THE SPEECH OF PHILIP HERBERT, LATE EARL OF Pembroke and Montgomery, in the House of Commons, upon passing an Act for a Day of , For Colonel Jone's VICTORY over the IRISH; As it was delivered Word for Word, and Oath for Oath.  
Taken verbatim by Michael Oldsworth.  
London, Printed in the Year, 1649.   

The Speech of Philip Herbert, etc.  
M. Speaker,  
YOu know it is not my custom to make Speeches; 'Sdeath I am an old man, and cannot speak, I can sit here a whole day together and not speak a word, except it be cry Ay and No, when Master Weaver winks upon me: but 'Sdeath such a Victory would make a dumb man speak; for Michael Oldsworth says, that Colonel Jones has routed Ormond, and killed four thousand of his men; and doth not such a victory deserve a thanksgiving: You now Mr. Speaker Cromwell made us vote a day of thanksgiving for killing the Levellers, and shall not we make ourselves Vote a day of Thanksgiving for killing the Cavaliers; 'Sblood are not the Cavaliers as bad as Levellers? M. Martin says Cavaliers are worse than Levellers (but I hope M. Martin is no Leveller) and I say so too; for if Levellers had got the Victory, they would have had no King; but if the Cavaliers should overcome us, 'Sdeath our Parliament would grow out of date, and Kings and Laws would come in fashion again; and Mistress May says, that if Kings and Laws should up, no Member of Parliament may lie with any other woman but his own Wife, which Law Master Martin says is against the Privilege of Parliament, and contrary to the Liberty of the Subject; 'Zounds Master Speaker let's maintain our own Privileges, why the Devil do we fight else?  
Colonel Venus, and Master Ash move that an Act be passed for the better observation of this day; 'Sdeath I agree, and withal my humble motion is, that my friend Master Vicars may draw it up, for he is a learned man, and full of Scripture, and can fill the Act full of Scripture which will be a great grace to the Members: ('Zblood I am a Member I think, and love Scripture, although I neither use nor understand it) besides without an Act the Presbyterians will never meddle with it; for they begin to swell already, as though they had an intent if they durst or could tell how to turn Levellers, and levelly us to make a step for themselves to mount into the Saddle; but I hope M. Speaker, we shall not be meat for the Presbyterians; Judge me Presbyterians are as bad, or worse than Malignants, for should the Presbyterians rule, they would bring Master Scot upon the stool of repentance for ravishing the Gentleman's little daughter of 12 years old the other day: Damn me Master Speaker, the Case is dangerous, I beseech you let us maintain our privileges.  
But Confound me here are some amongst us that look like Presbyterians, nevertheless I hope whether they be Presbyterians or not Presbyterians, the Gentlemen will not be angry with me for speaking my, conscience; what? though they have sequestered and plundered Malignants for their consciences, yet I hope they will not make a Malignant of me. 'Sdeath Malignant is a hard word, I never understood it before this Parliament, what? cannot a man speak his conscience but he must be made a Malignant? Judge me we shall have a through Reformation indeed, if a man's conscience must make him a malignant; but so it is, for since this Reformation, when I sat in the House of Lords, and spoke my conscience as did others in Voting for the King: I was made a malignant, and since many members of the House of Commons for speaking their conscience and Voting against the Army, were by the Army made malignants, and pulled out of the House and thrust into hell by Colonel Pride: 'Zblood I have as little conscience as most, I scarce know what it is; but be it what it will I swear 'tis a malignant, but confound me I care not, I am a member of Colonel Pride's Parliament, and I hope a member of Colonel Pride's Parliament may speak his conscience, and not be made a malignant; Come, come, Master Speaker let us be loving and kind one unto another, we are but a few members left, let us agree and Vote lustily for a thanksgiving day. 'Sdeath the victory deserves it, and if we Vote but the day, I am sure there sits Alderman Atkins Worship will make the Common-council Vote us a dinner.  
