A detection of the court and state of England during the four last reigns and the inter-regnum consisting of private memoirs, &c., with observations and reflections, and an appendix, discovering the present state of the nation : wherein are many secrets never before made publick : as also, a more impartiall account of the civil wars in England, than has yet been given : in two volumes / by Roger Coke ...

A detection of the court and state of England during the four last reigns and the inter-regnum consisting of private memoirs, &c., with observations and reflections, and an appendix, discovering the present state of the nation : wherein are many secrets never before made publick : as also, a more impartiall account of the civil wars in England, than has yet been given : in two volumes / by Roger Coke ...

Table of contents

Title page

AN APOLOGY TO THE READER.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, During the Reign of King JAMES I. &c.

BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

CHAP. II. A Continuation of this Reign, to the Dissolution of the Second Parliament, 1614.

CHAP. III. A further Account of this Reign, to the End of the third Parliament, in 1620.

CHAP. IV. A Continuation of this Reign to King James his Death.

The Character of King James.

COROLLARY.

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, During the Reign of King CHARLES I. &c. BOOK II.

CHAP. I. This Reign detected to the Dissolution of the Parliament, Tertio Car.

CHAP. II. This Reign detected to the Second Parliament, in 1640.

CHAP. III. A Continuation of this Reign to the Death of the King.

An Apology.

Anno Reg. 20. Dom. 1644.

Anno Reg. 21. Dom. 1645.

Anno Reg. 22. An. Dom. 1646.

The Character of King Charles the First.

A DETECTION OF AFFAIRS During the INTER-REGNƲM, OR In the INTERVAL between the Death of King Charles I. and the Restoration of King Charles II. BOOK III.

CHAP. I. Of the Administration of Affairs by the Rump-Parliament.

CHAP. II. A Continuation of this Treatise during the Vsurpation of Oliver Cromwel.

The Good Deeds of Oliver Cromwel.

CHAP. III. A Continuation of this Treatise, from the Death of Cromwel, to the Restoration of King Charles the Second.

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, DURING THE REIGN OF K. CHARLES II, &c. BOOK IV.

CHAP. I. This Reign detected to the beginning of the first Dutch War.

CHAP. II. A further Account of this Reign, to the End of the Second Dutch War.

Observation I.

Observation II.

Observation III.

Observation IV.

Observation V.

Observation VI.

Observation VII.

Observation VIII.

Observation IX.

An. Dom. 1668.

An. Reg. 21. Dom. 1669.

CHAP. III. A further Detection of this Reign till the breaking out of the Popish Plot.

CHAP. IV. A Continuation of this Reign, to the End of the Oxford Parliament.

The Character of King Charles II.

The Good Deeds of King Charles II.

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, DURING THE REIGN OF King JAMES II, &c. BOOK V.

APPENDIX.

EXPEDIENTS, by which the English Nation may be secured against the growing Greatness of the French and Dutch. APOLOGY.

Expedient I.

Expedient II.

Expedient III.

Expedient IV.

Expedient V.

Expedient VI.

Expedient VII.

Expedient VIII.

Expedient IX.

Expedient X.

Expedient XI.

Expedient XII.

Expedient XIII.

Expedient XIV.

Expedient XV.

Expedient XVI.

Expedient XVII.

Expedient XVIII.

Expedient XIX.

Expedient XX.

Expedient XXI.

Expedient XXII.

Expedient XXIII.

CONCLVSION.

ERRATA.

An Alphabetical TABLE OF THE Principal Matters contain'd in this BOOK.

BOOKS sold by Andrew Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil.

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A DETECTION OF THE Court and State OF ENGLAND DURING The Four Last REIGNS And the INTER-REGNUM.

Consisting of Private Memoirs, &c. With Observations and Reflections. AND AN APPENDIX, discovering the present State of the Nation.

Wherein are many SECRETS never before made publick: As also, a more impartial Account of the CIVIL WARS in England, than has yet been given.

In Two Volumes.

By ROGER COKE, Esquire.

The Third Edition very much corrected: With an Alphabetical Table.

London, Printed for Andr. Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhill. MDCXCVII.

AN APOLOGY TO THE READER.

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THAT Man has lived long enough, who has outlived the Love and Piety he owes to his Native Country: by my Native Country I do not mean the fertile and pleasant Soil of Britain; nor the sweet and temperate Climate of it; nor the manifold Varieties which it naturally abounds with for the use and conveniencies of humane Life; nor yet the pleasant and excelling Rivers which water it; nor the noble Havens, and abundance of most open Ports, from which it supplies other Parts of this our habitable Globe, with the super-abundance of those Commodities wherein it excels, and whereof the Inhabitants of those Parts stand in need; and where the Waters flow, as well as ebb, as if they invited the World to trade with us, as well as we with them: But by my Native Country, I mean the Constitutions and Laws of the English Monarchy, which have continued for near Nine hundred Years, viz. since King Egbert made a Decree, that laying aside the Names of Britains and Saxons, the whole Nation of that part of Britain under his Dominion, should be called England.

Ʋnder these Constitutions and Laws have all English Men ever since, without any Act of their own Will, been [Page] born in Subjection, and by them have been protected in their Lives, Liberties and Estates; and to govern by these Constitutions and Laws, have been the Claims of our Hereditary Monarchs, who have ever since governed England; and though the Succession of the Kings of England have been often changed in the Saxon, Danish and Norman Race of Kings, yet these Laws and Constitutions have been ever since preserved, notwithstanding the Attempts of many of the Kings of the Norman, and I may say of the Scotish Race too, to have subverted them, which, I believe, is more than can be said of any other Monarchy in the World, out of Britain: So that in our English Government, the Constitution and Laws of it are as well the Rules of the King's Dominion, as of the Subject's Allegiance to the King; and when the Majesty of the King is arrayed in Judgment, Justice, and Mercy, then for his Subjects to resist him is High Treason in this World, and Damnation in that to come: and, I think, I may truly say, no People in the World are more Honourers of their Kings, yet more jealous of preserving their Constitutions and Laws than the English; whereby they have preserved their Government, now France and Spain, whose Government was like ours, have lost theirs.

But when the Kings of England will not make the Laws and Constitutions of England to be their Will, but their Will differing from these to be the Laws and Constitutions of it; then a divided Dominion will necessarily follow, and it will be impossible for the Subject to obey both: The King hereby puts himself out of God's Protection, whose Vice-Gerent he is in governing by the Laws, and misplaces his Majesty which is founded in the Honour, Love and Obedience of his Subjects, upon Minions and Favorites, whose Servant he makes himself; and these shall be the first who shall forsake him, when any Adversity shall come upon him. Our Chronicles give Instances hereof in the Reigns of King John, Hen. 3. Edw. 2. and [Page] Rich. 2. And the design of this Treatise is to shew the Consequences that have been produced hereby in the Reigns of the Kings of the Scotish Race.

In this regular Monarchy, the Kings of England do not abrogate old Laws, or impose new, or raise Monies from the Subject above the Revenues of the Crown, without Consent in Parliament; and hereby the Kings of England reign in the Love and Obedience of their Subjects, and are freed from the Imputation of Tyranny in Sanguinary Laws, and from Oppression in the Taxes granted in Parliament, which no absolute Monarch is; and are more absolutely obeyed in both than any absolute Monarch, who makes his Will the Law of his Subjects.

The Division of the Will of a King of England, does not only distract the Allegiance of his Subjects, so that the divided Will of the King must necessarily prevail over the Laws and Constitutions of it, or these prevail against the divided Will, for both are incompatible, and cannot subsist together: But this Distraction gives Life and Motion to the ambitious Humour of Male-contents, who are impatient as well of Regal Government, as of submitting to the Laws and Constitutions of it. And I submit my self to the Judgment of any Impartial Reader, if this Divided Will in the Prince did not give that Life and Motion to the Ambition of the Factions in England, Scotland and Ireland, which not only raised Civil Wars in all of them, but brought destruction upon K. Charles the First, as well as the Laws and Constitutions of them. However I will take Notice of the Loyalty of the English Nation both to K. James the first, and K. Charles the first, that tho these Kings were foreign born to our Laws and Constitutions, yet it patiently submitted to their Ʋsurpations for above 35 Years; whereas when King Charles the first thought he had wholly subdued this Kingdom to his Will, and endeavoured to have done the same in Scotland, (his Native Country) the Scots would not endure it so [Page] many Weeks as the English had done Years, but rose against it first in Tumults, after in open Arms; and the discontented Parties in England joining with them, however disjoined from one another, brought on those Civil Wars in all the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, which procur'd Destruction to the King, as well as the Kingdoms.

In writing this History, I cannot say with the noble Baptista Nani, I have any Command from my Prince, or any other to do it; neither will I pretend to such great Advantages as he had gratis, by a free access to the Records, and most secret Counsels of my Country; tho I must not say, I have been wholly destitute of some, for else such an Ʋndertaking would render me guilty of the highest Arrogance; but what those have been, I judg not pertinent here to relate, they will best appear by the Work it self: Yet I can say with Nani, that I have not suffered my self to be defiled with Partiality (which hath so prevailed in all the Writers of the late and present Times that I have seen) but passing by the Privilege of venerable Antiquity, which to a face of Truth hath another close adjoining, that of Falshood, I have chosen to expose my self to Trial, and perhaps to Reproof, and that I might render a Testimony of Authority to Posterity, to write the Story of the present Age, to the Age it self. And I am not only induced hereto by the Authority of so noble an Historian, but by the Reason of History: For many Accidents and Circumstances, which are no part of the Records of Time, and which soon die and are forgotten, are so interwoven in History, as to make it entire, and of one piece, and which not only enliven it, and create pleasure in reading of it, but without them History becomes disjointed, and is made up of broken pieces.

And I can, in part, say with the noble Nani, and in his own words, That to compose Histories is sacred, and not to be undertaken but with an upright [Page] Mind, and undefiled Hands; and for that Cause, the Memory of them was consigned to the Temple, under the faithful Custody of the Chief Priests, as the Witness or Trust of those that went before, and the Treasure of those that should come after; not to be handled but as a Religious Thing, and with great Caution. In sum, the Historian taking to himself an absolute Dictatorship, nay an Authority more than Human, over Times, Persons and Actions, governs Fame, measures Deserts, penetrates Intentions, discloses Secrets; is with an undistinguished Arbitriment over Kings and People, the Judg of Ages past, and Master of those to come; Absolves or Punishes, Deceives or Instructs. Whence, not without Reason, the Pen of Writers may be compared to the Lightning, which striking out but one Letter from the NameAesar in the Tuscan Tongue is a God. See Suet. c. 97. in the Life of Augustus. Caesar Augustus, made him a God; because Praise is a thing so tender, that one Dash makes Illustrious, and a little Blot Infamous; and the Censure of the World thereupon is so severe, that it either consecrates to Eternity, or proscribes to Infamy. For my self I know not what else to wish, but that every one would take upon him to read this Work with the same disinterested and innocent Mind with which I have wrote it, confining my Confidence in this one thing, that the present Age will not be so unjust to me, nor so ungrateful to Posterity, as to deny me the Opinion of Sincerity.

It was Nani's Felicity to write the Stories of the Times, when the Prudence of the Venetian Senate, not only preserved their State from the Tumults of War, wherein Christendom was engaged, but in a great measure was Arbitrator of it: So that the Wars which Nani [Page] writes of, were like Thunder afar off; yet herein Nani expatiates his Story in a short time, scarce 30 Years, into a large Volume; whereas, without looking after any thing abroad, but what relates to my Story, I am contracted to the unhappy Story of my Native Country, to shew from what Causes such a Train of Consequences have followed; that England, which before was the Ballance which turned the Scale of the Affairs of Christendom to that side it inclined, not only fell from this envied Height, and became the most despisable of all other States, but sunk into the most miserable State of Abject and Pity.

I am the rather induced to write the Story of these Times, because the Hackney-Writers of them (at least those I have seen) have not only taken things in the midst, without assigning the Causes; but being interested Parties, their Writings have been either fulsom Flatteries, or Invectives against one another, tending to the fixing of the Distempers of the Parties, without regard to the Publick, or assigning the Cause of the Distempers: But herein I except the Collections of Mr. John Rushworth, who, tho interested in the Factions of the late Times, hath so faithfully delivered them over to Posterity; and I could have wished, (tho I know not from whence he had it) that he had not mentioned in that part of King James his Speech to the Parliament 18 Jac. that the Parliament is made up of the three States, the King, the Lords and Commons: and this is the main part of his Collections which Franklin and Nalson so carp at; yet both these differ not only from one the other in reciting it, but from the Record of Parliament, for I have perused them with it, according to the Copy which Mr. Petit has taken.

For my part, I can truly say; that as I never complied with any of the Factions in the late, or present Times; so my Ancestors stood firm to the Laws and Liberties of the [Page] Nation, and were Sufferers, both before, and in the late Troubles and Civil Wars: and in these Circumstances, I am less disposed to favour or f [...]atter any Party, than another who is interested in any one of them.

I expect it will be objected against me, that in writing this History, I have sometimes been transported into an Heat unbecoming an Historian: I answer, that it may happen a Man may be angry, and not sin, especially when the Offence relates to the Dishonour of God, the King, or the publick Destruction or Distraction of the Country, where Men are protected in their Lives, Liberties and Fortunes; but if I have erred herein, I shall but be in the number of Lactantius, who wrote the Relation of the Death of the persecuting Emperors of the Christians; and of Suetonius and Tacitus.

It was the unhappy Fate of Europe, that the Miseries and Calamities which succeeded the Divided Will of the four Kings of the Scotish Race, from the Laws and Constitutions of this Nation, were not terminated within the Limits of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, but were the occasion of the first Rise, and growing Grandure of France, through the boundless Ambition of Cardinal Richlieu, and the present French King, both by Sea and Land, as well to the Terror of Christendom, as of these Nations: and this Story will, in some measure, trace the Steps of them.

This Treatise, I suppose, will displease two sorts of Men, whom I will never take care to please: One, who exalt the Divided Will of the Prince above his Royal Capacity in governing by the Constitutions and Laws of the Kingdom: The other, those which are impatient under Regal Government, and the Constitutions of this Kingdom.

I have been more particular herein, because notwithstanding the Calamities which this Divided Will of the King had brought upon the Nation in the late Civil [Page]Wars, and after; yet after the Restoration of King Charles the 2d, the Nation was more fiercely rent into Divisions, under the Names of Whig and Tory, than it was before the Wars; and these last having the Dominion of the Press, and Favour of the Court, made it their business to irritate and provoke all others not of their Faction; and if any opposed them by Writing, when they could not answer, to persecute them for printing without a Licence, tho not unlawful in it self, yet unlawfully printed.

ADVERTISEMENTS.

THE General History of England, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil, from the earliest Accounts of Time, to the Reign of his present Majesty King William. Taken from the most Antient Records, Manuscripts, and Historians. Containing the Lives of the Kings, and Memorials of the most Eminent Persons both in Church and State. With the Foundations of the Noted Monasteries, and both the Universities. Vol. I. By James Tyrrel, Esq Fol.

A New History of Ecclesiastical Writers: Containing an Account of the Authors of the several Books of the Old and New Testament; and the Lives and Writings of the Primitive Fathers; An Abridgment and Catalogue of all their Works, &c. To which is added, A Compendious History of the Councils, &c. Written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin, Doctor of the Sorbon. In seven Volumes. Fol.

An Essay concerning the Power of the Magistrate in Matters of Religion, &c. 8o.

All sold by Andr. Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil.

INTRODUCTION.

[Page]

WHEN King James became King of England, the Kingdom of France was bounded on the North with the British Sea, from la Bresle on the East, where this River which parts Normandy from Boloignois discharges it self into the Sea, and in the Latitude of 50 Deg. North, and 5 Min. from whence West and by South it extends it self to Portsal in Bretaign, about 340 Miles distance, and in the Latitude of 48 Degrees; and North and by East from la Bresle to Calais, which lies in the Latitude of 50 Degrees, 40 Minutes.

From Portsal to the South, inclining into the East, upon the Bay of Biscay, France extended it self to St. Jean de Luz, which is the Frontier to Spain in the Latitude of 44 Degrees; and from St. Jean de Luz, East and by South, it extended it self along the Pyrenean Hills to Perpignian in the Country of Rosillion, in the Latitude of 42 Deg. 30 Min.

From Perpignian on the South to Piedmont, on the East towards the North, it was bounded by the Mediterranean, Sea, and from Calais on the North; the Eastern parts of France to the South were bounded by the Spanish Netherlands, Lorain, Alsace, the State of Geneva, Savoy and Piedmont. The Continent was near threefold more than England, including Wales.

Before the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella in the Year 1474. Spain was divided into six Kingdoms, whereof four were Christian, viz. the Kingdoms of Castile and Leons, Arragon, Navarre and Portugal; and two Mahometan, viz. Granada and Murcia. But when K. James came to be King of England, all these Kingdoms were united under Philip the 3d, King of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella having conquered the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia, after Isabella's death Ferdinand conquered Navarre, and Philip the 2d claimed and conquered Portugal in 1584. after the Death of Don Sebastian, who was overthrown and slain by the King of Fez and Morocco in 1580. All these Kingdoms thus united were greater than France by about ⅓. Spain thus united, is a Peninsula, having on the North-East and South-East the Pyrenean Hills; on the North-East is Fontarabia, and on the South-East Cape de Creux; the rest of Spain is environed by the Bay of Biscay on the North, by the Atlantick Ocean on the West and South to Gibralter, and to the North-East by the Mediterranean Sea from Gibralter to Cape de Creux.

[Page] The North of Spain, viz. the North of Biscay and Galicia, is in the Latitude of 44 Degrees North; and the South parts of Andaluzia and Granada in the Latitude of 36 Degrees, 30 Minutes: but the extent of Spain about the middle Region of it from East to West, is more than from North to South, being near 14 Degrees, 20 Minutes in Longitude.

The Isle of Britain is the greatest of Europe, it may be of the World, for ought is certainly known, at least none comparable to it, except Madagascar or St. Laurence, and Japan, if it be an Island. The North of it is in the Latitude of 58 Degrees North, the South-East in 51 Degrees, and towards the West inclines into the Latitude of 50 Degrees. It's bounded on the South by the Channel, or British Sea; on the East by the German Ocean; on the North by the Deucaledonian Ocean, and on the West by the Verguvian.

Britain is divided into two Kingdoms, England and Scotland, England including Wales, above ⅓ greater; but incomparably a better and more fertile Soil, and a more temperate Climate, in a Northern Climate, lying South of Scotland.

The Kingdom of Scotland hath several Islands depending upon it on the North and West; on the North is a Knot of Islands, or Rocks, called The Orcades, I cannot tell whether they be distinguished by Names; but on the North of these, in the Latitude from 60 Degrees to 61 Degrees, lies Shetland, or Shotland, which the Romans called Ʋltima Thule; and on the West are the Hebrides, the most considerable of them are the Isles of Mul, Sky, and Lewis.

Besides Ireland, and the Isles of our Western Plantations; the Isle of Man, which lies between Lancashire and Ireland; the Isle of Anglesey, which lies between Wales and Ireland; the Isles of Wight, Garnsey and Jersey, which lie in the British Sea between England and France; and the Sorlings, or Isles of Silly, a Knot of Islands about a Degree West of the Lands-end of Cornwal, are in the Dominion of the Kingdom of England.

Ireland is a Kingdom and Island, depending upon the Kingdom of England, greater than Scotland, and near as big as England, excluding Wales, and is near of an Oblong Figure, unless the Province of Munster inclines towards the West, near a Degree into the South. The North of Ireland lies in the Latitude of 55 Degrees, 30 Minutes North; and the South-East in the Latitude of 52 Degrees, 30 Minutes; and the South-West in the Latitude of 51 Degrees, 40 Minutes: the breadth from East to West is near 4 Degrees, 20 Minutes Longitude.

Ireland, on the North, is bounded by the Deucaledonian Ocean on the East by St. George's Channel, on the South by the Atlantick Ocean, and on the West by the Verguvian Ocean.

[Page] It will much conduce to open the Design of the ensuing Treatise, if we look back to the Dissolution of the Roman Western Empire, and see what Kind of Government succeeded in the Kingdoms of Spain, France and England, and so take a view of the Causes of the Ruin of the Western Empire: and herein I shall follow Helvicus his Christian Vulgar Aera.

As Britain was the first Country which received the Christian Faith, so Constantine the Great, the first of all the Christian Roman Emperors, was born a Britain, and became Emperor in the year of Christ 306. A Prince who, as he excelled in Christian Piety, so was he adorned with all Moral Vertues requisite in so great a Prince; and being zealously addicted to propagate the Christian Faith and Religion, he chiefly intended these above all other things; but herein he met with great Opposition: nor could he attain these Ends, without shaking the Strength and Foundation of the Constitutions of the Empire.

For in propagating the Christian Faith and Religion, Constantine was not only opposed by Dioclesian, Maxentius and Maximin, (who were Emperours before him) but by his Copartner Licinius in War; and the Christians, if they had been all of one piece, were not sufficient to support the Empire against the far more numerous Gentiles and Jews. Add hereto, that in the Rage of the late Persecution under Dioclesian, Maximinian, Maximin and Maxentius, the Christians were so sore persecuted, that excepting their Faith and Piety for Christianity, they were unfit for any Civil or Military Imployment; but so far were the Christians from being of one Piece, that they were rent into the Sects and Factions of Marcionists, Montanists, Novatians, Donatists and Sabellians; and in the 10th Year of Constantine, Arius broacht his blasphemous Opinion of our Saviour's not being God from all Eternity, being the Year of Christ 316.

We do not read that the Romans, before the Empire became Christian, ever made War upon any Nation upon the Account of Religion; and though there were many Sects among them of different Opinions concerning their Gods, and their Attributes, and of God's Prescience, Fate, and the Liberty and Necessity of Human Actions, yet the different Sects never went farther than Brawls, and endless Contentions with one another; they never upon that Account made any Schism or Separation from the publick Worship and Service of their Gods prescribed by the Laws of the Empire.

And as among the Gentiles, so among the Jews, tho the Opinions of the Pharisees, Sadduces and Esseans were as wild and extravagant as those of the Heathens, yet these were never esteemed by them to be Acts of Jewish Religion, nor upon that Account did they dispense or separate themselves from the publick Worship and Service of God prescribed by Law.

[Page] Whereas the different Sects of the Christians not only baptized their fond and wicked Opinions, many of which were the same with those of the Gentiles, by the Name of Religion; but took occasion from thence to separate and disjoin themselves from the Communion, or publick Worship and Service of God prescribed by publick Authority: So as Constantine had a very difficult Task to govern the Empire in this distracted State, not only of the Gentiles, but of the Christians. But since Religion is the highest Act of Piety, Devotion and Gratitude, which Man can return to God for his having preferred Man in his Creation and Generation above all other Creatures, in giving him not only Dominion over them, but much more by enduing Man with an intellectual and reasonable Soul, capable of eternal Happiness; and since Religion is not only mistaken in the Name and Exercise, but made at this time as much a Stalking-horse to cover Mens Pride, and fantastical Opinions, as it was in Constantine's time, and since, to the Scandal of Christianity, I hope the Reader will not lose his Time in understanding the difference between Christian Faith and Christian Religion, and herein what is to be ascribed to God, and what is the Duty of Man.

Christian Faith is a firm Belief and Reliance upon God's Promise revealed in the Old and New Testament, to the end that Man by his Faith, and Obedience to the Precepts which God requires of him herein, may be made capable of Eternal Happiness, from which he was faln by the Disobedience of our first Parents; so as Christian Faith is the Effect of God's meer Grace and Favour to Man, wherein Man is only passive in believing in God thus revealing himself, and submitting to the Precepts which God requires in the Scriptures.

Christian Faith does not absolve Man from any of the Moral Duties which God requires of him by the Law of Nature; but more strictly obliges Man to them, not only in his Speech and Actions, but forbids all Immoral Thoughts and Intentions; so that Christian Faith is so far from being incompatiable with humane Peace and Society in this World, that Man is more obliged hereto by it, than by the Law of Nature.

Christian Religion is a conjoining of two or more in honouring and praising God for the publick Blessings they enjoy by God's Favour, both as being by his Grace and Goodness received into the Communion of Christ's Congregation, as also being protected in their Lives and Fortunes in their several Societies and Governments: So that Christian Religion is the Act of the Will of Man in conformity to Christian Faith; and Christian Faith and Religion differ, as Man's Understanding and Reason: God made Man without any Act of Man's Will, an intellectual Creature, to inform all his future Intentions, Speech and Actions; and it is the Will of [Page] Man to intend, speak, and act reasonably, or conformable to his Understanding. So that tho Christian Faith be the same in all Countries and Places, yet Christian Religion must necessarily be different in different Countries and Places, as God, in his Providence, is pleased to govern the World in them.

Thus the Children of Israel were obliged to join together in celebrating God's Honour and Praises, for his Deliverance of them out of their Egyptian Bondage, and for his immediate Government of them, and prescribing them Laws for the Support of this Government, and for God's revealing himself to them in the Old Testament; which other Nations to whom God had not thus revealed himself, and thus governed, could not do.

So all Christian Countries and Kingdoms are as well obliged to join together in honouring and praising God for the publick Benefits they receive in being protected in every Government in their Lives and Fortunes in this World, as well as in being received by God's special Grace and Favour into the Communion of Christ's Congregation: But God's Providence in governing the World being after different manners, in divers Places, so must the Religion, or the manner of celebrating God's Praises, be differing in them. In England we are obliged to honour and praise God, that we enjoy God's Blessings by Laws peculiar to this Nation, and by being delivered from the Popish Conspiracy in 1605, &c. but other Nations which do not partake with us herein, cannot join herein with us, nor we with them.

Religion, or the conjoining of Men in honouring and praising God for the publick Benefits they equally receive from God, is the highest Duty incumbent upon Man: for tho God by a peculiar Providence foresees, and provides for all Men in several manners, it may be, not for two alike in all the World, and also for these in daily Varieties; yet Men are secured in these particular Blessings by the publick Laws and Governments of the different Places wherein they inhabit.

Christian Religion being a conjoining of many in celebrating God's Praises, and in Prayers for God's continuing his Mercies and Blessings; these Praises and Prayers are supposed to be uniform and foreknown, that all who meet, may join with one Voice and Mind in them: and therefore S. Paul, 1 Tim. 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. exhorts Timothy, that first of all, (as for the highest Duty of Christians) Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions, and giving of Thanks be made for all Men, especially for Kings, and all in Authority under them (tho at this time not only the Roman Emperours, but all Kings, and those in Authority were Heathen and Idolaters) that we may lead a quiet and peaceable Life in all Godliness and Honesty: for this is good and acceptable in the Sight of God our Saviour, who will have all Men to be saved, and come to the Knowledg of the [Page] Truth; for there is one God, and one Mediator between God and Men, the Man Christ Jesus. If therefore by Divine Precept or Command from God, Supplications, Prayers, Intercessions and Thanksgiving be to be made for Heathen Kings and Magistrates, much more are Christians obliged to make all these for Christian Kings and Magistrates.

All Kingdoms consist in the mutual Office of Commanding and Obeying, so that it is as well the Duty of Kings, and those who are in Authority to command, as it is of the Subjects to obey; and no Obedience can be, where there is no Command to which it is due; for where there is no Law, there is no Transgression, or Omission.

Tho these Offices be distinct in their Relations, to the Governors and Governed, yet the Rules of these Offices are the same, and common to both, so as that they ought to be foreknown, as well to those in Authority to command, as those who are subject to them; these Rules are the Laws and Constitutions of every Kingdom and Country, which unite them into one Incorporeal, or Intelligible Body; and under these is Mankind in different Places, in divers manners, maintained in Society and Concord.

The Offices of Commanding and Obeying, are not only restrained to Moral Speech and Actions, but extend to Religious; for the Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom, as well in all publick as private Actions: So that all Civil Nations to whom God had not revealed himself, however they misplaced their Deities in Osyris, Isis, Jupiter, &c. worshipped their Gods in publick manner, and had those Rites and Ceremonies which were performed by separate Persons ordained thereto.

As God governs the World, and all Creatures in it, so does he govern the Kingdoms in the World, and has-set fatal Periods to them, as well as to the Life of Man, and all other Creatures: yet as he has not in vain given Laws to Man to govern his Intentions, Speech and Actions by, and made him to subsist in the Labour of his Body, and Cares of his Mind, or both; so has he not in vain commanded all Kingdoms and Nations to honour and serve him, and to live justly and peaceably with one another: and under these only can Kingdoms and Nations hope for Peace, and God's Blessing upon them.

So that it is not the extent of the Territories of Kingdoms and Nations which is the Strength of them, but the number of People in them: nor is it their well-peopling only, but their Unity in Religion and Civil Government; for by these, small Dominions increase upon others, which are in Distraction and Dissension: and where Kingdoms or Nations become distracted or divided, either in Religion or Civil Government, they become, how great soever they be, so much more enfeebled, and tending to outward and intestine Dissolution, as these shall be more.

[Page] These Discords in Religion and Justice, have their Beginnings oft-times from Kings, and those in Authority, and often from the Subjects. It was Solomon's Wives, 1 Kings 11. that turn'd away his Heart from the Religion which God commanded, which was the Cause, ver. 11. that God rent his Kingdom of Israel from him, and gave it to his Servant Jeroboam; and it was Jeroboam's Idolatry which distracted the Israelites into Factions, which in time brought the Babylonish Captivity upon them, from which they never returned.

And as Discords in Religion often arise from Kings, and those in Authority, which enfeeble the Strength of Kingdoms and Nations, so does the Oppression, and Injustice of Kings, and Magistrates, when they are not God's Ministers for their Subjects good, make Kings Instruments of their vile Ends to the damage of their Subjects: Thus Rehoboam to humour his Favourites bred up with him, preferred them before his Subjects, and threatned to oppress them more than his Father did; whereby he lost the Dominion of ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel, not only from himself but from his Father's House for ever; and became so poor and feeble, that the King of Egypt took Jerusalem, and made Spoil of all the wonderful Riches, which his Father had left him. It was Ahab's Covetousness and Injustice in the Murder of Naboth, and seizing his Vineyard, that God not only disinherited his Posterity, but rooted them out from the Face of the Earth; 1 Kings 21. 21.

And as this Discord in Religion and Justice may begin with the King, and those in Authority, so it may from those subject to them. It was the People contrary to God's immediate Command forsook the Religion and Worship which was commanded them, and set up the Molten Calf to be adored and worshipped, Exod. 32. and it was the People which twice conspired to depose Moses from ruling over them, Numbers 16. which brought so great a Destruction upon them.

I do not question, but it was the intolerable Tyranny and Oppression of Dioclesian, Maximinian, Maximin and Maxentius, as well as their horrible Persecution of the Christians, so livelily described by Lactantius, which gave so great a Reputation to the Christians, and made Constantine's Passage to the Roman Empire more desirable, not only by the Christians, but even by the Gentiles. Nor was the Roman Empire at any time of a greater extent, unless under Trajan, than when Constantine became sole Emperor.

Whereas this Roman Empire in the Body of it, was never in so distracted and feeble a State; for tho Constantine, in regard of the Excellency of his natural Disposition, was universally acknowledged Emperor, yet above all things endeavouring the Propagation of Christian Faith and Religion, and by his own Authority, [Page] without the Concurrence of the Senate, he granted an universal Toleration of Religion to all Sects of Christians, as well as Jews and Gentiles, and not only discharged the Christian Clergy, which by the Constitutions of the Empire (when they were not otherwise persecuted) were subject to give their Attendance upon defraying the Lustral Sacrifices, and watch and ward for Security of the Pagan Temples; but made the Christians capable of receiving Legacies, and of all publick Imployments, so as the Christians were not only in an equal, but better Estate than the Gentiles, and upon all occasions had the Preference of Constantine's Favour.

But however this displeased the Gentiles, it did not content all sorts of Christian Hereticks, and Schismaticks, who were so obstinate in their Opinions, that all the Endeavours Constantine could use, would not reconcile them: For besides the Nicene Council, he called four more, viz. at Gaul, Ancyra, Neo Caesarea, and Laodicea. But when the Hereticks and Schismaticks would not submit to these, Constantine restrained them from the Privileges he before granted them, and left them in the same state they were before he became Emperor, yet not subject to further Persecution.

This was so far from redressing the Factions, that they became more bitter against the Orthodox Christians than they were before, and the Gentiles countenanced the Hereticks and Schismaticks herein, so that in many Places were Tumults and Disorders; and many bitter Invectives, even against Constantine himself, were uttered by them. So that the whole Body of the Empire was rent and torn into Parties and Factions, and Constantine's time wholly taken up about them, to the necessary neglect of the more important Affairs of the Empire.

To this state did the devilish Pride of these Hereticks and Schismaticks reduce the Roman Empire; I say devilish Pride, for they were not content to submit, as Christ's Servants, to obey him in those plain and easily intelligible Precepts of the Gospel, but like Lucifer would be wise in understanding our Saviour's glorious Attributes, which as they are incomprehensible to Humane Understanding, so without invading God's Prerogative, which he has not communicated to any Creature, no Man ought to enquire into them: and this Misery attends all the wild and extravagant Opinions, not only of the Christians, but of all the Sects of other Philosophers (or rather Sophisters) about God and his Attributes, that being founded in their Fantastick Brains, they will submit to no Rule which God requires of Man to determine them, and so they continue in endless Contention and Confusion.

These Hereticks and Schismaticks not content to be Co-partners with our Saviour in his Attributes, extended their blasphemous and extravagant Opinions into the Objects of Religion (which neither the Jews nor Gentiles ever did) a Lie in diametrical Contradiction; [Page] for Religion is a publick Conjunction of Men in celebrating God's Praises for the publick Blessings they alike received from God; whereas these for the Love-sake Opinion of their own Conceits, disjoined themselves from celebrating God's Praises for the Benefits they alike received from God, as Christians: How could the monstrous Opinions of the Marcionists, Manichees, Novatians, Arians, Sabellians, and Donatists, absolve these from joining with their fellow Christians, in giving God Thanks for their Conversion to the Christian Faith, and for their wonderful Deliverance by Constantine, from the Rage and Persecution of Dioclesian, Maximinian, Maxentius and Maximin?

This was the Gratitude and Piety which these Men returned to God and Constantine for their Deliverance: and if they made things thus bad in Constantine's Reign, they made them much worse after his Death; for notwithstanding all the pious Endeavours of Constantine to the contrary, the Arians, above all other Sects, had over-spread the Face of the Roman Empire, and his Son Constantius became an Arian, and not only revoked the Privileges which his Father had conferred upon the Orthodox Christians, and preferred the Arians (if they were worthy to be called Christians) before them, but by several Councils at Tyre, Antioch and in the East, (for Constantine divided the Empire between his three Sons, Constantine, Constantius and Constans, and the Eastern Empire was given to Constantius) revoked all the Decrees of the Nic [...] Council.

Nor was the Empire in a much better Condition in the West, for Arianism had over-spread the Western as well as the Eastern Empire; and though Constans were not a Persecutor of the Orthodox Christians, as his Brother Constantius was, yet Liberius, the Bishop (or, if you please, the Pope) of Rome, was an Arian; and one Felix became a Competitor with him in his Bishoprick, or Papacy. In this Hurly-burly stood the Roman Empire after the Death of Constantine, wherein Civil and Military Discipline became neglected till the Reign of Julian the Apostate, which was but 24 Years after the Death of Constantine.

Julian (who succeeded Constantius) put the Case further than the Arians, for they would allow our Saviour's Divinity to exist to Eternity, though they denied it from Eternity; whereas Julian would not allow him to be a Prophet; and for the short Time of his Reign, he made it his Business to restore Paganism; and to that end revoked all the Powers and Privileges Constantine had granted the Christians, and granted a general Indulgence to all Sects of the Christians, yet recalled all exiled Bishops, whether Catholick, or Heretick, so that there was a Confusion among them in the Execution of their Offices; but in all the countenanced the Hereticks against the Orthodox.

[Page] However Julian being a Martial Prince, and the Persians having in these Confusions of the Roman Empire, made Invasions upon it; Julian raised a great Army, and marched against Sapores, the King of Persia: but in this Expedition Julian died, having reigned but one Year, and eight Months, to whom Jovian succeeded, who was a zealous Orthodox Emperor: but the Gentiles under Julian disliking Jovian, and the Christians being in Feuds and Factions, Jovian was forced to make an inglorious Peace with Sapores, and delivered up the City of Nisibis to him. However Jovian restored the Orthodox Christians to the Privileges and Immunities which Constantine had granted them, and left the Pagans and Hereticks to themselves: But Jovian's short Reign, being but seven Months and odd days, could perfect no great matter.

To Jovian, Valentinian succeeded, who took his Brother Valens to be his Colleague; Valentinian was zealously Orthodox, and Valens fierce sa an Arian: Valentinian granted a general Indulgence of Liberty to Pagans, and all sorts of Hereticks, but favoured the Orthodox: But Valens denied Liberty of Religion, to the Orthodox, though he granted it to all other Sects and Hereticks, and also to the Pagans.

In the third Year of the Reign of Valentinian and Valens, Valentinian made his Son Gratian a Co-partner in the Empire; and having reigned 11 Years died, leaving his Sons Gratian and Valentinian Emperors, but Valens died three Years after him, viz. Ann. 378. and no mention is made of his Issue.

By this time Arianism had over-spread the Face of the Eastern Empire, and was so established that the Orthodox Christians were forced to exercise their Religion in obscure Conventicles; besides the Vise, or West Goths, though Arians, had over-run Thrace, even to the Gates of Constantinople.

Gratian was Orthodox, and in this distracted Estate of the Eastern Empire, was sore pressed upon by the Germans in the Western; so that he judged his younger Brother Valentinian no ways qualified to restrain the warlike Progress of the Goths, or settle the Eastern Empire; and therefore chose Theodosius for his Colleague. Theodosius was a Spaniard by birth, as well as Trajan, a most devout and Orthodox Christian, and a most valiant and expert Souldier: so that as Trajan was the most glorious and august of all the Heathen Emperours, so was Theodosius (at least after Constantine) the most renowned of all the Christian Emperours; yet it was his Fate that he should see his Native Country to be the first that fell in the Ruine of the Roman Western Empire.

Theodosius was made Emperor in the Year 379, and forthwith raised an Imperial Army, and marched against the Goths, and gained several signal Victories over them; and in the Year 380 entred in Triumph into Constantinople, where he found it a much more [Page] difficult Task to re-establish the Orthodox Christians than to vanquish the Goths: for the Arians above 40 Years had been possessed of the Revenue belonging to the Church; their Churches rich and splendid, and their Service magnificent; and the Orthodox being poor, and out of Possession of any Churches, or Revenue, it was impossible to redress these in an instant, but by degrees; so that it was ten Years before Theodosius could re-establish the Orthodox Clergy, and suppress the Arian.

In the mean time, viz. Ann. 381, the next Year after Theodosius settled at Constantinople, Alaricus, King of the West Goths, (who were Arians) marched through Maesia, now called Hungary, Germany, and Gaul, into Spain, and without any Fighting, or Siege, that we read of, took Possession of the greatest part of Spain: So much was the antient Roman Warlike Discipline neglected, while the Christians were in these Feuds and Discords among themselves; so that Spain which held the longest Wars against the Romans of all their Conquered Dominions in Europe, was the first that was rent from the Roman Empire, without a Sword drawn in its Defence.

But Spain was too great to be wholly possessed by the Goths, so that about 40 Years after Alaricus had possessed himself of the other parts of Spain, Gundericus King of the Vandals, Anno 410, marched quite through the Body of the Roman Western Empire, and without any interruption, pierced to the most remote South-West part of Spain, called Baetica, and there planted themselves, and called it Andaluzia, or Vandaluzia, or the Country of the Vandals.

I have been a little more particular in setting down the Causes of the Ruin of the Roman Western Empire, that the Occasions of the like might be avoided in the other parts of Christendom, as well to avoid the like Consequences, as the Scandal to Christianity thereby; and the rather, because that the fond Opinions which are broached in these times, are as extravagant and wild, as those in the time of Constantine, and after; and Men as obstinate in them, and so conceited of them, that they make them the Objects of their Religion; and think themselves thereby discharged from joining with other Christians, in celebrating Praises and Thanksgiving to God, for the publick Benefits they alike partake.

St. Paul truly calls the Brawls among the different Sects of the Graecian Philosophers, vain Philosophy; because they tended to no Edification, or Benefit, but caused endless Contentions and Discords; and was never more offended than when the Christians became distracted into Sects, I am of Paul, another of Apollo, a third of Cephas, &c. whereby the Unity of Christians was rent into endless Feuds and Factions.

And as the Dogmatizing of these Philosophers (or rather Sophisters) was vain, and tended to no good, but ill, so are the Analyticks, Topicks, Physicks and Metaphysicks of Aristotle, and all [Page] the Disqui [...]tions and Distinctions of the School-men, about the Attributes of God, Angels and Saints, &c. and tend to no Edification: For I say that by no Rule, or Method of Aristotle's Logick, was ever any Progression of Learning in any one Proposition in any Art, or Science; if another can shew it, it lies on his part, for I deny it; and I will be particular herein.

Clavius in his Scholium upon the first Proposition of Euclid's Elements, endeavours to demonstrate it by Aristotle's Logick, in three Syllogisms, and two Corollaries, (such as they are) and then leaves it not only unconclusive, but says by this way it cannot otherwise be done; and therefore not only he, but all other Mathematicians, not only in their Comments upon Euclid, but all other Mathematical Learning, rejects this way of Reasoning, and betakes himself to what he had said before in his Demonstration of it. As if all Light of Reasoning were so shut up in Claviu; his Brain, that because he does not see, the rest of Mankind must be blind; and what is that way of Reasoning that he betakes himself to, but by hudling the Principles of Geometry into Confusion, without order or method of Reasoning, to make a Conclusion, like a Dutch Reckoning of Altem-al? From hence it is, that there is no Method or Order of reasoning observ'd in Geometry, whereby this noble Science is rendred so perplext, that of ingenious Men, not one in twenty can understand it, and no Reason is given of any one Proposition of our most useful Vulgar Arithmetick, whereby it becomes crampt up to some few Rules, without further possibility of progress.

And I say if Aristotle's Logick be of no Use in Scientifical and Demonstrative Learning, then cannot it be in dialectical and probable; for if any of the Premises of a Syllogism be but probable, or uncertain, the Conclusion will be less probable and more uncertain, from whence endless Confusion and Discord will follow, but never any rational Knowledg: and from hence it is there are so many Sects among the Peripateticks, which are derived from Aristotle, as Branches from the Trunk of a Tree, as Clavius truly observes in his Preface of the Nobility and Excellency of Mathematical Learning, and we shall have Occasion to say more hereof hereafter.

I would not have carped at Aristotle or Clavius herein, if I did not understand that not only Geometry and Numbers, but all Mathematical Learning, might be taught by one Method of Reasoning, intelligible by Youth in their early Years; and that without Algebra, Square or Cube Roots of surd Numbers, might be extracted without Error; whereby all those surd Propositions in Mathematicks, which before could only be resolved Geometrically, may be so Numerically; and also how in Navigation to find out the Variation of Longitude in any different Latitude, if an Account [Page] be given of the Sailing; which I say is impossible to be done by Trigonometry, and the Tables of Sines, Secants, and Tangents; and to find out the Centre of any Circle, in any two different Latitudes, and variation of Longitude given, and the Arch of Distance: Nor is this Method of Reasoning restrained to Mathematical Learning, but may be in other, as hath been shewed in The Reasons of the Decay of the Strength, Wealth and Trade of England, and The Increase of the Dutch Wealth, Strength and Trade, &c.

How much better then were it for the Nobler, and better sort of Youth, to be instructed in their Mother-Tongues in this Learning, wherein every Proposition would beget a new Knowledg, which may be useful to them in their future Conversation and Business, than to lose their whole Youth in learning Greek and Latin, which they rarely ever after make use of, which they might, if that time had been employed in learning Welsh and Irish; and instead of being instructed how to deal and converse justly, to be imposed upon by the Sophistry of Aristotle, which is of no Use to them in their Conversation and Business, and excites them into endless Brawls and Contentions not only in civil but religious Affairs?

Having given an Account of the Reasons of the Ruine of the Roman Western Empire, and how like our Case is to that of the Empire in its Declension; It's time to take a view of the State of the Goths and Vandals, after they had planted themselves in Spain: and herein I observe, that though the Romans as well as Grecians, esteem all other Nations barbarous but themselves, yet the Government of them was equal, if not better than either; for it was a Regular Monarchy, wherein the King did not govern by an absolute despotick Power, but by established Laws; nor could they make new, nor alter the old, or raise Money, without the Consent of the States of their Kingdoms, and this continued for many Hundred Years after: how many of the Kingdoms in Spain lost these Privileges, is too long to be inserted here; yet at this Day the Kingdom of Arragon retains them: So that the King of Spain never speaks to them as King of Castile.

In the Reign of Honorius and Arcadius Ann. 408. about five Years before Gundericus entred Spain, Attila King of the Huns over-run the Empire, and pierced into Gaul with a huge Army, against whom Honorius sent Ecius, (the greatest General of his time) with an Imperial Army, which was raised in all parts of the Empire; so as Ecius was forced to withdraw the Roman Legions in Britain to oppose Attila, nor did they ever return more; so that the poor Britains being enured to no warlike Discipline, but only to serve their imperious Masters, easily became a Prey to the Picts and Scots, and so were in a more servile State than when they were under the Romans. To redeem themselves from which, they called the English Saxons to their Assistance, who used them worst of all, and [Page] expelled the whole Race of them out of that part of Britain, now called England.

But this is observable, That as in these Times the rest of the Roman Empire was over-spread with Arianism, so was that part of Britain subject to the Roman Empire, over-spread with Pelagianism; and here observe the Justice of God upon them, that these Men who ascribed to themselves a Power of Salvation, without God's special Grace and Favour to them, should not be able to save themselves from their Enemies, but be either slaughtered by them, or expelled their Native Country upon the Earth.

The Saxons which conquered the Britains were Heathen, yet was their Government, as well as that of the Goths, a Regular Monarchy, and so continued in all the Dynasties of their Kings, and yet is continued notwithstanding the several Attempts of many of the Kings of the Norman, and the Scotish Race to the contrary.

About ten Years after Ecius recalled the Roman Legions out of Britain, viz. in 418. Pharamond entred Gaul, and conquered some part of it, which he called France, after the Name of the Franks; and Pharamond was Heathen; and so was Meroveus his Successor, and Childerick his Son; and so continued till about the Year 490, when Clovis was converted to Christianity: of whom Messeray glories that he was the only King in the World, which was not Infidel, or Heretick.

However, the Government of the Franks, as well as the Goths and Saxons, was a Regular Monarchy, till the Reign of Charles the 7th, about the Year 1430. which was above a thousand Years after the Franks planted themselves in Gaul.

If we look back into the Reign of Henry the 2d of England, we shall find him, it may be, the greatest of all the Western Kings, and Lord, if not of the greatest, yet best part of France, as he was Duke of Normandy and Aquitain in Right of his Wife Eleanor, Aquitain having the Ocean on the West, and Normandy, the British Sea on the North.

But this Dominion did not last long, for King John, Henry's Son, and John's Son Henry the 3d endeavouring to usurp a more than Legal Authority over their Subjects, caused such a Ferment and Discord in the Kingdom; and this lasted near 70 Years, that the Kings of France in the mean time took all Normandy, and the greatest part of Aquitain from the English.

When King James became King of England, Henry the 4th was French King, having composed by Force and Clemency the Civil Wars, which had raged near 40 Years all over France; and in the Year 1597, made Peace with Spain, which was about 5 Years before King James became King of England: and here let's take a view of Spain.

Though Spain were 1/3 greater than France, when King James [Page] came to the Crown of England, yet France was, I believe, fivefold better peopled, and generally a more fruitful Country: How this came to pass it's fit to look back upon the Cause of the Sterility of Men in Spain, and their abounding in France.

Ferdinand and Isabella, King and Queen of Castile and Arragon, about the Year 1490, having conquered the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia; and against their Faith given to the Moors, brought in the Inquisition upon them, the greatest part of the Moors forsook their Country, and thereby left the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia, so much less peopled: and Ferdinand and Isabella being addicted to the Roman Religion, established manifold Bishopricks and Religious Houses in these Kingdoms of both Sexes; and the Pope though he pleases to make Marriage a Sacrament, yet forbids it to the Clergy, and other of both Sexes who take upon them a Religious Life; whereby as the Moors leaving Spain, unpeopled it at present, so future Generations became so much less replenished by how much more People took upon them a Religious Habit.

But this Mischief did not stop here, for Philip the 2d (great Grand-Son of Ferdinand and Isabella, and a most bigotted Prince to the Romish Superstition) brought the Inquisition upon the Converted Moors, which drove them out of Spain to the farther unpeopling of it; and my Lord Bacon says, that many of these poor converted Moors became as persecuted in their Exile for their Religion, as if they had continued in Spain: And this Mischief further followed, not only to Spain but to Christendom; for the exiled Moors having no other Habitation and Means of Living, set up their Trade of Piracy in Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, within the Straits, and in Sally without, whereby they have been a Plague to all other Christians, as well as Spaniards, who trade into the Straits and Affrick, and other Southern Countries, ever since.

About the time that Ferdinand and Isabel conquered Spain, Columbus discovered the West-Indies; and Hornando Cortez siding with one part of the Indians, which were at War against the other, and thereby becoming Conqueror of those he fought against, he got incredible Wealth, with a Discovery of the Rich Mines in Mexico.

The Blaze of this quickly flew all over Spain, so that the Spaniards expected Mountains of Gold in running out of Spain into America, and therefore near half Spain ran into America, to seek new Adventures there; the covetous Spaniard not considering the Strength and Glory of every Country consists in the well peopling and governing of it; and that Desolation is the End of all God's Judgments upon any Country.

Here note, that no Art or Science comes to pass by Fate, Inspiration or Chance, but by Education, Learning, Conversation and Experience in Arts; and therefore wherever People are thin, they are rude, ignorant, poor, heathenish, and idle, and of little Use to [Page] their Country; and also where the generality of the People of any Country, be not imployed in Labours to supply other Men, they become a Burden to the Country to maintain them: so that Spain in this state not only lost their antient Virtue and Military Discipline, but the Inhabitants being more religious and idle People than in any other part of the World, became hereby not only the feeblest of all other Countries, but the poorest; and notwithstanding the Millions of Treasure which were yearly imported into Spain, yet it could not support the Luxury of the Religious, and maintain the poor idle Persons in it.

But Spain could not contain the bloody Superstitious Rage and Tyranny of Philip, but he endeavoured to have brought in the Inquisition and Castilian Government into the Netherlands, which were Provinces more rich and abounding with People, and had more great and populous Towns, than any other part of the known World of like Bigness, and the Inhabitants of a warlike Constitution: these Countries were made free by Charles, Philip's Father, from their dependance upon France; for after Charles had taken Francis the first, Prisoner, it was one of the Articles for his Enlargement, that he should remit the Fealty which those Countries paid him.

The Fleming (for so the Inhabitants of these Provinces were generally called from Flanders the greatest of them) did not as the Moors, run out of their Country, but stoutly stood upon their Liberties and Privileges, and rose up in Arms in defence of them: and these Wars continuing above 80 Years, not only put the Kings of Spain to a greater Expence than the Revenues of those Provinces, and the Returns of the Plate Fleets from America could support; but after all, above seven of these Provinces rent themselves quite from the Dominion of Spain, and erected themselves into a Free-state: nor till the Duke of Bavaria became their Governour, would the Kings of Spain trust the Inhabitants of those which continued in their Subjection, with Arms to defend themselves against the French, whereby the Government of those Countries became more chargeable to Spain than it could support; yet so weak, that they could not resist the Insults of the French, nor the revolted Provinces: and in this State Spain stood when King James became King of England, and so continued (except the Tru [...]e made in 1609) till the Treaty at Munster in 1648.

It hath been observed in the Treatises of the Reason of the Decay of the Strength, Wealth and Trade of England, and also of the equal Danger of the Church and State &c. of England, how much the State of England resembles that of Spain; for if the Excursion of the Spaniards into America, so much dispeoples Spain, so does the Excursion of the Inhabitants of England into our American Plantations, and in repeopling Ireland, dispeople England; and if the Inquisition in Spain be a Bar to keep out Supplies in Spain for their Expence into America, [Page] so is the Law against naturalizing of Foreigners here in England.

It is true, no Law, or Usage in England, forbids Marriage to any, for supplying future Generations, yet I'le leave it to the Reader to judg, if, as the Case stands in England, it be not worse than if Marriage were forbidden to the ordinary and meaner sort of People in England; for in all the Countries of England more poor Children are born, than can be employed in Rural or Country affairs, and their poor Parents have not means to bind them Apprentice in Market-Towns and Corporations, which exclude all other from Trading with them, but those which have been bound Apprentice, and served their Apprenticeship: nay the 5th Act of Eliz. c. 4. excludes all from being bound Apprentices, but the Children of Free-men, or such whose Parents had 40 Shill. per Ann. and by the Act of Eliz. 31. 7. no Cottages shall be built in Country Villages, which shall not have 4 Acres of Ground annexed to them, which poor Labourers cannot do; so that the poor Children not being permitted to inhabit in Country Villages, and excluded out of Market-Towns and Corporations, are forced either to fly their Country, or to be Tapsters, Ostlers and Drawers, Alehouse-keepers, or Strong-Water-Sellers, if they can get a Licence: so little was the Interest of the Nation understood heretofore; for the Strength and Wealth of every Nation is founded in the Number and Industry of the Natives; and therefore to neglect to instruct Youth how to employ themselves, or to debar any Man from the Benefit of his honest Imployment, is not only unjust but impolitick.

And as these Corporations in excluding other Men are unjust and impolitick, so are they dangerous to the Government otherwise, as they are Marks of Faction and Distinction in it; and as they make themselves to be the only Free-men in them, whereby they exclude the rest of the Nation: Now let's see what a Sort of Men these are which claim these Prerogatives over the rest of the Subjects of the Nation, but generally a Sort of Shop-keepers, Retailers, and wholesale Men, who neither labour, nor are otherwise of any Use to the Government; but by the Prerogatives of their Freedom, set what Price they please upon the Labour of poor Artificers, (who are the Soul of the Nation) and impose what Rates they please to the Buyers of these again of them; whereby their Riches arise from the Oppression of the Labourer, while they are idle, and by imposing upon the Nobility, Gentry, and others in selling: whereas it's said, and I believe it, that in Holland a Retailer, (or if you will a Forestaller) is not permitted, unless to them who are reputed honest, and by Misfortune are fallen into Decay; so that as London grows rich by its Freedom of Trade with the Nation, so Amsterdam, and other Towns in Holland grow rich by foreign Trade.

The Act, 3 Jac. c. 6. is of better Authority than any thing I can [Page] say, and more livelily describes the manifold Mischiefs and Abuses both to the King and Kingdom, which attended our foreign Trades by Companies, exclusive to other Subjects of the Nation: I'le only therefore observe this in it, which the Act does not; That these Companies who manage foreign Trades exclusive to other Men, are more tyrannous and injurious to their fellow Subjects than any of their Enemies are, as has been shewed in the East-India and African Companies, and hereby have no reason to expect any Assistance from the Nation to support them, against the Insults of the Dutch and French upon them; for why should the Nation assist them, who have rent themselves from the Nation, and are more Enemies to it than any other?

But over and above these unhappy Accidents, which so highly contributed to the weakning of the Spanish Monarchy, we may add another, that proved no less fatal and destructive, and that was Queen Elizabeth's destroying their invincible Armada in the Year 1588. and her sacking and Burning of Cales in 1595. wherein was destroyed such an incredible Mass of Wealth that the Spaniards never after were formidable either by Sea or Land; and this was so much the more, by how much Philip the 3d proved to be a weak, effeminate Prince, wholly governed by Favourites.

Having taken a View of England and Spain, and compared the State of them, we'll see how they stand in reference to France which lies between them, and so becomes a neighbouring Nation to them both: France tho it be not threefold greater than England, yet it is manifoldly more peopled in that Proportion, and more abounding with great, rich, and populous Towns; and tho it be not an Island, yet it has the British Sea on the North, the Atlantick Ocean on the West, and the Mediterranean Sea on the South; so that in its Situation, it's better placed for Trade, than if it had been an Island, having Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Lorain, Germany, Savoy and Italy to trade to by Land.

Henry the 4th of France, after he had subdued the Popish League, and made a Peace with the Spaniard at Vervins in 1597, secured the Murmurs of the Reformed, by the famous Edict of Nants; and being a Prince not less prudent in Counsel than victorious in War, as well to divert the French from their mutinous and quarrelling Humour, as to increase the Riches of France, gave all imaginable Incouragement to the Inhabitants in Manufactures, the Principles whereof abound more in France, than any other Country, except England; yet added to them the breeding Silk-worms, and by the lively Ingenuity of the French, improved Silk-Manufactures above any other Country.

Here take notice of the Benefit which arises to any Nation by the Imployment of People in Manufactures, above other Countries, where the Inhabitants are not employed: For, suppose a Million of [Page] People in France were thus employed, and those yearly earned 20 l. per Ann. the Employment of these People are twenty Millions Benefit yearly to France, and this Money generally distributed among the Workmen; and whatever of these Manufactures are vended in foreign Trade, these will be so much an enriching to it; whereas if these had not been employed, they would have been at least five Millions a Year burden to it, and France would have been in so much a worse State to have supported them; whereas if the People be not employed, as in Spain, the Distribution of the Treasure out of the Indies is not only unequally distributed, but the Charge of maintaining the Religious and idle Persons, most miserable and intolerable. Let's now see the State of England, by the 5th Act of Eliz. c. 4. excluding the English Natives, not Free-men, from working in Market-Towns and Corporations: we'll take a very modest Estimate herein; and suppose but 10000 yearly (scarce one in a Parish) be excluded, so that hereby the Nation loses their Imployment, this at 20 l. per Ann. will be 200000 pounds a Year loss to the Nation, besides the Charge of maintaining them, if they do not fly out of the Kingdom, for want of Subsistence in it; and I pray what does the wholesale and Retail Trades of Shop-keepers in them, contribute to the Support of this, or of what Benefit are they otherwise to the Nation?

Henry the 4th having thus imployed the Natives of France, and having few Plantations to exhaust it, tho France drove no foreign Trade by Sea, yet by permitting the English, Dutch, Swedes, Danes and Hamburghers to trade into France by Sea, and the Germans by Land, it's scarce credible, after the long Civil Wars in France, in the Space of but 13 Years (for it was no longer between the Peace at Vervins in 1597, and his Death) what incredible Treasure he amassed, if so great an Author as Messeray did not affirm it; whereupon he nourished a Design of new modelling all the Western Parts of Christendom, (except Britain and Ireland, which he knew would not hinder him in it) and Messeray did not doubt but he had means enough to have accomplish'd it, if he had lived; but when his Foot was in the Stirrup to have accomplished this, Ravillac put a full Stop to his Career.

Yet France had in it no Mines of Gold or Silver, no more than England hath; and the Treasure which England acquires, is by the Vent of our Woollen Manufactures, and our Lead and Tin; and so much more as the Natives are less employed in these, and these are less in foreign Trade, by restraining the Vent to English Men, and more to English Companies, so much less Treasure will the Nation acquire, and the Natives be less employed.

As France thus abounds in People more than either England or Spain, whereby they acquire such vast Wealth above them, by permitting Foreigners to trade with them; so are the French Nobility [Page] (which include the Gentry) of a warlike and aspiring Temper; and if this had not usually excited them into intestine Broils and Tumults, as Secretary Trevor observes, all their Neighbour Nations could not have set bounds to their ambitious Humour.

But the Prosperity of France no ways daunted Queen Elizabeth, so that Henry the 4th designing to build some great Men of War at Brest, she forbid the King's making any further Progress in it, or she would fire all the Ships in his Harbours, whereupon this great Hero desisted; nor would she permit the Dutch to build any great Ships, but she would have an account of them; and so having the Brill, Ramakins and Flushing, the Keys of the Rivers of the Maes and Scheld, in her Hands, she died with an uncontrouled Dominion of the Seas, and Arbitress of Christendom: and in this State King James took Possession of the Crown of England, with all its Dependences, to which he added that of Scotland, whose Reign is now ripe to be exposed.

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, During the Reign of King JAMES I. &c.

[Page]

BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

A Better View may appear of this Reign, if we look back to the Beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, and compare it with that of this King's Reign, when he came to join the Crowns of England and Ireland to that of Scotland, and thereby became the greatest Monarch that governed England since King John, except it was in the Reign of Henry the Fifth, and some time of the Reign of Henry the Sixth, when Normandy, and so great a part of France, was subdued to the Dominion of the Crown of England.

This Kingdom was never in so low an Ebb of Reputation, and so dangerous a State both at home and abroad, as when Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown, her Father, Brother and Sister in debt, and the Navy Royal neglected and out of Repair; yet the Revenues of the Crown, besides the Court of Wards and the [Page] Dutchy of Lancaster, I say, the Profits of the Kingdom were but 188179 l. 4 s. [See Sir Robert Cotton's Means of the Kings of England, p. 3.] the Kingdom imbroiled in intestine Heats in Religion, and Philip the second of Spain aspiring to an unlimited Dominion in and out of Europe; Calais, notwithstanding the united Interest of England with Spain, but some Months before lost to the French; and Francis the Dauphin of France, in right of his Wife Mary, Queen of Scotland, laying claim to the Crown of England.

Whereas when King James came to be King of England, the Kingdom was in intire Peace within, and in a Martial State, and full of Honour and Reputation abroad; the Royal Navy not only Superior to any other in the World in Strength, but in good Repair; few Debts left charged upon the Crown: yet if the Exchequer were not replenished with Money, the King received Three entire Subsidies, and six fifteens of the 4 Subsidies, and eight Fifteens granted to the Queen for suppressing the Irish Rebellion, and carrying on the War against Spain some Months before, though both the Rebellion, and War with Spain ceased that Year he became King; the Customs for supporting the Navy, more than fivefold they were in the Beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, and above two Millions and four hundred Thousand Pounds due from the States of Holland (or the Ʋnited Netherlands;) but how the States became discharged of it, it's fit to premise it there, and how it became due to Queen Elizabeth, and so to the Crown of England.

Queen Elizabeth though she refused to accept of the Sovereignty of the Ʋnited Provinces, when she took them into Protection, after the Expulsion of the Duke of Anjou, and the Death of the Prince of Orange; yet she entred into a Treaty with the States, Anno 1585. wherein it was agreed, That the Dutch should repay her all the Monies which she should expend for their Preservation, with Interest at 10 per Cent. when the War was ended with Spain; and that two English, whom the Queen should name, should be admitted into their Council of State, and for Security whereof the Dutch should deliver up to her Flushing, Rammekins, and the Brill, which were the Keys of their Country.

Upon this Agreement the Queen, for the Dutch's further Encouragement, gave them Licence to fish upon the Coast of England, which she denied them when they continued in their subjection to King Philip; and removed the Staple of the English Woollen Manufactures from Antwerp, in the Power of the King of Spain, to Delf, in the Dutch Power; and it is scarce credible, how in so short a time after, viz. scarce thirteen Years, the Dutch entertaining all sorts of People, who were persecuted upon the Account of not submitting to the Papal Usurpations, (called Religion) swelled their Trade and Navigation, not only in Europe but in the East and West-Indies.

[Page] The Queen considering this Encrease of the Dutch Trade and Navigation was as much to the lessening of the English; and being provoked by the Ingratitude of the Lovestein Faction, whereof one Olden Barnevelt was the Head (a Fellow as factious and turbulent, as ungrateful) by whose Counsel another Assembly was erected at Amsterdam, called The Convention of the States General, wherein they managed all the secret and important Affairs of their State, and out of which they excluded the English:

The Queen, I say, highly incensed at the Ingratitude of this Faction, which now governed all in Holland, and yet continuing to support them at the Charge of 120000 l. per Ann. as Camden observes in his Eliz. Reg. Ann. 1598, signified to the States her Intention of making Peace with the King of Spain; which if she did, it would be impossible for them to continue their War with Spain, and recover their Cautionary-Towns from the Queen.

Hereupon the States sent my Lord Warmond (as they called him) as their humble Supplicant to the Queen, and in the lowest Posture of Humility acknowledged themselves obliged to her for infinite Benefits; and that as her Majesty excelled the Glory of her Ancestors in Power, so she excelled them in Acts of Piety and Mercy, but pleaded Poverty for not repayment of the Money the Queen had expended for their Preservation, (they might have said their Exaltation.) The Queen in Answer to them said, she had been often deceived by their deceitful Supplications, and ungrateful Actions, and Pretence of Poverty, when their Power and Riches confuted them; and that she hoped God would not suffer her to be a Pattern to other Princes to help such a People, who bear no Reverence to Superiors, nor take care for the Advantage, Reputation or Safety of any but themselves. The Dutch were confounded at the Queen's Answer, submitted themselves to such Terms as the Queen should lay upon them; and the Queen wisely considering if she should cast them off, Henry the 4th of France, who the last Year, viz. 1597, had concluded a Peace with Spain at Vervins, by the Interposition of the Pope's Nuncio, and sought to be Protector of the States, whereby the Queen would not only be in danger to lose their Dependance, but the Monies she had expended in their Support, they (the Queen and States) came to this Agreeement.

1. That upon an Account stated, there was eight Millions of Crowns, or two Millions Sterling due to the Queen, for which they were to pay Ten per Cent. so long as the War lasted.

2. That during the War they should pay the Queen one hundred thousand Pounds yearly, and the Remainder when Peace with Spain was concluded, and then to have their Cautionary Towns surrendred back to them.

[Page] 3. That till this Agreement was performed, the States were to pay Fifteen hundred English in Garison in them. We leave this Agreement here till we hear more of it hereafter.

There were but thirteen Months between this King's Birth and Reign, his Mother being deposed to make Room for his coming to be King; and by this Title he reigned twenty Years in his Mother's Life, and during that time he never made use of her Name in the Coin of Scotland, nor in any Proclamation or Law, and after her Death, continued his Reign by this Title to his dying Day: which was inconsistent with the Flatteries which his Favourites buz'd continually in his Ears, That he was King by inherent Birth-right, and that he held his Crown from God alone: and so pleasing was this Doctrine to him, that above all other things he set himself upon it, not only in magnifying himself herein, in his Speeches in Parliament, but in his Writings against Bellarmine and Peron against the Pope's deposing Kings.

In his Infancy and Minority the Regents and Nobility made Havock of the Crown and Church Revenues, so as when he came to Age, he had but little left to support his Crown and Dignity; but by how much he became lessened hereby, the Nobility became so much greater, and to support themselves, held a Correspondence with Queen Elizabeth, who tho she countenanced the Nobility, yet she allowed the King a yearly Pension of 4000 l. per Ann. (I have heard and believe it) in his Minority, and 10000 l. per An. after he came to age, and hereby kept both the King and Nobility depending on her.

