ; which in his estimation he thinketh is setled upon no good foundation , but the affection of the Prince , which may be mutable , as it is in all men more or less ? If a man would wish harm unto his enemy , could he wish him a greater torment , then to be wrested and wringed with ambitious thoughts ? Well , at first it went currant , that with all hast I must be doffed ▪ but upon later consideration it must be staid till the Duke be at Sea , and then put in execution by the King himself ; that as it seemeth Buckingham might be free from blame , if any should be laid upon any person . Hence it was , that after his going , there was new prosecution of the Yorkshire-men , and the refusing Londoners were pursued more fervently then before ; and it is very likely , that the Arrow came out of the same Quiver ; that the Bishop coming to the Election at Westminster was driven back so suddenly to Bugden . Take heed of these things Noble Duke , you put your King to t●e worst parts , whereof you may hear one day : So when your Soveraign in the Parliament time had spoken sharply to both Houses , commanding them to go together again , and to give more money , and commanding them to meddle no more with the Duke of Buckingham ; you came the next day and thought to smooth all , taking the glory of qualifying disturbances to your self ; whereas , if you had read Books of true State Government , wherewithal you are not acquainted , sweet things are personally to be acted by Kings and Princes , as giving of Honors , and bestowing of noted benefits ; and those things that are sour and distasting , are to be performed by their Ministers , you go the contray way . But as before the whole House falleth on fire , some sparks do flie out : So , before the Message of the King was brought me by the Secretary , there were some inklings that such a thing would follow . And upon the naming of me ( by occasion ) it was said by a Creature of the Dukes , That it would not be long before the Archbishop should be sequestred ( that was the word ) So well acquainted are the Dukes followers with great actions that are likely to fall out in State. Accordingly on Tuesday the Fist of Iuly , One thousand six hundred twenty and seven , the Lord Conway came unto me to Croyden before Dinner time , having travelled , as he said , a long journey that morning , even from Oatlands thither , he would say nothing till he had dined ; then because he was to return to Oatlands that night , I took him into the Gallery ; and when we were both sat down , we fell to it in this manner . MY Lord , I know you coming from Court , have somewhat to say to me . Secretary . It is true , my Lord , and I am the most unwilling man in the World to bring unpleasing news to any person of quality to whom I wish well , and especially to such a one as of whose Meat I have eaten , and been merry at his House : But I come from the King , and must deliver his pleasure ; I know who you are , and much more , with very civil language . Archb. I doubt not , my Lord , but you have somewhat to say , and therefore I pray you in plain terms let me have it . Secre. It is then his Majesties pleasure that you should withdraw your self unto Canterbury ; for which he will afford you some convenient time . Archb. Is that it , then I must use the words of the Psalmist , He shall not be afraid of any evil tydings ; for his heart standeth fast , and believeth in the Lord. But I pray you what is my fault that bringeth this upon me . Secre. The King saith you know . Archb. Truly I know none , unless it be that I am lame , which I cannot help , it is against my will , and I am not proud of it . Secre. The King bad me tell you , That if any expostulation were used — Archb. No , I will not use any expostulation , if it be his pleasure , I will obey , I know my self to be an honest man , and therefore fear nothing : But my Lord , do you think it is for the Kings service in this sort to send me away . Secre. No , by God! I do not think it , and so yesterday I told the King with an Oath ; but he will have it so . Archb. I must say as before , He shall not be afraid of any evil tidings ; for his heart standeth fast , and he believeth in the Lord. But I pray you , my Lord , is the King precisely set upon my going to Canterbury ; there are questions in Law between me and that Town , about the Liberties of my Archbishoprick , which I by my Oath am bound to maintain ; and if I should be among them , I have many Adversaries of the Citizens , I have there some Tenants , and the Dean and Chapter are interessed in the Question , I would be unwilling that my Servants and their people should fall together by the ears , while I am in the Town : His Majesty knoweth this difference to be between us , by the token that a Suit which I lately brought against them by a Quo Warranto in the Kings Bench , was stopped , Justice being denied me , which is not usual to be denied to any Subject , and the King well knoweth by whose means it was stayed . I have therefore another House called Foord , Five Miles beyond Canterbury , and more out of the way , his Majesty may be pleased to let me go thither . Secre. I can say nothing to that , but I will acquaint the King with it , and I conceive nothing to the contrary but that his Majesty will yield so much unto you . I have a second Charge to deliver unto you , and that is , That his Majesty will not have you from henceforth to meddle with the High Commission , he will take care that it shall be done otherwise . Archb. I do not doubt but it shall be better managed then it hath been by me : And yet , my Lord , I will tell you that for these many years that I have had the direction of that Court , the time is to come that ever honest man did finde fault , that he had not there Justice done . Secre. It is now Vacation time , and so consequently little to do , and by Michaelmas his Majesty may set all in order . Archb. I am sorry that the King proceedeth thus with me , and letteth me not know the cause . Secre. Although I have no Commission to tell you so , it is for a Book which you would not allow , which concerned the Kings Service . Archb. If that be it , when I am questioned for it , I doubt not but to give an honest Answer . Secre You will never be questioned for it . Archb. Then am I the more hardly dealt withal , to be censured , and not called to my Answer . Secre. Well , my Lord , I will remember that of Foord , and will your Grace command me any more Service . Archb. No , my Lord , but God be with you , onely I end where I began with the words of the Prophet , He shall not be afraid for any evil tydings ; for his heart standeth fast , and believeth in the Lord. It comforted me not a little , that the word was now out : My confining must be for not allowing of a Book ! I had much ado to forbear smiling when I heard it , because now it was clear , it was not for Felony or Treason that was laid to my charge , nor for intelligence with the Spaniards or French , nor for Correspondency with Jesuites or Seminary Priests , or any other grievous crime , I thank God for that . I had almost forgotten that among many other memorable Speeches that passed between us , I used this one , That peradventure the King might be offended at me , because I was no more present at the matter of the Loan ; but said I , my lameness hindered me therein , and I hoped thereby to do my Master better service , because if ever course be taken to reconcile the King and his people ( which if it be not , this Kingdom will rue it in the end ) I would hope among many other , to be a good Instrument therein , since my hand hath not been in those bitternesses which have of late faln out . You say well saith the Secretary , Would you that I should tell the King so much ? Yea , said I , if you please , I hold it not unfit that his Majesty should know it . What he reported therein , I do not know , but matters proceeded in the former course , as if there were no regard had of any such thing . The Lord Conway being gone from me for two or three days , I expected to hear the resolution , to what place in Kent I should betake my self ; and receiving no news , I tossed many things in my minde , as perhaps , that the King desired to hear somewhat from the Duke how he sped in his journey ; or that peradventure he might alter his purpose upon report of my ready obeying ; or that it might so fall out , that some of the Lords at the Court understanding upon the Secretaries return from Croyden , that which was formerly concealed from them , might infuse some other Councils into the King. These thoughts I revolved at last , not forgetting the courses of the Court , and imprinting that into my heart , That there was no good intended towards me ; but that any advantage would be taken against me , I sent a man to Whitehal whether the King was now come , for a night or two , and by him I wrote to the Lord Conway , in these words . My very good Lord , I Do not forget the Message which you brought unto me on Thursday last , and because I have heard nothing from you since that time , I send this Messenger on purpose to know what is resolved touching the House , or Houses where I must remain , there belong to the Archbishoprick three Houses in Kent , one at Canterbury , another Five Miles beyond called Foord , and a third on the side of Canterbury , but two Miles of , the name whereof is Becksburn . I pray your Lordship to let me know his Majesties pleasure , Whether he will leave the choice of any of those Houses to me to reside in : I have reason to know the resolution hereof , because I must make my Provision of Wood , and Coals , and Hey , for some definite place ; and when I shall have brewed , it is fit I should know where to put it , or else it will not serve the turn : It is an unseasonable time to Brew now , and as untimely to cut Wood , being green in the highest degree , and to make Coals , without all which my House cannot be kept . But when I shall know what must be my Habitation , I will send down my Servants presently to make the best Provision that they can . And so expecting your Lordships Answer , I leave you to the Almighty , and remain Your Lordships very loving Friend , G. Cant. Croyden , Iuly 10. 1627. He made my Servant stay , and when he had gone up to know the Kings further pleasure , he returned me the Answer following . May it please your Grace , I Am ashamed and do confess my fault , that I wrote not to your Grace before I received your Reproof , though a Gratious one ; but in truth , I did not neglect , nor forget : But the continual oppression of business , would not permit me to advertise to your Grace the Kings Answer . His Majesty heard seriously your Professions and Answers , and commanded me to signifie unto you , That he knew not the present differences between you and the Town ; and if he had , he would not have cast you into that inconvenience . He was well pleased you should go to your house at Foord , and said , He did not expect when the Question was ended between your Grace and the Town , that you should go to Canterbury . And he further said , He would not tye you to so short a time as might be any way inconvenient , but doth expect that your Grace will govern it so , as his Majesty shall not need to warn you a second time . I will not fail to move his Majesty to give you Liberty to chuse either of your Houses you name , and give you knowledge of his pleasure , and in all things be ready to obey your Commandments , or take occasion to serve you in the condition of Your Graces most humble Servant Conway . Whitehal , Iuly 10. 1627. I could not but observe therein that passage , That the King doth expect that your Grace will govern it so , as his Majesty shall not need to warn you a second time ; I needed no Interpreter to expound those words , and therefore did take order that one of my Officers was presently dispatched unto Foord to see the House ready . While Necessaries were caring for , and I lay for some days at Croyden , and afterwards at Lambeth , the City of London was filled with the Report of my confining , ( for so they did term it ) and divers men spake diversly of it . I will not trouble my self to mention some idle things , but some other of them require a little consideration . A main matter that the Duke was said to take in ill part , was , the resort which was made to my House at the times of Dinner and Supper , and that oftentimes of such as did not love him . My Answer unto that is , That by Nature I have been given to keep a House according to my Proportion , since I have had any means , and God hath blessed me in it . That it is a property by Saint Paul required in a Bishop , That he should be given to Hospitality ; that it is another of his Rules , Let your Conversation be without Covetousness ; and those things I had in mine eyes . Besides I have no Wife , nor Childe ; and as for my Kinred , I do that for them which I hold fit ; but I will not rob the Church , nor the Poor for them . Again , It is so rare a fault in these days , that men not feeding on the Kings Meat , but of their own charge , should frankly entertain their Friends when they come unto them , that I deserve to be pardoned for it . But this is not all . When King Iames gave me the Bishoprick , he did once between him and me , and another time before the Earl of Salisbury , charge me that I should carry my House Nobly ( that was his Majesties word ) and live like an Archbishop ; which I promised him to do : And when Men came to my House , who were of all civil sorts , I gave them friendly entertainment , not sifting what exceptions the Duke made against them ; for I knew he might as undeservedly think ill of others , as he did of me . But I meddled with no mans quarrels , and if I should have received none but such as cordially and in truth had loved him , I might have gone to Dinner many times without company . There frequented me Lords Spiritual and Temporal , divers Privy Counsellors , as occasion served , and Men of the highest rank ; where , if the Duke thought that we had busied our selves about him , he was much deceived : Yet perhaps the old saying is true , That a Man who is guilty of one Evil to himself , thinketh that all men that talk together , do say somewhat of him . I do not envy him that happiness , but let it ever attend him . As for other men of good sort , but of lesser quality , I have heard some by name , to whom exception hath been taken , and these are three , ( I know from the Court by a Friend , that my House for a good space of time hath been watched , and I marvel that they have not rather named sixty then three . ) The first of these is Sir Dudley Diggs , a very great Mote in the Dukes Eye , as I am informed ; for it is said , That this Knight hath paid him in Parliament with many sharp Speeches . If this be so yet what is that to me , he is of age to answer for himself . But in the time of the late Parliament , when the Earl of Carlile came unto me , and dealt with me thereabout , I gave him my word , and I did it truly , That I was not acquainted with these things ; onely being sick as I was , I had in general given him advice , That he should do nothing that might give just offence to the King ; and I have credibly heard , that when Sir Dudley was last in the Fleet , committed from the Council Table , he was much dealt withal , to know , Whether he was not instigated by me to accuse the Duke in Parliament : The Knight with all the Protestations and Assurances , that could come from a Gentleman , acquitted me of the part , and whole , wherein he did me but right : And I do remember , when that man now so hated , was a great Servant of the Dukes . So that if he have now lost him , it cannot but be presumed that it is for some unworthy carriage which the Gentleman conceiveth hath by that Lord been offered unto him . Moreover , How can I but imagine the words and actions of Sir Dudley Diggs have been ill interpreted , and reported : When I my self saw the Duke stand up nine times in a morning in the Parliament House to fasten upon him words little less ( if at all less ) then Treason ; when by the particular Votes of all the Lords and Commons in both Houses , he was quit of those things , which the other would have enforced upon him : And a little while before he was hastily clapt into the Tower , and within a day or two released again , because nothing was proved against him . And I assure you , I am so little interessed in his actions , That to this day I could never learn the reason why he was imprisoned in the Fleet , although he was kept there for Seven or eight weeks . I distinguish the King from the Duke of Buckingham ; the one is our Soveraign by the Laws of God and Men ; the other a Subject as we are : And if any Subject do impeach another , though of different degrees , let the party grieved , remedy himself by Law , and not by Power . But to speak further for this Knight , I may not forget when he was publickly employed ; one time to the Hague , a second time to Muscovia , and thirdly , into Ireland , about Affairs of the State , such opinion was then held of his good endeavors . And for mine own part ever since the days of Queen Elizabeth , I have been nearly acquainted with him , he was my Pupil at Oxford , and a very towardly one ; and this knowledge each of other , hath continued unto this time . He calleth me Father , and I term his Wife my Daughter , his eldest Son is my God-son , and their Children are in love accounted my Grand-children . The second that I have heard named , was Sir Francis Harrington , a Gentleman whom for divers years I have not seen , and who for ought I know , was never in my house but once in his life . The third was Sir Thomas Wentworth , who had good occasion to send unto me , and some times to see me , because we were joynt Executors to Sir George Savile , who married his Sister , and was my Pupil at Oxford ; to whose Son also , Sir Thomas Wentworth and I were Guardians , as may appear in the Court of Wards , and many things passed between us in that behalf ; yet to my remembrance I saw not this Gentleman but once in these Three quarters of a year last past ; at which time he came to seek his Brother-in-law , the Lord Clifford , who was then with me at Dinner at Lambeth . For one of the punishments laid upon me , it was told me by the Lord Conway , That I must meddle no more with the High Commission ; and accordingly within a few days after a Warrant is sent to the Attorney General , that the Commission must be renewed , and the Archbishop must be left out : This under hand being buzzed about the Town with no small mixture of spight , I conceived it to be agreeable to the proceedings with the Lords and Gentlemen which refused to contribute to the Loan , they all being laid aside in the Commissions for Lieutenancy , and the Peace , in their several Countreys . For my part , I had no cause to grieve at this , since it was his Majesties pleasure ; but it was by the actors therein understood otherwise , they supposing that this power gave me the more Authority and Splendor in the Church and Common-wealth . To deliver therefore truly the state of this Question , It cannot be denied , but that it was a great point of policy for the establishing of Order in the Ecclesiastical , and consequently Civil Estate also , to erect such a Court , whereby Church-men that exorbitated in any grievous manner , might be castigated , and rectified , and such sort of crimes in the Layety might be censured as were of Ecclesiastical Cognisance . And verily this is of great use in the Kingdom , as well for cherishing the Study of the Civil Law , as otherwise : So that it be kept incorruptible , and with that integrity , as so grave a Meeting and Assembly requireth . That was principally my care , who took much pains and spent much money , that in fair and commendable sort , Justice was indifferently administred to all the Kings people that had to do with us : But every one might see that this was to my singular trouble ; for besides that to keep things in a streight course , sometimes in fits of the Gout , I was forced by my Servants to be carried into the Court , where I could not speak much , but with difficulty ; I was at no time free from Petitions , from Examinations , from signing of Warrants , to call some , to release others , from giving way to speeding and forwarding Acts of Courts ; Suitors as their fashion is being so importunate , as that in Summer and Winter , in the day , and in the night , in sickness and health , they would not be denied . These things were daily dispatched by me out of Duty , and more out of Charity , no allowance being of pay from the King , or of Fee from the Subject , to us that were the Judges : Nay , I may say more , the holding of that Court in such sort as I did , was very expenceful to me out of my private Purse , in giving weekly entertainment to the Commissioners ; the reason whereof was this , King Iames being desirous when he made me Archbishop , that all matters should gravely and honorably be carried , directed me , that I should always call some of the Bishops that were about London , and some Divines , and Civilians , that by a good presence , Causes might be handled for the reputation of the action , and willed me therewithal to imitate therein , the Lord Archbishop Whitgift , who invited weekly some of the Judges to dinner , the rather to allure them thither . This advice proceeded from the Bishop of Durham that now is , which was not ill if it came from a good intention . I obeyed it singly , and did that which was enjoyned : But whereas in those times the Commissioners were but few , since that time there hath been such an inundation of all sorts of men into that Company , that without proportion , both Lords Spiritual and Temporal , Commissioners and not Commissioners , resorted thither , and divers of them brought so many of their men , that it was truly a burthen to me . I think it may by my Officers be justified upon Oath , That since I was Archbishop , the thing alone hath cost me out of my private estate One thousand pounds and a half , and if I did say Two thousand pounds , it were not much amiss , besides all the trouble of my Servants ; who neither directly nor indirectly gained six pence thereby in a whole year , but onely travel and pains for their Masters honor , and of that they had enough : My Houses being like a great Hostry every Thursday in the Term ; and for my expences no man giving me so much as thanks . Now this being the true Case , if the Church and Commonwealth be well provided for in the Administration of Justice , and regard be had of the Publick , can any discreet man think that the removing of me from this molestation , is any true punishment upon me : I being one that have framed my self to Reality , and not to Opinion , and growing more and more in years , and consequently into weakness , having before surfeited so long of worldly shews , whereof nothing is truly gained temporally but vexation of spirit ; I have had enough of these things and do not dote upon them : The world , I hope , hath found me more stayed and reserved in my Courses . Nevertheless , whatsoever was expedient for this , was dispatched by me while I lived at Lambeth and Croyden , albeit I went not out of door . Yea , but you were otherwise inutile , not coming to the Star-chamber , nor to the Council-Table ? My pain or weakness by the Gout , must excuse me herein . When I was younger , and had my health , I so diligently attended at the Star-chamber , that for full seven years I was not one day wanting . And for the Council-Table , the same reason of my Indisposition may satisfie : But there are many other things that do speak for me . The greatest matters there handled , were for Money , or more Attempts of War : For the one of these , we of the Clergy had done our parts already ; the Clergy having put themselves into Paiments of Subsidy by an Act of Parliament , not only for these two last years , when the Temporalty lay in a sort dry , but yet there are three years behind , in which our Paiments run on with weight enough unto us ; And no man can justly doubt but my hand was in those Grants in a principal fashion . And concerning the Provisions for War , I must confess mine ignorance in the Feats thereof : I knew not the grounds whereupon the Controversies were entred in general : I thought that before Wars were begun there should be store of Treasure ; That it was not good to fall out with many great Princes at once ; That the turning of our Forces another way , must needs be some diminution from the King of Denmark , who was engaged by us into the Quarrel for the Palatinate and Germany , and hazarded both his Person and Dominions in the prosecution of the Question . These matters I thought upon , as one that had sometimes been acquainted with Councils ; but I kept my thoughts unto my self . Again , I was never sent for to the Council-Table , but I went , saving one time , when I was so ill , that I might not stir abroad . Moreover , I was sure that there wanted no Councellors at the Board , the Number being so much increased as it was . Besides , I had no great encouragement to thrust my crasie Body abroad , since I saw what little esteem was made of me in those things which belonged to mine own Occupation : With Bishopricks , and Deanries , or other Church-Places . I was no more acquainted , then if I had dwelt at Venice , and understood of them but by some Gazette . The Duke of Buckingham had the managing of these things , as it was generally conceived : For , what was he not fit to determine , in Church , or Commonwealth ; in Court , or Council ; in Peace , or War ; at Land , or at Sea ; at Home , or in Foreign parts ? Montague had put out his Arminian Book ; I threee times complained of it , but he was held up against me , and by the Duke magnified as a well-deserving man. Cosens put out his Treatise , which they commonly call [ The Seven Sacraments ; ] which , in the first Edition , had many strange things in it , as it seemeth : I knew nothing of it , but as it pleased my Lord of Durham , and the Bishop of Bath : So the World did read . We were wont in the High-Commission to repress obstinate and busie Papists : In the end of King Iames his time , a Letter was brought me under the Hand and Signet of the King , That we must not meddle with any such matter , nor exact the Twelve-pence for the Sunday of those which came not to the Church , ( with which Forfeit we never medled . ) And this was told us to be in contemplation of a Marriage intended with the Lady Mary the Daughter of France . After the death of King Iames , such another Letter was brought from King Charls , and all Execution against Papists was suspended . But when the Term was at Reading , by open divulgation in all Courts under the Great Seal of England , We and all Magistrates are set at liberty to do as it was prescribed by Law : And now our Pursuvants must have their Warrants again , and take all the Priests they can , whereof Mr. Cross took fourteen or fifteen in a very short space . Not long after , all these are set free ; and Letters come from the King under his Royal Signet , That all Warrants must be taken from our Messengers , because they spoiled the Catholicks , and carried themselves unorderly unto them , especially the Bishops Pursuvants : Whereas we had in all but two ; Cross my Messenger , for whom I did ever offer to be answerable ; and Thomlinson , for whom my Lord of London ( I think ) would do as much . But the Caterpillers indeed , were the Pursuvants used by the Secretaries , men of no value , and shifters in the world , who had been punished and turned away by us for great misdemeanors . But truth of Religion and Gods service , was wont to overrule humane Policies , and not to be overruled ; And I am certain that things best prosper , where those courses are held . But be it what it may be , I could not tell what to make of this variation of the Compass ; since it was only commanded unto me to put such and such things in execution , but I never understood any thing of the Councel , whereby I might give my Judgment how fit , or unfit they were , or might speak to alter the Tenure , whereunto in former times I had been otherwise used . Variety of Reasons breedeth variety of Actions . For the matter of the Loan , I knew not a long time what to make of it : I was not present when the Advice was taken ; I understood not what was the Foundation whereupon the Building was raised , neither did ever any of the Council acquaint me therewith . I saw on the one side the Kings necessity for Money , and especially it being resolved that the Wat should be pursued ; And on the other side I could not forget , that in the Parliament great Sums were offered , if the Petitions of the Commons might be hearkened unto . It ran still in my mind , That the old and usual way was best ; That in Kingdoms , the harmony was sweetest , where the Prince and the People tuned well together ; That , whatsoever pretence of Greatness , he was but an unhappy man that set the King and the Body of the Realm at division ; That the People ( though not fit to be too much cockered , yet ) are they , that must pray , that must pay , that must fight for their Princes ; That it could not be , but a Man so universally hated in the Kingdom as the Duke was , must for the preservation of himself desperately adventure on any thing , if he might be hearkened unto . These Meditations I had with my self ; and God knoweth I frequently in my prayers did beg , That he whom these things did most concern , would seriously think upon them . It ran in my mind , that this new Device for Money could not long hold out ; That then we must return into the High-way , whither it were best to retire our selves betimes , the shortest Errors being the best . But these thoughts I suppressed within my soul ; neither did I ever discourage any man from Lending , nor encourage any man to hold back : Which I confidently avouch . At the opening of the Commission for the Loan , I was sent for from Croyden . It seemed to me a strange thing ; but I was told there , That howsoever it shewed , the King would have it so , there was no speaking against it . I had not heard , that men throughout the Kingdom should lend Money against their will ; I knew not what to make of it : But when I saw in the Instructions , the Refusers should be sent away for Soldiers to the King of Denmark , I began to remember Urias that was sent in the Forefront of the Battel ; and to speak truth , I durst not be tender in it . And when afterwards I saw , that men were to be put to their Oath , With whom they had had Conference , and whether any did disswade them ? And yet further beheld , that divers were to be imprisoned : I thought this was somewhat a New world . Yet all this while I swallowed my own spittle , and spake nothing of it to any man. Nay , when after some trial in Middlesex , the first Sitting was for Surrey in my House at Lambeth , and the Lords were there assembled with the Justices of the whole County , I gave them entertainment in no mean fashion : And I sate with them , albeit I said nothing ; for the confusion was such , that I knew not what to make of it : Things went on every day , and speech was of much Money to be raised out of some Counties ; yet afterwards it was not so readily paid , as preferred ; and at length some refused even in London it self , and Southwark , besides many Gentlemen of special rank , and some Lords , as it was said . And though it was reported that they were but a contemptible company , yet the Prisons in London demonstrated that they were not a very few , but persons both of note and number . The Judges besides concurring another way ; That they could not allow the Legality of the Demand , and the Enforcement that is used thereupon , did somewhat puzzle me for being too busie in promoting of that , for which I might one day suffer . Yet hitherto I remained silent , hoping that time would break that off , which was almost come to an absolute period . But in stead of this , by the permission of God , I was called up to the King to look clearly into the Question . When the Allowance of Sibthorp's Pamphlet was put upon me , I then had some reason out of the grounds of that Sermon to fear , ( and I pray God that my fear was in vain ) that the Duke had a purpose to turn upside down the Laws , and the whole Fundamental Courses , and Liberties of the Subject ; and to leave us not under the Statutes and Customs which our Progenitors enjoyed , but to the pleasure of Princes ; of whom , as some are gentle and benign , so some others , to ingr●at themselves , might strain more then the string will bear . Besides now it came in my heart , that I was present at the Kings Coronation , where many things on the Princes part were solemnly promised ; which being observed would keep all in order , and the King should have a loving and faithful people , and the Commons should have a a kinde and gracious King. The contemplation of these things made me stay my Judgment ; not any unwillingness to do my Prince any dutiful service , whom I must and do honor above all the Creatures in the world , and will adventure as far for his true good , as any one whatsoever . But I am loth to plunge my self so over head and ears in these difficulties , that I can neither live with quietness of conscience , nor depart out of the world with good fame and estimation . And perhaps my Soveraign , if hereafter he looked well into this Paradox , would of all the world hate me , because one of my profession , age and calling , would deceive him , and with base flattery swerve from the truth . The hearts of Kings are in the hand of God , and he can turn them as the rivers of water . I draw to a conclusion : Only repute it not amiss , ( because so much falleth in here ) to observe a few words of the Duke of Buckingham , not as now he is , but as he was in his rising . I say nothing of his being in France , because I was not present , and divers others there be that remember it well ; but I take him at his first repair to Court. King Iames , for many insolencies , grew weary of Somerset ; and the Kingdom groaning under the Triumvirate of Northampton , Suffolk and Somerset , ( though Northampton soon after died ) was glad to be rid of him . We could have no way so good to effectuate that which was the common desire , as to bring in another in his room ; One nail ( as the Proverb is ) being to be driven out by another . It was now observed that the King began to cast his eye upon George Villiers , who was then Cup-bearer , and seemed a modest and courteous Youth . But King Iames had a fashion , that he would never admit any to nearness about himself , but such a one as the Queen should commend unto him , and make some suit on his behalf ; That if the Queen afterwards being ill intreated , should complain of this Dear one , he might make his answer , It is long of your self , for you were the Party that commended him unto me . Our old Master took delight strangely in things of this nature . That Noble Queen ( who now resteth in Heaven ) knew her Husband well ; and having been bitten with Favorites both in England and Scotland , was very shie to adventure upon this request . King Iames in the mean time more and more loathed Somerset , and did not much conceal it that his affection increased towards the other . But the Queen would not come to it , albeit divers Lords ( whereof some are dead , and some yet living ) did earnestly sollicit her Majesty thereunto . When it would not do , I was very much moved to put to my helping hand ; they knowing that Queen Anne was graciously pleased to give me more credit then ordinary ; which all her Attendants knew she continued to the time of her death . I laboured much , but could not prevail : The Queen oft saying to me ; My Lord , You and the rest of your Friends know not what you do : I know your Master better then you all ; For if this Young man be once brought in , the first persons that he will plague must be you that labor for him , yea I shall have my part also ; The King will teach him to despise and hardly intreat us all , that he may seem to be beholden to none but himself . Noble Queen ! how like a Prophetess or Oracle did you speak ! Notwithstanding this we were still instant , telling her Majesty that the Change would be for the better : For , George was of a good nature , which the other was not ; And if he should degenerate , yet it would be a long time before he were able to attain to that height of evil which the other had . In the end upon importunity Queen Anne condescended , and so pressed it with the King , that he assented thereunto : Which was so stricken while the Iron was hot , that in the Queens Bed-chamber the King Knighted him with the Rapier which the Prince did wear . And when the King gave order to swear him of the Bed-chamber , Somerset , who was near , importuned the King with a message , that he might be only sworne a Groom : But my self and others that were at the door , sent to her Majesty , that she would perfect her work , and cause him to be sworne a Gentleman of the Chamber . There is a Lord or two living that had a hand in this atchievement ; I diminish nothing of their praise for so happy a work : But I know my own part best ; and , in the word of an honest man , I have reported nothing but truth . George went in with the King ; but no sooner he got loose , but he came forth unto me into the Privy-gallery , and there embraced me : He professed that he was so infinitely bound unto me , that all his life long he must honor me as his Father . And now he did beseech me that I would give him some lessons how ●e should carry himself . When he earnestly followed this chace , I told him I would give him three short lessons , if he would learn them . The first was , That daily upon his knees he should pray to God to bless the King his Master , and to give him ( George ) grace studiously to serve and please him . The second was , That he should do all good offices between the King and the Queen , and between the King and the Prince . The third was , That he should fill his Masters ears with nothing but Truth . I made him repeat these three things unto me , and then I would have him to acquaint the King with them , and so tell me when I met him again , what the King said unto him . He promised me he would ; and the morrow after , Mr. Tho. Murrey the Princes Tutor and I standing together in the Gallery at Whitehall , Sir Geo. Villeirs coming forth and drawing to us , he told Mr. Murrey how much he was beholden unto me , and that I had given him certain Instructions ; which I prayed him to rehearse , as indifferently well he did before us ; yea , and that he had acquainted the King with them , who said , They were Instructions worthy of an Archbishop to give to a Young man. His countenance of thankfulness for a few days continued , but not long either to me , or any other his Welwishers . The Roman Historian Tacitus hath somewhere a note , That benefits while they may be requited seem courtesies ; but when they are so high that they cannot be repaid , they prove matters of hatred . Thus , to lie by me to quicken my remembrance , I have laid down the Cause and the Proceedings of my sending into Kent , where I remain at the writing of this Treatise : Praying God to bless and guide our King aright ; To continue the prosperity and welfare of this Kingdom , which at this time is shrewdly shaken ; To send good and worthy men to be Governors of our Church : To prosper my mind and body , that I may do nothing that may give a wound to my Conscience ; and then to send me patience quietly to endure whatsoever his Divine Majesty shall be pleased to lay upon me ; Da quod jubes , & jube quod vis ! And in the end to give me such a happy deliverance either in life or death , as may be most for his glory , and for the wholsom example of others , who look much on the Actions and Passions of Men of my Place . AMong those many Gentlemen who were imprisoned throughout England for refusing to lend upon the Commission for Loans , only Five of them brought their Habeas Corpus , viz. Sir Thomas Darnell , Sir Iohn Corbet , Sir Walter Earl , Sir Iohn Heveningham , Sir Edward Hampden . In Michaelmas Term 3 Caroli , a Return was made of their several Commitments . [ To instance only in one , all the rest being in the same form . ] The Warden of the Fleet made this Return : That Sir Walter Earl Knight named in the Writ , is detained in the Prison of the Fleet in his Custody , by special Command of the King to him signified by Warrant of several of the Privy-Council , in these words : Whereas Sir Walter Earl Knight was heretofore committed to your Custody , These are to will and require you still to detain him , letting you know that both his first Commitment , and direction for the continuance of him in Prison , were and are by his Majesties special commandment . From Whitehall , Novemb. 7. 1627. Tho. Coventry , &c. Sir Thomas Darnell was the first that was brought to the Bar upon that Writ ; where the Kings Attorney-General Sir Robert Heath did inform the Court , that his Majesty told him , He heard that some of the imprisoned Gentlemen for the Loan did report , That the King did deny them the Course of Justice ; And therefore his Majesty commanded him to renew the Writ of Habeas Corpus , lest they should not move for another themselves , by reason the Warden of the Fleet had not returned the first according to his duty . To this Sir Thomas Darnell replied , That such words never came into his thoughts : And did humbly pray they might make no impression upon the Court to the disparagement of his Cause ; for he was accused of that he was in no manner guilty of . Upon which Sir Nicholas Hide Chief Justice said , That he had made a fair and temperate Answer : And you may perceive ( said the Chief Justice ) the upright and sincere proceedings which have been in this business : You no sooner moved for a Habeas Corpus , but it was granted you ; you no sooner desired Council , but they were assigned you , though any Council might move for you without being assigned , and should have had no blame for it : The Kings pleasure is , his Law should take place and be executed , and for that do we sit here ; And whether the Commitment be by the King or others , this Court is the place where the King doth sit in person to do right , if injury be done : And we have power to examine it ; and if it appear that any man hath wrong done him by his Imprisonment , we have power to deliver and discharge him ; if otherwise , he is to be remanded by us to Prison again . And the Attorney-General , after the Chief Justice had spoken , said , Though this be a Case which concerns the King in an high degree , yet he hath been so gracious and so just , as not to refuse the Examination and Determination thereof according to the Laws of the Kingdom . Then the Court proceeded to hear the Arguments made in the Prisoners behalf . Mr. Noy argued for Sir Walter Earl , Serjeant Bramston for Sir Iohn Heveningham , Mr. Selden for Sir Edward Hampden , Mr. Calthrop for Sir Iohn Corbet , who were all assigned of Council with the Prisoners by the Court of Kings-Bench , upon a Petition delivered by them to that purpose . After they had argued , Mr. Attorney had a day appointed to argue for the King. It is not our intention to take up the Readers time with the Arguments at large , either by the one side , or the other : We shall only hint unto you some generals , chiefly concerning the form of the Return of the Writ . The first Exception taken by the Council for the imprisoned Gentlemen , was to the form of the Return . 1. For that the Return is not positive , but referred to the signification made by another , ( by the Lords of the Council . ) 2. The Keepers of the Prisons have not return'd the Cause of the Commitment , but the Cause of the Cause ; which they held not to be good . 3. That the Return of the Commitment is imperfect , for that it sheweth onely the Cause of the detaining in Prison , and not the Cause of the first Commitment . Lastly , That the Return is contradictory in it self : For that in the first part thereof it is certified , that the detaining of those Gentlemen in Prison is per speciale mandatum Domini Regis ; And when the Warrant of the Lords of the Council is shewn , it appeareth that the Commitment is by the command of the King signified by the Lords of the Council . The second general Exception was to the matter of the Return ; and that was touching the Imprisonment , per speciale mandatum Domini Regis , by the Lords of the Council , without any Cause expressed . Wherefore , said Mr. Selden , by the constant and setled Laws of this Kingdom ( without which we have nothing ) no man can be justly imprisoned either by the King or Council , without a Cause of the Commitment ; and that ought to be expressed in the Return . The Law saith expresly , No Free-man shall be imprisoned without due Process of the Law : Nullus liber homo capiatur vel imprisonetur nisi per legem terrae , &c. And in the Charter of King Iohn there are these words , Nec eum in carcerem mittimus , We will not commit him to Prison ; that is , The King himself will not . This right ( said Serjeant Bramston ) is the onely means that a Subject hath whereby to obtain his Liberty ; and the end of it is to return the Cause of the Imprisonment , that it may be examined in this Court whether the parties ought to be discharged or not : Which cannot be done upon this Return ; for the Cause of the Imprisonment is so far from appearing particularly by it , that there is no Cause at all expressed : And the Writ requires that the Cause of the Imprisonment should be returned , and the Cause ought to be expressed so far , as that it ought to be none of those Causes for which by the Laws of the Kingdom the Subject ought not to be imprisoned ; and it ought to be expressed , that it was by Presentment or Indictment , or upon Petition or Suggestion made unto the King. For ( said he ) observe but the consequence : If those Gentlemen who are committed without any Cause shewn , should not be bailed , but remanded ; the Subjects of the Kingdom may be restrained of their Liberty for ever , and by Law there can be no remedy . We shall not reflect upon the present time and Government ; but we are to look what may betide us in time to come hereafter . The Laws are called the great Inheritance of every Subject , and the Inheritance of Inheritances , without which we have nothing that deserves the name of Inheritance . If upon a Habeas Corpus a Cause of Commitment be certified , then ( said Mr. Noy ) the Cause is to be tryed before your Lordships ; but if no Cause be shewn , the Court must do that which standeth with Law and Justice , and that is to deliver the party . The Commons did complain in Ed. 3. his time , that the great Charter and other Statutes were broken ; They desired , that for the good of himself and his people they may be kept and put in execution , and not infringed by making any Arrest by special command , or otherwise . And the Answer which was given them was this , That the said great Charter and other Statutes should be put in execution according to the Petition , without disturbance of Arrests by special command ; And the King granteth the Commons desire in the same words as they were expressed in their Petition . And afterwards complaining again , That notwithstanding this Answer of the King , they were imprisoned by special command , without Indictment or other legal course of Law : The Kings Answer was upon another Petition unto him , That he was therewith well pleased ; And for the future he added further , If any man be grieved , let him complain , and right shall be done . And forasmuch as it doth not appear to the Court , that there was any Cause of the Commitment of these Members , no Charge against them , no Indictment or Process according to the Laws : Wherefore Mr. Noy prayed they might be no longer detained in Prison , but be bailed or discharged ▪ Admit the Commitment of the Command of the King was lawful , yet , said Mr. Calthorp , when a man hath continued in prison a reasonable time , he ought to be brought to answer , and not to continue still in prison without being brought to answer ; For that it appeareth by the Books of our Laws , that Liberty is a thing so favored of the Law , that the Law will not suffer the continuance of a man in prison for any longer time then of necessity it must : And therefore the Law will neither suffer the Party , Sheriffs or Judges to continue a man in prison by their power and pleasure . It doth speak of the delivery of a man out of prison with as reasonable expedition as may be : And upon this reason it hath been resolved , that howsoever the Law alloweth that there may be a Term between the Teste of an Original Writ , and the Return of the same , where there is only a Summons , and no Imprisonment of the body ; yet the Law will not allow that there should be a Term between the Teste of a Writ of Capias , and the Return of the same , where the body of a man is to be imprison'd ; insomuch that it will give no way that the party shall have power to continue the body of a man longer time in prison then needs must ; so tender is the Law of the Subjects Liberty . Monday the 27. of November , the Attorney-General argued for the King , That this was a very great Cause , and hath raised great expectation ; and he was afraid that those Gentlemen whom it concerns , have rather advised their Councils , then their Councils them . For the first Exception , That the Return is not positive , but hath relation to some others ; He did conceive it was positive enough : For ( said he ) the words are , Quod detentus est sub custodia mea per speciale mandatum Domini Regis : The other words [ mihi significatum ] they follow after , but are not part of the affirmation made before it . And if they will have it as they seem to understand it , then they must return the words thus ; Quod significatum est mihi per Dominos Privati Consilii , quod detentus est per speciale mandatum Domini Regis ; And then it had not been their own proper Return , but the signification of another , the Lords of the Council . The turning of the sentence would resolve this point ; the thing it self must speak for it self : It is clear , it is a positive Return , that the detaining is by the command of the King ; and the rest of the Return is rather satisfaction to the Court , then any part of the Return . And for the other Exception , That the Cause of the Cause is returned , and not the Cause it self ; He said , Among the Logicians there are two Causes ; there is Causa causans , and Causa causata . The Causa causans here in this Case , is not the Warrant from the Lords of the Council , for that is Causa causata : But the primary and original Cause , which is Causa causans , is , Speciale mandatum Domini Regis ; the other is but the Councils signification , or testification , or Warrant for him that made the Return . And for the other Exception , The Cause is imperfect , because it shews only the Cause of detaining in Prison , and not the Cause of the first Commitment ; He conceives it is sufficient for an Officer of the Law to answer , That the Writ is a Command to make a Return of the detaining of the Prisoner , and he accordingly makes a Return of the Detention ; and if the Keeper of the Prison had only said they were detained per speciale mandatum , &c. it had been good . Then he proceeded to the matter of the Return , and to answer the Book-Cases and Records that had been cited by the Council for the Prisoners , and to produce Presidents on the Kings behalf ; which are extant in Print , to which the Reader is referred . Afterwards Sir Nicholas Hide Chief Justice , Justice Dodderidge , Justice Iones , and Justice Whitlock being upon the Bench , and Sir Iohn Heveningham and the forementioned Prisoners being brought to the Bar , Sir Nicholas Hide Lord Chief Justice , by the consent and direction of the Judges , spake to this purpose : That the Court hath seriously considered what hath been spoken by either side , and are grown to a resolution ; And that his Brothers have enjoined him to deliver unto you the resolution of the whole Court ; And therefore ( said he ) though it be delivered by my mouth , it is the resolution of us all . I am sure you expect Justice from hence , and God forbid we should sit here but to do Justice to all men according to our best skill and knowledge , as it is our oaths and duties so to do . But this is a Case of very great weight , and great expectation , and requires more solemn Arguments then the time will now permit . The Exceptions which have been taken to this Return , are two ; the one for the form , the other for the substance . First for the form , because it is not returned , as they say , positively and absolutely , but with reference to a Warrant of the Lords of the Council : Now the Court is of opinion , That this is a positive and absolute Return , upon this reason , That the Keeper of the Prison first returns , that they are detained by the special command of the King ; And if they had ceased there , it had been positive : And for that which follows , That it was signified to him by the Lords of the Council , this is only to certifie the Court that he returned the Cause truly , and not to shew us that he had no knowledge of the Cause but by the signification of the Lords of the Council : There is not one word in the Writ that demands the cause why they were taken , but why they are detained . So that that point in the Writ is sufficiently answered , which was only to certifie the cause of the detention : And therefore we resolve , That the form of this Return is good . The next thing is the main point in Law , Whether the substance or matter of the Return be good , or no ? Where in the substance is this ; He doth certifie that they are detained in Prison by the special command of the King : And whether this be good in Law , or no , is the Question . Here the Lord Chief Justice did mention the several Presidents and Book-Cases cited by each side , too long to be here related . And concluded , That that which is now to be judged by us , is this , Whether one that is committed by the Kings authority , and no Cause shewn of his Commitment , according as here it is upon this Return , whether we ought to deliver him by Bail , or to remand him back again ? Where by the way you must know , that we can take notice only of this Return ; That when the Case appears to us no otherwise then by the Return , we are not bound to examine the truth thereof , but the sufficiencie of the Return : We cannot judge upon rumors or reports , but upon that which is before us on Record , which is examinable by us whether it be sufficient , or not . Mr. Attorney hath told you , That the King hath done it ; And we trust him in great matters : And we make no doubt but the King , if you seek to him , knowing the cause why you are imprisoned , will have mercy ; but we leave that , we must not counsel you : If in Justice we ought to deliver you , we would do it ; But upon these grounds , Records , Presidents and Resolutions cited and produced , the Court is of opinion they cannot deliver you , but you must be remanded . Whilst these Arguments about the Loan were in agitation , ( which began in October in Michaelmas-Term ) various Reports and Advertisements came from the Isle of Rhee : Sometime , That they were in a Treaty with the Duke to surrender the Citadel unto him ; Others wrote , That it was but a device of the Governor to get time till Relief came : And many were dissatisfied with the Presents and Complements which passed between the Duke and the Governor of the Citadel ; Civilities to an enraged Enemy ( as was said ) seldom producing good effect . Besides it was observed , the Governor by his frequent sending out of Messengers ( though in a military way with Drums and Trumpets ) gave the Enemy advantage of seeing the Works and Army . But the Vulgar sort at home spake more plainly of the miscarriages at Rhee , how all things went there — The clean contrary way , It hath been observed , when things come to be Vox populi , it is commonly an ill presage : But at this time , persons of better quality and judgment gave out odd speeches concerning Affairs at Rhee ; That the business could not go well at the Isle of Rhee ; That there must be a Parliament ; That some must be sacrificed , That Bishop Laud was as like as any . The Bishop hearing of these speeches , and that they were doubled , being spoken by several persons , he acquainted the King therewith ; who replied unto him , Let me desire you not to trouble your self with any reports , till you see me forsake my other Friends , &c. And the Parliament which afterwards followed ( said Bishop Laud ) sought his ruine , which by the Kings sudden dissolution thereof was prevented , and the Kings other Friends by that means not forsaken . Notwithstanding these reports , the King is resolved speedily to set to Sea divers Ships with a further supply of Soldiers to be sent to the Army in the Isle of Rhee ; and commands to press certain Companies of Soldiers and Mariners , who were to rendevouz at Plymouth , and from thence to be imbarqued and disposed as aforesaid . In order to which service , the King by Commission appointed the said Soldiers and Mariners to be at present under the Command of Charls L. Vicount Wilmot : But afterwards his Majesty by Commission did constitute and appoint the Earl of Holland to repair to Plymouth , and there to take into his charge and under his command , the oversight , rule , order and government of all the said Soldiers and Mariners both at Sea and Land , and to see them , and all Provisions and Necessaries to be shipped , and with all conveniencie to be transported and conducted to the Isle of Rhee ; and a Squadron of Ships was also appointed for their transportation , and he was to deliver them under the command of the Duke of Buckingham Admiral of England , and General of the Army . But before the Earl of Holland set sail , let us see what they are doing at the Isle of Rhee . The first news we meet with there , is , That the French ( notwithstanding our Army at Land , and a hundred Sail of Ships at Sea ) had got into the Harbor with relief of Provisions : And that Sir Iohn Burroughs , the 20. of September , going to take a view of the Works , was shot with a bullet , whereof he presently dyed ; His death was much lamented , having been a great Honor to the English Nation both at home and abroad . About this time landeth Sir Pierce Crossby , and some other Commanders , with about Sixteen hundred English and Irish , which came as an Assistance to the Forces before Rhee . And now Toras the Governor began to foresee want , notwithstanding his late supply , and to study all ways and means how to give advertisement to the King of France of the low condition he was reduced unto . Sandgrein , a Frenchman , adventured out of the Citadel , and privately escaped the Guards , and got with Intelligence to the King of France : Yet Toras fearing left he might miscarry , prevailed with three of his men , promising large rewards , to adventure their lives , and to swim to the shore of the main Continent : Two miscarried , but the third got safe , and delivered the Message which the Governor entrusted him with . In the mean time more small Vessels got into the Harbor under the Citadel , and was a further ( though small ) Supply unto them . But the King of France was extremely allarm'd by the advertisement from Toras , and thereupon blocks up Rochel with his Army , as if he had designed the taking of it ; but the main end in seeming to design the Army against Rochel , was thereby to take the opportunity to be near at hand to land Forces under the favor of the Little-Fort , so much neglected at first , and to put Victuals into the Citadel at S. Martins , which was at that time reduced to a low condition . And the same was effected time after time , and supplies of men and victuals got in , notwithstanding the English Guards at Land and Sea , which now and then took some of the Vessels ; but nevertheless so much provision got in , as served their occasion in the Citadel to the end of the Siege . Now the Rochellers , after they had in vain continued promises of obedience to the King of France , and entettained a division among the Protestants , one Party crossing another , and finding the evil consequence of the division , they put forth a Manifesto , and declare for England ; and the Duke of Rhoan having given Commissions to raise Forces to assist the English , declareth in preservation of the Edict of two Peaces , and protesteth not to demand any thing but the observation of the said Edicts . On the other part the King of France declareth and promiseth , That he will on his part observe the said Edict : And further declares the Duke of Rhoan to be drawn to death ; and declares Sobiez a Traitor , and that he that should kill him , should be accounted Noble . By this time the French had got a great supply of Shipping from the Spaniard for their assistance , which with their own made up above a hundred Sail , ( exceeding the English Navy in number ) yet did avoid engaging with the English Fleet , exercising all their skill and art how to get in a good and round supply of Provision into the Citadel ; and Toras the Governor employed his wit to gain time to that end , by entertaining a Treaty of Surrender upon honorable terms ; and prevails with the Duke that he may first send to the King of France , that he might come off with honor : The Duke consents thereunto , on condition that an English Gentleman , an Attendant upon the Duke , might go with that Party which Toras sent , and have a safe conduct through France to pass into England . And so they both go to the Court of France , where the English Gentleman was secured , but the Party whom Toras sent did his errand , and no doubt gave the King of France a perfect account of their condition in the Citadel ; whilst the English Gentleman was detained that he could not do the like service for the King of England , in delivering to him what he had in command from the Duke . The French Gentleman returns to the Leagure at S. Martins ; but by reason the English Gentleman was not permitted to go for England , the Frenchman was not permitted to go again into the Citadel . Toras again renews the Treaty , pretending that if he had not Relief such a day by such an hour , he would surrender : And spun out the time so long , that in good earnest Relief got in both of men , victuals and ammunition , and the same Vessels which brought the Relief , carried away the sick and wounded , and unserviceable men in the Citadel . So the Treaty proceeded no further ; and the Enemy holds upon their Pike-heads Mutton , Capons , Turkies , &c. to let the English see they had no want . Now we go to work with Mine and Battery ; And presently also comes news , that the French had landed more Forces near the Meadow-Castle , ( a place also at the first neglected , though then unmanned ) And orders are given to draw out men ( leaving the Trenches unguarded ) to encounter the French that were landed : Which was performed with some reasonable success ; but the Enemy got security under the Castle , and thereupon the English retreated , and were enforced to fight to recover their Trenches , which the Enemy had now possessed , and many mens lives were lost in the regaining thereof . This last refreshment of the Enemy ( being about the middle of October ) caused the Duke to enter into Council , and to think of a resolution for a Retreat ; which he communicated to Sobiez , and tells him further , That the season is past , his Army diminished , his Victuals consumed , and his Council of War had judged it fitting to retire . Sobiez answered the Duke , That the Earl of Holland's Fleet was coming with Supplies ; that the Relief given was not considerable ; that the Retreat would draw after it the loss of Rochel , and thereby make Sobiez guilty of the ruine thereof ; but above all , it would bring an irreparable prejudice and dishonor upon his Master of Great Britain , that had made an Enterprise of so little honor and profit . Upon this the Duke continues the Siege , and shortly after resolves to storm the Citadel and Works ; to which ( it was said ) the English Commanders were much averse , but the French Commanders were zealous for it : And so for a farewell , Novemb. 6. a vain Attempt was made on all sides of the Citadel . In short , we lost men and honor ; for the Fort was unaccessible , besides well manned with fresh supplies of men newly put in : And having left many dead and hurt , we were forced to retire . This ill success , with the advise given that the Troops of the other Forts did increase , ( the French , notwithstanding our Shipping , pouring their Forces amain into the Island ) hastened the Duke to raise the Siege and to retreat , to ship his men again for England . Novemb. 8. early in the morning the Drums beat , and the Army prepares for a March ; but scarce had the Rearguard come out , but the Troops of the Enemy appeared equal in number for Foot , and far stronger in Horse , which the Enemy had ( during the Siege ) landed in the Island under the favor of the Little-Fort , and the Meadow-Castle , ( the two places so strangely omitted at the first to be possessed by the English : ) Yet notwithstanding their strength , and the advantage of falling upon an Army on a retreat , which had endured much hardship and received many discouragements , would not the Enemy engage in plain field , when the Duke several times drew up the Army in their march , and made a stand in hopes of a Battel . But the wary French Commander shunned the hazard of Fight on equal terms , foreseeing a greater advantage with less hazard : For no sooner were the English entred into the Narrow Causey and Lane , having on each hand deep ditches and Salt-pits , but the Enemy observed the advantage , and that the English had neglected to raise a Fort at the entry of the Causey to secure their retreat , and ( yet worse ) that they had not raised a Fort at the further end thereof near the Bridge to secure the passage over it , but had only raised a small Work not tenable on the further side of the Bridge , whereupon the Enemy advanced with great fury on a weak Rearguard of Horse , and quickly put them to a retreat , who in that Narrow Causey disordered the Foot , and the Enemy thereby took the advantage , followed close and did much execution upon the English : Those who escaped the sword , were drowned in the Salt-pits and Ditches ; and the Crowd was so great on the Bridge , ( the Enemy pursuing them over ) that many English were drowned in the River . Yet in this discom●ited condition the English took courage , faced about , rallied their Forces , made up a smart body that drew up to fight the Enemy ; but the French ( not daring to engage but upon great advantage ) were enforced to retreat over the Bridge . The English lost several hundreds of men , and many Colors , and great was their dishonor : The loss of the men was not so great , as that they were left upon so unequal terms , where the proof and valor of an Englishman could not put forth it self . Novemb. 9. the Army was shipped , and the Duke promiseth the Rochellers to come again to their relief , and presently after set sail for England , meeting with the Earl of Holland as he was setting out of Plymouth coming with a Supply . And now every man passeth his censure upon this Expedition : Some laying the fault upon the Duke , ( 1 ) For being too slow in his march after the first landing , whereby the Enemy got in provision and heartned his men . ( 2 ) In being too remiss during the Siege , in not preventing provisions for going into the Citadel , by doubling Guards at Land and Sea , when the wind stood fair . ( 3 ) In omitting to take in the Little Fort , from whence ( as it was said ) proceeded all the misery that afterwards followed . ( 4 ) In retreating before all things were certainly prepared in order to a secure march in narrow places and passages . The Duke pleaded for himself , That he acted for the most part by the advice of a Council of War ; and if Orders were given , and not observed , it was not his fault : That had the Earl of Holland come with a Supply of shipping , men and victuals , so soon as he might and ought to have done , he had then without doubt so narrowly blocked up the Harbor to the Citadel by Sea , that no Provision should have got into it . The Earl of Holland answered for himself , That when he was ready to have gone aboard the Fleet at Plymouth , the Ships with Provision were not come out of Chattam ; and when the Provisions were shipt , time was spent before he could get them to a Rendevouz ; and when they were come to a Rendevouz , and he ready to set sail with the whole Fleet , the winds proved contrary . But some of the chief Commanders when they came into England , spake somwhat loudly of other miscarriages at Rhee , pleading much on the behalf of the Council of War. And now when the unfortunate Action of Rhee was known and published throughout the Nation , the cry of the People was so great , and the Kings necessities so pressing , that it was in every mans mouth , A Parliament must needs be summoned : For we have now provoked two potent neigbor Kings , and near Enemies ; our Coasts and Ports were unguarded , our able Commanders worne away or not imployed : The Mariners come in multitudes to the Court at Whitehall , in great disorder and confusion crying out for Pay , and much ado there was to appease them : The Enemies come into our Harbors , survey our Rivers , and the Fishermen can scarce look out : A vast number of our Ships have been lost and taken in the three years past , and the Merchants cease to build more , because they were prest for the Kings service at a low rate , and not paid ; and the Mariners flee from their own imployment , fearing to be prest again ; And our Enemies grow upon us , especially in the Eastern Countries . We give you here a brief Account of such Arrearages as were behind and unpaid for Freight of Ships , Seamens Wages , and Materials for Shipping , in the Years 1625 , 1626 , & 1627. FOr freight of Merchants and Newcastle-Ships imployed in his Majesties service , and for several Bills of provisions yet unpaid in the years 1625 , & 1626 , according to the former Estimates & Privy-seals passed for the same l. 60000 s. 00 d. 00 For the freight of sundry Merchants and Newcastle-ships imployed in his Majesties service to the Isle of Rhee and other places , in the year 1627 19560 12 04 For Seamens wages in the same year 1627 , ending the last of this moneth 61957 19 08 The repairing of the Hulls & Masts of the said Ships to make them fit only for imployment in the Narrow-Seas , together with repair , and for setting forth of the Nostredame and Sea-waller , two Prise-ships 05761 10 04 For repairing the said Ships mentioned in the margin , for their Hulls , Masts , &c. at 1000 marks apeece 08000 00 00 For supply of 700 Tuns of Cordage taken out of his Majesties Stores , for furnishing to Sea of several Fleets , at 26 l. 13 s. 4 d. per Tun , being demanded upon several Estimates to be made good at the end of each service , and yet unpaid 18666 13 04 Besides these Arrears , there were Demands made by the Navy for supplying the Stores with Mast , Timber , Plank , Deal , Sales , Ropes , Tar , Tallow , Iron , Anchors , &c. the Sum of 26000 00 00 The Rochellers , after the Dukes arrival in England , sent their Deputies to his Majesty for succor and relief in their distressed condition , and presented their Desires in nature of a Remonstrance to the King and the Lords of the Council ; wherein they gave his Majesty most humble thanks for the great assistance and comfort they had received by the Fleet sent in Iuly last , whereof the Duke of Buckingham was Admiral , which would have been of greater assistance unto them , had the season of the year permitted their stay longer there , or that the supply of Victuals and Ammunition had come unto them which his Majesty had assigned . That they are given to understand , that there is application made to the King of Denmark to propound the making of a Peace between the two Crowns of England and France , a thing to be wished ( if really intended : ) But the Proceedings of France with the Reformed Churches there , hath hitherto been such , as when they spake most fair , and nothing but Peace uttered , nothing less was intended , and great advantages thereby have been taken against the Reformed Churches . But in case the Treaty do proceed , they humbly prayed , that then his Majesty will be pleased to insist upon the Capitulation which was made upon his mediation , and for which he passed his word that the Reformed Churches should perform on their part , which they kept inviolable till there were Forces placed and kept in Forts against them contrary to Capitulation , and more Forces drawn down in order to the reduction of the Remonstrants , and a Fleet unexpectedly come upon them to destroy their Navigation , when nothing on their part was offered in violation of the Treaty . They did further remonstrate , That now the Forces of France are breaking down apace about them totally to block them up by Land , and do intend to make a Barracado cross the Channel , leaving a narrow passage for the flux and reflux of the Sea , and by that means to stop all manner of Provisions by Sea ; which evidently remonstrates their further ruine , if they with all expedition have not succor and help from his Majesty of Great Britain : For their necessities and straits are very great already , by reason their Magazines are consumed , their monies spent , and the Inhabitants reduced to small allowances . And therefore do beseech his Majesty with all possible diligence to send them supply of all sorts of Provisions fit for a Siege , and to succor them once more with the Navy-Royal to interrupt the blocking up of the River , otherwise they are inevitably lost . And lastly they did humbly beseech his Majesty and the Lords of his Council to have also so far pity of their indigencie and need , as to permit a General Collection to be made in England and Scotland , of such persons whom God shall move to contribute to their succor and relief . And declare that they are resolved still to hold out , hoping yet a Relief would come that might be of advantage unto them ; and they were assured thereof by the Duke of Buckingham at his departure , that he would once more come in person to their assistance . In this state of Affairs , it is said , Sir Robert Gotton being thereunto called , presented his Advice to certain Lords of the Council in manner following . AS soon as the House of Austria had incorporated it self with Spain , and by their new Discoveries gotten to themselves the Wealth of the Indies , They began to affect , and have ever since pursued a Fifth Monarchy . The Emperor Charls would lay the first Foundation of Italy , by surprising Rome : From this he was thrust by force , and respect of Religion , Hen. 8. being made Caput Foediris against him . He then attempted High-Germany , practising by faction and force to reduce them first to Petty States , and so to his absolute power : In this Hen. 8. again prevented him , by laying the Lutheran Princes under this Confederacie and assistance . His Son the Second Philip pursued the same Ambition in the Netherlands of Germany , by reduction whereof he intended to make his way further into the others . This the late Queen of England interrupted , by siding with the afflicted people on the one part , and making herself the Head of the Protestant League with the Princes on the other part , drawing in secret o● State the countenance of France , to give the more reputation of assistance to them , and security to it self . Spain seeing his hopes thus fruitless by these Unions , and streights , began first to break , if he might , the Amity of France and England : But finding the Common danger to be a fast tie , he raiseth up a party in that Kingdom of his own ; by which the French King was so distressed , that had not the English Council assisted and relieved him , Spain had there removed that next and greatest Obstacle of his Ambition . His Council now tells him from these examples , That the way to his great work is impossible , so long as England lay a let in his way ; And adviseth him , that the remove of that Obstacle be the first of his intents . This drew on those often secret practises against the person of the Queen , and his open fury in Eighty Eight against the body of the State : which she perceiving , following the advice of a free Council , would never after admit of a Peace ; winning thereby the hearts of a loving people , who ever found hands and money for all occasions at home , and keeping sacredly all her Alliances abroad , securing to her Confederates all her time freedom from fear of Spanish slavery , and so ended her old and happy days in glory . Spain then , by the wisdom and power of that great Lady , despoiled so of his means to hurt , though not of his desires , makes up with her Peaceful Successor of happy memory that Golden League ; That disarming us at home by the opinion of Security , and giving them a power in our Councils by believing their Friendships and pretended Marriage , gave them way to cherish amongst us a Party of their own , and benefit of power abroad to lead in Jealousie and some division between us and our Confederates : By which we see they have swallowed up the Fortune of your Majesties Brother's Estate , with the rest of the Imperial States ; distressed the King of Denmark by that quarrel ; diverted Sweden's assistance by the Wars with the Pole , and moving them now with offer of the Danish Crown ; And now ( whether from the Plot of our Fatality ) hath cast such a bone between France and us , as hath made themselves by our quarrel of Religion a fast Confederate , and us a dangerous Enemy . So as now we are left no other assurance against their malice and ambition , but the Netherlands , where the tie of mutual safety is weakned by daily discontents bred and fed between us by some ill-affected to both our securities , that from the doubtfulness of friendship as we now stand , we may rather suspect from our own domestick Faction , if they grow too furious , they will rather follow the example of Rome in her growing ( that held that equal safety , honorable and more easie , dare regnum , then subjugare provinciam ) considering the power they have in their hands , then to give any friendly assistance to save the present condition of a State. You may therefore see in what terms we stand abroad , and I fear we are at home for resistance in no better state . There must be to withstand a Forein Invasion , a proportion both of Sea and Land-Forces : For to give an Enemy an easie passage , and a Port to relieve him in , is no less then to hazard all at one stake . And it is to be considered , That no March by Land can be of that speed to make head against the landing of an Enemy . Then that follows , That there is no such prevention , as to be Master of the Sea. To this point of Necessary Defence , there can be no less then Two hundred and forty thousand pounds . For the Land-Forces , if it were for an Offensive War , the men of less livelihood were the best spared ; and we used formerly to make such War Purgamenta reipub ▪ if we made no further purchase by it . But for the safety of a Commonwealth , the wisdom of all times did never intrust the Publick Cause to any other then to such as had a portion in the Publick Adventure . And that we saw in Eighty Eight , when the care of the Queen , and of the Council , did make the body of that large Army no other then of the Trained Bands , which with the Auxiliaries of the whole Realm , amounted to no less then Twenty four thousand men . Neither were any of these drawn from forth their Country and proper habitations , before the end of May , that they might be no long grievance to the Publick ; such Discontentments being to us a more fatal Enemy , then any Forein forces . The careful distributing and directing of their Sea and Land-forces , being more fitting for a Council of War , then a private man to advise of , I pass over ; yet shall ever be willing and ready , when I shall be called , humbly to offer up such Observations as I have gathered by the former like occasion in this Realm . To make up this Preparation , there are requisite two things , Money , and Affections ; for they cannot be properly severed . It was well and wisely said of that great and grave Councellor the Lord Burleigh in the like case , to the late Queen ; Win hearts , and you have their hands and purses . And I find that of late , Diffidence hath been in the one , and hath unhappily prevented the other . In gathering then of Money for this present need , there are three things requisite , Speed , Assurance , and Satisfaction ; And the way to gather ( as in other like cases hath been done ) must be by the path-way formerly called Via regia , being more secure and speedy : For by unknown and untrodden ways , it is both rough and tedious , and never succeedeth well . This last way , although it took place as it were by a Supply at first , and received no general denial , yet since , it hath drawn many to consult with themselves and others in the consequence , as it is now conceived a pressure on their Liberties , and against Law. I much fear , if that now again it be offered , either in the same face , or by Privy-seal , it will be refused wholly . Neither find I that the restraint of the Recusants hath produced any other effect , then a stiff resolution in themselves and others to forbear . Besides , although it were at the first with some assurance , yet when we consider the Commissions and other forms incident to such like services , as that how long it hangs in hand , and the many delays that are , we may easily see that such a Sum granted by the Parliament , is far sooner and easier levied . If any will make the succession of times to produce an inevitable necessity to enforce it if denied , whether in general by Excise or Imposition , or in particular on some select persons , which is the custom of some Countries , and so conclude it , as there , for the Publick State , suprema lege ; He must look for this to be told him , That seeing Necessity must conclude always to gather Money , 't is less speedy or assured then that by a Parliament : The sucess attendeth the humor of the heedless Multitude , that are full of jealousie and distrust , and so unlike to comply to any unusual Course of Levy , but by force ; which if used , the effect is fearful , and hath been fatal to the State. Whereas that by Parliament resteth principally on the Regal person , who may with ease and safety mould them to his fit designs by a gracious yielding to their just desires and Petitions . If a Parliament then be the most speedy assurance and safe way , it is fit to conceive what is the fairest way to act and work that to the present need . First for the time of usual Summons , Forty days , reputed to be too large for this present Necessity , it may be by dating the Writs lessened , since it is no positive Law ; so that a care be had that there may a County-day after the Sheriff hath received the Writ , before the time of sitting . If then the Sum to be levied be once granted and agreed of for the time , there may be in the body of the Grant an Assignment made to the Knights of every County respectively , who under such assurance may safely give Security proportionable to the Receipts , to such as shall adventure in present for the Publick service any Sums of money . The last and weightiest Consideration , if a Parliament be thought fit , is , How to remove or comply the Differences between the King and Subjects in their mutual demands . And what I have learned amongst the better sort of the Multitude , I will freely declare , that your Lordships may be the more enabled to remove , and answer those Distrusts , that either concern Religion , publick safety of the King and State , or the just Liberty of the Commonwealth . Religion is a matter that they lay nearest to their Consciences , and they are led by this ground of jealousie to doubt some practices against it . First , for that though the Spanish Match was broken by the careful industry of my Lord of Buckingham , out of his religious care ( as he then declared ) that the Articles there demanded might lead to some such Sufferance as might endanger the quiet , if not the state of the Reformed Religion here ; yet there have ( when he was an Actor principal in the Conditions of France ) as hard , if not worse to the preservation of our Religion , passed , then those with Spain . And the suspect is strengthened by the close keeping of this Agreement , and doubt in them of his affection , in that his Mother and others , many his Ministers of near imploiment about him are so affected . They talk much of his advancing men Popishly devoted , to Places in the Camp of nearest service and chief Command ; and that the Recusants have got these late years by his power , more courage and assurance then before . If to clear these doubts , ( which perhaps are worse in fancie then in truth ) he take a course , it might much advance the Publick service against the squeamish humors , that have more of violent Passion then of setled Judgment , and are not the least of the opposite number in the Commonwealth . The next is , The late misfortunes and losses of Men , Munition , and Honor in the late Undertakings abroad ; which the more temperate spirits impute to want of Council , and the more sublime Wits to Practice . They begin with the Palatinate , and lay the fault of the loss thereof on the imputed Credit of Gondomar , distrusting him for the staying of supply to Sir Horatio Vere , when Colonel Cecil was cast on that imployment ; by which the King of Spain became Master of the Kings Childrens Inheritance . And when Count Mansfield had a Royal supply of Forces to assist the Princes of our party for the recovety thereof , either Plot or Error defeated the enterprise for us to Spains advantage . That Sir Robert Mansfields Expedition to Algiers , should purchase only the security and guard of the Spanish Coasts . To spend many Hundred thousand pounds in the Cadiz-Voyage , against the Advice in Parliament , only to warn the King of Spain to be in readiness , and so our selves weakned , is taken for a sign of an ill affection amongst the Multitude . The spending of much Munition , Victuals and Money , in my Lord Willoughbies Journey , is counted an unthrifty error in the Director of it ; To disarm our selves in fruitless Voyages , may seem a plot of danger . It was held not long ago a fundamental Rule of our Neighbors , and our Security , by the old Lord Burleigh , That nothing can prevent the Spanish Monarchy , but a Fastness of those two Princes , whose Amity gave countenance and courage to the Netherlands and German-Princes to make head against his Ambition . And we see , by this disunion , a fearful Defeat hath happened to the King of Denmark and that party , to the advantage of the Austrian Family . And this waste of Publick Treasure in fruitless Expeditions , will be an important Cause to hinder any new Supply in Parliament . Another fear that may disturb the smooth and speedy passage of the Kings desires in Parliament , is the vast waste of the Kings livelihood ; whereby is like , as in former times , to arise this jealousie and fear , That when he hath not of his own to support his ordinary Charge , for which the Lands of the Crown were setled unalterable , and called Sacrum patrimonium Principis , that then he must needs of necessity rest upon those assistances of the people , which ever were only collected and consigned for the Commonwealth ; from whence it is like there will be no great labor and stiffness , to induce his Majesty to an Act of Resumption ; since such desires of the State have found an easie way in the will of all Princes , from the Third Henry unto the last . But that which is like to pass the deepest into their Disputes and care , is the late Pressures they supposed to have been done upon the Publick Liberty and Freedom of the Subject , in commanding their Goods without assent by Parliament , imprisoning and confining their Persons without special Cause declared , and that made good against them by the Judges lately , and pretending a Writ to command their attendances in Forein war ; All which they are like to enforce as repugnant to any positive Laws , Institutions , and Customary Immunities of this Commonwealth . And these dangerous distastes to the people are not a little improved by the unexampled course , as they conceive , of retaining an Inland Army in Winter-season , when former times of general fear , as in Eighty eight , produced none such ; And makes them in their distracted fears to conjecture idly , it was raised wholly to subject their Fortunes to the will of Power , rather then of Law ; and to make good some further breach upon their Liberties and Freedoms at home , rather then defend us from any force abroad . How far such Jealousies , if they meet with any unusual disorder of lawless Soldiers , are an apt distemper of the loose and needy Multitude , which will easily turn away upon any occasion in the State that they can side withall , as a glorious pretence of Religion and Publick safety , when their true end will be only rapine and ruine of all , is worthy a prudent and preventing care . I have thus far delivered , with that freedom you pleased to admit , such Difficulties as I have taken up amongst the Multitude , as may arrest , if not remove Impediments to any Supply in Parliament . Which how to facilitate , may better become the care of your Judgments , then my Ignorance . Only I could wish to remove away a personal distaste of my Lord Duke of Buckingham amongst the people : He might be pleased , if there be a necessity of a Parliament , to appear first Adviser thereunto , and of the satisfaction it shall please his Majesty of grace to give at such time to his people ; which I would wish to be grounded by president of his best and fortunate Progenitors ; And which I conceive will satisfie the desires and hopes of all , if it may appear in some sort to be drawn down from him to the people , by the zealous care & industry that my Lord of Buckingham hath of the publick unity and content . By which there is no doubt but he may remain not only secure from any further quarrel with them , but merit a happy memory amongst them of a zealous Patriot . For , to expiate the passion of the people , at such times , with sacrifice of any of his Majesties Servants , I have found it — as in Ed. 2. Rich. 2. Hen. 6. — no less fatal to the Master , then to the Ministers in the end . These and such like Considerations being represented to the King , Ian. 29. A Resolution is taken at the Council-Table , to call a Parliament , to meet the 17. of March following . And now Warrants are sent according to a preceding Order made in this moneth , to all parts , to release the Imprisoned Gentry , and confined Gentlemen , for the business of the Loan-money : And as fast as Writs came to the Counties and Boroughs to choose Members for Parliament , those Gentlemen who suffered for the Loan were chiefly in the Peoples eye to be elected to serve for them in the ensuing Parliament , to present their Grievances , and assert their Liberties . The Names of the Gentry , who about the time that Writs issued out for a Parliament , were released out of Restraint and Confinement , appear by the ensuing Order and List. At Whitehall : Present , The Kings Majesty , Lord Treasurer , Lord President , Lord Admiral , Lord Steward , Lord Chamberlain , Earl of Suffolk , Earl of Dorset , Earl of Salisbury , Earl of Morton , Lord Viscount Conway , Lord Bishop of Durham , Lord B. Bath and Wells , Mr. Treasurer , Mr. Comptroller , Master of the Wards , Mr. Secretary Cook , Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer , Mr. Chancellor of the Duchy . IT is this day Ordered by His Majesty being present in Council , That the several persons hereunder written , shall from henceforth be discharged and set at liberty from any Restraint heretofore put upon them by His Majesties Commandment : And hereof all Sheriffs and other Officers are to take notice . Knights Sir Iohn Strangewayes Sir Thomas Grantham Sir William Armin Sir William Massam Sir William Wilmore Sir Erasmus Drailon Sir Edward Aiscough Sir Nathanael Barnardiston Sir Robert Poyntz Sir Beacham St. Iohn Sir Oliver Luke Sir Maurice Berkley Sir Thomas Wentworth Sir Iohn Wray Sir William Constable Sir Iohn Hotham Sir Iohn Pickering Sir Francis Barrington Sir William Chancey Esquires . William Anderson Terringham Norwood Iohn Trigonwell Thomas Godfrey Richard Knightley Thomas Nicholas Iohn Hampden George Ratcliffe Iohn Dulton Henry Pool Nathanael Coxwell Robert Hatley Thomas Elmes Gent. Thomas Wood Iohn Wilkinson William Allen Thomas Holyhead All these remained confined to several Counties . Knights . Sir Walter Earl Sir Thomas Darnell Sir Harbotle Grimston Esquire . George Catesby Londoners . Edward Hooker George Basset Londoners . Iames Wooldrond Londoners . Henry Sanders Londoners . All Prisoners in the Fleet. Knights . Sir Iohn Corbet Sir Iohn Elliot Esquire . William Coriton Londoners . Iohn Stevens Thomas Deacon Iohn Potter In the Gate-house . Knight . Sir Iohn Heveningham Londoners . Samuel Vassal William Angel In the Marshalsey . Londoners . William Savage Mathanael Manesty In the New-Prison . Londoners . Robert Lever Iohn Peacock Edward Ridge Iohn Oclabery Andrew Stone William Spurstow Roger Hughes Iohn Pope Iames Bunch Thomas Garris Iames Waldron Iohn Bennet Ambrose Aylot Thomas Sharp Thomas Totham Augustine Brabrook Robert Payne Edward Talston Iohn Whiting Thomas Webb Iohn Ferry All in the Custody of a Messenger . Orders issued also from the Council to the Lord Major and Aldermen of London , To use moderation in the demanding of the Loan-money from those of the City of London who deferred paiment . And now Archbishop Abbot , the Earl of Bristol , and the Bishop of Lincoln , notwithstanding the cloud they were under , are had in consideration by the King and Council , and Writs are ordered to be sent unto them to sit in the House of Peers the ensuing Parliament . After the Writs of Summons went forth , the King gave direction for a Commission to raise monies by Impositions in nature of an Excise , to be levied throughout the Nation , to pass under the Great Seal . And at the same time ordered the Lord Treasurer to pay Thirty thousand pounds to Philip Burlemac a Dutch Merchant in London , to be by him returned over into the Low-Countries by Bill of Exchange unto Sir William Balfour and Iohn Dalbier , for the raising of a Thousand Horse , with Arms both for Horse and Foot. The supposed intent of which German Horse was , as was then feared , to inforce the Excise which was then setting on foot . The Council also had then under consideration the Levying of Ship-money upon the Counties , to raise the King a Revenue that way . But now that a Parliament was called , the Council held it unfit and unseasonable to debate these matters any further at that time . A little before the Parliament assembled , a Society of Recusants was taken in Clerkenwell : Divers of them were found to be Jesuites , and the House wherein they were taken was designed to be a Colledge of that Order . Among their Papers was found a Copy of this Letter written to their Father Rector at Bruxels , discovering their Designs upon this State , and their Judgment of the temper thereof , with a Conjecture of the success of the ensuing Parliament . Father Rector , LEt not the damp of Astonishment seise upon your ardent and zealous soul , in apprehending the sudden and unexpected Calling of a Parliament : We have not opposed , but rather furthered it ; So that we hope as much in this Parliament , as ever we feared any in Queen Elizabeth's days . You must know , the Council is engaged to assist the King by way of Prerogative , in case the Parliamentary way should fail . You shall see this Parliament will resemble the Pelican , which takes a pleasure to dig out with her beak her own bowels . The Election of Knights and Burgesses hath been in such confusion of apparent Faction , as that which we were wont to procure heretofore with much art and industry ( when the Spanish Match was in Treaty ) now breaks out naturally as a botch or boil , and spits and spues out its own rankor and venom . You remember how that famous and immortal Statesman the Count of Gondomar fed King James his fancy , and rocked him asleep with the soft and sweet sound of Peace , to keep up the Spanish Treaty . Likewise we were much bound to some Statesmen of our own Country , for gaining time by procuring those most advantagious Cessations of Arms in the Palatinate , and advancing the Honor and Integrity of the Spanish Nation , and vilifying the Hollanders ; remonstrating to King James , That that State was most ungrateful both to his Predecessor Queen Elizabeth , and his Sacred Majesty ; That the States were more obnoxious then the Turk , and perpetually injured his Majesties loving Subjects in the East-Indies , and likewise they have usurped from his Majesty the Regality and unvaluable profit of the Narrow-Seas in fishing upon the English Coast , &c. This great Statesman had but one principal means to further their great and good designs , which was to set on King James , that none but the Puritan-Faction , which plotted nothing but Anarchy , and his Confusion , were averse to this most happy Union . We steered on the same Course , and have made great use of this Anarchical Election , and have prejudicated and anticipated the Great one , that none but the Kings Enemies , and his , are chosen of this Parliament , &c. We have now many strings to our Bow , and have strongly fortified our Faction , and have added two Bulwarks more : For when King James lived ( you know ) he was very violent against Arminianism , and interrupted ( with his pestilent Wit and deep Learning ) our strong Designs in Holland , and was a great Friend to that old Rebel and Heretick the Prince of Orange . Now we have planted that Soveraign Drug Arminianism , which we hope will purge the Protestants from their Heresie ; and it flourisheth and bears fruit in due season . The Materials which build up our Bulwark , are the Projectors and Beggers of all ranks and qualities : Howsoever , both these Factions cooperate to destroy the Parliament , and to introduce a new species and form of Government , which is Oligarchy . Those serve as direct Mediums and Instruments to our end , which is the Universal Catholick Monarchy . Our foundation must be Mutation , and Mutation will cause a Relaxation , which will serve as so many violent diseases , as the Stone , Gout , &c. to the speedy distraction of our perpetual and insufferable anguish of body , which is worse then death it self . We proceed now by Councel and mature deliberation , how and when to work upon the Duke's Iealousie and Revenge ; And in this we give the honor to those which merit it , which are the Church-Catholicks . There is another matter of Consequence , which we take much into our consideration and tender care , which is to slave off the Puritans , that they hang not in the Duke's ears , They are impudent subtile people . And it is to be feared lest they should negotiate a Reconciliation between the Duke and the Parliament : T is certain , the Duke would gladly have reconciled himself to the Parliament at Oxford , and Westminster ; But now we assure our selves we have so handled the matter , that both Duke and Parliament are irreconcileable . For the better prevention of the Puritans , the Arminians have already locked up the Duke's ears ; And we have those of our own Religion , which stand continually at the Duke's Chamber , to see who goes in and out : We cannot be too circumspect and careful in this regard . I cannot choose but laugh to see how some of our own Coat have accoutred themselves ; you would scarce know them , if you saw them : And 't is admirable , how in speech and gesture they act the Puritans . The Cambridge-Scholars to their woful experience shall see we can act the Puritans a little better then they have done the Jesuites : They have abused our sacred Patron Saint Ignatius in jest , but we will make them smart for it in earnest . I hope you will excuse my merry digression ; For I confess unto you , I am at this time transported with joy to see how happily all Instruments and means , as well great as less , cooperate unto our purposes . But to return unto the main Fabrick : Our foundation is Arminianism ; The Arminians and Projectors , as it appears in the premisses , affect mutation . This we second , and enforce by probable Arguments . In the first place we take into consideration the Kings honor , and present necessity ; and we shew how the King may free himself of his Ward , as Lewis the Eleventh did . And for his great splendor and lustre , he may raise a vast Revenue , and not be beholden to his Subjects ; which is by way of Imposition of Excise . Then our Church-Catholicks proceed to shew the means how to settle this Excise , which must be by a Mercenary Army of Horse and Foot. For the Horse , we have made that sure ; They shall be Foreiners , and Germans , who will eat up the Kings Revenues , and spoil the Country wheresoever they come , though they should be well paid ; What havock will they make there , when they get no Pay , or are not duly paid ? They will do more mischief , then we hope the Army will do . We are provident and careful , that this Mercenary Army of Two thousand Horse , and Twenty thousand Foot , shall be taken on and in pay before the Excise be setled . In forming the Excise , the Country is most likely to rise : If the Mercenary Army subjugate the Country , then the Soldiers and Projectors shall be paid out of the Confiscations ; If the Country be too hard for the Soldiers , then they must consequently mutiny , which is equally advantagious unto us . Our superlative design is , to work the Protestants as well as the Catholicks to welcom in a Conqueror , and that is by this means : We hope instantly to dissolve Trades , and hinder the building of Shipping , in devising probable Designs , and putting on the State upon Expeditions , as that of Cadiz was , in taking away the Merchant Ships , so that they may not easily catch and light upon the West-India Fleet , &c. The Parliament being assembled the Seventeenth day of March , His Majesty began with this Speech . My Lords and Gentlemen , THese Times are for Action : Wherefore for Examples sake , I mean not to spend much time in Words ; expecting accordingly that your ( as I hope ) good Resolutions will be speedy , not spending time unnecessarily , or ( that I may better say ) dangerously ; For , tedious Consultations at this conjuncture of time , are as hurtful as ill Resolutions . I am sure you now expect from me , both to know the cause of your meeting , and what to resolve on : Yet I think there is none here but knows that Common danger is the cause of this Parliament , and that Supply at this time is the chief end of it : So that I need but point to you what to do . I will use but few perswasions : For if to maintain your own Advices , and as now the case stands for the following thereof , the true Religion , Laws , and Liberties of this State , and the just Defence of our true Friends and Allies , be not sufficient , then no Eloquence of Men or Angels will prevail . Only let me remember you , That my duty most of all , and every one of yours according to his degree , is , to seek the maintenance of this Church and Commonwealth : And certainly , there never was a time in which this duty was more necessarily required , then now . I therefore judging a Parliament to be the antient , speediest , and best way in this time of Common danger , to give such Supply as to secure our selves , and to save our Friends from imminent ruine , have called you together . Every man now must do according to his conscience : Wherefore if you ( as God forbid ) should not do your duties in contributing what the State at this time needs , I must in discharge of my conscience use those other means which God hath put into my hands , to save that which the follies of particular men may otherwise hazard to lose . Take not this as a Threatening , for I scorn to threaten any but my Equals ; but an Admonition from him , that both out of nature and duty , hath most care of your preservations and prosperities : And ( though I thus speak ) I hope that your demeanors at this time will be such , as shall not only make me approve your former Councels , but lay on me such obligations as shall tie me by way of thankfulness to meet often with you : For , be assured , that nothing can be more pleasing unto me , then to keep a good Correspondence with you . I will only adde one thing more , and then leave my Lord Keeper to make a short Paraphrase upon the Text I have delivered you ; which is , To remember a thing , to the end we may forget it . You may imagine that I came here with a doubt of success of what I desire , remembring the distractions of the last Meeting : But I assure you that I shall very easily and gladly forget and forgive what is past , so that you will at this present time leave the former ways of distractions , and follow the Councel late given you , To maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of Peace . The Lord Keeper seconded his Majesty on this manner . YE are here-in Parliament by his Majesties Writ and Royal command , to consult and conclude of the weighty and urgent Business of this Kingdom . Weighty it is , and great ; as great as the honor , safety , and protection of Religion , King and Country ; And what can be greater ? Urgent it is ; It is little pleasure to tell or think how urgent : And to tell it with circumstances , were a long work : I will but touch the sum of it in few words . The Pope and House of Austria have long affected , the one a Spiritual , the other a Temporal Monarchy : And to effect their ends , to serve each others turn , the House of Austria , besides the rich and vast Territories of both the Indies and in Africa joined together , are become Masters of Spain and Italy , and the great Country of Germany . And although France be not under their subjection , yet they have invironed all about it ; The very Bowels of the Kingdom swayed by the Popish Faction : They have gotten such a part and such intercession in the Government , that under pretence of Religion , to root out the Protestants and our Religion , they have drawn the King to their adherence so far , that albeit upon his Majesties interposition by his Ambassadors , and his engagement of his Royal word , there was between the King and his Subjects Articles of Agreement , and the Subjects were quiet , whereof his Majesty interessed in that great Treaty , was bound to see a true accomplishment ; yet against that strict Alliance , that Treaty hath been broken , and those of the Religion have been put to all extremity , and undoubtedly will be ruined , without present help . So as that King is not onely diverted from assisting the Common Cause , but hath been misled to engage himself in hostile acts against our King and other Princes , making way thereby for the House of Austria , to the ruine of his own , and other Kingdoms . Other Potentates , that in former times did ballance and interrupt the growing greatness of the House of Austria , are now removed and diverted . The Turk hath made Peace with the Emperor , and turned himself wholly into Wars with Asia : The King of Sweden is embroiled in a War with Poland , which is invented by Spanish practices , to keep that King from succoring our part : The King of Denmark is chased out of his Kingdom on this , and on that side the Zound ; so as the House of Austria is on the point to command all the Sea-coasts from Dantzick to Embden , and all the Rivers falling into the Sea in that great extent : So as besides their power by Land , they begin to threaten our Part by Sea , to the subversion of all our State. In the Baltique-Sea , they are providing and arming all the Ships they can build , or hire ; And have at this time their Ambassadors treating at Lubeck , to draw into their service the Hans-Towns , whereby taking from us and our Neighbors the Eastland-Trade , by which our Shipping is supplied , they expect without any blow given to make themselves Masters of that Sea. In these Western parts , by the Dunkirkers , and by the now French and Spanish Admiral , to the ruine of Fishing ( of infinite consequence both to us , and the Low-Countries ) they infest all our Coast , so as we pass not safely from Port to Port. And that Fleet which lately assisted the French at the Isle of Rhee , is now preparing at S. Andrews , with other Ships built in the Coast of Biscay to reinforce it , and a great Fleet is making ready in Lisbon ; where besides their own , they do serve themselves upon all Strangers Bottoms coming to that Coast for Trade : And these great preparations are , no doub● , to assault us in England or Ireland , as they shall find advantage , and a place fit for their turn . Our friends of the Netherlands , besides the fear that justly troubles them lest the whole force of the Emperor may fall down upon them , are distracted by their Voyages into the East , which hath carried both Men and Money into another World , and much weakened them at home . Thus are we even ready on all sides to be swallowed up ; The Emperor , France and Spain being in open War against us , Germany overrun , the King of Denmark , distressed , the King of Sweden diverted , and the Low-Country-men disabled to give us assistance . I speak not this to increase fear , unworthy of English courages , but to press to provision worthy the wisdom of a Parliament : And for that cause his Majesty hath called you hither , that by a timely provision against those great imminent dangers , our selves may be strengthened at home , our Friends and Allies encouraged abroad , and those great causes of fear scattered and dispelled . And because in all Warlike preparations Treasure bears the name , and holds the semblance of the nerves and sinews ; And if a sinew be too short or too weak , if it be either shrunk or strained , the part becomes unuseful : It is needful that you make a good and timely supply of Treasure , without which all Councels will prove fruitless . I might press many Reasons to this end ; but I will but name few . First for his Majesties sake , who requires it . Great is the duty which we owe him by the Law of God ; great by the Law of Nature , and our own Allegiance ; great for his own merit , and the memory of his ever blessed Father . I do but point at them : But methinks our thoughts cannot but recoil on one Consideration touched by his Majesty ; which to me seems to sound like a Parliamentary Pact or Covenant . A War was advised here , Assistance professed , yea and protested here : I do but touch it , I know you will deeply think on it ; and the more , for the example the King hath set you ; His Lands , his Plate , his Jewels he hath not spared to supply the War : What the People hath protested , the King for his part hath willingly performed . Secondly for the Cause sake : It concerns us in Christian charity to tender the distresses of our Friends abroad ; It concerns us in Honor , not to abandon them , who have stood for us . And if this come not close enough , You shall find our Interest so woven and involved with theirs , that the Cause is more ours then theirs . If Religion be in peril , we have the most flourishing and Orthodox Church : If Honor be in question , the Stories and Monuments in former Ages will shew , that our Ancestors have left us as much as any Nation : If Trade and Commerce be in danger , we are Islanders , it is our life . All these at once lie at stake , and so doth our safety and being . Lastly in respect of the manner of his Majesties demand , which is in Parliament , the way that hath ever best pleased the Subjects of England . And good cause for it : For , Aids granted in Parliament work good effects for the People ; they be commonly accompanied with wholsom Laws , gracious Pardons , and the like . Besides , just and good Kings finding the love of their People , and the readiness of their Supplies , may the better forbear the use of their Prerogatives , and moderate the rigor of the Laws towards their Subjects . This way , as his Majesty hath told you , he hath chosen , not as the onely way , but as the fittest ; Not as destitute of others , but as most agreeable to the goodness of his own most gracious disposition , and to the desire and weal of his people . If this be deferred , Necessity , and the Sword of the Enemy make way to the others . Remember his Majesties Admonition ; I say , remember it . Let me but add , and observe Gods mercy towards this Land above all others . The Torrent of War hath overwhelmed other Churches and Countries ; but God hath hitherto restrained it from us , and still gives us warning of every approaching danger , to save us from surprise . And our gracious Soveraign in a true sense of it calls together his High Court of Parliament , the lively Representation of the Wisdom , Wealth , and Power of the whole Kingdom , to join together to repell those hostile Attempts , which have distressed our Friends and Allies , and threatned our selves . And therefore it behoves all to apply their Thoughts unto Councel and Consultations , worthy the greatness and wisdom of this Assembly ; To avoid discontents and divisions , which may either distemper or delay ; And to attend that Unum Necessarium , the Common Cause ; propounding for the scope and work of all the Debates , the general good of the King and Kingdom , whom God hath joined together with an indissoluble knot , which none must attempt to cut or untie . And let all , by unity and good accord , endeavour to pattern this Parliament by the best that have been , that it may be a Pattern to future Parliaments , and may infuse into Parliaments a kind of Multiplying power and faculty , whereby they may be more frequent , and the King our Soveraign may delight to sit on his Throne , and from thence to distribute his graces and favors amongst his people . His Majesty hath given you cause to be confident of this you have heard from his Royal mouth ; which nevertheless he hath given me express command to redouble : If this Parliament , by their dutiful and wise proceedings , shall but give this occasion , His Majesty will be ready , not onely to manifest his gracious acceptation , but to put out all memory of those distastes that have troubled former Parliaments . I have but one thing more to adde , and that is , As your Consultations be serious , so let them be speedy . The Enemy is before-hand with us , and ●lies on the wings of Success . We may dally and play with the Hour-glass that is in our power , but the Hour will not stay for us ; and an Opportunity once lost , cannot be regained . And therefore resolve of your Supplies , that they may be timely , and sufficient , serving the Occasion : Your Councel , your Aid , all is but lost , if your Aid be either too little or too late : And his Majesty is resolved , that his Affairs cannot permit him to expect it over-long . Sir Iohn Finch being chosen Speaker , made this Address to his Majesty , Wednesday the Nineteenth of March. Most Gracious Soveraign , YOur obedient and loyal Subjects , the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses by your Royal Summons here assembled , in obedience to your gracious direction , according to their antient usage and priviledge , have lately proceeded to the Choice of a Speaker ; And whether sequestring their better Judgments for your more weighty Affairs ; or to make it known , that their Honor and Wisdom can take neither increase , or diminution , by the value or demerit of any one particular Member in what place soever serving them ; Omitting others of worth and ability , they have fixed their eyes of favor and affection upon me . Their long knowledge of my unfitness every way to undergo a charge of this important weight and consequence , gave me some hope they would have admitted my just excuse : Yet for their further and clearer satisfaction , I drew the Curtains and let in what light I could upon my inmost thoughts , truly and really discovering to them what my self best knew , and what I most humbly beseech your Royal Majesty to take now into your consideration that of so many hundreds sitting amongst them , they could have found few or none , whose presentation to your Majesty would have been or less repute or advantage to them : for et impeditioris linguae sum , and the poor experience I have of that Royal Assembly is so ill ballanced with true Judgement , that every gust and wave hath power on me , whereby I shall not onely suffer in my own particular , but ( which I apprehend with much more care and sorrow ) do prejudice to their common interest . Wherefore , dread and dear Soveraign , as low as the lowest step of your Royal Throne , I humbly bend , appealing to your great and Soveraign Judgement , for my discharge from this so unequal a burthen imposed on me ; most humbly and earnestly beseeching your most excellent Majesty , for the Honor of that Great Council , and the better digestion of Publick services , there , and withal to avert so ill an Omen , as the choise of me in the beginning of a Parliament , ordained ( I hope ) for the joy of our own , and the envy of other Nations ; that by your gracious Command the House may reconsult , and settle their better thoughts on some more worthy their Election and your Majesties Approbation . But his Majesty not admitting his excuse , approved of the choise . Before the Commons had entred into any Debates , this following Letter , touching the Inconveniencies and Grievances of the State was communicated to the Members of the House , and it was called A Speech without doors . To my noble friends of the Lower-House of Parliament . IF my Country had held me worthy to have served in this Parliament , I had now been made a Member of your Lower-House , as formerly I have been in sundry other Parliaments : But how unkindly soever she dealeth with me , I will ever shew my thankfulness to her , and deliver , by way of observation , what I have heretofore learned in that grave and wise Assembly ; for admonishment to the elder , and a path-way for the younger to walk in . Parliaments in my time have been wont to take up some space at the first meetings , to settle the House , and to determine of unlawfull Elections ; and in this point they never had greater cause to be circumspect , then at this time : For by an Abuse lately crept in , there is introduced a custom , which if it be not foreseen and prevented , will be a great derogation to the Honor , and a weakning to the power of your House . Where the Law giveth a freedom to Corporations to elect Burgesses , and forbideth any indirect course to be taken in their Elections ; many of the Corporations are so base-minded , and timerous , that they will not hazard the indignation of a Lord Lieutenants Letter , who underhand sticks not to threaten them with the charge of a Musket or a Horse at the Muster , if that he hath not the Election of the Burgesses , and not they themselves . And commonly those that the Lords recommend , are such as desire it for protection , or are so ignorant of the place they serve for , as that there being occasion to speak of the Corporation for which they are chosen , they have asked their Neighbors sitting by , whether it were a Sea or a Land Town ? The next thing that is required , is , Liberty of Speech , without which Parliaments have little force or power ; Speech begets doubts , and resolves them , and doubts in Speeches beget understanding ; he that doubts much , asketh often , and learns much ; and he that fears the worst , soonest prevents a mischief . This Priviledge of Speech is anciently granted by the testimony of Philip Comines a Stranger , who prefers our Parliaments , and the Freedom of the Subject in them , above all other Assemblies ; which Freedom , if it be broken or diminished , is negligently lost since the dayes of Comines . If freedom of Speech should be prohibited , when men with modesty make repetition of the Grievances and Enormities of the Kingdom ; when men shall desire reformation of wrongs and injuries committed , and have no relation of evil thought to his Majesty , but with open heart and zeal express their dutifull and reverent respect to him and his service : I say , if this kinde of liberty of Speech be not allowed in time of Parliaments , they will extend no further then to Quarter-Sessions , and their Meetings and Assembles will be unnecessary ; for all means of disorder new crept in , and all remedies and redresses will be quite taken away . As it is no manners to contest with the King in his Election of Councellors and Servants , ( for Kings obey no men , but their Laws ) So were it a great negligence , and part of Treason , for a Subject not to be free in Speech against the abuses , wrongs , and offences , that may be occasioned by persons in Authority . What Remedy can be expected from a Prince to the Subject , if the enormities of his Kingdom be concealed from him ? Or what King so religious or just in his own nature , that may not hazard the loss of the hearts of his Subjects , without this Liberty of Speech in Parliament ? For such is the misfortune of most Princes , and such is the unhappiness of Subjects where Kings affections are setled , and their loves so far transported to promote servants , as they onely trust and credit what they shall inform . In this Case , what Subject dares complain ? or what Subject dares contradict the words or actions of such a servant , if it be not warranted by freedom of a Parliament , they speaking with humility ? For nothing obtaineth favor with a King , so much as diligent obedience . The surest and safest way betwixt the King and his people , which hath least scandal of partiality , is , with indifference , with integrity and sincerity , to examine the Grievances of the Kingdom , without touching upon the person of any man , further then the cause giveth occasion : For otherwise , you shall contest with him that hath the Princes ears open to hearken to his inchanting tongue ; he informs secretly , when you shall not be admitted to excuses , he will cast your deserved malice against him , to your contempt against the King , and seeking to lessen his Authority ; and so will make the Prince the Shield of his Revenge . These are the sinister practices of such servants to deceive their Soveraigns , when our Grievances shall be authentically proved , and made manifest to the World by your pains to examine , and freedom to speak . No Prince can be so affectionate to a servant , or such an Enemy to himself , as not to admit of this indifferent proceeding : If his services be allowable and good , they will appear with glory ; if bad , your labor shall deserve thanks both of Prince and Country . When Justice shall thus shine , people will be animated to serve their King with integrity : For they are naturally inclined to imitate Princes in good and bad . The words of Cicero will then appear , That malicious and evil men make Princes poor ; and one perfect good man is able to make a Realm rich . One Case I will instance that is common in the mouths of all men , and generally , vox Populi vox Dei. One of quality in the last Expedition to the Isle of Rhee , endeavored to conceale the number of men lost in the last encounter , and confidently affirmed their number not to exceed three or four hundred ; till a Doctor of Physick , out of tenderness of Conscience and duty to his Majesty , could not dissemble the vulgar and true Report , but acquainted his Majesty with Two thousand of his Subjects there lost . This was so contrary to the first information , and so displeasing to the Informer and his Designs , that he caused the Physitians remove from his Highness presence , who yet remains in kinde of a banished man. The truth of these two Reports is easily determined by the Clerks of the Bands of each Company , and is worthy to be discovered for Truth sake Truth being so Noble of it self , as it will make him Honorable that promoteth it : Lyes may shadow it , but not darken it : They may blame , but never shame it . By this small President his Majesty shall see himself abused ; and it may be a means for him to reflect both upon men and matters . The men slain are no less injured by concealing their Names , whose lives were lost for King and Country . The Romans would have held it the highest Honor for their friends and posterity so to die : And a Parliament may fear that those that stick not so palpably to wrong a King , may as unjustly cast Aspersions upon the House , and other his loving Subjects . There is no remedy left for these misreports , but a freedom of Speech in Parliament . For there is no wise man that speaks , but knows what , and when to speak , and how to hold his peace . Whilst Subjects tongues are tyed , for fear they may reach him a rap whose conscience cries guilty ; the King and his people are kept from understanding one another ; The Enemy is heartened abroad , and the Malignant humor of Discontent nourished at home , and all for one who is like a Dragon , that bites the ear of the Elephant , because he knows the Elephant cannot reach him with his trunk ; and Princes are abused by false Reports whispered in their ears by Sycophants and Flatterers . Diogenes being asked what beast bit sorest , answered , Of wilde beasts , the Back-biter ; of tame , the Flatterer . Now to descend to Grievances , which are of two kinds ; some concerning the Kingdom in general ; some in particular , which have relation to the general . The Grievances in general are so many in number , as will serve for every Member of the House to present Two apiece to your views . And because I cannot be admitted amongst you my self , yet in regard I have been a Member of you , I will prsume so far as to rank my self with you , and to tender the number of Two unto unto your consideration . My first Complaint is of Titles of Honor ; and in two kindes . First , in respect of the Parties themselves , their Estates and Parentage . Secondly , in respect of the manner of their attaining thereunto , which is mercenary , base , and corrupt , which in reason should not hold : For by Law the consideration is unlawfull . Trajanus commended Plutarch for his Precepts in School , when he taught that men should labor to deserve Honor , but avoid the getting of it basely : For if it were Reputation to have it by Desert , it were Infamy to buy it for Money . In that Age where Rich men were honored , Good men were despised . Honor is not to be valued according to the vulgar opinion of men , but prized and esteemed as the Sirname of Vertue , ingendred in the minde ; and such Honor no King can give , or money can purchase . He that will strive to be more honorable then others , must abandon Passion , Pride , and Arrogancy ; that so his Vertue may shine above others . For Honor consists not in the Title of a Lord , but in the opinion people have of their vertue ; For it is much more honor to deserve , and not to have it , then to have it , and not deserve it . There is one of three things , that commonly causeth mans advancement , Desert , Favor , and Power . The first makes a man worthy of it , the other two are but abuses : For , Favor is but a blinde fortune , an ounce of which at Court , is better then a pound of wisdom : Fortune never favoreth , but flattereth ; She never promiseth , but in the end she deceiveth ; She never raiseth , but she casteth down again . And this Advancement is meeter to be called Luck , then Merit . That Honor that is compassed by Power , takes unto it self Liberty , and desires not to be governed by wisdom , but force . It knows not what it desireth , nor hath a feeling of any Injury : It is neither moved with sweet words , nor pitifull tears ; such men leave not to do evil , because they have a desire to it , but when their power faileth to do it . The true Honor among the honorablest is , where Fortune casts down , where there is no fault : But it is Infamy where Fortune raiseth , where there is no Merit . Examine the State and condition of men raised to Honor these 25 years past , and whether it be desert , favor or power that hath preferred them . Enter into the mischief the Kingdom hath suffered , and doth suffer by it ; and the cause of his Majesties great wants will soon appear : If you collect with your selves how many hungry Courtiers have been raised to the highest top of honor ; After this , examine their Princely expence in these Twenty five years , their Estates in present , and what is requisite to maintain them in their future degrees of honor , to themselves and their Posterity , and you shall finde his Majesties annual Revenues consumed and spent upon those unworthy persons . Besides the impairing and impoverishing of the State , it brings with it the contempt of Greatness and Authority , it breeds an inward malice in Gentlemen better deserving of their Country , and better able to maintain the degree of honor without charge to King or Kingdom , and whose Houses and Alliance may better challenge it then the best of them . The Character of a covetous man is , that he getteth his goods with care , and envy of his Neighbors , with sorrow to his Enemies , with travel to his body , with grief to his Spirit , with scruple to his conscience , with danger to his soul , with suit to his children , and curse to his heirs ; his desire is to live poor , to die rich : But as these vices are made vertues , even so is he honored for them with Title of Nobility . When Philip the second King of Spain entred with Arms upon his Kingdom of Portugal , and though with his sword he might have made fitting Laws ; yet were there some few Priviledges which the Portugals besought they might enjoy ; one whereof was , That the King would make no unworthy person Noble , or without their approbation , which was granted them , and to this day they hold that Freedom , which keeps that Kingdom in the ancient State , Honor and Dignity , ( that is to say ) two Dukes , one Marquis , and Eighteen Earls : And thus much for the point of Honor. The second Grievance I will recommend to your views is , The carriage of our Wars , the excessive charges vainly spent therein , the unworthiness of the people imployed , the grave and experienced neglected , the designs not warranted by reason and discretion , and the executions worse performed , with many other circumstances that depend upon it . But before I proceed herein , I must crave leave to speak to two Points . The one to declare the property and condition of Impostors and Deceivers of Princes . In the other I must clear the House of Parliament of an Imputation cast upon it . Abusers of Princes are they that perswade them to War ; to become poor when they may live in Peace , and become rich ; when they may be loved , cause them to be hated ; when they may enjoy their lives surely , put them in hazard of cross fortune rashly ; and lastly , having necessity to use their Subjects , put them into that necessity , as they refuse to do for him : All this is Pride of the Perswader , as Socrates saith . In the second I will clear the Parliament ( in which I was a Member ) of an ungratefull aspersion cast upon it , that is to say , That the Parliament was a cause to draw his Majesty into a War , and failed on their parts to contribute to it . These have been often repeated , and the Parliament accused ; the contrary hath been as often reiterated , and the truth expressed how far the Parliament proceeded therein . But to stop the mouths of such false Reports , and to free the Parliament of such a calumniation , I must use this Argument . At the Assembly of Oxford , the Parliament being Prorogued thither , Money was required of us towards the furnishing of his Majesties Fleet then preparing , upon many reasons alleadged , too tedious now to repeat , with one consent it was refused . Whereupon there was offer made by him that next the King , seem-to have best Authority , That if they would but contribute Forty thousand pounds , they should choose their Enemy . Whereupon I infer , That before that Proposition there was no Enemy , and therefore no Wars : The motion for Money being denied , the Parliament instantly brake up ; and seeing no Enemy was nominated , nor Money consented unto by us , I see not how the House can be taxed for Peace-breakers , but rather the name to be cast upon some young men ; for youth by nature is prone to pride , especially where experience wants ; They are credulous in what they hear that pleaseth them , and incredulous in what is told them by wise men ; They are despisers of others counsels , and very poor in their own ; They are dangerous for Princes to relie on , for self-will is of greater force then Precepts . Now to proceed : In October following the Fleet put to Sea , and what they did is apparent by a Relation written by a their General at his Return . The Voyage being ended , another followed the next Summer under the command of that noble Lord , the Earl of Lindsey , which through the weakness and disability of the Ships , was not able to perform what he had in charge , and what he desired . The last and most lamentable , was that to the Isle of Rhee , which I likewise refer to a man I have seen , and to the Books printed and extant . These , with that to Algeir , to make up Mess of Island Voyages , I wish might be referred to the examination of choice and experienced Soldiers by Land and by Sea , to report their opinions of it , That so their Errors , their wastefull Expences , their Negligences , their weak Designs , and want of experience may appear , with the Success that might have proved , if Advice and Counsel had had preheminence above Will and Arrogancy ; For he that is ignorant of truth and knowledge , and led away with pride of his own opinions , must needs err . After it hath past your approbation , it is worthy his Majesties view , who then shall see the difference of Actions well mannaged , and rash and heady Enterprises undertook by ignorance , and performed by folly . Business of so great a consequence ought to be considered of with Counsel , and not onely of the necessity , profit and honor , but of the possibility that was like to follow ; for an Action well begun is half ended . My