But perhaps some may speak against it, and say we are beholding to them for the last; but if they do, I say they are malignants, and lie; 'tis they are beholding to us: yet 'tis confessed they gave us a dinner, and feasted us with Venison; but what of that, they gave us a dinner, and we gave them a Park; then Judge you Master Speaker whether is better the Venison or the King's Park that nourisheth the Venison; again, others may say that the General is beholding to them for his Basin and Ewer, and the Lieutenant General for his Purse of Gold; but I say no, for the Gentlemen deserved it: 'Sdeath have we not voted and made Acts for them these seven or eight years, and the General and Lieutenant General fought for them, and killed Levellers, Malignants and Cavaliers to keep them safe, and now do not we deserve a dinner, and the General a Basin and Ewer, and the Lieutenant General a little Purse of rotten Gold? 's blood shall men vote and fight for nothing.  
Master Speaker, I am an old man, and you are an old Speaker, We are the Supreme Authority, the Representative of the People, and you are our Representative, therefore (that we sit not all day quarrelling about a thanksgiving) my humble motion is, that as the People leave all matters of consequence to be decided by us their Representative, so may we Mr. Speaker to yourself our Representative. We are the body and Mr. Speaker is the head, therefore let the head speak for the body, and if Mr. Speaker think this Victory deserve not a thanksgiving let him say so, and if he think it doth, let him Vote it, and then as I said before, if we Vote a thanksgiving, the City will vote a dinner; for Mr. Speaker what is a Victory without a thanksgiving, and what is a thanksgiving without a dinner? 's death, I say, no dinner no thanksgiving.  
Mr. Speaker, Here are some would have us vote Col. Jones a 1000 l. per annum, and if I may speak my Conscience without being made a Malignant, I think he deserves it, for he hath saved us out of the hands of our enemies, and redeemed the City's Irish lands; so you see that Jones is both a Saviour and a Redeemer, and Mr. Speaker by this you see it is not as Malignants speak; for they say we and our Army's vote and fight only for our own ends and profits; but they lie, and the Supreme Authority will say they lie; 's blood we fight for the goods of the Nation, and the Liberties of the Subjects.  
Colonel Jones is the joy of our hearts, he hath filled our hearts with joy and gladness, I say 1000 l. per annum is too little for him; 's death is not Jones the saviour of the three Kingdoms, and can we do too much for our saviour? Indeed of old the Lieutenant General was our saviour, and delivered us out of the jaws of the Lions, and Bears, the Levellers, and wicked Malignants, and had been so now, if the Citizens would have lent a hundred and fifty thousand pounds speedily and willingly: but judge me, if Ireland had been lost, the Citizens had been all Malignant, because they would not disburse (as they said) without security; yet I think we offered them the greatest security in the world, the faith of a Parliament, and a Parliament the Levellers say is the Supreme Authority, or the Representative of the People, and so say we; why did we pull down Kings and Lords else; then if a Parliament be supreme, their faith is supreme, especially the faith of Col. Pride's Parliament, 's death is not the supreme faith worth an hundred and fifty thousand pounds? But Mr. Speaker as Colonel Jones is our saviour, so he is the City's saviour, and the Merchant adventurers saviour, for he hath saved their Irish lands, which was like to have proved meat for Malignants and Presbyterians, for dam. I think Malignants and Presbyterians are all one, for Ormond is a Malignant, and Inchequeen is a Presbyterian, and both fight against us: And Mr. Scot says, That whosoever fights against us the Supreme power is a Malignant; then judge you are not Presbyterians Malignants? the Scots are Presbyterians, and they declare against Malignants and against us, and will fight against us, then are not our brethren the Scots Malignants?  
But the Cavaliers think to make us Malignants for they say we are not the Supreme, but the King is the supreme Authority; but I say they lie, 'tis we are the Supreme Authority; 's blood did not the Army make us so, and did not we cut off the King's head that we might continue so, and now shall not we be the Supreme Authority? 's death I hope the Army that made us will keep us, why the Devil do we keep them else? what? shall we vote early and late, and make Acts and Orders to keep them, and then will not they keep us? But Mr. Speaker let not our heart faint, let us not be faithless but believing, for without doubt they that made us will preserve us; and dam what a shame would it be not to confide in our Keepers, besides, if we should grow jealous of the Keepers of our Liberties, the People would grow jealous of us the Keepers of theirs; for doth not the Army keep our Liberties, and we keep the People's?  