As the Nobility, in his Minority, made him so poor, so the Kirk-party justled him in his Throne, by making themselves a distinct Table from the Secular or Temporal Power, not only in Matters purely Spiritual, but in holding General Assemblies and all Matters which related to what they pleased to call The Kingdom of Christ; and were so zealous, I will not say Rude, herein, that they made it a Duty incumbent upon the Temporal Power, to pass the Acts of their General Assemblies into Laws: And, in truth, they expressed but little Civility to the King, in whatsoever they applied themselves to him, as if it were his Duty to do whatsoever they would have him, and without his Consent; and even to cross him, would ordain Fasting-days, and sometimes upon Sundays: And hating Episcopal Government, it was very troublesome to the Regents, in his Minority, as well as to the King, to retain the Name of a Bishop, after they assumed to themselves the Power. Queen Elizabeth was no better Friend to this Kirk-party than the King, though she winkt at it, and was the more provoked against it, by Knocks his Book which he wrote against Gynarchy; and from hence it was King James took the easier Impression of Flatterers, and was so zealous a Defender of Bishops, that in a Conference at Hampton-Court, [Page] in the first Year of his Reign, he held it for a Maxim, No Bishop, no King.

The Tears which all true English shed for the Death of Queen Elizabeth, who died the 24th of March, 1602. were soon wiped off, by the Accession of King James to this Crown, the antient Feuds between the Nations of England and Scotland were reconciled; and John Stow in his Annals of the first of this King, gives a particular Account of his most magnificent and joyful Reception day by day from Berwick to London, yet with this Blot in his Scutcheon, that when he came to Newark, he first discovered his Disposition to Arbitrary Government; for being told that one had cut a Purse at Newark, the King without any Legal Process, or the Defence of the Party, signed a Warrant to the Sheriff of Lincolnshire to hang him, which was executed accordingly.

This put no Check to the Jollity of the People, but the nearer he came to London, the greater was the Concourse and Acclamations of the People, tho by his Proclamation, (of which never any Prince was so prodigal, and wherein he continued to his dying Day) he had forbid it, because it raised so much Dust as proved troublesome in his Passage; and upon the 11th of May he came to London, where, being a Prince above all others addicted to Hunting, as his first care, upon the 16th of May issued out another Proclamation forbidding all manner of Persons killing Deer, and all kinds of Wild-fowl used for Hunting and Hawking, upon Pain of the several Laws and Penalties to be executed upon them.

The gazing World abroad, were astonished at this King's peaceable and joyful Settlement in England, and were as forward to Congratulate him in it, as his Subjects were to receive him; and herein the Dutch (being Merchants) were the first that addressed themselves to make their Market of him, and sent over the youngest Son of William, Prince of Orange, one Fulk, and Barnevelt, who, (in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth lay covered in his Faction at Amsterdam, as Tortoises do under Ground in the Winter) now the Dutch designing to make their Harvest in this King's Reign, came abroad, as Tortoises do in the Spring, to dispose him to it: but the Dutch needed not have been so forward herein, for the King was environed with those which should do their Work, better than Barnevelt could have done it.

The Spaniards, after the Loss of their Armada in 1588, and the Loss sustained in the Sacking of Cadiz in 1595, declined as fast in Power and Reputation, as the Dutch grew greater both in Europe, and the West-Indies. But Philip the 2d dying about three Years before Queen Elizabeth, the former Feuds between her and Philip became much abated, and Philip the 3d. succeeding, a young Prince (Nani says) of singular Piety (he means devoted to the Romish Superstition) but wholly unacquainted with Government, and [Page] contenting himself with the Royal Dignity, left the Power to his Favourites and Ministers, and of whom Nani in his fourth Book, Anno 1621, makes this notable Remark as to his Death; That it remained a Doubt, whether in an Age proclaimed by the Wrath of Heaven to the Mockery of Favourites, the King would not have taken upon himself the Government, when Death, in the 43d. Year of his Age takes him away from the Troubles which Empire carries with it? His Years surely would have been more memorable, if he had been born a private Man rather than a King; because being better adorned with Ornaments of Life, than endowed with Skill to command, as Goodness, Piety and Continence, placed him in an higher degree than ordinary Subjects; so his Disapplication to Government, rendred him lower than was fit or necessary. By publick Defects private Vertues being corrupted, and in particular keeping his Mind in Idleness, it was believed that he reserved nothing to himself to do, but to consent to all that his Favourites had a mind to.

Thus the Government of the World recommended to Princes, as the true Shepherds, falls into Mercenary Hands, making themselves not understood but by the sound of the Voice of Interest, and the Authority of Ambitition, the People suffer Ruin and Calamity, and the Princes themselves render an Account to God of that Talent which they have suffered their Ministers to make Merchandise of. It is certain, Philip in the Agony of his Death, was not so much comforted with calling to mind his innocent Life, as he was troubled with the Sting of Conscience for his Omissions in Government.

This Character, how parallel soever it was with King Charles the First, tho I do not find he had any Sting of Conscience for his Omissions and Transgressions in Government, which brought upon himself and the Nation all the Miseries and Calamities of the late Civil Wars, and wherein he persisted to the last, bears no Proportion to the voluptuous and dissolute Life of King James, accompanied with his profane Swearing in Passion, and even in his usual Conversation, whereby he became not only contemptible, but by his Example, the generality of the English Nation became debauch'd in their Manners and Conversation, to the Scandal and Contempt of it in other Nations.

The Death of Philip the 2d, made the Passage to a Peace between England and Spain, whereto both Kings were equally disposed, more smooth and easy. Yet Philip the 3d, before he would openly seek it, by an Ambassador from the Arch-Duke Albert, (Governor of Flanders) felt the Pulse of the Court, how it stood affected to a Peace with Spain, which beat high towards it, so as soon after it followed; which as it was most beneficial to the English Nation, so it had been to Spain, if it had been as sincerely observed by King James, as it was by Philip.

[Page] Henry the 4th of France, tho spited, as 'twas said, that King James should not only come so peaceably, but with universal Acclamations to the Crown of England, whereas he laboured with such difficulty above seven Years to attain that of France, and at last was forced to a dishonourable Submission to the Pope, Clement VIII. Yet being a Prince of great Prudence in Peace, as well as fortunate and victorious in War, sent Monsieur de Rosny, Great Treasurer of France, to renew the Treaty of Peace and Commerce formerly made between Queen Elizabeth and him, which was without any difficulty done.

The King being thus at Peace Abroad and at Home, not only in England but in Ireland, as if the Wars expired there with Queen Elizabeth, he not only pardoned the Earl of Tyrone, the Head of that Rebellion, but by Proclamation declar'd he was restor'd to the King's Favour, and to be honourably used of all Men.

But how pleasing soever the King's coming to the Crown of England was to the English Nation, it seems it was not so, or something else, to God; for an horrible Plague, greater than any since that in the Reign of Edward the 3d, accompanied his coming in. There were two Factions in England when the King came to the Crown, distinguished by the Names of Puritans and Papists, both dissenting from the Religion established in the Church of England: the King hated those, and wrote against these, chiefly for their Doctrine of the Pope's Power of deposing Kings: These received the King after different manners, the Puritans had a huge Expectation of his Favour, because he was bred up in their Doctrine and Discipline; but were much deceived in it, for he rarely mentioned them but with Detestation, which he did not those of the Popish Religion.

However in January they obtained a Conference with the Church-Party at Hampton-Court, where the King himself would be Moderator, whilst most of the Nobility and Bishops were Spectators. You need not doubt which Party prevail'd, the Nobility and Bishops not only giving the King the Victory, with the Epithets of, The Solomon of the Age, The most Learned, but of being inspired.

But what Expectation soever the Puritans had of the King's coming to the Crown, the Papists had another Lesson taught them; for tho the Popish Conspiracy against the Person of Queen Elizabeth ceased upon the Death of the Queen of Scots, yet did not the Pope's Designs upon the Kingdom of England do so; but Clement VIII, in the Year 1600, sent Orders to his Emissaries in England, that the Catholicks should admit none to succeed the Queen, but one obedient to the Holy See; and in Conformity hereunto, Watson and Clark, two Romish Priests, joined in Cobhant's [Page] Conspiracy, to have kept the King from coming to the Crown, and were executed for it as Traitors; but the Effects of the Pope's Instructions did not die with Clark and Watson, as you'll soon hear, and upon the 24th of October 1603, a Proclamation was made for Quietness to be observed in Matters of Religion.

Notwithstanding the Rage of the Pestilence, the first nine Months after the King's coming to London, all were Halcion-days, Proclamations, Pageants, Feastings, Creation of Lords and Knights, Reception of Foreign Ambassadors, erecting a Master of the Ceremonies after the Mode of France, &c. and in this time the Dignified Clergy, and those who courted to be so with the Favourites at Court, with whom the Civilians chimed in, had so rooted their Doctrine of the King's Absolute Power, and that, notwithstanding his Succession to the Crown of Scotland in the Life of his Mother, he succeeded by inherent Birth-right; and that Primogeniture is the Gift of God by the Law of Nature; and that in his Person was reconciled all the Titles of our Saxon, Danish and Norman Race of Kings; that being propensly disposed to receive the Impressions, they took such deep root in him, that in all his Life after he would never, with Patience, hear any thing to the contrary, however it was not long before he heard of it, as you shall hear. But we will stay a little, and see how inconsistently these Flatterers jumbled an Absolute and Hereditary Monarchy together, and how this King reconciled the Titles of the Saxon, Danish and Norman Titles to the Crown.

For no Hereditary Monarch that ever reigned in this World, but derived his Title from an Ancestor who had no Hereditary Right; nor did ever any Hereditary King succeed, but to govern by Laws and Constitutions, which were established before he became King: So however Absolute may be applicable to Conquerors, yet it is inconsistent with Hereditary Kings, especially in a Regular Monarchy, as that of England is, and those of old, as of the Medes and Persians, where the Will of the King alone could not alter the Laws and Constitutions of them. And now let us see how King James came to claim his Crown by inherent Birth-right, and how all the Saxon, Danish and Norman Titles came to be reconciled in his Person.

It's evident to me, that tho only God can make an Heir, and that tho Primogeniture be natural; yet God, in disposing Kingdoms, is not obliged to it; (tho Grotius lib. 1. Tit. 11. de Jure Belli & Pacis, is pleased to say, the Law of Nature is immutable by God himself) but reserves unto himself the Prerogative of disposing Kingdoms, without restraining the Succession of the King to Primogeniture, or Hereditary Succession. Here let us see in Epitome, which you may read at large in Sir William Jones his History of the Succession of the Kings of England, (before and [Page] after the Conquest, and the History of the Succession of the Crown of England, from King Egbert to Henry the 8th, printed in the Year 1690,) where you will see, that tho the Kings of England, both before and after the Conquest, succeeded in their Royal Families, yet many more were not in the right Line than in it; and tho before Caesar invaded Britain, there was no other Government but Kingly, yet Britain was divided into so many petty Kingdoms, that tho it had not been barbarous, it would have been as difficult to have wrote the History of the Succession of their Kings, as to have wrote the History of the Succession of the Kings immediately after the Flood.

After the Roman Empire (oppressed by its own Weight, by the Division into Eastern and Western, its intestine Jars, and the over-flowing of barbarous Nations) was so torn and shaken, that the Legions which governed Britain, were recalled by Ecius (the Roman General, under Honorius and Valentinian the 3d) to make Head against Attila; the poor Britains disarmed, and only made use of to serve their imperious Masters, and so utterly destitute of Martial Discipline, easily became a Prey to the Picts and Scots, (not subject to the Romans) who treated them more intolerably and tyrannically than the Romans had done: For Redress whereof, the Britains sought Succours from the English Saxons, who came to their Relief in the Year 409, (as Bede says, lib. 1. cap. 15. of the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation;) but these Saxons used the poor Britains worst of all, and expelled the whole Race of them out of that part of the Island now called England.

Tho the Saxons had their Wills of the Britains, they were before the Heptarchy at continual Variance among themselves, and so after, that it is almost as unaccountable to give a History of the Succession of their Kings, as it was of the Britains before Julius Caesar.

Egbert, about the Year 800, (viz. 391 Years after the Saxon Invasion) was called the first of the Saxon Monarchs; (tho the Kingdom of the Mercians was not united to his Monarchy) who by Merit as well as Birth, obtained the Dignity, and succeeded Brithric.

Ethelwolph succeeded Egbert in the Kingdom of Westsax, but not to those of Kent, Sussex and Eastsax, or Essex, these being given by Egbert to Ethelstan, Egbert's younger Son.

Ethelwolph by his Will divided his Kingdoms between his two eldest Sons, Ethelbald and Ethelbert; to Ethelbald he gave the Kingdom of the West Saxons, to Ethelbert the Kingdom of Kent, and the Eastern, Southern and middle Angles. But there were two other Sons Ethelred and Alfred.

Ethelbert, after the Death of Ethelbald, succeeded him in the Kingdom of the West Saxons, and after the Death of Ethelbert, [Page]Ethelred succeeded in the whole, viz. of the West Saxons, and of the Kingdoms of Kent, the Eastern, Southern, and Middle Angles.

Alfred, after the Death of Ethelred, by universal Applause, the famous, the youngest Son of Ethelwolph, succeeded.

Edward Son of Alfred, was chosen by the Nobles, on Whit-sunday, in 901.

Athelstan, after the Death of Alfred (tho a Bastard) was elected by the Nobles, of whom 'twas said there was nothing ignoble in him.

But Athelstan dying without Issue, his younger Brother Edmund succeeded him without any Opposition; and tho he left two Sons, Edwy and Edgar, yet

Edred (Edmund's younger Brother) succeeded him.

Edwy, after Edred's Death (Edred's elder Brother's elder Son) succeeded; but being a vicious Prince, the Mercians and Northumbrians chose Edgar his younger Brother King in the Life of Edwy; and

Edgar, after the Death of Edwy, became King of the whole Nation.

Edward, Son of Edgar, after his Death, was chosen by the Bishops and Nobles, by the Command of his Father Edgar; but he being murdered by his Step-mother Elfreil, Edward's younger Brother Ethelred succeeded: And after his Death the Saxon Monarchy being rent in pieces by the Danes and Saxons,

Edmund Ironside (Son of Etheldred, by an obscure mean Woman) tho he had two half-legitimate younger Brothers, Edward and Alfred, born of Emma, Etheldred's Wife) was chosen King by one part of the Nobility, and Canutus the Dane, by another. Thus the whole legitimate Race of the Saxon Kings were excluded; one part chusing Ironside, a Bastard, the other Canutus, a Stranger to the Saxon Royal Race.

Edmund Ironside being treacherously murdered by his Brother-in-law Edric, Edmund leaving two Sons, Edwy and Edward,

Canutus the Dane became sole Monarch of the Saxon Monarchy: So that this was the beginning of the Danish Dynasty, which lasted not long.

Harold, Son of Canutus, succeeded him; and

Hardicanute his Brother succeeded Harold, neither the Issue of Etheldred, Edward, or Alfred, nor Edwy or Edward, the Sons of Edmund Ironside, so much as taken notice of; with this Hardicanute ended the Danish Rule, with the Slaughter and Expulsion of the Danes.

Edward, Son of Etheldred, called the Confessor, (Uncle to Edwy and Edward, Sons of Edmund Ironside) after Hardicanute, was advanced to the Royal Dignity; principally by means of Earl Goodwin (a powerful and imperious Lord) upon the account of Edward's [Page] marrying the Earl's Daughter; so little was the Hereditary Succession of the Saxon Kings regarded: And that Edward's Reign might be more secure, this Earl Goodwin caused the Eyes of Alfred, the King's Brother, to be put out, and, some say, took away his Life.

Edward the Confessor growing old, having no Issue, and the Family of the wicked Earl Goodwin growing not only insolent, but intolerable to him, declared Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside (his Cousin) his Heir: And to the end he might better succeed, the King sent to the King of Hungary to return his Nephew Edward, (whom the King of Hungary had married to his Niece Agatha, Daughter to Henry Emperor of Germany) which the King of Hungary did; and upon Edward's return, the Confessor declared, that he or his Sons should succeed in his Hereditary Kingdom of England.

But the Confessor did not long hold in this Mind; for his Nephew Edward soon after dying, and leaving a Son Edgar unfit for Government, either as to his Body or Courage; he decreed that his Kinsman William Duke of Normandy (tho a Bastard) should succeed him in the Kingdom of England, which came to pass; and so a new Race of Kings have succeeded in England of the Norman Race, whose original Title was from a Grant of a King of the Saxon Race, and so the beginning creates little Title to an Hereditary Succession in the Norman Race. And now we'll see how an Hereditary Succession was observed in it; yet as in the Saxon, so in the Norman Kings, none succeeded who was not of the Royal Blood; as all the Kings of Judah were of the Family or Tribe of Judah.

William Rufus, the second Son of the Conqueror, succeeded, his elder Brother Robert then alive: So did

Henry the First, his elder Brother Robert living.

Stephen, the Son of the Conqueror's Sister, succeeded Henry, tho Henry left a Daughter Maud, or Matilda.

Henry the Second succeeded Stephen, Maud, Henry's Mother, yet living; so his Succession was not Hereditary, for Haeres non est viventis.

Richard the First succeeded Henry the Second.

John succeeded Richard, Arthur the Son of Jeffery, John's elder Brother then alive.

Henry the Third succeeded John, Eleanor Arthur's Sister then alive, who was Heir before him. So that of seven Successions after the Conqueror, but one Richard the First, succeeded as Heir to his Father, or the Conqueror.

Admit Edward the First succeeded as Heir to Henry the 3d, and Edward the 2d, as Heir to Edward the First, yet Edward the 3d did not succeed as Heir to Edward the 2d, he being then alive.

[Page] Admit Richard the 2d was Heir to Edward the Black Prince, eldest Son to Edward the 3d, yet neither Henry the 4th, 5th, or 6th, were Heirs from Edward the 3d, but the Descendants of Phillippa, the Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence, John of Gaunt's elder Brother.

So that of the Succession of 14 Kings after the Conqueror, there were but four, viz. Richard the First, Edward the First and Second, and Richard the Second, which succeeded as Heirs to the Conqueror, or his Heirs.

Admit Edward the 4th succeeded right, as Heir to Phillippa, Daughter of the Duke of Clarence; yet if it be true, which Richard the 3d says, (and which is confirmed by the Authority of the Act of Parliament 1 Rich. 3.) that Edward was contracted to Eleanor Boteler, before he married Elizabeth, then did not Edward the 5th (if it may be called a Succession) succeed right, nor could Henry the 7th claim any Right to the Crown of England in Right of his Wife Elizabeth, the eldest Daughter of Edward the Fourth.

But whether it be true or not, that Edward was contracted to Eleanor Boteler before his Marriage, yet Richard the 3d succeeded not as Heir, Edward Earl of Warwick, the Son of George Duke of Clarence, Richard's elder Brother, being then alive.

Of all the Kings of England that succeeded the Conqueror, Henry the 7th had the least Pretension to any Title to the Crown; for tho he were supposed to have been descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, yet it was the Duke's Paramour, Katherine Swinford, whose Issue by the Duke, tho by Act of Parliament they were legitimated to all other purposes, yet were not capacitated to succeed to the Crown of England: but if the Title of Lancaster had been preferable to that of York, and Henry had been of the legitimate Line, yet could not he have succeeded as Heir, his Mother, under whom he claimed, being then alive, and out-lived her Son.

Nor did the King's Marriage with Elizabeth, eldest Daughter of Edward the 4th, improve his Title to his Succession, the Marriage being subsequent to it; and before it the Crown, by Act of Parliament, was entailed upon Henry the 7th, and the Heirs of his Body; and after Marriage he never used her Name in calling any Parliament, or in any Proclamation, or the Coin, or passing any Act of Parliament; and as he reigned without her before Marriage, so he did after her Death, (for he out-lived her) tho she left two Sons, Arthur and Henry (after Henry the Eighth) and two Daughters, Elizabeth, Queen of Scotland, and Mary, after Queen of France.

It seems to me, that Ferdinand, King of Castile and Arragon, had the same Opinion, which Richard the 3d, and the Parliament [Page] had, that the Issue of Edward the 4th were not legitimate, for he would not assent to the Marriage of his Daughter Katherine with Arthur, Prince of Wales, so long as the Earl of Warwick (Son of the Duke of Clarence) lived; and there a fine Trick was found out to put the poor Prince to Death, for endeavouring to make his Escape out of the Tower with Perkin Warbeck, and in him ended the Masculine Line of the Race of the Plantagenets, who had governed the English Nation after Stephen, to Henry the 7th, above 340 Years. So that from the Conqueror to Henry the 8th, scarce one of four of the Kings of England succeeded in a right Line, as Heirs to the Conqueror.

As the Saxon Dynasty ended in Edward the Confessor, and the Norman began in the Conqueror, so it seems to me that the Norman ended in Richard the 3d, and another of the British was erected in Henry the 7th, who was the Son of Edmund of Hadham, the Son of Owen Tudor, by Katherine Daughter of Charles the 6th of France, Wife of Henry the 5th of England, and Mother of Henry the 6th. So that Henry the 7th's Title to the Crown of France was better than that to the Crown of England; for that of England was from a Maternal Ancestor, Margaret Countess of Richmond, no otherwise related to the Crown of England, than descended from John of Gaunt, by Katherine Swinford his Paramour: Tho I do not find that Henry the 7th, or any of his Descendants, ever assumed the Sirname of Tudor.

So that tho the Crown of England, neither in the Saxon nor Norman Race of Kings, was always Hereditary, so neither was the Succession to the Crown elective: For in elective Kingdoms, after the Death of one King, there is an Establishment of the manner of Elections; and in the mean time there are Custodes Regni appointed, whose Power ceases upon the Election of a King; but neither of these were ever heard of in either of the Saxon or Norman Race: and tho sometimes it's said the Kings were chosen, as of Edward the Son of Alfred, by the Nobles, and so of Athelstan, and so in the Norman Race, Henry the First was said to be chosen for that he promised to abrogate all the Oppressions and Errors brought into the Government by his Father and Brother, (tho his eldest Brother Robert was then alive) and restore the good Laws of Edward the Confessor, and Stephen was chosen by the Clergy and Londoners, yet this was rather a form of Speaking in those days, than any formal Election; and the manner differed according to the different Humours of the Times.

Nor do we read that ever the Parliament meddled with the Succession of the Crown before Henry the Fourth; for tho the first Parliament of Edward the Third renounced their Allegiance to Edward the Second, and are said to have chosen Edward the Third, yet they went no further; and such an Election was no more than [Page] a Declaration of their Submission, as when the Council declared James the Second King.

But whether the Crown of England was Hereditary in the Saxon and Norman Race, it's evident it was not so in this British Race; for as it began in Henry the Seventh, so it was entailed by Act of Parment upon him, and Heirs of his Body before his Marriage with Elizabeth the eldest Daughter of Edward the Fourth. So the inheritable Right of Edward's Issue, and all the Norman Race was barred by this Act.

Before we proceed in the Succession of the British Race, we'll take a view of the Genealogy of it.

John of Gaunt, by Katherine Swinford, had Issue John, created Earl of Somerset, who had Issue John, created Duke of Somerset, who had Issue Margaret.

After the Death of Henry the Fifth, Katherine his Wife (Sister of Charles the Sixth of France) married Owen Tudor, a Welch Gentleman, who had Issue Edmund of Hadham, created Earl of Richmond, who married Margaret Daughter and Heir of John Duke of Somerset, who had Issue Henry the Seventh.

Henry the Eighth succeeded his Father without any Contradiction, for the Wars between the houses of York and Lancaster had destroyed the whole legitimate Lancastrian Line, and Richard the Third, after the Murder of his Brother Clarence, and Death of Edward the Fourth, had murdered his two Nephews, Edward and Richard, (Sons of Edward the Fourth) and himself was killed in the Fight in Bosworth-fields; and after that Henry the Seventh had put Edward Earl of Warwick (Son of the Duke of Clarence) to Death, none of all the Royal Line of the Plantagenets were left to be Competitors with him; yet his Succession could not be Hereditary, for his Grand-mother, under whom his Father claim'd, out-lived her Son, and so Henry the Eighth could not claim from her. Yet this is observable, That as his Father, Henry the Seventh, entailed the Succession of the Crown of England upon the Heirs of his Body, so by Act of Parliament, (28 Hen. 8.) Henry the Eighth might dispose of the Succession of the Crown by his Will, for want of Issue of his Body; so little was the inheritable Succession of the Crown of England regarded by these Kings of the British Race.

It seems the Council in Edward the Sixth's Reign, had as little an Opinion of the Hereditary Succession of the Crown, as the Parliament had in the Reign of Henry the Eighth, for by the Advice of Edward's Council, he by his Will disposed of the Succession to his Cousen the Lady Jane Gray (Grand-daughter to Edward's Aunt, Mary Queen of France) contrary to the Will of his Father Henry the Eighth, which ordained his Daughter Mary to succeed Edward, in case he died without Issue.

[Page] I say, that by the Law of Inheritance in England, Queen Mary could not inherit the Crown from Edward, she being but of half-Blood to him; and by the same Reason Queen Elizabeth could not inherit to Queen Mary; but Mary the Daughter of James the fifth of Scotland, being of the whole Blood to Edward, and descended from the elder Daughter of Henry the Seventh, could.

For the Opinion of the Judges, after King James came in, that the Succession of the Crown of England differs from that of the Inheritance of Subjects in regard of an Alien born, and those of half Blood may inherit the Crown; it's Gratis dictum, and said to please the King; for there never was any such usage in England, nor any such Act of Parliament to warrant their Opinion.

But admit the Crown of England were inheritable from Henry the Seventh, and Half-Blood no Bar to the Succession, yet Mary and Elizabeth could not both succeed; for one of them was Illegitimate, Elizabeth being born in the Life of Katherine Queen Mary's Mother.

If the Parliament in the Reign of Henry the 8th had little or no Opinion of the Inheritable Succession of the Crown of England, and therefore impowered the King to dispose of it by Will: The Parliament in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth had less, and therefore often petitioned her, and that with Importunity, to declare her Successor without Consent in Parliament, and declared it 13 Eliz. Cap. 1. to be High Treason to affirm that the Crown of England might not be disposed of by Act of Parliament in her Life, and a Premunire after her Death. Here I make these Remarks upon the Race of the Plantagenets, and the Succession of the British Line, that as the Plantagenets inherited the Name from Jeffery Duke of Anjou, who was never King of England; so Henry the 7th, if he had any Title, derived it from John of Gaunt (by an Illegitimate Succession) who never was King of England.

From England we step into Scotland, and see how the Hereditary Succession was observed there after the Reign of Alexander the 3d, in whom the direct Line of the Race of their Kings failed, which was, so near as I can compute, about the Year 1278, and leave the Succession of their 93 Kings before, to the Scrutiny of the Scotish Antiquaries and Heraulds.

The Scots, if they be not clearer in the Genealogy of their 93 Kings before Alexander the 3d, than my Author is of retrieving it after the Death of Margaret Daughter of Alexander the 3d, do make but a blind Genealogy of their 93 Kings before; however we'll take it as we find it.

David, Brother of William King of Scotland, (but whether William was Father, Brother or Uncle to Alexander the 2d, my Author says not) and Earl of Huntingdon, had Issue by Maud, Daughter to the Earl of Chester, three Daughters, Margaret married [Page] to Allen of Galloway, the second (not named) was married to Robert Bruce; the third to Henry Hastings Earl of Huntingdon.

Allen of Galloway had a Grand-daughter, named Dornagil, married to John Baliol.

Bruce was Great Grand-child to the second Daughter of David Earl of Huntingdon; but being a Male, pretended he was to be King before Dornagil, a Female, though a Degree nearer, and descended from the elder Sister. Henry Earl of Huntingdon made no claim. So the Right between Baliol and Bruce was referred to the Determination of Edward the first, King of England, who adjudged the Right to be in Baliol, and soon after Baliol by Dornagil had a Son named Edward; so that Bruce's Pretension of Title as being Son, vanished by the Birth of Edward Baliol, being descended from the eldest Sister. But

The Scots (or a prevailing Party) not liking Baliol's Reign, in the Year 1306 crowned Robert Bruce King.

In the Year 1310 Bruce, by Acts of Parliament, had the Crown of Scotland entailed upon him and his Heir-male; and for want of Issue to his Brother Edward,

This Robert had Issue a Son named David, and a Daughter married to Robert Stuart, and by Act of Parliament settled the Crown upon his Son David; and for want of Issue by him, to Robert Stuart, his Grand-child by his Daughter. So here is the Succession of the Crown of Scotland twice differently settled by Parliament, to the disinheriting of Edward Baliol.

But in the Year 1332 Edward Baliol (the right Heir) was received and crowned King of Scotland. After that, David Bruce recovered the Kingdom of Scotland, and afterwards was taken Prisoner by the Queen of England, in the Absence of her Husband Edward the 3d in France, and being released, he died Ann. 1370.

Robert Stuart (Grand-son of Robert Bruce, by his Daughter) succeeded David, who married Euphemia Daughter of the Earl of Ross; but before he was King, had Issue by Elizabeth Moor, his Concubine, two Sons, John and Robert, and by the Queen he had Issue Walter Earl of Athol, and David Earl of Strathern; yet by Act of Parliament the King disinherited his Legitimate Issue, and settled the Crown upon his Issue by Elizabeth Moor, from which Issue all the Kings of Scotland have since descended.

This was the most unaccountable Accident, if we consider the Cause and Consequence (I think) that is recorded in any History, That a King and Parliament, by the Importunity of a Slut, should disinherit his Legitimate Offspring from the Succession to the Crown of Scotland, to advance her spurious Issue.

It's true, for some Reasons of State, the right Heir is set aside, as Edward, Son of Ethelred (after the Confessor) being young, and not a fit Match to oppose the Danes, Edmund Ironside, tho Illegitimate, [Page] for his Strength and Courage, was said to be chosen King, as most likely to withstand the Danish Invasions; so Edward the Confessor observing the heavy and slow Nature of Edgar (the Grandson of Edmund Ironside) not to be a fit Match to oppose the turbulent aspiring Faction of Harold, and his Family, named William Duke of Normandy, his Successor: but none of these were Reasons for the Deposing the Earls of Athol and Strathern, being for ought I find, much better qualified to reign than either John or Robert, the Issue of Elizabeth Moor; for John was of a heavy and unactive Disposition, not fit to govern, which made the King his Father to constitute his younger Brother Robert Vice-Roy, a Man of a violent and inveterate Disposition. So that these three Dynasties, viz. the Norman, B [...]itish and Scotish, were all derived from spurious Originals; and as Henry the 7th was descended from John of Gaunt (who was never King) by Catherine Swinford, so is the Race of Scotland from Robert Stuart, the first of that Name (before he was King) by Elizabeth Moor.

But though the Parliament erected this Dynasty of the Kings of Scotland, yet this did not cease their Power of altering the Succession of it in a right Line: For James the 2d had two Sons, James the 3d, who succeeded him, and Alexander Duke of Albany.

Alexander married two Wives, the first was a Daughter of the Earl of Orkney, by whom he had a Son named Alexander, and after married a Daughter of the Earl of Bulloign, by whom he had a Son named John; yet in James the 5th his Reign, John was by Parliament declared the second Person of the Kingdom, and next Heir to James the Fifth, notwithstanding the Claim and Protestation made by Alexander (John's elder Brother) against it. And the Scots out of Parliament assumed a Power not only of altering the Succession of their Kings, but of deposing them: For in the Year 1567, they deposed Queen Mary, (the Daughter of K. James the 5th) and set up King James the 6th (after King James the 1st of England) an Infant (scarce 14 Months old) in her stead; and by this Title he reigned in Scotland twenty Years in his Mother's Life, and to his dying Day owned this Title.

Yet this King, and his Son, and two Grandsons after him, gloried in declaring their Titles to be by inherent Birth-right, and that they were accountable only to God for all their Actions: Here (how truly let the Reader judg) the Scene was laid, upon which they played their designed Game, which did not end so.

I do not account the Dynasty of the Kings of England in the Scotish Race since Queen Elizabeth, to be new in the Succession of the Persons of the four last Kings, I mean King James the 1st, King Charles the 1st, King Charles the 2d, and King James the second; yet I say it was new in the Exercise of it, and such as none of the Saxon, Danish, or Norman Race since Henry the 3d, or of the British [Page] Race, ever pretended to claim: But in regard it has put the Nation into such a Ferment for above 80 Years, and which, if God pleases not to put an end to, may prove as fatal to these Nations, as the Feuds between the Guelphs and Gibelines, did for above 300 Years overwhelm Germany and Italy in most horrible Blood-shed and Devastation, we are more particular in taking a View of the Original of it.

From the time of the King's coming to London, May the 7th, to the 11th of January, little more than eight Months, Stow takes notice of twelve Proclamations, and upon the 11th of January out comes another for calling a Parliament, which though new for the manner, yet more new for the Substance, and such as never before was heard of in England: And that we may the better take a view of the success of the Parliaments of England in this King's Reign, from this we will stay a little, and consider the Constitution of a Parliament, and the principal Ends of its meeting.

The King is the Head, Principle and End of the Parliament; the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, which are made up of Knights of the Counties of England and Wales, Citizens sent from Cities, Burgesses sent from Corporations, and Barons sent from the Cinque Ports, which do not differ from Burgesses, but only in Name, are the Body; the Temporal Nobility sit in Parliament in their personal Capacities, but the Spiritual Nobility do not so, but in right of their Bishopricks, which they hold of the King by Barony; and the Commons are said to be the Representative-Body of all the Commons in England; not Noble by Birth, or in their Politick Capacities, as the Bishops are: and in this Assembly resides the Supreme Authority of the Nation, which as they make Laws for the publick Benefit, for are they loose from them, and are not obliged to them.

As the King is freed from the imputation of Tyranny in sanguinary Laws, and of Oppression in taxing the Subjects; for how can the Subjects complain of either, when their Representatives in Parliament promote them? So does a Parliament discharge the great Objection against Hereditary Monarchies, that tho Princes see only with their own Eyes, and hear with their own Ears, as other Men do; yet so as it is impossible without a true Representation of the State of their Subjects, they can see or hear of the true State of them; whereas Minions and Flatterers, whose Interest is different from that of the Kingdom, not only conceal the true State of the Nation, but make false Representations of it, to raise themselves tho out of the publick ruine: but the Parliament is the Eye of the Nation, which sees the Abuses, which Flatterers by abusing the King's Name, and making it subservient to their Interest, impose upon it. The great Ends of the Meetings of Parliament are, first, to redress the Grievances of the Nation, if any be, by representing them to the King. [Page] Secondly, to punish Men, which are out of the reach of the ordinary Rules of Justice, which either abuse the King's Name to attain their Ends, or may prove dangerous to the Government. Thirdly, to make Laws against growing Evils, and to repeal Laws which have been found inconvenient to the Nation. And fourthly, to supply the King upon extraordinary Occasions for Support of the Nation, as Times and Accidents may happen.

Heretofore the Meetings of Parliament were so frequent, that Sir John Thompson, in his Preface to the Earl of Anglesey's Memoirs, takes notice, that from the first of Edward the 3d, to the 14th of Henry the 4th, which was but 85 Years, there are 72 Original Writs for the Summons of Parliament; so that if you allow forty Days from the Tests of the Writs to the Returns, and but one Month for the Sittings of Parliament, there will not be a Year's Interval between the Dissolution of one Parliament and the Summoning another: and Mr. Johnson proves that they were annual, and fixt to meet on the first, or the Kalends of May, which continued down to Edward the 1st, how or whether discontinued by Edw. the 2d I cannot tell; however, there are two Laws yet in force for the annual Meeting of the King in Parliament, one the 4th of Edw. the 3d, c. 14. the other 36 Edward 3. c. 10. and when Parliaments thus frequently met, Grievances were nipt in the Bud; the Courts of Law kept to the Administration of Justice uprightly; the Ambition of great Men restrained; Factions and Innovations suppressed: and when the Parliament met thus frequently, the King had an Account of the State of the Nation, and upon Redress of Grievances, if any were, the Parliament in acknowledgment of their Duty gave the King a Gratuity, sometimes a Fifteenth, other times a Subsidy, and at other times a Subsidy and a Fifteenth, and sometimes a Subsidy and two Fifteenths; but never more before the 35 of Eliz. and the King in return, granted a general Pardon to his Subjects, with such Exceptions as the Parliament pleased: and thus a mutual Love and Understanding between the King and his Subjects was nourished and encreased.

Whereas by the long discontinuance of Parliaments, Grievances multiply and take Root, so as they become so much more difficult to be redressed, by how much longer the Discontinuances last: The Favourites by their flattering the Prince, not only keep him in Ignorance of the State of his Subjects, but fix the Prince so to their Will, that it becomes so habitual in him, that the Prince prefers them before his Subjects, and their Flatteries before the Advice of his Parliament, and often takes their parts before that of the Parliament and Nation.

These long Intervals of Parliaments you'll see will beget long Parliaments, and the Members get to be chosen by the Favour of great Men, and vast Expence; so that the Grievances with the Parliament [Page] should redress, become diffused into the Body of the Parliament, than which nothing can be more dangerous to the Constitution of Parliament. Besides, that the publick Business may not be interrupted during the Sessions of Parliament, the Members of both Houses have Privileges whereof they are the only Judges, both in their own Persons, and of their Servants, whereby they are exempted from Arrests, or any Process at Law, which is not only grievous to the Subjects, but oft the Ruine of them. But now it's time to see, what the King's Proclamation for calling his first Parliament tended to.

Before King James his coming to the Crown of England, the Election of Members in the House of Commons was so free, that the Letters of the King, or any Noble Man, to chuse a Member, was judged Cause sufficient to render the Election void; but the King by this Proclamation gives order, what Sorts of Men, and how Qualified, should be chosen by the Commons, and concludes, We Notify by these Presents, That all Returns, and Certificates of Knights, Citizens and Burgesses, ought and are to be brought to the Court of Chancery, and there to be filed upon Record; and if any be found to be made contrary to this Proclamation, the same is to be rejected as unlawful and insufficient, and the City or Borough to be fined for the same; and if it be found that they have committed any gross or wilful Default or Contempt in the Election, Return, or Certificate, that then their Liberties, according to the Law, are to be seized as forfeited: And if any Person take upon him the Place of a Knight, Citizen or Burgess, not being duly elected and sworn, according to the Laws and Statutes in that behalf provided, and according to the Purport, Effect and true Meaning of this our Proclamation, then every Person so offending to be fined and imprisoned for the same.

Never was such a Prelude to the Meeting of a Parliament, by any of the Kings of England, either of the Saxon, Danish, Norman, or British Race: and if the King in the Beginning thus extends his first Note above ELA, to what Pitch will he strain his Prerogative hereafter? However since Forfeitures of Charters, Fining and Imprisoning of Members not elected and returned according to this Proclamation, were the Penalties imposed by it for the better Execution, it might have been declared, who should judg of these Elections and Returns, or by what Law?

It fell out unluckily, I think I may say designedly, that upon the opening of the Parliament, several of the House of Commons, one of which was Sir Herbert Crofts, coming to hear the King's Speech in the House of Lords, had the Door shut upon them, and were repulsed by a Yeoman of the Guard, one Bryant Cash, with the uncivil and contemptible Terms of, Goodman Burgess you come not here.

[Page] The King, in a long and tedious Speech (which you may read at large in Stow's Chronicle) after he had expressed his Thanks to the whole Nation for their Universal Acclamations, in receiving him for their undoubted Sovereign, which so much conduced to their Happiness in the Union of all Claims in his Person, being the undoubted Heir of Hen. 7, and Elizabeth the Eldest Daughter of Edward the 4th, wherein the Titles of the Houses of York and Lancaster were reconciled: He tells them the Wonders which he will do, both in reference to the inward and outward Peace of the Kingdom, which how well he performed, you will hear hereafter: But as to the Glory which he ascribes to himself of being King by inherent Birthright from Hen. 7. and his Queen, I think he could not have taken a worse Topick for what he so much gloried in.

For no hereditary Monarch has a better Title to his Crown, than the Ancestor from whom he first claims, had; and it is evident, Henry the 7th had no Colour of Title to the Crown of England by Inheritance, being only descended from John of Gaunt, by Katherine Swinford his Concubine, when John of Gaunt's Wife was alive; nor could the King claim any Title from the Wife of Henry the 7th, for Henry himself would never own she had any, reigning not only during her Life without naming her in the Coins, Proclamations or Laws, but after her Death; and was not only crowned without her, but called a Parliament without her, ere he was married to her, and had the Crown entailed upon him, and the Heirs of his Body, before he married her. Besides, there is no Averment against an Act of Parliament, and the Act of the first of Richard the 3d declares all the Issue of Edward the 4th by the Lady Grey (the Mother of Henry the 7th's Wife) to be Illegitimate, and so uncapable of any Inheritance to the Crown of England.

But how edified soever the Commons were with the King's Speech, they were little pleased with the Yeomen of the Guards usage of their Members, which in due time the King shall hear of. However the King, who, since his coming in, had been acquainted only with Flatteries, introduced with the Epithet of most sacred, (which I find rarely applied to any of his Predecessors, and how properly applied to him, giving himself up to a dissolute and prophane Life, let another judg) was buoyed up with a mighty Expectation of the Success of his Proclamation and Speech, which did not succeed accordingly.

The Parliament met on Monday March the 19th, and a Debate hapning in the House of Commons about the Return of the Election of Sir Francis Goodwin and Sir John Fortescue, for Knight of the Shire for the County of Bucks, the Commons, Friday the 23d upon a full hearing determined Sir Francis to be lawfully elected and returned.

An. Reg. 2. An. Dom. 1604. Tuesday, March the 26th, The [Page] Lords, by Sir Edward Coke and Dr. Hone, sent a Message to the Commons, that the former Committees may (in a second Conference to be had) have Authority to treat touching the Case of Sir Francis Goodwin, the Knight of Bucks, first of all before any other Matters were proceeded in.

The Commons returned Answer, that they do conceive that it did not stand with the Honour of this House to give an Account of their Proceedings and Doings: but if their Lordships have any Purpose to confer for the Re [...]due, that then they will be ready at such time and place, and such number as their Lordships shall think meet.

Sir Edward Coke, &c. delivered from the Lords, that their Lordships taking notice in particular of the Return of the Sheriff of Bucks, and acquainting his Majesty with it, his Highness conceived himself engaged, and touched in Honour, that there might this be some Conference of it between the two Houses, and to that end signified his Pleasure unto them, and by them to House.

The Commons by their Speaker give their Reasons to the King, why they cannot confer with the Lords: The King in return, charges the Commons to admit a Conference with the Judges: the Commons give Reason and answer Objections, why they cannot confer with the Judges, and the 3d of April, deliver them at the Council-Chamber by Sir Francis Bacon, desiring that their Lordships would be Mediators in behalf of the House for his Majesty's satisfaction: the King in return, commanded as an Absolute King, that there might be a Conference between the House and Judges.

The House upon return hereof, resolved to confer with the King, in presence of the King and Council, and named a select Committee for the Conference; but the Success being doubtful, Sir Francis Goodwin fearing this might cause a Rupture between the King and the House, and to remove all Impediments to the worthy and weighty Causes, which might by this time have been in a good furtherance, desired another Writ of Election for a Member in his stead.

Hereupon, and other Accidents succeeding, wherein the Commons supposing themselves aggrieved; the Commons upon the 16th of June, in an humble Apology to his Majesty, represent their Privileges, and wherein they conceive themselves aggrieved.

The Stubborness of the Commons, for so the King would have it, so dissonant from the Flatteries he had constantly sounding in his Ears, and of being an Absolute King by Inherent Birth-right, put the King so out of Conceit with Parliaments, that in all his Life, till the last Parliament of his Reign when necessity brought him to it, he was never reconciled to them. But that we may more clearly see what followed, we will look back into the Reign of Queen Elizabeth.

[Page] There were three things which the Queen was impatient of being debated in Parliament, the Succession of the Crown after her Death, her Marriage, and the making any Alterations in the Church, as it was established in the first Year of her Reign.

But the Commons having a fearful Eye of a Relapse into Popery, after the Nation had been freed from it, and the Queen of Scots being zealously addicted to the Romish Religion, and having not only assumed the Arms of England, as next Heir to Queen Elizabeth; but upon her Return from France into Scotland, by many Embassies solicited Queen Elizabeth, that she might be declared her Successor, in case Queen Elizabeth died without Heirs of her Body: To prevent this, the Commons in manifold Addresses to the Queen, petitioned her to marry, and declare her Successor; and after the Duke of Norfolk's Conspiracy, and the Rebellion in the North under the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, wherein it appeared the Queen of Scots was privy and consenting, in all the Parliaments (I think) from the 9th of Elizabeth to the Queen of Scotland's Death, the Commons were importunate with the Queen to cut her off, which you may read at large in the Journals of the Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth, set forth by Sir Simon D' Ewes.

The Queen fixed in these Resolutions, did often forbid the Parliament, upon their Allegiance, to enter into Debates upon them: yet some zealous Members, the principal of which was one Mr. Peter Wentworth, as well in the case of the Queen of Scots, as for some Reformation in the Church, did several times endeavour to have them debated, upon which the Queen committed them to the Tower, tho soon after they were discharged: This the Commons in their Apology to the King take notice of, and pray that this be no Precedent for the future, but that their Debates in Parliament may be free: but they shall find that this King's little Finger, and his Son's after him, shall be heavier upon them than Queen Elizabeth's Loins.

However this Apology of the Commons tended to a Rupture between the King and them within, yet the King was resolved to have Peace without the Kingdom, how inconsistible soever the Terms were; and to that end upon the 18th of August following, being the second Year of his Reign, he concluded a firm Peace with Philip the 3d of Spain, and Albert and Isabel Arch-Dukes of Austria, &c. and also a Treaty of Commerce, which as it was the most beneficial to the English Nation, so it was difficult, if not impossible, to observe the Peace: the King, as he had managed it, made the Treaty of Commerce to be but little beneficial to the Nation.

For the Year before the King had renewed the Treaty of Alliance which Queen Elizabeth had made with the Dutch States, [Page]where, tho the King was not obliged to maintain such a number of Men for the Dutch Support against the Spaniards, to be repaid at the end of the War, whereby the Treaty with the Queen, Anno 1598. the Dutch were not only to pay, but to repay the Queen yearly 100000 l. till a Peace was made with Spain, when they were to pay her two Millions of Money, with the Interest of 10 per Cent. deducting the 100000 l. per Annum they were to pay; yet by the fourth Article of the said Treaty it was agreed, That neither the Kings of England nor Spain, shall themselves give, or shall consent to be given by any of their Vassals, Subjects or Inhabitants, Aid, Favour or Counsel directly or indirectly, on Sea, Land, or fresh Waters; nor shall supply or minister, or consent to be supplied or ministred, by their said Vassals, Inhabitants or Subjects, unto the Enemies or Rebels of either Part, of what Nature or Condition soever they be (whether they shall invade the Countries and Dominions of either of them, or withdraw themselves from their Obedience and Subjection) any Souldiers, Provision of Victuals, Monies, Instruments of War, and whatsoever Aid else to maintain War: and the five Articles renounce all former Leagues, Confederacies, Capitulations and Intelligences to the contrary.

But tho these two Articles pointed as directly as the Wit of Man could devise, and to which King James sware, to withdraw the English and Scotch out of the Dutch Service against the Spaniard, yet had the King no more Courage to do it, than he had to demand the 600000 l. now due from the Dutch to him, by their Treaty with Queen Elizabeth in 1598. And King James to palliate this, made it worse, by granting the King of Spain Licence to raise what Forces he could in any of his Dominions to fight against the Dutch; so prodigal was the King of the Expence of his Subjects Blood Abroad, to keep an unsettled Peace at Home, wherein he might follow his Pleasure and Luxury, and aspire to a Dominion over his Subjects, which none of his Predecessors ever claimed.

King James in the 7th Article excuses the delivery of Flushing, Brill, Rammekins, and other Forts in the English Possession in the Netherlands, to the King of Spain, because of the Contracts made between Queen Elizabeth and the States, by which she being engaged in Faith and Honour, it was not free for him to restore the same to the Arch-Dukes; yet, on the Word of a King, he promises to enter into a Treaty with the said States, wherein he will assign a competent time to them, to accept and receive Terms agreeable to Justice and Equity, for a Pacification with the Arch-Dukes, (to whom the King of Spain had assigned the Dominions of the Low-Countries) which if the States shall refuse, his Majesty from henceforth, as being freed from the former Conventions, will determine of the said Towns, according as it shall be just [Page] and honourable, wherein the said Princes, his loving Brethren, shall find there shall be no want in him of those good Offices, which can be expected from a Friendly Prince. How well the King performed his Promise you will hear hereafter; but I find no time set by the King, when he entered into any Treaty herein with the States.

As the King of Spain and Arch-Dukes got but little by this Treaty of Peace, so did the English Nation, as the King had ordered it, get as little by the Treaty of Commerce: for if you consider Man in his Nature he is born naked, and the generality of Mankind have nothing to feed, clothe, provide an Habitation, or defend themselves with, but as they are assisted by other Men; and as they are born to nothing, but what they get from others, so if any rob or steal from another any thing, this will be an Injury to that other: Nor does Man, born in this poor State, know how to get, or be supplied by another with either Food, Raiment, or an Habitation, but as he shall be taught or instructed by another; so that after all, the generality of Mankind in their most perfect State, eat their Bread by the Sweat of their Brows, and in the Cares of their Mind. To debar therefore any Man from his honest Labours, whereby he gets his Subsistence, is a greater Violation of the Law of Nature, than to rob another, and equal to the depriving another by Injustice of an Estate whereon a Man lives, and is a greater Injury than the Tyranny of Pharaoh over the Children of Israel, in compelling them to make Brick, yet denying them Straw: for this imposed upon the Israelites a greater Hardship how to live, whereas that denies poor Men their Means of living; and by Consequence, it is a greater Tyranny and Injustice for any Man, or Company of Men, either by Law, or without Law, to arrogate to themselves a Monopoly in any lawful Imployment exclusive to other Men, than to rob any of them; for this but hinders them in their Livelihood, whereas that takes from them all their Means of living.

Nor are Monopolies less impolitick than injurious; for the restraining the Labours and Industry of Men in any Profession, Art or Mystery, in any Country to a few, does not only hinder the Improvement of them in that Country, but makes open a Way to the People of other Countries, not only to enlarge, but improve them, as much to their Benefit, as to the Loss of that Country, where they are restrained to a few.

And if Monopolies be so wicked, impolitick and injurious, in restraining the Labours and Industry of Men, the monopolizing the Product of Mens Labour by Navigation in Foreign Trade is not less but more; for no Man will labour who cannot enjoy the Fruits of his Labour; and the great Benefit herein which England enjoys, is, that being the greater and better part of the Isle of [Page] Britain, it abounds with more noble and better Ports (except Ireland) to vend the Product of Mens Labours upon the Materials which it abounds with, than any other Country. To monopolize therefore the Foreign Vent of our Manufactures to any Men, or Company of Men, is doubly injurious, not only to our Artificers in them, but to those Countries which might otherwise reap the Benefit of them, and by this Restriction gives other Countries the opportunity of supplying them.

Nor does the Injury and Impolicy of restraining the Foreign Vent of our Manufactures stay here, for by it infinite People might be supplied with manifold things from other Countries, as Pitch, Tar, Hemp, Flax, Bees-wax, Elephants Teeth, Raw Silks, all sorts of dying Stuffs, &c. whereof the Nation stands in need; which being restrained to a few, the Nation cannot be supplied by them, and so multitudes of Manufacturers are denied the Fruits of their Labours; and hereby they become so dear, that those who imploy themselves in them, cannot without extraordinary Pains subsist, and thereby give the Foreign Vent of them to other Nations, where these are more plentiful and cheap.

Nor does the Injury and Impolicy of monopolizing of Foreign Trades end here; for as the Riches of England are derived from our Foreign Trades, so is the Strength and Glory of it founded in Navigation, which (Trade being a principle to it) will be so much lessened, as the Foreign Vent of our Manufactures and their Returns are restrained. We have thought [...]it to premise this, that a better View may be had of what follows.

The first day the King came to London after the Death of Queen Elizabeth, viz. the 7th of May, he issued out a Proclamation to cease the exacting all Monopolies and Protections that hindred Mens Suits in Law, and to forbid the Oppressions done by Salt-Peter-Makers, Purveyors, and Cart-takers; but this was too hot to hold.

For the Treaty of Peace and Commerce with Spain was no sooner made, but the King made a Monopoly of the Trade to Spain and Italy, by incorporating it in a Company exclusive to other Men: Hereupon the Parliament then sitting, made that memorable Law founded upon those unanswerable Reasons of a National Interest, and the manifold Inconveniences the incorporating those Trades in a Company brought to the Navigation of the Nation, both in the Foreign Vent of our Manufactures, and in their Returns, to the Ruin of infinite Artificers, Sea-men and Shipwrights, and to the Diminution of the King's Revenue: Whereupon these Trades were declared free, and have ever since continued so, to the inestimable Benefit of this Nation.

But tho the Reasons in this Act extend to all other Beneficial Trades, as to Turkey, the East-Country, and Hamburgh Trades, and [Page] to Africa and the East-Indies; yet all these Trades are monopolized into Companies, exclusive to other Men, as much to the Prejudice of the Nation, as the making the Spanish Trade free was beneficial to it.

About this time the Clergy (at least a Faction, which stiled themselves the Clergy) made an Attempt to try how far their Doctrine of Absolute Power in the King had taken root in him; they had gained their Point so far, as the King had declared his Command to the Commons as Absolute King, and now they'll see whether the King would assert it, and the Case was this.

Arch-bishop Whitgift (a Prelate of singular Piety and Humility) died the last day of February, in the first Year of the King, and Doctor Richard Bancroft (a Man of a rough Temper, a stout Football-player) as zealous an Assertor of the Rights of the Church of England, or rather a Faction of Church-men, who arrogated to themselves the Title (as Julius the 2d was of the Papacy) exhibited to the King and Council 25 Articles in the Name of all the Clergy of England, called Articuli Cleri, which were desired to be reformed in granting Prohibitions, tho there were a Parliament and Convocation then sitting, which I do not find had any hand in it.

This Exhibition, as it ascribed an Absolute Power to the King, so it struck directly at the Constitution of Parliaments, the principal End of which is to redress Grievances and Abuses in the Nation; and if the King's Council, during the sitting of a Parliament, shall ascribe to themselves this Power, then the great End of Parliaments redressing Grievances and Abuses is in vain: However Bancroft herein, not only makes the King's Council to have a concurring Power with the Parliament, but paramount to it, by exhibiting these Articles in the sitting of a Parliament and Convocation: but the Judges gave so clear and distinct an Answer to them all, that the King did not think fit to meddle in them; yet did not Bancroft rest here, as you will hear hereafter. The Articles, and the Judges Answer to them, you may read at large in Sir Edward Coke's second Institute, tit. Articuli Cleri.

Whilst Bancroft was thus ascribing to the King this Absolute Power, and exalting a Faction of Church-men, above the true State of the Clergy, which is one of the three States of the Nation, and above the Nobility and Commonalty, which are the other two: The Popish Faction were plotting a Design, not only to destroy the Church of England, but the very Person of the King, with the Nobility and Commons convened in Parliament, which was to have been executed upon the fifth of November following, the day on which the Parliament were to meet.

The Popish Party hoped (and it may be not unreasonably) that the King, in regard of his Mother's Religion, was not averse [Page] to theirs, so that if he became not of their Church, (which in his Speech at the opening the Parliament, he owns our Mother-Church) at least hoped to have their Religion tolerated; whereas finding the King in his Speech, after he had declaimed against the Heresies and Abuses crept into their Church, and the Pope's having arrogated an Imperial Civil Power over Kings and Emperors, by dethroning and decrowning them with his Foot, and disposing of their Kingdoms; and the Jesuits Practice of assassinating and murdering Kings, if they be cursed by the Pope: That so long as they maintained these, they were not sufferable in the Kingdom: From this time forward, and it may be before, a Popish Crew contrived how to bring in their Catholick Religion, they cared not which way, so it might be done. At last it was agreed upon the opening of the Session of Parliament upon the 5th of November, one part of the Conspirators should blow up the Lords House, while the King, Prince, with the Nobility and Commons were in it (having prepared all things in a readiness) whilst another part should seize upon the Lady Elizabeth (after Queen of Bohemia) and proclaim her Queen: But the Plot being discovered, the Conspirators were defeated of both their Designs.

The Horror and Terror of this Conspiracy, (the Discovery whereof was industriously divulged and believed to be by the King's great Wisdom and Care) reconciled for a time all Differences between him and his Parliament; and the Parliament to gratify the King, the Clergy gave him four Subsidies at four Shillings in the Pound, and the Temporality three Subsidies and [...]ix Fifteenths, (which was threefold more than any Parliament, in one Session, gave Queen Elizabeth, before that of the 35 Eliz. notwithstanding the Payment of her Father's, Brother's and Sister's Debts, her expelling the French out of Scotland, the building, and repairing the Navy Royal, the Support of the Reformed in France, the subduing the Rebellion in the North, the Support of the Dutch in the Netherlands, the Irish War, and the Overthrow of the Spanish Armada in 88.) The Parliament enacted the Oath of Allegiance, which Bellarmine, under the Name of Tortus, wrote against, and Andrews Bishop of Winton, under the Name of Tortura Torti, defended it. The Parliament too ordained the Anniversary of the Fifth of November, to be celebrated for a perpetual Thanksgiving-Day for the King and Kingdom's Delivery from this Conspiracy. All Heats about Prerogative and Privilege were now laid aside; the Pulpits and our Universities rang with Declamations against the Heresies and Usurpations of the Church of Rome; and now the King gave himself wholly to Hunting, Plays, Masques, Balls, and writing against Bellarmine and the Pope's Supremacy, in arrogating a Power over Kings, and disposing of their Kingdoms; and thus the Case stood for four Years after, wherein I scarce find any thing worth mentioning.

[Page] This and the next Year was almost wholly spent in Debates, concerning the Uniting of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, which the King eanestly solicited, and which ended only in Contests and Arguments, for the House of Parliament refused to join with the King in it: however the King obtained a Judgment in Westminster-Hall in a Case called Calvin's Case, that the Post Nati in Scotland, after the King's Assumption to the Crown of England, were free to purchase and inherit in England.

But whilst the King was thus wallowing in Pleasure, he wholly gave himself up to be governed by Favourites, to whom he was above any other King of England (except Henry the 8th) excessively prodigal, not only in Honours and Offices, but of the Revenues of the Crown, and Aids given in Parliament; and these being of both Nations, Scotch as well as English, made them to be the more intolerable: All things being at Peace Abroad, Publick Affairs were neglected, or scarce thought of, whilst the Dutch still grew more powerful at Sea, and without any Aid from the King, were Matches for the King of Spain by Land; and Henry the 4th of France was accumulating incredible Treasure at Home, and laying the Foundation of vast Designs Abroad, whereof the King took no notice, his Genius lying another way.

In these Debates at Home, and Lethargy of State of Foreign Affairs, the Prerogative-Clergy swelled the High Commission to such an height, that it was complained of as a Grievance in Parliament, as you may read in Arthur Wilson's History of Great Britain, [...]ol. 46. Nay Bancroft this Year (notwithstanding the Judges Answer to the Articles exhibited to the King, against granting Prohibitions, and that the Parliament was still sitting) repeated his Exhibitions: But however the King inclined to favour Bancroft, he had not Courage enough to over-rule the Judges Answer to them, it may be for fear the Parliament should interpose, or indispose them to grant him more Money, whereof already he stood in great need.

But the Parliament, however they gratified the King for their Deliverance from the Popish Conspiracy, did not think fit to pour it forth so plentifully now in times of Peace, to be profusely thrown upon Favourites and Minions, who were no more Friends to them, than they to the established Church of England.

To supply the King's Necessities, as he made them, one Doctor Cowell (no doubt set upon by Bancroft, and those called the Church) the next Year after published his Interpreter, wherein he premises these three Principles: First, That the King was Solutus a Legibus, not bound by his Coronation-Oath. Secondly, That it was not ex Necessitate, that the King should call a Parliament to make Laws, but might do it by his Absolute Power. Thirdly, It was a Favour to admit the Consent of the Subjects in giving Subsidies.

[Page] Cowell's Interpeter, approved by the King, as the Civil Law was highly extolled by the King (See Wilson, fol. 46.) was not only printed, but publickly sold without Impunity; and this gave Encouragement to the publishing many others to the same purpose, among which one Blackwood published one, which concluded that we were all Slaves, by reason of the Conquest.

The Commons, tho they took no notice of Bancroft, and his Articles against Prohibitions, took Fire at these, and intended to have proceeded severely against him; but the King interposed, and promised to call in these Books by Proclamation, as he did, but they were out, and the Proclamation could not call them in, but only served to make them more taken notice of: But this had not the desired Effect of getting more Money, than one Sub [...]dy and one Tenth, whereupon the King, by Proclamation, dissolved them the 31st of December 1609, after they had sat near seven Years, wherein the King set forth that he had proposed many things far differing and surpassing the Graces and Favours of former times, both in Nature and Value, [...] [...]pectation of a good Conclusion of some weighty Cause which had been there in Deliberation, not only for the Supply of the Necessities of his Majesty's Estate, but for the Ease and Freedom of his Subjects: but these being the two last Sessions little taken notice of; and that the Members, by reason of the length of the Parliament, were debarred from the Hospitality they kept in the Country, and that divers Shires, Cities and Boroughs had been burdened with Expence of maintaining their Members, for these Reasons he dissolved them; so that they should not need to meet at the Day set by their Prorogation.

CHAP. II.
A Continuation of this Reign, to the Dissolution of the Second Parliament, 1614.

BUT how precarious soever the King was to get Money of the Parliament, he had not Courage enough to demand the 100000 l. per Annum by the Treaty between Queen Elizabeth and the Dutch States in 1598, whereby Eleven hundred thousand Pounds was due to him, much less to demand the principal Debt, viz. two Millions, and also two Millions and two hundred thousand Pounds due for eleven Years Interest, at 10 l. per Cent. Now, by the Mediation of several Princes, but especially by King James, this Year a Truce or Peace for twelve Years was concluded [Page] between the King of Spain and the Arch-Dukes, Albert and Isabel, and the Dutch; wherein the Dutch were declared Free States, and independent upon the Crown of Spain, or Arch-Dukes. But tho the King had not Courage enough to demand the Monies due to him from the Dutch, by the Treaty with Queen Elizabeth, he had so much as to enter into a Treaty with the Dutch, for a Tribute to be paid to him for License to fish upon the Coasts of England and Scotland: but the Dutch observed this no better than that with the Queen, and the King got less by it.

Long Parliaments beget long Intervals, in which Grievances become so multiplied and fixed, that they become so much more difficult to be redressed, by how much longer the Intervals are: And since the King could not get Money of the Parliament, and was afraid to demand any of the Dutch, let's see what Courses he took to get Money, during the Interval from this Parliament to the meeting of the next, which was five Years, and how the Case stood with them.

In the opening of the first Parliament, the King tells them, that he was so far from encreasing their Burden with Rehoboam, as that he had so much, as either Time, Occasion, or Law could permit, lightned them; and, at that time, had been careful to revise and consider deeply upon the Laws made against them, that some Overture may be proposed in Parliament for clearing those Laws by Reason (which is the Soul of the Law) in case they have been in times past, further or more rigorously executed by Judges than the meaning of the Law was, or might tend to the Hurt as well of the innocent as guilty Persons.

At the Dissolution of the Parliament, the King's principal Favourites were Henry Howard, (Brother to the Duke of Norfolk, whom Queen Elizabeth beheaded) tho a Papist, yet Lord Privy-Seal; Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Lord Treasurer; Philip Earl of Mountgomery, (for a certain Reason); Thomas Lord Walden, (Son of the Duke of Norfolk) after created Earl of Suffolk; and Sir Henry Rich, after Earl of Holland, English: the Earl of Dunbar, Sir Alexander Hay, and Sir Robert Carr (who in a short time shall overtop them all) Scotish.

There was a Story current in those Times, which I have heard from some credible Persons which did live in that time, That King James having given Sir Robert Carr a Boon of 20000 l. my Lord Treasurer Salisbury, that he might make the King sensible of what he had done, invited the King to an Entertainment, and so ordered it, that before the King should come at it, he should pass through a Room wherein he had placed four Tables, and upon each Table lay 5000 l. in Silver; when the King came into the Passage, he started, and was amazed at the sight (having never before seen such a Sum) he asked the Treasurer the meaning [Page] of it, who told the King, It was the Boon he had given Sir Robert Carr: Swounds Man! (the Oath he usually swore) but five thousand should serve his turn, and so for that time the Treasurer saved the King the other fifteen thousand Pounds.

To support these Favourites, and other of the King's Countrymen of less Note, was all the King's Care, notwithstanding his Foreign Affairs, or his Proclamation at his first coming to London against Monopolies, or his Speech at the opening of the Parliament: But since Money cannot be had by Parliament, other means must be found out.

There were many ways used for raising Monies during this Interval of Parliament: First, Monopolies which swarmed more than in any King's Reign before. Secondly, Payments for new invented Knighthoods, never before heard of in England in Times of Peace, called Baronets: the Prince was 1000 l. and the King to quicken the Market, promised to make but 200 of them; tho when this Market was done, he kept it up all his Life-time after. Thirdly, Tho the Baronets paid for their Honours, yet the King issued our Commissions for reviving the old Obsolete Laws, for making Men which could expend 40 l. per Annum, to compound for not being Knighted. Fourthly, Payments for being made Knights of Nova Scotia. Fifthly, The purchasing of English Honours at certain set Prices, a Baron at 10000 l. a Viscount at 15000 l. an Earl at 20000 l. Sixthly, Payments for Scotish and Irish Honours, I do not find set Prices of these; Scotish Honours of the same Title to have the Precedence of an Irish, as a Scotish Baron, Viscount or Earl, to have the Precedence of an Irish: and tho an English Honour of like Degree had the Precedence of either of the other, yet if either of the other had a higher Title, he should precede an English Peer under a less; as a Scotish or Irish Viscount shall precede an English Baron, so such an Earl shall precede an English Viscount. Seventhly, Compositions upon defective Titles. Eighthly, Compositions for Assart Lands. Ninthly, Monies for making Prince Henry Knight. Tenthly, Monies to marry the Lady Elizabeth to the Palsgrave. Eleventhly, A Benevolence. Twelfthly, Monies borrowed upon Privy-Seals, and never repaid, besides Sales of Lands, Woods and Fee-farm Rents, &c.