experience in Discipline of War by Land and Sea can say no more then to refer it to others ; for t is a Course I never was bred to in my youth , and now too late in mine age to practice : Onely one thing I observe , that in the two journeys of Cadiz and Rhee , in the first a Land Souldier commanded at Sea , who knew not what belonged thereunto ; and the other was carried by him that was Souldier neither by Land nor by Sea , and the success proved accordingly in both , yet their errors were never questioned , but they both highly advanced . And it is no marvel , for according to the old saying , The best Fencer is not always the best Fighter , the fairer Tilter not the best experienced Souldier , nor the eye of a Favorite at Court the best General of an Host : And whosoever takes upon him that command without knowledge , beholds himself in a false glass , that makes him seem what he is not . As on the contrary , Experience is the mother of Prudence , and Prudence will take counsel , lest she joyn her will with her will ; hastiness causeth repentance , and frowardness causeth hinderance . Of the Evils that followed upon these two voyages , your selves are sufficient Witnesses , and can judge of them . As namely , the billeting of Soldiers in the Country , and bringing their Ships into Harbors , not abating the entertainment of the one , nor the wages of the other . And yet notwithstanding this needless cost and charges , our Ships and Coasts are daily infested in such sort , as we dare not peep out of Harbor . Were the carriage of things now answerable to the Prudence and Presidents of former times , we cannot pretend a fear of invasion ; because our Ships are divided into several Harbors , and our Soldiers billetted in Inland Countries ; beside the season of the year giveth no opportunity to an Enemy to attempt it . Here is a mass of wealth curiously consumed , whether the King or Subject bear it , and no man bettered but onely those that have the titles of Soldiers , yet never had the happiness or honor to see what appertained to service . Their example of disorder encourages the other to follow their Liberty , People that were wont to live poorly , yet safely , are now by these Fellows and their Followers robbed and spoiled , and no remedy for Redress . The rich stand upon their guard , and dare not resort to their Church , lest in their absence their Houses be surprised and Rifled . The Enemy giveth a sudden attempt and returneth , the others do every day rob and spoil . The Enemy surpriseth with fear , the others have neither fear nor shame . The first lessening the greatness of the Roman Empire , was by the insolency of Soldiers ; and the first raising of the House of Ottoman was by permission and conniving at his Army . What man is so old in England that hath seen , or what youth so young that ever thought to see Scottish men and Irish men Garrisoned in England , and no Enemy appear against us ? Or who could have imagined he should ever have seen our own people tyrannized over in our own Kingdom by these of our own Nation , and those Scottish and Irish , and not dare so much as complain ? Would our forefathers have thought it safety or Policy to draw Two thousand Scotish men and Irish men , into the Isle of Wight , for their defence against France , when they of the Isle desired it not , nay when they opposed it ? Would they have thought it wisdom that Two thousand Mouthes besides the Inhabitants should live on the food of that Island , and so bring themselves into want and penury of victuals , if they should in earnest be attempted by an Enemy ? Would they have thought fit the charge of it should be required of them , and yet they to suffer all injuries from the hands of strange Souldiers , when the meanest boy in the Island is taught to mannage Arms better then the best of them that are there billetted ? No , but they would rather have thought it discretion upon the return of those voyages , to have caused the men to repair to the place where they were pressed , and to have ordered , that each Parish should have set them on work for their maintenance , with command to be ready upon warning to repair to the place of Rendezvous There is no place or part in England so remote from the Sea , but they might have resorted to the Port assigned , before the Ships could be furnished or drawn together . They would have thought it more wisdom to have retired to their own Harbors , and to have had their men discharged , then to have continued this needless and expencefull course that is taken . They would have judged it better to have supplied the Isle of Weight with Two thousand men out of the main Land , when they feared any evil to the Island , then to send for them out of Scotland , and to keep them in continual entertainment . They would have thought it more fit to have returned the barbarous Irish into the Country from whence they came , then to make them a vexation to the places and parts where they remain , seeing no shadow of reason can be pretended for it . England wants no men , and hath as good and able men as either of the other two Nations , if his Majesty had occasion to use them . England with small charge can raise what men his Majesty pleaseth to command , and that suddenly , and discharge them again without trouble or charge as quickly . The wise men of England would have thought Two or three hundred thousand pounds better spared , then thus wastfully consumed , and disorders committed ; we may compute it to that sum , and yet keep our selves within compass : And notwithstanding the want of Money , and the wayes to exact it of the Subject , is all the Song now sung ; He that sees and complains of the evil mannaging of things , is either imprisoned , banished the Court , or censured for a Discontent . There is no Englishman but knoweth the heart of every other true heated Englishman , and with one consent will all obey our Prince , and to his person we owe all due reverence ; and we may truely say no King is more happy in Subjects for their love , nor no Subjects readier to serve their King with their purses and persons ; nor never people was better blest with a King , who is endued with all kinde of vertues , and stained with no manner of vice . False Informers and Misguiders of good Kings are much more perilous , then if Princes themselves were evil ; for commonly as worms breed soonest in soft and sweet wood , so are the best natures inclined to Honor , and Justice soonest abused by false Flatterers . The evil they commit under the Authority of good Princes , is accounted as done by the Prince himself ; but commonly such people in the end pay for it ; for he that desires not to do good cannot be wise , but will fall into Four thousand Follies . One of the first Propositions made to the House will be for Money to support his Majesties vast expence at this time ; that the Enemy threatens thunder against the Kingdom . Your often alarms upon such pretences may make you now too secure ; for true it is that the last Parliament , books were published of invincible Preparations intended against us , and nothing came of it . But beware you be not deceived by an old saying , That when one usually tells lyes , he is not trusted when he speaks truth ; for certainly the danger is much more then by the power and greatness of another Enemy . In this case you must give for your own sakes , that so you may be sure to enjoy what is yours ; for your Soveraigns sake , to maintain his greatness and state ; and for your Countries sake , to keep it from oppression of the Enemy ; but withall you ought to lay down the condition of the Kingdom , and to shew that your necessity cannot run paralel with your hearts and your desires ; that your mindes will be carried with a willingness to give , but your hands will keep back your hearts for want of ability to give . Themistocles demanding Tribute of the Athenians , told them he brought two Gods with him , that is to say , Perswasion and Violence ; They answered , that they had two other Gods in their Country , both great and powerfull , which were Poverty and Impossibility , which hindred them from giving . We may truely say , that God hath so placed and seated this Isle of England , that nothing but evil counsel can hurt it : But true it is , advice that is not warranted from wise men , may prove more forcible and perilous then the power of an Enemy . The Scripture telleth us , that the thought perisheth that taketh not counsel . A King of the Lacedemonians asked how a Kingdom might ever stand , and was answered , two wayes , if a King take counsel of wise honest men , and they speak freely ; and do Justice uprightly . There was never Censor that judged , Senator that ordered , Emperor that commanded , Council that executed , Orator that perswaded , nor any other mortal man , but sometimes he committed Errors , and deserved either blame or punishment for his misdoings , and if he were wise , desired advice what to do . St Gregory saith , No man can give so faithfull counsel as he who loves one more then his gifts ; Then who are or can be so true Councellors to our Noble King , as a House of Commons that hath no relation to a Kings gift , but only to his Honor , flourishing estate and safety . This is the time to amend evil Counsels past , and to let evil Councellors see their Errors . This is the time for all men to put to their helps , some with their hands to fight , others , with their advice to counsel : And for my Advice this it is ; That you present to his Majesty in all humbleness , your willing mindes and hearts , to repair and fit to Sea his Majesties Navy , your selves to have power to make them able and serviceable , with the advice of experienced men that you may call unto you . This is a matter of great importance at this present for the safety of King , Realm , and Subject ; for the strength of the Kingdom much depends upon this Bulwark , which we may well term The Walls of England . His Majesty shall finde himself much eased by it , Businesses shall be carried without his trouble or care , Money shall not be sought for to that end , but provided by you , his Majesty may dispose of the rest of his Revenue at his pleasure . By your frugality and husbandry his Majesty shall have occasion to judge of things past , of yours in present , and hereafter it will serve for a President to walk after ; it will stop the mouthes of Malignant tongues that inform his Majesty of the unwillingness of the Subject to give ; and it will make it apparent , that their true grief is not in the matter of giving , but to see the Evil imploying of it when it is given . If any man shall pervert this good meaning and motion of yours , and inform his Majesty , 't is a derogation from his Honor , to yield to his Subjects upon Conditions : His Majesty shall have good cause to prove such mens Eyes malitious and unthankfull , and thereby to disprove them in all their other Actions : For what can it lessen the Reputation of a Prince whom the Subject onely and wholy obeyeth , that a Parliament which his Majesty doth acknowledge to be his highest Council should advise him , and he follow the advice of such a Council ? What dishonor rather were it to be advised and ruled by one Councellor alone , against whom there is just exception taken of the whole Commonwealth . Marcus Portio saith , That that Commonwealth is everlasting , where the Prince seeks to get obedience and love , and the Subjects to gain the affection of the Prince ; and that Kingdom is unhappy where their Prince is served out of ends and hope of Reward , and hath no other assurance of them but their service . Thursday the 20 of March the House setled their grand Committees for Religion , Grievances , Courts of Justice , and Trade , and agreed upon a Petition to the King for a Fast , unto which the Lords also consented . Most gracious Soveraign , WE your most humble and loyal Subiects , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in this present Parliament assembled , upon a tender and compassionate sence of the extream Calamities of the Reformed Churches abroad , and with much sorrow apprehending the displeasure of Almighty God declared against our selves , the manifold evils already faln upon us , and those which are further threatned , as by your sacred Majesty was intimated unto us , even to the utter destruction and subversion of this Church and State , and which our sins have justly deserved , and being now by your Majesties gracious favor , assembled in Parliament as the Great Council of this your Kingdom , to consult of such means as we think fittest to redress the present , and prevent the future evils , wherein we through Gods blessing intend to imploy our utmost endeavors , humbly beseech your Majesty , that by your special Command one or more days may be forthwith solemnly set apart , wherein both our selves and the whole Kingdom may by fasting and prayers seek reconciliation at the hands of Almighty God , and with humble and penitant hearts beseech him to remove those miseries that lie upon us & our neighbor Churches , to avert those which are threatned , to continue the favors we yet enjoy , and particularly to bestow his abundant blessing upon your Majesty and this present Parliament , so that all our Counsels and Resolutions being blessed by his Divine assistance , may produce much honor and safety to your Majesty , your People and Allies . Saturday the 22 of March was spent in opening the grievances and state of the Kingdom , as billeting of Soldiers , Loans by Benevolences and Privy-Seal , and the imprisoning certain Gentlemen who refused to lend upon that account , who afterwards bringing their Habeas Corpus were notwithstanding remanded to prison ; nor did the House encline to Supply his Majesty till these Grievances were redressed : To which purpose Sir Francis Seimour thus began ; This is the great Council of the Kingdom , and here ( if not here alone ) his Majesty may see as in a true glass the state of the Kingdom ; we are called hither by his Majesties writs to give him faithful counsel , such as may stand with his honor ; but this we must do without flattery : we are sent hither by the Commons to discharge that trust reposed in us , by delivering up their just grievances , and this we must do without fear : let us not therfore be like Cambyses Judges , who being demanded of their King , whether it were not lawful for him to do what in it self was unlawful ? They ( rather to please the King , then to discharge their own consciences ) answered , that the Persian Kings might do what they listed : This base flattery tends to mischief , being fitter for reproof then imitation ; and as flattery , so fear taketh away the judgment , let us not then be possessed with fear or flattery , of corruptions the basest : For my own part , I shall shun both these , and speak my conscience with as much duty to his Majesty as any man , but not neglecting the Publick , in which his Majesty and the Commonwealth have an Interest : But how can we shew our affections whilst we retain our fears ? or how can we think of giving of Subsidies , till we know whether we have any thing to give or no ? for if his Majesty be perswaded by any to take from his Subjects what he will , and where it pleaseth him ; I would gladly know what we have to give ? It s true , it is ill with those Subjects that shall give Laws to their Princes , and as ill with those Princes which shall use force with those Laws ; that this hath been done , appeareth by the billetting of Soldiers , a thing no way advantageous to his Majesties service , but a burden to the Commonwealth ; This also appeareth by the last Levy of money against an act of Parliament : Again , Mr Speaker , what greater proof can there be of this , then the imprisonment of divers Gentlemen for the Loan , who if they had done the contrary for fear , their fault had been as great as theirs that were the Projectors in it ; and to countenance these Proceedings , hath it not been preached ( or rather prated ) in our pulpits , that all we have is the Kings , Iure Divino ? say these time-servers ; they forsake their own function , and turn ignorant States-men ; we see how willing they will be to change a good conscience for a Bishoprick , and ( Mr Speaker ) wee see how easie it is for a Prince , how just and good soever , to be abused , in regard he must see with other mens eyes , and hear with other mens ears . Let us not flatter his Majesty , it is too apparent to all the world , the King and people suffer more now then ever : His Majesty in his Affairs abroad , and his People in their Estates at home : But will you know the reason of all this , let us look back to the Actions of former Princes , and we shall find that those Princes have been in greatest want and extreamity that exacted most of their Subjects and most unfortunate in the choice of their Ministers , and to have failed most in their undertakings ; happy is that Prince that hath those that are faithful of his Council : That which his Majesty wanted in the management of his Affairs concerning France and Spain , I am clear was his want of faithful Council to advise . The reason is plain , a Prince is strongest by faithfull and wise Council , I would I could truly say , such have been imployed abroad . I will confess , and still shall from my heart , he is no good Subject , nor well affected to his Majesty and the State , that will not willingly and freely lay down his life , when the end may be the service of his Majesty , and the good of the Commonweale : But on the contrary , when against a Parliament Law the Subject shall have taken from him , his goods against his will , and his liberty against the Laws of the Land : shall it be accounted want of duty in us to stand upon our Priviledges , hereditary to us , and confirmed by so many Acts of Parliament . In doing this we shall but tread the steps of our forefathers , who ever preferred the Publick Interest before their own right , nay , before their own lives ; nor can it be any wrong to his Majesty to stand upon them so as thereby we may be the better enabled to do his Majesties service ; but it will be a wrong to us and our posterity and our consciences , if we willingly forego that which belongs unto us by the Law of God , and of the Land , and this we shall do well to present to his Majesty ; we have no cause to doubt of his Majesties gracious acceptation . This Debate ( said Sir Tho. Wentworth ) carries a double Aspect towards the Soveraign and the Subject , though both be innocent , both are injured , and both to be cured : Surely , in the greatest humility I speak it , these illegal ways are punishment and marks of indignation , the raising of Loans strengthned by Commission , with unheard of Instructions and Oathes , the billetting of Soldiers by the Lieutenants , and Deputy Lieutenants , have been as if they could have perswaded Christian Princes , yea worlds , that the right of Empires , had been to take away by strong hands , and they have endeavored as far as possible for them , to do it . This hath not been done by the King ( under the pleasing shade of whose Crown I hope we shall ever gather the fruits of Justice ) but by Projectors , who have extended the Prerogative of the King , beyond the just Symetry , which maketh a sweet harmony of the whole : They have brought the Crown into greater want then ever , by anticipating the Revenues ; And can the Shepherd be thus smitten and the Speep not scattered ? They have introduced a Privy-Council ravishing at once the Spheres of all ancient Government , imprisoning us without either bail or bond ; they have taken from us , what ; shall I say indeed , what have they left us ? All means of supplying the King and ingratiating our selves with him , taking up the root of all propriety , which if it be not seasonably set again into the ground by his Majesties own hands , we shall have insteed of beauty , baldness . To the making of those whole , I shall apply my self , and propound a Remedy to all these diseases . By one and the same thing have King and People been hurt , and by the same must they be cured ; to vindicate , what , new things ? no our ancient vital Liberties , by reinforcing the ancient Laws made by our Ancestors , by setting forth such a Character of them , as no licentious spirit shall dare to enter upon them ; and shall we think this is a way to break a Parliament ? no , our desires are modest and just , I speak truly , both for the interest of King and People , if we injoy not these , it will be impossible for to relieve him . Therefore let us never fear they shall not be accepted by his goodness ; wherefore I shall shortly descend to my motions consisting of four parts , two of which have relation to our persons , two to the propriety of goods for our persons ; first , the freedom of them from imprisonment secondly , from imployment abroad , contrary to the ancient Customs : For our goods , that no Levies be made , but by Parliament ; secondly , no billetting of Soldiers : It is most necessary that these be resolved , that the Subject may be secured in both . Sir Benjamin Rudyard stands up as a Moderator , and spake thus : This is the Chrysis of Parliaments ; we shall know by this if Parliaments live or die , the King will be valued by the success of us , the Councils of this House will have opperations in all , 't is sit we be wise , his Majesty begins to us with affection , proclaiming , that he will relie on his peoples love ; preservation is natural , we are not now on the bene esse , but on the esse ; be sure England is ours , and then prune it ; Is it no small matter that we have provoked two most Potent Kings ? we have united them , and have betrayed our selves more then our enemies could : Men and Brethren , what shall we do ? is there no balm in Gilead ? if the King draw one way , the Parliament another , we must all sink : I respect no particular , I am not so wise to contemn what is determined by the major part , one day tells another , and one Parliament instructs another . I desire this House to avoid all contestations , the hearts of Kings are great , 't is comely that Kings have the beter of their Subjects ; give the King leave to come off , I believe his Majesty expects but the occasion , 't is lawfull , and our duty to advise his Majesty , but the way is to take a right course to attain the right end ; which I think may be thus ; by trusting the King , and to breed a trust in him , by giving him a large Supply according to his wants , by prostrating our Grievances humbly at his feet , from thence they will have the best way to his heart , that is done in duty to his Majesty : And to say all at once , Let us all labor to get the King on our side , and this may be no hard matter , considering the neer subsistence between the King and people . Sir Edward Cook spake next . Dum tempus habemus bonum operemur , I am absolutely to give Supply to his Majesty , yet with some caution : To tell you of Forein dangers and inbred evils , I will not do it ; the State is inclining to a consumption , yet not incurable ; I fear not Forein Enemies , God send us peace at home ; for this disease I will propound remedies , I will seek nothing out of mine own head , but from my heart , and out of Acts of Parliament ; I am not able to fly at all Grievances , but only at Loans : Let us not flatter our selves ; who will give Subsidies if the King may impose what he will ? and if after Parliament the King may inhaunce what he pleaseth ; I know the king will not do it , I know he is a Religious King , free from personal vices , but he deals with other mens hands , and sees with other mens eyes ; will any give a Subsidy , that may be taxed after Parliament at pleasure ? the King cannot tax any by way of Loans , I differ from them who would have this of Loans go amongst Grievances , but I would have it go alone . I le begin with a noble Record , it cheers me to think of it , 25. E. 3. it is worthy to be written in letters of gold ; Loans against the will of the Subject are against reason and the Franchises of the Land , and they desire restitution : what a word is that Franchise ? The Lord may tax his Villain high or low , but it is against the Franchises of the Land , for freemen to be taxed but by their consent in Parliament ; Franchise is a French word , and in Latine it is Libertas . In Magna Charta it is provided , that Nullus liber homo capiatur vel impriso●etur aut disseisietur de libero tenemento suo , &c. nisi per legale judicium parium suorum vel per legem terrae ; which Charter hath been confirmed by good Kings above thirty times . When these Gentlemen had spoken , Sir Iohn Cook , Secretary of State took up the matter for the King , and concluded for redress of Grievances , so that Supplies take the precedency ; And said , I had rather you would hear any then me ; I will not answer what hath been already spoken ; my desire is not to stir , but to quiet , not to provoke , but to appease : my desire is , that every one resort to his own heart to reunite the King and the State , and to take away the scandal from us ; every one speaks from the abundance of his heart : I do conclude out of every ones Conclusion , to give to the King , to redress Grievances ; all the difference is about the manner ; we are all Inhabitants in one House , the Commonwealth , let every one in somewhat amend his house , somewhat is amiss ? but if all the House be on fire , will we then think of amending what 's a miss ? will you not rather quench the fire ? the danger all apprehend . The way that is propounded , I seek not to decline ; illegal courses have been taken , it must be confessed , the redress must be by Laws and Punishment : but withal add the Law of Necessity ; Necessity hath no Law , you must abilitate the State to do ; what you do , by Petition require . It is wished we begin with Grievances , I deny not that we prepare them , but shall we offer them first : will not this seem a Condition with his Majesty ? do we not deal with a wise King , jealous of his Honor ? All Subsidies cannot advantage his Majesty so much , as that his Subjects do agree to Supply him : This will amaze the Enemy more then ten Subsidies ; begin therefore with the King , and not with our selves . This dayes Debate ( said Sir Robert Philips ) makes me call to minde the custom of the Romans , who had a solemn feast once a year for their Slaves , at which time they had liberty ( without exception ) to speak what they would , whereby to ease their afflicted minds , which being finished , they severally returned to their former servitude . This may with some resemblance and distinction well set forth our present State ; where now after the revolution of some time , and grievous sufferings of many violent oppressions , we have ( as those Slaves had ) a day of liberty of speech ; but shall not , I trust , be herein Slaves , for we are free : we are not Bondmen , but Subjects ; these after their Feast were Slaves again ; but it is our hope to return Freemen . I am glad to see this mornings work , to see such a sense of the Grievances under which we groan . I see a concurrence of grief from all parts , to see the Subject wronged , and a fit way to see the Subject righted : I expected to see a division , but I see honorable conjunction , and I take it a good Omen . It was wished by one , that there were a forgetfulness of all , let him not prosper that wisheth it not . No , there is no such wayes to perfect remedy , as to forget injuries , but not so to forget , as not to recover them . It was usual in Rome to bury all injuries , on purpose to recover them . It was said by a Gentleman that ever speaks freely : We must so govern our selves , as if this Parliament must be the Chrysis of all Parliaments , and this the last . I hope well , and there will be no cause for the King our Head to except against us , or we against him . The dangers abroad are presented to us , he is no English man that is not apprehensive of them . We have provoked two Potent Kings ( the one too near ) who are too strongly joyned together ; the dangers are not Chimerical but real , I acknowledge it , but it must be done in proportion of our dangers at home ; I more fear the violation of Publick Rights at home , then a Forein Enemy : Must it be our duties and direction to defend Forein dangers , and establish security against them , and shall we not look at that which shall make us able and willing thereunto ? We shall not omit to confide and trust his Majesty , otherwise our Councils will be with fears , and that becomes not Englishmen . The unaccustomed violences ( I have nothing but a good meaning ) ●rench into all we have . To the four particulars already mentioned wherein we suffer , one more may be added , Lest God forbare to hear me in the day of my trouble ; our Religion is made vendible by Commissions : Alas ! now a tolleration is granted ( little less ) and men for pecuniary annual rates dispenced withal , whereby Papists without fear of Law practise Idolatry , and scoff at Parliaments , at Laws and all ; it is well known the people of this State are under no other subjection then what they did voluntarily consent unto by the original contract between King and people ; and as there are many Prerogatives and Priviledges conferred on the King , so there are left to the Subject many necessary Liberties and Priviledges , as appears by the Common Laws and Acts of Parliament , notwithstanding what these two * Sycophants have prated in the Pulpit to the contrary . Was there ever yet King of England that directly ever violated the Subjects Liberty and Property , but their actions were ever complained of in Parliament , and no sooner complained of then redressed ? 21 E. 3. there went out a Commission to raise money in a strange manner , the succeeding Parliament prayed redress , and till H. 8. we never heard of the said Commissions again . Another way was by Loan , a worm that cankered the Law , the Parliament did redress it , and that money was paid again : The next little Engine was Benevolence , what the force of that was , look into the Statute of R. 3. which damned that particular way , and all other indirect wayes . Since the Right of the Subject is thus bulwarkt by the Law of the Kingdom , and Princes upon complain● have redressed them , I am confident we shall have the like cause of joy from his Majesty . I will here make a little digression : The * County I serve for were pleased to command me to seek the removal from them of the greatest burthen that ever people suffered . It was excellently said , Commissionary Lieutenants do deprive us of all Liberty ; if ever the like was seen of the Lieutenancy that now is , I will never be believed more ; They tell the people they must pay so much upon a warrant from a Deputy Lieutenant , or be bound to the good behavior , and sent up to the Lords of the Council ; it is the strangest Engine to rend the Liberty of the Subject that ever was ; there was now a Decemviri in every County , and amongst that Decemviri there is some Claudius Appius that seek their own revenges ; we complain of Loans and Impositions , but when Deputy Lieutenants may send warrants to imprison our persons at pleasure , if we pay not what they sent for , it concern us to preserve the Country in Freedom , and to consider of this kind of people . There is now necessity brought in for an argument , all know that necessity is an armed man , and that necessity is an evil Councellor , I would we had never known that Council ; we are almost grown like the Turks , who send their Janizaries , who place the Halberd at the door , and there he is master of the house . We have Soldiers billetted , and warrants to collect money , which if they do not , the Soldiers must come and rifle . The Romans sending one into Spain , found no greater complaint then the discontent that did arise from Soldiers placed amongst them . I would you would look into Fortescue where he puts the Prince in minde , what misery he saw where Soldiers were put upon the people : But saith he , No man is forced to take Soldiers but Inns , and they to be paid by them ; I desire we resort to his Majesty for redress , and to reduce all into bounds . The other way of Grievance is a Judgement in a legal course of proceeding ; we have had three Judgements of late times , all exceeding one another in prejudice of the Subject : The first was , That that was judged in all formality , the * Postnati Case , which people I honor ; for we finde many of them love us more then we do our selves ; I do not complain of it , but onely mention it . The other Judgement was for Impositions , which was given in the Exchequer , and this House two times after damned that Judgement : how remiss our eyes are upon that I grieve to see . There is a Judgement , if I may so call it , a fatal Judgement against the Liberty of the Subject , Mich. 3. Car. in Sir Iohn Heveninghams case argued at the Bar , and pronounced but by one alone ; I can live , although another without title be put to live with me ; nay , I can live , although I pay Excises and Impositions for more then I do ; but to have my liberty which is the soul of my life taken from me by power , and to be pent up in a Goal without remedy by Law , and this to be so adjudged to perish in Goal , O Improvident Ancestors ! Oh unwise forefathers ! to be so curious in providing for the quiet possession of our Lands and Liberties of Parliament , and to neglect our persons and bodies , and to let them die in prison , and that durante beneplacito , remediless : If this be Law , what do we talk of our Liberties ? why do we trouble our selves with the dispute of Law , Franchises , Propriety of goods ? It is the Summa totalis of all miseries ; I will not say it was erroneous , but I hope we shall speak our minds when that Judgment comes here to be debated . What may a man call his , if not Liberty ? Having passed in some confusion in the fashion of my de●●very . I conclude : We will consider two particulars , his Majesty , and his People : his Majesty cals to us , and craves our assistance to revive again his Honor , and the Honor of the Nation : The people send us , as we hope , with that direction , that we shall return to them with that Olive-branch , that assurance of being free from those calamities under which they can hardly breathe . Our sins have brought on us those miseries , let us all bring our Portion to make up the wall : we come with Loyal hearts ; his Majesty shall find , that it is we that are his faithfull Councellors ; let all Sycophants be far removed from his Majesty , since we cannot help this Majesty without opening our Grievances ; let us discharge our duties therein ; yet while we seek Liberty , we will not forget Subjection ; all things a State can be capable of , either blessings or punishments , depend on this meeting ; if any think the King may be supplied and the Commonwealth preserved without redress of Grievances , he is deceived . The Kings of England were never more glorious then when they trusted their Subjects ; let us make all haste to do the Errand for which we came , let the House consider to prepare our Grievances fit for his Majesties view , not to make a Law to give us new Liberties , but Declaratory , with respective Penalties ; so that those which violate them , if they would be vile , they should fear infamy with men ; and then we shall think of such a Supply as never a Prince received , and with our monies we shall give him our hearts , and give him a new people raised from the dead : Then I hope this Parliament will be entituled , The Parliament of wonders , and Gods judgements diverted , and these beams of goodness shall give us life , and we shall go home to our Countries , and leave our Posterity as free as our Ancestors left us . But this day , as also the two next dayes Debate produced no Resolutions , the time being spent in a general opening of Grievances from all parts of the Kingdom . Monday 24 March Secretary Cook renewed the motion of Supplies for his Majesty , yet so that Grievances be likewise taken into Consideration . We all think fit ( said he ) that both these go hand in hand together ; but let me put you in mind of that which concerns the King , let him have the precedency of honor , if not of time , let the heads of the Kings Supply first be propounded , this will be an honor to the King , and will do service to the House ; the end of this Parliament is the subsistence of the King , as he himself hath declared , and such a Command is not to be slighted ; the King himself propounded it , and then he will agree with us in other requests that are fit for a King to give ; we that have the happiness to attend his Majesty , can tell you , that no King is more ready to hear the complaints of his Subjects , and withal you know no King is more sensible of all reproaches which touch his Honor. Will it not be fit to grant him this Honor , to have the Precedency ? It was the Speech of an ancient Parliament man , Let us deal gently with our King ; by these Laws that we make we do bind our selves , and it is an addition of his power : None that dies but leaves his heir to the favor of the King , none that lives but needs the favor of the King : we having made our first union with God , it is next intended , that we be at one with our King , is it not fit we be at peace with our Head ? his Majesty desires it , and expects it : After this unity with our head , there is consideration to be had of unity with our selves , after this we shall be all knit in one body , we shall all pronounce clearly Shiboleth , and we shall consider of the Grievances and irregularities of the times , which none desires to be reformed more then his Majesty and those whom you think most averse : Let us take the best way for Reformation : And will not this be a happy union , if the whole body concur to reduce all into regularity ? if Laws be our Birth-rights , we shall hereby recover them and their splendor ; this will have good aspect abroad , and it will give courage to our men that have been despised , and will prevent practises to continue divisions amongst us both at home and abroad . The first Sower of seeds of distractions amongst us , was an Agent of Spain , Gondomar , that did his Master great service here and at home . Since that we have had other Ministers that have blown the fire : The Ambassador of France told his Master at home , what he had wrought here the last Parliament , namely , divisions between King and people , and he was rewarded for it . Whilst we sit here in Parliament , there was another intended Parliament of Jesuites and other well-willers , within a mile of this place ; that this is true , was discovered by Letters sent to Rome : The place of their meeting is changed , and some of them are there where they ought to be ; if you look in your Calendar , there is a day of St. Ioseph , it was called in the Letter the Oriental day , and that was the day intended for their meeting . I speak this to see Gods hand to work our union in their division ; they are not more rent from us , then they are from themselves . I desire the meanest judgement to consider what may follow by giving precedency to his Majesty , and by so doing , we shall put from our selves , many imputations . If we give any occasion of breach , it is a great disadvantage ; if otherwise it is an obligation to his Majesty , which his Majesty will not forget . Then he made a motion , that the same Committee may hear Propositions of general heads of Supply , and afterward go to other businesses of the day for Grievances . Others preferred the Consideration of Grievances , as a particular root that invades the main liberty of the Subject . It is the Law ( said they ) that glorious fundamental Right , whereby we have power to give ; we desire but that his Majesty may see us have that right therein , which next to God we all desire ; and then we doubt not but we shall give his Majesty all supply we can : The time was when it was usual to desire favors for sowing discords , as Gondomar did for Raleigh's head . But the debates of this day came to no Resolution . The day following Mr Secretary Cook tendred the House certain Propositions from the King , touching Supply ; and told them , That his Majesty finding time precious , expects that they should begin speedily , lest they spend that time in deliberation which should be spent in action ; that he esteems the Grievances of the House his own , and stands not on Precedence in point of honor . Therefore to satisfie his Majesty , let the same Committee take his Majesties Propositions into consideration , and let both concur , whether to sit on one in the forenoon , or the other in the afternoon , it is all one to his Majesty . Hereupon the House turned themselves into a Committee , and commanded Edward Littleton Esquire unto the Chair , and ordered the Committee to take into Consideration the Liberty of the Subject , in his Person , and in his Goods ; and also to take into Consideration his Majesties Supply . In this Debate the Grievances were reduced to six Heads , as to our Persons . 1. Attendance at the Council Board . 2. Imprisonment . 3. Confinement . 4. Designation for Forein Imployment . 5. Martial-Law . 6. Undue Proceedings in matter of Judicature . The first matter debated , was the Subjects Liberty in his Person ; the particular instance was in the Case of Sir Iohn Heveningham , and those other Gentlemen who were imprisoned about Loan-money , and thereupon had brought their Habeas Corpus , had their Case argued , and were nevertheless remanded to Prison , and a Judgment , as it was then said , was entred . Whereupon Mr. Creswell of Lincolns-Inn spake to this purpose . Justice ( said he ) is the Life and the Heart-blood of the Common-wealth : and if the Commonwealth bleed in the master vein , all the Balm in Gilead is but in vain to preserve this our Body of Policy from ruin and destruction , Justice is both Columna & Corona Reipublicae ; She is both the Columne and the Pillar , the Crown and the Glory of the Commonwealth ; this is made good in Scripture by the Judgement of Solomon , the wisest King that ever Raigned upon Earth . For first , She is the Pillar ; for he saith , By Justice the Throne shall be Established . Secondly , She is the Crown ; for he saith , That by Justice a Nation shall be Exalted . Our Laws which are the rules of this Justice , they are the ne plus ultra to both the King and the Subject ; and as they are the Hercules Pillar , so they are the Pillar to every Hercules , to every Prince , which he must not pass . Give me leave to resemble her to Nebuchadnezar's Tree , for she is so great , that she doth shade not onely the Palace of the King and the House of Nobles , but doth also shelter the Cottage of the poorest Begger . Wherefore , if either now the blasts of indignation , or the unresistable violater of Laws , Necessity , hath so bruised any of the Branches of this Tree , that either our Persons , or Goods , or Possessions have not the same shelter as before , yet let us not therfore neglect the root of this great Tree , but water it with our Tears , that so these bruised Branches may be recovered , and the whole Tree again prosper and flourish . I know well , that Cor regis inscrutabile ; and that Kings , although they are but men before God , yet they are gods before men . And therefore to my gracious and dread Soveraign ( whose vertues are true qualities , ingenerate both in his judgment and nature ) let my arm be cut off ; nay , let my soul not live that day that I shall dare to lift up my arm to touch that forbidden Fruit , those Flowers of his Princely Crown and Diadem . But yet in our Eden , in this Garden of the Commonwealth , as there are the Flowers of the Sun , which are so glorious , that they are to be handled only by Royal Majesty : So , are there also some Daysies , and wholesom Herbs , which every common hand that lives and labors in this Garden may pick and gather up , and take comfort and repose in them : Amongst all which this Oculus Diei , this bona libertas is one , and the chief one . I will now descend to the Question , wherein I hold with all dutiful submission to better judgments , that these acts of Power , in imprisoning and consining of his Majesties Subjects in such manner , without any Declaration of the Cause , are against the fundamental Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom . The first from the great favor which the Law doth give unto , and the great care which it hath ever taken of , the Liberty and safety of this Kingdom . To proceed therefore in maintenance of my first reasons . I find our Law doth so much favor the Subjects Liberty of his person , that the body of a man was not liable to be arrested or imprisoned for any other Cause at the Common-Law , but for force and things done against the Peace : For the Common-Law ( being the preserver of the Land ) so abhorreth force , that those that commit it she accounteth her capital Enemies , and therefore did subject their bodies to imprisonment . But by the Statute of Marlebridge cap. 24. which was made 35 H. 3. who was the eighth King from the Conquest , because Bailiffs would not render accompts to their Lords , it was enacted , that their bodies should be attatched . And after by the Stat : 23 E. 3.17 . who was the eleventh King after the Conquest , because men made no conscience to pay their Debts , it was enacted , that their bodies should likewise be attached : But before those Statutes , no mans body was subject to be taken or imprisoned , otherwise then as aforesaid ; whereby it is evident , how much the Common-Law favored the Liberty of the Subject , and protected his body from imprisonment . Here he enforced the Reason by a Rule in Law , and mentioned some Cases in Law upon that rule , and so proceeded to a second Reason , drawn by an Argument à majore ad minus . I frame it thus ( said he ) If the King have no absolute power over our Lands or Goods , then à fortiori , not over our Persons , to imprison them , without declaring the cause , for our persons are much more worth , then either Lands or Goods ; which is proved by what I have said already : And Christ himself makes it clear , where he saith , An non est corpus supra vestimentum ? Is not the Body of more worth then the Raiment ? Nay , I may well say , that almost every leaf and page of all the Volumes of our Common-Law prove this right of Propriety , this distinction of meum and tuum , as well between King and Subject , as one Subject and another : And therefore my conclusion follows , that if the Prerogative extend not neither to Lands nor to Goods , then à fortiori , not to the Person , which is more worth then either Lands or Goods , as I said . And yet I agree , that by the very Law of Nature , service of the Person of the Subject is due to his Soveraign , but this must be in such things which ●re not against the Law of Nature ; but to have the body imprisoned without any cause declared , and so to become in bondage , I am sure is contrary unto , and against the Law of Nature , and therefore not to be inforced by the Soveraign upon his Subjects . 3. My next Reason is drawn ab inutili & incommodo ; for the Statute de frangentibus prisonám made 1 E. 2. is , Quod nullus qui prisonam fregerit subeat judicium vitae vel membrorum pro fractione prisonae tantum nisi causa pro qua captus imprisonetur tale judicium requirat , whence this conclusion is clearly gathered , that if a man be committed to prison without declaring what cause ; and then if either Malefactor do break the Prison , or the Gaoler suffer him to escape , albeit the Prisoner so escaping had committed crimen laesae Majestatis ; yet neither the Gaoler , nor any other that procured his escape , by the Law suffer any corporal punishment for setting him at large ; which if admitted , might prove in consequence a matter of great danger to the Commonwealth . 4. My next Reason is drawn ab regis honore , from that great Honor the Law doth attribute unto Soveraign Majesty , and therefore the rule of Law is that Solum Rex hoc non potest facere , quod non potest justè agere . And Hussey chief Justice , 1 H. 7. saith , that Sir Iohn Markham told King E. 4. he could not arrest a man either for Treason or Felony , as a Subject might , because that if the King did wrong , the party could not have an Action against him ; and if the Kings Writ under his Great-Seal cannot imprison the Subject , unless it contains the cause ; shall then the Kings Warrant otherwise do it , without containing the cause ? that his Judge upon the return thereof , may likewise judge of the same . But I will conclude with that which I finde reported of Sir Iohn Davis , who was the Kings Serjeant , and so by the duty of his place would no doubt maintain , to his uttermost , the Prerogatives of the King his Royal Master : And yet it was by him thus said in those Reports of his upon the Case of Tavistry-Customs , That the Kings of England alwayes have had a Monarchy Royal , and not a Monarchy Seignoral : where , under the first saith he , The Subjects are Freemen , and have Propriety in their Goods and Free-hold , and Inheritance in their Lands : But under the later , they are as Villains and Slaves , and have propriety in nothing . And therefore said he , When a Royal Monarch makes a new conquest ; yet if he receives any of the Nations ancient Inhabitants into his Protection , they and their heirs after them shall enjoy their Lands and Liberties according to the Law. And there he vouched this President and Judgment following , given before William the Conqueror ; viz. That one Sherborn , a Saxon , at the time of the Conquest being owner of a Castle and Lands in Norfolk , the Conqueror gave the same to one Warren a Norman , and Sherborn dying , the heir claiming the same by discent , according to the Law ; it was before the Conqueror himself adjudged for the heir , and that the gift thereof by the Conqueror was void . Upon this and other Arguments made in this Case of the Habeas Corpus , the House referred the whole Business to a Committee to examine all the Proceeding : Concerning which Mr Selden afterward made report to the House , that Mr Waterhouse a Clerk in the Crown Office , being examined before the Committee , did confess , that by direction from Sir Robert Heath the Kings Attorney-General , he did write the draught of a Judgement in the Case before mentioned , which was delivered to Mr Attorney . And Mr Keeling being examined before the Committee , did confess , that after Mich : T●●m last the Attorney General wished him to make a special Entry of 〈◊〉 Habeas Corpus : To which he answered , he knew no special Entry in those Cases , but onely a remittitur : But said to Mr Attorney , that if he pleased to draw one , and the Court afterwards assent to it , he would then enter it . The Attorney did accordingly make a draught , and the Copy thereof Mr Keeling produced to the Committee . And further said , that he carried this draught to the Judges , but they would not assent to a special Entry : Nevertheless , the At. General divers times sent to him , and told him there was no remedy , but he must enter it . Yet a week before the Parliament the Att. General called for the draught again , which accordingly he gave unto him , and never heard of it more . Sir Robert Philips upon this Report gave his opinion , That this intended Judgement in the Habeas Corpus was a draught made by some man that desired to strike us all from our Liberties : but the Judges justly refused it ; but if the Judges did intend it , we sit not here ( said he ) to answer the trust we are sent for , if we present not this matter to his Majesty . Let this business be further searched into , and see how this Judgement lies against us , and what the Judges do say concerning the same . Sir Edw. Cook proceeded and said , This Draught of the Judgement will sting us , quia nulla causa fuit ostenta , being committed by command of the King , therefore he must not be bailed : What is this , but to declare upon Record , that any Subject , committed by such absolute command , may be detained in Prison for ever ? What doth this tend to but the utter subversion of the choise Liberty and Right belonging to every free-born Subject of this Kingdom ? I fear , were it not for this Parliament , that followed so close after that form of Judgement was drawn up , there would have been hard putting to have had it entred : But a Parliament brings Judges , Officers , and all men in good order . The Commons afterwards upon further debates of this matter , desired , that the Judges of the Kings-Bench might declare themselves concerning this business , which was done accordingly , and though it be a little out of time ; yet for coherence sake , we bring it in here . Judge Whitlock spake thus . My Lords , We are , by your appointment , here ready to clear any Aspersion of the House of Commons in their late presentment upon the Kings-Bench , that the Subject was wounded in the Judgement there lately given . If such a thing were , My Lords , your Lordships , not they , have the power to question and judge the same . But , My Lords , I say there was no Judgement given , whereby either the Prerogative might be enlarged , or the Right of the Subject trenched upon . It is true , my Lords , in Mich : Tearm last , four Gentlemen Petitioned for a Habeas Corpus , which they obtained , and Counsel was assigned unto them , the Return was per speciale mandatum Domini Regis , which likewise was made known to us under the Hands of Eighteen Privy-Councellors . Now , my Lords , if we had delivered them presently upon this , it must have been , because the King did not shew cause wherein we should have judged the King had done wrong , and this is beyond our knowledge ; for he might have committed them for other matters then we could have imagined ; but they might say thus , they might have been kept in Prison all their dayes : I answer , no , but we did remit them , that we might better advise of the matter ; and they the next day might have had a a new Writ , if they had pleased . But they say we ought not to have denied bail : I answer , if we had done so , it must needs have reflected upon the King , that he had unjustly imprisoned the● ▪ And it appears in Dyer , 2 Eliz. that divers Gentlemen being comm●●●d , and requiring Habeas Corpus , some were bailed , others remitted : whereby it appears , much is left to the discretion of the Judges . For that which troubleth so much remittitur quousque This , my Lords was onely ( as I said before ) to take time what to do : and whereas they will have a difference between remittitur & remittitur quousque My Lords , I confess , I can finde none ; but these are new inventions to trouble old , Records . And herein , my Lords , we have dealt with knowledge and understanding ; for had we given a Judgement , the party must thereupon have rested ; every Judgement must come to an issue in matter , in fact , or demur in point of Law ; here is neither ; therefore no Judgement . For endeavoring to have a Judgement entred ( it is true ) Mr Attorney pressed the same for his Majesties Servies : But we having sworn to do right between his Majesty and his Subjects , commanded the Clerk to make no Entry , but according to the old form ; and the Rule was given by the Chief Justice alone . I have spent my time in this Court , and I speak confidently , I did never see nor know by any Record , that upon such a Return as this a man was bailed , the King not first consulted with , in such a Case as this . The Commons House do not know what Letters and Commands we receive ; for these remain in our Court , and are not viewed by them . For the rest of the matters presented by the House of Commons , they were not in agitation before us , whether the King may commit , and how long he may detain a man committed . Therefore having answered so much as concerneth us ; I desire your Lorships good Construction of what hath been said . Judge Doderidge , concerning the same Subject , said , It is no more fit for a Judge to decline to give an accompt of his doings , then for a Christian of his Faith. God knoweth , I have endeavored alwayes to keep a good Conscience ; for a troubled one , who can bear ? The Kingdom holds of none but God ; and Judgements do not pass privately in Chambers , but publickly in Courts , ( where every one may hear ) which causeth Judgement to be given with maturity . Your Lordships have heard the Particulars given by my brother , how that Counsel being assigned to those four Gentlemen in the latter end of Mich. Term their Cause received hearing , and upon consideration of the Statutes and Records , we found some of them to be according to the good old Law of Magna Charta ; but we thought that they did not come so close to this Case , as that bail should be thereupon presently granted . My Lords , the Habeas Corpus consisteth of three parts ; The Writ , the Return upon the Writ or Schedule , and the Entry or Rule reciting the Habeas Corpus and the Return , together with the opinion of the Court , either a remittitur , or a traditur in Ballium . In this Case a remittitur was granted , which we did , that we might take better advisement upon the Case , and upon the remittitur . My Lords , they might have had a new Writ the next day , and I wish they had , because it may be they had seen more , and we had been eased of a great labour . And , my Lords , when the Attorney , upon the Remittitur pressed an Entry , we all straitly charged the Clerk that he should make no other Entry , then such as our Predecessors had usually made in like Cases . For the difference between Remittitur and Remittitur quousque I could never yet finde any : I have now sate in this Court 15 years , and I should know something : surely , if I had gone in a Mill so long , dust would cleave to my clothes . I am old , and have one foot in the Grave , therefore I will look to the better part as near as I can . But Omina habere in memoria , & in nullo errare , Divinum potius est quàm humànum . The Lord Chief Justice Hide , and Justice Iones delivered their opinions much to the same purpose . The House proceeded in further debate of the Liberty of the Subject . Mr Hackwel resumes the Debate of the matter concerning the Habeas Corpus . The late Judgement ( said he ) which lies in Bar , is onely an Award , and no Judgement ; and in the L. Chief Justice his Argument there was no word spoken , that the King might commit or detain without cause . For the King to commit a man , is indignum Regi : Mercy and Honor flow immediately from the King , Judgement and Justice are his too , but they flow from his Ministers ; the Sword is carried before him , but the Scepter in his hands . These are true Emblems of a good King. The Law admits not the King power of detaining in Prison at pleasure . In antient times Prisons were but pro custodia , carceres non ad poenam , sed ad custodiam : Admit the King may commit a man , yet to detain him as long as he pleaseth is dangerous , and then a man shall be punished before his offence : Imprisonment is a Maceration of the body , and horror to the minde , it is vita pejor morte . Mr Selden last of all produced the Statutes , Presidents , and Book-Cases , which were expresse● in point to the Question in hand ; and the House commanded that Case in the Lord Chief Justice Andersons Book , all of his own hand-writing , to be openly read . And for the President● cited by the Kings Council , in 34 years of the Queen , as the Opinion of all the Judges ; certainly , there was a great mistake in it , and the mistake was the greater , when it passed as currant by the Judges of the Kings-Bench , in the last Case of the Habeas Corpus . And that the truth of the Opinion may clearly appear , let us read the words out of the Lord Chief Justice Andersons Report , out of the Book written with his own hand , which will contradict all those Apocrypha Reports that go upon the Case : The words of the Report were these . Divers persons fueront committes a several temps a several prysons sur pleasure sans bon cause parte de queux estiant amesnes en banck le Roy. Et parte en le Commune banck fuerunt accordant a le ley de la terre mise a large & discharge de le imprisonment , pur que aucunt grands fueront offendus & procure un commandment a les Iudges que ils ne fera ainsi apres . Ceo nient meins , les Iudges ne surcease mes per advise enter eux ils fesoint certain Articles le tenour de queux ensus , & deliver eux al seignieurs Chancelor & Treasurer & eux subscribe avec touts lour mainies , les Articles sont come erisnoint . We her Majesties Iustices of both Benches and Barons of the Exchequer , desire your Lordships that by some good means some order may be taken , that her Highness Subjects may not be committed or detained in prison by commandment of any Noble man or Councellor against the Laws of the Realm ; either else to help us to have access to her Majesty , to the end to become Suitors to her for the same : for divers have been imprisoned for suing ordinary Actions and Suits at the Common-Law , until they have been constrained to leave the same against their wills , and put the same to order , albeit Iudgement and Execution have been had therein to their great losses and griefs : for the aid of which persons her Majesties Writs have sundry times been directed to sundry persons having the Custody of such persons unlawfully imprisoned , upon which Writs no good or lawfull cause of imprisonment hath been returned or certified : Whereupon , according to the Laws they have been discharged of their imprisonment ; some of which persons so delivered , have been again committed to prison in secret places , and not to any common or ordinary Prison , or lawfull Officer or Sheriff , or other lawfully authorized , to have or keep a Goal : So that upon complaint made for their delivery , the Queens Courts cannot tell to whom to direct her Majesties Writs ; and by this means Iustice cannot be done . And moreover , divers Officers and Serjeants of London have been many times committed to Prison for lawfull executing of her Majesties Writs , sued forth of her Majesties Court at Westminster , and thereby her Majesties Subjects and Officers are so terrified , that they dare not sue or execute her Majesties Laws , her Writs and Commandments : Divers others have been sent for by Pursevants , and brought to London from their dwellings , and by unlawfull imprisonment have been constrained , not only to withdraw their lawfull suits , but have been also compelled to pay the Pursevants so bringing such persons great sums of money . All which upon complaint , the Iudges are bound by Office and Oath to relieve and help , by , and according to her Majesties Laws . And where it pleaseth your Lordships to will divers of us to set down in what Cases a Prisoner sent to custody by her Majesty or her Councel , are to be detained in Prison and not to be delivered by her Majesties Court or Iudges : We think , that if any person be committed by her Majesties command , from her person , or by order from the Council board , and if any one or two of her Council commit one for high Treason , such persons so in the Cases before committed , may not be delivered by any of her Courts , without due Trial by the Law , and Iudgement of acquittal had . Nevertheless the Iudges may award the Queens Writ , to bring the bodies of such Prisoners before them ; and if upon return thereof , the causes of their commitment be certified to the Iudges , as it ought to be , then the Iudges in the Cases before , ought not to deliver him , but to remand the Prisoner to the place from whence he came , which cannot conveniently be done , unless notice of the cause in general , or else in special , be given to the Keeper or Goaler that shall have the Custody of such a Prisoner . All the Iudges and Barons did subscribe their names to these Articles , Ter. Paschae 34 Eliz. and delivered one to the L. Chancellor , and another to the L. Treasurer : after which time there did follow more quietness then before , in the Cause before mentioned . After the reading of this Report , Sir Edw. Cook said , That of my own knowledge this Book was written with my L. Andersons own hand ; it is no flying report of a young Student . I was Solicitor then , and Treasurer Burley was as much against Commitment as any of this Kingdom ; It was the White Staves that made this stir . Let us draw towards a conclusion : The Question is , whether a Feeman can be imprisoned by the King without setting down the cause ? I leave it as bare as Aesops Crow ; they that argue against it , Humores moti & non remoti corpus destruunt . It is a Maxime , the Common-Law hath admeasured the Kings Prerogative , that in no Case it can prejudice the Inheritance of the Subjects ; had the Law given the Prerogative to that which is taken , it would have set some time to it , else mark what would follow . I shall have an Estate of Inheritance for life , or for years in my Land , or propriety in my Goods , and I shall be a Tenant at will for my liberty : I shall have propriety in my own house , and not liberty in my person , Perspicuè vera non sunt probanda . The King hath distributed his Judicial power to Courts of Justice , and to Ministers of Justice , it is too low for so great a Monarch as the King is , to commit men to Prison ; and it is against Law , that men should be committed , and no cause shewed . I would not speak this , but that I hope my Gracious King will hear of it ; yet it is not I Edw. Cook that speaks it , but the Records that speak it , we have a National appropriate Law to this Nation diversis ab orbe Brittannis : I will conclude with the Acts of the Apostles , chap. 25. It is against reason to send a man to Prison , and not to shew the cause . It is now time to go to the Question . Resolved upon the Question , Nemine contradicente : I. That no Freeman ought to be detained or kept in Prison , or otherwise restrained by the command of the King or the Privy-Council , or any other , unless some cause of the commitment , detainer or restraint be expressed , for which by Law he ought to be committed , detained or restrained . II. That the Writ of Habeas Corpus may not be denied , but ought to be granted to every man that is committed or detained in Prison , or otherwise restrained , though it be by the command of the King , the Privy-Council , or any other , he praying the same . III. That if a Freeman be committed or detained in prison , or otherwise restrained by the Command of the King , the Privy-Council , or any other , no cause of such Commitment , Detainer or Restraint being expressed , for which by Law he ought to be committed , detained , or restrained , and the same be returned upon a Habeas Corpus , granted for the said Party , then he ought to be delivered or bailed . And then taking into consideration the Property of the Subject in his Goods , they came to this Resolution , to which there was not a Negative ; viz. That it is the antient and undubitable right of every Freeman , That he hath a full and absolute Property in his Goods and Estate , that no Tax , Tallage , Loan , benevolence , or other like charge ought to be commanded , or levied by the King , or any of his Ministers without common consent by Act of Parliament . Wednesday , March 26. The Propositions tendred the day before by Secretary Cook from his Majesty were now received and read , but the Debate thereof was referred to another day . The Propositions were these ; viz. 1. To furnish with men and Victuals 30 ships to guard the narrow Seas , and along the Coasts . 2. To set out ten other ships for the relief of the Town of Rochel . 3. To set out ten other ships for the preservation of the Elbe , the Sound and Baltick-Sea . 4. To leavy Arms , Cloth , Victual , pay and transport an Army of 1000. Horse , and 10000. Foot , for Forein Service . 5. To pay and supply 6000 l. more for the service of Denmark . 6. To supply the Forts of the Office of Ordnance . 7. To supply the Stores of the Navy . 8. To build 20 ships yearly for the increase of the Navy . 9. To repair the Forts within the Land. 10. To pay the arrears of the Office of Ordnance . 11. To pay the arrears of the Victuallers Office. 12. To pay the Arrear of the Treasure of the Navy . 13. To pay the Arrears due for the freight of divers Merchants ships imployed in his Majesties Service . 14. To provide a Magazine for Victuals for Land and Sea-service . And the Commons having a Conference with the Lords about the Petition against Recusants , Secretary Cook was appointed to manage the said Conference . In the first place ( he said ) we acknowledge all due honor , both unto the reverend Fathers of the Church , and to our Noble Lords ; in that ye have shined before us as worthy Lights in the encouragement and maintenance of true Religion , being the true support of all Dignities and Honors . And this forwardness of you is the more remarkable , when that viperous Generation , as your Lordships justly stiled them , do at ease with tooth and nail essay to rend the Bowels of their Mother . Give me leave to tell you what I know , that these now both vaunt at home and write to their friends abroad , They hope all will be well , and doubt not to prevail , and to win ground upon us . And a little to awake the Zeal and Care of our learned and grave Fathers , it is fit that they take notice of that Hierarchy which is already established in competition with their Lordships ; for they have a Bishop consecrated by the Pope ; This Bishop hath his Subalternate Officers of all kindes , as Vicars-General , Arch-Deacons , Rural-Deans , Apparators , and such like : neither are these nominal or titular Officers alone ; but they all execute their Jurisdictions , and make their ordinary Visitations through the Kingdom , keep Courts , and determine Ecclesiastical Causes . And which is an Argument of more consequence , they keep ordinary intelligence by their Agents in Rome , and hold correspondence with the Nuntio's and Cardinals both at Bruxels , and in France . Neither are the Seculars alone grown to this height , but the Regulars are more active and dangerous , and have taken deep root ; they have already planted their Societies and Colledges of both Sexes , they have setled Revenues , Houses , Libraries , Vestments , and all other necessary provisions , to travel or stay at home : nay , even at this time they intend to hold a concurrent Assembly with this Parliament . But now since his Sacred Majesty hath extended his Royal arm , and since the Lords of his Council have by their Authority caused this nest of Wasps to be digged out of the Earth , and their Convocations to be scattered ; And since your Lordships joyn in courage and resolution , at least to reduce this people to their lawfull restraint , that they may do no more hurt , we conceive great hope and comfort , that the Almighty God will from henceforth prosper our endeavors both at home and aboad . But now , my Lords , to come to the chief Errand of this our meeting , which is to make known to you the Approbation of our House of that Petition to his Majesty , wherein you are pleased to request our concurrence . The House hath taken it into serious consideration , and from the beginning to the end approve of every word , and much commend your happy pen ; onely we are required to present unto you a few Additions whereby we conceive the Petition may be made more agreeable to the Statutes which are desired to be put in execution , and to a former * Petition granted by his Majesty , Recorded in both Houses , confirmed under the Broad-Seal of England , and published in all our Courts of ordinary Justice . But these things we propound , not as our Resolutions , or as matters to raise debate or dispute , but commend them onely as our advice and desire , being ready notwithstanding to joyn with your Lordships in the Petition , as now it is , if your Lordships shall not finde this Reason to be of weight . This being agreed unto ; on Monday the 31 of March , the aforesaid Petition was presented by his Majesty to both Houses ; at the delivery whereof the Lord Keeper spake as followeth . Most Gracious Soveraign , THe Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in this present Parliament assembled , out of due care of the Glory of Almighty God , and of the Honor and Safety of your Majesty , do with all humbleness , and with one unanimous , consent present to your Royal hands , the most Loyal desires of all their hearts ; which is set down in a dutifull Petition , which is to quicken the Laws against the Perturbers of the Peace of all States : We cannot , nor do not forget your Majesties most gracious Acts and Answers on the like Petition ; they are visible to the world , to your Majesties honor and comfort : We bend our knees and hearts , blessing God and your Majesty therefore ; yet let it not seem needless , that we repair again to your Majesty : The Husbandman knows what Weeds are not destroyed at one weeding . These are growing Evils , they are Weeds of a spreading nature : And we that come from all parts do think it our duty to tell your Majesty , that Gods Vineyard is not yet cleansed . And God himself requires , that we pray to him often , even for what he means and promiseth to bestow on us . But my Message comes from the Pen of both Houses : And therefore I humbly beseech your Majesty to lend a gracious ear to hear me read the Petition . After the reading thereof , his Majesty made this short speech . My Lords and Gentlemen , I Do very well approve the Method of your proceedings in this Parliament ; A Jove principium ; hoping that the rest of your Consultatious will succeed the happier . And I like the Preamble of my Lord Keeper , otherwise I should have a little suspected that you had thought me not so careful of Religion as I have , and ever shall be , wherein I am as forward as you can desire . And for the Petition , I answer first in general , That I like it well , and will use these as well as other means for the maintenance and propagation of that Religion wherein I have lived , and do resolve to die . But for the particulars , you shall receive a more full Answer hereafter . And now I will only add this ; That as we pray to God to help us , so we must help our selves : For we can have no assurance of his assistance , if we do lie in bed , and only pray , without using other means . And therefore I must remember you , that if we do not make provision speedily , we shall not be able to put one ship to Sea this year . Verbum sapienti sat est . Afterwards the Lord Keeper signified unto the House , That his Majesty had now given his Answer unto the Petition exhibited by both Houses against Recusants , and had commanded his Lordship to read the same Answer in this House ; and Mr Secretary to read it in the House of Commons . Whereupon the Clerk read the first Article of the said Petition , and the Lord Keeper read his Majesties Answer unto the same , and so each Article thereof . The which Petition with the Answers follow in haec verba . Most Gracious Soveraign , WE your most Loyal and obedient Sub●ects , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in Parliament assembled , Having to our singular comfort obtained your Majesties pious and gracious assent for a Publick Fast , to appease the wrath of Almighty God kindled against us , and to prevent those grievous Iudgments , which do apparently press upon us , do in all humility present unto your sacred Majesty all possible thanks for the same . And because the publick and visible sins of the Kingdom , are the undoubted causes of those visible Evils that are faln upon us ; Amongst which sins , ( as is apparent by the word of God ) Idolatry and Superstition are the most haynous and crying sins ; To the end that we may constantly hope for the blessing of God to descend upon this our publick Humiliation , by abandoning those sins which do make a wall of Separation betwixt God and us . WE most humbly and ardently beg at the hands of your most Sacred Majesty , That your Majesty will be pleased to give continual life and motion to all those Laws that stand in force against Iesuites , Seminary Priests , and all that have taken Orders by Authority of the Sea of Rome , by exacting a more due and serious execution of the same : Amongst which number , those that have highly abused your Majesties clemency , by returning into the Kingdom after their vanishment , contrary to your Highness express Proclamation , we humbly desire may be left to the severity of your Laws , without admitting of any mediation or intercession for them . And that such of your Majesties unsound and il affected Subjects , as do receive , harbor , or conceal any of their viperous Generation , may without delay suffer such Penalties and Punishments as the Laws most justly impose upon them . His Majesties Answer unto the first Article of this Petition . TO the first Point his Majesty answereth , That he will according to your desire give both life and motion to the Laws that stand in force against Jesuites , Seminary Priests , and all that have taken Orders by Authority of the Sea of Rome : and to that end his Majesty will give strict order to all his Ministers for the discovering and apprehending of them , and so leave them being apprehended to the trial of the Law. And in case , after trial , there shall be cause to respit execution of any of them ; yet they shall be committed ( according to the example of the best times ) to the Castle of Wisbitch , and there be safely kept from exercising their Functions , of spreading their Superstitious and dangerous Doctrine ; and the Receivers and Abettors they shall be left to the Law. THat your Majesty would be pleased to command a surer and strait watch to be kept in and over your Majesties Ports and Havens , and to commit the care and charge of searching of Ships for the discovery , and apprehension aswel of Jesuites and Seminary Priests brought in , as of Children and young Students , sent over beyond the Seas , to suck in the poyson of Rebellion and Superstition , unto men of approved fidelity and Religion : And such as shall be convicted to have connived or combined in the bringing in of the one , or conveying of the other , that the Laws may pass upon them with speedy execution . His Majesties Answer to the second Article . TO the second Article ; His Majesty granteth all that is in this Article ; and to this end will give Order to the Lord Treasurer , Lord Admiral , and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports , that in their several places they be careful to see this Article fully executed , giving strict charge to all such as have place and authority under them , to use all diligence therein . And his Majesty requireth them , and all other his Officers and Ministers , to have a vigilant eye upon such as dwell in dangerous places of advantage or opportunity , for receiving or transporting of any such as are here mentioned . And his Majesty will take it for good Service , if any will give knowledge of any such as have connived or combined , or shall connive or combine , as is mentioned in this Article , that Justice may be strictly done upon them . THat considering those dreadful dangers ( never to be forgotten ) which did involve your Majesties sacred Person , and the whole representative body of your Maiesties Kingdom , plotted and framed by the free and common access of Popish Recusants to the City of London , and to your Majesties Court , Your Majesty would be gratiously pleased to give speedy command for the present putting in practise those Laws , that prohibit all Popish Recusants to come to the Court , or within ten Miles of the City of London ; as also those Laws that confine them to the distance of five miles from their dwelling Houses ; and that such by-past Licenses not warranted by Law , as have been granted unto them for their repair to the City of London , may be discharged and annulled . His Majesties Answer to the third Article . TO the third ; His Majesty will take Order to restrain the recourse of Recusants to the Court ; and also for the other points in this Article his Majesty is well pleased that the Laws be duely executed , and that all unlawful Licenses be annulled and discharged . THat whereas it is more then probably conceived , that infinite sums of moneys have within these two or three years last past been extracted out of the Recusants within the Kingdom by colour of composition , and a small proportion of the same returned unto your Majesties coffers , not onely to the suddain enriching of private persons , but to the emboldning of Romish Recusants to entertain Massing Priests into their private Houses , and to exercise all their Mimique Rites of their gross superstition , without fear of control , amounting ( as by their dayly practice and ostentation we may conceive ) to the nature of a concealed Toleration ; your Majesty would be gratiously pleased to entertain this particular more neerly into your Princely wisedom and consideration ; and to dissolve this Mystery of Iniquity patched up of colourable Leases , Contracts , and Preconveyances , being but Masks on the one part of fraud to deceive your Majesty and States , on the other part for private men to accomplish their corrupt ends . His Majesties Answer to the fourth Article . TO the fourth Article ; his Majesty is most willing to punish for the time past , and prevent for the future , any of the deceits and abuses mentioned in this Article ; and will account it a good service in any , that will inform Himself , his Privy Councel , Officers of his Revenues , Judges , or learned Councel , of any thing that may reveal this mystery of Iniquity . And his Majesty doth strictly command every of them , to whom such information shall be brought , that they suffer not the same to die , but do their uttermost endeavour to effect a clear discovery , and bring the Offenders to punishment . And to the intent no concealed toleration may be effected , his Majesty leaves the Laws to their course . THat as the Persons of Ambassadors from forain Princes , and their Houses , be free for the exercises of their own Religion , so their Houses may not be made free Chappels and Sanctuaries unto your Majesties Subjects , popishly affected , to hear Mass , and to participate in all other Rites and Ceremonies of that Superstition , to the great offence of Almighty God , and scandal of your Majesties People loyally and religiously affected : That either the concourse of Recusants to such places may be restrained , or at least such a vigilant watch set upon them , at their return from those places , as they may be apprehended , and severely proceeded withal , Ut qui palam in luce peccant in luce puniantur . His Majesties Answer to the fifth Article . TO the fifth ; his Majesty is well pleased to prohibit and restrain their coming and resort to the Houses of Ambassadors , and will command a vigilant watch to be set for their taking and punishing , as is desired . THat no place of Authority and Command , within any the Counties of this your Majesties Kingdom , or any Ships of your Majesties , or which shall be imployed in your Majesties Service , be committed to Popish Recusants , or to Non-communicants , by the space of a year past , or to any such persons as according to direction of former Acts of State are justly to be suspected , as the place and Authority of Lords Lieutenants , Deputy Lieutenants , Iustices of Peace , or Captains , or other Officers or Ministers mentioned in the Statute made in the third year of the reign of your Father of blessed memory : And that such as by Connivence have crept into such places , may by your Majesties Royal Command be discharged of the same . His Majesties Answer to the sixth Article . TO the sixth ; his Majesty is perswaded that this Article is already observed with good care ; nevertheless , for the avoiding ( as much as may be ) all errors and escapes in that kinde , his Majesty will give charge to the Lord Keeper , that at the next Term he call unto him all the Judges , and take Information from them of the state of their several Circuits , if any such ( as are mentioned in this Article ) be in the Commission of the peace , that due reformation may be made thereof ; And will likewise give order to the Lord Admiral , and such others to whom it shall appertain , to make diligent enquiry and certificate to his Majesty , if any such be in place of Authority and Command in his Ships or Service . THat all your Majesties Iudges , Iustices , and ministers of Iustice , unto whose care and trust , execution ( which is the life of your Majesties Laws ) is committed , may by your Majesties Proclamation , not onely be commanded to put in speedy execution those Laws which stand in force against Iesuits , Seminary Priests , and Popish Recusants , but that your Majesty would be further pleased to command the said Iudges and Iustices of Assize , to give a true and strict account of their proceedings , at their returns out of their Circuits , unto the Lord Keeper , and by the Lord Keeper to be presented unto your Majesty . His Majesties Answer unto the seventh Article . To the seventh his Majesty doth fully grant it . ANd for a fair and clear eradication of all Popery for the future , and for the breeding and nursing up of a holy generation , and a peculiar People sanctified unto the true worship of Almighty God , that until a provisional Law may be made for the training and educating of the Children of Popish Recusants in the grounds and principles of our holy Religion , which we conceive will be of more power and force to unite your people unto you in fastness of love , Religion and loyal obedience , then all pecuniary Mulcts and Penalties that can possibly be devised : Your Majesty would be pleased to take it into your own princely care and consideration , these our humble Petitions proceeding from hearts and affections loyally and religiously devoted to God and your Majesties Service , and to the safety of your Majesties sacred Person , we most zealously present to your Princely wisedom , craving your Majesties chearful and gratious approbation . His Majesties Answer to the eighth Article . TO the eighth , his Majesty doth well approve it , as a matter of necessary consideration , and the Parliament now sitting , he recommendeth to both Houses the preparation of a fitting Law to that effect . And his Majesty doth further declare , that the mildeness that hath been used towards those of the Popish Religion , hath been upon hope that forain Princes thereby might be induced to use moderation towards their Subjects of the Reformed Religion ; but not finding that good effect which was expected , His Majesty resolveth , unless he shall very speedily see better fruits , to add a further degree of severity , to that which in this petition is desired . ON Wednesday the second of April , the Propositions sent from the King , were mentioned , and several Gentlemen expressed themselves severally on that subject . IT is said , that the greatest grievance is want of supply ; but I hold it a greater grievance that his Majesty is brought into those necessities , especially considering the supplies that of late have been given to the King , two Subsidies of Parliament , besides privy Seals , the late Loan , whereby five Subsidies were forcibly and unadvisedly taken , and we have yet purchased to our selves nothing by all these but our own dishonor , we have drawn and provoked two powerful enemies upon us ; it is not then what the Subjects do give , unless his Majesty imploy men of integrity and experience , otherwise all that we give will be as cast into a bottomless bag . SOme propositions we shall not meddle with , as a soveraign Army to be transported , we are not fit for that yet , but we will not reject it , for great Princes , who give out Rumors of raising great Armies , do put their Enemies to great fears ; then the defence of our Coasts , nothing is more necessary ; but the bill of Poundage is for that particular supply , and how far it may prejudice us for a future Precedent , to give other supply , let us be advised . Mr. Secretary Cook , observing a distinction made upon the propositions , as if some of them were to be omitted , I know ( said he ) you will do it upon deliberation ; some there are not possible to be omitted , as the Guarding of the Seas , defence of the Elbe Rotchel , and those draw on all the rest : Ships must have Men and Munition , and we cannot divide any of these . This House is tender of the Countrey ; the King will not lay a burthen that cannot be born ; We may supply his Majesty without this , give we now what we please , the King may make use of it before the People are able to pay ; and we shall not onely make his Majesty subsist , but advance his reputation in the world , by the unity of his People , more then by any treasure . INdeed there may be some necessity for a war offensive , but looking on one late dysaster , I tremble to think of sending more abroad . Let us consider those two great undertakings at Cales and Ree ; at Cales that was so gloriously pretended , where our men arrived and found a Conquest ready , namely , the Spanish Ships , a satisfaction sufficient and fit for us , and this confessed by some then imployed , and never but granted by all , that it was feasible and easie , why came this to nothing ? After that opportunity lost , when the whole Army was landed , with destruction of some of our men , why was nothing done ? if nothing was intended , why were they landed , and why were they shipt again ? For Rees voyage , was not the whole action carried against the judgement of the best Commanders ? was not the Army landed ? Not to mention the leaving of the Wines , nor touch the wonder that Caesar never knew , the enriching of the Enemy by curtesies : Consider what a case we now are in , if on the like occasion , or with the like instruments , we shall again adventure another expedition . It was ever the wisedom of our Ancestors here , to leave Forain Wars wholly to the State , and not to meddle with them . SIr Edw. Cook. When poor England stood alone , and had not the access of another Kingdom , and yet had more and as potent Enemies as now it hath , yet the King of England prevailed . In the Parliament Roll , in the 42. year of Edw. 3. the King and the Parliament gave God thanks for his victory against the Kings of Scotland and of France , he had them both in Windsor Castle as Prisoners . What was the reason of that Conquest ? four reasons were given . 1. The King was assisted by good Counsel . 2. There were valiant men . 3. They were timely supplied . 4. Good Imployment . 3. R. 2. The King was inviron'd with the Flemins , Scots and French , and the King of England prevailed . 13. R. 2. The King was invironed with Spaniards , Scots and French , and the King of England prevailed . 17 R. 2. Wars were in Ireland and Scotland , and yet the King of England prevailed , and thanks were given to God here ; And I hope I shall live to give God thanks for our Kings victories . 7 H. 4. One or two great men about the King so mewed him up , that he took no other advice but from them , whereupon the Chancellor took this Text and Theam in his Speech at the Parliament , Multorum consilia requiruntur in magnis , in bello qui maxime timent sunt in maximis periculis . Let us give and not be afraid of our enemies , let us supply bountifully , cheerfully , and speedily , but enter not into particulars : Solomons Rule is , Qui repetit separat , nay , separat foederatos : We are united in duty , &c. to the King , the King hath fourscore thousand pounds a year for the Navy , and to scowre the Narrow-seas , it hath been taken , and we are now to give it , and shall we now give more to guard the Seas ? besides , when that is taken of our gift , it may be diverted another way . It shall never be said we deny all supply , I think my self bound , where there is commune periculum , there must be commune auxilium . I Cannot forget that duty I owe to my Countrey , and unless we be secured against our Liberties , we cannot give ; I speak not this to make diversions , but to the end that giving I may give cheerfully . As for the Propositions to be considered of , I incline to decline them , and to look upon the State of our Countrey , whether it be fit to give , or no : Are we come to an end for our Countries Liberties ? have we trenched on the rates of the Deputy Lieutenants ? are we secured for time future ? WE all desire remedies for our Grievances , and without them we shall neither be willing nor able to give ; for my part , I heartily desire remedy , but which is the best and wisest way , that is the question : As we have made some progress in our Grievances , so let us now go on to supply ; There is a Proverb , Non bis ad idem , dash not the Common-wealth twice against one Rock . We have Grievances , we must be eased of them ; who shall ease us ? No Nation hath a people more loving to the King , then we ; but let the King think it and believe it , there is a distance betwixt him and us , before we can have his heart , we must remove it : Our disease is not so great but that it may be cured , it is the Kings Evil which must be cured with Gold ; let us imitate Iacob , who wrestled with the Angel , and would not let him go ; I would we could wrestle with the King in duty and love , and not to let him go in this Parliament , till he comply with us : We must take heed of too much repetition and over-beating of Grievances , it is dangerous , and it may make a further separation : He that talks too much of his Grievance , makes the party that is the cause of it make an apology , and to justifie it , and that is dangerous : let us do as Poets in a Tragedy , that sometimes have Comical Passages , and so a generous mind will sink presently . Sure a due presentation of such Grievances to such a King with moderation , will take place with him : In all deliberations go the safest way ; The old way I have heard is first to remove Grievances ; we must not ty and bind our selves by all that was done before : I have gone over the Thames in former times on foot , when it was all an Ice , but that is no argument to perswade me by to do the like now , because I did so once . THe House waving the Debate of the Propositions proceeded with Grievances by Confinement , and Designation for forain imployment , in which points several Gentlemen delivered their opinion . COnfinement is different from Imprisonment , and it is against the Law that any should be confined either to his House , or elswhere : I know not what you can call a Punishment , but there is some ground of it , or mention thereof in Acts of Parliament , Law-books , or Records , but for this of Confinement , I finde none : indeed Jews have been confined in former times to certain places , as here in London to the old Iury : The Civilians have perpetual Prisons and coercive Prisons , upon Judgements in Court , Carcer domesticus is a confinement for madmen . I Was imployed in 88. in that service , it was then thought fit that Recusants should be confined in strong places , but it was not held legal , and when the Navy was dispiersed they were set at liberty , and the Parliament petitioned the Queen for a Law , to warrant the Confinement : Hereupon it was resolved , That no freeman ought to be confined by any command of the King or Privy Councel , or any other , unless it be by Act of Parliament , or by other due course or warrant of Law. And then the House proceeded to the Debate , concerning Designation to forain Imployment . TOuching Designation to forain Imployment , Sir Peter Hayman opened his own Case : I have forgot my imployment unto the Palatinate , I was called before the Lords of the Councel , for what I know not , I heard it was for not lending on a Privy Seal , I told them if they will take my Estate , let them , I will give it up , give I will not : When I was before the Lords of the Councel , they laid to my Charge my unwillingness to serve the King ; I said , I had my Life and my Estate to serve my Countrey , and my Religion : They put upon me , if I did not pay , I should be put upon an imployment of Service ; I was willing ; after ten weeks waiting they told me I was to go with a Lord into the Palatinate , and that I should have imployment there , and means befitting ; I told them I was a Subject , and desired means ; some put on very eagerly , some dealt nobly ; they said I must go on my own purse , I told them Nemo militat suis expensis ; some told me I must go , I began to think , What , must I ? none were ever sent out in that kinde ; Lawyers told me I could not be so sent : having that assurance I demanded means , and was resolved not to stir upon those tearms , and in silence and duty I denied : upon this they having given me a Command to go , after some twelve days they told me they would not send me as a Soldier , but to attend on an Ambassador ; I knew that stone would hit me , I setled my troubled estate , and addressed my self to that Service . THis is a great Point that much concerns the Commonwealth , if the the King cannot command a Subject to his necessary service ; and on the other side , it will be little less then an honorable banishment to the Subject , if he may . Our Books say the King cannot compel any to go out of the Realm , and an action brought against him , he cannot plead in Bar , that he is by command from the King in forein service , but the King may give him his protection . 5 E. 3. N. 9. in the Parliament Roll there was an Ordinance whereby the King had power to send some to Ireland , it is ordained , that such Sages of the Law and Soldiers , where need shall be , though they refuse to go and excuse themselves , if their excuses be not reasonable , the King may do to them according to right and reason : If the King by Law could do this of himself , and send them to Ireland , his own Dominion , he would never have taken power from his Parliament ; and if men do not according to that Law , there is no imprisonment prescribed . NO restraint , be it never so little , but is Imprisonment , and forain imployment is a kind of honorable Banishment : I my self was designed to go to Ireland , I was willing to go , and hoped if I had gone , to have found some Mompessons there : There is a difference when the Party is the Kings servant , and when not . 46 E. 3. this was the time when the Law was in its height : Sir Richard Pembridge was a Baron , and the Kings Servant , and Warden of the Cinque-ports , he was commanded to go to Ireland , and to serve as Deputy there , which he refused : He was not committed , but the King was highly offended , and having Offices , and Fees and Lands pro servitio suo impenso , the King seized his Lands and Offices : I went to the Parliament Roll , 47. E. 3. where I found another precedent for forain imployment ; they that have Offices pro consilio , or servitio impenso , if they refuse , those Lands and Offices so given are seized , but no commitment . IF any man owes a man displeasure , and shall procure him to be put into forain imployment , it will be a matter of high concernment to the Subject : We know the Honor and Justice of the King , but we know not what his ministers or the mediation of Ambassadors may do to work their own wrath upon any man. IF you grant this Liberty , what are you the better by other priviledges ? what difference is there between imprisonment at home , and constrained imployment abroad ? it is no less then a temporal Bamishment , neither is it for his Majesties service to constrain his Subjects to imployment abroad : Honor and Reward invites them rather to seek it , but to be compelled , stands not with our Liberty . These Debates , as to Confinement , produced this resolution , That no Freeman ought to be confined by any command from the King , or Privy Councel , or any other , unless it be by Act of Parliament , or by other due course or warrant of Law. As for the matter of supply , the Debate was put off till Friday following . Thursday 3. of April , Mr. Secretary Cook brought the House this Message from the King. HIs Majesty having understood that some rumors were spread abroad of a sharp Message yesterday delivered by me , and of some malicious words , that the Duke should speak yesterday at the Councel-board , he commanded me to tell you of the malice of those falss reports , for that nothing fell from the Duke or that Board , but what was for the good of this Assembly : He would have you observe the malice of those spirits that thus put in these Jealousies : Had the Duke so spoken , he should have contradicted himself , for all of us of the Councel can tell , he was the first mover and perswader of this Assembly of Parliament to the King. Esteem of the King according to his actions , and not these tales ; His Majesty takes notice of our purpose , that on Friday we will resolve upon Supply , which his Majesty graciously accepts of , and that our free gift without any condition should testifie to the world , that we will be as far from incroaching upon his Prerogative , as he will be to incroach upon our Liberties : and this shall well appear , when we present our Grievances to him , and then we shall know that he hath no intention to violate our Liberties , onely let us not present them with any asperity of words ; he counts it his greatest Glory to be a King of Freemen , not of Villains : He thought to have delivered this Message himself , but that he feared it would take us too much time . Then he added a word of his own , Yesterday after dinner we attended his Majesty , and he asked us what we had done : We said we had entred into the consideration of Supply , and that the final resolution was deferred till Friday ; and that this was done for just reasons , to joyn the business of his Majesties and our Countries together , and this would further his Majesty , and it would give content to the Countrey , and that this union here might be spread abroad in the World. His Majesty answered , For Gods sake , why should any hinder them in their Liberties ? if they did it not , I should think they dealt not faithfully with me . You may see a true Character of his Majesties disposition : let us proceed with courage , and rest assured his Majesty will give great ear unto us , and let us all joyn to make a perfect union to win the Kings heart ; we shall find a gracious answer from the King , and a hearty cooperation from those that you think to be averse to us . UPon the delivery of this Message some stood up , and professed they never heard of any such sharp Message or words the day before , or that any was so bold as to interpose himself : They acknowledged his Majesty had put a threefold Obligation on them ; First , in giving them satisfaction ; Secondly , in giving them assurance ( which is a great Law ) that he will protect and relieve them ; Thirdly , in giving them advice as may befit the Gravity of that Assembly and his own Honor : So they concluded to carry themselves as their Progenitors before had done , who never were marked for stepping too far on the Kings Prerogative , and they returned their humble thanks to his Majesty . THe day following Mr. Secretary Cook delivered another Message from the King , viz. His Majesty hath again commanded me to put you in mind , how the eyes and interest of the Christian world , are cast upon the good or evil success of this Assembly : He also graciously taketh notice of that which is in agitation amongst us , touching the freedom of our Persons , and propriety of our Goods ; and that this particular care ( which he no way misliketh ) may not retard our resolution for the general good , he willeth us chearfully to proceed in both , and to express our readiness to supply his great occasions , upon assurance that we shall enjoy our Rights and Liberties , with as much freedom and security in his time , as in any age heretofore under the best of our Kings ; and whether you shall think fit to secure our selves herein , by way of Bill or otherwise , so as it be provided for with due respect of his Honor and the publique good , whereof he doubteth not but that you will be careful , he promiseth and assureth you that he will give way unto it ; and the more confidence you shall shew in his grace and goodness , the more you shall prevail to obtain your own desires . Vpon this occasion Mr. Pym spake , THat in business of weight dispatch is better then discourse ; We came not hither without all motives that can be towards his Majesty , had he never sent in this message ; We know the danger of our Enemies , we must give Expedition to Expedition ; let us forbear particulars . A man in a journey is hindred by asking too many questions : I do believe our peril is as great as may be , every man complains of it , that doth incourage the Enemy ; our way is to take that that took away our estates , that is , the Enemy ; to give speedily is that that the King calls for : A word spoken in season is like an Apple of Silver ; and actions are more precious then words , let us hasten our Resolutions to supply his Majesty . And after some debate , they came to this unanimous Resolve , That five Subsidies be given his Majesty ; and Mr. Secretary Cook was appointed to acquaint his Majesty with the Resolution of the House . Monday the 7. of April , Mr. Secretary Cook reported to the House the Kings acceptance of the Subsidies , and how his Majesty was pleased to ask , by how many voyces they were gained ? I said , but by one ; His Majesty asked , how many were against him ? I said , none ; for they were voted by one voyce , and one general consent . His Majesty was much affected therewith , and called the Lords in Councel , and there I gave them account what had passed ; besides , it gave his Majesty no small content , that although five Subsidies be inferior to his wants , yet it is the greatest gift that ever was given in Parliament ; and now he sees with this he shall have the affections of his People , which will be greater to him then all value . He said he liked Parliaments at the first , but since ( he knew not how ) he was grown to a distaste of them ; but was now where has was before , he loves them , and shall rejoyce to meet with his People often . Vpon the giving of the five Subsidies the Duke of Bucks made a Speech at the Councel Table , and Mr. Secretary at that time acquainted the House therewith . The Speech was this , SIr , me thinks I behold you a great King , for love is greater then Majesty ; opinion that the people loved you not , had almost lost you in the opinion of the world ; But this day makes you appear as you are , a glorious King , loved at home , and now to be feared abroad ; this falling out so happily , give me leave , I beseech you , to be an humble suitor to your Majesty ; 1. For my self , That I , who have had the honour to be your Favorite , may now give up that title unto them , they to be your Favorites , and I to be your Servant . My second suit is , That they having done also well , you will account of them as one ; a body of many members , but of all one heart ▪ opinion might have made them differ , but affection did move them all to joyn with like love in this great gift ; for proportion , although it be less then your occasions may ask , yet it is more then ever Subjects did give in so short a time ; nor am I perswaded it will rest there , for this is but as an earnest of their affections , to let you see , and the world know what Subjects you have , that when the honor and the good of the State is ingaged , and Aid asked in the ordinary way of Parliament , you cannot want : This is not the gift of five Subsidies alone , but the opening of a Mine of Subsidies that lieth in their hearts . This good beginning hath wrought already these effects , they have taken your heart , drawn from you a Declaration that you will love Parliaments . And again , this will meet ( I make no question ) with such respect , that their demands will be just , dutiful , and moderate ; for they that know thus to give , know well what is fit to ask . Then cannot your Majesty do less then out-go their demands , or else you do less then your self or them ; for your Message begot trust , their truth and your promises must then beget performances . This being done , then shall I with a glad heart behold this work as well ended as now begun , and then shall I hope that Parliaments shall be made hereafter ●o frequent by the effects and good use of them , as they shall have this further benefit , to deter from approaching your ears those projecters and inducers of innovation , as disturbers both of Church and Commonwealth . Now , Sir , to open my heart , and to ease my grief , please you to pardon me a word more ; I must confess I have long lived in pain ; Sleep hath given me no rest , Favors and Fortunes no content , such have been my secret sorrows , to be thought the man of separation , and that divided the King from his People , and them from him , but I hope it shall appear they were some mistaken minds , that would have made me the evil spirit that walketh between a good Master and loyal People by ill offices ; whereas , by your Majesties favor , I shall ever endeavour to approve my self a good spirit , breathing nothing but the best of services to them all . Therefore this day I account more blessed to me then my birth , to see my self able to serve them , to see you brought in love with Parliaments , to see a Parliament express such love to you ; and God so love me and mine , as I joy to see this day . Mr. Secretary Cook also at this time repeated the substance of the Kings Answer to the Petition concerning Recusants . And after he had done , Sir Iohn Elliot expressed the great satisfaction which he apprehended , the House in general , and himself in special , had received touching each particular of his Majesties gracious Answer ; but shewed his dislike that Mr. Secretary in the close of his Relation , made mention of another in addition to his Majesty , which formerly hath been a matter of complaint in the House , the mixture with his Majesty , not onely in the business , but in his name . Is it ( said he ) that any man conceives the mention of others ( of what quality soever ) can add incouragement or affection to us in our duties and loyalties towards his Majesty , or give them greater latitude or extent , then naturally they have ? or is it supposed that the power or interest of any man can add more readiness to his Majesty in his gracious inclination to us , then his own goodness gives him ? I cannot believe it . And as the sweetness and piety of his Majesty , which we have in admiration , makes me confident in this , so the expressions of our duty so perspicuous and clear , as already hath been given , is my assurance for the other . But Sir , I am sorry there is this occasion , that these things should be argued , or this mixture which was formerly condemned should appear again : I beseech you Sir , let it not be hereafter ; let no man take this boldness within these Walls to introduce it , though I confess for my particular I shall readily commend , nay , thank that man , whose endeavors are applied in such Offices , as may be advantageable for the publique ! Yet in this matter so contrary to the Customs of our Fathers , and the honor of our Times , I cannot without Scandal apprehend it , nor without some Character or Exception pass it by , that such interposition may fol the future be left . Now let us proceed , said he , to those services that concern his Majesty and the Subject , which ( I doubt not ) in the end will render us so real unto him , that we shall not need more help to endear us to his favor . The Commons having expressed their dutiful affections towards his Majesty , in giving him so large a Gift as five Subsidies , and having also shewed their care of the Subjects in the liberty of their Person , and propriety in their Goods , did now prepare to transmit their Resolves to the Lords for their concurrence , and several Members were appointed to manage a Conference with the Lords concerning the same . We shall briefly touch some Passages of that Conference , as to the rational and historical Part thereof , omitting to mention Precedents and Book-Cases , lest they should prove tedious to the Reader . SIr Dudly Diggs began with this Introduction : I am commanded to shew unto your Lordships in general , that the Laws of England are grounded on Reason , more ancient then Books , consisting much in unwritten Customs , yet so full of Justice and true Equity , that your most honorable Predecessors and Ancestors propugned them with a Nolumus mutari ; and so ancient , that from the Saxon days , notwithstanding the injuries and ruines of time , they have continued in most part the same , as may appear in old remaining Monuments of the Laws of Ethelbert , the first Christian King of Kent , Ina the King of the West Saxons , Osfa of the Mercians , and of Alfred the great Monarch , who united the Saxon Heptarchie , whose Laws are yet to be seen published , as some think , by Parliament , as he says to that end , ut qui sub uno rege , sub una lege regerentur : And though the Book of Litchfield , speaking of the times of the Danes , says , then Ius sopitum erat in regno , leges & consuetudines sopitae sunt , and prava voluntas , vis & violentia magis regnabant quam Judicia vel Justitia , yet by the blessing of God a good King Edward , commonly called St. Edward , did awaken those Laws ; and as the old words are , Excitatas reparavit , reparatas decoravit , decoratas confirmavit , which Confirmavit shews , that good King Edward did not give those Laws which William the Conqueror and all his Successors since that time have sworn unto . And here my Lords , by many Cases frequent in our modern Laws strongly concurring with those of the ancient Saxon Kings , I might , if time were not more precious , demonstrate that our Laws and Customs were the same . I will onely intreat your Lordships leave to tell you , That as we have now , even in those Saxon times they had their Court Barons , and Court Leets , and Sheriffs Courts , by which as Tacitus says of the Germanes , their Ancestors Iura reddebant per pagos & vicos ; and I do believe as we have now , they had their Parliaments , where new Laws were made cum consensu Praelatorum , Magnatum & totius Communitatis , or as another writes , cum consilio Praelatorum , Nobilium & sapientium L●icorum ; I will add nothing out of Glanvile , that wrote in the time of Hen. 2. or Bracton , that writ in the days of Hen. 3. onely give me leave to cite that of Fortescue the learned Chancellor to Hen. 6. who writing of this Kingdom , says , Regnum istud moribus nationum & regum temporibus , eisdem quibus nunc regitur legibus & consuetudinibus regebatur . But my good Lords , as the Poet said of Fame , I may say of our Common Law , Ingrediturque solo , caput inter nubila condit . Wherefore the cloudy part being mine , I will make haste to open way for your Lordships , to hear more certain Arguments , and such as go on more sure grounds . Be pleased then to know , that it is an undoubted and fundamental Point of this so ancient Common Law of England , That the Subject hath a true property in his goods and possessions , which doth preserve as sacred , that meum & tuum , that is the nurse of Industry , and mother of Courage , and without which there can be no Justice , of which meum & tuum is the proper object . But the undoubted Birthright of true Subjects hath lately not a little been invaded and prejudiced by pressures , the more grievous , because they have been pursued by imprisonment , contrary to the Franchises of this Land ; and when according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , redress hath been sought for in a legal way , by demanding Habeas Corpus from the Judges , and a discharge by trial according to the Law of the Land , success hath failed : that now inforceth the Commons in this present Parliament assembled , to examine by Acts of Parliament , Precedents and Reasons , the truth of the English Subjects liberty , which I shall leave to learned Gentlemen to argue . NExt after Sir Dudly Diggs , spake Mr. Ed Littleton of the Inner-Temple , That their Lordships have heard that the Commons have taken into consideration the matter of personal Liberty , and after long debate thereof , they have upon a full search , and clear understanding of all things pertinent to the question , unanimously declared , That no Freeman ought to be committed or restrained in Prison by the command of the King or Privy Councel , or any other , unless some cause of the commitment , detainer , or restraint be expressed , for which by Law he ought to be committed , detained , or restrained : And they have sent me with other of their Members , to represent unto your Lordships the true grounds of their resolution , and have charged me particularly , leaving the reasons of Law and Precedents for others , to give your Lordships satisfaction , that this Liberty is established and confirmed by the whole State , the King , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons , by several Acts of Parliament , the Authority whereof is so great , that it can receive no Answer , save by Interpretation or Repeal by future Statutes . And these I shall minde your Lordships of , are so direct in the point , that they can bear no other exposition at all , and sure I am they are still in force ; The first of them is the grand Charter of the Liberties of England , first granted in the 17th . year of King Iohn , and renewed in the 9 t● . year of Hen. 3. and since confirmed in Parliament above 30. times , the words there are Chap. 29. Nullus liber homo capiatur , vel imprisonetur , aut disseisietur de libero tenemento suo vel liberis consuetudinibus suis , aut utlagetur , aut exuletur , aut aliquo modo destruatar , nec super eum ibimus , nec eum mittemus , nisi per legale judicium Parium suorum , vel per legem terrae . He then proceeded to open , and argued learnedly upon the several Particulars in the last recited Clause of Magna Charta ; and further shewed , That no invasion was made upon this personal Liberty , till the time of King Ed. 3. which was soon resented by the Subject , for in the 5. Ed. 3. Chap. 9. it is enacted , That no man from henceforth shall be attached on any occasion , nor fore-judged of Life or Limb , nor his Lands , Tenements , Goods , nor Chattels seised into the Kings hands , against the Form of the great Charter , and the Law of the Land : and 25 Edw. 3. Chap. 4. it is more full , and doth expound the words of the grand Charter , which is thus ; Whereas it is contained in the grand Charter of the Franchises of England , that none shall be Imprisoned nor put out of his Freehold , nor free Custom , unless it be by the Law of the Land , it is awarded , assented and established , That from henceforth none shall be taken by Petition or suggestion made to our Lord the King , or to his Councel , unless it be by Indictment or Presentment of his good and lawful People of the the same neighborhood , which such Deed shall be done in due maner , or by process made by W●it original at the common Law ; nor that none be outed of his Franchises , nor Office , Freehold , unless it be duly brought in Answer , and fore-judged of the same , by the course of the Law , and that if any thing be done against the same , it shall be redressed and holden for none : and 28 Ed. 3. Chap. 3. it is more direct , this Liberty being followed with fresh suit by the Subject , where the words are not many , but very full and significant , That no man of what state and condition he be , shall be put out of his Lands nor Tenements , nor taken , nor imprisoned , nor disinherited , nor put to death , without it be brought in Answer by due process of the Law. Several other Statutes were cited by him , in confirmation of this point of the Liberty of the Subject . The Kings Councel afterward made Objections to the said Argument , yet acknowledged that the seven Statutes urged by the House of Commons , are in force ; yet said that some of them are in general words , and therefore conclude nothing , but are to be expounded by Precedents , and some of them are applied to the suggestion of Subjects , and not to the Kings command simply of its self ; and that per legem terrae in Magna Charta , cannot be understood for process of Law and original Writs ; for that in Criminal proceedings no original Writ is usual at all , but every Constable either for Felony or breach of the Peace , or to prevent the breach of the Peace , may commit without Process or original Writ ; it were very hard the King should not have the power of a Constable . They also argued , That the King was not bound to express the cause of Imprisonment , because there may be in it matter of State , not fit to be revealed for a time , lest the confederates thereupon make means to escape the hands of Justice . Besides , that which the Commons do say , that the party ought to be delivered or bailed , is a contradiction in its self ; for bayling doth signifie a kinde of Imprisonment still , Delivery , is a total freeing : And besides , bayling is a grace or favor of a Court of Justice , and they may refuse to do it . To this it was replyed , That the Statutes were direct in Point , and though some of them speak of suggestions of the Subjects , yet they are in equal reason a commitment by command of the King , as when the King taketh notice of a thing himself : And for the words per legem terrae , original Writs onely are not intended , but all other legal process , which comprehendeth the whole proceedings of the Law upon Cause other then trial by Jury , and the course of the Law is rendred by due process of the Law , and no man ought to be imprisoned by special command without indictment , or other due process to be made by the Law. And whereas it is said there might be danger in revealing the Cause , that may be avoided by declaring a general Cause , as for Treason , suspicion of Treason , misprision of Treason , Felony , without expressing the particulars which can give no greater light to a confederate , then will be conceived upon the very apprehension upon the imprisonment , if nothing at all were expressed . And as for the bayling of the party committed , it hath ever been the discretion of the Judges , to give so much respect to a commitment , by the command of the King or the privy Councel , which are ever intended to be done in just and weighty Cases , that they will not presently set them free , but bail them to answer what shall be objected against them on the Kings behalf ; but if any other inferior Officer do commit a man without shewing cause , they do instantly deliver him , as having no cause to expect their leasure ; so that Delivery is applyed to the imprisoned , by command of some mean minister of Justice : Bailing , when it is done by command of the King or his Councel ; and though Bailing is a grace and favor of the Court , in case of Felony and other crimes , for that there is another way to discharge them in convenient time by their trial ; but where no cause of imprisonment is returned , but the command of the King , there is no way to deliver such persons by trial or otherwise , but that of the Habeas Corpus , and if they should be then remanded , they might be perpetually imprisoned without any remedy at all , and consequently a man that had committed no offence might be in a worse case then a greater offender , for the latter should have an ordinary trial to discharge him , the other should never be delivered . MAster Selden of the Inner-Temple argued next , first making this Introduction . Your Lordships have heard from the Gentleman that last spake , a great part of the grounds upon which the House of Commons upon mature deliberation proceeded , to that clear resolution touching the right of liberty of their persons : The many Acts of Parliament , which are the written Laws of the Land , and are expresly in the Point , have bin read and opened , and such Objections as have been by some made unto them , and Objections also made out of another Act of Parliament , have been cleared and answered : It may seem now perhaps ( my Lords ) that little remains needful to be further added , for the enforcement and maintenance of so fundamental and established a Right and Liberty , belonging to every freeman of the Kingdom . The House of Commons taking into consideration , that in this question being of so high a nature , that never any exceeded it in any Court of Justice whatsoever , all the several ways of just examination of the Truth should be used , have also most carefully informed themselves of all former Judgements or Precedents concerning this great Point , either way ; and have been no less careful of the due preservation of his Majesties just Prerogative , then of their own Rights . The Precedents here are of two kinds , either meerly matter of Record , or else the former resolutions of the Judges , after solemn debate in the Point . This Point that concerns Precedents , the House of Commons have commanded me to present to your Lordships , which I shall as briefly as I may , so I do it faithfully and perspicuously : to that end , my Lords , before I come to the particulars of any of those Precedents , I shall first remember to your Lordships that which will seem as a general key for the opening and true apprehension of all them of record , without which key no man , unless he be verst in the entries and course of the Kings Bench , can possibly understand . In all cases , my Lords , where any Right or Liberty belongs to the Subjects by any positive Law , written or unwritten , if there were not also a remedy by Law for enjoying or regaining of this Right or Liberty , when it is violated or taken from him ; the positive Law were most vain , and to no purpose ; and it were to no purpose for any man to have any right in any Land or other Inheritance , if there were not a known remedy , that is , an Action or Writ , by which in some Court of ordinary Justice he might recover it . And in this case of Right of Liberty of Person , if there were not a remedy in the Law for regaining it when it is restrained , it were of no purpose to speak of Laws that ordain it should not be restrained . The Writ of Habeas Corpus , or Corpus cum causa , is the highest remedy in Law for any man that is imprisoned , and the onely remedy for him that is imprisoned by the special command of the King , or the Lords of the p●ivy Councel , without shewing cause of the commitment ; and if any m●n be so imprisoned by any such Command , or otherwise whatsoever though England , and desire by himself , or any other in his behalf , this Writ of Hab. Corp. for the purpose in the Court of Kings Bench , that Writ is to be granted to him , and ought not to be denied , and is directe● to the Keeper of the Prison , in whose custody the Prisoner remains , commanding him that after a certain day he bring in the body of the Prisoner cum causa detentionis , and sometimes cum causa captionis ; and he with his return filed to the Writ , bringeth the Prisoner to the Bar at the time appointed , and the Court judgeth of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the retu●n ; and if they finde him baylable , committitur Marescallo , the proper Prison belongeth to the Court , and then afterward traditur in ball . But if upon the return of the Habeas Corpus it appear to the Court that the Prisoner ought not to be bayled , nor discharged from the Prison whence he is brought , then he is remanded and sent back again , to continue till by due course of Law he may be delivered ; and the ent●y of this is , remittitur quousque secundum legem deliberatus fuerit , or remittitur quousque , &c. which is all one , and the highest award of Judgement that ever was or can be given upon a Habeas Corpus . Your Lordships have heard the resolution of the House of Commons , touching the enlargement of a man committed by the command of the King , or the privy Councel , or any other , without cause shewed of such commitment ; which resolution , as it is grounded upon Acts of Parliament already shewen , ( the reason of the Law of the Land being committed to the charge of another to open unto unto you ) so it is strengthened by many Precedents of Records . He then produced twelve Precedents full and directly in the point , to prove that persons so committed ought to be delivered upon bayl , which were distinctly opened and read to their Lordships ; then he also offered to their consideration other kind of Precedents , which were solemn resolutions of Judges , things not of Record , but yet remain in Authentick Copies , which Precedents and Authorities we omit for the length thereof . He then proceeded , and said , The House of Commons desiring with all care to inform themselves fully of the truth of the resolution of the Judges in the 34. year of the Queen , cited in the case of Sir Iohn Heveningham , by the Kings Councel , as Arguments against his not being bayled , have got into their hands a Book of select Cases , collected by the reverend and learned Judge , Chief Justice Anderson , all written with his own hand ; which he caused to be read , being the same which hath been already mentioned in the Collections of this Parliament ; which Precedents , saith he , do fully resolve enough for the maintenance of the ancient and fundamental point of Liberty of the Person , to be regained by Hab. Corp. when any is imprisoned . Then he concluded , that having thus gone through the charge committed to him by the House of Commons , he should now , as he had leave and direction given him , lest their Lordships should be put to much trouble and expence of time in finding and getting Copies at large of those things which he had cited , offer also to their Lordships Authentick Copies of them all , and so left them , and whatever else he had said , to their Lordships further consideration . LAst of all Sir Edward Cook took up the Argument , as to the rational part of the Law , and began with this Introduction , Your Lordships have heard 7. Acts of Parliament in point , and 31. Precedents summarily collected , and with great understanding delivered , which I have perused , and understand them all throughly ; 12. of the Precedents are in terminis terminantibus , a whole Jury of Precedents , and all in the point ; I am much transported with joy , because of the hope of good success in this weighty business , your Lordships being so full of Justice , and the very Theme and Subject doth promise success , which was Corpus cum cansa , the freedom of an English man , not to be imprisoned without cause shewn , which is my part to shew , and the reason and the cause why it should be so , wherein I will not be prolix nor copious , for to guild Gold were idle and superfluous . And after he had cleared some doubts made of the Statute of Westminster , which saith , That the Sheriffs and others in some cases may not replevin men in Prison ; he proceeded further , and said , That all those Arguments offered unto your Lordships in this last conference , are of a double nature . 1. Acts of Parliament . 2. Judicial Precedents . For the first , I hold it a proper Argument for your Lordships , because you my Lords temporal , and you my Lords spiritual gave your assent unto those Acts of Parliament , and therefore if these cannot perswade you , nothing can . For the second , which are Judicial Precedents , it is Argumentum ab authoritate , and Argumentum ab authoritate valet affimative ; that is , I conceive , though it be no good Argument to say negatively the Judges have given no opinion in the point . 3. It is good Law ; which I fortifie with a strong Axiome , Neminem oportet sapientiorem esse legibus . Now these two arguments being so well pressed to your Lordships by my Colleagues ; I think your Lordships may wonder what my part may be ; it is short , but sweet ; it is the Reason of all those Laws and Precedents , and Reason must needs be welcome to all men ; for all men are not capable of the understanding of the Law , but every man is capable of Reason ; and those Reasons I offer to your Lordships , in affirmance of the antient Laws and Precedents made for the Liberty of the Subject against Imprisonment without cause expressed . 1. A re ipsa . 2. A minore ad majus . 3. From the remedies provided . 4. From the extent and universality of the same . 5. From the infiniteness of the time . 6. A Fine . The first general Reason is a re ipsa , even from the nature of Imprisonment , ex visceribus causae , for I will speak nothing but ad idem , be it close or other Imprisonment ; and this Argument is three-fold , because an imprisoned man upon will and pleasure is 1. A Bond-man . 2. Worse then a Bond-man . 3. Not so much as a man , for mortuus homo non est homo , a Prisoner is a dead man. 1. No man can be imprisoned upon will and pleasure of any but he that is a Bond-man and villain , for that Imprisonment and Bondage are Propria quarto modo to villains ; now Propria quarto modo , and the species are convertible , Whosoever is a Bond-man may be imprisoned upon will and pleasure , and whosoever may be imprisoned upon will and pleasure is a Bondman . 2. If free men of England might be imprisoned at the will and pleasure of the King or his commandment , then were they in worse case then Bondmen or villains ; for the Lord of a villain cannot command another to imprison his villain without cause , as of disobedience , or refusing to serve , as it is agreed in the year books . And here he said that no man should reprehend any thing that he said out of Books or Records ; he said he would prove a free man imprisonable upon command or pleasure , without cause expressed , to be absolutely in worse case then a villain ; and if he did not make this plain , he desired their Lordships not to believe him in any thing else , and then produced two Book Cases 7. Edw. 3. fol. 50. in the new print , 348. old print . A Prior had commanded one to imprison his villain , the Judges were ready to bayl him , till the Prior gave his reason , that he refused to be Bayliff of his Manour , and that satisfied the Judges . 2d . Case 33. Edw. 3. title Tresp . 253. in Faux imprisonment , it was of an Abbot , who commanded one to take and detain his villain , but demanded his cause , he gives it , because he refused , being thereunto required , to drive his Cattel . Ergo free men imprisoned without cause shewn , are in worse case then villains , that must have a cause shewn them why they are imprisoned . 