The Cavaliers and Malignants say, that we and our Armies are Rebels; but hang them, they lie: we the Supreme Authority say, the Cavaliers are rebels, and the supreme Authority cannot lie: no, nor the supreme Faith neither, although the faithless Citizens would not take it for an hundred thousand pounds: but I hope they have faith enough to believe that Jones hath routed Ormond, and recovered the Irish Lands; 's death, we may go whistle for a dinner else: What? is not Jones their saviour, and the saviour of us all? and will not men believe their saviour? Sink me, had Ormond taken Dublin, we might have voted these seven or eight a years for aught I know, before we could either have voted the Kingdom a Thanksgiving day, or the City have voted us a dinner. Lilburn, Walwyn, Prince, and the Levellers, say that we are Tyrants; but we the supreme Authority say, that they are Traitors, and would be Tyrants themselves if they could tell how: 's Blood, Levellers are worse than Kings for they would have us give an account of all moneys we have received these eight or nine years. What? I thought we had been the supreme Authority, and must the supreme Authority be called to recount by Levellers? 's Death, If we give them an account, are not they the supreme Authority? But I hope, Mr. Speaker, you, nor no other member of this honourable House is so mad as to account to Levellers, nor any else. 's Blood, the supreme Authority give an account! Oh, high Treason! the Levellers are Traitors, the very word Give an account proves them so. What, is not (Lilburn a prisoner? and shall prisoners have leave to prate? But what is a Leveller? it is a hard word, I scarce understand it: or what is Lilburn, Prince, and Walwyn? is not Prince a Cheesmonger? 's Death, I hope a Parliament shall not be food for Cheesemongers. But M. Speaker, we did ill, that we did not make Lilburn an Independent; we should have served him as we served Harry Martin, and given him a thousand pounds per Annum, and he would have been a strong Independent: for was not Harry Martin a Leveller? and did not we give him a thousand pound per annum to convert him? and is he not now as great an Independent as any of us all?  
Mr Speaker, here are some which move that Mr Greenhil and Mr Cooper may preach before the House upon the glorious day of Thanksgiving: to which I give consent: I love Mr Greenhill, and I love preaching: is death, I love a good preacher as I love a good dog, and I love a good dog as I love Mistress May, and I love Mistress May as I love my life. I love Mr Greenhil because he is an Independent, and I love preaching although I cannot understand it: 's blood, cannot a man love preaching but that he must understand it? I love Mr Cooper, because he prays for the supreme Authority. Sink me, I love praying, although I cannot pray myself: and I love my Man Michael Oldsworth, because he is my mouth, and prays for me: and I hope no man will be angry with me for loving my own mouth.  
Also I love Colonel Jones, because he is the author of this Thanksgiving, and because he hath delivered us, and saved us from the hands of Cavaliers; and I hope any man may love his Saviour: and I think the City hath cause to love him, and reward him, for saving their Irish lands, or else they are ungrateful people. Damn me, they could give the General a Basin and Ewer for killing the Levellers; and will they not give Jones a Basin and Ewer for killing the Cavaliers? What, are not Cavaliers as bad as Levellers? or will the City give their lands to Malignants? or do they not believe Colonel Jones his Letter? Zounds, if their hearts are hardened, let Major General Skippon be sent to them to increase their faith, for he had Letter, and will swear 'tis true. What, shall the General, and the Lieutenant Gen. the old saviours of the three Kingdoms, have a Basin and Ewer, and a bag of Gold, for killing three or four Levellers? and shall not Jones, our new saviour, have a Basin and Ewer for killing three or four thousand Cavaliers? But, Sink me, Mr Speaker, I am an old man, and must conclude: I desire you to consider seriously of what I have said; for this, (for aught I know) shall be the last Speech you shall ever hear me make; but I am an old man, and must conclude.  
Your Honour's Servant, PHILIP HERBERT, Knight of Berk-shire.  
Copia vera.  
FINIS.