During this Interval of Parliament, was perpetrated a most horrible Murder upon the Person of Sir Thomas Overbury, which is the more remarkable if it be considered how far (tho the King detested the Fact) Favourites had the Ascendant over the King, and how the King influenced the Causes of this Murder; and that the Story may more intirely consist, it will be necessary to borrow a little of common Fame.

[Page] Sir Robert Carr was made Viscount Rochester the 25th of March 1610, and upon the 22d of April following, was made one of the King's Privy-Council; and having the Ascendant above all other Favourites over the King, he chose a Council of some Persons, how to advance himself in this great Power: Of these Sir Thomas Overbury (a Gentleman of brisk and lively Parts) was the chief, who had as much an Ascendant over the Lord Rochester, as he had over the King; and as Rochester was a Favourite, so was Thomas Earl of Suffolk, who had a Daughter named Frances, married to Robert Earl of Essex, Son of Robert cut off in the last Year of Queen Elizabeth, who after was General of the Army raised by the Parliament in the late Civil Wars.

Tho of disagreeing Humours, the Earl and Countess were of agreeable Years when they were married, both about the Age of twelve Years, and now had lived above ten Years without any Carnal Knowledg of one with the other (as both confessed when the Countess sued for a Divorce) whereto the Countess was intolerably bent: and if publick Fame may be credited, and which is attested by a Writer of the first 14 Years of King James his Life, chap. 7. she entred into a Conspiracy with one Ann Turner to have poisoned the Earl.

But how cold soever the Countess was in her Affections to the Earl, they were not less on fire to my Lord of Rochester; and that these Flames might soar in an equal height, the Countess, by the help of Mrs. Turner, procures one Doctor Foreman (as he was called) to bewitch Rochester into equal Desires of mutual Love with the Countess; and now Familiarity between the Countess and Rochester becomes publickly scandalous.

However the Earl continued his Love to the Countess, but withal acquainted her with the Dishonour she brought upon him, and more upon her self by her loose Life, which was now become so publickly taken notice of: this was so far from reclaiming the Countess, that it stung her to the quick, and instead of Reformation, she, by Letters to Mrs. Turner, who (the Countess says) is all her hopes of Good in this World, and by her to Dr. Foreman (whom she calls sweet Father, and subscribes her self his Affectionate Daughter, Frances Essex) endeavours to procure the Doctor to bewitch the Earl to Frigidity towards her.

Sir Francis Bacon, in his Charge against my Lord Rochester, after Earl of Somerset, at his Trial for the Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, gives Sir Thomas hard words, as, That there was little in him that was solid for Religion, or Moral Vertue, but was wholly possest with Ambition and vain Glory, and was loth to have any Partners in my Lord of Rochester's Favour; and that to flatter my Lord in his unlawful Love with the Countess of Essex, Sir Thomas had made his Brags that he had won Rochester the Love of the Countess, by his Letters and Industry.

[Page] But these stoln Pleasures could not satisfy the Countess's Desires, and that she might enjoy them to be compleat, she endeavours, since the Design of poisoning the Earl did not succeed, to make way to her Desires of marrying Rochester, by suing out a Divorce against the said Earl, which she acquaints Rochester with, and Rochester and the Countess acquaint the Earl of Northampton, who before was privy, and consenting to the Familiarity between them, and was easily induced to join in procuring a Divorce.

Tho this was agreed between them, yet the Viscount would not proceed further, till he had consulted Sir Thomas Overbury, protesting he (the Viscount) would do nothing without his Advice: Sir Thomas told him, The marrying the Countess would not be only hurtful to his Preferment, but helpful to subvert and overthrow him, and who would (being possest of so great Possibilities as he was, so great Honours and large Revenues, and daily in expectation of others) cast all away upon a Woman, noted for her Injury and Immodesty, and pull upon himself the Hatred and Contempt of great Personages for so small a matter. Then he willed the Viscount to consider with himself the Condition of the Countess, the manner of her Carriage from her Youth, her present Conversation, the many Envies, Dishonours and Dislikes which attend upon her; and besides, which is the Opinion of the Vulgar (and he should find it so) many Evils to attend his Subversion and Overthrow; That it was not the Nature of a wise Man to make her his Wife, whom he had made his Whore. Lastly, Sir Thomas advised him that he should expect no better Requital from her, than such as she had shewed to her former Husband; and withal to weigh the present Condition he is in, and compare it with the future, and much more to this purpose; and that Honour is not attended by Voluptuousness, nor the Ruines of a rotten Branch to be cherished upon a new planted Tree; but if he (the Viscount) meant to be made famous, and to continue that with him which he now freely enjoyed, Sir Thomas his Opinion was, That he should utterly leave and forsake the Countess's Company, and hold her both hurtful and hateful.

Rochester was surprised at Overbury's Advice, and the more, by how much less he expected it, and falls out with Overbury, and gives him harsh Language: but Overbury retorts again, and persists in his Advice, and demands his Portion due to him of Rochester, and so leaves him to his own Fortunes.

If Rochester was surprized at Overbury's Advice, the Countess was enraged at it, so as nothing less than Overbury's Blood could appease her Revenge; but how to compass it would be a work of time, and required deep Consideration, Secrecy and Resolution. But we leave this Affair here to take a view of other Occurrences which happened this Year, 1610.

[Page] To the King's former Monopolies, he this Year added another which caused many Commotions here, and endangered a Rupture with the Dutch▪ and this was the Case. The English at this time were not skilled in the Art of dressing and dying English Woollen Manufactures, but after they were made here they were vented into Holland, where they were dressed and dyed: Alderman Cockaine, and some rich Citizens, having, as was said, promised Rochester, Northampton, and the Lord Treasurer, great Sums of Money to procure them a Patent for dressing and dying of Cloths, and that the King would seize into his Hands the Charter of the Merchant-Adventurers for transporting of white undressed Cloths; Cockaine pretending, that besides the enriching the Nation, multitudes of poor People might be employed to the Benefit of the Nation, which now were a Burden to it: Hereupon the King seizes upon the Merchant-Adventurers▪ Patent, and grants to Cockaine, and others, a new Patent for dressing and dying Cloths.

But Cockaine's Project succeeded both ways quite contrary, for the Dutch prohibited the Importation of English drest and dyed Cloths from England; and Cockaine, and his Company, not only dyed and dressed the Cloths worse and dearer (which are ever the Consequences of Monopolies) than they were in Holland, but these being restrained to a Company, they could not near dress and dye the Cloths made in England: Whereupon the making Cloths stood at a stand, and infinite Numbers of poor People, which were imploy'd in making Cloths, lay idle, and were reduced to a starving Condition; this raised great Clamours, which arrived at the Council; which to pacify, the Council permitted some quantities of white Cloths to be transported, but this did at present but skin the Soar, not cure it, as you will soon hear.

This Year was wounded up in a mournful Catastrophe, for upon the 6th of November Prince Henry died, in the beginning of the Blossom of his Youth, being 18 Years, 8 Months, and 17 Days old: A Prince adorned with Wisdom and Piety above his Years, Strength and Ability of Body equal to any Man, of a Noble and Heroick Disposition, and an hater of Flatteries and Flatterers, and therefore fell flat at odds with Rochester, not once giving him any Countenance, or vouchasafing him his Company.

I have heard my Father (who was about the Prince's Age) tell several Stories of him: Once when the Prince was hunting the Stag, it chanced the Stag being spent, crossed the Road, where a Butcher and his Dog were travelling; the Dog killed the Stag, which was so great that the Butcher could not carry him off: When the Huntsmen and Company came up, they fell at odds with the Butcher, and endeavoured to incense the Prince against him; to whom the Prince soberly answered, What if the Butcher's Dog killed the Stag, what could the Butcher help it? They replied, If [Page]his Father had been served so, he would have sworn so as no Man could have endured it: Away, replied the Prince, all the Pleasure in the World is not worth an Oath. Another time, when the French Ambassador came to take his leave of the Prince, the Ambassador asked him, What Service he would command him to his Master; the Prince bid him tell his Master what he was a doing, being then tossing [...] Pike. The Prince had an high Esteem for Sir Walter Rawleigh, and would say, No other King but his Father would keep such a Ma [...] as Sir Walter in such a Cage, meaning the Tower.

His Court was more frequented than the King's, and by another sort of Men; so that the King was heard to say, Will he bury [...] alive? And the high Church-Favourites tax'd him for being a Patriot to the Puritans.

Never was any Prince's Death more universally and cordially lamented, and the more, by how much the Suddenness of his Death being known, before his Sickness was scarce heard of, was surprizing: As Mens Humours flowed they vented their Passions, some said, A French Physician killed him, others, He was poisoned▪ and it was observed, that poisoning was never more in fashio [...] than at this time; others, That he was bewitched, &c.

Whether it were to appease these Clamours, or out of Curiosity, I cannot tell, but Dr. Mayerne, Dr. Atkins, Dr. Hammond, Dr. Palmer, Dr. Gifford and Dr. Butler were ordered to dissect the Prince's Body the next day after his Death, and to give their Opinions of it, which were,

First, They found his Liver paler than ordinary, in certain place somewhat wan; his Gall without any Choler in it, and distende [...] with Wind.

Secondly, His Spleen in divers places more than ordinarily black.

Thirdly, His Stomach was in no part offended.

Fourthly, His Midriff in divers places black.

Fifthly, His Lungs were very black, and in divers places spotted▪ and of a thin watry Blood.

Sixthly, That the Veins of the hinder part of his Head were full [...] than ordinary, but the Ventricles and Hollowness of the Brain [...] full of clear Water.

However Prince Henry died, Henry the 4th of France died by [...] violent Death, being stabb'd by Raviliac the 4th of May th [...] Year, his Predecessor Henry the 3d being about 22 Years before stabb'd by James Clement, a Jacobite Friar. At Henry the 4th his Death there was an universal Peace in Christendom, when he was putting it into an universal War; all the Western Princes [...] Christendom, except King James, were engaged in it, against the House of Austria: but it was so vast, as in the Nature of things▪ [Page] if Henry had been young, as he was in the 57th Year of his Age he could not have lived to have accomplished it: at his Death, tho he lived but 13 Years after the Treaty of Vervins, when he made Peace with Philip the 2d of Spain, he had amassed such a Treasure, as is incredible, if so great an Historian as Messeray did not testify it; especially if it be considered, that before the Treaty at Vervins, France had for forty Years before been imbroiled in a Civil War, and with Spain; and these Wars being in all the Parts of France, France was never before in so poor and feeble a State, and Henry himself after the Peace giving himself up to Venery and Gaming above any King of France before him, or since. Nor can it be imagined from whence such Treasures should arise, for there are no Gold nor Silver Mines in France, unless it were from the Trades which the English, Dutch, Dane, Swede and Hamburghers drove into France. However Henry was addicted to Women and Gaming, yet otherwise he excelled all the Kings of the Age, not only in Heroick Vertues, but in Prudence, Constancy and Secrecy in his Designs; curious in Enquiry into the Qualities of Men, whom he would prefer as Qualities merited; and was pleasant and witty in his Conversation, and always disposed to take the Impression of good Counsel.

He left his Son (a Prince of weak Constitution both of Body and Mind) at ten Years of Age, and his Wife (an imperious bigotted Italian to the Church of Rome) Regent: These overthrew all the Methods which Henry had laid for promoting the French Grandure, and gave themselves up to be governed by Favourites, yet in a different manner from those in England, whereby they squandered away all that inestimable Treasure which Henry left, in less than half the time Henry had been collecting it; and put all France into Tumults and Wars, whilst the English patiently submitted to the Exorbitances of King James his Favourites, and by Proclamations were forbid to mention them, or talk of their Government, no not in Parliament: And now 'tis time to return to England, and see what's doing there.

If we begin this Year 1612, with January, we shall find two Marriages in it, to succeed the two Deaths of the two famous Henry's of England and France: The first upon the 14th of February, being Shrove-Sunday, between Frederick, Count Palatine of the Rhine, commonly called the Palsgrave, and the Princess Elizabeth, the King's only Daughter; and the Triumphs, Pageant [...], and other Gaieties upon the Thames, in the City and Inns of Court, far exceeded any before seen in England, which you may read at large in Stow's Chronicle, fol. 1004. so as the Tears for the Death of Prince Henry, were overflowed by the excess of Joy for this Marriage.

However Northampton was not pleased with it, nor the Emperor, [Page] or King of Spain, and from the same Causes, viz. It would so far advance the Protestant Interest in Germany as to make it more formidable to the Popish Religion; and 'tis certain (for I had it from good Authority) that Queen Ann was averse to it; and to put the Princess out of conceit of it, would usually call her Daughter, Goodwife Palsgrave; to which the Princess would answer, she would rather be the Palsgrave's Wife, than the greatest Papist Queen in Christendom. The Reason of the Queen's Aversion to this Marriage is not said, but certain it is, that these fading Joys for this Marriage were succeeded by fixt and real Calamities, which the King took little Care to prevent, and shall never live to see, nor his Son after him, an end of.

While the Preparations for solemnizing this Marriage were making, a different sort was making for another, between the Viscount Rochester, and the Countess of Essex; and to make the Way to it more passable, two Rubs were to be removed, one to take off Sir Thomas Overbury, the other to procure a Divorce, not only a Mensa & Toro, between the Earl and the Countess, but a Nullity, whereby the Countess should be free to marry as she pleased, and she had agreed upon the Person.

To remove Sir Thomas it was agreed between the Earl of Northampton, Rochester, and the Countess, that Sir Thomas should be sent Ambassador to the Great Duke (or Emperor) of Russia, so that if Sir Thomas did accept of it, he should be far enough out of the way to hinder this Design; and if he did not, to commit him to the Tower, where they would do well enough with him. The Business of the Embassy was no sooner propounded to the King, but assented to by him; and Sir Thomas was not unwilling to undertake it.

How harsh soever Rochester was to Sir Thomas, when he disswaded Rochester from marrying the Countess, yet now he becomes instant kind to Sir Thomas, and tell him, how much he relied upon his Integrity and Parts, which, in his Absence, he should not only want, but that thereby Sir Thomas would give Occasion to his Enemies, which were many, and upon Rochester's account to ruine him, when as it would not be in Rochester's Power to prevent it; but if Sir Thomas would refuse to undertake this Embassy, Rochester would, in a short time, undertake to reconcile him to the King, and Sir Thomas would in the mean time be at hand to assist him with his Counsel upon all Occasions.

This was all deep Dissimulation, which Sir Thomas took to be in good earnest, and so Sir Thomas excused his going on this Errand, and this was what Rochester desired: Hereupon Rochester possest the King, that Sir Thomas was not only grown insolent and intolerable to him, but to the King, by contemning him, in refusing to go on this Embassage: The King becomes incensed hereat, [Page] and the more, as 'twas commonly said Sir Thomas had vented some stinging Sarcasms upon the Court, which came to the King's hearing, and so ordered him to be committed to the Tower. Northampton and Rochester had prepared the Business so, that Sir William Wade was removed from being Lieutenant of the Tower, and Sir Jervis Elvis, a Gentleman wholly depending upon them; was made Lieutenant of it.

Upon Sir Thomas his Commitment, Sir Jervis Elvis, by Order from Northampton and Rochester, confines him close Prisoner, so that Sir Thomas his Father was not permitted to visit him, nor any of his Servants, tho one desired he might be confined with his Master. The Countess, that she might not be behind-hand with Rochester and Northampton, had consulted with Mrs. Turner for a fit Instrument to practise what was designed upon Sir Thomas: Mrs. Turner's Husband was an Apothecary, and had a Servant named Richard Weston, who since her Husband's Death was become very poor; this Man was agreed by the Countess and Mrs. Turner to be Under-keeper to Sir Thomas, and had a Promise of 200 l. Reward, when Sir Thomas should be dispatched; and that he might with more Secrecy work his Design, the Lieutenant had Orders from Northampton and Rochester, that no Man else should come at Sir Thomas, and Turner only to wait upon him at Table, and to give Order for his Diet and Drinks.

Sir Thomas thus mew'd up, and excluded from the Sight of his nearest Relations and Servants, upon the 9th of May was begun the Practice of poisoning Sir Thomas, in his Broth which Weston brought him; and this was continued with many Varieties of Poisoning, till the 14th of September, when by a Glyster (for which the Administer had 20 l. Reward) he was dispatched: but the Malice against Sir Thomas did not end with his Death; for the Blanes and Blisters which the Poison had caused upon his Body, were interpreted to be the Effects of the French-Pox, and his Body was irreverently buried in a Pit digged in a very mean Place.

Here we may see the unhappy Fate of Princes above other Men, who neglecting their Duty, give themselves up to be governed by Minions and Favourites: for private Men are accountable only for their own Actions, whereas Princes are accountable to God and Fame for all the ill Actions of their Ministers; and how many ways was the King's Name used and abused in perpetrating this black and horrid Murder: First, in getting the King to send Sir Thomas on the Embassage to Russia. Secondly, in committing him to the Tower for refusal. Thirdly, in keeping him close Prisoner there, which was a Practice never known before for a Contempt, that any Man should be close confined from all his Relations and Servants; and 'twas a greater Villany to practise Sir Thomas his Death, while he was the King's Prisoner, than if he had been at [Page] large, as being more immediately under the King's Protection.

These Considerations little affected the Court, and Sir Thomas Overbury's Destruction went but half way towards the designed Marriage between Rochester and the Countess of Essex; but a Commission of Delegates under the Broad Seal, is issued out to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Dr. Abbot, the Bishops of London, Winchester, Ely, Litchfield and Coventry, and Rochester, Sir Julius Caesar, Sir Thomas Parrey, Sir Daniel Danne, Sir John Bennet, Francis James and Thomas Edwards, Doctors of the Civil Law, at the Suit of the Countess for a Divorce from the Earl of Essex.

Here you may see the Ascendant Rochester and Northampton had over the King; not only in getting this Commission, wherein the King's Name and Authority was abused; but they procured the King in the hearing of the Countess's Cause to be her Advocate, in answering the Objections which the Arch-Bishop made against the Divorce: so as this Matter was managed, the Bishops of Winchester Dr. Bilson, of Ely Dr. Andrews, of Litchfield and Coventry, and Rochester, with Sir Julius Caesar, Sir Thomas Parrey, and Sir Daniel Dunne, were for the Divorce; and that the Countess was Virgo non vitiata, and that there was Frigidity in the Earl, and the Marriage a Nullity; and decreed the Earl to repay the Countess her Portion: but the ABp, the Bp of London, and Bennet, James and Edwards, Doctors of the Civil-Law, were against it.

Thus far was the King's Name and Authority abused, in the attaining the Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and the designed Marriage between Rochester, and the Countess of Essex; for Overbury being dead, and the Divorce obtained, the Countess must not lose the Title by this Marriage, and thereupon the 4th of November, Rochester is created Earl of Somerset.

All things are now prepared for the hopeful Marriage; and that the Solemnity at the ending of it might out-vie that of the Palsgrave, and the Lady Elizabeth, upon the 6th of December, the Earl and Countess were married at White-hall in the Presence of the King and Queen, Prince, and a great confluence of the Bishop [...] and Temporal Nobility; the Bishop of Bath and Wells married them, and Dr. Mountaine (Dean of Westminster) preached the Nuptial Sermon, and that Night there was a gallant Masque of Lords; but upon the Wednesday following the 29th there was another of the Prince's Gentlemen which quite out-did this, and pleased the King so well, that he caused it to be acted again on the Monday following, being the 3d of January.

But White-hall was too narrow to contain the Triumphs for this Marriage, they must be extended into the City, and upon the 4th of January the Bride and Bridegroom, accompanied by the Duke of Lenox, my Lord Privy Seal, (Northampton) the Lord Chamberlain, the Earls of Worcester, Pembroke and Montgomery, [Page] with a numerous Train of Nobility and Gentry, were invited to a Treat in the City at Merchant-Taylors Hall, where my Lord Mayor and Aldermen entertained them in their Scarlet Gowns: At their Entry they were accosted by a gratulatory Speech and Musick, the Feast (which was most sumptuous) served by the choicest Citizens, selected out of the 12 Companies, in their Gowns and rich Foines: After Supper they were entertained with a Wassaile, two pleasant Masques, a Play and Dancing; and after all, the Bride and Bridegroom, with all this Noble Crew, were invited to a Princely Banquet, and at three in the Morning the Bride and Bridegroom returned to Whitehall: and before this Surfeit of Pleasure and Excess was well digested, the Gentlemen of Grays-Inn, upon Twelfth-Day, invited the Bride and Bridegroom to a Masque. Thus these Gaieties though they out-lived the Year, yet ended in the Holy-days of Christmas, as they began with them, being the next Day after Christmas. But before the end of this Year, these Joys shall turn sharp and sower.

This Year 1614, as it was the Meridian of the King's Reign in England, so was it of his Pleasures; the King was excessively addicted to Hunting and Drinking, not ordinary French and Spanish Wines, but strong Greek Wines; and though he would divide his Hunting from drinking these Wines, yet he would compound his Hunting with drinking these Wines; and to that purpose he was attended with a special Officer, who was as much as could be always at hand, to fill the King's Cup in his Hunting, when he called for it. I have heard my Father say, that being hunting with the King, after the King had drank of the Wine, he also drank of it; and though he was young, and of an healthful Constitution, it so disordered his Head, that it spoiled his Pleasure and disordered him for three Days after. Whether it were drinking these Wines, or from some other Cause, the King became so lazy and unweildy, that he was treist on Horse-back, and as he was set so would he ride, without otherwise poising himself on his Saddle: Nay, when his Hat was set on his Head, he would not take the pains to alter it, but it sate as it was put on.

And as he thus gave himself up to Pleasure, so he did to Favourites and Flatterers, and scarce heard any thing without the prelude of Sacred, Peaceful, Wise, Most Learned, &c. These made him careless both of his Domestick and Foreign Affairs, the Thoughts of which disturbed his Pleasures; and if at any time he was thoughtful, or pensive, his Favourites made it their Business to mimick or ridicule those things, especially the Puritans, wh [...]m the King hated.

These Courses, and the King's Favourites perpetually sucking his Treasures, brought the King to great Necessities, yet he had not Courage enough to demand the Debt due to him from the [Page] States of Holland, neither Principal nor Interest: so that after five Years interval a Parliament is agreed to be called, to supply the King's Occasions; and the principal Cause to excite the Parliament to give Money, was for the Portion the King had paid for marrying the Princess Elizabeth to the Palsgrave, and for his Entertainment whilst he was in England, tho the King had collected Aid-Money all over England before.

But it rarely happens when Grievances be multiplied, and the Kings become necessitous, that then the King and Parliament attain their Ends; the Ends being so different, the Parliaments being to redress Grievances, and the Kings to get Money: and so it fell out in this Parliament, for entring upon Grievances, and remonstrating them to the King, which was Language he was not acquainted with, he in great Passion dissolves the Parliament, and commits many of the principal Members of the Commons close Prisoners, without Bail or Man-prize: and though no Law was passed this Parliament, nor any Notice had of it in the Statutes printed at large; yet this Benefit came of it, That the Commons voting Cockaine's Patent for Dressing and Dying English Cloths to be a Monopoly and a Grievance, it was recalled and cancelled, and the vent of White Cloths left free.

This was the greatest Violation and Invasion of the Privilege of Parliament that ever was done by any King of England before; but though it began, it did not end here, neither in this King's Reign, nor his Son's after him: For after the Dissolution of the Parliament, the King extorted a Benevolence from the Subject, and those who would not contribute, were to have their Names returned to the Council.

CHAP. III.
A further Account of this Reign, to the End of the third Parliament, in 1620.

IF from the Parliament we look into the Court, we shall see the King's Affections begin to alter towards his Favourites, which began upon this Occasion: My Lord of Northampton was Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports, and by his Permission Romish Priests in great Numbers swarmed into England; this was observed, and great Clamours were made upon it, which came to the Earl's Ears: hereupon the Earl exhibits an Information against some of them; these justify the Truth of what they were accused of; the Arch-Bishop [Page] Abbot, at the same time, produces a Letter from the Earl to Cardinal Bellarmine, wherein he says, That however the Condition of the Times compelled him, and the King urged him to turn Protestant, yet nevertheless his Heart stood for the Catholicks, and that he would be ready to further them in any Attempt.

This procured the King's Frowns, and the Prisoners Discharge; whereupon 'twas said Northampton took such Grief that he made his Will, wherein he declared He died in the same Faith wherein he was baptized, [viz. the Popish) and died the 15th of June. Now was Somerset left without his chiefest Support, and soon after another shall rise up, which shall turn him quite out of the King's Favour.

About this time one Mr. George Villiers appeared in Court, the youngest Son of Sir George Villiers of Leicestershire, by a second Venter, whose Name was Mary Beaumont: the Heraulds will tell you she was of the honourable Family of the Beaumonts; and I will tell you what a Lady of Quality told me, and one who might well know the Truth of what she said, her youngest Sister by a second Venter being married to the Eldest Son of Sir George Villiers, by Beaumont.

Mary Beaumont was entertained in Sir George Villiers his Family, in a mean Office of the Kitchin; but her ragged Habit could not shade the beautiful and excellent Frame of her Person, which Sir George taking notice of, prevailed with his Lady to remove Mary out of the Kitchin into an Office in her Chamber, which with some Importunity on Sir George's part, and unwillingness of my Lady, at last was done.

Soon after my Lady died; and Sir George became very sweet upon his Lady's Woman, which would not admit any Relief without Enjoyment; and the more to win Mary to it, gave her 20 l. to put her self into so good a Dress as this would procure, which she did, and then Sir George's Affections became so fired, that to allay them he married her.

In this Coverture Sir George had three Sons, John after Viscount Purbeck, Christopher after Earl of Anglesey, and George, and one Daughter after married to the Earl of Denbigh: When Sir George died, George was very young; and Sir George having setled his Estate upon the Children born of his former Lady, could leave the Issue by his Widow but very little, and her but a Joynture of about 200 l. per Annum, which dying with her, nothing could come to these Children; nor was it possible for her, out of so contracted a Joynture to maintain her self and them, so as to make scarce any Provision for them after her Death; and the Issue of Sir George by his former Lady, both envied and hated her, so as little could be expected from them.

To supply these Defects, she married one Thomas Compton a rich Country Gentleman, whereby she became able to maintain [Page] and breed up her Children in a better than ordinary Education; and George being of an extraordinary and exact Composition of Person, was sent abroad, and in France acquired those outward Advantages which more adorned the natural Parts, which Nature had given him.

The King this Year, about the Beginning of March 16 14/15, according to his usual Methods, went to take his Hunting Pleasures at New-market; and the Scholars (as they called them) of Cambridg who new the King's Humour, invited him to a Play, called Ignoramus, to ridicule (at least the Practice of) the Common Law: Never did any thing so hit the King's Humour, as this Play did; so that he would have it acted and acted again, which was increased with several Additions, which yet more pleased the King.

At this Play it was so contrived, that George Villiers should appear with all the Advantages his Mother could set him forth; and the King so soon as he had seen him, fell into Admiration of him, so as he became confounded between his Admiration of Villiers and the Pleasure of the Play, which the King did not conceal, but gave both Vent upon several Occasions. This set the Heads of the Courtiers at work how to get Somerset out of Favour, and to bring Villiers in; but here it's fit to look a little back, and see the Occasion Somerset gave of Villiers's Rise, and of his own Fall.

Somerset was of mean and scarce known Parents, and as he was endued with no natural Parts, so neither had he acquired any, being brought up and bred a Page at Court; hereby he became as little capable of demeaning himself in Prosperity as Adversity. After Sir Thomas Overbury's Confinement he gave himself up wholly to be govern'd by Northampton; and soon after his Marriage he fell into an universal Solitariness and Sadness, so that it was much taken notice of: which Northampton observing, and judging not unlikely that the Cares of Somerset did arise from his Fears of the Discovery of Overbury's Death, wherein they were both deeply ingaged, which if it should come to pass, they had no other means to secure themselves, but by making themselves so great, as to oppose all who should charge them with it, or else by being Catholicks, they might draw all that Party to assist them, and in these they both agreed; and to make Matters more perplext, Northampton, by one Hamon did encourage the Irish to continue firm in their Religion, assuring them that God would one way or other protect his Church, and that now the greatest Favourite in England would stand firm to them, and also give Incouragement to the Papists in the North to meet openly at Mass, and foment the Feuds between the English and Scots; the English murmuring at the King's Favours more to the Scots than them. If I have erred herein, the Writer of the historical Narration of the first fourteen Years [Page] of King James's Reign, cap. 30. led me into it. This sullen Humour of Somerset's little suted with the King's liking, being before better pleased with Somerset's Gaiety, in humouring him in all his Pleasures.

After Northampton's Death, he was left alone to himself, and all Northampton's Designs died with him; and then Somerset having forsaken all Men, and being forsaken by them, appeared in his own Nature without any Disguise, wretchedly penurious and intolerably covetous: There was no coming at the King's Ear but by him, nor any coming at him but by excessive Bribes; and as the King began to loath him, so all Men detested and hated him: So it was every Bodies business to out Somerset, and bring young Villiers, into the King's Favour.

All the Court took notice of the King's Affection to young Villiers, and the Queen observed it, and Villiers not to be wanting to himself daily appeared at Court: There was but one Obstacle to be removed, and the Way was plain and easy for Villiers to be the King's Favourite; the King would receive none into Favour, but who was first recommended to him by the Queen, and the Queen had observed something in young Villiers which she utterly disliked; and how to get the Queen to recommend young Villiers to the King, was the only business to be done.

The Queen (a Princess of rare Piety, Prudence, Temperance and Chastity) had a great Veneration for the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Abbot, and the Arch-Bishop as much an Aversion to Somerset, not only for his Marriage with the Countess of Essex, but for his other detestable Qualities; so that the Arch-Bishop was the only Instrument which was judged could move the Queen to recommend young Villiers to the King.

It was no great difficulty to persuade the Arch-Bishop to undertake this Business, being of himself disposed to it; but when he propounded it to the Queen, she was utterly averse from it, having before been stung with Favourites; but by her Observation of Villiers, she told the Arch-Bishop she saw that in that young Villiers, that if he became a Favourite, he would become more intolerable than any that were before him.

Hereupon the Arch-Bishop declined the Business, but Somerset declining daily from bad to worse, the Arch-Bishop was again prevailed upon to move the Queen to recommend young Villiers to the King, which he did with more Importunity than before, urging Somerset's intolerable Pride and Covetousness, and that he observed a good Nature and gentle Disposition in Villiers; so that some Good might be hoped from him, which could never be expected from the other: at last the Queen assented to it, but withal told the Arch-Bishop, he among the rest would live to repent it.

[Page] After Villiers was recommended by the Queen, it became out of her Power, and the Power of the Kingdom to get him out of the King's Favour, or his Son's after him, and the Arch-Bishop himself shall find the Queen to have been a true Prophetess; however at first Villiers acknowledg'd his Favour with the King to have its Original from the Arch-Bishop, called him Father, and protested to be governed by him before all other Men; and the Arch-Bishop gave him some Lessons to observe towards the King and Queen, which Villiers repeated to him, and promised to observe, which you may read at large in the first part of Mr. Rushworth's Collections in the second Year of King Charles the First written by the Arch-Bishop.

In the beginning of Mr. Villiers's coming into Favour he was affable and courteous, and seemed to court all Men as they courted him; he promoted Mens Suits to the King gratis, which Somerset would not do, but for great Sums of Money; and hereby Villiers stole all the Hearts of the Courtiers and Petitioners to the King from Somerset, who was now wholly forsaken by God and all Men.

Somerset thus forsaken of all Men, and stung in Conscience for the Death of Overbury, and finding a Rival in the King's Favour, seeks by that small Portion which he had left, to procure a general Pardon from the King to secure him in his Life and Estate, (which was far the greatest of any Subject in the King's Dominions) and to that purpose applies himself to Sir Robert Cotton to draw one, as large and general as could be, which Sir Robert did, wherein the King should declare, That of his own Motion, and special Favour, he did pardon all, and all manner of Treasons, Misprisions of Treasons, Murders, Felonies, and Outrages whatsoever, by the Earl of Somerset had been committed, or hereafter should be committed; and this Pardon the King signed.

But Somerset grasping at too much, lost all, for my Lord Chancellor Egerton refused to seal the Pardon: Somerset asked him the Reason, which the Chancellor told him was, because if he did it, he should incur a Praemunire; and this the Chancellor told the King, who was not displeased with it: So that now all Hopes of Pardon for Sir Thomas Overbury's Murder failing, he had recourse to other Artifices, of suppressing all Letters which passed between him, the Countess, and Northampton, either to Sir Thomas, the Lieutenant, or any of the Prisoners, and to make away Franklin the Apothecary, who was fled into France, and had given Sir Thomas the Glister which dispatcht him; but that which Somerset design'd for his preservation, 'twas thought, proved his Overthrow: but this was the Product of next Year 1615, being the 13th of the King.

Tho Villiers had the Ascendant of the King's Favour far transcending all other Favourites; yet the King's Necessities were never [Page] so great, and the Exchequer so poor, and the King so much in debt, so as he had so much less means to gratify his new Favourite as his Affections to him were more: and here it will not be amiss to take some part of a View of the King's Prodigality (or if you please, Bounty) to some of his former Favourites; the Earl of Somerset had amassed (if my Author of the Historical Narration of the first 14 Years of King James, cap. 34. says true) in Money, Plate and Jewels, two Hundred Thousand Pounds, besides 19000 l. per Ann. The Earl of Salisbury (but a younger Son of Treasurer Burleigh) le [...]t an Estate, besides the noble House and Seat of Hatfield, equal, nay superior to most of the other Nobility; the Earl of Northampton (a younger Brother of the Duke of Norfolk, and born to little or no Estate) built that noble Structure in the Strand, now called Northumberland House, and being unmarried, left a very great Estate to the Earl of Arundel, and others of his House; the Earl of Suffolk (youngest Son of the Duke of Norfolk, who had no Estate but what he derived from the Crown) besides his other Estates, built Audley-Inn Palace, the noblest Structure ever built by any Subject in England, except Hampton-Court by Cardinal Woolsey, which by reasonable Estimates cost above 190000 l. besides the Largesses given to the Duke of Lenox, Sir Alexander Hays, and other Scotish Favourites, Sir Henry Rich, and other English Favourites.

These had only themselves to take care for, but this new Favourite had a Mother, two Brothers, and a Sister, to pully up into Honours and Estates, tho their Parts could not entitle them to any other than Court-Preferment: but besides these, I do not find he regarded any other of his Father's Family, no more than they did him: However until the Discovery of Overbury's Murder, he contained himself within the Bounds of Modesty, as well as Courtship; Somerset, till then, being a kind of Check upon him. However the King, in his Poverty of Affairs, gave him 1000 l. and upon the 23d of April, made him one of the Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber, and next Day knighted him.

Sir Thomas Overbury's Murder had been about twenty Mont [...] concealed, when about the middle of August it was brought [...] light, but the Manner how was variously rumoured: Some ta [...] ed that Sir Thomas his Servant gave notice of it to Sir Edwar [...] Coke; others, that my Lord of Canterbury had got knowledge of it, and made it known to Sir Ralph Winwood, one of the Secretaries of State, and that by searching in a certain Place he should find a Trunk wherein were Papers, which would disclose the whole Business, which Sir Ralph did, and found it so.

The King at this time was gone to hunt at Royston, and Somerset with him; and when the King had been there about a Week, next day he designed to proceed to New-Market, and Somerset to return to London, when Sir Ralph came to Royston, and acquainted [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] the King with what he had discovered about Sir Thomas Overbury's Murder: the King was so surprised herewith, that he posted away a Messenger to Sir Edward Coke to apprehend the Earl; I speak this with Confidence, because I had it from one of Sir Edward's Sons.

Sir Edward lay then at the Temple, and measured out his time at regular Hours, two whereof were to go to Bed at Nine a Clock, and in the Morning to rise at Three: At this time Sir Edward's Son, and some others were in Sir Edward's Lodging, but not in Bed, when the Messenger about one in the Morning knockt at the Door, where the Son met him, and knew him: Says he, I come from the King, and must immediately speak with your Father: If you come from ten Kings, he answered, you shall not, for I know my Father's Disposition to be such, that if he be disturbed in his Sleep, he will not be fit for any Business; but if you will do as we do, you shall be welcome, and about two Hours hence my Father will rise, and you then may do as you please, to which he assented.

At three Sir Edward rung a little Bell, to give notice to his Servant to come to him, and then the Messenger went to him, and gave him the King's Letter; and Sir Edward immediately made a Warrant to apprehend Somerset, and sent to the King that he would wait upon him that Day.

The Messenger went back Post to Royston, and arrived there about Ten in the Morning: the King had a loathsom way of lolling his Arms about his Favourites Necks, and kissing them; and in this Posture the Messenger found the King with Somerset, saying When shall I see thee again? Somerset then designing for London, when he was arrested by Sir Edward's Warrant. Somerset exclaimed that never such an Affront was offered to a Peer of England in the Presence of the King: Nay Man, said the King, if Coke sends for me I must go; and when he was gone, Now the Deel go with thee, said the King, for I will never see thy Face any more.

About three in the Afternoon the Chief Justice came to Roy [...]on, and so soon as he had seen the King, the King told him, that [...] was acquainted with the most wicked Murder by Somerset and [...] Wife, that was ever perpetrated, upon Sir Thomas Overbury, and that they had made him a Pimp to carry on their Bawdry and Murder; and therefore commanded the Chief Justice, with all the Scrutiny possible, to search into the Bottom of the Conspiracy, and to spare no Man how great soever, concluding, God's Curse be upon you and yours, if you spare any of them; and God's Curse be upon me and mine, if I pardon any one of them.

The Chief Justice, as well by his Place as the King's Command, imprisons Weston, Mrs. Turner, Sir Jervis Elvis, Franklin, and Sir John Munson, and examines them; and also Simon Mason, Munson's Servant, Paul de la Bell, Weston's Servant, &c. against them: [Page] Whereupon they were all, except Munson, arraigned, condemned and executed in the Months of October and November following, all of them, I say, except Munson, whom Justice Dodridg and Justice Hide (as well as the Chief Justice) declared to be as guilty of the Murder as any of the other. You may read the Trials at large, in the Narrative of the first fourteen Years of King James his Reign, entituled, Truth brought to light by time.

There was a general Rumour, that the Chief Justice, making a severe Inspection into Overbury's Murder, found some Papers about the poisoning of Prince Henry; and Sir Anthony Weldon in his History of the Reign of King James, says, That the Chief Justice had blabb'd abroad so much: I am sure there was never any such Acquaintance between the Chief Justice and him, that he should blab it out to Weldon; whether this were true or false I cannot tell, but sure the displacing Sir Edward Coke the next Year gave Reputation to these Rumours; and here we end this Year 1615. being the thirteenth Year of King James his Reign.

Tho Turner, Weston, Elvis and Franklin were convicted and hanged last Year for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury, yet the Trial of the Earl of Somerset and the Countess was put off till the 24th of May this Year; yet the Earl being a Prisoner, and utterly cast out of the King's Favour, the young Favourite Villiers, having now no Competitor, rose as fast upon the Earl's Ruin as he fell; and began to appear in his own Colours, from being Sir George, and of the Bed-Chamber to the King, in the beginning of the Month of January to be made Master of the Horse; and upon the Conviction of the Earl and Countess, the King seized upon the huge Estate of the Earl, only allowing him 4000 l. per Annum during his Life (as was said) for the King reprieved the Earl and Countess too, not only from Death, but Imprisonment; and the Earl 24 Years after saw his Daughter married to the now Duke of Bedford, who proved to be the Mother of many Children, whereof my Lord Russel cut off by King Charles the Second, was one, and a Lady of great Honour and Vertue.

The seizing of Somerset's Estate, at present afforded a plentiful Harvest to our young Favourite; and that proportionable Honours (which were no burden to him) might attend him, upon the 17th of August he is created Viscount Villiers, and Baron of Whaddon. We will stay a little here, and look abroad and see what Dishonour the King, by his Prodigality to his Favourites, and his ill Terms with his Subjects, brought upon himself.

This Year seven of the twelve Years Truce made between the King of Spain, the Arch-Dukes and the Dutch States in 1609. were worn out, and now the Dutch hugely swelled their Trade [...] ▪ not only in Europe and Africa, but in the East-Indies, and to Turkey; but they could never be truly esteemed High and Mighty, so long [Page] as the English possest the Brill, Rammekins and Flushing, which were the Keys of their Country, and opened the Passages into and out of the Maese, Rhine and Scheld: They could not now pretend Poverty, as they did to Queen Elizabeth for not payment of the Money, with Interest upon Interest at 10 per Cent. which being two Millions, when upon the Account stated between the Queen and them, due Anno 1598. besides the Payment of the English in Garison in the Cautionary Towns this Year, did amount to above six Millions of Money; and how to get rid of this Debt, and get the English out of the Cautionary Towns, was the Design of Barnevelt and the States.

Barnevelt had his Eyes in every corner of the Court, he observed the King was wholly intent upon his Pleasures, exalting his Favourites, and writing against Bellarmine and Peron, against their King-killing and Deposing Doctrines, and otherwise utterly neglected his Affairs both at Home and Abroad; and by how much longer the King continued these Courses, so much better might the States make a Bargain with him about restoring their Cautionary Towns, but not as Merchants, but Bankrupts. The Truce between the Spaniard and them was above half expired, and if the English should keep their Towns till the War broke out again, the King might impose what Terms he pleased upon them.

Barnevelt also observed the ill Terms which the King was upon with his Subjects upon the Dissolution of the last Parliament, about 14 Months before, and imprisoning the Members for representing the Subjects Grievances, which the King made worse by a Proclamation forbidding Men to talk of State-Affairs; and that he doted upon, and was wholly governed by Viscount Villiers, a raw and unexperienced Gentleman in State-Affairs, scarce of Age: Upon these Considerations Barnevelt advised the States not to pay the English in Garison in their Cautionary Towns, tho this was expresly contrary to the Agreement they made with Queen Elizabeth in 1598.

The English debarred of their Pay, apply themselves to the King for Relief; the King was incensed at the Dutch, and talked high what he would do, but upon Repose he advised what to do: the Lord Treasurer Suffolk told him there was no Money in the Exchequer, to call a Parliament would be a work of Time, and in the mean while the Souldiers in Garison in the Cautionary Towns must either starve or revolt; besides, the Wounds which the imprisoned Members had were so green, that the Parliament in all likelihood, would rather seek to cure them than supply the King's Necessities; and starve or revolt the Souldiers might, rather than the King would abate any thing of his Bounty to his Favourites.

[Page] Hereupon it was agreed, That the King should enter into a Treaty with the Dutch, concerning the Delivery of their Cautionary-Towns; the Dutch expected it, and had given Orders to their Ambassador here (called the Lord Caroon) to treat about it, and what they would give, the King must take; and Caroon's Instructions were to give two hundred and forty eight thousand Pounds in full Satisfaction of the whole Debt, which was scarce Twelve Pence in the Pound, but was greedily accepted of by the King and his Favourites. But how well this Agreement did sort with the Treaty made with the King of Spain and Arch-Dukes in August 1604, where in the 7th Article the King swears and promises in the Word of a King, That in a competent time he would assign a Treaty with the Dutch States, to acccept and receive Conditions agreeable to Justice and Equity, for a Pacification to be had with the renowned Princes his dear Brethren; which if the States shall ref [...]se to accept, his Majesty from thenceforward, as being freed from former Conventions, will determine of those Towns according as he shall judg it to be Just and Honourable, wherein the said Princes, his loving Brethren, shall find there shall be no want of these good Offices, which can be expected from a friendly Prince; let the World judg.

Tho the Bargain were agreed, yet the King and Courtiers were in fear the Money should not be paid accordingly, and therefore the King wrote to the States in a Stile far differing from that he used to the Parliament; for, says my Author, William de Britain, fol. 12. the King told them, He knew the States of Holland to be his good Friends and Confederates, both in Point of Religion and Policy (one as true as the other, for the Religion of the Dutch was Presbytery, which the King hated, nor did he ever imitate their Policy) therefore he apprehended not the least fear of Difference between them: In Contemplation whereof, if they would have their Towns again, he would willingly surrender them.

So tho the Dutch got their Towns again, yet the King got not all the Money, for my Lord Treasurer Suffolk kept back so much of it, as he was fined 30000 l. in the Star-Chamber for it, and had not scaped so, if Sir Francis Bacon, then Lord Chancellor, had not been his Friend.

After the Sale of the Towns was agreed on, the next Debate was, What should become of the Souldiers in Garison? But let them look to that, for the King being Rex Pacificus, had no need of them, they might go where they pleased; all the Care the Favourites had, was how to share the Money among themselves.

The dishonourable Delivery of the Dutch Towns, made no Allay in his Affections to his new Favourite, tho wholly unacquainted with State-Affairs, who was as much given up to the Pleasures of Venus, as the King was to those of Bacchus; neither the Sale of the Dutch Towns, nor the seizing Somerset's Estate, would answer [Page] the Expence of his Pleasures and Bounty, the disposing of all Places and Offices Ecclesiastical and Civil, all waved as he nodded; and herein his Venality was as profuse as his Venery.

One of the first that felt the Effects of his Power herein, was Sir Edward Coke, who at this time sat very loose and uneasy; he had highly disgusted the Court and high-Church-Party, in opposing Arch-bishop Bancroft's Articles against granting Prohibitions at Common-Law. He opposed my Lord Chancellor Egerton taking notice of a Cause in the King's-Bench, after Judgment given, contrary to the Act 4 Hen. 4. 23. and refused to give any Opinion in the Case of Commendums, being a Judg, before it came judicially before him: And however my Lord Chancellor Egerton, upon the swearing Sir Henry Mountague, when he succeeded Sir Edward Coke in the Office of Chief Justice, declared Sir Edward's deposing was for being so popular; yet I have it from one of Sir Edward's Sons, that the Cause of his Removal was,

That Sir Nicholas Tufton being very aged, and having a Patent for Life of the Green-wax-Office in the King's-Bench, the Viscount Villiers by his Agents dealt with Sir Nicholas, that if he would surrender his Patent, the King would make him Earl of Thanet; and in the mean time Sir Francis Bacon treated with Sir Edward, to know whether in case Sir Nicholas surrendred his Patent, the Viscount should prefer another to the Office; Sir Edward would give Sir Francis no other Answer than this, That he was old, and could not wrestle with my Lord. However, after Sir Nicholas had surrendred, Sir Edward refused to admit of a Clerk by Villiers's Nomination, but stood upon his Right; and that the Judges of the King's-Bench served the King to their Loss, and therefore he would so dispose of the Office, that the other Judges of the King's-Bench's Salaries should be advanced; and that hereupon he was turned out of his Place, and Sir Henry Mountague put in, who disposed the Office as the Favourite pleased. But tho the Favourite's Displeasure began here with Sir Edward, it did not end so, nor the Titles of our new Favourite, for upon the 5th of January following he was created Earl of Buckingham; however Sir Edward might have been restored again to the place of Chief Justice, if he would have given a Bribe, but he answered, A Judg ought not to take a Bribe, nor give a Bribe. See the second Part of the Bishop of Lincoln's Life, fol. 120. Tit. 116.

We begin this Year 1617, (after the King had created the Earl Marquess of Buckingham, on the first of January) with the Story of Sir Walter Raleigh's Voyage to Guiana, which was the Cause of his Death, tho upon another score, being condemned in the first Year of the King for High-Treason in Cobham's Conspiracy, for endeavouring to have hindered the King's coming to the Crown: But before we proceed we'll stay a little and take a view of him.

[Page] Sir Walter was of an antient Family, but a younger Brother; and as he was a Person of admirable Parts, excellently adorned with Learning, not Pedantick, but of a nobler Strain, so he had a Mind far above his Fortune, and accounted Poverty the greatest of Misfortunes; and to advance his Fortune he became a Courtier to Queen Elizabeth, who was as great a Discerner of Men, and their Qualities, as any Prince in her time, or perhaps before or since; and as such, and not as imposed by Favourites, she esteemed and preferred them; and upon this account she entertained and favoured Sir Walter.

The Queen made him Captain of her Guards, Lieutenant-General of Cornwall, and Lord Warden of the Stanneries: but these were rather Honorary Titles, than much profitable; and being at Enmity with the Earl of Essex (the Queen's greatest Favourite) and the whole Family of the Cecils, (who governed all in State-Affairs) these put a full stop to Sir Walter's further Rise at Court.

Sir Walter thus balk'd at Court, seeks Adventures abroad to raise his Fortunes thence; and the Wars continuing between the Queen and the King of Spain, in the Year 1595, he mans out a Ship to Guiana in the West-Indies, and by the Intelligence which he had with some of the Indians, and some Spanish Prisoners he had taken, believed he had made a Discovery of several rich Mines, and had certain Marks whereby to discover them again, if occasion should happen.

But if he got nothing else by his Voyage, he got this Advantage by it, that adding Experience to his excellent Theory in Navigation, he justly merited the Applause of the best Director of Sea-Affairs of his time.

After Queen Elizabeth's Death, he was kept 12 Years a Prisoner in the Tower, where he compiled his History of the World, a Design so vast, that no other Man of less Parts both of Body and Mind could have accomplished: And while he was thus confined, he was the first which made publick the Growth by Sea of the Dutch, and the Riches they derived by their fishing upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, and the Consequences which would necessarily follow, not only to the loss of the King's Soveraignty of the British Seas, but to the Trade and Navigation of England otherwise. After that, one Tobias Gentleman set forth another Treatise of this Nature, and how this Fishery might be carried on from the Ports of England, and dedicated it to the King; but the King wholly giving himself up to Pleasure, neither minded the one, nor regarded the other.

Sir Walter had been discharged out of the Tower about two Years and an half before, but by what means I do not find, and then Poverty stared him in the Face (for Somerset had begg'd his Estate) which to him was more intolerable than his Imprisonment, [Page] and how to extricate himself out of it was all his Business: There was a new face of Court to what was in Queen Elizabeth' days, and Sir Walter unknown to any of them. His being freed out of Prison was such a Favour as any further was not to be hoped for: Happy had Sir Walter been if he had been still confined, where in the restraint of his Person he enlarged the Faculties of his Mind to nobler Pleasures than can be found in Sensuality, or any Temporal Greatness; where by his Freedom pursuing these, besides other concomitant Calamities, he brought Destruction upon himself, having first seen his Son Walter slain in the Design he intended to raise his Fortunes by.

Tho the King was never poorer than at this time, yet the Nation was far richer than in all the long Reign of Queen Elizabeth, by reason of the English Trade with Spain made free by that celebrated Law of the 3d of the King, cap. 6. and at this time, and many Years before, the King of Spain made Count Gundamor his Legier Ambassador in England; the Count would ape the King i [...] all his Humours but his Cups, and hereby became so intimate with the King, that he discover'd all his Designs, and the Secret [...] (if ther were any) of the Court.

In this Posture of Affairs Sir Walter informs the King, that [...] he would grant him a Commission, he would bring Mountains of Gold into the King's Exchequer from Guiana: the King, who had stopt his Ears to Sir Walter's Advice concerning the Dutch Fishe [...] upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, opens them both to Sir Walter's Project, and grants him a Commission, directed, Dilecto & fideli meo Waltero Raleigh Militi.

But this Commission ill agreed with the Treaty made between the King and the most renowned King of Spain, his dear and loving Brother, in the second Year of his Reign, wherein in the first Article it was agreed, That they should use one another with all kind and friendly Offices; and by this Treaty the English were restrain'd to their Trades in Europe: For the King of Spain was as jealous of his West-Indies as the Apple of his Eye, or the Pope [...] of his Triple-Crown, or the King of his Prerogative.

The Fame of Sir Walter, and the Expectation of the Mountai [...] of Gold to be poured into the Exchequer by this Expedition, b [...]zed it all abroad, so as Gundamor gave the King of Spain a [...] account of it; and this became so much the more publick, by how much the King could not contribute any thing but his Commission towards it: and tho Sir Walter's Fame induced many Nobles and Gentlemen to join with him in it, yet this being distracted and divided into so many Interests, it went on more heavily, and became every day more known; so that tho Sir Walter intended to have proceeded on his Voyage this Year in the beginning of April, it was upward in August before he set out.

[Page] In his Passage a terrible Fever overtook Sir Walter, now in the 76th Year of his Age, which yet the Strength of his Constitution overcame, to bring him to his End by a worse Fate: When he arrived at Guiana, he found all the Marks which he and Sir Nicholas Kemish had made, either worn out by Time, being twenty Years before, or alter'd by the Spaniards, who had so long before had notice of his Design; so that Kemish and Sir Walter fell at such odds about it, that Kemish killed himself; besides, the Spaniards to prevent Raleigh's Design, had built many new Fortifications unknown to Raleigh or Kemish.

Hereupon Sir Walter stormed the Town of St. Thomas, wherein he lost his Son Walter, but took the Town and sack'd it; and here the Souldiers took great Spoil, but with little Profit to Sir Walter, or any of the Adventurers with him: For the Souldiers and Sea-men, being Reformades, and being under no severe Discipline, kept what they had got.

Now was Sir Walter in a most desperate State, he had no Friends at Court, and, which made the matter worse, he had disgusted all the Nobles and Gentlemen who had engag'd with him in this Expedition: he need not consult the Augurs what should be his Fate upon his Return, to prevent which he endeavoured to have got into France, and carry his Ship with him; but the Sea-men, who now had his Fortune in Contempt, would not forsake their Wives and Children, to partake with him in his Misfortunes, and so brought him back again into England.

It was resolved that Sir Walter's Misfortunes should lose him his Head, but how to do it with a face of Justice was the Question; for his Commission protected him from any Prosecution for the sacking of St. Thomas; and it would seem strange to execute him upon the Conviction in Cobham's Conspiracy sixteen Years before, especially since the King had discharged his Imprisoment upon it, and had granted him a Commission, wherein he called Sir Walter his beloved and faithful Sir Walter.

However this was the best Face could be put upon it, and upon the 28th of October next Year 1618, Sir Walter was brought from the Tower to the King's-Bench, to shew Cause why Sentence of Death should not pass upon him, Mountague being Chief Justice, upon his former Conviction: to which Sir Walter pleaded his Commission, which pardoned his Crime; For he could not be a Traitor and the King's beloved and faithful Servant at one and the same time: but this was over-ruled by the Court, which answered, That Treason could not be pardoned by Implication, but by express words: And next day he had his Head cut off in the Palace-Yard at Westminster.

In granting Sir Walter Raleigh this Commission, you may see by what an undistinguished Power Covetousness governs the Actions of [Page] Princes, as well as meaner Men, against their Honour and Interest; for at the same time when the King granted this Commission, he was by Sir John Digby (after Earl of Bristol) treating a Marriage between Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain, upon the Terms of a Portion of two Millions of Money with her: but if this Act of Raleigh's, and the difficulty of raising such a Portion, put no stop to the Progress of it, you'll soon see an Accident which shall make it utterly impracticable with the Maxims and Policy of Spain; yet so far was the King blinded with the Covetousness of getting the Portion, that he shall put his only Son into the Power of the Spaniards to obtain it.

Tho young Villiers and the King's Favourites governed the King without any Controul by the English, Conchino Conchini an Italian, Marquess d' Ancre and Marshal of France, and his Wife succeeded not so well in France; for after the Death of Henry the Fourth of France, these two governed Mary d' Medicis, Henry's Relict and Regent, as absolutely as our young Favourite did the King, which put the Princes of the Blood and Nobility into such a Ferment, that they several times rose in Tumults and Arms against them: Yet such was their Power with the Queen, that they continued as insolent after the King was declared of Majority as before, whereupon the Feuds of the Princes of the Blood and Nobility grew higher; hereupon Luynes, the King's Favourite, prompted the King to take off Ancre any way, which was so ordered, that Ancre coming into the Louvre, and reading a Letter, Vitry, Captain of the King's Guard, arrested him: Me? said Ancre; Yes you, by the Death of God, answered Vitry, who cried out, Kill him! whereupon he was killed by three Pistol Shots, the King owning the Fact. But Ancre's Fate did not end with his Life, for the next day after he was buried, the Lacquies of the Court, and Rabble of the City digged up his Coffin, tore his Winding-Sheet, and dragged his Body through the Gutters, and hanged it upon the Gibbet he had prepared for others, where they cut off his Nose, Ears and Genitors, which they sent to the Duke of Main, Head of the Popish League (the great Favourite of the Parisians) and nailed his Ears to the Gates of Paris, and burned the rest of his Body, and hurled part of the Ashes into the River, and part into the Air; and his Wife soon after was condemned by the Parliament of Paris for a Witch, for which she was beheaded.

In the Year 1618, a Blazon Comet appeared, and the Marquess of Buckingham, by the removal of my Lord Admiral Nottingham (who was so in the famous Overthrow of the Spanish Armado in 1588.) was made Lord Admiral, being as well qualified for that Office, as he was for being Prime Minister in State-Affairs.

It was no wonder that Lewis XIIIth, after the Death of the Marquess d' Ancre and his Wife, should remove his Mother from [Page] State-Affairs and confine her to Blois, to make room for Luynes, to govern him more absolutely than the Marquess and his Wife had done his Mother; for Lewis as he was of a feeble Constitution both of Body and Mind, so Luynes was a kind of Governor to him, appointed so by his Father Henry the 4th, to humour him in all his Childish Toys and Pleasures: So tho Rehoboam, when forty Years old, was governed by young Men, not in Years but Understanding; so neither was it any great wonder, that Edward the 2d, a young Man, should be governed by Pierce Gaveston, a Person of far more accomplished Parts than Buckingham, for Gaveston was bred up with Edward, and had so far by his Flatteries prevailed upon him, that Edward could not enjoy any Pleasure in his Life without him. But for an old King, having been so for above fifty one Years, to dote so upon a young Favourite, scarce of Age, yet younger in Understanding, tho as old in Vices as any in his time, and to commit the whole Ship of the Common-wealth both by Sea and Land to such a Phaeton, is a Precedent without any Example.

But how much soever the Safety of the English Nation was endangered hereby, yet the but mentioning any thing hereof was an Invasion of the King's Prerogative, and meddling with State-Affairs, which was above the Capacity of the Vulgar, and even of the Parliament, as you will soon hear. But how absolute soever the King was at Home, the face of Affairs Abroad stood quite contrary; for the Dutch having retrieved their Cautionary Towns out of his Possession, had the King in such Contempt, that they neither regarded him, nor his new Lord High Admiral; and this Year, says the Author of the Address to the Free-men and Free-holders of the Nation, in his second Preface, f. 13, 14. The Dutch never before fished upon the Coast of England, till they had begged leave of the King or Governour of Scarborough Castle; but this was now thought beneath the Magnificence of the Hogan Mogans, and therefore they refused it. They had been formerly limited by our Kings, both for the Number of their Vessels they should fish with, and the time: Now they resolve to be their own Carvers, and in order to that, denied the English the Sovereignty of the British Seas; and as if this had not been enough, drew nearer and nearer upon the English Shores Year by Year than they did in preceding Times, without leaving any Bounds for the Country-People or Natives to fish upon their Princes Coasts; and oppressed some of his Subjects, with intent to continue their pretended Possession, and had driven some of their great Vessels through their Nets, to deter others by like Violence from fishing near them, &c. as Secretary Nanton, January 21, 1618. told Carleton, the Dutch Ambassador: And to justify all this, they set out Men of War with their Fishermen to maintain all this by Force. But it was not Fish our new Lord Admiral cared for; nor did he care for the [Page]King's Soveraignty of the British Seas, so as he might be Lord High Admiral in Name.

The Sails of Buckingham's Ambition were not full swelled, till to the Title of Lord High Admiral, the Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports was added to it, tho he regarded the guarding the Coasts of England as little as he did the Soveraignty of the British Seas: Nor did the accumulated Honours to himself alone satisfy his Ambition, but a new Strain, his Mother, tho a professed Papist, must be pullied up with him in a concurring Title of the same Honour, by being created Countess of Buckingham. And being thus exalted she forsook her Husband's Bed, which she sanctified by being converted to the Church of Rome; and as her Son governed the King, so she governed her Son, so that, as Mr. Wilson observes, fol. 149. tho her Son acted in appearance in all Removes and Advancements, yet she wrought them in effect, for her Hand was in all Actions both in Church and State; and she must needs know the Disposition of all things, when she had a feeling of every Man's Pulse; for all Addresses were made to her first, and by her conveyed to her Son (for he looked more after Pleasure than Profit) which made Gundamor (who was well skill'd in Court Holy-Water) among his other witty Pranks, write merrily in his Dispatches to Spain, that there were never more hopes of England's Conversion to Rome than now. [For there were more Oblations offered here to the Mother than to the Son.] Then he tells the Marquess's Behaviour to attain his Ends of Ladies, how he married the Earl of Rutland's only Daughter, the greatest Fortune in England, but being a Papist, how she was converted by Dr. White (tho the Bishop of Litchfield attributes her Conversion to Dr. Williams, Dean of Westminster) but was brought back to the Church of Rome by the Countess of Buckingkam.

The next Year, if you begin at January, Queen Ann died the 22d of March, but this is but a beginning of the King's Sorrows, at least of his Troubles: But this no way troubled our young Favourite, but to encrease the Honour of his Family by Sir George's second Brood, in June following he had his eldest Brother John created Baron Stroke, and Viscount Purbeck, tho I do not find he ever gave him one Penny to maintain these Titles.

Such disgust the King had taken at the Commons representing the Grievances to him in the last Parliament, that in his Cups, and among his Familiars upon all Occasions, he would inveigh against Parliaments, saying, God is my Judg, I can have no Joy of any Parliament in England; and that he was but one King, and there were alove five hundred in the House of Commons: So as if he could have helped it, he never would have been troubled with another: but as the Marriage of his Daughter with the Elector Palatine was the cause of his calling the last Parliament, so the Consequence [Page] of this Marriage put him upon the necessity of calling another.

But because Mr. Rushworth, Franklin, and all other our Writers at home, have either mistaken the Cause, or taken it too short, we will look into it from abroad.

Before Ferdinand, the first of that Name, Emperor of Germany, and younger Brother of Charles the 5th, the Kingdom of Bohemia was elective; and tho they often chose the German Emperors their Kings after the Turks became great in Europe, as Charles the 4th, Wenceslaus his Son, Sigismund and Albert (the first of the Family of the House of Austria) yet in the Year 1440 they chose Ʋladislaus King of Hungary, who was a Polander, to be their King, who being slain at the great Battel of Varna against Amurath the 2d, 1444, they chose his Son Ʋladislaus (an Infant) King of Hungary, whose Guardian in his Minority was John Huniades, the famous Champion against the Turks. After Ʋladislaus (who died without Issue) the Bohemians in 1456, chose George Bogebracius. After him in 1470, they chose Ʋladislaus, the Son of Casimir King of Poland, who had Issue a Son named Lewis, and a Daughter named Ann, married to Ferdinand, Brother of Charles the 5th Emperor of Germany: this Ʋladislaus was likewise chosen King of Hungary, and died in the Year 1516. his Son Lewis being then an Infant, was chosen King of Bohemia and Hungary; and ten Years after, viz. 1526, Lewis was overthrown and slain by Solyman the Great Turk, at the Fight at Mohatz.

With Lewis fell the Glory and Majesty of Hungary, the Paradise of the World, of a sweet and temperate Climate, a most healthful Air, the Soil exceeding fruitful, yet reserving Mines of Gold and Silver in its Bowels; abounding with Cattel, of a larger size than elsewhere, which it supplied Germany, Italy and Turkey with; watered with the noblest Rivers of Europe, the Danube, the Drave, Save, Tibiscus, &c. as fruitful with Fish as the Land was with Cattel, excelling the Countries in manifold and fair built Cities and Towns.

Hungary, at the Death of Lewis, from the time when Matthias (the Son of the famous Huniades) began to reign over them, for 70 Years enjoyed perfect Peace within, and abroad had the Reputation of the most Warlike Nation, and of all other the best Frontier, to stop the further Rage of the Turkish Arms in Europe: But in this long Peace, the People, especially the Clergy, became excessive rich, accompanied with intolerable Pride, and all other Vices which accompany Luxury and Ease.

In this high Conceit of themselves, the Clergy (especially Tomerius) put the King with an Army of 25000 Men only, to fight with Solyman with 300000 Turks, twelve to one, wherein not only the King, but also Tomerius, and the Flower of all the Nobility of Hungary fell; here the Fate of Hungary began, but did not end here.

[Page] For Ferdinand having married Lewis his Sister, and assisted by his Brother Charles, set up for himself to be King of Hungary in right of his Wife, which the major part of the Nobility, not slain in the Battel of Mohatz, refuse to submit to, and chose John Sepuce, Vaivod of Transilvania, to be their King; and John being too weak to oppose Ferdinand, flies to Solyman for his Assistance; so that Hungary, which before was the Barrier against the Progress of the Turkish Power in Europe, now opens her Gates to let it in: however the Turk being engaged in Wars against the Persians, Ferdinand prevailed against both, and John and Ferdinand came to this Agreement, That John should enjoy that part of Hungary whereof he was possest during Life, and Ferdinand the whole after his Death.

Soon after John died, leaving the Queen with Child, which proved a Son; and the Nobility, which before chose the Father King, now chuse the Son, and joining with the Queen, call in Solyman for their Assistance, who by this Call enters Buda (the Regal City of Hungary) and turns the Queen and her Son out, giving him only the Title of Vaivod of Transilvania: Now was Hungary become the Theatre for above 150 Years of all those Calamities which both Civil and Foreign Wars bring upon a Country; so that of the most fruitful and best inhabited Kingdom in Europe, it became the most desolate and uninhabited, the Inhabitants being made use of only to be Slaves either to imperious Souldiers, or lazy and idle Clergy-men.

If Hungary were the Paradise of the World, Bohemia was not less of Germany; and as an Island is encompassed with Waters, so is Bohemia environed with Mountains, which, like a Garden with Walls, encompassed a most rich, pleasant and healthful Kingdom; and to this Kingdom, as well as that of Hungary, does Ferdinand lay Claim in right of his Wife; and being assisted by his Brother Charles, and further from the Assistance of the Turks, he forced the Bohemians to submit to his Empire; but this was not only during his and his Wife's Life, and her Heirs, but to his Heirs Male, tho he claimed in right of his Wife. And herein you must observe, That the Bohemians at this time, as well as their Ancestors before, were Enemies to the Popish Tyranny and Heresies, so that Zisca, the famous Captain of the Hussites, about one hundred Years before, in many Battels, in Opposition to the Popish Tyranny, overthrew the Emperor Sigismond; and Ferdinand was a zealous Maintainer of the Popish Supremacy and Usurpations in Religion as well as Tyranny.

Ferdinand had Issue two Sons, Maximilian who succeeded him in the Empire, as well as in the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, and Charles the first Arch-Duke of Austria. Maximilian had Issue Maximilian, Rodolph, Matthias and Albert, Governour and Prince of the Spanish Netherlands, with whom King James in the second Year of his Reign made the League before spoken of.