3. A Free man impisoned without cause , is so far from being a Bondman , that he is not so much as a man , but is indeed a dead man , and so no man ; imprisonment is in Law a civil death ; perdit domum , familiam , vicinos , patriam , and is to live amongst wretched and wicked men , Malefactors and the like . And that death and imprisonment was the same , he proved by an Argument ab effectis , because they both produce the like immediate effects ; he quoted a Book for this : If a man be threatned to be killed , he may avoid seoffment of Lands , gifts of goods , &c. so it is if he be threatned to be imprisoned , the one is an actual , the other is a civil death . And this is the first general Argument drawn a re ipsa , from the nature of imprisonment , to which res ipsa consilium dedit . The second general Reason he took also from his books , for he said he hath no Law but what by great pains and industry he learnt at his book , for at ten years of age he had no more Law then other men of like age ; and this second reason is a minore ad majus , he takes it from Bracton , Minima poena corporalis , est major qualibet pecuniaria . But the King himself cannot impose a fine upon any man , but it must be done judicially by his Judges , per justitiarios in Curia , non per regem in Camera , and so it hath been resolved by all the Judges of England ; he quoted 3. R. 2. fo . 11. The third general Reason is taken from the number and diversity of remedies which the Laws give against imprisonment . Viz. Breve de homine replegiando . De odio & atia . De Habeas Corpus . An appeal of Imprisonment . Breve de manucaptione . The latter two of these are antiquated , but the Writ De odio & atia is revived , for that was given by the Statute of Magna Charta , Cha. 26. and therefore though it were repealed by Statute of 42. E. 3. by which it is provided that all Statutes made against Magna Charta are void ; now the Law would never have given so many remedies , if the free men of England might have been imprisoned at free will and pleasure . The fourth general Reason is from the extent and universality of the pretended power to imprison , for it should extend not onely to the Commons of this Realm and their Posterities , but to the Nobles of the Land and their progenies , to the Bishops and Clergy of the Realm , and their Successors . And he gave a cause why the Commons came to their Lordships , Commune periculum commune requirit auxilium . Nay , it reacheth to all persons of what condition , or sex , or age soever ; to all Judges and Officers , whose attendance is necessary , &c. without exception , and therefore an imprisonment of such an extent , without reason , is against reason . The fifth general Reason is drawn from the indefiniteness of time , the pretended power being limited to no time , it may be perpetual during life , and this is very hard ; to cast an old man into prison , nay , to close prison , and no time allotted for his coming forth , is a hard case , as any man would think that had been so used . And here he held it an unreasonable thing , that a man had a remedy for his Horse or Cattle if detained , and none for his body thus indefinitely imprisoned ; for a Prison without any prefixed time , is a kinde of Hell. The sixth and last Argument is a Fine ; and sapiens incipit a Fine , and he wisht he had begun there also ; and this Argument he made three-fold : Ab honesto . This being less honourable . Ab utili . This being less profitable . A tuto . This Imprisonment by will and pleasure being very dangerous for King and Kingdom . 1. Ab honesto . It would be no honour to a King or Kingdom , to be a King of Bond-men or Slaves , the end of this would be both Dedecus & Damnum , both to King and Kingdom , that in former times hath been so renowned . Ab utili . It would be against the profit of the King and Kingdom , for the execution of those Laws before remembred , Magna Charta , 5. Ed. 3. 25. Ed. 3.28 . Ed. 3. whereby the King was inhibited to imprison upon pleasure ; You see ( quoth he ) that this was vetus querela , an old question , and now brought in again , after seven Acts of Parliament ; I say the execution of all these Laws are adjudged in Parliament to be for the common profit of the King and People ; and he quoted the Roll , this pretended power being against the profit of the King , can be no part of his Prerogative . He was pleased to call this a binding Reason , and to say that the wit of man could not answer it ; that great men kept this Roll from being Printed , but that it was equivalent in force to the printed Rolls . 3. A Reason a tuto . It is dangerous to the King for two respects ; first , of loss , secondly , of destroying of the endeavors of men : First , if he be committed without the expression of the cause , though he escape , albeit in truth it were for treason or felony , yet this escape is neither felony nor treason , but if the cause be expressed for suspicion of treason or felony , then the escape , though he be innocent , is treason or felony . He quoted a Cause in print like a reason of the Law , not like Remittitur at the rising of the Court , for the Prisoner traditur in ballium quod breve Regis non fuit susficiens causa , The Kings Command . He quoted another famous Case , Commons in Parliament incensed against the Duke of Suffolk desire he should be committed : The Lords and all the Judges , whereof those great Worthies , Prescot and Fortescue , were two , delivered a flat opinion , that he ought not to be committed without an especial Cause . He questioned also the name and etymologie of the Writ in question , Corpus cum causa ; Ergo , the Cause must be brought before the Judge , else how can he take notice hereof ? Lastly , he pressed a place in the Gospel , Acts 25. last verse , which Festus conceives is an absurd and unreasonable thing , to send a Prisoner to a Roman Emperor , and not to write along with him the Cause alledged against him ; send therefore no man a Prisoner without his causes along with him , Hoc fac & vives , and that was the first reason a tuto , that it was not safe for the King in regard of Loss , to commit men without a Cause . The second Reason is , That such commitments will destroy the endeavors of all men ; Who will endeavor to imploy himself in any profession , either of War , Merchandise , or of any liberal knowledge , if he be but Tenant at will of his Liberty ? for no Tenant at will will support or improve any thing , because he hath no certain estate ; Ergo , to make men Tenants at will of their Liberties , destroys all industry and endeavors whatsoever . And so much for these six principal Reasons : A re ipsa . A minore ad majus . A remediis . From the extent and universality . From the infiniteness of the time . A fine . Loss of Honor. Loss of Profit . Loss of Security . Loss of Industry . These were his Reasons . Here he made another Protestation , That if remedy had been given in this Case , they would not have medled therewith by no means ; but now that remedy being not obtained in the Kings Bench , without looking back upon any thing that hath been done or omitted , they desire some provision for the future onely . And here he took occasion to adde four Book Cases and Authorities , all in the Point , saying , That if the learned Councel on the other side , could produce but one against the Liberties , so pat and pertinent , oh ! how they would hug and cull it . 16. H. 6. tit . monstrance de faits 82. by the whole Court , the King in his Presence cannot command a man to be arrested , but an action of false imprisonment lieth against him that arresteth ; if not the King in his royal Presence , then none others can do it , Non sic itur ad astra . 1. Hen. 7.4 . Hussey reports the opinion of Markham , chief Justice to Edw. 4. that he could not imprison by word of mouth ; and the reason , because the party hath no remedy ; for the Law leaves every man a remedy of causless imprisonment : he added that Markham was a worthy Judge , though he fell into adversities at last by the Lord Rivers his means . Fortescue , Chap. 8. Proprio ore nullus Regum usus est , to imprison any man , &c. 4. Eliz. Times blessed and renowned for Justice and Religion , in Pl. 235. the common Law hath so admeasured the Kings Prerogative , as he cannot prejudice any man in his inheritance , and the greatest inheritance a man hath , is the liberty of his Person , for all others are accessary to it ; for thus he quoted the Orator : Major haereditas venit unicuique nostrum a Jure & legibus quam a parentibus . And these are the four Authorities he cited in this point : Now he propounded and answered two Objections ; First , in point of State ; Secondly , in the Course held by the House of Commons . May not the Privy Councel commit without cause shewed in no matter of State where secrecie is required ? would not this be an hinderance to his Majesties service ? It can be no prejudice to the King by reason of matter of State , for the cause must be of a higher or lower nature ; if it be for suspicion of Treason , misprision of Treason or Felony , it may be by general words couched ; if it be for any other thing of smaller nature , as contempt and the like , the particular cause must be shewed , and no individuum vagum , or uncertain cause to be admitted . Again , if the Law be so clear as you make it , why needs the Declaration and Remonstrance in Parliament ? The Subject hath in this Case sued for remedy in the Kings Bench by Habeas Corpus , and found none ; therefore it is necessary to be cleared in Parliament . And here ends his Discourse : And then he made a recapitulation of all that had been offered unto their Lordships , That generally their Lordships had been advised by the most faithful Counsellors that can be ; dead men these cannot be daunted by fear , nor muzled by affection , reward or hope of preferment , and therefore their Lordships might safely believe them ; particularly their Lordships had three several kinds of Proofs . 1. Acts of Parliament , judicial Precedents , good Reasons . First , you have had many ancient Acts of Parliament in the Point , besides Magna Charta , that is , seven Acts of Parliament , which indeed are thirty seven , Magna Charta being confirmed thirty times , for so often have the Kings of England given their royal Assents thereunto . 2. Judicial Precedents of grave and reverend Judges , in terminis terminantibus , that long since departed the world , and they were many in number . Precedents being twelve , and the Judges four of a Bench , made four times twelve , and that is forty eight Judges . 3. You have , as he tearmed them , vividas rationes , manifest and apparent Reasons : Towards the conclusion he declared to their Lordships , That they of the House of Commons have upon great study and serious Consideration , made a great manifestation unanimously , Nullo contradicente , concerning this great liberty of the Subject , and have vindicated and recovered the Body of this fundamental Liberty , both of their Lordships and themselves , from shadows which sometimes of the day are long sometimes short , and sometimes long again ; and therefore we must not be guided by shadows : and they have transmitted to their Lordships , not capita rerum , Heads or Briefs , for these compendia are dispendia ; but the Records at large , in terminis terminantibus : and so he concluded , that their Lordships are involved in the same danger , and therefore ex congruo & condigno they desired a Conference , to the end their Lordships might make the like Declaration as they had done ; Commune periculum commune requirit auxilium ; and thereupon take such further course , as may secure their Lordships and them , and all their Posterity , in enjoying of their ancient undoubted and fundamental Liberties . The two next days were spent in the Debate about Billeting of Soldiers upon the Subject against Law. THursday the 10. of April , Mr. Secretary Cook delivered this Message from the King , That his Majesty desireth this House not to make any recess these Easter Holidays , that the world may take notice how earnest his Majesty and we are for the publique affairs in Christendom , the which by such a recess would receive interruption . THis Message for non-recess , was not well pleasing to the House . SIr Robert Phillips first resented it , and took notice , That in 12. and 18. Iac. upon the like intimation , the House resolved it was in their power to adjourn , or sit : hereafter , said he , this may be put upon us by Princes of less Piety ; let a Committee consider hereof , and of our right herein , and to make a Declaration . And accordingly this matter touching his Majesties pleasure about the recess was referred to a Committee , and to consider the power of the House to adjourn it self ; to the end , that it being now yielded unto in obedience to his Majesty , it might not turn to prejudice in time to come . SIr Edward Cook spoke to the same purpose , and said , I am as tender of the Priviledges of this House , as of my life , and they are the Heart-strings of the Commonwealth . The King makes a Prorogation , but this House adjourns it self . The Commission of Adjournment we never read , but say , This House adjourns it self . If the King write to an Abbot for a Corody , for a vallet , if it be ex rogatu , though the Abbot yield to it , it binds not : Therefore I desire that it be entred , that this is done ex rogatu Regis . Hereupon a Message was sent to the King , That the House would give all expedition to his Majesties Service , notwithstanding their purpose of recess . To which Message his Majesty returned this Answer , That the motion proceeded from himself , in regard of his engagement in the affairs of Christendom , wished them all alacrity in their proceedings , and that there be no recess at all . FRiday the 11. of April , Secretary Cook moved the expediting of Subsisides , and turning of the Votes into an Act : We have many Petitions to the King , said he , and they are Petitions of Right , we have freely and bountifully given five Subsidies , but no time is appointed , and Subsidie without time , is no Subsidie : let us appoint a time . SIr Dudley Diggs quickned his motion and spoke roundly : We have ( said he ) freely concluded our Liberties , we have offered five Subsidies , his Majesty hath given us gracious Answers , we have had good by our beginnings , what have we hitherto done for the King ? nothing is done that the King can take notice of ; the world thinks that this Parliament hath not expressed that resolution that it did at the first , how much doth it concern the King that the world be satisfied with his Honor ? Our success and honor is the Kings , Princes want not those that may ingratiate themselves with them , by doing ill offices . There is a stop , and never did a Parliament propound any thing but it hath been perfected sooner then this is : may not the King say , What have I done ? they grow cold , have I not told them , I will proceed with as much grace as ever King did ? He will settle our proprieties and goods , have we not had a gracious answer ? are we hand in hand for his supply , shall it be said that this day it was moved , but denied ? it may put our whole business back , wherein can this disadvantage us ? this binds us not , I dare say confidently we shall have as much as ever any Subjects had from their King. SIr Thomas Wentworth proposed a middle way , viz. That when we set down the time , we be sure the Subjects Liberties go hand in hand together ; then to resolve of the time , but not report it to the House , till we have a Ground and a Bill for our Liberties : this is the way to come off fairly , and prevent jealousies . Hereupon the Committee of the whole House resolved , That Grievances and Supply go hand in hand . Saturday 12. of April , Mr. Secretary Cook delivered another Message from the King ( viz. ) His Majesty having given timely notice to this House , as well of the pressure of the time , as of the necessity of Supply , hath long since expected some fruit of that which was so happily begun ; but finding a stop beyond all expectation , after so good beginning , he hath commanded me to tell you , that without any further or unnecessary delay he would have you to proceed in this business ; for however he hath been willing and consenting his affairs and ours should concur and proceed together , yet his meaning was not that the one should give interruption to the other , nor the time to be spun out upon any pretence , upon which the common cause of Christendom doth so much depend : he bids us therefore take heed that we force not him to make an unpleasing end of that which was so well begun . I will discharge my duty , I shall humbly desire this honorable House not to undervalue or overstrain this Message ; if we conceive any thing in it to tend as if his Majesty threatned to dissolve this Parliament , we are deceived ; his Majesty intends the contrary , and to put us in such a way that our business may have speedy success . His Majesty takes notice of a peremptory order whereby he conceived that his business was excluded , at least for a time , that which doth most press his Majesty is time , believe that the affairs now in hand press his Majesties heart more then us , let us remove delaies that are more then necessary , let us awaken our selves , he intends a speedy dispatch . I must with some grief tell you ; that notice is taken , as if this House pressed not upon the abuses of Power onely , but upon Power it self ; this toucheth the King and us , who are supported by that Power : Let the King hear of any abuses of Power , he will willingly hear us , and let us not bend our selves against the extention of his Royal Power , but contain our selves within those bounds , that we meddle onely with pressures and abuses of Power , and we shall have the best satisfaction that ever King gave . I beseech you all concur this way , and use that moderation we have had the honor yet to gain . Being moved to explain what he meant by the word ( Power ) which ( he said ) we did oppose , he answered , I cannot descend to particulars , or go from that his Majesty gave me warrant or power to deliver . This Message was very unpleasing to the House , and many debates succeeded thereupon . And SIr Robert Phillips said , he hoped their moderation would have given a right understanding to his Majesty of their loyalty . OThers proposed to finde out a way by Gods providence to make this Message happy to King and People , it concerning the Kings honour abroad , and our safety at home , that this Parliament be happy , Let us prevent ( say they ) these mischiefs , which by frequent messages thus obstruct us ; let those Gentlemen neer the Chair see that we have endeavored to apply our selves to his Majesties service , notwithstanding this Message . In 12. Iac. a message of this nature produced no good ; nothing so endangers us with his Majesty , as that opinion that we are Antimonarchically affected , whereas such is and ever hath been our loyalty , if we were to choose a Government , we would choose this Monarchy of England above all Governments in the world . ABout two days after Mr. Secretary Cook again did quicken the business of supply , alledging that all negotiations of Ambassadors are at a stop while the House sits , and that this stop is as a frost upon the earth , that hinders the sweet vapors between his Majesty and his Subjects , and that as matters stand , the Soldiers can neither be disbanded nor put in service . THis motion comes unexpectedly , but it is fit to receive some satisfaction , the proceeding now with our Grievances shall open the stop that hinders his Majesties affairs . SIr Humphrey May added , That sweetness , trust and confidence are the onely weapons for us to deal with our King ; and that coldness , inforcement and constraint will never work our ends : If we compass all we desire , and have not his Majesties heart , what will a Law or any thing else do us good ? HEreupon it was ordered That a special Committee of eight persons shall presently withdraw themselves , and consult together upon some heads , and upon the substance of a fair representation to his Majesty , which the Speaker shall deliver in his Speech to his Majesty on Monday next , ( if the King please to give access ) and at the same time to deliver the Petition against billeting of Soldiers . Master Speakers Speech to the King on Easter Monday . Most gracious and dread Soveraign , YOur dutiful and loyal Commons here assembled , were lately humble suitors to your Majesty for access to your Royal presence ; the occasion that moved their desires herein was a particular of importance , worthy your Princely consideration , which , as it well deserves , should have been the onely subject of my Speech at this time . But since your gracious answer for this access obtained by a message from your Majesty , they have had some cause to doubt that your Majesty is not so well satisfied with the manner of their proceedings , as their hearty desire is you should be , especially in that part which concerns your Majesties present supply , as if in the prosecution thereof they had of late used some slackness or delay . And because no unhappiness of theirs can parallel with that which may proceed from a misunderstanding in your Majesty of their clear and loyal intentions , they have commanded me to attend your Majesty with an humble and summary Declaration of their proceedings since this short time of their sitting , which they hope will give your Majesty abundant satisfaction , that never People did more truly desire to be indeared in the favour and gracious opinion of their Soveraign ; and withal to let you see , that as you can have no where more faithful counsel , so your great designs and occasions can no way be so speedily or heartily supported , as in this old and antient way of Parliament . For this purpose they humbly beseech your Majesty to take into your Royal consideration , that although by antient right of Parliament the matters there debated are to be disposed in their true method and order , and that their constant custome hath been to take into their considerations the common grievances of the Kingdom , before they enter upon the matter of supply ; yet to make a full expression of that zeal and affection which they bear to your Royal Majesty , equalling at least , if not exceeding the best affections of their predecessors , to the best of your progenitors ; they have in this Assembly , contrary to the ordinary proceedings of Parliament , given your Majesties Supply precedence before the common grievance of the Subject , how pressing soever , joyning with it onely those fundamental and vital liberties of the Kingdom , which give subsistence and ability to your Subjects . This was their original order and resolution , and was grounded upon a true discerning that these two considerations could not be severed , but did both of them intirely concern your Majesties service , consisting no less in enabling and encouraging the Subject , then in proportioning a Present suiting to your Majesties occasions and their abilities ; nay , so far have they been from using any unnecessary delays , as though of the two that of Supply were the latter proposition amongst them , the Grand Committee to which both were referred hath made that of your Majesties supply first ready for conclusion . And to be sure your Majesties supply might receive no interruption by the other , differing from usage and custome ( in cases of this nature ) sent up of those that concern the Subjects by parcels , some to your Majesty , and some to the Lords , to the end your Majesty might receive such speedy content , as suted with the largest and best extent of their first order . Sir , You are the breath of our nostrils , and the light of our eyes , and besides those many comforts , which under you and your Royal progenitors , in this frame of Government , this Nation hath enjoyed , the Religion we profess hath taught us whose Image you are ; and we do all most humbly beseech your Majesty to believe , that nothing is or can be more dear unto us then the sacred Rights and Prerogatives of your Crown ; no person or Councel can be greater lovers of you , nor be more truly careful to maintain them , and the preserving of those fundamental Liberties which concern the freedom of our persons , and propriety of goods and estates , is an essential means to establish the true glory of a Monarchy . For rich and free Subjects as they are best governed , so they are most able to do your Majesty service , either in peace or war , which next under God hath been the cause of the happy and famous victories of this Nation , beyond other Kingdoms of larger Territories and greater number of People . What information soever contrary to this shall be brought unto your Majesty , can come from no other then such as for their own ends under colour of advancing the Prerogative , do indeed undermine and weaken Royal Power by impoverishing the Subjects , render this Monarchy less glorious , and the People less able to serve your Majesty . Having ( by this that hath been said ) cleared our hearts and proceedings to your Majesty , our trust is , that in your Royal Judgement we shall be free from the least opinion of giving any necessary stop to our proceedings in the matter of your supply , and that your Majesty will be pleased to entertain belief of our alacrity and chearfulness in your service , and that hereafter no such misfortune shall befal us to be misunderstood by your Majesty in any thing . We all most humbly beseech your Majesty to receive no information in this or any other business from private relations , but to weigh and judge of our proceedings by those resolutions of the House that shall be represented from our selves . This rightly and graciously understood , we are confident from the knowledge of your goodness and our own hearts , that the ending of this Parliament shall be much more happy then the beginning , and be to all ages styled the blessed Parliament , for making perfect union between the best King and the best People , that your Majesty may ever delight in calling us together , and we in the comforts of your gracious favour towards us . In this hope I return to my first errand , which will best appear by that which I shall humbly desire you to hear , and being an humble Petition for the House of Commons for redressing of those many inconveniences and distractions that have befallen your Subjects by the billeting of Soldiers in private mens houses against their wills . Your Royal progenitors have ever held your Subjects hearts the best Garrison of this Kingdom , and our humble suit to your Majesty is , that our faith and loyalty may have such place in your Royal thoughts , as to rest assured that all your Subjects will be ready to lay down their lives for the defence of your sacred person and this Kingdom . Not going our selves into our Countries this Easter , we should think it a great happiness to us , as we know it would be a singular comfort and encouragement to them that sent us hither , if we might but send them the news of a gratious answer from your Majesty in this particular , which the reasons of the Petition we hope will move your most excellent Majesty gratiously to vouchsafe us . The Petition concerning the billeting of Soldiers presented to the Kings most excellent Majesty . IN all humility complaining , sheweth unto your most excellent Majesty your loyal and dutiful Commons now in Parliament assembled , That whereas by the fundamental Laws of this Realm every freeman hath , and of right ought to have , a full and absolute propriety in his Goods and Estate , and that therefore the billeting and placing the Soldiers in the house of any such freeman against his will , is directly contrary to the said Laws under which we and our Ancestors have been so long and happily governed ; yet in apparent violation of the said antient and undoubted right of all your Majesties Loyal Subjects of this your Kingdom in general , and to the grievous and insupportable vexation and detriment of many Counties and persons in particular , a new and almost unheard of way hath been invented and put in practice , to lay Soldiers upon them , scattered in Companies here and there , even in the heart and bowels of this Kingdom , and to compel many of your Majesties Subjects to receive and lodge them in their own houses , and both themselves and others to contribute toward the maintenance of them , to the exceeding great disservice of your Majesty , the general terror of all , and utter undoing of many of your People , insomuch as we cannot sufficiently recount , nor in any way proportionable to the lively sense that we have of our Miseries herein , are we able to represent unto your Majesty the innumerous mischiefs and most grievous vexations , that by this means alone we do now suffer , whereof we will not presume to trouble your sacred ears with particular instances , onely most gratious Soveraign we beg leave to offer to your gratious view a compassionate consideration of a few of them in particular . 1. The service of Almighty God is hereby greatly hindred , the People in many places not daring to repair to the Church , lest in the mean time the Soldiers should rifle their houses . 2. The antient and good government of the Countrey is hereby neglected , and almost contemned . 3. Your Officers of Iustice in performance of their duties have been resisted and endangered . 4. The Rents and Revenues of your Gentry greatly and generally diminished ; Farmers to secure themselves from the Soldiers insolence , being by the Clamor of Solicitation of their fearful and injured Wives and Children , enforced to give up their wonted dwellings , and to retire themselves into places of more secure habitation . 5. Husbandmen , that are as it were the hands of the Countrey , corrupted by ill example of the Soldiers , and encouraged to idle life , give over work , and rather seek to live idly at another mans charges , then by their own labors . 6. Tradesmen and Artificers almost discouraged , and being inforced to leave thier Trades , and to imploy their time in preserving themselves and their Families from cruelty . 7. Markets unfrequented , and our ways grown so dangerous , that the People dare not pass to and fro upon their usual occasions . 8. Frequent Robberies , Assaults , Batteries , Burglaries , Rapes , Rapines , Murders , Barbarous Cruelties , and other most abominable vices and outrages are generally complained of from all parts where these Companies have been and had their abode , few of which insolencies have been so much as questioned , and fewer according to their demerit punished . These and many other lamentable effects ( most dread and dear Soveraign ) have by this billeting of Soldiers already fallen upon us your loyal Subjects , tending no less to the disservice of your Majesty , then to their impoverishing and destruction , so that thereby they are exceedingly disabled to yield your Majesty those Supplies for your urgent occasions , which they heartily desire ; and yet they are further perplexed with apprehension of more approaching danger , one in regard of your Subjects at home , the other of enemies from abroad , in both which respects it seems to threaten no small Calamity to the meaner sort of your People , being exceeding poor , whereof in many places are great Multitudes , and therefore in times of more setled and most constant administration of Iustice , not easily ruled , are most apt upon this occasion to cast off the reins of Government , and by joyning themselves with those disordered Soldiers are very like to fall into Mutiny and Rebellion ; which in faithful discharge of our duties we cannot forbear most humbly to present to your high and excellent wisedom , being pressed with probable fears that some such mischief will shortly ensue , if an effectual and speedy course be not taken to remove out of the land , or otherwise to disband those unruly Companies . For the second , we do most humbly beseech your Majesty to take into your Princely consideration , that many of those Companies , besides their dissolute dispositions and carriages , are such as do openly profess themselves Papists , and therefore to be suspected , that if occasion serve they will rather adhere to a forein Enemy of that Religion , then to your Majesty their liege Lord and Soveraign , especially some of their Captains and Commanders , being as Popishly affected as themselves , and having served in the Wars on the part of the King of Spain , and Arch-Dutchess against your Majesties Allies ; which , of what pernicious consequence it may prove , and how prejudicial to the safety of your Kingdom , we leave to your Majesties high and Princely wisedom . And now upon these , and many more which might be alledged , most weighty and important Reasons grounded on the maintenance of the Worship and Service of Almighty God , the continuance and advancement of your Majesties high honour and profit , the preservation of the antient and undoubted Liberties of your People , and therein of Iustice , Industry , Valour , which meerly concerns the glory and happiness of your Majesty , and all your Subjects , and the preventing of calamity and ruine both of Church and Commonwealth : We your Majesties most humble and loyal Subjects , the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of your House of Commons , in the name of all the Commonalty of your Kingdom , who are upon this occasion most miserably disconsolate and afflicted , prostrate at the Throne of your Grace and Iustice do most ardently beg a present remove of this insupportable burden , and that your Majesty would be graciously pleased to secure us from the like pressure in the time to come . To the Speakers Speech and this Petition his Majesty made this reply , Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen , when I sent you my last Message , I did not expect a reply , for I intended it to hasten you , I told you at your first meeting this time was not to be spent in words , and I am sure it is less fit for disputes , which if I had a desire to entertain , Mr. Speakers preamble might have given me ground enough : The question is not now , what Liberty you have in disposing of matters handled in your House , but rather at this time what is fit to be done . Wherefore I hope you will follow my example , in eschewing Disputations , and fall to your important business . You make a Protestation of your affection and zeal to my Prerogative , grounded upon such good and just Reasons , that I must believe you : But I look that you use me with the like charity , to believe what I have declared more then once since your meeting with us , that I am as forward as you for the preservation of your true Liberties . Let us not spend so much time in this that may hazard both my Prerogative and your Liberties to our enemies . To be short , go on speedily with your businesses without any more Apologies , for time calls fast on you , which will neither stay for you nor me : Wherefore it is my duty to hasten , as knowing the necessity of it , and yours , to give credit to what I say , as to him that sits at the Helm . For what concerns your Petition , I shall make answer in a convenient time . FRom this time to the 25th . of the same Moneth , the House in a grand Committee spent most of their time in Debate about Martial Law , and part thereof in giving the Lords a meeting at two Conferences , concerning some Resolves , in order to a Petition of Right , transmitted by the Commons to their Lordships ; at which time Sir Robert Heath and Serjeant Ashley the Kings Councel , were permitted to argue against the same ; and Serjeant Ashley in his discourse , said , The Propositions made by the Commons tended rather to an Anarchy then a Monarchy : 2. That if they be yielded unto , it is to put a Sword into the Kings hand with one hand , and to take it out with the other : 3. That they must allow the King to govern by Acts of State , otherwise he is a King without a Councel , or a Councel without a Power : 4. That the question is too high to be determined by Law , where the Conqueror or conquered will suffer irreparable loss . For which expressions the Lords called the Serjeant to an account , and committed him to custody , and afterwards he recanted what he said . Friday 25 of April , The Lords had a Conference with the Commons , where the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury spake as followeth . Gentlemen of the House of Commons , THe Service of the King and safety of the Kingdom , do call on my Lords to give all speedy expedition , to dispatch some of these great and weighty Businesses before us . For the better effecting whereof , my Lords have thought fit to let you know , that they do in general agree with you , and doubt not but you will agree with us , to the best of your powers to maintain and support the fundamental Laws of the Kingdom , and the fundamental Liberties of the Subject : For the particulars which may hereafter fall into Debate , they have given me in charge to let you know , That what hath been presented by you unto their Lordships , they have laid nothing of it by , they are not out of love with any thing that you have tendred unto them ; They have Voted nothing , neither are they in love with any thing proceeding from themselves : For that which we shall say and propose , is out of an intendment to invite you to a mutual and free Conference , that you with a confidence may come to us , and we with confidence may speak with you ; so that we may come to a conclusion of those things which we both unanimously desire . We have resolved of nothing , designed or determined of nothing , but desire to take you with us , praying help from you , as you have done from us . My Lords have thought of some Proposions , which they have ordered to be read here , and then left with you in Writing , That if it seem good to you , we may uniformly concur for the substance ; and if you differ , that you would be pleased to put out , adde , alter , or diminish , as you shall think fit , that so we may come the better to the end , that we do both so desirously embrace . Then the Propositions following were read by the Clerk of the upper House . THat his Majesty would be pleased graciously to Declare , That the good old Law called Magna Charta , and the six Statutes conceived to be Declarations and Explanations of that Law , do still stand in force to all intents and purposes . 2. That his Majesty would be pleased graciously to Declare , That according to Magna Charta , and the Statutes afore named , as also according to the most ancient Customs and Laws of this Land , every free Subject of this Realm , hath a fundamental Propriety in his Goods , and a fundamental Liberty of his Person . 3. That his Majesty would be graciously pleased to Declare , That it is his Royal pleasure to ratifie and confirm unto all and every his Loyal and faithful Subjects , all their ancient , several , just Liberties , Priviledges and Rights , in as ample and beneficial maner to all intents and purposes , as their Ancestors did enjoy the same under the best of his most noble Progenitors . 4. That his Majesty would be further pleased graciously to Declare , for the good content of his loyal Subjects , and for the securing of them from future fear , That in all Cases within the Cognizances of the Common Law concerning the liberties of the Subject , his Majesty would proceed according to the Common Law of this Land , and according to the Laws established in the Kingdom , and in no other maner or wise . 5. As touching his Majesties Royal Prerogative , intrinsical to his Soveraignty , and betrusted him withal from God , ad communem totius populi salutem , & non ad destructionem , that his Majesty would resolve not to use or divert the same , to the prejudice of any his loyal People in the propriety of their Goods , or liberty of their Persons : And in case , for the security of his Majesties royal Person , the common safety of his People , or the peaceable Government of this Kingdom , his Majesty shall finde just cause for reason of State to imprison or restrain any mans Person , his Majesty would graciously Declare , That within a convenient time he shall , and will express the cause of the commitment or restraint , either General or Special ; and upon a cause so expressed , will leave him immediately to be tryed according to the common Justice of the Kingdom . After the reading of the Propositions , the Archbishop said , THis is but a Model to be added unto , altered , or diminished , as in your reasons and wisdoms ye shall think fit , after ye have communicated the same to the rest of the Members of the House . To this Speech Sir Dudley Diggs , it being at a free Conference , made Reply ; MY Lords , it hath pleased God many ways to bless the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses now assembled in Parliament , with great comfort and strong hopes , that this will prove as happy a Parliament as ever was in England . And in their Consultations for the service of his Majesty , and the safety of this Kingdom , our special comforts and strong hopes have risen from the continued good respect , which your Lordships so nobly from time to time have been pleased to shew unto them , particularly at this present in your so honorable profession to agree with them in general , and desiring to maintain and support the fundamental Laws and Liberties of England . The Commons have commanded me in like sort to assure your Lordships , they have been , are , and will be as ready to propugne the just Prerogative of his Majesty , of which in all their Arguments , searches of Records , and Resolutions they have been most careful , according to that which formerly was , and now again is protested by them . Another noble Argument of your honorable disposition towards them is expressed in this , That you are pleased to expect no present answer from them , who are ( as your Lordships in your great wisdoms , they doubt not , have considered ) a great Body that must advise upon all new Propositions , and resolve upon them before they can give answer , according to the ancient Order of their House . But it is manifest in general ( God be thanked for it ) there is a great concurrence of affection to the same end in both Houses , and such good Harmony , that I intreat your Lordships leave to borrow a Comparison from Nature , or natural Philosophy : As two Lutes well strung and tuned brought together , if one be played on , little straws and sticks will stir upon the other , though it lye still : so though we have no power to reply , yet these things said and propounded cannot but work in our hearts , and we will faithfully report these Passages to our House , from whence in due time ( we hope ) your Lordships shall receive a contentful Answer . The Commons were not satisfied with these Propositions , which were conceived to choak the Petition of Right , then under consideration , but demurred upon them . Monday 28 April . The Lord Keeper spake to both Houses of Parliament by the Kings command , who was then present . MY Lords , and ye the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons , ye cannot but remember the great and important Affairs concerning the safety both of the State and Religion , declared at first from his Majesties own mouth , to be the causes of the Assembling of this Parliament ; the sense whereof , as it doth daily increase with his Majesty , so it ought to do , and his Majesty doubts not but it doth so with you , since the danger increaseth every day , both by effluxion of time , and preparations of the Enemy . Yet his Majesty doth well weigh , that this expence of time hath been occasioned by the Debate which hath arisen in both Houses touching the Liberty of the Subject ; in which , as his Majesty takes in good part the purpose and intent of the Houses , so clearly and frequently professed , that they would not diminish or blemish his just Prerogative , so he presumes that ye will all confess it a point of extraordinary Grace and Justice in him to suffer it to rest so long in dispute without interruption ; but now his Majesty considering the length of time which it hath taken , and fearing nothing so much as any future loss of that whereof every hour and minute is so pretious , and foreseeing that the ordinary way of Debate , though never so carefully husbanded , in regard of the Form of both Houses , necessarily takes more time then the Affairs of Christendom can permit , his Majesty out of his great Princely care hath thought of this expedient to shorten the business , by declaring the clearness of his own heart and intention : And therefore hath commanded me to let you know , That he holdeth the Statute of Magna Charta , and the other Six Statutes insisted upon for the Subjects Liberty , to be all in force , and assures you , that he will maintain all his Subjects in the just Freedom of their Persons , and safety of their Estates : And that he will govern according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm : And that ye shall finde as much security in his Majesties Royal Word and Promise , as in the strength of any Law ye can make ; so that hereafter ye shall never have cause to complain . The conclusion is , That his Majesty prayeth God , who hath hitherto blessed this Kingdom , and put into his heart to come to you this day , to make the success thereof happy , both to King and People : And therefore he desires that no doubt or distrust may possess any man , but that ye will all proceed unanimously to the business . The Commons being returned from the Lords House , Mr. Secretary Cook perswaded them to comply with the King. His Majesty , said he , puts us in minde of the great important Affairs of the State , and of his sense thereof , that by effluxion of time increaseth in him , and he doubts not but that it doth increase in us : Ye see his Majesties moderation in the interpretation of all our actions ; he saith that he hopes we have the same sense he hath , he is pleased to consider of the occasion of expence of time that grew from the Debates in both Houses . We see how indulgent he is , that however the Affairs of Christendom are great , yet he omits not this , nay he takes in good part our Proceedings and our Declarations that we will not Impeach the Prerogative : Also his Majesty presumes that we will confess that he hath used extraordinary Grace , in that he hath indured dispute so long , he acknowledgeth it Justice to stand as we have done . Further , out of a Princely care of the Publique , he is careful no more time be lost ; and because he sees some extraordinary course to be taken to satisfie us , he observes that in the Form of Debate such length is required , as the nature of the business will not indure . It is to be presumed , that his Government will be according to the Law : We cannot but remember what his Father said , He is no King but a Tyrant , that governs not by Law ; But this Kingdom is to be governed by the Common Law , and his Majesty assures us so much ; the Interpretation is left to the Judges , and to his great Council , and all is to be regulated by the Common Law ; I mean not Magna Charta onely , for that Magna Charta was part of the Common Law , and the ancient Law of this Kingdom ; all our difference is in the Application of this Law , and how this Law with difference is derived into every Court. I conceive there are two Rules , the one of Brass , that is rigid and will not bend , and that is the Law of the Kings Bench , this Law will not bend ; and when it lights on Subjects fitting , if it do not bend , it is unjust : And there comes in the Law of the Chancery and of Equity ; this is Application of Law in private mens Causes , when it comes to Meum & tuum . And thus the general Government of Cases , with relation to the common State of the Kingdom , is from the Council Board , and there they are to vary from the Law of the Kingdom : Suppose it be in time of Dearth , Propriety of Goods may in that time be forced , and be brought to the Market : We saw the experience of it in Coals in London , and the Council Board caused them to be brought forth and sold. In a time of Pestilence men may be restrained : If a Schism be like to grow in a Church , the State will enquire after the favorers of it : if there be fea● of Invasion , and it be encouraged by hope of a Party amongst us , it is in the power of Government to restrain men to their houses . In the Composure of these things there is great difference : What differences have been between the Courts of Chancery and Kings Bench ? It is hard to put true difference between the Kings Prerogative and our Liberties . His Majesty saw expence of time would be prejudicial ; it pleased God to move his Majesty by a Divine hand to shew us a way to clear all our difficulties ; let us attend to all the parts of it , there be Five Degrees , and there is more assurance then we could have by any Law whatsoever . His Majesty declares , That Magna Charta and the other Statutes are in force : This is not the first time that the Liberty of the Subject was infringed , or was in Debate and confirmed ; all times thought it safe , that when they came to a Negative of Power , it was hard to keep Government and Liberty together ; but his Majesty stopped not there , but according to the sense of these Laws , That he will govern his Subjects in their just Liberties , he assures us our Liberties are just , they are not of Grace , but of Right ; nay he assures us he will govern us according to the Laws of the Realm , and that we shall finde as much security in his Majesties Promise , as in any Law we can make ; and whatsoever Law we shall make , it must come to his Majesties allowance ; and if his Majesty finde cause in his Government , he may not put life to it : We daily see all Laws are broken , and all Laws will be broke for the Publique good , and the King may pardon all Offenders ; his Majesty did see that the best way to settle all at unity , is to express his own heart : The Kings heart is the best guarder of his own promise , his promise is bound with his heart . What Prince can express more care and wisdom ? Lastly he saith , That hereafter ye shall never have the like cause to complain ; May we not think the breach is made up ? is not his Majesty ingaged in his Royal word ? The conclusion is full of weight : and he prayes God , that as God hath blessed this Kingdom , and put it into his heart to come amongst us , so to make this day successful . The wrath of a King is like the roaring of a Lyon , and all Laws with his wrath are to no effect ; but the Kings favour is like to the dew of the grass , there all will prosper ; and God made the Instruments to unite all hearts . His Majesty having thus discharged himself , he prayes us to proceed to the business that so much concerns him . As his Majesty hath now shewed himself the best of Kings , let us acknowledge his Majesties goodness , and return to that Union which we all desire . But this motion was not received with general acceptation ; and Sir Benjamin Rudyard replyed to it in these words . WE are now upon a great business , and the maner of handling it may be as great as the business it self . Liberty is a precious thing , for every man may set his own price upon it , and he that doth not value it , deserves to be valued accordingly ; for mine own part , I am clear without scruple , that what we have resolved , is according to the Law ; and if any Judge in England were of a contrary opinion , I am sure we should have heard of him ere now ; out of all question , the very scope and drift of Magna Charta was to reduce the Regal to a Legal Power in matter of Imprisonment , or else it had not been worthy so much contending for . It is true , That the King ought to have a trust reposed in him , God forbid but he should , and I hope it is impossible to take it from him ; for it lies not in the wit of man , to devise such a Law as shall comprehend all particulars , all accidents , but that extraordinary Causes may happen , which when they come , if they be disposed of for the common good , there will be no Law against them ; yet must the Law be general , for otherwise Admissions and Exceptions will fret and eat out the Law to nothing . God himself hath constituted a general Law of Nature , to govern the ordinary course of things , he hath made no Law for Miracles ; yet there is this observation of them , that they are rather praeter naturam , then contra naturam , and always propter bones fines : So the Kings Prerogatives are rather besides the Law , then against it ; and when they are directly to their ends for the publique good , they are not onely concurring Laws , but even Laws in singularity and excellency . But to come nearer , let us consider where we are now , what steps we have gone , and gained ; The Kings learned Councel have acknowledged all the Laws to be still in force , the Judges have not allowed any Judgement against these Laws , the Lords also have confessed , that the Laws are in full strength ; they have further retained our resolutions intire , and without prejudice . All this hitherto is for our advantage ; but above all his Majesty hath this day ( himself being publiquely present ) declared by the mouth of the Lord Keeper , before both the Houses , That Magna Charta and the other six Statutes , are still in force ; That he will maintain his Subjects in the Liberties of their Persons , and Proprieties of their Goods ; That he will govern them according to the Laws of the Kingdom ; this is a solemn and binding satisfaction , expressing his gracious readiness to comply with his people in their reasonable and just desires . The King is a good Man , and it is no diminution to a King , to be called so ; for whosoever is a good Man shall be greater then a King , that is not so . The King certainly is very tender of his present Honor , and of his Fame hereafter : He will think it hard to have a worse mark set upon him , then upon any of his Ancestors , by extraordinary restraints : His Majesty hath already intimated unto us by a Message , That he doth willingly give way to have the abuse of Power reformed ; by which I do verily believe he doth very well understand , what a miserable power it is , which hath produced so much weakness to Himself , and to the Kingdom ; And it is one happiness , that he is so ready to redress it . For mine own part , I shall be very glad to see that old decrepite Law Magna Charta , which hath been so long kept and lien bed-rid as it were . I shall be glad to see it walk abroad again with new vigor , and lustre , attended and followed with the other six Statutes : questionless it will be a great heartning to all the people . I doubt not , but upon a debating conference with the Lords , we may happily fall upon a fair , fit accommodation , concerning the Liberty of our Persons , and Propriety of our Goods . I hope we may have a Bill , to agree in the point , against imprisonment for Loans , or privy Seals : As for intrinsecal power and reason of State , they are matters in the Clouds , where I desire we may leave them , and not meddle with them at all , left by the way of admittance , we may lose somewhat of that which is our own already : Yet this by the way I will say of reason of State , That in the latitude by which 't is used , it hath eaten out almost , not onely the Laws , but all the Religion of Christendom . Now I will onely remember you of one Precept , and that of the wisest man , Be not over wise , be not over just : and he gives his reason , for why wilt thou be desolate ? If Justice and Wisdom may be stretcht to desolation , let us thereby learn that Moderation is the Vertue of Vertues , and Wisdom of Wisdoms . Let it be our Master-piece so to carry the business , that we may keep Parliaments on foot : For as long as they be frequent , there will be no irregular Power , which though it cannot be broken at once , yet in short time it will be made and mouldred away ; there can be no total or final loss of Liberties , as long as they last ; What we cannot get at one time , we shall have at another . Upon this debate it was ordered , That a Committee of Lawyers do draw a Bill , containing the substance of Magna Charta , and the other Statutes that do concern the Liberty of the Subject : which business took up two whole days . Thursday , the first of May. MAster Secretary Cook delivers a Message from his Majesty , viz. to know whether the House will rest on his Royal Word , or no , declared to them by the Lord Keeper ; which if they do , he assures them it shall be Royally performed . Upon this there was a silence for a good space : Then Mr. Secretary Cook proceeded . This silence invites me to a further Speech , and further to address my self : Now we see we must grow towards an issue ; for my part , how confident I have been of the good issue of this Parliament , I have certified in this place , and elsewhere , and I am still confident therein ; I know his Majesty is resolved to do as much as ever King did for his Subjects . All this Debate hath grown out of the sense of our Sufferings , and a desire of making up again those Breaches that have been made . Since this Parliament begun , hath there been any dispence made of that which hath formerly been done ? when means were denied his Majesty being a yong King , and newly come to his Crown , which he found ingaged in a War , what could we expect in such Necessities ? His Majesty called this Parliament to make up the Breach : His Majesty assures us we shall not have the like cause to complain : He assures the Laws shall be established ; what can we desire more ? all is , that we provide for Posterity , and that we do prevent the like suffering for the future : Were not the same means provided by them before us ? can we do more ? we are come to the Liberty of the Subjects , and the Prerogative of the King , I hope we shall not adde any thing to our selves , to depress him . I will not divine , I think we shall finde difficulty with the King , or with the Lords , I shall not deliver my opinion as Counsellor to his Majesty , which I will not justifie and say here , or at the Councel Board . Will we in this necessity strive to bring our selves into a better Condition and greater Liberty , then our Fathers had , and the Crown into a worse then ever ? I dare not advise his Majesty to admit of that : if this that we now desire be no Innovation , it is all contained in those Acts and Statutes , and whatsoever else we would adde more , is a diminution to the Kings Power , and an addition to our own . We deal with a wise and prudent Prince , that hath a Sword in his hand for our good , and this good is supported by Power . Do not think , that by Cases of Law and Debate we can make that not to be Law , which in experience we every day finde necessary : make what Law you will , if I do discharge the place I bear , I must commit men , and must not discover the Cause to any Jaylor or Judge ; if I by this Power commit one without just Cause , the burthen falls heavy on me , by his Majesties displeasure , and he will remove me from my place : Government is a solid thing , and must be supported for our good . Sir Robert Philips hereupon spake this : That if the words of Kings strike impressions in the hearts of Subjects , then do these words upon this occasion strike an impression into the hearts of us all : to speak in a plain language , we are now come to the end of our journey , and the well disposing of an Answer to this Message , will give happiness or misery to this Kingdom . Let us set the Commonwealth of England before the eyes of his Majesty , that we may justifie our selves that we have demeaned our selves dutifully to his Majesty . And so the day following they had further Debate upon that matter , the House being turned into a Grand Committee , and Mr. Herbert in the Chair . Some say , that the Subject has suffered more in the violation of ancient Liberties within these few years , then in Three hundred years before , and therefore care ought to be taken for the time to come . Sir Edward Cook said , That that Royal word had reference to some Message formerly sent ; his Majesties word was , That they may secure themselves any way , by Bill or otherwise , he promised to give way to it ; and to the end that this might not touch his Majesties Honor , it was proposed that the Bill come not from the House , but from the King : We will and grant for us and our Successors , and that we and our Successors will do thus and thus : and it is the Kings Honor , he cannot speak but by Record . Others desired the House to consider when and where the late promise was made , was it not in the face of both Houses ? Cruel Kings have been careful to perform their promises , yea , though they have been unlawful , as Herod . Therefore if we rest upon his Majesties promise , we may assure our selves of the performance of it : Besides , we binde his Majesty by relying on his word : we have Laws enough , it is the execution of them that is our life , and it is the King that gives life and execution . Sir Thomas Wentworth concluded the Debate , saying , That never House of Parliament trusted more in the goodness of their King , for their own private , then the present ; but we are ambitious that his Majesties goodness may remain to posterity , and we are accomptable to a publique trust : and therefore seeing there hath been a publique violation of the Laws by his Ministers , nothing will satisfie him but a publique mends ; and our desire to vindicate the Subjects Rights by Bill , are no more then are laid down in former Laws , with some modest Provision for Instruction , Performance and Execution . Which so well agreed with the Sense of the House , that they made it the subject of a Message to be delivered by the Speaker to his Majesty . AMidst those deliberations another Message was delivered from his Majesty by Mr. Secretary Cook ; That howsoever we proceed in this business we have in hand , which his Majesty will not doubt but to be according to our constant professions , and so as he may have cause to give us thanks ; yet his resolution is , that both his Royal care , and hearty and tender affection towards all his loving Subjects , shall appear to the whole Kingdom and all the World , that he will govern us according to the Laws and Customs of this Realm ; that he will maintain us in the Liberties of our Persons , and Proprieties of our Goods , so as we may enjoy as much happiness as our forefathers in their best times ; and that he will rectifie what hath been or may be found amiss amongst us , so that hereafter there may be no just cause to complain . Wherein as his Majesty will rank himself amongst the best of our Kings , and shew he hath no intention to invade or impeach our lawful Liberties , or Right : so he will have us to match our selves with the best Subjects , not by incroaching upon that Soveraignty or Prerogative which God hath put into his hands for our good , but by containing our selves within the Bounds and Laws of our forefathers , without restraining them , or inlarging them by new Explanations , Interpretations , Expositions , or Additions in any sort , which he telleth us he will not give way unto . That the weight of the Affairs of the Kingdom , and Christendom , do press him more and more , and that the time is now grown to that point of maturity , that it cannot endure long debate , or delay ; so as this Session of Parliament must continue no longer then Tuesday come sevennight , at the furthest : In which time his Majesty for his part will be ready to perform what he promised ; and if the House be not as ready to do that is fit for themselves , it shall be their own faults . And upon assurance of our good dispatch and correspondence his Majesty declareth , That his Royal intention is to have another Session of Parliament at Michaelmass next , for the perfecting of such things as cannot now be done . This Message was debated the next day , being Saturday May 30. whereupon Sir Iohn Elliot spake to this effect . The King , saith he , will rank himself with the best of Kings , and therefore he would have us to rank our selves with the best Subjects ; we will not incroach upon that Soveraignty that God hath put into his hands : This makes me fear his Majesty is misinformed in what we go about , let us make some inlargement , and put it before him , that we will not make any thing new ; as for the time of this Session , it is but short , and look how many Messages we have , so many interruptions , and mis-reports , and mis-representations to his Majesty produce those Messages . Sir Miles Fleetwood continues the Debate , and said , That this business is of great importance , we are to accommodate this : The breach of this Parliament will be the greatest misery that ever befell us ; the eyes of Christendom are upon this Parliament , the state of all our Protestant friends are ready to be swallowed up by the Emperors Forces , and our own Kingdom is in a miserable straight , for the defence of our Religion that is invaded by the Romish Catholicks , by the colour of a Commission , which is intolerable ; the defence of our Realm by Shipping is decayed , the Kings Revenue is sold and gone , where shall the relief be obtained but in Parliament ? Now we are in the way , let us proceed by way of Bill , in pursuance of the Kings Message , to establish the Fundamental Laws in Propriety of our Goods , and Liberty of our Persons : It was declared to us , that courses by Loan and Imprisonment were not lawful ; let us touch them in our Bill , and that all Precedents and Judgements seeming to the contrary , be void , and that all Commitments against the Law be remedied , and that we be protected against the fear of Commitments . In conclusion , the Commons agree to an Answer to all the preceding Messages , and present it to the King by the mouth of their Speaker . The Speakers Speech to the King in Answer to several Messages . Most Gracious and Dread Soveraign , YOur Loyal and Obedient Subjects , the Commons now Assembled in Parliament , by several Messages from your Majesty , and especially by that your Declaration delivered by the Lord Keeper before both Houses , have to their exceeding joy and comfort received many ample expressions of your Princely care and tender affections towards them , with a gracious promise and assurance , that your Majesty will govern according to the Laws of this Realm , and so maintain all your Subjects in the just Freedom of their Persons , and Safety of their Estates , that all their Rights and Liberties may be by them enjoyed with as much freedom and security in their time , as in any age heretofore by their Ancestors under the best of your Progenitors : For this so great a favor enlarged by a comfortable intimation of your Majesties confidence in the proceedings of this House , they do by me their Speaker make as full return of most humble thanks to your Majesty , with all dutiful acknowledgement of your Grace and Goodness herein extended unto them . And whereas in one of those Messages delivered from your Majesty , there was an expression of your desire to know whether this House would rest upon your Royal Word and Promise , assuring them , that if they would , it should be royally and really performed : As they again present their humble thanks for the seconding and strengthning of your former Royal expressions , so in all humbleness they assure your Majesty , that their greatest confi●●●ce is , and ever must be in your Grace and Goodness , without which they well know , nothing that they can frame or desire , will be of safety or value to them : Therefore are all humble Suiters to your Majesty , That your Royal heart will graciously accept and believe the truth of theirs , which they humbly present as full of truth and confidence in your Royal Word and Promise , as ever House of Commons reposed in any of their best Kings . True it is , they cannot but remember the publique Trust for which they are accomptable to present and future times ; and their desires are , That your Majesties goodness might in Fruit and Memory be the Blessing and Joy of Posterity . They say also , That of late there hath been publique violation of the Laws , and the Subjects Liberties , by some of your Majesties Ministers , and thence conceive that no less then a publique remedy will raise the dejected hearts of your loving Subjects to a chearful supply of your Majesty , or make them receive content in the proceedings of this House . From those considerations , they most humbly beg your Majesties leave to lay hold of that gratious offer of yours , which gave them assurance , That if they thought fit to secure themselves in their Rights and Liberties , by way of Bill , or otherwise , so it might be provided with due respect to Gods Honor , and the publique Good , you would be graciously pleased to give way unto it . Far from their intentions it is any way to incroach upon your Soveraignty , or Prerogative ; nor have they the least thought of stretching or enlarging the former Laws in any sort by any new Interpretations , or Additions ; the Bounds of their desires extend no further , then to some necessary Explanation of that which is truly comprehended within the just sense and meaning of those Laws , with some moderate provision for execution and performance , as in times past upon like occasion hath been used . The way how to accomplish these their humble desires , is now in serious consideration with them ; wherein they humbly assure your Majesty , they will neither lose time , nor seek any thing of your Majesty , but that they hope may be fit for Dutiful and Loyal Subjects to ask , and for a gracious and just King to grant . His Majesties Answer was delivered by the Lord Keeper . Mr. Speaker , and you Gentlemen of the House of Commons , His Majesty hath commanded me to tell you , that he expected an Answer by your Actions , and not delay by Discourse : ye acknowledge his Trust and Confidence in your proceedings , but his Majesty sees not how you requite him by your confidence of his Word and Actions : For what need Explanations , if ye doubted not the performance of the true meaning ? for Explanations will hazard an incroachment upon his Prerogative . And it may well be said , What need a new Law to confirm an old , if you repose confidence in the Declaration his Majesty made by me to both Houses ; and your selves acknowledge , that your greatest trust and confidence must be in his Majesties Grace and Goodness , without which nothing ye can frame will be of safety , or avail to you : Yet to shew cleerly the sincerity of his Majesties intentions , he is content that a Bill be drawn for a confirmation of Magna Charta , and the other six Statutes insisted upon for the Subjects Liberties , if ye shall choose that as the best way , but so as it may be without Additions , Paraphrases , or Explanations . Thus if you please you may be secured from your needless fears , and this Parliament may have a happy wished for end : whereas by the contrary , if ye seek to tie your King by new , and indeed impossible bonds , you must be accomptable to God and the Countrey for the ill success of this meeting . His Majesty hath given his Royal Word , that ye shall have no cause to complain hereafter : less then which hath been enough to reconcile Great Princes , and therefore ought much more to prevail between a King and his Subjects . Lastly , I am commanded to tell you that his Majesties pleasure is , That without further Replies or Messages , or other unnecessary delays , ye do what ye mean to do speedily , remembring the last Message that Secretary Cook brought you in point of time : His Majesty always intending to perform his Promise to his power . NOtwithstanding the intimation of his Majesties good pleasure for a Bill , Mr. Secretary Cook , Tuesday May 6. again pressed the House to relye upon the Kings Word , saying , That he had rather follow others , then begin to enter into this business : loss of time hath been the greatest complaint , the matter fallen now into consideration , is what way to take , whether to relye on his Majesties Word , or on a Bill : If we will consider the advantage we have in taking his Majesties Word , it will be of the largest extent , and we shall choose that that hath most Assurance : An Act of Parliament is by the consent of the King and Parliament ; but this Assurance by Word , is that he will govern us by the Laws ; the King promiseth that , and also that they shall be so executed , that we shall enjoy as much freedom as ever : this contains many Laws , and a grant of all good Laws ; nay , it contains a confirmation of those very Laws , Assurance , which binds the King further then the Law can ; First , it binds his affection , which is the greatest bond between King and Subject , and that binds his Judgement also , nay , his Honor , and that not at home but abroad ; the Royal Word of a King , is the Ground of all Treaty ; nay , it binds his Conscience : this Confirmation between both Houses , is in nature of a Vow ; for my part I think it is the greatest advantage to relie on his Majesties Word . He further added , this Debate was fitter to be done before the House , and not before the Committee , and that it was a new Course to go to a Committee of the whole House . Whereunto it was replied by Sir Iohn Elliot , That the proceeding in a Committee , is more Honorable and advantagious to the King , and the House , for that way leads most to Truth ; and it is a more open way , and where every man may adde his reason , and make answer upon the hearing of other mens Reasons and Arguments . This being the general Sense , the House was turned into a Committee , to take into consideration what was delivered to the King by the Speaker , and what was delivered to them by the Lord Keeper , and all other Messages , and the Committee was not to be bounded with any former order : the Key was brought up , and none were to go out without leave first asked . In the Debate of this business at the Committee , some were for letting the Bill rest : but Sir Edward Cooks reasons prevailed to the contrary , Was it ever known ( said he ) that general words were a sufficient satisfaction to particular grievances ? was ever a verbal Declaration of the King verbum Regni ? when grievances be , the Parliament is to redress them : Did ever Parliament relie on Messages ? they put up Petitions of their Grievances , and the King ever answered them : the Kings Answer is very gracious , but what is the Law of the Realm , that is the question . I put no diffidence in his Majesty , the King must speak by a Record , and in Particulars , and not in General : Did you ever know the Kings Message come into a Bill of Subsidies ? all succeeding Kings will say , Ye must trust me as well as you did my Predecessors , and trust my Messages ; but Messages of love never came into a Parliament . Let us put up a Petition of Right : Not that I distrust the King , but that we cannot take his trust , but in a Parliamentary way . On Thursday 8º Maii , the Petition of Right was finished , and the Clause of Martial Law was added unto it , and it was delivered to the Lords at a Conference for their Concurrence ; the which Conference was managed by Sir Edward Cook , and the same day , as to the matter of supply , ordered that the two first Subsidies should be paid 10º of Iuly , one more 12º of October , another on 20º of Decemb. and the last of 1º of March. AT the Conference Sir Edward Cook thus expressed himself : My Lords , it is evident what necessity there is , both in respect of your selves and your Posterities , to have good success of this business : We have acquainted your Lordships with the Reasons and Arguments , and after we have had some conference , we have received from your Lordships Propositions ; and it behoves me to give your Lordships some reasons , why you have not heard from us before now ; for in the mean time as we were consulting of this weighty Business , we have received divers Messages from our great Soveraign the King , and they consisted of five Parts ; 1. That his Majesty would maintain all his Subjects in their just freedom , both of their Persons and Estates ; 2. That he will govern according to his Laws and Statutes ; 3. That we should find much confidence in the Royal Word , I pray observe that ; 4. That we shall enjoy all our Rights and Liberties , with as much freedom as ever any Subjects have done in former times ; 5. That whether we shall think it fit , either by Bill or otherwise , to go on in this great Business , his Majesty would be pleased to give way to it . These gracious Messages did so work upon our affections , that w● have taken them into deep consideration . My Lords , when we had these Messages ( I deal plainly , for so I am commanded by the House of Commons ) we did consider what way we might go for our more secure way , nay yours ; we did think it the safest way to go in a Parliamentary course , for we have a Maxim in the House of Commons , and written on the Walls of our House , That old ways are the safest and surest ways : And at last we did fall upon that , which we did think ( if that your Lordships did consent with us ) it is the most ancient way of all , and that is , my Lords , via fausta , both to Majesty , to your Lordships , and to our selves : for , my Lords , this is the greatest Bond that any Subject can have in open Parliament , Verbum Regis , this is an high point of Honor , but this shall be done by the Lords and Commons , and assented to by the King in Parliament , this is the greatest Obligation of all , and this is for the Kings Honor , and our Safety : Therefore my Lords we have drawn a Form of a Petition , desiring your Lordships to concur with us therein ; for we do come with an unanimous consent of all the House of Commons , and there is great reason your Lordships should do so , for your Lordships be involved in the same danger . And so I have done with the first part : and I shall now desire your Lordships leave that I may read that which I have so agreed on . Here the Petition of Right was read ; but we forbear to insert it as yet , because there were propositions for alteration ; and it is not perfect , till the Royal assent be given to it . From the Eighth to the Twelfth of May , all Publique businesses were laid aside . On Monday the Twelfth the Lords had a Conference with the Commons , where the Lord Keeper made this Speech . Gentlemen of the House of Commons , MY Lords having a most affectionate desire to maintain that good concurrence , that in this Parliament and others hath been of late between both Houses , desired this Conference , to acquaint you how , and in what maner they have proceeded in the Petition of Right that came from this House , and to let you know , that assoon as they received it , they with all care and expedition they possibly could , addressed themselves to consider thereof , and after good time spent in Debate in the whole House , they made a Committee to consider , whether retaining of the substance of the Petition , there might not be some words altered or put in to make it more sweet , to procure it a passable way to his Majesty ; we know this must be Crowned by the King , and good must come to all the Kingdom by this course now taken . The Committee hath met , and hath propounded some small matters to be altered in some few words , to make it passable , and not in substance . And the Lords having this Reported from their Committee , and heard it read in their House , resolved of nothing till they have your consent ; yet they think it fitter to have it propounded to you , to consider whether there should be any alteration or no , and how the propounded alterations may stand with your liking . Concerning the Commitment by the King and the Councel , without expressing the cause , it was resolved by the Lords to debate it this morning , and assoon as they should have debated it , they purposed . to have your concurrence with them before they resolved it ; but at instant when they thought to have debated it , they received a Letter from his Majesty , which they conceive will give a satisfaction to both Houses in the main point . My Lords desiring to keep that good concurrence begun , desired to communicate that Letter unto you , that you might take the same into your considerations , as they mean to do themselves : This Letter is to be read unto you . To the right Trusty and right well-beloved , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the higher House of Parliament . Carolus Rex . WE being desirous of nothing more then the advancement of the Peace and Prosperity of our People , have given leave to free Debate upon the highest Points of our Prerogative Royal , which in the time of our Predecessors , Kings and Queens of this Realm , were ever restrained as matters that they would not have discussed ; and in other things we have been willing so far to descend to the desires of our good Subjects , as might fully satisfie all moderate mindes , and free them from all just fears and jealousies , which those Messages which we have heretofore sent into the Commons House , will well demonstrate unto the world ; yet we finde it still insisted upon , that in no case whatsoever , should it never so nearly concern matters of State or Government , we or our Privy Council have power to commit any man without the cause shewed ; whereas it often happens , that should the cause be shewed , the service it self would thereby be destroyed and defeated , and the cause alledged must be such as may be determined by our Iudges of our Courts of Westminster , in a Legal and ordinary way of Iustice , whereas the Causes may be such as those Iudges have not capacity of Iudicature , nor Rules of Law to direct and guide their Iudgement in cases of that transcendent nature ; which hapning so often , the very incroaching on that constant Rule of Government for so many ages within this Kingdom practised , would soon dissolve the very Foundation and Frame of our Monarchy . Wherefore as to our Commons we made fair Propositions , which might equally preserve the just Liberty of the Subject : so , my Lords , we have thought good to let you know , that without the overthrow of Soveraignty we cannot suffer this Power to be impeached ; notwithstanding , to clear our conscience and just intentions , this we publish , That it is not in our heart , nor will we ever extend our Royal Power lent unto us from God , beyond the just rule of Moderation , in any thing which shall be contrary to our Laws and Customs , wherein the safety of our People shall be our onely aim . And we do hereby Declare our Royal pleasure and resolution to be , which , God willing , we shall ever constantly continue and maintain , That neither we nor our Privy Council shall or will at any time hereafter commit or command to Prison , or otherwise restrain the persons of any for not lending Money to us , nor for any cause which in our conscience doth not concern the publique good and safety of us and our people , we will not be drawn to pretend any cause wherein our judgement and conscience is not satisfied with ; base thoughts , we hope no man can imagine will fall into our Royal breast ; and that in all cases of this nature , which shall hereafter happen , we shall upon the humble Petition of the party , or address of our Iudges unto us , readily and really express the true cause of their Commitment or Restraint , so soon as with conveniency and safety the same is fit to be disclosed and expressed ; and that in all Causes Criminal , of ordinary Iurisdiction , our Iudges shall proceed to the Deliverance or Bailment of the Prisoner , according to the known and ordinary Rules of the Laws of this Land , and according to the Statute of Magna Charta , and those other Six Statutes insisted upon , which we do take knowledge stand in full force , and which we intend not to abrogate and weaken , against the true intention thereof . This we have thought fit to signifie , the rather to shorten any long Debate upon this great question , the season of the year being so far advanced , and our great Occasions of State not lending many more days for longer continuance of this Session of Parliament . Given under our Signet at our Palace at Westminster , 20º Maii the Fourth year of our Reign . The same day the Kings Letter was communicated to the House of Commons , they laid it aside , and Sir Thomas Wentworth said it was a Letter of Grace , but the people will onely like of that which is done in a Parliamentary way ; besides , the Debate of it would spend much time , neither was it directed to the House of Commons ; and the Petition of Right would clear all mistakes : For ( said he ) some give out , as if the House went about to pinch the Kings Prerogative . But the further Debate of this matter took up several days . May 17. the Lords propounded at a Conference an Addition to be made to the Petition of Right , which was delivered by the Lord Keeper , to this purpose : THat whereas at the late Conference of both Houses there were some things propounded that came from their Lordships , out of a desire the Petition might have the easier passage with his Majesty , not intending to violate in any maner the substance of the Petition , but it was then thought fit that there was another part of the Petition of as great importance and weight : My Lords since the time of that Conference , have imployed themselves wholly to reduce the Petition to such a frame and order , that may give both to you and them hope of acceptance . And after many deliberations , and much advice taken , my Lords have resolved to represent to you something which they have thought upon , yet not as a thing conclusive to them or you ; and according to their desires ( having mentioned it in the beginning ) have held it fit to conclude of nothing till that you be made acquainted with it , and that there may be a mature advisement between you and them , so that there may be the happier conclusion in all their business . This being the determination of the Lords , that nothing that is now offered unto you should be conclusive , yet they thought it convenient to present it unto you . This alteration ( and not alteration ) but addition , which they shall propound unto you , to be advised and conferred upon , which is no breach of the frame , they think it meet , if it shall stand with your liking , to be put in the conclusion of the Petition , which I shall now read unto you . WE present this our humble Petition to your Majesty , with the care not onely of preserving our own Liberties , but with due regard to leave intire that Soveraign Power wherewith your Majesty is trusted for the Protection , Safety , and Happiness of the People . This is the thing the Lords do present unto you , this subject of this Conference concerning the adding of this in the conclusion of the Petition , and that they know that this is new , and that you cannot presently give an answer to it ; therefore they desire that you do with some speed consider of it , and their Lordships will be ready this afternoon . This Addition produced several Speeches . LEt us look ( said he ) into the Records , and see what they are , what is Soveraign Power ? Bodin saith , That it is free from any Condition , by this we shall acknowledge a Regal as well as a Legal Power : Let us give that to the King that the Law gives him , and no more . I Am not able to speak to this question , I know not what it is : All our Petition is for the Laws of England , and this Power seems to be another distinct Power from the Power of the Law : I know how to adde Soveraign to his Person , but not to his Power : Also we cannot leave to him Soveraign Power , we never were possessed of it . WE cannot admit of those words with safety , they are applicable to all the parts of our Petition : It is in the nature of a Saving , and by it we shall imply , as if we had incroached on his Prerogative ; all the Laws we cite , are without a Saving , and yet now after the violation of them , we must adde a Saving : Also I have seen divers Petitions , and where the Subject claimed a Right , there I never saw a Saving of this nature . THis is Magnum in parvo , this is propounded to be a conclusion of our Petition : It is a matter of great weight ; and to speak plainly , it will overthrow all our Petition ; it trenches to all parts of it : It flies at Loans , and at the Oath , and at Imprisonment , and Billeting of Soldiers ; this turns all about again . Look into all the Petitions of former times , they never petitioned , wherein there was a saving of the Kings Soveraignty : I know that Prerogative is part of the Law , but Soveraign Power is no Parliamentary word : In my opinion it weakens Magna Charta , and all our Statutes ; for they are absolute without any saving of Soveraign Power : and shall we now adde it , we shall weaken the Foundation of Law , and then the building must needs fall ; take we heed what we yield unto , Magna Charta is such a fellow , that he will have no Soveraign : I wonder this Soveraign was not in Magna Charta , or in the Confirmations of it : If we grant this , by implication we give a Soveraign Power above all these Laws : Power in Law , is taken for a Power with force : The Sheriff shall take the Power of the County , what it means here , God onely knows : It is repugnant to our Petition , that is a Petition of Right , grounded on Acts of Parliament : our Predecessors could never indure a Salvo jure suo , no more then the Kings of old could indure for the Church , Salvo honore Dei & Ecclesiae : We must not admit of it , and to qualifie it is impossible : Let us hold our Priviledges according to the Law ; that Power that is above this , it is not fit for the King and people to have it disputed further , I had rather for my part have the Prerogative acted , and I my self to lie under it , then to have it disputed . IF we do admit of this Addition , we shall leave the Subject worse then we found him , and we shall have little thanks for our labor when we come home : let us leave all power to his Majesty , to punish Malefactors : but these Laws are not acquainted with Soveraign Power , we desire no new thing , nor do we offer to trench on his Majesties Prerogative , we may not recede from this Petition , either in part , or in whole . TO adde a Saving is not safe , doubtful words may beget an ill construction , and the words are not onely doubtful words , but words unknown to us , and never used in any Act or Petition before . LEt us not go too hastily to the question , said Mr. Selden : If there be any Objections , let any propound them , and let others answer them as they think good : If it hath no reference to our Petition , what doth it here ? I am sure all others will say it hath reference , and so must we : how far it doth exceed all examples of former times , no man can shew me the like : I have made that search that fully satisfies me , and I finde not another besides 28 of Eliz. We have a great many Petitions , and Bills of Parliament in all ages , in all which we are sure no such thing is added : That Clause of the 28 of Edw. 1. it was not in the Petition , but in the Kings Answer . In Magna Charta there were no such Clauses , the Articles themselves are to be seen in a Library at Lambeth , in a Book of that time , upon which the Law was made . There was none in the Articles in King Iohns time , for these I have seen , there is no Saving . In the Statutes of Confirmatio Chartarum , is a Saving les auncients Aids , that is , for file maryer , & pur faire fitz Chivalier , and for ransom : and in the Articles of King Iohn , in the Original Charter , which I can shew , there those three Aids were named therein , and they were all known : In the 25. of Edw. 3. there is a Petition against Loans , there is no Saving , and so in others : As for that Addition in the 28. of Edw. 1. do but observe the Petitions after Magna Charta , as 5 Edw. 3. they put up a Petition , whereas in Magna Charta it is contained , That none be imprisoned , but by due process of Law ; those words are not in Magna Charta , and yet there is no Saving ; and so in the 28. of Edw. 3. & 36. & 37. & 42. of Edw. 3. all which pass by Petition , and yet there is no Saving in them : And there are in them other words then are in Magna Charta , and yet no Saving . For that that Mr. Speaker said , The King was our heart , and ever shall be , but we then speak of the Kings Prerogative by it self , and we are bound to say so : But speaking of our Rights , shall we say we are not to be imprisoned , Saving by the Kings Soveraign Power ? Say my Lands ( without any Title ) be seised in the Kings hand , and I bring a Petition of Right , and I go to the King and say , I do by no means seek your Majesties Right and Title ; and after that I bring a Petition or Monstrance de droit , setting forth my own Right and Title , and withal set down a Saving , that I leave intire his Majesties Right , it would be improper . It was objected , That in the 28. of Edw. 1. in the end of Articuli super Chartas , which was a confirmation of Magna Charta , and Charta de foresta , in the end there is a Clause , Savant le droit & Segniory , the words are extant in that Roll that is now extant , but the original Roll is not extant . In the 25th E. 3. there was a confirmation of the Charter in 27 E. 3. The Parliament was called , and much stir there was about the Charter , and renewing the Articles , but then little was done . In 28 E. 1. the Commons by Petition or Bill did obtain the Liberties and Articles at the end of the Parliament , they were extracted out of the Roll , and Proclaimed abroad ; the addition was added in the Proclamation : in the Bill there was no savant , but afterwards it was put in : And to prove this , it is true , there is no Parliament Roll of that year , yet we have Histories of that time : In the Library at Oxford there is a Journal of a Parliament of that very year , which mentions so much , also in the publique Library at Cambridge there is a Manuscript that belonged to an Abby , it was of the same year 28 E. 1. and it mentions the Parliament and the Petitions , and Articulos quos petierunt sic confirmaverit Rex ut in fine adderet , Salvo jure Coronae regis , and they came by Proclamation in London ; when the people heard this clause added in the end , they fell into execration for that addition ; and the great Earls that went away satisfied from the Parliament , hearing of this , went to the King , and after it was cleared at the next Parliament . Now there is no Parliament Roll of this ; of that time onely in one Roll in the end of E. 3. there is a Roll that recites it . The Lords afterwards at a Conference tendred Reasons to fortifie their addition : which were briefly reported ; That the Lord Keeper said , THat the Lords were all agreed to defend and maintain the just Liberties of the Subject , and of the Crown , and that the word ( Leave ) was debated amongst them ; and thereby they meant to give no new , but what was before : for the words , Soveraign Power , as he is a King , he is a Soveraign , and must have Power ; and he said the words were easier then the Prerogative : As for the word ( that ) which is a relative , and referred to that Power that is for the safety of the People ; and this , said he , can never grieve any man , being thus published , it is not Soveraign Power in general ; but now in confutation of our Reasons , he saith , Magna Charta was not with a Saving ; but said he , You pursue not the words in Magna Charta , and therefore it needs an addition . As for the 28 of E. 3. he said there was a Saving , and an ill exposition cannot be made of this , and both Houses have agreed it in substance already ; the Commons did it in a Speech delivered by our Speaker , and that we said we have not a thought to incroach on the Kings Soveraignty ; and why may ye not add it in your Petition ? Upon this Report Mr. Mason readily spake his opinion in maner following . IN our Petition of Right to the Kings Majesty , we mentioned the Laws and Statutes , by which it appeared , That no Tax , Loan , or the like , ought to be Levied by the King , but by common assent in Parliament : That no Freeman ought to be imprisoned but by the Law of the Land : That no Freeman ought to be compelled to suffer soldiers in his house . In the Petition we have expressed the breach of these Laws , and desire we may not suffer the like , all which we pray as our Rights and Liberties . The Lords have proposed an addition to this Petition , in these words . We humbly present this Petition to your Majesty , not onely with a care of our own Liberties , but with a due regard to leave intire that Soveraign Power wherewith your Majesty is intrusted , for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of your People . And whether we shall consent unto this addition , is the subject of this days discourse : and because my Lord Keeper at the conference declared their Lordships had taken the words of the Petition apart , I shall do so too . The word ( Leave ) in a Petition , is of the same nature as ( Saving ) in a Grant or Act of Parliament , when a man grants but part of a thing , he saves the rest ; when he petitions to be restored but to part , he leaveth the rest : Then in the end of our Petition the word ( Leave ) will imply , that something is to be left of that , or at least with a reference to what we desire . The word ( Intire ) is very considerable , a Conqueror is bound by no Law , but hath power dare Leges , his Will is a Law ; and although William the Conqueror , at first , to make his way to the Crown of England the more easie , and the possession of it more sure , claimed it by Title ; but afterward when there were no powerful pretenders to the Crown , the title of Conquest ( to introduce that absolute Power of a Conqueror ) was claimed , and that Statute of Magna Charta , and other Statutes mentioned in our Petition , do principally limit that Power . I hope it is as lawful for me to cite a Jesuit , as it is for Doctor Manwaring to falsifie him ; Suares , in his first Book de Legibus , Cap. 17. delivered his opinion in these words : Amplitudo & restrictio potestatis Regum circa ea quae per se mala vel injusta non sunt , pendet ex arbitrio hominum & ex ambigua conventione vel pacto inter reges & regnum . And he further expresseth his opinion , that the King of Spain was so absolute a Monarch , that he might impose Tribute without consent of his people , until about Two hundred years since , when it was concluded between him and his people , that without consent of his people by Proxies he should not impose any Tribute . And Suares opinion is , That by that agreement , the Kings of Spain are bound to impose no Tribute without consent . And this Agreement that Author calls a restraining of that Soveraign Power , the Statutes then mentioned in our Petition restraining that absolute Power of Conqueror ; if we recite those Statutes , and say we leave the Soveraign Power intire , we do take away that restraint which is the vertue and strength of those Statutes , and set at liberty the claim of the Soveraign Power of a Conqueror , which is to be limited and restrained by no Laws : This may be the danger of the word ( Intire . ) The next word delivered by the Lords as observeable , is the particle ( That ) because it was said , That all Soveraign Power is not mentioned to be left , but onely ( that ) with which the King is trusted for our Protection , Safety and Happiness : But I conceive this to be an exception of all Soveraign Power ; for all Soveraign Power in a King , is for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of his People : If all Soveraign Power be excepted , you may easily judge the consequence , all Loans and Taxes being imposed by colour of that Soveraign Power . The next word is ( Trusted ) which is very ambiguous , whether it be meant trusted by God onely as a Conqueror , or by the people also as King , which are to govern also according to Laws ex pacto . In this point I will not presume to adventure further , onely I like it not , by reason of the doubtful Exposition it admits . I have likewise considered the Proposition it self , and therein I have fallen upon the Dilemma , that this addition shall be construed either to refer unto the Petition , or not : if it do refer unto the Petition , it is meerly useless and unnecessary , and unbefitting the judgement of this grave and great Assembly to add to a Petition of this weight . If it hath reference unto it , then it destroys not onely the virtue and strength of our Petition of Right , but our Rights themselves ; for the addition being referred to each part of the Petition , will necessarily receive this construction : That none ought to be compelled to make any Gift , Loan , or such like charge , without common consent or Act of Parliament , unless it be by the Soveraign Power , with which the King is trusted for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of his People . That none ought to be compelled to sojourn or billet Soldiers , unless by the same Soveraign Power , and so of the rest of the Rights contained in the Petition : And then the most favorable construction will be , that the King hath an ordinary Prerogative , and by that he cannot impose Taxes or Imprison ; that is , he cannot impose Taxes at his will , to imploy them as he pleaseth ; but that he hath an extraordinary and transcendent Soveraign Power for the protection and happiness of his people , and for such purpose he may impose Taxes , or billet Soldiers , as he pleaseth ; and we may assure our selves , that hereafter all Loans , Taxes and Billeting of Soldiers , will be said to be for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of the People : Certainly hereafter it will be conceived , that an House of Parliament would not have made an unnecessary addition to this Petition of Right , and therefore it will be resolved , that the Addition hath relation to the Petition , which will have such operation as I have formerly declared , and I the rather fear it , because the late Loan and Billeting have been declared to have been by Soveraign Power for the good of our selves ; and if it be doubtful whether this Proposition hath reference to the Petition or not , I know not who shall judge whether Loans or Imprisonments hereafter be by that Soveraign Power or not ? A Parliament , which is made a Body of several Writs , and may be dissolved by one Commission , cannot be certain to decide this question . We cannot resolve that , that the Judges shall determine the words of the Kings Letter read in this House , expressing the cause of Commitment , may be such , that the Judges have not capacity of Judicature , no Rules of Law to direct and guide their judgements in Cases of that transcendent nature , the Judges then and the Judgements are easily conjectured ; it hath been confessed by the Kings Councel , that the Statute of Magna Charta bindes the King , it bindes his Soveraign Power ; and here is an Addition of Saving the Kings Soveraign Power : I shall endeavor to give some Answer to the Reasons given by the Lords . The first is , That it is the intention of both Houses , to maintain the Just Liberty of the Subject , and not to diminish the just Power of the King ; and therefore the expression of that intention in this Petition , cannot prejudice us . To which I answer , First , That our intention was , and is , as we then professed , and no man can assign any particular in which we have done to the contrary ; neither have we any way transgressed in that kinde in this Petition : and if we make this addition to the Petition , it would give some intimation that we have given cause or colour of offence therein , which we deny , and which if any man conceive so , let him assign the particular , that we may give answer thereunto . By our Petition we onely desire our particular Rights and Liberties to be confirmed to us , and therefore it is not proper for us in it to mention Soveraign Power in general , being altogether impertinent to the matter in the Petition . There is a great difference between the words of the Addition , and the words proposed therein , for reason , viz. between just Power which may be conceived to be limited by Laws , and Soveraign Power , which is supposed to be transcendent and boundless . The second Reason delivered by their Lordships was , That the King is Soveraign ; That as he is Soveraign , he hath power , and that that Soveraign Power is to be left : for my part , I would leave it , so as not to mention it , but if it should be expressed to be left in this Petition , as it is proposed , it must admit something to be left in the King of what we pray , or at least admit some Sovergain Power in his Majesty , in these Priviledges which we claim to be our Right , which would frustrate our Petition and destroy our Right , as I have formerly shewed . The third Reason given from this Addition was , That in the Statute of Articuli super Chartas , there is a Saving of the Seigniory of the Crown . To which I give these Answers , That Magna Charta was confirmed above thirty times , and a general Saving was in none of these Acts of Confirmation , but in this onely ; and I see no cause we should follow one ill , and not thirty good Precedents , and the rather because that Saving produced ill effects that are well known . That Saving was by Act of Parliament ; the conclusion of which Act is , that in all those Cases the King did well , and all those that were at the making of that Ordinance did intend , that the right and Seigniory of the Crown should be saved : By which it appears that the saving was not in the Petition of the Commons , but added by the King ; for in the Petition the Kings will is not expressed . In that Act the King did grant and depart with to his People , divers Rights belonging to his Prerogative , as in the first Chapter he granted , That the People might choose three men which might have Power to hear and determine Complaints , made against those that offended in any point of Magna Charta , though they were the Kings Officers , and to Fine and Ransome them : and in the 8.12 . and 19. Chapter of that Statute , the King departed with other Prerogatives ; and therefore there might be some reason of the adding of , that Soveraign , by the Kings Councel : But in this Petition we desire nothing of the Kings Prerogative , but pray the enjoying of our proper and undoubted Rights and Priviledges ; and therefore there is no cause to adde any words which may imply a Saving of that which concerns not the matter in the Petition . The fourth Reason given by their Lordships was , That by the mouth of our Speaker we have this Parliament declared , That it was far from our intention to incroach upon his Majesties Prerogative , and that therefore it could not prejudice us , to mention the same resolution in an Addition to this Petition . To which I Answer , That that Declaration was a general Answer to a Message from his Majesty to us ; by which his Majesty expressed , That he would not have his Prerogative straitned by any new Explanation of Magna Charta , or the rest of the Statutes : and therefore that expression of our Speakers was then proper , to make it have reference to this Petition , there being nothing therein contained but particular Rights of the Subject , and nothing at all concerning his Majesties Prerogative . Secondly , That Answer was to give his Majesty satisfaction of all our proceedings in general , and no man can assign any particular , in which we have broken it ; and this Petition justifies it self , that in it we have not offended against the Protestation : and I know no reason but that this Declaration should be added to all our Laws we shall agree on this Parliament , as well as to this Petition . The last Reason given was , That we have varied in our Petition from the words of Magna Charta ; and therefore it was well necessary , that a Saving should be added to the Petition . I Answer , That in the Statute 5 E. 3.25 E. 3.28 E. 3. and other Statutes , with which Magna Charta is confirmed : the words of the Statute of Explanation , differ from the words of Magna Charta it self , the words of some of the Statutes of Explanation being , that no man ought to be apprehended , unless by Indictment , or due process of Law ; and the other Statutes differing from the words of Magna Charta , in many other particulars , and yet there is no Saving in those Statutes 〈◊〉 much less should there be any in a Petition of Right . There are the Answers I have conceived to the Reasons of their Lordships , and the Exposition I apprehend must be made of the proposed words , being added to our Petition . And therefore I conclude that in my opinion we may not consent to this Addition , which I submit to better Judgements . The Commons afterwards appointed Mr. Glanvile , and Sir Henry Martin , to manage another Conference to be had with the Lords , concerning the said matter , and to clear the Sense of the Commons in that point : the one argued the Legal , the other the Rational part , and though the matter delivered by the length of it may seem tedious to the Reader , and some matters spoken of before repeated again ; yet if the Reader observe the Language and Stile , as well as the subject Matter , perhaps it will be no penance unto him . Mr. Glanviles Speech in a full Committee of both Houses of Parliament 23. May , 1628. in the Painted Chamber at Westminster . MY Lords , I have in charge from the Commons House of Parliament , ( whereof I am a Member ) to express this day before your Lordships some part of their clear sense , touching one point that hath occurred in the great Debate , which hath so long depended in both Houses . I shall not need many words to induce or state the question , which I am to handle in this free Conference . The subject matter of our meeting is well known to your Lordships , I will therefore onely look so far back upon it , and so far recollect summarily the proceedings it hath had , as may be requisite to present clearly to your Lordships considerations , the nature and consequence of that particular wherein I must insist . Your Lords may be pleased to remember , how that the Commons in this Parliament have framed a Petition to be presented to his Majesty , a Petition of Right rightly composed , relating nothing but truth , desiring nothing but Justice , a Petition justly occasioned , a Petition necessary and fit for these times , a Petition founded upon solid and substantial grounds , the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , sure Rocks to build upon ; a Petition bounded within due limits , and directed upon right ends , to vindicate some lawful and just Liberties of the free Subjects of this Kingdom , from the prejudice of violations past , and to secure them from future innovations . And because my following discourse must reflect chiefly , if not wholly , upon the matter of this Petition : I shall here crave leave shortly to open to your Lordships the distinct parts whereof it doth consist , and those are four . The first concerns Levies of Moneys , by way of Loans or otherwise , for his Majesties supply , Declaring that no man ought , and praying that no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any Gift , Loan , Benevolence , Tax , or such like Charge , without common consent by Act of Parliament . 3. The second is concerning that Liberty of Person , which rightfully belongs to the Free Subjects of this Realm , expressing it to be against the 〈◊〉 of the Laws and Statutes of the Land , that any Freeman should be imprisoned without cause shewed ; and then reciting how this Liberty amongst others hath lately been infringed , it concludeth with a just and necessary desire for the better clearing and allowance of this priviledge for the future . 3. The third declareth the unlawfulness of billeting or placing Soldiers or Mariners to sojourn in Free Subjects houses against their wills , and prayeth remedy against that grievance . 4. The fourth and last aimeth at redress touching Commissions , to proceed to the Tryal and Condemnation of Offenders , and causing them to be executed and put to death by the Law Marshal , in times and places , when and where , if by the Laws and Statutes of the Land they had deserved death , by the same Laws and Statutes also they might , and by none other ought to be adjudged and executed . This Petition the careful House of Commons , not willing to omit any thing pertaining to their duties , or that might advance their moderate and just ends , did heretofore offer up unto your Lordships consideration , accompanied with an humble desire , That in your Nobleness and Justice you would be pleased to joyn with them in presenting it to his Majesty , that so coming from the whole Body of the Realm , the Peers and People , to him that is the Head of both , our Gracious Soveraign , who must crown the Work , or else all our labour is in vain ; it might by your Lordships concurrence and assistance finde the more easie passage , and obtain the better answer . Your Lordships , as your maner is in cases of so great importance , were pleased to debate and weigh it well , and thereupon you propounded to us some few amendments ( as you termed them ) by way of alteration , alledging that they were onely in matters of form , and not of substance ; and that they were intended to none other end but to sweeten the Petition , and make it the more passable with his Majesty . In this the House of Commons cannot but observe that fair and good respect which your Lordships have used in your proceedings with them , by your concluding or Voting nothing in your House , until you had imparted it unto them ; whereby our meetings about this business have been justly stiled Free Conferences , either party repairing hither disingaged to hear and weigh the others Reasons , and both Houses coming with a full intention upon due consideration of all that can be said on either side , to joyn at last in resolving and acting that which shall be found most just and necessary for the honor and safety of his Majesty and the whole Kingdom . And touching those propounded alterations , which were not many , your Lordships cannot but remember that the House of Commons have yielded to an accommodation , or change of their Petition in two particulars , whereby they hope your Lordships have observed as well as ye may , they have not been affected unto words or phrases ; nor over-much abounding in their own sense , but rather willing to comply with your Lordships in all indifferent things . For the rest of your proposed amendments , if we do not misconceive your Lordships , as we are confident we do not , your Lordships of your selves have been pleased to relinquish them with a new overture , for one onely Clause to be added in the end or foot of the Petition , whereby the work of this day is reduced to one simple head , whether that Clause shall be received or not ? This yielding of the Commons in part unto your Lordships , of other points by you somewhat insisted upon , giveth us great assurance that our ends are one , and putteth us in hope , that in conclusion we shall concur , and proceed unanimously to seek the same ends by the same means . The clause propounded by your Lordships to be added to the Petition is this . WE humbly present this Petition to your Majesty , not onely with a care for preservation of our Liberties , but with a due regard to leave intire that Soveraign Power wherewith your Majesty is trusted for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of your People . A clause specious in shew , and smooth in words , but in effect and consequence most dangerous , as I hope to make most evident ; however coming from your Lordships , the House of Commons took it into their considerations , as became them , and apprehending upon the first Debate , that it threatned ruine to the whole Petition , they did heretofore deliver some Reasons to your Lordships , for which they then desired to be spared from admitting it . To these Reasons your Lordships offered some Answers at the last meeting ; which having been faithfully reported to our House , and there debated , as was requisite for a business of such weight and importance , I must say truly to your Lordships , yet with due reverence to your opinions , the Commons are not satisfied with your Arguments ; and therefore they have commanded me to recollect your Lordships Reasons for this Clause , and in a fair Reply to let you see the causes why they differ from you in opinion . But before I come to handle the particulars wherein we dissent from your Lordships , I will in the first place take notice yet a little further of that general wherein we all concur ; which is , That we desire not ( neither do your Lordships ) to augment or dilate the Liberties and Priviledges of the Subjects beyond the just and due Bounds ; nor to incroach upon the Limits of his Majesties Prerogative Royal ; and as in this your Lordships at the last meeting expressed clearly your own senses , so were your Lordships not mistaken in collecting the concurrent sense and meaning of the House of Commons ; they often have protested they do , and ever must protest , that these have been and shall be the Bounds of their desires , to demand and seek nothing but that which may be fit for dutiful and loyal Subjects to ask , and for a gracious and just King to grant ; for as they claim by Laws some Liberties for themselves , so do they acknowledge a Prerogative , a high and just Prerogative belonging to the King , which they intend not to diminish . And now my Lords , being assured , not by strained inferences , or obscure collections , but by the express and clear Declarations of both Houses , that our ends are the same ; it were a miserable unhappiness if we should fail in finding out the means to accomplish our desires . My Lords , the Heads of those particular Reasons which you insisted upon the last day where onely these : 1. First you told us that the word ( Leave ) was of such nature , that it could give no new thing to his Majesty . 2. That no just exception could be taken to the words ( Soveraign Power ) for that as his Majesty is a King , so he is a Soveraign ; and as he is a Soveraign , so he hath Power . 3. That the Soveraign Power mentioned in this Clause , is not absolute or indefinite , but limited and regulated by the particle ( That ) and the word ( Subsequent ) which restrains it to be applied onely for Protection , Safety , and Happiness of the People , whereby ye inferred , there could be no danger in the allowance of such power . 4. That this Clause contained no more in substance , but the like expressions of our meanings in this Petition , which we had formerly signified unto his Majesty by the mouth of Mr. Speaker , that we no way intended to incroach upon his Majesties Soveraign Power or Prerogative . 5. That in our Petition we have used other words , and of larger extent touching our Liberties , then are contained in the Statutes whereon it is grounded : In respect of which inlargement , it was fit to have some express , or implied Saving , or Narrative , Declaratory for the Kings Soveraign Power , of which Narrative ye alledge this Clause to be . 