[Page] Rodolph in 1576, succeeded Maximilian in the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, as well as in the Empire: This Rodolph, Helvicus says, was a Prince most worthy of all Praise, the Refuge of good Learning, Ensign of Peace and Clemency; and in the Year 1609, granted Liberty of Conscience to the Bohemians and Austrians.

Matthias, Rodolph's Brother, succeeded him in the Kingdom of Bohemia, and the Empire in 1614; but Matthias having no Issue, and the Issue Male of Maximilian ending in him, a Question might arise about the Succession to the Crowns of Hungary and Bohemia: for admitting the Succession were hereditary, then by the Laws of Inheritance these Crowns would devolve upon the King of Spain, Philip the Third, whose Mother Anna was Daughter to Maximilian the Second, and therefore to be preferred before Ferdinand, Arch-Duke of Austria, descended from Charles, Maximilian's younger Brother: To prevent this, the Popish Party, jealous of the Consequences, prevail upon, or rather forced the Emperor Matthias to surrender his Title to the Kingdom of Bohemia to his Cousin Ferdinand, a zealous Assertor of the Supremacy of the Church of Rome.

The Bohemians having this farther strain of their Crowns being disposed of to another, and dreading the Disposition of this Ferdinand, assembled at Prague (the Regal City of Bohemia) and demand a General Diet of the Kingdom to bring their Grievances thither; herein they did not apply themselves to Ferdinand, as their King, but to Matthias the Emperor; but Matthias denied, or deferred it (to use Nani's words, who, tho a Venetian, seems to me to be very partial against the Bohemians) whereupon the Bohemians upon the 23d of May 1618, parted in a Rout, and believing the Counts Martinitz, Slavata, and Philip Fabritus, most zealous Papists, to be the Motives of Matthias his Denial, flung them out of the Windows of the Castle of Prague, but they escaped by a Miracle, as Nani says, lib. 4. p. 127.

The Count de la Tour in this Commotion, makes a most pathetick Oration to the Bohemians, wherein he sets forth how the Privileges of the Kingdom were violated, and the Exercise of their Religion forbid, and made to descend upon the Will of Princes: That the usurped Crown of Bohemia passed from Head to Head, as the Revenue and Inheritance of one House; and to establish an everlasting Tyranny, being ravished before its time from Successors, in spite of Death is never suffered to be vacant, &c. And then goes on, What have we not yet suffered? The use of Life comes now to be denied us, and the Ʋsufruit of our Souls contested; but all our past Miseries will not be able to call to Remembrance but some imperfect Representations of the Calamities to come: In sum, Rodolph lived amongst us, Matthias has reaped us as the first Fruits of his ambitious Desires; (for Matthias had forced Rodolph to resign the Crown of Bohemia to him, as Ferdinand had done to Matthias) But what may we expect from [Page] Ferdinand, unknown to us, and in himself rigorous, directed by Spanish Counsels, and governed by that sort of Religious Priests and People, who detest, with an equal Aversion, our Liberty and Belief? He was born and bred up in the Abhorrence of us Protestants, and why should we be so forward to make trial of it? Since the Persons banished, the Families displanted, the Goods violently taken away, demonstrate too cruelly to us, that he would abolish our very Being, if he could as easily command Nature as he uses Force, Wo to you Bohemians, to your Children, to your Estates, to your Consciences, if you suffer this Ferdinand to keep his footing in the Throne: And when will you attempt to shake off the Yoke, if you have not Courage to do it at a time when without Power, without Guard, the Kingdom is in your own Power, and that you have two Kings to oppose you, one whereof is fallen, and the other to [...]ters? &c. which you may read at large in the fourth Book of Nani; and concludes, The Lot is drawn, Liberty, or the Hangman: If Conquerors, we shall be Just, Free and Princes; if overcome, Per [...]idious, Perjured and Rebels.

The Inhabitants of Prague before disposed, took fire at this Oration of De la Tour▪ and chose a Magistracy of Thirty, with the Title of Directors, to carry on a Government in opposition to Ferdinand; and what happened in Prague, was no sooner divulged through the Kingdom, but all was in a Revolt, drawing also the Provinces of Lusatia and Silesia, adjoining to them, into their Confederacy.

Matthias had a Counsellor named Gleselius, upon whose Advice and Integrity Matthias relied above all other Men, who advised Matthias by all fair means possible to compose the Commotions of the Bohemians; for if he should come to a Rupture with them, and Matthias be compelled to raise an Army, the Interest of Ferdinand was such, not only in the Spanish Councils, but the Popish in Germany, and the hereditary Countries, that he would command it, and thereby be in a Condition to ravish the Empire from him, as he had done the Crown of Bohemia; and Matthias feeling yet this Flesh-wound, feared that mortal one, if Ferdinand were put on the Head of an Army.

Hereupon Ferdinand, without any regard to the Majesty and Authority of Matthias, resolved to arrest Gleselius, and separate him from giving any farther Advice to Matthias; and one day being called to Council, where the King was with one Ognate, Gleselius was seized upon by d' Ampiere and Prainer, and put into a close Coach, and guarded by an hundred Horse, hurried away to Inspurg.

Matthias was astonished at this bold Insolence, which struck at his Authority in the tenderest part, and now without any Council, left in the Hands of his Cousin, who designed to rise out of his Ruin, became so overwhelmed with Melancholy, that both asleep and awake, he could not be with-held from crying out with a loud Voice, That Gleselius might be brought back again, but all to [Page] no purpose, for he shall never live to see him again; and in these Agonies he had some thoughts to have cast himself into the Arms of the Bohemians, but it was not in his Power to do it. These things were in 1618, at the end whereof Matthias died.

These Commotions in Bohemia and other parts of the Empire, encreased after the Death of Matthias, so that the Election of an Emperor was controverted till the 30th of August 1619, when Ferdinand was chosen, having by large Promises prevailed upon George Duke of Saxony to vote for him.

But however, the Bohemians were stiff in opposing his Election to the Kingdom of Bohemia, and offered the Crown to Charles, Duke of Savoy, tho a Popish Prince, and who had a better Title to the Crown of Bohemia than Ferdinand; his Mother being a younger Daughter of Maximilian the 2d, but prevailed upon by the Pope and Spanish Councils, he refused it, as did the Duke of Saxony; and then they chose Frederick Count Palatine, hoping to receive great Assistance from King James his Father-in-law, but were mistaken in the Man.

Upon this Election Abbot Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was all on Fire, to perswade the King to assist his Son-in-law, and to that purpose wrote a long perswasive Apology to the King concerning it, which you may read at large in Rushworth's Collections, fol. 12. but the King and Bishop were not of the same Opinion; for the King would have it, that the Election of his Son-in-law was upon the Score of Religion, not Right, and therefore disswaded him from it; but being a mighty Man of Embassies, as well as Words, Nani says fol. 138. published, that he would assist his Son-in-law, and dispatched an Ambassador to Vienna, proposing that Bohemia should remain to Frederick: But if his Authority by words would not settle his Son-in-law, King James could not go further. Frederick thus forsaken by his Father-in-law, raised upon his own account 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse, and entred Prague; and was crown'd King on the Fourth of November 1619, and was no sooner crown'd, but laid the Foundation of his own Ruine: for the Counts De la Tour and Mansfield, who had raised two Armies and kept up the Bohemians, till the King's coming to Prague, were not only neglected, but the Prince of Anhalt, whom the King brought with him, was made not only Generalissimo of the Army the King brought, but of the Armies raised by de la Tour and Mansfield; besides, the King, tho he had got a vast Treasure, was niggardly in paying the Souldiers, which necessitated them to take free Quarters upon the Bohemians.

In this disgusted State with the Bohemians, the King having withd [...]awn so great Forces out of the Palatinate, left it exposed to the Ravages of the Spaniards, who under the Command of Ambrose, Count Spinola, General of the Spanish Army, under the [Page] Arch-Duke Albert (whom the King in the Treaty of the 2d Year of his Reign calls His renowned and dear Brother) made terrible Wars in the Palatinate.

Here you may see how unhappy King James was in the Peace or Truce he procured the King of Spain, and the Arch-Dukes to make with the Dutch in 1609, for twelve Years; for in this Interval, the Dutch did not only retrieve their Cautionary Towns out of the King's Possession, but the Truce still continuing, the Arch-Duke had not only an Opportunity to assist the Emperor, but to send Spinola with an Army to invade the Palatinate; and the Emperor by an imperial Ban, had proscribed the King's Son-in-law a Traitor and Rebel to the Empire, and thereupon forfeited his Electoral Dignity and Estate, which he gave to Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, and committed the Execution of it to the Arch-Duke Albert, the Elector of Saxony, and Duke of Bavaria.

King James was startled at this Return to his Proposition at Vienna, that his Son-in-law shall possess the Crown of Bohemia; and now complains that his Childrens Patrimony would be lost, and that he would not sit still, and take no further Care in it, and therefore sent another Ambassadour to the Arch-Duke at Brussels, to expostulate the matter; and this was the utmost he was able to do, and was forced to strain his Credit for it: but lest this should not do, tho sore against his Will, he resolved to call another Parliament, and try their Good Will towards it.

But that we may take all things before us, as they stood at the Meeting of this Parliament, the King notwithstanding the Attempt of Sir Walter Raleigh upon the Spanish West-Indies, had still by Sir John Digby continued the Treaty of Marriage between the Prince of Wales, and the Infanta Maria of Spain, with the same Confidence of Success, as if the King of Spain had not been concerned in Sir Walter's Expedition: But the Court of Spain, to check the King's forward Desires, demand high Privileges for the Romanists, which amounted to little less than a Toleration; and that the Pope must be satisfied in his Conscience, before he could grant a Dispensation for the Infanta to marry with an Heretick Prince; both which the King and Prince agreed to, and were signed by them both, though afterwards.

But however the Agreement between the Pope, King and Prince was not much known, the Liberty granted to the Roman Catholicks was generally taken notice of; and beside, the Generality of the Nation, notwithstanding the Benefits received by the Spanish Trade, still retained an Aversion to the Spaniards, which made the Spanish Match hated and feared by them; and how much more they hated and feared the Spaniards, so much more zealous were they for the King's Assistance of his Son-in-law in his Title to the Kingdom of Bohemia, as well as in the Preservation of the Palatinate, now invaded by the Emperor and King of Spain.

[Page] Thus things stood when the King's Necessities forced him to the unwilling Resolution of calling another Parliament: but they did not stay here, for upon the 9th of November happened the fatal Battel at Prague, fought by above 60000 Combatants, wherein, tho the Bohemians were superior in Number, the Imperialists were in Discipline and Valour; and tho the King was the principal Object of the War, yet he thought not fit to engage in the Battel, but stood at a distance out of Harm's way to observe the Event of it.

After two hours Fight, the Bohemians were utterly overthrown and routed, 6000 being killed, and more taken Prisoners, with all their Colours, Baggage, Guns and Ammunition, and scarce 300 of the Imperialists killed; the Prince of Anhalt was the first who gave the King notice of his Overthrow, with Advice to provide for his Safety, which the King thought to do by flying back into Prague, but found no Safety there.

For the Duke of Bavaria, General of the Imperialists, followed him close, and summons him to surrender the City, and quit his Claim to the Kingdom: The King demands 24 Hours respite to answer, but Bavaria only grants him 8, to which without any Reply, next Morning the King, with the Queen, big with Child, and their Children fly out of Prague, and by unfrequent Ways, by almost a Miracle, escape to Ʋratislavia, leaving the Heads of his Party in Prague to be Victims, after an horrible Sacrifice, to their enraged and bloody Enemies, and all that inestimable Wealth, which he had got together, and was so niggardly of to his Souldiers, to be a Prey to his Enemies also.

In this disasterous State, Frederick driven out of Bohemia, the Palatinate invaded and overrun by Spinola, and having lost all his Wealth, as well as Kingdom and Country, retires with his Wife and Children into Holland; more supported by the Dutch, Prince of Orange, and some of the English Nobility, and Arch-Bishop Abbot, than by the King, whose Bounty lay another way; and since he could not obtain Aids from his Father-in-law for the Preservation of his Country, yet he became a Suitor to the King to solicite the Imperial Court for the Conservation of the Palatinate, which the King did, but did him no good, and further the King would not go; but vainly promised to himself he could do it, by the Marriage of his Son to the Infanta of Spain, and get two Millions of Money for her Portion to boot.

Though the English Nobility patiently truckled under the Ambition and Covetousness of Buckingham, yet the same Genius was not found in the French Princes of the Blood, and Nobility, under the prodigious Pride, and exorbitant Promotions of Luynes: to restrain them, or it may be, to force Luynes from the King's Favour, the Queen-Mother made a League with the Count of [Page] Soissons, (a Prince of the Blood) the Count Vendosm and Grand Prior of France, (both natural Sons of Henry the 4th of France) against him, and the Dukes of Longuevil, Main and Espernoon joined with them, so did those of the reformed Religion under the Duke of Rohan, and his Brother Sobiez, Princes of the Blood of the Line of Navarr.

But these Commotions, being sudden and ungrounded, were soon supprest, and the King was reconciled to the Queen and Popish Nobility, and the greatest Loss fell upon those of the Reformed Religion, who lost St. John de Angely, Gergeau, Sancerre and Saumur, which were all the Cautionary Places which the Reformed had upon the Loire, and also Suilly, Merac and Caumont. King James, that he might as much appear for the Reformed, as he had done for his Son-in-law, sent Sir Edward Herbert, after Baron Herbert of Cherberry, his Ambassadour into France, to mediate a Peace between the King and the Reformed, and in Case of Refusal, to use Menaces, which Sir Edward bravely performed, to Luynes, and after to the French King himself; which being misrepresented to King James, Sir Edward was recalled, and the Earl of Carlisle was sent Ambassadour into France in his room; and the Earl finding the Truth to be otherwise than was represented by Luynes, acquainted the King with it: Hereupon Sir Edward kneeled to the King, and humbly besought him, that since the Business between Luynes and him was become publick, that a Trumpeter, if not an Herald on Sir Edward's Part might be sent to Luynes, to tell him, That he had made a false Relation to the King of the Passages between them; and that Sir Edward would demand Reasons of him with Sword in Hand on that Point: but the King was not pleased to grant it; and here began the Downfal of the Power of the Reformed in France, and the Rise of the French Grandeur by Land.

In this rotten and teachy State of Affairs, before the Meeting of the Parliament, the King issued out a Proclamation, (of which he was as prodigal, as bountiful to his Favourites) forbidding Men to talk of State-Affairs (as if his Favourite Buckingham, who governed all, was so mindful of them;) nor was the King less jealous of the Parliament's meddling with State-Affairs, than of the Peoples talking of them out of Parliament, so that the King upon the opening of the Parliament the 30th of January, told them of the Constituting Parts of a Parliament, and how it was twelve Years since he had received any Aids from Parliaments; and how that though he had prosecuted a Treaty of Marriage between the Prince and Infanta of Spain, which if it were not for the Benefit of the Established Religion in England, and of the Reformed abroad, he was not worthy to be their King; and though he had refused to assist his Son-in-law in his Election to the Kingdom of Bohemia, being a matter of Religion contrary to what he had [Page] wrote against the Jesuits, yet that he could not sit still, and see the Patrimony of his Children torn from them by the Emperor, and therefore was resolved to raise an Army next Summer; and that he would engage his Crown, his Blood and Soul for the Recovery of the Palatinate: And having before told the Commons of their Duty to petition the King, and acquaint him with their Grievances, but not to meddle with his Prerogative; he after tells them, that who shall hasten after Grievances, and desire to make himself popular, has the Spirit of Satan.

The Parliament, notwithstanding the violation of their Privileges the last Parliament; by the King's imprisoning their Members; yet being zealous to assist the King against the Emperor, and King of Spain, in favour of the Palsgrave; and though the Nation at no time before so much abounded in Corruption and Grievances, yet to humour the King, inverted the Methods of Proceedings in Parliament; and the Commons granted the King two entire Subsidies, and the Clergy three, before they entred upon Grievances, which so pleased the King, that in a Speech in the House of Lords; he declared it was more acceptable to him than Millions, it shewing he reigned in the Love and Affections of his Subjects, but he did not long hold in this Mind.

At this Sessions of Parliament, (if it may be called so, no Act but that of the Subsidies passing) Sir Giles Mompesson and Sir Francis Michel; were sentenced and degraded, for erecting new Inns and Ale-houses, and exacting great Sums of Money by pretence of Letters Patents granted for that purpose; Sir Giles fled, and so escaped a farther Punishment, but Sir Francis was condemned to perpetual Imprisonment in Finsbury Goal. Sir Francis Bacon, Viscount Verulam; and Lord Chancellor, was likewise censured, deposed, fined, and committed Prisoner to the Tower for Bribery; and Bacon's Fall was Doctor Williams's Rise, Dean of Westminster, to be Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.

But the Commons debating the Growth of Popery, and the dangerous Consequences of the Spanish Match, contrary to the King's Speech and Inclinations, he upon the Fourth of June (which the Commons took to be an Invasion upon their Privileges) by Commission adjourned them to the 14th of November, and by a Proclamation forbid the talking of State-Affairs. In this recess the Spaniards took Stein in the lower Palatinate, and the Duke of Bavaria all the Upper Palatinate, and the Arms of Lewis prevailed more upon the Reformed in France; yet none of these prevailed upon the King, further than to mediate a Suspension of Arms, in order to treat an Accommodation between the Emperor and his Son-in-law, and the French King and the Reformed, which had no other Effect, but to make the King contemptible in Germany as well as France, his Power and Authority being bounded [Page] up only in Words and Messages, which the King's ill-Willers blazing abroad, cost the King more than would have recovered the Palatinate.

However the King abated nothing of his Pleasure and dissolute Life, but according to the usual Methods of his Life, in the Autumn went to New-Market to divert himself with Hunting, from the trouble of Affairs, either foreign or domestick, leaving his Favourite Buckingham Dictator of all his Affairs, when the Parliament met again: But how remiss soever the King was of his Affairs, the Commons were not, perhaps heated by their Adjournment, and alarmed at the Progress of Lewis against the Reformed in France; and of the Emperor, and King of Spain, not only in the Palatinate, but all over the Empire against the Protestants; and also with the Liberty which the Popish Party took, upon the hopes they conceived would accrue to them by the Spanish Match still as fervently pursued by the King and Prince as ever, the King being encouraged hereto by the Earl of Bristol, the King's Ambassador in Spain, but more by the Spanish Ambassador Gundamor here: A Person, as N [...]ni observes, who with a stupendous Acuteness of Wit, so confounded pleasant things with serious, that it was not easy to be discerned when he spoke of Business, and when he rallied; he had so insinuated himself into the Mind of the King, that he need not take any further care of restoring his Son-in-law to the Palatinate, but by Prince Charles his marrying with the Infanta, the Treaty whereof now is 8 Years old, being brought to Maturity and Perfection so soon as the Pope should grant a Dispensation.

The House of Commons hereupon, being ill satisfied with the Distribution of the Subsidies before granted to the King, resolve to proceed upon Grievance, before they granted more Supplies, and to that end drew up a long and particular Remonstrance, which you may read at large in Mr. Rushworth's Collections, fol. 40, 41, 42. setting forth the dangerous State of the Nation, and of Christendom, by the Alliances of the Pope and Popish Princes, especially the King of Spain, chief of the League, and what dismal Consequences would follow by the Marriage of the Prince with the Infanta, &c. yet resolve to grant the King another Subsidy for carrying on the War for the Recovery of the Palatinate; but withal humbly desired his Majesty to pass such Bills, as shall be prepared for his Honour, and the general Good of his People, accompanied with a general Pardon as is usual; concluding with their daily Prayers to the Almighty, the great King of Kings, for a Blessing upon their Endeavours, and for his Majesty's long and happy Reign over them, and for his Childrens Children after him, for many and many Generations.

[Page] The Noise of this Remonstrance so disturbed the King in his Pleasures at New-market, which all his Cares for the Preservation of his Son-in-law's Patrimony could not do, that upon the 3d of December he wrote to Sir Thomas Richardson, Speaker of the House of Commons, this Letter, which because of the Rarity of it by any King of England to his Parliament before, we will give verbatim.

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 Commons, to argue and debate publickly of Matters far above their Reach and Capacity, tending to Our high Dishonour, and breach of Prerogative Royal. These are therefore to command you to make known in Our Name unto the House, that none therein from henceforth do meddle with any thing concerning Our Government, and deep Matters of State, and namely not to deal with Our dear Son's Match with the Daughter of Spain, nor to touch the Honour of that King, or any other of Our Friends and Confederates; and also not to meddle with any Man's Particulars, which have their due Motion in any of Our ordinary Courts of Justice. And whereas We hear they have sent a Message to Sir Edwin Sandys, to know the Reasons of his late Restraint, you shall in Our Name resolve them, that it is 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 Man's Misdemeanors in Parliament, as well during their Sitting as after, which We mean not to spare hereafter, upon any Occasion of any Man's insolent Behaviour there that shall be ministred unto Ʋs: And if they have already touched any of these Points, which We have forbidden, in any Petition of their which is to be sent to Ʋs, it is Our Pleasure that you tell them, That except they reform it before it comes to our Hands, We will not deign the Hearing nor Answering of it.

The Commons having a publick Trust reposed in them, and truly apprehensive of the dangerous State of the Protestants in Christendom, as well as of the Kingdom; and that not only the King's remisness in taking care of both, but the Designs he prosecuted, were equally dangerous to both; in a most humble and supplicant Remonstrance, represent to the King his recommendation of the Affairs of the Palatinate to them, and the dangerous State of Christendom: in discourse whereof they did not assume to themselves any Power to determine of any part thereof, nor intend to encroach or intrude upon the Sacred Bounds of his Royal Authority, [Page] to whom, and to whom only, they do acknowledg it does belong to resolve of Peace and War, and of the Marriage of the most noble Prince, his Son; but as his most loyal and humble Subjects do represent these things to his Majesty, which otherwise could not, so clearly come to his Knowledg, &c.

They beseech his Majesty that they may not undeservedly suffer by the Misinformation of partial and uncertain Reports, which are ever unfaithful Intelligencers; and not give Credit to private Reports against all, or any of their Members, whom the House hath not censured, until his Majesty hath been truly informed from themselves, that they may stand upright in his Majesty's Grace and good Opinion, than which no worldly Consideration can be dearer to them, &c. Which you may read at large in Mr. Rushworth's Collections, Fol. 44, 45, 46.

The King having cast the Sheet-Anchor of all his Hopes upon the Spanish Match, whereby he should not only re-establish his Son-in-law in the Palatinate, and get more Money than he could hope for in Parliament, furled all his Sails, and resolved to ride out this Storm of the Commons; notwithstanding his Pleasures and Indisposition of Health, in a long Invective against them in a Scotis [...] Dialect, which you may read at large in Rushworth's Collections; the Heads whereof were,

1. That he must repeat the Words of Queen Elizabeth to a [...] insolent Proposition, made by a Polonian Ambassador, Legatu [...] expectabamus, Heraldum accepimus, that he had great Reason to have expected better from them, for the 37 Monopolies and Patents called in by him since the last Recess; and for the three, whereof Mompesson and Michel were censured: but of these he heard no news; but on the contrary, Complaints of Religion, tacitely implying his ill Government.

2. That the taxing him with trusting to uncertain Reports, and partial Informations concerning their Proceedings, was needless, being an old and experienced King, and in his Conscience the freest of any King alive from hearing or trusting to idle Reports▪ That in the Body of their Petition, they usurp upon his Prerogative Royal, and meddle with things far above their Reach, and then protest to the contrary; as if a Robber should take away▪ Man's Purse, and then protest he meant not to rob him.

3. That his Recommendation of the War for regaining the Palatinate, was no other than if it could not be recovered otherwise; which can be no Inference, that he must denounce War against the King of Spain, break his dearest Son's Match, and match him to one of our Religion; which is all one as if we should tell: Merchant we had great need to borrow Money of him for raising an Army, and that thereupon it should follow, that we were bound [Page] to follow his Advice in the Direction of the War: That this Plen [...] potency of theirs, invests them with all Power upon Earth, lacking nothing but the Pope's, to have the Keys both of Heaven and Purgatory: That it was like the Puritans in Scotland, to bring all Causes within their Jurisdiction; or like Bellarmine's distinction of the Pope's Power over Kings, in ordine ad Spiritualia, whereby he gives them all temporal Jurisdiction over them.

4. That he expected the Commons would have given him Thanks for the long maintaining a setled Peace in all his Dominions, when all our Neighbours about are in a miserable Combustion of War; but Dulce Bellum inexpertis.

5. That he had ever professed to restore his Children to their Patrimony by War or Peace, and that by his Credit and Intervention with the King of Spain and Arch-Dukes, he had preserved the lower Palatinate from the farther conquering for one whole Year; and that his Lord Ambassador Digby had extraordinarily secured Heidelburg.

6. That he could not couple the War of the Palatinate with the Cause of Religion, and that the War was not begun for Religion, but only by his Son-in-law's hasty and rash Resolution to take to himself the Crown of Bohemia; and that this Usurpation of it from the Emperor had given the Pope, and that Party, an Occasion to oppress and curb many thousands of our Religion in divers parts of Christendom.

Here I desire that the Reader take notice of the Case of the Bohemians, as it is set forth by Baptista Nani, fol. 126. Anno 1618, after they had Liberty of Conscience granted them by Rodolph the Emperor, and that Ferdinand had no colour of Title to the Kingdom of Bohemia, but as he forced the Emperor Matthias to surrender it to him.

Ferdinand, says he, bred up in the Catholick Faith, detested all sorts of Errour; and therefore by how much not succeeding to the Father, he found the Patrimonial Countries incumbred with false Opinions, so much more with signal Piety had he applied himself to promote the true Worship, with such Success, that at last those Provinces rejoiced to be restored to the Bosom of the Antient Religion: But this was not without some Sort of Severity, so that many not to leave their Errours were constrained to abandon their Country, and sell their Estates, living elsewhere in Discontent and Poverty; and others driven away by force, and their Estates confiscate, saw them not without Rancour, possessed by new Masters; and all this done in the Life of Matthias: So that Ferdinand, as his Title was Ʋsurpation and Force, so was the Exercise of it Tyranny in the highest Degree, to the Overthrow of the Bohemian Laws [Page]and Liberties; therefore the Original of the Bohemian War was not founded in the Election of Frederick to be King, for Ferdinand perpetrated these things two Years before.

Nani goes on and says, in the Empire therefore, in which the Religion no less than the Genius is for Liberty, there appeared great Apprehensions, that where Ferdinand should get the Power, he would exercise the same Reformation, and impose a Yoke so much the more heavy, by how much standing in need of Money, and the Counsels of Spain, he should be governed by the Rules and Maxims of that Nation, so hateful to the Germans: So that it was not the Election of Frederick to be King of Bohemia, that opened that Gate for the Pope and his Party, for curbing and oppressing of many thousand of our Religion in divers parts of Christendom, as the King said, for it was set wide open before by Ferdinand.

7. That the Commons Debates concerning the War with Spain and Spanish Match, were Matters out of their Sphere, and therefore Ne sutor ultra Crepida [...], and are a Diminution to him and his Crown in Foreign Countries: That the Commons in their Petition had attempted the highest Points of Soveraignty, except the stamping of Coin.

8. That for Religion, he could give no other Answer than in general, that the Commons may rest secure, he will never be weary to do all he can for the Propagation of ours, and repressing of Popery; but the manner they must remit to his Care and Providence.

9. That for the Commons Request of making this a Sessions, and granting a General Pardon, it shall be their fault if it be not done; But the Commons required such Particulars in it, that he must be well advised, lest he give back double or treble of that he was to receive by their Subsidy; but thinks fit that of his free Grace he sends down a Pardon from the higher House containing such Points as he shall think fittest.

10. He thinks it strange the Commons should make so bad and unjust a Commentary upon some Words in his former Letter, as if he thereby meant to restrain the Commons of their antient Privileges and Liberties in Parliament, wherein he discharges them from meddling with Matters of Government and Mysteries of State, namely Matters of War and Peace, or his dearest Son's Match with Spain, or that they meddle with things which have their ordinary Course in the Courts of Justice: That a Scholar would be ashamed so to mis-judg and misplace Sentences in another Man's Book, for in the coupling these Sentences they plainly leave out Mysteries of State, and so err, a bene divisis ad mala conjuncta: that for the former part concerning Mysteries of State, he plainly restrained his meaning to the Particulars which were after mentioned; and for the latter, he confesses he meant it by Sir Edward Coke's foolish [Page] Business, and therefore it had well become him, especially being his Servant, and one of his Council, to have complained to him, which he never did, tho he was ordinarily at Court, and never had Access refused him.

Sir Edward Coke's Business was a Conspiracy against him by my Lord Chancellor Bacon, one Lepton and Goldsmith, after he was discharged from being Chief Justice, to have exhibited an Information against him in the Star-Chamber, or have sent him into Ireland: The Business was debated in the House of Commons, but Sir Edward complained not, nor appeared to speak in it.

If the King were uneasy with the Commons Remonstrance, the Commons were not less with the King's Answer, and at the Resolution taken at Court, to adjourn the Parliament to the 8th of January next, which the Commons took to be a Violation of their Privileges, and an Omen of their Dissolution; whereupon they entred this Protestation.

THE Commons now Assembled in Parliament, being justly occasioned thereunto, concerning sundry Liberties, Franchises and Privileges of Parliament, among others here mentioned, do make this Protestation following, That the Liberties, Franchises, Privileges and Jurisdictions of Parliament, are the antient and undoubted Birth-right and Inheritance of the Subjects of England, and that the ardueus 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 Grievances and Mischiefs which may happen within this Realm, are proper Subjects, and Matter of Counsel and Debate in Parliament; and that in the handling and proceeding of those Businesses, every Member of the House of Parliament hath, and of right ought to have freedom of Speech, to propound, treat, reason, and bring to Conclusion the same: And that the Commons in Parliament have like Liberty and Freedom to treat of these Matters in such order, as in their Judgment they shall think fittest: And that every Member in the said House, hath likewise freedom from all Impeachment, Imprisonments and Molestation (other than by Censure of the House it self) for, or concerning any speaking, reasoning or declaring 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 Consent of all the Commons assembled in Parliament, before the King give Credence to any private Information.

If the King was alarmed at the Commons Remonstrance, this Protestation of the Commons was such an Invasion upon his Sacred Prerogative Royal, that neglecting his Pleasures and Health, [Page] which he took such care to preserve, by retiring into the Country; up he now comes to London, and upon the 30th of December, and in a full Assembly of Council, and in the Presence of the Judges, declares the said Protestation invalid, annull'd and void, and of none effect, & Manu sua propria, takes the said Protestation out of the Journal-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 the Council-Causes.

And on the 6th of January the King by his Proclamation dissolved the Parliament, Shewing that the meeting, continuing and dissolving of Parliaments does so peculiarly belong to him, that he needs not give any account thereof to any other; yet he thought fit to declare, that in the Dissolution of this Parliament he had the Advice and Ʋniform Consent of his whole Council; and that some particular Members of the Commons took inordinate Liberty, not only to treat of his High Prerogatives, and sundry things not fit to be argued in Parliament, but also to speak with less respect of Foreign Princes: That they spent their time in disputing Privileges, and descanting upon the Words and Syllables of his Letters and Messages; and that these evil-temper'd Spirits sowed Tares among the Corn, and by their Carriage have imposed upon him a necessity of discontinuing this present Parliament, without putting to it the Name or Period of a Session. And lastly, he declared, That tho the Parliament were broken off, yet he intended to govern well, and shall be glad to lay hold on the first occasion to call another.

CHAP. IV.
A Continuation of this Reign to King James his Death.

THE first Act the King did to make good his Promise in his Proclamation to govern well, was, his Commitment of Sir Edward Coke and Sir Robert Philips to the Tower, and Mr. Selden, Mr. Pym and Mr. Mallery to other Prisons; and Sir Dudley Diggs, Sir Thomas Crew, Sir Nathaniel Rich, and Sir James Parrot into Ireland. Sir Thomas Overbury had a Cause assigned for his Commitment to the Tower, but yet it was observed an Hardship upon him, without any Precedent, that he should be confined a close Prisoner for a Contempt; whereas these were not only confined, but close Prisoners, (for ought I can find, I am well assured [Page] Sir Edward Coke was) not only without any Cause shewed, but for performing a publick Trust reposed in them. Nor did the Commons only suffer under this Fury of the King for performing their Duty, but the Noble Earl of Southampton was imprisoned for his freedom of Speech, and for rebuking Buckingham for his disorderly speaking in the House of Lords, as you may see in the first Part of Keeper Williams's Life, fol. 62. tit. 8.

But of all others, this Storm fell most severely upon Sir Edward Coke, and by several ways his Ruin was contrived: First, By sealing up the Locks and Doors of his Chambers in London, and in the Temple. Secondly, By seizing his Papers, by virtue whereof they took away his several Securities for Money, as a learned Lawyer, Mr. Hawles, hath observed. Thirdly, It was debated in Council, when the King would have brought in the General Pardon, containing such Points as he should think fittest, by what ways they might exclude him from the benefit of it, either by preferring a Bill against him before the Publication of it, or by excepting him by Name. Fourthly, If the King's Name were used by Northampton and Somerset to confine Sir Thomas Overbury so close, that neither his Father nor Servants should come at him; so was the King's Name used here, that none of Sir Edward Coke's Children or Servants should come at him; and of this I am assured from one of Sir Edward's Sons and his Wife. Fifthly, In this Confinement, the King sued him in the King's-Bench for 30000 l. 2 s. 6 d. for an old Debt pretended to be due from Sir William Hatton to Queen Elizabeth; and this was prosecuted by Sir Henry Yelverton, with all Severity imaginable: but herein the King's Counsel were not all of one piece, for when a Brief against Sir Edward was brought to Sir John Walter (I think) then Attorney-General, he returned it again with this Expression, Let my Tongue cleave to the Roof of my Mouth whenever I open it against Sir Edward Coke; however after the Trial, the Verdict was against the King.

Mr. Selden got his Liberty by the favour of my Lord Keeper Williams; but the rest must abide by it till the breaking of the Spanish Match necessitated the King to call another Parliament.

But lest the King's Word in his Proclamation for governing well should not pass currant, and without dispute, the King ordered the Judges in their Circuits to give this in their Charges, That the King taking notice of the Peoples liberal speaking of Matters far above their reach, and also taking notice of their licentious undutiful Speeches touching State and Government, notwithstanding several Proclamations to the contrary, the King was resolved no longer to pass it without severest Punishment; and thereupon to do exemplary Justice where they find any such Offenders.

[Page] The King having in the ninth Year of his Reign borrowed 111046 l. upon Privy-Seals, which the Writer of the Historical Narration of the first 14 Years of King James his Reign, Tit. Monies raised by him, fol. 14. says, were unrepay'd: Now, since he could receive no more Money in Parliament, orders the Privy-Council to issue out an Order for raising Money out of Parliament, for the Defence of the Palatinate; and also sent Letters to the Justices of the Courts in Westminster-Hall, and Barons of the Exchequer, to move them, and perswade others to a liberal Contribution for the Recovery of the Palatinate, according to their Qualities and Abilities: Nevertheless, if any Person shall, out of Obstinacy or Disaffection, refuse to contribute thereto, proportionably to their Estates and Means, they are to certify their Names to the Council-Board.

Letters to the same effect were directed to the High-Sheriffs of Counties, and Justices of Peace, and to the Mayors and Bayliffs of every City and Corporation within the Kingdom, requiring them to summon all before them 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 have done before them: And to make choice of meet Collectors of the Monies, 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 the 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. These were the Ways which this pacifick King took in and out of Parliament, which I believe (except in the Reign of Edward the 4th) were never practised by any of our English Kings; and all this under the specious Pretence of recovering his Son-in-law's Patrimony, prodigally to squander it among his Favourites, especially Buckingham, whose Avarice could not be supported otherwise by the Revenues of the Crown, and Venality of all Places Sacred and Civil.

These were the Noble Atchievements, which this pacifick King obtained over his Parliament, which presumed to advise him for his own Honour and the Nation's Safety; this was the Return he made for inverting the Methods of Proceedings in Parliament to pleasure him, by granting Subsidies before Grievances were redrest: A Prince foreign born to our English Laws and Constitutions; A Prince, as the noble Nani, Anno 1619. fol. 137, 138. observes, in whom Decorum, and want of Power, were commonly Opposites; he being Scotish by Birth, and come to the Crown by Inheritance, was the first that governed the two Nations by Natural Antipathy, and antient Emulation of Enemies; and designing to reclaim the Fierceness of those People with Ease and Idleness, had set up his Rest in Peace; and [Page]avoiding, as much as possible, the calling of Parliaments, without which not having the Power to impose Contributions, nor levy Money, he contented himself rather to struggle with many Straits and Difficulties, than to see them meet with a Jealousy of them; or being met, be obliged to separate them with the disgust of the People, or with the satisfaction of Prejudice to the Superior in Power. A Prince so poor before he came to the Crown of England, that if he had not been supported by the Pension which Queen Elizabeth allowed him, could not have maintained the Garb of many of our English Gentry; and being come to the Crown of England, not only the Sacred Patrimony of it was squandered and embarassed upon debauched and profane Favourites, but the People otherwise oppressed with almost infinite Monopolies and Projects, which the Nation never before heard of; and as they were new, so were they all illegal; and all these to make his Favourites rich, while he continued the poorest King that ever governed England: Justled in his Throne by the Presbytery in Scotland, yet nothing less than Sacred would down with him from the Clergy in England, tho his dissolute Life and profane Conversation were diametrically contrary.

These, by a twenty Years Habit, were so fixed in the King, a Prince of all others the most regardless of his Honour and Word, that they became natural: So that after the Parliament had given him two Subsidies, and intended another for carrying on the War for the recovery of the Palatinate; and after he had by such means, as before said, by such Terror raised Benevolences all England over upon pretence of it; yet by the Advice of Buckingham and Gundamor, he placed the Anchor of his Hope to do it by the Match of his Son with the Infanta of Spain, when an unlooked-for Accident, reported by Nani, in his 5th Book, fol. 186. had like to have spoiled all.

For the King of Bohemia, weary of being amused, and deluded with the Hopes of his Father-in-law's Treaties, which he now saw were mocked by the Spaniards themselves, in a Disguise, with two Persons only, from Holland passes into France by Sea, and from thence through Lorrain, and through the midst of his Enemies Troops, arrives at Landau, where Count Mansfield (who then made War in the Palatinate in his Right) had a Garison, where he discovered himself, and from thence went to Germersheim, where he was received with the general Applause of the whole Army.

This Escape of the King's Son-in-law confounded all the King's Measures which he had taken for him, by the Marriage of the Infanta with his Son, so that he was more alarm'd at it, than at the Commons Remonstrance and Protestation, tho he bore the Affliction with a much better Temper: So all Wits were set at work how to get the Elector out of the Hands of Mansfield back again into [Page] Holland; for now the Proceedings at Brussels upon the Peace, were put to a full stop, the Spaniards alledging they could not proceed in the Treaty so long as the King's Son-in-law was in the Hands of Mansfield, their most inveterate and bitter Enemy.

It fell out luckily for the King's Designs, tho unluckily for his Son-in-law's, that Mansfield being worsted by the Spanish Arms in the Palatinate, and the Elector Palatine fearing that Mansfield in the Adversity of his Affairs would make him a Sacrifice, in giving him up to the Spaniard, to make his own Terms the better, was the more easily enveagled by the King's Agents to return again into Holland, where the first News he heard was, that Tilly had taken Heidelburg (the Capital Seat of his Ancestors) by Storm, and Frankendal (his next City) reduced to Extremity by Cordua; so that, as Nani says, fol. 188. King James▪ who had published that his Son-in-law held that Country under his Protection, was laugh'd at by all the World, and forced to consent to a Truce for fifteen Months, during which Frankendal, and the rest of the lower Palatinate, should be deposited into the Spaniards Hands, to restore them to the King (James) if within that time there were not a Peace concluded.

King James having thus deposited his Son-in-law's Patrimony in the Hands of the Spaniards in the Low Countries; now by the Direction of Buckingham (not only the Dictator over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, but over the King himself, and 'twas feared more over the Prince) upon pretence that the Earl of Bristol was too remiss in prosecuting the Prince's Suit at Madrid, resolves to deposite the Prince in the Power of the Court of Spain, there to remain as an Hostage till he can procure the Infanta to be his Spouse.

This was such an Adventure, as Don Quixot never dream'd of in any of his; that because the King, the Prince his Father, was poor at home, and despised abroad, therefore by making his only Son an Hostage in another King's Court, where the Maxims both of Religion and State were directly contrary, he should think to perswade the King of Spain to overturn all, and also get such a Portion as was fourfold more than any Prince before had, to enrich himself, and to make War against the King of Spain, or Emperor, which the Spaniard esteemed all as one; and also that the King of Spain should restore the Palatinate, because the King knew not which way else to do it: Yet this Adventure must be run, because Buckingham would have it so; so pur-blind, nay, stark-blind, does Poverty and Covetousness make Man's Understanding and Reason.

But that we may take all before us, let's see in what Esteem King James was with the Spaniards, which might encourage him to pursue this Adventure. In their Comedies in Flanders, they imitated [Page] Messengers bringing News in haste, that the Palatinate was likely to have a numerous Army shortly on foot: For the King of Denmark would shortly furnish them with a thousand Pickled-Herrings, the Hollanders with one hundred thousand Butter-Boxes, and England with one hundred thousand Ambassadors: They pictured King James in one place, with a Scabbard without a Sword; in another, with a Sword which no body could draw out, tho divers Persons stood pulling at it: In Brussels they painted him with his Pockets hanging out, and not one Penny in them, and his Purse turned upside down: In Antwerp they pictured the Queen of Bohemia like a poor Irish Mantler, with her Hair hanging about her Ears, with her Child at her Back, and the King (James) carrying the Cradle after her; and every one of the Pictures had several Motto's expressing their Malice. Such Scorns and Contempts were put upon the King (James) and in him the whole Nation. See the Preface to the History of the first 14 Years of the Reign of King James, and Wilson, fol. 192.

But tho Buckingham pursued this Match with such Eagerness, yet when it came to his Management in Spain, where the King's Proclamations forbidding Men to talk of State-Affairs had no effect, he proceeded wrong in every step of it; and to gratify his Ambition and Personal Disgusts, was the first and principal Instrument to break it off: but that we may not insist upon Generals;

1. The Prince's coming to Spain, and thereby putting himself into the King of Spain's Power, brake all the Earl of Bristol's Measures, whereupon the Negotiation, and all the Particulars of the Marriage was settled, and the Negotiation was put into a new Form. See Rushw. Collect. fol. 286.

Objection. This was but a Charge by the Earl of Bristol against the Duke, who prosecuted the Earl of High Misdemeanors, and therefore no Proof against the Duke.

Answer. Yet the Honour of so great a Statesman, and faithful a Counsellor as the Earl was, who had so honourably served the King in seven foreign Embassies, and had by the Expence of 10000 l. saved Heidelburg from falling into the Hands of the Spaniard; and having upon the Dissolution of the last Parliament given the King 500 l. upon the Benevolence, and never received a Check from the King in all his Negotiations, but always honourable Testimonies from him for his faithful Services, before Buckingham broke in upon him, may go a great way.

But it seems to me to be a clear Proof upon Buckingham, for Bristol twice answered Articles preferred against him, without any Reply; whereas rather than Buckingham should answer Bristol's Charge, King (Charles) dissolved his second Parliament.

[Page] 2. Buckingham had not learned the Verse which is taught to every School-boy, Quum fueris Romae, Romano vivito more; for being French bred, he appeared in a French Garb (most hateful to the Spaniards) and by his Familiarity with the Prince, he seemed rather the Prince's Guardian and Companion, than Follower, which disrelished the Court of Spain, and the Spaniards in general, who are grave, sober and wary.

3. He by contrary Methods opposed all the Earl of Bristol's Methods, nay, fell at odds with him, tho, without Comparison, he was the ablest Statesman in all King James his Councils.

4. Whereas all other Ambassadors and Statesmen, in all great Affairs, make their Court to the King's Council, and prime Ministers of State, to attain their Ends, Buckingham fell at open Defiance with Olivares (prime Minister of State in Spain) and 'twas generally said, made his Court to the Countess, which she acquainted her Husband with, and instead of the Countess, put a tainted Whore to Bed with him.

5. The Earl of Bristol in the 9th Article of his Charge against him, shews what a Scandal Buckingham gave by his Personal Behaviour in Spain; and also employing his Power with the King of Spain for procuring Favours and Offices, which he bestowed upon base and unworthy Persons, for the Recompence and Hire of his Lust. These things as fit neither for the Earl of Bristol to speak, nor the Lords to hear, he left to their Lordships Wisdom, how far they please to have them examined: It having been a great Infamy to this Nation, that a Person of the Duke's great Quality and Employments, a Privy-Counsellor, and Ambassador, eminent in his Majesty's Favour, and solely in Trust with the Prince, should leave behind him in a Foreign Court so much Scandal as he did by his ill Behaviour.

6. The Earl of Bristol's sixth Article against Buckingham is, That his Behaviour in Spain was such, that he thereby so incensed the King of Spain and his Ministers, that they would admit of no Reconciliation, nor farther Dealings with him: Whereupon he seeing the said Match would be to his Prejudice, he endeavoured to break it, not for any Service to the Kingdom, nor of the Match it self, nor for that he had found (as since he pretended) the Spaniards did not really intend the said Match, but out of his particular Ends and Indignation: And the 7th Article says,

7. That after he intended to cross the said Match, he put in practice divers undue Courses, as making use of the Prince's Letters to his own Ends, and not as they were intended; as likewise of concealing things of high Importance to the King (James) and thereby to overthrow the King's Purposes, and advance his own Ends.

[Page] Nor had my Lord Keeper Williams any better luck in this Adventure of Buckingham's than the Earl of Bristol or Olivares; for tho the Prince's going into Spain was concealed from the Keeper as well as Council, yet after the Duke was gone, the Keeper's Letters followed him to Madrid, wherein the Keeper advised him to be circumspect in all his Actions, that no Offence might be taken at any of them by the King and Ministers of Spain; and to be advised by the Earl of Bristol, not only as a most able Statesman, but above all others, the most experienced in the Manners of the Spaniards and Court of Spain: but this Buckingham took as ill Manners in the Keeper, and was an occasion of his quarrelling with him, as you may read in the Life of the Lord Keeper, written by the Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry.

But neither the danger of the Prince in Spain, nor the cross-grain'd going of the Match any way abated the King's Favour to his beloved Scholar and Disciple Buckingham; but he sent after him the Patent of being created a Duke, there being not another of England: So that now he is become Duke, Marquess and Earl of Buckingham, Earl of Coventry, Viscount Villiers, Baron of Whaddon, Great Admiral of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, and 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, Gascoign and Guienne, General Governor of the Seas and Ships of the Kingdom, Master of the Horse to the King, Lord Warden, Chancellor and Admiral of the Cinque Ports, and of the Members of the same; Constable of Dover-Castle, Justice in Eyre of all the Forests and Chases on this side of Trent, Constable of the Castle of Windsor, Gentleman of his Majesty's Bed-Chamber, one of his Majesty's most Honourable Privy-Council in his Realms of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Knight of the most Honourable Order of the Garter.

But tho all others worshipped this prodigious Favourite; yet Arch-bishop Abbot (a Prelate of Primitive Sanctity and Integrity) would not flatter neither the King nor his Favourite in their Courses, so dangerous to the Church and State, and dishonourable to the King; and, tho in Disgrace, he wrote this following Letter to the King, which you may read in Rushworth, fol. 85.

May it please your Majesty;M

‘I Have been too long silent, and am afraid by my Silence I have neglected the Duty of the Place it has 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 freely to give me leave to deliver my self, and then let your Majesty do what [Page] you please. Your Majesty hath propounded a Toleration of Religion; I beseech you to take into your Consideration, what that Act is, what the Consequence may be: By your Act you labour to set up the most Damnable and Heretical Doctrine of the Church of Rome, the Whore of Babylon: How hateful will it be to God, and grievous to your Subjects, the Professors of the Gospel, that your Majesty, who hath so often and learnedly disputed and written against those Heresies; should now shew your self a Patron of those wicked Doctrines, which your Pen hath to the World, and your Conscience tells your self are superstitious, idolatrous and detestable? and hereto I add what you have done by sending the Prince into Spain, without the Consent of your Council, the Privity or Approbation of your People; and altho you have a Charge and Interest in the Prince as the Son of your Flesh, yet the People have a greater, as Son of the Kingdom, upon whom, next after your Majesty, are their Eyes fixed, and their Welfare depends; and so tenderly is his going apprehended (as I believe) 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 unquestion'd and unpunished. Besides, the Toleration which you endeavour to set up by your Proclamation, cannot be without a Parliament, unless your Majesty will let your Subjects see that you will take to your self the Ability to throw down the Laws of the Land at your Pleasure. What dread Consequence these things may draw afterwards, I beseech your Majesty to consider, and above all, lest by this Toleration and discountenancing the true Profession of the Gospel, wherewith God hath blest us, and this Kingdom hath so long flourished under it, your Majesty doth not draw upon this Kingdom in general, and your self in particular, God's Wrath and Indignation.’

I have heard my Father say, that King James kept a Fool called Archy (if he were not more Knave) whom the Courtiers, when the King was at any time thoughtful or serious, would bring in with his antick Gestures and Sayings, to put him out of it. In one of these Modes of the King, in comes Archy, and tells the King he must change Caps with him; Why? says the King: Why who, replies Archy, sent the Prince into Spain? But what, said the King, wilt thou say, if the Prince comes back again? Why then, said Archy, I will take my Cap from thy Head, and send it to the King of Spain: which was said troubled the King sore.

But if we look back into Spain, we shall see things of another Complection than when Buckingham came into it: For now he is disgusted, he put▪ the Prince quite out of the Match, as that tho [Page] all things were agreed upon the coming of the Dispensation from Rome, so as King James said all the Devils in Hell could not break the Match (yet his Disciple and Scholar could) tho the Duke had certified the King the Match was brought to a happy Conclusion, and the Match publickly declar'd in Spain, and the Prince permitted Access to the Infanta in the Presence of the King, and the Infanta was generally stiled the Princess of England; and in England a Chappel was building for her at St. James's, and the King had prepared a Fleet to fetch her into England, which only proved to bring back his Son.

How things (especially actuated by Love) should stay here, may seem strange; yet such an Ascendant had Buckingham over the Prince, that the Affront put upon him (Buckingham) must quite deface the Prince's vowed Love and Affection to the Infanta; but how to prevail with King James to comply, might have an appearance of some Difficulty, since the King had set his Rest upon it, and had quarelled with the Parliament, and dissolv'd them in great Anger and Fury for but mentioning it.

After the Duke had gained the Prince to break, or at least not to observe the Conditions of the Treaty of the Marriage with the Infanta, so solemnly sworn to by both the Kings and the Prince; let's now see how he behaved himself to King James afterwards: but this will be better understood if we look back, and see how things stood before the Prince's and Duke's Arrival in Spain.

The Prince's going into Spain, was not only kept secret from King James's Council, but from my Lord Keeper Williams, tho the King confided in his Abilities above all the other of his Council: but when it had taken vent, the King asked the Keeper what he thought, Whether the Knight Errant's Pilgrimage (meaning the Prince's) would prove lucky to win the Spanish Lady, and to convey her shortly into England? Sir, answered my Lord Keeper, If my Lord Marquess will give Honour to Conde Duke Olivares, and remember he is the Favourite of Spain; or if Olivares; will shew honourable Civility to my Lord Marquess, remembring he is a Favourite of England, the Wooing may be prosperous: but if my Lord Marquess should forget where he is, and not stoop to Olivares; or if Olivares, forgetting what Guest he hath received with the Prince, bear himself haughtily, and like a Castilian to my Lord Marquess, the Provocation may be dangerous to cross your Majesty's good Intentions; and I pray God, that either one or both do not run into that Error.

The Answer of the Keeper took such Impression upon the King, that he asked the Keeper, if he had wrote to his Son and the Marquess clearly, and upon what Guard he should stand. Yes, said the Keeper, and to that purpose I have dispatched some Pacquets: Then continue, says the King, to help me and them in those Difficulties with your best Powers and Abilities, and serve me faithfully [Page] in this Motion, which, like the highest Orb, carries all my Raccalta's, my Counsels at present, and Prospects upon the future with it, and I will never part with you. Which you may read in the first part of the Keeper's Life, fol. 115. tit. 127.

The Keeper hereupon continues to prosecute this Advice to the Marquess (after Duke) but hereby lost the Duke's Favour, who ever after sought all means to ruin the Keeper, which tho he could not effect in King James his Reign, he did it in the first Year of his Son's.

But when the King understood, that the Contraventions of the Duke with Olivares and Bristol was like to make a Rupture in the Treaty, he then began seriously to consider with himself the fickle State he stood in both at home and abroad; if the Marriage succeeded not; all the two Subsidies he had granted him by the Parliament, and the Benevolence he had raised after upon his Subjects by his own Authority, was expended, and a great Debt contracted besides; he also, besides the Benevolence, stood upon ill Terms with his Subjects, for petitioning him against the Spanish Match, and asserting their Privileges, by imprisoning them after he had dissolved the Parliament, the like whereof was never before done by any of his Predecessors: and now Buckingham had so violently caused a Rupture of the Match, wherein he placed his sole Felicity, he had not Courage so much as to frown upon him, who could contribute no Relief, whereas he dissolved the Parliament, and imprisoned the Members upon their Advice against the Match, who could have relieved him in his Necessities; besides, he now saw that Buckingham, by his Audacity, more worshipped the Sun in its Rise than in its Declination: Now did he not know to whom he should complain, nor was there any about him but the Keeper who durst give him any Advice.

In case a Rupture happened, the King after all this wild Expence of Foreign Embassies, and the Charge of his Son's Voyage to Spain, would be despised by all Foreign Princes and States, in case he did not endeavour to recover his Son-in-law's Patrimony, which would, in all appearance, bring on a War between him and the Emperor, and King of Spain, who kept nothing from him, and therefore had no cause to make War upon either.

Besides, in case the King made War for the Recovery of the Pa [...]atinate, he could not hope to do it upon his own single account, but in Conjunction with Foreign Confederates, and above all with the States of the Ʋnited Netherlands (who now had renewed the War against the King of Spain, the Truce made between them and the King of Spain in 1609, being expired.) But how uniust would this be, for the King to make War upon the Emperor, and King of Spain, who kept nothing from him, and join with the Dutch herein, who, against the Treaty made [Page] between the King and them but three Years before, viz. in 1619, kept from the King and his Subjects the Isles of Amboyna, Seran, Nero, Waire, Rosingen, Latro, Cambello, Mitto, Larica, Lantare, Polaway and Machasser in the East-Idies, and Cabo de Bon Esperanza in Africk. But the Impolicy of such an Alliance would be as great as the Injustice of it, for hereby the English must lose the benefit of the Spanish Trade, which above all others enriched the Nation, and the King his Customs, which above any other did arise from it.

These Considerations fixed in the King's Mind, fearful of any War, so cleft his Heart, That, as the Bishop of Litchfield observes, he effected neither, yet he submitted himself to be ruled by some, whom he should have awed by his Authority, but wanted Courage to bow them to his Bent. A Prince that preserves not the Rights of his Dignity, and the Majesty of his Throne, is a Servant to some, but a Friend to none, and least to himself; as you may see in his Book, fol. 167. tit. 173.

In these Perplexities the King saw no visible Means under Heaven to relieve him, but by closing with his next Parliament; and it was observed, that some Impressions were gotten into the King's Mind, that he was so resolved to be a Lover of Parliaments, that he would close with the next that was called; nor was there any likelihood that any Man's Incolumity, tho it were his Grace himself, should cause an unkind Breach between him and his People.

This Resolution of the King's was not concealed from a Cabinet, or Cabal of the Duke's which met at Wallingford-House, who hereupon set up to consider what Exploit the Duke should commence to be the Darling of the Commons, and as it were to republicate his Lordship, and to be precious to those who had the Vogue to be the chief Lovers of their Country; and resolve that all Attempts would be in vain, unless the Treaty of the Spanish Match were quash'd, and that the Breach thereof should fall upon the Duke's Industry; so that what the Duke did before in spite to Olivares and Bristol, he now pursues for his own Safety, tho the King had little reason to thank him for it. See the first Part of the Keeper's Life, fol. 137. tit. 147. And this took such Impression in the Duke, that the Bishop heard the Duke afterward in the Banqueting-House, before the King and both Houses of Parliament, ascribe to himself the sole Glory of breaking the Spanish Match; and you will soon see how the Prince and Duke after their return from Spain over-awed the King, and made his Authority bow to their Bent: for notwithstanding Buckingham blasted all the Raccalta's of his Counsels, and the Prospect of his future Happiness placed in the Spanish Match, yet he shall become the Duke's Advocate herein, and note his Fidelity, Constancy and [Page] Conduct in breaking it off; and from his Disciple become his Master, and teach him, that Dolosus versatur in Generalibus, and also keep back the Earl of Bristol from coming to the Parliament, that he might not spoil the [...]ine Tale the Duke had told; yet at other times the King would say, If he had sent Williams into Spain with his Son, he had kept Heart-ease and Honour both, which he lacked. See the first part of the Bishop of Litchfield, fol. 168. tit. 174.

The Duke thus doubly engaged, resolved to break the Spanish Match; and to dispose the King (James) to it, the Prince writes to him, That he must look upon his Sister (the Queen of Bohemia) and her Children, never thinking more of him, and forgetting he ever had such a Son. Though it be evident the generous Spaniards were far enough from entertaining such a thought, however Buckingham's Behaviour might have prompted them to it, that by the Authority of Litchfield and Rushworth, they entertained him with all imaginable Esteem, as a truly noble, discreet and well-deserving Prince; however the Prince himself had given them Cause sufficient to have detained him, if the Prudence of Bristol had not been greater than Buckingham's Rashness and Zeal to break off the Match, solemnly sworn to by the Prince and Buckingham himself, and this upon the Day when the Prince parted from the King of Spain from the Escurial, as you may see in the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Dr. Williams, and Rushworth, fol. 284, 285.

For though the King of Spain and the Prince had solemnly sworn to accomplish the Marriage, and to make the Espousals within ten Days after the Ratifications should come from Rome, to which purpose the Prince made a Procuration to the King of Spain, and Don Charles his Brother, to make the Espousals in his Name, and left it in the Earl of Bristol's hands; yet he (the Prince) left in the Hands of one of the Duke's Creatures, Mr. Edward Clarke, a private Instrument, with Instructions to the Earl of Bristol, to stay the Delivery of the Proxies till farther Direction from him. But when this private Instrument was delivered to Bristol, he told Buckingham's Favourite that it must for a time be concealed, lest the Spaniard coming to the knowledg [...] of it, should give Order to stay the Prince. So that the Duke left the Earl's Instrument as perplexed and confounded when he went out of Spain, as he had made the Treaty of Marriage when he came into it.

The Temper and Dissimulation of the Duke is so strange at his taking leave of Olivares, as is I believe without all Example, and also without any Care of the Safety of the Prince; for the Duke told him, after he had delivered the Instrument to stay the Delivery of the Proxy, That he was obliged to the King and Queen and Infanta in an eternal Tie of Gratitude, and that he would be an [Page] everlasting Servant to them, and endeavour to do the best Offices for concluding the Match, and strengthning the Amity between the two Crowns; but as for himself (Olivares) he had so disobliged him, that he could not without Flattery, make the least Profession of Friendship to him.

Nor was the Ingratitude and Dissimulation of the Prince less than that of Buckingham: for when the King of Spain had brought the Prince to the Escurial, where the Prince and Duke (after the delivery of the Instrument for staying the Proxy) solemnly swore the Treaty of Marriage, as you may read in Rushworth, fol. 285. and the King and Prince had sworn a perpetual League of Friendship, as the Bishop of Litchfield says; the King at their Departure declared the Obligation which the Prince had put upon him (the King) by putting himself into his Hands, a thing unusual with Princes, and protested he earnestly desired a nearer Conjunction of Brotherly Affection, for the more intire Unity between them. The Prince answered him, magnifying the high Favour which he had found during his Stay in his Court and Presence, which had begotten such an Estimation of his Worth, that he knew not how to value it, but would leave a Mediatrix to supply his own Defects, if he (the King) would make him so happy, as to continue him (the Prince) in the good Opinion of her his Dear Mistress. Yet the Prince so soon as he came on Ship-board, was observed to say, That it was a great Weakness and Folly in the Spaniards, after they had used him so ill, to grant him a free Departure; and soon you'll see both the Prince and the Duke urge the King (James) to break off the Match so solemnly sworn by them all, and make War upon the Spaniards, which was so dangerous to the Parliament to mention.

Having thus taken a View of the Duke's Prudence and deep Insight in Mysteries of State in managing this Match, where King James's Proclamation could not restrain Men from talking of State-Affairs: We will now take a View of the Duke's Profession in Religion, that another may better judg, whether he were more eminent in Religion or State-policy; and herein I will take the Earl of Bristol's Charge upon him to be a full Proof, since the Earl answered the Duke's Charges against him twice, first before King James, and afterward in Parliament in the 2d of King Charles, without any reply; and King Charles his dissolving the Parliament, rather than the Duke should come to a Tryal upon the Articles which the Earl exhibited against him.

1. The Earl, in the said Articles, charges the Duke, that he did secretly combine with the Conde of Gundamor Ambassador from the King of Spain, Anno 1622, to carry the Prince into Spain, to the end he might be informed in the Roman Religion, and thereby [Page] have perverted the Prince, and subverted the true Religion established in England.

2. 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 Conspiracy; the which was done accordingly, and thereby the King and Prince highly abused, and their Consents thereby gotten for the said Journey, viz. after the Return of the said Mr. Porter, which was about the latter end of December or beginning of January, 1622. whereas the Duke plotted it many Months before.

3. That the Duke at his Arrival in Spain, nourished the Spanish Ministers, not only in the Belief of his being popishly affected, but did (both by absenting himself from all Exercises of Religion constantly used in the Earl of Bristol's 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 the Sacrament) from time to time give the Spaniards Hopes of the Prince's Conversion, the which he endeavoured to procure by all means possible; and thereby caused the Spanish Minister to propound far worse Conditions for Religion than had been propounded by the Earl and Sir Walter Ashton, setled and signed under the K. and Prince's Hand, with a clause of the K. of Spain's Answer, Dec. 12. 1622, that they held the Articles agreed on sufficicient, and such as ought to induce the Pope to grant the Dispensation.

4. That the Duke having several times moved and pressed the King (James) at the Instance of the Conde of Gundamor, in the presence of the Earl of Bristol, to write a Letter to 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 any such Letter, that during the Abode of the said Earl in England, the Duke could never obtain it; but not long after the Earl was gone, he (the Duke) procured such a Letter to be written from the King (James) to the Pope, and to have him stiled Sanctissime Pater.

5. That the Pope being informed of the Duke's Inclination and Intention in point of Religion, sent unto him a particular Bull in Parchment, for to perswade and encourage him in the Perversion of the Prince.

But how steady soever the Duke was in his French Garb in Spain, and of Compliance with the Spaniard in the Popish Religion; yet he was not so when he returned into England, for then he turns quite contrary, and assumes a popular Way, and joins with the Prince, and thereby over-ruled the King as they pleased, and closed with the Nobility, and Puritan Party, opposite to Spain: As you may read in Rushworth, fol. 107.

Nor was the Duke's Covetousness, and sacrilegious Desires of [Page] robbing the Church's Patrimony, less than his Hypocrisy in Religion; for whilst he was in this Godly Fit, he treats with Dr. John Preston (Head of the Puritan Party) how the King might seize the Dean and Chapter Lands, as you may read in the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Doctor Williams, 1st Part, fol. 202.

After the Return of the Prince and Duke into England, and Bristol left in Spain, both contrive how to ruin the Earl of Bristol, bound up with contrary Instructions; and to dissolve the Prince's Match with the Infanta, so solemnly sworn by both Kings, and the Prince; and could find no other Pretence to do it, but by the King's Letter to the Earl of Bristol, before he delivered the Powers for consummating the Marriage, to procure from the King of Spain, either by publick Act or under his Hand and Seal, a direct Engagement for the Restitution of the Palatinate and Electoral Dignity, by Mediation or Assistance of Arms; but in regard this must be now insisted upon, let's see how this stood during the Treaty.

In all the Treaty for this Match, the Restitution of the Palatinate was laid aside, as Rushworth observes fol. 91. and my Lord of Bristol in his Defence against the Duke's or King's Charge, fol. 302. says, that his Instructions from King James the 14th of March 1621, were express, that he should not make the Business of the Palatinate a Condition of the Marriage; and that of the King's of the 30th of December 1623 (I think it was 1622) were fully to the same Effect: But now the whole Treaty which was so solemnly agreed upon and sworn to by both Kings and the Prince, and that the Marriage should be consummate within 10 days after the Dispensation came from Rome, which it did about the beginning of December 1623, must be all dasht without the Restitution of the Palatine to his Country and Electoral Dignity, which being perplext with such Variety of Interests, as the Duke of Bavaria's having possest himself of the upper Palatinate; and the Restitution of the Palsgrave, being an Act of the Emperor and Empire, was not in the King of Spain's Power: Nay the Proxies left with the Earl, would not admit of a Treaty in this Case, for the Marriage was to be consummate within ten Days after the Arrival of the Dispensation from Rome.

The Earl of Bristol for not obtaining these new, impossible and inconsistible Conditions, is recalled from his Embassy, and a new Treaty of Marriage between the Prince and the Princess Henrietta Maria, youngest Daughter of Henry the Fourth of France, is as suddenly set on Foot, as that of Spain abruptly broke off; and that by this time the King of Spain and the Earl had frequent Advice of the Prince and Duke's Designs to ruin the Earl. The King of Spain therefore made a threefold Proffer to the Earl, either to write to the King (James) and if need were to send a particular Ambassador, to mediate for him, to satisfy the Earl's Fidelity and [Page] Exactness in all the Treaty; or to make him a Blank wherein the Earl should set down his own Conditions both in Title and Honour in Spain: whereunto the Earl answered, He was sorry and afflicted to hear such Language, and desir'd they should understand, that neither the King, nor Spain, were beholden to him: For whatever he had done, he thought fit to do for his Master's Service, and his own Honour, having no Relation to Spain; and that he served a Master, from whom he was assured both of Justice and due Reward; nothing doubting but his own Innocence would prevail against the Wrong intended by his powerful Adversaries; and were he sure to run into eminent Danger, he had rather go home and cast himself at his Majesty's Feet and Mercy, and therein comply with the Duty and Honour of a faithful Subject, though it should cost him his Head, than be Duke, or Infantado of Spain; and that with this Resolution, he would employ the utmost of his Power to maintain the Amity of the two Crowns, and to serve his Catholick Majesty: and thirdly, the King of Spain desired him in private to take 10000 Crowns to bear his Charges; but the Earl answered one would know it, viz. the Earl of Bristol, who would reveal it to his Majesty (King James.) Now if any Man can shew in any Authority antient or modern, wherein a Treaty of this Nature was thus begun, thus managed, and thus broken off; wherein a Noble Lady of highest Birth and noblest Fortune, adorned with all the Excellencies of Beauty in her Person, and the more excelling Virtues of her Mind, in all the Perfections requisite in her Sex, was thus baulkt, and see her self made a Stale, to advance the Avarice and covetous Desires of others, he shall be my great Apollo. So we'll leave this Affair here, and see what Comfort King James had of his Affairs elsewhere.