6. Lastly , whereas the Commons , as a main Argument against the Clause , had much insisted upon this , that is was unprecedented , and unparliamentary in a Petition from the Subjects , to insert a Saving for the Crown : your Lordships brought for instance to the contrary the two Statutes of the 25 E. 1. commonly called , Confirmatio Chartarum , and 28 E. 1. known by this name of Articuli super Chartas , in both which Statutes there are Saving for the Kings . Having thus reduced to your Lordships memories , the effects of your own reasons ; I will now with your Lordships favor come to the points of our Reply , wherein I most humbly beseech your Lordships to weigh the Reasons which I shall present , not as the sense of my self , the weakest Member of our House , but as the genuine and true sense of the whole House of Commons , conceived in a business there debated with the greatest gravity and solemnity , with the greatest concurrence of opinions , and unanimity that ever was in any business maturely agitated in that House . I shall not peradventure follow the Method of your Lordships recollected Reasons in my answering to them , nor labor to urge many reasons . It is the desire of the Commons , that the weight of their Arguments should recompense ( if need be ) the smalness of their number . And in conclusion , when you have heard me through , I hope your Lordships shall be enabled to collect clearly out of the frame of what I shall deliver , that in some part or other of my discourse there is a full and satisfactory answer , given to every particular reason or objection of your Lordships . The Reasons that are now appointed to be presented to your Lordships are of two kinds , Legal and Rational , of which these of the former sort are allotted to my charge , and the first of them is thus . The Clause now under question if it be added to the Petition , then either it must refer , or relate unto it , or else not ; if it have no such reference , is it not clear that it is needless and superfluous ? and if it have such reference , is it not clear that then it must needs have an operation upon the whole Petition , and upon all the parts of it ? We cannot think that your Lordships would offer us a vain thing , and therefore taking it for granted , that if it be added it would refer to the Petition : let me beseech your Lordships to observe with me , and with the House of Commons , what alteration and qualification of the same it will introduce . The Petition of it self , simply and without this Clause , declareth absolutely the Rights and Priviledges of the Subject , in divers points ; and amongst the rest touching the Levies of monies , by way of Loans or otherwise for his Majesties supply , That such Loans and other charges of the like nature , by the Laws and Statutes of this Land , ought not to be made or laid without common consent by Act of Parliament : But admit this Clause to be annexed with reference ( to the Petition ) and it must necessarily conclude and have this Exposition , That Loans and the like Charges ( true it is ordinarily ) are against the Laws and Statutes of the Realm , unless they be warranted by Soveraign Power , and that they cannot be commanded or raised without assent of Parliament , unless it be by Soveraign Power ; what were this but to admit a Soveraign Power in the King above the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdome ? Another part of this Petition is , That the free Subjects of this Realm ought not to be imprisoned without cause shewed : But by this Clause a Soveraign Power will be admitted , and left intire to his Majesty , sufficient to control the force of Law , and to bring in this new and dangerous Interpretation , That the free Subjects of this Realm ought not by Law to be imprisoned without cause shewed , unless it be by Soveraign Power . In a word , this Clause , if it should be admitted , would take away the effect of every part of the Petition , and become destructive to the whole : for thence will be the Exposition touching the Billeting of Soldiers and Mariners in free mens houses against their wills ; and thence will be the Exposition touching the Times and Places for execution of the Law Marshal , contrary to the Laws and Statutes of the Realm . The scope of this Petition , as I have before observed , is not to amend our Case , but to restore us to the same state we were in before ; whereas , if this Clause be received , in stead of mending the condition of the poor Subjects , whose Liberties of late have been miserably violated by some Ministers , we shall leave them worse then we found them ; in stead of curing their wounds , we shall make them deeper . We have set bounds to our desires in this great Business , whereof one is not to diminish the Prerogative of the King , by mounting too high ; and if we bound our selves on the other side with this limit , not to abridge the lawful Priviledges of the Subject , by descending beneath that which is meet , no man we hope can blame us . My Lords , as there is mention made in the additional Clause of Soveraign Power , so is there likewise of a trust reposed in his Majesty , touching the use of Soveraign Power . The word Trust is of great Latitude , and large extent , and therefore ought to be well and warily applied and restrained , especially in the Case of a King : There is a trust inseparably reposed in the Persons of the Kings of England , but that trust is regulated by Law ; for example , when Statutes are made to prohibite things not mala in se , but onely mala quia prohibita , under certain forfeitures and penalties , to accrue to the King and to the Informers , that shall sue for the breach of them : The Commons must and ever will acknowledge a Regal and Soveraign Prerogative in the King , touching such Statutes , that it is in his Majesties absolute and undoubted Power , to grant Dispensations to particular persons , with the Clauses of Non obstante , to do as they might have done before those Statutes , wherein his Majesty conferring grace and favour upon some , doth not do wrong to others ; but there is a difference between those Statutes , and the Laws and Statutes whereon the Petition is grounded : by those Statutes the Subject hath no interest in the penalties , which are all the fruit such Statutes can produce , until by Suit or Information commenced , he become intituled to the particular forfeitures ; whereas the Laws and Statutes mentioned in our Petition are of another nature ; there shall your Lordships finde us to rely upon the good old Statute , called Magna Charta , which declareth and confirmeth the ancicient Common Laws of the Liberties of England : There shall your Lordships also finde us also to insist upon divers other most material Statutes made in the time of King E. 4. and E. 3. and other famous Kings , for explanation and ratification of the Lawful Rights and Priviledges belonging to the Subjects of this Realm , Laws not inflicting Penalties upon Offenders , in malis prohibitis , but Laws declarative or positive , conferring or confirming ipso facto , an inherent Right and Interest of Liberty and Freedom in the Subjects of this Realm , as their Birthrights and Inheritance descendable to their Heirs and Posterity ; Statutes incorporate into the Body of the Common Law , over which ( with reverence be it spoken ) there is no Trust reposed in the Kings Soveraign Power or Prerogative Royal to enable him to dispense with them , or to take from his Subjects that Birthright or Inheritance which they have in their Liberties by vertue of the Common Law , and of these Statutes . But if this Clause be added to our Petition , we shall then make a dangerous overture to confound this good destination touching what Statutes the King is trusted to controll by dispensations , and what not ; and shall give an intimation to posterity , as if it were the opinion both of the Lords and Commons assembled in this Parliament , that there is a Trust reposed in the King , to lay aside by his Soveraign Power in some amergent cases , as well of the Common Law , and such Statutes as declare or ratifie the Subjects Liberty , or confer Interest upon their persons , as those other Penal Statutes of such nature as I have mentioned before ; which as we can by no means admit , so we believe assuredly , that it is far from the desire of our most Gracious Soveraign , to affect so vast a Trust , which being transmitted to a Successor of a different temper , might enable him to alter the whole frame and fabrick of the Commonwealth , and to dissolve that Government whereby his Kingdom hath flourished for so many years and ages under his Majesties most Royal Ancestors and predecessors . Our next Reason is , That we hold it contrary to all course of Parliament , and absolutely repugnant to the very nature of a Petition of Right consisting of particulars , as ours doth , to clog it with a general Saving or Declaration to the weakning of the Right demanded ; and we are bold to renew with some confidence our Allegation , that there can be no Precedent shewed of any such Clause in any such Petitions in times past . I shall insist the longer upon this particular , and labour the more carefully to clear it , because your Lordships were pleased the last day to urge against us the Statutes of 25 and 28 of E. 1. as arguments to prove the contrary , and seemed not to be satisfied with that which in this point we had affirmed . True it is , that in those Statutes there are such Savings as your Lordships have observed ; but I shall offer you a clear Answer to them , and to all other Savings of like nature that can be found in any Statutes whatsoever . First in the general , and then I shall apply particular Answers to the particulars of those two Statutes , whereby it will be most evident , that those examples can no ways sute with the matter now in hand . To this end it will be necessary that we consider duely what that question is , which indeed concerneth a Petition , and not an Act of Parliament : This being well observed , by shewing unto your Lordships the difference between a Petition for the Law , and the Law ordained upon such a Petition , and opening truly and perspicuously the course that was holden in framing of Statutes before 2 H. 5. different from that which ever since then hath been used , and is still in use amongst us , and by noting the times wherein these Statutes were made , which was about one hundred years before 2 H. 5. besides the differences between these Savings and this Clause ; I doubt not but I shall give ample satisfaction to your Lordships , that the Commons as well in this , as in all their other Reasons , have been most careful to rely upon nothing but that which is most true and pertinent . Before the second year of King H. 5. the course was thus : When the Commons were Suiters for a Law , either the Speaker of their House by word of mouth from them , the Lords House joyning with them , or by some Bill in writing , which was usually called their Petition , moved the King to Ordain Laws for the redress of such mischiefs or inconveniences as were found grievous unto the people . To these Petitions the King made answer as he pleased , sometimes to part , sometimes to the whole , sometimes by denial , sometimes by assent , sometimes absolutely , and sometimes by qualification . Upon these Motions and Petitions , and the Kings Answers to them , was the Law drawn up and Ingrossed in the Statute Roll to binde the Kingdom ; but this inconvenience was found in this course , that oftentimes the Statutes thus framed were against the sense and meaning of the Commons , at whose desires they were Ordained ; and therefore in the 2 H. 5. finding that it tended to the violation of their Liberty and Freedom , whose right it was , and ever had been , that no Law should be made without their assent ; they then exhibited a Petition to the King , declaring their right in this particular , praying that from thenceforth no Law might be made or Ingrossed as Statutes , by additions or diminutions to their Motions or Petitions , that should change their sense or intent , without their assent ; which was accordingly established by Act of Parliament ; ever since then the use hath been as the Right was before , that the King taketh the whole , or leaveth the whole of all Bills or Petitions exhibited for the obtaining of Laws . From this course , and from the time when first it became constant and setled , we conclude strongly that it is no good Argument , because ye finde Savings in Acts of Parliament before the second of H. 5. that before those Savings were in the Petitions that begat those Statutes ; for if the Petitions for the two Loans so much insisted upon ( which Petitions , for any think we know , are not now extant ) were never so absolute , yet might the King , according to the usage of those times , insert the Savings in his Answers , which passing from thence into the Statute Roll , do onely give some little colour , but are not proof at all that the Petitions also were with Savings . Thus much for the general ; to come now to the particular Statute of 25 of Edw. 1. which was a confirmation of Magna Charta , with some provision for the better execution of it , as common Law , which words are worth the noting . It is true that Statute hath also a Clause to this effect , That the King or his Heirs from thenceforth should take no Aids , Taxes , or Prises of his Subjects , but by common assent of all the Realm , Saving the ancient Aids , and Prises due and accustomed . This Saving if it were granted ( which is not , nor cannot be proved ) that it was as well in the Petition , as in the Act ; yet can it no way imply that it is either fit or safe , that the Clause now in question should be added to our Petition : for the nature and office of a Saving , or Exception , is to exempt particulars out of a general , and to ratifie the Rule in things not exempted , but in no sort to weaken or destroy the general Rule it self . The body of that Law was against all Aids and Taxes and Prises in general , and was a confirmation of the common Law , formerly declared by Magna Charta ; the Saving was onely of Aids and Prises in particular , so well described and restrained by the words , Ancient and Accustomed , that there could be no doubt what could be the clear meaning and extent of that exception ; for the Kings Right to those ancient Aids , intended by that Stature to be saved to him , was well known in those days , and is not yet forgotten . These Aids were three , from the Kings Tenants by Knights service , due by the common Law , or general Custom of the Realm ; Aid to ransom the Kings Royal Person , if unhappily he should be taken prisoner in the Wars ; Aid to make the Kings Eldest Son a Knight , and Aid to marry the Kings Eldest Daughter once , but no more ; and that those were the onely Aids intended to be saved to the Crown by that Statute , appeareth in some clearness , by the Charter of King Iohn , dated at Runningmede the 15 of Iune in the 5th year of his Reign , wherein they are enumerated with an exclusion of all other Aids whatsoever . Of this Charter I have here one of the Originals , whereon I beseech your Lordships to cast your eyes , and give me leave to read the very words which concern this point . These words ( my Lords ) are thus : Nullum scutigium vel auxilium ponatur in Regno nostro , nisi per commune Consilium Regni nostri , nisi ad Corpus nostrum redimendum , & primogenitum filium nostrum militem faciendum , & ad filiam nostram primogenitam semel maritandam , & ad hoc non siat nisi rationabile auxilium . Touching Prises , the other thing excepted by this Statute , it is also of a particular Right to the Crown so well known , that it needeth no description , the King being in possession of it by every days usage . It is to take one Tun of Wine before the Mast , and another behinde the Mast , of every Ship bringing in above twenty Tuns of Wine , and here discharge them by way of Merchandise . But our Petition consisteth altogether of particulars , to which if any general Saving or words amounting to one should be annexed , it cannot work to confirm things not excepted which are none , but to confound things included , which are all the parts of the Petition ; and it must needs beget this dangerous Exposition , that the Rights and Liberties of the Subject , declared and demanded by this Petition , are not theirs absolutely , but sub modo ; not to continue always , but onely to take place when the King is pleased not to exercise that Soveraign Power , wherewith this Clause admitted he is trusted for the protection , safety , and happiness of his People : And thus that Birthright and Inheritance , which we have in our Liberties , shall by our own assents be turned into a meer Tenancy at will and sufferance . Touching the Statute of 28 Edw. 1. Articuli super Chartas , the scope of that Statute among other things , being to provide for the better observing and maintaining of Magna Charta , hath in it nevertheless two Savings for the King ; the one particular , as I take it , to preserve the ancient Prices , due and accustomed , as of Wines and of other goods , the other general Seigniory of the Crown in all things . To these two Savings , besides the former Answers , which may be for the most part applied to this Statute , as well as to the former ; I adde these further Answers : The first of these two Savings , is of the same prisage of Wines which is excepted in the 25 Edw. 1. but in some more clearness ; for that here the word ( Wines ) is expresly annexed to the word ( Prices ) which I take for so much to be in Exposition of the former Law : And albeit these words ( and of other goods ) be added , yet do I take it to be but a particular Saving , or exception , which being qualified with the words ( Ancient , due and accustomed ) is not very dangerous , nor can be understood of Prices or Levies upon Goods of all sorts at the Kings will and pleasure , but onely of the old and certain Customs upon Wool , Woolfels and Leather , which were due to the Crown long before the making of this Statute . For the latter of the two Savings in this Act , which is of the more unusual nature , and subject to the more exception ; it is indeed general , and if we may believe the concurrent Relations of the Histories of those times , as well as those that are now Printed , as those which remain onely in Manuscripts , it gave distaste from the beginning , and wrought no good effect ; but produced such distempers and troubles in the State , as we wish may be buried in perpetual oblivion ; and that the like Saving in these and future times , may never breed the like disturbance : For from hence arose a Jealousie , That Magna Charta which declared the ancient Right of the Subject , and was an absolute Law in it self , being now confirmed by a latter Act with this Addition of a general Saving ; for the Kings Right in all things by the Saving was weakned , and that made doubtful which was clear before : But not to depart from our main ground , which is , that Savings in old Acts of Parliament , before 2 H. 5. are no proof that there were the like Savings in the Petitions ; for those Acts let me observe unto your Lordships , and so leave this point , That albeit this Petition , whereon this Act of 28 Edw. 1. was grounded , be perished ; yet hath it pleased God that the very Frame and Context of the Act it self , as it is drawn up , and entred upon the Statute Roll , and Printed in our Books , doth manifestly impart that this Saving came in by the Kings Answer , and was not in the Original Petition of the Lords and Commons ; for it cometh in at the end of the Act after the words ( le Roy vent ) which commonly are the words of the Royal assent to an Act of Parliament . And though they be mixed and followed with other words , as though the Kings Councel and the rest who were present at the making of this Ordinance , did intend the same Saving ; yet is not that Conclusive , so long as by the form of those times , the Kings Answer working upon the materials of the Petition , might be conceived by some to make the Law effectual , though varying from the frame of the Petition . The next Reason which the Commons have commanded me to use , for which they still desire to be spared from adding this Clause to their Petition , is this : this offensive Law of 28 E. 1. which confirmed Magna Charta , with a Saving , rested not long in peace , for it gave not that satisfaction to the Lords or people , as was requisite they should have in a case so nearly concerning them : and therefore about thirty three , or thirty four of the same Kings Reign , a later Act of Parliament was made , whereby it was Enacted , That all men should have their Laws and Liberties and free Customs , as largely and wholly as they had used to have at any time , when they had them best ; and if any Statutes had been made , or any Customs brought in to the contrary , that all such Statutes and Customs should be void . This was the first Law which I call now to minde , that restored Magna Charta to the original purity wherein it was first moulded , albeit it hath been since confirmed above twenty times more by several Acts of Parliament , in the Reigns of divers most just and gracious Kings , who were most apprehensive of their Rights , and jealous of their Honors , and always without Savings ; so as if between 28 and 34 E. 1. Magna Charta stood blemished with many Savings of the Kings Rights or Seigniory , which might be conceived to be above the Law ; that stain and blemish was long since taken away , and cleared by those many absolute Declarations and Confirmations of that excellent Law which followed in after ages , and so it standeth at this day purged and exempted now from any such Saving whatsoever . I beseech your Lordships therefore to observe the circumstance of time wherein we offer this Petition to be presented to your Lordships , and by us unto his Majesty : Do we offer it when Magna Charta stands clogged with Saving ? No , my Lords , but at this day when later and better confirmations have vindicated and set free that Law from all exceptions ; and shall we now annex another and worse Saving to it by an unnecessary Clause in that Petition , which we expect should have the fruits and effects of a Law ? Shall we our selves relinquish or adulterate that which cost our Ancestors such care and labour to purchase and refine ? No , my Lords , but as we should hold our selves unhappy if we should not amend the wretched estate of the poor Subject , so let us hold it a wickedness to impair it . Whereas it was further urged by your Lordships , That to insert this Clause into our Petition , would be no more then to do that again at your Lordships motion and request , which we had formerly done by the mouth of our Speaker ; and that there is no cause why we should recede from that which so solemnly we have professed . To this I answer and confess , it was then in our hearts , and so it is now , and shall be ever , not to incroach on his Majesties Soveraign Power . But I beseech your Lordships to observe the different occasion and reference of that Protestation , and of this Clause . That was a general●●nswer to a general Message , which we received from his Majesty , warning us not to incroach upon his Prerogative ; to which , like dutiful and loving Subjects , we answered at full , according to the integrity of our own hearts ; nor was there any danger in making such an Answer to such a Message , nor could we answer more truly or more properly : But did that Answer extend to acknowledge a Soveraign Power in the King , above the Laws and Statutes mentioned in our Petition , or controll the Liberties of the Subject therein declared and demanded ? No my Lords , it hath no reference to any such particulars ; and the same words which in some cases may be fit to be used , and were unmannerly to be omitted , cannot in other cases be spoken but with impertinency at the least , if not with danger ; I have formerly opened my Reasons , proving the danger of this Clause , and am commanded to illustrate the impertinency of adding it to the Petition by a familiar Case , which was put in our House by a Learned Gentleman , and of my own Robe : The Case is this , Two Manors or lordships lye adjoyning together , and perchance intermixed , so as there is some difficulty to discern the true bounds of either ; as there may be touching the confines where the Liberty of the Subject , and the Prerogative of the Crown do border each upon the other ; to the one of the Manors the King hath clear Right , and is in actual possession of it ; but the other is the Subjects : The King being misinformed that the Subject hath intruded upon his Majesties Manor , asketh his Subject whether he doth enter upon his Majesties Manor , or pretendeth any Title to it , or any part of it ? The Subject being now justly occasioned , maketh answer truly to the King , that he hath not intruded , nor will intrude upon his Majesties Manor , nor doth make any Claim or Title to it , or any part of it . This answer is proper and fair ; nay it were unmannerly and ill done of the Subject not so to answer upon this occasion . Afterwards the King upon colour of some double or single matter of Record , seiseth into his Highness hands upon a pretended Title , the Subjects Manor : The Subject then exhibiteth his Petition of Right , or to his Majesty , to attain restitution of his own Manor , and therein layeth down Title to his own Manor onely ; were it not improper and absurd in this Case for him to tell the King that he did not intend to make any Claim or Title to his Majesties Manors , which is not questioned ? Doubtless it were . This Case rightly applyed , will fit our purpose well , and notably explain the nature of our Petition . Why should we speak of leaving entire the Kings Soveraign Power , whereon we incroach not , while we onely seek to recover our own Liberties and Priviledges , which have been seised upon by some of the Kings Ministers ? If our Petition did trench actually upon his Majesties Prerogative , would our saying that we intended it not , make the thing otherwise then the truth ? My Lords , there needeth no Protestation or Declaration to the contrary of that which we have not done ; and to put in such a Clause , cannot argue less then a fear in us , as if we had invaded it ; which we hold sacred , and are assured that we have not touched either in our words , or in our intentions . And touching your Lordships observation upon the word ( Leave ) if it be not a proper word to give any new thing to the King , sure we are , it is a word as dangerous in another sense ; for it may amount without all question , to acknowledge an old Right of Soveraign Power in his Majesty , above these Laws and Statutes whereon onely our Liberties are founded ; a Doctrine which we most humbly crave your Lordships leaves freely to protest against . And ●or your Lordships proffering that some Saving should be requisite for preservation of his Majesties Soveraign Power , in respect our Petition runneth in larger words then our Laws and Statutes whereon we ground it ; what is this but a clear co●●ession by our Lordships , that this Clause was intended by you to be that Saving ? for other Saving then this , we finde not tendred by you : And if it be such a Saving , how can it stand with your Lordships other Arguments , that it should be of no other effect then our former expression to his Majesty by the mouth of our Speaker ? But I will not insist upon Collections of this kinde ; I will onely shew you the Reasons of the Commons , why this Petition needeth no such Saving , albeit the words of these Statutes be exceeded in the declaratory part of our Petition : Those things that are within the equity , and true meaning of a Statute , are as good Laws as those which are contained in the express Letter , and therefore the Statutes of the 42 Edw. 36 H. 3. Rot. Par. N. 12. and other the Statutes made in this time of King Edw. 3. for the Explanati●n of Magna Charta , which hath been so often vouched this Parliament , though they differ in words from Magna Charta , had no Saving annexed to any of them , because they inacted nothing more then was contained in effect : In that good Law under the words , per legale judicium parium suorum , aut per legem terrae , which by these latter Laws are expounded to import , that none should be put to answer without presentment , or matter of Record , or by due Process or writ Original , and if otherwise , it should be void and holden for error . It hath not been yet shewen unto us from your Lordships , that we have in any of our Expressions or Applications strained or misapplied any of the Laws or Statutes whereon we do insist , and we are very confident and well assured , that no such mistaking can be assigned in any point of our Petition now under question : if therefore it do not exceed the true sense and construction of Magna Charta in the subsequent Laws of Explanation whereon it is grounded , what reason is there to adde a Saving to this Petition more then to those Laws ? since we desire to transmit the fruits of these our labors to posterity , not onely for the justification of our selves in right of our present and their future Liberties , but also for a brave expression and perpetual testimony of that Grace and Justice , which we assure our selves we shall receive in his Majesties speedy and clear Answer . This is the thing we seek for , and this the thing we hoped for , and this the thing onely will setle such an unity and confidence betwixt his Majesty and us , and raise such a cheerfulness in the hearts of all his loving Subjects , as will make us proceed unanimously and with all expedition to supply him for his great occasions in such measure , and in such way , as may make him safe at home , and feared abroad . Sir Henry Martin took up the Argument , and proceeded as to the rational part thereof . IT is necessary to state the question rightly , and to set down the true difference between your Lordships , and us . Now indeed there is no difference or question between your Lordships and us , concerning this additional Clause in the nature and quality of a Proposition ; For so considered , we say it is most true , and to be received and embraced by us , in toto & qualibet parte & qualibet syllaba , yea , and were that the question , we should adde to the Addition , and in stead of due regard say we have had , have , and ever will have a special and singular regard , where to leave entire Soveraign Power : but this were to intimate , as if we had first cropt it , and then left it ; but our regard was to acknowledge and confess it sincerely , and to maintain it constantly , even to the hazard of our Goods and Lives , if need be . To which purpose your Lordships may be pleased to remember that strict Oath every Member of our House hath taken this very Session , in these words , I ( A. B. ) do utterly testifie and declare in my conscience , That the Kings Highness is the Supreme or Soveraign Governor of this Realm in all Causes , &c. and to my utmost Power will assist and defend all jurisdictions , Priviledges , Preheminencies and Authorities , granted or belonging to the Kings Highness , or united or annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm , &c. So that your Lordships need not to borrow from our Protestations any Exhortations to us to entertain a Writing in assistance of the Kings Soveraign Power , since we stand obliged by the most sacred Bond of a solemn Oath , to assist and defend the same , if cause and occasion so required : So that the onely question between your Lordships and us , is , whether this Clause should be added to our Petition , and received into it as part thereof , which to do your Lordships reasons have not perswaded us , because so to admit it were to overthrow the fabrick and substance of our Petition of Right , and to annihilate the Right pretended by us and the Petition it self in effect : For these words being added to our Petition ( viz. ) we humbly present this Petition , &c. with due regard to leave entire your Soveraign Power , &c. do include manifestly an Exception to our Petition , and an Exception being of the nature of the thing whereunto it is an Exception , Exceptio est de regula , must of necessity destroy the Rule or Petition , so far as to the case excepted : Exceptio firmat regulam in casibus non exceptis , in casibus except is destruit regulam : Then this Construction followeth upon our Petition thus enlarged , that after we have petitioned that no freeman should be compelled by imprisonment , to lend or contribute money to his Majesty without his assent in Parliament , nor receive against his will Soldiers into his house , or undergo a Commission of Marshal Law for Life or Member in time of Peace , we should adde , Except his Majesty be pleased to require our monies , and imprison us for not lending , and send Soldiers into our houses , and execute us by Marshal Law in time of Peace , by vertue of his Soveraign Power : which construction , as it followeth necessarily upon this inlargement , so it concludeth against our right in the Premises , and utterly frustrateth all our Petition ; neither may it seem strange , if this Clause additional ( which of it self in quality of a Proposition we confess ) being added to our Petition ( which also is true ) should overthrow the very frame and fabrick of it , seeing the Logicians take knowledge of such a Fallacy called by them , Fallacia a bene divisis ad male conjuncta . Horace the Poet giveth an instance to this purpose , in a Painter , who when he had painted the Hea● of a man according to Art , would then joyn to it the neck of a Horse , and so mar the one and the other ; whereas each by it self might have been a piece of right good workmanship . The second branch of my Lord Keepe●s rational part , was enforc'd out of the last words of this addition , by which his Lordship said that they did not leave intire all Soveraign Power , but that wherewith his Majesty is trusted for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of the People ; as if his Lordship would infer , that Soveraign Power wherewith &c. in this place to be Terminum diminuentem , a Term of diminution or qualification , and in that consideration might induce us to accept it . But under his Lordships correction , we cannot so interpret it : For first , we are assured that there is no Soveraign Power wherewith his Majesty is trusted , either by God or man , but onely that which is for the Protection , Safety and Happiness of his people ; and therefore that limitation can make no impression upon us : but we conceive it rather in this place to have the force Termini adaugentis , to be a Term of important advantage , against our Petition , a Term of restriction , and that wheresoever his Majesties Soveraign Power should be exercised upon us , in all and every the particulars mentioned in the Petition , we should without further enquiry submit thereunto , as assuming and taking it pro concesso , it induced to our Safety and Happiness , &c. Since therefore ( as the Petition is now conceived ) it carrieth the form and face of a Picture , which representeth to the life the pressures and grievances of the people , with the easie remedies ; And therefore we hope that his Majestie casting upon it a gracious eye , will compassionate his poor Loyal Subjects , and afford a comfortable answer . I do humbly pray your Lordships not to mar or blemish the grace and face of this Picture with this unnecessary addition ; and unnecessary I prove it to be , according to that Rule , Expressio ejus quod tacite inest nihil operatur . And Soveraign Power , in cases where it hath place , and ought to be used , is always necessarily understood , and though not expressed , yet supplyed by reasonable intendment , or by the opinion of all Learned men . And therefore , as it neither is nor can be by us expresly included , especially in this Petition , where the addition thereof would make such a confusion of the whole sense and substance . The Kings Soveraign Power and Prerogative is always able to save it self , and if it were not , we must without this addition save it to our utmost powers , if we will save our Oath , and save our selves ; the true state of the cause thus standing between your Lordships and us , the House of Commons doth not a little marvel upon what grounds your Lordships are so earnest to urge upon them this addition to be inserted into their Petition , they nothing doubt but that the same proceeded out of a sollicitude and fear which your Lordships have , lest otherwise the simple and absolute passage of this Petition might be construed hereafter in prejudice of his Majesties Soveraign Power : And this your Lordships sollicitude and fear proceedeth from your love , as the Poet saith , Res est solliciti plena timoris Amor. But I humbly pray your Lordships to examine with us , the grounds of this your sollicitude and fear , which grounds needs must be laid either upon the words of the Petition , or the intention of the Petitioners . Upon the words there is no possibility to lay them , for therein is no mention made of the Soveraign Power ; and were the words doubtful , as thus , We pray the like things be nor done hereafter under pretext of your Majesties Soveraign Power ; yet in respect of the Protestations preceding , concomitant and subsequent to the Petition , such doubtful words ought reasonably to be interpreted onely of such Soveraign Power as was not appliable to the Cases wherein it was exercised ; and of such Soveraign Power as should be justly practised : but there are no such doubtful words , and therefore it followeth , that your Lordships fear and sollicitude must be grounded upon the intention of the Petitioners . Now your Lordships well know , that the House of Commons is not ignorant , that in a Session of Parliament , though it continue as many weeks as this hath done days , yet there is nothing Prius & Posterius , but all things are held and taken as done at one time ; if so , what a strange Collection was this , that at the same time the House of Commons should oblige themselves by a fearful adjuration to assist and defend all Priviledges and Prerogatives belonging to the King , and at the same time by a Petition ( cautiously conveyed ) endeavor or intend to divest and deprive the King of some Prerogatives belonging to his Crown . If therefore such fear and sollicitude can neither be grounded upon the words of the Petition , nor intention of the Petitioners , I humbly pray your Lordships to lay them aside ; as we do believe that the Proposition of this addition from your Lordships , was not onely excuseable , but commendable , as proceeding from your love : So now having heard our Reasons , your Lordships would rest satisfied , that our refusal to admit them into our Petition , proceedeth from the conscience of the integrity and uprightness of our own hearts , that we in all this Petition have no such end to abate or diminish the Kings just Prerogative . And so much in reply to that Rational part whereby my Lord Keeper laboured to perswade the entertainment of this Addition . This being done , it pleased the House of Commons to instruct and furnish me with certain Reasons which I should use to your Lordships , to procure your absolute conjunction with us in presenting this Petition , which albeit I cannot set forth according to their worth , and the Instructions given me by the House , yet I hope their own weight will so press down into your Lordships consciences and judgements , that without further scruple you will cheerfully vouchsafe to accompany this Petition with your right noble presence . A personis . The first Argument wherewith I was commanded to move your Lordships , was drawn from the consideration of the Persons which are Petitioners , The House of Commons ; a House whose temper , mildness and moderation in this Parliament hath been such , as we should be unthankful and injurious to Almighty God , if we should not acknowledge his good hand upon us , upon our tongues , upon our hearts , procured , no doubt , by our late solemn and publique Humiliation and Prayers . This moderation will the better appear , if in the first place we may be remembred in what passion and distemper many Members of this House arrived thither , what bosoms , what pockets full of complaints and lamentable grievances the most part brought thither , and those every day renewed by Letters and Packets from all parts and quarters : You know the old Proverb , Ubi dolor ibi digitus , ubi amor ibi oculus , it is hard to keep our fingers from often handling the Parts ill affected , but yet our Moderation overcame our Passion , our Discretion overcame our Affection . This Moderation also will the better appear , if in the second place it be not forgotten how our Ancestors and Predecessors carried themselves in Parliaments , when upon lighter provocations less would not serve their turns , but new severe commissions to hear and determine offences against their Liberties , publique ecclesiastical Curses , or excommunications against the Authors or Actors of such violations , accusations , condemnations , executions , banishments . But what have we said all this Parliament ? we onely look forward , not backward : we desire amendment hereafter , no mans punishment for ought done heretofore ; nothing written by us in blood , nay , not one word spoken against any mans person in displeasure . The conclusion of our Petition is , that we may be better intreated in time to come : and doth not this moderate Petition deserve your Lordships cheerful conjunction ex congruo & condigno ? If a Worm being trodden upon , could speak , a Worm would say , tread upon me no more I pray you : higher we rise not , lower we cannot descend , and thus much we think in modesty may well be spoken in our own commendation , thence to move your Lordships to vouchsafe us your noble company in this Petition , without surcharging it with this Addition . A tempore . Our next Argument is drawn a tempore , from the unseasonableness of the time . The wise Man saith , There is a time for all things under the Sun , tempus suum , and if in the wise mans judgement , a word spoken in its due time be precious as Gold and Silver , then an unseasonable time detracts as much from the thing , or word , done , or spoken : We hold ( under your favors ) that the time is not seasonable now for this Addition ; it is true that of it self Soveraign Power is a thing always so Sacred , that to handle it otherwise then tenderly , is a kind of Sacriledge , and to speak of it otherwise then reverently , is a kind of blasphemy ; but every vulgar capacity is not so affected , the most part of men , nay , almost all men judge and esteem all things not according to their own intrinsick vertue and quality , but according to their immediate effects and operations , which the same things have upon them : Hence it is , that Religion it self receiveth more or less credit or approbation , as the Teachers or Professors are worse or better ; yea , if God himself send a very wet harvest or seed-time , men are apt enough to censure Divine Power : The Soveraign Power hath not now , for the present , the ancient amiable aspect , in respect of some late sad influences , but by Gods Grace it will soon recover . To intermix with this Petition any mention of Soveraign Power , rebus sic stantibus , when angry men say Soveraign Power hath been abused , and the most moderate wish it had not been so used , we hold it not seasonable , under your Lordships correction . A loco . Our next Argument is drawn a loco : we think the place where your Lordships would have this Addition inserted ( viz. ) in the Petition , no convenient or seasonable place ; your Lordships will easily believe , that this Petition will run through many hands , every man will be desirous to see and to read , what their Knights and their Burgesses have done in Parliament upon their complaints , what they have brought home for their five Subsidies ; If in perusing of this Petition they fall upon the mention of Soveraign Power , they presently fall to arguing and reasoning , and descanting , what Soveraign Power is , what is the Latitude , whence the Original , and where the bounds ? with many such curious and captious questions ; by which course Soveraign Power is little advanced or advantaged ; for I have ever been of opinion , that it is then best with Soveraign Power when it is had in tacite veneration , not when it is profaned by publique hearings or examinations . Our last Argument is drawn from our Duty and Loyalty to his Majesty , in consideration whereof we are fearful at this time to take this Addition into our Petition , lest we should do his Majesty herein some disservice : with your Lordships we make the great Councel of the King and Kingdom ; and though your Lordships having the happiness to be near his Majesty , know other things better , yet certainly the state and condition of the several parts for which we serve , their dispositions and inclinations , their apprehensions , their fears and jealousies , are best known unto us : and here I pray your Lordships to give me leave to use the Figure called Reticentia , that is , to insinuate and intimate more then I mean to speak : Our chief and principal end in this Parliament , is to make up all Rents and Breaches between the King and his Subjects , to draw them and knit them together , from that distance whereof the world abroad takes too much notice , to work a perfect union and reconciliation : how unproperly and unapt at this time this Addition will be in respect of this end , we cannot but foresee , and therefore shun it , and do resolve , that it is neither agreeable to the Persons of such Counsellors , of whom we are , nor answerable to that Love and Duty which we owe to his Majesty , to hazard an end of such unspeakable consequence , upon the admittance of this Addition into our Petition , whereof ( as we have shewed ) the omission at this time can by no means harm the Kings Prerogative , the expression may produce manifold inconveniences : and therefore since this admittance of your Lordships Addition into our Petition , is incoherent and incompatible with the body of the same ; since there is no necessary use of it for the saving of the Kings Prerogative ; since the moderation of our Petition deserveth your Lordships cheerful conjunction with us ; since this Addition is unseasonable for the time , and inconvenient in respect of the place where your Lordships would have it inserted ; and lastly may prove a disservice to his Majesty : I conclude with a most affectionate Prayer to your Lordships ▪ to conclude with the House of Commons , in presenting this Petition to his Sacred Majesty , as it is , without this Addition . Monday 26. of May , The Lord Keeper made this Speech at a Conference . Gentlemen , YE that are Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of the House of Commons , I have many times this Parliament by Command from my Lords , declared the great zeal and affection which my Lords have to maintain and nourish the good Concurrence and Correspondency which hath hitherto continued between both Houses , that there might be a happy issue in this great business , for the common good of the King and Kingdom . Now that which I have to say this day from my Lords , is to let you , know this fair proceeding is not a profession of words onely , but really and indeed concerning the Petition which hath been long in agitation , as the weight of the cause required : since the last Conference my Lords have taken it into their serious and instant consideration , and at length are faln upon a Resolution which I am to acquaint you with . The Lords have unanimously agreed with you in omnibus , and have voted that they will joyn with you in your Petition , with the onely alterations of the word ( means ) to be put in stead of the word ( pretext ) and for the word ( unlawful ) to be put out , and in place thereof to adde ( not warrantable by the Laws and Statutes of the Realm ) which two alterations your selves consented unto . So that concerning this business there remains nothing now , but that ye having the Petition in your hands will ( if ye have not already ) vote it as they have done , and so prepare it for his Majesty , and my Lords will take order , that the King be moved for a speedy access to present the same to his Majesty . And after some pause he said , There rests one thing which my Lords have commanded me to adde , that in regard this Petition toucheth upon certain Charges raised by the Lords Lieutenants , and other Persons , many times for good use , for the service and safety of the Kingdom , That ye take it into your Care and Consideration , and to provide a Law for assessing of such Charges , as the occasion of the time shall require . The Lords and Commons being thus happily accorded , the Petition , with the aforesaid amendments , was read in the House two several times together : Then it was Voted upon question , and that it should be ingrossed , and read the third time , and the House to sit in the afternoon till it was ingrossed , and read , and ordered to be presented to the King , to which there was not a negative Vote : And the Bill of Subsidie was also read the second time , and committed . Wednesday 28 May , the Lords and Commons had a Conference about the maner of delivery of the Petition , and Sir Edward Cook reported , That their Lordships were agreed that no Addition or Preface be used to the King , but that the Petition be preferred to his Majesty by command of the Lords and Commons , and his Majesty be desired , that to the content of his People he would be pleased to give his gracious Answer in full Parliament . About this time Mr. Rouse brought in a Charge against Doctor Ed. Manwaring , which some days after was seconded with a Declaration . Mr. Speaker , I Am to deliver from the Committee a Charge against Mr. Manwaring , a Preacher in Divinity ; but a man so Criminous , that he hath turned his Titles into Accusations , for the better they are , the worse is he that dishonors them . Here is a great Charge that lies upon him , it is great in it self , and great because it hath many great Charges in it ; Serpens qui serpentem devorat fit draco , his Charge having digested many Charges into it , becomes a Monster of Charges . The main and great one is this Plot and Practise , to alter and subvert the Frame and Fabrick of this Estate and Commonwealth . This is the great one , and it hath others in it that gives it more light . To this end , 1. He labors to infuse into the Conscience of his Majesty , the perswasion of a power not bounding it self with Laws , which King James , of famous Memory , calls in his Speech to the Parliament , Tyranny , yea , Tyranny accompanied with Perjury . 2. He endeavors to perswade the Conscience of the Subjects , that they are bound to obey Commands illegal , yea he damns them for not obeying them . 3. He robs the Subjects of the propriety of their Goods . 4. He brands them that will not lose this propriety with most scandalous Speeches and odious Titles , to make them both hateful to Prince and People ; so to set a division between the Head and the Members , and between the Members themselves . 5. To the same end not much unlike to Faux and his fellows , he seeks to blow up Parliaments and Parliamentary Powers . The fifth being duly viewed , will appear to be so many Charges , and they make up all the great and main Charge , a mischievous Plot to alter and subvert the frame and government of this State and Common-wealth . And now though you may be sure , that Mr. Manwaring leaves us no propriety in our Goods , yet he hath an absolute propriety in this Charge , here himself making up his own Charge . Here he read several Passages out of his Book , and then proceeded and said , You have heard his Charge made up by his own words , and withall I doubt not but you seem to hear the voice of that wicked one ( Quid dabitis ? ) what will you give me , and I will betray this State , Kingdom , and Commonwealth ? But there are two Observations ( I might adde a third , which is like unto a threefold Cord , which cannot be easily broken ) will draw the Charge more violently upon him . The first is of the Time when this Doctrine of destruction was set forth ; it was Preached in the heart of the Loan , and it was Printed in the beginning of that Term which ended in a Remittitur : So that you might guess there might be a double Plot , by the Law and Conscience , to set on fire the frame and estate of this Commonwealth : And one of these intailed Foxes was Mr. Manwaring . Another note may be taken of the time , that is , the unseasonableness of it ; for this Doctrine of the Loan ( in case of necessity ) was the year after an assent in Parliament to four Subsidies and three Fifteens , which might serve for a sufficient stopple for the Doctors mouth , to keep in his Doctrine of Necessity . A second observation may be of the Means by which he seeks to destroy this Commonwealth ; his means are Divinity , yea by his Divinity he would destroy both King and Kingdom . The King : for there can be no greater mischief to a Prince , then to put the opinion of Deity into his ears ; for if from his ears ti should have passed to his heart , it had been mortal : You know how Herod perished . Now this man gives a participation of Divine Omnipotence to Kings , and though a part may seem to qualifie , yet all doth seem again to fill up that qualification , and very dangerously , if we remember that God saith of himself , I am a jealous God. He goes about to destroy the Kingdom and Commonwealth by his Divinity ; but do we finde in Scripture such a destroying Divinity ? Surely I finde there , that God is a God of order , and not of confusion : and that the Son of God came to save , and not to destroy . By which it seems he hath not his Divinity from God , nor from the Son of God : And that we may be sure he went to Hell for Divinity , he names sundry Jesuits and Fryers , with whom he consulted and traded for his Divinity . But not to belye Hell it self , the Jesuits are honester then he : for if he had not brought more hell unto them then he found with them , he had not found this Divinity in them which he hath brought forth ; yea in his quotations he hath used those shifts and falshoods for which Boyes are to be whipt in Schools , and yet by them he thinks to carry the Cause of a Kingdom . But for a conclusion , to give the true Character of this man whom I never saw , I will shew it you by one whom I know to be contrary to him : Samuel we know all to be a true Prophet ; now we read of Samuel , that he writ the Law of the Kingdom in a Book , and laid it up before the Lord. And this he did , as one of Mr. Manwarings own Authors affirms , that the King may know what to command , and the People what to obey ; But Mr. Manwaring finding the Law of this Kingdom written in Books , tears it in pieces , and that in the presence of the Lord in a Pulpit , that the King may not know what to command , nor the People what to obey . Thus Mr. Manwaring being contrary to a true Prophet , must needs be a false one , and the Judgement of a false Prophet belongs to him . I have shewed you an evil Tree , that bringeth forth evil fruit ; and now it rests with you to determine whether the following sentence shall follow , Cut it down , and cast it into the fire . ABout this time the Mayor of Plimouth certified to the Burgesses serving for that Town in Parliament , the Examination of Le Brun a Frenchman , Captain of the Mary of Rotchel , taken the 16 of May 1628. viz. The Examinate saith , That on Sunday being the 17 of April last past , he departed from Plimouth Harbor in company with the English Fleet , whereof the Earl of Denbigh is General : and on the first day of May , then following , the said Fleet arrived and came at Anchor at Charleboy in the Rode of Rotchel about four of the Clock in the afternoon ; where at the said arrival they found twenty sail of the King of France his Ships , whereof six were Ships of about 300 Tuns , and the rest were small Sh●ps , and forthwith with the said French Ships put themselves to sail , and went in nearer to the fortifications , where they also anchored within two Canon shot of the English Fleet , and saith , That one of his Majesties Ships shot off one piece of Ordinance , and no more ; and that the said French Ships , as they returned from the English Fleet , shot off oftentimes to them , and that the same Fleet remained there until the eighth day of the said moneth of May , in which time there was a Wherry sent from the Fleet into Rotchel , wherein there were two English and one Frenchman , to inquire the state of the said Town ; and that if they were there safe arrived , they should make a fire upon one of the Towers of the Town to give notice thereof , which accordingly they did , and also to make so many fires more on the Walls of the said Town , as they have moneths victuals there ; but they made not any answer thereof , whence it was collected , that they had but a small quantity of victuals , and said , That the said English , as he hath heard , promised to sink the said French Ships , when the waters did increase ; and the wind came at West-north-west , it being then Neap-tides , and about two days after the waters did increase , and the winds came accordingly : and being then intreated to fight with them , yet did not , but came away without fighting or relieving the Town , and saith , That on the eighth day of May the said English Fleet weighed Anchor , and set sail to depart ; and four of the French great Ships weighed Anchor also , and came after them , and shot divers times at the said Fleet , and the said Fleet shot at them again , and the said Examinate came in company with the said Fleet as far as Bell Isle , where he departed from them on the tenth of this instant ; and lastly saith , That during all the time the English Fleet was there , the Town of Rotchel shot to the King of France his Ships and Fort , but chiefly upon the arrival of the said Fleet there . This Examination being communicated to the Councel Table , it procured this ensuing Letter from the Privy Councel to the Duke , dated the 30 of May , 1628. viz. WHereas it is his Majesties pleasure , that the Earl of Denbigh shall return back to relieve the Town of Rotchel , with the Fleet under his Charge : We do therefore pray your Grace , to signifie this his Majesties pleasure unto the said Earl , and to give him special Charge and Direction so soon as the said Fleet , or the greatest thereof shall be reassembled and joyned together ; then presently with the first opportunity of wind , taking into his Charge also the Ships stayed and prepared at Portsmouth and Plimouth , together with such fire Ships and other Vessels , as shall be provided for this expedition , to return to Rotchel with all possible diligence , and do his best endevor to relieve the same ; Letting his Lordship know that order is taken for the victualling of the Fleet by Petty warrant , so long as it remaineth in Harbor , for the sparing and lengthening of the Sea victuals ; And if it so fall out , that the Earl of Denbigh do set forward on his voyage towards Rotchel , before the whole Fleet shall be joyned with him , we pray your Grace to give him such Direction , that he may leave order that the Ships which are behind shall follow him with all speed . Monday 2 Iune . The King came to the Parliament , and spake thus in brief to both Houses . Gentlemen , I Am come hither to perform my duty , I think no man can think it long , since I have not taken so many days in answering the Petition , as ye spent weeks in framing it : And I am come hither to shew you , that as well in formal things as in essential , I desire to give you as much content as in me lies . After this the Lord Keeper spake as followeth . MY Lords , and ye the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons , his Majesty hath commanded me to say unto you , That he takes it in good part , that in consideration of setling your own Liberties , ye have generally professed in both Houses , that ye have no intention for to lessen or diminish his Majesties Prerogative ; wherein as ye have cleared your own intentions , so now his Majesty comes to clear his , and to subscribe a firm League with his People , which is ever likely to be most constant and perpetual , when the Conditions are equal , and known to be so : These cannot be in a more happy estate then when your Liberties shall be an ornament and a strength to his Majesties Prerogative , and his Prerogative a defence of your Liberties ; in which his Majesty doubts not but both he and you shall take a mutual comfort hereafter ; and for his part he is resolved to give an example in the using of his power for the preservation of your Liberties , that hereafter ye shall have no cause to complain . This is the sum of that which I am to say to you from his Majesty : And that which further remains is , That you hear read your own Petition , and his Majesties gracious Answer . The Petition Exhibited to his Majesty by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in this present Parliament assembled , concerning divers Rights and Liberties of the Subjects , with the Kings Majesties Royal Answer thereunto in full Parliament . To the Kings most Excellent Majesty . HUmbly shew unto our Soveraign Lord the King , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in Parliament assembled , That whereas it is Declared and Enacted by a Statute made in the time of the Reign of King Edward the first , commonly called , Statutum de Tallagio non concedendo , That no Tallage or aide shall be laid or levied by the King or his Heirs in this Realm , without the good will and assent of the Archbishops , Bishops , Earls , Barons , Knights , Burgesses , and other the Freemen of the Commonalty of this Realm : And by Authority of Parliament holden in the five and twentieth year of the Reign of King Edward the third , it is Declared and Enacted , That from thenceforth no person should be compelled to make any Loans to the King against his will , because such Loans were against Reason , and the Franchise of the Land ; and by other Laws of this Realm it is provided , That none should be charged by any Charge or Imposition , called a Benevolence , nor by such like Charge , by which the Statutes before mentioned , and other the good Laws and Statutes of this Realm , your Subjects have inherited this Freedom , That they should not be compelled to contribute to any Tax , Tallage , Aid , or other like Charge , not set by common censent in Parliament . Yet nevertheless , of late divers Commssions directed to sundry Commissioners in several Counties with instructions have issued , by means whereof your People have been in divers places assembled , and required to lend certain sums of Money unto your Majesty , and many of them upon their refusal so to do , have had an Oath administred unto them , not warrantable by the Laws or Statutes of this Realm , and have been constrained to become bound to make appearance and give attendance before your Privy Councel , and in other places , and others of them have been therefore Imprisoned , Consined , and sundry other ways molested and disquieted : And divers other charges have been layed and levied upon your People in several Counties , by Lords , Lieutenants , Deputy Lieutenants , Commissioners for Musters , Iustices of Peace , and others by command or direction from your Majesty or your Privy Councel , against the Laws and free Customs of the Realm . And where also by the Statute called , The great Charter of the Liberties of England , It is declared and enacted , That no Freeman may be taken or imprisoned or be disseised of his Freeholds or Liberties , or his free Customs , or be Outlawed or Exiled , or in any manner destroyed , but by the lawful Iudgement of his Peers , or by the Law of the Land. And in the eight and twentieth year of the reign of King Edward the third , it was declared and enacted by Authority of Parliament , That no man of what Estate or condition that he be , should be put out of his Land or Tenements , nor taken , nor imprisoned , nor disherited , nor put to death , without being brought to answer by due process of Law. Nevertheless , against the tenor of the said Statutes , and other the good Laws & Statutes of your Realm , to that end provided , divers of your Subjects have of late been imprisoned without any cause shewed , and when for their deliverance they were brought before your Iustices , by your Majesties Writs of Habeas Corpus , there to undergo and receive as the Court should order , and their Keepers commanded to certifie the Causes of their detainer ; no cause was certified , but that they were detained by your Majesties special Command , signified by the Lords of your Privy Councel , and yet were returned back to several Prisons , without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer according to the Law. And whereas of late great companies of Soldiers and Mariners , have been dispersed into divers Counties of the Realm , and the Inhabitants against their wills have been compelled to receive them into their houses , and there to suffer them to sojourn , against the Laws and Customs of this Realm , and to the great grievance and vexation of the people . And whereas also by Authority of Parliament , in the 25 year of the reign of King Edward the third , it is declared and enacted , That no man shall be forejudged of life or limb against the form of the great Charter , and the Law of the Land : And by the said great Charter and other the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm , no man ought to be adjudged to death , but by the Laws established in this your Realm , either by the Customs of the same Realm , or by Acts of Parliament : And whereas no offender of what kinde soever is exempted from the proceedings to be used , and punishments to be inflicted by the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm ; Nevertheless of late divers Commissions under your Majesties great Seal have issued forth , by which certain persons have been assigned and appointed Commissioners with Power and Authority to proceed within the Land , according to the Iustice of Martial Law , against such Soldiers and Mariners , or other dissolute persons joyning with them , as should commit any Murther , Robbery , Felony , Mutiny , or other Outrage or Misdemeanor whatsoever , and by such summary Course and Order , as is agreeable to Martial Law , and is used in Armies in time of War , to proceed to the tryal and condemnation of such offenders , and them to cause to be executed and put to death , according to the Law Martial . By pretext whereof , some of your Majesties Subjects have been by some of the said Commissioners put to death , when and where , if by the Laws and Statutes of the Land they had deserved death , by the same Laws and Statutes also they might , and by no other ought to have been adjudged and executed . And also sundry grievous offenders by colour thereof , claiming an exemption have escaped the punishments due to them by the Laws and Statutes of this your Realm , by reason that divers of your Officers , and Ministers of Iustice have unjustly refused , or forborn to proceed against such offenders according to the same Laws and Statutes , upon pretence , that the said offenders were punishable onely by Martial Law , and by Authority of such Commissions as aforesaid , which Commissions , and all other of like nature , are wholly and directly contrary to the said Laws and Statutes of this your Realm . They do therefore humbly pray your most Excellent Majesty , That no man hereafter be compelled to make or yield any Gift , Loan , Benevolence , Tax , or such like Charge , without common consent by Act of Parliament ; and that none be called to make answer , or take such Oath , or to give attendance , or he confined , or otherwise molested or disquieted concerning the same , or for refusal thereof : And that no Freeman , in any such maner as is before mentioned , be imprisoned or detained : And that your Majesty will be pleased to remove the said Soldiers and Mariners , and that your People may not be so burthened in time to come : And that the foresaid Commissions for proceeding by Martial Law , may be revoked and annulled ; and that hereafter no Commissions of like nature may issue forth to any person or persons whatsoever , to be executed as aforesaid , lest by colour of them any of your Majesties Subjects be destroyed or put to death , contrary to the Laws and Franchise of the Land. All which they most humbly pray of your most Excellent Majesty , as their Rights and Liberties according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm : And that your Majesty would also vouchsafe to declare , That the awards , doings , and proceedings to the prejudice of your People , in any of the Premises , shall not be drawn hereafter into Consequence or Example : And that your Majesty would be also graciously pleased , for the further comfort and safety of your People , to declare your royal Will and Pleasure , That in the things aforesaid all your Officers and Ministers shall serve you , according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , as they tender the Honor of your Majesty , and the prosperity of this Kingdom . Which Petition being read , the 2 of June 2628. The Kings Answer was thus delivered unto it . The King willeth that Right be done according to the Laws and Customs of the Realm ; And that the Statutes be put in due execution , that his Subjects may have no cause to complain of any wrong or oppressions , contrary to their just Rights and Liberties , to the preservation whereof , he holds himself in Conscience as well obliged , as of his Prerogative . On Tuesday June 3. the King's Answer was read in the House of Commons , and seemed too scant , in regard of so much expence of time and labour as had been imployed in contriving the petition : Whereupon Sir Iohn Elliot stood up and made a long Speech , wherein he gave forth so full and lively representation of all Grievances , both general and particular , as if they had never before been mentioned . HE reduced the Cause of all our evils to Five heads : Our insincerity and doubling in Religion , which he exemplified by the freedome and increase of Papists ; by the composition with them in the North ; the slightness of those payments , and the easiness in them ; by the hopes , presumptions , and reports of all the Papists generally ; by the disposition of Commanders , the trust of Officers , the confidence of secrecies of employments in this Kingdom , in Ireland , and elsewhere . 2. Our want of Councel , which sacrificed our honour and our men sent to the Palatinate , stopping those greater supplies appointed for that Service , by which it might have been made defensible ; this gave direction to that late expedition to Ree , whose wounds are yet bleeding , by means whereof the Protestants of France , and their King by a necessary consequence are divided , and that Countrey so prepared against us , that we have nothing to promise our neighbours , hardly for our selves , insomuch as by the issue and success it may rather be thought a conception of Spain , then begotten here by us . 3. The insufficiency and unfaithfulness of our Generals Witness first the expedition to Cales , where we arrived and found a Conquest ready ( viz. ) the Spanish ships fit for the satisfaction of a voyage● either in point of honour , or in point of profit : why was it neglected ? why was it not atchieved , it being granted on all hands feasible ? when the whole Army landed , why was there nothing attempted ? if nothing were intended , wherefore did they land ? if there were a service , why were they shipt again ? Witness secondly that to Ree , where the whole action was carried against the judgement and opinion of the Officers , ( viz. ) those that were of the Councel ; was not the first , was not the last , was not all , at land in the intrenching , in the continuance there , in the assault , in the retreat , without their assent ? to say nothing of leaving the Wines and the Salt which were in our possession , and of a value , as they say , to answer much of our expence ; nor of that wonder which no Alexander or Caesar ever did know , the enriching of an enemy by curtesies , when the Souldiers want help , nor of the private entercourses and parlies with the Fort , which continually were held ; what they intended , may be read in the success . 3. Witness the last voyage to Rotchel , which needs no observation , and is fresh in memory . 4. Head is the ignorance and corruption of our Ministers . Survey the Court , survey the Countrey , the Church , the City , the Bar , the Bench , the Courts , the Shipping , the Land , the Seas , all will yield variety of proofs : The Exchequer is empty , the reputation thereof gone , the ancient Lands are sold , the Jewels pawn'd , the Plate ingaged , the debt still great , almost all charges both extraordinary and ordinary by Projects . 5. The oppression of the Subject , it needs no demonstration , the whole Kingdom is a proof , and that oppression speaks the exhausting of our treasures ; what waste of our Provisions , what consumption of our Ships , what destruction of our men have been ? witness the voyage to Algier , witness that of Mansfield , witness that to Cales , witness the next , witness that to Ree ; witness the last , witness the Palatinate , witness the Turks , witness the Dunkirks , witness all ; we were never so much weakned , nor had less hopes how to be restored . These Mr. Speaker are our dangers , these are they do threaten us , and those are like that Trojan Horse , brought in cunningly to surprize us , in these do lurk the strongest of our enemies ready to issue on us , and if we do not now the more speedily expel them , these are the sign , the invitation to others . These will prepare their entrance , that we shall have no means left of refuge or defence ; for if we have these enemies at home , how can we strive with those that are abroad ? if we be free from these , no other can impeach us : Our ancient English vertue , that old Spartan valor cleared from these disorders , being in sincerity of Religion once made friends with Heaven , having maturity of Councels , sufficiency of Generals , incorruption of Officers , opulency in the King , Liberty in the People , repletion in Treasures , restitution of Provisions , reparation of Ships , preservation : of Men : Our ancient English vertue thus rectified , I say , will secure us , and unless there be a speedy reformation in these , I know not what hopes or expectations we may have . These things , Sir , I shall desire to have taken into consideration , that as we are the great Councel of the Kingdom , and have the apprehension of these dangers , we may truly represent them unto the King , wherein I conceive we are bound by a treble Obligation of duty unto God , of duty to his Majesty , and of duty to our Countrey . And therefore I wish it may so stand with the Wisdom and Judgement of the House , that they may be drawn into the body of a Remonstrance , and therein all humbly expressed with a Prayer unto his Majesty for the safety of himself , and for the safety of the Kingdom , and for the safety of Religion : That he will be pleased to give us time to make perfect inquisition thereof , or to take them into his own Wisdom , and there give them such timely reformation , as the necessity of the Cause and his Justice doth import . And thus , Sir , with a large affection and loyalty to his Majesty , and with a firm duty and service to my Countrey , I have suddenly , and it may be , with some disorder expressed the weak apprehension I have , wherein if I have erred , I humbly crave your pardon , and so submit to the censure of the House . IT seemed to others not sutable to the wisdom of the House in that conjuncture , to begin to recapitulate those misfortunes which were now obvious to all , accounting it more discretion not to look back , but forward : and since the King was so near to meet him , that the happiness expected might not be lost : and these were for petitioning his Majesty for a fuller Answer . IT was intimated by Sir Henry Martin , that this Speech of Sir Iohn Elliot was suggested from disaffection to his Majesty ; and there wanted not some who said , it was made out of some distrust of his Majesties Answer to the Petition ; but Sir Iohn Elliot protested the contrary , and that himself and others had a resolution to open these last mentioned Grievances , to satisfie his Majesty therein , onely they stayed for an opportunity : Which averment of Sir Iohn Elliots was attested by Sir Thomas Wentworth , and Sir Robert Phillips . WHilst Sir Iohn Elliot was speaking , an interruption was made by Sir Humphrey May , expressing a dislike ; but he was commanded by the Commons to go on : and being afterward questioned for a Passage in that Speech , viz. That some actions seemed to be but conceptions of Spain , he explained himself , That in respect of the affairs of Denmark , the ingagement of that unfortunate accident of Ree , he conceived was a conception of Spain , rather then to have any motion from our Councel here . IN this Debate Sir Edward Cook propounded , That an humble Remonstrance be presented to his Majesty , touching the dangers and means of safety of King and Kingdom : which Resolution was taken by the House , and thereupon they turned themselves into a Grand Committee , and the Committee for the Bill of Subsidies was ordered to expedite the said Remonstrance . A Message was brought from the King by the Speaker . THat his Majesty having upon the Petition , exhibited by both Houses , given an Answer full of Justice and Grace , for which we and our posterity have just cause to bless his Majesty , it is now time to grow to a conclusion of a Session , and therefore his Majesty thinks fit to let you know , That as he doth resolve to abide by that Answer , without further change or alteration , so he will Royally and Really perform unto you what he hath thereby promised : and further , That he resolves to end this Session upon Wednesday the 11 of this Moneth , and therefore wisheth that the House will seriously attend these businesses , which may best bring the Session to a happy conclusion , without entertaining new matters , and so husband the time that his Majesty may with the more comfort bring us speedily together again : at which time , if there be any further Grievances not contained , or expressed in the Petition , they may be more maturely considered then the time will now permit . After the reading of this Message , the House proceeded with a Declaration against Doctor Manwaring , which was the same day presented to the Lords at a Conference , betwixt the Committees of both Houses of Parliament : and Mr. Pimm was appointed by the House of Commons to manage that Conference . The Declaration of the Commons against Dr. Manwaring , Clerke and Doctor in Divinity . FOr the more effectual prevention of the apparent ruine and destruction of this Kingdom , which must necessarily ensue , if the good and fundamental Laws and Customs therein established , should be brought into contempt and violated , and that form of Government thereby altered , by which it hath been so long maintained in peace and happiness , and to the Honor of our soveraign Lord the King , and for the preservation of his Crown and Dignity : The Commons in this present Parliament assembled , do by this their Bill shew , and declare against Roger Manwaring , Clerk , Dr. in Divinity , That whereas by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , the free Subiects of England do undoubtedly inherit this Right and Liberty , not to be compelled to contribute any Tax , Tollage , Aid ; or to make any Loans not set or imposed by common consent , by Act of Parliament . And divers of his Majesties loving Subjects relying upon the said Laws and Customes , did in all humility refuse to lend such sums of Moneys , without Authority of Parliament , as were lately required of them . Nevertheless he the said Roger Manwaring in contempt , and contrar● to the Laws of this Realm , hath lately preached in his Majesties presence two several Sermons , That is to say , the fourth day of July last one of the said Sermons , and upon the 29. day of the same Moneth the other of the said Sermons ; both which Sermons he hath since published in print in a Book intituled Religion and Allegiance ; and with a wicked and malitious intention to seduce and misguide the Conscience of the Kings most excellent Majesty , touching the observation of the Laws and Customes of this Kingdom , and of the Rights and Liberties of the Subjects , to incense his Royal displeasure against his good Subjects so refusing , to scandalize , subvert and impeach the good Laws and Government of this Realm , and the Authority of the High Court of Parliament , to alienate his Royal heart from his People , and to cause jealousies , sedition and division in the Kingdom . He the said Roger Manwaring doth in the said Sermons and Book perswade the Kings most excellent Majesty , First , that his Majesty is not bound to keep and observe the good Laws and Customes of this Realm , concerning the Rights and Liberties of the Subjects aforementioned : And that his Royal Will and Command in imposing Loans , Taxes and other Aids upon his people without common consent in Parliament , doth so far binde the Consciences of the Subjects of this Kingdom , that they cannot refuse the same without peril of eternal damnation . Secondly , that those of his Majesties loving Subjects which refused the Loan aforementioned in such manner , as is before recited , did therein offend against the Law of God , against his Majesties Supreme Authority , and by so doing became guilty of Impiety , Dissoialty , Rebellion and Disobedience , and liable to many other Taxes , and Censures , which he in the several parts of his Book doth most falsly and malitiously lay upon them . Thirdly , that authority of Parliaments is not necessary for the raising of Aids and Subsidies , that the slow proceedings of such Assemblies are not fit for the supply of the urgent necessities of the State , but rather apt to produce sundry impediments to the just designs of Princes , and to give them occasion of displeasure and discontent . All which the Commons are ready to prove , not only by the general scope of the same Sermons and Book , but likewise by several Clauses , Assertions , and Sentences therein contained ; and that he the said Roger Manwaring by preaching and publishing the Sermons and Book aforementioned , did most unlawfully abuse his holy function , instituted by God in his Church for the guiding of the Consciences of all his Servants , and chiefly of Soveraign Princes and Magistrates , and for the maintenance of the peace and concord betwixt all men , especially betwixt the King and his People , and hath thereby most grievously offended against the Crown and Dignity of his Majesty , and against the Prosperity and good Government of this State and Common-wealth . And the said Commons by protestation saving to themselves the Liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any other occasion or impeachment against the said Roger Manwaring , and also of replying to the answers which he the said Roger shall make unto any of the matters contained in this present Bill of Complaint , and of offering further proof of the premises , or of any of them , as the Cause according to the Course of Parliament shall require , do pray that the said Roger Manwaring may be put to answer to all and every the premises , and that such proceeding , examination , trial , judgement , and exemplary punishment may be thereupon had and executed , as is agreeable to Law and Iustice. This Declaration ingrossed in Parliament being read , Mr. Pym addressed himself to the Lords in this manner . THat he should speak to this Cause with more confidence , because he saw nothing out of himself that might discourage him : If he considered the matter , the Offences were of an high nature , of easie proof ; if he considered their Lordships , who were the Judges of their own interest , their own honour , the example of their Ancestors , the care of their Posterity , would all be Advocates with him in this Cause on the behalf of the Commonwealth ; if he considered the King our Soveraign ( the pretence of whose Service and Prerogative might perchance be sought unto as a Defence and Shelter for this Delinquent ) he could not but remember that part of his Majesties Answer to the Petition of Right of both Houses , that he held himself bound in conscience to preserve those Liberties which this man would perswade him to impeach : He said further , that he could not but remember his Majesties love to Piety and Justice manifested upon all occasions ; and he knew love to be the root , and spring of all other passions and affections . A man therefore hates , because he sees somewhat in that which he hates contrary to that which he loves ; a man therefore is angry , because he sees somewhat in that wherewith 〈◊〉 ●ngry , that gives impediment and interruption to the accomplishment of that which he loves . If this be so , by the same act of his Apprehension , by which he believes his Majesties love to Piety and Justice , he must needs believe his hate and detestation of this man , who went about to withdraw him from the exercise of both . Then he proceeded to that which he said was the Task enjoyned him , to make good every Clause of that which had been read unto them : which that he might the more clearly perform , he prepounded to observe that order of parts unto which the said Declaration was naturally dissolved . 1. Of the Preamble . 2. The Body of the Charge . 3. The Conclusion or Prayer of the Commons . The preamble consisted altogether of recital ; first of the Inducements upon which the Commons undertook this complaint . The second of those Laws and Liberties against which the offence was committed . The third of the violation of those Laws which have relation to that offence . From the connexion of all those recitals ( he said ) there did result three Positions , which he was to maintain as the ground-work and foundation of the whole Cause . The first , that the form of Government in any State could not be altered without apparent danger of ruine to that State. The second , the Law of England , whereby the Subjects was exempted from Taxes and Loans not granted by common consent of Parliament , was not introduced by any Statute , or by any Charter or Sanction of Princes , but was the Antient and Fundamental Law issuing from the first frame and constitution of the Kingdom . The third , that this Liberty of the Subject is not onely most convenient and profitable for the People , but most honourable , most necessary for the King , yea in that point of supply for which it was endeavored to be broken . The form of Government is that which doth actuate and dispose every part and member of a State to the common good ; and as those parts give strength and ornament to the whole , so they receive from it again strength and protection in their several stations and degrees . If this mutual relation and intercourse be broken , the whole frame will quickly be dissolved , and fall in pieces , and in stead of this concord and interchange of support , whilest one part seeks to uphold the old form of Government , and the other part to introduce a new , they will miserably consume and devour one another . Histories are full of the calamities of whole States and Nations in such cases . It is true , that time must needs bring some alterations , and every alteration is a step and degree towards a dissolution ; those things onely are eternal which are constant and uniform : Therefore it is observed by the best Writers upon this Subject , that those Commonwealths have been most durable and perpetual which have often reformed and recomposed themselves according to their first Institution and Ordinance ; for by this means they repair the breaches , and counterwork the ordinary and natural effect of time . The second question is as manifest , there are plain footsteps of those Laws in ●he Government of the Saxons , they were of that vigor and force as to overlive the Conquest , nay to give bounds and limits to the Conqueror , whose victory gave him first hope ; but the assurance and possession of the Crown he obtained by composition , in which he bound himself to observe these and the other antient Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom , which afterwards he likewise confirmed by oath at his Coronation : from him the said Obligation descended to his Successors . It is true , they have been often broken , they have been often confirmed by Charters of Kings , by Acts of Parliaments ; but the Petitions of the Subjects , upon which those Charters and Acts were founded , were ever Petitions of Right , demanding their antient and due Liberties , not suing for any new . To clear the third Position ( he said ) may seem to some men more a Paradox , That those Liberties of the Subject should be so honorable , so profitable for the King , and most necessary for the supply of his Majesty . It hath been upon another occasion declared , that if those Liberties were taken away , there should remain no more industry , no more justice , no more courage ; who will contend , who will endanger himself for that which is not his own ? But he said he would not insist upon any of those points , nor yet upon other very important ; he said , that if those Liberties were taken away , there would remain no means for the Subjects , by any act of Bounty or Benevolence , to ingratiate themselves to their Soveragn . And he desired their Lordships to remember what profitable Prerogatives the Laws had appointed for the support of Soveraignty ; as Wardships , Treasures trove , Felons-goods , Fines , Amercements , and other Issues of Courts , Wrecks , Escheats , and many more too long to be enumerated ; which for the most part are now by Charters and Grants of several Princes dispersed into the hands of private Persons ; and that besides the antient Demeasnes of the Crown of England , William the Conqueror did annex , for the better maintenance of his Estate , great proportions of those Lands , which were confiscate from those English which persisted to withstand him , and of these very few remain at this day in the Kings possession : And that since that time the revenue of the Crown had been supplied and augmented by Attainders , and other Casualties in the age of our Fathers , by the dissolution of Monasteries and Chantries , neer a third part of the whole Land being come into the Kings possession : He remembred further that constant and profitable Grant of the Subjects in the Act of Tonnage and Poundage : And all these he said were so alienated , anticipated , overcharged with annuities and assignments , that no means were left for the pressing and important occasions of this time , but the voluntary and free gift of the Subjects in Parliament . The hearts of the People , and their bounty in Parliament , is the onely constant Treasure and Revenue of the Crown , which cannot be exhausted , alienated , anticipated , or otherwise charged and incumbred . In his entrance into the second part he propounded these Steps , by which he meant to proceed . 1. To shew the state of the Cause , as it stood both in the Charge and in the Proof , that so their Lordships might the better compare them both together . 2. To take away the pretences of mitigations and limitations of his Opinions , which the Doctor had provided for his own defence . 3. To observe those circumstances of Aggravation , which might properly be annexed to his Charge . 4. To propound some Precedents of former times , wherein though he could not match the offence now in question ( for he thought the like before had never been committed ) yet he should produce such as should sufficiently declare , how forward our Ancestors would have been in the prosecution , and condemning of such offences , if they had been then committed . The Offence was prescribed in a double maner , First , by the general scope and intention , and by the matter and particulars of the Fact , whereby that intention was expressed . In the description of the intention he observed six Points , every one of which was a Character of extreme malice and wickedness . 1. His attempt to misguide and seduce the Conscience of the King. 2. To incense his Royal Displeasure against his Subjects . 3. To scandalize , impeach and subvert the good Laws and Government of the Kingdom , and Authority of Parliaments . 4. To avert his Majesties minde from calling of Parliaments . 5. To alienate his royal Heart from his People . 6. To cause Jealousies , Sedition , and Division in the Kingdom . Of these particulars ( he said ) he would forbear to speak further , till he should come to those parts of the Fact , to which they were most properly to be applied . The Materials of the Charge were contrived into three distinct Articles , the first of these comprehended two Clauses . 1. That his Majesty is not bound to keep and observe the good Laws and Customs of the Realm , concerning the right and liberty of the Subject to be exempted from all Loans , Taxes , and other Aids laid upon them , without common consent in Parliament . 2. That his Majesties Will and Command in imposing any Charges upon his Subjects without such consent , doth so far bind them in their Consciences , that they cannot refuse the same without peril of eternal damnation . Two kinds of Proof were produced upon this Article . The first was from some assertions of the Doctors , concerning the power of Kings in general , but by necessary consequence to be applied to the King of England . The next kinde of Proof was from his Censures , and determinations upon the particular Case of the late Loan , which by necessity and parity of reason , were likewise applicable to all Cases of the like nature . And lest by frailty of memory he might mistake the words , or invert the sense , he desired leave to resort to his Paper , wherein the places were carefully extracted out of the Book it self . And then he read each particular Clause by it self , pointing to the Page for proof , which we here forbear to mention , referring the Reader to the Book it self . Then he proceeded and said , That from this evidence of the Fact doth issue a clear evidence of his wicked intention to misguide and seduce the Kings Conscience , touching the observation of the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom , to scandalize and impeach the good Laws and Government of the Realm , and the Authority of Parliaments , which are two of those Characters of malice which he formerly noted , and now inforced thus : If to give the King ill Counsel , in some one particular Action , hath heretofore been heavily punished in this high Court ; how much more hainous must it needs be thought by ill Counsel to pervert and seduce his Majesties Conscience , which is the soveraign Principle of all moral Actions , from which they are to receive warrant for their direction before they be acted , and Judgement for their reformation afterwards ? If Scandalum magnatum , Slander and Infamy cast upon great Lords and Officers of the Kingdom , have been always most severely censured ; how much more tender ought we to be of that Slander and Infamy , which is here cast upon the Laws and Government , from whence is derived all the Honor and Reverence , which is due to those great Lords and Magistrates ? All men ( and so the greatest and highest Magistrates ) are subject to passions and partialities , whereby they may be transported into overhard injurious Courses : Which Considerations may sometimes excuse , though never justifie the railing and evil speeches of men , who have been so provoked ; it being a true rule , That whatsoever gives strength and inforcement to the temptation in any sin , doth necessarily imply an abatement and diminution of guilt in that sin . But to slander and disgrace the Laws and Government , is without possibility of any such excuse , it being a simple act of a malignant Will , not induced nor excited by any outward provocation : the Laws carrying an equal and constant respect to all , ought to be reverenced equally by all . And thus he derived the Proofs and Inforcements , upon the first Article of the Charge . The second Article he said contained three Clauses . 1. That these refusers had offended against the Law of God. 2. Against the supreme Authority . 3. By so doing , were become guilty of Impiety , Disloyalty , Rebellion , Disobedience , and lyable to many other Taxes . For proof of all these ( he said ) he needed no other evidence then what might be easily drawn from those places which he had read already ; for what impiety can be greater , then to contemn the Law of God , and to prefer humane Laws before it ? what greater disloyalty , rebellion and disobedience , then to depress supreme Authority , to tye the hands and clip the wings of Soveraign Princes ? Yet he desired their Lordships patience in hearing some few other places , wherein the Stains and Taint , which the Doctor endeavored to lay upon the Refusers , might appear by the odiousness of their comparisons , in which he doth labor to rank them . The first Comparison is with Popish Recusants ; yet he makes them the worst of the two , and for the better resemblance , gives them a new name of Temporal Recusants . For this he alledgeth the 1. Sermon , Page 31 , 32. and part of the fifth Consideration , by which he would perswade them to yield to this Loan . Fifthly , If they would consider what advantage this their Recusancy in Temporals , gives to the common adversary , who for disobedience in Spirituals , have hitherto alone inherited that name : for that which we our selves condemn in them for so doing , and profess to hate that Religion which teacheth them so to do , that is , to refuse subjection unto Princes in Spirituals ; the same , if not worse , some of our side now ( if ours they be ) dare to practise . We must needs be argued of less Conscience , and more Ingratitude both to God and the King , if in Temporal things we obey not : They in Spirituals deny subjection , wherein they may perhaps frame unto themselves some reasons of probability , that their offence is not so hainous , if we in Temporals shall be so refractory : what colour of reason can we possibly finde to make our defence withal , without the utter shaming of our selves , and laying a stain which cannot easily be washed out , upon that Religion which his Majesty doth so graciously maintain , and our selves profess ? The second Comparison is with Turks and Jews , in the 2. Sermon , Page 47. What a Paradox is , &c. What a Turk will do for a Christian , and a Christian for a Turk , and a Jew for both , &c. the same and much less Christian men should deny to a Christian King. The third Comparison is with Corah , Dathan and Abiram , Theudas and Iudas , which is taken out of the second Sermon , Page 49. where he labors to deprive those refusers of all merit in their sufferings for this Cause . Corah , Dothan and Abiram , whom for their murmurings God suddenly sunk into Hell fire , might as well alledge their sufferings had some resemblance with that of the three Children , in the Babylonian Furnace ; and Theudas and Iudas the two Incendiaries of the people in the days of Caesars tribute , might as well pretend their Cause to be like the Maccabees . Thus he ended the second Article of the Charge , upon which he said were imprinted other two of these six Characters of malice formerly vented : That is , a wicked intention to increase his Majesties displeasure against his good Subjects so refusing , and to alienate his heart from the rest of his People : Both which were Points so odious , that he needed not to adde any further inforcement or illustration . The third Article conteined three Clauses . 1. That Authority of Parliament is not necessary for the raising of Aids , and Subsidies . 2. That the slow proceedings of such Assemblies , are not fit to supply the urgent necessity of the State. 3. That Parliaments are apt to produce sundry Impediments to the just designs of Princes , and to give them occasion of displeasure and discontent . For proof of all which he alledged two places , conteining the two first of those six Considerations , which are propounded by the Doctor , to induce the refusers to yield to the Loan in the first Sermon , Page 26 , 27. First , if they would please to consider , that though such Assemblies as are the highest and greatest Representations of a Kingdom , be most Sacred and Honorable , and Necessary also to those ends to which they were at first instituted : yet know we must that ordained they were not to this end , to contribute any Right to Kings , whereby to challenge tributary Aids and Subsidiary helps , but for the more equal imposing , and more easie exacting of that which unto Kings doth appertain by natural and original Law and Justice , as their proper inheritance annexed to their Imperial Crowns from their Birth . And therefore if by a Magistrate that is Supreme , if upon necessity , extreme and urgent , such subsidiary helps be required , a proportion being held respectively to the ability of the persons charged , and the sum and quantity so required surmount not too remarkably the use and charge for which it was levyed , very hard would it be for any man in the World , that should not accordingly satisfie such demands , to defend his conscience from that heavy prejudice of resisting the Ordinance of God , and receiving to himself damnation ; though every of those circumstances be not observed , which by the municipal Law is required . Secondly , if they would consider the importunities that often may be urgent , and pressing necessaries of State , that cannot stay without certain and apparent danger , for the motion and revolution of so great and vast a Body as such Assemblies are , nor yet abide their long and pausing deliberation when they are assembled , nor stand upon the answering of those jealous and over-wary Cautions and Objections made by some , who wedded overmuch to the love of epidemical and popular Errors , and bent to cross the most just and lawful designs of their wise and gratious Soveraign ; and that under the plausible shews of singular liberty and freedom , which if their Conscience might speak , would appear nothing more then the satisfying either of private humors , passions , or purposes . He said he needed not draw any Arguments or Conclusions from these places ; the substance of the Charge appeared sufficiently in the words themselves , and to this third Article he fixed two other of these six Characters of malice , That it is his wicked intention to avert his Majesties minde from calling of Parliaments , and to cause Jealousies , Seditions , and Divisions in the Kingdom : which he shortly inforced thus . If Parliaments be taken away , Mischiefs and Disorders must needs abound , without any possibility of good Laws to reform them ; Grievances will dayly increase without opportunity or means to redress them ; and what readier way can there be to distractions betwixt the King and People , to tumults and distempers in the State , then this ? And so he concluded this third Article of the Charge . The Limitations whereby the Doctor had provided to justifie ( or at least to excuse ) himself , were propounded to be three . 1. That he did not attribute to the King any such absolute Power as might be exercised at all times , or upon all occasions , according to his own pleasure , but onely upon necessity , extreme and urgent . 2. That the sum required , must be proportionable to the ability of the party , and to the use and occasion . 3. That he did not say , That the substance of the Municipal or National Laws might be omitted or neglected , but the Circumstances onely . To these were offered three Answers , the first general , the other two particular . The general Answer was this , that it is all one to leave the Power absolute , and to leave the judgement arbitrary when to execute that Power ; for although these limitations should be admitted , yet it is left to the King alone to determine , what is an urgent and pressing necessity , what is a just proportion both in respect of the ability , and of the use and occasion ; and what shall be said to be a Circumstance , and what of the Substance of the Law ; and the Subject is left without remedy : the legal bounds being taken away , no private person shall be allowed to oppose his own particular opinion in any of these points to the Kings Resolution ; so that all these limitations , though specious in shew , are in effect fruitless and vain . The first particular Answer applied to that limitation of urgent necessity , was taken from the case of Normandy , as it appears in the Comentaries of Guilme Jermie upon the customary Laws of that Dutchy : they having been opprest with some grievances , contrary to this Franchise , made their complaint to Lewis the tenth , which by his Charter in the year 1314. acknowledging the Right and Custome of the Countrey , and that they had been unjustly grieved , did grant and provide that from thence forward they should be free from all Subsidies and Exactions to be imposed by him and his Successors , yet with this clause , Si necessitie grand ne le requiret : which small exception has devoured all these Immunities ; for though these States meet every year , yet they have little or no power left , but to agree to such Levies as the King will please to make upon them . The second particular Answer applied to the limitation and diminution of this Power , which may be pretended to be made by this word Circumstance , as if he did acknowledge the King to be bound to the substance of the Law , and free onely in regard of the manner ; whereas if the places be observed , it will appear that he intends by that word , the Assembly of Parliaments , and assent of the People , such Contribution which is the very Substance of the Right and Liberty now in question . The Circumstances of Aggravation observed to be annexed to this Cause were these . The first from the place where these Sermons were preached ; the Court , the Kings own Family , where such Doctrine was before so well believed , that no man needed to be converted . Of this there could be no end , but either Simoniacal , by flattery and soothing to make way for his own preferment , or else extreme malitious , to add new afflictions to those who lay under his Majesties wrath , disgraced and imprisoned , and to enlarge the wound which had been given to the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom . The second was from the consideration of his holy Function : He is a Preacher of Gods Word ; and yet he had endeavoured to make that which was the onely rule of Justice and Goodness , to be the warrant for violence and oppression . He is a Messenger of Peace , but he had endeavoured to sow strife and dissension , not onely amongst private persons , but even betwixt the King and his People , to the disturbance and danger of the whole State : He is a Spiritual Father , but like that evil Father in the Gospel , he hath given his Children Stones in stead of Bread ; in stead of Flesh he hath given them Scorpions . Lastly , he is a Minister of the Church of England , but he hath acted the part of a Romish Jesuit ; they labour our destruction by dissolving the Oath of Allegiance taken by the People ; he doth the same work , by dissolving the Oath of Protection and Justice taken by the King. A third point of Aggravation was drawn from the quality of these Authors , upon whose authority he doth principally rely , being for the most part Fryers and Jesuits , and from his fraud and shifting in citing those Authors to purposes quite different from their own meanings . Touching which it was observed , that most of his places are such as were intended by the Authors concerning absolute Monarchies , not regulated by Laws or Contracts betwixt the King and his People ; and in answer to all Authorities of this kinde were alledged certain passages of a Speech from our late Soveraign King Iames to ●he Lords and Commons in Parliament 1609. In these our times we are to distinguish betwixt the state of Kings in their first original , and between the state of setled Kings and Monarchs that do at this time govern in Civil Kingdoms , &c. Every just King in a setled Kingdom is bound to observe the paction made to his People by his Laws , in framing his Government agreeable thereunto , &c. All Kings that are not Tyrants or perjured , will be glad to bound themselves within the limits of their Laws ; and they that perswade them to the contrary are Vipers and Pests , both against them and the Commonwealth . It was secondly observed , that in the 27. page of his first Sermon he cites these words out of Suarez de legibus , lib. 5. cap. 17. Acceptationem populi non esse conditionem necessariam ex vi Iuris naturalis aut gentium , neque ex Iure communi ; the Jesuit adds , neque ex antiquo Jure Hispaniae ; which words are left our by the Doctor , lest the Reader might be invited to enquire what was antiqu●m jus Hispaniae ; and it might have been learned from the same Author in another place of that Work , that about two hundred years since , this liberty was granted to the People by one of the Kings , that no Tribute should be imposed without their consent ; And the Author adds further , that after the Law introduced and confirmed by Custome , the King is bound to observe it . From this place he took occasion to make this short digression , That the Kings of Spain being powerful and wise Princes would never have parted with such a mark of absolute Royalty , if they had not found in this course more advantage then in the other , and the success and prosperity of that Kingdom , through the valor and industry of the Spanish Nation so much advanced since that time , do manifest the wisedom of that change . The third observation of fraud , in perverting his Authors , was this , In the twentieth Page of the first Sermon he cites these words out of the same Suarez de legibus , li. 5. ca. 15. fol. 300. Tributa esse maximè naturalia , & prae se ferre Justitiam , quia exiguntur de rebus propriis ; This he produceth in proof of the just right of Kings to lay Tributes . And no man that reads it doubts but that in Suarez opinion the Kings Interest and Propriety in the Goods of his Subjects is the ground of that Justice ; But the truth is , that Suarez in that Chapter had distributed Tributes into divers kinds , of which he calls one sort tributum reale , and describes it thus , Solent ita vocari pensiones quaedam quae penduntur regibus , & principibus exteris & agris , quae a principio ad sustentationem illis applicata fuerunt , ipsi vero in feodum aliis ea donarunt sub certa pensione annua , quae jure civili Canon appellari solet , quia certa regula & lege praescripta erat ; So that the issue is , this which Suarez affirms for justification of one kinde of Tribute , which is no more then a Fee farm of rent due by reservation in the grant of Kings own lands ; the Doctor herein , worse then a Jesuit , doth wrest to the justification of all kinds of Tribute exacted by Imposition upon the goods of the Subjects , wherein the King had no interest or propriety at all . 4. The last aggravation was drawn from his behaviour since these Sermons preached , whereby he did continue still to multiply and increase his offence , yea , even since the sitting of the Parliament , and his being questioned in Parliament ; upon the fourth of May last he was so bold as to publish the same doctrine in his own parish Church of St. Giles ; the points of which Sermons were these . That the King had right to order all , as to him should seem good , without any mans consent . That the King might require in time of necessity Aid ; and if the Subjects did not supply , the King might justly avenge it . That the Propriety of Estate and Goods was ordinarily in the Subject : but extraordinarily , ( that is , in case of the Kings need ) the King hath right to dispose them . These Assertions in that Sermon he said would be proved by very good testimony , and therefore desired the Lords that it might be carefully examined , because the Commons held it to be a great contempt to the Parliament for him to maintain that so publikely which was here questioned . They held it a great presumption for a private Divine to debate the Right and Power of the King , which is a matter of such a nature , as to be handled only in this High Court , and that with moderation and tenderness ; and so he concluded that point of aggravation . In the last place he produced some such precedents as might testifie what the opinion of our Ancestors would have been , if this case had fallen out in their time ; And herein he said he would confine himself to the reigns of the first three Edwards , two of them Princes of great glory ; He began with the eldest , Westm. 1. Ca. 33. By this Statute 3. Edw. 1. provision was made against those who should tell any false News , or devise , by which any discord or scandal may arise betwixt the King , his People , and great Men of the Kingdom . 27. Edw. 3. Rot. part . nu . 20. It was declared by the Kings Proclamation sent into all the Counties of England , That they that reported that he would not observe the Great Charter were malitious people , who desired to put trouble and debate betwixt the King and his Subjects , and to disturb the peace and good estate of the King , the People , and the Realm . 5. Edw. 2. Inter novas ordinationes , Henry de Beamond for giving the King ill Counsel against his Oath , was put from the Councel , and restrained for coming into the presence of the King under pain of confiscation and banishment . 19. Edw. 2. Clause Minidors . Commissions were granted to inquire upon the Statute of W. 1. touching the spreading of News , whereby discord and scandal might grow betwixt the King and his People . 10. Edw. 3. Clause M. 26. Proclamations went out to arrest all them who had presumed to report that the King would lay upon the Wools certain sums besides the antient and due Customes , where the King calls these reports exquisita mendacia , &c. quae non tantum in publicam laesionem , sed in nostrum cedunt damnum , & dedecus manifestum ▪ 12. Edw. 3. Rot. Almaniae . The King writes to the Archbishop of Canterbury , excusing himself for some impositions which he had ●aid , professeth his great sorrow for it , desires the Archbishop by Indulgences and other ways to stir up the People to pray for him , hoping that God would enable him by some satisfactory benefit to make amends , and comfort his Subjects for those pressures . To these temporal Precedents of antient times which were alledged , he added an Ecclesiastical Precedent out of a book called Pupilla Oculi , being published for the instruction of Confessors , in the Title De participantibus cum excommunicatis , fol. 59. All the Articles of Magna Charta are inserted with this direction , Hos articulos ignorare non debent quibus incumbit confessiones audire infra provinciam Cantuariensem . He likewise remembred the Proclamation 8. Iac. for the calling in and burning of Doctor Cowel's book , for which these reasons are given , For mistaking the true state of the Parliament of the Kingdom , and fundamental constitution and priviledges thereof : For speaking irreverently of the Common Law , it being a thing utterly unlawful for any Subject to speak or write against that Law under which he liveth , and which we are sworn and resolve to maintain . From these Precedents he collected , that if former Parliaments were so careful of false rumors and news , they would have been much more tender of such doctrines as these , which might produce true occasions of discord betwixt the King and his People . If those who reported the King would lay Impositions , and break his Laws , were thought such hainous offenders , how much more should this man be condemned , who perswaded the King he is not bound to keep those Laws ? If that great King was so far from challenging any right in this kinde , that he professed his own sorrow and repentance for grieving his Subjects with unlawful charges : If Confessors were enjoyned to frame the Consciences of the People to the observance of these Laws , certainly such Doctrine , and such a Preacher as this , would have been held most strange , and abominable in all these times ? The third general part was the conclusion or prayer of the Commons , which consisted of three Clauses . First , they reserved to themselves liberty of any other accusation , and for this he said there was great reason , that as the Doctor multiplied his offences , so they may renew their accusations . Secondly , they saved to themselves liberty of replying to his Answer , for they had great cause to think that he who shifted so much in offending , would shift much more in answering . Thirdly , they desire he might be brought to examination and judgement ; this they thought would be very important for the comfort of the present age , for security of the future against such wicked and malitious practises ; And so he concluded , that seeing the cause had strength enough to maintain it self , his humble suit to their Lordships was , That they would not observe his infirmities and defects , to the diminution or prejudice of that strength . NOt long after the Commons , by their Speaker , demanded Judgement of the Lords against the Doctor ; who not accounting his submission with tears and grief , a satisfaction for the great offence wherewith he stood charged , gave this Sentence . 1. That Dr. Manwaring Doctor in Divinity shall be imprisoned , during the pleasure of the House . 2. That he be fined one thousand pounds to the King. 3. That he shall make such submission and acknowledgement of his offences , as shall be set down by a Committee in writing , both at the Bar and in the House of Commons . 4. That he shall be suspended for the time of three years from the exercise of the Ministery , and in the mean time a sufficient preaching Minister shall be provided out of his livings to serve the Cure : This suspension and provision to be done by the Ecclesiastical jurisdiction . 5. That he shall be hereafter disabled to have any Ecclesiastical Dignity , or secular Office. 6. That he shall be for ever disabled to preach at the Court hereafter . 7. That his said Book is worthy to be burnt , and that for the better effecting of this , his Majesty may be moved to grant a Proclamation to call in the said Books , that they may be all burnt accordingly , in London , and both the Universities , and for the Inhibiting the printing thereof , upon a great penalty . Doctor Manwarings submission was in these words ; MAy it please this Honorable House , I do here in all sorrow of Heart and true Repentance , acknowledge the many Errors and Indiscretions which I have committed , in preaching and publishing those two Sermons of mine , which I called Religion and Allegiance ; and my great fault in falling upon this Theame again , and handling the same rashly and unadvisedly in my own Parish Church of St. Giles in the Fields , the fourth of May last past . I do humbly acknowledge those three Sermons to have been full of many dangerous Passages , Inferences , and scandalous Aspersions in most part of the same ; And I do humbly acknowledge the Justice of this Honorable House , in that Judgement and Sentence passed upon me for my great offence ; And I do from the bottom of my Heart crave pardon of God , the King , and this Honorable House , and the Church , and this Common-wealth in general , and those worthy Persons adjudged to be reflected upon by me , in particular , for these great Errors and Offences . Roger Manwaring . Another Message was brought from his Majesty by the Speaker , Tuesday 5 of June . HIs Majesty wished them to remember the Message he last sent them , by which he set a day ▪ for the end of this Session , and he commanded the Speaker to let them know , that he will certainly hold that day prefixed without alteration ; and because that cannot be , if the House entertain more business of length , he requires them that they enter not into or proceed with any new business , which may spend greater time , or which may lay any Scandal or Aspersion upon the State-government , or Ministers thereof . SIr Robert Phillips upon this occasion expressed himself thus : I perceive that towards God and towards man , there is little hope after our humble and careful endeavors , seeing our Sins are many and so great : I consider my own infirmities , and if ever my Passions were wrought upon , then now , this Message stirs me up especially ; when I remember with what moderation we have proceeded , I cannot but wonder to see the miserable straight we are now in : What have we not done to have merited ? Former times have given wounds enough to the peoples Liberty , we came hither full of wounds , and we have cured what we could , and what is the return of all , but misery and desolation ? What did we aim at , but to have served his Majesty , and to have done that that would have made him Great and Glorious ? if this be a fault , then we are all Criminous : What shall we do , since our humble purposes are thus prevented , which were not to have laid any aspersion on the Government , since it tended to no other end but to give his Majesty true information of his and our danger ? And to this we are enforced out of a necessity of duty to the King , our Countrey , and to Posterity ; but we being stopped , and stopped in such maner , as we are enjoyned , so we must now leave to be a Councel . I hear this with that grief , as the saddest Message of the greatest loss in the world ; but let us still be wise , be humble , let us make a fair Declaration to the King. OUr sins are so exceeding great ( said Sir Iohn Elliot ) that unless we speedily return to God , God will remove himself further from us ; ye know with what affection and integrity we have proceeded hitherto , to have gained his Majesties heart , and out of a necessity of our duty were brought to that course we were in : I doubt a misrepresentation to his Majesty hath drawn this mark of his displeasure upon us : I observe in the Message amongst other sad particulars , it is conceived that we were about to lay some aspersions on the Government ; give me leave to protest , That so clear were our intentions , that we desire onely to vindicate those dishonors to our King and Countrey , &c. It is said also , as if we cast some aspersions on his Majesties Ministers , I am confident no Minister , how dear soever , can — Here the Speaker started up from the seat of the Chair , apprehending Sir Iohn Elliot intended to fall upon the Duke , and some of the Ministers of State ; said , There is a command laid upon me , that I must command you not to proceed : whereupon Sir Iohn Elliot sat down . I Am as much grieved as ever , said Sir Dudley Diggs ; Must we not proceed ? let us sit in silence , we are miserable , we know not what to do . Hereupon there was a sad silence in the House for a while , which was broken by Sir Nathaniel Rich , in these words : WE must now speak , or for ever hold our peace ; for us to be silent when King and Kingdom are in this calamity , is not fit . The question is , Whether we shall secure our selves by silence , yea or no ? I know it is more for our own security , but it is not for the security of those for whom we serve ; let us think on them : some instruments desire a change , we fear his Majesties safety , and the safety of the Kingdom , I do not say we now see it , and shall we now sit still and do nothing , and so be scattered ? Let us go together to the Lords , and shew our dangers , that we may then go to the King together . Others said , That the Speech lately spoken by Sir Iohn Elliot , had given offence ( as they feared ) to his Majesty . WHereupon the House declared , That every Member of the House is free from any undutiful Speech , from the beginning of the Parliament to that day ; and Ordered , That the House be turned into a Committee , to consider what is fit to be done for the safety of the Kingdom ; and that no man go out , upon pain of going to the Tower : But before the Speaker left the Chair , he desired leave to go forth ; and the House ordered that he may go forth , if he please . And the House was hereupon turned into a grand Committee , Mr. Whitby in the Chair . I Am as full of grief as others , said Mr. Wandesford , let us recollect our English hearts , and not sit still , but do our duties ; two ways are propounded , To go to the Lords , or to the King ; I think it is fit we go to the King , for this doth concern our Liberties , and let us not fear to make a Remonstrance of our rights ; we are his Counsellors ; there are some men which call evill good , and good evil , and bitter sweet : Justice is now called Popularity and Faction . THen Sir Edw. Cook spake freely , We have dealt with that duty and moderation that never was the like , Rebus sic stantibus , after such a violation of the Liberties of the Subject ; let us take this to heart . In 30. E. 3. were they then in doubt in Parliament to name men that misled the King ? they accused Iohn de Gaunt , the Kings Son , and Lord Latimer , and Lord Nevel , for misadvising the King , and they went to the Tower for it ; now when there is such a downfal of the State , shall we hold our tongues ? how shall we answer our duties to God and men ? 7. H. 4. Parl. Rot. numb . 31 , & 32.11 . H. 4. numb . 13. there the Councel are complained of , and are removed from the King ; they mewed up the King , and disswaded him from the Common Good ; and why are we now retrived from that way we were in ? why may we not name those that are the Cause of all our evils ? In 4. H. 3. & 27. E. 3. & 13. R. 2. the Parliament moderateth the Kings prerogative , and nothing grows to abuse , but this House hath power to treat of it : What shall we do ? let us palliate no longer ; if we do , God will not prosper us . I think the Duke of Buckingham is the cause of all our miseries , and till the King be informed thereof , we shall never go out with honour , or sit with honour here ; that man is the Grievance of Grievances : let us set down the causes of all our dysasters , and all will reflect upon him . As for going to the Lords , that is not via Regia ; our Liberties are now impeached , we are concerned ; it is not via Regia , the Lords are not participant with our Liberties . Mr. Selden advised that a Declaration be drawn under four heads . 1. To express the Houses dutiful carriage towards his Majesty . 2. To tender their Liberties that are violated . 3. To present what the purpose of the House was to have dealt in . 4. That that great Person , viz. the Duke , fearing himself to be questioned , did interpose and cause this distraction . All this time ( said he ) we have cast a mantle on what was done last Parliament , but now being driven again to look on that man , let us proceed with that which was then well begun , and let the Charge be renewed that was last Parliament against him , to which he made an Answer , but the particulars were sufficient , that we might demand judgement on that Answer onely . IN conclusion , the House agreed upon several heads concerning innovation in Religion , the safety of the King and Kingdom , misgovernment , misfortune of our late designs , with the causes of them ; And whilest it was moving to be put to the question , that the Duke of Buckingham shall be instanced to be the chief and principal cause of all those evils , the Speaker ( who after he had leave to go forth , went privately to the King ) brought this Message , THat his Majesty commands for the present they adjourn the House till to morrow morning , and that all Committees cease in the mean time . And the House was accordingly adjourned . AT the same time the King sent for the Lord Keeper to attend him presently ; the House of Lords was adjourned ad libitum ; the Lord Keeper being returned , and the House resumed , his Lordship signified his Majesties desire , that the House and all Committees be adjourned till to morrow morning . AFter this Message was delivered , the Lords House fearing a sudden dissolution , fell into consideration of the weak estate of the Kingdom , and of our Friends and Allies abroad ; of the great strength of the House of Austria , and the King of Spains ambition , aspiring to an universal Monarchy , and his present great preparations for war. Hereupon the House was moved to name a select Committee , to represent these things to his Majesty , with the danger like to insue to this Kingdom , if the Parliament be dissolved without a happy conclusion . But being satisfied by the Lords of the privy Councel , that there was no such cause of fear , as the House apprehended , the naming of a Committee was for that time deferred . Having met in our Collections with a Letter of Mr. Allureds , to old Mr. Chamberlain of the Court of Wards ; and being a concurrent proof to the Passages this day in the House ; We have thought fit here to mention it , viz. Sir , YEsterday was a day of desolation among us in Parliament , and this day we fear will be the day of our dissolution : Upon Tuesday Sir John Elliot mo●ed , that as we intended to furnish his Majesty with money , we should also supply him with Counsel , which was one part of the occasion why we were sent by the Countrey , and called for by his Majesty ; And since that House was the greatest Councel of the Kingdom , where , or when should his Majesty have better Counsel then from thence ; So he desired there might be a Declaration made to the King of the danger wherein the Kingdom stood by the decay and contempt of Religion , the insufficiency of his Generals , the unfaithfulness of his Officers , the weakness of his Councels , the exhausting of his Treasure , the death of his men , the decay of Trade , the loss of Shipping , the many and powerful Enemies , the sew and the poor Friends we had abroad . In the enumerating of which , the Chancellor of the Dutchy said it was a strange language , yet the House commanded Sir John Elliot to go on , then the Chancellor desired if he went on , that himself might go out , whereupon they all bad him begon , yet he stayed and heard him out , and the House generally inclined to such a Declaration to be presented in an humble and a modes● manner , not prescribing the King the way , but leaving it to his Iudgment for reformation ; So the next day , being Wednesday , we had a Message from his Majesty by the Speaker that the Session should end on Wednesday , and that therefore we should husband the time , and dispatch the old businesses without entertaining new intending to pursue their Declaration , they had this Message yesterday morning brought them which I have here inclosed sent you , which requiring not to cas● or lay any aspersion upon any Minister of his Majesty , the house was much affected to be so restrained , since the House in former times had proceeded by finding and committing , John of Gaunt the Kings Son and others , and of late have medled with , and sentenced the Lord Chancellor Bacon , and the Lord Treasurer Cranfield . Then Sir Robert Philips spake and mingled his words with weeping , Mr. Prynne did the like , and Sir Edward Cook , overcome with passion , seeing the desolation likely to ensue , was forced to sit down when he began to speak through the abundance of tears , yea the Speaker in his Speech could not refrain from weeping and shedding of tears , besides a great many whose great griefs made them dumb and silent , yet some bore up in that storm and incouraged others ; In the end they desired the Speaker to leave the Chair , and Mr. Whitby was to come into it , that they might speak the freer and the frequenter , and commanded no man to go out of the House upon pain of going to the Tower ; Then the Speaker humbly and earnestly besought the House to give him leave to absent himself for half an hour , presuming they did not think he did it for any ill intention ; which was instantly granted him : then upon many Debates about their Liberties hereby infringed , and the eminent danger wherein the Kingdom stood ; Sir Edward Cook told them , he now saw God had not accepted of their humble and moderate carriages and fair proceedings , and the rather , because he thought they dealt not sincerely with the King , and with the Countrey in making a true Representation of the causes of all these miseries , which now he repented himself since things were come to this pass , that he did it not sooner , and therefore he not knowing whether ever he should speak in this House again would now do it freely , and there protested that the author and cause of all those miseries was the Duke of Buckingham , which was entertained and answered with a chearful acclamation of the House , as when one good Hound recovers the scent , the rest come in with a full cry : so they pursued it , and every one came on home , and laid the blame where they thought the fault was , and as they were Voting it to the Question whether they should name him in their intended Remonstrance , the Sole or the Principall cause of all their miseries at home and abroad : The Speaker having been three hours absent , and with the King , returned with this Message ; That the House should then rise ( being about eleven a clock , and no Committees stould sit in the afternoon ) till to morrow morning ; What we shall expect this morning God of Heaven knows . We shall meet timely this morning , partly for the businesse sake , and partly because two days since we made an Order , that whosoever comes in after prayers , payes twelve pence to the poor . Sir , excuse my hast , and let us have your prayers , whereof both you , and we have here need : So inscribling haste I rest Affectionately at your service Thomas Alured . This 6. of June 1628. The Message mentioned in this Letter of the 6. of Iune , is already before expressed . Friday 6. Iune . Mr. Speaker brings another Message from the King the day following . IN my service to this House I have had many undeserved favours from you , which I shall ever with all humbleness acknowledge , but none can be greater then that testimony of your confidence yesterday shewed unto me , whereby I hope I have done nothing , or made any representation to his Majesty , but what is for the honour and service of this House , and I will have my tongue cleave to my mouth , before I will speak to the disadvantage of any Member thereof , I have now a Message to deliver unto you . Whereas his Majesty understanding that ye did conceive his last Message to restrain you in your just Priviledges , to complain of any of his Ministers , These are to declare his intentions , that he had no meaning of barring you from what hath been your Right , but only to avoid all scandals on his Councel and Actions past , and that his Ministers might not be , nor himself under their names taxed for their Counsel unto his Majesty , and that no such particulars should be taken in hand as would ask a longer time of consideration then what he hath prefixed , and still resoves to hold , that so for this time all Christendom might take notice of a sweet parting between him , and his people : Which if it fall out , his Majesty will not be long from another meeting , when such ( if there be any ) at their leisure and convenience may be considered . Mr. Speaker proceeded . I will observe somewhat out of this Message , ye may observe a great inclination in his Majesty to meet in this House . I was bold yesterday to take notice of that liberty ye gave me to go to his Majesty . I know there are none here but did imagine whither I went , & but that I knew ye where desirous and content that I should leave you , I would not have desired it , give me leave to say , this Message bars you not of your Right in matter , nay not in manner , but it reacheth to his Councels past , and for giving him Councel in those things which he commanded . It is not his Majesties intentions to protect any Abetter of Spain . The end of this was that we might meet again sweetly and happily . The House of Lords likewise received this Message by the Lord Keeper . MY Lords , his Majestie takes notice to your great advantage of the proceedings of this house upon the hearing of his Majesties message yesterday ; He accounts it a fair respect that ye would neither agree of any Committee , or send any Message to his Majesty , though it were in your own hearts , but yeild your selves to his Majesties Message , and defer your own resolutions till you meet again at the time appointed by his Majesty . Yet his Majesty takes it in extream good part to hear what was in your heart , and especially that ye were so sensible of the inconvenience that might ensue upon the breach of this Parliament . Which if it had happened , or shall hereafter happen , his Majesty assures himself , that he shall stand clear before God and men of the occasion . But his Majesty saith ye had just cause to be sensible of the danger , considering how the estate of Christendom now stands in respect of the multitude and strength of our Enemies , and weakness on our part . All which his Majesty knows very exactly , and in respect therereof called this Parliament , the particulars his Majesty holds it needless to recite , especially to your Lordships , since they are apparant to all men ; Neither will it be needfull to reiterate them to his Majesty , whose cares are most intentive upon them , and the best remedy that can be thought on therein is , if his Subjects do their parts . Therefore his Majesty gives you hearty thanks , and bad me tell you that nothing hath been more acceptable to him all the time of this Parliament , then this dutiful and discreet carriage of your Lordships , which he professeth hath been a chief motive to his Majesty to suspend those intentions that were not far from a resolution . Sir Robert Philips assumed the Debate upon the Message delivered by the Speaker , and said ; I rise up with a disposition somewhat in more hope of comfort then yesterday , yet in regard of the uncertainty of Councels , I shall not change much : In the first place I must be bold without flattering , a thing nor incident to me to tell you ( Mr. Speaker ) you have not only at all times discharged the duty of a good Speaker , but of a good man , for which I render you many thanks . Another respect touching his Majesties Answer to our Petition , First if that Answer fall out to be short , I free his Majesty , and I believe his Resolution was to give that that we all expected ; But in that , as in others , we have suffered by reason of interposed persons between his Majesty and us ; But this day is by intervenient accidents diverted from that , but so , as in time we go to his Majesty : Therefore let us remove those jealousies in his Majesty of our Proceedings , that by som● men over-grown have bin mispresented : we have proceeded with temper in confidence of his Majesties goodness to us , and our fidelity to him and if any have construed that what we have done hath been out of feare , let him know we came hither free men , and will ever resolve to endure the worst , and they are poor men that make such interpretations of Parliaments ; in this way and method we proceeded , and if any thing fall out unhappily , it is not King Charles that advised himself , but King Charles misadvised by others , and misled by misordered Councel , it becomes us to consider what we were doing , and now to advise what is fit to be done . We were taking consideration of the State of the Kingdome , and to present to his Majesty the danger he and we are in , i● since any man hath been named in particular ( though I love to speak of my betters with humility ) let him thank himself and his Councels , but those necessary jealousies gives us occasion to name him ; I assure my self we shall proceed with temper , and give his Majesty satisfaction if we proceed in that way ; his Majesties message is now explanatory in point of our liberties , that he intends not to barre us of our rights , and that he would not have any aspersion cast on the Councels past , let us present to his Majesty shortly and faithfully , and declare our intentions that we intend not to lay any aspersion upon him , but out of a necessity to prevent the eminent dangers we are surrounded with , and to present to him the affaires at home and abroad , and to desire his Majesty that no interposition of mis-information of men in fault may prevaile , but to expect the issue that shall be full of duty and Loyalty . The Commons sent a message to the Lords , that they would joyne in an humble request to the King , that a clear and satisfactory answer be given by his Majesty in full Parliament to the petition of Right , whereunto the Lords did agree . Afterward the House was turned again into a Committee , and considered of some more heads to be inserted into the Declaration or Remonstrance , as the designe to bring into this Nation Forreign Forces under the command of Dolbeir ; And Burlemack was called into the House , who confessed he received thirty thousand pound by Privy seal for the buying of Horses , that one thousand of them are levied , that those Horse and their Riders are to come over , and Armes are provided for them in Holland , but he ●eares a Countermand is gone to stay them . The Privy Seal is in these Words . CHarles by the Grace of God , King of England , Scotland , France and Ireland , Defender of the Faith , &c. To the Treasurer , and under Treasurer for our Exchequer for the time being , Greeting ; We do hereby will and command you out of our Treasury remaining in the receipt of our said Exchequer , forthwith to pay , or cause to be paid unto Philip Burlemack , of London Merchant , the summe of thirty thousand pounds to be paid by him over by Bill of Exchange into the Low-Countreys , and Germany , unto our Trusty and well-beloved Sir VVilliam Balfoure Knight , and Iohn Dolbier Esquire , or either of them for levying and providing certain numbers of Horses , with Armes for Horse and Foot , to be brought over into this Kingdome for our service , viz. for the levying and transporting of one thousand Horse , fifteen thousand pounds ; for five thousand Muskets , five thousand Corslets , and five thousand Pikes , ten thousand five hundred pounds ; and for one thousand Curaseers compleat , two hundred Corslets , and Carbines , four thousand five hundred pounds , amounting in the whole to the said summe of thirty thousand pounds . And this our letter shall be your sufficient warrant , and discharge in this behalf . Given under our Privy Seal at our Palace of Westminster the 30th . of Ianuary , in the third year of our Reign . Iune the seventh , the King came to the Lords House , and the House of Commons were sent for . And the Lord Keeper presented the humble Petition of both Houses , and said , MAy it please your most excellent Majesty , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in Parliament assembled , taking into consideration that the good intelligence between your Majesty and your people doth much depend upon your Majesties answer unto their Petition of Right formerly presented . With unanimous consent do now become most humble Suitors unto your Majesty , that you would be pleased to give a clear and satisfactory answer thereunto in full Parliament . Whereunto the King replyed . The answer I have already given you was made with so good deliberation , and approved by the judgements of so many wise men , that I could not have imagined but it should have given you full satisfaction ; But to avoid all ambiguous interpretations , and to shew you there is no doublenesse in my meaning , I am willing to pleasure you as well in words as in substance , read your Petition , and you shall have an answer that I am sure will please you . The Petition was read , and this answer was returned : Soit droit fait come il est desire . C. R. This I am sure ( said his Majesty ) is full , yet no more then I granted you in my first Answer , for the meaning of that was to confirm your liberties ; knowing according to your own Protestations , that ye neither meane , nor can hurt my Prerogative . And I assure you my Maxime is , That the Peoples Liberties strengthen the Kings Prerogative , and the Kings Prerogative is to defend the Peoples Liberties . You see how ready I have shewed my self to satisfie your demands , so that I have done my part ; Wherefore if this Parliament have not a happy conclusion , the sin is yours , I am free from it . Whereupon the Commons returned to their own House with unspeakable joy , and resolved so to proceed as to expresse their thankfulnesse ; and now frequent mention was made of proceeding with the Bill of subsidies , of sending the Bills ( which were ready ) to the Lords , of perfecting the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage , and Sir Iohn Strange●●ies also expressed his joy at the answer , and further added , Let us perfect our Remonstrance ; King Iames was wont to say , He kn●w that by Parliaments which otherwise he could never have known . After the granting of the Petition of Right , the House ordered that the Grand Committees for Religion , Trade , Grievances , and Courts of Justice , to sit no longer , but that the House proceed only in the consideration of Grievances of most moment , And first they fell upon the Commission for Excise , and sent to the Lord Keeper for the same , who returned answer that he received Warrant at the Councel Table for the sealing thereof , and when it was Sealed , he carried it back to the Councel Table . The Commission being sent , it was read in the House , viz. CHarles , By the Grace of God , King of England , Scotland , France and Ireland , Defender of the Faith , &c. To Sir Thomas Coventry Knight , Lord Keeper of the Great Seale of England ; To James Earl of Malburg , Lord High Treasurer or England , Henry Earl of Manchester , Lord President of our Councel , Edward Earl of Worcester , Lord Keeper of our Privy Seal ; George Duke of Buckingham , Lord high Admiral of England , William E. of Pembrook , Lord Steward of Our Houshold ; Philip Earl of Mountgomery , Lord Chamberlain of Our Houshold , Theophilus Earl of Suffolk , Edward Earl of Dorset , William Earl of Salisbury , Thomas Earl of Exeter , John Earl of Bridgwater , James Earl of Carlisle , Henry Earl of Holland , William Earl of Denbigh , George Earl of Totnes , Sir George Hay Kt. Lord Chancellor of Scotland , William Earl of Morton , Thomas Earl of Kelley , Thomas Earl of Mellers , Edward Uiscount Conway , one of our principal Secretaries of State ; Edward Uiscount Wimbleton , Oliver Uiscount Grandison , Henry Falkland Lord Deputy of Ireland ; To the Lord Bp. of Winchester , Wil. Lord Bp. of Bath and Wells , Fulk Lo. Brook , Dudley Ash , Lord Carlton , Uice Chamberlain of Our Houshold ; Sir Thomas Edmonds Treasurer of our Houshold , Sir John Savil Controler of Our Houshold , Sir Robert Nanton Master of the Court of Wards , Sir John Cook one of the principal Secretaries of State , Sir Richard Weston Chancellour , and under Treasurer of our Exchequer , Julius Caesar Master of the Rolls , and Sir Humphrey May Kt. Chancellour of Our Dutchy of Lancaster , Greeting . Whereas the pres●nt Conjuncture of the general affairs of Christendom , and our own particular interest , in giving assistance unto our oppressed Allies , and for providing for the defence and safety of our own Dominions , and People , do call upon Us to neglect nothing that may conduce to those good ends ; And because Monies ( the principal sin●ws of War , and one of the first and chiefest movers in all great Preparations and Actions ) are necessary to be provided in the first place , and We are carefull the same may be raised by such ways as may best stand with the State of Our Kingdoms , and Subjects , and yet may answer the pressing occasions of the present times : We therefore , out of the experience We have had , and for the trust we repose in your wisdoms , fidelities , and dutifull care of your service ; And for the experience we have of all great Causes concerning us , and our State , both as they have relation to Foraine parts abroad , and as to our Common-wealth , and People at home ( Ye being persons called by us to be of Our Privy Councel ) have thought sit amongst those great and important matters , which so much concern us , in the first and chiefest place , to recommend this to your special care and diligence . And we do hereby authorise , and appoint , and strictly will , and require you , that speedily and seriously you enter into consideration of all the best and speediest ways and means ye can for raising of Monies for the most Important occasions aforesaid : UUhich without extreamest hazard to Us , our Dominions , and People , and to our Friends , and Allies , can admit of no long delay , the same to be done by Impositions , or oth●rwise , as in your wisdoms and best Iudgments ye shall find to be most convenient in a case of this inevitable necessity , wherein Form ●nd Circumstance must be dispensed with , rather then the Substance be lost , and hazarded . And herein our will and pleasure is , that You , or as many of You from time to time as can be spared from attemdance upon Our Person , or other our necessary Services , doe use all diligence by your frequent meetings , and serious considerations , And when ye have brought any thing to maturity , ye make report thereof unto us , for the advancement of this greatt service , which with the greatest affection we can , we recommend to your best care and judgement , whereof ye must not fail , as ye tender Our honour , and safety of our Dominions , and People : And for the doing hereof , these Presents shall be to you , and every of you a sufficient warrant and discharge in that behal● : In witness whereof we have caused these Our Letters to be made Letters Patents ; Witness Our self at VVestminster the last day of February in the third year of Our Reign . Per ipsum Regem . Sir Edward Cook observed some circumstances in the Commission . FIrst , it was after the Summons to the Parliament , Sure , some thought the Parliament should not be . 2. There is a Pudor in it , it was kept secret , some great Lords never knew it . 3. The end of it was Excises , for they are Impositions , and to be sure he would have the word ( otherwise ) wherefore his advice was to go up to the Lords , and desire a Conference , to complain of the Commission , and desire it may be Cancelled , and if there be any inrolment of it , to cancel that also , and that the Projector may be found out and punished . Hereupon there ensued a Conference with the Lords , which was thus managed by Sir Edward Cook. My Lords , The subject of this Conference is a Commission , therefore we shall desire your Lordships to hear it read , which was done accordingly . That which I shall deliver is certain Observations out of the Patent . First , The Persons to whom it is directed . 2. The Authority that is committed . 3. The great penalty laid on them if they do it not . 4. The Time. 1. The Persons to whom it is directed are twenty three Lords , and other of his Majesties Councel . 2. The Authority commmitted unto them , is to consider how Money may be Leavied by Impositions , or otherwise : It is true , it is but a Power to Leavy Money by Imposition ; We doe not find any thing raised ( that is left to your Lordships ) but a Commission to leavy money by Imposition or otherwise , give us leave to fear that Excise , and what ever is comprehended in it , was intended . Sure I am , it is against the Law , it is a very high breach of your Lordships , and our the poor Commons Liberties , and yet this being ill in it self , may produce a happy effect : the King and both Houses have given a Judgment , the greatest that ever was against this in the Petition of Right , and when this Judgment is given , see how Gods goodness hath brought it to pass , that this Patent shall be part of Execution of that Judgement , to dam it for the punishment . I do utterly dislike that clause , as you tender the Kings Honour ; That that must come to a thing of this nature , and it is strange to me , I cannot dive into it ; I leave it to your Lordships , for the time , It came out seven days after the Summons of Parliament , all knew the Parliament would descry this , but I hope it will now turn to good : I will not say it was kept secret . That which I am to demand of your Lordships first , is , that as we haveing considered of this Commission , finding it ex diametro against the late Judgment in the Petition of Right , have condemned it ; So your Lordships would concurre with us , as hitherto ye have done . 2. Th●t this Commission as a thing against Law , may be cancelled . 3. That if it be inrolled , a Vote may be made of it , and if not , that Order be taken that it be not inrolled . 4. That the warrant may be damned and destroyed . 5. That it would please your Lordships in your wisdoms to take into consideration who is the Projector of this device , and if he could be found out , that some exemplary punishment may be according to justice inflicted on him . The Lords accepted the motion , and promised to present the same to his Majesty . This done , the House of Commons Voted that the Commission , the not guarding the narrow Seas , the decay of Trade , and other particulars be inserted in the Remonstrance . THe House having well nigh finished the several particulars of grievances of most moment , resumeth the former motion to declare who was the cause of all those evils , which in a Committee of the whole House was mentioned before . The Debate was as hot as ever , and the crimes so frequently objected against the Duke , were brought in afresh , as if they had never been proposed in the House . One made a distinction that the Duke was The cause of some , and A. cause of other grievances . For the first , he instanced in the disaster of the Armies , the decay of Ports , Trade , Ships , and Mariners . For the second , he instanced in Religion . First , his Mother was a Recusant , and a fosterer of Recusants . Secondly , Papists have honour in his own employments , and Papists Captains are placed by him . And as for Arminians , York House is a place of consultation for Mountague and others , from whence is like to follow Innovation in Government . Another in pursuit of the Argument , that Papists were imployed by the Duke , named Dalbeer , as the man who betrayed our men at the Isle of Ree , where all was carried by the advice of private men , and some ill affected in Religion , and in assault before they came away , 500. men were lost , and in the Retreat Dalbeer was to make a Bridge , which did so intangle them , as they could make no defence : and all contrary to the advice of the rest of the Commanders . Sir Robert Philips was of opinion to have the Declaration run thus , We conceive the greatness and power of the Duke of Buckingham is the chief cause of all these evils . We are not in a way of Charge , but of a Remonstrance . Sir Iohn Elliot , Sir Edward Cook , and Mr. Selden were positively to name the Duke as the cause of our evils , for so said they he had been already declared in the last Parliament , since when the causes are multiplied , and he hath deserved nothing better of the Common-wealth . In this Debate there wanted not Mediators which did desire the House for their own ends and happiness , to be sparing in that kind . Sir Humphrey May put them again in mind of the Kings desire , that all personal aspersions might be forborn , that his Majesty will take it as an argument of their moderation and judgment , if they forbear in this . Sir Henry Martin advised that the Remonstrance be so framed , as to make it passable to his Majesties judgment and affection : Let him be perswaded that it comes from a publick sence , and not from private ends . And he vindicated the Duke in point of Religion . 'T is true , said he , his Mother is a Recusant , but never any thing more grieved him , and never did a Son use more means then he to convert her , and he hath no power over her ; and for his own Lady whom he found not firm in his Religion , he hath it used means to confirm her . As for Arminians , I have often heard him protest , and vow against these Opinions . It is true , many that have skill therein , may have some credit with him , and make use of his noble nature for their own ends . One particular I know well , that some Gentlemen and Preachers of great esteem were questioned for a matter , wherein there was some error in the manner , of which they were presented ; I told him of them , and that they were questioned , and he answered me , he would do the best he could for to countenance them . Sir Benjamin Rudyard gave his judgement , that if the matter be urged home , it will proclaim the man lowder then we can in words . If we name excess of Power , and abuse of Power , it will reach to the Duke , and all others in future times : and to a Gentleman of honour nothing is so dear as sense of Honour . I am witness , and do know that he did many great and good Offices to this House . If the forfeiture of my life could breed an Opinion , that ye should have no occasion to complain at your next meeting , I would pawn it to you . Nor let any man say , it is fear makes us desist , we have shewed already what we dare do . And because the imployment of Dalbeer had given much offence , Sir Thomas Jermin stood up in his defence , and said he had given great evidence of his Trust and Fidelity . When the Count Palatine retired himself , and the Councel agreed to send a Party under Count Mansfield to make a head , and the King sent word to the Palatine to be present in Person , Dalbeer went along with him , with one more , and being in a Village in Germany , a Troop of fifty Horse met them . Dalbeer went to the Captain and said , we are in a Service , I will give you so many crowns to conduct us , which was done , and Dalbeer went along with him . In conclusion , Iune the 13. it was Ordered upon the Question , that the excessive Power of the Duke of Buckingham , is the cause of the Evils and Dangers to the King and Kingdom ; And that this be added to the Remonstrance . At this very time being Iune 18. 1628. Doctor Lamb , so called , having been at a Play-house , came , through the City of London , and being a person very notorious , the Boys gathered thick about him , which increased by the access of ordinary People and the Rabble ; they presently reviled him with words , calling him a Witch , a Devil , the Duke's Conjurer , &c. he took Sanctuary in the Wind-mill Tavern at the lower end of the Old Jury , where he remained a little space ; but there being two Doors opening to several Streets out of the said House , the Rout discovering the same , made sure both Doors lest he should escape , and pressed so hard upon the Vintner to enter the House , that he for fear the House should be pulled down , and the Wines in his Cellar spoiled and destroyed , thrust the imaginary Devil out of his House , whereupon the tumult carried him in a croud among them , howting and showting , crying a witch , a Devil and when they saw a Guard coming by order of the Lord Mayor for the rescue of him , they fell upon the Doctor , beat him and bruised him , and left him for dead ; With much ado the Officers that rescued him got him alive to the Counter , where he remained some few houres , and died that night ; The City of London endeavoured to find out the most active persons in this Riot , but could not finde any that either could , or if they could , were willing to witnesse against any person in that businesse . This happened to be in Parliament time , and at that instant of time when they were about the Remonstrance against the Duke . And shortly after , so high was the rage of people , that they would ordinarily utter these words . Let Charles and George do what they can , The Duke shall die like Doctor Lamb. What fine the City underwent for this miscarriage , we shall observe in order of time . Two days after the Privy Councel writ this ensuing Letter to the Lord Mayor , Aldermen , and Sheriffs of London . WHereas we are given to understand , that the fury and outrage of divers dissolute and disorderly person assembled together in great numbers , without any resistance made , or course taken to suppresse them ( by the Magistrates to whom it appertained ) one Lamb was in a barbarous manner slaine and murdered , wherewith his Majesty having been likewise made acquainted , as he is very sensible of the scandal that may hereby be cast upon the Peace and Government of the Realme in general , when the chief City thereof , and where his own Person is resident , should by the remissnesse and neglect of Magistrates , in the Execution of his Laws , suffer a fact and misdemeanour of so high a nature to be committed , and to passe unpunished , So he is very highly displeased thereat , and hath therefore commanded us in his name hereby streightly to charge and require your Lordship , &c. that with all care and diligence you do forthwith enquire out the principal Actors and Abettors therein , and to cause them to be apprehended and committed to Prison , and to be proceeded with , and punished in the sevarest manner , that by the Laws of the Realme is provided against offenders in so high a nature . And so , &c. The Commons at this time voted that Doctor Neal Bishop of Winchester , and Dr. Laud Bishop of Bath and Wells , be named to be those near about the King who are suspected to be Arminians , and that they are justly suspected to be unsound in their opinions that way . The House was turned again into a Committee concerning the Remonstrance . And Mr. Selden proposed that to the excessive power of the Duke should be added the abuse of that power , & since that abuse is the cause of these evils , that it be presented to his Majesty to consider whether it be safe for the King and Common-wealth , that a man of his power should be so near his Majesty , and it was ordered accordingly . All the parts of the Remonstrance being agreed unto , it was perfected to be presented to the King , being as followeth . MOst Dread Sovereign , as with humble thankfulnesse we your dutiful Commons now assembled in Parliament , do acknowledge the great comfort which we have in your Majesties pious and gracious disposition , so we think it a meet and most necessary Duty , being called by your Majesty , to consult and advise of the great and urgent affairs of this Church , and Common-wealth , finding them at this time in apparent danger of ruine , and destruction , faithfully and dutifully to informe your Majesty thereof , and with bleeding hearts and bended knees , to crave your speedy Redresse therein , as to your own wisdome ( unto which we most humbly submit our selves and our desires ) shall seeme most meet and convenient . What the multitude and Potency of your Majesties enemies are abroad ? What be their malicious and ambitious ends ? and how vigilant and constantly industrious they are in pursuing the same ; is well known to your Majesty ? Together with the dangers threatned thereby to your sacred Person , and your Kingdomes , and the calamities which have already fallen , and do daily encrease upon your Friends and Allies , of which we are well assured your Majesty is most sensible , and will accordingly in your great wisdome , and with the gravest and most Mature Councel , according to the exigencie of the times and occasions , provide to prevent and help the same . To which end we most humbly intreat your Majesty first , and especially , to cast your eyes upon the miserable condition of this your own Kingdome , of late so strangely weakened and dejected , that unlesse , through your Majesties most gracious Wisdom , Goodnesse and Iustice , it be speedily raised to a better condition , it is in no little danger to become a sudden Prey to the Enemies thereof ; and of the most happy and flourishing , to be the most miserable and contemptible Nation in the World. In the discoveries of which dangers , mischiefs , and inconveniences lying upon us , we do freely protest that it is far from our thoughts to lay the least aspersion upon your sacred Person , or the least scandal upon your Government ; For we do in all sincerity of our hearts , not only for our selves , but in the Name of all the Commons of the Realme ( whom we represent ) ascribe as much duty , as a most loyal and affectionate people can do , unto the best King , ( for so you are , and so have been pleased abundantly to expresse your self this present Parliament by your Majesties clear and satisfactory answer to our Petition of Right : For which both our selves and our posterity shall blesse God for you , and ever preserve a thankful memory of your great goodnesse and Iustice therein . ) And we do verily believe , that all , or most of these things which we shall now present unto your Majesty , are either unknown unto you , or else by some of your Majesties Ministers o●fered under such specious pretences , as may hide their own ill intentions , and ill consequences of them from your Majesty . But we assure our selves , according to the good example of your Majesties Predecessors , nothing can make your Majesty ( being a wise and Iudicious Prince , and above all things desirous of the welfare of your people ) more in love with Parliaments then this , which is one of the principal ends of calling them , that therein your Majesty may be truely informed of the State of all the several parts of your kingdome , and how your Officers and Ministers do behave themselves in the trust reposed in them by your Majesty , which is scarce able to be made known unto you , but in Parliament , as was declared by your blessed Father , when he was pleased to put the Commons in Parliament assembled in minde , that it would be the greatest unfaithfulnesse , and breach of duty to his Majesty , and of the trust committed to them by the Countrey that could be , if in setting forth the grievances of the people , and the condition of all the parts of this Kingdome from whence they come , they did not deal clearly with him , without sparing any , how near and dear soever they were unto him , if they were hurtful , or dangerous to the Common-Wealth . In confidence therefore of your Majesties gracious acceptation in a matter of so high importance , and in faithful discharge of our duties ; We do first of all most humbly beseech your Majesty to take notice , that howsoever we know your Majesty , doth with your soul abhor , that any such thing should be imagined or attempted ; Yet there is a general fear conceived in your people of secret working and combination to introduce into this kingdome innovation and change of our holy Religion , more precious unto us then our lives and whatever this world can afford . And our fears and jealousies herein are not meerly conjectural , but arising out of such certain and visible effects , as may demonstrate a true and real Cause ; For notwithstanding the many good and wholesome Laws , and provisions made to prevent the increase of Popery within this kingdome , and notwithstanding your Majesties most gracious and satisfactory answer to the Petition of both Houses in that behalfe , presented to your Majesty at Oxford . We finde there hath followed no good execution nor effect , but on the contrary ( at which your Majesty out of the quick sense of your own religious heart cannot but be in the highest measure displeased ) those of that Reliligion do finde extraordinary favors and respect in Court from persons of great quality , and power whom they continually resort unto , and in particular to the Countesse of Buckingham , who her self openly professing that Religion is a known favourer and supporter of them that do the same , which we well hoped upon your Majesties Answer to the aforsaid Petition at Oxford , should not have been permitted , nor that any of your Majesties Subjects of that religion justly to be suspected , should be entertained in the service of your Majesty , or your royal consort the Queen . Some likewise of that Religion have had Honours , Offices , and places of Command and Authority lately conferred upon them . But that which striketh the greatest terror into the hearts of your Loyal Subjects concerning this , is , that Letters of Stay of legal proceedings against them have been procured from your Majesty ( by what indirect meanes we know not ) And Commissions under the great Seale granted and executed for composition to be made with Popish Recusants , with Inhibitions and restraints both to the Ecclesiastical and temporal Courts and Officers , to intermeddle with them , which is conceived to amount to no le●●e then a toleration , odious to God , full of dishonour and extreame disprosit to your Majesty , of great scandal and griefe to your good people , and of apparent danger to the present State of your Majesty , and of this Kingdome , their numbers , power , and insolency , daily increasing in all parts of your Kingdome , and especially about London , and the Subburbs thereof ; Where exceeding many Families do make their abode publiquely , frequent Masse at Denmark House and other places , and by their often meetings and conferences , have opportunities of combining their Councels , and Strength together , to the hazard of your Majesties safety , and the State , and most especially in these doubtful and calamitous times . And as our fear concerning change or subversion of Religion is grounded upon the daily increase of Papists , the open and professed Enemies thereof for the Reasons formerly mentioned . So are the hearts of your good Subjects no lesse perplexed , when with sorrow they behold a daily growth and spreading of the faction of the Arminians , that being , as your Majesty well knows , but a cunning way to bring in Popery , and the professors of those opinions , the common disturbers of the Protestant Churches , and incendiaries in those States wherein they have gotten any head , being Protestants in shew , but Iesuites in opinion ; which caused your Royal Father with so much pious wisdom , and ardent zeale , to endeavour the suppressing of them as well at home , as in the neighbour Countreys . And your gracious Majesty imitating his most worthy example , hath openly , and by your Proclamation declared your mislike of those persons , and of their opinions ; who notwithstanding are much favoured and advanced , not wanting friends even of the Clergy near to your Majesty ; namely Doctor Neale Bishop of Winchester , and Doctor Lawd , Bishop of Bath and Wells , who are justly suspected to be unsound in their opinions that way . And it being now generally held the way to preferment , and promotion in the Church , many Schollars do bend the course of their Studies to maintain those Errors ; Their Books and opinions are suffered to be printed and published , and ●n the other side the imprinting of such as are written against them , and in defence of the Orthodox Church , are hindred and prohibited , and ( which is a boldnesse almost incredible ) this restraint of Orthodox Books , is made under colour of your Majesties formerly mentioned Proclamation , the intent and meaning wherof we know was quite contrary . And further to encrease our feares concerning Innovation of Religion , we finde that there hath been no smal laboring to remove that which is the most powerful means to strengthen and encrease our own Relgion , and to oppose both those , which is the diligent teaching and instruction of the people in the true knowledge , and worship of Almighty God. And therefore means have been sought out to depresse and discountenance pious , and painful , and Orthodox Preachers , and how conformable soever , and peaceable in their disposition and carriage they be , yet the preferment of such is opposed , and instead of being encouraged , they are molested with vexatious courses , and pursuits , and hardly , permitted to Lecture . And in those places where are no constant preaching Ministers , whereby many of your good people ( whose souls in this case we beseech your Majesty to commiserate ) are kept in ignorance , and are apt to be easily seduced to error , and superstition : It doth not a little also encrease our dangers and fears this way , to understand the miserable condition of your Kingdome of Ireland ; where , without controll , the Popish Religion is openly confessed , and practised in every part thereof , Popish Iurisdiction being there generally exercised and avowed , Monasteries , Nunneries , and other superstitious Houses newly erected , re-edified and replenished with men and women of several Orders , and in a plentiful manner maintained at Dublyn , and most of the great Towns , and divers other places of the Kingdome ; which of what ill consequence it may prove , if not seasonably repressed , we leave to your Majesties wisdome to Iudge . But most humbly beseech you ( as we assure our selves you will ( to lay the serious consideration thereof to your royal and pious heart , and that some speedy course may be taken for redresse therein . And if now to all these your Majesty will be pleased to adde the consideration of the circumstances of time , wherein these courses tending to the destruction of true Religion , within these your Kingdomes , have been taken here , even then when the same is with open force and violence prosecuted in other Countreys , and all the reformed Churches in Christendome , either depressed or miserably distressed : We do humbly appeal unto your Majesties Princely Iudgement , whether there be not just ground of feare that there is some secret and strong co-operating here with the enemies of our Religion abroad , for the utter extirpation thereof ? and whether if those courses be not speedily redressed , and the profession of true Religion more encouraged , we can expect any other but misery and ruine speedily to fall upon us ? especially , if besides the visible and apparent dangers wherewith we are compassed about , You would be pleased to remember the displeasure of Almighty God , always bent against the neglect of his holy Religion , the stroaks of whose divine Iustice we have already felt , and do still feele with smart and sorrow in great measure . And besides this feare of Innovation in Religion ; we do in like faithful of charge of our duties , most humbly declare to your Majesty , that the hearts of your people are full of feare of Innovation and change of Government , and accordingly possessed with extreame griefe and sorrow ; Yet in this point by your Majesties late Answer to our Petition of Right touching our Liberties , much comforted , and raised againe out of that sadnesse and discontent , which they generally had conceived throughout the whole Kingdome , for the undue courses which were the last year taken for raising of moneys by loanes , then which ( whatever your Majesty hath been informed to the contrary ) there were never any moneys demanded , nor paid with greater grief and general dislike of all your faithful Subjects ; though many , partly out of feare , and partly out of other respects ( yet most unwillingly ) were drawn to yeeld to what was required . The Billeting of Souldiers did much augment both their fears and grief , wherein likewise they finde much comfort upon your gracious Answer to our petition of Right , and to that we presented to your Majesty concerning this particular . Yet we most humbly beseech your Majesty , that we may informe you , that the still continuance , and late re-enforcing of those Souldiers , the conditions of their persons ( many of them not being Natives of this Kingdome , nor of the same , but of an opposite Religion ) the placing of them upon the Sea Coast , where making head amongst themselves , they may unite with the Popish party at home if occasion serve , and joyne with an invading enemy to do extreame mischief ; and that they are not yet dismissed , doth still minister cause of Iealousie in your loving Subjects ; For that the Souldiers cannot be continued without exceeding great danger of the peace and safety of your Kingdom . The report of the strange and dangerous purpose of bringing in German Horse and Riders , would have turned our doubts into despaire , and our feares into a certainty of confusion , had not your Majesties gracious message ( for which we humbly give you thanks ) comforted us , by the assurance of your Royal word , that they neither are , nor were intended by your Majesty , for any service in England ; but that they were designed for some other forreigne employment . Yet the sight of the Privy Seale by which it seemeth they were to be leavied , the great summe of money , which upon examinations we found to be paid for that purpose , gave us just cause of feare , That much about the same time there was a Commission under the Great Seal granted unto the Lords , and others of the Privy Councel , to consider of other ways for raising of moneys , so particularly by impositions , gave as just cause to suspect , that whatsoever was your Majesties gracious intention , yet there wanted not those that under some colourable pretence might secretly by this , as by other wayes , contrive to change the frame both of Religion and Government , and thereby undermine the frame both of Religion and Government , and thereby undermine the safety of your Majesty , and your Kingdomes . These men could not be ignorant that the bringing in of Strangers for aid , hath been pernitious to most States , where they have been admitted , but to England fatal . We do blesse God that hath given your Majesty a wise understanding heart to discern of those courses , and that such power produceth nothing but weaknesse , and calamity . And we beseech your Majesty to pardon the vehemencie of our expression , if in the Loyal and zealous affections we bear to your Majesty and your service , we are bold to declare to your Majesty , and the whole world , that we hold it far beneath the heart of any free English man to think that this victorious Nation should now stand in need of German Souldiers to defend their own King and kingdom . But when we consider the course formerly mentioned ; and these things tending to an apparent change of Government , the often breaches of Parliament , whereby your Majesty hath been deprived of the faithful Councel , and free Aids of your people , by taking off Tonnage and poundage , without graunt thereof by Act of Parliament , ever since the beginning of your Majesties Reigne to this present , The standing Commission granted to the Duke of Buckingham to be general of an Army in the Land in the time of peace , the discharging of faithful and sufficient Officers and Ministers , some from Iudicial places , and others from the Offices and authorities which they formerly held in the Common-wealth ; We cannot but at the sight of such an apparant desolation as must necessarily follow these courses , out of the depth of sorrow lift up our cryes to heaven for help , and next under ▪ God apply our selves unto your sacred Majesty , who if you could hear so many thousands speaking together , do joyntly implore speedie help and Reformation , And if your Majesty would be pleased to take a further view of the present state of your Realme , We do humbly pray you to consider , whether the miserable disasters , and ill successe that hath accompanied all your late designes , and actions , particularly those of Cales , and the Isle of Ree , and the last expedition to Rochel , have not extreamlie wasted that stock of Honor that was left unto this kingdome , sometimes terrible to all other Nations , and now declining to contempt beneath the meanest . Together with our Honours , we there lost those ( and that not a few ) who had they lived , we might have some better hope of recovering it again , our valiant and expert Collonels , Captaines and Commanders , and many thousand common Souldiers and Marriners , Though we have some cause to think that your Majesty is not as yet rightly informed thereof , and that of six or seven thousand of your Subjects lost at the Isle of Ree , Your Majesty received information but of a few hundreds . And this dishonour and losse hath been purchased with the consumption of above a million of Treasure . Many of the Forts are exceeding weak , and decayed , and want both men and Munition . And here we cannot but with grief consider and complaine of a strange improvidence ( we think your Majesty will rather call it treacherie ) That your store of powder which by order of your Privy Councel , dated the tenth of December , 1626. should be constantly three hundred Last , besides a continual supply of twenty Last a month for ordinary expences , and were now fit ( as we conceive ) to be double the proportion , is at this time in the Tower ( the present Warrants being served ) but nine Lasts and forty eight pounds in all , which we tremble to think of . And that notwithstanding this extreame scarcity of powder , great quantities have been permitted to be sold out of your Majesties Store , to particular persons for private Gain ; Whereof we have seen a certificate , six Last sold sithence the 14th . of January last , and your Majesties store being unfurnished of powder , which by a contract made with Mr. Evelyn by advise of your Lords in Parliament , ought to be supplyed monthly with twenty last at the rate of three pound , ten shillings , ten pence a Barrel ; Your Majesty hath been forced to pay above seven pound a Barrel for powder to be brought in from beyond Seas , for which purpose twelve thousand foure hundred pounds was impressed to Mr. Burlemack the last year , and that powder not so good as that by Contract your Maiesty should have , by one third part ; All which are most fearful and dangerous abuses . But what the poverty , weaknesse , and misery of your kingdome is now grown unto by decay of Trade , and destruction , and losse of Ships and Marriners , within these three years ; we are almost afraid to declare ; And could we by any other means have been sure , that your Majesty should any other way have had a true Information thereof , We should have been doubtful to have made our weaknesse , and extreamity of misfortune in this kinde , to appear ; But the importunate and most pitiful complaints from all the parts of the kingdome near adjoyning to the Sea in this kinde , would rend , as we think , the stoniest heart in the world with sorrow , and the sense we have of the miserable condition your Kingdome is in by reason thereof , especially , for that we see no possible means ( being now shortly to end this Session ) how to help the same , adds such a weight of grief unto our sad thoughts , as we have not words to expresse it ; But for your Majesties more exact information therein ; We beseech you be pleased to peruse the Kalender of particulars which with the Remonstrance , we most humblie present unto your Majestie . One reason amongst many of this decay of Trade , and losse of ships and Marriners is : the not guarding of the narrow Seas , the regality whereof your Majestie hath now in a manner wholly lost , being that wherein a principal part of the Honor , and safety of this Kingdome heretofore consisted ; And now having absolutely neglected it , the Town of Dunkirk doth so contiually rob and spoile your Subjects , that we can assure your Majesty ( if some present and effectuall remedy be not forthwith provided ) the whole Trade of this Kingdome , the shipping , marriners , and all belonging thereunto , will be utterly lost and consumed . The principal cause of which evils and dangers , we conceive to be the excessive power of the Duke of Buckingham , and the abuse of that power : And we humbly submit unto your Majesties excellent Wisdome , whether it be safe for your self , or your Kingdoms , that so great power as rests in him by Sea and Land , should be in the hands of any one Subject whatsoever . And as it is not safe , so sure we are , it cannot be for your service , it being impossible for one man to mannage so manie and weightie affaires of the Kingdome as he hath undertaken , besides the ordinary duties of those offices which he holds , some of which well performed , would require the time and industry of the ablest men both of Counsel and Action , that your whole Kingdome will affoard , especially in these times of common danger . And our humble desire is further , that your most excellent Majesty will be pleased to take into your Princely consideration , whether in respect the said Duke hath so ▪ abused his power , it be safe for your Majesty and your Kingdom , to continue him either in his great Offices , or in his place of nearness and Councel about your sacred Person . And thus in all humility , aiming at nothing but the honour of Almighty God , and the maintenance of his true Religion , the safety and happiness of your most excellent Majesty , and the preservation and prosperity of this Church and Common-wealth ; We have endeavoured with faithfull hearts and intentions , and in discharge of the duty we owe to your Majesty and our Countrey , to give your Majesty a true Representation of our present danger , and pressing calamities , which we humbly beseech your Majesty graciously to accept , and take the same to heart , accounting the safety and prosperity of your people , your greatest happiness , and their love , your Richest Treasure . A rufull and lamentable spectacle we confess it must needs be , to behold those Ruines in so fair an House , So many diseases , and almost every one of them deadly , in so strong and well tempered a body as this kingdom lately was . But yet we will not doubt , but that God hath reserved this Honor for your Majesty , to restore the safety and happiness thereof , as a work worthy so excellent a Prince , for whose long life and true felicity , we daily pray , and that your fame and never dying Glory may be continued to all succeeding Generations . HEreupon a Message was sent to his Majesty , desiring access to his Person with the Remonstrance , and the Speaker was appointed to deliver it , who much desired to be excused , but the House would not give way thereunto . The House also sent up the Bill of Subsidy unto the Lords . Soon after the King sends a Message by Sir Humphrey May , that he means to end this Session on the 26. of Iune , whereupon the Commons fall upon the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage . In the mean time this ensuing Order concerning the Duke was made in the Starchamber upon the signification of his Majesties pleasure ; In Interiori Camera Stellatâ 16. Junii , Anno quarto Caroli Reg. FOrasmuch as his Majesty hath been graciously pleased to signifie unto his Highness Atturney General , that his Royal pleasure is , that the Bill or information Exhibited into this Court , against the Right Honourable George Duke of Buck. for divers great offences , and misdemeanours objected against him ( for that his Majesty is fully satisfied of the innocency of that Duke in all those things mentioned in the said information , as well by his own certain knowledge , as by the proofs in the Cause ) shall therefore together with the said Dukes Answer thereunto , and all other proceedings thereupon , be taken off the File , that no memory thereof remain of Record against him , which may tend to his disgrace . It is therefore Ordered , that the said Information or Bill , the Answer thereunto , and all other Proceedings thereupon , be forthwith taken from the File , by his Majesties said Atturney General , according to his Majesties pleasure therein to him signified under his hand , and now remaining in the custody of the Register of this Court. Dated this present 16. day of Iune , 4. Caroli Exam. per Jo. Arthur . 16. Iunii 1628. ON this very day the Duke signified unto the House , that he is informed that one Mr. Christopher Eukener of the House of Commons , hath affirmed that his Grace did speak these words at his own Table . Viz. Tush , it makes no matter what the Commons or Parliament doth , for without my leave and authority , they shall not be able to touch the hair of a Dogg . And his Grace desired leave of their Lordships , that he might make his Protestation in the House of Commons concerning that Speech . And to move them , that he which spake it of him , being a Member of that House , might be commanded to justifie it , and his Grace heard to clear himself . Their Lordships considering thereof , ordered that the Duke shall be left to himself to do herein what he thinks best in the House of Commons . Whereupon the Duke gave their Lordships thanks , and protested upon his Honour , that he never had those words so much as in his thoughts . Tho which Protestation the Lords Commanded to be entred , that the Duke may make use thereof as need shall be . The Duke also charged one Mr. Melvin for speaking words against him . Viz. First , That Melvin said , That the Dukes plot was , that the Parliament should be dissolved , and that the Duke and the King with a great Army of Horse and Foot , would war against the Commonalty , and that Scotland should assist him so that when war was amongst our selves , the Enemy should come in , for this Kingdom is already sold to the Enemy by the Duke . 2. That the Duke had a stronger Councel then the King , of which were certain Jesuites Scotishmen , and that they did sit in Councel every night , from one of the clock till three . 3. That when the King had a purpose to do any thing of what consequence soever , the Duke could alter it . 4. That when the Ordnance were shipt at St. Martins , the Duke caused the Souldiers to go on that they might be destroyed . 5. That the Duke said he had an Army of 16000. Foot , and 1200. Horse . 6. That King Iames his blood , and Marquess Hamiltons , with others cries out for vengeance to heaven . 7. That he could not expect any thing but ruine of this Kingdom . 8. That Prince Henry was poisoned by Sir Thomas Overbury , and he himself served with the same sauce , and that the Earl of Somerset and others could say much to this . 9. That he himself had a Cardinal to his Uncle or near Kinsman , whereby he had great intelligence . About the same time the Lord Keeper reported to the House of Lords what his Majesty said , touching the Commission of Excise . Viz. That their Lordships had reason to be satisfied with what was truly and rightly told them by the Lords of the Councel , that this Commission was no more but a warrant of advice , which his Majesty knew to be agreeable to the time , and the manifold occasions then in hand , but now having a supply from the loves of his people , he esteems the Commission useless ; and therefore though he knows no cause why any jealousie should have risen thereby , yet at their desires he is content it be cancelled , and he hath commanded me to bring both the Commission and Warrant to him , and it shall be cancelled in his own presence . The day following , the Lord Keeper reported that his Majesty had cancelled the Commission , and the Warrant for putting the Seal thereunto , and did there openly shew it , and a Message was sent to the Commons to shew them the said cancelled Commission and Warrant . The Commons resume again the Debate upon the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage ; Whereupon Mr. Selden said , Whereas the Kings Councel objected , that 1. Eliz. saith , It was Granted time out of mind to the King , I fear his Majesty is told so , and some body doth ascertain him so : But we may clear that , for not only 1. Eliz. but also in the Statute of 1. Iac. the word time out of mind is , That whereas H. 7. and other his Majesties Progenitors have had some Subsidy for the guarding of the Seas , And that there was never a King but had some Subsidie , in that sense it is indeed time out of mind . Yet is it a matter of free gift : for publique Bills the King saith , Le Roy se veult , for Petitions of Right , Soit droit fait come est desire . For the Bill of Subsidies it is thus , the King heartily thanking the Subjects for their good wills ; In all the Bills of Tunnage and Poundage is the very same Answer , save one , which was 1. Eliz. and but for that only mistake of the Clerk , it hath ever the same assent as the Bill of Subsidie . Upon this Debate it was Ordered that a Committee be appointed to draw a Remonstrance to his Majesty , of the peoples Rights , and of the undue taking of Tunnage and Poundage , and Impositions , without Act of Parliament , and to shew the Reasons why the House cannot in so short a time prepare that Bill . The Remonstrance was as followeth , MOst Gracious Sovereign , Your Majesties most Loyal and Dutiful Subjects , the Commons in this present Parliament assembled , being in nothing more careful , then of the Honor and Prosperity of your Majestie , and the kingdom , which they know do much depend upon that happie union , and relation betwixt your Majestie and your people , do with much sorrow apprehend , that by reason of the incertaintie of their continuance together , the unexpected interruptions which have been cast upon them , and the shortness of time in which your Majestie hath determined to end this Session , they cannot bring to maturitie and perfection , divers businesses of weight , which they have taken into their consideration and resolution , as most important for the common good ; Amongst other things they have taken into especial care the preparing of a Bill , for the Granting of your Majestie such a Subsidie of Tunnage and Poundage , as might uphold your Profit and Revenue in as ample a manner , as their just care and respect of Trade ) wherein not only the Prosperity , but even the Life of the Kingdom doth consist ) would permit . But being a work which will require much time , and preparation by conference with your Majesties Officers , & with the Merchants not only of London , but of other remote parts , they find it not possible to be accomplished at this time ; Wherefore considering it will be much more pr●judicial to the right of the Subject , if your Majestie should continue to receive the same without Authority of Law , after the determination of a Session , then if there had been a Recess by Adjournment only , In which case that intended Grant would have related to the first day of the Parliament ; And assuring themselves that Your Majestie is resolved to observe that Your Royal Answer , which ●ou have lately made to the Petition of Right of both Houses of Parliament ; Yet doubting least Your Majestie may be misinformed concerning this particular case , as if you might continue to take those Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage , and other Impositions upon Merchants , without breaking that Answer , they are forced by that dutie which they owe to Your Majestie , and to those whom they represent , to declare , That there ought not any Imposition to be laid upon the Goods of Merchants , Exported or Imported , without common consent by Act of Parliament , which is the right and inheritance of your Subjects , founded not only upon the most Ancient and Original constitution of this Kingdom , but often confirmed and declared in divers Statute Laws . And for the better manifestation thereof , may it please Your Majestie to understand , that although Your Royal Predecessors the Kings of this Realm have often had such Subsidies , and Impositions Granted unto them , upon divers occasions , especially for the guarding of the Seas , and safeguard of Merchants ; Yet the Subjects have been ever careful to use such Cautions , and Limitations in those Grants , as might prevent any claim to be made , that such Subsidies do proceed from duty , and not from the free gift of the Subject ; And that they have heretofore used to limit a tune in such Grants , and for the most part but short , as for a year or two , and if it were continued longer , they have sometimes directed a certain space of Cessation , or intermission , that so the right of the subject might be more evident . At other times it hath been Granted upon occasion of War , for a certain number of years , with Proviso , that if the War were ended in the mean time , then the Grant should cease ; And of Course it hath been sequestred into the hands of some Subjects to be imployed for the guarding of the Seas . And it is acknowledged by the ordinary Answers of your Majesties Predecessors in their Assent to the Bills of Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage , that it is of the nature of other Subsidies , proceeding from the good will of the Subject ; Uery few of your Predecessors had it for life , untill the Reign of H. 7. who was so far from conceiving he had any right thereunto . That although he granted Commissions for collecting certain duties and Customes due by Law , yet he made no Commissions for receiving the Subsidie of Tunnage and Poundage , untill the same was granted unto him in Parliament . Since his time all the Kings and Queens of this Realm have had the like Grants for life by the free love and good will of the Subjects . And whensoever the people have been grieved by laying any Impositions or other Charges upon their goods and Merchandises wit●out authority of Law ( which hath been very s●ldom ) Yet upon complaint in Parliament they have been forthwith relieved , saving in the time of your Royal Father , who having through ill Councel raised the Rates and Charges upon Merchandises to that height at which they now are , yet he was pleased so far forth to yield to the complaint of his people , as to offer , that if the value of those Impositions which he had set might be made good unto him , He would binde himself and his Heirs by Act of Parliament never to lay any other ; Which offer , the Commons at that time in regard of the great burden , did not think fit to yield unto . Nevertheless , your Loyall Commons in this Parliament , out of their especial zeale to your Service , and especial regard of your pressing occasions , have taken into their consideration , so to frame a Grant of Subsidie of Tunnage and Poundage to your Majesty , that both you might have been the better enabled for the defence of your Realm , and your Subjects , by being secure from all undue Charges , be the more incouraged chearfully to proceed in their course of Trade ; by the increase whereof your Majesties Profit , and likewise the strength of the Kingdom would be very much augmented . But not being now able to accomplish this their desire , there is no course left unto them , without manifest breach of their duty , both to your Majesty and their Countrey , save onely to make this humble Declaration , That the receiving of Tunnage and Poundage , and other Impositions not granted by Parliament , is a breach of the Fundamental Liberties of this Kingdom , and contrary to your Majesties Royal answer to the said Petition of Right . And therefore they do most humbly beseech your Majesty to forbear any further recieving of the same , and not to take it in ill part from those of your Majesties loving Subjects , who shall refuse to make payment of any such Charges , without Warrant of Law demanded . And as by this forbearance , your most excellent Majesty shall manifest unto the world , your Royal Iustice in the observation of your Laws : So , they doubt not , but hereafter at the time appointed for their coming again , they shall have occasion to express their great desire to advance your Majesties Honor and Profit . MR. Noy after the reading hereof , moved the House that his Majesty might be requested , that the Merchants might ship their goods without a Cocket , otherwise they do forfeit their goods . Iune 26. The Speaker being sent for to the King at Whitehall , came not into the House till about nine a clock . And after Prayers , the Remonstrance concerning Tunnage and Poundage being ingrossed , was a reading in the House , and while it was a reading , the King sent for the Speaker , and the whole House , and the King made a Speech as followeth . IT may seem strange that I came so suddenly to end this Session ; before I give my assent to the Bills , I will tell you the cause , though I must avow , that I owe the account of my actions to God alone . It is known to every one , that a while ago the House of Commons gave me a Remonstrance , how acceptable , every man may judge , and for the merit of it , I will not call that in question , for I am sure no wise man can justifie it . Now since I am truly informed , that a second Remonstrance is preparing for me to take away the profit of my Tunnage and Poundage , one of the chiefest maintenances of my Crown , by alleadging , I have given away my right thereto by my Answer to your Petition . This is so prejudicial unto me , that I am forced to end this Session some few hours before I meant , being not willing to receive any more Remonstrances , to which I must give a harsh Answer . And since I see that even the House of Commons begins already to make false constructions of what I granted in your Petition , least it be worse interpreted in the Countrey , I will now make a Declaration concerning the true intent thereof . The profession of both Houses in the time of hammering this Petition , was no ways to trench upon my Prerogative , saying they had neither intention or power to hurt it . Therefore it must needs be conceived , that I have granted no new , but only confirmed the Antient Liberties of my Subjects . Yet to shew the clearness of my intentions , that I neither repent , nor mean to recede from any thing I have promised you , I do here declare my self , that those things which have been done , whereby many have had some cause to expect the Liberties of the Subjects to be trenched upon , which indeed was the first and true ground of the Petition , shall not hereafter be drawn into example for your prejudice , and from time to time , in the word of a King , ye shal not have the like cause to complain . But as for Tonnage and Poundage , it is a thing I cannot want , and was never intended by you to ask , nor meant by me I am sure to grant . To conclude , I command you all that are here to take notice of what I have spoken at this time , to be the true intent and meaning of what I granted you in your Petition ; But especially , you my Lords the Judges , for you only under me belongs the interpretation of Laws , for none of the Houses of Parliament , either joint or separate , ( what new Doctrine soever may be raised ) have any Power either to make , or declare a Law without my consent . After this Speech ended , the Bill of Subsidie was delivered to the Speaker , standing at the Bar in the Lords House , who made a short Speech , and shewed , that it was the greatest gift that ever was given in so short a time . And so craving pardon for the errors of the House , and his own ( which he knew to be very many ) he desired the King to give his Royal Assent . The King came so suddenly and unexpectedly to the House , that the Lords were not in their Robes , and the Commons had given no direction or Order for the Speaker to deliver the Bill of Subsidies , Neither was it brought down to the Commons House , as it was used , but the Bills were read , and the Bill for the Sabbath , for Recusants children , for Alehouse-keepers , for continuance of Statutes , for the Clergies Subsidie , for the Lay of Subsidie , all passed . But for the Bill for explanation of the Statutes 3. Iac. about Leases of Recusants Lands , The King said , that in this short time he had not time sufficient to consider thereof , but he said he found many Errors therein , though the Title be faire , and if at the next meeting they would amend those Errors , it should pass . Many private Bills passed also , and after they were all read , their Titles and the Kings Answer to them , which to the publique Bills was Le Roy le veult , to the private , Soit fait come il est desire . The Lord Keeper said , it is his Majesties pleasure that this Session now end , and that the Parliament be prorogued till the twentieth of October next . At this Parliament which begun at Westminster the 17. of March Anno Regni R. Caroli 3. These Acts were passed . FIrst , An Act for further reformation of sundry Abuses committed on the Lords day called Sunday . 2. The Petition exhibited to his Majesty , by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled , concerning divers Rights and Priviledges of the Subject , with the Kings assent thereunto in full Parliament . 3. An Act for repressing of all unlicenced Alehouses . 4. An Act to restrain the sending over of any to be popishly bred beyond the Seas . 5. An Act for establishing of Suttons Hospital , &c. 6. An Act for the Establishing of the Tenants Estates of Bromfield and Yale in the County of Denbigh , &c. 7. An Act for the continuance and repeal of divers Statutes , &c. 9. An Act for five entire Subsidies granted by the Clergy . 10. An Act concerning the Title , &c. of Earl of Arundel , and for the annexing of the Castle of Arundel , and other Lands , to the said Title of Earl of Arundel . 11. An Act to assure the Joynture of the Lady Francis Nevil , and to enable the Lord Abergavenny to sell Lands . 12. An Act concerning the Lands of William Earl of Devon. 13. An Act to confirm the Estates of the Lord Morlies Tenants in Tatham and Gressingham . 14. An Act for reestating of Lands of William Morgan Esq and discharging the trust concerning them . 15. A Declararation of the Commons against Doctor Manwaring . 16. An Act to enable Dutton Lord Gerrard to make a Joynture to any Wife , that he shall hereafter marry , and to provide for younger children , and the securing of Portions for Alice , Frances , and Eliz. Gerrard , sisters of the said Lord Gerrard . 17. An Act for restitution in blood of Carew Rawleigh Esq and to confirm Letters Patents made to the Earl of Bristol by King James . 18. An Act for the Naturalizing of Isaac Ashley , Henry Ashley , Thomas Ashley , and Bernard Ashley , sons of Sir Jacob Ashley Knight . 19. An Act for Naturalizing of Samuel Powel . 20. An Act for the naturalizing of Alexander Levingston , Gent. 21. An Act for the naturalizing of John Trumbal , and of William Beere , Edward Beer , and Sidney Beere , and Samuel Wentworth . 22. An Act for the amendment of a word miswritten in an Act made An. 21. Iac. R. to enable Vincent Lowe Esq. to sell Lands , &c. 23. An Act for naturalizing of Sir Robert Ayton Knight . 24. An Act for confirmation of Letters Patents made by King James to John Earl of Bristol . 25. An Act for naturalizing of John Aldersey , Mary Aldersey , Anne Aldersey , Eliz. Aldersey , and Margaret Aldersey , &c. 26. An Act for the naturalizing of Daniel Delingue Knight . 27. An Act for the naturalizing of Sir. Robert Dyel Kt. and George Kirk Esquire . 28. An Act for the naturalizing of James Freese . In the Interval between the two Sessions , there happened many remarkable passages . DOctor Manwarings Sermons intituled Religion and Allegiance were suppressed by Proclamation , the King declaring that though the grounds thereof were rightly laid , to perswade obedience from Subjects to their Sovereign , and that for conscience sake ; yet in divers passages , inferences , and applications thereof , trenching upon the Laws of this Land , and proceedings of Parliaments , whereof he was ignorant , he so far erred , that he had drawn upon himself the just censure and sentence of the High Court of Parliament , by whose judgement also that Book stands condemned ; Wherefore being desirous to remove occasions of scandal , he thought fit that those Sermons in regard of their influences and applications be totally suppressed . Then a Proclamation came forth declaring the Kings pleasure for proceedings with Popish Recusants , and directions to his Commissioners for making compositions for two parts of three of their Estates , which by Law were due to his Majesty ; neverthelesse ( for the most part ) they got off upon easie tearms by reason of compositions at undervalues , and by Letters of Grace and protection , granted from time to time to most of the wealthiest of them . This was seconded with another Proclamation commanding that diligent search be made for all Priests and Jesuites ( particularly the Bishop Calcedon ) and others that have taken Orders by authority from the See of Rome , that they be apprehended and committed to the Goale of that County where they shall be found , there to remaine without Bayle or Mainprize till they be tryed by due course of Law , and if upon trial and conviction there shall be cause to respit the execution of any of them , they shall not lie in the Common Goals , much lesse wander about at large , but according to the example of former times be sent to the Castle of Wisbitch , or some other safe prison , where they shall remain under strait and close custody , and be wholly restrained from exercising their function , and spreading their superstitious and dangerous doctrines . Hereupon the Privy Councel wrote to the Bishop of Ely a Letter of the tenour following ; WHereas his Majestie hath beene informed , that the Romish Priests , Jesuites and Seminaries lurking in this Kingdome , do obstinately and maliciously continue their wonted practises to supplant the true Religion established , and to seduce his people from obedience , stirre up sedition , and subvert the State and Government so far as it lieth in their power , his Majesty hath therefore commanded us to signifie unto your Lordship , that it is his expresse will and pleasure according to his Declaration in Parliament , and his Royal Proclamation since published , you shall forthwith prepare and make ready the Castle of Wisbitch , in the Isle of Ely to receive and lodge all such Priests ; Jesuites and Seminaries , and other prisoners , as shall be hereafter sent thither , and there treat and governe them according to such instructions and directions as shall be prescribed by this board . The Jesuites taken in Clarken-well being then in several prisons , it was ordered by the Councel they should all be removed to Newgate , and such of them as were not as yet convicted and condemned , should be proceeded against untill they were condemned , and then that they all should be sent to the Castle of VVisbitch according to the Proclamation in that behalf , and the Attorney General was required to take course to entitle the King to the goods taken in the house which was designed for a Colledge ; and accordingly they were proceeded against , and but onely one convicted , which proceeding was questioned in the ensuing Session of Parliament . And upon Information , that there was a greater concourse of Recusants in or near London then had been usual at other times , the Privy Councel sent to the Lord Mayor to require him to cause diligent search to be made , within the City and Liberties thereof , and to finde out what Recusants did inhabit or remaine there as House-keepers , Inmates , or Lodgers , or in any manner , and to return a certificate to the board , both of their names and qualities , distinguishing which were Trades-men that were there by occasion of their Trades according to to the Statute in that behalf , and which were of no Trade , but resorted thither from other parts of the Kingdom . Iuly 15. ( being St. Swithins day ) Sir Richard VVeston Chancellor of the Exchequer was made Lord Treasurer of England , and the same day was Bishop Laud translated to the Bishoprick of London . About the same time , Master Montague formerly mentioned , was designed to the Bishoprick of Chichester upon the decease of Bishop Carleton . Neverthelesse his Appello Caesarem was thought fit to be called in , the King declaring that out of his care to maintain the Church in the unity of true Religion , and the bond of peace , to prevent unnecessary disputes , he had lately caused the Articles of Relgion to be reprinted , as a rule for avoiding diversities of opinions , and considering that a Book written by Richard Montague now Bishop of Chichester intituled Apello Caesarem was the first cause of those disputes and differences , which since have much troubled the quiet of the Church , he would take away occasion , by commanding all persons that had any of those Books in their hands to deliver them to the Bishop of the Diocesse , or if it be in either Universities to the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor thereof , who were commanded to suppresse them . And if any by preaching , reading , or making of Books pro and contra concerning those unnecessary questions shall revive the difference , he was resolved to take such order with them , and those Books ; as they shall wish they had never thought upon those needlesse Controversies . But ere this Proclamation was published , the Books were for the most part vented and out of danger of seasure , and the suppressing of all writing and preaching in Answer thereunto , was ( it seems by some ) the thing mainly intended ; for the several answers made by Doctor Featly , and Doctor Goad , in their parallels , by Master Burton , Master VVard , Master Yates , Master VVotton , as also by Francis Rows Esq in a Book called King Iames his Religion , were all suppressed , and divers of the Printers questioned in the high Commission . Moreover Bishop Montague , and Doctor Manwaring procured a Royal pardon of all Errors heretofore committed by them , either in speaking , writing , or printing , for which they might be hereafter questioned ; And Doctor Manwaring censured by the Lords in Parliament , and perpetually disabled from future Ecclesiastical preferments in the Church of England , was immediately presented to the Rectory of Stamford-Rivers in Essex , and had a dispensation to hold it , together with the Rectory of St. Giles in the fields . The Town of Rochel was at this time straitly beleagured by the French King , and the King of England had prepared a Fleet to relieve it , under the Command of the Duke of Buckingham , who being advanced as farre as Portsmouth , on Saturday , August 23. being Bartholomew Eve , was suddenly slain in his own Lodgings there , by one Leivtenant Felton , about nine in the morning , who with one blow , having got a knife for the purpose , struck the Duke under the left rib , and up into the heart , leaving the knife in his body , and got away undiscovered . In the fall to the ground , the Duke was heard to say , The villaine hath killed me ! Company coming presently in found him weltring in his blood , and each person looking upon another marvelled who should do so horrid an act , a jealousie was presently had of Monsieur Sobeez who was then there labouring for speedy relief to be sent to Rochel , but he protesting his innocency , Felton immediately stept out , and said , I am the man that did the deed , let no man suffer that is innocent ; whereupon he was immediately apprehended , sent to London and there imprisoned . The King was within four miles of Portsmouth , when the news was brought him of the death of the Duke , he bid secure the murderer , and Bishop Laud had advertisement of his death the 24th . of August , being then at Croiden with Bishop Neal , and other Bishops consecrating Bishop Montague for Chichester . Notwithstanding the death of the Duke , the King pursued the design of relieving Rochel , and again set out a Fleet with provision and fire-ships to put relief into the Town ; the Fleet went from Plymouth the beginning of September , did several times attempt the Barricado , but in vaine , and so was enforced to give over any further attempt , which the Rochellers perceiving , gave themselves for lost , and immediately came to a capitulation , upon very mean tearmes as to themselves ; yet Lowes King of France was careful by Articles ( had they been performed ) that those outrages should not be committed upon the entry of the Town ( which the few remaining inhabitants were much afraid of , and afterwards felt ) and so mixt mercy with his conquest , yet presently after high outrages were committed , and great was the persecution of the Reformed Churches , which constrained them again to send to the King of England to implore aid with these expressions , that what they writ was with their teares and their blood , but the treaty being shortly after made between the two Crowns ; all things were setled in peace between the King and those of the reformed Religion . Concerning the state of Rochel at the surrender , we have seen a Relation to this purpose , that the misery of the besieged was almost incredible , having lived long upon Horse-flesh , Hides , and Leather , Dogs and Cats , hardly leaving a Horse alive , still in hopes that the relief promised from England would prove effectual to them ; they held it so long till they were but about four thousand left alive of fifteen thousand souls , most of them died with famine , and when they begun to be pinched with the extremity of hunger they died so fast that they usually carried their Coffins into the Church-yard , and other places , and there laid themselves in and died , great numbers of them being unburied ; when the forces of the King of France entred the Town , and many corps eaten with Vermin , Ravens and Birds . The Fleet which thus put to sea for the Relief of Rochel was defective , both in victuals , which was tainted , and in tackling and other materials , insomuch as at the return thereof , information being given to the King and Council of divers defaults and defects in the said ships , victuals and provision of this and the former expedition to Rochel ; and in the discipline and performance of Commands and resolutions taken in that action to the great prejudice of the service ; it was ordered that the Earls of Denbigh , Linsey , and Morton , and the Lord Wilmott , and Master Secretary Cook should forthwith meet together , and consider of the Relation made by the Earl of Linsey , and inform themselves of defaults in the particulars before mentioned , and make report thereof to the Board . The Scots under the command of the Earl Morton , and some Irish also , were sent to quarter in the Isle of VVeight , which Island was unacquainted with the quartering of Forreigners . In Essex many robberies and outrages w●re committed by the Souldiers then returned from Sea. Whereupon the Privy Councellors required the Justices of Peace in that County to choose a Provost Marshal for the apprehending of all such as wandred up and down the Country , or behaved themselves dissorderly , that they might be punished according to Law , and to cause strong guards and watches to be kept in all passages . And upon advertisement of some hostile preparations from forraign enemies , the Privy Councel taking care for securing the coasts in Kent , Sussex , Hampshire , Dorcetshire , and Devonshire renued their directions to the Lords of those Counties for the careful watching of Beacons , &c. About the time the Fleet went last to the relief of Rochel , the King being solicited by the Ambassadours of the King of Denmark , and the united Provinces to send shipping to secure the Elbe , and men for the defence of Lackstat , resolved upon the sending of five Ships accordingly , but first to dispatch the men for the relief of the Town , the preservation whereof did mainly impart the security of the River , wherefore the Regiments then remaining in several of the States Garrison Towns , which were reformed out of four Regiments , under the Command of Sir Charles Morgan , and supposed to consist of two thousand men , were designed for this employment ; But in regard that by the capitulations at the rendring of Stoade , these souldiers were first to touch in England before they could engage in War against the Emperour , they were appointed to come to Harwitch , and to saile thence to Luck●●a● , under the command of their former General , and by reason of the absence of the English Fleet upon the service of Rotchel , the States and the Prince of Orange were desired to accommodate them with Ships of convoy in crossing the Seas , But a while after the King considering that the six months wherein that Regiment was bound not to serve against the Emperour , were near expiring , and the Winter approaching , which by foul weather and contrary winds , might expose both men and Ships to great danger in their crossing the Seas to England , and cause unnecessary charge , commanded Sir Charles Morgan to forbear to touch at Harwitch , but to shape his course by the nearest & straightest way from Holland to Luckstat , and to stay at the place of imbarquing , so many days as with the time which will be taken up in their passage , may accomplish the full six months ; Moreover , these Reformed Regiments brought from Stoade , being found upon their mustering fourteen hundred , the King made a supply of six hundred more by borrowing six or eight men out of every Company , serving in the States pay , under the conduct of the Lord Vere , the season of the year not permitting to rely upon new recruits from England ; for which he engaged his royal word to the States and the Prince of Orange , that for every man they lent him , he would send them two as soon as his forces return from Rochel . Touching the Horse levied in Germany , and intended ( as was said ) to be transported into England , about the last Session of Parliament the Privy Councel now wrote to Dalbeere upon certain overtures made by the King of Sweden , and the Duke of Savoy to receive them into their pay and service , that he might dispose of the said Cavalry to those Princes being his Majesties friends and Allies with condition that his Majesty be no further charged with their pay , transportation , or entertainment in any manner whatsoever . After the death of the Duke , the King seemed to take none to favour so much as Dr. Laud , Bishop of London , to whom he sent many gracious messages , and also writ unto him with his own hand , the which contained much grace and favour , and immediately afterwards none became so intimate with his Majesty as the said Bishop . BY Orders from the Bishop , there were then entred in the Docket Book , several Conge D'esliers and Royal assents for Dr. May to be Bishop of Bath and Wells , for Doctor Corbet to be Bishop of Oxford , and for Samuel Harsenet then Bishop of Norwitch , to be Arch-Bishop of York . In the University of Oxford , Bishop Laud bore the sway . The Lord Chancellour VVilliam Earl of Pembrook commiting his power into his hands . And this year he framed the Statutes for the reducing and limiting the free Election of Proctors , which before ( as himself said ) were Factious , and Tumultuary to the several Colledges by course . The meeting of the Parliament appointed to be the 20. of Octob. was by Proclamation the first day of that moneth Prorogued to the 20. of Ianu. following . VVhilst Felton remained a Prisoner at London , great was the resort of people to see the man who had committed so bold a murder , others came to understand what were the Motives and Inducements thereunto , to which the man for the most part answered , That he did acknowledge the Fact , and condemned himself for the doing thereof ; Yet withall confessed he had long looked upon the Duke as an evil Instrument in the Common-wealth , and that he was convinced thereof by the Remonstrance of Parliament . VVhich considerations , together with the instigation of the Evil One ( who is always ready to put sinfull motions into speedy Actions ) induced him to do that which he did ; He was a person of a little Stature , of a stout and revengeful spirit , who having once received an injury from a Gentleman , he cut off a piece of his little finger , and sent it with a challenge to the Gentleman to fight with him , thereby to let him know that he valued not the exposing of his whole body to hazard , so he might but have an opportunity to be revenged . Afterwards Felton was called before the Councel , where he confessed much of what is before mentioned concerning his Inducement to the Murder , the Councel much pressed him to confesse who set him on work to do such a bloody act , and if the Puritans had no hand therein , he denyed they had , and so he did to the last , that no person whatsoever knew any thing of his intentions or purpose to kill the Duke , that he revealed it to none living . Dr. Laud Bishop of London being then at the Councel Table , told him , if he would not confess , he must go to the rack ; Felton replyed , if it must be so , he could not tell whom he might nominate in the extremity of torture , and if what he should say then must go for truth , he could not tell whether his Lordship ( meaning the Bishop of London ) or which of their Lordships he might name , for torture might draw unexpected things from him ; after this he was asked no more questions , but sent back to prison . The Council then fell into Debate , whether by the Law of the Land they could justifie the putting him to the Rack ? The King being at Councel said , before any such thing be done , let the advice or the Judges be had therein , whether it be Legal or no , and afterwards his Majesty the 13. of Novemb. 4. Car. propounded the question to Sr. Tho. Richardson , Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas , to be propounded to all the Justices . ( Viz. ) Felton now a prisoner in the Tower , having confessed that he had killed the Duke of Buckingham , and said he was induced to this , partly for private displeasure , and partly by reason of a Remonstrance in Parliament , having also read some Books , which he said defended that it was lawful to kill an Enemy to the Republique , the question therefore is , whether by the Law he might not be Racked , and whether there were any Law against it , for ( said the King ) if it might be done by Law , he would not use his Prerogative in this Point , and having put this Question to the Lord chief Justice , the King commanded him to demand the resolution of all the Judges . First , the Justices of Serjeants Inn in Chancery Lane did meet and agree , that the King may not , in this case put the party to the Rack . And the fourteenth of November all the Justices being assembled at Serjeants Inn in Fleetstreet , agreed in one , that he ought not by the Law to be tortured by the Rack , for no such punishment is known or allowed by our Law. And this in case of Treason was brought into this Kingdom in the time of Henry 6. note Fortescue for this Point , in his Book de laudibus legum Angliae , see the preamble of the Act 28. H. 8. for the Trial of Fellony , where Treasons are done upon the Sea , and Statute 14. Edw. 3. Ch. 9. of Jaylours or Keepers who by duresse make the prisoners to be approvers . Since the last Session of Parliament , certain Merchant ; who traded in Wines , had been committed to the Fleet for the non-payment of an Imposition of 20. s. the Tun , and were now at liberty upon their entring into bond for the payment of that Imposition . Moreover the King in full Councel declared his absolute will and pleasure to have the entry of 2. s. 2. d. the hundred upon all Currens to be satisfied equally with that of 3. s. 4. d. before the landing of that Commodity , it being a duty laid by Queen Elizabeth , who first gave being to the Levant Company , and which had been paid both in his Fathers time and his own , and that their Majesties were equally possessed of the whole summe of 5. s. 6. d. the hundred by a solemn and Legal Judgement in the Exchequer , and he straightly charged his Councel to examine the great abuse in this point , and to make a full reparation to his Honour , by inflicting punishment as well upon Officers as Merchants , that for the future they may beware of committing such contempts . And Divers Merchants of London having forcibly Landed , and endeavoured to carry away their Goods and Merchandises from the Custom-house Key , without payment of duties , were summoned to the Councel-table : And the Councel was informed against them , that they had caused great and unlawful assemblies of people to be gathered together , to the breach of the Kings Peace , and Mr. Chambers was committed to prison by the Lords of the Councel , for some words spoken at that time , Michaelmas 4. Car. Richard Chambers being in Prison in the Marshalsie , Del hostel de Roy , desired an Habeas Corpus , and had it , which being returable upon the 16. day of October , the Marshall returned , that he was committed to prison the 28. day of Septemb. last , by command of the Lords of the Councel . The Warrant verbatim was , That he was committed for insolent behaviour , and words spoken at the Councel-Table , which was subscribed by the Lord Keeper , and twelve others of the Councel . [ The words were , as information was given , though not expressed in the Return , That such great Customes and Impositions were required from the Merchants in England , as were in no other place , and that they were more screwed up , then under the Turk . ] And because it was not mentioned what the words were , so as the Court might adjudge of them , the Return was held insufficient , and the Warden of the Prison advised to amend his Return : and he was by Rule of the Court appointed to bring his prisoner by such a day without a new Habeas Corpus , and the Prisoner was advised by the Court , That in the mean time he should submit to the Lords , and Petition them for his enlargement , The Warden of the Prison bringing the Prisoner in again in Court , the 23. day of October . Then Mr. Iermin for the Prisoner moved , That forasmuch as it appeared by the Return , that he was not committed for Treason or Felony , nor doth it appear what the words were , whereto he might give answer , he therefore prayed , he might be dismissed or bailed . But the Kings Attourney moved , That he might have day untill the 25. of October , to consider of the Return , and be enformed of the words , and that in the interim , the Prisoner might attend the Councel-Table , and Petition . But the Prisoner affirmed , that he oftentimes had assayed by Petition , and could not prevail , although he had not done it since the beginning of October ; and he prayed the Justice of the Law , and the inheritance of a Subject ; Whereupon , at his importunity , the Court commanded him to be bailed : and he was bound in a Recognizance of four hundred pounds , and four good Merchants his Sureties were bound in Recognizance of one hundred pound a piece , that he should appear here in Crastino animarum , and in the interim should be of the good behaviour ; And advertized him , they might , for contemptuous words , cause an Indictment or Information in this Court to be drawn against him , if they would . The Lords of the Councel were much dissatisfied with the Bailing of Chambers . Whereupon the Judges were ●ent for to the Lord Keeper at Durham House ; where were present , besides the Lord-Keeper , the Lord Treasurer , Lord Privy Seal , and the Chancellor of the Dutchy ; And the Lord Keeper then declared unto them , that the said enlargement of Chambers was without due regard had to the Privy Councel , in not first acquainting them therewith . To this the Judges answered , that to keep a fair correspondency with their Lordships , they had by the Lord Chief-Justice acquainted the Lord Keeper in private therewith , before they baild the party : And that what they had done as to the bailing of the prisoner was according to Law and Justice , and the conscience of the Judges . To this it was replied that it was necessary for the preservation of the State , that the power and dignity of the Councel Table should be preserved , and that it could not be done without correspondency from the Courts of Justice ; so they parted in very fair tearms . On Thursday the 27. of November , Felton was removed from the Tower to the Gate-house in order to his tryal , and was the same day brought by the Sheriffs of London to the Kings-bench Bar , and the indictment being read , he was demanded whether he were guilty of the murder therein mentioned : he answered he was guilty in killing the Duke of Buc. and further said that he did deserve death for the same , though he did not do it out of malice to him . So the Court passed sentence of death upon him , whereupon he offered that hand to be cut off that did the fact , but the Court could not upon his own offer inflict that further punishment upon him , neverthelesse the King sent to the Judges to intimate his desire , that his hand might be cut off before execution , but the Court answered that it could not be , for in all murthers the Judgement was the same , unlesse when the Statute of 25. E. 3. did alter the nature of the offence , and upon a several indictment , as it was in Queen Elizabeths time , when a Felon at the Bar flung a stone at a Judge upon the Bench , for which he was indicted and his sentence was to have his hand cut off , which was accordingly done , and they also proceeded against him upon the other indictment for Felony , for which he was found guilty , and afterwards hanged ; and Felton was afterwards hung up in chains in manner as is usual upon notorious murders . IN Michaelmas Term the Farmers and Officers of the Custom House seized great quantities of Currants belonging to Mr. Samuel Vassal of London Merchant , because he refused to pay an Imposition of five shillings and six pence upon every hundred weight of the said Currants so imported , alledged to be due , and demanded on his Majestie behalf , Mr. Vassal refused to pay the same , conceiving it was an Imposition against the Law of the Land ; Whereupon the Kings Attourney General exhibited an Information in the Exchequer against the said Vassal , setting forth that King Iames did by his Letters Patents command the taking the said Imposition , and that his Majesty that now is , by his Letters Patents , dated 26. Iunii , 2. Caroli , by the advice of his Privy Councel did declare his Will and Pleasure to be , that Subsidies , Customs , and Impost should be Leavied in such manner , as they were in the time of King Iames , until it might receive a setling by Parliament , and the Information did set forth , that the said Samuel Vassall before the first day of October , 4. Car. did bring into the Port of London , 4638. hundred weight of Currants , for which he refused to pay Custom . To this information the said Samuel Vassal appeared , and pleaded the Statute of Magna Charta , and the Statute de talagio non concedendo , and that he was a subject born under the Kings allegiance , and a Merchant , and that the said imposition of five shillings six pence upon every hundred weight of Currants , was not Antiqua seu recta consuetudo , and that it was imposed without assent of Parliament , to which Plea the said Attourney General demurred in Law , and Mr. Vassall joyned in demur , &c. Afterwards the Barons of the Exchequer did publickly deny to hear Master Vassals Councel to argue for him , saying , that his the said Vassalls Case would fall under the same rule with one Bates Case , and therefore the Case was already adjudged . Master Vasalls Councel alledged that they had nothing to do with Bates his Case , but desired to argue Master Vassalls Case . The Barons replied that they knew the opinion of the Court , and should be heard no further ; and said that the King was in possession , and they would keep him in possession ; and shortly after the Court of Exchequer imprisoned the said Master Vassall for not paying such sums of mony as the Officers of the Custome-house required , as due upon the said imposition , and he could not obtain restitution of his goods , and the Court gave their opinion upon the said information for the King against Mr. Vassal . About the same time divers goods and Merchandizes belonging to Richard Chambers of London Merchant , were seized and conveyed into Store-houses at the Custom-house , by the Officers of the Custom , because the said Chambers refused to pay the subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage demanded by the Farmers , the said Chambers conceiving no such subsidy or duty was due or payable , the same having not been granted by Parliament to his Majesty , and having sued forth a writ of Replevin , the proper remedy in Law to regain the possession of his goods ; the Barrons of the Exchequer did order an Injunction under the Seal of the said Court directed to the Sheriffs of London commanding them thereby not to execute the said writ , or any the like Writs of Replevin , that should afterwards be sued forth by any person or persons for the delivery of any goods in the like nature detained , and did declare publickly in Court that the said goods by Law were not repleviable , and the Sheriffs of London did accordingly forbear to execute the said Writ of Replevin . Master Chambers finding this obstruction , offered to give great security unto the Court for payment of such duties as should be made appeare to be made payable to his Majesty in such manner , as the said Barrons should direct the Court afterwards debating this matter , would not give way thereunto , unlesse the said Chambers would deposite all such summes of money as the said Officers respectively demanded of him , for duties to his Majesty which he refused to do . The Court did order the Officers of the Custom to detain double value of the summes by them demanded for duties to his Majesty , and to restore the residue . The same course of proceeding the Barrons of the Exchequer held in the Case of Master Iohn Rolls of London Merchant , whose goods were detained for not paying of Tunnage and Poundage . The meeting of the Parliament now drawing nigh , the King consults with a select Committee of his Privy Councellors , what probably the Parliament at their next meeting would insist upon , and how the Privy Councel ( who are members of the Parliament ) shall demean themselves in such cases : And first it was proposed to his Majesties consideration , that if in the House of Commons it shall be moved with any strength , that the Merchants goods be delivered , before they proceed to the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage , the Answer by such as are Privy Councellors and Members of the House to be , that if the House intend to grant Tunnage and Poundage to the King , as it hath been granted to his Predecessors , it will end all dispute , but if they proceed otherwise then before they come to a resolution , the King to speak to them , and to declare , that though his Predecessors claimed it not but by grant of Parliament , yet took it de facto , until it was granted by Parliament , and that his Majesty hath done the like , and that if they will passe the Bill to his Majesty as his Ancestors had it , his Majesty will do any reasonable thing , to declare that he claimes not Tunnage and Poundage otherwise then by grant in Parliament , but if this do not satisfie , then to avow a breach upon just cause given , not sought by the King. And for bringing the Kings business to a speedy issue , it was advised , that the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage be prepared before the Parliament sit , in the same form as it passed to King Iames , adding words to give it from the first day of the Kings Reigne , and that the Bill be presented at the first sitting of the Parliament , and the Privy Councel of the House to declare that his Majesty caused it to be timely presented , to cut off all questions and debates , and to perswade them to a dispatch thereof , and that they will returne a speedy answer whether they will grant Tunnage and Poundage or not . They also took into consideration divers other matters , which they apprehended the Parliament would insist upon , as proceeding to censure the actions of the Duke of Buckingham , to accuse some of the Kings servants now living , upon common Fame , to cast personal aspersions in Parliament upon the Kings Councellors , or to charge them with giving ill counsel to the King , to handle questions touching matters of Religion , proper for his Majesty , and a Convocation to determine , to raise objections against his Majesties Speech the last day of the last Session , as trenching upon the liberty of the Subject , in these and the like cases the Privy Councel of the House were to be instructed how to demean themselves , and to advise all fair and possible means to have a good agreement between his Majesty and his people . But in case the House proceed upon any of the particulars before mentioned , and draw towards a resolution , that the Privy Councel who are of the House , do intimate that these Debates will tend to a breach , and will not be admitted of , and the King thereupon to declare himself presently , that he will not suffer such irregular courses of proceeding . SO soon as the Parliament Reassemble on Tuesday the 20. of Ianu. In the first place , the Commons inquired whether the Petition of Right , with his Majesties Answer unto it were inrolled in the Parliament Rolls , and the Courts of Westminster , as his Majesty promised them the last Session : and they found his Majesties Speech made the last day of the Session , entred by his Majesties command , together with the Petition , and Norton the Kings Printer being called into the House , and demanded by what Warrant the Additions ( besides his Majesties Answer ) to the Petition of Right were Printed , he said there was a Warrant , as he thought from the K. himself , and being demanded whether there were some Copies Printed without additions , he said there were about 1500. but they were suppressed by Warrant , and Mr. Attourney General commanded that no more of them should be Printed , and that those that were first Printed should not be divulged . The next thing taken into consideration , was the violation of the Liberties of the People , since the end of the last Session , even contrary to the Petition of Right , some having been since the time committed , and a Command sent to the Sheriff not to execute a Replevin , when mens Goods and Merchandises have been taken away , and it was instanced in the Case of Mr. Rolls a Merchant , and known to be a Member of the House , to whom it was said by some of the Officers of the Custome House , If all the Parliament were in you , we would take your goods . Whereupon Sir Robert Philips made this Speech . BY this Information you see how unfortunate these times are , and how full time it was for this Assembly to meet to serve his Majesty , and to serve their Countrey , and I am confident , that coming hither with fulness of affection , to our King and Countrey , all will conduce to a happy conclusion , and to the Kings honour : Indeed our own great and weighty affairs wound deep , cast your eyes which way you please , you shall see violations on all sides , look on the liberty of the Subject , look on the priviledge of this House , let any say , if ever he saw or read the like violations by inferiour Ministers that over do their command ; they knew the party was a Parliament man , nay , they say , if all the Parliament were in you , this we would do , and justifie it . If we suffer the Priviledge of Parliament and Liberty of Subjects to be thus violated , for fear of complaint , we give a wound to the happiness of the Kingdom . The course of Iustice is interrupted , and an Order in the Exchequer made for the stay of the goods , and since there is a seisure , upon the approach of Parliament , of goods amounting to five thousand pounds for a pretended duty of two hundred pounds Custome , Its time to look about us . In the first year of King James , by reason of the sicknesse that there was , the Parliament was prorogued ; and then there were some so bold as to take this Tunnage and Poundage , and then we questioned the men tha● demanded it . Let us proceed with affection of duty , and make up breaches , let a Committee be appointed for the examination of these proceedings . This businesse was referred to a Committee , and the Officers of the Custome House ( who had seized these Merchants goods ) were ordered to be sent for , and whilst they were in Debate of this businesse , the King sent a Message to the House , and willed them to desist from further Debate of those matters concerning Tunnage and Poundage , till the next day in the afternoon , at which time , he would speake with them at the Banqueting House at Whitehall , Where his Majesty made this Speech . THe care I have to remove all Obstacles that may hinder the good correspondency between me and this Parliament , is the cause I have called you together at this time , the particular occasion being a complaint made in the Lower House . And for you my Lords , I am glad to take this , and all other occasions whereby you may clearly understand both my words and actions , for as you are neerest in Degree , so you are the fittest Witnesses unto Kings . The complaint I speak of is for staying mens goods that denyed Tunnage and Poundage , this may have an easie and short conclusion , if my words and actions be rightly understood , for by passing the Bill as my Ancestors have had it , my by-past actions will be included , and my future proceedings authorized , which certainly would not have been stuck on , if men had not imagined that I had taken these duties as appertaining to my Hereditary Prerogative , in which they are much deceived , for it ever was , and still is my meaning , by the gift of my people to enjoy it , and my intention in my Speech at the ending of the last Session concerning this point , was not to challenge Tunnage and Poundage as of right , but de bene esse , shewing you the necessity , not the right by which I was to take it untill you had granted it to me , assuring my self , according to your general professions , you wanted time , not will to give it me . Wherefore now having opportunity , I expect that without losse of time , you make good your professions , and so by passing of a Bill , put an end to all the Questions arising from this Subject : especially since I have cleared the onely Scruple that can trouble you in this businesse ; to conclude , Let us not be jealous one of the others actions , for if I had been easily moved at every occasion , the Order you made on Wednesday last , might have made me startle , there being some shew to suspect that you had given your selves the liberty to be the Inquisitors after complaints ( the words of your Order being somewhat too largely pend ) but looking into your actions , I find you only here complainers , not seeking complaints : for I am certain you neither pretend , nor desire the liberty to be Inquisitors of mens actions before particular complaint be made . This I have spoken , to shew you how slow I am to believe harshly of your proceedings , likewise to assure you , that the Houses Resolutions , not particular mens speeches , shall make me judge well or ill , not doubting , but according to my example you will be deaf to ill reports concerning me , till my words and actions speake for themselves , that so this Session beginning with confidence one towards another , it may end with a perfect good understanding between us . Which God grant . Munday the 26. of Ianuary . MR. Secretary Cook delivered a Message from the King to the House of Commons , that the Bill for Tunnage and Poundage might be speedily taken into consideration , and that time might not be slipt , and did very much press ( in his Majesties n●me ) the reading thereof as a matter of weight and importance , and said that he spake it for their service , and that moderation in their proceedings , would be of great advantage to them ; But the House being troubled to have the Bill imposed upon them , which ought naturally to arise from themselves , did at that time forbear to speak their minds freely , and resolved to husband their time , and did accordingly further impower the Committee to examine violation of Libertie , and property since the last Session of Parliament , and resolved to proceed in the next place , with matters of Religion , and particularly against the Sect of Arminians , upon which occasion Mr. Rous spake to this purpose . Mr. Speaker , we have of late entered into consideration of the Petition of Right , and the violation of it , and upon good reason , for it concerns our Goods , Liberties , and Laws , but there is a right of higher nature , that preserves for us far greater things , Eternal life , our souls , yea our God himself , a Religion derived to us from the King of Kings , confirmed upon us by the Kings of this Kingdom , Enacted by Laws in this place , streaming down to us in the blood of Martyrs , witnessed from Heaven by miracles , even miraculous deliverances , and this Right in the name of this Nation , I this day require and claim that there may be a deep , and serious consideration of the violation of it ; I desire it may be considered wh●t new paintings are laid on the old face of the whore of Babylon , to make her shew more lovely , and to draw so many suitors to her , I desire that it may be considered how the See of Rome doth eat into our Religion , and fret into the Banks , and walls of it , the Laws and Statutes of this Realm , especially since those Laws have been made in a manner by themselves , even by their own Treasons , and bloody Designs : And since that Popery is a confused heap of Errors , casting down Kings before Popes , the Precepts of God , before the Traditions of men ( living and reasonable men ) before dead and sensless stocks and stones ; I desire that we may consider the increase of Arminianism , an Error that makes the Grace of God lackey it after the will of man , that makes the sheep to keep the Shepherd , and makes a mortal seed of an Immortal God. Yea I desire that we may look into the very belly and bowells of this Trojan Horse , to see if there be not men in it ready to open the Gates to Romish Tyranny , and Spanish Monarchy : for an Arminian is the Spawn of a Papist , and if there come the warmth of favour upon him , you shall see him turn into one of those Froggs that rise out of the bottomless pit ; And if you mark it well , you shall see an Arminian reaching out his hand to a Papist , a Papist to a Jesuite , a Jesuite gives one hand to the Pope , and another to the King of Spaine , and these men having kindled a fire in our neighbour Country , now they have brought over some of it hither , to set on flame this Kingdom also : Yea , let us further search and consider whether these be not the men , that break in upon the goods and Liberties of this Common-wealth , for by this means they make way for the taking away of our Religion ; it was an old trick of the Devil , when he meant to take away Iobs Religion , he begun at his goods , saying , lay thy hand on all he hath , and he will curse thee to thy face ; either they think thereby to set a distaste between Prince and People , or else to finde some other way of supply , to avoid or break Parliaments : that so they may break in upon our Religion , and bring in their errours . But let us do as Iob did , who being constant against temptation , held fast his Religion , and his goods were restored to him with advantage , so if we hold fast God and our Religion , these things shall be added unto us ; Let us consider the times past , how this Nation flourished in honour and abundance , when Religion flourished amongst us ; but as Religion decayed , so the honour and strength of this Nation decayed also ; when the soul of a Common-wealth is dead , the body cannot longer overlive it ; If a man meet a dogg alone , the dogg is fearful , though never so fierce by nature , but if that dogg have his Master by him , he will set upon that man , from whence he fled before . This shews that lower natures being backt with the higher , increase in courage and strength ; and certainly man being backt with omnipotency , is a kind of omnipotency , all things are possible to him that believeth , and where all things are possible ; there is a kind of omnipotence ; wherefore let us now by the unanimous consent and resolution of us all , make a vow and covenant , henceforth to hold fast , I say to hold fast , our God , and our Religion ; And then may we from henceforth certainly expect prosperity on this Kingdom and Nation , and to this Covenant let every man say , Amen . Tuesday the 27. of Ianuary . A Report was made to the House from the Committee for Religion , of matters concerning Religion , which passed the last Session and were since that time delivered by the Clerk ( by Command from the King ) to some whom his Majesty had sent for the same ; for want whereof the Committee could not proceed , hereupon Master Secretary Cook brings this message from the King , that his Majesty understanding the R●monstrance concerning Religion was called for , was pleased ( to take away all Question ) to command him to deliver it unto them , hoping never the lesse that they will proceed with the Bill for Tunnage and Poundage , and give precedency to that business , and so put an end to a further dispute between some of his Subjects [ meaning the Customers , and Merchants , whose goods were seized by the Customers for Tunnage and Poundage , ] or else he shall think his speech , which was with good applause accepted , had not that good effect which he expected . But the House thought fit to prefer Religion , and to give it the first place in their debates , saying , if Popery and Arminianisme joyne hand in hand together , it would by degrees bring in Spanish tyranny , under which these Laws and Liberties , must Cease . Besides that it was fit time to enquire what persons have been advanced to Ecclesiastical preferments , and to whom pardons have been granted since the last Session ; That Religion concerns the King as well as the Subjects , and the work of the Lord must not be done negligently , whereupon the House was Disolved into a Commitee , and gave Religion the precedency of Tunnage and poundage . And in the Commitee Mr. Pymme spake as followeth . TWo diseases there be ( said he ) the one old , the other new ; the old Popery , the new Arminianism ; there be three things to be inquired after concerning Popery . 1. The cessation of the Execution of Laws against Papists . 2. How the Papists have been imployed and countenanced . 3. The Law violated in bringing in of superstitious ceremonies amongst us , especially at Durham , by Mr. Cozens , as Angels , Crucifixes , Saints , Altars , Candles on Candlemas day , burnt in the Church after the Popish manner . For Arminianisme let it be advised . 1. That a way be open for the truth . 2. That whereas by the Articles set forth , 1562. and by the Catechism set forth in King Edward the sixths days , and by the writing of Martin Bucer , and Peter Martyr , who were employed in making our Articles ; and by the constant professions , sealed by the blood of so many Martyrs , as Cranmer , Ridley , and others , and by the 36. Articles in Queen Elizabeths time , and by the Articles agreed upon at Lambeth , as the Doctrine of the Church of England , which King Iames sent to Dort , and to Ireland , and were avowed by us and our State ; his Majesty hath expressed himself in preserving unity in Religion established , though his royal intention , notwithstanding , hath been perverted by some to suppresse the truth . Let us shew wherein these late opinions are contrary to those setled truths , and what men have been since preferred , that have professed these Heresies ; what pardons they have had for false doctrine ; what prohibiting of Books , and writings against their doctrine , and permitting of such books as have been for them : Let us inquire after the Abettors ; Let us enquire also after the pardons granted of late to some of these , and the presumption of some that dare preach the contrary to truth before his Majesty . It belongs to the duty of Parliament to establish true Religion , and to punish false ; we must know what Parliaments have done formerly in Religion . Our Parliaments have confirmed general Councels . In the time of King Henry 8. the Earl of Essex was condemned for countenancing books of Heresie ; For the convocation , it is but a Provincial Sinod of Canturbury , and cannot bind the whole Kingdom . As for York that is distant and cannot do any thing to bind us or the Laws ; For the High-Commission , it was derived from Parliament . Wednesday 28. Secretary Cook delivered another message to the House concerning the precedency of Tunnage and Poundage , declaring that his Majesty intends not thereby to interrupt them , as to Religion , so that they do not intrench on that which belongs not to them which message was seconded by Sir Thomas Edmonds in these words . I am sorry the House hath given cause to so many messages about Tunnage and Poundage after his Majesty hath given us so much satisfaction , you may perceive his Majesty is sensible of the neglect of his businesse , we that know this , should not discharge our duties to you if we should not perswade you to that course which should procure his Majesties good opinion of you : You your selves are witnesses how industrious his Majesty was to procure you gracious Laws in his fathers time , and since , what inlargement he hath made of our Liberties , and still we give him cause to repent him of the good he hath done . Consider how dangerous it is to alienate his Majesties heart from Parliaments . Master Corriton replied . WHen men speak here of neglect of duty to his Majesty , let them know we know no such thing , nor what they mean : And I see not how we do neglect the same ; I see it is in all our hearts to expedite the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage in due time : our businesse is still put back by these Messages , and the businesse in hand is of God ; and his Majesties affairs are certainly amisse , and every one sees it , and woe be to us , if we present them not to his Majesty . The House resolved to send an answer to the King , that these messages are inconvenient , and breed debates and losse of time , and did further resolve that Tunnage and Poundage , arising naturally from this House , they would in fit time take such a course therein , as they hoped would be to his Majesties satisfaction and honour , and so again agreed to proceed at present in matters of Religion . Sir Iohn Eliot upon this occasion spake to this purpose , I have always observed ( said he ) that in the proceedings of this House , our best advantage is order , and I was very glad when that noble Gentleman , my Country-man , gave occasion to state our proceedings , for I fear it would have carried us into a Sea of confusion and disorder , and having now occasion to present my thoughts in this great and weighty businesse of Religion , I shall be bold to speak a few words . There is a jealousie conceived , as if we meant to dispute in matters of faith , it is our profession , this is not to be disputed , it is not in the Parliament to make a new Religion , nor I hope shall it be in any to alter the body of the truth , which we now professe , I must confess amongst all those fears we have contracted , there ariseth to me not one of the least dangers in the Declaration that is made and publisht in his Majesties name concerning disputing and preaching , let not this my saying bear the least suspition or jealousie of his Majesty , for if there be any misprision or Error , I hope it is those Ministers about him , which not only he , but all Princes are subject unto , and Princes no doubt are subject to mis-informations , and many actions may be intitled to their Names , when it is not done by themselves . Antiochus King of Asia sent his Letters and missives to several Provinces , that if they received any dispatches in his name , not agreeable to justice , Ignoto se litteras esse scriptas ideoque iis non parerent , and the reason of it is given by Gratian , because that oftentimes by the importunity of Ministers Principes saepe constringuntur , ut non concedenda concedant , are drawn to grant things by them not to be granted ; and as it was in that age , so it may be in this . And now to the particular in the Declaration , we see what is said of Popery and Arminianism , our Faith and Religion is in danger by it , for like an Inundation it doth break in at once upon us . It is said , if there be any difference in Opinion concerning the seasonable interpretation of the 39. Articles , the Bishops and the Clergy in the Convocation have power to dispute it , and to order which way they please , and for ought I know , Popery and Arminianism may be introduced by them , and then it must be received by all , a slight thing , that the power of Religion should be left to the persons of these men , I honour their profession , there are among our Bishops such as are fit to be made examples for all Ages , who shine in vertue , and are firm for our Religion , but the contrary Faction I like not ; I remember a character I have seen in a Diary of E. 6. that young Prince of famous memory , where he doth expresse the condition of the Bishops of that time under his own hand writing , That some for sloath , some for age , some for ignorance , some for luxury , and some for Popery , were unfit for Discipline and Government . We see there are some among our Bishops who are not Orthodox , nor sound in Religion as they should be , witness the two Bishops complained of the last meeting of the Parliament , I apprehend such a feare , that should we be in their power , we may be in danger to have our Religion overthrown , some of these are Masters of Ceremonies , and they labour to introduce new Ceremonies into the Church ; Yet some Ceremonies are useful , give me leave to joyn that I hold it necessary and commendable , that at the repetition of the Creed we should stand up , to testifie the resolution of our hearts , that we will defend the Religion which we profess , and in some Churches it is added , they did not only stand upright with their bodies , but with their Swords drawn . Let us go to the ground of our Religion , and lay down a Rule on which all others may rest ; then when that is done , it will be time to take into consideration the breakers and offendors of that Rule ; Hereupon , after some Debate the Commons entered into this Vow . The Vow of the House of Commons in Parliament . WEE the Commons in Parliament Assembled , do Claim , Protest , and Avow for truth , the sence of the Articles of Religion , which were established by Parliament , in the thirteenth year of our late Queen Elizabeth , which by the publique Act of the Church of England , and by the generall , and currant Expositions of the Writers of our Church , have been delivered unto us . And we reject the sence of the Jesuites , and Arminians , and all others wherein they differ from us . Friday the thirtieth of January 1628. Both Houses joyn in Petitioning the King for a Fast. MOst Gracious Soveraign , It is the very earnest desire of us your most dutiful Subjects , the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and Commons in this Parliament Assembled , that this meeting may be abundantly blessed with all happy successe in the great affairs of Church and State , upon which we are to consult , and that by a cleare understanding , both of your Majesties goodness unto us , and of our ever faithfull , and Loyal hearts to your Majesties Royal Person and service , ( all jealousies and distractions , which are apparent signs of Gods displeasure , and of ensuing mischief being removed ) there may this Session , and for ever be , a perfect and most happy union , and agreement between your Majesty and all the Estates of this Realm : But acknowledging that neither this , nor any other blessing can be expected , without the especiall favour of Almighty God , upon the observation of the continued increasing miseries of the Reformed Churches abroad , ( whose cases , with bleeding hearts we compassionate ) as likewise of those punishments already inflicted , And which are like in great measure to fall upon our selves , we have just cause to conceive , that the Divine Majesty is for our sins exceedingly offended against us , wherefore we do in these , and all other pious respects , most Dread Soveraign , humbly beseech your most excellent Majesty , by your Royal consent , and Commandment , that not only our selves , but all people of your Kingdom , may be speedily enjoyned upon some certain day , by your Majesty to be prefixed , by publique Fasting , and Prayer to seek reconciliation , at the merciful hands of Almighty God , So that the prayers of the whole Kingdom , joyned with your Majesties most Princely care , and the faithful hearts and endeavours of this great Councel assembled , may procure honour to Almighty God in the preservation of his true Religion , much honour to your Majesty , prosperity to your people , and comfort to your Majesties Friends and Allies . The Kings Answer to the Petition . MY Lords , and Gentlemen , The chief Motive of your Petition , being the deplorable Condition of the Reformed Churches abroad , is too true : And our duty is so much as in us lieth , to give them all possible help ; But certainly , fighting will doe them more good then fasting : though I doe not wholly disallow of the latter ; yet I must tell you , that the custome of fasting every Session , is but lately begun , and I confesse I am not fully satisfied with the necessity of it at this time . Yet to shew you how smoothly I desire your businesse to go on , ( eschewing as much as I can Questions or jealousies ) I doe willingly grant your request herein , but with this Note , That this shall not hereafter be brought into president for frequent Fasts , except upon great occasions ; And for form and time , I will advise with my Lords the Bishops , and then send you a particular Answer . Soon after the House of Commons presented a Declaration to the King , touching their resolutions to give precedency to Religion . MOst Gracious Sovereign , We have within these three dayes received from your Majesty a Message , putting us in minde of our present entring upon the consideration of a Grant of Tunnage and Poundage , but the manner of possessing , the House therewith being disagreeable to our Orders and Priviledges , that we could not proceed therein ; And finding our selves in your Majesties name pressed in that businesse , and that we should give precedency thereunto , we cannot but expresse some sence of sorrow , fearing that the most hearty and forward affections , wherewith we desire to serve your Majesty , are not clearly represented unto you : besides , such is the solicitous care we have in preserving our selves , in your Majesties most gracious and good opinion , that it cannot but breed much trouble in us , when ever we find our selves ( as now we are enforced ) to spend that time in making our humble Apologies , from whence doe usually arise long Debates , which we conceive might very profitably be applyed in the greater Services of your Majesty , and the Common-wealth , which we did with all humble diligence apply our selves unto ; and finding the extream dangers , wherewith our Religion is threatned ( clearly presenting it unto our thoughts and considerations ) We thought , and we think , we cannot without impiety to God , disloyalty to your Majesty ( and unthankfulnesse to those from whom we are put in trust ) retard our proceedings until something be done to secure us in this maine point , which we prefer above our lives , and all earthly things whatsoever ; And here we do with all humble thankfulnesse acknowledge your Majesties most pious care , and Princely Intentions to suppresse both Popery and Arminianism ; the Professor of the one , being an open enemy 〈◊〉 the maintainer of the other , a subtil and more dangerous underminer of the Religion of Almighty God , established within your Realmes and Dominions : The truth of which our whole Religion or any part thereof , ( as being sufficiently known , and received generally here of all the Members of our Church , except onely of some schismatical persons who have of late years taken the boldnesse to broach their contrary corrupt opinions ) we desire should not be called in question , or doubt ; But howsoever it hath pleased your Majesty to our exceeding great comfort , by many Testimonies to declare your own constant resolution to maintain the said Religion , yet we see how your gracious purposes are therin crost , and into what a miserable condition your whole Kingdom is likely by that means to be reduced ; we shall earnestlie endeavour , ( as that which doth nearly concerne us ) the safety and prosperitie of your Majestie , and people which are in such sort disordered , that ruine thereby threatned to both , may by Gods blessing be prevented ; being most heartilie sorrie that these occasions are offered , which did thus hinder our proceedings ; And therefore as well for dignity , and necessitie of the matter , as for that we conceive it to be the most speedy and effectual way , by uniting of all our hearts and endeavours to dispatch all other businesse of importance particularlie those which may seem more immediatlie to respect your Majesties profit , We pray that our resolutions of preferring this businesse , before all others may be acceptable to your Majestie , to whom , both in the matter and manner of our proceedings , we desire to give all possible satisfaction . Whereunto the King thus Answered . GEntlemen , this Answer being somewhat long , may in reason require some time to reply unto it , since as most of you cannot but judge this giveth no satisfaction . Therefore I shall give you some short notes upon it ; I cannot think , that whereas you alledge that the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage was brought in against the priviledge of your House ; That you will offer to take so much priviledge from every one of your members , as not to allow them the liberty to bring in any Bill whatsoever ; although it be in your power when it is brought in , to do with it what you think good ; And I cannot imagine , you coming together by my power , and to treat of things that I propound unto you , can deny me that Prerogative to commend or offer my Bill unto you ; though in this particular I must confess , that this Bill was not to have been offered to you in my Name , as that Member of your House can bear witness . As for the cause of delay in my businesse , ( being Religion ) there is none of you shall have a greater care for the true preservation of it then my self , which since it is confessed by your Answer ; You must either think I want power ( which cannot be ) or that I am very ill councelled , if it be in so much danger as you affirm : Though I may say much of this , I will say no more , but that for all this I shall not stop mine ears to you upon this subject , so that in form and matter you transgresse not your limits ; as for Tunnage and Poundage ; I do not so much desire it out of greediness of the thing ( being perswaded you will make no stop in it , when you once take it in hand ) as out of a desire to put an end to those Questions that do arise between me and some of my Subjects , thinking it a strange thing , if you should give Ear to those complaints , and not to take the sure and speedy way to decide them : Besides , I must think it strange , that this business of Religion , should only be a hinderer of my Affaires , whereas I am certainly informed all other things go according to their ordinary course ; therefore I must still be instant with you ▪ that you proceed with Tunnage and Poundage with diligence ( not looking to be denied in so just a desire ) and you must not think it strange , i● I finding you slack , give you such further quickning as I shall find cause . Hereupon Secretary Cook did acknowledge , that at the presenting of the Bill of Tunnage to be read , he said his Majesty much desired it , but it was a mistake that his Majesty commanded it . Wednesday the 4. of February . THe House fell into debate of the Kings Declaration published in print , to prohibite dispute or preaching one way or other concerning the matters mentioned in the Declaration , alledging in the debate that the main end thereof was to suppress the Puritan party , and yet to give liberty to the contrary side , and they conceived that Bishop Laud , and Bishop Montague , mentioned in the last Remonstrance , had advised the King to that Declaration ; Bishop Laud being advanced since the last Session of Parliament , to be Bishop of London , and Mr. Montague since that time made Bishop of Chichester ; And a Warrant was grantted to the Attourney General to draw up a pardon for him , but whereas the Warrant was but for one , the Attourney put four into the pardon ( viz. ) Bishop Montague , Doctor Cosens , Doctor Sibthorp , and Doctor Manwaring . Tuesday the 10. of February . WHilst the House was in debate touching matters of Religion , the Ware-house of Mr. Rolls ( Merchant and Member of the House then sitting in Parliament ) was locked up by a Pursuevant , and himself called forth from the Committee and served with a Subpoenâ . This gave occasion of smart debates in the House , some said they were made the subject of scorn and contempt ; others conceived this to be a bone thrown in by them that have drawn a cloud on the true Religion to divert or interrupt them in the prosecution of that matter , and they desired the messenger might be sent for , and be examined by what procurement this Subpoenâ was taken forth . Sir Humphrey May , Chancellor of the Duchy , and one of the Privy Councel , assured the House that this neither proceeded from King nor Councel , and therefore desired it might be searched into the bottome . And it was afterwards cleared by Master Atturney General , by his writing a Letter to Mr. Rolls , that the serving a Subpoenâ upon him was a mistake ; and prayed that a favourable interpretation might be given of that matter . Upon report from the Committee for Tunnage and Poundage , Sir Iohn Wolstenholme , Mr. Dawes , and Mr. Carmarthan were ordered to appear at the Barr on Friday next , and report was made to the House that Master Atturney ( notwithstanding his Letter did give order for the processe against Mr. Rolls , and that in the Bill preferred in the Exchequer , it was expressed the Merchants did plot , practice and combine against the peace of the Kingdome ; This business being a matter of weight , the further consideration thereof was appointed for another day , and no member might go out of Town without Licence . Thursday the 12. of February . THe House was turned into a Committee concerning the business of Tunnage and Poundage , and several Merchants did Petition that their goods were not only seized , but informations preferred in Star-Chamber against them ; The Committee in their debate inclined that the Merchants might have their goods before they enter upon the Bill for Tunnage , and Mr. Noy expressed himself in these words . We cannot safely give , unless we be in possession , and the proceedings in the Exchequer nullified , as also the information in the Star-Chamber , and the annexion to the Petition of Right , for it will not be a gift , but a confirmation , neither will I give without the removal of these interruptions , and a Declaration in the Bill that the King hath no right but by our free gift ; if it will not be accepted , as it is fit for us to give , we cannot help it ; if it be the Kings already , we do not give it . Hereupon the House ordered that the Barons of the Exchequer be sent unto ▪ to make void their injunction and order , concerning the staying of Merchants goods , to which the Barons returned this answer . Whereas the Honourable House of Commons by order of the 12. of this instant February have appointed that notice shall be given to the Lord Treasurer , Chancellor , & Barons of the Exchequer of a Declaration made by Sir Iohn VVolstenholme , Abrah . Dawes , and Rich. Carmarthan in the House of Commons , that the goods that the Merchants brought into the Kings Store-house , and laid up there for his Majesties use , were detained , as they conceive , onely for the duty of Tunnage and Poundage , and other sums comprized in the Book of rates , which notice was given , to the end the said Court of Exchequer might further proceed therein , as to justice shall appertain ; Now the Lord Treasurer , Chancellour and Barons out of their due respect to that honourable House , and for their satisfaction , do signifie that by the Orders and Injunctions of the said Court of Exchequer they did not determine , nor any way touch upon the right of Tunnage and Poundage , and so they declared openly in Court , at the making of these Orders , neither did they by the said Orders or Injunctions barr the Owners of those goods , to sue for the same in a lawful course , but whereas the said Owners endeavoured to take the same goods out of the Kings actual possession by Writs , or Plaints of Replevin , which was no lawful action or course in the Kings case , nor agreeable to his Royal Prerogative , therefore the said Court of Exchequer , being the Court for ordering the Kings Revenue , did by those Orders and Injunctions stay those Suits , and did fully declare by the said Orders , that the owners , if they conceived themselves wronged , might take such remedy as the Law alloweth . Richard Weston , Iohn Walter , Tho. Trevor . Lo. Newburgh . Iohn Denham . George Vernon . The Answer of the Lord Treasurer and Barons , instead of satisfaction expected by the House , was looked upon as a justification of their Actions , whereupon a motion was made to go on , to consider of their proceedings , and whether ever the Court of Exchequer held this course before , for staying of Replevins , and whether this hath been done by Prerogative of the King in his Court of Exchequer . A report was made from the Committee concerning the pardons granted by the King since the last Session , to certain persons questioned in Parliament , and the reporter informed the House , that they do finde upon examination that Dr. Sibthorpe , and Mr : Cosens did solicite the obtaining of their own pardons , and that they said the Bishop of Winchester would get the Kings hand to them , and it did also appear to the Committee , that the Bishop of Winchester did promise the procuring of Mr. Montagues pardon , that Dr. Manwaring solicited his own pardon , and that the Bishop of Winchester got the Kings hand to it , Mr. Oliver Cromwell being of this Committee , informed the House what countenance the Bishop of Winchester did give to some persons that preached flat Popery , and mentioned the persons by name , and how by this Bishops means , Manwaring ( who by censure the last Parliament , was disabled for ever holding any Ecclesiasticall dignity in the Church , and confessed the Justice of that Censure ) is nevertheless preferred to a rich Living : If these be the steps to Church preferment ( said he ) what may we expect . A Petition from the Booksellers and Printers in London , was also presented , complaining of the restraint of Books written against Popery and Arminianism , and the contrary allowed of by the only means of Dr. Laud Bishop of London , and that divers of the Printers and Booksellers have been sent for by Pursuivants for ●rinting Books against Popery , and that Licensing is only restrained to the Bishop of London and his Chaplains , and instanced in certain Books against Popery , which were denyed to be Licenced . Upon which occasion Mr. Selden declared , that it is true , there is no Law to prevent the Printing of any Books in England , only a Decree in Star-Chamber , and he advised that a Law might be made concerning Printing , otherwise he said a man might be Fined , Imprisoned , and his Goods taken from him by vertue of the said Decree , which is a great Invasion upon the Liberty of the Subject . The House of Commons being informed that an Information was preferred in the Star-Chamber , against Richard Chambers and others , concerning some matters that fell out about their refusal to pay Tunnage and Poundage since the last Session of Parliament , because the same was not granted by Act of Parliament , they referred the same to a Committee to examine the truth of their proceedings , and that whither they ought not to have priviledge of Parliament , in regard they had then a Petition depending in Parliament to protect them against the said proceedings , and Sir William Acton Sheriff of London , being examined before the Committee concerning some matters about the Customers , and not giving that cleare Answer which he ought , and as the House conceived he might have done , was therefore committed to the Tower of London . And a Question mas made in the House at that time , whether the House had at any time before committed a Sheriff of London to prison , to which Mr. Selden made Answer , that he could not call to mind a president of sending one Sheriff of London to prison , but he well remembred a president of sending both the Sheriffs of London to the Tower , and instanced the Case . Friday February 13. the Parliament fell into consideration of the great increase of Popery , and it was moved to examine the releasing of the Jesuites that were arraigned at Newgate , whereof one onely was condemned , though they were ten in number , and they all Priests , and had a Colledge here in London about Clerken-well , these men ( said some ) could not attempt these acts of boldness , but that they have great countenancers . Hereup●n Secretary Cook declared that a Minister of State having notice of these ten persons , and this Colledge intended to be kept at Clarkenwell , acquainted his Majesty with it , and I should not discharge my duty , if I should not declare how much his M●jesty referred it to the especial care of the Lords of the Councel , who examining the same , sent those ten persons to Newgate , and gave order to Mr. Attourney to prosecute the Law against them . He further added , that this Colledge was first at Edmonton , removed from thence to Camberwel , and thence to Clerkenwell . Hereupon it was Ordered that all the Knights and Burgesses of the House , shall to morrow morning declare what knowledge they have of Letters , and other means that have been used for the staying of proceedings against Recusants , and Messengers were sent to Mr. Attourney to examine him touching that matter . Mr. Long a Justice of Peace , who was said to understand much in the same business ; was likewise sent for and examined , and said ; that by the appointment of Mr. Secretary Cook , he apprehended these persons , and took their Examinations , and said further , that he heard they were delivered out of Newgate , by Order from Mr. Attourney ; That Mr. Middlemore a general Solicitor for the Papists hired this house , and that there are divers Books of Accompts , of Receipts and Disbursements to the value of 300. l. per an . with divers Recusants names , who allowed towards the maintenance of this Colledge , and these Books and papers are in the hands of Mr. Secretary Cook. It was further reported from the Committee , that the Priest taken at Clerkenwell , which was condemned , should be Reprieved by a Warrant from the King , signified by a Privy Councellor : and another Warrant was produced by the Keeper of Newgate , under the hand of the Kings Atturney General to release the other 9. Priests ; to which Mr. Secretary Cook replyed , the K. being merciful in case of blood , gave direction for the Reprieving the condemned Priest , but the House not willing to let this pass , appointed certain of their Members to go to the Lord chief Justice and the rest of the Judges , who were there present at the Trial , to know why the Papers and Evidences which Mr. Long had to produce , were not made use of . The Committee appointed to examine the Atturny-General , reported this answer : I did receive ( said the Atturny ) order touching some Persons taken in Clarkenwel , conceived to be Priests , from the Council-Board , and for that refer myself to the Order . And I conceive I did follow the directions of that Order . I did my self cause them to be sent for from the several prisons where they were formerly committed , and I committed them all to Newgate , as the Order from the Council-Board directed ; and I gave directions for Indictments to be drawn against them , as for being Priests ; and I sent for , and conferred with the witnesses , and took their Informations : and I sent for Mr. Long who was formerly acquainted with that business , as I was advised to do by Mr. Secretary Cook , and desired him to take special care thereof at the Sessions . And I did not conceive , that by the Order I was directed to go thither my self ; but if I had been so directed , and had so conceived it , I should not have declined the service . I know not , nor never heard of any Lands conveyed to the use of these persons , or of any foundation there ; but there was some mention made thereof in some of the papers delivered to me by Mr. Secretary , but so generally , as I know not how to enquire thereof ; but I did take care to intitle the King to the goods , as the special directions to me was by the Order of the Board ; and the Indictment failed to be found against all but one : and I gave warrant to the Treasurers remembrancer of the Exchequer , for a special commission to that purpose ; and I advised with Mr. Long , who were sit Commissioners for that purpose ; and after with Mr. Scrivener : and a Commission was granted to Gentlemen of very good quality , and an inquisition is found and returned accordingly , whereby the King is intitled to the goods . I had warrant from his Majesty to bayl them : but for the manner of that , I must crave leave to acquaint the King therewith , before I answer any further . I understood that an Indictment was preferred against three of them for Treason , and I did direct Mr. Long , that if the Indictment should not be ●ound for Treason , yet to tender them and all the rest the Oath of Allegeance , to bring them within the Kings mercy , upon a Premunire , if they should refuse the Oath : and I understood the Oath was ministred to them accordingly at that Sessions ; and I understood after , that the Indictment was found against one of them onely to be a Priest , and that the other were quit . Therefore receiving an express commandment from the King for the bayling of them , I did conceive they were baylable , which otherwise of my self I would not have done : the Bonds I took , and keep them my self , for the surety , I refer my self to the bond , and understand that some of them were house-keepers in the Town . I gave directions for Indictments to be drawn against them , but I gave no special directions , whether it should be drawn as against Iesuits or Priests , but left that to the care of Mr. Long ; and did not then conceive there was any difference in the substance of the Indictment for Treason between Priests and Iesuits . I can give no special reason why I rather bound them to appear at the Council-Table then at the Sessions , but only this , because I received my first directions from the Council-Board . When the Sessions was past , I did enquire of Mr. Long what was the success of these Indictments : who informed me , that one only was found guilty of being a Priest ; and thereupon I gave order for the Commission before mentioned to enquire of their goods . And being again sent unto for a clearer answer , he said , For he Warrant which I received for the discharge of the prisoners , and the Bond taken by me upon their deliverance , which has a dependance upon that Warrant , and whereof ye require an account , I have attended his Majesty , but ye have no leave to shew them ; and the Bonds being taken but in December last , I keep them with me , as I conceive was proper for my place ; but shall be ready to deliver them when I shall receive a commandment to that purpose . Wednesday the eighteenth of February , the Fast was kept ; and the nineteenth of February , Mr. Dawes one of the Customers , being called in to answer the point of Priviledge in taking Mr. Rolls Goods , a Member of this House , said , That he took Mr. Rolls Goods by vertue of a Commission under the great Seal , and other Warrants . That he knew Mr. Rolls demanded his Priviledge , but he did understand his Priviledge did onely extend to his person , not to his goods . And he further said , He took those Goods for such duties as were due in the time of King James , and that the King had sent for him on Sunday last , and commanded him to make no other answer . Mr. Carmarthen , another of the Customers , being called in , said , That he knew Mr. Rolls to be a Parliament-man , and told him , He did not finde any Parliament-man exempted in their Commission ; and as for the words charged on him , that he should say , If all the body of the House were in him , he would not deliver the Goods ; he answered , If he said he would not , it was because he could not . Mr. Selden hereupon said , If here be any near the King that doth mis-present our Actions , let the curse light on them , not on us ; and believe it , it is high time to vindicate our selves in this case , else it is in vain for us to sit here . It was hereupon resolved by question , That this shall be presently taken into consideration ; and being conceived to be a business of great consequence , it was ordered that the house be dissolved into a Committee , for the more freedom of debate ; and that no Member go out of the House without leave , during the sitting of the Committee . Mr. Noy was of opinion , That the Customers had neither Commission nor command to seize , therefore without doubt the House may proceed safely to the Question ; that the priviledge is broken by the Customers , without relation to any commission or command from the King : which motion was seconded by Mr. Nathaniel Rich. Munday the 23 of February , the same business continued under debate , and some were for a bare restitution of the Goods taken , others for impleading those who took them as Delinquents : in the mean time , Mr. Secretary brought this message from the King , That it concerns his Majesty in a high degree of justice and honour , that truth be not concealed ; which is , that what the Customers did , was by his own direct order and command , at the Council-board , himself being present : and though his Majesty takes it well that the house have severed his interest from the interest of the Customers , yet this will not clear his Majesties honour , if the said Customers should suffer for his sake . This message was grounded upon this ensuing Order made the day preceding by the King in full Council . At White-hall the 22 of February , 1628. THis day his Majesty in full council taking knowledge of the debate in the house of Commons the day before , concerning the Officers of his Customs , and of the respect used by the Committee to sever the private interest of the said Officers from that of his Maj●sty ; holding it to concern him highly in justice and honour , to let the truth in such a point touching his servants , to be either concealed or mistaken , did there declare , That what was formerly done by his Farmers and Officers of the Customs , was done by his own direction and commandment , and by direction and commandment of his Privy-Council , himself for the most part being present in Council : and if he had been at any time from the Council-board , yet he was acquainted with their doings , and gave full direction in it ; and therefore could not in this sever the act of his Officers from his own Act , neither could his Officers suffer for it without high ▪ dishonour to his Majesty . This being particularly voted by the whole Council , was the general assent of them all ; and accordingly Mr. Secretary Cook had order to deliver a Message the next day from his Majesty to the house of Commons . The Kings Commission to the Lord Treasurer , and Barons of the Exchequer , and to the Customers of the Ports , was to this effect : C. R. WHereas the Lords of our Council taking into consideration our Revenue , and finding that Tonnage and Poundage is a principal Revenue of our Crown , and has been continued for these many years ; have therefore ordered all those duties of Subsidie , Custome and Impost , as they were in the 21 of King Iames , and as they shall be appointed by us under our Seal , to be levied : know ye , that we by advice of our Lords , declare our will , that all those duties be levied and collected as they were in the time of our father , and in such manner as we shall appoint : and if any person refuse to pay , then our will is , That the Lord Treasurer shall commit to prison such so refusing , till they conform themselves ; and we give full power to all our officers from time to time to give assistance to the Farmers of the same , as fully as when they were collected by Authority of Parliament . Soon after report was made from the grand Committee , that they took into their consideration the violation of the Liberty of the house by the Customers ; and at last they resolved that Mr. Rolls , a Member of the house , ought to have priviledge of person and goods ; but the command of the King is so great , that they leave it to the house . After the passing of this vote , the Kings late message by Mr. Secretary Cook was taken into consideration . Some took occasion to say , That these interruptions proceeded from some Prelates , and other Abettors of the Popish party , who feare to be discovered , and would provoke to a breach : to which Sir Humphry May reply'd : We have Oyl and Vinegar before us ; if you go to punish the Customers as Delinquents , there is Vinegar in the Wound : Think rather of some course to have restitution ; others said , Delinquency cannot be named , but presently a breach must be intimated : when we do that which is just , let there be no fear nor memory of Breaches , and let us go to the Delinquency of the men . Hereupon Sir Iohn Elliot made a Speech , and therein named Dr. Neal the Bishop of Winchester , and the great Lord Treasurer , in whose person ( said he ) all evil is contracted ; I find him acting and building on those grounds laid by his Mr. the Great Duke ; and his spirit is moving to these interruptions , and they for fear break Parliaments , lest Parliaments should break them ▪ I find him the head of all the great party ; the * Papists , all Jesuits and Priests derive from him their shelter and protection , &c. A little interruption being here given , he proceeded further in his Speech : and afterwards the Speaker was moved to put the Question then proposed by the House ; but he refused to do it , and said , That he was otherwise commanded from the King. . Then said Mr. Selden , Dare not you , Mr. Speaker , put the Question when we command you ? If you will not put it , we must sit still ; thus we shall never be able to do any thing ; they that come after you , may say , They have the Kings command not to do it : we sit here by the command of the King under under the Great Seal , and you are by his Majesty sitting in his Royal Chair before both Houses , appointed our Speaker ; and now you refuse to perform your Office . Hereupon the House in some heat adjourned until Wednesday next . On Wednesday the 25 of February , both Houses by his Majesties command were adjourned till Munday morning the second of March. Munday the second of March , the Commons meet , and urge the Speaker to put the Question ; who said , I have a command from the King to adjourn till March the tenth , and put no Question : and endeavoring to go out of the Chair , was notwithstanding held by some Members ( the House foreseeing a dissolution ) till this ensuing Protestation was published in the House : viz. Whosoever shall bring in Innovation of Religion , or by favour or countenance seek to extend or introduce Popery or Arminianism , or other opinion disagreeing from the Truth and Orthodox Church , shall be reputed a Capital Enemy to this Kingdom and Commonwealth . 