In the Year 1619, King James, and the Dutch States, entred into, and concluded a Treaty of Trade between the English and Dutch in the East-Indies; at this time, and for many Years before, the English had at Amboyna (one of the Scyndae, or Setibe Islands lying near Seran, which had several smaller Islands depending upon it) five several Factories, two at Hitto and Lerico, and two at Latro and Cambello, in the Island of Seran, but the principal of them was at Amboyna: Amboyna was, and is the principal Place in all the East-Indies, where Nutmegs, Mace, Cinamon, Cloves and Spice grow; and from these Factories the English supplied, not only England and Europe with Spice, but Persia, Japan, and other Countries in the East-Indies.

The Treaty of Commerce between the King and the Dutch States, was scarce three Years old, when the Dutch, in the East-Indies, contrive how they may dispossess the English of the Spice-Trade, which above all others, is the best in the East-Indies, at least which was then, or now is known. It seems, says my Author [Page] William de Britain, in his Treatise of the Dutch Usurpation, fol. 14. that the English in all these Islands were better beloved than the Dutch, and had built a Fortress in Amboyna for the Safety of Trade, which, the Dutch having two Hundred Soldiers there, forced from the English; and thereupon feigning a Plot between the English and Japonesses, (I think he means the Natives of Amboyna) to betray the Fortress again to the English, the Dutch with Fire and Water in an horrible manner, massacred many English, and seized upon the English Factories there to the Value of four hundred thousand Pounds, and made the rest of the English Slaves, and sent them into other Islands, which the Dutch had possessed themselves of: This was in the Year 1622.

Nor did the Dutch stay here, but seized upon the English Factories in Seran, Nero, Waire, Rosingen, Latro, Cambello, Hitto, Larica, Lantare and Poloroone, possessing themselves of their Goods and Factories there, and took 1800 English, which they sent into other Islands and Plantations, which they had forced from the Indians.

Let's see now how highly King James resented these things; he only sent to the Dutch Ambassador, and told him, He never heard, nor read a more cruel and impious Act than that of Amboyna: But I do forgive them, and I hope God will, but my Son's Son shall revenge this Blood, and punish this horrid Massacre; nor never further vindicated his own Honour, or his Subjects Blood, and loss of their Goods and Trade herein. Whereas about a Year before, when he heard of the Commons horrid Invasion upon his Prerogative, by asserting their Rights and Privileges; in a Fury he dissolves the Parliament, and sick as he was, (or seemed to be) to the indangering of his Health, he came in a hurry from Theobalds, called his Council and Judges about him, and propria Manu cut the Commons Protestation out of their Journal-Book, and committed many of their Members close Prisoners without Bail or Main-prize, and banished others.

That we may take a better View of the latter end of this Reign, and the following one of King Charles, it will be convenient to look into Holland; and herein observe, That Barnevelt and the Dutch States, after they had retrieved their Cautionary Towns from King James, Barnevelt, assisted by Hugo Grotius, nourished a Faction in Holland, called the Arminian, from Arminius, who maintained 5 Heads, contrary to what Calvin had taught in his Institutions, which was the Doctrine of the Church set up in Holland, and the other Ʋnited Provinces. By this Faction thus countenanced by Barnevelt and Grotius, they endeavoured to have deposed Maurice, Prince of Orange, State-holder, tho he, and his Father and Uncles were the principal Instruments, whereby the Dutch became States: But Maurice proved too hard for them, and cut off Barnevelt's Head, and had hanged Grotius, if his Wife had [Page] not conveyed him away in a great Chest, pretending it contained Arminian Books: This was in the Year 1620.

Tho Barnevelt and Grotius propagated the Arminian Tenets to have deposed the Prince of Orange, and advanced their Democratical Government, yet the Church-men of England who preached the King's absolute Power, and exalted his divided Will from the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, above his Royal Will in Governing by them, promoted these Tenets; and those that opposed them were stiled Puritans.

The principal Stickler herein was Dr. William Laud, a Man of a most turbulent and aspiring Disposition; and one of the first Acts for which he was taken notice of, was, to marry the Earl of Devonshire to the Lady Rich, (Mother to Robert Earl of Warwick, and Henry Earl of Holland) when her Husband was alive; but this was so far from advancing him, that the King was highly incensed against him for it.

Yet Laud's aspiring Humour could not contain him in a private State, but follow the Court he would, yet could never arrive higher than to be one of the King's Chaplains, by means whereof he sometimes got the King's Ear. The King hated the Presbyterian Government, and had got the Bishops in Scotland to be re-ordained by three of the English Bishops, as a distinct Order, which the Kirk in Scotland took for an abominable Usurpation over them; and also in the Year 1618, got the five Articles (commonly called The five Articles of Perth) to be settled, as more agreeable to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, but this was to the further Indignation of the Kirk-party: and herein King James set up his rest, as having gained an high Point; but tho the King hated the Presbyterian Government, yet he opposed the Arminian Tenets.

Arch-bishop Abbot observed of him, when he was at Court, he was Buckingham's only inward Counsellor, sitting sometimes with him privately whole hours, and feeding his Humour with Malice and Spite; and when he was at Oxford, his Business was to pick Quarrels in the Lectures of publick Readers, and to advertise them to the Bishop of Durham, Neal, (the great Countenancer of the Arminian Tenets, and Promoter of the King's Prerogative) that he might fill the Ears of King James with Discontents against the honest Men that took pains in their Places, and settled the Truth (which he called Puritanism) in their Auditors: As you may read in Rush. fol. 444.

Nor could Laud forbear when he could get the King's Ear, but he urged him more than once, to promote the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England in Scotland after the obtaining the passing of the five Articles at Perth; this frighted King James, who better knew the Temper of his Country-men, and [Page] how difficultly he had got the Articles of Perth to pass, that Laud, ignorant of the Temper of the Scotish Nation, should be so audacious to put the King upon this, which might (as it after did) embroil all Scotland in Tumults and Wars, and now becomes more averse to Laua's Promotion than before.

But this was no Consideration to Buckingham; whether the King would or nor, Laud should rise: And soon after Williams was made Lord Keeper, the Bishoprick of St. Davids fell, and Buckingham resolved Laud should have it; and the Keeper must be the Man to propound it to the King, and receive no Denial. But it's fit to observe here, in what an humbling manner this Promotion was accomplish'd on the part of Laud; and take it as it was sent me by a Gentleman, with the Attestation of Col. L. and R. L. Esq who often heard Mr. Francis Osburn speak of it as a certain Truth, and who had taken notice of it in some of his Works not made publick. As soon as Laud had Information that the foresaid Bishoprick was vacant, he hastens to wait upon the Duke of Buckingham for that Preferment, but found the Duke was not stirring; but being impatient of Delay, prevails upon one of the Duke's Gentlemen to acquaint him he had earnest Business with his Grace, and begged immediate Admittance; which being granted, the Doctor enters his Grace's Chamber, and finds him a-bed with a Whore: the Duke asks his Business; Laud told him, the Bishop of St. Davids was dead, and that he came to beg his Grace to recommend him to the King for the vacant See. The Duke told him, that he had been represented to him as the proudest Man alive, and therefore he could not, in Honour, recommend him to the King: Laud assures his Grace, that what had been said of him upon that Head, was utterly false, and the effect of Malice, &c. for he was so far acquainted with himself, as that he knew himself to be the humblest Man alive: I'll try that presently, says the Duke, and so as a Testimony of his great Humility, orders him, Spaniel-like, to take several Turns over and under the Bed, (his Grace, and his Whore all the while lying in it) which he did to Content; and when 'twas over, Well, says the Duke, now I believe you, and you shall have the Bishoprick of St. Davids. Williams, who knew the Disposal of the Seal was as Buckingham pleased, durst do no otherwise than become Laud's Advocate to the King; but the King was at first utterly averse from it, giving Laud's Marriage of the Lady Rich, and his urging the King not to rest at the five Articles of Perth, for some Reasons: but the Keeper persisting, and alledging how sorry Laud was for these, the King at last said, And is there no hoe, but you will carry it! then take him to you; but on my Soul you will repent it; and so went away in Anger, using other fierce and ominous Words, which were divulged in Court, and are too tart to be repeated, as you may read, fol. 64. tit. 75. in the Life of Archbishop Williams.

[Page] It's observable, that Benefits conferred upon Ambitious Men, never create any Obligation of Gratitude; on the contrary, ill Men generally turn the Benefits received, to the Ruin and Overthrow of their Benefactors: More likely Instances hereof are rarely to be found than in Laud and Buckingham; this having received his first Admission into the King's Favour by the Mediation of the Archbishop to the Queen Ann, none else being able to perswade her to it; yet before the Arch-bishop could bring the Queen to it, she often told him, My Lord, You and the rest of your Friends know not what you do; I know your Master (the King) better than you all: for if this young Man be once brought in, the first Persons that he will plague must be you that labour for him; yea, I shall have my part also, the King will teach him to despise and hardly intreat us all, that he may be beholden to none but himself; as you may read in his own Narrative in Rushworth, from fol. 438, to fol. 461.

But Laud's Contrivance to ruin Williams after Bishop of Lincoln, takes up almost a Volume, reported by the Bishop of Litchfield, and by what villanous Instruments, Perjuries, Subornation, and keeping back of Witnesses, expunging and razing Records, and by displacing Sir Robert Heath from being Lord Chief Justice, because he would not do Laud's Drudgery, and bringing in Sir John Finch, who would jurare in Verba Magistri, as well as throw down the Bounds of the Forests to make the King's Subjects Inheritances to be a Prey to wild Beasts: yet after Laud had perpetrated all these, he confest he never read the Commission by which he acted. See the second Part of the Bishop of Lincoln's Life.

However, Laud could make no great Progress of his Malice against the Keeper in the Shortness of the Reign of King James, after he became Bishop: for the King had the Keeper's Parts and Learning in high Esteem, tho Buckingham both hated and feared the Keeper for them, no great sign of a wise Statesman, (see the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Arch-bishop Williams, Part 1. fol. 148. tit. 156.) and had so little Wit as to say so: Yet Laud, now a Bishop, from a Stickler and Informer against those who opposed the Arminian Tenets, now becomes a Patron and Promoter of them; all Court-Favour now looked that way, and the Opposers of them were discountenanced, and ranked in the Degree of Puritans; all the Youth generally ran that way, and the Schools in both Universities rung loud upon those Tenets, and from thence were dispersed into all Parts of the Kingdom.

The King having spent the two Subsidies granted in Parliament, and the Benevolence, which he had by his own Authority raised all over England, for the Recovery of the Palatinate, upon the Prince's Expedition into Spain; Buckingham, to his Project of getting the Dean and Chapters Lands, propounds the Sale of all the Crown-Lands: but this meeting with many Difficulties, and being [Page] disswaded from the farther Prosecution of it, by the powerful Reasons of my Lord Keeper Williams; there was now no other means left to get Money, but by calling a Parliament: And now Buckingham courts the popular Humour, and appears most forward for to make appear in Parliament the Reasons which induced him to perswade the Prince to break off from the Match with Spain; which tho it took at present, yet it was but short-lived, for the Treaty of the Marriage between the Prince and Daughter of France spoil'd all: But this was not known during the sitting of the Parliament, which met upon the 16th of February 1623-24.

We hear of no Proclamation now against talking of State-Affairs, the debating of them in Parliament is not Sutor ultra crepidam; on the contrary, the King, in his first Speech to them the 19th of February, tells them, He craves their Advice, and that he would advise with them in Matters concerning his Estate and Dignity, and that he had ever endeavoured, by this and the like ways, to procure and cherish the Love of his People towards him: So he does hope, and his Hope exceeded by Faith, that never any King was more beloved by his People, &c. Let any Man compare this with what the King said and did last Parliament, and after, and judg of the Sincerity of this part of the King's Speech, especially when he remembred himself better, when in his last Speech to this Parliament, he boasted he had broken the Necks of three Parliaments, which were all that were in his Reign, but this.

But these were but Generals, of which he complains; afterwards, having learn'd it of his Scholar Buckingham, in particular he asks their free Counsels in the Match of his Son; the debating of which, last Parliament, gave him so great Offence. Now at this time the King had broke off the Match in Spain, and was treating another with France, which was greedily entertained in the French Court, and some Progress made in it; of which the King never, that I can find, or do believe, mentioned one word to the Parliament.

The next Particular which the King communicated to them was of his Scholar, but now his Master, Buckingham, (in whom he (the King) ever reposed the most Trust of his Person) that he should be ever present with the Prince in Spain, and never leave him till he returned again safely to him; which he did, tho not with that Effect of the Business expected, yet not without Profit; for it taught him (the King) 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 he thought the Affair had been, before their going, reduced to a narrow point, (but there is no point in Generalities) relying upon their general Propositions (of which I do not find neither the King, nor the [Page] Prince, or Buckingham after him named one) he found, when they came there, the Matter proved so raw, as if it had never been treated of, they generally giving them easy way to evade, and affording them means to avoid the effecting any thing. But it seems there were Particulars which the King would not then discover, but left them to the Prince and Buckingham to relate.

As for a Toleration of the Roman Religion, As God shall judg him, he said, he never thought, nor meant, nor never in word expressed any thing that savoured of it. How was Arch-bishop Abbot mistaken, when he wrote his disswasive Letter against the King's Proclamation for the Toleration of Religion to Roman Catholicks? See Rushworth, fol. 85. And how was my Lord Keeper Williams mistaken, after the King had directed him and other Commissioners to draw up a Pardon for all Offences past by Roman Catholicks, with a Dispensation for those to come, obnoxious to any Laws against Recusants; and then to issue forth two general Commands under the Great Seal, 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; and tho the Keeper past the Pardon as fully and amply as the Papists could desire to pen it, yet the Keeper put some stop to the vast Prohibition to the Judges and Bishops, for the Reasons he gave?

First, Because the publishing of this General Indulgence at one push, may beget a general Discontent, if not a Mutiny; but the instilling thereof into the Peoples knowledg by little and little, by the Favours done to Catholicks, might indeed loosen the Tongues of a few particular Persons, who might hear of their Neighbours Pardon, and having vented their Dislike, would afterward cool again; and so his Majesty might by degrees with more convenience enlarge his Favours.

Secondly, Because to sorbid the Judges against their Oaths, and the Justices of Peace, who are likewise sworn to execute the Laws of the Land, is a thing unprecedented in this Kingdom, and would be a harsh and bitter Pill to be digested without some Preparative: But this Delay disgusted the Spanish Ambassador; which you may read in Rushworth, fol. 101.

And as God was his Judg, he never thought, nor meant, nor ever in Word expressed any thing that savoured of a Toleration of the Popish Religion: So God was his Judg, and he spake as a Christian King. Never any wayfaring Man that was in the Desarts of Arabia, and in danger of Death for want of Water to quench his Thirst, more desired Water, than he did thirst and desire the good and comfortable Success of his Parliament, and Blessing upon their Counsels, that the good Issue of this may expiate and acquit the fruitless Issue of the former, and prayed God their Counsels may advance Religion and the publick Weal, and they of him and his Children. You may read the Speech at large in Rushworth, fol. 115, 116, 117.

[Page] But tho the King gloried that he had ever endeavoured to procure and cherish the Love of his People to him, which the Lords and Commons did represent; yet the Commons could remember a time not out of mind with the King; for they chose that honourable Gentleman Sir Thomas Crew (newly returned from his Exile into Ireland, whither the King had sent him, as one of the ill-tempered Spirits who advised him against the Spanish Match, and presumed to assert the Privileges of the Commons) for their Speaker.

After the Ceremonies of Opening the Parliament, and the Choice of a Speaker was over, the first thing that appeared upon the Stage of Affairs, was the Narrative of the Proceedings in the Spanish Match, made by the Duke of Buckingham, and assisted by the Prince: Which you may read at large in Rushworth, from fol. 119, to 125.

I shall not descant upon this long Narrative, but leave the Answering of it to the Earl of Bristol; but only take notice of the Preamble of the third Article of the Duke's Narrative, and the latter part of the fourth.

The Preamble of the third Article is, It is fit to observe this Passage, which is the thing whereupon all his Highness's (the Prince's) subsequent Actions did depend: He had never staid a Sennight longer in Spain; he had never left any Proxy with Bristol; he had never taken the Oath at the Escurial, or ever so much as have written a Letter of Compliment to the Lady, but that he had still before his Eyes, as his Cynosure, the Promise made by the Conde (I think the Duke meant Olivares) for the Restitution of the Palatinate.

Why was this Treaty between King James and the Conde? Or if the Restitution of the Palatinate were the Foundation upon which the whole Treaty moved, Why was it not so much as mentioned in all the Treaty, so solemnly sworn to by both Kings, the Prince, and Buckingham himself? Nay, King James himself, by two several Expresses to the Earl of Bristol, the first of the 14th of May 1621. and the other of the 30th of December 1623. commanded him, That he should not make the Business of the Palatinate a Condition of the Marriage; as you may read in Rushworth, fol. 302.

For the better understanding of Buckingham's Narrative in the fourth Article, it is fit to take notice, That the Reason in the Instrument for not pursuing the Proxies of the Marriage so solemnly sworn to by the Prince, and Buckingham himself, was not for the Restitution of the Palatinate, but (forsooth) for fear the Infanta might retire into a Cloister, and so deprive the Prince of a Wife; tho the Infanta, so far as the Gravity of the Spaniards would permit, ever expressed an entire Affection to the Prince: so that when the Prince took leave of the Infanta, she seemed to [Page] deliver up her Heart to him, in as high Expressions as that Language and her Learning could with her Honour set forth: for when the Prince told her, His Heart would never be out of Anxiety, till she had passed the intended Voyage, and were safe on the British Land; she answered, with a modest Blush, That if she were in danger upon the Ocean, or discomposed with the rolling brackish Waves, she should chear up her self, and remember all the way, to whom she was going: As you may read in the Life of Williams Lord Keeper, fol. 161. tit. 168. And Mr. Rushworth, fol. 104. says, She caused many divine Duties to be performed for the Prince's Return.

In the Proxies left with the Earl of Bristol, there was a Clause inserted, De non revocando procuratore; as much as to say, irrevocable: And because the Earl did in his Letter to the Prince, of the First of November in 1623, press this vehemently to the Prince, the Prince vowed openly before both Houses, that he had never by Oath nor Honour engaged himself not to revoke those Powers, more than by the Clause De non revocando procuratore, inserted in the Instrument it self; and then he conceived the Clause to be matter of Form, and tho essentially of no binding Power, yet usually thrust into every such Instrument; and that the Civilians 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 the Duke concluded, as to this point, That the Earl of Bristol, in charging this Matter so highly upon the Prince, had much forget himself.

Can any Man believe, that when the Prince made the Procuration to the King of Spain, and his Brother, to his Espousals with the Infanta in his Name, and left it in the Earl of Bristol's hands, with the Clause De non revocando procuratore, that he then had consulted with the Civilians, that he might revoke it when he pleased; or that this Marriage, nine Years in treating, was not founded upon the Honour and Oaths of the Kings, the Prince, and of Buckingham himself, but upon the Niceties and Quirks of the Civilians? Or did it become the Prince, or the Duke either, who when he parted from the King of Spain at the Escurial, solemnly to swear the Treaty of Marriage, and the Furtherance of it by all that was in his Power, in the presence of the Earl of Bristol, and Sir Walter Ashton, as you may read in Rushworth, fol. 285. and now in the face of the King and Parliament, to plead a Nicety of the Civilians, to absolve the Prince and himself? Now let us see what the Earl of Bristol says for himself, for the Duke's Charge upon him for Proceedings upon this Match. His Reasons were,

1. For that he had a Warrant under the Prince's hand, for his Proceedings to consummate the Match.

2. It was the main Scope of his Embassy.

[Page] 3. He was enjoined by the King and Prince's Commission under the Great Seal.

4. He had positive Orders under his Majesty's hand (King James) since.

5. It was agreed by Capitulation, that it should be within so many days after the coming of the Dispensation.

6. The King (James) and Prince signified by their Letters to 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; which Letters bear date the 8th of October 1623.

7. The Proxies were to that end left in his hands; and after again renewed, after the Prince's return into England.

8. That he (the Earl) had overthrown the Marriage without Order; for tho Sir Walter Aston and himself had used all possible means for gaining time, and deferring the Desponsories, yet the King of Spain caused it to be protested, that in case the Earl should insist upon the deferring the Desponsories, he would free himself from the Treaty by the Earl's infringing the Capitulations: And in truth, altho the King of Spain should have condescended to have prolonged the Desponsories until one of the Days 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 like to have been the Prince's Wife, as to nominate a Day of Marriage, when the Proxies were out of date, and he himself had sworn to the Treaty.

9. He (the Earl) could not, in Honour and Honesty, but endeavour 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 interested by the Acceptation of the Substitution, as the Prince by granting the Proxies; he could not in Honesty fail the publick Trust without clear and undoubted Warrant; which, so soon as he had, he obeyed. See Rushworth, fol. 301, 302.

The Duke's stating the Question, super totam materiam, was▪

Whether this, being the full Effect and Product of this Negotiation, he had opened to them (the Parliament) be sufficient, super totam materiam, for his Majest to rely upon, with any Safety, as well for the Marriage of his only Son, as for the Relief of his only 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, That if the bringing us from [Page] Darkness to Light, did deserve any Thanks, we must wholly ascribe it to his Highness the Prince.

Here is a Tale finely told, parte inaudita altera; but the Duke shall hear more of it, and indeed it was a Net so spread in the sight of every Bird, that it was a wonder it should catch any: for at this time the Match was quite broke off with Spain, and another entered upon with France, when it must be suposed, forsooth, the Spanish Match was in Treaty, and now must be broken off by Advice in Parliament, which was before such a Mystery of State as not to be meddled with in Parliament.

But while the Prince and Duke were wrapt up in security of the Parliament, as well as the King's Affections, and that now the Duke was become as well the Peoples as the King's Favourite, a new Accident happened, out of which, if the Prince and Duke had not been extricated by the matchless Wit and lively Industry of the Keeper, in all appearance it would have put both Prince and Duke out of the King's Favour and Affections, dissolved this beloved Parliament, and have brought such a train of mischievous Consequences as could not have been foreseen, or prevented. I desire to be excused if I do not cite the Bishop of Litchfield's words in the Life of the Lord Keeper, for I think the Case will more clearly appear without his Paraphrases and Glosses.

While the Marriage between the Prince and Infanta was in Treaty, the King of Spain sent Don John, Marquess Inoiosa, his Ambassador to be resident in England; a Man of true Spanish Gravity and Severity, and a most rigid Promoter of the Popish Interest in England; so that he was taken notice of to be the most surly and unpleasing Man that ever came to the Keeper about any Business.

If this Man were thus during the Treaty, it could not be expected he would become better natur'd upon the breaking of it; and the Duke of Buckingham was as jealous of him, that he should spoil the Narrative he had made of the Proceedings in the Spanish Match, as he was of the Earl of Bristol, and therefore would never admit the Marquess to have any private Audience of the King in the Duke's Absence; so that Sir Walter Aston wrote from Spain, that it was complained of, that Marquess Inoiosa had advertised thither he had not been able to procure a private Audience of the King tho he often desired it, but what the Duke assisted at.

Inoiosa, impatient of any longer Delay, about the latter end of April 1624, contrived this Expedient to put the following Paper into the King's Hand; he and Don Carlo de Colonna came adventurously to White-Hall, and whilst Don Carlo held the Prince and Duke in earnest Discourse, Inoiosa put this Paper into the King's Hand with a Wink, that the King should put it into his Pocket, wherein,

[Page] 1. He terrifies the King, that he was not, or could not be acquainted with the Passages either of his own Court, or of the Parliament, for he was kept from all faithful Servants that would inform him by the Ministers of the Prince and Duke, and that he was a Prisoner as much as King John of France in England, or King Francis at Madrid, and could not be spoken with, but before such as watched him.

2. That there was a strong and violent Machination in hand, which had turned the Prince, a most obedient Son, to a quite contrary Course to his Majesty's Intentions.

3. That the Council began last Summer at Madrid, but was lately resolved on in England, to restrain his Majesty from the Exercise of the Government of his Kingdoms; and that the Prince and Duke had designed such Commissioners under themselves, as should intend great Affairs, and the Publick Good.

4. That this should be effected by beginning of a War, and keeping some Companies on foot in this Land, whereby to constrain his Majesty to yield to any thing, chiefly being brought into Straits for want of Monies to pay the Souldiers.

5. That the Prince and Duke's inclosing his Majesty from the said Ambassador, and other of his own Loyal People, that they might not come near in private, did argue in them a fear and distrust of a good Conscience.

6. That the Emissaries of the Duke had brought his Majesty into Contempt with the potent Men of this Realm, traducing him for slothful and unactive, for addiction to an inglorious Peace, while the Inheritance of his Daughter and her Children is in the Hands of his Foes; and this appear'd by a Letter which the Duke had writ into Holland, and they had intercepted.

7. That his Majesty's Honour, nay his Crown and Safety, did depend upon a sudden Dissolution of the Parliament.

8. They loaded the Duke with sundry Misdemeanours in Spain, and his violent Opposition to the Match.

9. That the Duke had divulged the King's Secrets, and the close Designs between his Majesty and their Master King Philip, about the States of Holland, and their Provinces, and laboured to put his Majesty out of the good Opinion of the Hollanders.

10. That the Duke was guilty of most corrupt dealing with the Ambassadors of divers Princes.

11. That all these things were carried on in the Parliament with an head-strong Violence, and that the Duke was the cause of it, who courted them only that were of troubled Humours.

12. That such Bitterness and Ignominies were vented in Parliament against the King of Spain, as were against all good Manners and Honour of the English Nation.

[Page] The 13th is a flat Contradiction to the Precedents, wherein they made the Prince privy to dangerous things; yet in this they say, That the Puritans (of whom the Duke was Head) did wish they could bring it about, that the Succession of the Kingdom might come to the Prince Palatine and his Children, in right of the Lady Elizabeth.

In a Postscript, the Paper prayed the King, That Don Francisco Carondelet, Secretary to the Marquess Inoiosa, might be brought to the King, when the Prince and Duke were sitting in the Lords House, to satisfy such Doubts as the King might raise, which was performed by the Earl of Kelly, who watch'd a fit Season at one time for Francisco, and for Padre Maestro a Jesuit at another time, who told their Errand so spitefully, that the King was troubled at their Relations.

How far the Spanish Ambassador Carondelet, and the Jesuit Maestro, could make good this Paper, I cannot tell, nor does the Bishop say; however the King was apprehensive, that the Parliament was solicitous to engage him in a War for the Palatinate; which he so dreaded, that, as the Bishop says, he thought scarce any Mischief was so great as was worth a War to mend it; wherein the Prince did deviate from him, as likewise in his Affection to the Spanish Alliance: But he stuck at the Duke more, whom [...]e defended in one part to one of the Spanish Ministers, yet at the same time complaining, That he had noted in him a turbule [...] Spirit of late, and knew not how to mitigate it, so that casting up the Sum he doubted it might come to his turn to pay the Reckoning.

These Thoughts so wrought upon the King, that his Countenance fell suddenly, that he mused much in Silence, and that he entertained the Prince and Duke with mystical and broken Speeches: this nettled them both, and enquiring the Reason, they could not go further, than that they heard the Spanish Secretary and the Jesuit Maestro had been with the King, and understood that some in the Ambassador's House had vaunted, that they had nettled the Duke, and that a Train would take fire shortly to blow up the Parliament.

In this Perplexity the King prepared to take Coach for Windsor, to shift Ground for some better Rest in this Unrest, and took Coach at St. James's Gate, and the Prince with him, and found a slight Errand to leave Buckingham behind; as the King was putting his Foot into the Coach, the Duke besought him, with Tears in his Eyes, and humble Prayer, that his Majesty would let him know what could be laid to his Charge to offend so good and gracious a Master, and vowed by the Name of his Saviour he would purge it, or confess it: The King did not satisfy him, but breathed out his Disgust, that he was the unhappiest alive to be forsaken [Page] of them that were dearest to him, which was uttered and received with Tears from his own Eyes, as well as the Prince's and Duke's, and made haste to Windsor, leaving the Duke behind: this was upon Saturday at the end of April.

The Duke forlorn, retires to Wallingford-House, and was in such Confusion and Distraction, that when my Lord Keeper, (who had notice of all these things, and was more careful of the Duke than he could be of himself) came to him, he found the Duke lying upon his Couch, in that immoveable Posture, that he would neither rise up nor speak, tho the Keeper invited him to it twice or thrice by courteous Questions. The Keeper told him by the Faith of a deep Protestation, that he came purposely to prevent more Harm, and to bring him out of that Sorrow into the Light of the King's Favour; That he verily believ'd God's directing Hand was in it, to stir up his Grace to advance him to those Favours, which he possessed, to do him Service at this Pinch of Extremity.

The Keeper besought the Duke to make haste to Windsor, and to shew himself to the King before Supper was ended; to deport himself with all amiable Addresses, and not to stir from him Day nor Night, for the Danger was, that some would thrust themselves to push on the King to break up the Parliament; and the next degree of their Hope was, upon the Dissolution of the Parliament to see his Grace committed to the Tower, and then God knows what would follow; the Keeper besought him to be secret, and be quick and judicious in the Prevention: More might not be said, because the Loss of Time might lose all. The Duke thankt him, and made haste to Windsor before he was lookt for, and was as inseparable from the King as his Shadow.

The Fineness of the Keeper's Wit, in unriddling this Mystery, is equal to that of Cicero, in finding out the Bottom of Catiline's Conspiracy; and by like means, viz. by Women, tho after a different manner: For Fulvia of her own accord discovered Catiline's Conspiracy, in Spite and Emulation to Sempronia; but the Keeper bribed one of Fulvia's Stamp, to get an Insight into this Design, which so perplext the King.

It seems to me that the Prince and Duke had a Jealousy that the Spanish Ambassador might infuse something into the Keeper, which might spoil the Narrative which the Duke made in Parliament of the Spanish Match; and therefore the Keeper had given express Orders, that neither the Spanish Ambassador, nor any of his Train, or Followers, should come at him, whereby the Keeper had been secluded for a Month from any Intelligence from thence.

But before, Don Francisco Carondelet, the Ambassador's Secretary, was frequently at the Keeper's; he was contrary to the Ambassador, as well by Birth, for he was a Walloon, not a Castilian, and [Page] Arch-D [...]a [...]on of Cambray, as by Nature, being learned, and of a free and pleasant Dispo [...]tion; whereas the Spanish Ambassador was most austere and sowr, so as there was a great Intimacy between the Keeper and him, and out of him the Keeper got, what a Servant the Secretary was to some of our English Ladies of Pleasure; but above all to one in Mark-lane, who by her Wit so managed the Secretary, that he could keep no Secret from her which she would have had made known: With her the Keeper held Correspondence, and presented her bountifully, though he told the Prince he had never seen her; and by her the Keeper had the rough Draught of the De [...]gn of the Paper which the Ambassador had put into the King's Hands: The Keeper had also notice of an English Priest, who lived in Drury-lane, which the Secretary loved above any other, and was dearer to him than his own Confessor, but whether the Keeper came to the Knowledge of this by the Lady in Mark-lane, or from the Secretary himself, the Bishop does not say.

The Commons had drawn up a Remonstrance against the Liberty which the Priests assumed, which the King called a Stinging one, and which put the Priests into a great Terror; and in this Terror, he sent his Pursevant Captain Toothbie, to seize the Priest in Mark-lane, and not to commit him to Prison, but to keep him at his own House till further Order.

The Secretary soon heard of this, and was confounded what to do for the Priest's Delivery▪ he knew no other means to do it, but by my Lord Keeper, and from him he was banished; yet in this Extremity, he sent to the Keeper, to beg of him to see his Face but that Day, tho he never saw him more: this was it the Keeper de [...]red, yet he seemed very unwilling to admit him; however if the Secretary came about eleven of the Clock at Night, the Keeper would order one of his Servants to let him in at the back-Door of the Garden.

When the Secretary came into the Keeper's Presence, he told the Keeper, That nothing but a Matter as dear to him as his own Life, should have forc'd him to break Rule to offend his Lordship with his Presence, and bewailed the Disaster of his Confrere's Attachment, and most passionately implored the Keeper to compass his De [...]iverance.

And would you have me, says the Keeper, run such an Hazard to set a Priest at Liberty, a dead Man by our Statutes, when the Eye of the Parliament is so vigilant upon the Breach of Justice, especially in this kind, to the sadding of godly Men, who detest them that creep hither out of Seminaries, above all other Malefactors, because they come with an intent to pervert them who have lived in the B [...]som of our Church?

[Page] My Lord, says Francisco, (accenting his Words with passionate Gesture) let not the Dread of this Parliament trouble you, for I can tell you, if you have not heard it, that it is upon Expiration: and then the Keeper pickt out of him the Heads of the Articles in the Paper the Ambassador had given the King, with all the Reasons, Circumstances, and distorted Proofs and Expositions to confirm them; and about two in the Morning dismist the Secretary, and ordered the Pursevant to release the Priest, with Caution that he should cross the Seas that Day, or the next.

The Keeper was as happy in his Memory, as in his Wit and Invention; for after the Secretary was gone, he neither slept, nor stirred out of the Room, till he had digested all the Secretary had told him in Writing, with his Observations upon each Particular; and when he had trimmed up a fair Copy, (but what it was the Bishop says not) he carried it to the Prince at St. James's: This was upon Tuesday morning, after the King went to Windsor.

The Prince read the Charges, and admired at the Virulency of them; with the Antiscripts of the Keeper, which were much commended, whereupon he caused his Coach to be made ready; but before he went, the Keeper humbly begg'd of him to conceal the Matter for two Reasons: First, for searching into the King's Counsels, which he would not should be opened: Secondly, that when he had found them out, to discover them, tho to his Highness; which the Prince promised, and then went to Windsor. When he came there, he called for the Duke, and shewed him the Paper privately, with the Apology in the other Column: the Duke humbly thankt the Prince, that his Case was interwoven with his Highness, and their double Vindication put into one Frame; and besought the Prince to know what Vitruvius had compacted a Piece of Architecture of such Vicinity in so short a time, but could not obtain it.

So they forthwith desired a private Hearing of the King, and gave the Schedule to his Majesty's Consideration; the King read it deliberately, and at many Stops said, 'twas well, very well, and drew the Prince and Duke near to him, and embraced them both, protesting he sorrowed much, that he had aggrieved them, with a Jealousy fomented by no better than Traitors: And that you may know, said the King, how little you shall pay me for Reconciliation, I ask no more but to tell me who is your Ingineer, that struck these Sparks out of the Flint to light the Candle, to find the Groat which was lost. The Prince stood mute, and the Duke vowed, he knew not the Author. Well, said the King, I have a good Nostril, and will answer mine own Question; my Keeper had the main finger in it, I dare swear he bolted the Flower, and made it up into Past. Sir, said the Prince, I was precluded, by my Promise, not to reveal him, but I never promised to tell a Lie for him; [Page] your Majesty has hit the Man: And God do him good for it, says the King; I need not tell you both what you owe him for this Service; he has done himself this Right with me, that I discern his Sufficiency more and more. This you may read in the Keeper's Life, Part 1. from fol. 195, to fol. 200. and much more of the Bishop, but I think but little more of the Keeper. And tho the Spanish Ambassador received a sore Rebuke here, and was sent back into Spain, the Bishop says he received no Frown nor Disfavour there.

Now let's see how the Duke requited the Keeper for his Service, which was but in May: In the beginning of Michaelmas-Term following, the Duke perswaded my Lord Chief Justice Hobart to tell the King, or give it under his hand, that my Lord Keeper was not fit for the Place, and he would undertake to cast the Keeper out, and put my Lord Hobart into his place; but my Lord Hobart said, Somewhat might have been said at first, but he should do my Lord Keeper great wrong that said so now. See fol. 201.

However, such was the Temper of the Times, that both Houses chimed in with the Duke in his Narrative, and justified him against the Spanish Ambassador, who took great Offence at the Duke's Relation▪ as reflecting upon his Master's Honour, and demanded his Head for Satisfaction.

The King was so pleased with the Parliament's Justification of the Duke, as we have shewed before, that as he had been his Favourite Somerset's Advocate, to plead his Cause against the Opinion of Archbishop Abbot, to make the Countess of Essex to be virgo intacta, and so a fit Wife for Somerset; so now he becomes his Disciple Buckingham's Advocate, to make him a Favourite to the Nation: and because of the Excellency and veracity of his Speech, which should dispose the Nation to it, we'll give it you verbatim, as it is to be seen in Rushworth, fol. 127.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

‘I Might have nothing to speak 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 neither wrong my self, nor that Noble Man which you now spake of, because he is well known to be such an one as stands in no need of a Prolocutor or Fide [...]ussor, 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 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 Saying, That he is a happy Man that serves a good Master; and it is no less true, That he is a happy Master that enjoys a faithful Servant.’

[Page] ‘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 had need of any Justification from others towards me; and that for these Reasons.’

‘First, Because he being my Disciple and Scholar, he may be assured he will trust his own Relation. Secondly, Because he made the same Relation to me which he did afterwards to both Houses, so as I was formerly acquainted with the Matter and Manner thereof; and if I should not trust him in the Carriage, I was altogether unworthy 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, altho it was my Command, as I told you before; and now he hath as little Thanks for his Relation on the other part, (he has the Thanks of the Parliament) yet he that serves God and a good Master, cannot miscarry for all this.’

‘I have noted in the Negotiation, these three remarkable things, Faith, Diligence, and Discretion, whereof my Son has born Record unto me; yet I cannot deny, That as he thought to do good Service to his Master, he has given an ill Example to Ambassadors in time to come, because he went this long Journey upon his own Charge: This will prove an ill Example, if many of my Ambassadors should take it for a Precedent. He run his Head into the Yoke with the People here for undertaking the Journey; and when he had spent there 40 or 50000 l. (where should he have this Money?) never offered his Account, nor made any Demand for the same, nor ever will: I hope other Ambassadors will do so no more. I am a good Master, that never doubted him, for I know him to be so good a Scholar of mine, that I say, without Vanity, he will not exceed his Master's Dictates: and I trust the Report not the worst he made, because it is approved by you all, and I am glad he hath so well satisfied you, and thank you heartily for taking it in so good part, as I find you have done.’

Did ever any old experienced King (as he stiles himself) so dote upon a young, raw, and unexperienced Gentleman, (bred up in no sort of Learning or Business, and scarce before he became a Courtier, unless in his Infancy, breathed any other than French Air) as in the face of the Nation, to magnify an invidious Tale, told by the Duke, to the Offence not only of the Spanish Ambassador, conversant in the whole Affair, but also without hearing the Earl of Bristol, who was the greatest Statesman of England, if not in Europe, and who had so honourably performed several Embassies, to the Honour of the King, so far as the thing would bear, and so [Page] manifoldly owned by the King? That this Scholar of the King's, unacquainted with the Treaty, should break in upon the Earl, and not only unravel all, but quarrel with him, and in another King's Court with the prime Minister of State, by whom he might best have attained his End, if he designed any.

However, the Parliament address themselves to the King, and represent to him, That he cannot in Honour proceed in the Treaty of the Match with Spain, nor the Palatinate; and the Commons offer the King three Subsidies and three Fifteenths, for carrying on the War for the Recovery of the Palatinate, in case the King will break off the Treaties: which the King accepted, protesting to God, a Penny of this Money should not be bestowed but upon this Work, and by their own Committees; and the Commons took him at his Word, and appointed Treasurers to receive the Money, and a Council of War to disburse the same.

But the Commons having granted these Subsidies, drew up a Petition against the Licence the Popish Party had taken during the Treaty with Spain. He was so nettled at it, that he called it a Stinging One; and hearing the Commons were entring upon Grievances, he could not endure it, and upon the 29th of May adjourned the Parliament to the 2d of November 1624, and from thence to the 7th of April, lest the King should hear of another stinging Petition, or a Disturbance in the French Treaty: but at this Adjournment he told them, at their next Meeting they might handle Grievances, so as they did not hunt after them, nor present any but those of Importance; yet I do not find the Parliament ever met again, at least never did any thing: However the King passed a General Pardon, and the Parliament censured Lionel Earl of Middlesex, Lord Treasurer, for Corruption in his Office, 50000 l. to the King, and to be imprisoned in the Tower during the King's Pleasure, which was but three days after the Adjournment of the Parliament; for upon the first of June he was set free.

Whilst these things were doing in Parliament, the Earl of Bristol was recalled from his Embassy; but before his Arrival, the Duke dealt by all means, that the Earl might be committed to the Tower before he should be admitted to the King's Presence: But fearing the Marquiss Hamilton, and my Lord Chamberlain, would oppose him herein, the Duke pressed them that they would concur in it; vowing (as Somerset did to Sir Thomas Overbury) he intended the Earl no hurt, but only feared, that if he should be admitted to the King's Presence, he would cross and disturb the Course of Affairs: but neither of these Lords would condescend thereunto. This was attested by my Lord Chamberlain before the House of Lords.

[Page] This De [...]gn of the Duke's failing, the Duke, to terrify the Earl from returning into England, writ to him, that if he kept not himself where he was, (in Spain) and laid hold of the great Offers which he heard were made unto him (the Earl) it should be the worse for him.

At Bourdeaux the Earl heard of the Aspersions cast upon him by the Duke in Parliament; of which, the Earl did boldly afterward in the House of Lords, in the second Parliament of Car. 1. and in the Presence of the Duke, affirm, That there was scarce any one thing concerning him in the Declaration, which was not contrary to, or different from Truth.

From Bourdeaux the Earl took Post to get into England, to vindicate himself from the Asper [...]ons which the Duke had cast upon him in Parliament: but when he came to Calais, tho he sent over to have one of the King's Ships allowed him, and for which publick Orders were given; and tho the King (James) had Ships which lay at Boloign, which might have every day been with him in three Hours, and the Wind fair, yet none came, tho the Earl waited for one eight Days; so that he was forced to pass the Sea to Dover in a Boat and six Oars.

When the Earl was landed at Dover, he was, by a Letter from my Lord Conway (a Creature of the Duke's) commanded in the King's Name to retire to his House, and not to come to Court, or the King's Presence, until he had answered to certain Questions, which his Majesty would appoint some of the Council to ask him: but this was not out of any ill meaning to him, but for fear the Parliament should fall too violently upon him; and this the Duke said to some of his Friends, was the Reason of the Earl's Restraint.

Hereupon the Earl humbly petitioned the King he might be exposed to Parliament, and that if he had not served the King honestly in all things, he deserved no Favour, but to be proceeded against with all Severity; but received Answer from the King, That there should be but few days past before he would put an end to his Affairs: but the Parliament was adjourned before the few days passed, nor did he ever put an end to them. You may read the further Contrivances against him by the Duke, in Rushw. from fol. 259, to 265.

After the Adjournment of the Parliament (or, if you will, the Dissolution of it) tho the Earl of Bristol could not obtain Admission into the King's Presence, yet he obtained Leave to answer to all the Duke had, in his Absence, charged upon him in Parliament; and withal wrote to the Duke, that if he, or any Man living, was able to make Reply, he would submit himself to any thing which should be demanded: which tho the Duke presumptuously said, That it is not an Assertion to be granted, that the Earl of Bristol by his Answer had satisfied the King, the Prince, or himself, of his Innocence; [Page] yet it so satisfied the King, that when the Duke after pressed the King that the Earl might submit, and acknowledg his Fault, the King answered, I were to be accounted a Tyrant, to engage an innocent Man to confess Faults of which he was not guilty. Tho the Earl said he could prove this upon Oath, yet the Duke wrote to him, that the Conclusion of all that had been treated with his Majesty was, that he (the Earl) should make the Acknowledgment as was set down in that Paper, tho at that time the King sent him word, that he would hear him against the Duke, as well as he had heard the Duke concerning him; and soon after the King died; which Promise of the King's, the Earl prayed God did the King no hurt: however, the Earl obtained Leave of the King to come to London, to follow his private Affairs. Mr. Rushworth therefore errs a little in point of time, where he says, fol. 149. the Earl was committed to the Tower in King James his time; for he was not committed till the 15th of January 1625. in the first Year of King Charles, as you may see in Stow's Life of King Charles, fol. 1042.

We have now done with the Spanish Match, at least during this King's Reign; yet the King's Desires of seeing his Son married, which he shall never see, were as impatient as those of getting the Infanta's huge Portion: and to that end, before the Meeting of the Parliament, and while the Treaty with the Infanta was yet breathing, the King sent my Lord Kensington (after Earl of Holland) to feel the Pulse of the French Court, how it beat towards an Alliance between the Prince, and Princess Henrietta Maria, youngest Daughter of Henry IV. of France. A serene Heaven appeared in France upon the Motion; not a Cloud to be seen in all the French Horizon; Lewis the King telling my Lord Kensington, he took it for an Honour, that he sought his Sister for the sole Son of so Illustrious a King, his Neighbour and Ally; only he desired he might send to Rome, to have the Pope's Consent, for the better Satisfaction of his Conscience. And now you shall see how a little French Artifice could work upon the Conscience of our wise and pacifick King, which we will give verbatim as the King says it, in return to the French King, and which you may read in Mr. Howel's Life of Lewis XIII. fol. 63.

Most High, most Excellent, and most Puissant Prince.

‘OUR dear and most beloved good Brother, Cousin, and antient Ally: Altho the deceased King of happy Memory was justly called Henry the Great, for having reconquer'd by Arms his Kingdom of France, tho it appertained to him as his proper Inheritance, (so here King James determined his Title to France) yet you have made a greater Conquest; for the Kingdom [Page] of France, though it was regained by the victorious Arms of your dead Father, it was his de Jure, and so he got nothing but his own; but you have lately carried away a greater Victory, having by your two last Letters, so full of cordial Courtesies, overcome your good Brother and antient Ally, and all the Kingdoms appertaining to him: for we acknowledg our Self so conquered by your more than brotherly Affection, that we cannot return you the like; only we can promise and assure you, upon the Faith of an honest Man, that you shall always have Power, not only to dispose of our Forces and Kingdoms, but of our Heart and Person, and also of the Person of our Son if you have need, which God prevent, praying you to rest assured, that we shall not only be so far from cherishing or giving the least Countenance to any of your Subjects, of what Profession soever of Religion, who have forgot their natural Allegiance to you, but if we hear the least inkling thereof, we shall send you very faithful Advertisement; and you may promise your self, that upon such Occasion, or any other which may tend to the Honour of your Crown, you shall always have Power to dispose of our Assistance as if the Cause were our own. So upon Assurances that our Interests shall be always common, we pray God, most High, most Excellent, most Puissant Prince, our most dear and most beloved Brother and Ally, to have you always in his most holy Protection. Newmarket the 9th of February 1624. Your most affectionate Brother, Cousin, and antient Ally,’

James K.

So prodigal was King James of his Promises, and so negligent in their Performance, whether they were in his power or not. Now let's see what became of this bluster of Words, and how the Interest of King James was common in this very Treaty, with the most High, most Excellent, and most Puissant Prince, his most dear, and most beloved Brother, Cousin and Ally, Lewis.

Lewis, whilst King James was intent upon his Pleasures, and pursuing the Spanish and French Matches, had taken almost all the In-land Cautionary Towns which the Reformed held in France, and about the Beginning of this Treaty, by the Interposition of his Mother, had made Cardinal Richlieu prime Minister of State, who shall serve her as Buckingham shall serve the Arch-bishop of Canterbury, and Laud his Patron Williams, Lord Keeper; and to Richlieu did Lewis commit the Management of this Treaty, another-guess Minister of State than Olivares was in Spain, and shall pay Buckingham his own again with Interest.

Nani, lib. 5. fol. 205. observes of Richlieu, that the King had no Inclination to him, there being a certain natural secret Aversion to those, who with an Ascendant of Wit exceed: Sure it is, [Page] the Cardinal possessed rather the Power of Favour than the Favour it self; nevertheless, he had the Great Art how to fix the mutable and suspicious Genius of the King, and the inconstant Nature of the People, governing as with a supream Dictatorship, the one and the other, even to his Death.

Richlieu had his Eyes in all the Corners of the Court of England, and was throughly informed of the King's Fondness of this Match, and of the Insufficiency of Buckingham to encounter him in the Transactions of it; and therefore how sweetly and desiredly soever the Proposition was embraced in France, yet in the Treaty Richlieu stood upon his Tip-toes, now that of Spain was broke off.

In the first place, he would not abate one Iota of the Articles of Religion and Liberty to the Popish Recusants, which was agreed upon in Spain; nay, he raised them higher: for it was but sit, he said, His Master, who was the eldest Son of the Church, should not abate any thing of what was granted to the Catholick King: if there had been nothing else, this would have caused another stinging Petition from the Commons (as the King called it) if ever they had met again.

And though her Portion was but 800000 Crowns, (not one tenth of the Infanta's) yet the Consideration of it must be 18000 l. per Ann. Jointure, (which her Son encreased to 40000 l.) and besides, the King (James) shall give her 50000 l. in Jewels, whereof she shall have the Property, as of those she has already, and also of what she shall have hereafter: The King also (James) shall be obliged to maintain her and her House; and in case she come to be a Widow, she shall enjoy her Dowry and Jointure, which shall be assigned in Lands, Castles, and Houses, whereof one shall be furnished and fit for Habitation, and the said Jointure be paid her wheresoever she shall desire to reside; she shall also have the free Disposal of all the Benefices and Offices belonging to the said Lands, whereof one to be a Dutchy or County.

And in case she survive her Husband, her Dowry shall be returned to her entirely, whether she live in England or not: and in case she die before her Husband, without Children, the Moiety of her Portion to be returned: yet this Portion must one half be paid the Year after the Contract, the other half the Year after that.

Having taken a view of the Temporal Articles of this Treaty, let's see what was agreed to in those which referred to Religion.

[Page]

The Articles of Marriage of the King of Great Britain, with Madam Henrietta Maria of France.

THIS Negotiation was so happy, that it caused the King to consent to all the Articles which were demanded for the Catholicks, and that his Majesty gave Charge to his Ambassadors to agree to them: they signed them with the Cardinal at Paris the 10th of November 1624, with these Considerations,

That Madame the King's Sister should have all sort of Liberty in Exercise of the Catholick, Apostolick and Roman Religion, and all her Officers and her Children; and that they should have for this Purpose a Chappel in all the Royal Houses, and a Bishop with 28 Priests to administer the Sacraments, and the Word of God, and to do all their Offices.

That the Children which should be born of that Marriage, should be nourished and brought up by Madame in the Catholick Religion, until the Age of 13 Years.

That all the Domesticks which she should carry into England should be French Catholicks, chosen by the Most Christian King; and when they died, she should take other French Catholicks in their Places, but nevertheless by the Consent of the King of Great Britain.

That the King of Great Britain, and the Prince of Wales his Son, should oblige themselves by Oath, not to attempt by any means whatsoever to make her change her Religion, or to force her to any thing that might be contrary thereto; and should promise by writing in the Faith and Word of a King and Prince, to give Order that the Catholicks, as well Ecclesiastical as Secular, who have been imprisoned since the last Edict against them, should be set at Liberty.

That the English Catholicks should be no more enquired after for their Religion, nor constrained to take the Oath, which contains something contrary to the Catholick Religion: That their Goods that have been seized since the last Edict, should be restored to them.

And generally that they should receive more Graces and Liberty in Favour of the Alliance with France, than had been promised them in consideration of that of Spain.

The Deputation of Father Berule, Superior General of the Fathers of the Oratory to his Holiness, to obtain the Dispensation for the aforesaid Marriage.

THE Instructions which were given to Father de Berule, were to render himself with all Diligence at Rome, to obtain the Pope's Dispensation, and to this Effect to represent to his Holiness, That the King of Great Britain having demanded of the King his Sister Madame Henrietta Maria, for a Wife for the Prince of Wales, [Page] his Son; his Majesty hearken'd the more willingly to this Proposition, in that he esteem'd it very profitable towards the Conversion of the English, as heretofore a French Princess married into England, had induced them to embrace Christianity: but the Honour which he had vowed to the Holy See, and particularly to his Holiness, who baptized him in the Name of Pope Clement VIII did not permit him to execute the Treaty without having obtained his Dispensations. That this Marriage ought to be look'd upon, not only for the Benefit of the English Catholicks, but of all Christendom, who would thereby receive great Advantage: That there was nothing to be hazarded for in Madame, seeing that she was as firm in the Faith and in Piety as he could desire: That she had a Bishop and 28 Priests to do their Duties: That she had not a Domestick that was not Catholick, and that the King of Great Britain, and the Prince of Wales, would oblige themselves by Writing, and by Oath, not to solicit her directly or indirectly, neither by themselves, or by Persons interposed, to change her Religion. On the contrary, having nothing to fear for her, he had great Cause to hope, that she being dearly beloved of the King, who was already well enough disposed to be a Catholick, and of the Prince of Wales, she might by so much the more contribute to their Conversion, as Women have wonderful Power over their Husbands, and their Fathers-in-law, when Love hath given them the Ascendant over their Spirits: That she was so zealous in Religion, that there was no doubt but she would employ in this pious Design, all that depended upon her Industry; and that if God should not bless Intentions in the Person of King James, and of the Prince of Wales, it was apparent that their Children would be the Restorers of the Faith which their Ancestors had destroyed, seeing she would have the Charge to educate them in the Belief and in the Exercises of the Catholick Religion till the Age of 13 Years; and that these first Seeds of Piety being laid in their Souls, cultivated with Care at the time when they should be more susceptible of Instructions, would infallibly produce stable and permanent Fruits, that is to say, a Faith so firm, that it may not be shaken by Heresy in a riper Age. That after all, the Catholicks of England would receive no small Profit at present, since the King of Great Britain, and the Prince of Wales, would both oblige themselves upon their Faith, and by Writing, no more to enquire after them, nor punish them when they should be discovered; to enlarge all those that had been imprisoned, and to make them Restitution of Money and of other Goods that had been taken from them since the last Edict, if they were yet in being; and generally to treat them with more Favour than they could have expected from the Alliance with Spain. And further, He had Orders to let the Pope understand, that to render more Respect to [Page] the Church, it had been agreed that Madame should be affianced and married according to the Catholick Form, and agreeable to that which was followed at the Marriage which Charles IX. made of Madam Margaret of France with the late King Henry IV. then King of Navarre. All these things spoke themselves, and appeared so visibly, that they would admit of no doubt; so this Father that wanted neither Spirit nor Fire, represented them dexterously to the Pope; and his Holiness made him hope for a speedy and favourable Answer, &c. See the Life of Cardinal Richlieu, printed at Paris 1650. fol. 14, 15.

How does this agree with the King's Speech at the opening of the Parliament, in the 18th Year of his Reign, That if the Treaty of the Match between his Son and the Infanta of Spain were not for the Benefit of the Established Religion at home, and of the Reformed abroad, he was not worthy to be their King? And how does this agree with that part of the King's Speech at the opening of this Parliament, That as for the Toleration of the Roman Religion, as God shall surely judg him, he said, he never thought nor meant, nor never in Words expressed any thing that savoured of it?

Do not Religion, Truth, and Justice support the Thrones of Princes? and Hypocrisy, Falshood, and Injustice undermine and overthrow them? What future Happiness then could either the King or Prince hope to succeed this Treaty, sworn to by them both, so diametrically contrary to the Laws and Constitutions of this Nation, wherein the Majesty of the King, as well as the Safety of the Nation, is founded? and to govern by these, and observe this Treaty, will be impossible. What Peace could the Prince find at home, even in his Bed, when an imperious French Wife shall be ever instigating him to break his Coronation-Oath, to truckle to that imposed upon him by her Brother of France?

These Pills, how bitter soever, must be swallowed by the King, rather than his Son shall be baulk'd a second time; nay, it seems they were very sweet to him: For Mr. Howel, in the Life of Lewis III. says, fol. 66. that King James said passionately to the Lords of the Council of the King of France;

My Lords, the King of France has wrote unto me, That he is so far my Friend, that if ever I have need of him, he will render me Offices in Person, whensoever I shall desire him: (the Truth of this you will see by and by.) Truly he hath gained upon me more than any of his Predecessors; and he may believe me, that in any thing that shall concern him, I will employ not only my Peoples Lives, but my own; (Bravely spoken, and like K. James) and whosoever of his Subjects (Lewis's) shall rise against him, either Catholicks or others, shall find him (James) a Party for him (Lewis). 'Tis true, if he be provoked to infringe his [Page] Edicts, he shall impart as much as in him lies, by Counsel and Advice, to prevent the Inconveniencies. Who ever expected he should do more, or ever did?

But Venus must not have the only Ascendant in this Treaty; for the Cardinal will have Mars to be in Conjunction with her: and 'twas high time; for at this time Monsieur Sobiez had provided a great Fleet of Men of War (as Times went then with the French) and had entered and surprised the Fort of Blavet in Bretaign, and took and carried away six of the French great Men of War out of it, and also taken the Isles of Rhe and Oleron, which he began to fortify; and being absolute Master of the Sea, triumphantly, with a Fleet of 75 Men of War of all sorts, landed a considerable Force at Medoc near Bourdeaux.

The Court of France was never so alarmed as at this, notwithstanding all the King's Victories over the Reformed by Land; and therefore the Cardinal threw another Article into the Treaty, That King James should lend the French a Fleet of Ships to repress Soubiez; and in lieu thereof, the French should permit Mansfield, who had raised an Army of 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse in England, to land at Calais; where the French should join him with another Body of Horse and Foot, for the Recovery of the Palatinate.

But see the French Faith, and how well Lewis made good his Promise to King James, to render him all Offices in his own Person, whensoever King James should desire him: for at this time the Army being shipt at Dover, and put over to Calais, where being denied Entrance, and having no other Instructions, and wanting Provisions, they lay neglected at Sea; and in this Distress a Pestilence raged among them, so that they were forced to sail to Zealand, where having no Orders, they were denied Landing there: and this being the most terrible Season of the Year, in December, what by Hunger, Cold, and Pestilence, above two thirds of them perished, before Leave could be obtained to land them in Holland; so that they never did the King of Spain near so much Hurt, as they had done in England before they were shipt, living upon Plunder and Free-Quarter.

These were sad Presages of future Happiness from the designed Marriage, yet these things no ways discomposed the quiet Repose of our pacifick King: so as he might see his only Son married to a Daughter of France, was all his Business; no matter how. The Thirst (which God was his Judg, and as he was a Christian King, he had contracted, equal to that of the wayfaring Man in the Desarts of Arabia, and in danger of Death for want of Water) for the good Success of the Parliament, is now asswaged by the granting of three Subsidies and three Fifteenths: Here's no mention of marrying his only Son with the Tears of his only Daughter; and he is still ready, with the Lives of his Subjects, and his [Page] own, to assist the most High, most Excellent, and most Puissant Prince, his most dear, and most beloved Brother, Cousin, and antient Ally, Lewis.

The Managers of this Treaty were, Hay a Scots-man, created Earl of Carlisle; and the Lord Kensington, for the more Honour of it, created Earl of Holland; two of the King's Favourites of the second Rate, but who bare no proportion to the Sagacity, Wisdom, and Integrity of the Earl of Bristol. Bristol was all Heare of Oak, and would not bend to Buckingham's Pride and Ambition; but they were Willows, that were liable to every Nod and Wind of Buckingham's Breath.

But how comes Buckingham, who must have an Oar in every Boat, to be absent from this Treaty? The Reason was, tho he were not wise, yet he was jealous, lest King James, in his Absence, should hear Bristol against him, as the King had promised, as well as he had heard Buckingham against him; which was so dangerous a Rock, as our Land-Admiral would not venture to run against.

Notwithstanding all this Haste for consummating this desired Marriage, the Thread of the King's Life was spun out before; for upon the 27th of March, Ann. 1625. he died at Theobalds, in the 58th Year of his Age, having reigned twenty two Years compleat. Having had an Ague, the Duke of Buckingham did upon Monday the 21st before, when in the Judgment of the Physicians the Ague was in its Declination, apply Plaisters to the Wrists and Belly of the King, and also did deliver several quantities of Drink to the King, tho some of the King's Physicians did disallow thereof, and refused to meddle further with the King, until the said Plaisters were removed; and that the King found himself worse hereupon, and that Droughts, Raving, Fainting, and an intermitting Pulse, followed hereupon; and that the Drink was twice given by the Duke's own hands, and a third time refused: and the Physicians, to comfort him, telling him, that this second Impairment was from Cold taken, or some other Cause; No, no, said the King, it is that which I had from Buckingham. I confess, this was but a Charge upon the Duke, upon the Impeachment of the Commons, as you may read in Rushworth, fol. 355, 356. yet it was next to positive Proof; for King Charles, rather than this Charge should come to an Issue, dissolved the Parliament, which was a Failure of Justice, tho the Commons had voted him four Subsidies, and four Fifteenths, before it was passed into an Act.

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The Character of King James.

He was the first of that Name King of England, and the first King of the whole Isle of Britain, and the first King, since Henry the first, that was born out of the Allegiance to the King of England, and was the first (at least since Rich. 2.) that affected and endeavoured to introduce an Arbitrary Power in England, foreign to the Laws and Constitutions of it; and in all his Reign was more governed by Flatterres and Favourites, than by the Advice of his Parliament, or a wise Council.

His Flatterers and Favourites seldom spake of him but under the Appellation of Most Sacred, rarely I think or never before used to any of the Kings of England; and of the Solomon of the Age, though never were two Kings more unlike, unless it were in their Sons, Charles and Rehoboam: for Solomon died the richest of all the Kings of the World, King James the poorest; Solomon was inspired above all other Kings with Wisdom, and his Proverbs Divine Sentences, for Improvement of Vertue and Morality; whereas this King's Learning, wherein he and his Flatterers so much boasted, was a Scandal to his Crown: for all his Writings against Bellarmine and Peron, of the Papal Power of King-Killing and King-Deposing, were only Brawls and Contentions, and [...] Learning on one side or the other: A Power disclaimed by our Saviour when the Devil would have given him it; and denied any such Power in this World, even when the Jews were ready to crucify him, John 18. 36.

And as there were no Reasons for these Brawls, so was the End of them, Arrogance on the Popish Part, to impose a foreign Power or Jurisdiction upon the King and Kingdom, and as foolish on the King's Part, it being exploded by the Nation, and under the severest Penalty, the asserting such a Power prohibited; and how could the King by his Writings further secure himself and the Nation against it?

But it seems the King was in this more zealous for himself and the Preservation of his Inherent Birth-right to the Crown of England, than for the Honour of God and our Saviour, against the Pope's Usurpations other ways; for in his Speech at the Opening the first Parliament of his Reign, he calls the Church of Rome a [...] Church, and our Mother-Church, and if they would lay aside their King-killing and King-deposing Doctrine, and some Niceties, (but names them not) he was content to meet them mid-way.

Does not the Pope exalt himself above God, and is Antichrist, i [...] forbidding the Laity the Cup in the partaking the Sacrament a Christ's last Supper? If any Man makes a Question of it, I'll demonstrate [Page] it by a better Syllogism, than can be made up of Aristotle's Analyticks.

For whosoever shall forbid what another commands, exalts himself above that other.

But the Pope forbids the Drinking of the Cup at the Sacrament to the Laity who are Christ's Members as well as the Priests.

And our Saviour commands the Cup with an Emphasis, Drink ye All of it.

Therefore the Pope exalts himself above our Saviour, and is Antichrist; which was to be demonstrated: and this Mutilation makes this the Pope's, and not a Sacrament of our Saviour's Institution.

COROLLARY.

By the same Reason, I say, the Pope exalts himself above God, in forbidding Marriage to the Priests.

For Marriage is an Institution of God in Paradise, Gen. 2. and commanded by God, Gen. 9. 1. and the Pope forbids the Marriage of Priests; which St. Paul says is the Doctrine of Devils: and it's worthy Observation, that the Pope makes Marriage to be a Sacrament, yet denies it to Priests; and our Saviour commands the Cup in the Sacrament of his last Supper to be drunk by all, yet this is denied the Laity, and only allowed to Priests.

I say Pope Julius the 2d in dispensing with Henry the 8th to marry his Brother Arthur's Wife, exalted himself above God.

For whosoever shall dispense with, or allow what another forbids, exalts himself above that other.

But Julius dispensed with Henry's Marriage of his Brother's Wife.

And God forbids the Marriage of a Man's Brother's Wife, Lev. 18. 16.

Therefore Julius exalted himself above God, which was to be demonstrated.

It's true, I do not find the Marriage of a Man's Sister's Daughter particularly forbidden by the Levitical Law; yet by the 17th verse it is by inference forbidden, and is abhorrent to Nature: So that when Cambyses asked the Magi, if it were not lawful to marry his Sister's Daughter, they told him it was not; yet like Flatterers, they told him he might do what he pleased; and Platina (I think it is in the Life of Pope Boniface the 5th, or Honorius) exclaims against the Emperor Heraclius his marrying his Sister's Daughter, as an Impiety scarce ever heard of: yet three Popes successively dispensed with Philip the 2d, Philip the 3d, and Philip the 4th, Kings of Spain, marrying with their own Nieces, viz. their Sisters Daughters.

[Page] It were endless to enumerate the Doctrines of the Church of Rome, how dishonourable they are to God, and his sacred Laws. I'll give Instances only in two: 1. Their Invocation of Saints after Death, many of which are of their own making, thereby attributing to them a concurring Power with God, in his Omniscience, which is a robbing God of his Honour; and if Saints after Death be not Omniscient, it were in vain to pray to them.

The other is dispensing with Mens Promises and their own, tho they have bound themselves to the Performance of them by an Oath; whereby the Popes render themselves Enemies of Mankind, and Humane Society: for these are founded in Truth, and Mens mutual Performance of their Promises. That this for several hundreds of Years hath been practised by the Popes upon those Princes and Subjects, whom they please to call Hereticks, (when the Popes are greater) is well known to those conversant in their Histories: I'll give but one Instance of the Liberty the Popes take to themselves herein.