2. Whosoever shall counsel or advise the taking and levying of the Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage , not being granted by Parliament , or shall be an Actor or Instrument therein , shall be likewise reputed an Innovator in the Government , and Capital Enemy to the Kingdom and Commonwealth . 3. If any Merchant or Person whatsoever shall voluntarily yeeld , or pay the said Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage , not being granted by Parliament ; he shall likewise be reputed a Betrayer of the Liberties of England , and an Enemy to the same . Hereupon the King sent for the Sergeant of the House , but he was detained , the Door being lockt ; then he sent the Gentleman Usher of the Lords House , with a Message ; and he was refused admittance , till the said Votes were read ; and then in much confusion the House was adjourned to the tenth of March , according as it was intimated from his Majesty . Nevertheless his Majesty by Proclamation dated the second of March , declares the Parliament to be dissolved . The passages of this day and the preceding day in Parliament , are hereafter more fully related in the proceedings in the Kings Bench. By the King. A Proclamation about the dissolving of the Parliament . WHereas We for the general good of our Kingdom , caused our high Court of Parliament to assemble and meet by prorogation , the 20 day of January last past ; sithence which time the same hath been continued . And although in this time by the malevolent dispositions of some ill affected persons of the House of Commons , We have had sundry Iust Causes of offence and dislike of their proceedings ; yet We resolved with patience to trie the uttermost , which we the rather did , for that We found in that House a great number of sober and grave Persons , well-affected to Religion and Government , and desirous to preserve unity and peace in all parts of Our Kingdom . And therefore , having on the five and twentieth day of February last , by the uniform advice of our Privy-Council , caused both Houses to be adiourned until this present day , hoping in the mean time , that a better and more right understanding might be begotten between Us and the Members of that House , whereby this Parliament might have a happy end and issue . And for the same intent , We did again this day command the like Adiournment to be made , until the tenth day of this Month : It hath so happened by the disobedient and seditious carriage of those said ill affected persons of the House of Commons , That We , and Our Regal Authority and Commandment , have been so highly contemned , as our Kingly Office cannot bear , nor any former age can paralel . And therefore it is Our full and absolute resolution to dissolve the same Parliament , whereof We thought good to give notice unto all the Lords Spiritual and Temporal , and to the Knights , Citizens , and Burgesses of this present Parliament , & to all others whom it may concern , That they may depart about their needful affairs , without attending any longer here . Nevertheless ▪ We will that they and all others shall take notice , that We do , and ever will distinguish between those who have shewed good affection to Religion and Government , and those that have given themselves over to faction , and to work disturbance to the peace and good order of Our Kingdom . Given at our Court at Whitehal , this second day of March , in the fourth yeer of Our Reign of Great Britan , France and Ireland . This Proclamation was not published till after the tenth of March. The day following Warrants were directed from the Council to Denzil Holles Esq Sir Miles Hobert , Sir Iohn Elliot , Sir Peter Hayman , John Selden Esq William Coriton , Walter Long , William Stroud , Benjamin Valentine , commanding their personal appearance on the morrow . At which time , Mr. Holles , Sir Iohn Elliot , Mr. Corriton , Mr. Valentine appearing , and refusing to answer out of Parliament , what was said and done in Parliament , were committed close prisoners to the Tower , and Warrants were given , the Parliament being still in being , for the sealing up of the studies of Mr. Holles , Mr. Selden , and Sir Iohn Elliot : Mr. Long , and Mr. Stroud not then , nor of some time after appearing , a Proclamation issued out , for the apprehending of them . On the tenth of March , being six days after the commitment of the said Members , his Majesty being set in his Royal Throne with his Crown on his head , and in his Robes , and the Lords in their Robes also : and divers of the Commons below the Bar , but not their Speaker , neither were they called : his Majesty spake as followeth . My Lords , I Never came here upon so unpleasant an occasion , it being the dissolution of a Parliament ; therefore men may have some cause to wonder , why I should not rather chuse to do this by Commission , it being a general maxime of Kings , to leave harsh Commands to their Ministers , themselves only executing pleasing things : yet considering that Iustice as well consists in reward , and praise of vertue , as punishing of vice ; I thought it necessary to come here to day , and to declare to you and all the world , that it was meerly the undutiful and seditious carriage in the Lower House , that hath made the dissolution of this Parliament ; and you , My Lords , are so far from being any causers of it , that I take as much comfort in your dutiful demeanour , as I am justly distasted with their proceedings ; yet to avoyd their mistakings , let me tell you , that it is so far from me to adjudge all the House alike guilty , that I kn●w that there are many there as dutiful Subjects as any in the world , it being but some few Vipers among them that did cast this mist of undutifulness over most of their eys ; yet to say truth , there was a good number there , that could not be infected with this contagion ; insomuch that some did express their duties in speaking , which was the general fault of the House the last day . To conclude , as those Vipers must look for their reward of punishment : so you , My Lords , must justly expect from me that favour and protection , that a good King oweth to his loving and faithful Nobility . And now , my Lord Keeper , Do what I have commanded you . Then the Lord Keeper said , My Lords and Gentlemen of the House of Commons , the Kings Majesty doth dissolve this Parliament . Whilst the King is preparing a Declaration of the causes and motives which induced him to dissolve this Parliament , let us see what followed hereupon . The discontents of the common people upon this Dissolution were heightned against the powerful men at Court , and the Kings most inward Counsellors : for some few days after , two Libels were found in the Dean of Pauls yard ; one against Bishop Laud , to this effect ; Laud , look to thy self , be assured thy life is sought ; as thou art the fountain of wickedness , repent of thy monstrous sins before thou be taken out of the world ; and assure they self , neither God nor the world can endure such a vile Counsellor or whisperer to live . The other was as bad against the L. Treasurer Weston . The King purposing to proceed against the Members of the House of Commons who were committed to Prison by him in the Star-Chamber , caused certain Questions to be proposed to the Judges upon the 25 of April . WHereupon all the Judges met at Sergeants-Inne by command from his Majesty , where Mr. Atturney proposed certain Questions concerning the offences of some of the Parliament-men committed to the Tower , and other prisons : at which time one Question was proposed and resolved , viz. That the Statute of 4 H. 8.8 . intituled , An Act concerning Richard Strode , was a particular Act of a Parliament , and extended onely to Richard Strode , and to those persons that had joyned with him to prefer a Bill to the House of Commons concerning Tynners ; And although the Act be private , and extendeth to them alone , yet it was no more then all other Parliament-men by priviledge of house ought to have , viz. Freedom of speech concerning those matters debated in Parliament by a Parliamentary course . The rest of the Questions Mr. Atturney was wished to set down in writing against another day . Upon Munday following , all the Judges met again , and then Mr. Atturney proposed these Questions . 1. Whether if any Subject hath received probable Information of any Treason or treacherous attempt or intention against the King or State , that Subject ought not to make known to the King , or his Majesties Commissioners , when thereunto he shall be required , what Information he hath received , and the grounds thereof ; to the end , the King being truly informed , may prevent the danger ? And if the said Subject in such Case shall refuse to be examined , or to answer the Questions which shall be demanded of him , for further inquiry and discovery of the truth , whether it be not a high contempt in him , punishable in the Star-Chamber , as an offence against the general Iustice and Government of the Kingdom ? Sol. The resolution and answer of all the Justices , That it is an offence punishable as aforesaid , so that this do not concern himself , but another , nor draw him to danger of Treason or contempt by his answer . 2. Whether it be a good answer or excuse , being thus interrogated , and refusing to answer , to say , That he was a Parliament-man when he received this Information , and that he spake thereof in the Parliament-house ; and therefore the Parliament being now ended , he refused to answer to any such Questions but in the Parliament-house , and not in any other place ? Sol. To this the Judges by advise privately to Mr. Atturney , gave this Answer , That this excuse being in Nature of a Plea , and an errour in judgement , was not punishable until he were over-ruled in an orderly manner to make another answer ; and whether the party were brought in Ore tenus , or by Information , for this Plea he was not to be punished . 3. Whether a Parliament-man committing an offence against the King or Council not in a Parliament way , might after the Parliament ended , he punished or not ? Sol. All the Judges una voce answered , He might , if he be not punished for it in Parliament ; for the Parliament shall not give priviledge to any contra morem Parliamentarium , to exceed the bounds and limits of his place & duty . And all agreed , That regularly he cannot be compelled out of Parliament to answer things done in Parliament in a Parliamentary course ; but it is otherwise where things are done exorbitantly , for those are not the Acts of a Court. 4. Whether if one Parliament-man alone shall resolve , or two or three shall covertly conspire to raise false slanders and rumours against the Lords of the Council and Iudges , not with intent to question them in a Legal course , or in a Parliamentary way , but to blast them , and to bring them to hatred of the people , and the Government in contempt , be punishable in the Star-Chamber after the Parliament is ended ? Sol. The Judges resolve that the same was punishable out of Parliament , as an offence exorbitant committed in Parliament , beyond the office , and besides the duty of a Parliament-man . There was another Question put by Mr. Atturney , viz. Whether if a man in Parliament , by way of digression , and not upon any occasion arising concerning the same in Parliament , shall say , The Lords of the Council and the Judges had agreed to trample upon the Liberty of the Subject , and the priviledges of Parliament , he were punishable or not ? The Judges desired to be spared to make any answer thereunto , because it concerned themselves in particular . The next day Mr. Atturny put the Judges another Case . It is demanded of a Parliament-man , being called Ore tenus before the Court of Star-Chamber , being charged that he did not submit himself to examination for such things as did concern the King and the Government of the State , and were affirmed to be done by a third person , and not by himself , if he confess his hand to that refusal , and make his excuse , and plead because he had priviledg of Parliament ; Whether the Court will not over-rule this plea as erronious , and that he ought to make a further answer . It is the justest way for the King and the party not to proceed Ore tenus , because it being a point in Law , it is fit to hear Counsel before it be over-ruled ; and upon an Ore tenus by the Rules of Star-Chamber , Counsel ought not to be admitted ; and that it would not be for the Honor of the King , nor the safety of the subject to proceed in that manner . Pasca 5 Car. upon a Habeas Corpus of this Court to bring the body of William Stroud Esq with the cause of his imprisonment to the Marshal of the Kings Bench ; It was returned in this manner , That Mr. William Stroud was committed under my custody by vertue of a certain Warrant , under the hands of twelve of the Lords of the Privy-Council of the King : the tenor of which Warrant followeth in these words . YOu are to take knowledge , that it is his Majesties pleasure and commandment , that you take into your custody the Body of William Stroud Esq and keep him close prisoner till you shall receive other order , either from his Majesty or this Board ; for so doing , this shall be your Warrant . Dated this 2 of April 1629. And the direction of the Warrant was , To the Marshal of the Kings Bench , or his Deputy . He is also detained in prison by vertue of a Warrant under his Majesties hand ; the tenor of which Warrant followeth in these words . C.R. WHereas you have in your custody the Body of William Stroud Esq by Warrant of Our Lords of our Privy-Council , by Our special Command , you are to take notice , that this commitment was for notable contempts by him committed against Our Self and Our Government , and for stirring up sedition against Us , for which you are to detain him in your custody , and to keep him close prisoner until Our pleasure be further known concerning his deliverance . Given at Greenwich , the 7 of May 1629. in the 5 yeer of Our Reign . The direction being , To the Marshal of Our Bench for the time being , & hae sunt causae captionis & detentionis praedicti Gulielmi Stroud . And upon another Habeas Corpus to the Marshal of the Houshold to have the Body of Walter Long Esq in Court , it was returned according as the Return of Mr. Stroud was . Mr. Ask of the Inner-Temple of Counsel for Mr. Stroud , and Mr. Mason of Lincolns-Inn of Counsel for Mr. Long , argued against the insufficiency of the Return ; which with the Arguments of the Kings Counsel we here forbear to mention , lest it be too great a diversion to the Reader from the Historical part ; yet those and other Arguments we have nevertheless postponed at the end of this first Volume , for the benefit of the Students of the Law : which course as to Arguments in Law , wherein the Prerogative of the one hand , and Liberty and Propertie of the other hand are concerned , we purpose to observe in our next and other Volumes , as matter of that nature falls out in series of Time. The seventh of May , an Information was ex●ibited in the Star-Chamber ; which because it is a remarkable Proceeding , we give you here at large . Iovis Septimo die Maii , Anno Quinto Ca. R. To the Kings most excellent Majesty , HUmbly sheweth and informeth unto Your most excellent Majesty , Sir Robert Heath Knight , Your Majesties Attorney General , for and on Your Majesties behalf , That whereas by the Ancient and Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom , the high Court of Parliament consisteth of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in the Lords House , and of the Knights , Citizens and Burgesses in the Commons House of Parliament , and those two Houses thus composed , do together make up that great and honourable Body whereof Your most excellent Majesty , as the supreme Soveraign , is the head : and whereas the Power of summoning and assembling of Parliaments , and of continuing , proroguing , adjourning and dissolving thereof within this Realm at Your good pleasure , is the undoubted Right of your Majesty ; and the Liberty and Freedom of Speech , which the Members of the said Houses of Parliament have according to the Priviledges of those several Houses , to debate , consult and determine of those things which are propounded amongst them , is , and ever hath been , and ought to be , limited and regulated within the bounds of Moderation and Modesty , and of that Duty which Subjects owe to their Soveraign : and whereas Your Majesty for many weighty Causes , and for the general Good and Defence of the Church and State of this Your Kingdom , lately summoned a Parliament to be holden at Your City of Westminster , the seventeenth day of March , in the third year of Your Majesties Reign , which continued from thence by prorogation until the twentieth day of Ianuary last ; from which day , until the twenty fifth day of February following , the said Houses continued sitting . And although the great part of the House of Commons , being zealous of the Common Good , did endeavour to have effected those good things for which they were called thither ; yet between the said twentieth day of Ianuary , and the said twenty fifth day of February , by the malevolent Disposition of some ill-affected Members of the said House , sundry Diversions and Interruptions were there made , and many Jealousies there unjustly raised and nourished , to the disturbance of those orderly and Parliament proceedings which ought to have been in so grave a Council . During which time of the said last meeting in Parliament , as aforesaid , so it is , may it please your most excellent Majesty , that Sir Iohn Elliot Knight , then , and all the time of the said Parliament , being one of the Members of the said Commons House , wickedly and malitiously intending , under a feigned Colour and Pretence of debating the necessary Affairs of the present estate , to lay a scandal and unjust Aspersion upon the right honorable the Lords , and others of your Majesties most honourable Privy-Council , and upon the reverend Judges , and your Counsel learned , and as much as in him lay to bring them into the hatred and ill opinion of the people ; after the said twentieth day of Ianuary , and before the said twenty fifth day of February last , did openly and publickly in the said House of Commons , falsly and malitiously affirm , That your Majesties Privy-Council , all your Judges , and your Counsel learned , had conspired together to trample under their feet the Liberties of the said Subjects of this Realm , and the priviledges of that House . And further : so it is , may it please your most excellent Majesty , that when your Majesty , upon the twenty fifth day of February , had by Sir Iohn Finch , Knight , then Speaker of the said house of Commons , signified your Royal pleasure to the said house , that the said house of Commons should be instantly adjourned until the second day of March then following , he the said Sir Iohn Elliot , and Denzil Holles Esquire , Benjamin Valantine Gent. Walter Longe Esquire , William Corriton Esquire , William Strode Esquire , Iohn Selden Esquire , Sir Miles Hobert , and Sir Peter Hayman , Knights , all Members at that time of the said Commons house , conceiving with themselves that your Majesty , being justly provoked thereto , would speedily dissolve that Parliament ; They the said Sir Iohn Elliot , Denzil Holles , Benjamin Valentine , Walter Longe , William Corriton , William Strode , Iohn Selden , Sir Miles Hobert , and Sir Peter Hayman , and every of them , by unlawful Confederacie and Combination between them in that behalf before had , did malitiously resolve , agree and conspire how and by what means before that Parliament should be dissolved , they might raise such false and scandalous rumours against your Majesties Government , and your Counsellours of Estate attending your person , that thereby as much as in them lyeth , they might disturb the happy Government of this Kingdom by and under your Majesty , interrupt the course of traffique and trade , discourage your Merchants , and raise Jealousies and Suspitions in the hearts of your people , that the Sincerity of the true Religion professed and established in this Kingdom was neglected : and in pursuance of this their Resolution and Confidence aforesaid , the said Sir Iohn Elliot , with the privitie and consent of the said Denzil Holles , and all other the said confederates , did prepare a paper or writing , wherein he had written , or caused to be written , divers false and scandalous Assertions touching your Majesties Government , and touching the persons of divers of your Privy-Council , which he and they resolved , and conspired , and agreed , should be delivered into the said house of Commons , and there publickly read , to the wicked and seditious intents and purposes aforesaid , and not with any purpose or opinion that those things that were therein contained , if they , or any of them had been true , as indeed they were not , should or could be at that time entertained , or pursued in any legal or Parliamentary way , but meerly and onely to express and vent his and their own Malice and Dis-affection of your Majesty and your happy Government . And your Majesty upon the said second day of March now last past , having signified Your Royal pleasure unto the said Sir Iohn Finch , then the Speaker of that House , That the said House should then be presently adjourned until the tenth day of the said Moneth of March , without any further speech or proceedings at that time ; and the said Speaker then delivered Your Majesties pleasure and commandment to the said House accordingly , and declared unto them Your Majesties express charge and command unto him , That if any should notwithstanding disobey Your Majesties command , that he must forthwith leave the charge , and wait upon Your Majesty : unto which commandment of Your Majesty , and signification of Your Royal pleasure in that behalf , for a present adjournment of the House , the greatest number of the Members of that House , in their duty and Allegeance unto your Majesty , were willing to have given a ready Obedience , as the Lords Spiritual and Temporal of the Lords House , upon the very same day , upon the like signification made unto them of your Majesties pleasure , by your Lord Keeper of your Great Seal of England , the Speaker of that House , had done : yet so it is , May it please your most Excellent Majesty , That the said Sir Iohn Ellyot , for the satisfying of his own malice , and disloyal affections to your Majesty , and by the confederacy and agreement aforesaid , and in a high contempt and disobedience unto your Majesties command aforesaid , and with set purpose to oppose your Majesties said command , did stand up , and several times offered to speak . Whereupon the said Speaker , in obedience to your Majesties said command , endeavoring to have gone out of the chair , the said Denzil Holles , and Benjamin Valentine being then next the Speakers chair , and the one of them on the one hand , and the other of them on the other hand of the Speaker ( where they so placed themselves of purpose on that day ) out of their disobedience to your Majestie , and by the confederacy and agreement aforesaid , violently , forcibly , and unlawfully , and with purpose to raise a tumult in the said House , kept and held the said Speaker in the said chair , against his will ; and the said Speaker again endeavoring to leave the chair , and having then gotten out of the chair , they , the said Denzil Holles and Benjamin Valentine laid violent hands upon the said Speaker , forcibly , and unlawfully , and by strong hand thrust him into his chair again ; and then the said Sir Iohn Ellyot again stood up , and used these speeches : ( viz. ) We have prepared a short Declaration of our intentions , which I hope shall agree with the honour of the House , and the Justice of the King : and with that he threw down a paper into the floor of the said House , desiring it might be read : and the said Denzil Holles , Benj. Valentine , and all other the Confederates aforesaid , in disobedience and high contempt of your Majesties said command , called and cryed out to have the same paper read . But some others of the House spake to the contrary , that it might not be read ; and the House thereupon , by reason of the disorderly behaviour of the said Confederates , was much troubled , many pressing violently and tumultuously to have the said paper read , and others dutifully and obediently urging the contrary , to the great disquiet and discomfort of many well-affected Members of that House . And the said William Corriton in this distemper demeaned himself so passionately and violently , that he then and there violently , forcibly , and unlawfully , assaulted and stroke Winterton , Gent. then being a Member of the said House : and divers of the Members of the said House being then desirous , and endeavoring to have gone out of the said House , the said Sir Miles Hobert did of his own head , lock the door of the said House , and kept the key thereof , and imprisoned the Members of the said House , being then in the said House against their wills , so that none of them could go out . And the said William Strode , for the further expressing of his malignity and undutifulness towards your Majesty , and in pursuance of the agreement and confederacy aforesaid , openly moved , and with much earnestness urged , that the said paper or declaration might be first read , to the end ( as he then in great contempt of your Royal Majestie said ) that we , meaning the Members of the house , may not be turned off like scattered sheep , and sent home as we were last Sessions , with a scorn put upon us in print ; meaning thereby the words which your Majesty in your own Person spake at the ending of the last Session , and caused the same to be printed : and the said Stroud in a very disorderly manner further moved , That all those who would have the said paper read , should stand up ; which divers of them thereupon did do accordingly , and he the said Stroud amongst others did stand up ; and in this heat of contention and height of disobedience , by the confederacy aforesaid to have the said paper read , the said Sir Peter Hayman with rough and reproachful words , reproved the said Speaker for being constant and resolute in his obedience to your Majesty , in not putting the reading of the said paper to the Question , as by all the said Confederates , with many Reasons and Arguments he was urged to do : and the said Sir Peter Hayman then further said , That the said Speaker was made an Instrument to cut up the Liberty of the Subjects by the roots . But when by no means the said Speaker would be drawn to transgress your Majesties Royal command aforesaid , and lest the said paper should not be read , the said Iohn Selden moved , that the Clerk of the said House might read the same : and when the said Sir John Ellyot found that he and his Confederates aforesaid , could not procure the said paper to be read ; he , the said Sir Iohn Ellyot , to the end he might not lose that opportunity to vent and publish those malitious and seditious Resolutions which he and his Confederates had collected , and prepared as aforesaid , took back the said paper again , and then immediately in the said house , said , I shall non express that by Tongue , which this paper should have done ; and then spake these words . The miserable condition we are in , both in matters of Religion and Policy , makes me look with a tender eye both to the Person of the King , and to the Subjects : and then speaking of them whom he intended to be ill Instruments in this State , at whom he principally aimed , he said , There are amongst them some Prelates of the Church , the great Bishop of Winchester and his fellows ; it is apparent what they have done to cast an aspersion upon the honor , and piety , and goodness of the King. These are not all , but it is extended to some others , who I fear in guilt of Conscience of their own desert , do joyn their power with that Bishop and the rest , to draw his Majesty into a jealousie of the Parliament ; amongst them I shall not fear to name the great Lord Treasurer , in whose person I fear is contracted all that which we suffer . If we look into Religion or Policy , I find him building upon the ground laid by the Duke of Buckingham his great Master ; from him I fear , came those ill Counsels which contracted that unhappy conclusion of the last session of Parliament ; I find that not only in the affections of his heart , but also in relation to him ; and I doubt not to fix it indubitably upon him : and so from the power and greatness of him , comes the danger of our Religion . For Policy , in that great Question of Tunnage and Poundage , the interest which is pretended to be the Kings , is but the interest of that person , to undermine the Policy of this Government , and thereby to weaken the Kingdom , while he invites strangers to come in to drive out Trade , or at least our Merchants to trade in strangers bottoms , which is as dangerous . Therefore it is fit to be declared by us , that all that we suffer , is the effect of new counsels , to the ruine of the Government of the State ; and to make a protestation against all those men , whether greater or subordinate , that they shall all be declared as Capital Enemies to the King and Kingdom , that will perswade the King to take Tunnage and Poundage without grant of Parliament ; and that if any Merchants shall willingly pay those Duties without consent of Parliament , they shall be declared as Accessaries to the rest . Which Words of the said Sir Iohn Elliot , were by him uttered as aforesaid , falsly , and malitiously , and seditiously , out of the wickedness of his own affections towards your Majesty , and your gratious and religious Government , and by the Confederacie , Agreement , and Privity of the ●aid other Confederates , and to lay a slander and scandal thereupon ; and not with a purpose , or in way to rectifie any thing which he concei●ed to be amiss , but to traduce and blast those persons against whom he ●ad conceived malice ; for so himself the same day in that house said , and laid down as a ground for that he intended to say , That no man was ever blasted in that house , but a curse fell upon him . And further : so it is , may it please your most excellent Majesty , That when the said Sir Iohn Elliot had thus vented that malice and wickedness which lay in his heart , and , as appeareth by his own words , were expressed in the said paper which was prepared as aforesaid , the said Walter Longe , out of his inveterate malice to your Majesty and to your Affairs , and by the confederacy aforesaid , then and there said , That man who shall give away my Liberty and Inheritance ( I speak of the Merchants ) I note them for Capital Enemies to the Kingdome . And lest the hearers should forget these wicked desperate Positions laid down as aforesaid , and to the end the same might have the deeper impression , and be the more divulged abroad to the prejudice of your Majesty , and of your great Affairs , and to the scandal of your Government , the said Denzil Holles collected into several heads what the said Sir Iohn Elliot had before delivered out of that paper , and then said , Whosoever shall counsel the taking up of Tunnage and Poundage without an Act of Parliament , let him be accompted a capital Enemy to the King and Kingdom : And further : What Merchant soever shall pay Tunnage and Poundage without an Act of Parliament , let him be counted a Betrayer of the Liberty of the Subjects , and a Capital Enemy of the King and Kingdom . Which Positions thus laid , the said Denzil Holles neither being Speaker , nor sitting in the Chair as in a Committee by direction of the House , but in an irregular way , and contrary to all course of orderly proceedings in Parliament , offered to put these things so delivered by him as aforesaid , to the Question , and drew from his confederates aforesaid , an applause and assent , as if these things had been voted by the house . And further : so it is , may it please your most excellent Majesty , That the disobedience of the said Confederates was then grown to that height , that when Edward Grimston , the Serjeant at Arms then attending the Speaker of that house , was sent for by your Majestie , personally to attend your Highness , and the same was made known in the said house , the said Confederates notwithstanding at that time forcibly and unlawfully kept the said Edward Grimston locked up in the said house , and would not suffer him to go out of the house to attend your Majesty : and when also on the same day Iames Maxwel Esquire , the Gentleman-Usher of the Black Rod , was sent from your Majesty to the said Commons house with a message immediately from your Majesties own person , they the said Confederates utterly refused to open the door of the house , and to admit the said Iames Maxwel to go to deliver his message . After all which , the said house was then adjourned until the said tenth day of March then following , and on the said tenth day of March the said Parliament was dissolved and ended . In consideration of all which premises , And for as much as the contempt and disobedience of the said Sir John Ellyot and other the confederates aforesaid , were so great , and so many and unwarranted by the priviledge and due proceeding of Parliament , and were committed with so high a hand , and are of so ill example , and so dangerous consequence , and remain all unpardoned ; Therefore they pray'd a process against them , to answer their contempts in the high Court of Star-Chamber . Memorandum , That the 29. of May , Anno quinto Car. Reg. these words , viz. After all which the said House was then adjourned until the said tenth day of March ; and on the said tenth day of March the said Parliament was dissolved and ended ; were added and inserted by order of the Court , immediately before In tender consideration , &c. At the same time Sir Robert Heath the Kings Atturny General preferr'd an Information in the Star-Chamber against Richard Chambers of the City of London Merchant ; wherein , first , he did set forth the gracious Government of the King , and the great Priviledges which the Merchants have in their Trading , by paying moderate duties for the goods and merchandises exported and imported ; and setting forth , that the raising and publishing of undutiful and false speeches , which may tend to the dishonour of the King or the State , or to the discouragement or discontentment of the subject , or to set discord or variance between his Majesty and his good People , are offences of dangerous consequence , and by the Law prohibited , and condemned under several penalties and punishments . That nevertheless the said Richard Chambers , the 28. day of September last , being amongst some other merchants called to the Councel-board at Hampton Court , about some things which were complained of in reference to the Customs , did then and there , in an insolent manner , in the presence or hearing of the Lords and others of his Majesties Privy Council then sitting in Counsel , utter these undutiful , seditious , and false words , That the Merchants are in no part of the World so skrewed and wrung as in England ; That in Turky they have more incouragement . By which words , he the said Richard Chambers , as the Information setteth forth , did endeavor to alienate the good affection of his Majesties Subjects from his Majesty , and to bring a slander upon his just Government ; and therefore the Kings Attorney prayed process against him . To this Mr. Chambers made answer , That having a Case of silk Grogerams brought from Bristol by a Carrier to London , of the value of 400. l. the same were by some inferior Officers attending on the Custome-house , seized without this Defendants consent ; notwithstanding he offered to give security to pay such Customs as should be due by Law , and that he hath been otherwise grieved and damnified , by the injurious dealing of the under-Officers of the Custome-house ; and mentioned the particulars wherein : and that being called before the Lords of the Council , he confesseth , that out of the great sence which he had of the injuries done him by the said inferior Officers , he did utter these words , That the Merchants in England were more wrung and screwed then in forreign Parts : Which words were onely spoken in the presence of the Privy-Council , and not spoken abroad , to stir up any discord among the people ; and not spoken with any disloyal thought at that time of his Majesties Government , but onely intending by these words to introduce his just Complaint against the wrongs and injuries he had sustained by the inferiour Officers ; and that as soon as he heard a hard construction was given of his words , he endeavoured by petition to the Lords of the Council , humbly to explain his meaning , that he had not the least evil thought as to his Majesties Government ; yet was not permitted to be heard , but presently sent away prisoner to the Marshalsea : and when he was there a prisoner , he did again endeavour by petition to give satisfaction to the Lords of the Council ; but they would not be pleased to accept of his faithful explanation which he now makes unto this honourable Court upon his Oath ; and doth profess , from the bottom of his heart , That his speeches onely aimed at the abuses of the inferiour Officers , who in many things dealt most cruelly with him and other Merchants . There were two of the Clerks of the Privy-Council examined as Witnesses to prove the words , notwithstanding the Defendant confessed the words in his Answer as aforesaid , who proved the words as laid in the Information . And on the sixth of May , 1629. the Cause came to be heard in the Star-Chamber , and the Court were of opinion that the words spoken were a comparing of his Majesties Government with the Government of the Turks ; intending thereby to make the people believe that his Majesties happy Government may be tearmed Turkish Tyranny ; and therefore the Court fined the said Mr. Chambers in the sum of 2000 l. to his Majesties use , and to stand committed to the prison of the Fleet , and to make submission for his great offence both at the Council-board , in Court of Star-Chamber , and at the Royal Exchange . There was a great difference of opinion in the Court about the Fine : and because it is a remarkable Case , here followeth the names of each several person who gave sentence , and the Fine they concluded upon , viz. Sir Francis Cottington , Chancellour of the Exchequer , his opinion was for 500 l. Fine to the King , and to acknowledge his offence at the Council-board , the Star-Chamber-Bar , and Exchange . Sir Tho. Richardson , Lord chief Justice of the common pleas , 500 l. Fine to the King , and to desire the Kings favour . Sir Nicholas Hide , Lord chief Justice of the Kings Bench , 500 l. and to desire the Kings favour . Sir Iohn Cook , Secretary of State 1000 l. Sir Humphry May , Chancellour 1500 l. Sir Thomas Edmons 2000 l. Sir Edward Barret 2000 l. Doctor Neal , Bishop of Winchester 3000 l. Doctor Laud , Bishop of London 3000 l. Lord Carlton , principal Secretary of State 3000 l. Lord , Chancellour of Scotland 2000 l. Earl of Holland 1500 l. Earl of Doncaster 1500 l. Earl of Salisbury 1500 l. Earl of Dorset 3000 l. Earl of Suffolk 3000 l. Earl of Mountgomery , Lord Chamberlain 1500 l. Earl of Arundel , Lord High Marshal 3000 l. Lord Montague Lord Privy Seal 3000 l. Lord Connoway , 2000 l. Lord Weston Lord Treasurer 3000 l. Lord Coventry , Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 1500 l. So the fine was setled to 2000 l. And all ( except the two Chief Justices ) concurred for a submission also to be made . And accordingly the copy of the submission was sent to the Warden of the Fleet , from Mr. Atturny General , to shew the said Richard Chambers , to perform and acknowledg it ; and was as followeth : I Richard Chambers of London Merchant , do humby acknowledge , that whereas upon an Information exhibited against me by the Kings Atturney General , I was in Easter Term last , sentenced by the Honourable Court of Star-Chamber , for that in September last 1628. being convented before the Lords and others of his Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council Board , upon some speeches then used concerning the Merchants of this Kingdom , and his Majesties well and gracious usage of them ; did then and there , in insolent , contemptuous and seditious manner , falsly and maliciously say and affirm , That they , meaning the Merchants , are in no parts of the world so skrewed and wrung as in England ; and that in Turky they have more incouragement . And whereas by the sentence of that Honorable Court , I was adjudged among other punishments justly imposed upon me , to make my humble acknowledgment and submission of this great offence at this Honorable Board , before I should be delivered out of the Prison of the Fleet , whereto I was then committed , as by the said Decree and Sentence of that Court , among other things it doth and may appear : Now I the said Richard Chambers , in obedience to the Sentence of the said Honorable Court , do humbly confess and acknowledg the speaking of these words aforesaid for the which I was so charged , and am heartily sorry for the same ; and do humbly beseech your Lordships all to be Honorable intercessors for me to his Majesty , that he would be graciously pleased to pardon that graet error and fault so committed by me . When Mr. Chambers read this draught of submission , he thus subscribed the same : All the abovesaid Contents and Submission , I Richard Chambers do utterly abhor and detest , as most unjust and false ; and never to death will acknowledge any part thereof . Rich. Chambers . Also he under-writ these Texts of Scripture to the said Submission , before he returned it . That make a man an offender for a word , and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate , and turn aside the just for a thing of nought . Blame not before thou have examined the truth ; understand first , and then rebuke ; answer not before thou hast heard the cause , neither interrupt men in the midst of their talk . Doth our Law judge any man before it hear him , and know what he doth ? King Agrippa said unto Paul , Thou art permitted to speak for thy self . Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of the poor in his cause , thou shalt not respect persons , neither take a gift : for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise , and pervert the eyes of the righteous . Woe to them that devise iniquity , because it is in the power of their hand , and they covet fields and take them by violence , and houses and take them away : so they oppress a man and his house , even a man and his heritage . Thus saith the Lord God , Let it suffice you , O Princes of Israel : remove violence and spoyl , and execute judgment and justice , take away your exactions from my people , saith the Lord God. If thou seest the oppression of the Poor , and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a Province , marvel not at the matter : for he that is higher then the highest regardeth , and there be higher then they . Per me , Richard Chambers . Afterwards in the Term of Trinity , the 5 yeer of King Charls , it is found in the great Roll of this year , that there is demanded there , of Richard Chambers of London Merchant , 2000 l. for a certain fine imposed on him , hither sent by vertue of a writ of our said Lord the King , under the foot of the great Seal of England , directed to the Treasurer and Barons of this Exchequer , for making execution thereof to the use of the said Lord the King , as is there contained ; and now , that is to say , in the Utas of the Blessed Trinity , this Term , comes the said Richard Chambers in his own proper person , and demands Oyer of the demand aforesaid , and it is read unto him ; and he demands Oyer also of the Writ aforesaid , under the foot of the Great Seal of England hither sent , and it is read unto him in these words : CHarls by the Grace of God , of England , Scotland , France , and Ireland , Defender of the Faith , &c. To his Treasurer and Barons of his Exchequer , health : The extret of certain fines taxed and adjudged by Us and our said Council , in our said Council , in Our Court of Star-Chamber in the Term of St Michael , the Term of St. Hillary , and the Term of Easter last past , upon Thomas Barns of the Parish of St. Clements Danes in the County of Middlesex Carpenter , and others severally and dividedly , as they be there severally assessed , We send unto you included in these presents , commanding that looking into them , you do that which by Law you ought to do against them , for the levying of those fines . Witness our Self at Westminster the 21 of May , in the yeer of Our Reign the 5 Mutas . And the tenor of the Schedule to the said Writ annexed , as to the said Richard Chambers , followeth , in these words : IN the Term of Easter , the fifth year of King Charles , of Richard Chambers of London Merchant 2000 l. which being read , heard , and by him understood , he complains that he is grievously vexed and inquieted by colour of the Premises ; and that not justly , for that protesting that the said great Roll , and the matter therein contained , is not in Law sufficient , to which he hath no need , nor is bound by Law to answer ; yet for Plea the said Richard Chambers saith , That he , of the demand aforesaid , in the great Roll aforesaid mentioned , and every parcel thereof , ought to be discharged against the said Lord the King , for that he said , That he , from the time of the Taxation o● the aforesaid Fine , and long before , was a Freeman and a Merchant of this Kingdom , that is to say , In the Parish of the blessed Mary of the Arches in the Ward of Cheap , London . And that by a certain Act in the Parliament of the Lord Henry late King of England the Third , held in the ninth year of his reign , it was provided by Authority of the said Parliament , That a Freeman shall not be amerced for a little offence , but according to the manner of the said offence ; and for a great offence , according to the greatness of the offence , saving to him his Contenement or Freehold , and a Merchant in the same manner , saving unto him his Merchandize , and a Villain of any other then the King after the same manner to be amerced , saving his Wainage ; and none of the said Amercements to be imposed but by the Oaths of good and lawful men of the Neighbourhood : And by a certain other Act in the Parliament of the Lord Edward late King of England the first , held in the Third year of his reign , it was and is provided , That no City , Burrough , or Town , nor any man should be amerced without reasonable cause , and according to his Trespass ; that is to say , A Freeman , saving to him his Contenement ; A Merchant , saving to him his Merchandize ; and A Villan , saving to him his Wainage : and this by their Peers . And by the same Act in the Parliament of the said Lord Henry late King of England the Third , held in the ninth year of his reign aforesaid , it was and is provided by Authority of the said Parliament , That no Freemen should be taken or imprisoned , or disseized of his Freehold or Liberties , or free Customs , or outlaw'd or banish'd , or any way destroyed . And that the Lord the King should not go upon him , nor deal with him , but by a lawful judgement of his Peers , or by the Law of the Land. And by a certain Act in the Parliament of the Lord Edward late King of England the Third , held in the fifth year of his reign , it was and is provided by the Authority of the said Parliament , That no man henceforward should be attached by reason of any Accusation , nor pre-judged of Life or Member , nor that his Lands , Tenements , Goods or Chattels should be seized into the hands of the Lord the King against the form of the great Charter , and the Law of the Land. And by a certain Act in the Parliament of the Lord Henry late King of England the seventh , held in the third year of his reign , reciting that by unlawful Maintenances given of liveries , signes and tokens , and retainders by Indentures , Promises , Oaths , Writings , and other Imbraceries of the Subjects of the said Lord the King , false Demeanors of Sheriffs , in making of Pannels , and other false returns , by taking of money by Jurors , by great ryots and unlawful assemblies the policie and good Government of this Kingdom was almost subdued : and by not punishing of the said inconveniences , and by occasion of the Premises , little or nothing was found by Inquisition ; by reason thereof , the Laws of the Land had little effect in their execution , to the increase of Murders , Robberies , Perjuries and Insecurities of all men living , to the loss of their Lands and Goods , to the great displeasure of Almighty GOD ; It was ordained for Reformation of the Premises by Authority of the said Parliament , That the Chancellour and Treasurer of England for the time being , and the Keeper of the Privy-Seal of the Lord the King , or two of them , calling to them one Bishop , one Lord temporal of the most honourable Council of the Lord the King , and two chief Justices of the Kings Bench and Common pleas for the time being , or two other Justices in their absence , by Bill or Information exhibited to the Chancellour for the King or any other , against any person for any other ill behaviours aforesaid , have Authority of calling before them by Writ or Privie-Seal such Malefactors , and of examining them and others by their discretion , and of punishing such as they finde defective therein according to their demerits , according to the form and effect of the Statutes thereof made , in the same manner and form as they might and ought to be punished if they were thereof convinced according to the due course of Law. And by a certain other Act in the Parliament of the Lord Henry late King of England the eighth , held in the one and twentieth year of his reign , reciting the offences in the aforesaid Statute of the said late King Henry the seventh beforementioned , by Authority of the said Parliament , it was and is ordained and enacted , That henceforward the Chancellour , Treasurer of England , and the President of the most honourable Privy-Council of the King attending his most honourable person for the time being , and the Lord Keeper of the Privy-Seal of the Lord the King , or two of them , calling to them one Bishop and one temporal Lord of the most honourable Council of the Lord the King , and two chief Justices of the Kings Bench and Common Pleas for the time being , or two Justices in their absence , by any Bill or Information then after to be exhibited to the Chancellour of England , the Treasurer , the President of the said most honourable Council of the Lord the King , or the Keeper of the Privy-Seal of the Lord the King for the time being , for any misdemeanour in the aforesaid Statute of King Henry the seventh aforesaid before recited , from henceforth have full power and authority of calling before them , by Writ or by Privy-Seal , such Malefactors , & of examining of them and others by their discretion , and of punishing those that are found defective according to their demerits , According to the form and effect of the said Statute of the aforesaid Lord King Henry the seventh , and of all other Statutes thereupon made not revoked and expired , in the same manner and form as they might and ought be punished if they were convicted according to the due order of the Laws of the said Lord the king . And by the aforesaid Writ under the foot of the great Seal , it manifesty appears that the said Fine was imposed by the Lord the king and his Council , and not by the Legal Peers of the said Richard Chambers , nor by the Law of the Land , nor according to the manner of the pretended offence of the said Richard Chambers , nor saving unto him his Merchandize , nor for any offence mentioned in the said Statutes : all and singular the which , the said Richard Chambers is ready to verifie to the Court , &c. and demands judgment ; and that he be discharge of the said 2000 l. against the said Lord the now King ; and that as to the premises he may be dismissed from this Court. Waterhouse . With this Plea , he annexed a Petition to the Lord Chief Baron , and also to every one of the Barons , humbly desiting the filing of the Plea , with other Reasons in the manner of a motion at the Bar , because he said Counsel would not move , plead , nor set hand to it , as further appeareth . The Copy of the Order upon Mr. Atturneys motion in the Exchequer , the 17 Iuly 1629. after the Plea put in , and order to file it , Per the Lord Chief Baron . TOuching the Plea put into this Court by Richard Chambers , to discharge himself of a ●ine of 2000 l. set on him in the Star-Chamber , Forasmuch as Sir Robert Heath Kni●●● , his Majesties Atturney General , informed this Court , that the said Chambers in his said Plea recites divers Statutes and Magna Charta , and what offences are punishable in the Star-Chamber , and how the proceedings ought to be ; and upon the whole matter concludes , That the said fine was imposed by the King and his Council , and not by a Legal judgment of his Peers , nor by the Laws of the Land , nor according to the manner of his offence , nor saving his Merchandize , nor for any offence mentioned in the said Statutes ; Which Plea Mr. Atturny conceiving to be very frivolous and insufficient , and derogatory to the honour and jurisdiction of the Court of Star-Chamber , Humbly prayeth , might not be allowed of , nor filed : It is therefore this day ordered , That the said Plea shall be read on Saturday next , and then upon hearing the Kings Counsel , and the Counsel of the said Richard Chambers , this Court will-declare their further order therein ; and in the mean time the said Plea is not to be filed nor delivered out . In Michaelmas Term following , Mr. Chambers was brought by a Habeas Corpus out of the Fleet : and the Warden did return , THat he was committed to the Fleet by vertue of a Decree in the Star-Chamber , by reason of certain words he used at the Council Table , ( viz. ) That the Merchants of England were skrewed up here in England , more then in Turky . And for these and other words of defamation of the Government , he was censured to be committed to the Fleet , and to be there imprisoned until he made his submission at the Council Table , and to pay a fine of 2000. l. And now at the Bar he prayed to be delivered , because this Sentence is not warranted by any Law or Statute : For the Statute of 3 Henrici 7. which is the foundation of the Court of Star-Chamber , doth not give them any authority to punish for words only . But all the Court informed him , That the Court of Star-Chamber was not erected by the Statute of 3 H. 7. but was a Court many years before , and one of the most high and honourable Courts of Justice : and to deliver one who was committed by the Decree of one of the Courts of Justice , was not the usage of this Court ; and therefore he was remanded . As a concurrant proof of these Proceedings concerning Mr. Chambers , we shall insert here a Petition of his ( though out of time ) to the Long Parliament , and afterwards renewed to the succeeding Parliament : viz. To the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England , Scotland and Ireland . The brief Remonstrance and humble Petition of Richard Chambers Merchant , late Alderman and Sheriff of the City of London : SHEWING , THat in the Parliament held in the years 1627 and 1628 , it was voted and declared by the honourable house of Commons , That whosoever shall counsel or advise the taking or levying of the Subsidie of Tonnage and Poundage , not granted by Parliament , or shall be any Actor or Instrument therein , shall be reputed an Innovator in the Government , and a capital Enemy to the Kingdom and Commonwealth ; and if any Merchant or person whatsoever shall voluntarily yeild or pay the said Subsidie of Tonnage and Poundage , not being granted by Parliament , they shall likewise be reputed Betrayers of the Liberties of England , and Enemies to the same , as may appear by the said Order upon Record . In submission and obedience whereunto , the Petitioner first opposed and withstood the payment of Tonnage and Poundage ( until they were setled by Parliament ) and all other illegal Taxes ; for which submission and obedience , in the years 1628 , and 1629 , the Petitioner had 7060 pounds of his Goods wrongfully taken and detained from him by the late Kings Officers and Farmers of the Custome-house of London for pretended duties , and a heavy Sentence and Fine in the Star-Chamber , which was imposed upon him in the year 1629. besides which losses , the Petitioner further suffered in his person by six whole years imprisonment in the Fleet , for not submitting to that Sentence and Fine : and in the year 1637 , nine moneths imprisonment in Newgate for withstanding ship-money : by which losses and imprisonments , the Petitioner was put by the exercise of his calling , and was wounded in his credit and reputation . Which sufferings the honourable house of Commons ( upon the Petioners complaint in the year 1640 ) taking into their grave considerations , were pleased to refer the examination thereof to a Committee of 50 Members , wherein were included the Committee for the Navy and Customs ; who being well satisfied of the truth thereof , by oath , and other good sufficient proofs upon Record , drew up their Report , That the Petitioner ought then to have 13680 pounds in part of Reparation , leaving the rest of those Reparations to the further judgement of the honourable House , as by the annexed Copy of that report may further appear . In pursuit of which report , the Parliament then levied and received from the old Farmers and Officers of the Customs 50 thousand pounds for wrongs and abuses done to the Petitioner ( chiefly ) and other Merchants , intending first to give to the Petitioner satisfaction out of the same , because he was the first man that opposed the pretended duties , and the greatest sufferer . Whereupon , in the year 1642. the Petitioner was chosen Alderman , and in the year 1644. Sheriff of the City of London : which places the Petitioner earnestly endeavoured to shun ; but such were the earnest importunities , and perswasive encouragements of divers Members of the honourable House , ( who then desired to have the Petitioner in place of trust , for his former service to the Commonwealth ) that the Petitioner was constrained to accept not onely of the place of Alderman , but further underwent the office and charge of Sheriff of London , which stood the Petitioner in 4000 pounds that year . But notwithstanding the aforesaid promises and intents of the Parliament to give the Petitioner satisfaction , such were the great compulsive exigents , and urgent necessities of those times , caused by the publick distractions , that the said monies were converted to the publick use ; therefore the Parliament desired the Petitioner to have a little patience , promising him speedy satisfaction as well for the forbearance as for the principal debt : but the distractions continuing , and the Petitioner had neither interest nor any part of his principal , the Parliament in the year 1648 in part of satisfaction , setled the Petitioner in the office of Surveyor and Check in the Custom-house of London , then worth at least 600 pounds per annum ; but the Petitioner having enjoyed that place onely eight months , was causlesly outed by sinister information of intruders , who have enjoyed that office , and divided the profit thereof between them ever since that intrusion . Moreover , the late King by Privy Seal , owes to the Petitioners wife ( who is the Relict of Mr. Thomas Ferrer ) for Linen Cloth 5000 pounds , and for money lent 1200 pounds , for which she was assigned satisfaction out of the Customs of Tobacco ; besides , she was further assigned out of Sir Thomas Dawes Office 100 marks per annum : all which debts likewise lie wholly unsatisfied , to the Petitioners great prejudice . Besides the aforesaid losses , hinderances , expences , sufferings , and forbearances of the profit of the said Office , the Petitioner from time to time hath laid out himself for the common good , in acting , lending , spending , ( and serving ) when others refused ; exposed himself to that eminent danger at Branford , by leading out a Troop of Horse for the Priviledges , Liberties and Rights of the City of London and Commonwealth , insomuch , that thereby , and for want of his satisfaction aforesaid , the Petitioner having consumed his Estate , hath been constrained to sell and morgage some part of his Lands to pay Creditors , and to maintain his Family , having a Wife and nine Children ; and is likely to be undone for obeying the Parliaments Commands , unless by the justice and commiseration of this honourable Assembly he be speedily relieved and righted , for that ever since the said reported sum , the Petitioner from time to time hath made his humble addresses to the supreme powers for the time being , for satisfaction thereof ; and to be restored to the said Office , but could not prevaile . The Petitioner therefore humbly prays , That he may not perish for acting for the publick good according to the Declaration of Parliament , but that now after 26 years suffering , whereof twelve years in fruitless and wearisome waitings , this honourable Assembly would now be pleased to take the unparallel'd sufferings of the Petitioner into their grave considerations , for some speedy course for the Petitioners satisfaction , to pay his Debts , and redeem his Lands , by ordering him the one moyety of his Debt in ready money out of the dayly customs of London , ( from whence his first losses and sufferings sprang ) and the other mo●ty to be discompted upon such Goods as the Petitioner shall make entries of by Exportation or importation in the Custome-house London , until his debt with the interest be fully satisfied and paid ; or any other speedy way , as in your grave wisdoms shall seem meet ; and in like manner for his wives Debt , which is to pay Debts and Legacies : and that the Petitioner may forthwith be restored to , and setled in the said Office , and have Reparations from the Intruders . And the Petitioner with his , shall as in all duty ever pray , &c. Richard Chambers . Sept. 6. 1654. The Petitioner being wearied out with twelve yeers attendance upon one Parliament , in hopes of reparation for his imprisonment , troubles , and losses , during the eleven years former interval of Parliament , in standing for the Liberty of the Subject , grew infirm ; and being not relieved , was reduced to a low estate and condition : he died in Summer 1658. being about the age of seventy years . Trinity , 5. Car. Banco Regis . The first day of this Term upon a Habeas Corpus to Sir Allen Apsley the Lieutenant of the Tower , to bring here the body of Iohn Selden Esq with the cause of Detencer : he returned the same cause as was in Mr. Stroods Case . And Mr. Littleton of the Inner-Temple , of Counsel with Mr. Selden , moved , that the Return was insufficient in substance ; therefore pray'd , that he might be bayled : and said , that it was a matter of great consequence both to the Crown of the King , and to the Liberty of the Subject . But as for the difficulty of Law contained in it , he said ( under favour ) the Case cannot be said Grand . And so proceeded to his Argument ( which for the Reasons before mentioned , we have postponed ) and concluded , that the Prisoner ought to be bailed . The same day Sir Miles Hubbord , Benjamin Valentine , Denzil Holles , Esq were at the Bar upon the Habeas Corpus , directed to several Prisons . And their Counsel were ready at the Bar to have argued the Case for them also . But because the same Return was made for them as for Mr. Selden , they all Declared , they would rely on this Argument made by Mr. Littleton . Some few days after , Sir Robert Heath the Kings Atturney General argued , that this Return was good ; and that Mr. Selden and the rest of the parties ought not to be bailed ; and that within the Return there appears good cause of their commitment , and of their detaining also . He said , The Case is great in expectation & consequence , and concerns the Liberty of the Subject on one part , whereof the Argument is plausible ; and on the other part it concerns the safety and Soveraignty of the King , which ( he said ) is a thing of greater weight ; and that the consideration of both pertains to you the Judges , without flighting the one , or too much elevating the other : and so proceeded to his Argument ( of which more at large hereafter ) and concluded , that the Prisoners ought to be remanded . When the Court was ready to have delivered their opinions in this great business , the Prisoners were not brought to the Bar according to the Rule of the Court. Therefore Proclamation was made , for the keepers of the several Prisons to bring in their Prisoners ; but none of them appeared , but the Marshal of the Kings Bench : who informed the Court , that Mr. Strood who was in his custody , was removed yesterday , and put in the Tower of London by the Kings own warrant ; and so it was done with the other Prisoners , for each of them was removed out of his prison in which he was before . But notwithstanding , it was pray'd by the Counsel for the Prisoners , that the Court would deliver their opinion as to the matter in Law : but the Court refused to do that , because it was to no purpose ; for the Prisoners being absent , they could not be bailed , delivered , or remanded . The evening before , there came a Letter to the Judges of this Court from the King himself , informing the Court with the Reasons , wherefore the Prisoners were not suffered to come at the day appointed for the resolution of the Judges . These were the words of the Letter . To our Trusty and welbeloved , Our Chief Justice , and the rest of Our Justices of Our Bench. C. R. TRusty and welbeloved , we Greet you well : Whereas by our special commandment we have lately removed Sir Miles Hubard , Walter Long , and William Stroud from the several prisons where they were formerly committed , and have now sent them to our Tower of London ; understanding there are various constructions made thereof , according to the several apprehensions of those who discourse of it , as if we had done it to decline the course of Iustice : We have therefore thought fit to let you know the true Reason and occasion thereof ; as also , why we commanded , those and the other Prisoners should not come before you the last day : We ( having heard how most of them a while since did carry themselves insolently and unmannerly both towards us and your Lordships ) were and are very sensible thereof ; and though we hear your selves gave them some admonition for that miscariage , yet we could not but resent our Honour , and the Honour of so great a Court of Iustice so far , as to let the world know how much we dislike the same : And having understood that your Lordships and the rest of our Iudges and Barons of our Court of Common Pleas and Exchequer ( whose advices and judgments we have desired in this great business , so much concerning our Government ) have not yet resolved the main Question , we did not think the presence of those Prisoners necessary ; and until we should find their temper and discretions to be such as may deserve it , we were not willing to afford them favour . Nevertheless , the respect we bear to the proceedings of that Court , hath caused us to give way , that Selden and Valentine should attend you tomorrow , they being sufficient to appear before you , since you cannot as yet give any resolute opinion in the main point in Question . Given under our Signet at Our Mannor at Greenwich , this 24 Iunii , in the 5 yeer of our Reign . Within three hours after the receit of those Letters , other Letters were brought unto the said Judges , as followeth . To Our trusty and well-beloved , Our Chief Justices , and the rest of Our Justices of Our Bench. C. R. TRusty and well-beloved , we greet you well : Whereas by our Letters of this days date , we gave you to understand our pleasure , That of those prisoners which by our Commandment are kept in our Tower of London , Selden and Valentine should be brought tomorrow before you ; now upon more mature Deliberation , we have resolved , That all of them shall receive the same treatment , and that none shall come before you , until we have cause given us to believe they will make a better demonstration of their Modesty and Civility both towards us and your Lordships then at their last appearance they did . Given under our Signet at our Mannor at Greenwich , this 24 day of Iune , in the fifth year of our Reign . So the Court this Term delivered no opinion , and the imprisoned Gentlemen continued in restraint all the long Vacation . Note : That in this Term a Habeas Corpus was prayed to the Pursevant of Arms for four Constables of Hertfordshire , to whose custody they were committed by the Lords of the Privy-Council ; and the Habeas Corpus was granted on their behalf : but then they were committed to the Custody of other Pursevants ; and so upon every Habeas Corpus they were removed from Pursevant to Pursevant , and could have no fruit of their Habeas Corpus all this Term. There wanted not some , who upon the Kings dissolution of this Parliament , and his ill success in two former Parliaments , did advise that his Majestie for the future , might be no more troubled with the impertinencies of Parliaments ; holding out for example the like discontinuance of assembling the three Estates in France , which was in time about four years before the blazing Star , by Lewis the eleventh King of France , who by reason the third Estate representing the Commons did incroach ( as he declared ) too much upon the Clergie and Nobility , the King dissolved that Parliament of the three Estates , and never had a free Election of the third Estate afterwards , but ordained another kind of meeting instead thereof , which is called L' assembli des Notables , An assembly of certain eminent persons of his own Nomination ; whereunto he added some Counsellour out of every Court of Parliament : there being eight in all in France , and being few in number , and of his own Nomination , would more readily comply with the Kings proposals , and not dispute his will and pleasure , as the general assembly of three Estates had wont to do when the King trenched upon the liberty and property of the Subject : which alteration of the Government , as to the third Estate , hath ever since exposed the Commons to much vassalage and misery , as at this day is apparent by the meanness of their livelyhood , and wearing of wooden shoes . That which gives us occasion to mention this last particular , is a little Tract composed to the said end and purpose , and which did this Trinity long Vacation walk abroad , and went from hand to hand , sometime at Court , sometime in the Country , and sometime at the Innes of Court ; which we here set down verbatim in the Appendix , that the humour of the Author thereof may be the more clearly discerned : and when we come to its proper time and place , you shall see what success this Pamphlet had , when it was questioned in the Star-Chamber . Towards the latter end of his Vacation , all the Justices of the Kings Bench , being then in the Country , received every one of them a Letter to be at Sergeants Inne upon Michaelmas day . These Letters were from the Council-Table ; and the cause expressed in them , was , That his Majesty had present and urgent occasion to use their service . The Judges came up accordingly on Tuesday being Michaelmas day . The next morning about four a clock , Letters were brought to the chief Justice from Mr. Trumbal Clerk of the Council then attending , that he , and Judge Whitlock , one of the Judges of that Court , should attend the King that morning so soon as conveniently they could : which the Chief Justice and that Judge did at Hampton that morning ; where the King taking them apart from the Council , fell upon the business of the Gentlemen in the Tower , and was contented they should be bayled notwithstanding their obstinacy in that they would not give the King a Petition , expressing , That they were sorry he was offended with them : he shewed his purpose to proceed against them by the common Law in the Kings Bench , and to leave his proceeding in the Star-Chamber . Divers other matters he proposed to the said Judges by way of advice , and seemed well contented with what they answered , though it was not to his minde ; which was , That the offences were not capital , and that by the Law the prisoners ought to be bailed , giving security to the good behaviour : whereupon the King told them , That he would never be offended with his Judges , so they dealt plainly with him , and did not answer him by Oracles and Riddles : both these Judges did at that time what good office they could to bring the King on to heal this breach . The first day of Michaelmas Term it was moved by Mr. Mason to have the Resolution of the Judges ; and the Court with one voice said , That they are now content that they shall be bayled , but that they ought to finde sureties also for the good behaviour ; and Iones Justice said , That so it was done in the Case which had been often remembred to another purpose , two wit , Russels Case in 9 E. 3. To which Mr. Selden answered , ( with whom all the other prisoners agreed in opinion ) That they have their sureties ready for the bayl , but not for the good behaviour ; and desire that the bayl might first be accepted , and that they be not urged to the other ; and that for these Reasons : First , the Case here had long depended in Court ( and they have been imprisoned for these thirty weeks ) and it had been oftentimes argued on the one side and the other ; and those that argued for the King , alwaies demanded that we should be remanded ; and those which argued on our side , desired that we might be bayled or discharged : but it was never the desire of the one side or the other that we should be bound to the good behaviour . And in the last Term four several days were appointed for the Resolution of the Court , and the sole point in question was , If baylable or not ; therefore he now desires that the matter of bayl and of good behaviour may be severed , and not con●ounded . Secondly , because the finding of sureties of good behaviour is seldome urged upon Returns of Felonies or Treasons . And it is but an implication upon the Return , that we are culpable of those matters which are objected . 3. We demand to be bayled in point of Right ; and if it be not grantable of Right , we do not demand it : but the finding of Sureties for the good behaviour is a point of discretion meerly ; and we cannot assent to it , without great offence to the Parliament , where these matters which are surmised by the Return were acted ; and by the Statute of 4 Hen. 8. all punishments of such nature are made voyd and of none effect , Therefore , &c. Curia . The Return doth not make mention of any thing done in Parliament , and we cannot in a judicial way take notice that these things were done in Parliament . And by Whitlock , The surety of good behaviour , is as a preventing medicine of the damage that may fall out to the Commonwealth ; and it is an Act of Government and jurisdiction , and not of Law. And by Crook , It is no inconvenience to the Prisoners : for the same bayl sufficeth , and all shall be written upon one peece of parchment . And Heath Atturney General said , That by the command of the King he had an information ready in his hand to deliver in the Court against them . Hide Chief Justice : If now you refuse to find sureties for the good behaviour , and be for that cause remanded ; perhaps we afterwards will not grant Habeas Corpus for you , inasmuch as we are made acquainted with the cause of your imprisonment . Ashly the Kings Sergeant offered his own bayl for Mr. Holles one of the Prisoners ( who had married his daughter and heir . ) But the Court refused it ; for it is contrary to the course of the Court , unless the Prisoner himself will become bound also . And Mr. Long that had found sureties in the Chief Justices Chamber for the good behaviour , refused to continue his sureties any longer , inasmuch as they were bound in a great summe of 2000 l. and the good behaviour was a ticklish point . Therefore he was committed to the custody of the Marshal , and all the other Prisoners were remanded to the Tower , because they would not find sureties for the good behaviour . Accordingly the same Term an Information was exhibited by the Atturney General against Sir Iohn Elliot , Denzil Holles , Sir Benjamin Valentine , reciting , That a Parliament was summoned to be held at Westminster , 17 Martii tertio Caroli Regis , ibid. inchoat . and that Sir Iohn Elliot was duly elected , and returned Knight for the County of Cornwal , and the other two Burgesses of Parliament for other places : and Sir Iohn Finch chosen Speaker . That Sir John Elliot machinans & intendens , omnibus viis & modis , seminare & excitare discord , evil will , murmurings and seditions , as well versus Regem , Magnates , Praelatos , Proceres & Justiciarios suos , quam inter Magnates , Proceres , & Justiciarios , & reliquos Subditos Regis , & totaliter deprivare & avertere regimen & gubernationem Regni Angliae , tam in Domino Rege , quam in Conciliariis & Ministris suis cujuscunque generis ; & introducere tumultum & confusionem , in all Estates and parts , & ad intentionem , That all the Kings Subjects should withdraw their affections from the King. The 23 of February Ann. 4 Carol. in the Parliament , and hearing of the Commons , falso , malitiose & seditiose , used these words , The Kings Privy Council , his Judges , and his Counsel learned , have conspired together , to trample under their feet the Liberties of the Subjects of this Realm , and the Liberties of this House . And afterwards upon the 2 of March , Ann. 4. aforesaid , the King appointed the Parliament to be adjourned until the 10 of March next following , and so signified his pleasure to the House of Commons : and that the three Defendants the said 2 day of March 4 Car. malitiose , agreed , and amongst themselves conspired to disturb and distract the Commons , that they should not adjourn themselves according to the Kings pleasure before signified ; And that the said Sir Iohn Elliot , according to the agreement and conspiracy aforesaid , had maliciously in propositum & intentionem praedict . in the House of Commons aforesaid , spoken these false , malicious , pernitious , and seditious words precedent , &c. And that the said Denzil Holles , according to the agreement and conspiracy aforesaid , between him and the other Defendants , then and there , falso , malitiose , & seditiose , uttered haec falsa , malitiosa , & scandalosa verba precedentia , &c. And that the said Denzil Holles & Benjamin Valentine , secundum agreamentum & conspirationem praedict . & ad intentionem & propositum praedict . uttered the said words upon the said 2 of March , after the signifying the Kings pleasure to adjourn : and the said Sir John Finch the Speaker endeavoring to get out of the chair according to the Kings command , They vi & armis , manu forti & illicito assaulted , evil entreated , and forcibly detayned him in the chair ; and afterwards , he being out of the chair , they assaulted him in the House , and evil entreated him , & violenter manu forti & illicito drew him to the chair , and thrust him into it : whereupon there was great tumult and commotion in the House , to the great terror of the Commons there assembled , against their Allegeance , in maximum contemptum , and to the disherison of the King his Crown and Dignity : for which , &c. To this Information the Defendants put in a Plea to the jurisdiction of the Court : Forasmuch as these offences are supposed to have been done in Parliament , they ought not to be punished in this Court , or any other , except in Parliament . And the Atturney General moved the Court to over-rule the Plea as to the jurisdiction of the Court ; and this he said , the Court might do , although he did not demur upon the Plea. But the Court would not over-rule the Plea ; but gave a day to joyn in demurr that Term. And on the first day of the next Term , the Record to be read ; and within a day after , argued at the Bar. In Hilary Term following , the Case of Walter Longe Esquire , one of the imprisoned Gentlemen , came to hearing in the Star-Chamber , which was as followeth . An Information was exhibited into the Star-Chamber , by SIR Robert Heath Knight , his Majesties Atturney General Plaintiff , against the said Walter Longe Defendant , for a great and presumptuous Contempt against his Majesty , for breach of duty and trust of his Office , and for manifest and wilful breach of his Oath taken as high Sheriff of the County of Wilts , and not residing and dwelling in his own person in the said County , according to the said Oath ; but being chosen one of the Citizens for the City of Bath , in the County of Somerset , to serve for the said City in the last Parliament , by colour thereof he remained at London or Westminster during the time of that Parliament by the space of three months and above , in neglect of his Duty , and in manifest contempt of the Laws of this kingdom : which cause was now by his Majesties said Atturney General brought to hearing upon the Defendents own confession . And upon opening the answer , and reading the examination of the said Defendant , it appeared to this Court , That the said Defendant Long was by his now Majesty made high Sheriff of the County of Wilts in or about November , in the third year of his Majesties reign , and received his Patent of Sheriffwick for the said County about ten days after ; and that he took an Oath before one of the Masters of the Chancery , for the due execution of the said Office of Sheriff of the said County . In which Oath , as appear'd by the same there read in Court , he did swear that he would in his own person remain within his Bayliffwick during all the time of his Sheriffwick , unless he had the King license to the contrary ; and that at an Election of Citizens for the said City of Bath , the said Defendant Longe was chosen one of the Citizens to serve for the said City of Bath in the Parliament then summoned , to be holden and commence upon the seventeenth day of March in the said third year of his Majesties reign ; and being so chosen and returned by the Sheriff of the Countie of Somerset , notwithstanding his said Oath taken to remain in his proper person , within his Bayliffwick , unless he were licensed by his Majestie , he the said Defendant did make his personal appearance in the Commons house of Parliament , at the City of Westminster in the County of Middlesex , and did , during the most part of the said Parliament , continue in and about the City of London and Westminster , and did attend in the Parliament as a Citizen for the said City of Bath : during all which time he likewise was and continued high Sheriff for the said County of Wilts , and had no particular license from his Majesty to the contrary . Upon consideration whereof , as also of the the particular causes and reasons of the Defendants Demurrer and Plea formerly exhibited unto the said Information , the benefit whereof was by order of the Court reserved unto the Defendant to be debated and considered of at the hearing of this cause , and of divers other matters now urged for the Defendant , both to have justified his the said Defendants attendance in Parliament , and his not residence in person in the County whereof he was then Sheriff ; and amongst other things , that it properly belonged to the house of Parliament to judge of the justness or unjustness of the said Election ; and upon grave and mature consideration thereof had and taken by the Court , their Lordships did not onely conceive the said Demurrer and Plea , and other the Arguments and Reasons used by the Defendant and his Council to be of no weight or strength , but also to be in opposition and derogation of the Jurisdiction of the Court ; the reasons moved and urged for the Defendants excuse or justification being clearly answered , and the charges of the Information made good by Mr. Atturney General , and others of his Majesties Counsel learned . And therefore the whole Court were clear of opinion , and did so declare , That the said Defendant , who at that time , as high Sheriff , had the custody and charge of the County of Wilts committed unto him by his Majesty , and had taken his Oath according to the Law to abide in his proper person within his Bayliffwick during all the time of his Sheriffwick as aforesaid , and whose trust and imployment did require his personal attendance in the said Countie , had not onely committed a great offence in violating the said Oath so by him taken , but also a great misdemeanor in breach of the trust committed unto him by his Majesty , and in contempt of his Majesties pleasure signified unto him by and under his Highness great Seal , when he granted unto him the said Office of Sheriffwick aforesaid . For which said several great Offences in breach of his said Oath , neglect of the trust and duty of his Office , and the great and high contempt of his Majesty , their Lordships did hold the said Defendant worthy the sentence of the Court ; the rather , to the end that by this example the Sheriffs of all other Counties may be deterred from committing the like offences hereafter , and may take notice that their personal residence and attendance is required within their Bayliffwicks during the time of their Sheriffwick . The Court therefore thought fit , ordered , adjudged , and decreed , That the said Defendant should stand and be committed to the prison of the Tower , there to remain during his Majesties pleasure , and also pay a Fine of two thousand Marks to his Majesties use ; and further , make his humble submission and acknowledgement of his offence both in the Court of Star-Chamber , and to his Majesty , before his thence enlargment . The same Term Mr. Mason argued in the kings Bench for Sir Iohn Elliot against the Information preferred against him ( amongst others ) by Sir Robert Heath the kings Atturney General ; and the same day the Atturney General argued in maintenance of the said Information : the Judges also the same day spake briefly to the Case , and agreed with one Voyce , That the Court , as this Case is , shall have Jurisdiction , although that these offences were committed in Parliament , and that the imprisoned Members ought to answer . Iones began and said , That though this Question be now newly moved , yet it is an ancient Question with him ; for it had been in his thoughts these eighteen yeers . For this Information there are three Questions in it : 1. Whether the matters informed be true or false : and this ought to be determined by Iury or Demurrer . 2. When the matters of the Information are found or confessed to be true , if the Information be good in substance . 3. Admit that the offences are truly charged , if this Court hath power to punish them : and that is the sole Question of this day . And it seems to me , that of these offences , although committed in Parliament , this Court shall have jurisdiction to punish them . The Plea of the Defendents here to the jurisdiction being concluded with a Demurrer , is not peremptory unto them , although it be adjudged against them ; but if the Plea be pleaded to the jurisdiction which is found against the Defendant by verdict , this is peremptory . In the discussion of this point , I decline these Questions : 1. If the matter be voted in Parliament , when it is finished , it can be punished and examined in another Court. 2. If the matter be commenced in Parliament , and that ended , if afterward it may be Questioned in another Court. I question not these Matters , but I hold , That an Offence committed criminally in Parliament , may be questioned elsewhere , as in this Court ; and that for these Reasons : First , Quia interest Reipublicae ut malesicia non maneant impunita : and there ought to be a fresh punishment of them . Parliaments are called at the Kings pleasure , and the King is not compellible to call his Parliament ; and if before the next Parliament , the party offending , or the witnesses die , then there will be a ●ayler of Justice . Secondly , The Parliament is no constant Court ; every Parliament mostly consists of several men , and by consequence they cannot take notice of matters done in the foregoing Parliament ; and there they do not examine by oath , unless it be in Chancery , as it is used of late time . Thirdly , The Parliament cannot send Process to make the offenders to appear at the next Parliament ; and being at large , if they hear a noise of a Parliament , they will fugam facere , and so prevent their punishment . Fourthly , Put the case that one of the Defendants be made a Baron of Parliament , now he cannot be punished in the House of Commons , and so he shall be unpunished . It hath been objected , That the Parliament is the Superior Court to this , therefore this Court cannot examine their proceedings . To this I say , That this Court of the Kings Bench is a higher Court then the Justices of Oyer and Terminer , or the Justices of Assize : But if an offence be done where the Kings Bench is ; after it is removed , this offence may be examined by the Justices of Oyer and Terminer , or by the Justices of Assize . We cannot Question the Judgments of Parliaments , but their particular offences . 2. Obj. It is a Priviledge of Parliament , whereof we are not competent Iudges . To this I say , That Privilegium est privata lex , & privat legem . And this ought to be by grant prescription in Parliament , and then it ought to be pleaded for the manner , as is 33 Hen. 8 Dy. as it is not here pleaded . Also we are Judges of all Acts of Parliament : as , 4 Hen. 7. Ordinance made by the King and Commons is not good , and we are Judges what shall be said a Session of Parliament , as it is in Plowden in Patridges Case . We are Judges of their lives and lands , therefore of their Liberties . And 8 Eliz. ( which was cited by Mr. Atturney ) it was the opinion of Dyer , Oatlyn , Welsh ; Brown and Southcot , Justices , That offences committed in Parliament may be punished out of Parliament . And 3 Ed. 3.19 . it is good Law. And it is usual neer the end of Parliaments to set some petty punishment upon offenders in Parliament , to prevent other Courts . And I have seen a Roll in this Court , in 6 H. 6. where judgment was given in a writ of annuity in Ireland , and afterwards the said judgment was reversed in Parliament in Ireland ; upon which judgment , Writ of Error was brought in this Court , and reversed . Hide Chief Justice , to the same intent : No new matter hath been offered to us now by them that argue for the Defendants , but the same Reasons and Authorities in substance , which were objected before all the Justices of England and Barons of the Exchequer , at Sergeants-Inn in Fleet-street , upon an Information in the Star-Chamber for the same matter . At which time after great deliberation it was resolved by all of them , That an offence committed in Parliament , that being ended , may be punished out of Parliament . And no Court more apt for that purpose then this Court in which we are : and it cannot be punished in a future Parliament , because it cannot take notice of matters done in a foregoing Parliament . As to that that was said , That an Inferiour Court cannot meddle with matters done in a Superior ; True it is , That an Inferior Court cannot meddle with judgments of a Superior Court ; but if the particular members of a Superiour Court offend , they are oft-times punishable in an Inferior Court : As , if a Judg shall commit a capital offence in this Court , he may be arraigned thereof at Newgate . 3 E. 3.19 . and 1 Mar. which have been cited , over-rule this case . Therefore . Whitlock accordingly : 1. I say in this Case , Nihil dictum quod non dictum prius . 2. That all the Judges of England have resolved this very point . 3. That now we are but upon the brink and skirts of the Cause : for it is not now in Question if these be offences or no ; or , if true or false ; but only if this Court have jurisdiction . But it hath been objected , That the offence is not capital , therefore it is not examinable in this Court. But though it be not capital , yet it is criminal , for it is sowing of sedition to the destruction of the Commonwealth . The Question now is not between us that are Judges of this Court and the Parliament , or between the King and the Parliament ; but between some private Members of the House of Commons and the King himself : for here the King himself questions them for those offences , as well he may . In every Commonwealth there is one supereminent Power which is not subject to be questioned by any other ; and that is the King in this Commonwealth , who , as Bracton saith , solum Deum habet ultorem . But no other within the Realm hath this Priviledge . It is true , that that which is done in Parliament by consent of all the house , shall not be questioned elsewhere ; but if any private Members exuunt personas judicum , & induunt malefacientium personas , & sunt seditiosi , is there such Sanctimony in the place , that they may not be questioned for it elsewhere ? The Bishop of Ross , as the Case hath been put , being Embassadour here , practised matters against the State. And it was resolved , That although Legatus sit Rex in alieno solo , yet when he goes out of the bounds of his Office , and complots with Traytors in this Kingdom , that he shall be punished as an offender here . A Minister hath a great Priviledge when he is in the Pulpit ; but yet if in the Pulpit he utter speeches which are scandalous to the State , he is punishable : so in this Case , when a Burgess of Parliament becomes mutinous , he shall not have the Priviledge of Parliament . In my opinion , the Realm cannot consist without Parliaments , but the behaviour of Parliament-men ought to be Parliamentary . No outragious speeches were ever used against a great Minister of State in Parliament , which have not been punished . If a Judge of this Court utter scandalous speeches to the State , he may be questioned for them before Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer , because this is no judicial act of the Court. But it hath been objected : That we cannot examine Acts done by a higher Power . To this I put this Case : When a Peer of the Realm is arraigned of Treason , we are not his Judges , but the high Steward , and he shall be tryed by his Peers : But if errour be committed in this proceeding , that shall be reversed by errour in this Court ; for that which we do , is Coram ipso Rege . It hath been objected : That the Parliament-Law differs from the Law by which we judge in this Court in sundry Cases . And for the instance which hath been made , That by the Statute none ought to be chosen Burgesse of a Town in which he doth not inhabit , but that the usage of Parliament is contrary . But if Information be brought upon the said Statute against such a Burgess , I think that the Statute is a good warrant for us to give judgement against him . And it hath been objected : That there is no President in this matter . But there are sundry Presidents by which it appears that the Parliament hath transmitted matters to this Court , as 2 R. 2. there being a question between a great Peer and a Bishop , it was transmitted to this Court , being for matter of behaviour : and although the Judges of this Court are but inferiour men , yet the Court is higher : for it appears by the 11 Eliz. Dy. That the Earl Marshal of England is an Officer of this Court ; and it is always admitted in Parliament , That the priviledges of Parliament hold not in three Cases , to wit , in case of Treason ; secondly , in case of Felony , and in suit for the peace ; and the last is our very case . Therefore , &c. Crook argued to the same intent ( but I did not well hear him : ) he said , That these offences ought to be punished in the Court , or no where ; and all manner off offences which are against the Crown , are examinable in this Court. It hath been objected : That by this means none will adventure to make his complaints in Parliament . That is not so , for he may complain in a Parliamentary course , but not falsely and unlawfully , as here is pretended ; for that which is unlawfully , cannot be in a Parliamentary course . It hath been objected : That the Parliament is a higher Court then this is . And it is true : But every Member of Parliament is not a Court ; and if he commit offence , he is punishable here . Our Court is a Court of high jurisdiction , it cannot take cognizance of real Pleas ; but if a real Plea comes by Error in this Court , it shall never be transmitted . But this Court may award a grand Cape , and other Process usual in real Actions : But of all capital and criminal causes we are originally competent Judges , and by consequence of this matter . But I am not of the opinion of Mr. Atturney General , that the word proditore , would have made this Treason . And for the other matters , he agreed with the Judges . Therefore by the Court , the Defendants were ruled to plead further : and Mr. Lenthal of Lincolns-Inn was assigned of Counsel for them . Inasmuch as the Defendants would not put in other Plea the last day of the Term , judgment was given against them upon a nihil dicit ; which judgment was pronounced by Iones to this effect : The matter of the Information now by the confession of the Defendants is admitted to be true , and we think their Plea to the jurisdiction insufficient for the matter and manner of it . And we hereby will not draw the true Liberties of Parliament-men into Question ; to wit , for such matters which they do or speak in Parliamentary manner . But in this case there was a conspiracy between the Defendants to slander the State , and to raise sedition and discord between the King his Peers and People ; and this was not a Parliamentary course . All the Iudges of England , except one , have Resolved the Statute of 4 Hen. 8. to be a private Act , and to extend to Strood only . But every Member of the Parliament shall have such Priviledges as are there mentioned ; but they have no Priviledge to speak at their pleasure . The Parliament is an high Court , therefore it ought not to be disorderly , but ought to give good example to other Courts . If a Judg of our Court shall rayl upon the State or Clergy , he is punishable for it . A Member of the Parliament may charge any great Officer of the State with any particular offence ; but this was a malevolous accusation in the generality of all the Officers of State , therefore the matter contained within the Information is a great offence , and punishable in this Court. 2. For the punishment , although the offence be great , yet that shall be with a light hand , and shall be in this manner . 1. That every of the Defendants shall be imprisoned during the Kings pleasure : Sir John Elliot to be imprisoned in the Tower of London , and the other Defendants in other Prisons . 2. That none of them shall be delivered out of Prison until he give security in this Court for his good behaviour , and have made submission and acknowledgment of his offence . 3. Sir John Elliot , inasmuch as we think him the greatest offender , and the ringleader , shall pay a fine to the King of 2000 l. and Mr. Holles , a fine of 1000 marks : and Mr. Valentine , because he is of less ability then the rest , shall pay a fine of 500 l. And to all this , all the other Justices with one voice accorded . FINIS . APPENDIX . His Majesties Declaration to all his Loving Subjects , of the Causes which moved him to dissolve the last Parliament , March 10. 1628. HOwsoever Princes are not bound to give accompt of their Actions but to God alone ; yet for the satisfaction of the minds and affections of Our Loving Subjects , We have thought good to set down thus much by way of Declaration , that We may appeare to the world in the truth and sincerity of Our Actions , and not in those Colours , in which We know some turbulent and ill-affected spirits ( to masque and disguise their wicked intentions , dangerous to the State ) would represent Us to the publick view . We assembled our Parliament the 17th . day of March , in the third yeer of Our Reigne , for the safety of Religion , for securing Our Kingdoms and Subjects at home , and Our friends and Allies abroad . And therefore at the first sitting down of it , We declared the miserable afflicted estate of those of the reformed Religion , in Germany , France , and other parts of Christendome ; the distressed extremities of Our dearest Uncle , the King of Denmark , chased out of a great part of his Dominions ; the strength of that Party which was united against Us ; That ( besides the Pope and the house of Austria , and their antient confederates ) the French King professed the rooting out of the Protestant Religion ; That , of the Princes and States on Our party , some were over-run , others diverted , and some disabled to give assistance . For which , and other important motives , We propounded a speedy supply of Treasure , answerable to the necessity of the Cause . These things in the beginning were well resented by the House of Commons , and with much alacrity and readinesse , they agreed to grant a liberall aid : But before it was brought to any perfection , they were diverted by a multitude of Questions , raised amongst them , touching their Liberties and Priviledges , and by other long disputes , that the Bill did not passe in a long time ; and by that delay , Our affairs were put into a far worse case then at the first ; Our Foraigne Actions then in hand being thereby disgraced and ruined , for want of timely help . In this , as We are not willing to derogate from the merit and good intentions of those wise and moderate men of that House , ( to whose forwardnesse We attribute it , that it was Propounded and Resolved so soon ) ; so We must needs say , that the delay of passing it when it was resolved , occasioned by causlesse jealousies , stirred up by men of another temper , did much lessen both the reputation and reality of that Supply . And their spirit , infused into many of the Commissioners and Assessors in the Country , hath returned up the Subsidies in such a scanty proportion , as is infinitely short , not onely of Our great occas●ons , but of the presidents of former Subsidies , and of the intentions of all well-affected men in that House . In those large Disputes , as We permitted many of Our high prerogatives to be debated , which in the best times of Our Predecessors had never been questioned , without punishment or sharp reproof ; so We did endeavour to have shortned those debates , for winning of time , which would have much advantaged Our great affairs , both at home and abroad . And therefore both by speeches and messages , We did often declare Our gratious and clear resolution , to maintain , not onely the Parliament , but all our People , in their antient and just liberties , without either violation or diminution ; and in the end , for their full satisfaction and security , did by an Answer , framed in the form by themselves desired , to their Parliamentary Petition , confirm their antient and just Liberties and Rights , which We resolve , with all constancy and justice , to maintain . This Parliament , howsoever besides the setling Our necessary supply , and their own liberties , they wasted much time in such proceedings , ( blasting Our Government , as We are unwilling to remember ) yet We suffered them to sit , untill themselves desired Us to appoint a time for their Recesse , not naming either Adjournment or Prorogation . Whereupon by advice of Our Councill , We resolved to prorogue and make a Session ; and to that end prefixed a day , by which they might ( as was meet in so long a Sitting ) finish some profitable and good Lawes ; and withall gave order for a gratious Pardon to all Our Subjects : which , according to the use of former Parliaments , passed the Higher House , and was sent down to the Commons . All which being gratiously intended by Us , was ill-entertained by some disaffected persons of that House , who by their artifices , in a short time raised so much heat and distemper in the House , for no other visible cause , but because We had declared Our resolution to Prorogue , as Our Councill advised , and not to Adjourn , as some of that House ( after Our resolution declared , and not before ) did manifest themselves to affect ; that seldome hath greater passion been seen in that House , upon the greatest occasions . And some glances in the House , but upon open rumors abroad , were spread , That by the Answer to the Petition , We had given away , not onely Our Impositions upon Goods , exported and imported , but the Tunnage and Poundage , ( whereas in the debate and hammering of that Petition , there was no speech or mention in either House concerning those Impositions , but concerning Taxes and other charges within the Land ; much lesse was there any thought thereby to debar Us of Tunnage and Poundage , which both before and after the Answer to that Petition , the House of Commons , in all their speeches and treaties , did professe they were willing to grant ) . And at the same time , many other misinterpretations were raised of that Petition and Answer , by men , not well distinguishing between well ordered liberty , and licentiousness ; as if by Our Answer to that Petition . We had let loose the reynes of Our Government . And in this distemper , the House of Commons , laying aside the Pardon , ( a thing never done in any former Parliament ) and other businesse , fit to have been concluded that Session , some of them went about to frame and contrive a Remonstrance against Our receiving of Tunnage and Poundage , which was so far proceeded in , the night before the prefixed time , for concluding the Session , and so hastned by the contrivers thereof , that they meant to have put it to the Vote of the House the next morning , before We should prorogue the Session . And therefore finding Our gratious favours in that Session , afforded to Our people , so ill requited , and such sinister straines made upon Our Answer to that Petition , to the diminution of Our profit , and ( which was more ) to the danger of Our Government : We resolved to prevent the finishing of that Remonstrance , and other dangerous intentions of some ill-affected persons , by ending the Session the next morning , some few hours sooner then was expected ; and by Our Own Mouth to declare to both Houses the cause thereof ; and for hindring the spreading of those sinister interpretations of that Petition and Answer , to give some necessary directions , for setling and quieting Our Government , untill another Meeting ; which we performed accordingly the six and twentieth of Iune last . The Session thus ended , and the Parliament risen , that intended Remonstrance gave Us occasion to look into the businesse of Tunnage and Poundage . And therefore , though Our necessities pleaded strongly for Us , yet We were not apt to strain that point too far , but resolved to guide Our Self by the practise of former Ages , and examples of Our most noble Predecessors ; thinking those counsels best warranted , which the wisdom of former Ages , concurring with the present occasions , did approve ; and therefore gave order for a diligent search of Records : upon which it was found , That although in the Parliament holden in the first yeer of the reigne of King Edward the fourth , the Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage was not granted unto that King , but was first granted unto him by Parliament in the third yeer of his Reigne ; yet the same was accounted and answered to that King , from the first day of his Reigne , all the first and second yeers of his Reigne , and , untill it was granted by Parliament . And that in the succeeding times of King Richard the Third , King Henry the Seventh , King Henry the Eighth , King Edward the Sixth , Queen Mary , and Queen Elizabeth , the Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage was not onely enjoyed by every of those Kings and Queens , from the death of each of them deceasing , untill it was granted by Parliament unto the Successor ; but in all those times ( being for the most part peacable , and not burdened with like charges and necessities , as these modern times ) the Parliament did most readily and cheerfully , in the beginning of every of those Reignes , grant the same , as a thing most necessary for the guarding of the Seas , safety and defence of the Realm , and supportation of the Royall Dignity . And in the time of our Royall Father of blessed memory , he enjoyed the same a full yeer , wanting very few daies , before his Parliament began ; and above a yeer before the Act of Parliament for the grant of it was passed . And yet when the Parliament was assembled , it was granted without difficulty . And in Our Own time , We quietly received the same three years and more , expecting with patience , in severall Parliaments , the like grant thereof , as had been made to so many of Our Predecessors ; the House of Commons still professing , That multitude of other businesses , and not want of willingnesse on their part , had caused the setling thereof to be so long deferred . And therefore finding so much reason and necessity , for the receiving of the ordinary Duties in the Custom-house , to concur with the practice of such a succession of Kings and Queens , famous for Wisdom , Justice , and Government ; and nothing to the contrary , but that intended Remonstrance , hatched out of the passionate brains of a few particular persons ; We thought it was so far from the wisdom and duty of a House of Parliament , as We could not think , that any moderate and discreet man , ( upon composed thoughts , setting aside passion and distemper ) could be against receiving of Tunnage and Poundage ; especially since We do , and still must , pursue those ends , and undergo that charge , for which it vvas first granted to the Crovvn ; It having been so long and constantly continued to Our Predecessors , as that in four severall Acts of Parliament for the granting thereof to King Edward the Sixth , Queen Mary , Queen Elizabeth , and Our blessed Father . It is in expresse tearms mentioned , to have been had and enjoyed by the severall Kings , named in those Acts , time out of minde , by authority of Parliament . And therefore upon these reasons , We held it agreeable to Our Kingly Honour , and necessary for the safety and good of Our Kingdom , to continue the Receipt thereof , as so many of Our Predecessors had done . Wherefore when a few Merchants ( being at first but one or two ) , fomented , as it is well known , by those evill spirits , that would have hatched that undutifull Remonstrance , began to oppose the payment of Our accustomed Duties in the Custom-house , We gave order to the Officers of Our Customs to go on , notwithstanding that opposition , in the receiving of the usuall Duties ; and caused those , that refused , to be warned to attend at the Councill-board , that by the wisdom and authority of Our Councill , they might be reduced to obedience and duty ; where some of them , without reverence or respect to the honour and dignity of that Presence , behaved themselves with such boldnesse and insolency of speech , as was not to be endured by a far meaner Assembly , much lesse to be countenanced by a House of Parliament , against the Body of Our Privy Councill . And as in this We did , what in reason and honour was fit for the present , so Our Thoughts were daily intentive upon the re-assembling of Our Parliament , with full intention on Our part , to take away all ill-understanding between Us and Our people ; whose loves , as We desired to continue and preserve , so We used Our best endeavours , to prepare and facilitate the way to it . And to this end , having taken a strict and exact survey of Our Government , both in the Church and Common-wealth , and what things were most fit and necessary to be reformed : We found in the first place , that much exception had been taken at a Book , entituled , Appello Caesarem , or , An Appeal to Cesar ; and published in the year 1625. by Richard Montague , then Batchelor of Divinity , and now Bishop of Chichester ; and because it did open the way to those schisms and divisions , which have since ensued in the Church , We did , for remedy and redresse thereof , and for the satisfaction of the consciences of Our good people , not onely by Our publick Proclamation , call in that Book , which ministred matter of offence , but to prevent the like danger for hereafter , re-printed the Articles of Religion , established in the time of Queen Elizabeth of famous memory ; and by a Declaration before those Articles , We did tie and restrain all opinions to the sense of those Articles , that nothing might be left for private fancies and innovations . For , We call God to record , before whom We stand , that it is , and alwaies hath been , Our hearts desire , to be found worthy of that Title , which We account the most glorious in all our Crown , Defender of the Faith. Neither shall We ever give way to the authorising of any thing , whereby any Innovation may steal or creep into the Church ; but to preserve that unity of Doctrine and Discipline , established in the time of Queen Elizabeth , whereby the Church of England hath stood and flourished ever since . And as we were carefull to make up all breaches and rents in Religion at home , so did We , by Our Proclamation and Commandment , for the execution of Lawes against Priests , and Popish Recusants , fortifie all waies and approaches against that forraigne Enemy ; which if it have not succeeded according to Our intention , We must lay the fault where it is , in the subordinate Officers , and Ministers in the Country , by whose remisnesse , Jesuites and Priests escape without apprehension ; and Recusants , from those convictions and penalties , which the Law and Our Commandment would have inflicted on them . For We do professe , That , as it is Our duty , so it shall be our care , to command and direct well ; but it is the part of others , to perform the ministeriall office . And when We have done Our office , We shall account Our Self , and all charitable men will account Us innocent , both to God and men . And those that are negligent , We will esteem as culpable both to God and Us ; and therefore will expect , that hereafter they give Us a better account . And , as We have been careful for the setling of Religion , and quieting the Church ; so were We not unmindfull of the preservation of the just and antient Liberties of Our Subjects , which we secured to them by our gratious Answer to the Petition in Parliament , having not since that time done any act whereby to infringe them . But Our care is , and hereafter shall be , to keep them entire and inviolable , as We would do Our Own Right and Soveraignty , having for that purpose enrolled the Petition and Answer in our Courts of Justice . Next to the care of Religion , and of Our Subjects Rights , We did Our best for the provident and well-ordering of that aid and supply , which was granted us the last Session , whereof no part hath been wastefully spent , nor put to any other use , than those for which it was desired and granted ; as upon payment of Our Fleet and Army : wherein Our care hath been such , as We chose rather to discontent Our dearest Friends and Allies , and Our nearest Servants , than to leave Our Souldiers and Marriners unsatisfied , whereby any vexation or disquiet might arise to our People . We have also , with part of those monies , begun to supply our Magazines , and stores of Munition , and to put Our Navy into a constant form and order . Our Fleet likwise is fitting , and almost in a readinesse , whereby the Narrow Seas may be guarded , Commerce maintained , and Our Kingdome secured from all forraign attempts . These acts of Ours might have made this impression in all good minds , that We were carefull to direct Our counsells , and dispose Our actions , as might most conduce to the maintenance of Religion , honour of Our Government , and safety of Our People . But with mischievous men once ill-affected , seu bene , seu male facta premunt ; and whatsoever once seemed amisse is ever remembered ; but good endeavours are never regarded . Now all these things that were the chief complaints the last Session , being by Our Princely care so seriously reformed , the Parliament reassembled the 20th of Ianuary last . We expected , according to the candor and sincerity of our own thoughts , that men would have framed themselves for the effecting of a right understanding between Us and Our People . But some few malevolent persons , like Empericks and lewd Artists , did strive to make new work , and to have some disease on foot , to keep themselves in request , and to be employed and entertained in the cure . And yet to manifest how much offences have been diminished , The Committees for Grievances , Committees for Courts of Justice , and Committees for Trade , have , since the sitting down of the Parliament , received few Complaints , and those such , as they themselves have not thought to be of that moment or importance , with which Our Ears should be acquainted . No sooner therefore was the Parliament set down , but these ill affected men began to sow and disperse their jealousies , by casting out some glances and doubtfull speeches , as if the Subject had not been so clearly and well dealt with , touching their liberties , and touching the Petition answered the last Parliament . This being a plausible Theam , thought on for an ill purpose , easily took hold on the minds of many , that knew not the practice . And thereupon the second day of the Parliament , a Committee was appointed to search , whether the Petition and our Answer thereunto were enrolled in the Parliament Role , and in the Courts at Westminster , and in what manner the same was done . And a day also was then appointed , on which , the House being resolved into a Committee , should take into consideration those things , wherein the liberty of the Subject had been invaded , against the Petition of Right . This , though it produced no other effect of moment or importance , yet was sufficient to raise a jealousie against our proceedings , in such as were not well acquainted with the sincerity and clearnesse of them . There followed another of no lesse skill ; for although Our proceeding , before the Parliament , about matters of Religion , might have satisfied any moderate men of Our zealous care thereof , ( as we are sure it did the most ) yet , as bad stomachs turn the best things into their own nature , for want of good digestion ; so those distempered persons have done the like of Our good intents , by a bad and sinister interpretation : For , when they did observe , that many honest and religious minds in that House , did complain of those dangers that did threaten the Church ; they likewise took the same word in their mouth , and their cry likewise was , Templum Domini , Templum Domini , when the true care of the Church never came into their hearts : and what the one did out of zeal unto Religion , the other took up as a plausible Theam , to deprave Our Government , as if We , Our Clergy , and Councill , were either senslesse or carelesse of Religion . And this wicked practise hath been , to make Us seem to walk before Our people , as if We halted before God. Having , by these artifices , made a jealous impression in the hearts of many ; and a day being appointed to treat of the Grant of Tunnage and Poundage , at the time prefixed , all expresse great willingnesse to grant it . But a new strain is found out , that it could not be done , without great perill to the right of the Subject , unlesse We should disclaim any right therein , but by grant in Parliament ; and should cause all those Goods to be restored , which , upon commandment from Us , or Our Councill , were stayed by our Officers , untill those Duties were paid , and consequently should put Our Selves out of the possession of the Tunnage and Poundage , before they were granted ; for else , it was pretended , the Subject stood not in fit case to grant it . A fancy and cavill raised of purpose to trouble the businesse ; it being evident , that all the Kings before named did receive that Duty , and were in actuall possession of it , before , and at the very time , when it was granted to them by Parliament . And although We , to remove all difficulties , did from Our Own Mouth , in those clear and open tearms , that might have satisfied any moderate and well-disposed minds , declare , That it was Our meaning , by the gift of Our people , to enjoy it , and that we did not challenge it of right , but took it de bene esse , shewing thereby , not the right , but the necessity , by which We were to take it , ( wherein We descended , for their satisfaction , so far beneath Our self , as We are confident , never any of Our Predecessors did the like , nor was the like ever required or expected from Them ) . Yet for all this , the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage was laid aside , upon pretence , they must first clear the right of the Subject therein ; under colour whereof , they entertain the complaints , not onely of Iohn Rolles , a Member of their House , but also of Richard Chambers , John Fowkes , and Bartholomew Gilman , against the Officers of Our Customs , for detaining their goods , upon refusall to pay the ordinary Duty , accustomed to be paid for the same . And upon these complaints , they send for the Officers of the Customes , enforcing them to attend day after day , by the space of a month together ; they cause them to produce their Letters Patents under Our Great Seal , and the Warrants made by Our Privy Councill , for levying of those Duties . They examine the Officers upon what questions they please , thereby to entrap them for doing Our service and commandment . In these and other their proceedings , because We would not give the least shew of interruption , We endured long with much patience both these , and sundry other strange and exorbitant incroachments and usurpations , such as were never before attempted in that House . We are not ignorant , how much that House hath of late years endeavoured to extend their priviledges , by setting up generall Committees for Religion , for Courts of Justice , for Trade , and the like ; a course never heard of untill of late : So as , where in former timos the Knights and Burgesses were wont to communicate to the House such businesse , as they brought from their Countries ; now there are so many Chairs erected , to make enquirie upon all sorts of men , where complaints of all sorts are entertained , to the unsufferable disturbance and scandall of Justice and Government , which having been tolerated a while by Our Father , and Our Self , hath daily grown to more and more height ; insomuch that young Lawyers sitting there , take upon them to decry the opinions of the Judges ; and some have not doubted to maintain , That the Resolutions of that House must bind the Judges , a thing never heard of in Ages past . But , in this last assembly of Parliament , they have taken on them much more then ever before . They sent messengers to examine Our Atturney Generall , ( who is an Officer of trust and secrecy ) touching the execution of some commandements of Ours , of which , without Our leave first obtained , he was not to give account to any but Our Self . They sent a captious and directory message to the Lord Treasurer , Chancellor , and Barrons of the Exchequer , touching some judiciall proceedings of theirs in Our Court of Exchequer . They sent messengers to examine upon sundry questions , Our two Chief Justices , and three other of Our Judges , touching their judiciall proceedings at the Gaol-Delivery at Newgate , of which , they are not accountable to the House of Commons . And whereas Suits were commenced in Our Court of Star-Chamber , against Richard Chambers , John Fowks , Bartholomew Gilman , and Richard Phillips , by Our Atturney Generall , for great misdemeanours ; they resolved , that they were to have priviledge of Parliament against us for their persons , for no other cause , but because they had Petitions depending in that House ; and ( which is more strange ) they resolved , that a Signification should be made from that House , by a Letter , to issue under the hand of their Speaker , unto the Lord Keeper of Our Great Seal , that no attachments should be granted out against the said Chambers , Fowks , Gilman , or Phillips , during their said priviledge of Parliament . Whereas it is far above the power of that House , to give direction to any of Our Courts at Westminster , to stop Attatchments against any man , though never so strongly priviledged ; the breach of Priviledge being not in the Court that grants , but in the Party or Minister that puts in execution such Attachments . And therefore , if any such Letter had come to the Lord Keeper , as it did not , he should have highly offended Us if he had obeyed it . Nay , they went so far , as they spared not the honour of Our Councill-board , but examined their proceedings in the case of Our Customers , interrogating what this or that man of Our Councill said , in direction of them in the businesse committed to their charge . And when one of the Members of that House speaking of our Counsellors , said , We had wicked Counsell ; and another said , that the Councill and Judges sought to trample under feet the liberty of the Subject ; and a third traduced Our Court of Star-Chamber , for the Sentence given against Savage , they passed without check or censure by the House . By which may appear , how far the Members of that House have of late swollen beyond the rules of moderation , and the modesty of former times ; and this under pretence of priviledge and freedom of speech , whereby they take liberty to declare against all authority of Councill and Courts at their pleasure . They sent for Our Sheriff of London to examine him in a cause , whereof they had no jurisdiction ; their true and antient jurisdiction extending onely to their own Members , and to the conservation of their priviledges , and not to the censure of forrain persons and causes , which have no relation to their priviledges , the same being but a late innovation . And yet upon an enforced strain of a Contempt , for not answering to their satisfaction , they commit him to the Tower of London , using that outward pretext for a cause of committing him , the true and inward cause being , for that he had shewed himself dutifull to Us and Our commandements , in the matter concerning Our Customs . In these innovations ( which We will never permit again ) they pretended indeed Our service ; but their drift was , to break , by this means , through all respects and ligaments of Government , and to erect an universall over-swaying power to themselves , which belongs onely to Us , and not to them . Lastly , in their proceedings against Our Customers , they went about to censure them as Delinquents , and to punish them , for staying some goods of some factious Merchants , in Our Store-house , for not paying those Duties which themselves had for●erly paid , and which the Customers , without interruption , had received of all other Merchants , many years before , and to which they were authorised , both by Our great Seal , and by severall directions and commandements from Us and Our Privy Councill . To give some colour to their proceedings herein , they went about to create a new priviledge , ( which We will never admit ) That a Parliament-man hath priviledge for his goods against the King ; the consequence whereof would be , That he may not be constrained to pay any Duties to the King , during the time of priviledge of Parliament . It is true , they would have this case to have been between the Merchants , and Our Farmers of Our Customs , and have severed them from Our interest and commandment , thereby the rather to make them lyable to the censure and punishment of that House . But on the other side , We holding it both unjust and dishonorable , to with-draw Our self from Our Officers , in any thing they did by Our commandement , or to disavow any thing that we had enjoyned to be done ; upon Munday the 23d of February , sent a message unto them by Secretary Cook , thanking them for the respect they had shewed , in severing the interest of Our Farmers from Our Own interest and commandment . Neverthelesse , We were bound in honour to acknowledge a truth , that , what was done by them , was done by our expresse commandement and direction ; and if for doing thereof Our Farmers should suffer , it would highly concern Us in honour . Which message was no sooner delivered unto them , but in a tumultuous and discontented manner , they called , Adjourn , Adjourn ; and thereupon , without any cause given on Our part , in a very unusuall manner , adjourned , untill the Wednesday following . On which day , by the uniform wisdom of Our Privy Council , We caused both Houses to be adjourned until the second day of March ; hoping that in the mean time , a better and more right understanding might bee begotten between Us , and the Members of that House , whereby the Parliament might come to a happy Issue . But understanding by good advertisment , that their discontent did not in that time digest , and passe away ; We resolved to make a second adjournment , untill the tenth of March ; which was done , as well to take time to Our Self , to think of some means to accommodate those difficulties , as to give them time to advise better ; and accordingly , We gave commandment for a second adjournment in both Houses , and for cessation of all businesse till the day appointed ; which was very dutifully obeyed in the Higher House , no man contradicting or questioning it . But when the same commandment was delivered in the House of Commons by their Speaker , it was streight-waies contradicted ; and although the Speaker declared unto them , it was an absolute right and power in Us to adjourn , as well as to prorogue or dissolve ; and declared and readd unto them divers presidents of that House , to warrant the same ; yet Our commandment was most contemptuously disobeyed ; and some rising up to speak , said , They had businesse to do before the House should be adjourned . * Whilst the Duke of Buckingham lived , he was intituled to all the distempers and ill events of former Parliaments ; and therefore much endeavour was used to demolish him , as the onely wall of separation between Us and Our people . But now he is dead , no alteration was found amongst those envenomed spirits , which troubled then the blessed harmony between Us and Our Subjects , and continue still to trouble it . For now under the pretence of publick care of the Common-wealth , they suggest new and causlesse fears , which in their own hearts they know to be false ; and devise new Engines of mischief , so to cast a blindnesse upon the good affections of Our people , that they may not see the truth , and largenesse of Our heart towards them . So that now it is manifest , the Duke was not alone the mark these men shot at , but was onely as a near minister of Ours , taken up , on the By , and in their passage to their more secret designes ; which were onely to cast Our Affairs into a desperate condition , to abate the powers of Our Crown ▪ and to bring Our Government into obloquy ; that , in the end , all things may be over-whelmed with Anarchy and Confusion . We do not impute these dysasters to the whole House of Commons , knowing that there were amongst them many religious , grave , and well-minded men ; but the sincerer and better part of the House was over-born , by the practises and clamours of the other , who , carelesse of their duties , and taking advantage of the times , and Our necessities , have enforced Us to break off this Meeting ; which , had it been answered with like duty on their parts , as it was invited and begun with love on Ours , might have proved happy and glorious , both to Us and this whole Nation . We have thus declared the manifold causes We had , to dissolve this Parliament , whereby all the world may see , how much they have forgotten their former engagements at the entry into the War , themselves being perswaders to it ; promising to make Us feared by Our enemies , and esteemed by Our friends . And how they turned the Necessities grown by that War , to enforce us to yield to Conditions incompatible with Monarchy . And now that Our People may discern , that these provocations of evill men ( whose punishments we reserve to a due time ) have not changed Our good intentions to Our Subjects , We do here professe to maintain the true Religion and Doctrine , established in the Church of England , without admitting or conniving at any back-sliding , either to Popery or Schism . We do also declare , That vve will maintain the antient and just rights and liberties of Our Subjects , with so much constancy and justice , that they shall have cause to acknowledge , That under Our government and gratious protection , they live in a more happy and free estate , then any subjects in the Christian world . Yet let no man hereby take the boldnesse to abuse that liberty , turning it to licentiousnesse ; nor misinterprett the Petition , by perverting it to a lawlesse liberty , wantonly or frowardly , under that or any other colour , to resist lawfull and necessary authority . For as We will maintain Our Subjects in their just liberties , so We do and will expect , that they yield as much submission and duty to Our Royal prerogatives , and as ready obedience to Our authority and commandments , as hath been performed to the greatest of Our Predecessors . And for Our Ministers , We vvill not that they be terrified by those harsh proceedings , that have been strained against some of them . For , as we will not command any thing unjust or dishonourable , but shall use Our authority and prerogatives for the good of Our People ; so we will expect , that Our Ministers obey Us , and they shall assure themselves , We will protect them . As for Our Merchants , We let them know , We shall alwaies endeavour to cherish and enlarge the Trade of such as be dutifull , without burthening them beyond what is fitting : but the Duty of Five in the Hundred , for guarding of the Seas , and defence of the Realm , to which we hold Our selves still obliged , ( and which Duty hath continued without interruption so many succession of Ages ) We hold no good or dutifull Subject will deny it , being so necessary for the good of the whole Kingdom . And if any factious Merchant vvill affront Us , in a thing so reasonable , and vvherein we require no more , nor in no other manner , than so many of Our Predecessors have done , and have been dutifully obeyed : Let them not deceive themselves , but be assured , that We shall find honourable and just means to support Our Estate , vindicate Our Soveraignty , and preserve the Authority vvhich God hath put into Our Hands . And now having laid down the truth and clearnesse of Our proceedings , all wise and discreet men may easily judge of those rumours , and jealous fears , that are malitiously and vvickedly bruited abroad ; and may discern , by examination of their own hearts , whether ( in respect of the free passage of the Gospel , indifferent and equall administration of Justice , freedom from oppression , and the great peace and quietnesse which every man enjoyeth under his own Vine and Fig-tree ) the happinesse of this Nation can be parallel'd , by any of Our neighbour-Countries ; and if not , then to acknowledge their own blessednesse , and for the same be thankfull to God , the Author of all goodnesse . A Proposition for His Majestie 's Service , to bridle the Impertinency of Parliaments . Afterwards questioned in the Star-Chamber . THe Proposition for your Majestie 's service containeth two parts : the one , to secure your State , and to bridle the impertinency of Parliaments : the other , to increase your Majestie 's Revenue , much more then it is . Touching the first , having considered divers means , I find none so important , to strengthen your Majesties Regall authority , against all oppositions and practises of troublesome spirits , and to bridle them ; than to fortifie your Kingdome , by having a Fortresse in every chief Town , and important place thereof , furnished with Ordnance , Munition , and faithfull Men , as they ought to be , with all other circumstances fit for to be digested in a businesse of this nature ; ordering withall the trained Souldiers of the County to be united in one dependency with the said Fort , as well to secure their beginning , as to succour them in any occasion of suspect ; and also to retain and keep their Armes for more security , whereby the Countries are no lesse to be brought in subjection than the Cities themselves , and consequently the whole Kingdom ; your Majesty having by this course the power thereof in your own hands . The reasons of the suggests are these : 1. That in Policy , it is a greater tye of the People by force and necessity , then meerly by love and affection ; for by the one , the Government resteth alwaies secure ; but by the other , no longer then the people are contented . 