Upon the Death of Pope Marcellus 2d, Ann. 1555. the Cardinals in the Conclave, before they proceed to the Election of another Pope, mutually swore, That whosoever should be chosen, should call a Synod in six Years, and not make more than 4 Cardinals in two Years after the Election, and Paul the 4th was chosed. See the Council of Trent, Anno 1555.

Some small time after this Election, Paul entred the Conclave, to declare his Intentions of a Promotion of Cardinals; and the Cardinal of St. James's pressed to him, and put him in mind of his Oath before his Election: but the Pope thrust the Cardinal back, and told him, This was to bind the Pope's Authority; that it is an Article of Faith, that the Pope cannot be bound, much less bind himself; that to say otherwise was manifest Heresy, from which he did absolve those who spake it, because he thought they did not speak obstinately; but if any should say the same again, he would give Order the Inquisition should proceed. And this being spoken in the Conclave, was in Cathedra, and infallible, and never since retracted by him, or any other Pope. These are the Heresies in the Church of Rome, for which Men must be slaughtered and burnt, and for not believing them against the Evidence of a Man's Senses to the contrary, and against the Nature of a Sacrament, That the Bread and Wine in the Sacrament after Consecration, is Christ's organical Body and Blood: This is that true and Mother-Church which the King would meet mid-way, if it would let him and his Inherent Birth-right alone.

This is that Prince who to prosecute these Brawls, and to wallow in sensual Pleasures, neglected the foreign and domestick Affairs of his Kingdom; only Great in making himself little, and not beloved at home, and contemptible and dishonoured abroad [Page] A Prince who squandred away the sacred Patrimony of the Crown amongst Flatterers and Favourites, thereby becoming not able to maintain the Honour of the Nation abroad; and neglecting the Encrease and Repair of his Navy-Royal, not only rendred the Nation in an unsettled and dangerous Peace at home, but notwithstanding the Treaty with the Dutch for Licence to fish upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, suffered them with Men of War to guard their Fisheries, and to do it whether he would or not. A Prince, that by his dissolute Life, and prophane Conversation, debauched and effeminated the Genius of the English Nation, whereby it became more scandalized for Swearing and Drinking, than in any Age before. A Prince that broke all the Measures by which Hen. 8. and Queen Elizabeth were the Arbitrators of Christendom. A Prince fearful of all his Enemies abroad, while he was only great by exercising a Tyrannical Arbitrary Power over his Parliaments and Subjects, who could only have made him great abroad, and honoured at home; whereby he became little beloved at home, and suffered the Dutch to redeem their Cautionary Towns upon their own Terms, and to dispossess the English at Amboyna, and their other Factories in the East-Indies and Africa. He only stood still looking on, while the French upon the Matter supprest the Reformed in France; and suffered Ferdinand the 2d to over-run, and near subdue the Protestant Princes in Germany, as well as his own Son-in-law: And tho he were the 6th of that Name, King of Scotland, from John, alias Robert Stuart, the Son of Robert Stuart, by his Paramour Elizabeth Moor; yet if Sir James Melvil says true, that Cardinal Bethoun poisoned James the 5th, he was the first of that Name who died a natural Death, if he did so; for James the first was murdered by his Uncle the Earl of Athol, his Grand-father's legitimate Son, in his Queen's Arms, with eight and twenty Wounds, the Queen receiving two to defend him. This was in the Year 1436.

James the II. was killed by the breaking of a Piece of Cannon, while he besieged the Castle of Roxburgh, the 3d of Aug. 1460.

James the III. having his Army routed by an Army headed by his Son James, was killed at Bannoch-Burn, by the Lord Gray, and Robert Sterling of Ker, after Sir Andrew Brothick, a Priest, had shriven him. This was in 1488.

James the IV. was killed the 9th of December 1514, at Flowdenfield, by the English commanded by the Earl of Surrey, and his Body never found: and if James the 5th was poisoned, then none of these Jameses died a natural Death, neither did King James his Mother, being put to death Ann. 1587, for conspiring the Death of Queen Elizabeth.

After the Dissolution of the Spanish Match, the King as greedily prosecuted the French; and tho he lived not to see it settled, [Page] yet he saw the Army raised under Count Mansfield, for the Recovery of the Palatinate, ruined by trusting to the French Faith in this very Treaty. When he died, he not only left an empty Exchequer, but a vast Debt upon the Crown, yet was engaged in a foreingn War; and the Monies given by the Parliament for carrying it on, were squandred away in carrying on the French Treaty, and the Nation imbroiled in intestine Feuds and Disorders.

At his Death he left a Son and Heir, and one Daughter: Before he died he saw his Son over-ruled by his Favourite, against his determinate Will and Pleasure, and the Prince's own Honour and Interest; which was a great Mortification to him, and which he often complained of, but had not Courage to redress: and so strongly was [...] Favourite possessed of his Power over his Son, in the King's Life, that the Prince little regarded his Father's Precepts, or the Counsels of any else, after his Death; whereby he encreased the Internal Feuds, Jealousies and Discords of the Nation, which ended in a sad Catastrophe, both of the Favourite and the King.

At the King's Death, his Daughter, with her Husband, and her many Children, were driven into Exile and Poverty in the Dominion of the Dutch States, where they were more relieved by the States, the Prince of Orange, and some Bishops and Noblemen of England, than by either of the Kings, Father, or Son.

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A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, During the Reign of King CHARLES I. &c.
BOOK II.

CHAP. I.
This Reign detected to the Dissolution of the Parliament, Tertio Car.

'TWAS a strange Reign this: As this King's Father's Reign was introduced with a horrible Plague, so was this King's with a greater, and such as no Records of any Times before mention the like: The first 15 Years of his Reign were perfectly French, and such as never before were seen, or heard of in the English Nation: this brought on a miserable War in all the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Destruction upon the King, whenas it was not in the Power of those which first raised the War against him to save his Life, which they would have done. Baptista Nani, in the sixth Book of the History of Venice, An. 1625, f. 221, observes, That after the Marriage of King Charles with the Daughter of France, the Interest of State, or rather the Passion of Favourites, converted the Bonds of Affection into Causes of Hatred: Europe in those [Page] times reckoned it amidst its unhappy Destiny, that the Government of it fell upon three young Kings, yet in the Flower of their Age, Princes of great Power, desirous of Glory, and in Interest contrary; but in this alone by Genius agreeing, that they committed the Burden of Affairs to the Will of their Ministers: for with equal Independency, France was governed by Richlieu, Spain by Olivares, and Great-Britain by Buckingham, confounding Affections with Interest, as well publick as private. Betwixt the Cardinal and Buckingham open Animosities discovered themselves, for Causes so much more unadvised, as they were more hard to be known.

When King James died, the Nation was rent into four Parties, viz. The Prerogative, which exalted the King's divided Will from the Laws and Constitutions, above his Royal and Legal Will: The Country, or Legal Party, which stood for the Legal Establishment of Church and State; and the Puritan, and Popish Parties. After the Treaties of Marriage between the Prince and the Daughters of Spain and France, the Popish and Prerogative Parties joined for carrying on the Court-Designs; and were opposed by the Country and Puritan Parties: and as the Prerogative and Popish Factions grew more insolent, so the Puritan Party gathered Strength and Reputation among the Vulgar or ordinary People, insomuch that in Number they became more than all the other three. We shall take a better View of this Reign, if we look a little back into the former.

After the Treaty of the Match with Spain was broken off, King James was perplext what to do, he had neither Money nor Courage to make War for the Recovery of the Palatinate; and the Wounds which he had given the last Parliament, by Imprisoning their Members for advising him to make War for the Recovery of the Palatinate, were yet fresh and bleeding; and yet Buckingham, whom he durst not offend, not content to satisfy his Spite against Olivares, by breaking off the Match, was, notwithstanding all Difficulties, nay Impossibility of Success, still pushing on the King to declare War against the King of Spain.

The King thereupon referred this Business to my Lord Keeper Williams, my Lord Treasurer Cranfield, the Duke of Richmond, Marquess Hamilton, the Earl of Arundel, the Lord Carew, and the Lord Belfast; who all agreed, that they could not say that the King of Spain had done the part of a Friend in the Recovery of the Palatinate, as he had professed; nor could find that he had acted the Part of an Enemy declaredly, as the Duke objected: and indeed my Lord Keeper's Reasons against the War governed all the rest, that saw no Expediency for War upon the Grounds communicated by Buckingham. And 'twas more observable, that during the whole Treaty, while Buckingham was in Spain, the [Page] Business of the Palatinate was never mentioned; and now he is come out of it, it must be the Cause of a War with the King of Spain.

The Keeper's Reasons were, Ʋpon whom shall we fall? Either upon the Emperor, or King of Spain: the Emperor had in a sort offered the King his Son-in-law's Country again for Payment of a great Sum of Money, in recompence of Disbursments: but where was the Money to be had? yet it might be cheaper bought than conquered before a War was ended. For the King of Spain, he saw no Cause to assault him with Arms: He had held us indeed in a long Treaty to our Loss, but he held nothing from us; and was more likely to continue the State of things in a State of Possibility of Accommodation, because he disliked the Duke of Bavaria's Ambition, and had rather stop the Enlargement of his Territories.

The King embraced this Advice; nor did he stay here (yet did not stay long) but spake hardly of Buckingham, who would have put him upon making War upon the King of Spain; and the King's Censure upon him was so bitter, (Cabal, Page 92.) that it was fit to be cast over-board in Silence, says the Bishop of Litchfield, f. 169, 170. tit. 175.

This Resolution of the Council was so little to the Duke's Satisfaction, that the Bishop says in the same Tit. that it made the Duke rise up, and chafe against them from Room to Room, as a Hen that had lost her Brood, and clucks up and down when she has none to follow her: Nor did the Duke stop here, but notwithstanding the fierce Anger of the King, and his not answering one of the Keeper's Reasons, he appealed from the Judgment of the Council to the Parliament: Sure he durst not have done this, if he had not been sure of the Prince to second him against the Opinion and Anger of his Father.

This was the third inexpiable Crime the Keeper had committed against the Duke: the first was his Advice to the Duke, when he was in Spain, to hold a good Correspondence with the Earl of Bristol, and Olivares; but finding the contrary, by a Letter to the Duke of the 28th of June, which you may read in the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Bishop Williams, fol. 136. tit. 146. and another of the 22d of July, tit. 155. fol. 147. where he in gentle manner informed the Duke, as from the King himself, how zealous the King was, not only of fair Terms between the Duke and Earl, but of a nearer Alliance. This was such a piece of Impudence in the Keeper, that the Bishop says in the next tit. that it removed the Duke's Affections from the Keeper for ever; nor could this State-Minister contain his Displeasure, but wrote to my Lord Mandevile, that the first Action he would imbarque himself in, when he came home, should be to remove the Keeper out of his Place. And the next Crime of the Keeper, was, [Page] The Duke was afraid of his Wit. See the Bishop, tit. 156.

However, this Counsel took such Effect with King James, and he was so satisfied that he had no Colour of Title to make War against the King of Spain, that when the Parliament after gave him three Subsidies, and three Fifteens, for the Recovery of the Palatinate; and when he had raised an Army of 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse to be commanded by Count Mansfield, the King not only made it a Condition, that Mansfield, with the Army, should not commit any Hostility against any of the Dominions, which by Right appertained to the King of Spain, or the Infanta Isabella, Princess of the Low Countries (or the Spanish Netherlands) and in case he did so, from that time the King was not longer to continue Payment of the Army, but also took an Oath of Mansfield to observe the Conditions.

So that how powerful soever the Duke was over King James, yet in none of these Particulars could he obtain his End; viz. in not prevailing upon the King to make War upon the King of Spain, nor in removing the Lord Keeper, nor in having the Earl of Bristol committed to the Tower.

After the breaking of the Spanish Match, it was observed that King James's Temper was quite so altered, that he forgot his Recreations of Hunting and Hawking at New-Market, but whilst he was there, he remained as in an Infirmary; and in a Fit of Melancholy, told the Earl of Carlisle that if he had sent Williams into Spain with his Son, he had kept Hearts-ease and Honour, both which he wanted. See the Bishop of Litchfield, lib. 1. tit. 174.

King James then began to look back upon his former Actions, in having lost the Affections of his Subjects; and now intangled in the Difficulties which he saw inevitably coming upon him, charged the Prince often, in the hearing of the Lord Keeper Williams, to call Parliaments often, and to continue them, tho their Rashness sometimes did offend him: That in his own Experience he never got any Good by falling out with them. See the Bishop of Litchfield, lib. 2. f. 16. tit. 16.

How well King Charles observed his Father's Advice in any of these; nay, how diametrically he went contrary, and contrary to all good Advice given him in the very first Year of his Reign, will soon appear, and the miserable Effects which followed.

I have heard my Father (tho not a Courtier, yet acquainted with many Courtiers) say, that they would oft pray to God that the Prince might be in the right Way where he set, for if he were in the wrong, he would prove the most wilful of any King that ever reigned.

Tho all must stoop to mighty Buckingham, yet that he might stand surer, who must be his only Support but Laud, Bishop of Saint Davids; who from picking Quarrels in Lectures at Oxford, and being an Informer before, now is become Vice-gerent to Buckingham? [Page] A List of all the eminent Men for Promotion in the Church is given in; those whom Laud would have promoted were noted (O) for Orthodox, and whom he liked not were marked (P) for Puritans: these two stopt up both the King's Ears from any other Doctrines in Church or State, but what was infused by them; so early did King James's Prophecy to my Lord Keeper Williams, when he was so importunate to have Laud preferred, begin to be fulfilled. Before a Year goes about, you shall see Buckingham set the King at odds with the Parliament, and yet engage him in a War against Spain; and before another goes about, engage the King in another against France, to satiate his Spight and Revenge against Richlieu, for crossing him in his Lust; and after 13 Years, Laud shall be the Fire-brand to set all the three Nations in the Flame of a Civil War, as King James had foretold. But it's time to come to Particulars.

The first Enterprise which the Duke engaged the King in, was not for the Recovery of the Palatinate, as he pretended when he would have engaged King James in a War against the King of Spain; but to express his Hatred against Olivares: and therefore a Fleet must be rigged up, to make War in Spain, even when King James's Corps lay unburied, and at so unseasonable a time, when the Charges of King James's Funeral were so fast approaching, and when the Charges of the King's Ambassadors, the Earls of Carlisle and Holland, ran so high at Paris, to outvy the French Splendor, for solemnizing the Marriage between the King and the Queen; and these so much more augmented, by the Duke's Preparations to fetch the Queen over, which, when the Duke shall come to Paris, must outshine not only the Bravery of the English Ambassadors, but all that Cardinal Richlieu could do.

From the Unseasonableness of this Expedition, let's see by what Counsels Buckingham managed this designed Expedition; and herein take Light from a Letter which my Lord Cromwel wrote to the Duke, and which you may read in Rushworth's Collections, fol. 199. after the Fleet had lain so long, that the Season of the Year was past, and most dangerous for Ships to put to Sea. The Letter is Verbatim.

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's wonder'd at, that since the King did give such great Gifts to the Dutchess of Chevereux, and those that went, how now a small Sum in the Parliament should be called for at such a 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 Mansfield's Journey, or this Fleet, which discontents even the best sort, if not all. They say, it is a very great Burden your Grace takes upon [Page] you, since none know any thing but you. It's conceived, that not letting others bear part of the Burden you now bear, it may ruin you, (which Heavens forbid). Much Discourse there is of your Lordship, here and there, as I passed home and back; and nothing is more wonder'd at, than 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, it might have been better if you had not guided the King. They say, your Ʋndertakings in this Kingdom will much prejudice your Grace: and if God bless you not with Goodness, to accept kindly what in Duty and Love I offer, questionless my Freedom of letting you know the Discourse of the World, may prejudice me. But if I must lose your Favour, I had rather lose it for striving to do you good, in letting you know the Talk of the wicked World, than 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 this World; and when I am able to judg of Actions, I will freely tell your Lordship my Mind, which when it shall not always incline to serve you, may all my noble Thoughts forsake me. The Success of this Expedition you will hear soon.

Thus was the King of Spain required for all the noble Favours he had shewn the King when he was in Spain. This was the Return of Buckingham's Protestation to the King of Spain, when they parted at the Escurial, [That he would be an everlasting Servant to the King of Spain, the Queen, and the Infanta, and would do the best Offices he could for concluding the Business (the Match between the Prince and Infanta) and strengthen the Amity between the two Kingdoms] to have War made upon him, without any Declaration of it by King Charles, so soon as it came in his Power to do it.

After Buckingham became Lord Admiral, the English Navy lay at Road unarmed, and fit for Ruin, as you may see in Rushworth, fol. 3. This was before the Treaty of the Spanish Match; and after the breaking of the Spanish Match, the Duke not only neglected the guarding of the Seas, whereby the Trade of the Nation not only decayed, but the Seas became ignominiously infested by Pyrates and Enemies, to the Loss of very many of the Merchants and Subjects of England; as you may read in the Fourth Article of the Charge of the Commons against him, in Rushworth, fol. 312.

Objection. But this was but an Accusation, and therefore it does not amount to a Proof.

It ought not to be presumed, the Commons would have charged this upon him without Proof; and I say it is strong Proof upon the Duke, since the King dissolved the Parliament rather than the Duke should come to a Trial upon it.

[Page] However, the Navy lay thus neglected, and Seas unguarded; and tho the French had broken the Treaty of Marriage with France, by not suffering Mansfield to land his Army at Calais, yet the supplying the French with a Fleet to subdue the Rochellers, must be performed: And to this end, even whilst King James lay unburied, great Consultation between the Duke and the Marquiss of Efsiat was had how this might be done. The King had no Men of War ready, but the Vaunt-Guard; and the French Necessities were urgent, for all this while Sobiez rode triumphant at Sea, the French not being able to encounter him; and thereby Rochel upon all Occasions was relieved by Sea.

However, the French must be gratified, or this hopeful Marriage with France might be disturbed: The Duke therefore, by his Power of Lord Admiral, besides the Vaunt-Guard, pressed 7 Ships, of the Merchants of England, into the King's Service; viz. The Great Neptune, whereof Sir Ferdinando Gorge was Captain; the Industry, of 450 Tuns, whereof James Moyer was Captain; the Pearl, of 540 Tuns, whereof Anthony Tench was Captain; the Marigold, of 300 Tuns, whereof Thomas Davis was Captain; the Loyalty, of 300 Tuns, Jasper Dare Captain; the Peter and John, of 300 Tuns, John Davis Captain; and 7thly, the Gift of God, Henry Lewen Captain.

The Duke, tho the Navy were unprovided with Stores and Ammunition, could find Stores and Ammunition sufficient for furnishing this Fleet; and upon the 8th of May caused a Warrant under the Great Seal to be issued, to call the Companies aboard which had been raised for the French Service, with the first Opportunity to go to such a Port as the French Ambassador should direct, and there to expect Directions.

But see the Dissimulation and Hypocrisy of the Duke and French Ambassador d'Efsiat; for all this while they gave out, that this Fleet should not be employed against the Rochellers, but against Genoua, which it seems took part with the King of Spain against the French King's Allies in Italy; and that Vice-Admiral Pennington should not take in any more French into any of the Ships of this Fleet, than the English could master. These were the Instructions which the Duke communicated to the Council; and with these Pennington sailed to Diep.

But when the Fleet arrived at Diep, the Duke of Momerancy, Admiral of France, would have put 200 Men into the Industry, and offered the like to every one of the other Ships in the Fleet, telling them, they were to fight against the City and Inhabitants of Rochel; with a Proffer of Chains of Gold, and other Rewards, to all those Captains, Masters, and Owners, which should go in this Service: which they all, with one Consent, rejected, and subscribed their Names to a Petition to Pennington against it; whereupon [Page] on Pennington, with the whole Fleet, returned into the Downs, and from the Downs Pennington wrote a Letter to the Duke, by one Ingram, who saw the Duke read it, together with the last Petition; and by Ingram, Pennington became a Suitor to the Duke to be discharged of this Employment.

This put the Duke and French Agents to their Trumps, how to retrieve their Game; and tho all these Transactions were concealed from the King and Council, yet the Protestants in France had got Knowledg of this Design, and the Duke of Rohan, and Protestants of France, by Monsieur de la Touche, solicited the King and Council against this Design, and had good Words and Hopes from both: But Buckingham told de la Touche, the King his Master was obliged, and so the Ships must and should go.

But there was another Obstacle to be removed, or this worthy Design was at a full Stop. The Duke had imprest and hired the seven Merchants Ships upon the King of England's Account, and for his Service, and so they could not be passed into the French Hands, without a new Agreement with the Owners: Hereupon his Grace was pleased to take a Journey to Rochester, to settle the Agreement, which must be as the French Ambassadors would, whether the Owners of the Ships would or not. I will be particular herein, not only to shew what a Minister of State Buckingham was, or what Reliance there was upon his Word or Honour, but more especially, for that the Ruin not only of the whole Interest of the Reformed of France was a Consequence of this Action, wherein the Mercenary Dutch State conspired also with the Duke; but it was the Foundation upon which the French Naval Grandeur was built, as well to the Terror of Christendom, as of England at this very Day.

My Lord Conway was the Duke's Nanny, and tho principal Minister of State by the Duke's Promotion, yet made the Office to bend which way soever the Duke nodded: This Lord Conway directed a Letter upon the 10th of July 1625. as from the King, to Vice-Admiral Pennington, whereby he took upon him to express and signify to him, that his Master had left the Command of the Ships to the French King, and that Pennington should receive into them so many Men as the French King pleased, for the time contracted for (viz. six Months, but not to exceed eighteen) and recommended his Letter should be his sufficient Warrant. This Letter was delivered by one Parker to Pennington in the Downs; and the English Merchants had constituted one James Moyer and Anthony Touchin to treat with the French Ambassadors (which were the Duke of Chevereux, Monsieur Vollocleer, and the Marquiss of Efsiat); and at Rochester the Duke sent back a Letter to Moyer and Touchin, to come and treat with the French Ambassadors, to settle Business about the Delivery up of their Ships and Fraights, into the Power of the French King.

[Page] The Propositions which the French Ambassadors made to Moyer and Touchin, were,

1. That the 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 to the Contract formerly passed between D'Efsiat and them.

2. That they should consent and agree, in consideration of the Assurance given them by the Ambassadors, to the Articles of the 25th of March before, (which you may read in Rushworth, fol. 328.) whereby the French King should be Master of the said Ships by indifferent Inventory, and that they, by him, should be warranted against all Hazards and Sea-fights; and if they miscarried, then the Value of them to be paid by the French King, who would also confirm this new Proposition within 15 Days 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 Ships, he might; but without any Diminution to the Fraight, for or in respect thereof.

To these, Moyer, in the behalf of the Merchants, answered, 1. That their Ships should not go to serve against Rochel. 2. That they would not send their Ships without good Warrants. 3. Nor without sufficient Security, to their liking, for the Payment of their Fraight, and Rendition 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 the peraffetted Instrument. Hereupon Sir John Epstey and Sir Tho. Dove disswaded the Duke from this Enterprize, telling him, he could not justify nor answer the Delivery of the Ships.

However, Buckingham's Dictatorship would not admit of Justice or Reason, but he commanded Moyer, and the rest, that they should obey the Lord Conway's Letter, and return to Diep, to serve the French, and that so was the King's Pleasure, (tho the King told the Duke of Rohan's Agent, de la Touche, otherwise); yet privately, at the same time, the Duke told them, that the Security offered by the Ambassadors was sufficient, and that tho they went to Diep, they might, and then should keep their Ships in their own Power till they had made their own Conditions.

Hereupon, the Duke of Chevereux and Vollocleer constituted D'Efsiat their Deputy, to treat with the Merchants at Diep for the Delivery of their Ships into the French Power; but with him the Duke sent Mr. Edward Nicholas, his Secretary, with Instructions, by word of Mouth, to execute the King's Pleasure by my Lord Conway's Letter, for putting the Merchants Ships into the French Power, upon the Conditions peraffetted at Rochester by the three [Page] French Ambassadors. But the Captains of the Ships refused to submit to the Conditions, tho Mr. Nicholas, in the King's Name, from Day to Day threatned them, and vehemently pressed them to deliver up their Ships upon the former Propositions.

Hereupon D'Efsiat (to have further Instructions from the Duke) entred into a new Treaty with the Merchants, and like a French Merchant, got Letters to be sent into England, that the Peace was concluded with those of the Religion in France, and that within 14 Days the War should break out in Italy, with a Design upon Genoua, a matter of great Importance against the Spaniard. Hereupon the Duke procured the King to write a Letter to Pennington, dated July 28. to this effect.

HIS Majesty did thereby charge and command Captain Pennington, without delay, to put his Highness's former Command in Execution, for consigning the Vaunt-Guard into the hands of the Marquiss D'Efsiat for the French, with all her Furniture, assuring her Officers, his Majesty would provide for their Indemnity: And to require the other seven Ships, in his Majesty's Name, to put themselves into the Service of the French King, according to the Promise his Majesty had made to 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 deliver'd to Pennington in the Beginning of August, by Captain Wilbraham: Hereupon Pennington went back out of the Downs, carrying with him the said Letters, and certain Instructions in Writing from the Duke to his Secretary Nicholas: And about the time Pennington returned to Diep, Nicholas threatned the Captains of the Ships, and told them, it was as much as their Lives were worth, if they deliver'd not up their Ships to the French; whereupon some of them would have come away, and left their Ships, and fled into Holland.

Upon Pennington's coming to Diep, he delivered the Van-Guard absolutely into the French Power, to be employed as they pleased, and acquainted the rest of the Captains with the King's Command, that they should likewise put their Ships into the French Power; which they all refused to do, unless they might have good Security for the Delivery of their Ships, or Satisfaction for them.

Hereupon Pennington went on Shore, and spoke with D'Efsiat, and upon his Return told the Captains, they must rely upon the Security peraffetted in England; whereupon the Captains weighed Anchor, and prepared to be gone; upon which Captain Pennington shot at them, and forced them all to come to an Anchor again, except the brave Sir Ferdinando Gorge in the Neptune, more brave in running away from this abominable Action, than charging into the midst of an Enemy.

[Page] When the Captains came a-shore, they spoke with Mr. Nicholas, who enforced them to come to a new Agreement, which you may read in Rushworth, fol. 335. and to deliver up their Ships into the French Power; but not one of them would take the French Pay in the Expedition, but one Gunner, who was at his Return kill'd in charging of a Cannon, not well spunged by him; and the Duke's Secretary Nicholas had a Diamond Ring, and a Hat-band set with Diamond-Sparks, given him by the French Ambassador, for his pains taken in this noble Employment.

This was the second noble Design of this grand Minister of State Buckingham, whilst King James lay unburied: we will now proceed to the third; wherein you'll see how well Richlieu requited Buckingham's Service, in accommodating the French with a Fleet to subdue the Rochellers.

Tho the Duke did not personally manage the Treaty of the French Marriage at Paris, as he did the Spanish at Madrid, for the Reasons aforesaid; yet none but he, now the whole Treaty was consummate, and so firmly performed on the English part, must fetch the Queen to the King: and when all the mighty Preparations for the Magnificence of this mighty Duke were compleated, away he hies to Paris, where he arrived the 24th of May, and there he staid the full term of seven Days, wherein he performed more wonderful Exploits than he had done in so many Months before at Madrid. And these we will take from the noble Nani, who was out of the Reach of Buckingham's Envy, or Flattery of the English Court, and as near as I can, in his own Words, Anno 1625. fol. 221, 222.

Buckingham being in France to carry back Charles's Bride, it seemed, that in the free Conversations of that Court, he had taken the Boldness to discover something of his Inclination to the Queen, whilst the Cardinal was inflamed with the same Passion, or rather feigned to be so, with Aversion in her, who with Vertue equal to the Nobleness of Blood, equally despised the Vanity of the one, and abhorred the Artifices of the other: (I think Nani herein was mistaken, as will soon appear.) Whereupon the Factions arising among the Ladies of the Court were not so secret, but the King was obliged to make a Noise, and banish some; but the Contention between the two Favourites was for Power, and Richlieu, who by reason of the Favour of the King in his own Kingdom prevailed in Authority, procured Buckingham many Mortifications and Disgusts: The other was no sooner arrived at London with the Bride, but to make a shew of Power not inferiour, by ill using her thought to revenge himself. The Catholick Religion served for a Pretext, whilst the Family brought out of France, according to Contract of Marriage, practised it: whence Disgusts brake forth to such a degree, that the Minds of the Spouses being alienated, and Affections [Page] between the Crowns themselves disturbed, it looked as if Discord had been the Bride-maid at that Wedding. You'll hear more of this hereafter.

It's observable, when Humour, not Counsel, governs Actions, how it runs into the contrary Extreams. King James, in Confidence of being supplied of all his Wants by the Spanish Match, in great Displeasure broke up the Parliament in the 18th Year of his Reign, and imprisoned many of the Members, for presuming to advise him against it; and this King expected the Parliament should make good all the Duke's Extravagancies, for the Tale which the Duke told in Parliament, the 21 Jac. for breaking off the Spanish Match, when he kept back the Earl of Bristol, as you heard before, from making his Defence, and proving the contrary of what Buckingham had told.

And so confidently was the King possessed that that Parliament continued in the same Mood, that I have heard one of Sir Edward Coke's Sons say, that tho when King Charles came to the Crown Sir Edward would have waited upon him in Testimony of his Duty and Service, the King would not admit him into his Presence, yet the King sent to know of him, whether he might continue this Parliament, notwithstanding the King's Death; which Sir Edward said could not be, for that upon the King's Death the Dissolution followed: yet upon the Election, not ten of the old surviving Members but were chosen again.

This Parliament met upon the 18th of June 1625. where the King laid open to them, that the Business he called them for was, that whereas they had advised him to break off the two Treaties, which were for the Spanish Match, and Recovery of the Palatinate, and that his Father being thereby engaged in a War for the Recovery of the Palatinate, they would now assist him in the carrying of it on. The Speech you may read in Rushworth, fol. 175, 176.

But Mr. Rushworth is mistaken, and I wonder Nalson and Franklin took no notice of it, that my Lord Keeper Coventry did second it; for it was my Lord Keeper Williams, whose quaint and learned Speech you may read in the second Book of the Life of the Keeper, by the Bishop of Litchfield, fol. 9, 10. Nor was Williams displaced till the 23d of October following, as you may see fol. 27.

The Commons, before they enter'd upon Grievances, Sir Edward Coke moving it, to ingratiate themselves with the King, voted him two entire Subsidies; and the last Parliament, but the Summer before, gave his Father three Subsidies and three Fifteens, which were more than ever any Parliament granted the King in threefold the time before. But that we may better look forward, look a little back.

[Page] King James upon the Rreach of the Spanish Match, put forth a Proclamation for putting the Laws in Execution against Popish Recusants; but upon the first of May, King Charles sent this Warrant to my Lord Keeper Williams.

Charles Rex,

RIght Reverend, and Right Trusty, &c. Whereas we have been moved, in Contemplation of our Marriage with the Lady Mary, Sister of Our dear Brother, the Most Christian King, to grant to Our Subjects, Roman Catholicks, a Cessation of all and singular Pains and Penalties, as well Corporal as Pecuniary, whereunto they be subject, or any ways may be liable by any Laws, Statutes, Ordinances, or any thing whatsoever, or for or by reason of their Recusancy or Religion, in every Matter or thing concerning the same: Our Will and Pleasure is, and we do by these Presents authorize and require you upon the Receipt hereof. That immediately you do give Warrants, Order and Directions, as well unto all our Commissioners, Judges, and Justices of the Peace, as also unto all other our Officers and Ministers, as well Spiritualas Temporal, respectively to whom it may appertain, that they, and every of them do forbear all, and all manner, and cause to be forborn all manner of Proceedings against our said Subjects Rom. Catholicks, and every of them, as well by Information, Presentment, Indictment, Conviction, Process, Seizure, Distress, or Imprisonment, or any other Ways and Means whatsoever, whereby they may be molested for the Causes aforesaid. And further also, That for time to come, you take notice of, and speedily redress all Causes and Complaints, for or by reason of any thing done contrary to this our Will: and this shall be unto you, and to all to whom you shall give such Warrant, Order or Direction, sufficient Warrant and Discharge in that Behalf. And this is so much more remarkable, that this Warrant was granted when Buckingham was so busy in setting out the Fleet against the Rochellers.

Here was a Suspension of the Laws with a Witness, by the King's absolute Will and Pleasure, notwithstanding all the Officers by Law were under the Obligations of their Oaths to the contrary: and for the first-Fruits of this Warrant the King granted upon the 10th of May, a special Pardon to twenty Roman Priests, of all Offences committed by them against the Laws.

Can any Man now believe, that the Parliament 18th Jac. should be so jealous, that the Spanish Match would be a Door to let in a Toleration of Popery, and therefore advised the King to break off the Match with Spain; and yet this Parliament should be so purblind, as not to see this put in Execution, at the Instance of the French in this King's Reign; especially whenas the Spaniards (unless in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth) were the English Friends and Allies, and with whom the English had a most beneficial and gainful Trade for 22 Years in King James's Reign, whereby they [Page] became doubly more enriched, than in the 44 Years Reign of Queen Elizabeth; whereas the French, as they were a Neighbouring Nation, were ever faithless and Enemies to the English Nation, and with whom it always had a Trade to the English Loss, as much to the enriching France, as to the impoverishing the English?

Hereupon the Commons sent Sir Edward Coke with a Message to the Lords to desire their Concurrence in a Petition to the King against Recusants, which was agreed to, and presented to the King, who answered, That he was glad the Parliament were so forward for Religion, and assured them, they should find him as forward; that their Petition being long, could not be presently answered.

Nor were the Commons less alarmed, at the countenancing the Arminian Sect, whose Tenets, next to Laud, Mr. Richard Mountague propagated; and about the latter end of King James his Reign, published a Book entituled, A new Gag for an old Goose; which the Parliament took notice of, and referred it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who disallowed it, and sought to suppress it, and ended in an Admonition given to Mountague: but after King James his Death, who was an Enemy to these Tenets, Mountague then printed it again, and dedicated it to King Charles, now Buckingham and Laud ruled all.

Hereupon the Commons brought Mountague to the Bar of their House, and appointed a Committee to examine the Errors therein, and gave Thanks to the Arch-bishop for the Admonition to Mountague, whose Books they voted to be contrary to the Articles established in the Parliament, to tend to the King's Dishonour, and Disturbance of the Church and State, and took Bond of Mountague for his Appearance.

But the King intimated to the House, that the things determined concerning Mountague, without his Privity, did not please him, for he was his Servant and Chaplain in ordinary; and that he had taken the Business into his own Hands: whereat the Commons seemed much displeased.

This was the first Breach between the King and Commons: and here let's see what hasty Steps Laud took to fulfil King James his Prophecy of him, in making Dissensions, and to be a Fire-brand to set the Nation on fire, by fomenting and exasperating the Factions in it. In this Act of Mountague, you may observe a twofold Crime: First his Contempt and Disobedience to the Church of England, (which Laud pretended so much to exalt) and to the Parliament, that his Book being questioned in Parliament, and by the Commons committed to the Arch-bishop, who not only disallowed and suppressed it; but Mountague being admonished against it, he should upon King James his Death presume to reprint it, in Defiance to the Metropolitan of England, contrary to his Canonical Obedience, and to the Commons; thereby to make a Dissension [Page] between the King and them. And secondly, his being so audacious, as to dedicate it to the King, thereby to engage the King in defence of his Arrogance and Disobedience; and for a Reward of this special Piece of Service, before King James was two Months dead, to be made the King's Chaplain in Ordinary, to be thereby protected from Justice.

But if it be asked how it does appear, that Laud was concerned in this Act and Promotion of Mountague; I answer, there is a threefold Reason to induce the Belief of it: First, the end for which this Book was wrote, for Promotion of Arminian Tenets, whereof Laud was so great a Stickler. Secondly, none else but Laud could have such an Ascendant in things of this kind, and to cause to early a Promotion for such a piece of Service: but Thirdly, which clears the Question; when the King's Necessities caused him to call another Parliament, about six or seven Months after, Laud fearing the Commons falling again upon Mountague, as they did, Laud sounded the King by Buckingham, whether the King would leave Mountague to the Parliament; and finding the King determined to do it, in great Zeal, said, I seem to see a Cloud arising and threatning the Church of England, God in his Mercy dissipate it, as you may read in Rush. f. 203. as if the questioning a seditious and a disobedient Fellow to his Superiour in the Church, were a Cloud to threaten the Church of England.

If Laud was the first that sowed Dissension between the King and Parliament upon the Pretence of the Church of England, Buckingham shall be the second, upon the Account of the Church of Rome: and herein you'll see the Temper of Buckingham to any which should presume to give him good Counsel.

The Dissension between the King and Commons began with Mountague at London, where the Plague than raged, and all England over, so that most of the Members shrunk away, to flee the Danger of it, and those that staid were in danger of their Lives: This put the King into a marvellous Strait what to do, for his Necessities, as Buckingham managed Affairs, and his being imbroiled in the Spanish War, were such as the Subsidies granted the King his Father the last Year, and those granted the King now, could not support.

Hereupon the King calling a Council at Hampton-Court what to do, the King proposed upon the 10th of July to adjourn the Parliament to Oxford; which was mainly favoured by the Duke: my Lord Keeper Williams opposed the Proposition for two Reasons; First, That the Infection had overspread the whole Land, so that no Man that travelled from his own Home, knew where to lodg in Safety; that the Lords and Gentlemen would be so distasted to be carried abroad in so mortal a time, that it's likely when they came together, they would vote out of Discontent and Displeasure; [Page] that his Majesty was ill counselled to give Offences in the Bud of his Reign, tho small ones. Secondly, the Parliament had given two Subsidies at Westminster; tho they removed to Oxford, it is yet the same Sessions; and if they alledg, it is not the Use of the House to give twice in a Sessions, (tho I wish heartily they would) yet how shall we plead them out of Custom, if they be stiff to maintain it? It is not fit for the Reputation of the King, to fall upon a probable Hazard of a Denial. The Duke which heard this with Impatience, said, That publick Necessity must sway more than one Man's Jealousy.

The Keeper hereupon besought the King to hear him in private, and acquainted the King, That the Duke had Enemies in the House of Commons, who had contrived Complaints, and made them ready to be preferred, and would spend time at Oxford about them. And what Folly were it to continue a Sessions that had no other Aim, but to bring the Duke upon the Stage? But if your Majesty think that this is like an Hectick, quickly known, but hardly cured; my humble Opinion is, That the Malady or Malice, call it what you will, may sleep awhile after Christmas; there is no time lost in whetting the Sithe well. I hope to give an Account by that time, by undertaking with the chief Sticklers, that they shall supersede their Bitterness against your great Servant, and that Passage to your weighty Counsels may be made smooth and peaceable.

But why, said the King, do you conceal this from Buckingham? Good Sir, said the Keeper, fain would I begin at that End, but he will not hear me with Moderation: And because it was the Mishap of the Keeper to give the first Notice of this Storm that was gathering, the Duke in Defiance bid him and his Confederates do their worst, and besought the King, that the Parliament might be continued, and he would confront the Faction, tho he looked upon himself in that Innocency that he presumed they durst not question him.

Buckingham's Will must be a Law; so on the 10th of July the Parliament was adjourned to Oxford, to meet the first of August: But, to sweeten them, the Keeper in the Presence of both Houses, in the King's Name, promised them, That the Rigour of the Law against Popish Priests should not be deluded: Here see the Levity of the King, and the Dominion Buckingham had over him; for upon the 12th of July the King caused a Warrant to be sealed to pardon six Roman Priests.

When the Parliament met at Oxford, the Speaker had no sooner taken his Chair, but a Western Knight enlarges the Sense of his Sorrow, that he had seen a Pardon for six Priests bearing test July 12th, whereas but the Day before it, when they were to part from Westminster, the Lord Keeper had promised in the King's Name, before them all, that the Rigour against the Priests should not be [Page] deluded. Hereupon the Members were in such a Heat, that they strived who should blame it most: What! their Hopes blasted in one Night? But for the Lord Keeper that brought the King's Message, and knew it best, and for a Bishop to set the Seal to such a Warrant, for him to do wrong to Religion, it was enormous. Hereupon Mr. Bembo, a Servant to the Clerk of the Crown, confess'd he brought the Writ to the Keeper to be sealed, but it was stopt; Mr. Devike, Servant to Sir Edward Conway, brought it from his Master, but it could not speed. It was my Lord of Buckingham's hard Hap to move the King to command the Warrant to be sealed, in his Sight, at Hampton-Court the Sunday following. The Commons hereupon turned about to clear the Keeper and commend him; but what pleased the Parliament at Oxford, did not please the Court at Woodstock, where this had not pleased the King.

The Commons in this Heat desired a Conference with the Lords in Christ-Church-Hall in the Afternoon, where Sir Edward Coke open'd the Complaint sharply against my Lord Conway, and like an Orator did slide away with a short Animadversion upon the Duke; the Commons enlarged hereon, that the Duke that put the King upon this, was the highest in the King's Favour; and that all the important Places of Honour, and Offices by Sea and Land, were in his Disposal; which you may read at large in the Life of the Lord Keeper, par. 2. fol. 14, 15. tit. 14, 15.

The Lord Keeper at Woodstock was censured by the Duke and his Creatures for this; the Keeper therefore unsent for, comes to Woodstoock, and thus applies himself to the Duke.

My Lord, I am come unsent for, and I fear to displease you: yet because your Grace made me, I must and will serve you; though you are one that will destroy that which you made, let me perish: yet I deserve to perish ten times, if I were not as earnest as any Friend your Grace hath, to save you from perishing. The Sword is the Cause of a Wound, but the Buckler is in fault if it do not defend the Body. You brought the two Houses hither, my Lord, against my Counsel; my Suspicion is confirmed that your Grace will suffer for it. What's now to be done, but to wind up a Session quickly? The Occasion is for you, because two Colleges in the Ʋniversity, and eight Houses in the Town are visited with the Plague. Let the Members be promised fairly and friendly, that they may meet again after Christmas; requite the Injuries done to you with Benefits, not Revenge, for no Man that is wise will shew himself angry with the People of England. I have more to say, but no more than I have said to your Grace above a Year past at White-hall; confer one or two of your great Places upon your fastest Friends, so shall you go less in Envy, and not less in Power. Great Necessities will excuse hard Proposals and horrid Counsels: St. Austin says it was a Punick [Page] Proverb in his Country, Ut habeas quietum tempus perde aliquid. At the Close of the Sessions declare your self to be forwardest to serve the King and Commonwealth, and to give the Parliament Satisfaction. Fear them not when they meet again in the same Body, whose ill Affections I expect to mitigate; but if you proceed, trust me with your Cause when it comes into the House of Lords, and I will lay my Life upon it, I will preserve you from Sentence, or the least Dishonour. This is my Advice, my Lord; if you like it not, Truth in the end will find an Advocate to defend it. The Duke replied no more but, I will look to whom I trust, and flung out of the Chamber with Menaces in his Countenance.

Mr. Rushworth, fol. 202. says, that the Keeper told the Duke in Christ-Church, when the Duke rebuked him for siding against him, in that he engaged with William Earl of Pembroke, to labour the Redress of Grievances, That he was resolved to stand upon his own Legs; and that the Duke should answer, If that be your Resolution, look you stand fast. Where Mr. Rushworth had this, I cannot tell: but this being so unlike the Keeper's Carriage to the Duke, both in King James's time and after, and also to the Narrative before set forth by the Bishop of Litchfield, who being the Keeper's Chaplain, could have a better Inspection herein than Mr. Rushworth could have had; but especially since the Reasons which the Keeper put into the King's hands, which you may read in the Life of the Keeper, par. 2. tit. 18. to satisfy the King of his Carriage while the Parliament sate at Oxford, being so contrary to what Mr. Rushworth says, I incline rather to believe the Bishop.

However, the Commons presuming to enquire into Buckingham's Actions, are censured at Woodstock for spiteful and seditious, and therefore not fit to continue, but to be dissolved; which being understood by the Keeper, with Tears and Supplications he implored the King to consider, there was a time when his Father charged him, in the Keeper's Hearing, to call Parliaments often, and to continue them, though their Rashness might sometimes offend him; that by his own Experience, he never got good by falling out with them. But chiefly, Sir, said he, let it never be said that you kept not good correspondence with your first Parliament; do not disseminate so much Unkindness through all the Counties and Boroughs of your Realm; The Love of your People is the Palladium of your Crown. Continue this Assembly together to another Session, and expect Alteration for the better; if you do not, the next Swarm will come out of the same Hive.

The Lords of the Council did almost all concur with the Keeper, but it wanted Buckingham's Suffrage, who was secure that the King's Judgment would follow him against all the Table. Thus far the Bishop.

[Page] But there was another Cause which the Bishop does not mention, but Mr. Rushworth does, fol. 336. which caused the hasty Dissolution of this Parliament. Captain Pennington was come to Oxford from delivering the Fleet into the French Power, to give an Account of the Reason of it; but by the Duke's means was drawn to conceal himself, and not to publish in due time his Knowledg of the Premises, as it shortly after appeared: and if this should have been made known, it would not have been in the Power of the Keeper to have brought off the Duke from Sentence, or the least Dishonour: so upon the 12th of August the Parliament was dissolved; but before their Dissolution the Commons made this following Declaration.

WE the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament, being the Representative Body of the whole Commons of this Realm, abundantly comforted in his Majesty's late gracious Answer touching our Religion, and his Message for the Care of our Health, do solemnly vow and protest, before God and the World, with one Heart and Voice, that we are 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 in a convenient time, and in a Parliamentary way, freely and dutifully do our utmost Endeavours to discover and reform the Abuses and Grievances of this Realm and State, and in like sort to afford all necessary Supply to his most excellent Majesty upon his present 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 account all such as Slanderers of the Peoples Affections, and Enemies to the Commonwealth, that shall dare say the contrary. But the mighty Buckingham shall not only dare to say, but dare to do the contrary: so much easier is it, in such a Reign, for a Favourite to ruine a Nation, than for a Nation to have Justice against a Favourite.

Here let's stay a little, and see what state the King had brought himself to, within less than five Months, after he became King.

First, he took Mountague to be his Chaplain, a virulent, seditious, ill-natur'd Fellow, to protect him from his Contempt against his Metropolitan and the Parliament, for publishing new-fangl'd Opinions, to the Disturbance of the Peace of Church and State; and when the Commons questioned Mountague for them, he took part with him against them, alledging he had taken the Business into his own Hands, whenas he took Mountague into his Power, to protect him from the Justice of them and his Metropolitan, but never took other Notice of Mountague's Business.

[Page] Secondly, He took upon him, in Compliance with a foreign Prince and an Enemy to the Nation, to dispense with the Laws against Romish Priests; which, by the Constitutions of the Nation, he could not do.

Thirdly, He broke his Word with the Parliament concerning the Execution of these Laws, within a Day, or two at most, after he gave it.

Fourthly, He made War upon the King of Spain, without any Declaration of War; whereas just Princes demand Reparations for Wrongs done, and endeavour to compound their Differences amicably, and in case of Refusal, then to proclaim War: and this not only against his Father's Counsel, but the Advice of his Father's Council.

Fifthly, Without the Advice of his Council, he lent the French a Fleet to subdue the Rochellers, and the Reformed in France, tho they had given him no Offence, and the French King had perfidiously broke his Promise with his Father and himself, in denying Mansfield's Army to land.

Sixthly, He had, against the Advice of his Father, broke the Bonds of Amity between him and his Subjects, by the Dissolving of the Parliament, whereby he lost the only Means to support him in his War against Spain: And now Buckingham stood ready primed, to engage him in a War against France; yet in this deplorable state no free Counsel must enter the King's Ears, which must be open to nothing but what Buckingham and Laud infused; a sad Presage to what follow'd, as well upon Buckingham and Laud, as upon the King himself. Now let's see the Success of the War against the Spaniards.

Besides the Fleet designed against Cales, the King fitted up another Fleet, in conjunction with the Dutch States, to block up Dunkirk, as well as he had lent a Fleet, in conjunction with the Dutch, to subdue the Rochellers; but this being sent out to Sea about the middle of October, the most perilous Season of all the Year for great Ships to put to Sea, (a Consideration either not understood, or not regarded by our Land-Admiral Buckingham) a terrible Storm arose, which separated and dispersed both Fleets so, as gave the Dunkirkers an Opportunity to put to Sea with 22 Men of War, and 4000 Land-Soldiers. This alarm'd the Council, lest these should land either in England or Ireland, whenas in neither any Provision was made to oppose them, especially in England, where the Earl of Warwick had Orders to dismiss 300 of the Trained-bands of Essex, that were to secure Harwich: however, it's fit here to mention the noble Act of that Earl, in building Langard-Fort on Suffolk side, to secure the Entrance into the Port, the most famous of all the English Eastern Coast, and which is yet continued to this day. But the Season of the Year was such, as [Page] prevented this Fear; for I find no other Account of the Design of the Dunkirk Fleet.

Nor had the Design upon Cadiz more Success than that upon Dunkirk; for a furious Storm arose in their Passage (it may be the same which separated the English and Dutch before Dunkirk) which so scattered the Fleet, that of 80, no less than 50 were missing for 7 Days.

This was but the Beginning of the Misfortunes of this miserable Expedition; for the Confusion of Orders was such, as the Officers and Soldiers scarce knew who to command, or whom to obey: so that when the Fleet arrived at Cadiz, a Conquest, which would have paid the Charge of the Voyage, and to the Honour of the English, offered it self; for the Spanish Shipping in the Bay of Cadiz, lay unprovided of Defence, so as the surprising them was both easy and feasible: but this was neglected; and when the Opportunity was lost, the Army landed, and Sir John Burroughs took a Fort from the Spaniard, but was forced to quit it again; for the Soldiers finding therein great store of Spanish Wines, so debauched themselves, that had the Spaniards known the Condition they were in, they might have destroyed them all.

Hereupon they were put on board again, and the General, my Lord Wimbleton, designed to stay 20 Days to wait for the Spanish Plate-Fleet, which was daily expected from the West-Indies; but the evil Condition of the Fleet, by reason of a general Contagion, enforced the General to abandon the Hopes of so great a Prize: so having effected nothing, he returned home with Dishonour in November following.

This gave no small Occasion of Clamour, that a Fleet so well provided and mann'd, should land their Men in an Enemies Country, and return without some honourable Action: but where the Fault lay, could not be found out; nor was any punished for failing to perform his Duty. Yet the General for some time was not admitted into the King's Presence, and some of the Colonels of his Army accused him, and some Sea-men aggravated the Accusation: Hereupon the General was examined before the Council, and he laid the Fault upon others in the Fleet, who let the King of Spain's Ships pass without fighting them, according to Order; and they on the other hand said, they had no Order from the General to fight.

But how miserable soever the Success of this Fleet was, yet it must not be, in the King's Judgment, ascribed to any Improvidence either in the setting forth, or Conduct after it; But to God's Pleasure (who is the Lord of Hosts, and unto whose Providence and good Pleasure his Majesty doth and shall submit himself, and all his Endeavours) not to give that Success as was desired. See the King's Declaration for Dissolving his second Parliament, which you may read in Rushworth, fol. 412.

[Page] But since the King had no better Success against the King of Spain by open Force, upon the Return of the Fleet he gave strict Command, That no Subject of the Realm of England should have any Trade or Commerce with any of the Dominions of the King of Spain, or of the Arch-Dutchies in Flanders, upon pain of Confiscation of both Ships and Goods that should be found upon Voyage of Trade into any of their said Dominions. But hereby the Loss manifoldly fell more upon the English than Spaniards; for these Trades, above all others, were the most beneficial and gainful to the English; and by the Peace which the King's Father made with Spain and the free Trade which the English thereby enjoyed in Spain and Flanders, the Nation became doubly more enriched than in the long Reign of Queen Elizabeth, which was double as long as K. James's, after he had made this Peace: Thus as the King by breaking of the Parliament disabled himself of Means for carrying on the War against Spain, so by this Inhibition of the English to trade with Spain, he disabled his Subjects from giving him such Assistance as otherwise they might. But these were no Considerations, where Buckingham and Laud govern'd all: and those worthy and honourable Statesmen, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Keeper Williams, and the noble Earl of Bristol, were not only discountenanc'd, but disgrac'd, and not permitted to come into the Council.

How unsuccessful soever the Expedition was, yet another Fate attended that Fleet lent to the French; for the Dutch joining a Fleet in conjunction with the French Fleet commanded by the Duke of Momerancy, fought the Fleet of the Rochellers, and utterly subdued it, and then reduced the Isles of Rhee and Oleron to the French Power. But tho the miserable Fate of the Reformed began here, yet the Dishonour of the English Nation shall soon after follow it; so that now Richlieu might write, florebunt Lilia Ponto.

Tho the King dissolved the first Parliament to prevent their impeaching Buckingham, yet it was not in Buckingham's Power to supply the King's Necessities, but they put him upon the Necessity of calling another. And here you may see the little Artifices the King's grand Ministers of State put him upon for the attaining his Ends, and how quite contrary they succeeded.

There were five Persons whom the Duke took to be his Enemies (if they were not so, he had given them Cause enough to be so) two of them were Peers, and three of them Commoners; the Peers were the Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Lincoln, the Commoners were Sir Edward Coke, Sir Robert Phillips (a Person whose Memory I revere, and should be glad I knew any of his Descendants, to whom I could acknowledg it) and Sir Thomas Wentworth: these Persons, the Duke feared, would be leading Men in both Houses, and was resolved, that to his Power he would keep them [Page] out. He was sure the Earl and the Bishop, as Peers of Common Right, would have their Writs of Summons; and was as sure the other three would be chosen Members of the House of Commons.

In looking a little back you'll better see forward. You have heard how, by the Duke's Power, in King James's Reign, the Earl of Bristol was first kept back from coming into England, and after he was come over, was kept under Restraint, and denied Admission into the King's Presence, lest he should have spoiled the Duke's fine Tale in Parliament concerning the Spanish Match: and also after he had answer'd every Particular of it, without any Reply, and that after King James had promised the Earl should be heard in Parliament against the Duke, as well as the Duke had been against the Earl, King James fell sick, and died thereupon before the Parliament met again.

After King James's Death, the Earl wrote a most humble Letter to King Charles, imploring his Favour, and desiring the Duke's Mediation, which the Duke answered the 7th of May 1625, that the Resolution was to proceed against him, without a plain and direct Confession of the Point, which he (the Duke) had formerly required him to acknowledg; and in a courtly manner told him, That he would advise him to bethink himself in time what would be most for his good.

In the mean time the Earl received his Writ of Summons to the Parliament; whereupon the Earl sent to the Duke, that he would do nothing but what was most agreeable to his Majesty's Pleasure; which the Duke answered, 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 your Excuse for your Absence, notwithstanding your Writ, than to come your self in Person.

Hereupon the Earl desired a Letter of Leave under the King's Hand, for his Warrant; but instead thereof, he received from the Lord Conway an absolute Prohibition, and even to restrain and confine him, as he had been in King James's time, tho the Earl was freed from it by King James: and in this Restraint the Earl continued three Quarters of a Year; during which time, he was remov'd from all his Offices and Places he held during that King's Life: and tho he had laid out the greatest part of his Estate for their Majesties Service, and by their particular Appointment, he could never be admitted so much as to clear his Accounts; yet hereof the Earl never made the least Complaint.

Upon the King's Coronation, when Princes usually confer Acts of Grace and Favour, the Earl addressed himself to the Duke, and then became an humble Suitor to the King for his Grace and Favour; to which he receiv'd an Answer so different from what the King's Father and the King himself had given him, since the [Page] Earl's Return into England, that the Earl knew not what Construction to make of it.

After the Writs of Summons for the meeting of this Parliament were out, the Earl addressed himself to my Lord Keeper Coventry, to be a Suitor to the King in his behalf, that the Privilege, which of right is due to every Peer, might not be denied him; which not taking effect, the Earl petitioned the House of Peers, to mediate to the King for his Writ, which was granted, but accompanied with a Letter from the Keeper not to take his Place in Parliament.

As Bristol was the worthiest Statesman in either of these King's Reigns, and whose Integrity in all these Varieties of Employments, none but Buckingham and Conway presumed (at least that I can find, or ever heard of) so much as to carp at; so Lincoln's quaint and excellent, not pedantick Learning, both in Divinity, History, the Civil and Canon Law, and not a Stranger to our English, excelled all others: These were adorned with a lively and excellent Elocution, and with a wonderful promptness and presence of Mind, in giving Judgment in the most nice and subtile dark Points of State, and accompanied with an indefatigable Industry in Prosecution of them. These Parts were so well observed in him by King James, that without any Solicitation of Buckingham, or any other, but whilst he solicited for another, the King conferr'd the Lord Keeper's Place upon him, as you may read in his Life, fol. 52. tit. 62. and after, unsought for, the King promised him the next Avoidance of the Arch-bishoprick of York, or any other Ecclesiastical Preferment; and so steddy stood he in King James's Favour, that Buckingham's Attacks could no ways shake him in it.

In Chancery he mitigated the Fees, and all Petitions from poor Men were granted gratis; and was so far from prolonging Suits, that in the first Year he ended more than in seven Years before, yet with such Caution, that he would have some of the Judges, but principally Sir Henry Hubbard, to be assisting; so that notwithstanding his Celerity in Dispatch in all the five Years of his being Lord Keeper, not one of his Orders, neither by Parliament, nor by the Court of Chancery, were ever revers'd.

Cardinal Richlieu is much celebrated for the Speech he made in the Convention of Notables, which you may read at large in Howel's Life of Richlieu, f. 162, 163, 164. to excite the French to carry on the Cardinal's ambitious and ungodly Designs, after the King had so prodigally expended not only his Father's Treasure, but doubly more than the ordinary Revenues of France upon his Favourites, and the manifold Wars both at home and abroad, which Richlieu had entangled him in.

Let any Man compare the Keeper's Speech at the opening the first Parliament of King Charles, which you may read in the [Page] Keeper's Life, the second Part, f. 9, and 10. with that of Richlieu's, and judg if the Rhetorick and Elegancy of it comes any way behind that of his, (after the King's Father and this King had squandered much more than the Revenues of the Crown upon their Favourites, and this King had entangled himself in the Articles of the French Match, and without Means engaged himself in a War with Spain, and that against his Father's and the Keeper's Advice) in exciting the Parliament to a Compliance with the King's Will, tho with a different Fate; for Richlieu attained his Ends by his Speech, whereas the Keeper's Downfal was a Consequence of his.

But above all, the Keeper excelled himself (if I may be Judg) in three things; one was in his Speech in the House of Peers, about the Peers taking the Oaths; the second, his Reasons he gave the French Ambassador Voll [...]cleer, against dispensing with our Penal Laws against Romish Priests, which you may read at large in the first Part of the Keeper's Life, fol. 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222. The third Speech was, when the Earl of Essex moved the House of Lords, in the Year 1640, that the Bishops might be expell'd the House, not their Persons, but their Order; which you may read at large in the second Part of the Keeper's Life, from fol. 168, to 176. And sure the History of the Keeper's Life had been a nobler Work, if it had been related without the loose and impertinent Glosses of the Bishop of Litchfield, whereby he does so often disturb and break the Thread of the Story, and by preaching himself, more than writing his History, makes it confounded, so as it is difficult to pursue it. See the Speech in the first Part of his Life, f. 76, 77.

After the Parliament was dissolved at Oxford, all Heads were set at work to find some fault against the Keeper, to out him of his Place, but none could be found; hereupon they made a Proposition, which the Keeper made to King James, That the Office of Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper, should be Triennial, so that after three Years the King should make another, and the Keeper having enjoy'd the Place above four Years, to be the Reason that he should surrender the Seal.

When the Keeper had notice of this, in a pathetical Letter to the King, (which you may read in his Life, in the second Part, f. 24.) he implores his Majesty's Favour, that he may retire with an Assurance of his Majesty's Grace, and be admitted into his Presence to make some humble Requests to him, which the King granted. The first of his Requests was for the King's Favour in general, which the King granted, and gave him his Hand twice to kiss upon it. Secondly, That the King would take away none of his Church-Preferments, as he had graciously promised, till he had given him better in lieu of them: the King answered, It was his Intention. Thirdly, That the King would remember his Father's [Page] Promise, seconded by him, that he would place him (the Keeper) in as good a Bishoprick, or Arch-bishoprick, as he could: the King said, There was no such place void; when any fell, it would be then time enough to make his Request. Fourthly, That his Majesty would dismiss him freely and absolutely, without any Command from the Table, but to leave it to the Keeper's Discretion to forbear: the King said, He ever intended it so, and never said a word to the contrary; but expected he should not offend by voluntary Intrusion. Fifthly, That the King would declare to the Lords, that the Keeper had willingly and readily yielded to his Majesty's Pleasure, and that he parted in the King's Favour and good Opinion, and was still his Servant: the King said, He would, but that he looked that no Petitions be made for him by any Man at that time, but only for his Favour in general. Sixthly, The Keeper besought the King to make an Atonement with the Duke upon or without Examination of the Information which the Duke received against him: the King said, It became not him, a King, to take up Quarrels between his Subjects, and that the Duke had never exprest any such Enmity to him, against him (the Keeper). Seventhly, The Keeper besought the King, that whereas the Keeper had a Pension by Direction of the King's Father, and wherewith the King was acquainted, of 2000 Marks per Annum to the Viscount Wallingford, and had disbursed 3000 l. down upon it, either to buy the said Pension, or extinguish it, or to assign it to be paid out of the Tenths or Subsidies of his Bishoprick, as before he had appointed to receive it out of the Exchequer: the King said, Assignments were naught, but he would take Order with his Treasurer to buy it, or pay for it, as should be most convenient. Eighthly, The Keeper besought the King to bestow the next Prebendary in Westminster upon his Library-keeper, as his Father had promised, or that he might resume his Books again: the King said, It was full of Reason. Ninthly, The Keeper besought the King to ratify a Grant made by his Father of four Advowsons to St. John's-College in Cambridg, whereof two he had bought with his Money, and two the King gave him for the good of the Society: the King said, He would ratify the Grant, and give way to amend any Errors in the Form, or in passing of it. Tenthly, The Keeper besought the King, that he might retire to a little Lodg which my Lord Sandys lent him, where the Lord Conway might receive the Seal; which the King granted. Lastly, The Keeper besought the King, that the King would not be offended with him, if upon his Discharge Reports were made that he was discontented, which he protested he was not, giving over so comfortably: the King said, He would do him that Justice, and that he little valued Reports; and thereupon gave the Keeper his Hand to kiss at parting: which you may read in the second Part of the Keeper's Life, Tit. 28.

[Page] But the Bishop says in the next Tit. the forlorn Keeper felt the Heaviness of this Lightness, who thought he had obtained much, but (excepting the four Advowsons confirmed to St. John's-College) he mist all that he sought for and expected; nor could he ever get a Farthing of his Pension, nor bring it to an Audit to his dying-day; nor did the Keeper's Enemies stop here, but sought to provoke against him the King's Displeasure, with things which were neither consistent with the King's Honour, nor scarce to be born by the Temper of Human Nature; and were so hasty in it, that the King's Promise, that the Bishop of Lincoln (now no more Lord-Keeper) should enjoy the King's Favour, was scarce three Months old, when they put not only the King out of mind of his Promise, but the Bishop out of the Duty of his Place, but that Laud should perform it, whether the Bishop would or not.

It has been said with what Difficulty the Bishop of Lincoln (for so we must now call him) procured Laud the Bishoprick of St. David's; and the Bishop staid not there, but retained him in his Prebendary at Westminster, and so after gave him a Living in the Diocess of St. David's of 120 l. per Annum, to help his Revenue. These two last, being Additions to Laud's Preferment, coming from the Bishop of Lincoln voluntarily, and unsought for by Laud, he by Mr. Winn returned his Thanks to the Bishop with this Expression, His Life would be too short to requite his Lordship's Goodness.

But these Favours were not eighteen Months planted when Laud became the Bishop's sharpest Enemy, as you may read in the first Part of his Life, f. 108. and his Malice grew so high, that the Countess of Buckingham, the Duke's Mother, took notice of it, which the Arch-bishop Abbot takes notice of, Rushw. f. 144. as well as the Bishop of Litchfield.

As Acts of Grace and Favour usually were accompany'd by our Kings at their Coronation, so in this King's Reign the quite contrary must be practised, not only to the Earl of Bristol, but much more to the Bishop of Lincoln; for he was not only denied to do his Homage to the King with the rest of the Spiritual Lords at the Coronation, but his Office as Dean of Westminster, in assisting the Arch-bishop in the Solemnity of it; and yet this too must be done by Laud, as the Bishop's Substitute, whether he would or not.

This was the first noble Favour the King extended to the Bishop, according to his reiterated Promise, when they parted. The second was, he was denied his Writ of Summons as a Peer in Parliament, which met in four days after the Coronation, viz. Feb. 6. which was due ex debito Justitiae, and which was never denied to Prisoners, or condemned Persons even in his Father's time; and at [Page] last, when he obtained it, yet he must not presume to sit in Parliament, and had much ado to have his Proxy left with the Bishop of Winchester, Dr. Andrews, as you may read in the second Part of his Life, f. 69.

But tho the Privilege of Peers a little eclipsed the Power of the mighty Buckingham, yet he was resolved to keep Sir Edward Coke, Sir Robert Phillips, and Sir Thomas Wentworth out of the Commons House by the King's Prerogative (as it has been of late used) in making them Sheriffs, whether they be returned by the Coroner's Inquest of the Counties or not; and by this Prerogative Sir Edward Coke was made Sheriff of the County of Bucks, Sir Robert Phillips of Somerset, and Sir Thomas Wentworth of Yorkshire. It made a mighty Noise and an Inquiry, which otherwise would not have been, that Sir Edward Coke, in his extream Age, now 77 Years old, and who had been Chief Justice of both Benches, and Privy-Counsellor, should be made a Sheriff of the County, and the more, for that Sir Edward Coke took Exceptions to the Oath of a Sheriff, whereupon it was altered.

These were the Counsels which govern'd this King in the Infancy of his Reign. Now let us see the Success.

The Commons were so far from granting Subsidies now, as in the last Parliament, before Grievances were redrest, that upon their first Meeting they fell upon Examination of Grievances, and the Miscarriage of the Fleet at Cadiz, the evil Counsellors about the King's Misgovernment, and Misimployment of the King's Revenue, and an Account of the three Subsidies and three Fifteenths granted the 21st of King James: That new Impositions and Monopolies were multiplied, and settled to continue by Grants; Customs enhanced by the new Book of Rates; and that Tunnage and Poundage was levied, tho by no Act of Parliament; and the Guard of the Seas neglected.

However, these were Generals, but the first Particular fell upon Mountague in five particular Articles, wherein he had broken the Laws and Statutes of the Realm, and disturbed the Peace both of the Church and Commonwealth.