2. It forceth obstinate subjects to be no more presumptuous , than it pleaseth your Majesty to permit them . 3. That to leave a State unfurnished , is , to give the Bridle thereof to the Subject ; when , by the contrary , it resteth onely in the Prince's hands . 4. That modern Fortresses take long time in winning , with such charge and difficulty , as no Subjects in these times have means probable to attempt them . 5. That it is a sure remedy against Rebellions , and popular Mutinies , or against forraigne powers ; because they cannot well succeed : when by this course the apparent means is taken away , to force the King and Subject upon a doubtfull fortune of a set Battle , as was the cause , that moved the pretended invasion against the land , attempted by the King of Spain in the year 1588. 6. That your Majestie 's government is the more secure , by the people's more subjection ; and by their subjection , your Parliament must be forced consequently to alter their style , and to be conformable to your will and pleasure ; for their words and opposition import nothing , where the power is in your Majesties own hands , to do with them what you please ; being indeed the chief purpose of this discourse , and the secret intent thereof , fit to be concealed from any English at all , either Counsellors of State or other . For these , and divers other weighty reasons , It may be considered in this place , to make your Majesty more powerfull and strong , some orders be observed , that are used in fortified Countries , the government whereof imports as much as the States themselves , I mean , in times of doubt or suspect , which are these . Imprimis , That none wear Arms or Weapons at all , either in City or Country , but such as your Majesty may think fit to priviledge , and they to be inrolled . 2. That as many high-waies as conveniently may be done , be made passable through those Cities and Townes fortified , to constrain the passengers to travell through them . 3. That the souldiers of Fortresses be sometimes chosen of another Nation , if subject to the same Prince ; but howsoever , not to be born in the same Province , or within forty or fifty miles of the Fortresse , and not to have friends or correspondency near it . 4. That at all the Gates of each walled Town be appointed Officers , not to suffer any unknown passengers to passe , without a Ticket , shewing from whence he came , and whither to go . And that the Gates of each City be shut all night , and keyes kept by the Mayor or Governour . 5. Also Inn-keepers to deliver the names of all unknown passengers that lodge in their houses ; and if they stay suspitiously at any time , to present them to the Governour : whereby dangerous persons seeing these strict courses , will be more wary of their actions , and thereby mischievous attempts will be prevented . All which being referred to your Majestie 's wise consideration , it is meet for me withall to give you some satisfaction , of the charge and time to perform what is purposed , that you may not be discouraged in the difficulty of the one , or prolongation of the other ; both which doubts are resolved in one and the same reason , in respect that in England , each chief Town commonly hath a ruinated Castle , well seated for strength , whose foundation and stones remaining , may be both quickly repaired for this use , and with little charge and industry made strong enough , I hope , for this purpose , within the space of one year ; by adding withall Bulwarks and Rampiers for the Ordnance , according to the rules of Fortification . The Ordnance for these Forts may be of Iron , not to disfurnish your Majestie 's Navy , or be at a greater charge then is needfull . To maintain yearly the Fort , I make account in ordinary pay , three thousand men will be sufficient , and will require forty thousand pound charge per Annum , or thereabouts , being an expence that inferiour Princes undergo , for their necessary safety . All which prevention added to the invincible Sea-force your Majesty hath already , and may have , will make you the most powerfull and obeyed King of the world . Which I could likewise confirm by many examples , but I omit them for brevity , and not to confuse your Majesty with too much matter . Your Majesty may find by the scope of this discourse , the means shewed in generall to bridle your Subjects , that may be either discontent or obstinate . So likewise am I to conclude the same intent particularly , against the perversnesse of your Parliament , as well to suppresse that pernitious humour , as to avoid their oppositions against your profit , being the second part to be discoursed on : and therefore have first thought fit , for better prevention thereof , to make known to your Majesty the purpose of a generall Oath your Subjects may take , for sure avoiding of all rubs , that may hinder the conclusion of these businesses . It is further meant , that no subject upon pain of high Treason , may refuse the same Oath , containing onely matter of Allegiance , and not scruples in points of Conscience , that may give pretence not be denyed . The effect of the Oath is this , That all your Majestie 's Subjects do acknowledge you , to be as absolute a King and Monarch within your Dominions , as is amongst the Christian Princes ; and your Prerogative as great : whereby you may and shall of your self , by your Majestie 's Proclamation , as well as other Soveraign Princes doing the like , either make Lawes , or reverse any made , with any other Act , so great a Monarch as your self may do , and that without further consent of a Parliament , or need to call them at all in such cases ; considering , that the Parliament in all matters , excepting causes to be sentenced as the highest Court , ought to be subject unto your Majestie 's will , to give the negative or affirmative conclusion , and not to be constrained by their impertinencies to any inconvenience , appertaining to your Majestie 's Regall Authority ; and this , notwithstanding any bad pretence or custom to the contrary in practise , which indeed were fitter to be offered a Prince elected , without other right , than to your Majesty , born successively King of England , Scotland , and Ireland , and your Heirs for ever ; and so received , not onely of your Subjects , but also of the whole world . How necessary the dangerous supremacy of Parliament's usurpation is to be prevented , The example of Lewes the Eleventh King of France , doth manifest , who found the like opposition as your Majesty doth ; and by his wisdom suppressed it . And , to the purpose here intended , which is not to put down altogether Parliaments , and their authority , being in many cases very necessary and fit ; but to abridge them so far , as they seek to derogate from your Majesties Regall authority , and advancement of your greatnesse . The caution in offering the afore-said Oath , may require some policy , for the easier passage at first , either by singular or particular tractation ; and that so near about one time over the Land , as one Government may not know what the other intendeth ; so it may passe the easier , by having no time of combination or opposition . There is another means also more certain then this , to bring to passe the Oath more easily , as also your profit , and what else pretended ; which here I omit for brevity , requiring a long discourse by it self , and have set it down in particular instructions to inform your Majesty . 2. The second part of this Discourse is , touching your Majestie 's Profit , after your State is secured : Wherein I should observe both some reasonable content to the people , as also consider the great expences that Princes have now adaies , more then in times past , to maintain their greatnesse , and safety of their Subjects , who , if they have not wit or will to consider their own interest so much indifferently , your Majestie 's wisdom must repair their defects , and force them to it by compulsion ; but I hope there shall be no such cause , in points so reasonable , to increase your Majestie 's revenue , wherein I set down divers means for your gratious Self to make choice of , either all or part at your pleasure , and to put it in execution by such degrees and cautions , as your great wisdom shall think fit in a businesse of this nature . Imprimis , The first means or course intended to increase your Majestie 's revenues or profit withall , is of greatest consequence , and I call it a Decimation , being so tearmed in Italy , where in some part it is in use , importing the tenth of all Subjects estates to be paid as a yeerly rent to their Prince , 1 and as well monyed men in Towns , as landed men in the Countries , their value and estates esteemed justly as it is to the true value , though with reason ; and this paid yeerly in mony : Which course applyed in England for your Majestie 's service , may serve instead of Subsidies , Fifteens , and such like , which in this case are fit to be released , for the Subjects benefit and content , in recompence of the said Decima , which wil yield your Majesty more in certainly , than they do Casually by five hundred thousand pounds per annum at the least . 2 Item , That when your Majesty hath gotten monie into your hands by some courses to be set down , it would be a profitable course to increase your Entrada , to buy out all Estates and Leases upon your own Lands , in such sort , as they be made no losers ; whereby having your Lands free , and renting it out to the true value , as it is most in use , and not imployed as heretofore , at an old Rent , and small ●ines . , you may then rent it out for at least four or five times more mony , then the old Rent comes unto . So as if your Majesties ●onds be already but sixty thousand pounds per Annum , by this course it will be augmented at the least two hundred thousand pounds per Annum ; and to buy out the Tenants estates will come to a small matter by the course , to make them no losers , considering the gain they have already made upon the Land : And this is the rather to be done , and the present course changed , because it hath been a custom used meerly to cousen the King. 3 Item . Whereas most Princes do receive the benefit of Salt in their own hands , as a matter of great profit , because they receive it at the lowest price possible , and vent it at double gain yearly ; the same course used by your Majesty , were worth at least one hundred and fifty thousand pound per Annum . 4 It is likewise in other parts , that all Weights and Measures of the land , either in private Houses , Shops , or publick Markets , should be viewed to be just , and sealed once a year , paying to the Prince for it ; which in England , applyed to your Majesty , with order to pay six-pence for the sealing of each said Weight or Measure , would yield near sixty thousand pounds per Annum . Item , Though all Countries pay a Gabella for transportation of Cloth , 5 and so likewise in England ; yet in Spain there is Impost upon the Wools , which in England is so great a wealth and benefit to the Sheep-Masters , as they may well pay you five pound per cent . of the true value at the shearing , which I conceive may be worth one hundred and forty thousand pounds per Annum . 6 Item . Whereas the Lawyers Fees and gains in England be excessive , to your Subjects prejudice ; it were better for your Majesty to make use thereof , and impose on all Causes sentenced with the party , to pay five pound per cent . of the true value that the Cause hath gained him ; and for recompence thereof , to limit all Lawyers Fees and gettings , whereby the Subject shall save more in Fees and Charges , then he giveth to your Majesty in the Gabella , which I believe may be worth , one year with another , 7 fifty thousand pounds . Item , Whereas the Innes and Victualling-houses in England are more chargeable to the Travellers , then in other Countries , it were good for your Majesty to lin● them to certain Ordinaries , and raise besides a large Imposition , as is used in Tuskany and other parts ; that is , a prohibiting all Innes and Victualling-houses , but such as shall pay it ; and to impose upon the chief Inns and Taverns , to pay ten pounds a year to your Majesty , and the worst five pound per Annum ; and all Ale-houses twenty shillings per Annum , more or lesse , as they are in custom . Of all sorts there are so many in England , that this Impos● may well yield one hundred thousand pounds per Annum to your Majesty . 8 Item , In Tuscany and other parts , there is a Gabella of all Cattle , or Flesh , and Horses sold in Markets , paying three or four per cent . of what they are sold for , which by conjecture may be worth in England two hundred thousand pounds per Annum ; using the like Custom upon Fish , and other Victualls , ( Bread excepted ) and for this cause , Flesh , and Fish , and Victualls in the Markets , to be priced and sold by weight , whereby the Subject saveth more in not being cousened , than the Imposition impaireth them . Item , In Tuskany is used a Taxation of seven per cent . upon all alienation of Lands to the true value . 9 As also seven per cent . upon all Dowries or Marriage-monies . The like , if it be justly used in England , were worth at least one hundred thousand pound per Annum ; with many other Taxations upon Meal , and upon all Merchandises in all Towns , as well as Port-Towns , which here I omit , with divers others , as not so fit for England . And in satisfaction of the Subject for these Taxes , your Majesty may be pleased to release them of Wardships , and to enjoy all their Estates at eighteen y●ers old ; and in the mean time , their profits to be preserved for their own benefit . And also in forfeitures of Estate by condemnation , your Majesty may release the Subject , as not to take the forfeiture of their Lands , but their Goods , High-Treason onely excepted ; and to allow the Counsell of Lawyers in case of life and death ; as also nor to be condemned without two Witnesses , with such like benefit , which importeth much more their good , then all the Taxations named can prejudice them . Item , Some of the former Taxations , used in Ireland and in Scotland , as may easily be brought about by the first example thereof used in England , may very well be made to increase your Revenue there , more then it is , by two hundred thousand pound per Annum . 10 Item , All Offices in the Land , great and small , in your Majestie 's grant , may be granted , with condition , to pay you a part yearly , according to the value : This in time may be worth ( as I conceive ) one hundred thousand pound per Annum : adding also Notaries , Atturneys , and such like , to pay some proportion yearly towards it , for being allowed by your Majesty to practise , and prohibiting else any to practise in such places . Item , 11 To reduce your Majesties houshold to Board-wages , as most other Princes do , reserving some few Tables ; this will save your Majesty sixty thousand pounds per Annum , and ease greatly the Subject besides , both in Carriages and Provision , which is a good reason , that your Majesty in honour might do it . Item , I know an assured course in your Majestie 's Navy , which may save at least forty thousand pounds per Annum , which requiring a whole Discourse by it self , I omit ; onely promise you to do it , whensoever you command . Item , Whereas your Majesties Lawes do command the strict keeping of Fasting-daies , 12 you may also prohibit on those daies to eat Eggs , Cheese , and White-meats , but onely such as are contented 〈◊〉 pay eighteen pence a yeer for the liberty to eat them , and the better sort ten shillings . The employment of this may be for the defence of the Land , in maintaining the Navy , Garrisons , and such like , much after the fashion of a Crusado in Spain , as your Majesty knoweth , being first begun there , under the pretence to defend the Land against the Moors . And the same used in England , as aforesaid , may very well yield , one yeer with another , one hundred thousand pounds , without any disgust to any , because it is at every ones choice to give it or no. 13 Lastly , I have a course upon the Catholicks , and very safe for your Majesty , being with their good liking , as it may be wrought , to yield you presently at least two hundred thousand pound per Annum , by raising a certain value upon their Lands , and some other impositions ; which requiring a long Discourse by it self , I will omit it here , setting it down in my Instructions ; it will save your Majesty at least One hundred thousand pounds per Annum , to make it pain of death , and confiscation of goods and lands , for any of the Officers to cousen You , which now is much to be feared they do , or else they could not be so rich ; and herein to allow a fourth part benefit to them that shall find out the cousenage . Here is not meant Officers of State , as the Lord Treasurer , &c. being Officers of the Crown . The summe of all this account amounteth unto two Millions , or Twenty hundred thousand pounds per Annum : Suppose it be but one Million and a Half , as assuredly your Majesty may make by these courses set down , yet it is much more then I promised in my Letter for your Majesties service . Besides , some sums of mony in present , by the courses following : Imprimis , By the Prince's Marriage , to make all the Earls in England Grandees of Spain , and Principi , with such like priviledges , and to pay twenty thousand pounds apiece for it . 2. As also , if you make them Foeditaries of the Towns belonging to their Earldoms , if they will pay for it besides , as they do to the King of Spain in the Kingdom of Naples . And so likewise Barons to be made Earls and Peers , to pay ninteen thousand pounds a piece , I think might yield five hundred thousand pounds , and oblige them more sure to his Majesty . 3. To make choice of two hundred of the richest men of England in estate , that be not Noble-men , and make them Titulate , as is used in Naples , and paying for it ; that is , a Duke thirty thousand pounds , a Marquis fifteen thousand pounds , an Earl ten thousand pounds , and a Baron or Viscount five thousand pounds . It is to be understood , that the antient Nobility of Barons made Earls , are to precede these as Peers , though these be made Marquesses or Dukes ; this may raise a Million of pounds and more unto your Majesty . To make Gentlemen of low quality , and Francklines , and rich Farmers , Esquires , to precede them , would yield your Majesty also a great sum of mony in present . I know another course to yield your Majesty at least three hundred thousand pounds in mony , which as yet the time serveth not to discover , untill your Majesty be resolved to proceed in some of the former courses , which till then I omit . Other courses also that may make present mony I shall study for your Majestie 's service , and , as I find them out , acquaint you withall . Lastly , to conclude all these discourses , by the application of this course used for your profit , That it is not onely the means to make you the richest King that ever England had , but also the safety augmented thereby to be most secure , besides what shewed in the first part of this Discourse ; I mean , by the occasion of this Taxation , and raising of monies , your Majesty shall have cause and means to imploy in all places of the Land so many Officers and Ministers , to be obliged to you for their own good and interest , as nothing can be attempted against your Person or Royall State over land , but some of them shall in all probability have means to find it out , and hinder it . Besides , this course will detect many disorders and abuses in the publick Government , which were hard to be discovered by men indifferent . To prohibite gorgeous and costly apparell to be worn , but by persons of good quality , shall save the Gentry of the Kingdom much more mony , then they shall be taxed to pay unto your Majesty . Thus withall I take my leave , and kiss your gratious hands , desiring pardon for my error I may commit herein . Pasc. 5. Caroli Regis . B. R. The Reports of the following Arguments were taken by Mr. Widdrington of Gray's-Inn . UPon the Habeas Corpus out of this Court , to bring here the body of one William Stroud Esq with the cause of his imprisonment , to the Marshall of the Kings Bench , it was returned in this manner : That William Stroud Esq was committed under my custody , by vertue of a certain Warrant under the hands of twelve Lords of the Privy Councill of the Lord the King ; the tenour of which Warrant followeth in these words . You are to take knowledge , that it is his Majesties expresse pleasure and commandment , that you take into your custody the body of William Stroud Esq and keep him close-prisoner , untill you shall receive other order , either from his Majesty , or this Board ; for so doing this shall be your Warrant . Dated the 2 d of April , 1629. And the Direction thereof was , To the Marshall of the King's Bench , or his Deputy . He is likewise held in prison by vertue of a certain Warrant , under the hand of the King himself , the tenour of which Warrant followeth in these words . Carolus Rex . Whereas you have in your custody the body of William Stroud Esq committed by the Lords of Our Privy Councill , by Our speciall command , you are to take notice , that his commitment was for notable contempts by him committed against Our Self , and Our Government , and for stirring up of Sedition against Us : For which you are to detain him in your custody , and keep him close-prisoner , untill Our pleasure be further known concerning his deliverance . Given at Greenwich the 7 th of May , 1629. in the 5 th year of Our Reigne . And the direction was , To Our Marshall for Our Bench for the time being . And these are the causes of the taking and detaining of the foresaid William Stroud , &c. And upon another Habeas Corpus to the Marshall of the Houshold , to have the body of Walter Long Esq he made the same Return as above . Ask of the Inner Temple , of Counsell with Mr. Stroud , moved , That the Return was insufficient . The Return consists upon two Warrants , bearing severall Dates , which are the causes of the taking and detaining of the Prisoner . For the first Warrant , which is of the Lords of the Councill , that is insufficient ; because no cause is shewn of his commitment , which is expresly against the resolution of the Parliament , and their Petition of Right in the time of this King which now is , to which he had likewise given his assent ; so his taking by vertue of the said Warrant , is wrongfull . And for the second Warrant , it is insufficient also ; and that notwithstanding that it be the Kings own ; for , the King himself cannot imprison any man , as our Books are , to wit , 16 H. 6. F. Monstrance de faits . 1 H. 7.4 . Hussey reports it to be the opinion of Markham , in the time of Edw. 4. and Forrescue in his Book , de laudibus Legum Angliae , cap. 18. And the reason given is , because no action of false imprisonment lies against the King if the Imprisonment be wrongfull ; and the King cannot be a wrong doer . The Statute of Magna Charta is , That no free-man be imprisoned , but by the Law of the Land. And it appears by these Books , that it is against the Law of the Land that the King should imprison any one . 2. Admit that this be onely a signification and notification given by the King himself of the commitment of the prisoner ; yet it seems , that that signification is of no force , 1. Because the words are general & uncertain , — for notable contempts — There are in the Law many contempts of severall natures ; there are contempts against the Common law , against the Statute-law ; contempts in words , gestures , or actions . And it appears not to the Court of what nature these contempts were . — Notable — Every contempt which is made to the King is notable . — Against Our Government — Contempt which is committed in a Court of Record or Chancery , is a contempt against the Government of the King , to wit , because they disobey the King when he commands them by his Writs , C. 8. 60. a. Beechers case . The last two words of the Return are , — For stirring up of sedition against Us — which words likewise are indefinite and generall . I find not the word [ Sedition ] in our Books , but taken adjectively , as seditious books , seditious newes , &c. in the Statute of 1 st . and 2 d. of Phil. and Mary , cap. 3. the words are , If any person shall be convicted , &c. for speaking , &c. any false , seditious , or slanderous newes , saying of the tayles of the Queen , &c. he shall lose his ears , or pay 100 l. There the penalty imposed upon such Sedition is but a Fine , C. 4. Lord Cromwell's case 13. where Sedition is defined to be seorsum itio , when a man takes a course of his own . And there it is said , that the words , — maintain sedition against the Queen's proceedings — shall be expounded according to the coherence of all the words , and the intent of the parties . So that it is plain , that there is a sedition that is onely finable , and which is no cause of imprisonment without bail : And what the sedition is that is here intended , cannot be gathered out of the words , they are so generall , — against Us — those words are redundant , for every sedition is against the King. Upon the generality and incertainty of all the words in the Return , he put these cases , 18. E. 3. A man was indicted , quia furatus est equum , and doth not say Felonic , and therefore ill , 29. ass . 45. A man was indicted that he was communis latro , and the indictment held vitious , because too generall . So here , the offences are returned generally . But there ought to be something individuall , C. 5.57 . Specot's case , quia schismaticus inveteratus , is no good cause for the Bishop to refuse a Clerk , for it is too generall , and there are schisms divers kinds , 38. E. 3.2 . Because the Clerk is criminosus , it is no good cause for the Bishop to refuse him , 8 and 9 Eliz. Dy. 254. The Bishop of N. refuseth one , because he was a haunter of Taverns , &c. for which , and divers other crimes , he was unfit , held that the last words are too generall and incertain , 40. E. 3.6 . In the tender of a marriage , and refusall of the heir , he ought to alledge a certain cause of refusall , Whereupon issue may be taken . C. 8.68 . Trollop's case , to say , That the Plantiff is excommunicated for divers contumacies , shall not disable him , without shewing some cause in speciall of the excommunication , upon which the Court may judge whether it were just or no. So here . And he concluded with a case that was resolved , Hill. 33 Eliz. Peak and Paul the Defendants said of the Pantiff , Thou art a mutinous and seditious man , and maintains sedition against the Queen ; and the words adjudged not actionable . Mason of Lincolns-Inne , of Counsell with Mr. Long , moved also , that the Return was insufficient . For the first Warrant , that he was committed by command of the King , signified by the Privy Councill , I will not argue that , because it was claimed as an antient right pertaining to the Subject , in the Petition of Right , whereto the King himself hath given his consent . For the second Warrant , the Return is , — for stirring up sedition against Us and Our Government . Sedition is not any determined offence within our Law ; our Law gives definitions or descriptions of other offences , to wit , of Treason , Murder , Felony , &c. but there is no crime in our Law called Sedition . It is defined by a Civilian to be Seditio , or Secessio , cum pars reipublicae contra partem infurgit ; so that sedition is nothing but division . Braeton and Glanvill have the word [ Seditio ] generally . Before the Statute of 25 E. 3. chap. 2. it was not clear enough what thing was Treason , what not ; by which Statute it is declared what shall be said Treason , and that the Iudges shall not declare any thing to be Treason , that is not contained within the said Statute , but it shall be declared onely by Parliament . And that Statute speaks not of Sedition , nor the Statute of 1 H. 4. chap. 10. which makes some things Treason , which are not contained within the said Statute of 25 E. 3. The Statute of 1 E. 6. chap. 12. takes away all intervenient Statutes , which declared new Treasons ; and the said Act declares other things to be Treason , but mentions not Sedition . Sedition is the quality of an offence , and is oftentimes taken Adverbially or Adjectively . To raise tumults or trespasses is sedition , Tim. 2. E. 3. rot . 23. Garbart's case , A man was indicted , because in the high street he took I. S. there , being in hostile manner , and usurped over him royall power , which is manifest sedition ; and there it was but an indictment of trespasse , Mich. 20. E. 1. rot 27. One that was surveyor of the Wood-work for the King , was indicted for stealing of timber , and detaining wages , ( ridding Carpenters wages ) by one that was but a boy ; and this is there tearmed Sedition , and yet it was but a petty Fellony , Mich. 42. E. 3. rot . 65. B. R. R. Pope was appealed by the wife of I. S. because he feloniously and seditiously murdered I. S. and [ seditiously ] was there put in , because it was done privily . By which cases it appears , that sedition is not taken as a Substantive , so that it may be applyed to treason , trespasse , or other offences . By the Statute of 2 H. 4. chap. 15. there is punishment inflicted for the raising of seditious doctrine , and yet no punishment could have been inflicted for it untill the said Statute ; & yet it was seditious , as well before the said Statute as after . And this appears also by the Statute of 1 and 2 of Phil. and Mar. chap. 3. which hath been cited . The Statute 13 Eliz. chap. 2. reci●es , that divers seditious and evill disposed persons , &c. obtained Bulls of reconciliation from the Pope , which offence was made treason by the said Statute , ( for it was not before , and yet there was sedition ) and by the sa● Statute , the aiders and abettors are but in the case of Premunire . By the Statute of 13. Eliz. chap. 1. for the avoiding of contentious and seditious Titles to the Crown , it is enacted by the said Statute , That he that shall declare the Successor of the King , shall forfeit the moity of his goods , &c. so that the said offence , although it be seditious , is not treason by the Common Law , nor is made treason by the Statute of 25. E. 3. nor by the Statute of 13 Eliz. By the Statute of 23 Eliz. chap. 2. he that speaks seditious or slanderous news of the Queen , shall lose his ears , or pay 200 l. and the second offence is made Felony . The Statute of 35 Eliz. chap. 1. 〈…〉 seditious Sectaries , which absent themselves from the Church ; they are to be punished 10 l. by the month . Out of all which Statutes it may be collected , that the word [ Sedition ] is taken variously , according to the subject in hand . And C. 4. Lord Cromwell's case [ Seditious ] is referred to doctrine . There are offences more high in their nature than sedition , which were not treason , unlesse so declared by act of Parliament . Every rebellious act is sedition , yet if such Acts be not within the Statute of 23 Ed. 3. they are not treason . 17 R. 2. chap. 8. Insurrection of villains and others is not made treason , which proves , that before this Act it was not treason . And this Act of 17 R. 2. is repealed by the Statute of 1 H. 4. By the Statute of 3 and 4 E. 6. chap. 5. to assemble people to alter the Lawes , is made treason , if they continue together an houre after Proclamation made . This assembly of people was sedition at the Common Law ; and the very assembly , if they after dissolve upon Proclamation made , is not treason by the said Statute . By the Statute of 14 Eliz. chap. 1. it is made Felony , malitiously and rebelliously to hold from the Queen any Castles , &c. but because this relates not to the Statute of 25 E. 3. it is not treason . 2. It seems clearly , that this Case is within the Petition of Right , in which Magna Charta , and the Statutes of 25 , and 28 E. 3. are recited . The grievance there was , That divers have been imprisoned without any cause shewed , to which they might make answer according to the Law. And upon this Return , nothing appears to be objected to which he might answer . It appears not what that Act , which is called Sedition , was . This is the very grief intended to be remedied by this Statute : To this he cannot answer according to Law. It appears not whether this were a seditious act , trespasse , or slander , or what it was at all . The words are , — Sedition against the King — This helps not , for every offence is against the King , against his Crown and dignity ; that which disturbs the Common-wealth is against the King , seditious doctrine is sedition against the King , as is before said . In 28 H. 6. vide Postrat . fol. 19. the Lords and Commons desire the King , that William de la Pool may be committed for divers treasons , and sundry other heinous crimes ; and the Petition held not good , because too generall : Whereupon they exhibit particular Articles against him . And therefore upon the whole matter he concluded and prayed , that Mr. Long might be discharged from his imprisonment . On another day , Barckley and Davenport , the Kings Sergeants , argued for the King , That this Return was sufficient in Law to detain them in prison . Barckley began , and said , That the case is new , and of great weight and consequence , and yet under favour , the prerogative of the King , and the liberty of the Subject , are not mainly touched therein ; for the case is not so generall as it hath been made , but particular upon this particular Return . The liberty of the Subject is a tender point , the right whereof is great , just , and inviolable . The prerogative of the King is an high point , to which every subject ought to submit . I intend not to make any discourse of the one or the other ; I will onely remember what the King hath determined upon them both , in his speech which he made upon the Petition of right , to wit , That the Peoples liberties strengthen the Kings prerogative , and that the Kings prerogative is to defend the Peoples liberties . Thi● 〈◊〉 settle the hearts of the people concerning their liberty The way which I intend to treat in my Argument , is , to answer to the objections and reasons which have been made , and to give some reasons , whereby this Return shall be sufficient . The objections which have been made are reducible to four heads . 1. By what the prisoner here shall be said to be committed and detained . 2. That this Commitment is against the Petition of right . 3. That the Cause which is here returned , is generall and incertain . 4. That the offences mentioned in the Return are but Finable , and therefore notwithstanding them the party is bailable . For the first , it hath been objected , that the commitment here was by the Lords of the Privy Councill , and the signification of this cause is by the King himself . But I say , that there is a further matter in the Return ; for the Lords of the Councill do it by the command of the King , and they onely pursue this command . I will not dispute ▪ whether the Lords of the Councill have power to commit an offender or no , it is common in experience , 33 H. 6.28 . Poign●● case is expresse in it . And in the Petition of right it is admitted , that they may commit . And this is not alledged there for a grievance , but the grievance there , was , because the particular charge of commitment was not shewed . Some Books have been objected to prove , that the King , though in person , cannot commit any person , 16 H. 6. F. Monstrance de faits 182. But the authority of that Book vanisheth , if the case be put at large , which was in trespasse for cutting of Trees . The Defendant said , That the place where , &c is parcell of the Mannor of D. whereof the King is seised in Fee , and the King commands us to cut . And the opinion of the Court was , that this is no plea , without shewing a specialty of the command of the King. And there the whole Court saies , That if the King command me to arrest a man , whereby I arrest him , he shall have trespasse or imprisonment against me , although it be done in the presence of the King. That the following words are to be understood , as the principal case was of one command of the King by word , and then such command by word to arrest a man is void . And 1 H. 7.4 . was objected , Hussey saies , that Markham said to King Edw. 4. that he cannot arrest a man for suspition of Treason or Felony , because if he do wrong , the party cannot have his action . To this I say , That the Book there is to be understood of a wrongfull arrest , for there is spoken of an action of false imprisonment ; and a wrongfull arrest cannot be made by the King. 2. It stands not with the dignity of the King to arrest any man ; C. 4. 73. The King makes a Lease for years , rendring rent , with condition of re-entry for non-payment ; he shall take advantage of the condition without any demand ; and the reason there given , is , that a decorum and conveniency might be observed . So it is not befitting for the King in person to arrest any man , but the King may command another to do it . Bracton lib. 2. de acquirendo rerum Dominio , fol. 55. sayes , That the Crown of the King is to do justice and judgment , and facere pacem , without which , the Crown it self cannot subsist . Severall constructions are to be made upon those severall words , — and the last words — facere pacem — imply , that the King hath a coercive power . Britton f. 1. amongst the Errata . The King said in person , Because we are not sufficient in person to do every thing , We divide the charge into many parts . We are the peoples Iustice , and a Iustice implies one that hath power to do justice in every kind , to wit , by imprisonment , or otherwise . 20 H. 7.7 . C. 11.85 . it is said , That the King is the chief Iustice. And Lambert in his Justice of Peace , fol. 3. saies , That in antient Histories , the chief Iustice of England is called , Capitalis Justicia & Prima Justicia , after the King , in England . So that the King hath the same power of Iustice , as the Chief Iustice had . This imprisonment here , which is before conviction for any offen● , is not used towards the Subject as imprisonment for any fault , but is rather an arrest or restraint to avoid further inconveniencies , 14 H. 7.8 . A Iustice of Peace may arrest men riotously assembled , for prevention of further mischief . And the Book also saies , That he may leave his servants there to arrest men , for safeguard of the peace . It is a case well known , that if a house be set on fire , every man may pull down the next house , for prevention of greater mischief ; so it seems concerning the Incendiaries of the State , they ought to be restrained and supprest , lest others should be stirred up by them to the same combustion , 22 ass . 56. and 22 E. 4.45 . in false imprisonment the Defendant justifies , because the Plantiff was mad and out of his wits , and that he had done some harm , and that he had bound and beat him to avoid further harm , which might have happened by his madnesse : And the justification was held good . So it is in matter of Government , to avoid commotions , the King ought to use his coercive power against those that are enraged The objection was , that this course was against the Petition of Right . But I answer , That this case is out of the words of that Petition ; the words of the Petition were , — Whereas by the Statute called , The great Charter , and by the Statute of 28 E. 3. no free-man may be taken or imprisoned — yet against the tenour of the said Statute , &c. divers of your subjects have of late been imprisoned , without any cause shewed ; and when for their deliverance , &c. they were brought before the Iustices by Writs of Habeas corpus , there to undergo and receive as the Court should order , and their Keepers commanded to certifie the cause of their deteyner , and no cause was certified , but that they were detained by your Majesties speciall command , signified by the Lords of your Council ; and yet were returned back to severall prisons , without being charged with any thing to which they might make answer according to Law. These last words are observable , — Without being charged with any thing , to which they might make answer — These words do not refer to the Return of the Habeas Corpus , for the cause returned therein cannot be traversed , 9 H. 6. 54. but the Court took it as true . But the setting forth of the cause , and the answer to the same cause , is to be upon other proceedings , to wit , upon the indictment for the offence , or otherwise . And there is great difference between the return of a Writ to which a man may answer , and the return of an Habeas corpus . 10 E. 4. & 3 H. 7.11 . are , that if the Sheriff return Rescous , all certainties of every circumstance ought to be shewed , because it is fitting , that a thing certain be brought into judgment . And upon shewing of the grievance , as above , the Petition is , that no free-man , in any such manner as before is mentioned , be imprisoned or detained , ( such ) and it hath relation to such imprisonment , which is mentioned in the premises . And imprisonment mentioned in the premises of the Petition is , where no cause at all was mentioned ; then where any cause is shewed , is out of the Petition , and that [ such ] is the word relative , appears by C. 11 , 62. where many cases are put to the same purpose ; which see . The third objection was , That the Return was generall and uncertain . The Counsell on the other side had divided the words of the Return , but that is to offer violence thereunto ; for an exposition shall not be made by fractions , but upon the whole matter . For the first words , — notable contempts — It hath been said , that the addition of the word [ notable ] is but to make a flourish : But I say , That [ notable ] is not the emphasis of the Return , but it onely expresseth the nature of the offence ; and yet [ notable ] is a word observable by it self in the Law , and implyes , that the thing is known and noted . By 27 E. 1. Sheriffs shall be punished , that let notorious offenders to bayl ; and by the Statute of 4 H. 4. chap. 3. a notorious or common thief shall not make his purgation : and 26 E. 3.71 . in a trespasse for fals imprisonment , the Defendant said , That the Plantiff came into the Town of Huntington , and because he was seen in the company of R. de Thorby , who was a notorious thief , he , as Bailiff of Huntington , took him upon suspition . I confesse , that — for contempts — is generall , yea it is genus generalissimum , and within the Petition of Right ; but the words are , — against Our Self — It hath been said , That this might be by irreverent words or gestures . — and Our Government — It hath been said , that this might be by contempt to the Kings Writ , or by Retraxit , as Beechers case is . To this I answer , That those words which are spoken to one purpose , ought not to be wrested to another ; and this is against the common meaning of the words , C. 4. Thou art a murderer , the Defendant shall not afterwards explain it to be a murderer of Hares , for the highest murder is intended . So here , the highest Government is intended . 4. It hath been objected , that — for stirring up of sedition against Us — may perhaps be but an offence Finable : But those words joyned with the former words , shew this to be an offence of the highest nature ; sedition is a speciall contempt . And although sedition in it self may be but a generall offence , yet here it is — Sedition against Us and Our Government — , which makes it particular . It hath been confessed by one that argued on the other side , that there is a generall in a particular . C. 4. Hollands case , there is the most generall , and there is generall in particular , as the State Ecclesiasticall . 3 ly . There is more particular , as Colledges , Deans , and Chapters . This being in a case of Return upon Habeas Corpus . no precise certainty is required . In an Indictment , a certainty of all circumstances is requisite ; in Pleading , a certainty is required ; in Coun●s , a more precise certainty ; in Barrs , a certainty to a common intent is enough . There is not such precise certainty required here as in Indictment or Count , because the party ought to answer unto them ; nor so much certainty is required in this as in a Bar. And the Return is not incertain ; for , as it is said in Plowden , 202. and 193. a thing is incertain , where it may be taken indifferently , one way or the other . But where the intendment the one way exceeds the intendment the other way , it is not uncertain , as it is here . The words are , — for notable contempts against Us and Our Government , & for stirring up of sedition against Us — Here is certainty of intendment one way . There are many Writs which are more uncertain th●● this Return here is , & yet good . The Writ concerning the taking of an Apostate is general , Quod spreto habitu Ordinis ; and yet there are more sorts of Apostasies . In the Writ concerning the amoving of a Leper , the words are generall , and yet it appears by F. N. B. that there are two kinds of Lepers , one outward , and the other inward ; and for the latter the Writ concerning amoving a Leper . So the Writs concerning the burning of an Heretick , and concerning the examining of an Idiot , are general ; and yet there are sundry kinds of Hereticks and Idiots also . But it hath been objected , that [ Sedition ] is not a Law-tearm nor known in the Law , of which the Iudges can take no notice ; but the words to expresse offences of this nature , are , Murder , Treason , Felony ▪ &c. and that no Indictment of Sedition generally was ever seen . To this I answer , Perhaps it is true , that no Indictment was ever seen made , because the form of an Indictment is precise , words of art are required therein , as appears in Dyer 69.261 . C. 4. Vaux's case ; yet in 5 E. 6. Dyer . 69. it is said , that Furatus implies Felonicè cepit , although the contrary hath been objected . In a Return , words by Periphrasis are sufficient . The Warrant of a Iustice of Peace to apprehend I. S. because of prepensed malice , interfecit I. D. is good enough , although there wants the word murdravit . In 5 R. 2. F. tryal 54. Belknap saies , That a miscreant shall forfeit his land . Out of which it may be gathered , that a man may be Indicted for miscreancy . And it seems likewise , that an Indictment of sedition may be good , for in some cases it is Treason . I agree , Peaks case , which hath been obiected , that for these words , [ seditious fellow ] no action lies ; and so is C. 4.19 . b. because those words do not import an act to be done , but onely an inclination to do it ; but if a man say such words of another , which import that he hath made sedition , they are actionable , as it was resolved in Phillips & Badby's case , 24 Eliz. C. 4.19 . a. Thou hast made a seditious Sermon , and moved the people to sedition this day , adjudged actionable . So in the Lord Cromwells , C. 4.12 , 13. the action would have lain for those words , You like of those that maintain sedition against the Queens proceedings , if there had not been another matter in the case . I agree , the case of 21 E. 3. Sir John Garboyls case , & 42. E. 3. for in those cases , sedition was only taken adjectively , and shewes an inclination onely to do a seditious act , & in such sense sedition may be applyed to other offences then treason . In 31 E. 1. f. gard . 157. Gardein in Socage made feofment of land which he had in Ward , This is forfeiture , saies the Book , for the treason which he did to the Ward ; so there , one thing is called treason , which is onely a breach of trust . In an appeal of Mayhem , it is felonicè , and yet 6 H. 7.1 . it is not Felony : But felony is there onely put to expresse the hainousnesse of the offence , it is , as it were , a felony . The Statutes of 2 H. 4.1 Mar. 13 Eliz. 35 Eliz. 17 R. 2.3 . & 4 E. 6.14 Eliz. which have been objected , have the word [ Sedition ] but not applyable to this case . Bracton in his Book , de Corona , saies , Si quis , &c. If any by rash attempt , plotting the Kings death , should act , or cause any to act , to the sedition of the Lord the King , or of his Army , it is treason . And Glanvil , in as many words , saies , That to do any thing in sedition of the Kingdom , or of the Army , is high-treason . And Britton , fol. 16 ; It is high treason to ●●herit the King of the Realm , and sedition tendeth to the disheritance of the King ; for , as it hath been said , Seditio est quasi seorsum-itio , when the people are severed from the King : or it is , Seperans à ditione , when the people are severed from the power of the King. And in this sense , Sedition is no stranger in our Law ; and such sedition which severs the people from the King is Treason . But it hath been objected , that by the Statute of 25 E. 3. the Parliament ought onely to determine what is treason , what not . To this I answer , That upon the said Statute , the positive Law had alwaies made explication , and exposition , Br. treason 24. the words are , Compasse or imagine the death of the King ; and there it is taken , that he that malitiously deviseth how the King may come to death , by words , or otherwise , and does an act to explain it , as , in assaying harnesse , this is treason , 13 Eliz. Dy. 298. Story 's case , he being beyond-sea , practised with a forraign Prince to invade the Realm , and held treason , because invasion is to the perill of the Prince , and so within the Statute of 25 E. 3.4 Mar. Dy. 144. The taking of the Castle of Scarborough was treason in Stafford , by 30. ass . p. 19. which was presently after the making of the Statute of 25 E. 3. A man ought to have been hanged and drawn , that brought Letters of Excommengement from the Pope , and published them in England : And it is to be noted , that at the same time , there was no Statute to make it treason , but upon construction of the said Statute of 25 E. 3 though now it be made treason by the Statute of 13 Eliz. if it be with intention to advance forraigne power . Perhaps the sedition mentioned in this Return is high treason , and yet the King may make it an offence Finable , for he may prosecute the offendor in what course he pleaseth ; and if it be treason , then the prisoners are not baylable , by the Statute of Westm. But , suppose that it is but a Finable offence , yet by the said Statute , those which are imprisoned for open and notorious naughtinesse shall not be bayled ; the same naughtinesse is there intended high and exorbitant offence ? 2. It is fit to restrain the prisoners of their liberty , that the Common-wealth be not damnif●ed . It is lawfull to pull down a house , to prevent the spreading mischief of fire ; it is lawfull to restrain a furious man. And by the 14 H. 7. a Iustice of peace may restrain one rout . Then the restraint of dangerous men to the Common-wealth is justifiable and necessary , 24 E. 3.33 . p. 25. Sir Thomas Figet went armed in the Palace , which was shewed to the Kings Councell ; wherefore he was taken and disarmed before the chief Iustice , shard and committed to the prison , and he could not be bayled till the King sent his pleasure ; and yet it was shewed , that the Lord of T. threatned him . Out of which case I observe two things : First , that the Iudge of this Court did cause a man to be apprehended , upon complaint made to the Council , that is , to the Lords of the Privy Council . 2. That although he did nothing , he is not mayn-pernable untill the King sent his pleasure , because he was armed and furiously disposed . So here . UUherefore I pray , that the Prisoners may be sent back again . Davenport argued to the same intent and purpose , and therefore I will report his Argument briefly . 1. He said , That the Return here is sufficient . The Counsell on the other side have made fractions of this Return , and divided it into severall parts , whereas the genuine construction ought to have been made upon the entire Return ; for no violence ought to be offered to the Text. 7 E. 4.20 . In false imprisonment , the Defendant did iustifie , and alledged severall reasons of his justification ; to wit , because a man was killed , and that this was in the County of S. and that the common voice and fame was , that the Plaintiff was culpable . And this was held a good plea , although Bryan did there object , That the plea was double or treble ; and the reason was , because twenty causes of suspition make but one entire cause ; and indivisible unity in this ought not to be divided . So C. 8.66 . Crogates . In an action of trespasse , the Defendant justifies for severall causes ; and held good , because upon the matter , all of them make but one cause . C. 8.117 . It is said , That it is an unjust thing , unlesse the whole Law be looked into , to judge and answer , by propounding any one particular thereof ; and if it be unjust in the exposition of a Law , it is uncivill in a Return to make fractions of it , in the construction thereof especially , it being a Return for Information , and not for Accusation . 2. Although the Counsell on the other side have taken this case to be within the Petition of Right , yet this is Petitio principii , to take that for granted which is the question in debate . He said , That he would not offer violence to the Petition of Right , to which the King had assented , and which shall really be performed . But the question here is , Whether this Return be within it ? and the Iudges are keepers , not masters of this pledge ; and it seems , that this Return is out of the letter and meaning of the said Statute . 3. He said , That this was the actuall commitment of the Lords of the Privy Councill , and the habituall or virtuall commitment of the King. But because upon these two matters he put no case , nor gave any reason , but what had been put or given in the Argument of the grand Habeas corpus , Mich. 3 Caroli . and afterwards in the House of Commons , which was reported to the Lords in the painted Chamber , ( all which Arguments I heard ) I have here omitted them . And for the great respect which the Law gives to the commands of the King , he put these cases , 7 H. 3. Attachment of waste against the Tenant in Dower , and the waste was assigned in the taking of fish out of a pond , and the carrying them away . The Defendant pleaded , That her second husband , by the command of the Lord the King , took all the fish out of the said pond to the use of the Lord the King , and held a good justification ; which proves , that the command of the King there to her husband excused her of the said waste And yet it is clear , that Tenant in Dower is liable to an action of waste , for waste done in the time of her second husband : But contrary is it , where a woman is Tenant for life , and took a husband , who made waste and dyed , no action lies against the wife for that waste . And F. N. B. 17. A. If the Tenant in precipe at the grand cape makes default , the King may send a UUrit to the Iustices , rehearsing that he was in his service , &c. commanding them that that default be not prejudiciall to him ; and this command of the King excuseth his default , be the cause true or no. 4. For the particulars of the Return , it is — for notable contempts against the Government — But as to that it hath been said , that the King hath sundry governments , to wit , Ecclesiasticall , Politicall , &c. and it is not shewn , against which of them . This is but a cavilling exception ; they might as well have excepted to this Return , because it is not shewen , that these contempts were after the last generall Pardon ; that had been a better exception . The last words of the Return are , — raising sedition against Us — But as to this it hath been said , That Seditio is not a word known in the Law , and is alwaies taken either Adverbially or Adjectively , and is not a Substantive . To this he said , That although it is not a Substantive for the preservation , yet it is a Substantive for the destruction of a Kingdom . And he said , that he found the word [ Seditio ] in the Law , and the consequent of it likewise , which is , seductio populi . But it is not ever found to be taken in a good sense ; it is alwaies ranked and coupled with treason , rebellion , insurrection , or such like , as it appears by all those Statutes which have been remembred on the other side . Therefore he prayed likewise , that the Prisoners might be sent back . Trin. 5 Car. B. R. THe first day of the Term , upon Habeas Corpus to Sir Allen Apsley the Lieutenant of the Tower , to bring here the body of John Selden Esq with the cause of detention . He returned the same cause as above ; and Littleton , of Counsell with him , moved , that the Return was insufficient in substance ; therefore he prayed , that he might be bayled . It is true , that it is of great consequence , both to the Crown of the King , and to the liberty of the Subject . But , under favour , for the difficulty of Law contained in it , the case cannot be said Grand . In my Argument , I will offer nothing to the Court , but that which I have seen with these eyes , and that which in my understanding ( which is much subject to mistakes ) can receive no sufficient answer . I will divide my argument into four severall heads . 1. To point out those matters which I think unnecessary , and not conducible to the matter in question . 2. I will consider the Warrant of the Privy Councill in this case . 3. The UUarrant of the King himself . 4. The objections which have been made by the contrary side , the strength of them , and give answer to them . For the first of these heads , 1. I will admit , that the King may commit a man. 2. That a man committed by the King is not replevisable by the Sheriff , but he is baylable by this Court , notwithstanding the Statute of Westm. 1 C. 15. And that he shall not be baylable , is against the Petition of Right ; I will not dispute it , for it is established by the Answer of the King to the said Petition . And the Arguments made to this purpose in the said Parliament , and in the Painted Chamber before both the Houses , are recorded in Parliament , to which every one may resort . But I will lay as a ground of my following Argument , that as offences are of two natures , Capitall , or as Trespasses ; so they are punished in two manners , to wit , Capitally , or by Fine or Imprisonment . For the offences of the first nature , as Treasons , and the like , imprisonment is imposed upon the offender , onely for Custody ; but for misdemeanors of the second nature , imprisonment is imposed upon him for a Punishment . Then this is my ground , That no free-man that is imprisoned , onely for misdemeanours before conviction , may be detained in prison without bayle , if it be offered , unlesse it be in some particular cases , in which the contrary is ordained by any particular Statute . 2. For the Warrant of the Privy Councill , which signifies the pleasure of the King to commit the prisoner ; perhaps this was a good ground of the commitment , but it is no ground for the detaining of the prisoner without bail ; and this the King himself hath acknowledged as the antient Right of the Subject in the Petition of Right , wherefore it is not now to be disputed . 3. For the Warrant of the King , as it is certified by this Return , there is not any sufficient cause contained within it , for the detaining of the prisoner in prison ; for the Law being , as I have declared above , that for a misdemeanour , before conviction , no free-man may be imprisoned before conviction , without bayl or mainprize , The sole question now is , If this Return contain within it any capitall offence ; or if onely a trespasse or misdemeanour , and then the party is baylable : And for the disquisition hereof , I will consider the Return , 1. As it is divided in severall parts ; 2. I will consider all those parts of it together . 1. As it is severed in parts . The first part of it , [ for notable contempts by him committed against Our Self and Our Government ] For [ contempts ] all contempts are against the King , mediately or immediately , and against his Government . [ Notable ] this is all one with notorious and manifest , as appears by the Statute of Westm. 1 chap. 15. and 26 E. 3.71 . which hath been remembered . And [ Notable ] is but an emphaticall expression of the nature of the thing , and alters it not . [ Against Us ] All riots , routs , batteries , and trespasses , are against Us , and against Our Crown and Dignity ; contempt against any Court of Iustice , is a contempt against Us. But if the Return were made here , that he was committed for a contempt made in Chancery , the party shall be bailed , as it was resolved in this Court in Michael Apsley's case , and in Ruswel's case , 13 Jac. for the Return is too generall . C. 11.98 . In it , the nature of the offence ought to be expressed , that the Court may iudge thereof . And [ contempts ] here is indilivi●luum vagum ; therefore for them , before conviction , the party cannot be imprisoned without bayl or mainprize . The second part of the Return is , [ And for stirring up of sedition against Us ] The other-side said , that [ Seditio ] is ever taken in the worst sense . That is true . But hence it followes not , that the party that commits it is not baylable . Every small offence is taken in the worst sense , as the stealing of an Apple , and the like ; but such kind of offendors shall not be committed without bayl . To examine the nature of this offence , which is called [ Sedition ] it ought to be understood , as this Return is , either as Trespasse , or as high Treason , for it cannot be intended to be petty-treason ; for , petty-treason is so called , in respect of the offence done to any particular subject ; but in respect of the King , it is but as a felony , therefore the Indictments for the same are , Feloniously and traiterously . And here the words are , — sedition against Us — so of necessity it ought to be intended of an offence , that more immediately concerns the King. For the discussing of this matter , First , I will consider in what sense and signification this word [ Seditio ] is used . 2. How it shall be expounded here by the relation thereof to the King. 3. What sense these words [ against Us ] shall have here . 1. For Sedition ; it is not found in the division of offences in our Law , but as it is mingled and coupled with other offences . No Indictment of Sedition onely was ever seen , nor can be shewen ; routs , riots , and unlawfull assemblies , are much of the same nature with it , and do well expresse the nature of Sedition . The English word is drawn from the word [ Seditio ] in Latine , and the derivation of it is , as hath been observed , Se-itio , or , Seorsum-itio ; and the seditious ( as one saies ) take a diversion , and draw others : It is used in the Bible , in Poets , Histories , and Orators , for a tumult , or hurly-burly , or uprore , or confused noise , — Seditioque recens dubioque susurro , in Liv. lib. 2. cap. 44. And in Tacitus it is taken for mutiny in an Army , when the Army is alwaies repining at the Captain . In the Italian Language , which is the elder son of Latine , sedition and discord is all one . Numb . cap. 20.3 . the Latine Translation is , Versi in seditione ; the English is , chode , or murmured . Numb . 26.9 . the Latine is , In seditione Corah ; the English is , In the company of Corah , Numb . 27. 3. the Latine is , Nec fuit in seditione eorum ; the English is , In the company or assembly of them . Judg. 12.1 . the Latine Translation is , Facta est ergo seditio in Ephraim ; the English Translation is , The men of Ephraim gathered themselves together . In the New Testament , Act. 19.40 . Seditio in the Latine is translated uprore , or meeting . Act. 15.2 . Facta est ergo seditio , &c. and it is translated dissention and disputation . Act. 24.5 . Tertullus the Orator accuseth Paul for moving sedition ; and the subsequent words are , A ring-leader of the sect of the Pharisees ; so that his sedition there was but a schism : And the words there are in a manner the very same with ours here ; there it was , for moving ; here , for stirring of sedition . Seditio , as an approved Author , saies , imports , discordiam , to wit , when the members of one body fight one against another . The Lord of St. Albans , who was lately the Lord Chancellor of England , and was a Lawyer , and great States-man likewise , and well knew the acceptation of this word [ Sedition ] in our Law , hath made an Essay of Sedition , and the Title of the Essay is , Of Seditions and Tumults : the whole Essay deserves the reading . And there is a Prayer in the Letany , — From sedition and heresie , &c. So that there Sedition is taken as a kind of Sect. This being the naturall signification of the word , then the next labour shall be to see , if any thing in our Law crosse this exposition . And it seems clearly , that there is not . 2 H. 4. cap. 15. And it is in the Parliament-Roll , numb . 48. against Lollards , who at that time were taken as hereticks , saies , That such Preachers which excite and stir up to sedition shall be convented before the Ordinary , &c. There , sedition is taken for dissention and division in doctrine . And this is not made treason by the said Statute , although the said Statute be now repealed by the Statute of 25 H. 8. c. 4. 1 and 2 Phil. & Mar. c. 3. which is in Rastall , Newes 4. which is an act against seditious words and newes of the King and Queen , which is a great misdemeanor ; and yet the punishment appointed to be inflicted by the said Statute is but the Pillory or a Fine of 100 l. And the said Statute , by the Statute of 1 Eliz. c. 16. was extended to her also , which Statute now by her death is expired : which I pray may be observed , 13 Eliz. cap. 1. against those , who seditiously publish who are the true heirs of the Crown , that they shal be imprisoned for a year , &c. And 13 Eliz. c. 2. the seditious bringing in of the Pope's Buls is made treason , which implies , that it was not so at the Common Law , 23 Eliz. c. 2. If any person shal devise , write or print any book , containing any fals , seditious , and slanderous matter , to the stirring up or moving of any rebellion , &c. every such offence shal be adjudged Felony . And in an Indictment upon the said Statute , ( which see Cook 's Entries , f. 352.353 . ) there are the words — rebellionem & seditionem movere ; and yet it is but felony , 35 Eliz. c. 1. made against seditious Sectaries . Also there are certain Books and Authorities in Law , which expresse the nature of this word Sedition , C. 4.13 . the Lord Cromwell's case . In an action for those words , You like of those that maintain seditions against the Queens proceedings , the Defendant pleaded , That he intended the maintenance of a seditious Sermon ; and this was adjudged a good plea and ●ustification . From which it followes , that the Seditious Sermon mentioned in the Declaration , and the maintaining of sedition against the Queen , is all of one signification ; for if they might have been taken in a different sense , the justification ; had not been good . Phillips and Badby's case , which is in C. 4. 19. a. which was objected by Serjeant Berkley , makes strongly for me ; for there an action upon the case was brought by a person , for those words , [ Thou hast made a seditious Sermon , and moved the people to sedition this day ] And although it were there adjudged that the action lay , yet the reason of the Iudgment is observable , which was , because the words scandalize the Plaintiff in his profession ; which imply , that if they had not scandalized him in his profession , no action would have lain . And ordinary words , if they scandalize a man in his profession , are actionable ; as to say to a Iudge , that he is a corrupt man ; or to a Merchant , that he is a Bank-rupt ; although if they were spoken to another man , they would not bear an action . And although the Book say , that no act followed there ; yet if the matter objected had been treason , the very will had been punishable , and , by consequence , a great slander . But it is observed , that words which imply an inclination onely to sedition , are not actionable , as , Seditious knave ; but inclination to treason is treason , therefore words which imply it are actionable . And also for divers words , an action upon the case will lye , which induce not treason or felony ; as , for calling a woman Whore , by which she loseth her marriage , and such like . Then sedition is no offence in it self , but the aggravation of an offence ; and no Indictment ( as I have said afore ) was ever seen of this singly by it self . Tr. 21. E. 3. roll . 23. Sir John Garbut's case , which was put before by Mason , the Indictment was in prejudice of his Crown , and in manifest sedition , and yet the offence there was but a Robbery . It is true , that upon his arraignment he stood mute , therefore the Roll is , that he was put to penance , that is , so strong and hard pain ; and this proves , that it was not treason ; for if a man arraigned of treason stand mute , yet the usuall judgment of treason shall be given on him . And it is true also , that he cannot have his Clergy , because insidiator viarum was in the Indictment ; which if it was , outs the party of his Clergy , untill the Statute of 4 H. 4. c. 2. as is observed in C. 11. Poulter's case . And upon the same Roll of 21 E. 3. there are four other Indictments of the same nature , where [ Seditiosè ] is contained in them . Anno 1585 , Queen Elizabeth sent a Letter ( which I have seen by the hands of the noble Antiquary , Sir Robert Cotton ) to the Maior of London , for the suppressing of divers seditious Libels , which were published against her Princely Government ; and yet in the conclusion of the Letter it appears , that they were onely against the Earl of Leicester , and this was to be published onely by Proclamation in London . 5 H. 4. numb . 11. and 13. The Earl of Northumberland preferred a Petition to the King in Parliament , in which he confesseth , that he had not kept his Majesties Laws as a liege subject ; and also confesseth the gathering of power , and the giving of Liveries : Wherefore he petitioned the worship of the King ( for so are the words ) for his grace . The King , upon this Petition , demanded the opinion of the Lords of Parliament , and of the Iudges assistant , if any thing contained within the said Petition were treason , or no ; and it was resolved by them all , that nothing as it is mentioned in the said Petition was treason , but great misdemeanors ; and yet truly , though not fully there mentioned , it was a great rebellion and insurrection . But they adjudged according to the said Petition , as you are now to judge upon the Return , as it is made here . In Mich. 33 Cawdry's case , Sedition and Schism were described , As schism is a separation from the unity of the Church , so sedition is a separation from the unity of the Common-wealth . And an Author saies , that a seditious person differs from a schismatick , because the one opposeth the spirituall truth , the other the temporall : And as schism of it self is not heresie , so sedition without other adjuncts is not treason . Bracton f. 112 , 113 , 118. hath been objected , that he makes sedition treason : I will grant to them , Hengham also , who is to the same purpose ; for in those Books it is called , Seditio Regis & Regni . To them I answer , 1. That they are obscure . For , what signifies seditio Regis , or tumultus Regis ? shall it be the same thing in sense with seditio contra Regem ? It seems , that the said Authors neither remember Law nor Language . 2. Although they reckon sedition amongst the crimes lesae Majestatis , yet that is not to be regarded , for they are obsolete Authors , and are not esteemed as Authors in our Law , as it is in Pl. 356. and C. 8.35 . but they may be used for ornament , and they are good marks to shew to us , how the Law was then taken , but not to declare how the Law is at this day ; they are no binding authority ; and if they be , yet we have them of our side likewise : For in his 14 Book Glanvill saies , That a man accused of such a crime shall be bayled , and that the Accuser shall give pledges . And Bracton saies , That if no accuser appears , they shall be set at liberty . And Hengham reckons amongst the crimes laesae Majestatis , the breach of the Peace , and so does Glanvil also . Fleta , who was a follower of Bracton , and transscribes much verbatim out of him , calls Sedition , Seductionem of the Lord the King. And 12 Edw. 1. the Statute of Rutland , which prescribes Lawes for Wales , enacts , That the Sheriff shall enquire in his Turn , de seductoribus Domini Regis ; and it is not apparent , whether he intend those which seduce the King , or his People . And in latter times , Seditio is called Sedutio . In the time of Henry the seventh , the Earl of Northumberland being a great and potent Peer , and the King standing in awe of him , caused him , with twenty four others of great quality , to enter in an obligation of twenty thousand pound ( which Obligation is in the hands of Sir Robert Cotton ) unto Him , that if the said Earl knew Treason , Sedution , Losse , &c. to be intended to the King , that he should reveal it . 3. Also , Crimen laesae Majestatis , which is the phrase of the Civill-Law , is more generall then treason ; and the old Authors , which have been cited much follow the Civill-Law , which hath this expression ; and Sedition by the Civill-Law is Treason . But it was resolved , 11 R. 2. n. 14. We are not governed by the Civill-Law . And the Mirrour of Justices , the principall copy whereof is in Benet-Colledge Library in Cambridge , and there is also a copy in Lincolns-Inne Library ) Nor Britton in his Book , who writ in the name of the King , have not the word Seditio in them . And I affirm confidently , that there cannot be shewen any Record , Book , or Statute , after the making of the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. in which Seditio is taken as a capitall offence . And yet the Mirrour of Iustices reckons up severall kinds of Treasons , which he divides into Treasons against the Celestiall or Terrestriall Majesty ; against the Celestiall Majesty , as Schism , Heresie , Miscrea●●y , ( and according to this , the Book of 5 R. 2. Tryall 54 is to be understood , which saies , That a Miscreant shall forfeit his Lands , because it is a kind of Treason ) . And also he shewes divers Treasons against the King , as , the deflouring of the Kings eldest Daughter , &c. but not a word of Sedition . But admit , that Sedition imports a greater offence than Tumult , yet there is no colour to say , that it is Treason ; for , 25 Edw. 3. is a flat Barre ( that I may use the Inner-Temple phrase ) to any thing to be treason , which is not contained in it , unlesse it be made treason by any speciall Act afterwards , and 25 Edw. 3. does not make it Treason . Stamford cites Glanvill , and Bracton , and other antient Books , to shew what , was Treason before the said Statute , and what not : And be saies , That it was a great doubt what shall be said Treason ; saving that all agree , that any thing that tends to the death of the King was Treason . 3 ly . Now examine the words , — against Us — those words make not the crime more heinous , as the case is . I agree , that if the words had been — Sedition to take away the life of the King — it would have been treason ; yea , the very thought of treason is treason , ( though none can judge thereof till it be produced in act ) 19 H. 6.47 . b. by Newton , 13 Jac. B. R. John Owen's case , the writing of a Letter , whereby he intended the death of the King , was treason ; but it is not expressed , that the raising of this sedition was with such intent , whereby this differs from all the cases which can be put , in which there is such an intent of the death of the King. Also this , Raising of sedition against Us , shall not be intended treason ; for if it had been so , the King would have so exprest it by the word Treason : For , as in his gracious disposition , he will not extend a fault beyond the magnitude thereof , so he will give to every offence the true and genuine name . If the Return had been , — against Our Person — it had been more certain , that it concerned the King immediately ; this , may be against any point of his Government . And the proper and naturall signification of the words , — against Us — is as much as , Against Our Authority , Our superintendency , against Our Peace , Crown , and Dignity , which are the usuall words in every Indictment of Felony . Every breach of the Peace is against the King. The usuall Return upon every ordinary Writ out of this Court , is , That the party be before Us ; and contempt to this Court is , Contempt against Us , and it is in the nature of sedition to the King. Contempts to the Court of Star-chamber , are Contempts against Us ; and upon them , Commissions of rebellion issue ; and if the parties are brought in upon such Commissions , yet they are baylable untill their conviction . The King styles himself , Us , in Writs ; and every disobedience to any Writ may be said , Sedition against Us. Routs , riots , illoyall assemblies , may well be said and called , Sedition against Us : And for such offences , a man shall not be restrained of his liberty upon an [ it may be ] Such a Return is necessary , by which the Court may be truly informed of the offence . For the Writ of Habeas Corpus is , to submit and receive what the Court shall ordain . And this Return of this nature is not to be compared to Writs which are generall , and make a brief narration of the matter , and are pursued and explained by subsequent declarations . And yet I urge not , that the Return ought to be as certain as an Indictment ; for an Indictment of Murder is not good , if it lack the word Murdravit . But the Return upon an Habeas corpus , q. d. interfecit I. S. upon prepensed malice , is good ; for the nature of the thing is expressed , although the formall word be wanting ; but out of the Return , the substance of the offence ought alwaies to appear , which appears not here . But it hath been said by the other side , That , let the cause in the Return be as it will , yet is it not traversable , 9 H. 6.54 . and I confesse it . But as C. 11. James Baggs case is , the Return ought to have certainty so much in it , that , if it be false , the party grieved may have his action upon the case . And the grievance complained of in the Petition of Right is , that upon such Return no cause was certified , that is , no such cause upon which any Indictment might be drawn up ; for we never understand , that the party shall be tryed upon the Habeas Corpus , but that upon the matter contained within it , and Indictment shall be made , and he shall have his tryall upon it . And yet it is clear , and it hath been agreed of all hands , in the Argument of the grand Habeas corpus , Mich. 3. Car. in this Court , that if the cause be certified upon the Return of the Habeas corpus , that the Court may judge of the legality of that cause . 2. Consider the parts of this Return , as they are coupled together , — for notable contempts by him committed against Our Self and Our Government , and for stirring of sedition against Us — Upon the entire Return , the King joynes sedition with notable contempts , so that it is as much as if he had said , that Sedition is one of the notable contempts mentioned in the first part of the Return , so that he makes it but a contempt . For the generality and incertainty of the Return , I refer my self to the cases put by Mr. Ask , and I will not waive any of them . True it is , if the Return had been , that it was for Treason , he had not been bailable but by the discretion of the Court , and such Return would have been good ; but it is not so of sedition . Gard. 157. Treason is applyed to a petty offence , to the breach of trust by a Guardian in Socage ; but it is not treason . And so sedition is of far lesse nature then treason , and is oftentimes taken of a trespasse ; it is not treason of it self , nor seditiosè was never used in an Indictment of treason . It was not treason before the 25 of Edw. 3. nor can it be treason ; for 25 E. 3. is a flat Barre ( as I have said before ) to all other offences to be treason , which are not contained within the said Act , or declared by any Statute afterwards . And there are offences which are more heinous in their nature then sedition is , which are not treason , as Insurrections , &c. which see in the Statute 11 H. 7. cap. 7. 2 H. 5. cap. 9. 8 H. 6. cap. 14. 5 R. 2. cap. 6. 17 R. 2. cap. 8. and by 3 and 4 E. 6. cap. 5. the assembly of twelve persons to attempt the alteration of any Law , and the continuance together by the space of an hour , being commanded to return , is made treason ; which Act was continued by the Statute of 1 Mar. cap. 12. and 1 Eliz. cap. 16. but now is expired by her death , and is not now in force , ( although the contrary be conceived by some ) which I pray may be well observed . By the Statute of 14 Eliz. cap. 1. rebellious taking of the Castles of the King is made treason , if they be not delivered &c. which shewes clearly , that such taking of Castles in its nature was not treason . But the said Statute is now expired ; and also all Statutes , creating new treasons , are now repealed . But , for a conclusion of this part of my Argument , I will cite a case , which , I think expresse , in the point , or more strong then the case in question . And it was M. 9. E. 3. roll . 39. B. R. Peter Russells case ; he was committed to prison by the Deputy-Iustice of North-Wales , because he was accused by one William Solyman of sedition , and other things touching the King : And hereupon a Commission issued out of the Chancery , to enquire , if the said Peter Russell behaved himselfe well or seditiously against the King , and by the Inquisition it was found , that he behaved himself well . And upon an Habeas Corpus out of this Court , his body was returned , but no cause . But the said Inquisition was brought hither out of Chancery , and for that no cause of his caption was returned , he prayed Delivery ; but the Court would not deliver him , till it knew the cause of his Commitment : Therefore ( taking no regard of the said Inquisition ) they now send a Writ to the now Iustice of Wales , to certifie the cause of his commitment . And thereupon he made this Return , That the foresaid Peter Russell was taken , because one William Solyman charged him , that he had committed divers seditions against the Lord the King ; and for that cause he was detained , and for no other . And because the Return mentions not what sedition in speciall , he was bayled , but not discharged . And I desire the baylment of the prisoner onely , and not his deliverance . I desire that the case be well observed . In the said case , there was an actuall sedition against the King ; here is onely a stirring up of sedition . The words of the said Award are , Videtur curiae ; which are the solemn words of a Iudgment , given upon great deliberation . There it was , — for other things concerning Us — This is all one as if it had said , — for other things against Us — Concerning the King , and , Against the King , are all one , as appears by 25 E. 3. c. 4. de Clero , Stamf. 124. Westm. 1. c. 15. Bracton , f. 119. 14 Eliz. c. 2. And the words of the Iudgment in the said case , were not , — dimittitur — but , — ideò dimittendus — which imply the right of the party to be bayled . The said case in some things was more particular then our case , and more strong ; for , there was an Accuser to boot , which wants in our case . There , true it is , that he was committed by the Iustice of Wales , and here by the King himself ; but this makes no difference , as to this Court : for , be the commitment by the King himself , or by any other , if it be not upon just cause , the party may be bayled in this Court. And for the Inquisition , which is mentioned , it was no Tryall in the case ; nor did the Court give any regard thereto . To detain the prisoner by the command of the King singly , is against the Petition of Right ; but it being coupled with the cause , the cause is to be considered , and the truth of the cause is to be intended , as well where it is mentioned , to be by an inferiour Iudge , as where by the King himself , for it is traversable neither in the one nor other . And 22 H. 8. roll . 37. B. R. and 1 H. 8 roll . 8. Harrisons case resolv'd , that a man committed by the command of the King , is baylable . And 33 Eliz. it was resolved by all the Iustices of England , which I have viewed in chief Iustice Andersons Book , under his own hand , and it was produced in Parliament , That all men committed by the Privy Councill are baylable , if the commitment be not for high treason . In all cases of commitment , an accuser is understood . Suppose that the accusation mentioned in Russel's case of sedition , had been an accusation of treason , then the Iudges ought not to have bayled him of right , and no man will say , but that the said accusation was a good cause to commit him . But the discovery of the offence ought to be afterward in an Indictment . Fourthly , I come to the objections which have been made on the contrary . 1 st . It was objected , That this was a case of great consequence . I confesse it , but this consequence is not to the King ; for if it be truly treason , then they might have returned Treason , and then the party was not to be bayled of right , till there should be a failer of prosecution ; as was lately in Melvins case , who was bailed for lack of prosecution , the Return being for high treason . 2 ly . It was objected , that there can be no conviction , as this case is , therefore there ought to be coercive power to restrain the prisoner . This is strange newes to me , that there shall be any offence , for which a man cannot be convict . And if there can be no conviction , it hence followes , that there is no offence ; and if there be no offence , there ought by consequence to be no imprisonment . 3 ly . The case of 14 H. 7.8 . hath been objected , that a Iustice of Peace may commit Rioters , without bayl . I confesse it , for this is by force of a Statute which ordains it . 4 ly . It hath been objected , That if a house be on fire , it is lawfull to pull down the neighbours house , for the prevention of further mischief ; and the cases of 22 ass . and 22 E. 4. that every man may justifie the coercion of a mad-man . I answer , That these cases are true , for of necessity , and no other evasion : but here , bayl is proffered , which is body for body . Fire is swift , and cannot be punished , and no caution can be obtained thereof . But observe the true inference and consequence of this Argument , If my house be on fire , my neighbours house must be pulled down ; Mr Selden is seditious , ergo , Mr. Herbert his neighbour must be imprisoned . 5 ly . It hath been objected out of Br. Treason , 24. 1 Mar. That the said Statute of 25 E. 3. is taken largely , and that the detaining of a Castle or Fortresse is treason . To this I answer , That the bare detaining of a Castle is not treason , unlesse it be with intention of the death of the King ; but the taking of a Castle is treason . And the case there meant by Brook is Constables case , Dy. 128. And I confesse , 13 Eliz. Dy. 298. Doctor Story 's case , that conspiracy to invade the Kingdom , is treason ; for this cannot be without great danger of the death of the King ; for , — arma tenenti , Omnia dat qui justa negat — and all those Indictments were , that they intended the death of the King , but no such intention is expressed here . 6 ly . It hath been objected , That this case is out of the Petition of Right , because in this Return there is a cause shewed . But the grievance whereupon the Petition of Right was framed , was , where no cause was returned . It is true , that the grievance goes no further , but where no cause was returned , for , that was the grievance at that time . But the words of the Petition of Right are further , — without being charged with any thing , to which they might make answer by the Law — which implies , that such cause ought to be contained in the Return , which being put into an Indictment , the party may have his answer thereto . 7 ly . It was objected , that the Return shall not be construed and expounded by fractions . I answer , That we need not make such an exposition ; for the joynt-construction thereof makes more for us , then the severall , as is shewed before . 8 ly . That a generall Return is sufficient , and it need not have tearms of Art in it , as an Indictment ought to have . For answer , I confesse it ; but I affirm , as above , that a Return ought to be so particular , that the nature of the offence ought to appear out of it : And it is not to be compared to generall Writs , as , Apostatâ capiendo , Idiota examinando , Leproso amovendo , and the like : for those Writs are good enough , because they contain the very matter . And although it hath been said , that there are two kinds of Lepers , yet I never heard but of one . And the Writ , de Haeretico comburendo , is generall , and good , because it is but a Writ of Execution upon a Iudgment , given by the Spirituall power . But because they might not meddle with the blood of any man , the execution is by the Secular power . 9 ly . It hath been objected out of 30 ass . p. 19. that the King would have one drawn and hanged , for bringing in into England the Buls of the Pope . But the Book answers it self , for he was not drawn and hanged . 10 ly . The Statute of Westm. 1. cap. 15. was objected . But as oft as that Statute is objected , I will alwaies cry out , The Petition of Right , the Petition of Right ! as the King of France cryed out nothing but France , France ! when all the severall Dominions of the King of Spain were objected to him . 11 ly . A curious distinction hath been taken by Serjeant Davenport , between stirring To sedition , and stirring Up sedition ; for the first implies an inclination onely to do it , the second implies an act done . But this is too nice , for if a man stir up sedition , or to sedition , if it be with intention of the death of the King , the one and the other is treason . 12 ly . The opinion of Fortescue in 31 H. 6.10 . b. hath been objected , That for an offence done to the Court , a man may be committed before conviction . To this I answer , 1 st . That the Book does not say , That he shall be committed without bayl . 2 ly . The offence being done in face of the Court , the very view of the Court is a conviction in Law. 13 ly . There was objected the 24 of E. 3.23 . Sir Fitchet's case , who , for going armed in the Palace , was committed by this Court , without bayl or mainprize ; which seems to be the strongest and hardest case that hath been objected . But the answer to it is clear , and undeniable , for the Statute of 2 E. 3. c. 3. is , That if any one come armed before the Iustices , he shall forfeit his Armour , and shall be imprisoned during the Kings pleasure ; so that by the expresse purview of the Statute , such a man is not baylable . So my conclusion remains firm , notwithstanding any of those objections , That the prisoner here being committed before conviction of any offence , ( it being not possible to understand this offence treason ) is baylable . And that he is baylable here , I will offer two other reasons : 1 st . The Return here is for sedition ; and there is an information in the Star-chamber against the Prisoner , for seditious practises against the King and his Government . I will not affirm , that they are the same offence , but there is some probability that they are the self-same ; and if they be the same offence , then the sedition here intended is not treason , and so the party is baylable . 2 ly . This Prisoner was ready at this Bar the last Term , and here was a Grand-Iury at Bar the last Term , and here was the Kings Counsell present , who are most watchfull for the King ; and yet an Indictment was not preferred to them against this Prisoner . Which things induce me to be of opinion , that the offence here mentioned in this Return is not treason , or so great as is pretended on the other side . I will remember one case which perhaps may be objected , ( and yet I think they will not object it ) and so conclude , 11 R. 2. Parliament Roll 14. in the printed Statute , c. 3. and 5. where it appears , that divers questions were propounded by the King to Tresilian and Bealknap , the two chief Iustices , and to the other Iustices : one of which questions was , How they are to be punished , who resisted the King in exercising his royall power , & c ? And the answer of the Iudges was , una voce , that they are to be punished as traitors ; and 21 R. 2. c. 21. this opinion was confirmed . But afterwards in 1 H. 4. c. 3. and 4. and 1 H. 4. in the Parliament-Roll , numb . 66 , 67 the Iudges were questioned for their opinion , in Parliament . They answered , That they were threatned and enforced to give this opinion , and that they were in truth of the contrary opinion . And Bealknap said , That he acquainted and protested to the Earl of Kent aforehand , that his opinion was alwaies to the contrary . But the Parliament was not content with these excuses , but they were all adjudged Traitors ; and Tresilian's end is known to all , and Bealknap was banished ; for his Wife in 2 H. 4. brought a Writ , without naming her husband , because he was banished . And the said Statute of 21 R. 2. was repealed . Therefore upon the whole matter I conclude , that the Prisoner ought to be bayled . On the same day , Sir Miles Hubbart , and Benjamin Valentine , and Densill Hollis Esquires , were at Bar , upon an Habeas corpus directed to the severall Prisons ; and their Counsell was ready at the Bar to have argued the case for them also : But because the same Return was made as above , they said , That all of them would rely upon this Argument made by Mr. Littleton . The case of the grand Habeas corpus for Mr. Selden and others , was now argued by Heath , the Kings Atturney Generall , That this Return was good , and that the parties ought not to be bayled : And that within the Return there appears good cause of their commitment , and of their detaining also . The case is great in expectation and consequence : and concerns the liberty of the Subject on the one part , whereof the Argument is plausible ; and on the other part it concerns the safety and soveraignty of the King , which is a thing of great weight . The consideration of both pertaines to you the Iudges , without slighting the one , or too much elevating the other . The Return , which now is before you , is entire ; but I will first consider it as divided in parts . First , The first Warrant , which is that of the Lords of the Privy Councill , is generall , that it was by the command of the Lord the King : and this in former times was held a very good Return , when due respect and reverence was given to Government ; but , Tempora mutantur . And this Return is no way weakened by any latter opinion ; for notwithstanding that the first commitment of a man may be generall : for if upon the Return , the true cause should be revealed to the Gaoler , by this means , faults should be published and divulged before their punishment , and so the complices of the fact will escape ; and it is not fit that the Gaoler , which is but a ministeriall Officer , should be acquainted with the secrets of the cause . But when the cause is returned in Court , more certainty is requisite ; for then ( as it hath been objected ) something ought to be expressed to which the party may answer , and upon which the Court may ground their Iudgment . And to this purpose , it hath been much insisted upon the Petition of Right ; but the Law is not altered by it , but remains as it was before . And this will appear upon the view of all the parts of the Petition . 1 st . The occasion of the Petition , and the grievance is shewed in these words , Divers of your Subjects have been of late imprisoned , without any cause shewed , &c. But in this Return there is a cause shewed , to which the parties may answer . Then secondly , the prayer of the Petition is , That no free-man , in any such manner as before is mentioned , be imprisoned or detained ; that is , such manner of imprisonment , the ground whereof doth not appear . Then the answer of the King to the Petition was in sundry words , 2 Jun. 1628. in these words , The King willeth , that right be done according to the Lawes and Customes of the Realm , &c. Which answer gave not satisfaction . And afterwards his answer was in a Parliamentary-phrase , Soit droit fait come est desire . But afterwards on the 26 of June , 1628. the King expressed his intention and meaning in the said Answer . It must needs be conceived , that I have granted no new , but onely confirmed the antient liberties of My Subjects , &c. A Petition in Parliament is not a Law , yet it is for the honour and dignity of the King , to observe and keep it faithfully ; but it is the duty of the people not to stretch it , beyond the words and intention of the King. And no other construction can be made of the Petition , then to take it as a Confirmation of the antient liberties and rights of the Subjects . So that now the case remains in the same quality and degree , as it was before the Petition . Therefore we will now consider , how the Law was taken before the Petition , and for the discussing thereof , we will examine the second part of the Return , and in it two things , 1 st . if the Return , as it is now made , shall be intended for true : 2. admit that it is true , if there be any offence contained within it , which is good to detain the Prisoners . For the first , It is clear , that the cause shall be intended true which is returned , though in truth it be false ; and so are 9 H. 6.44 . and F. Corpus cum causa , 2. and C. 11. Baggs case . 2 ly . It seems , that there is such a crime contained in this Return which is a good cause for detaining the Prisoners . It is true , that it was confidently urged in Parliament , in tertio Caroli , that generall Returns , that were committed by the command of the Lord the King , are not good ; and that those Arguments remain as Monuments on record , in the Upper House of Parliament ; but I will not admit them for Law. But I will remember what was the opinion of former times , 22 H. 6.52 . by Newton , a man committed by the command of the King , is not replevisable . And the opinion cannot be intended of a Replevin made by the Sheriff , because the principall case there is upon a Return in this Court. 33 H. 6.28 . Poyning's case , where the Return was , That he was committed by the Lords of the Councill , and it was admitted good . It is true , that this opinion is grounded upon Westm. 1. cap. 15. but I will not insist upon it . But the constant opinion hath alwaies been , that a man committed by the command of the King , is not baylable . In 9 H. 6.44 . it is said , That if one be taken upon the Kings suit , the Court will not grant a Supersedeas . The contrary opinion is grounded upon Magna Charta , which is a generall Law , and literally hath no sense to that purpose ; and it is contrary to the usuall practise in criminall causes , in which the imprisonment is alwaies lawfull untill the tryall , although it be made by a Iustice of Peace , or Constable . And that a man committed by the command of the King , or Privy Councill , is not baylable , he cited 1 Jacobi , Sir Brocket's case . 8 Jac. Sir Cesar's case . 12. Demetrius's case . 43 Rinch's case . And in the case M. 36 Eliz. and 4 and 5 Thimelby's case . And said , that there are innumerable presidents to this purpose . M. 21 and 22 Eliz. upon the return of an Habeas corpus it appears , that Michael Page was committed by the command of the Lord the King , but was not delivered ; and after was arraigned in this Court , and lost his hand . And at the same time , Stubbs was committed by the command of the Lord the King , for seditious words and rumors , and he lost his hand also upon the same tryall . M. 17 and 18. Eliz. Upon Habeas corpus for John Loan , it was returned , That he was committed for divulging sundry seditious writings , and he was remanded . And 7 H. 7 roll . 6. Rugs case ; and roll . 13. Chase's case , where the Return was , that they were committed by the command of the Lord the King , and they were not delivered ; and this was also the opinion in this Court , M. 3. Car. And after the said time the Law is not altered , and so I hope neither are your opinions . But to consider the particular cause mentioned in the Return , I will not rely upon the first part of the words , although they be of great weight , but onely upon the last words , — for stirring up of sedition against Us — But it hath been objected , that Sedition is not a word known in the Law : But I marvell , that the signification of the word is not understood , when it is joyned with the words — agains Us — this ought to be understood , Sedition against the King , in his politick capacity . [ Sedition ] hath sundry acceptations , according to the subject handled , as it appears C. 4. Lord Cromwel's case , which hath been cited . If it be spoken of a man , that he is seditious ; if it be of a company in London , it shall be understood sedition in the Company ; if it be spoken of a Souldier , it shall be taken for mutinous . Mr. Littleton , who argued this case very well , said , That Tacitus useth this word , and it is true ; and he saies , That there are two manners of Seditions , Seditio armata , & togata ; and the last is more dangerous then the former . But couple it with the subsequent words here , [ against Us ] the interpretation and sense thereof is easie , & loquendum ut vulgus . Mr. Littleton shewes the acceptation of this word in divers places of Scripture , and I will not reject them , for they make for me : 20 Numb . 3. the Latine is , — populi versi sunt in seditionem ; and it is Englished — murmuring — but clearly it was high treason against their Governour , and God himselfe . 26 Numb . 9. in seditione Corah — it is manifest , that that was a great Insurrection . 12 Judg. 1. Facta est ergo seditio in Ephraim , The Ephramites rose against Jephta ; and he at the same time was their Iudge and Governour , so it was the heighth of Insurrection . It is true , that in 15 Act. 2. Facta est seditio ; and in some Translations it is , Orta est repughantia non parva , for it may be taken in severall senses . 19 Acts 40. the Town-Clerk there knew not how to answer for this daies sedition , or insurrection ; and no doubt he was in great perill , for it was a great insurrection ; and I wish the greater ones were as circumspect as he was . 24 Act. 5. Tertullus accused Paul of sedition , and doubtlesse it was conceived a great offence , if you consider the time and other circumstances , for they were Heathens and Romans . And although he in very truth taught the Gospell of God , yet he was taken for a pestilent fellow , and as a perswader to shake off Government . Bracton lib. 3. de Corona , c. 2. rancks Sedition amongst the crimes laesae Majestatis . But it hath been objected , that if it be a capitall offence , it ought to be felony or treason . To this I say , That it cannot be felony , but it may be treason , for any thing that appears . It is true , that by the statute of 25 E. 3. treasons are declared , and nothing shall be said treason , which is not comprised within the said Statute , unlesse it be declared so by Act of Parliament . But upon indictment of treason , such sedition as this may be given in evidence , and perhaps will prove treason . And the Return is not , That he was seditious , which shewes onely an inclination ; but that he stirred up sedition , which may be treason , if the evidence will bear it . In divers Acts of Parliament , notice is taken of this word [ Seditio ] and it is alwaies coupled with Insurrection or Rebellion , as appears by the Statutes of 5 R. 2. c. 6. 17 R. 2. c. 8. 2 H. 5. c. 9. 8 H. 6. c. 14. 3 & 4. E. 6. c. 5. 2 R. 2. c. 5. 1 and 2 Phil. & Mar. c. 2. 1 Eliz. c. 7. 13 Eliz. c. 2. 23 Eliz. c. 2. 27 Eliz. c. 2. and 35 Eliz. c. 1. all which were cited before , and they prove , that [ Sedition ] is a word well known in the Law , and of dangerous consequence , and which cannot be expounded in good sense . Wherefore the nature of the offence , I leave it to the Court. But out of these Statutes it appears , that there is a narrow difference between it and treason , if there be any at all . 3 ly . As to the Objections which have been made , I will give a short answer to them . 1. It was objected , That every imprisonment is either for custody or punishment , the last is alwaies after the judgment given for the offence ; and if it be but for custody , the party upon tender of sufficient mainpernors is baylable . I confesse , that this difference is true , but not in all respects ; for I deny , that a man is alwaies baylable , when imprisonment is imposed upon him for custody : For , imprisonment is for two intents , the one is , that the party which had offended should not avoid the judgment of Law ; the second is , that he shall not do harm in the interim during his tryall ; and the Law is carefull in this point . But it hath been said , That although the party be bayled , yet he is imprisoned . I deny that , for so is 1 H. 4.6 . If the party come not at the day , the Bayl shall be imprisoned ; but yet the Bayl shall not suffer the same punishment which ought to have been inflicted upon the party ; as if it were for treason , the Bayl shall not answer for the fault , but onely for the body . Serjeant Berkley did well call a seditious man an Incendiary to the Government ; and , as commune incendium , is to be restrained of his liberty . And he put 22 E. 4. and 22. ass . 56. that a mad-man may be restrained , to prevent the hurt he would otherwise do himself and others . A seditious man is as a mad-man in the publick State of the Common-wealth , and therefore ought to be restrained . And it appears by the Writ , de Leproso amovendo , that a Leper is to be removed , and in a manner imprisoned , for the contagion of the disease ; and this is for the safeguard of others , lest his Leprosy infect others . The application is easie . And by the Statute of 1 Jac. c. 33. is restrained to keep within doors ; & if he go abroad , any man may iustifie the killing of him . The infection of sedition is as dangerous , as any of these diseases , therefore it is not safe to let seditious men to bayl , or at libertyty , & in dangerous cases , the wisest way is , to make all safe . In all cases of this nature , much is left to the discretion of the Court. The case of M. 9 E. 3. roll . 39. Russell hath been objected , to be in the point ; I have viewed the Record of that case , and although it be verbally , yet it is not materially to this purpose ; for the commitment was by a Iustice of North Wales , upon the accusation of an accuser ; and it was within a short time after the Statute of 5 E. 3. by which it was ordained , That none should be imprisoned upon the accusation of one accuser : But here the detainment is by the King himself , for stirring up of sedition . And there the Return was , That he was accused of Seditions and Undecencies , where the latter word doth qualifie the former . And there issued a Writ of good behaviour , ( as the use was ) to enquire of the truth of the offence ; and it was found , that there was no such offence : and then upon the same Return again he was set at liberty ; so that the case there was speciall , and the manner of proceedings speciall . And I desire , that one thing may be observed , that Russell came in here upon the Habeas corpus , 20 Sept. but was not delilivered untill Hillary Term following . And for 28 H. 6. the Duke of Suffolk's case which was objected , that the generall accusation of divers treasons was not legall . That is true , because it was in Parliament , and in the nature of an accusation ; and being in a Court of Iustice , it had been unjust to condemn a man before his Tryall ; and yet this Court , upon probability of a fault , doth oft-times restrain a man before conviction . But it hath been objected in this case , They have been a long time imprisoned , and no proceedings against them , It is well known , that there have been some proceedings against them . and they declined them ; and also more then three months is requisite for the preparation of such proceedings , and the King intends to proceed against them in convenient time . And some that were offendors in the same kind are already delivered , to wit , Mr. Coryton , and Sir Peter Hayman . Therefore if any injury be done to the prisoners , they themselves are the cause of it , for not submitting themselves to the King. And for the instance which Mr. Littleton used of the Iudges in 11 R. 2. although they suffered for their opinions given to the King , I desire , that the time when their opinion was delivered may be considered , to wit , in the time of R. 2. and the time when they suffered , to wit , in the time of H. 4. And it was the saying of a noble Gentleman , the Lord Egerton , That Bealknap suffered rather by the potency of his enemies , then the greatnesse of his offence : And yet it is to be confessed , that they might have given better counsell ; but there was no time to dispute of the justnesse of their counsell , when the sword was in the hands of the Conquerour . It hath been relyed upon the resolution of all the Iustices of England in 34 Eliz , which resolution is now registred in the Upper House of Parliament , at the request of the Commons , in tertio Caroli Regis ; but I leave it to you , as that Resolution shall sway your judgments . The said Resolution is , That the cause ought to be certified in the generality or specialty ; and here the generall cause is certified at least , if the special be not so ; upon the whole matter , the baylment of these prisoners is left to your discretion ; and I have shewed to you the discretion of your predecessors . And if any danger appear to you in their baylment , I am confident that ye wil not bayl them , if any danger may ensue ; but first ye are to consult with the King , and he will shew you where the danger rests . Therefore upon the whole matter I pray , that they be remanded . When the Court was ready to have delivered their opinions in the grand Habeas corpus for Mr. Selden and others , the Prisoners were not brought to the Bar , according to the Rule of the Court ; Therefore Proclamation was made , for the Keepers of the severall prisons , to bring in their Prisoners ; but none of them appeared but the Marshall of the Kings Bench , who said , that Mr. Stroud that was in his custody , was removed yesterday , and put in the Tower of London by the Kings own Warrant ; and so it was done with the other Prisoners ; each of them was removed out of his Prison , in which he was before . But , this notwithstanding , it was prayed by the Counsell of the Prisoners , that the Court would deliver their opinion for the matter in Law. But the Court refused to do that , because it is to no purpose ; for , the Prisoners being absent , they could not be bayled , delivered , or remanded . Note , The last day of the Term , a Letter came to the Court from the King himself ; the effect whereof was , to inform the Court of the reasons , wherefore the Prisoners were not suffered to come at the day appointed , for the resolution of the Iudges . Mich. 5 Car. B. R. THe case of the grand Habeas corpus for Mr. Selden and others , was now moved by Mason to have the resolution of the Iudges ; and the Court with one voice said , That they are now content that they shall be bailed ; but that they ought to find Sureties also for the good behaviour . And Jones Iustice said , that so it was done in the case which had been often remembered to another purpose , to wit , Russell's case in 9 E. 3. To which Mr. Selden answered , ( with whom all the other Prisoners agreed in opinion ) That they have the Sureties ready for the bayl , but not for the good behaviour ; and desire that the bayl might first be accepted , and that they be not urged to the other . Sir Robert Heath , the Kings Atturney-generall , exhibited Information in this Court against Sir John Eliot Knight ; Denzill Hollis , and Benjamin Valentine , Esquires : the effect of which was , That the King that now is , for weighty causes , such a day and year , did summon a Parliament , and to that purpose sent his Writ to the Sheriff of Cornwall to chuse two Knights , by vertue whereof Sir John Eliot was chosen , and returned Knight for Cornwall . And that in the same manner , the other Defendants were elect Burgesses of other places for the same Parliament . And shewed further , that Sir John Finch was chosen for one of the Citizens of Canterbury , and was Speaker of the House of Commons . And that the said Eliot , publickly and malitiously in the House of Commons , to raise sedition between the King , his Nobles and People , uttered these words , That the Councill and Judges had all conspired , to trample under-foot the Liberties of the Subjects . He further shewed , that the King had power to call , adjourn , and dissolve Parliaments : And that the King , for divers reasons , had a purpose to have the House of Commons adjourned , and gave direction to Sir Jo●n Finch , then the Speaker , to move as adjournment , and if it should not be obeyed , that he should forthwith come from the House to the King. And that the Defendants , by confederacy afore-hand , spake a long and continued Speech , which was recited verbatim , in which were divers malitious and seditious words , of dangerous consequence . And to the intent that they might not be prevented of uttering their premeditate speeches , their intention was , that the Speaker should not go out of the Chair till they had spoken them ; the Defendants , Hollis and Valentine , lay violent hands upon the Speaker , to the great afrightment and disturbance of the House . And the Speaker being got out of the Chair , they by violence set him in the Chair again ; so that there was a great tumult in the House . And after the said speeches pronounced by Sir John Eliot , Hollis did recapitulate them . And to this information , the Defendants have put in a plea to the Iurisdiction of the Court , because these offences are supposed to be done in Parliament , and ought not to be punished in this Court , or in any other , but in Parliament . And the Atturney-Generall moved the Court , to over-rule the plea to the Iurisdiction ; And that , he said , the Court might do , although he had not demurred upon the plea. But the Court would not over-rule the plea , but gave day to joyne in Demurrer this Tearm . And on the first day of the next Tearm , the Record shall be read , and within a day after shall be argued at Barre . But Hyde , chief Iustice , said to the Counsell of the Defendants , So far light we will give you . This is no new question , but all the Iudges of England , and Barons of the Exchequer , before now , have oft been assembled on this occasion , and have with great patience heard the Arguments on both sides ; and it was resolved by them all with one voice , That an offence committed in Parliament , criminally or contemptuously , the Parliament being ended , rests punishable in an other Court. Jones , It is true , that we all resolved That an offence committed in Parliament against the Crown , is punishable after the Parliament , in another Court ; and what Court shall that be , but the Court of the Kings Bench , in which the King by intendment sitteth ? Whitlock , The question is now reduced to a narrow room , for all the Iudges are agreed , That an offence committed in Parliament against the King or his Government , may be punished out of Parliament . So that the sole doubt which now remains , is , Whether this Court can punish it . And Crook agreed , That so it had been resolved by all the Iudges , because otherwise there would be a failer of Iustice. And by him , If such an offence be punishable in another Court , what Court shal punish it but this Court , which is the highest Court in the Realm for criminall offences ? And perhaps not onely criminall actions committed in Parliament are punishable here , but words also . Mason of Lincolns-Inne argued for Sir John Eliot , one of the Defendants . The charges in the Information against him are three . 1. For speeches . 2. For contempts to the King in resisting the Adjournment . 3. For conspiracy with the other Defendants , to detain Mr. Speaker in the Chair . In the discussion of these matters , be argued much to the same intent which he had argued before , upon an information brought in the Star-Chamber against the same Defendants , and others , for the same offences ; therefore his Argument is reported here very briefly . 1 st . For his speeches , They contain matter of accusation against some great Peers of the Realm ; and as to them he said , That the King cannot take notice of them . The Parliament is a Councill , and the grand Councill of the King , and Councills are secret and close , none other hath accesse to those Councills of Parliament , and they themselves ought not to impart them without the consent of the whole House . A Iury in a Leet , which is sworn to enquire of offences within the said Iurisdiction , are sworn to keep their own counsell ; so the House of Commons enquire of all grievances within the Kingdom , and their counsells are not to be revealed . And to this purpose was a Petition , 2 H. 4. numb . 10. That the King shall not give credit to any private reports of their proceedings , To which the King assents ; therefore the King ought not to give credit to the information of these offences in this case . 2 ly . The words themselves contain severall accusations of great men ; and the liberty of accusation hath alwaies been Parliamentary , 50 E. 3. Parliament-Roll , numb . 21. The Lord Latimer was impeached in Parliament for sundry offences , 11 R. 2. the Arch-Bishop of York , 18 H. 6. numb . 18. the Duke of Suffolk , 1 Mar. Dy. 93. the Duke of Norfolk , 36 H. 6. numb . 60. un Uickar Generall , 2 & 3 E. 6. c. 18. the Lord Seymer , 18 of King James , the Lord of St. Albans , Chancellor of England ; and 21 of King James , Cranfield Lord Treasurer ; and 1 Car. the Duke of Buckingham . 3 ly . This is a priviledge of Parliament which is determinable in Parliament , and not else-where , 11 R. 2. numb . 7. the Parliament-Roll . Petition exhibited in Parliament , and allowed by the King , That the liberties and priviledges of Parliament shall onely be discussed there , and not in other Courts , nor by the Common nor Civill-Law , ( see this case more at large in Selden's Notes upon Fortescue , f. 42. ) 11 R. 2. Roll of the Processe and Iudgment . An appeal of treason was exhibited against the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and others , and there the advice of the Sages of the one Law and the other being required ; but because the appeal concerned persons which are Peers of the Realm , which are not tryed else-where then in Parliament , and not in an inferiour Court , 28 H. 6. numb . 18. There being a question in Parliament concerning Precedency , between the Earl of Arundell and the Earl of Devon , the opinion of the Iudges being demanded , they answered , That this question ought to be determined by the Parliament , and by no other , 31 H. 6. numb . 25 , 26. During the prorogation of the Parliament , Thorp that was the Speaker , was out in Execution at the Suit of the Duke of York ; and upon the re-assembly of the Parliament , the Commons made Suit to the King and Lords to have their Speaker delivered . Upon this , the Lords demand the opinion of the Iudges , who answer , That they ought not to determine the priviledges of the High Court of Parliament . 4 ly . This accusation in Parliament , is in legall course of justice , and therefore the accuser shall never be impeached , 13 H. 7. and 11 Eliz. Dy. 285. Forging of false deeds brought against a Peer of the Realm , Action de scandalis Magnatum , doth not lie . C. 4.14 . Cutler and Dixy's case , where divers cases are likewise put to this purpose , 35 H. 6.15 . If upon the view of the body the slayer cannot be found , the Coron●r ought to enquire , Who first found the dead body , and if the first finder accuse another of the murder , that is afterward acquit , he shall not have an action upon the case , for it was done in legall manner . So it is the duty of the Commons to enquire of the grievances of the Subjects , and the causes thereof , and doing it in a legall manner , 1● H. 6.19 . 8 H. 4.6 . in conspiracy it is a good plea , that he was one of the Indictors . And 20 H. 6.5 . that he was a grand-Iury-man , and informed his companions . And 21 E. 4.6 , 7. and 35 H. 6.14 . that he was a Iustice of Peace , and informed the Iury , 27 ass . p. 12. is to the same purpose . And if a Iustice of Peace , the first finder , a Iuror , or Indictor , shall not be punished in such cases ; à fortiori , a Member of the House of Commons shall not , who , as 1 H. 7.4 . is a Iudge . 27 ass . p. 44. may be objected , where two were indicted of conspiracy , because they maintained one another ; but the reason of the said case was , because Maintenance is matter forbidden by the Law ; but Parliamentary accusation , which is our matter , is not forbidden by any Law. C. 9.56 . there was conspiracy , in procuring others to be indicted . And it is true , for there it was not his duty to prefer such accusation . ( 2 ) The accusation was extra-judicial , and out of Court ; but it was not so in our case . ( 3 ) Words spoken in Parliament , which is a superiour Court , cannot he questioned in this Court , which is inferior . 3 E. 3.19 . and Stamford , 153. will be objected , where the Bishop of Winchester was arraigned in this Court , because he departed the Parliament without license ; there is but the opinion of Scroop , and the case was entred , P. 3. E. 3.19 . And it is to be observed , that the plea of the Bishop there , was never over-ruled . From this I gather , that Scroop was not constant to his opinion , which was suddain , being in the same Term in which the plea was entred ; or if he were , yet the other Iudges agreed not with him ; and also at last the Bishop was discharged by the Kings Writ . From this I gather , that the opinion of the Court was against the King , as in Pl. 20. in Fogassas's case , where the opinion of the Court was against the King , the party was discharged by privy Seal . 1 and 2 Phil. and Mar. hath been objected , where an Information in this Court was preferred against Mr. Ployden , and other Members of the House of Commons , for departing from the House without license . But in that case I observe these matters , ( 1. ) That this information depended during all the life of the Queen , and at last was sine die , by the death of the Queen . ( 2. ) In the said case , no plea was made to the Iurisdiction of the Court , as here it is . ( 3. ) Some of them submitted themselves to the Fine , because it was easie , for it was but 53. 4 d. But this cannot be urged as a president , because it never came injudgment , and no opinion of the Court was delivered therein . And it is no argument , that because at that time they would not plead to the jurisdiction , therefore we now cannot if we would . ( 4 ) These offences were not done in the Parliament House , but else-where by their absence , of which the Country may take notice ; but not of our matters being done in Parliament . And absence from Parliament , is an offence against the Kings Summons to Parliament . 20 R. 2. Parliament-Roll 12. Thomas Hacksey was indicted of high-treason in this Court , for preferring a Petition in Parliament , but 1 H. 4. num . 90. he preferred a Petition to have this Iudgment voided , and so it was , although that the King had pardoned him before . And 1 H. 4. numb . 104. all the Commons made Petition to the same purpose , because this tends to the destruction of their priviledges . And this was likewise granted , 4 H. 8. c. 8. Strood's case , That all condemnations imposed upon one , for preferring of any Bill , speaking , or reasoning in Parliament , are void . And this hath ▪ alwaies been conceived to be a generall Act , because the prayers , time , words , and persons are generall , and the answer to it is generall ; for a generall act is alwaies answered with , Le Roy voit , and a particular Act with Soit droit fait al partyes . And 33 H. 6.17.18 . A generall Act is alwaies inrolled , and so this is . 2 ly . For the second matter , the contempt to the command of the Adjournment , 18 Jac. it was questioned in Parliament , Whether the King can adjourn the Parliament , ( although it be without doubt that the King can prorogue it ) And the Iudges resolve , that the King may adjourn the House by Commission ; and 27 Eliz. it was resolved accordingly . But it is to be observed , that none was then impeached for moving that question . ( 2 ) It is to be observed , that they resolve , that the adjournment may be by Commission , but not resolved , that it may be by a verball command , signified by another ; and it derogates not from the Kings prerogative , that he cannot so do , no more then in the case of 26 H. 8.8 . that he cannot grant one acre of land by parol . The King himself may adjourn the House in person , or under the great Seal , but not by verball message , for none is bound to give credit to such message ; but when it is under the great Seal , it is Teste Meipso . and if there was no command , then there can be no contempt in the disobedience of that command . ( 3 ) In this no contempt appears by the Information , for the Information is , That the King had power to adjourn Parliaments . Then put case the command be , that they should adjourn themselves ; this is no pursuance of the power which he is supposed to have . The House may be adjourned two waies , to wit , by the King , or by the House it self ; the last is their own voluntary act , which the King cannot compell , for , Voluntas non cogitur . 3 ly . For the third matter , which is the Conspiracy : Although this be supposed to be out of the House , yet the Act is legall ; for , Members of the House may advise of matters out of the House ; for the House it self is not so much for consultations , as for proposition of them . And 20 H. 6.34 . is , that Enquests which are sworn for the King , may enquire of matters else-where . ( 2 ) For the Conspiracy to lay violent hands upon the Speaker , to keep him in the Chair ; The House hath priviledge to detain him in the Chair , and it was but lightly and softly , and other Speakers have been so served . ( 3 ) The King cannot prefer an Information for trespasse , for it is said , The King ought to be informed by a Iury , to wit , by indictment or presentment . ( 4 ) This cannot be any contempt , because it appears not , that the House was adjourned ; and if so , then the Speaker ought to remain in the Chair , for without him , the House cannot be adjourned . But it may be objected , that the Information is , That all these matters were done malitiously and seditiously . But to this I answer , That this is alwaies to be understood according to the subject matter , 15 E. 4. 4. and 18 H. 8.5 . A wife that hath title to have Dower , agrees with an other to enter , ( which hath right ) that she against him may recover her Dower . This shall not be said Covin , because both the parties have right and title . ( 2 ) It will be objected , That if these matters shall not be punishable here , they shall be unpunished altogether , because the Parliament is determined . To this I say , That they may be punished in the subsequent Parliament , and so there shall be no failer of right . And many times matters in one Parliament , have been continued to another , as 4 E. 3. numb . 16. the Lord Barkley's case , 50 E. 3. numb . 185.21 R. 2. c. 16.6 H. 6. numb . 45 , 46.8 H. 4. numb . 12. Offences in the Forrest ought to be punished in Eyre , and Eyres oftentimes were not held , but every third year . C. 9. Epistle , and 36 E. 3. c. 10. A Parliament may be every year . Errour in this Court cannot be reversed but in Parliament . And yet it was never objected , that therefore there shall be a failer of Right . 25 E. 3. c. 2. If a new case of treason happen , which is doubtfull , it shall not be determined till the next Parliament . So in Westm. 2. c. 28. where a new case happens , in which there is no Writ , stay shall be made till the next Parliament . And yet in these cases , there is no failer of Right . And so the Iudges have alwaies done in all difficult cases ; they have referred the determination of them to the next Parliament , as appears by 2 E. 3 6 , 7.1 E. 3.8.33 H. 6.18.5 E. 2. Dower . 145. the case of Dower of a Rent-charge . And 1 Jac. the Iudges refuse to deliver their opinions concerning the union of the two Kingdoms . The present case is great , rare , & without president therefore not determinable but in Parliament . And it is of dangerous consequence ; for ( 1 ) by the same reason , all the Members of the House of Commons may be questioned . ( 2 ) The parties shall be disabled to make . their defence , and the Clerk of Parliament is not bound to disclose those particulars . And by this means , the debates of a great Councill shall be referred to a petty Iury. And the parties cannot make justification , for they cannot speak those words here which were spoken in the Parliament , without slander . And the Defendants have not means to compell any to be witnesses for them ; for the Members of the House ought not to discover the counsell of the House : So that they are debar'd of justification , evidence , and witnesse . Lastly , by this means , none will adventure to accuse any offender , in Parliament , but will rather submit himself to the common danger ; for , for his pains he shall be imprisoned , and perhaps greatly fined : And if both these be unjust , yet the party so vexed can have no recompence . Therefore , &c. The Court. The question is not now , whether these matters be offences , and whether true or false . But , admitting them to be offences , the sole question is , Whether this Court may punish them ; so that a great part of your Argument is nothing to the present question . At another day , being the next , Calthrop argued for Mr. Valentine , another of the Defendants . 1 st . In generall , he said , for the nature of the crimes , that they are of four sorts . 1. In Matter . 2. In Words . 3. By Consent . 4. By Letters . Two of them are laid to the charge of this Defendant , to wit , The crune of the Matter , and of Consent . And of offences , Bracton makes some publick , some private . The offences here are publick . And of them , some are capitall , some not capitall , as assault , conspiracy , and such like , which have not the punishment of life & death . Publick crimes capitall , are such as are against the Law of Nature , as treason , murder ; I will agree , that if they be committed in Parliament , they may be questioned else-where out of Parliament . But in our case , the crimes are not capital , for they are assault & conspiracy , which in many cases may be ●ustified , as appears by 22 H. 7. Keilw . 92. 2 ass . 3 H. 4.10.22 E. 4.43 . Therefore this Court shall not have jurisdiction of them , for they are not against the Law of Nations ▪ of God , or Nature . And if these matters shal be examinable here , by consequence all the actions of Parliament-men may be drawn in question in this Court. But it seems by these reasons that this Court shall not have jurisdiction as this case is : 1 st . Because these offences are justifiable , being but the bringing the Speaker to the Chair , which also perhaps was done by the Uotes of the Commons ; but if these matters shall be ●ustified in this Court , no tryall can be ; for upon issue of his own wrong , he cannot be tryed , because Acts done in the House of Commons are of Record , as it was resolved in the Parliament , 1 Jac. and 16 H. 7.3 C. 9.31 . are , that such matters cannot be tryed by the Country . And now they cannot be tryed by Record , because , as 29 H. 8. Dy. 32. is , an inferiour Court cannot write to a superiour . And no Certiorari lies out of the Chancery , to send this here by Mittimus , for there never was any president thereof ; and the Book of the House of Commons , which is with their Clerk , ought not to be divulged . And C. Littl. is , that if a man be indicted in this Court for Piracy committed upon the Sea , he may well plead to the jurisdiction of this Court , because this Court cannot try it . 2 ly . It appears by the old Treatise , de modo tenendi Parliamentum , that the Iudges are but assistants in the Parliament ; and if any words or acts are made there , they have no power to contradict or controul them . Then it is incongruous , that they , after the Parliament dissolved , shall have power to punish such words or acts , which at the time of the speaking or doing , they had not power to contradict . There are superiour , middle , and more inferiour Magistrates ; and the superiour shall not be subject to the controle of the inferiour . It is a Position , that in pares est nullum imperium , multò minus in eos qui majus imperium habent . C. Littl. saies , that the Parliament is the supream Tribunal of the Kingdom , and they are Iudges of the supream Tribunal ; therefore they ought not to be questioned by their inferiours . ( 3 ) The offences objected do concern the priviledges of Parliament , which priviledges are determinable in Parliament ▪ and not else-where , as appears by the presidents which have been cited before . ( 4 ) The common-Law hath assigned proper Courts for matters , in respect of the place and persons ; 1 st . for the place , It appears by 11 E. 4.3 . & old Entries , 101. that in an Ejectione firme , it is a good plea , that the land is antient demeasne , and this excludes all other Courts . So it is for land in Durham , old Entries , 419. for it is questionable there , & not out of the County . 2 ly . For persons , H. 15. H. 7. roll . 93 ▪ old Entries , 47. If a Clerk of the Chancery be impleaded in this Court , he may plead his priviledge , and shall not answer . So it is of a Clerk of the Exchequer , old Entries , 473. then much more when offences are done in Parliament , which is exempt from ordinary jurisdiction , they shall not be drawn in question in this Court. And if a man be Indicted in this Court , he may plead Sanctuary , 22 H. 7. Keilw . 91. and 22. and shall be restored , 21 E. 3.60 . The Abbot of Bury's case is to the same purpose . ( 5 ) For any thing that appears , the House of Commons had approved of these matters , therefore they ought not to be questioned in this Court. And if they be offences , and the said House hath not punished them , this will be a casting of imputation upon them . ( 6 ) It appears by the Old Entries , 446 , 447 , that such an one ought to represent the Borough of St. Jermans , from whence he was sent ; therefore he is in nature of an Ambassadour , and he shall not be questioned for any thing in the Execution of his office , if he do nothing against the Law of Nature or Nations , as it is in the case of an Ambassadour . In the time of Queen Elizabeth , the Bishop of Rosse in Scotland , being Ambassadour here , attempted divers matters against the State ; and by the opinion of all the Civilians of the said time , he may be questioned for those offences , because they are against the Law of Nations and Nature ; and , in such matters , he shall not enjoy the priviledges of an Ambassador . But if he commit a civill offence , which is against the Municipall Law onely , he cannot be questioned for it , as Bodin . de Republica , agrees the case . Upon the Statute of 28 H. 8. c. 15. for tryall of Pirats , 13. Jac. the case fell out to be thus . A Iew came Ambassador to the United Provinces , and in his journey he took some Spanish ships , and after was driven upon this coast ; And agreed upon the said Statute , that he cannot be tryed as a Pyrat here by Commission , but he may be questioned civiliter in the Admiralty : For , Legati suo Regi soli judicum faciunt . So Embassadors of Parliament , soli Parliamento , to wit , in such things which of themselves are justifiable . ( 7 ) There was never any president , that this Court had punished offences of this nature , committed in Parliament , where any plea was put in , as here it is to the jurisdiction of the Court ; and where there is no president , non-usage is a good Expositor of the Law. Lord Littl. Section 180. Co. Littl. f. 81. saies , As Usage is a good interpreter of the Lawes , so Non-usage , where there is no example , is a great intendment , that the Law will not bear it , 6 Eliz. Dy. 229. upon the Statute of 27 H. 8. of Inrolments , that bargain and sale of a House in London ought not to be enrolled ; the reason there given is , because it is not used . 23. Eliz. Dy. 376. No errour lies here of a Iudgment given in the five Ports , because such Writ was never seen ; yet in the diversity of Courts it is said , That errour lies of a Iudgment given in the five Ports , 39 H. 6.39 . by Ashton , that a protection to go to Rome was never seen , therefore he disallowed it . ( 8 ) If this Court shall have Iurisdiction , the Court may give judgment according to Law , and yet contrary to Parliament Law , for the Parliament in divers cases hath a peculiar Law. Notwithstanding the Statute of 1 H. 5. c. 1. that every Burgesse ought to be resident within the Burrough of which he is Burgesse , yet the constant usage of Parliament is contrary thereunto ; and if such matter shall be in question before ye , ye ought to adiudge according to the Statute , and not according to their usage . So the House of Lords hath a speciall Law also , as appears by 11 R. 2. the Roll of the Processe and Iudgmen , ( which hath been cited before to another purpose ) where an appeal was not according to the one Law or th' other , yet it was good according to the course of Parliament . ( 9 ) Because this matter is brought in this Court by way of Information , where it ought to be by way of Indictment . And it appears by 41 ass . p. 12. that if a Bill of Disceit be brought in this Court , where it ought to be by Writ , This matter may be pleaded to the Iurisdiction of the Court , because it is vi & armis , and contra pacem . It appears by all our Books , that informations ought not to be grounded upon surmices , but upon matter of Record , 4 H. 7.5.6 E. 6. Dy. 74. Information in the Exchequer , and 11 H. 8. Keilw . 101. are this purpose . And if the matter be vi & armis , then it ought to be found by Enquest , 2 E. 3.1 , 2. Appeal shall not be grounded upon the Return of the Sheriff , but the King ought to be certified of it by Indictment , 1 H. 7.6 . and Stamf. f. 95. a. Upon the Statute of 25 E. 3. c. 4. that none shall be imprisoned but upon Indictment or Presentment ; and 28 E. 3. c. 3. 42 E. 3. c. 3. are to the same purpose . So here , this Information ought to have been grounded upon Indictment , or other matter of Record , and not upon bare intelligence given to the King. ( 10 ) The present case is great and difficult , and in such cases , the Iudges have alwaies outed themselves of Iurisdiction , as appears by Bracton , book 2. f. 1. Si aliquid novi non usitatum in Regno acciderit , 2 E. 3.6 , 7. and Dower 243. Now I will remove some objections which may be made . Where the King is Plaintiff , it is in his election to bring his Action in what Court he pleases . This is true in some sense , to wit , That the King is not restrained by the Statute of Magna Charta , Quod communia placita non sequantur Curiam nostram ; for he may bring his Quare impedit in B. R. And if it concerns Durham , or other County Palatine , yet the King may have his Action here ; for the said Courts are created by Patent , and the King may not be restrained by Parliament , or by his own Patent , to bring his Action where he pleaseth . But the King shall not have his Action where he pleaseth against a prohibition of the Common Law , as 12 H. 7. Keilw . 6. the King shall not have a Formedon in Chancery . And C. 6.20 . Gregory's case , If the King will bring an Information in an inferiour Court , the party may plead to the Iurisdiction . So where the Common Law makes a prohibition , the King hath not election of his Court. The Information is contra formam Statuti , which Statute , as I conceive , is intended the Statute of 5 H. 4. c. 6. and 11 H. 6. c. 11. which gives power to this Court to punish an assault , made upon the servant of a Knight of Parliament . But our case is not within those Statutes , nor the intent of them ; for it is not intendible , that the Parliament would disadvantage themselves , in point of their priviledge . And this was a trespasse done within the House by Parliament-men amongst themselves . And Crompton's Jurisdiction of Courts , f. 8. saith , That the Parliament may punish trespasses done there . Presidents have been cited of Parliament-men , imprisoned and punished for matters done in Parliament . To this I say , That there is Via juris , and via facti ; and via facti is not alwaies via juris , C. 4.93 . Presidents are no good directions , unlesse they be iudiciall . Otherwise there will be a failer of Iustice , wrongs shall be unpunished . To this I answer , That a mischief is oft-times rather sufferable then an inconvenience , to draw in question the priviledges of Parliament . By the antient Common Law , as it appears by 21 E. 3.23 . and 21 ass . if an Infant bring an appeal , the Suit shall be stayed during his infancy , because the party cannot have his tryall by Battail against the Infant ; but the Law is now held otherwise in the said case . And in some cases , criminall offences shall be dispunished , 29 H. 8. Dy. 40. appeal of murder lies not for murder done in severall Counties . This Court of B. R. is coram ipso Rege , the King himself by intendment is here in person . And as it is said , C. 9.118 . it is Supremum Regni Tribunal , of ordinary Iurisdiction . But to this I say , that the Parliament is a transcendent Court , and of transcendent jurisdiction ; It appears by 28 ass . p. 52. that the style of other Courts is coram Rege , as well as this is , as coram Rege in Cancellaria , coram Rege in Camera ; and though it be coram Rege , yet the Iudges give the Iudgment . And in the time of H. 3. in this Court , some Entries were coram Rege ; others , Coram Hugone de Bigod . The privileges of Parliament are not questioned , but the conspiracies and misdemeanours of some of them . But to this I say , That the distinction is difficult and narrow in this case , where the offences obiected are iustifiable : and if they be offences , this reflects upon the House which hath not punished them . The cases of 3 E. 3.19 . and 1 and 2 Phil. & Mar. have been ob●ected . But for the last it is observable , that no plea was pleaded to the Iurisdiction , as it is in our case . And if a Parliament-man or other , which hath priviledge , be impleaded in forraign Court , and neglect his plea to the Iurisdiction , the Court may well proceed , 9 H. 7.14 . 36 H. 6.34 ● . 13. Jac. In this Court the Lord Norreys , that was a Peer of Parliament , was indicted in this Court for the murder of one Bigoo , and pleaded his pardon . And there it was doubted , how the Court should proceed against him , ( for he by the Law ought to have his Tryall by his Peers ) And it was resolved , that when he pleads his pardon , or confesseth his fault , thereby he gives iurisdiction to the Court , and the Court may give Iudgment against him . So that these cases , where it was not pleaded to the Iurisdiction , can be no president in our case . The priviledge here is not claimed by Prescription or Charter , therefore it is not good . But I say , that notwithstanding this , it is good ; for where the common-Law outs a Court of Iurisdiction , there needs no charter or prescription , 10 H. 6.13 . 8 H. 8. Keilw . 189. Br. n. c. 515. Where Sanctuary of a Church is pleaded , there 's no need to make Prescription , because every Church is a Sanctuary by the common-Law . Therefore , &c. Heath , the Kings Atturney , the same day argued on the other side , but briefly . First , he answered to the objections which had been made . First , he said , That Informations might well be for matters of this nature , which are not capitall ; and that there are many presidents of such Informations . ( But note that he produced none of them ) 2 y. It hath been obiected , That they are a Councill , therefore they ought to speak freely . But such speeches which here are pronounced , prove them not Counsellors of State , but Bedlams ; the addition of one word would have made it Treason , to wit , Proditoriè . But it is the pleasure of the King to proceed in this manner , as now it is . And there is great difference between Bills and Libells , and between their proceedings , as Counsell and as Mutinous . 3 ly . That it would be of dangerous consequence ; for by this means , none would adventure to complain of grievances . I answer , They may make their complaints in Parliamentary manner , but they may not move things , which tend to distraction of the King and his Government . 4 ly . These matters may be punished in following Parliaments . But this is impossible , for following Parliaments cannot know , with what minde these matters were done . Also the House of Commons is not a Court of Iustice of itself . The two Houses are but one Body , and they cannot proceed criminally to punish crimes , but onely upon their Members by way of imprisonment ; and also they are not a Court of Record . And they have forbid their Clerk to make entry of their Speeches , but onely of matters of course ; for many times they speak upon the suddain , as occasion is offered . And there is no necessity , that the King should expect a new Parliament . The Lords may grant Commissions to determine matters , after the Parliament ended ; but the House of Commons cannot do so . And also a new House of Commons consists of new Men , which have no conusance of these offences . 1 H. 4. The Bishop of Carlile , for words spoken in the Parliament , that the King had not right to the Crown , was arraigned in this Court of high-treason ; and then he did not plead his priviledge of Parliament , but said , That he was Episcopus unctus , &c. 5 ly . 4 H. 8. Strode's case hath been objected . But this is but a particular act , although it be in print ; for Rastall intitles it by the name of Strode ; so the title , Body , and proviso of the Act are particular . 6 ly . That this is an inferiour Court to the Parliament , therefore , &c. To this I say , That , even sitting the Parliament , this Court of B. R. and other Courts , may judge of their priviledges , as of a Parliament-man put in execution , &c. and other cases . It is true , that the Iudges have oft-times declined to give their iudgment , upon the privileges of Parliament , sitting the Court. But from this it followes not , that when the offence is committed there , and not punished , and the said Court dissolved , that therefore the said matter shall not be questioned in this Court. 7 ly . By this means the priviledges of Parliament shall be in great danger , if this Court may judge of them . But I answer , That there is no danger at all ; for this Court may judge of Acts of Parliament . 8 ly . Perhaps these matters were done by the Uotes of the House ; or , if they be offences , it is an imputation to the House to say , that they had neglected to punish them . But this matter doth not appear . And if the truth were so , these matters might be given in evidence . 9 ly . There is no president in the case , which is a great presumption of Law. But to this I answer , That there was never any president of such a fact , therefore there cannot be a president of such a judgment . And yet in the time of Queen Elizabeth , it was resolved by Brown ▪ and many other Iustices , that offences done in Parliament may be punished out of Parliament , by imprisonment or otherwise . And the case of 3 E. 3.19 . is taken for good Law by Stamf. and Fitzh . And 22 E. 3. and 1 Mar. accord directly with it . But it hath been objected , that there was no plea made to the Iurisdiction . But it is to be obser-served , that Ployden , that was a learned man , was one of the Defendan●s , and he pleaded not to the Iurisdiction , but pleaded license to depart . And the said Information depended during all the Reigne of Queen Mary , during which time there were four Parliaments , and they never questioned this matter . But it hath been further objected , That the said case differs from our case , because that there the offence was done out of the House , and this was done within the House . But in the said case , if license to depart be pleaded , it ought to be tryed in Parliament , as well as these offences here . Therefore , &c. And the same day the Iudges spake briefly to the case , and agreed with one voice , That the Court , as this case is , shall have Iurisdiction , although that these offences were committed in Parliament . Afterwards the Parliament which met the 3d. of Novemb. 1640. upon Report made by Mr. Recorder Glyn , of the state of the severall and respective cases of Mr. Hollis , Mr. Selden , and the rest of the imprisoned Members of the Parliament , in tertio Caroli , touching their extraordinary sufferings , for their constant affections to the Liberties of the Kingdom , expressed in that Parliament ; And upon Arguments made in the House thereupon , did , upon the 6th . of July , 1641. passe these ensuing Votes , which , in respect of the reference they have in these last mentioned proceedings , we have thought fit , though out of order of time , to insert , viz. Iuly the 6th . 1641. REsolved upon the Question , that the issuing out of the Warrants from the Lords , and others of the Privy Councill , compelling Mr. Hollis , and the rest of the Members of that Parliament , 3. Car. during the Parliament , to appeare before them , is a breach of the priviledge of Parliament by those Privy Counsellours . Resolved , &c. That the Committing of Mr. Hollis , and the rest ●f the Lords , and others of the Privy Councill ; dureing the Parliament , is a breach of the priviledge of Parliament by those Lords and others . Resolved , &c. That the searching and sealing of the Chamber , Study , and Papers of Mr. Hollis , Mr. Selden , and Sir. Iohn Eliot , being Members of this House , and dureing the Parliament , and issuing of warrants to that purpose , was a breach of the priviledge of Parliament , and by those that executed the same . Resolved , &c. That the exhibiting of an Information in the Court of Star-Chamber , against Mr. Hollis and the rest , for matters done by them in Parliament , being members of Parliament , and the same so appearing in the Information ; is a breach of the priviledge in Parliament . Resolved , &c. That Sir Robert Heath , and Sir Humphrey Davenport , Sir Hennage Finch , Mr. Hudson , and Sir Robert Berkly , that subscribed their names to the Information , are guilty thereby of the breach of priviledge of Parliament . Resolved , &c. That there was delay of Justice , towards Mr. Hollis and the rest that appeared upon the Ha. Corp. in that they were not bayled in Easter and Trinity Tearm . 5. Car. Resolved , &c. That Sir Nicholas Hide , then chief Justice of the Kings Bench , is guilty of this delay . Resolved , &c. That Sir William Jones then being one of the Justices of the Court of Kings Bench is guilty of this delay . Resolved , &c. That Sir Iames Whitlock Knight , then one of the Justices of the Court of Kings Bench is not guilty of this delay . Ordered , That the further debate of this shall be taken into Consideration on to morrow Morning . Iuly the 8th . 1641. Resolved upon the Question , That Sir George Crook Knight , then one of the Judges of the Kings Bench is not guilty of this delay . That the continuance of Mr. Hollis and the rest of the Members of Parliament , 3. Car. in Prison , by the then Judges of the Kings Bench for not putting in sureties of the good behaviour , was without just or legall cause . That the exhibiting of the Information against Mr. Hollis , Sir Iohn Eliot , and Mr. Valentine in the Kings Bench , being members of Parliament , for matters done in Parliament , was a breach of the priviledge of Parliament . That the over-ruling of the plea , pleaded by Mr. Hollis , Sir Iohn Eliot , and Mr. Valentine , upon the Information to the Jurisdiction of the Court , was against the Law , and priviledge of Parliament . That the Judgement given upon a Nihil dicit , against Mr. Hollis , Sir Iohn Eliot , and Mr. Valentine , and fine thereupon imposed , and their severall imprisonments thereupon , was against the Law , and priviledge of Parliament . That the severall proceedings against Mr. Hollis , and the rest , by committing them , and prosecuting them in the Star-Chamber and in the Kings Bench , is a grievance . That Mr. Hollis , Mr. Stroud , Mr. Valentine , and Mr. Long , and the heires and Executours of Sir Iohn Eliot , Sir Miles Hubbard , and Sir Peter Heyman , respectively ought to have reparation for their respective dammages and sufferings , against the Lords and others of the Councill , by whose warrants they were apprehended and committed , and against the Councill that put their hands to the Information in the Star-Chamber , and against the Judges of the Kings Bench. That Mr. Lawrence Whitaker , being a Member of the Parliament , 3 Car. entring into the Chamber of Sir Iohn Eliot , being likewise a Member of the Parliament , searching of his Trunck and Papers , and sealing of them , is guilty of the breach of the priviledge of Parliament , this being done before the dissolution of Parliament . Resolved upon the question , That Mr. Lawrence Whitaker , being guilty of the breach of the priviledges , as aforesaid , shall be sent forthwith to the Tower , there to remain a prisoner during the pleasure of the House . Mr. Whitaker was called down , and kneeling at the Bar , Mr. Speaker pronounced this Sentence against him accordingly . Mr. VVhitaker being at the Bar , did not deny , but that he did search and seal up the Chamber , and Trunck , and Study , of Sir Iohn Eliot , between the second and tenth of March , during which time the Parliament was adjourned : But endeavoured to extenuate it , by the confusion of the times , at that time ; the length of the time since the crime was committed , being thirteen years ; the command that lay upon him , being commanded by the King and twenty three Privy Counsellors . Afterwards Mr. Recorder Glin made a further Report to the House of Commons , viz. HE likewise reported the state of the case , concerning the losses , dammages , sufferings , & imprisonments , sustained and undergone by Mr. Vassell , for denying to pay Tunnage and Poundage , ( not granted by Act of Parliament ) in obedience to a Declaration and Vote of this House . The Warrant , which issued and was subscribed by twelve Privy Counsellors , to summon nine of the Members of the House of Commons , in the Parliament of tertio Caroli , to appear before them during the Parliament : viz. Mr. William Stroud , Mr. Benjamin Valentine , Mr. Hollis , Sir Iohn Eliot , Mr. Selden , Sir Miles Hobert , Sir Peter Heyman , Mr. Walter Long , and Mr. VVilliam Coriton ; bearing date , tertio Mar●ii quarto Caroli ; and the names of the twelve Privy Counsellors that signed this Warrant were read . The Parliament being adjourned the second of March to the tenth of March , and then dissolved . The Warrants under the hands of sixteen Privy Counsellors , for committing of Mr. Denzill Hollis , Sir Iohn Eliot , Mr. Iohn Selden , Mr. Benjamin Valentine , and Mr. William Coriton , close prisoners to the Tower , bearing date , Quarto Martii quarto Caroli , during the Parliament , were read . And the names of the Privy Counsellors that subscribed them , were read . The Warrants under the hands of twenty two Privy Counsellors , directed to William Boswell Esq to repair to the lodgings of Denzil Hollis Esq and to Simon Digby Esq to repair to the lodgings of Mr. Iohn Selden , and to Lawrence VVhitaker Esq to repair to the lodgings of Sir Iohn Eliot , requiring them to seal up the Truncks , Studies , and Cabinets , or any other thing that had any Papers in them , of the said Mr. Hollis , Mr. Iohn Selden , and Sir. Iohn Eliot , were read ; and likewise the names of the Privy Counsellors that subscribed the said Warrants . A Warrant under the hands of thirteen Privy Counsellors , for the commitment of Mr. William Stroud close prisoner to the Kings Bench , bearing date , 2d . April , 1628. was read , and the names of the Privy Counsellors that subscribed it : The like Warrant was for the commitment of Mr. VValter Long close prisoner to the Marshall-sea . The humble Memoriall of the losses , dammages , sufferings , and imprisonments , sustained and undergone by Alderman Richard Chambers , for denying to pay Tunnage and Poundage , ( not granted by Act of Parliament ) in obedience to a Declaration and Vote of this House , was this day read . Ordered , that it be referred to the Committee for the Members of tertio Caroli , where Mr. Recorder hath the Chair ; and the Committee of the Navy , joyned as to this businesse ; to consider of the Memoriall of the losses , dammages , sufferings , and imprisonments , sustained and undergone by Alderman Richard Chambers , for his denying to betray the Liberty of the Subject , in paying the illegall Tax of Tunnage and Poundage , ( not granted by Act of Parliament ) in obedience to a Declaration and Order of this House . And the Committee are to make report on Munday fortnight . Resolved , &c. That Mr. Hollis shall have the sum of five thousand pounds , for his dammages , losses , imprisonments , and sufferings , sustained and undergone by him , for his service done to the Common-wealth in the Parliament of tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That Mr. Iohn Selden shall have the sum of five thousand pounds , for his dammages , losses , imprisonments , and sufferings , sustained and undergone by him for his service done to the Common-wealth , in the Parliament of tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That the sum of five thousand pounds be assigned for the dammages , losses , imprisonments , and sufferings , sustained and undergone by Sir Iohn Eliot , for his service done to the Common-wealth in the Parliament of tertio Caroli , to be disposed of in such manner , as this House shall appoint . Resolved , &c. That the sum of two thousand pounds , part of four thousand pounds , paid into the late Court of Wards and Liveries , by the heires of Sir Iohn Eliot , by reason of his marriage with Sir Daniel Norton's daughter , shall be repaid to Mr. Eliot , out of the arrears of monies , payable into the late Court of Wards and Liveries , before the taking away of the said late Court. Ordered , that it be referred to the Committee who brought in this Report , to examine the Decree made in the late Court of Wards and Liveries , concerning the marriage of Sir Eliot's heir with Sir Norton's daughter ; and what monies was paid by reason of the said Decree , and by whom ; and to report their opinions thereupon to the House . Ordered , That it be referred to the Committee of the Tower to examine after what manner Sir Iohn Elyot came to his death , his usage in the Tower , and to view the roomes and places where he was imprisoned , and where he dyed , and to report the same to the House . Resolved , &c. That the sum of five thousand pounds shall be paid unto the of Sir Peter Heyman , for the dammages , losses , sufferings , and imprisonments , sustained and undergone by Sir Peter Heyman , for his service done to the Common-wealth in the Parliament in tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That Mr. VValter Long shall have the sum of five thousand pounds paid unto him , for the dammages , losses , sufferings , and imprisonment sustained and undergone by him , for his service done to the Common-wealth in the Parliament of tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That the sum of five thousand pounds shall be assigned , for the dammages , losses , sufferings , and imprisonment , sustained and undergone by Mr. Strode ( late a member of this House ) deceased , for service done by him to the Common-wealth , in the Parliament of tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That Mr. Benjamin Valentine shall have the sum of five thousand pounds paid unto him , for the dammages , losses , sufferings , and imprisonments sustained and undergone by him for his service done to the Common-wealth , in the Parliament of tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That the sum of five hundred pounds shall be bestowed and disposed of , for the erecting a Monument to Sir Miles Hobert , a Member of the Parliament of tertio Caroli , in memory of his sufferings for his service to the Common-wealth in that Parliament of tertio Caroli . Resolved , &c. That Mr. Samuel Vassell shall have the sum of ten thousand four hundred forty five pounds twelve shillings two pence paid him , for his losses and dammages sustained , for denying to pay Tunnage and Poundage , ( not granted by Act of Parliament ) in pursuance and obedience to a Declaration and Vote of this House . Resolved , &c. That this House doth declare , that they will in due time take Mr. Vassell into further consideration , for his imprisonment and personall sufferings . Ordered , That it be recommitted to the Committee , who brought in this Report to consider , how the severall sums of mony this day ordered to be paid , for dammages to the severall Members , and others before named , for their sufferings in the service of the Common-wealth , may be raised . FINIS . AN INDEX Alphabetically digested , relating to the Principal Persons and Matters contained in this Book . A. ABbot Archbishop , his advice concerning the Palatinate War , p. 12 In disgrace at Court , p. 61. his Letter to the King against Toleration of Popery , p. 85. Still in disfavor , p. 435. A Commission to sequester him , ●b . his Narrative at large containing the true cause of his being sequestred , from p. 438. to 461. His Speech concerning the Petition of Right , p. 552 Abbot Doctor p. 62 Acts passed in Parliament , p. 152 , 195 , 644 Alford Master p. 568 Allured Master his Letter to the Duke , p. 91. Another concerning the Duke p. 621 Ambassadors private Instructions , p. 18 Anhault Prince , made General of the Bohemians p. 14 Arminians p. 62 , 111 , 177 , 180 , 181 , 479 Arundel Earl p. 368 , &c. Ashley Serjeant , questioned for words , p. 552 Aston Sir Walter , p. 14 , 60 , 106 , 107 , 113 , 114 Le Assembli des notables , &c. p. 691. And p. 14. Appendix . Aske Mr. His Argument for Master Stroud , p. 18. Appendix B. BAcon , Lord Chancellor p. 28 , 29 , 31 , 162 Barkley Serjeant , his Argument against Mr. Stroud . Appendix , p. 21 Barkshire Earl p. 376 Barons of the Exchequer sent unto about Merchants g●ods , p. 666 , 667 Beecher Sir William p. 430 Bethlem Gabor assists the Bohemians p. 12 Bohemians vide Palatinate Book of Bounty prohibited p. 417 Bramston Serjeant , upon the Habeas Corpus p. 463 Bristol vide Digby . Buckingham writes unto Gundamor of King James dissatisfaction about the Palatines War , p. 16. Goes with the Prince into Spain , p. 76. Made Duke , p. 78. A Letter sent to him from Mr. Allured , p. 91. His Narrative to both Houses of Parliament , p. 119. The truth thereof attested by the Prince , p. 16. The Popes Letter to him , p. 80. His head demanded by the Spanish Ambassador , p. 126. The Duke is justified of both Houses , ibid. And by King James , who called him his disciple , p. 127. Is accused again by the Spanish Ambassador p. 144 Renders an account in Parliament of the Fleet , p. 190. And also speaks on his own behalf , p. 191. Queries in Parliament concerning the Duke , p. 221. Sir John Elliot concerning the Duke , p. 224. The Kings Speech on behalf of the Duke , p. 225. Lord Keeper to the same purpose , p. 227. The Duke explains the Kings and the Lord Keepers Speech in Parliament , p. 229. And renders an account of his Negotiation in the Low Countreys , and elswhere , p. 231. Is vindicated by the Lord Conway , p. 235. The Commons present a Remonstrance against him , p. 247. Private advice given him , p. 250. The Dukes answer to a Message from the Commons , p. 251. Articles exhibited against him by Bristol , p. 266. The Kings Message on behalf of the Duke , against Bristol , p. 270. Impeached by the Commons , p. 307. managed at a Conference by Eight Members , p. 306 , 307 , 308 , &c. Private suggestions on behalf of the Duke , p. 360. The Kings Speech on his behalf , p. 361. A Message from the Commons against him , p. 361. His Speech against them , p. 367. Sir Dudley Carlton concerning him , p. 362 , 363. Dissatisfied at the release of Sir John Elliot , p. 365. Sir John Elliots explanation concerning him , p. 366. Is chosen Chancellor of Cambridge , p. 375. His Letter to that University , p. 377. The Kings Letter on his behalf , p. 378. His Speech in Parliament before he gave in his Answer , p. 379. His Plea and Answer to the Impeachment , p. 380 , &c. The King prefers an Information against him in Star-Chamber , p. 417. Sets sail with the Fleet , p. 429. Lands his Army at the Isle of Rhee , p. 430. And had a hot encounter with the French , p. 431. Omits to take in the little Fort , ibid. Lays siege to the Cittadel at St. Martins , ibid. Retreats with the Army from Rhee , p. 469. Declared cause of all grievances , p. 615. Desires to clear himself concerning some words , supposed to be spoken by him , p. 639. And charges one Melvin for speaking words against him , ibid. Is slain at Portsmouth , p. 647. The King receives news of his Death , ibid. Burlacy Sir John p. 15 Burroughs Captain p. 15 , 40 Burroughs Sir John slain at Rhee , p. 200 C. CAlthrop Mr. p. 464. Appendix 49 Carlile Earl p. 173 Carlton Sir Dudley , p. 76.362 , 363 Carmarthen Mr. his Answer about Customs p. 668 Cautionary Towns in the Netherlands delivered up p. 3 Chambers Mr. questioned at the Council , and committed , p. 651. Brings his Habeas Corpus , ibid. is bailed , p. 652. his Goods seised on for not paying of Customs , p. 653. A Writ of Replevin denied him , ibid. Proceedings in Star-Chamber against him , p. 680. His Sentence , p. 681. His submission tendred , p. 682. His refusal thereof , p. 683. His Plea in the Exchequer against the jurisdiction of the Court of Star-Chamber , ibid. Brought upon Habeas Corpus , p. 686. His Petition to the long Parliament , p. 687. His Death p. 689 Charls Prince , his Letter to Philip the Fourth of Spain about the Match , p. 59. Goes disguised into Spain , p. 76. Had a sight of the Princess Henrietta Maria as the passed through France , ibid. His reception and entertainment in Spain , p. 77. Endeavors used to make him change his Religion , p. 78. The Popes Letter to him , ibid. His Answer thereunto , p. 82. Swears to Articles of Marriage , p. 86. The Oath taken by him , p. 88. Swears to private Articles , p. 88 , 89. And afterwards findes delays in Spain , p. 102. Resolves to depart thence and leave a Proxy with Bristol , p. 103. Feasts the Spanish Dons aboard his Ship , p. 104. Arrives safe in England , ibid. Left private Instructions with Bristol to contradict the Proxy , ibid. Attests the Dukes Narrative in Parliament , p. 119 Is Proclaimed King , p. 169. New swears the old Privy Council , ibid. Pursues their Advice , p. 170. Puts forth a Proclamation of Government , p. 171. Attends in person his Fathers Funeral , ibid. Continues the Duke intimately in favor , ibid. Levies Soldiers for the Palatinate , p. 172. Signs the Articles of Marriage with France , ibid. The Marriage solemnised in France , p. 173. Sends the Duke of Buckingham into France to attend the Queen into England , p. 174. And meets the Queen at Dover , ibid. The Marriage consummated at Canterbury , ibid. Brings her to London , ibid. His first Speech in Parliament , p. 175. The Lord Keepers Speech by his direction , p. 176. Owns Montague as his servant , p. 178. Adjourns the Parliament to Oxford , ibid. His Ships employed against Rochel , ibid. His Speech at the Parliament in Oxford , p. 181. Seconded by the Lord Conway and Secretary Cook , p. 182. He Answers the Commons Petition against Recusants , p. 185. Sends a Message for supply , p. 194. The Commons insisting still upon grievances , he dissolves the Parliament , p. 195. And follows his design of War , ibid. Sends out Privy Seals for money , p. 196. Disarms Recusants , p. 198. Sends out his Fleet and Army under command of Viscount Wimbleton , p. 198 , 199. Their unsuccessful Voyage , p. 200. He now prohibites trade with Spain , p. 201. Takes the Seal from Lord Keeper Williams , p. 202. Calls a Parliament , ibid. Prepares for his Coronation , p. 203. Commands all of Forty pound per annum to appear , and receive the Order of Knighthood , ibid. The manner of his Coronation , p. 204. The King is present at the opening of the second Parliament , p. 206. And commands the Lord Keeper Coventry to speak what he intended himself to have said , ibid. Forbids resort to hear Mass , p. 216. The Kings Letter to the Commons to hasten supply , p. 218. Seconds it with a Message , p. 219. To which the Commons sent an Answer , p. 220. The Kings Reply , ibid. And sends another Message concerning Mr. Cook and Doctor Turner , p. 222. Three Subsidies and three Fifteens Voted to be given him , p. 225. And hot Debate against the Duke , ibid. Whereupon the King speaks to the Parliament , ibid. And refers to the Lord Keeper to speak further , p. 225 , 226 , &c. And speaks again himself , p. 229. His Speech explained by the Duke , ibid. Receives a Petition touching Nobility , p. 237. His Letter to Bristol , p. 241. His Message concerning Bristol , p. 243. Receives a Remonstrance from the Commons concerning the Duke , p. 247. Adjourns the Parliament for a week , p. 250. He is attended by some Bishops concerning the Duke , p. 251. Leaves the House at liberty to present the matter concerning the Duke , p. 252. His Message on behalf of the Duke against Bristol , p. 260. His Speech on behalf of the Duke , p. 361. Commits Sir Dudley Diggs and Sir John Elliot , p. 362. Releases them , p. 364. His Message concerning the Earl of Arundel , p. 368. His Answer to the Lords Petition , p. 371 , 372. His further Answer concerning the Earl of Arundel , p. 373. Another Message from the King concerning the said Earl , p. 374 , 375. The Earl of Arundel set at liberty , p. 375. His Message to the Parliament , that they hinder not the Election of the Duke , as Chancellor of Cambridge , p. 376 , 377. His Letter to that University on the Dukes behalf , p. 378. His Letter to the Speaker concerning Supply , p. 394. The Commons Petition him against Recusants , p. 395. A Speech made to him by Sir Hennage Finch concerning the Duke , p. 401. His Commission to dissolve the Parliament , p. 403 The Parliaments Remonstrance to him , p. 404 , 405 , &c. His Proclamation against the said Remonstrance , p. 415. And another against disputing about Arminian Controtroversies , p. 416. Causes an Information to be preferred against the Duke , p. 417. Prohibites the Book of Bounty , ibid. Takes the Forfeiture arising from Recusants , ibid. Grants a Commission to compound with Recusants , p. 418. His Proclamation to make his Revenue certain , ibid. Sends to his Nobles to lend him money , ibid. Demands of the City of London the Loan of One hundred thousand pounds , p. 419. Requires Port Towns to furnish Ships , ibid. Which the Ports in Dorsetshire dispute , ibid. The City of London the like , and are checked , ibid. Issues forth Privy Seals , p. 420. Requires inhabitants in Port Towns to repair to their Houses , ibid. Sends Ships to the River Elbe , ibid. Declares the King of Denmarks overthrow to be one ground of the Loan , p. 422. Puts forth a Declaration concerning the Loan , ibid. Gives private Instructions concerning the Loan , ibid. Grants a Commission for Martial Law , p. 423. Displaces Sir Randal Crew about the Loan , and makes Sir Nicholas Hide Chief Iustice , p. 424. Sends Six thousand English into the Netherlands , pag. 425. Makes Sir Charles Morgan General of them , ibid. Causes refusers of Loan money to be pressed for Soldiers , p. 426. Dissatisfied with the French about the Queen , p. 427. and dismisses them , p. 428. His Declaration concerning a War with France , p. 429. Makes the Duke of Buckingham Admiral and General , and gives him a Commission , ibid. Secures several Gentlemen for not paying the Loan money , p. 433. Grant a Commission to sequester Archbishop Abbot , p. 435. Appoints a supply to be sent to the Duke under the Earl of Holland , p. 466. A List of the Debt the King owes for Fraights of Ships upon the two Expeditions to Cadize and Rhee , p. 470. Calls a Parliament , p. 476. Set at liberty the imprisoned Gentlemen about the Loan money , p. 477. A List of those Gentry imprisoned by the King about Loan money , ibid. His Commission for an Imposition in nature of an Excise considered of , p. 478. His Privy Seal to pay Thirty thousand pound for raising of German Horse , ibid. His Speech at the opening of the Third Parment , p. 480. Lord Keepers Speech by his direction , p. 481. The Speakers Speech to him , p. 484. Petition to him for a Fast , p. 494. His propositions for supply , p. 502. His Propositions touching supply again mentioned , p. 509. His Answer to the Petition against Recusants , p. 511. His Propositions debated , p. 525 , 526. His Message concerning words said to be spoken , p. 529. Another Message to secure Liberties by Bill , p. 530 , 531. Subsidies resolved to be presented unto him , ibid. The Kings Answer concerning the same , ibid. The Dukes Speech concerning the Commons liberal gift to the King , ibid. A Message from him against a Recess at Easter , p. 543. A Message from the King to hasten supply , p. 544. The Speakers Speech unto him at the delivery of the Petition against Billeting of Soldiers , 546. His Answer to that Petition , p. 552. The Lord Keepers Speech by his Command , to rely on the Kings word , p. 555. Secretary Cooks Speech thereupon , on behalf of the King , p. 555 , 556. Sir Benjamin Rudiards Speech concerning the Kings word , p. 557. The King sends another Message by Secretary Cooke , to know whether the Parliament will or no relie on his word , p. 558 , 559. Several debates thereupon , ibid. He sends another Message , that he intendeth shortly to end that Session , p. 560. Debates thereupon , p. 561. The Speakers Speech in Answer to the Kings several Messages , ibid. The Kings Answer thereunto . p. 562. The King sends another Message to relie on his word , p. 563. Several Debates thereupon , ibid. The Petition of Right to be presented to the King , delivered at a Conference , p. 564. His Letter declaring that he will preserve Magna Charta &c. communicated at a Conference , p. 565 , 566. The Lords Addition to the Petition of Right to have a saving for Soveraign power , p. 567. Several Debates and Conferences thereupon , ●hewing the danger of such a Salvo , p. 568 , 569 , &c. The Lords agree to the Petition of Right without the Addition , p. 592. The Kings and Lord Keepers Speech at the presenting of the Petition of Right , p. 596. The Petition of Right at large , p. 597. The Kings Answer thereunto , p. 598. Not satisfactory , and several Speeches thereupon , p. 598 , 599 , &c. A Message from the King to end the Session on such a day , p. 601. He sends another Message that he will certainly hold his day to end the Session , p. 613. Several Debates thereupon , and the Duke declared the cause of all Grievances , p. 613 , 614 , &c. The King commands the House to adjourn , p. 616. The Lords Address to the King , to prevent a dissolution , ibid. The King sends another Message to qualifie his former Messages , p. 622. Several Speeches thereupon , p. 623. The Kings Privy-Seal for payment of monies to raise German Horse , p. 624. Burlemachs Examination , that they were to be imported into England , ibid. The King receives a Petition from both Houses for a better answer to the Petition of Right , p. 625. The Kings fuller Answer thereunto , and his Speech , ib. The Kings Commission for raising of Monies by way of Imposition , p. 626. Debates thereupon , p. 627. Debates about a Remonstrance to the King against the Duke , p. 628. A Remonstrance to the King against the Duke , p. 631 , 632 , &c. The King causeth the Proceedings in the Star-chamber against the Duke to be taken off the File , p. 638. And causeth the Commission for Excise to be cancelled , p. 640. A Remonstrance to him concerning Tonnage and Poundage , ibid. The King ends the Session of Parliament , p. 643. A Particular of such Laws as he passed that Session of Parliament , p. 644. Suppresses Dr Manwaring's Sermon by Proclamation , p. 645. Grants a Commission to compound with Recusants , ibid. His Proclamation against the Bishop of Calcedon , ibid. Sends Romish Priests to Wisbitch , p. 646. Advances Sir Rich. Weston to be Lord Treasurer , Bishop Laud to the Bishoprick of London , and Montague to a Bishoprick , ibid. Pardons Montague and Manwaring , p. 647. Solicited to send Relief to the King of Denmark under Sir Charls Morgan , p. 648. Adjourns the Parliament that was to meet the 20 of October , to the 20 of January , p. 650. Takes the advice of the Iudges about racking of Felton , ibid. Declares his resolution about taking the Imposition upon Currants , p. 651. Consults with certain of his Council concerning the ensuing Parliament , p. 654. His Speech at the second meeting of the Parliament , p. 656. Sends a Message about the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage , p. 657. Sends a Message to give precedency to Tonnage and Poundage , p. 658. Petition to him for a Fast , p. 662. His Answer thereunto , p. 663. Notwithstanding his Message , precedency given to Religion , ibid. His Answer to that Particular , p. 664. His Declaration against Disputes about Religion debated , p. 665. A Report concerning his Pardon to Manwaring and Montague , p. 667. His Message about Customs , p. 668. His Commission about it , p. 669. His Declaration concerning the dissolving the third Parliament at large , App. p. 1. Common Fame , p. 221 , 222. Conway Lord , p. 12 , 23 , 178 , 182 , 185 , 235 , 238 , 243 , 268 , 292 , 450 , 451 , 455 , &c. Cook Secretary , p. 182 , 498 , 501 , 502 , 531 , 544 , 54 , 558 , 559 , 560 , 563. Cook Mr. p. 218 , 222 , 229 Cook Sir Edward , p. 201 , 497 , 505 , 508 , 526 , 529 , 538 , 543 , 564 , 615 , 627. Corriton Mr. p. 660 Coronation , p. 203 , 204 Cottington Mr. p. 9 , 13 , 18 , 76 , 122 Cotton Sir Robert , p. 20 , 471 Coventry Sir Thomas made Lord Keeper , p. 202. His Speeches in Parliament , p. 206 , 225 , 481 , 555 , 567 , 592 , 596 , 623. Privy Council new sworn , p. 169. They write to Dalbeir about disposing the German Horse , p. 648. Creswel Mr. 502. Crew Sir Randolf displaced about the Loan , p. 424. Crew Sir Thomas , p. 55 , 117 , 149 , 150. Again made Speaker , p. 176. Cromwel Oliver against the Bishop of Winchester , p. 667. Cromwel Lord , p. 199. Crosby Sir Piercy , Lands with Supply of men , p. 467. D. DArnel Sir Thomas about Habeas Corpus , p. 462. Davenport Serjeant Argument , App. p. 27. Dawes Mr. his Answer about Customs , p. 668. Decimation projected , 5 Car. App. p. 14. Denmark King his Declaration , p. 421. His Battel , ibid. His overthrow , p. 422. Digby Sir John his discourse betwixt the Duke of Lerma , about a Match with Spain , p. 1. His advice to the King in that matter , p. 2. Is authorised to treat and conclude the Match , p. 3. Presents the first draught of Articles , p. 4. Sent Ambassador into Flanders , p. 23. The substance of his Ambassie to the Emperor , and Duke of Bavaria , p. 37. Gives an account in Parliament , p. 39. Made Earl of Bristol , p. 67 , 68. A Letter to him from the King , p. 68. Gives the King hope of a Match , p. 69. Hath a Proxy delivered to him by the Prince to consummate the Marriage , p. 103. Receives also private instructions not to put it in execution , p. 104. Labors to satisfie the Prince to recal his instructions , but in vain , p. 105. He and Sir Walter Aston again attempt it , but in vain , p. 106. Bristol sends his Apology to K. James for demurring upon the new instructions , p. 112. Hath a tender of large offers from the K. of Spain , p. 113. Protests against The Dukes Narration in Parliament , p. 149. A Letter from the Lord Conway to him , p. 238. His answer to the Lord Conway , p. 239. His Petition for a Writ of Summons , p. 240. The Kings Letter to him , p. 241. He Petitions the Lords again about his Writ of Summons , ibid. And desires to be heard in the Accusation of the Duke , ibid. Sends a Copy of the Lord Keepers Letter , p. 242. With his Answer thereto , p. 243. A Message from the King concerning him , ibid. He is brought to the Bar , p. 252. Articles preferred against him by the Kings Command , p. 253. His expressions at the time of his accusation , p. 258. His Speech at the delivery of the Articles against the Duke , p. 259. Articles exhibited by him against the Duke , p. 266. And also against the Lord Conway , p. 268. A Message from the King against Bristol , p. 270. Reasons why he should onely be tried in the House of Peers , p. 271. Iudges opinions concerning that particular , p. 272. His Speech by way of Introduction before he gave in his Answer to the Articles , p. 273 , 274 , &c. His Answer to the Articles , p. 278 , 279 , &c. Dudley Sir Diggs , p. 55 , 306 , 307 , 360 , 364 , 365 , 454 , 533 , 544 , 554 , 614. Doncaster Viscount sent Ambassador , p. 11 , 13 , 22. Drummond Mr. p. 167. E. EArl Sir Walter upon a Habeas Corpus p. 462. Edmonds Sir Thomas p. 660. Elector vide Palatinate . Elliot Sir John p. 224 , 357 , 360 , 366 , 433 , 529 , 532 , 561 , 563 , 544 , 554 , 614 , 660 , 669. Information against him in the Upper Bench , p. 693 , 696 , 697 , &c. Emperor vide the Palatinate . Essex Earl p. 200. F. FAirfax Captain , p. 15. A Monument erected at Frandendale in memory of him , and Mr. John Fairfax his Brother , both slain in the defence thereof p. 155 Felton visited in prison , and confesses the Fact , p. 650. His examination before the Council , ibid. Threatned to be rackt , ibid. Tryed , p. 652. Tendereth his hand to be cut off , ib. Hung in Chains p. 653. Finch Sir Hennage Speaker , p. 208 , 401 Finch Sir John Speaker , p. 484 , 561 Fleetwood Sir Miles p. 561 France about a Treaty of Marriage , p. 156 , 114. A Marriage there , p. 172 , 173. Difference with France p. 428 G. GAge Mr. sent to Rome , p. 23 , 66 , 121 Glanvile Serjeant , p. 313 , 318 , 574 Glynn Mr. Recorder , Ap. 56 , 57 Gundamor flatters King James , p. 3. The Treaty on the Spaniards behalf , ibid. Contrives Sir Walter Rawleighs death , p. 4 , 16 , 18 , 20. Assaulted in London Streets , p. 34. A Letter to him to expedite the Match , 69 , see 113 , 122 Gorge Sir Ferdinando , p. 180 Germany vide Palatinate . H. Habeas Corpus Debates and Arguments , p. 462 , 463 , &c. Also vide Parliament quarto Car. and Appendix . Hackwel Mr. p. 507 , 528 , 568 Hayman Sir Peter p. 528 Heath Sir Robert , p. 216 , 667 , 689. Ap. 39 , 53 Henry Prince , a Match proposed between him and a Daughter of Spain , p. 1 Herbert Mr. p. 312 Herbert Sir Gerrard , p. 15 , 69 Herbert Sir Edward , p. 43 Heveningham Sir John brings his Habeas Corpus , p. 462 Heidelburg , p. 66 , 69 Hobby Sir Thomas , p. 528 Holland Earl , p. 173 , 469 , 470 Hollis Mr. p. 676 , 689 , 693 Hubbard Sir Miles brought upon a Habeas Corpus , p. 689 Hide Sir Nicholas made Chief Iustice , p. 424 I. Iames King of Scotland affects the Title of Peace-Maker , p. 1. Desires to Match Prince Charls with somergeat Princess , though of different Religion , ibid. and 50. Inclines to a Match with Spain , p. 2. Flattered by Gundamor , p. 3. Delivers up the cautionary Towns , ibid. Gives a Commission to Digby to Treat on a Marriages , ibid. Receives Articles about Religion out of Spain , p. 4. Imployes Sir Walter Rawleigh upon a design into America , p. 4 , 5. Too credulous of the Spaniard , p. 8. A Letter shewing upon what account the King gave way to the beheading of Sir Walter Rawleigh , p. 9. Sends Viscount Doncaster Ambassador , p. 11 , 13. His advice craved by the Count Palatine , p. 12. He dislikes the Palatines acceptance of the Crown , p. 13 a. 14 b. 16 a. Goes to war with one Regiment to assist the Palatines , p. 14. Receives news of the defeat given the Palatine at Prague ▪ p. 17. Raises money by advice of Privy Council , ibid. Flattered again by the Spaniard , p. 18. The Spaniards secret Instructions in reference to the King , ibid. He calls a Parliament , p. 20. Forbids discourse of State affairs , p. 21. His Speech to the Parliament , ibid. Sends Digby Ambassador into Flanders , p. 23. His second Speech in Parliament about Projectors , p. 24. Speaks on behalf of the Duke , p. 26 , 27. Sends a Message against Sir Henry Yelverton , p. 33 d. Intends to adjourn the Parliament , p. 35. The Commons Declaration about the Palatinate before the adjournment , p. 36. Reforms grievances by Proclamation , ibid. Again forbids speaking of State Affairs , ibid. Gives the Great Seal to Dean Williams , ibid. Reassembles the Parliament , p. 39. In his absence the Lord Keeper speaks , ibid. Is tryed with a Petition and Remonstrance from the Commons , p. 40. Writes to the Speaker , p. 43. Answers the Petition , p. 46 , 47. His Answer qualified by the Lord Keeper , p. 52. The Commons Protestation , p. 53. The King tears it out of the Iournal , ibid. Commits some Members of Parliament , p. 55. Imployes others to Ireland , ibid. Again forbids speaking of State Affairs , ibid. Offers terms to the Emperor on behalf of the Palatinate , ibid. Receives an Answer from the Emperor , p. 56. Writes to Philip the Fourth to accelerate the Match , p. 57. Also to Don Balthazar , p. 59. Writes for the raising of moneys , p. 61. Opposes the Arminian Sect , p. 62. Shews favor to Recusants , ibid. Lord Keeper excuses the Kings favor to Recusants , p. 63. Writes to the Archbishop about regulating the Clergy , p. 64. Gives direction concerning Preachers , ibid. New conditions demanded of him by the Pope , p. 66. His Answer to those demands , p. 67. His Letter to Digby , p. 68. Sends him a dispatch in a peremptory stile concerning Heidelburgh , p. 70. Signs the Popes demands , p. 73. Writes again to Bristol concerning the Palatinate , p. 74. Sends the Prince into Spain , p. 76. Archbishop Abbots Letter to the King against Tolleration of Popery , p. 85. Articles of Marriage sworn to by him , p. 86. The Oath taken by him , p. 88. He swears also to private Articles , p. 88 , 89. Pope Urban writes to King James , p. 95. After the Princes arival , sends to Bristol not to deliver the Proxy without restitution of the Palatinate , p. 105. And writes to the Palatine to make his submission to the Emperor , p. 108. The Palatines Answer , p. 109. Seeks a match with France , p. 114. Calls a Parliament about the Treaty with Spain , p. 115. Makes a Speech , ibid. Also another Speech in justification of the Duke , p. 127. He makes a third speech unto them concerning their advice to break off the Match , p. 129. Desires he may not have a Furrow of Land left without Restitution of the Palatinate , p. 130. Scruples at the word insincerity of the King of Spain , p. 136. Declares his resolution to dissolve the Treaties , p. 138. Accepts Subsidies , and makes another Speech to the Parliament , ibid. Offers to go to war in his own person , p. 139. Is troubled at a Petition against Recusants , p. 140. That he hath broke the neck of three Parliaments , ibid. His Answer to that Petition , p. 143. Receives information concerning the Duke , p. 144. His Speech at the adjournment of the Parliament , p. 150. A Particular of what Laws he then passed , p. 152. Desires a Match with France , p. 156. Which he concludes , ibid. And the Articles are sworn unto , ib. He gives a Commission and Oath to Count Mansfield , p. 158. He dies of a Fever , p. 159. His Character , p. 159 , 160 , 161. &c. His Letter to Pope Clement , p. 165 Jermyn Sir Thomas , p. 629 Iesuites , 22. a. 143 , 150. Letter concerning the Parliament , p. 479 , 646 Iudges Opinions , p. 272 , 465 , 507 , 696 K. KEeper Lord , vide Coventry . KEeper Lord , vide Williams . Kensington Lord sent into France in order to a Match , p. 114 King Charls vide Charls . King James vide James . Knighthood , p. 203 Knightly Captain , p. 15 Knolls Sir Robert , ibid. L. LAmb Dr. killed by a tumult in London Streets , p. 630 Lamb Sir John , p. 440 Laud Dr. p. 61 , 62 , 159 , 171 , 202 , 426 , 443 , 444 , 466 , 630 , 646 , 647 , 649 , Libels cast abroad against him , p. 672 Lenthal Mr. p. 700 Littleton Mr. p. 534. Ap. 28 Loan Money , p. 419 , 422 , 424 , 426 A List of the Gentry imprisoned about Loan Money , p. 432 , 477 London City required to lend One hundred thousand pounds , p. 419. They dispute it , ibid. A Letter to them about Dr Lamb , p. 630. Long Mr. brought upon a Habeas Corpus , p. 675. His Case in Star-chamber , p. 694. Ap. 18 Lukenar Mr Christopher , p. 639 M ▪ MAinheim taken , p. 70 Mallory Mr. p. 55 Mansel Sir Robert sent against Algier , p. 34 Mansfield Count raises an Army of Twelve thousand men , p. 156. A List of some of his Regiments , p. 157. Their miscarriage at Sea , p. 158 Manwaring Dr. his two Sermons concerning the Loan , p. 427. Mr Rous Speech against him , p. 593. The Commons Declaration against him , p. 601. Mr Pim's Speech thereupon , p. 604. The Sentence against him , p. 612. His submission ▪ p. 613. His Sermon suppressed by Proclamation , p. 645 , Pardoned , p. 647. And advanced , Mason Mr. p. 570. App. 20 , 44 , 45 Martyn Sir Henry , p. 527 , 585 , 600 , 629 Matthew Sir Toby , p. 103 May Sir Humphry , p. 546 Melvyn Mr. p. 639 Michael Sir Francis sentenced . p. 28 Mompeson Sir Giles imprisoned , p. 24. Sentenced , p. 27 , 28. Morgan Sir Charls , p. 425 , 649 Morton Sir Albertus , p. 169 Montague , p. 177 , 180 , 181 , 202 , 213. Advanced to a Bishoprick , and his Apello Caesarem called in , p. 646. Pardoned , p. 647 Murrey Mr. p. 441 , 442 N. NEal Dr. Bishop of Winchester , p. 630 Netherlands appear ready to imbrace the antient union with England , p. 110. Six thousand English sent thither , p. 425 Nobility , p. 237 Noy Mr. upon a Habeas Corpus , p. 463 , 569 , 642. Concerning Tonnage and Poundage , p. 666. About Customs , p. 668. O. Olivares Conde his Letter conc●●ning the Match , p. 71 , 72 , 84 , 103 , 113 , 120 P. PAlatinate . A War breaks forth in Germany , p. 5. The Emperor adopts Ferdinando to be King , p. 6. The Evangelicks Assemble at Prague , ibid. The first occasion of the troubles in Bohemia , ibid. The Evangelicks o●●er violence to the Emperors Council , p. 7. And put forth a Declaration , ibid. The Emperor publishes a Manifesto in contradiction thereof , ibid. Both parties a●● , p. 8. A Blazing Star appears , ibid. The Emperor Matthias dies , p. 11. A Cessation of Arms proposed , ibid. The Evangelicks oppose the chusing of Ferdinando to be King , ibid. Bethlem Gabor joyns with the Evangelicks , p. 12. The Palatine craves King James his advice , ibid. Accepts the Crown before he receives an Answer , ibid. King James dislikes the action , p. 13. The King of Poland aids the Emperor , ibid. The Palatine proscribed , p. 14. King James assists the Palatine with one Regiment , ibid. The Evangelicks chuse a Generalissimo , ibid. King James dislikes the War , ibid. An Army of thirty thousand raised under Spinola , ibid. Marches towards Bohemia therewith , p. 15. The Protestants discouraged upon the approach of the Army , ibid. The Elector of Saxony executes the Ban against the Palatine , ibid. The Battel at Prague , p. 17. an Order of the King and Council to recover the Palatinate , ibid. The Princes of the Union decline the Palatine , p. 21 ▪ Palatine propounds a Peace , ibid. Protestant Towns reconciled to the Emperor , p. 23. The Emperor proceeds to execution of divers Protestants , p. 34. The Emperors reply to the Lord Digbies demands , p. 37. The Duke of Bavaries answer , ibid. The Emperors answer to Don Balthazar , p. 38 ▪ The Palatine spoiled of his Hereditary Dominions , p. 55. King James offers terms on the Palatines behalf , and the Emperors answer , p. 56. An Order of the Council to raise moneys for the Palatinate , p. 60. Heidelburgh besieged , p. 66. And taken , p. 69. Manhe●● taken , p. 70. No good intention in the Emperor , nor King of Spain , as to the Palatinate , p. 70 , 71. Frankendale blocked up , p. 74. The Electorate conferred upon the Duke of Bavaria , ibid. The Protestant Princes Plea for the Palatine , p. 74 , 75. Sir Dudley Carlton concerning the Palatine , p. 76. The Palatine labors to engage Prince Charls against the marriage with Spain , p. 102. King James puts the Palatine in hope by a Proposal of new terms , p. 108. King James demands the Town of Frankendale , deposited in the Arch-Dutchess hands , p. 155. A Monument erected for two Brothers , [ Fairfaxes ] slain at Frankendale , ibid. An Army under Count Mansfield , raised for the relief of the Palatinate , p. 156. A List of the Regiments for the Palatinate , p. 157. The Miscarriage of the Army , Pag. 158. The Parliament meets , p. 20. Adjourned , p. 35. Their Declaration on behalf of the Palatinate , p. 36. Meet again , p. 39. Their Petition and Remonstrance to the King , p. 40 , 41 , &c. King offended thereat , p. 43. They notwithstanding send the Petition , p. 44. A second parliament meets , p. 115. Sir Thomas Crew chosen Speaker , p. 117. They justifie the Duke in his Narrative , p. 126. And advise the King not to proceed in the two Treaties of the Marriage , and the Palatinate , p. 128. Give the King three Subsidies and three Fifteens , p. 135. A Parliament called again , p. 175. Kings Speech in Parliament , ibid. The Lord Keepers Speech , p. 176. Sir Thomas Crew chosen Speaker , ibid. Two Subsidies granted , p. 178. Parliament adjourned to Oxford , ibid. Where they insist upon grievances , p. 180. And again question Montague , ibid. Are moved by the King to hasten Supply , p. 181. Present a Petition to the King against Recusants , p. 185. And fall upon grievances , p. 194 , 195. They are dissolved , p. 195. A particular of what Acts ●●●sed the First Session of this Parliament , ibid. A second Parliament meets , p. 206. Lord Keepers Speech , p. 206 , 207. Sir Hennage Finch chosen Speaker , p. 208. His Speech , ibid. They fall upon grievances , p. 211. And again fall upon Montague , p. 213. A Report of the cause of Evils and Remedies , p. 218. Several Messages from the King , p. 219 , 220. Doctor Turners Queries in Parliament , p. 221. His Explanation , p. 222. His Letter , p. 223. Causes of grievances again opened in the House , p. 223 , 224. Three Subsidies and three Fifteens Voted , p. 225. Debate concerning the Duke resumed , ibid. The Kings and Lord Keepers Speech concerning him , p. 225 , 226. A List of the Moneys disbursed for the War delivered to the Commons , p. 236. The Commons present a Remonstrance to the King , p. 247. And send a Message to the Duke , p. 251. Afterwards prefer an Impeachment against him , p. 307. Managed at a Conference by Eight Members , p. 306 , 307 , 308 , &c. Their Message to secure the Duke , p. 361. Discontented at the Commitment of Sir John Elliot , p. 362. Their Protestation concerning him , and Sir Dudley Diggs , p. 364 , 365. A great contest in the House of Peers , concerning the imprisonment of the Earl of Arundel , p. 367 , 368 , &c. The Commons dissatisfied that the Duke is chosen Chancellor of Cambridge , p. 376 , 377. The Lords Petition to the King to stay the dissolving of the Parliament , p. 402. A Commission to dissolve the Parliament , p. 403. The Commons Remonstrance , p. 404 , 405 , &c. The Kings Declaration against the Commons Remonstrance , Appendix p. 1. A Speech to the Parliament without doors , p. 485. A Grand Committee setled , p. 494. Debates in Parliament , as to grievances , p. 496. The Parliament Debates the business of the Habeas Corpus , p. 502. Arguments about it , p. 503 , 504 , &c. A Conference about the Petition of Right , p. 533. Their petition about the Billeting of Soldiers , p. 548. Archbishop Abbot his Speech concerning the Petition of Right , p. 552. Propositions tendered by the Lords instead of the Petition of Right , p. 553. The Commons dissatisfied with the Propositions , p. 554. They meet the 20 of January , p. 655. Make enquiry about the Petition of Right , and the violation thereof , ibid. A Report from the Committee concerning Religion , p. 658. The Vow of the House of Commons , p. 666. Several debates about Tonnage and Poundage , ib. The King commands the Speaker not to put the Question , p. 670. Debates thereupon , ibid. The Speaker held in the Chair , ib. The King sends the Usher of the Black-Rod , and he is not admitted , ibid. The King grants Warrants to apprehend several Members of Parliament , p. 671. His Speech at the dissolution of the Parliament , p. 672. Members of Parliament are examined before the Lords of the Council , ibid. Questions propounded by the Iudges concerning the imprisoned Members . ibid. Paul Sir George , p. 244 Pembroke Earl , p. 217 Pennington Captain , p. 179 , 334 , 335 Petition of right p. 597 , 598 Perrot Sir James , p. 55 Phillips Sir Robert , p. 55 , 498 , 505 , 543 , 559 , 655 Plague increaseth in London , p. 175 Number of them who died Anno 1625. Popes assent to the Match , p. 66. His Letter to the Duke of Buckingham , p. 80. His Dispensation comes clogged , p. 84. Pope Urban to King James , p. 93. To Prince Charls , p. 98 Preachers directions concerning them , p. 64 , 65. Proclamation against Preaching and Disputing , p. 416 Privy-Seals , p. 420 Projects for raising money , App. 12 Proxies in the House of Peers , p. 273 Puritans , p. 22 , a. 171. Described by Sir Jo. Lamb , p. 424 , 425 Pym Mr. p. 55 , 339 , 531 , 568 , 604 Q. QUeen Anne dieth , p. 10 R. RAwleigh Sir Walter his life sought by Gundomar , p. 4. And is Sacrificed to satisfie Spain , p. 9. A Letter concerning him , ibid. Romish Recusants Immunities granted to them , p. 14. The King sollicited for favor to them , p. 36 , 37. A Petition and Remonstrance against them , p. 40 , 41. The Kings Answer thereunto , p. 46. The King shews further favor to them , p. 52. Excused , p. 53. Articles in favor of them , p. 89. Pope Urbans Letter on behalf of the Romish Religion , p. 95 , 98. They promote the Match with Spain , p. 102 , 103 , King James his Letter concerning a Petition against them , p. 140. The Petition it self , p. 141. The Kings Answer to the Petition , p. 143. Recusants taken at Clerkenwell , p. 478. A Conference against them , p. 510. Debates in Parliament against them , and Priests arraigned at Newgate . p. 668. Petition of Right . p. 597 , 598. Rhee Island , p. 431 , 466. Several Passages there , p. 467 , 468 , 469. Richardson Sir Thomas , p. 23. Rich●●● Sir Nathaniel , p. 55 , 361 , 614 Rochel , p. 178 , 411 , 430 , 467 , 594 , 595 , 647 , 648 Rolls Merchant , p. 654 , 665 , 666 Rous Mr. p. 593. His Speech concerning Religion , p. 657. Rudyard Sir Benjamin , p. 497 , 557 , 629 S. SAckvile Sir Edward , p. 15 , 16 , 31 Sectaries p. 22 a. Selden Mr. p. 55 , 314 , 528 , 536 , 569 , 615 , 631 , 640. Brought upon a Habeas Corpus p. 689 , 692. Seymor Sir Francis p. 495. Sherborne Mr. Sherland Master p. 345 , 346 , &c. Sheriffs Oath excepted against , pag. 201. Ship Vantguard employed against Rochel , p. 178. Ships to be set out by Port Towns , pag. 419. Ships Arrears for Fraight , pag. 470. Sibthorp Dr. complains against the Puritans , p. 424. His Sermon concerning Loan , p. 426. See 440 , 448. Smith Richard , Bishop of Calcedon , sent into England , p. 158 , 159 , 645. Soveraign Power , p. 50 a. 567 , 568 , 569 , 570 , 571 , 572 , 573 , &c. Spain vide Digby . Speaker vide Crew Sir Thomas . Finch Sir Hennage . Finch Sir John. Spinola p. 14 , 15. Stafford Captain , p. 15. Star Blazing appears , p. 8. Opinion thereupon ibid. Star-Chamber Informati●● against Members of Parliament , p. 675. Order there concerning the Duke , p. 638. Stroud Mr. brought upon a Habeas Corpus p. 675. Appendix , p. 18. T. TErm adjourned to Reading , p. 201. Turner Dr. A Physitian his Queries , ibid. His explanation , p. 222 , 226. V. VAlentine Mr. his Case , Append . 49 Vassal Mr. his Goods seised on about Custom , p. 653. Proceeded against in Star-Chamber , ibid. His Plea to the Information , ibid. Votes for Reparation , Appendix 56 , 57 Vere Sir Horatio , p. 14 , 15 , 40. Villers Sir Edward , p. 23. Undertakers ibid. W. WAlter Sir William . pag. 223. Wandesford Mr. p. 356 , 546 , 615. Warwick Earl sent to secure Langor-point p. 199. Wentworth Sir Thomas p. 496 , 527 , 529 , 544 , 560 , 568. Weston Sir Richard , p. 12 f. 23 , 56 , 66 , 129 , 219. Made Lord Treasurer , p. 646. Williams Dr. Sworn Keeper of the Great Seal , p. 36 , 39 , 52. Excuses the Kings favor to Recusants , p. 61 , 62 , 63 , 151 , 164 , 176. Refuses to proceed against the Puritans , p. 424. A Passage of the Information in Star-Chamber against him , p. 425. Wilmot Captain , p. 15 Wimbleton Viscount , p. 198 Y. YElverton Sir Henry accused by the Commons , pag. 31. His Speech thereupon , ibid. At which King James is offended , p. 32. His particular Answer in Serie Temporis , ibidem . King James again offended with him , p. 33. His Sentence and Restauration , p. 34. Z. ZUinga Don Balthazar , pag. 38 , 59. FINIS . A CATALOGUE of such BOOKS as are Printed for , and sold by Mr. George Thomason at the Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-yard . SAncti Johannis Chrysostomi opera Graecè octo voluminibus Etonae . Folio . Purchas his Pilgrimage or Relations of the World , and the Religions observed in all ages and places discovered , from the Creation unto this present ; containing a Theological and Geographical History of Asia , Africa , and America , with the Islands adjacent , &c. By Samuel Purchas . Folio . Hakluytus Posthumus , or Purchas his Pilgrimes , containing a History of the World , in Sea Voyages , and Land Travels by Englishmen and others . By Samuel Purchas , in Four Volumes , Folio . The History of the Parliament of England , which began November the Third , 1640. With a short and necessary view of some precedent years . By Thomas May Esq Folio . The Text of the New Testament of Jesus Christ , Translated out of the Vulgar Latine by the Papists of the Traiterous Seminary of Rhemes . Whereunto is added the Translation out of the Original Greek , commonly used in the Church of England , &c. By W. Fulke , D. D. and sometimes Master of Pembroke-Hall in Cambridge . Folio . The History of the Reformation of the Church of Scotland , containing Five Books , together with some Treatises conducing to the History . By Iohn Knox. Folio . Two Treatises : In the one of which , the Nature of Bodies ; in the other , the Nature of Mans Soul is looked into . In way of discovery of the Immortality of Reasonable Souls . By Sir Kenelme Digby . Folio . Histoire de l'entre de la Reyne Mere du Roy tres Chrestien dan● les Provinces Vnies des pays has avec des Figures . Histoire de l'entre de la Reyne Mere du Roy tres Chrestien dans la Grande Britaigne avec des Figures par le Sieur de la Serre , Historiographe . Folio . Ad Serenissimum Jacob●m primum Britanniarum Monarcham , Ecclesiae Scoticanae libellus supplex , Authore Jacobo Melvino . Quarto . Polycarpi & Ignatii Epistolae unà cum vetere vulgata interpretatione Latina , ex trium Manuscriptorum codicum collatione , integritati suae restitutae ; quibus praefixa est Iacobi Vsserii Archiepiscopi Armachani dissertatio . Quarto Appendix Ignatiana in qua continentur , 1. Ignatii Epistolae Genuinae , 2. Ignatii Martyriam à Philone Agathopode & aliis descriptum , 3. Tiberiani Plinii Secundi , & Trajani imp . de Constantia Martyrum illius temporis Epistolae , 4. Smyrnensis Ecclesiae de Polycarpi Martyrio Epistola . 5. In Ignatii & Polycarpi Acta , atque in Epistolas etiam Ignatio perperàm adscriptas Annotationes Iacobi Vsserii Armachani . Quarto . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clementis ad Corinthios Epistola Prior. Patritius Junius ex lateris Reliquiis vetustissimi examplaris Bibliotherae Regiae , eruit . Quarto . Purchas his Pilgrim Microcosmus , or the History of Man , relating the wonders of his Generation , Vanities in his Degeneration , necessity of his Regeneration ; meditated on the words of David , Psal. 39.5 . By Samuel Purchas . Octavo . Saint Augustine his Enchyridion to Laurence , or the cheif and principal Heads of all Christian Religion , the Second Edition . Twelves . Theologia Naturalis , sive liber Creaturarum Specialiter de homine & de Natura ejus , in quantum homo & de his quae sunt ei necessaria ad cognoscendum Deum & seipsum , & omne debitum ad quod homo tenetur & obligatur tam Deo quàm proximo . Authore Raymundo de Sabunde , Octavo . Frederici Spanhemii Epistola ad Nobilisstmum Virum Davidem Buchananum , super controversiis quibusdam quae in Ecclesiis Anglic●nis agitantur . Octavo . The Works of Edward Reynolds , D. D. containing three Treatises , of the Vanity of the Creature , Sinfulness of Sin , the Life of Christ. An Explication of Psal. C X. Meditations on the Sacrament of the Lords Supper . An Explication of the Fourteenth Chapter of Hosea . A Treatise of the Passions and Faculties of the Soul. Collected in Folio . Divers Sermons Preached upon several occasions by Edward Reynolds , D. D. Quarto . A Treatise touching the Peace of the Church , or an Apostolical Rule how to judge aright in differences which concern Religion . Published by Authority . Quarto . A Treatise of Use and Custome . By Mer. Causabon . D. D. Quarto . Deus , Natura , Gratia : sive tractatus de Praedestinatione , de meritis & peccatorum Remissione , sen de Justificatione , & denique de sanctorum invocatione , reliquiarum & imaginum veneratione , de indulgentiis & Purgatorio , & sub finem de Excommunicatione . Accessit Paraphrastica Expositio reliquorum Articulorum confessionis Anglicae . Per Fr. Franciscum Sancta Clara. Octavo . Apologia Episcoporum , seu Sacri Magistratus Propugnatio . Multa multorum vocibus ventilantur , & mendacia adversus sacerdotes Dei , de Diaboli ore prolata , ad rumpendam Catholicae unitatis concordiam ubique jactantur . Authore Francisco à Sancta Clara. Octavo . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A57919-e4120 King Iames much desired to match his Son Henry with a daughter of Spain . After Prince Henry's death the King propounded a match with France . In this interim the Spaniard gives the overture of a match . Sir Digby's advice to the King in that matter . Gondomar mannages the Treaty on the Spaniards part . The English Navie neglected . The Cautionary Towns rendred to the Hollander . The Spaniard proceeds not sincerely in the Treaty . Articles of Religion agreed upon between the Kings of England and Spain . The people of England averse from the march : The Catholicks desirous of it . Gondomar contrives the death of Sir Walter Rawleigh an enemy to Spain . A War begins in Germany . Both parties , Protestant and Catholicks , grow jealous , and each enter into League . The Emperor Matthias Adopts his Cousin-German Ferdinand . For joy of this Adoption , the Catholicks keep a Jubilee and the Protestants another in memory of Luther . An Assembly of the Protestants and States of Bohemia at Prague . The first occasion of the troubles of Bohemia . A Ryot committed by the Protestants in the Castle of Prague . The Protestants put forth a Declaration . The Emperor disgusted with the Declaration . He publishes a Manifesto . Both Parties Arm. A Comet appears at this time . King Iames ingages not in these troubles , flattering himself with the Spaniards seeming forwardness to effect the Match . A Letter from a great Minister of State to Mr. Cottington . Nov. 17. Queen Anne dieth . Matthias the Emperor dies . A Cessation of Arms proposed by Ferdinand is refused . King Iames interposes by his Ambassador the Viscount Doncaster . The Elector Palatine sends an Ambassador to oppose the Election of Ferdinand . The Bohemians chuse the Palatine for their King. Bethlem Gabor makes a union with the Protestants . The Palatine craves the advice of King Iames , touching his accepting the Crown . Before answer came he had accepted it . King Iames disavows the Act ▪ and ●●●ars himself of it to the King of Spain● The King of Spain testifies his resentment of Viscount Doncasters proceedings in Germany . The King of Poland aids the Emperor . Ferdinand publishes a Proscription against the Palatine . Prince Anhalt Generalissimo of the Bohemians . Marquess Ansbach commands the forces of the Princes of the Union . Kings Iames will not engage in the War , sends Sir Walter Aston Ambassador into Spain to negotiate the March , and Gondomar returns . Great immunities promised by King Iames to the Catholicks . 18 Iacob . 1620. A great Army levied in Flanders under the command of Spinola . A Regiment under the command of Sir Horati● Vere sent from England . The Protestant States of Austria renounce the confederacy of the Bohemians . The Elector of Saxony assists the Emperor , and executes the Ban against the Palatine . Spinola prevails much in the Palatinate . The Armies take up their Winter Quarters . A Letter of the Duke of Buckinghams to Gondomar touching King Iames his bent to the German War. Octob. 25. Frederick's Forces totally routed in the Battel at Prague . His calamity joined with loss of Honor. An Order at the Council-Table for recovering the Palatinate . The Spaniards flatter the King. Private Instructions to the Spanish Ambassador into England . The King calls a Parliament . The Protestant Union declines in Germany . The Palatine propounds a Peace to the Elector of Saxony . The King puts forth a Proclamation forbidding discourse of State-affairs . The Kings Speech to the Parliament . * Buckingham . The Lo. Digby sent Ambassador into Flanders , and Mr. Gage to Rome . The Palatine and his Princess go into Holland . The Emperor proceeds severely with the Bohemians . Imperial Protestant Towns reconcile themselves to the Emperor , and intercede for the Palatine , but in vain . Grievances proposed in Parliament . Sir Giles Mompesson imprisoned , but escapes beyond Sea. 19 Iac. An. 1621. The Kings Speech to the Lords . Sentence given against Sir Giles Mompesson . And Sir Francis Michel his Compartner in Projects . Lord Chancellor Bacon accused and convicted of Bribery . Sir Henry accused by the Commons . Gondomar reviled and assaulted in London streets . Sir Rob. Mansel sent into the Mediterranean Sea. The Emperor calls in question the Authors of the Commotions in Bohemia . The King intends to adjourn the Parliament . The Commons take it not well . The King resents it . The Commons Declaration touching the Palatinate . The King by Proclamation reforms the late grievances handled in Parliament . Puts forth another Proclamation against Talking of State-affairs . The King is sollicited from Spain to enlarge his favors towards Catholicks . The chief heads of the Lord Digby's Embassie to the Emperor . The Emperors Reply to those Demands . The L. Digby's second Proposal to the Emperor . The Emperors Answer . The English Ambassador goes to the Duke of Bavaria . The Emperors Letter to Don Baltazar de Zuniga . The Parliament begins again , Nov. 20. The Substance of the Lord Keepers Speech . Lord Digby's Speech . Lord Treasurer's Speech . The Commons Petition and Remonstrance to the King. At this time the Protestants are ill treated in France . The Kings Letter to Sir Tho. Richardson . The Commons send the Remonstrance accompanied with another Petition . The Kings Answer to the later Petition . The Lord Keepers judgment touching the Kings sharp Answer . The Lo. Digby to the Peers . The Commons Protestation . The King takes the Protestation out of the Journal-book with his own hand . In the mean time the King dissolves them . Some Eminent Members of the Parliament in Prisoned . Others sent for punishment into Ireland . The Council write to Judges concerning such as speak of State Affairs . The Palatine spoiled of his hereditary dominions . The terms which King Iames desires the Emperor to accept in behalf of the Palatine . The Emperors Answer to King Iames , Ian. 14. 1621. King Iames to Philip the Fourth of Spain . King Iames his Letter to the King of Spain . Prince Charls to the King of Spain . King Iames his Letter to the Lord Balthazar of Zuniga . The Privy Council by the Kings command issue out an Order for raising Money for the defence of the Palatinate . Archbishop Abbot not relished at Court , an advantage taken against him . Bishop Laud suspected to incline to Popish Tenents while he was of Oxford , as appears by a notable passage . The Arminians begin to be favored by the King , by means of Bishop Laud. Favors shewed to Recusants by the Kings Order . Iacobi 20. 1622. The Lord Keepers Letter excusing the Kings favor towards Papists . The Kings Letter to the Archbishop for regulating the Clergy . Directions concerning Preachers . The new K. of Spain , Philip the Fourth , procures the Popes assent to the Match . The Infanta cools in t●e Palsgraves business . The pretended Obstacles of the Treaty removed . Heidelburgh besieged . New Conditions demanded of the King before the Pope gives a Dispensation . The Kings Answer to the said Demands . The King sends his Resolution to Digby in Spain , now made Earl of Bristol . Likewise a Letter was ●ent to ●ondomar , 〈◊〉 recalle● into Spain . The Answer to the Memorial presented by the Earl of Bristol to the Spanish King. Bristol gives the King hope of the Match . Heidelburgh taken . The King provoked , sends his former Resolutions with anew dispatch into Spain . In the mean time Manheim is taken . The Emperors Intentions to King Iames not good , Nor the King of Spains , witness his Letter to Conde Olivares . Olivares Answer . Bristols Answer from the King of Spain ▪ The Popes Demands signed by the King and Prince . Frankendale block'd up by Papenheim . The King writes to Bristol . The Electorate conferred upon the Duke of Bavaria in the Diet at Ratisbone . The Protestant Princes plead for the Palatine's restitution . The Catholick Princes reply The Protestants reassume the argument . The Emperor takes up the debate . Sir Dudley Carlton Resident at the ●●gue , sends his judgment of the matter to the Marquis of Buckingham . The Prince and the Marquis of Buckingham go to Spain . Buckingham visits Olivares , and by him is conducted to the King. Orders for the Prince's entertainment . The Prince sees the Infanta . Is entertained honorably by the King. Makes his entrance publiquely into Madrid . The King sends the Prince two Golden Keys . The Grandees are commanded to attend his Highness . The Marquis of Buckingham made Duke . The people talk , that the Prince is come to change his Religion . Endeavors to make the Prince change his Religion . * Quare Apostoli●is literis hortamur Catholicam Majestatem , ut eum Principem redigere suaviter conetur sub Romanae Ecclesiae ditionem , cui veteres Magnae Britanniae Domini , coronatum caput , & imperii fasces ( Coelo plaudente ) submiserunt . Quare te monemus , ut ad Catholicum Regem religiosus Consiliarius accedas , easque rationes despicias quibus insigne aliquod beneficium Britanniae Regnis & Romanae Ecclesiae in praesenti rerum opportunitate comparetur . Res ipsa magna atque gravissima est ; quare eum verbis amplificare non debemus ; Regnum Coelorum Britanniae Principi patefacere , Regnum Britanniae sedi Apostolicae restituere incipiet , qui Regii istius Adoloscentis animum Catholicae Religionis studio inflamaverit , atque haeriticae impietatis odio impleverit , &c. The Pope's Letter to the Prince of Wales . There is another Copy of the Princes Letter to the Pope , published by several hands , somewhat different from this . Allurements to make the Prince change his Religion . The Prince stedfast in his Religion , Is not well dealt with in his Address to the Infanta . The Dispensation is at last procured . The Dispensation comes clogged . Olivares proposes ways of Accommodation . The King of Spain proffers to engage himself on the behalf of the King of England and the Prince . His Ghostly Fathers approve his intentions . The Match is declared publickly . The Archbishops Letter to the King against Toleration of Popery . Articles sworn to by the King , Prince , and Privy Council . The Oath . Private Articles sworne to by the King in favor of Roman Catholicks . A difficulty concerning the Popes title on the Kings part . Another on the Ambassadors part concerning prayers in the Kings Chappel . A titular Bishop of Calcedon sent into England . Preparations for conducting the Infanta into England . No mention made in the Capitulations of restoring the Palatine . Mr. Allured his Letter to the Duke . The French jealous of this conjunction . Pope Vrban to K. Iames. Pope Vrbans Letter to Prince Charls . The Treaty begins to tend to a rupture . The Prohibition to the Judges and Bishops , in behalf of the Catholicks suspended . Some of the English in Spain , dislike the Match and Religion . The Duke disgusted in Spain . Buckingham and Bristol run different ways . The Palatine by his Secretary labors to engage the Prince against the Marriage . The Spaniard continues new delays . The English Papists perplexed . The Prince ready to depart from the Court of Spain , leaves a Proxy with the Earl of Brist●l . The Duke and Olivares part not Friends . The Prince universally ●steemed . His departure solemn . The Prince feasted the Dons aboard his Ship , and bringing them back again to the shore , a storm surprises them . Expressions of joy for the Princes safe return into England . Private Instructions delivered to Bristol , contrary to the Proxy . Bristol in a Letter gives the Prince a good account of the business . King Iames falls off , and for a Condition of the Mariage , demands the Restitution of the Palatinate . Bristol and As●●n demur upon the new Instructions . Sir Walter Aston endeavors to reconcile the D●ke to Spain . Advice to the King touching the Duke . The Earl of Bristol is commanded by the King to follow the new Instructions . King Iames puts the Palatine in hope , by Proposal of new terms . The Palatines Answer to those Terms proposed by the King. The Netherlands appear ready to embrace the antient Union with England . The Ratifi●●●ication come from the new Pop● ; and when all is ready for the E 〈◊〉 ls , th●n is the Ma●ch dasht by order from England . Bristol sends his Apology to K. Iames for having demurred upon the new Instructions . Olivares offers Bristol large Preferments in the Kings name , when he was to take his leave . Bristols Answer to those Profers . The Spaniards prepare for a War with England . The L. Kensington sent Ambassador into France to feel the pulse of that Court touching a Match , renders an account of his acceptance . The King advised to call a Parliament . The Kings Speech to the Parliament . The King approves Sir Tho. Crew for Speaker , who made this Speech . The Dukes Narrative . Both Houses of Parliament justifie the Duke in his Narrative . His Majesties Answer to that Justification . Both Houses of Parliament concur , that the King may not honorably proceed in t●e Treaty of the Prince's Marriage , and the Palatinate . The Kings Speech 〈◊〉 Parliament perswa●●●● him to break off the two Treaties of the Match and of the Palatinate . Sir Edw. Sackvile's Speech . Sir Edw. Sackvile's Speech . The Parliaments Answer to the Kings Speech . The Parliament offers his Majesty Three Subsidies and Three Fifteens , if he break off both Treaties . His Majesties Reply . The King declares his Resolution to dissolve the Treaties . The King accepts the aid proffered him . King Iames his Letter to Secretary Conway , touching a Petition against the Papists . The Petition . His Majesties Answer to the Petition . The Spanish Ambassadors accuse Buckingham to the King of matters of high concernment . The issue of those Accusations . The Earl of Bristol protests against the Dukes Narration , is imprisoned in the Tower. The Speakers and the Kings Speech at the Adjournment of the Parliament . Kings Iames demands the Town of Frankendal deposited in the Archduc●hess hands . Spinola marches out of the Town , and immediately Re-enters . King Iames very desirous of a Match with France . The Match with France concluded . Count Mansfield arrrives in England ; 12000 Foot and 200 horse raised to go under his command . Scarce the third part of Count Mansfields Army came safe to Land. Richard Smith made Bishop of Calcedon , and sent into England with Episcopal Jurisdiction . * The Duke of Buckingham . Instructions to Mr Drummond . Notes for div A57919-e65370 The Privy-Counsellors present themselves to King Charles . King Charles proclaimed at Theobalds . At Whitehall . In London . The old Privy-Council new sworn . The Councils advice to the King. Proclamation concerning Persons in Office , &c. Proclamation of Government . Resolution taken by the King concerning King Iames Funeral , and his own Marriage . A Parlamen● summoned . King Iames Funeral . Duke of Buckingham continues Favorite to King Charles . Religion considered . A general Muster . Souldiers levied for the Palatinate . Proclamation against disorders committed by Souldiers . Articles of the marriage with France , signed by the King. Private Articles in favor of the Catholicks . The Marriage solemnized in France . The Duke sent into France for the Queen . A Royal Navy sent to Bol●ign to transport the Queen . The Marriage consummated at Canterbury . The Trained Bands of Kent commanded to attend the Queen . The King and Queen come to London . A Chappel built at Somerset-house for the Queen . A great Plague in London . The Parliament opened . The Kings Speech in Parliament . The Lord Keepers Speech in Parliament . Sir Tho. Crew Speaker . Debates in the House of Commons . A Fast. Committees chosen . Message to the King , touching Religion and his Answer . Mr. Montague brought to the Bar. The Arminian party assert his cause . The King takes Montagues busin●●● into his own hand . Two Subsidies presented to the King. The King accepts them , and desires more . A short Answer to the Petition touching Religion . The Parliament adjourned to Oxford . The Exchequer removed to Richmond . The Vantguard and seven other Ships employed against Rochel . The Parliament meets again at Oxford . Grievances . Mr. Montague Summoned to appear . His Cause recommended by the Bishops to the Duke . The Appeal to Caesar disputed . The Kings Speech in Christ-Church . Lord Conway and Secretary Cook , by the Kings Command , declare the present slate of Affairs . Lord Treasurer proceeds in that subject . Debates in the House of Commons , touching the present state of Affairs . Complaints against Papists favored , notwithstanding the Kings Answer to the Petition against them . The Petition concerning Religion , together with his 〈…〉 The Duke renders an account to both Houses of the Fleet. He speaks by way of Objection and Answer . * The Earl of Bristol . The Dukes Relation accasioned variety of Opinions in Parliament . The Kings Message to the Commons . Debates upon the Kings Message . The Commons Declaration . The Parliament dissolved . The King follows his Design of War. The Kings Proclamation to recal home children of Recusants . The Kings Letter to the Lieutenants for the Loan of Money upon Privy-Seals . Privy-Seals issued forth to certain Persons . Warrants for disarming Recusants . Letters directed to Lords Recusants . Concourse of Papists prevented . Viscount Wimbleton Commander in Chief in the Voyage to Cadez . Lord Cromwels Letter to the Duke touching the Fleet. The Earl of Warwick secures Langer-Point in Essex . English and Dutch Fleet before Dunkirk dispersed by a storm . The General examined before the Council . The Soldiers commanded not to disband Trade prohibited with Spain . Trained Bands exercised . Part of Michaelmas Term adjourned . The Term at Reading . Hopes of a Parliament . Sir Edward Cook High Sheriff , his exceptions to the Sheriffs Oath . The Seal taken from Bishop Will●ams , sequestred formerly , and given to Sir Thomas Coventry . A Parliament Summoned . Recusants to be Excommunicated . The King resolved to leave Mr. Montague to the Parliament . Preparations for the Kings Coronation . A Proclamation for all that have Forty pound per annum to come and receive the Order of Knighthood . A Thanksgiving for the Plagues ceasing . Number of those who died of the Plague . The Ceremonies at the Kings Coronation . Archbish. P.P. The Kings Answer . A Second Parliament meets . The Lord Keepers Speech . Sir Hennage Finch chosen Speaker . His Speech . Grievances taken into consideration . Grievances laid open . Articles against Mr Montague . People prohibited for going to Mass at Ambassadors Houses . The Atturney's Letter to the Judges concerning Recusants . The Council of War for the Palatinate , questioned in the House of Commons . The Earl of Pembroke at a Conference presseth Supply . Reports from the Committee concerning Evils and Remedies . A Committee of the Lords House , to consider of the safety of the Kingdom ; comunicated to the Commons . Not well resented . The Kings Letter to the Speaker . Sir Richard Westons Message . The Commons Answer to the Kings Message by Sir Richard Weston . The Kings Reply . Doctor Turners Queries against the Duke . Another Message from the King by Sir Richard Weston . Dr. Turners Explanation . Dr. Turners Letter to the Speaker . Sir W. Walters opinion of the Cause of Grievances . Sir Iohn Eliot pursues the Argument against the Duke . Three Subsidies and Three Fifteens , Voted . Debate concerning the Duke , resumed . The Kings Speech , March 29. The Lord Keepers Speech . The King proceeds . The Duke at a Conference explains the Kings late Speech and the Lord Keepers Declaration . The Duke renders an account of his Negotiation in the Low-Countreys . The Lord Conway vindicates the Duke . A List of Moneys disbursed for the War. The Lords Petition touching Precedency , chalenged by Scots and Irish Nobles . The Lord Conways Letter to the Earl of Bristol . The Earl of Bristols Letter to the Lord Conway . The Earl of Bristol petitions the House of Lords . The Petition referred to the Committee of Priviledges . The Kings Letter to the Earl of Bristol . The Earl of Bristol Petitions the Lords upon receipt of his Writ . A Message from the King to the House of Lords . The Marshal of Middlesex's Petition touching Priests . The Commons Remonstrance to the King in Answer to his Majesties , and the Lord Keepers Speech . The House ▪ adjourned for a week . Private advice given to the Duke . The Bishops commanded to attend the King. The Dukes answer to a Message from the Commons reported . Glanviles report from the Committee . The Kings Message touching new matter against the Duke . The Earl of Bristol brought to the bar of the Lords House . Articles against the Earl of Bristol . The Earl of Bristols expressions at the time of his Accusation . The Earl of Bristols speech at the Bar of the Lords House at the delivery of his Articles against the Duke . He layes open his Case to the Parliament . The Lord Chamberlain attests the truth of what the Earl had said . The Earl proceeds . The Earl of Bristols Articles against the Duke . The Earl of Bristols Articles against the Lord Conway . A Message from the King to the Lords concerning Bristol's Articles against the Duke . The Reasons . The Earl of Bristols Speech by way of Introduction , before he gave in his Answer . His Service to the Palatinate when he was Ambassador to the Emperor . His Service to the Palatinate before his Ambassie to the Emperor . His arrival in Spain and behavior there . His carriage concerning the Match . Means to shew that the Match was intended by the Spaniard . Bristol not the cause of the Delays in Spain . He never disswaded the King to take Arms. He advised both King and Prince to a Protestant Match . He never moved his Majesty to set Priests at liberty . A Declaration signed by my Lord Conway in behalf of Roman Catholicks . He perswaded not the Prince to change his Religion . He advised both King and Prince , if they will Match with a Catholick , rather to Spain then France , but cheifly to a Protestant Princess . He constantly professed the Protestant religion . King Iames proposeth a Match to the Prince Palatine , between his eldest son and the Emperors daughter . The Earls Reasons why he was forward to consummate the Match , til warrant came to the contrary . The restitution of the Palatinate , promised by the King of Spain and Olivarez . The advantages of the Spanish Match to England . The Commons Articles against the Duke . His ingrossing many Offices . Plurality of Offices . His buying of Offices . His buying the Cinque 〈◊〉 the Lord Zouch . The first Article enlarged by Mr. Herbert . The second and third enlarged by him . His neglect of guarding the Seas . His taking a Ship called St Peter of Newhaven . The fourth Article enlarged by Mr Selden . The Fifth Articles enlarged by Mr Selden . His delivering Ships into the hands of the King of France . Those ships to be used to his knowledge against Rochel . Mr. Glanvile enlargeth the Sixth Article . Mr. Glanvile inlarges the Seventh and Eighth Articles . Mr. Pym enlargeth the 11. Article . The 10. Article enlarged . His imbezling and engrossing the Kings money and Lands . Mr Sherland enlarges the Ninth Article . He enlargeth the Twelfth Article . The Thirteenth Article enlarged by Mr. Wandesford . Sir Ioh ●ll●●●● speech concluding the Dukes Impeachment . Sir Iohn Elliot and Sir Dudley Diggs committed to the Tower. Private Suggestions to the King , in behalf of the Duke . Kings Speech concerning the Duke . The Commons Message by Sir Nath. Rich to seeure the Duke . The Dukes Speech against the Commons . The Commons discontented at the imprisonment of their Members . Sir Dudley Carleton's Speech . The Commons Protestation touching words imputed to Sir Dudley Diggs . Sir D. Diggs released out of prison , protests he never spake the words charged on him . The King is satisfied that the words were not spoken . The Duke dissatisfied . Thirty six Lords protest they heard not the words supposed to be spoken at a Conference . S●r Iohn Elliot is released out of the Tower. Is charged by Sir Dudley Carlton for his Speech against the Duke . He dischargeth himself . The Lords Petition to the King about the Earl of Arundel , imprisoned in the time of Parliament . The Kings Message to the Lords touching the Earl of Arundel . The Lords resolved to maintain their priviledges . A Remonstrance and Petition of the Peers in behalf of the Earl of Arundel . The Kings first Answer to the Remonstrance and Petition . The King promiseth to answer the said Remonstrance The Lords are urgent for an Answer . The King returns another Answer to the Lords touching the Remonstrance . Another Petition to the King touching the Earl of Arundel . The King takes exception at the Petition . The Lords desire to know of his Majesty , to what part of the Petition he takes exception . The Petition presented again , and the word ( present ) left out . The Kings answer to the Petition so ordered . The Kings Answer to the Petition . Another Petition of the Lords touch● the Earl of Arundel . The Kings Answer to this Petition . The Lords adjourn in disgust till the morrow . His Majesties Message to the Lords . Upon this Message the Lords adjourn for a seven-night . Another Message to the Lords from his Majesty concerning the Earl of Arundel . The Lords adjourn again . Another Message from the King to the Lords concerning the Earl of Arundel . Another Message to the Lords from his Majesty . The Earl of Arundel released comes to the House . The Duke chosen Chancellor of Cambridge during his Impeachment . The Earl of Berk-shire's Letter to Mr. Chester touching Votes conferred upon him in the Choice of the Chancellor of Cambridge . The Commons Answer . His Majesties Reply . The Dukes Letter of Acknowledgement to the University of Cambridge . The Kings Letter to the said University . The Duke of Buckinghams Speech to the Lords House , before he gave in his Answer . His Answer and Plea to the Impeachment of the House of Commons . His Charge touching Plurality of Offices . His Charge touching his buying the Admirals place . The Charge touching his buying the Wardenship of the Cinque Ports . The Charge touching his not guarding the Seas . The Charge touching the unjust stay of the Ship of Newhaven , called the St. Peter , after Sentence . The Charge touching his Extortion of Ten thousand pounds from the East-India Company , with the abuse of the Parliament . The Charge touching his putting the Ships into the hands of the French. Since the Dukes Answer delivered into the House , he hath himself openly declared to their Lordships , That for the better clearing of his Honor and Fidelity to the State , in that part of his Charge which is objected against him by this Seventh Article , he hath been an earnest and humble Suiter to his Majesty , to give him leave in his Proofs , to unfold the whole Truth and Secret of that great Action , and hath obtained his Majesties gratious leave therein ; and accordingly doth intend to make such open and clear Proof thereof , that he nothing doubteth but the same when it shall appear , will not onely clear him from blame , but be a Testimony of his care and faithfulness in serving the State. The Charge touching his practice of the employment of them against Rochel . The Charge touching the compelling the Lord R. to buy Honor. The Charge touching his selling of places of Judicature . The Charge touching his procuring of Honors for his poor Kinred . The Charge touching his exhausting , intercepting and mis-employing the Kings Revenue . The Charge touching his transcendent presumption in giving Physick to the King. The Kings Letter to the Speaker touching speedy supply to his Majesty . The Commons Petition to the King concerning Recusants . The Commons Answer to his Majesties Letter by the Speaker * Mr Glanvile . The Kings Declaration of the Causes of assembling and dissolving the two last Parliaments . The King takes notice of the intended Remonstrance in a Proclamation . Another Proclamation against preaching or disputing the Arminian Controversies , pro or con . The King commands an Information to be preferred against the Duke in Star-Chamber . The King forbids to solicite any Suit prohibited in the Book of Bounty . The Council order all Customs to be paid . And Forfeitures arising from Recusants . A Commission to compound with Recusants . A Proclamation to make the Kings Revenue certain . The King sends to the Nobles to lend him liberally . He demands of the City , the Loan of One hundred thousand pounds . The Port Towns are to furnish Ships . The Ports of Dorsetshire send an excuse . The City of London desire an Abatement of their Ships . Are checkt by the Council . Privy Seals issued out . A Fast observed . Commissions to Deputy Lieutenants to Muster , Try , and Array men . Inhabitants withdrawn from Ports and Sea Towns , required to return . Ships sent to the River of Elbe . A Fleet prepared . The King of Denmarks Declaration why he takes up Arms against the Emperor . A Battel between the Dane and the Emperor . The overthrow of the King of Denmark , an Inducement to the raising of Moneys by Loan . A Declaration concerning Loan-Money . Private Instructions to the Commissioners for the general Loan . Billeting of Soldiers . Commissions for Martial Law. The Lords to advance the Loan . Sir Randolph Crew removed from his place for not furthering the Loan . Informations sent to the Council Table against the Bishop of Lincoln . The Bishop refuses to proceed Ex Officio against the Puritans . * Meaning the Petition against Recusants at Oxford . Puritans described by Sir Iohn Lamb. Information in Star-Chamber against the Bishop of Lincoln . Bishop Laud his Dream . The interpretation thereof . Six thousand English in the Service of the Vnited Provinces . Sir Charls Morgan General of the English forces . Some do refuse the Loan , though others offered to lend the refusers money , so they would but subscribe . They are ordered to be pressed for Soldiers . The Refusers to lend were severely deal with . An. 1627. Dr. Sibthorps Sermon concerning the Loan . Dr. Manwaring in two Sermons promotes the Loan . Distastes and jealousies between England and France . The French dismissed . Ill resented in France . Private Transactions to engage in a War against France . The King of Great Britains Declaration concerning a War with France . The Duke of Buckingham Admiral and General . His Commission . The Duke sets ●ail with the Fleet and Army . The Rochellers are fearful to admit the English. Yet call an Assembly and heard Sir William Beechers Message . The Rochellers still timerous . A well affected party in Rochel . The Duke communicates his design to Sobiez . The Duke lands his Army at the Isle of Rhee . A ●ore ●ight at the landing The Army stays five days after the fight . A Fort neglected to be taken in . The French astonished at the landing of the English. The Duke comes before the Fort at St. Martins . Blocks up the Cittadel . Gentlemen secured and confined for refusing to part with money upon the Loan . Sir John Elliots Petition to the King concerning the Loan . Archbishop Abbot in disfavor . The Commission to Sequester Archbishop Abbot from all his Ecclesiasti●al Offices . The Archbishops Narrative concerning his disgrace at Court. His Age when this befel him . His indisposition kept him from Court , and exposed him to censure . The Duke offended with the Archbishop , for not stooping to him . The Archbishop is foretold of the Dukes displeasure . Sibthorps Sermon for Loan Money . The Dukes design in having this Sermon sent to the Archbishop to Licence it . Mr Murrey sent from the King with the Sermon to the Archbishop to have it Licenced by himself . The discourse by way of Dialogue , between the Archbishop and Mr. Murrey on that occasion . The Archbishops Reasons why he could not Licence it . His Majesty returns Answer by Mr. Murrey to those Reasons of the Archbishop . The Archbishop desires Bishop Laud may be sent to him to treat of that Sermon . The Archbishop sends his Objections to the Court in writing against the Sermon . Bishop Laud is employed to Answer these Objections King Iames was a long time offended with Bishop Laud. He was advance by Bishop Williams . Bishops of Durham and Bathe sworn of the Privy Council . Mr. Murrey brings the Answer to the Archbishops Objections . The Archbishop is not suff●red to see the Writing , but Mr. Murrey reads it . Sibthorps Sermons Licenced by the Bishop of London . Mr. Selden . The Duke presseth his Majesty to have the Archbishop sent away before he set to Sea. The Archbishop commanded to withdraw . The Lord Conway tells the Archbishop the reason why he is commanded to retire . The Archbishop writes to the Lord Conway , to know if his Majesty will give him his choice of two houses to retire to . The Lord Conway 's Answer . The reason why the Duke was thought to be offended with the Archbishop . The Archbishop accustomed to Hospitality . King Iames injoyned the Archbishop to live like an Archbishop . The Duke was not pleased that Sir Dudley Diggs frequented the Archbishops house . The Archbishop was Tutor to Sir Dudley Digs at Oxford . The Duke was offended that Sir Thomas Wentworth frequented the Archbishops House . The Archbishop commanded to meddle no more in the High Commission . Commendations of the High Commission Court. The High Commissioners chargeable to the Archbishop . The Archbishops infirmity permitted him not to come to the Star-chamber , or Council-Table . The Archbishops observation concerning the rise of the Duke . Various Reports concerning the Army at Rhee . A further Supply preparing for Rhee , and to be conveyed thither by the Earl of Holland . The Citadel at Rhee relieved . Sir Iohn Burroughs slain . Toras sends intelligence to the King of France . The Rochellers at last declare for England . A Treaty for Surrender between the Duke and Toras . The Citadel reliev'd again ▪ A Retreat resolved on . Sobiez against it . The Citadel stormed . The Army retreats . The Enemy engageth the Rear of the Army . Several opinions concerning this Expedition to Rhe. The misfortune of Rhee-Expedition , causeth a clamor in the Nation . A List of Arrearages for freight of ships and Sea-mens wages . Anne-Royal . Repulse . Assurance . Nonsuch . Waltspite . Adventure . Triumph . Victory . S. George . S. Andrew . Rainbow , Vantguard . Red-Lion . S. Esperite . Gard-Land . Convecline . Antelop . Entrance . Sir Robert Cotton's Advice touching the present state of affairs . A resolution to call a Parliament . Order of the Council to set at liberty the Gentry imprisoned for the Loan-money . A Parliament summoned . A Commission for Impo●itions . Thirty thousand pounds paid to Burlemach to be returned by Bill of Exchange , to raise Forein Forces . Recusants taken at Clerkenwell . A Letter from a Jesuite concerning the ensuing Parliament . The King's Speech at the opening of the Parliament . The Lord Keepers Speech . Sir Iohn Finch being chosen Speaker , made this Speech to his Majesty . The Speech without doors . Grand Committees setled . Petition for a fast . Debates touching Grievances . Sir Francis Seimour . Sir Thomas Wentworth . Sir Benjamin Rudyard acts the part of a Moderator . Sir Edward Cook. Mr Secretary Cook. Sir Robert Philips . * Sibthorp and Manwaring . * Sommersetshire . * Scots . Secretary Cook moves for Supply for his Majesty . In Clerkenwel . Thursday March 15. Mr Secretary Cook tenders Propositions touching Supply . The House turned into a Committee . Habeas Corpus and the Liberty of the Subject debated . Mr Creswel . Sir Robert Philips . Sir Edward Cook. Judge Whitlock in justification of the Proceedings in the Upper-Bench upon the Habeas Corpus . Judge Doderidge the like . Mr Hackwel resumes the Debate of the Habeas Corpus Mr Selden . Judge Andersons Reports . Sir Edward Cook. Resolves touching the Subjects liberty in his Person . The Kings Propositions to the House of Commons touching Supply . A Conference between the Lords and Commons , managed by Secretary Cook against Recusants . The Lord Keepers Speech at the presenting a Petition from both Houses against Recusants . The Kings Answer to the Petition . 1. Article . 2. Article . 3. Article . 4. Article . 5. Article . 6. Article . 7. Article . 8. Article . Debates touching his Majesties propositions . Sir Francis Seimor . Sir Nath. Rich. Secr. Cook. Sir John Elliot . Sir Ed. Cook. Sir Thomas Wentworth Sir Henry Martin . The House waves , &c. Mr. Selden . Sir T. Hobby . Sir Peter Hayman about forein imployment . Mr. Hackwel Sir E. Cook. Sir Thomas Wentworth Sir John Elliot . The King sends a Message to the House of S● . Cook , touching some words said to be spoken by the Duke . Debates on the Message . Friday 4 April Secretary brings another Message from the King. Mr. Pym. 5. Subsidies resolved on . Mr. Secretary Cook report the Kings acceptance of five Subsidies The Duke of Buckinghams Speech at the Councel Table thereupon . It is ill taken by Sir John Elliot that the Dukes name was intermingled with the Kings by Secretary Cook. Sir Dudly Diggs begins the Conference by way of Introduction . Mr. Littleton . Mr. Selden . Sir Edward Cook. 1. Obj. Answ. 2. Obj. Answ. His Majesties Message for non-recess . The Message not approved . Sir Ro. Phillips . Sir E. Cook. Sec. Cook to expedite Subsidies . Sir Dudly Diggs . Sir Thomas Wentworth . Mr. Secret. Cook delivereth another Message concerning Supply . Sir Rob. Phillips . Secr. Cook. Mr. Wandesford . Sir Humphry May. Mr. Speakers Speech to the King at the delivery of the Petition for billeting of Soldiers . The Petition concerning billeting of Soldiers . Martial Law debated . Serj. Ashley questioned for some words . Archbishops Speech at a Conference concerning the Petition of Right . Propositions tendred to the Commons by the Lords , touching the Petition of Right Sir Dudley Diggs replies to this Speech . The Lord Keepers Speech to both Houses , concerning supply , by the Kings command . Sir Ben. Rudyards Speech concerning that motion . A Committee ordered to draw up a Bill in order to the Petition of Right Mr. Secretary Cook brings a Message to relye on the Kings Word . Sir Thomas Wentworth The King gives notice to both Houses that he intends shortly to end this Session . Sir John Elliot . The Speakers Speech to the King , in answer to several Messages . His Majesties answer to the Speakers Speech . Mr. Secretary Cook brings another Message to relie on the Kings Words . Sir John Elliot . Sir. E. Cook. Lord Keepers Speech , communicating a Letter from the King. His Majesties Letter . The Lords Proposition at a Conference , about an addition to the Petition of Right . The Lords addition to the Petition of Right . Mr. Alford . Mr. Pimme . Mr. Hackwell Sir Ed. Cook Sir Thomas Wentworth Mr. Noy . Mr. Selden . Mr. Glanviles Speech at a Committee of both Houses concerning Soveraign Power . Sir Henry Martins Speech , as to the rational part of the matter of the Conference . The Lords and Commons agreed touching the Petition of Right . Mr. Rouse against Dr. Ed. Manwaring . 9. Hen. 3.29 . 28. Ed. 3.3 . 37. Ed. 3.18 . 38. Ed. 3.9 . 42. Ed. 3.3 . 17. Ric. 2.6 . 25. Ed. 3.9 . 9. Hen. 3.29 . 25. Ed. 3.4 . 28. Ed. 3.3 . The Petition The Answer debated . Sir Jo. Elliots Speech in the laying open of grievances . Some against the recapitulating of Grievances . Exceptions to Sir John Elliots Speech . More exceptions . Sir Edward Cook. A Message from the King to the House of Commons , to end the Sessions . Mr. Pyms Speech at the delivery of the charge against Dr. Manwaring . ●udgement given against Dr. Manwawaring . Dr. Manwaings submissions . Another Message from the King. Sir Robert Phillips . Sir John Elliot . Sir Dudly Diggs . Sir Nathan . Rich. The Commons declare that no undutiful Speech hath been spoken . Mr. Wandesford . Sir Edw. Cook declares the Duke the cause of all our miseries . Mr. Seldens advice for a Declaration against the Duke . Several heads agreed on for a Remonstrance . A Message from the King by the Speak●r . Another Message from the King to the Commons . A Message from his Majesty t● the house of Lords . The Kings Message g●ves the Commons more hope then formerly . Burlemack called into the House . The Petition of both Houses to his Majesty for a further Answer to the Petition of right . His Majesties second Answer to the Petition of right . All Grand Committees to cease . Sir Edward Cooks Observations upon the said Commission . Sir Edward Cook mannageth the Conference between both Houses concerning the Commission . F●resh Debate in the House against the Duke . Sir Iohn Elliot . Sir Henry Martin . Sir Benjamin Rudyard . Sir Thomas Jermin . Dr. Lamb killed . A Letter to the City about Dr. Lambs Death . Dr. Neal , & Dr. Laud suspected for Atminians . Mr. Selden . The Commons Remonstrance against the Duke . The Speaker appointed to deliver the Remonstrance . Order in Star-Chamber concerning the Duke . The Duke desires to clear himself concerning some words . The Comission for Excise cancelled . Mr. Selden concerning Tunnage and Poundage . The Commons Remonstrance of Tunnage and Poundage . Mr. Noy . The K. ends this Session in person , and declares the reason . Dr. Manwarings Sermon supp●essed by Proclamation . A Proclamation and commissi●n concerning composition with Recusants . A Proclamation against the B●shop of Calcedon . Romish Priests to be sent to Wisbitch . Jesuites taken at Clerkenwell , or acted to be proceeded against . Order to search what Recusants are about London . Sir Richard Weston and Bishop Laud advanced . Mr. Montague advanced , and his Apello Caesarem called in . Preaching and Writing , pro & con about unnecessary questions prohibited . A pardon granted to Dr. Manwaring , & Dr. Montague . Rochel close besieged and relief designed . The Duke slain . Dr. Montague consecrated Bishop . Rochel again attempted to be relieved , but in vain . The sad condition of Rochel at the surrender Defects in the relief of Rochel questioned . Outrages committed by souldiers . Advertisement of forreign designes . The King of Denmark assisted with forces . The German House disposed of . Dr. Laud in ●avour with the King. Conge d'es●ier for certain Bishops . The meeting of the Parliament adjourned to Jan. 20. Great resort to Felton in prison . Felton examined before the Council . Threatned to be Racked . The Judges opinions taken therein . Merchants committed about Customs . Merchants summonned to the Councel Table . Mr. Chambers brought up with a Habeas Corpus , and bailed . Lords of the Councel dissatisfied with his bailing . Felton brought to trial . Confesseth the Fact. Tenders his hand to be cut off . Hung in chains . Mr. Vassals goods seised on for denying Customes . Information p●eserved against him . Mr. Vassals plea to the Information . Mr. Chambers goods seised on for not paying customes . A Replevin sued ou● . And superseaded . Mr. Rolls a Merchant . Private consultations about the ensuing Parliament . The Parliament meets , they enquire whether the Petition of Right be enrolled . What were the violations of the Subjects Liberties since the last Parliament . Sir Robert Philips Speech concerning that matter . The matter was referred to a Committee . The Kings Speech to both Houses in the Banqueting House . The K. sends a Message to the House of Commons speedily to take Tunnag● & Poundage in to consideration . But the Commons resolv● to proceed in matters of Religion Mr. Rous Speech ●oncerning Religion . A Report from the Comm●tee for Religion . The Remonstrance concerning Religion sent back by the King. Precedency again given to Religion before Tunnage and Poundage . Mr. Pyms speech concerning Religion . Message by Secretary Cook about Tunnage and Poundage . Sir Tho. Edm●nds . Mr. Corriton . An Answer resolved to be given to the Kings messages Sir Iohn Eliot concerning Religion . The Commons enter into a Vow . Both Houses Petition the King for a fast . His Majesties Answer . The Commons Declaration to the King to give precedency to Religion . His Majesties Answer to the Commons Declaration . Debate about the Kings D●claration concerning disputes about Religion . Mr. Rolls sitting in Parliament was called forth and served with a Subpaenâ . Debate concerning the same . The mistake of the Subpaenâ cleared . A report from the Committee for Tunnage and Poundage . Committee mee● ag●n upon Tunnage and Poundage . Mr. Noy concerning Tunnage and Poundage . Barons of the Exchequer sent unto about staying the delivery of Merchants goods . The Barons Answer . Not satisfactory . A report concerning pardons to Dr. Manwaring , Mr. Montague ▪ &c. Mr. Cromwel against the Bishop of Winchester . A complaint of the no● licensing of Books against Popery Mr. Selden concerning Printing . Debates about increase of Popery . Secretary Cook concerning the Priests arraigned at Newgate . Mr. Long a Justice of peace examined . Sir Robert Heath his answer concerning the prosecution of the Priests . A Fast. Mr. Dawes answer to the Commons . Mr Carmarthens answer . Mr. Selden . The House in a Committee about the Customers answer . Mr. Noy . Message by Secretary Cook from the King about the Customers . Order by the King and Council concelning the Costomers . The Kings Commission to the Customers , &c. Resolve concerning Mr. Rolls . Debates . Sir Iohn Ellyots Speech against particular persons . * Lord Weston afterwards died a Papist . The Speaker refuses to put the Question . Mr. Seldens Speech thereupon . The Speaker again refuseth to put the Question . Protestation in Parliament propounded whilst the Speaker was held in his chair . The King sends the Usher of the Lords House . Warrants to apprehend several Members of Parliament . The Kings Speech at the Dissolution of the Parliament . Libels cast abroad . Members examined before the Lords of the Council . 5 Caroli . Anno 1629. Questions propounded to the Judges concerning the imprisoned Members . Answer . Mr. Stroud and Mr. Long brought upon a Habeas Corpus . An Information in Star-Chamber against the Members . Ro. Heath . Hu Davenport Ro. Bartley . Heneage Finch . William Hudson An Information in Star. Chamber against Sir Io. Elliot , &c. Proceedings in Star-Chamber against Mr. Chambers . His Answer . His Sentence . A submission tendred . His refusal . Places of Scripture mentioned by him . Isa. 29.21 . Ecclus. 11.7 , 8 John 7.51 . Act. 26.2 . Exod. 23.6 . Deut. 16.19 . Mich. 2.1 , 2. Ezek. 45.9 and 46.8 . Eccles. 5.8 . London . His Plea in the Exchequer H. 3.9 . E. 1.3 . H. 3.9 . E. 3.5 t H. 7.3 . H. 8.21 . 1629. 16 Iune London . Order in the Exchequer . Mr. Chambers brought by a Habeas Corpus His Petition to the Parliament . His death . Mr. Selden brought upon a Habeas Corpus . A letter from the King to the Judges . Another Letter . L' Assembli des Notables . A Letter to the Judges . The King confers with some of them . Motion to bail the prisoners . An Information exhibited in the Kings Bench against vir Iohn Elliot , &c. The Plea of Sir Iohn Elliot . Mr Long 's Case in the Star-Chamber . Arguments concerning Sir Iohn Elliot . Lord Chief Justice Hide . Justice Whitlock . Judgment . Judgment pronounced . Notes for div A57919-e222450 The Kings Declaration of the causes , which moved him to dissolve the last Parliament . * Here are the passages concerning the Members deportment in the House , mentioned in this Declaration , which we ●orbear to repeat , in regard the same are at large expressed in the Information in the Star-chamber before mentioned . A Proposition presented to the King how to keep in awe this nation . First to have a Fortresse in every considerable Town . Secondly , To cause high-waies to be made through such Townes . Thirdly , To choose the Souldiers of such Fortresses , no Inhabitants of the place . 4. To let none passe through such places without a Ticket . 5. To have the names of all lodgers taken by Inkeepers . The expence of these Forts . To impose an oath on the Subjects . Meanes ●o increase the King's revenewes . 1 To demand a Decima of mens estates . 2 To buy out all Leases upon the Crown-Lands . 3 To take the Salt into his Majesties own hands . 4 To demand a rate for Sealing the weights every yeare . 5 To demand an Impost for Wools. 6 To put a Tax upon every Lawyers Fee. 7 To put a Tax upon Inns and Victualling-houses for a License . 8 To put a Tax upon all Car●le , Flesh , and Horses sold in the Market . 9 To put a Tax upon all Lands alienated . 10 To demand a rate upon all Offices in his Majestie 's grant . 11 To reduce his Majesties Houshold to Board wages . 12 To demand a rate for license to eat Lacticinia . 13 To take an imposition upon the Catholicks lands At the Prince his marriage to make Earls in Principi , & to pay for it . And Barons to be made Earls . To make 200 rich men Titulate , and they to pay for the Titles . To make Gentlemen of low quality , and rich Farmers , Esquires . Mr. Stroud Esq brought to the Kings-Bench-Bar , upon a Habeas Corpus . Also Walter Long Esq. Mr. Mason of Lincolns-Inn , his Argument for Mr. Long. Serjeant Barckley his Argument against Stroud and Long. Serjeant Davenport's Argument against Stroud and Long Mr. Littleton's Argument for Mr. Selden . See Fortoscue , f. 115. the which was not cited - there never Sedition , Strife , or Murmur is heard . Sir Rob. Heath , the Kings Atturney Generall , his Argument against Mr. Selden . An Information exhibited in the King's Bench against Sir Iohn Eliot and others . Mr. Mason's Argument for Sir John Eliot . Mr. Calibrop's Argument for Mr. Valentine . Camden's Brit. 449. 1. Object . 2. Object . 3. Object . 4. Object . 5. Object . 6. Object . 7. Object . 8. Object . Sir Rob. Heaths Argument against Sir John Elliot . Notes for div A57919-e242370 1 Car , 16 Jac. 1618. 1 Car. 1625.