1. Whereas by the Articles of the Convocation holden in the Year 1 [...]62, it is determined, That the Church of Rome is, at present, and has been for above 900 Years past, so far wide from the Nature of a true Church, that nothing can be more; he, the said Mountague, in several places of the Book called, The Answer to the Gagg, and his other Book called, The Appeal, advisedly affirms and maintains, That the Church of Rome is and ever was a true Church since it was a Church.

2. Whereas in the 16th Homily of the second Book of Homilies it is declared, that the Church of Rome is not built upon the [Page] Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles; and in the 23d Article, that Transubstantiation overthrows the Nature of a Sacrament; and in the 25th Article, that the five other Sacraments are not to be accounted Sacraments; yet he the said Mountague maintains in his Book, 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.

3. In the 19th of the same Article it is maintained, That the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and Matters of Faith, and Ceremonies; he, in his Book called, The Gagg, does maintain, that none of these are controverted in their Points between the Papists and Protestants: and tho in the 35th Article it is resolved, that the Sacrifice of Masses, in which 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 controverted Points between the Church of England and the Church of Rome; he, in his Book called, The Gagg, does maintain, That these controverted Points are of a less and inferiour Nature, of which a Man may be ignorant without any danger of his Soul at all; and a Man may oppose this or that without peril of perishing for ever.

4. Whereas in the second Homily, entituled, Against the Peril of Idolatry, and approved by the 37th Article, it is declared, That Images teach no good Lesson, neither of God or Godliness, but all Error and Wickedness; he, the said Mountague, does maintain, Images may be used for the Instruction of the Ignorant, and Excitation of Devotion.

5. That in the same Homily it is plainly expressed, That the attributing certain Countries to Saints, is a spoiling God of his Honour, and that such Saints are but Dii tutelares of the Gentile Idolaters; yet the said Mountague, in his Book entituled, A Treatise concerning the Invocation of Saints, affirmed and maintained, That the Saints have not only 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 not Impiety so to believe. And whereas in the 17th Article it is resolved, That God has certainly decreed by his Counsel, secret to us, to deliver from Curse and Damnation those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of Mankind, to bring them by Christ to everlasting Salvation; wherefore they which be endued with so excellent a Benefit of God, be called according to God's Purpose, working in due season, they through Grace obeying the Calling, they be justified freely, walk religiously in good Works, and at length by God's Mercy attain to everlasting Felicity: He the said Mountague, in his Book called, The Appeal, [Page] does maintain, That Men justified may fall away and depart from the State they once had, and may again arise, and become new Men possibly, but not certainly nor necessarily. And the better to countenance this Opinion, he hath in the same Book wilfully added, and falsly charged divers Words in the said 16th Article, and in the Book of Common-Prayer, and so misrecited and changed the said Places he does alledg in his said Appeal, endeavouring thereby to lay a most malicious and wicked Scandal upon the Church of England, as if he did herein differ from the Reformed Church of England, and from the Reformed Churches beyond the Seas, and did consent to those pernicious Errors which are commonly called Arminianism, and which the late famous Queen Elizabeth, and King James of happy Memory, did so piously and diligently labour to suppress.

That he had, contrary to his Duty and Allegiance, endeavoured to raise Factions and Divisions in the Commonwealth, by casting the odious and scandalous Name of Furitans upon such as conform themselves to the Doctrine and Ceremonies of the Church of England, under that Name laying upon them divers false and malicious Imputations, so to bring them into Jealousy and Displeasure with the King, and Ignominy and Reproach of the People, to the great danger of Sedition, and disturbance of the State, if it be not timely prevented.

That the Scope and End of his Books is, to give Encouragement to Popery, and to withdraw the King's Subjects from the true Established Religion to the Roman Superstition, and consequently to be reconciled to the Church of Rome, whereby God's true Religion has been scandaliz'd, those Mischiefs introduced which the Wisdom of many Laws hath endeavoured to prevent, the Devices of his Majesty's Enemies furthered and advanced, to the great danger of the King and all his loving Subjects.

That he has inserted in his Book called The Appeal, divers Passages dishonourable to the late King, full of Bitterness, Railing, and injurious Speeches to other Persons, disgraceful and contemptible to many worthy Divines of this Kingdom, and other Reformed Churches beyond the Seas; impious and profane in scoffing at Preaching, Meditating and Conferring, Pulpits, Bibles, and all shew of Religion; all which do aggravate his former Offences, having proceeded from malicious and enormous 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 Dishonour of God, and of most mischievous Effect and Consequence against the Church and Commonwealth of England, and other of his Majesty's Realms and Dominions, the Commons assembled in Parliament do hereby pray, that the said Richard Mountague may be punished according [Page] to his Demerits, in such exemplary mannner, as may deter others from attempting so presumptuously to disturb the Peace of the Church and State; and that the Books aforesaid may be suppressed and burnt.

This was that special Stick of Wood which Laud, in the beginning of this young King's Reign, put into his Hand, to support him in the establish'd Religion of the Church of England, and afterwards planted him to be one of the Cedars of our Church, by having him made first Bishop of Chichester, and after of Norwich.

However Laud was so nettled with the Votes of the Commons; I do not find Buckingham concerned himself in them, it may be believing this might divert the Storm from him: but it was impossible for the Commons, in looking into the Grievances of the Nation, but to meet Buckingham in the Front of every one of them: And when they began their Debates concerning the Duke, they received a Message from the King of the pressing State of Christendom, and with what Care and Patience he expected their Resolutions of Supplies, and to let them know, he look'd for a full and perfect Answer of what they would give for his Supply, according to his Expectation, and their Promises; and that he would not accept of less than was proportionable for the Greatness and Goodness of the Cause; and that it was not fit to depend any longer upon Uncertainties, whereby the whole Weight of the Affairs of Christendom may break in upon us upon the sudden, as well to his Dishonour, as the Shame of the Nation; and when this is done, they may continue longer, and apply themselves to the Redress of Grievances, so they do it in a dutiful and mannerly Way, without throwing an ill Odor upon his present Government, or upon the Government of his late blessed Father. You will hear further of the Care he took of Buckingham, in his Reply to the Commons Address upon this.

The Commons, in answer, beseech the King to rest assured, that no King was ever dearer to his People than his Majesty, no People more zealous to maintain and advance his Honour and Greatness, and especially to support that Cause wherein his Majesty and Allies are now engaged; and beseech his Majesty to accept the Advice of his Parliament, which can have no other end but the Service of his Majesty, and the Safety of his Realm, in discovering the Causes, and proposing the Remedies of those great Evils which have occasioned his Majesty's Wants, and his Peoples Griefs.

And therefore, in Assurance of Redress herein, they really intend to assist his Majesty in such a way, and in so ample a Measure, as may make him safe at home, and feared abroad; and for [Page] dispatch whereof, they will use such Diligence, as his urgent and Pressing Occasions require.

The King, in answer to the Commons, tells them, he takes the Cause of their presenting Grievances, to be a Parenthesis, and not a Condition; and will be willing to hear their Grievances, so as they apply themselves to redress Grievances, and not enquire after Grievances: That he will not allow any of his Servants to be question'd by them, much less such as are of eminent Place about him; that the old question was, What shall be done to the Man whom the King honours? But now it hath been the Labour of some to seek what may be done against him whom the King thinks fit to honour; he saw they specially aimed at the Duke of Buckingham, and wonders what had altered their Affections to him, when in the last Parliament of his Father's time he was their Instrument to break the Treaties, for which they did so honour and respect him, that all the Honour conferred upon him was too little: He wot not what had chang'd their Minds; but assures them, that the Duke had not meddled with, or done any thing concerning the Publick, but by his special Directions, and was so far from gaining any Estate thereby, that he verily thinks the Duke rather impaired the fame. He would have them hasten the Supplies, or it will be the worse for them; for if any Ill happens, he thinks he shall be the last that shall feel it.

The Commons had yet fresh in Memory the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford, about six Months before, and what Trust there was to this King's Word for Redress of Grievances, so as it was done in a dutiful and mannerly Way, after they had given Money; and therefore they little altered their Course from what they had done at Oxford, yet more than Parliaments heretofore did, to have Grievances first redress'd, and then to give Supplies; for they voted to proceed upon Grievances, and to give the King three Subsidies, and three Fifteenths.

This gave the Duke little Satisfaction: so that the King himself became the Duke's Advocate, and told the Commons in a Speech, which you may read in Rushw. fol. 225. that he came to inform the Commons of their Errors and unparliamentary Proceedings, so that they might amend their Faults: which was enlarged by my Lord Keeper Coventry, who told them of the King's Necessities, and his Patience in Expectation of Supplies, and of the King's Promise of Redress of Grievances, after Supplies were granted; That the Enquiry upon sundry Articles against the Duke upon C [...]nan [...]n Fame, was to wound the Honour and Government of his Majesty, and of his renowned Father, and therefore it was his Majesty's final and express Command, that they yield Obedience to those Directions which they formerly receiv'd, and cease their unparliamentary Proceedings against the Duke, and leave to his Majesty's [Page] Care, Wisdom, and Justice the future Reformation of those things, which they supposed to be otherwise than they should be; and that the King took notice, that they had suffered the greatest Council of State (The Duke and Laud) to be censured and traduced by Men, whose Years and Education cannot attain to that Depth, (Why then were the old Members kept out of the House, which could have better informed them?) and that the three Subsidies, and three Fifteenths were no ways proportionable to supply the King's Necessities, &c. and concludes, that his Majesty doubts not but after this Admonition, they will observe and follow it, which if they do, his Majesty is most ready to forgive all that is past. Then the King added, that in his Father's time, by their Perswasion, he was their Instrument to break off those Treaties; and that then no Body was in so great Favour with 'em as the Man they seem now to touch, but indeed his Father's Government, and his; and that Parliaments are altogether in his Power for their Calling, Sitting and Dissolution; and as he finds the Fruits, they are to continue, or not to be.

But if the Commons Proceedings against the Duke were erroneous and unparliamentary, and through the Duke's Sides wounded not only the King's Government, but that of his renowned Father, and that the young Men in this House of Commons had censured and traduced the King's highest Council of State; you shall now hear of an old Statesman in the House of Lords, which shall not only cease the Wonder, which caused the Parliament in the 21st of King James, so to applaud the Duke, but shall wound the whole Story, which begat that great Applause to the Duke.

You have heard before how the Earl of Bristol was stopp'd at Calais from coming over into England, after his Return out of Spain; and after he came to Dover, when the Duke could not prevail upon Marquiss Hamilton, and the Earl of Hertford, to have the Earl sent to the Tower upon his Arrival in England; how he was stopp'd by a Letter from the Lord Conway, that he should not come to Court, nor to the King's Presence, till he had answered to some Queries which his Majesty would appoint some of the Lords of the Council to ask him, which was not done till the Parliament was adjourned, and never met more; and how after King James's Death the Earl was not only kept from his Liberty, and the King's Presence, but removed from all his Offices and Employments, and not suffered to come to an Account for the Moneys expended in the King's Service; and not permitted to come to the Parliament which was dissolved at Oxford.

Upon the King's Summons of this Parliament, the Earl petitions the King to have his Writ of Summons, which was never denied to any Peer, to assist in the House of Peers; but he received an Answer by the Lord Conway, That the King was no [Page] ways satisfied in it, and propounded to the Earl, Whether he would rather sit still, and enjoy the Benefit of the late King's Pardon in Parliament, or to wave it, and put himself upon Trial, for his Negotiation in Spain; and one of these he must trust to, and give a direct Answer.

The Earl, in Answer, said, He had been already question'd upon 20 Articles, by a Commission of the Lords, and had given such Answers, that their Lordships never met more about that Business; and that he did not wave the Pardon granted by King James in Parliament. These Letters you may read at large in Rushworth, fol. 138, 139, 140.

Hereupon the Earl petitions the House of Lords, shewing, that he being a Peer of this Realm, had not received his Writ of Summons to Parliament, and desires their Lordships to mediate with his Majesty, that he may enjoy the Liberty of a Subject, and the Privilege of his Peerage, after almost two Years Restraint without any Trial brought against him; and that if any Charge be brought against him, he prays he may be try'd by Parliament.

Hereupon the Lords petition the King, that not only the Earl of Bristol, but all such other Lords whose Writs are stopt, except such as are made uncapable to sit in Parliament, by Judgment of Parliament, or some other legal Judgment, may be summoned.

This nettled the Duke to the quick, so that he told the House the King had sent the Earl his Writ, but withal deliver'd such a Letter, which the King sent to the Earl, which I care not to transcribe, but you may read it in Rushworth, fol. 241. wherein this great Statesman Buckingham would have the Earl judged and censured by the King, without hearing the Earl, and thereby forestal the Judgment of the Lords against the Earl.

It's true indeed, my Lord Keeper Coventry sent the Earl a Writ of Summons to attend in Parliament, but withal signified by a Letter to the Earl, that it was his Majesty's Pleasure withal, (no doubt but by the Advice of his highest Council of State) that the Earl should continue in the same Restraint he was, so that he forbear his personal Attendance in Parliament.

But since the Duke could no longer otherways keep the Earl out of the House of Lords, the King, by my Lord Keeper, signified to the Lords, that his Pleasure was, they should send for the Earl as a Delinquent, to answer Offences committed against him before his going into Spain, and since his coming back, and his scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham immediately, and by Reflection upon himself, with whose Privity and Direction the Duke guided his Actions, and without which he did nothing. And now Sir Robert Heath, the King's Attorney-General, exhibited eleven Articles against the Earl (it was thought fit to leave out the other nine) which the Earl had answered to King James, without any [Page] Reply; and in the last of these the Earl is charged with giving the King the Lie, in offering to falsify that Relation which his Majesty affirmed, and thereunto added many things of his own Remembrance to both Houses of Parliament; which you may read at large in Rushworth's Collections, from fol. 153, to 158.

Hereupon the Earl exhibited a Charge of High Treason and Misdemeanours, in twelve Articles, against the Duke, and another against the Lord Conway, of High Misdemeanours, which you may read at large in Rushworth, from fol. 266, to 270. And upon the Delivery of them, the Earl desired a Copy of the King's Charge against him in Writing, and time allowed to answer, and Counsel assigned him; and said there was a great Difference between the Duke and him, for the Duke was accused of Treason, and at large, and in the King's Favour, and that he, being but accused of that which he had long since answered, was a Prisoner, and therefore moved the Duke might be put in equal Condition; which tho the House did not, yet were not satisfied to commit the Earl to the Tower, and order'd, That the King's Charge against the Earl should be first heard, and then the Earl's against the Duke; yet so that the Earl's Testimony against the Duke be not prevented, prejudiced, or impeached.

The King, in a Message to the Lords by my Lord Keeper, would have blasted the Earl's Articles against the Duke for two Reasons (if they may be called so.)

The first was, That the Narrative made in the 21 Jac. in Parliament, trenches as far upon him as the Duke, for that he went therein as far as the Duke. But what then? Shall not the Earl be heard in his Defence against that Declaration which was designed to blast the Earl's Honour and Integrity? and Justice is no Respecter of Persons.

The other was, That all the Earl's Articles have been closed in his Breast now these two Years, contrary to his Duty, if he had known any Crime of that nature against the Duke; and now he vents it by Recrimination against the Duke, whom he knows to be a principal Witness to prove his Charge against the Earl. This is strange; for his Majesty's Reign was scarce yet a Year old, and all this while the Earl was under a Restraint, and not permitted to come to the Parliament, which ended at Oxford; and in his Father's Reign, after the Earl had answered all the Duke's Articles against him, without any Reply, King James promised him he should be heard against the Duke, as well as he was against him, tho he lived not to make good his Promise.

Now let's see the Levity of this Prince, the necessary Concomitant of Wilfulness, and which he pursued in every step of his Reign, without any Remorse that I could ever find; for the Lodgment of the King's Charge against the Earl in the House of Lords [Page] was scarce cold, whenas it was endeavoured to take the Earl's Cause out of the House, and to proceed against him in the King's-Bench. But why must this be at this time of day, and while a Parliament was sitting? And why was not this done in the King's Father's Life, or in this King's Reign? And why must two years pass, and this way of charging the Earl never thought of, which now must be done in all haste? But the Lords put a full stop to this, and for these Reasons.

1. For 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 learned Counsel to assist them in their Defence: And their Lordships declared they would give their Assents thereto, because in all Causes, as well Civil as Criminal and Capital, they hold, that all lawful 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.

2. The Earl of Bristol, by his Petition to the House, complained of his Restraint, desiring to be heard here, as well in point of his Wrongs, as in his Accusations against the Duke; whereof his Majesty taking Consideration, signified his Pleasure by the Lord Keeper, April 20, That his Majesty was resolved to put his Cause upon the Honour and Justice of this House; and that the Earl should be sent for as a Delinquent, to answer the Offences he committed in his Negotiations, before his Majesty's going into Spain, whilst his Majesty was there, and since his Return; and that his Majesty would cause these things to be charged upon him in this House, so as the House is fully possessed of the Cause, as well by the Earl's Petition as the King's Consent, 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 the Earl be proceeded withal by way of the Kings-Bench, these dangerous Inconveniencies will follow.

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 convenient time to prepare for his Defence, and so the Innocent may be condemned; which may be the Case of any Peer.

4. The Liberty of the House will be thereby infringed, the Honour and Justice of it declined, contrary to the King's Pleasure, expresly signified by my Lord Keeper: all which are expresly against the Order.

[Page]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 King's Pleasure signified, and preserve the Liberties of the House, and protect one from Injury, will be,

To have the Charge delivered into the House in Writing, and the Earl to set down his Answer in Writing; and that the Witnesses on both sides 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 a full Hearing, the House shall find it Treason, then to proceed by way of Indictment; if doubtful in point of Law, to have the Opinion of the Judges to clear it; if doubtful in Matter of Fact, then to refer it to a legal Trial at Law; and that the rather, for that,

1. It appears that the Earl, in the space of two Years (till now he complained) has not so much as been questioned for Matter of Treason.

2. He has been examined upon twenty Interrogatories, and the Commissioners satisfied, that his Answer would admit of no Reply.

3. The Lord Conway, by several Letters, hath intimated, that there is nothing against him, but what was pardoned by the Parliament of the 21st of Jac. and signified his Majesty's Pleasure, that he might rest in that Security, and sit still.

4. That his Majesty had often declared to the Countess of Bristol, and others, that there was neither Treason nor Felony against the Earl, nor ought else but what a small Acknowledgment would expiate.

The Earl, in Conformity to this Order, answered every Particular of the King's Charge against him, without any Reply; but it would be a wonderful Discovery, to find an Answer to any one Particular of the Earl's Charge, either against the Duke, or my Lord Conway.

The Commons, at the same time, impeached the Duke of high Misdemeanours, in a Charge of thirteen Articles, whereof that of the Death of King James was one; but to the Displeasure of the King, so far as to commit Sir Dudley Diggs and Sir John Elliot to the Tower for it: and the Commons sent a Message to the Lords by Sir Nathaniel Rich, by an unanimous Vote, to commit the Duke to safe Custody; which I do not find the Lords did, nor did the imprisoned Members lie long in the Tower; for the King signified to the House, that Sir Dudley Diggs did not speak the Words for which the King committed him, and soon after Sir John Elliot was discharged.

[Page] However, the Commons ran high against the Duke, with a Protestation, That till he were removed from meddling with State-Affairs, they were out of all hopes of any good Success, and did fear that any Money which they shall or can give, will, through his Misemployment, rather he turned to the Hurt and Prejudice of this Kingdom than otherwise, as by lamentable Experience they have lately found in those large Supplies they had formerly and lately given.

But the Duke, thus doubly stormed both by the Earl and Commons, and utterly unprovided to defend himself against either; and the King, rather than receive the Remonstrance the Commons had prepared to present him against the Duke, resolved to part with the Parliament rather than the Duke, and thereby lost four Subsidies and three Fifteenths, tho the House of Peers petitioned to the contrary: This was upon the 15th of June 1626.

The King having sent the Parliament home again, sends a long Declaration after them, wherein he magnifies his Power of Calling, Adjourning, Proroguing, and Dissolving Parliaments peculiarly belonging to himself, by an undoubted Prerogative inseparably united to his Imperial Crown, of which, as of all his other Royal Actions, he is not to give any Account, but to God only, whose immediate Lieutenant and Vicegerent he is in these his Realms and Dominions, by Divine Providence committed to his Charge; yet his Purpose is, so to order himself and all his Actions, concerning the Weal of his Kingdoms, as may justify themselves not only to his own Conscience, and to his own People, but to the whole World: He thought fit to make a true, plain, and clear Declaration of the Reasons that enforced him to dissolve these two last Parliaments, so that the Mouth of Malice it self might be stopt, and the deserved Blame of so unhappy Accidents may justly fall upon the Authors thereof.

The King says, That when he came first to the Crown, he found himself engaged in a War against a potent Enemy. Who was that Enemy? Or at what time was any Declaration of any War made either against his Father or him? Which after the best Search I could ever make, I could never find any; yet this I find, that the next day after his Father's Death, he and his Favourite the Duke were so eager to make a War against the King of Spain, that a day must not be lost, but Writs must be issued out to summon a Parliament, to give Subsidies to make War against Spain. See the second Part of the Keeper Williams's Life, fol. 4. tit. 2.

This War, the King says, was not undertaken rashly, nor without just and honourable Grounds, but enforced for the necessary Defence of himself and his Dominions. If this War were for the necessary Defence of the King and his Dominions, there must be some Body that did thus offend the King and his Dominions; but who this is, the King neither says, nor can I find.

[Page] For the Support of his Friends and Allies. This is general, so no particular Answer can be given to it: but who these Friends and Allies were which were to be supported, the King neither says, nor can I find.

For redeeming the antient Honour of this Nation. It had need, for it was never so blasted as in his Father's and his own Reign.

For the Recovery of the Patrimony of his dear Sister, her Consort, and their Children, injuriously, and under colour of Treaties of Friendship, taken from them. The King's Father, to make good the Narrative which this King and Buckingham made of the Spanish Treaty, told the Parliament he was deceived by Generals, and that dolosus versatur in generalibus. If the King would have satisfied the World how his Brother-in-law's Patrimony was taken from him by Colour of Treaties and Friendship, he should have set forth the Treaties and Friendship, and by whom, and when sought; and by whom, and when broken: but of this the King says not one word, and therefore that which he says stands for nothing.

And for the Maintenance of the true Religion. Were the Ships which he and Buckingham last Year sent to subdue the Rochellers, who had never given him or his Father any Offence, for the Defence of the true Religion? If this was not, what was it this King did for the Defence of the true Religion?

And invited thereunto, and encouraged therein, by the humble Advice of both Houses of Parliament. What! all this by the Advice of both Houses of Parliament? I cannot find the Parliament, 21 Jac. ever invited his Father to any more, than to break off the Treaties of the Prince's Match with Spain, and the Palatinate: But what if upon the Misinformation of the Duke ex parte, the Parliament had done all this? yet, whenas the Earl of Bristol had twice blasted the Duke's Narrative in every particular, without any Reply, Why might not another Parliament, upon better Information, alter what the Parliament 21 Jac. had done? Which neither of these Parliaments did, but granted and voted him and his Father greater Supplies than ever before were given to any of his Predecessors in three-fold the time.

But when the King enter'd into a View of his Treasure, he found how ill provided he was to proceed effectually with so great an Action. It seems by this one Action, the King only designed the War against Spain: But why does not the King set forth the Causes why his Treasure was so ill provided? It was not ten Months before his Father's Death, that the Parliament 21 Jac. which gave his Father three Subsidies, and three Fifteenths, was adjourned; and his first Parliament gave him two Subsidies more, within two or three Months after his Father's Death: And what came of all this, but the raising ten thousand Foot and two thousand Horse, under Mansfield, the Expedition against the Rochellers, and to Cadiz? to neither of [Page] which latter he was ever invited by his Father, or any Parliament.

The King makes the [...]lague to be the Cause of the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford; yet he might as well have secured the Members by a Prorogation, as Dissolution.

And in this Parliament, he tells how the House of Commons voted him three Subsidies and three Fifteenths, and after four Subsidies and three Fifteenths, and of the Letter he sent them the 9th of June, to speed the passing these Supplies; and how that the House, being abused by the violent and ill-advised Passion of a few Members, never so much as admitted one Reading to the Bill of Subsidies, but voted a Remonstrance, or Declaration, which they intended to prefer to him (tho palliated with glossing Terms) containing many dishonourable Aspersions upon his Majesty, and upon the sacred Memory of his deceased Father; which his Majesty taking for a Denial of the promised Supplies, upon mature Advisement he dissolved them. But from whence should this mature Advisement come? We do not find the Privy Council had any hand in it, and the House of Lords petitioned against it.

But lest the Credit of this Declaration should not find Faith enough against the Commons Representatives, the King sends a Proclamation after it, wherein he takes notice of a Remonstrance drawn by a Committee of the late Commons, to be presented to him, wherein are many things to the Dishonour of himself, and his Royal Father of blessed Memory, and whereby, through the sides of a Peer of this Realm, they wound their Soveraign's Honour; and to vent their Passions against that Peer, and prepossess the World with an ill Opinion of him, before his Case was heard (who hinder'd it) had scatter'd Copies of it. Wherefore the King, to suppress such an unsufferable Wrong, upon pain of his Indignation and high Displeasure, commanded all who had Copies thereof to burn them. But why was not the Duke's Cause heard? and who dissolved the Parliament to prevent it? Had not the Earl of Bristol answered every Particular of the King's and Duke's Charge against him? And was there not an Order of the House of Lords, the Duke should answer the Earl's Charge against him? Where is this Answer to be found? and why was it not?

Now see the Justice of this King, and how he made good his Promise in his Declaration, that he would so order his Actions, as should justify him, not only in his own Conscience, but to the whole World; for the very Day the Parliament was dissolved, he committed the Earl of Bristol Prisoner to the Tower, and left the Duke free, to pursue his ungodly Designs.

Here I'll stay a little, and add this Augmentation of Honour to the Escutcheon of this noble Earl, notwithstanding this Usage: For when the Long Parliament, in 1640, had put a full Stop to the King's Absolute Will and Pleasure, which if it had not, God only [Page] knows where it would have ended; and after that this King's Flatterers and Favourites, his Lord Keeper Finch, and Secretary Winde-bank, had run into other Countries, to save themselves from being hanged in this; and that the Earl of Manchester, after he had flatter'd this King and his Father in all the Shapes of Earl, Viscount, Baron, Lord Chief Justice, Lord Privy Seal, Lord Treasurer, and Lord President of the Council; and his Son, and the Earls of Pembroke and Holland, and both the Sir Henry Vanes, Father and Son, and Sir Henry Mildmay, &c. sided with the Parliament against the King; yet this noble Earl followed the King in all his Adversity, however he had been persecuted by him in his Prosperity.

The late Keeper, as he gave his Opinion against the War with Spain in King James's Reign, so did he against the Expedition against Cales in this King's Reign: his Reason was, which you may read in the second Part of his Life, fol. 65. That the King must make himself sure of the Love of his own People at home, before he bid War to such a rich and mighty Nation.

But the Keeper's Counsels were as much feared and hated by the Duke, as Bristol's and the Commons Articles were against him; and therefore he resolved to be rid of them all, and pursue the King's and his own Designs, without any Controul; and the very same Day the Parliament was dissolved, he caused the Earl of Bristol to be committed to the Tower, as you may see in Stow's Chronicle, fol. 1042. Nor would he have his Renown and Valour less known abroad, than his Justice at home; and France shall now be the Theatre upon which he will act it, in spight of Spain, or the Parliament and Nation of England, without whose Assistance he will act Wonders, by his own Power, and in Vindication of his own Honour: however, some Cause must be shewed by others, since the Duke concealed the true Cause.

Rushworth, fol. 427. makes the Causes of this War to begin between the Priests of the Queen's Family, and the Bishops, by Articles of Agreement upon the Marriage; and that the Pope had declared them Apostates, if they should seek for any Establishment from the King, being an Heretick; and that the Queen sided herein with the Priests against the King, and that Unkindnesses hereupon grew between them; so as the King informed his Brother of France, he could no longer bear them. And much to this purpose has Mr. James Howel in the Life of Lewis XIII. fol. 75.

But these were but Pretences for this War; the Cause was of another Complexion: And herein we will cite the Authority of the great Nani, who had better Means to enquire into the Causes than either Rushworth or Howel, and was not biass'd by Interest, Affection, or Flattery.

[Page] You have heard before of the Emulation between Richlieu and Buckingham, and of their Inclinations for the Queen's Favour, and of the Queen's noble Aversions to them both: but I think Nani was therein a little mistaken; for, if I be not misinformed, as I think verily I am not, when Buckingham came out of France with the Queen of England, he left, or soon after sent Sir Balthazer Gerbier to hold secret Correspondence between the Queen and himself; and tho Richlieu watch'd Gerbier narrowly, yet he brought the Queen's Garter, and an exceeding rich Jewel to Buckingham from her.

Upon the breaking out of the Feuds in the Queen's Family, which began almost as soon, if not before it was settled, Buckingham prevails with the King to be sent into France to compose them, which was granted. But Nani says, the true Motive of Buckingham's Journey being ascribed to Love, contracted in that Court, Richlieu perswaded the King to refuse him Entrance into the Kingdom. The Rage hereupon of the other was inflamed to extremity, and sware, since he was forbidden to enter in a peaceable manner into France, he would make his Passage with an Army.

Here you see the Duke was under a double Obligation, of Love and Honour; and since he could not attain his End in Love, it's remarkable by what Steps he proceeded to make good his Oath and Honour of entering into France with an Army; which will be better observed if they be look'd upon in their Circumstances.

It was the 16th of August 1625, in the first Year of the King's Reign, as you may see in Rushworth, fol. 335. that Buckingham caused the Captains of the Fleet under the Command of Vice-Admiral Pennington, to deliver it into the French Power to fight against the Rochellers; and while the Fleet was thus in the French Power, and after the Duke had received the horrible Affront of being denied Entrance into France in a peaceable and loving manner, about Michaelmas following, viz. about six Weeks after the delivery of the Fleet, the Duke, as Lord High Admiral of England, by an extraordinary Commission, seized the St. Peter of New-haven (John Mallerow Master) laden with Goods, Merchandize and Money, to the value of 40000 l. upon the account of Monsieur Villiers, Governor of New-haven, and other French Merchants, as Prize; and the Duke took out of the said Ship sixteen Barrels of Cochineal, eight Bags of Gold, three and twenty Bags of Silver, two Boxes of Pearl and Emeralds, a Chain of Gold, and Monies and Commodities to the value of 20000 l. and delivered them to Gabriel Marsh his Servant: Whereupon there was an Arrest of two English Merchant Ships in New-haven upon the 7th of December following, viz. 1625. whereupon by a Petition [...] from the Merchants, the King ordered, December the 28th, that the Ship and Goods belonging to the French should be re-delivered [Page] to the French; upon this the Court of Admiralty decreed upon the 16th of January following, that the Ship with all the Goods (except three hundred Mexico Hides, sixteen Sacks of Ginger, one Box of gilded Beads, and five Sacks of Ginger) should be released from further Detention, and delivered to the Master; yet the Duke not only detained to his own use the said Gold, Silver, Pearl, Emeralds, Jewels and Money, but upon the 6th of February following, without any legal Proceedings, caused the sid Ship to be again arrested and detained, as you may see in Rushw. f. 312. And here began the seizing of our English Ships in France, which the Duke makes one of the Causes of the War.

Object. But this is but a Charge of the Commons upon the Duke, and therefore no direct Proof.

Answ. It is not to be presumed the Commons would have charged these things thus particularly and positively without Proof; and I say moreover, they are to be taken for Truth, since the King did dissolve the Parliament, rather than the Duke should come to his Trial upon the Commons impeaching him hereupon; and 'tis worth Observation, to see how without Counsel, and by contrary Extreams, the King and Duke engaged in both the Wars against Spain and France.

The Bishop of Litchfield, in the second Part of the Life of the Lord Keeper Williams, f. 4. tit. 2. says, The next day after King James's Death, the King and Duke were busied in many Cares, but the chief was, for the Continuation of the Parliament at King James's Death: the Keeper shewed that the Parliament determined with the Death of the King; then the King said, Since Necessity required a new Parliament, his Will was that Writs forthwith be issued out of Chancery for a new Choice, and not a day lost. The Keeper hereupon craved leave to be heard, and said, It was usual in times before, that the King's Servants and Friends did deal with Counties, Cities and Boroughs where they were known, to procure a Promise for their Elections before the precise time of any insequent Parliament was published; and that the same Forecast would be good at this time, which would not speed if the Summons were divulged before they look'd about them. The King answered, It was high time to have Subsidies granted for the War with the King of Spain, and the Fleet must go forth for that purpose this Summer. To which the Keeper replied in few words, and with so cold a Consent, that the King turned away and gave him leave to be gone, whereas the King dissolved this Parliament, and lost four Subsidies and three Fifteenths, to save the Duke, and make War upon France.

[Page] Concealing the true Reason for this War with France, the Duke in his Declaration gives two other Reasons of it; the first was, the refusal of Mansfield to land his Army at Calais, according to Agreement, whereby the Design for the recovery of the Palatinate was frustrate. But why must this be a Reason at this time of day? for this was done in the Reign of King James; and when the Treaty of the Marriage with France was in being, Why was not then the Treaty broke off upon it? And why after this in King Charles's Reign, was the English Fleet put into the Power of the French to subdue the Rochellers, and this Business of Mansfield's not so much as taken notice of?

The second Reason was, The French seizing our English Merchants Ships in their Ports. But this was after the Duke had seized and made Prize of the St. Peter of Newhaven; so here the Duke begins making Prize upon the French, and makes War upon them for doing so by the English. However we have here a Declaration and Reason of a War against the French, such as 'twas, tho none could be had for the War with Spain.

Here you may see the unhappy Fate of Princes who treat their Subjects as Enemies, and their Flatterers and Favourites as their only Friends and Confidents: for notwithstanding the King's ill Success last Year to Cadiz, and the King's Complaint for want of Money in the Exchequer, and the ill terms he was at with his Subjects, not only to be put upon making a War against the King of Spain and the Emperor, but now also against the King of France, and to have none but Buckingham, Laud, &c. and their Para [...]ices to support him in all these Wars; and what could Human Wisdom foresee of any good Success in them, being against three the most potent Princes in Christendom?

For the Charges to maintain these Wars, almost against Christendom, the King requires a Benevolence of the Subject, and the Nobility to lend freely: Demands a Loan of 100000 l. from the City of London, charges the Ports of England to furnish Ships upon their own Charges, issues out Privy-Seals for Benevolences in proportion to the four Subsidies and three Fifteenths voted by the Commons, grants a Commission to execute Martial Law, bille [...]s Souldiers, and makes the Country pay their Quarters; the Rich who refuse to pay the Loans are assessed, and bound over to answer at the Council-Table, and the other press'd for Souldiers. These were the Ways this King took to justify his Integrity for the Weal of the Kingdom, so as to satisfy not only his own Conscience, but his People, and the whole World, as he promised in his Declaration for Dissolution of the Parliament.

But lest the King's Royal Proclamation for these things should be stumbled at, or disputed, Sibthorp and Manwaring (two special Favourites of Laud) are set on work to preach, that the King [Page] is not bound to observe the Laws of the Land in his Government; and that his Royal Will in imposing Loans and Taxes does oblige the Subject's Conscience upon Pain of Eternal Damnation.

Tho these things were settled to the Duke's Heart's Content, yet he had a Jealousy, that in his Absence the Arch-bishop of Canterbury might give the King such Counsel, as might spoil all the Glories of the Duke's Designs; and therefore to remove him not only from the Council-Table, but far enough out of the way from coming into the King's Presence, is the Design: but to put some colour upon it, it was resolved, That the King, by a special Message, should order the Arch-bishop to license Sibthorp's Sermon under his own Hand.

The Arch-bishop at this time was sorely afflicted with the Stone, and kept his Bed; when Mr. Murray brought the King's Command to him, the Bishop could not forbear to take notice of the piece of Drudgery to be put upon him, the like whereof was never enjoined to any of his Predecessors, yet desired my Lord Conway to leave the Sermon with him some small time to peruse, which my Lord did.

The Bishop, instead of licensing the Sermon, made Observations upon it, how false and inconsistible the Parts of the Sermon were to one another, and how contrary to Antiquity and the Authority of the Scripture; for one part of the Sermon justified Ahab's taking away Naboth's Vineyard, and he desired to be satisfied about his Objections before he licensed the Sermon.

This gave the desired Offence: for upon the Arch-bishop's refusal to license the Sermon, the Bishop of London (who had allowed John Cosins his Book, called, The seventh Sacrament, with all the Errors which were after expunged) gave it a great and stately Allowance, and Laud was ordered to answer the Archbishop's Objections, and had the Bishops of Durham, Oxford and Rochester to be his Assistants in it; and to this the Arch-bishop must reply without seeing the Answer, which if he might see, he said he would batter it all to pieces; which being denied, you may read in Rushw. f. 446, 447. how the Arch-bishop did batter it all to pieces upon Mr. Murray his reading it.

For this special piece of Service in answering the Arch-bishop's Objections, the Bishop of Durham, and Laud of Bath and Wells are made Privy-Counsellors; and for the Arch-bishop's refusal to license Sibthorp's Sermon, he was not only banished to his House at Ford, five Miles beyond Canterbury (a moorish unhealthy Place) and that before he could lay in his Provisions for House-keeping, but the Office of High-Commission is taken from him, and the Exercise of it committed to the Bishops of Durham, Oxford, Rochester, and Bath and Wells, which had so well answered the Arch-bishop's Objections to Sibthorp's Sermon: And now things are thus settled at home.

[Page] In July the 27th the Duke is commissionated Admiral, and General of a Navy Royal of 100 Sail, and 6 or 7000 Land Souldiers: and when he came before Rochel, Sobiez came aboard of him, where, for several Reasons, it was agreed to land the Army on the Isle of Oleron, and not on the Isle of Rhee; but Sobiez going to perswade the Rochellers to join with the English, the Duke before his return lands on the Isle of Rhee, in spite of the Opposition made by the French; but instead of pursuing the Blow, not only neglects to take the Fort la Prie, to secure his Retreat, and prevent the French from landing Supplies, but stays five days, whereby Toiras the French Governor encouraged his Men, and also got more Force and Provisions into the Cittadel of St. Martins. The French were so alarm'd at this Invasion, that the King offered the Duke of Rohan and the Rochellers any Terms to join against the English, which both refusing, caused both their Ruins.

So that the Duke having made three false Steps, viz. his deceiving Sobiez, his not marching after landing, and not taking in the Fort la Prie, now let's see a fourth. The Enemy's Retreat upon the landing of the English was so hasty, that they quitted a Well about twenty Paces from the Counterscarp which supplied the Cittadel with Water; which not being possest upon the first coming of the Army, the French drew a Work about it which the English could not force, and without which Well the besieged could not have subsisted; however, the Duke resolved to take the Fort by Famine.

We have marked four false Steps the Duke made; now observe the fifth, which was the loss of the whole Army, and ruin of all the Protestant Party in France: for instead of the French joining with the English for the recovery of the Palatinate by Land, the Spaniards now join the French against the English by Sea, to relieve St. Martins; and the Duke instead of pressing the Fort by a strait Siege, entertains a Treaty of Surrender with Toiras, and several Compliments past between them, subscribed, Your humble Servant, Buckingham; and, Your humble Servant, Toiras; till Toiras got Relief of Men, Victuals and Ammunition, and then Toiras broke off the Treaty with the Duke.

Soon after the French landed Forces, by the neglect of the English to suppress them, and Orders were given to draw the English out of the Trenches, which the French possess; whereupon the English were forced to retreat, and fight the French to regain the Trenches: at last the 6th of November, the Duke makes a vain Storm upon the Castle, and was beaten off; and upon the 8th the Duke retreats, the French being now equal to him in Foot, and superiour in Horse: when the English were intangled in their Retreat, the Duke having neglected to take la Prie, or build a Fort upon a narrow Lane and Causey (to secure their Retreat) the [Page] French charged the English Horse in the rear, and rout them, who rout the Foot in the narrow Passages between the Salt-pits; those that escaped were lost in the Salt-Pits and Ditches, and the Crowd was so great in passing a Bridg, that many were drown'd in the River: yet in this Confusion and Adversity the Bravery of the English appear'd; for a few having past the Bridg, the French following, the English rallied, and faced about to charge the French, who cowardly retreated over the Bridg.

Except this little Action, yet as great in Fame as any other, the English Nation never received like Dishonour, as in this loose and unguided Conduct of this lascivious Duke in this Expedition, of whom it may be truly said, he was

Mars ad Opus Veneris,

Martis ad Arma Venus.

Home he comes, and finds things as much in Disorder here, as he had left them in Dishonour abroad: the Prisons full of the most eminent Gentry of England, by a special Warrant from the King, for refusing to lend, as they were assess'd by the Commissioners for the Loan, and Bail denied them upon return of their Habeas Corpus's. An Army was kept on foot, when this Expedition had consumed all that which should have paid them, which had not been done in 80 Years before; the People fearing this was more to enslave than defend them.

In this Confusion Sir Robert Cotton's Advice is called for by the King and Council, what's to be done; who in a long and well composed Speech, beginning at Charles the 5th, sets forth the Design of the House of Austria, to attain an universal Monarchy in these Western Parts of Europe: How the Design was first check'd by Henry the 8th against Charles, but more by Queen Elizabeth against his Son Philip the 2d, they following a free Council, and thereby winning the Hearts of a loving People, ever found Hands and Money for all Occasions. That the only way to raise Money speedily and securely, was the Via Regia by Parliament; other ways were unknown, untrodden, rough, tedious, and never succeeded well. That Religion lies nearest the Conscience of the Subject, and that there was a Jealousy of some Practices against it: and that tho the Duke of Bucks had broken the Spanish Match out of a Religious Care that the Articles demanded might endanger the State of the Reformed Religion, yet being an Actor in the French Match, as hard if not worse passed than those of Spain.

Sir Robert goes on, and enumerates the Miscarriages in these two last Years, the Waste of the King's Revenue, the Pressures upon the publick Liberty of the Subjects, in commanding their [Page] Goods without Consent in Parliament, imprisoning their Persons, without special Cause shewed; and this made good against them by the Judges. How to obviate these he leaves to the prudent Consideration of the Council, but like old Sir Charles Harboard, he wishes that the Duke might appear to be the first Adviser for calling a Parliament, so that the People may be satisfied, this Parliament should be called by the zealous Care and Industry of the Duke.

Now the Hopes of getting Money by calling the Parliament, works more than the Laws of God, or sacred Justice could do: for upon the 29th of January, Writs are issued out for the Assembling of a Parliament, to meet the 17th of March following; the Prison-Doors are opened, for the imprisoned Gentry to go abroad; the Arch-bishop, the Earl of Bristol, and Bishop of Lincoln (who tho now in Disgrace, was the first Raiser of Laud, after Bishop of London, and Arch-Bishop of Canterbury) have Writs to [...] in Parliament.

But see the Unstability of Resolutions not founded in Truth, Justice or Prudence: for the next Day after the Writs for summoning the Parliament were agreed, the King, January the 30th, granted a Privy-Seal to Burlemach, for 30000 l. to be returned to Sir William Balfour, and John Da [...]bier, for raising a thousand German H [...]rse, with Arms both for Horse and Foot, to be sent into England, February the 28th, where was an Army already upon free Quarter, and after grants a Commission to 23 Lords and others to raise Money upon Impositions, or otherwise.

Thus things stood in the State before the Meeting of the Parliament. Now let's see how they stood in the Church. Barnevelt having headed a Faction in Holland, which called themselves Arminians, and designing by them to have deposed the Prince of Orange, lost his Head for it about four Years before; now on the contrary, the Arminian Faction here, which called themselves the Church of England, ascribed all Dominion to the absolute Power of the King: The Principals of this Faction were Neal Bishop of W [...]chester, Laud Bishop of Bath and Wel [...]s, and Richard Mountague afterwards advanced to the Bishopricks of Chichester and Norwich; this Faction was headed by the Duke. At this time the Jesuits had taken a House at Clarkenwell, designing to make a College of it, who in a Letter to the Father Rector of the Jesuits at Brussels, boast that they had planted the soveraign Drug Arminianism, which they hoped would purge the Protestants from their Heresy, and that it flourished, and bore Fruit in a due Season; and they proceeded by Counsel and Consideration, how and when to work upon the Duke's Jealousy and Revenge; and in that they gave the Honour to those who merit it, which were the Church Catholicks: they assured themselves, they had made the [Page] Duke and the Parliament irreconcilable; and that they have those of their Religion, who stand continually at the Duke's Chamber, to see who comes in, and who goes out: They glory how admirably in their Speech and Gestures, they act the Puritans, and the Cambridg Scholars shall find by woful Experience, they can act the Puritans better than they have done the Jesuits: That their Foundation is Arminianism, that the Arminians and Projectors affect Mutation.

Having thus laid the Foundation for propagating their Religion, the Jesuits next Care was for the State; and in the first place they consider the King's Honour and Necessities, and shew how the King may free himself of his Word, as Lewis the 11th did, and for greater Splendor and Lustre; how he may raise a great Revenue, and not be beholden to his Subjects, which was by way of Excise, which must be by a mercenary Army of Horse and Foot. For the Horse they had made sure they should be Foreigners and Germans, who would eat up the King's Revenue, and spoil the Countries wheresoever they came tho they should be paid; What Havock then will they make there when they get no Pay, or are not duly paid? they will do more Mischief than we hope the Army will do.

This mercenary Army of 2000 Horse and 20000 Foot was to be taken into pay before the Excise be settled. In forming the Excise, the Country is most likely to rise; if the Mercenary Army subjugate the Country, the Soldiers are to be paid out of the Confiscations; they hope instantly to dissolve Trade, and hinder the Building of Ships, by devising probable Designs, and putting the State upon Expeditions, as that of Cadiz, and in taking away the Merchants Ships, so that they may not easily catch, and light upon the West-India Fleet.

A Jesuit and nine Priests were taken with this, and many other Papers, which were delivered to Sir John Cook, Secretary of State; the Jesuit was condemn'd, but reprieved by the King, because Sir John Cook said, The King delighted not in Blood: and afterward the nine Priests were released by special Warrant from the King; and the King in his Reasons for dissolving the Parliament, makes the House of Commons Enquiry into this Business to be an exorbitant Encroachment and Usurpation, such as was never before attempted by that House. By this you may see the Religious care this pious Prince had for the Church of England, and how much he regarded the Laws of England, or minded the Support of the poor Protestants in France, or the Re-establishment of his Brother-in-law in the Palatinate.

Thus stood things when the Parliament met the 17th of March, when the King (as Men in a deep Lethargy, no ways sensible of their Pain, or the dangerous State they are in) not considering [Page] the dangerous State he was in both abroad and at home; Abroad, in that he had made War upon the King of Spain without any Declaration of War, and that against his Father's Advice, and of his Council; and upon the King of France, wherein himself and his Favourite Buckingham, were the Aggressors; at Home by his unheard of Invasions upon the Fortunes and Liberties of his Subjects, never before done by any King of England, in the short Interval of these two Parliaments, (scarce being 9 Months) upon the Opening of the Parliament, far unlike his Father in the last Parliament of his Reign, when his Case was not near so dangerous as this King's (tho their Necessities were equal, to get Money by Parliaments, when they could get it no other Way) begins his Speech.

My Lords and Gentlemen,

THese Times are for Action: wherefore for Example 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 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. All this but of Supply is Mysterious and General, and had need of an Interpreter.

The King goes on, and says, I will use but few Perswasions; for if to maintain your own Advices, and as the Case now stands for the following thereof, the true Religion, Laws and Liberties of this State (never so violated by any King of England before him) and the just Defence of our true Friends and Allies, be not sufficient, then no Eloquence of Men or Angels will prevail.

What Parliament, or any other Council but that of Buckingham, advised him to make War, either upon the King of Spain or France? search all the Records of the Journals of Parliament of 21 Jac. and Rushworth, Franklin, and Bishop of Litchfield, and see if in any one of them there be one Sentence of making War against the King of Spain, but only to break off the Treaty with the Spanish Match, and for the Palatinate. But admit the Parliament had upon the Misinformation of the King and Duke, advised the King to have made War upon the King of Spain; yet since the Earl of Bristol so shamefully blasted the whole Story not a Year since in open Parliament, without any Reply; How was this Parliament obliged to have made good what that had done? And since the King dissolved the last Parliament, rather than [Page] the Duke should be brought to Trial upon the Earl's Charge, which was a Failure of Justice, sure it had been more to the King's Honour, not to have mention'd this to the Parliament, than that what he had done was by their Advice.

Did this Parliament, or any other, ever advise him to put the Fleet under the Command of Vice-Admiral Pennington into the French King's Power, to subdue the poor Rochellers, who never did him any wrong, to the Ruin of the Reformed Interest in France, and to be the Foundation of the French Grandeur by Sea; and then on the contrary, make War upon the French King, when he was the Aggressor? Did ever this, or any other Parliament, advise him to take his Subjects Goods by force, without and against Law, and imprison their Persons by his Absolute Will and Pleasure, denying them the Benefit of their Habeas Corpus's, the Birth-right of the Subject, and to continue them Prisoners during his Will, without allowing them a Trial by the Laws, whether they were guilty of any Crime or not? Or to execute Martial Law, impose new Oaths, and give Free-Quarter to Soldiers, in his own Kingdom, in time of Peace?

However, the King goes on, and says, 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 the Church and Commonwealth; and certainly there never was a time in which this Duty was more necessarily required than now.

Was the Discharge of the Pack of Jesuits, conspiring the Ruin of Church and State with Impunity, for the Maintenance of the Church and Commonwealth? Or was the Commission which the King granted the next Day after the Writs for the Assembling the Parliament, to raise Monies by Imposition in the nature of Excise, to be levied throughout the Nation, for the Maintenance of the Church and State? And at the same time to order my Lord Treasurer to pay 30000 l. to Philip Burlemac, a Dutch Merchant in London, to be by him returned into the Low-Countries, by Bill of Exchange, to Sir William Balfour and John Dalbier, for the raising of 1000 Horse, with Arms both for Horse and Foot, for the Maintenance of the Church and Commonwealth of England? And also to call a Council for levying Ship-Money, now he had by his own Will taken the Customs without any Grant of Parliament, for the Maintenance of the Church and State?

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 save our Friends from imminent Ruin, have called you together. Every Man 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 has put into my hands, to [Page] save that which the Follies of particular Men may otherwise hazard to lose.

It's certain a Parliament is the best way, in time of Common Danger, to give Supplies, and secure the Nation from imminent Ruin, the Nation being most concerned in it; yet what Parliamentary Advice did the King take the last nine Months? If the Nation and the King's▪ Friends be in such imminent Ruin, the King should have declared who those Friends were, and who they were which threatned this Ruin. When his Father died he was at Peace with all the World, and it was his own Wilfulness, that without any other Counsel but that of Buckingham, he made War upon France and Spain: and let any Man read the Passages of the short time of his Reign, and judg if the imminent Ruin of the Nation were not from himself within, as well as without; and if the granting him further Supplies, would not more endanger the Nation, in carrying on his Designs in both.

Here note, Tho the King had made no Conscience of what he had done, yet he now tells the Parliament, If they shall not do their Duties in contributing what the State at this time needs, he must, in Discharge of his Conscience, use those other Means which God hath put into his hands, to save that which the Follies of particular Men may other ways hazard to lose. The King should have explained what other ways God put into his hands to govern his Subjects, than by Justice, Judgment, and Righteousness; for all other ways are unjust and wicked. And how any Man, how great soever, can plead Conscience to perpetrate Injustice and Wickedness, must be unfolded by Laud, Neal, Sibthorp, Manwaring, Mountague, Wren, Heylin, &c.

The King proceeds, and says, Take not this for a Threatning, (for I scorn to threaten any but my Equals) but an Admonition from him that both out of Nature and Duty has most Care of your Preservations and Prosperities.

This is Humano capiti cervicem jungere equinam. What a Monster does the King here make a Parliament? the Head so incomprehensively big, and the Body so scornful and little? But if it ill becomes any Man to glory in his own Actions, it worse becomes him to glory in that which he himself had not done. So that admit the King had been so superlatively great, as to scorn all the World besides, yet it would better have become any other to have said it, than the King. A Parliament is a Political Body, whereof the King is the Head; and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Representatives of the Commons, the Body; and, What is the Head without the Body? Are not all the Members of every Body of Use for the Head? And does not the Head stand in need of every Member of the Body? But if the Head be overgrown, and too big, and the Body too scornful and lean, is not this not only [Page] monstrous, but a Symptom of the Imperfection of the whole, and that it is in a declining and dangerous State?

Yet the King tells them, The End of calling this Parliament was for Supply. And did ever King, or other Man, before him, tell those from whom he expected Supply, or any other Benefit, that he scorn'd them? and if they do not their Duties, he would use other Means which God had put in his hands, without telling what those other Means were? and call them Fools, and particular Men, if they do not their Duties, to save what they may otherwise hazard to lose? whereas heretofore the Kings of England ever thank'd the Parliament upon a Bill for Aids.

But after all this, the Parliament must not take it for a Threatning, but an Admonition. An Admonition may be taken in a double Sense; either to instruct another in his Duty, or to menace or threaten another, if he continues obstinate in some Fault or Crime committed by that other: But this Admonition of the King's in the Parliament, must not be taken for a Threatning of them, therefore it must be for their Instruction, ignorant of their Duties.

A Parliament was called by the Saxons Wittenage-Mote, or the Conventus Sapientum, the Meeting of Wise Men, who met together to deliberate of the arduous and urgent Businesses of the Kingdom, and concerning the State and Defence of the Kingdom and Church of England, and is called the Common Council of the Kingdom, and the General Council of the Kingdom, and the Council of the Kingdom. See 4th Institute 2. And tho the Writ of Summons of Parliaments be Ad Tractandum & Deliberandum de certis arduis Regni negotiis, & pro statu & defensi [...]e Regni & Ecclesiae Angliae concernentibus; yet the Parliaments of England, unlike the Convention of the State of Scotland, are not tied up to those things only which the King propounds, but are free to treat and deliberate of all things which other ways concern the Kingdom and Church of England. So that the great End of the Meeting of Parliaments, is to advise the King: And all our Saxon, Norman, and British Kings, had ever Parliaments in so high an Esteem, that we do not read any where, before these two Kings of the Scotish Race came to reign over us, that ever any King and Parliament parted in Disgust; whereas since King James came to be King, five or six parted in Disgust; and God knows what would have become of the other, if King James had not died before the Parliament met again.

Did ever any King of England before, tho he scorn'd to threaten the Parliament, yet admonish them of their Duties, or otherwise he would use those other means than by Parliament, which God had put into his hands? But Quorsum haec? or where will the Designs of this young King stop? However, you may see by this [Page] Speech of the King's, that those who govern'd him were as little Politicians as Orators.

But good Laws often arise from corrupt Times and bad Manners: for Magna Charta did arise from the Usurpations of K. John, and Henry III. above the Laws and Liberties of this Nation; so did the Petition of Right the Magna Charta of this Age, from the Usurpations of this King, since the Dissolution of the last Parliament to the Meeting of this, little more than nine Months.

And as the old Magna Charta was no new Law, but a Declaration of the old, restored by Henry II. King John's Father, called the Avitae Leges; so neither was the Petition of Right, which enumerates the Breaches the King had made of Magna Charta, and manifold other Laws, before it prays Relief against them.

But these Magna Charta's were obtained after different manners, the old by cruel Wars: The Doctrines of Passive Obedience, and submitting to the Absolute Will and Pleasure of the King, were Strangers to those Days; and the Bishops were so far from those Doctrines, that they were the chief Promoters of Magna Charta, and stigmatized the Infringers of it, the King himself not excepted, with a dreadful Anathema.

Whereas neither Rome nor Athens could ever glory in such an Assembly as the Commons of this Parliament were, for their Vertue and Learning; nor any Age produce such a number of Men of the like Integrity to their Country, and humble Obedience to their Prince. Notwithstanding the former Abuses of this Reign, they proceeded with no Censures and Punishment of the King's evil Ministers (except Dr. Manwaring) but only to represent to the King the Grievances of the Nation; and did not impeach the Duke of Buckingham, as they did in the last Parliament, nor proceed upon it, but only remonstrated to the King the Evils which the exorbitant Greatness of the Duke brought upon the King and Nation; and how unsafe it would be to the Nation, to grant Aids to the King which were misemployed for the exalting the Grandeur of the Duke. However, before they entred upon Grievances, they voted the King five entire Subsidies; which was the greatest Tax that ever was before given to any King of England at once, and to be paid in the shortest time. Now let's see, tho but in Epitome, how these things were changed, and what Returns the King made the Parliament and Nation.

The Unanimity of the Commons in the Gift, was not less than the Gift was great, being nemine contradicente; which so pleased the King, that he sent them word by Secretary Sir John Cooke, that he would deny them nothing of their Liberties which any of his Predecessors had granted them.

Then the Commons fell upon Grievances, and voted the Imprisonment of any Free-man by Warrant from the King or Council, [Page] without a Cause alledged, to be a Grievance; and that the raising Monies by Loan, and imposing an Oath upon the Subject to discover the Value of his Estate, the Billeting of Soldiers, and exercising Martial Law in time of Peace, were Grievances.

Then several Debates arose in the House, how the Subjects should be secured against these in time to come. And upon the Motion of Sir Edward Coke, the House agreed to sue to the King by Petition, the most antient and humble Address in Parliament, that his Majesty would give his People Assurance of their Rights by Assent in Parliament, as he uses to pass other Acts. And hereupon the House ordered Sir Edward to draw a Petition accordingly.

The House agreed to the Petition; and ordered Sir Edw. Coke, Sir Dudley Diggs, Mr. Selden, and Mr. Littleton to carry it up to the Lords. The Duke of Buckingham and his Creatures were zealous to stop the Petition in the House of Lords: but he was much fall'n from his Lustre, since his dishonourable Expedition to the Isle of Rhee last Summer, and his Expedition to Cales. So as his Sway in the House of Peers was much abated: Besides, the Bishops were not at this time all of a piece; for Arch-bishop Abbot urged his own Case, how he was banished from his Houses at Croydon and Lambeth, while the Duke was prosecuting his Voyage to the Isle of Rhee, and confined to a moorish Mansion-place at Ford, to kill him, and debarred from the Management of his Jurisdiction, and no Cause given for it. And Dr. Williams gave most learned and elegant Arguments for the Petition, which you may read at large in the second Part of the History of his Life, fol. 77, 78, 79. But this stuck close to him, that neither the King nor Laud ever after forgot it; which you may read fol. 96. tit. 93.

The Lords would not proceed to any determinate Vote, before they had heard the King's Counsel against the Petition, and the Commons Defence of it; wherein no less time was spent than six Weeks. The Managers for the Petition, were Sir Edward Coke, Mr. Selden, Sir Dudley Diggs, Sergeant Glanvile, Sir Henry Martin, and Mr. Mason.

Besides Magna Charta, the Commons fortified the Petition of Right with six other Acts of Parliament, explanatory of Magna Charta, viz. The Statute made in the Reign of Edward I. commonly called Statutum de Tallagio non concedendo; the Statute of 25 Edward III. where it is declared, That from thenceforth no Person shall be compelled to make any Loans to the King against his Will, because such Loans were against Reason, and the Fanchise of the Land. The third was the Statute of 28 Edward III. That no Man, of what Estate or Condition soever, should be put out of his Lands or Tenements, nor Taken, nor Imprisoned, nor Disherited, nor put to Death, without being brought to Answer by due Process of Law. The [Page] fourth Statute, the 25 Edw. III. 9. and the sixth, 9 Hen. III. 29. against exercising Martial Law in times of Peace. These Statutes were so well managed by the Commons in Defence of the Petition, that Sir Robert Heath, who was Attorney-General, and the rest of the King's Counsel pleading, tho eagerly, yet impertinently, had nothing to say materially against them, but submitted to the Judgment of the Peers.

However, the Lords, before they would put the Vote, entred into a Committee of the whole House, when my Lord Say moved, That those Lords who stood for the Liberties of the Nation, might make their Protestation, and that to be upon Record; and that the other opposite Party should, with the Subscriptions of their Names, enter their Reasons to remain upon Record, that so Posterity might not be to seek who they were that so ignobly betrayed the Freedom of our Nation: and this done, they should proceed to Vote. This struck such a Daunt upon the other Party, that not one of them opposed it.

The Lords agreed to the Petition of Right, but with this Addition, or Saving; We present this our humble Petition to your Majesty, with the Care not only of preserving our Liberties, but with due Regard to leave entire that Soveraign Power wherewith your Majesty is trusted, for the Protection, Safety, and Happiness of the People. But the Lords did not make any determinate Vote in it, but sent it to the Commons to advise upon. The Bishop of Lincoln was a great Stickler for this Addition, to qualify what he had said before in the Defence of the Petition; which did him no good, the other sticking alta mente.

When this Addition, or Saving, came down to the Commons, Mr. Noy said, To add a Saving is not safe; doubtful Words may beget ill Construction; and the Words are not only doubtful, and Words unknown to us, but never used in any Act or Petition before.

And Sir Edward Coke said, This is the Multum in parvo, this is propounded to the Conclusion of our Petition: it is a Matter of great weight; and to speak plain, it will overthrow all our Petition: it trenches on all the parts of it: it flies at Loans, at the Oath, at Imprisonment, and Billeting of Soldiers: this turns all about again. Look into all Petitions of former times, they never petitioned, wherein there was a Saving of the King's Soveraignty. I know 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 Power; and should we now add it, we shall weaken the Foundation of the 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 [Page] these Laws. Power in Law, is taken for a Power with Force: The Sheriff shall take the Power of the County: what is meant here, only God knows. It is repugnant to our Petition, grounded on Acts of Parliament. Our Predecessors could never endure a Salvo jure suo, no more than the Kings of old could endure for the Church, Salvo honore Dei & Ecclesiae. We must not admit this; and to qualify it is impossible. Let us hold our Privileges according to the Law: that Power which is above this, is not fit for the King or People to have it disputed further. I had rather, for my part, have the Prerogative acted, and I my self lie under it, than have it disputed.

Sir Thomas Wentworth said, If we admit of this Addition, we leave the Subject worse than we found him; 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 Soveraign Power. We desire no new thing; nor do we offer to trench upon his Majesty's Prerogative. We may not recede from our Petition neither in part or whole.

Mr. Selden said, Let us not go hastily to the Question: if there be any Objections, let any propound them, and let others answer them as they think good: If it (the Saving) hath no Reference to our Petition, what does it here? I am sure others will say it hath Reference, and so must we: how far it does exceed all Examples of former times, no Man can shew the like. Then he shews the manifold Statutes, besides Magna Charta, wherein is no such Saving. And whereas Mr. Speaker said, The King was our Heart, and ever shall be; but then Mr. Selden said, We spake of the King's Prerogative, and we are bound to say so: but when we speak of our Rights, we are not to be imprisoned, Saving but by the King's Soveraign Power. Say, my Lands (without any Title) be seized into the King's hand, and I bring a Petition of Right, and I go to the King, and say, I do by no means seek your Majesty's 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 entire his Majesty's Right; it would be improper. Then he cites many Statutes wherein there are Savings, but no ways pertinent to this, which you may read at large in Rushworth's Collections and Franklin's Annals. And, in truth, it troubles me, I am forced to curtail this, not only in Mr. Selden, but other Noble Persons, by reason the Treatise would swell to a greater Bulk than I designed it.

The Lords afterwards had a Conference with the Commons to fortify their Addition, managed by my Lord Keeper, which was answered by Mr. Mason: And after that, the Commons desired another Conference with the Lords, and ordered Serjeant Glanvile to argue the legal part of the Petition, and Sir Henry Martin the rational part of it; which they did so well, that at a Conference, May 26. 1628, between both Houses, the Lord Keeper from the [Page] Lords told the Commons, the Lords agreed with them in omnibus of their Petition, only in the Alteration of two Words, viz. [Means] for Pretext, and for the Word [unlawful] (not warrantable by the Laws and Statutes of the Realm).

The Houses thus happily accorded, the Petition, with the foresaid Amendments, were read two several times in the House of Commons, and then upon the Question, voted to be engrossed, and read a third time, and the House to sit in the Afternoon till it was engrossed and read, and ordered to be presented to the King; in which there was not one Negative: And the Bill for the Subsidies was read a second time, and committed; and upon Wednesday the 28th, the Lords and Commons had a Conference about the Manner of Delivery of the Petition; and Sir Edward Coke 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 the Command of the Lords and Commons; and that his Majesty by be desired, to the Content of his People, he would give his Gracious Answer in full Parliament.

In all these Transactions the King was very uneasy; fain he would have the Money, yet was unwilling to answer the Petition. The House was aware of this, and therefore agreed the Petition before they would pass the Money-Bill. Upon the 12th of April, the King, by Secretary Cook, acquainted them of the Necessity of Supply, and expected some Fruit of what was so happily begun; but finding a Stop beyond all Expectation of so good a Beginning, the Secretary was therefore commanded to tell them, That without any further or unnecessary Delay, they proceed in this Business; and bid them therefore take heed, that they force him not to make an unpleasing end of that which was so well begun. And two Days after the Secretary quickned the Business of this Supply again.

Upon the 2d of May the King sent a Message by Secretary Cook, That as he would rank himself amongst the best of Kings, wherein he has no Intention to invade or impeach our lawful Liberties; so he would have them to match themselves with the best of Subjects, not by encroaching upon that Soveraignty or Prerogative which God had put into his hands for their Good: and that this Sessions of Parliament must continue no longer than Tuesday come Seven-night at the farthest: and that his Royal Intention is, to have another Session at Michaelmas next, for the perfecting such things as cannot now be done. Now let's see how unwillingly the King was brought to pass the Petition.

Upon the 16th of May, Secretary Cook pressed the House to rely upon the King's Word, and that the King promised to govern them by the Laws, and that they shall enjoy as much Freedom as ever, and that this might be debated in the House: but Sir John [Page]Elliot answered, that the Proceedings in a Committee is more honourable and advantagious to the King and House, with whom the House agreed.

In the Debate of this Committee, some were for the Bill to rest, but Sir Edward Coke's 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 rely on Messages? They put up Petitions of their Grievances, and the King answered them: The King's Answer is very gracious, but what is the Law of the Realm, that's the Question. I put no Diffidence in his Majesty, the King must speak by Record, and in Particulars, not in General: Did you ever know the King's Message to a Bill of Subsidies? all succeeding Kings will say, You must trust me as well as you did my Predecessors, and trust my Messages; but Messages never came into a Parliament: Let us put up a Petition of [...]ight, not that I distrust the King, but that I cannot take his Trust but in a Parliamentary way.

Hereupon the Commons desired a Conference with the Lords, which was managed by Sir Edward Coke, who said,

My Lords, it is evident what necessity there is, both in respect of your selves and your Posterity to have good Success in 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 us to give your Lordships some Reasons why you have not heard from us before now; for in the mean time, as we were consulting 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 shall find much Confidence in his Royal Word: I pray observe that.

4. That we shall enjoy all our Rights and Liberties, with as much freedom as ever Subjects have done in former times.

5. That whether we think fit, either by Bill or otherways, to go on in this great Business, his Majesty would be pleased to give way t [...] it.

These gracious Messages did so work upon our Affections, that we have taken it into deep Consideration. My Lords, what we had these Messages (I deal plainly, for so I am commanded by the House of Commons) we did consider what way would be our most secure way, nay yours: We did think it the safest way to go on in a Parliamentary [Page] Course; for we have a Maxim in the House of Commons, and written in the Wall of our House, That old Ways are the safest and surest Ways: And at last we did fail upon that, which we think (if your Lordships did consent with us) the most antient of all, and that is, my Lords, the Via fausta, both to his 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: That is a high Point of Honour, but this must 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 King's Honour, and our Safety. Therefore, my Lords, we have drawn the Form of a Petition, desiring your Lordships to concur with us therein, for we do come with an unanimous Consent of all the Commons, and there is great reason your Lordships should do so, for your Lordships be involved in the same Danger: and then the Petition was read.

Upon the 20th of May, the King wrote a Letter to the House of Lords, wherein he said, That as he had given leave to free Debates upon the highest Points of his Prerogative Royal, which in the times of his Predecessors were ever restrained, as Matters they would not have discussed, yet he finds it insisted upon, that in no Cause whatsoever he and his Council could commit without Cause shewed, which, if granted, would dissolve the Frame of the Monarchy: That as he had made fair Propositions to the Commons, which might easily preserve the Liberty of the Subject; so he thought good to let their Lordships know, that without the overthrow of the Soveraignty he could not suffer his Power to be impeached; yet that he will extend it beyond the just Rule of Moderation, &c. which he thought good to signify, the rather to shorten the long Debates upon this great Question, the Season of the Year being so far advanced, and his great Occasions of State not lending many more days for the continuance of the Session.

The same day the Lords communicated the Letter to the Commons, upon which Sir Thomas Wentworth said, it was a Letter of Grace, but the People will only like that which is done in a Parliamentary way, and the Debate upon it would take up much time; neither was it directed to the Commons, and the Petition of [...]ight would clear all Mistakes; for some give out as if the House we [...] to pinch the King's Prerogative, and so the Letter was laid aside. These were while the Petition was in debate, and before it was ag [...]ed to by both Houses; but after it was agreed upon, the second of June the King came into the House of Lords, and having sent for the Commons, said,

[Page]

‘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 your Petition, as you have spent Weeks in framing it. 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.’

Then the Lord Keeper said; ‘MY Lords, and ye the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons, the King hath commanded me to say unto you, That he takes it in good part, that in Consideration of settling your own Liberties, ye have generally professed in both Houses that ye have no intention to lessen or diminish his Majesty's Prerogative; wherein as ye have cleared your 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 most equal, and known to be so: These cannot be in a more happy State, than when your Liberties shall be an Ornament and Strength of his Majesty's Prerogative, and his Prerogative a Defence of your Liberties, in which his Majesty doubts not, but that both he and you shall take a mutual Comfort hereafter; and for his part, he is resolved to give an Example in using his Power for the Preservation of your Liberties, that hereafter you shall have no cause to complain; and that they here read their own Petition, and his Majesty's gracious Answer.’

Then the Petition was read, to which the King answered, 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 of which he holds himself in Conscience as well obliged, as of his Prerogative.

This Answer no ways satisfied the Commons: whereupon Sir John Elliot made a pathetick and lively Representation of the Grievances of the Nation within, and of the Danger and Weakness of it by the Mismanagement and Abuse of the King's Ministers; and therefore wished that it might so stand with the Wisdom and Judgment of the House, that these Dangers and Grievances may be drawn into the Body of a Remonstrance, and therein humbly exprest with a Prayer to his Majesty, for the Safety of himself, and for the Safety of the Kingdom, and for the Safety of Religion, that he would be pleased to give the House time to make perfect Inquisitions thereof; or to take it into his own Wisdom, and there give them such timely Reformation, as the necessity of the Cause and his Justice does import. Sir Edward Coke seconded Sir John [Page]Elliot's Motion, and propounded that a humble Remonstrance be presented to the King, touching the Dangers and Means of the Safety of the King and Kingdom, which was agreed to by the House, and thereupon the House turned themselves into a grand Committee, and the Committee for the Bill of Subsidies was ordered to expedite the said Remonstrance.

But this King rather than hear of what he had done, did not care what he did, and therefore the Speaker brought a Message from the King, That his Majesty having upon the Petition exhibited by both Houses, given an Answer so full of Justice and Grace, for which we and our Posterity have just cause to bless his Majesty; it is now time to draw to a Conclusion of the Session, and therefore his Majesty thinks fit to let them know, That he does resolve to abide by that Answer without further Change or Alteration, and so he will Royally and Really perform unto them what he had thereby promised: And further, That he resolves to end this Session upon Wednesday the 11th of this Month; and that this House should seriously attend those Businesses, which may bring the Session to a happy Conclusion, without entertaining new Matters, and so to husband the time, that his Majesty may with more Comfort bring them 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 than the time will now permit. But this did not disturb the Commons, but they proceeded in their Declaration against Dr Manwaring, and the same day presented it to the Lords at a Conference, which was managed by Mr. Pym.

The Commons impeached the Doctor upon these three Points in his Sermons of Allegiance and Religion.

1. That he affirmed, that the King is not bound to keep and observe the good Laws and Customs of this Realm, concerning the Rights and Liberties of the Subjects; and that his Royal Will and Command in imposing Loans, Taxes, and other Aids upon his People, without common Consent in Parliament, does so far bind the Consciences of the Subjects of this Kingdom, that they cannot refuse the same without peril of Eternal Damnation.

2. That those of his Majesty's Subjects that refused the Loan, did therein offend against the Law of God, and against his Majesty's Supream Authority, and by so doing, became guilty of Impiety, Disloyalty, Rebellion and Disobedience, and liable to many other Taxes and Censures, which he in the several Parts of his Book does most falsly and maliciously lay upon them.

3. That the Authority of Parliament is not necessary for the raising of Aids and Subsidies; that the slow Proceedings of such Assemblies are not fit to supply the urgent Necessities of State, but rather apt to produce sundry Impediments to the just Design [Page] of Princes, and to give them occasion of Displeasure and Discontent.

Whereupon the Commons demanded Judgment against the Doctor, not accounting his Submission with Tears and Grief a Satisfaction for the Offence charged upon him; and the Lords gave this Sentence.

1. That he should be imprisoned during the Pleasure of the House.

2. That he should be fined 1000 l. to the King.

3. That he should make such Submission and Acknowledgment of his Offences as shall be set down by a Committee in Writing, both at this Bar and the House of Commons.

4. That he shall be suspended for the Term of three Years from the Exercise of the Ministry, and in the mean time a sufficient preaching Minister shall be provided to serve the Cure out of his Livings; this Suspension and Provision to be done by the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.

5. That he shall be disabled hereafter to have any Ecclesiastical Dignity, or Secular Office.

6. That he shall be disabled hereafter ever to preach at Court.

7. That his 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 burnt accordingly in London, both the Ʋniversities, and for the inhibiting the printing thereof, upon a great Penalty.

This Censure immediately succeeding Sir John Elliot's Representation of Grievances, startled Laud as much as Sir John's Representation did the Duke of Buckingham; and the King, that he might not hear of any more Business of this kind, upon the 5th of June, commanded the Speaker to let the House know, that he will certainly hold to the day fixed for ending the Session, viz. the 11th, and therefore requires them, that they enter not into, nor proceed in any new Business which may spend greater time, or which may lay any Scandal or Aspersion upon the State-Government, or the Ministers thereof.

This put the House into a fearful Consternation, 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 the House to be turned into a Committee, to consider what was to be done for the Safety of the Kingdom, and that no Man go out of the House upon pain of being committed to the Tower. But before the Speaker left the Chair, he desired leave to go forth, which the House granted.

Then Sir Edward Coke spake freely; ‘We have dealt with that Duty and Moderation that never was the like. Rebus sic stantibus, after such a Violation upon the Liberties of the Subjects [Page] let us take this to Heart. In 30 Edw. 3. were they then in any doubt to name Men that mislead the King? They accused John of Gaunt, the King's Son, the Lords Latimer and Nevil [...]or 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 Duty to God and Men? 7 Hen. 4. Parl. Rot. 31, 32. 11 Hen. 4. Numb. 13. there the Council are complained of and removed from the King; they mewed up the King, and disswaded him from the common Good; and why are we turned from that way we were in? Why may not we name those that are the Cause of all our Evils? In the 4 H. 3. 21 E. 3. 13 R. 2. the Parliament moderated the King's Prerogative; and nothing grows to Abuse but this House hath Power to treat thereof. What shall we do? Let us palliate no longer, if we do, God will not prosper us; I think the Duke of Bucks is the Cause of all our Miseries, and till the King be informed thereof, we shall neither go out with Honour, nor sit with Honour here; That Man is the Grievance of Grievances; let us set down the Causes of all our Disasters, and all will reflect on 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; First, To express the House's dutiful Carriage to the King. Secondly, To tender the Liberties violated. Thirdly, To present what the House was to have dealt in. Fourthly, That that great Person, viz. the Duke, fearing to be questioned, did interpose 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 may demand Judgment upon that Answer only.’

In Conclusion, the House agreed upon several Heads concerning Innovations in Religion, the Safety of the King and Kingdom, Misgovernment, Misfortune of our late Designs, with the Causes of them: and when the Question was putting, that it should be instanced that the Duke was the principal and chief Cause of all those Evils, the Speaker came in and said, that the King commands for the present, that the House adjourn till to Morrow, and that all Committees cease, which was done accordingly. And upon the 7th of June, the King in Parliament passed the Petition of Right, whereupon there was an universal Joy all over the City; and the Commons returned to their own House with unspeakable [Page] Joy, and resolved so to proceed, as might express their Thankfulness; and order the grand Committees for Religion, Trade, Grievances, and Courts of Justice to sit no longer, but that the House proceed only in Consideration of Grievances of most moment; which was their Remonstrance to the King, of the weak, distracted, and dangerous State of the Kingdom: which was done in the most pathetick and humble manner which could be expressed, and presented to the King in the Banqueting-House, upon the 17th of June. It's very long, and consisted of these six Branches.

1. The Danger of the Innovation and Alteration of Religion; This occasioned by, First, The great Esteem and Favour many of the Professors of the Romish Religion receive at Court. Secondly, Their publick Resort to Mass at Denmark-House, contrary to his Majesty's Answer to the Parliament's Petition at Oxford. Thirdly, Letters to stay Proceedings against them. Lastly, The daily Growth of the Arminian Faction, favoured and protected by Neal Bishop of Winchester, and Laud Bishop of Bath and Wells, whilst the Orthodox Party are silenced or discountenanced.

2. Dangers of Innovation and Alteration in Government; occasioned by Billeting Soldiers, by Commission of procuring 1000 German Horse and Riders for the Defence of the Kingdom, by a standing Commission granted to the Duke to be General at Land in time of Peace.

3. Disasters of our Designs; as, the Expedition to the Isle of Rhee, and that lately to Rochel, wherein the English have purchased their Dishonour, with the waste of a Million of Treasure.

4. The Want of Ammunition; occasioned by the selling 36 lasts of Gun-powder at low Rates.

5. The Decay of Trade; by the Loss of 300 Ships taken by the Dunkirkers, and other Pirates, within the three last Years.

6. The not guarding the narrow Seas; whereby his Majesty has almost lost the Regality. Here note, That none of these, except Billeting of Soldiers, which was yet continued, were contained in the Petition of Right.

Of all which Evil and Dangers, the principal Cause is the Duke of Buckingham, his excessive Power, and Abuse of that Power; and therefore humbly submit it to his Majesty's Wisdom, whether it can be safe for himself and Kingdom, that so great Power should be trusted in the hands of any one Subject whatsoever.

It's observable, how cross the King set himself against the Commons in this Remonstrance: for in the last Parliament, when the Commons impeached the Duke, and the Earl of Bristol exhibited Articles against him, the King ordered the Attorney-General to exhibit an Information against the Duke in the Star-Chamber, for [Page] the great Misdemeanours and Offences complained of against him by the Commons and Earl; thereby to have stopt their Proceeding against the Duke in Parliament, as he would have taken the Earl's Cause out of Parliament, and proceeded against him by Indictment. But the King hearing of this Remonstrance of the Commons against the Duke, the Day before the Commons presented it, viz. upon the 16th of June, caused the Attorney-General to take the said Information, and all the Proceedings to be taken off the File, for that his Majesty was fully satisfied of the Duke's Innocency in all those things mentioned in the Information, as well by his own certain Knowledg, as by the Proofs taken in the Cause.

This was the first Fruit the Parliament and Nation reaped by the Petition of Right. Now let's see the next, and whether the Commons deserved such a Censure as the King made upon them at the Prorogation of the Parliament.

After the Commons had presented a Remonstrance of their other Grievances to the King, they then took into Consideration the preparing a Bill for granting his Majesty a Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage, as might uphold the King's Profit and Revenue in as ample a manner as their just Care and Respect of Trade would permit. But this being a Work of Time, and would require much Time, and Conference with Merchants, and others; and being often interrupted by Messages from the King, and the Shortness of Time limited by the King for concluding this Sessions; and fearing the King might be misinformed of this Particular, they were forced, by the Duty which they owed to his Majesty, to declare, That there ought not any Imposition to be laid upon Goods of Merchants exported or imported, without Common Consent by Act of Parliament.

For Manifestation whereof, they desired his Majesty to understand, ‘That tho the Kings of this Realm had often Subsidies granted them upon divers Occasions, especially for guarding the Seas, and Safeguard of Merchants; yet the Subjects have been ever careful to use such Cautions and Limitations in these Grants, that they did proceed not from Duty, but the free Gift of the Subjects; and that heretofore they used to limit a time for such Grants, and for the most part but short, as for a Year or two; and at other times it has been granted upon occasion of War, with Proviso, that if the War ended in the mean time, then the Grant should cease; and of course it has been sequestred into the hand of some Subject, to be employed for Guarding of the Seas: very few of the King's Predecessors had it for Life, until the Reign of Hen. VII. who was so far from conceiving he had any Right thereunto, that altho he granted Commissions for collecting certain Duties and Customs due by Law, yet made none for receiving the Subsidies of Tunnage [Page] and Poundage, till it was granted in Parliament. Since his time, all Kings and Queens have had such Grants for Life, by the free Love and Good-will of the Subjects: but whensoever the People have been grieved by laying on any other Imposition or Charges upon their Goods and Merchandise without Authority of Law (which has been very seldom) yet upon Complaint in Parliament they have been relieved; saving in the time of your Royal Father, who having through ill Counsel raised the Rates and Charges upon Merchandise to that height at which they now are, yet he was pleased so far to yield to the Complaint of his People, as to offer, That if the Value of such Impositions as he had set might be made good unto him, he would bind himself and his Heirs, by Act of Parliament, never to lay any more; which Offer the Commons did not yield to. Nevertheless, your Loyal Commons in this Parliament, out of special Zeal to your Majesty's Service, and especial Regard of your pressing Occasions, have taken into their Consideration, so to frame a Grant of Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage to your Majesty, that both you might have been better enabled for the Defence of your Realm, and your Subjects, by being more secure from all undue Charges, be more encouraged chearfully to proceed in Trade; by Encrease whereof, your Majesty's Profit, and likewise the Strength of the Kingdom, would be much augmented.’

‘But being now not able to accomplish this their Desire, there is no Course left to them, without manifest Breach of their Duty to his Majesty and Country, save only to make this Declaration, That the receiving Tunnage and Poundage, and other Impositions, not granted by Parliament, is a Breach of the Fundamental Liberties of this Kingdom, and contrary to your Majesty's Royal Answer to the Petition of Right.’

The King, who had so unwillingly heard the Commons Remonstrance against the Duke before the Bill of Subsidies was passed both Houses, now it was past both Houses, was resolved to hear no more of this: and therefore when this Remonstrance concerning the Tunnage and Poundage was engrossed, and reading in the House, the King sent for the Speaker, and the House, to the House of Lords; where the King came so unexpectedly, that the Lords had not put on their Robes, nor had the Commons given the Speaker any Order or Direction to deliver the Bill of Subsidies, neither was it brought down to the Commons again, as is usual.

When the Commons came to the Lords House, the King said, It may seem strange that I come so suddenly to end this Session, before I give my Assent to the Bills. I will tell you the Cause, tho I must avow, that I owe the Account of my Actions to God alone: It is known to every one of you, that a while ago the House of Commons gave me a [Page] Remonstrance, how acceptable every Man may judg; and for the Merit of it, I will not call that in question, for I am sure no wise Man can justify it.

Did ever any King of England, but this King's Father and himself, treat a Parliament, or either House, at this rate before? At the opening of the Parliament he calls them Fools, if they would not do as he would have them; and now he tells the Commons, No wise Man can justify their Advice to him. I'm sure, a wiser Man than this King, or his Father, says, He that wins Souls is wise; and if you convert the Proposition, He that provokes them, is otherwise. Heretofore the Kings of England, and, I believe, all prudent and civiliz'd Princes, ever forbore to give any Petitioners harsh Language; if their Petitions did not please, their usual Answer was, The King will consider, or be advised upon them.

One great End of the Meeting of Parliaments is, truly to represent to the King the State of the Kingdom, (which is rarely done by Flatterers and Favourites, whose Interest is contrary to that of the Kingdom) and if any thing be done in Prejudice of the King and Kingdom, that both may be redressed in Parliament. In the Commons Remonstrance to the King, they set forth the weak and dangerous State of the Kingdom, equally dangerous to the King and Kingdom, in six several Particulars: Does the King either answer or deny any one of the Particulars otherwise, than that he is sure no wise Man can justify their Remonstrance? But tells no Reason for this, nor from whom he had this Assurance.

Was ever any King, or Man, so great, as to be above his Interest? or less, for being well advised in all his Actions? Nay, ought not, not only every King, but other Men, be so much more careful and advised in all their Actions, by how much greater they are?

The King goes on, and says, Now since I am truly informed, that a second Remonstrance is preparing for me, to take away the Profit of Tunnage and Poundage, one of the chief Maintenances of my Crown, by alledging I have given away my Right thereto, by my Answer to your Petition.

So that here the King hath true Information of that, but says not how he was truly informed, which was not in being; for the Remonstrance was not passed the Commons when the King came into the House of Lords: so that it may more probably be, the King is not truly informed of this Remonstrance. I'm sure he is misinformed, if the Remonstrance, as it is printed in Rushworth and Franklin, be true, that the Commons alledged that the King had given away his Right to the Customs by his Answer to the Petition of Right: For the Commons denied there, that either he, or any of his Predecessors before him (which was long before the Petition of Right) had any Right to them, before they were granted by the free Gift of the Subject: Tho the King would take the [Page] Customs, to which he had no Right, yet would he not permit the Commons to sit till they could perfect a Bill to give him Duties upon Tunnage and Poundage, without which no King of England before him claimed any other Right.

But since the King says, in his Declaration for the Dissolution of the Parliament, that his Predecessors, time out of mind, have had these Customs, but says not who told him so; it's fit to see when and what Customs of Tunnage and Poundage were taken, and for what end, and how they were taken. Sir Edward Coke, in his fourth Institute of the High Court of Parliament, fol. 32. out of Records makes thirteen Observations upon the Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage.

1. Of Poundage only, at 6 s. in the Pound, for two Years, upon Condition, &c. And this was 47 Edw. 3.

2. 6 d. for Poundage, 2 s. for Tunnage of Wine, hac vice. This was 6 Ric. 2.

3. 6 d. of every Pound of Merchandise, 2 s. of every Tun of Wine, upon Condition, &c. and hac vice. This was 7 Ric. 2.

4. Sometimes to have Intermission, and to vary, lest the King should claim them as Duties, as 2 s. 18 d. 3 s. 5 Ric. 2. 9 Ric. 2. 10 Ric. 2.

5. 3 s. for Tunnage of Wine, and 2 s. 6 d. for Poundage for one Year, 11 Ric. 2.

6. 3 s. for Tunnage of Wine, and 1 s. for Poundage, hac vice, 13 Ric. 2.

7. 6 d. for Poundage, and 18 d. for Tunnage of Wines, for three Years, 14 Rich. 2.

8. 8 d. for Poundage, and 2 s. for Tunnage of Wine, 2 Hen. 4.

9. 12 d. for Poundage, and 3 s. for Tunnage of Wine, for three Years, 4 Hen. 4.

10. 12 d. for Poundage, and 3 s. for Tunnage of Wines, for several times, upon Condition, sometimes for one Year, 6 Hen. 4.

11. 12 d. for Poundage, and 3 s. for Tunnage of Wines, for four Years, 1 Hen. 5.

12. The like Subsidy was granted to Hen. 5. in the third Year of his Reign, for Life, for carrying on the War against France.

13. Tunnage of Wine, and Poundage, was granted to Edw. 4. for Life, with no Retrospect, but for time to come, 4 Edw. 4.

These were continued to all the Kings and Queens of England, after Edw. 4. to King Charles 1. but these were of Wines only: but these were always granted for the guarding the Seas, and of the free good Will of the Subject.

So that the first Grant of these Duties of Tunnage and Poundage for Life, began at Hen. 5. but that was but for that part of his [Page] Life for time to come, being granted in the third Year of his Reign; and so were those in the Reign of Edw. 4. which were granted in the fourth Year of his Reign: and Hen. 7. would not take them till they were granted by Parliament: and Sir Robert Phillips, who was a Member of Parliament (Primo Jac.) says, in his Speech in Parliament, (Mr. Rushworth mentions it, fol. 644.) that by reason of the Sickness primo Jac. the Parliament was prorogued, and then some were so bold, as to demand the Duties of Tunnage and Poundage, for which they were questioned in Parliament.

But after the Duties of Tunnage and Poundage were given to King James, and settled by a Book of Rates, King James (which none of his Predecessors ever did before) imposed higher Duties upon several sorts of Merchandise than were granted in Parliament, by his own Will, and so continued them to his Death; and after his Death, his Son, by his own Will, took not only those Duties granted by Parliament, but those imposed by his Father, neither would he permit the Parliament to sit to establish a Book of Rates, but prorogu'd or dissolved them before they could accomplish it. And this was the Right he charges the Commons to endeavour to take away, by his granting the Petition of Right.

The King goes on, and says, This (the Right to Tunnage and Poundage, alledg'd to be given away by the Commons) is so prejudicial to me, that I am forced to end this Session some few hours before I meant, being unwilling to receive any more Remonstrances, to which I must give a harsh Answer. And since I see that the House of Commons begins already to make false Constructions of what I granted in your Petition, lest it be worse interpreted in the Country, I will now make a Declaration concerning the true Intent thereof.

The King should have declared whether he saw this false Construction of the Commons with his own Eyes, or the Eyes of another; if with his own Eyes, Why does he not declare wherein the Commons made this false Construction of his Grant? Or if he saw or heard of this false Construction of the Commons from another, the King should have said who told him so. Now let us see if the contrary of what the King so injuriously charges the Commons with, be not true.

The Commons say, No King of England ever claimed these Customs but by the free Gifts of his Subjects; Does the King deny this, or shew that ever any King of England claimed them otherways, or by any other Right? The Commons say, His Father raised them to the height they then were, without Act of Parliament, or free Gift of the People; Does the King deny this to be true? And that the King continues to take these Customs, without any Act of Parliament, or Gift of the People; Does the King deny this? Do not the Commons tell the King, That out of their Zeal to his [Page] Service, and especial Regard to his pressing Occasions, they had under Consideration so to frame a Grant of a Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage to his Majesty, that he might have been the better enabled for the Defence of his Realm and Subjects, by being secure from all undue Charges, for the Security of Trade, the Profit of the King, and Strength of the Kingdom? Does the King deny this? With what Conscience and Justice then does the King say, the Commons made false Constructions of his Answer, alledging he had given away his Right to the Customs, by his Answer to the Petition of Right? When or where is any such Allegation in any part of the Remonstrance?

The Commons say, that since the King will not permit them to finish their intended Subsidy, they have no Course left, without manifold Breach of their Duty to his Majesty and their Country, save only to make this humble Declaration, That the receiving Tunnage and Poundage, and other Impositions, not granted by Parliament, is a Breach of the Fundamental Liberties of this Kingdom, and contrary to your Majesty's Answer to the Petition of Right. Does the King shew that it was not the Commons Duty to represent this to him? or that the Commons alledged he had any Right to the Duties which he had given away by his Answer to the Petition of Right? Now let's see the King's Declaration of the true Intent of his Answer to the Petition of Right.

The Profession of both Houses in the time of the Hammering (spoke like a King) this Petition, was no ways to trench upon my Prerogative (no more it did) saying, They had neither Intention or Power is hurt it; therefore it must needs be conceived, that I have granted to new, but only to confirm 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 Subject to be trenched upon, and 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, on the Word of a King, ye shall not have the like Cause to complain. But as for Tunnage and Poundage, it is a thing I cannot want, and was [...]ever intended by you to ask, nor meant by me, I am sure, to grant: Nor did the Commons ask any Grant of it, to them, or any other.

To conclude, I command you all that are here, to take notice of [...]hat I have spoken at this time, to be the true Intent and Meaning of [...]hat I have granted you in your Petition, especially you my Lords the Judges, for to you only, under me, belongs the Interpretation of the Laws; for none of the Houses of Parliament, either joint or separate▪ (what new Doctrine soever may be raised) have any Power either to [...]ake or declare a Law without my Consent: And you need not [Page] doubt, but these shall be durante bene placito-men all, who shall not scruple to make the King's Will to be the Subjects Law; and those that will not, shall be none of this King's Judges.

I do not find that the King, before he prorogued them, gave the Parliament any Thanks for the Bill of Subsidies, tho greater than ever was given to any King, as his Predecessors ever did; or if he did, it ill sorted with the Speech he made before. But before we proceed to take a View of this King's Actions in the Interval of this Recess of Parliament, let's a little consider the present State of the King and Kingdom; and herein, who it was the King quarrelled with, and upon what Account, and for whose sake: It was with the Representatives of the Kingdom, who had so obsequiously and unanimously gratified him above what any other House of Commons ever did to any King of England before. The Crimes for which the King inveighed so against them were, for representing their Grievances, and the dangerous and feeble State of himself and the Kingdom; and to represent to him the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom, by taking the Customs, as he did; yet declaring their Readiness to relieve him therein, and to reconcile him to his Subjects. And for whom was it the King thus contended, but for a Favourite, who against the King's Father's Will, and Advice of his Council, without a Declaration or Reason sheed, the next Day after the King's Father's Death (as the Bishop of Litchfield observes) excited him to make War against the King of Spain, and after made the King to dissolve the Parliament, to save himself from being impeached in it? And so he did the second Parliament, and then engaged the King in a War against France, wherein he himself was the Aggressor; and put the King upon those unheard-of ways to support these Wars, that never were practised by any King of England before; and in the ill Management of them, brought greater Loss and Dishonour to the Nation than ever was before: A Favourite, who besides these, brought the Crown to extream Poverty, to support his intolerable Ambition and Avarice.

Here again I cannot but note the miserable State of Princes, who treat their Subjects as Enemies, and their Favourites as their only Friends and Confidents above other Men: for other Mens Enemies are but few, and the rest of Mankind their Friends; but the Majesty, Glory and Honour of a Prince, is founded in the Love and Obedience of his Subjects; and if this be lost, whereto then can a Prince betake himself? What became of Edw. 2. and Rich. 2. (tho two of those four Hereditary Princes, of ten after the Conquest) when they had lost the Love and Obedience of their Subjects? and this Prince, and his Sons after him, made haste to overtake their Fate: Not one many hundreds of private Men, but die a natural Death, but,

[Page]

—Sine Caede & Sanguine, pauci

Descendunt Reges;—

But above all, those of this Scotish Race of Kings, descended from Elizabeth More, which 'tis a question, whether any one of Nine of them in a continued Succession, died a Natural Death.

The Duke of Buckingham upon his Retreat from the Isle of Rhee, promised the Rochellers to send them speedy Relief; and to make good his Word, sent the Earl of Denbigh (his Brother-in-law) with a Fleet to relieve it, now close besieged by the French King; the Earl came before Rochel the first of May 1628, where he found the French Fleet of 20 Sail had blockt up Rochel by Sea; upon the Approach of the Earl, the French retired towards their Fortifications, and anchored within two Cannon shot of the Fleet, and so continued till the 8th of May: the Earl promised the Rochellers to sink the French Fleet, when the Waters encreased, and the Wind came Westerly, it being then neap Tides; but two Days after the Waters did encrease, and the Wind became Westerly, then the Earl being intreated to fight the French Fleet, did not, but weighed Anchor, and came away, only four of the French Fleet at a distance pursuing the English Fleet. Thus was the Duke's Expedition to the Isle of Rhee seconded by this of his Brother-in-law for the Relief of Rochel. I do not find the Parliament took notice of this, but if they had it had been to no purpose; for soon after the Earl's Return, the King resolving not to hear of the Commons Remonstrance [...] against his taking the Customs not granted by Parliament, to which he said, he must have given a harsh Answer, upon the 26th of June, prorogues the Parliament to the 20th of October following, and after by Proclamation to the 20th of January.

To redeem his Brother-in-law's Miscarriage, the Duke in this Recess goes to Portsmouth to command the Fleet there to relieve Rochel, but at Portsmouth he is stabb'd by Felton the 23d of August; yet was the Design pursued under the Command of the Earl of Lindsey, who several times attempted to force the Barricadoes of the River before Rochel, but all in vain; or if he had, it had been to no purpose; for the Victuals wherewith the Rochellers should have been relieved, were all tainted; and 'twas well the French had no Fleet there, for the English Tackle and other Materials were all defective. This was the last Attempt this unhappy [...]ing made, either for the Relief of the poor Protestants in France, or for the Recovery of the Palatinate; for now Buckingham was dead, who put him upon making War with Spain and France, the King as secretly, as before he had done suddenly, made Peace with both Spain and France.

What's now become of the twelve Subsidies, and three Fifteenths [Page] granted to this King's Father, and himself in less than eight years time by Parliament, for Recovery of the Palatinate, besides Loans, Benevolences, Coat and Conduct Money, raised by his Father and himself, without Consent of Parliament? Let any Man shew in any Records of time, that half so much in like time was raised by any of our Kings upon any Occasions, except the Dissolution of Abbeys in Henry the VIII's time: Search all Histories, and find any one Prince so wilfully set to be govern'd by such loose, vain, wild and negligent Councils, as either of these Princes, Father or Son.

Now let's see the Condition of these poor Rochellers, trusting to this Prince and his Favourite; they lived long upon Horse-flesh, Hides, Leather, Dogs and Cats, hardly leaving a Horse alive, still in hopes of the Relief promised from England: they held out so long, till but 4000 of 15000 were left alive; most of them died of Famine, and when they began to be pinch'd with Extremity of Hunger, they died so fast, that they usually carried their Coffins into the Church-yard, and other Places, and therein laid themselves, and died; great Numbers of them being unburied, and many Corps eaten with Vermin, Ravens and Birds, when the French Army entred the Town. The Outrages committed against the Reformed Churches in France were so high, as constrained them to implore King Charles his Aid, in these Expressions, That what they wrote was with their Tears and Blood. But how unhappy soever this Prince's Fate was in War abroad, yet it had been happy for him, if he had not made his Fate worse at home; and now let us see what Steps he made towards it, even in this short Recess of the Parliament's Meeting.

Upon the 15th of July, the King made Sir Richard Weston (who died a declared Papist) Lord Treasurer of England; and the same Day translated Laud, (the Firebrand of the Arminian Faction) to the Bishoprick of London, whose next Step was Arch-bishop of Canterbury; who that he might testify his Zeal to this Cause, which after set all these Nations on Fire, got Richard Mountague to be consecrated Bishop of Chichester, the 24th of August following.

This Mountague was fierce for Arminianism, and wrote a Book, call'd A new Gag for an old Goose; for which he was questioned in the Parliament of 23 Jac. and the Cause was committed to Arch-bishop Abbot, which then ended in an Admonition; and though the Arch-bishop disallowed the Book, and sought to suppress it, yet it was reprinted and dedicated to King Charles under the Title of Appello Caesarem: Hereupon the Commons, 1 Car. questioned Mountague for this, and gave Thanks to the Arch-bishop for what he had done; but this displeased the King, who took the Business out of the Commons Hands: but they had taken Bond of Mountague to appear.

[Page] I desire to be more particular herein, because Arminianism was not only turn'd up Trump for the flattering Clergy to play their Game, but for the Popish Party to undermine the Church of England, as it was established by Law, and the Canons, Doctrine and Homilies of it; and now Mountague's Cause was recommended to the Duke of Buckingham, by the Bishops of Rochester, Oxford, and Laud Bishop of St. Davids, as the Cause of the Church of England. Thus this Cause stood, when the King dissolved the first Parliament the 12th of August, 1625.

But the King's Necessities, as he managed Business, forcing him to call another; before assembled, Laud procured the Duke to sound the King, whether he would leave Mountague to a Trial in Parliament, which the King intended to do; whereupon this pious Man Laud said, I seem to see a Cloud arising and threatning the Church of England; God of his Mercy dissipate it.

Note, that all those who were not of this Faction of Arminianism, were stiled by them Puritans: these Mountague treats with bitter Railing, and injurious Speeches; and inserts divers passages in his Appeal, dishonourable to King James; the Commons therefore prayed that the said Mountague might be exemplarily punished, and his Books supprest and burnt. Yet this is the Saint that Laud in the first Act of his Regency, as it may be called, after he became Bishop of London, must have made Bishop of Chichester, and after Bishop of Norwich. But this is observable, that while Neal and Laud were consecrating Mountague, News came of the Duke's being stabb'd.

This was the first step after Laud's Preferment; the next was a Pardon for Mountague and Manwaring of all Errors by speaking, writing and printing: and you cannot believe that Laud would be less kind to Manwaring than to Mountague; and therefore notwithstanding Manwaring's Censure, he procured Manwaring the fat Rectory of Stamford Rivers in Essex, and a Dispensation to hold it with the Rectory of St. Giles in the Fields.

That you may see the Kindness of this Bishop of London to our Laws in the very Infancy of his Power: When Felton was brought before the Lords of the Council for murdering the Duke; Laud threatned Felton with the Rack, unless he would confess his Inducement for murdering the Duke; but the King then in Council refused till the Judges were consulted, and said if it could be done by Law, he would not use his Prerogative; but though the Judges determined he could not be put to the Rack by Law, the King was graciously pleased not to use his Prerogative, yet this was no thanks to the Bishop of London.

Now let's see the Fruits of the Petition of Right, and the manifold-Declarations of the King for maintaining the Laws of the Land, and the just Rights and Liberties of the Subject; but here [Page] you may understand, that though he had taken the Customs not granted by Parliament, yet by virtue of his Prerogative Royal, he had enhanced the Rates, such as were never granted by any Parliament, and declared it his absolute Will and Pleasure (besides that of Wines) that the 2 s. and 2 d. Duties upon every Hundred of Currants by the Book of Rates, should be advanced to 5 s. and 6 d. in the Hundred.

The first that suffer'd under the King's absolute Will and Pleasure, was Mr. Chambers, who was committed by the Lords of the Council this Michaelmass-Term, and was bailed by the Court of King's-Bench; for which the Judges were check'd, having done it without due Respect to the Privy-Council.

Next, Mr. Vassal's Goods were seized, for not paying the 5 s. 6 d. upon every hundred pound Weight of Currants; upon which the Attorney General, Sir Robert Heath, exhibited an Information against him in the Exchequer; to which Mr. Vassal pleaded the Statute, De Tallagio non concedendo, and that this was neither Antiqua seu Recta Consuetudo: to which the Attorney demurred, and Mr. Vassal joined in the Demurrer; but the Court would not hear Mr. Vassal's Counsel, and said the King was in Possession, and they would keep him so, and imprisoned Mr. Vassal for not paying the Duty thus imposed.

About the same time, the said Mr. Chambers's Goods were seized by the Customers, for not paying such Customs as were demanded by the Farmers: Mr. Chambers sues a Writ of Replevin, the Barons grant an Injunction against it; Mr. Chambers offers to give Security for Payment of such Duties as the Court should direct; which the Court refused, unless he should pay such Customs as demanded by the Farmers; which Chambers refusing, the Court ordered the Officers to detain double the Value of Chambers's Goods demanded by them. The same Course was taken with Mr. Rolls's Goods, though a Parliament-Man; one of the Commissioners saying, Privilege of Parliament extended only to Persons, not Goods: another more boldly told Mr. Rolls, if all the Parliament were in you, we would take your Goods.

These Proceedings so ill sorting with the Petition of Right, the King (as Norton the Printer said) commanded the printing of the Petition, with other Additions, besides the King's Answer; and that he had printed 1500 Copies with the King's Answer, without the other Additions: but these were suppressed by Warrant, and the Attorney General commanded no more should be printed, and those which were should not be divulged. These were the Just and Religious Acts of this pious King: and can any Man believe the Parliament at their Meeting, should without Breach of a publick Trust, sit still, and not represent these things to the King?

[Page] The Parliament did meet according to their Prorogation the 23d of January, 1628. and debated these Practices against Church and State, which hapned since the 26th of June before: but now see the Artifice of this little Prince, rather than hear of any thing in this kind, he commands the Speaker, Sir John Finch (the late Lord Chancellor Finch's own Uncle) to put no Question upon Debates of Grievances. So that the House could do nothing but sit still or adjourn, and this continued till the 2d of March, when the Commons met and urged the Speaker to put the Question concerning Grievances; who answered, I have a Command from the King to adjourn the House till the 10th of March, and put no Question; and endeavouring to go out of the House, he was held by some Members, till the House had made this Protestation.

1. Whosoever shall bring in Innovation of Religion, or by Favour or Countenance, seem to extend or introduce Popery or Arminianism, or other Opinions, disagreeing from the Truth and Orthodox Church, shall be reputed a Capital Enemy to this Kingdom, or Common-Wealth.

2. Whosoever shall counsel or advise the taking or levying the Subsidies of Tunnage and Poundage not granted by Parliament, or shall be an Actor or Instrument therein, be likewise reputed an Innovator in the Government, and a Capital Enemy to the Kingdom and Common-wealth.

3. If any Merchant or Person whatsoever, shall voluntarily yield, or pay the 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.

This Act consisted in two Parts, the Speaker and the House; the Speaker's of three Parts, a Command by the King to put no Question, to adjourn till the 10th of March, and an endeavour to go out of the House. In the former Session of this Parliament, Secretary Cook, the 10th of April, from the King desired the House not to make any Recess those Easter Holy-days, that the World may now take notice how earnest his Majesty, and We were for the publick Affairs in Christendom, which would receive Interruption by this Recess.

To which Sir Robert Phillips answered, that the 12th and 18th Jac. the House resolved it was in their Power to adjourn, or sit; and that this may be put upon them by Princes of less Piety; and that a Committee consider of the House's Right. Sir Edward Coke said, the King makes a Prorogation; the House adjourns it self: That a Commission of Adjournment the House never read, but say, the House adjourns it self; yet here the Speaker verbally says, I am commanded by the King to adjourn till the 10th of March.

[Page] His second Command was to put no Question. So here was a Speaker which might not speak: what did he there then? He sits there by the King in his Highest and Regal Capacity, under the broad Seal, to put the Question; and now if you'll take his Word, he says, he has a Command from the King to put no Question.

The third Act was his Endeavour to go out of the House; which the House, conceiving him to be their Servant, would not suffer.

Here you may understand that the King had privately made Peace with France, though not proclaimed at Paris till June following, and soon after with Spain; so that in his Speech, this meeting he did not begin with, The Times are for Action, and the Eyes of all the World are upon us; and therefore demands Supplies in the first place, but that without loss of Time they would pass the Bill of Tunnage and Poundage: but the House seeing the Dangers of the Church and State, in not only pardoning, but preferring Mountague and Manwaring, and seizing Merchants Goods, and imprisoning their Persons, even in this Recess; they resolve to secure their Religion, and redress Grievances, before they grant the Customs of Tunnage and Poundage: in both they could not but take notice of the Orders of the Star-Chamber, Privy-Council, Judges and Customers. And these were the Invasions upon the King's Perogative Royal, which for the future he resolved never to suffer; yet he shall live to hear more of them.

But in regard it may seem strange, that Customs of Tunnage and Poundage, ever since the Reign of Richard the 3d, had been granted to the Kings and Queens of this Realm, for securing the Soveraignty of the narrow Seas, and of the English Merchants, yet was not granted to this King: The Reason was this, the House of Commons in their Grievances in the two first Parliaments of this King, and the former Sessions of this, complained, that the Duke of Buckingham being Lord High Admiral of England, neglected to guard the Seas, to the Dishonour of the King, and endangering the Trade of England; and feared, if the Duke were not removed, the End designed by the Parliament would be diverted, to supply the intolerable Pride and Luxury of the Duke: but the King rather than endure this, dissolved the two former Parliaments, and prorogued this when they were upon settling the Duties of Tunnage and Poundage.

That the Parliament had Reason for this, it appears in their Charge against the Duke, in the 2d Year of this King, and that in ten Years time he had received of King James and this King 284395 l. besides the Forest of Leyfield, the Profits of the third of Strangers Goods, and the Profits of the Moiety of the Customs of Ireland, besides the Tricks he used to get Money, as he was Lord High Admiral of England and Ireland, Master of the Horse, Lord Warden, Chancellor and Admiral of the Cinque Ports and [Page] the Members thereof, Constable of Dover Castle, Justice in Eyre of all his Majesty's Forests and Chases on this side of Trent, Constable of Windsor Castle, and Gentleman of the King's Bed-Chamber.

To these might have been added the Duke's Venality, in selling all Places in Church and State, at least preferring such Men in Church, as should propagate Arminianism, and such Judges as shall do what the King and he bid them.

Objection. But the Duke was now dead in this Session of Parliament, and so the Reason ceasing, the Duties of Tunnage and Poundage ought to have been granted.

Answer. The King would not suffer the Commons to come at it, neither in the last Sessions nor this: for the Religion of the Church of England, and the Laws and Liberties of the Subject, being so shaken in this Recess, the Commons resolve that Religion shall have the Precedency in their Debates, and make this Vow:

WE the Commons in Parliament assembled, do claim, protest, and avow for Truth, the Sense of the Articles of Religion, which were established by Parliament, in the 13th Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, which by the Publick Acts of the Church of England, and by the general and currant Exposition of the Writers of our Church, have been delivered unto Ʋs. And we Reject the Sense of the Jesuits and Arminians, and all others wherein they differ from us.

But the true Reason why the King would not take the Duties of Tunnage and Poundage from the Commons, was, for fear the Commons should not grant the Duties imposed by his Father, and taken by him; which he was resolved to continue, whether the Parliament would or not.

The House had a Petition from the Printers and Booksellers in London, complaining, that Laud Bishop of London (who had been so but from the 15th of July last) had restrained Books written against Popery and Arminianism, and the contrary allowed of only by him, and had sent Pursevants for many Printers and Booksellers, who had printed Books against Popery; and that Licensing Books, was only restrained to the Bishop of London and his Chaplains, [This is the Patron and Saint-like Martyr of the Church of England] And all this Ado in the House of Commons, was upon Sir John Elliot's Speech against Neal Bishop of Winchester (a zealous Promoter of Arminianism) and Weston Lord Treasurer (a Papist) in whose Person he said, All Evil is contracted, acting and building upon those Grounds, laid by his great Master the Duke; and that his Spirit is moving to these Interruptions, and they for fear break Parliaments, lest the Parliament should break them: That he finds him the Head of all the great Party; That Papists, [Page]Jesuits and Priests, derive from him their Shelter and Protection, &c. But the Speaker upon Motion of the House, refused to put the Question, being he said otherwise commanded by the King: Whereupon the House adjourn'd till Wednesday the 25th, and from thence to the 2d of March; when the Speaker again refused to put the Question, the Success whereof was said before. What now was the Crime of the House? It was their Endeavour to preserve the Religion of the Church of England, and the Laws and Liberties of the Subjects of England; and since the Speaker refusing to do his Office, they could not represent their Duty to the King, they made their Protestation in the Defence of the Church and State: And Masters oft-times upon Disobedience of their Servants, do that which at other times they would not have done.

The King having made Peace abroad, was resolved now to prosecute a vigorous [...]ar at home against those Noble Gentlemen, who in a Parliamentary Way had asserted the established Religion and Laws of England. The Duke of Buckingham, who was stabb'd the 23d of August before, you need not fear, had furnished the King with Judges, Privy-Counsellors, and Star-Chamber-Men, who should do the King's Work; and now let's see the Order and Method by which it was carried on.

Upon this very Day, viz. the 2d of March, a Proclamation was drawn for the Dissolution of the Parliament, but not proclaimed; the King afterwards doing it himself in Person upon the 10th. But next Day Warrants were directed from the Privy-Council for Denzil Hollis, Sir Miles Hobert, Sir John Elliot, Sir Peter Hayman, John Selden, William Coriton, Walter Long, William Stroud, and Benjamin Valentine Esquires, to appear before the Council next day: Mr. Hollis, Sir John Elliot, Mr. Valentine and Mr. Coriton appeared; and for refusing to answer out of Parliament, for what was said or done in Parliament, were committed close Prisoners to the Tower; and Warrants were given for sealing up the Studies of Mr. Hollis, Mr. Selden, Sir John Elliot, Mr. Long, and Mr. Stroud, who not then appearing, a Proclamation was issued out for apprehending of them.

The 10th of March the King comes into the House of Lords, and tells the Reasons of his Dissolution of the Parliament, that it was the undutiful and seditious Carriage in the lower House, but says not wherein; calls them Vipers, who must look for their Reward and Punishment, but promises the Lords the Favour and Protection that a good King oweth to his loving and faithful Nobility: and then the Lord Keeper dissolved the Parliament.

[Page]

CHAP. II.
This Reign detected to the Second Parliament, in 1640.

JUstice like Truth is one, and consists in entire Parts, and will not admit of more or less; but Injustice, like Falshood and Error, is distracted into infinite Discord and Confusion. King James upon the Dissolution of the Parliament of the 12th and 18th Years of his Reign, without any Trial, but only by the Prerogative of his own Will, commits several Members of Parliament to Prison, for presuming to represent the Grievances of the Nation to him for Redress, without Bail or Main-prize: But this King puts a face of Justice upon his fining and imprisoning the Members of Parliament for their Debates and Transactions in it; which was so much worse than his Father's Actions, by how much the affixing a sacred Character to a bad Act (and Justice is sacred) renders the Act so much worse, as Perjury is a greater Crime than simple Falshood; and to murder a Man under pretence of Justice, a greater Crime than simple Murder.

The Members thus close imprisoned, after the Dissolution of the Parliament, viz. in Trinity-Term following, Mr. Selden was brought by Habeas Corpus to the King's-Bench, with the Cause of his Detainer; and also the same day Sir Miles Hobert, Mr. Benjamin Valentine, and Mr. Hollis appeared by Habeas Corpus, directed to their several Prisons, with their Counsel to argue their several Cases. But when the Court were prepared to give their Opinions, the Prisoners were not brought according to the Rule of Court. Then Proclamation was made to the Keepers of the several Prisons to bring their Prisoners, but none appeared: But the Marshal of the King's-Bench said that Mr. Stroud was removed out of his Custody the day before to the Tower, by the King's own Warrant, and so it was done by the other Prisoners. But in the Evening the Judges received a Letter from the King, containing Reasons why he would not suffer the Prisoners to appear, yet that Selden and Valentine should appear the next day; and about three Hours after the Judges received other Letters, that upon mature Deliberation, neither Selden nor Valentine should appear. And the same Term four Constables of Hertfordshire pray'd Habeas Corpus's to several Pursevants, to whom they were committed by the Lords of the Privy-Council, which were granted, but then they are committed to other Pursevants, and so they were upon every [Page] other Habeas Corpus, so that the Constables could have no benefit of them.

The Members as well as the Constables being thus shifted from one Prison to others, to prevent the Returns of their Habeas Corpus's, by special Order from the King, the Attorney-General Sir Robert Heath preferred an Information in the Star-Chamber against Sir John Elliot, and others of the Members therein named, setting forth their Misdemeanours in the late Parliament, and all those Proceedings.

But Mr. Long's Charge was different from those of the other Members, viz. Not for Misdemeanours in Parliament, but that contrary to his Oath, being when he was made Sheriff, and was by his Oath to keep within his County, yet he did come to Parliament and serve as a Member there, and in the time of Parliament resided out of his County.

To this Mr. Long pleaded, that the Oath of a Sheriff to reside in his County, does not exempt him from obeying the King's Commands out of the County when the King requires it, and that by the King's Command in his highest Capacity, he being chosen a Member of Parliament, was obliged as well by the King's Command, as by a Trust reposed in him by his County, to serve as a Member of Parliament; Yet by a Sentence in the Star-Chamber he was fined 2000 Marks to the King, to be imprisoned in the Tower, and to make a Submission.

But the Attorney-General putting the Question to the Judges upon the Proceedings Ore tenus in the Star-Chamber against the Parliament-Men, the Judges held it the juster way not to proceed Ore tenus. And Justice Whitlock did often and highly complain against this way of sending to the Judges for their Opinions beforehand; and said, that if Bishop Laud went on this way, he would kindle, a Flame in the Kingdom.

Mr. Hollis, Selden, Stroud and Valentine, having been brought to the King's-Bench Bar by several Habeas Corpus's, and Cause of their Commitment returned, one on a Warrant from the Council, another on a Warrant from the King for Sedition and Contempts; and whether this was a good Return or not was argued.

The Judges were perplexed about the Habeas Corpus, and wrote a humble and stout Letter to the King, That by their Oaths they were to bail the Prisoners; but thought fit before they did it, or publish their Opinions therein, to inform his Majesty thereof, and humbly to advise him (as had been done by his noble Progenitors in like case) to send a Direction to his Justices of his Bench to bail the Prisoners.

But the Lord Keeper (Coventry) would not acknowledg to Justice Whitlock, who was sent to him from the rest of his Brethren about this Business, that he had shewed the Judges Letter [Page] to the King, but dissembled the matter, and told him that he and his Brethren must attend the King at Greenwich at a day appointed.

Accordingly the Judges attended the King, who was not pleased with their Determination, but commanded them not to deliver any Opinion in this Case without consulting the rest of the Judges, who delayed the Business, and would hear Arguments in the Case, as well as the Judges of the King's-Bench had done, and so the Business was put off to the end of the Term: Then the Court of King's-Bench being ready to deliver their Opinions, the Prisoners were removed to other prisons; and a Letter came from the King to the Judges, That this was done because of their insolent Carriage at the Bar, and so they did not appear.

The Judges of the King's-Bench were sent to by the Lord-keeper to be in London on Michaelmas-day, and the Chief Justice and Justice Whitlock were sent for to the King at Hampton-Court, who advised with them about the imprisoned Members; and upon the first day of the Term Mr. Mason moved for the Members to have the Resolution of the Court: All the Judges declared, that they were contented the Prisoners should be bailed, but that they must find Sureties for their good Behaviour; If this Addition of finding Sureties for the Members good Behaviour were part of the good Offices which the Judges did (as Mr. Whitlock says) to bring the King to heal the Breaches, the Members had little Reason to thank them for their Pains.

Mr. Selden pray'd that his Sureties for his Bailment might be taken, and the Matter of the good Behaviour omitted as a distinct thing: So did the rest of the Members, whereupon the Court remanded them to the Tower; which I suppose is extraordinary, the Court having them in their Power, and the Tower no Prison of theirs in such Cases.

In the same Term the King's Attorney (Heath) exhibited an Information against Sir John Elliot, Mr. Hollis, Selden and Valentine in the King's-Bench, setting forth the Matters in effect as were in the Information in the Star-Chamber: to which the Defendants pleaded to the Jurisdiction of the Court; because the Offences are said to be committed in Parliament, and ought not to be punished in this or any other Court, except the Parliament.

The King's Attorney moved the Court to over-rule the Plea, tho he did not demur to it; but the Court would not, and gave a day to join in Demurrer, and to have the Point argued; and in Hillary-Term the Judges over-ruled their Plea, and the Defendants were ruled to plead further, but they would not; whereupon Judgment was given against them upon a Nihil dicit, That they should be imprisoned, and not delivered till they had given Sureties for their good Behaviour, and made a Submission and Acknowledgment of their [Page]Offences, and they were also fined; and what their Fines were you may read in the Appendix of the first Part of Rushworth's Collections.

But herein the Judges were not all of one piece, for that venerable and honourable Gentleman Sir John Walter, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and who was no Durante bene placito-man, dissented from the rest of the Judges, whereupon the King discharged him from his Place. I have heard my Father say, that when Sir John received the King's Message, he returned Answer, that he was intrusted by the King in that Office, quam diu bene se gesserit, and that the Law was free for any Man to prosecute him if he had ill demeaned himself in it; but to forsake his Station any other way, implied Guilt, which he was not conscious to himself of: and therefore tho the King sent him his Quietus, yet he retained the Perquisites of his Place to his Death.

A little before the Members Sentence in the King's Bench, the King's Attorney exhibited an Information against one Chambers a Merchant, for saying, Merchants have more Incouragement, and are less screwed up in Turkey than in England. Chambers confest the Words, but he spake them of the under Officers of the Customs, who had much wronged him, without reflecting upon the Government; yet the Court fined him 2000 l. and to make a Submission, which he refused as unjust and false.

The Fine was estreated into the Exchequer, where he pleaded Magna Charta, and other Statutes against the Fine, it not being by legal Judgment of his Peers, nor saving his Merchandise: but the Barons would not suffer his Plea to be filed; and afterwards he brought his Habeas Corpus, but the Judges remanded him. Thus you see what Fruits the Petition of Right (passed but the Year before) had, and the King's repeated Declarations to maintain the Laws of the Land, and the Liberty and Property of the Subject.

But if this Prince has not kept his Word for the time past, he will keep it he says for the time to come, in the Declaration he made for the Dissolution of this last Parliament. I do not find the Date of it, yet it begins with the usual Prologue; However, Princes are not bound to give an account of their Actions but only to God. In this the King says nothing of the Eyes of all Christendom being upon him, but tells how the Aids granted this last Parliament were for Payment of his Fleet and Army; and that with part of those Monies he began to supply his Magazines and Stores, and to put his Navy into a constant Form and Order; and that notwithstanding the Provocations of evil Men (whose Punishment he reserves to a due time) he will maintain the Established Religion and Doctrine of the Church of England, and the antient and just Rights and Liberties of the Subject: Yet as he will maintain the Subjects Rights, so he expects that they yield as much Submission and Duty to his Royal [Page] Prerogative, and as ready Obedience to his Authority and Command, as had been performed to any of his Predecessors. Then wills his Ministers not to be terrified by the harsh Proceedings strained against them; for as he will support them by his Authority and Prerogative, so he expects they should obey him, and that he will receive the Customs, and the Duty of Five in the 100; and if any factious Merchants refuse to pay, they shall be assured he will find honourable and just means to support his Estate and Soveraignty, and preserve the Authority God had put into his Hands: and for this, his Subjects ought to acknowledg their own Blessedness, and for the same to be thankful to God, the Author of all Goodness. For this you must take the Prince's Word for the next twelve Years. But being thus great and happy at Home, let's see what is doing Abroad.

The War against France was not more inconsiderately begun about two Years before, than the Peace made with it was secret: The first time it was made known was when the French King besieged Privas, he proclaimed the Peace with his good Brother of England: The Reformed were astonished and confounded, that the King of England, who brought them into the War, should leave them out of the Peace: Hereupon Privas surrenders, so does Castres and Nismes; the great Rohan is forced to submit and disband. The Power of the Reformed thus rooted up; and while the King of England is making War against the Members of Parliament, Richlieu marches with an Army into Italy, and takes Salusses and Pignerol from the Duke of Savoy.

Richlieu having thus secured the King of England, took no less care that the Empire should not put a stop to the swelling Ambition of his Master, and to this purpose enters into a Confederacy with the Protestant Princes of Germany, to call the King of Sweden in to Germany, who next Year entred into it, where, for eighteen Years, the French Protestant Princes joining the Swede, a most dreadful War was raised all over Germany, so as the French had no cause to fear any Danger thence; on the contrary, they took Brisac, and other Places, and had opportunity to wrest Lorain from that Duke.

But King Charles prospering, as he thought, in his Domestick War, having taken more Prisoners in it, (I mean the Members of Parliament, and Constables of Hertfordshire) than his Father and he had done in all their Wars against France, Spain and the Empire, for the recovery of the Palatinate, was very unwilling to enter into a Foreign; and therefore in a kind of petitioning way, sends Sir Henry Vane his Ambassador to the King of Sweden, to take care of the Patrimony of his Brother, but with no better Success, yet in a more rough, scornful and dishonourable manner than his Father's Ambassadors had with the Emperor. But that he might seem to do something, the King sent Marquess Hamilton with [Page] 6000 Men to assist the Swede; who, tho every-where else victorious, yet this Army under Hamilton had worse Success than that under Mansfield, being starved and mouldred away almost to nothing, and yet fought not at all; and being reduced to two Regiments, the King of Sweden would not permit King Charles to name the Officers. [See Whitlock's M. f. 15. and Franklin's, Anno 1630.]

The ill Success of Hamilton's Army put the King out of all Conceit of prosecuting any Foreign War, and therefore wholly makes it his Business to make himself more Absolute at Home. There is but one Rub in the way, viz. the great Prop of the Church, the Arch-bishop of Canterbury, Abbot, a Prelate of most eminent Learning, whose upright Integrity stood as an unshaken Rock against the Innovations both in Church and State, which were now so fiercely push'd on by the Arminians.

I find but little Action in this Year 1631, things were only preparing to what followed; yet altho Arch-bishop Abbot was living, the Torrent run so high in the University of Oxford, that several of the Members were proceeded against and censured for Sermons preach'd against Arminianism, and expell'd the University, and the Book of Sports and Pastimes upon the Lord's-day was republished: Judg Richardson was so hardy as to repress them, but the Bishops took this as an intruding upon the Ecclesiastical Power, and Bishop Laud complained thereof to the King, and the Judg was check'd for it. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 16, 17.

But in the Year 1632, this Reverend Prelate died, and thereby left room for Laud, the Fire-brand of Arminianism, to take Possession. Before we see what follows, let's look back upon what went before: He being of a restless aspiring Temper, in the beginning of King James his Reign got to be Chaplain to Mountjoy, Earl of Devonshire; and to shew he would be great upon any account, he marries the Earl to the Lady Rich, tho her Husband was then alive, and had many Children by her, viz. Robert, then Earl of Warwick, and Henry Earl of Holland: which Act so displeased King James, that the Earl fell into his Displeasure; and tho Laud hanker'd near twenty Years after the Court to get Preferment, principally under the Countenance of Neal Bishop of Winchester, yet the King would never endure to hear of it: But at last, by the Importunity of Neal and others, Williams Bishop of Lincoln, and Lord-Keeper, was prevailed upon to intercede for him without any Success, till at length the Keeper told the King, It would be hard to serve a King who could not forgive one Fault. At last he got the King to prefer Laud to the Bishoprick of St. Davids; but he had not been scarce one Year in his Bishoprick before he became Williams his bitter Enemy and Prosecutor, as you may read in the second Part of the Bishop of Lincoln's Life; and within less than three Years after he became Arch-bishop, got the [Page] Bishop of Lincoln fined and imprisoned, and his Estate to be sequestred by an Order of the Star-Chamber, and at last acknowledged he had never read the Commission by which he acted. These things see in the Bishop of Litchfield, par. 2. fol. 125. tit. 119.

Tho Laud had never read the Commission by which he acted, yet so zealous was he for the Execution of the Sequestration of the Bishop of Lincoln's Estate, that he sends this Warrant to the King's Solicitor (I think Sir John Banks.) ‘It is his Majesty's Pleasure, that you prepare a Commission to the Prebendaries of the Collegiate Church of Westminster, authorizing them to keep their Audits, and other Capitular Meetings at their usual times; and to treat and compound with the Tenants for Leases, and to pass the same accordingly, chuse Officers, and confirm and execute all other lawful Acts, for the good and benefit of the College and said Prebendaries: And to take out the Common or Charter-Seal, for sealing such Leases and Grants as will be agreed upon by the Sub-Dean and the major part of the Prebendaries; and also to pass all the Premisses under the Title of the Dean and Chapter of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster, during the Suspension of the Bishop of Lincoln from the Deanary of Westminster: and for doing whereof, this shall be your Warrant.’ Lambeth-House, 22d of November, 1637. W. Cant. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 25. a.

Whether the King ever granted any such Warrant to W. Cant. non constat; for the King never speaks to his Subjects but either personally in Parliament, or under the Broad-seal, which here does not appear; besides, all Warrants of Courts are signed by the Seals of the Courts, and executed by their proper and sworn Officers, neither of which were W. Cant. or the King's Solicitor. Yet at this rate was this Nation ridden during the Regency of W. Cant.

This Phaeton thus mounted up on high, being the first Peer of England, was yet higher in the King's Favour, than Richlieu was with the French King. But as the Temper of these Princes and their Favourites were different, so had they different Fates: Lewis was steady and true to his Word, from whence he acquired the Title of Just; Charles fickle and unstable, easily put upon things by his Favourites, and as suddenly altering them, and doing quite contrary: from whence it was that Lewis supported the Cardinal in all his Shocks of adverse Fortune, and to the Indignation of his Mother; whereas Charles, in the Adversity of their Fortunes, gave up Laud and all his Favourites as a Sacrifice to their Enemies.

As the Fates of these Favourites were different, so were their Parts, Richlieu's High, Generous, and the ablest Statesman of the Age; Laud's Pedantick and Narrow. After the marrying the Lady Rich to the Earl of Devonshire, he spent his time in seeking [Page] Preferment at Court; and in setting up Factions in the University of Oxford for promoting Arminianism.

Richlieu was a Constant Assertor of the Privileges of the Gallican Church, and a Hater of the Jesuits who bring in Innovations, and exalt a Papal Power above them; whereas Laud, not only brought Innovations into the Church of England, but was the Head of the Arminian Party, under whose Banners the Popish Party sought to undermine and destroy the Church of England.

Richlieu laid the Foundation of the French King's Greatness by Sea and Land; Laud put King Charles upon such Ways, as proved the Ruin of the King, Himself, and the Church and State of England.

But before we proceed herein, let us stay a little and consider the unhappy State of the Education of the Youth of England in Grammer Schools and Universities.

The End designed by God and Nature, by Instruction of Youth, is, to honour and worship God, and how to subsist and converse after they become Men; for without the latter it will be impossible to perform the former. I say, this latter no way conduces to the End, by breeding Youth up in Grammar-Schools, and our Universities: for no Man lives out of Society and Commerce; and every Man stands in need of being supplied by another, in things he stands in want of; so that the great End by Education of Youth, is to instruct Youth how to supply another, so as to be able by another to supply himself of such things as he stands in need of: but this is utterly neglected in Grammar-Schools, and our Universities; and yet double more are bred up in Grammar-Schools, and our Universities, than the Revenues of the Church can maintain; and this Breeding fits Youth for no Conversation and Business, but only puffs them up with a Conceit of their Learning, when they understand not that of all Mankind they are the most unlearned and unfit for any Business.

The Supernumeraries of these unhappy Men, who can get no Maintenance in the Church, and by their Breeding are of no use in Church or State, yet desire to live, but can get no Living, but by nourishing Factions against those who are preferred in the Church and State. Poor Men! they know no better, and if this be taken from them, they know not how to live: From whence it follows, that unless these Supernumeraries be restrained in their Education, which cannot be but by rooting out of Grammar-Schools, and the chopping Logick in our Universities; whereby, I say, no rational Proposition, in any Art or Science, was ever inferred from Aristotle, Descartes, or any since; these Supernumeraries will as necessarily nourish Factions in England, as the Jesuits do here, and in the rest of Christendom.

[Page] Many of these Supernumeraries got their Maintenance by being Chaplains to Noble-men, and Gentlemen; but in both, they regarded more the Humour of the People where they were Lecturers, and Disposition of their Patrons and Patronesses where they were Chaplains, than the Liturgy of this Church.

The Diocess of London was too contracted to restrain the boundless Ambition of this Bishop; for the last Parliament was no sooner dissolved, but Laud presented the King with Considerations, for the better setling Church-Government in both Provinces, of York as well as Canterbury.

The 4th of these was, That a special Charge be given against frequent and unworthy Ordinations; but Latet Anguis in Herba, None shall be worthy but Arminians.

The 5th was, That special Care be had of our Lecturers in every Diocess, which by reason of Pay, are the Peoples Creatures, and blow the Bellows of their Sedition; But if the Bishop will not let them do this, they know no other way to live, and willingly would not starve.

For abating the Peoples Power, the 2d Consideration is, That every Bishop in his Diocess ordain, that every Lecturer do read in his Surplice Divine Service, before his Lecture; which if he does, 'tis twenty to one, those that pay the Lecturer will pay no more: What then becomes of the Lecturer? for there's no other Provision made for him.

The 6th is, That if a Corporation maintain a Lecturer, that he be not permitted to preach, till he take care of Souls within the Corporation: How this can be, I don't understand, unless the Lectu [...]er have a concurring or distinct Power from the Incumbent.

The 7th is, That none but Noble-men, and Men qualified by law, may keep Chaplains. Yet in your Religious Care you take no care how otherways they may subsist.

The 8th is, That Emanuel and Sydney Colleges in Cambridg, which are the Nurseries of Puritanism, may be from time to time furnished with Grave and Orthodox Men for their Governors, viz. Such as shall do the Arminian Work, without any regard to the Statutes of the College.

All these Considerations must be taken for Acts of the Church of England, and a Neglect, or Breach of them, sufficient for an Information in the High Commission, where he is assured he shall shortly judg; and therefore his Majesty in the 9th Consideration, [...] to countenance the High Commission, by the Presence of some of the Privy-Council, at least so often as any Cause of Moment is to be settled.

The 10th Consideration is, That Course may be taken, that the Judges may not send so many Prohibitions; Which if they do from [Page] any of his Censures in the High Commission, he will proceed against them by Excommunication.

Thus you see this Icarus is not only content to take a Flight out of his Diocess, but over the whole Provinces of York and Canterbury in Ecclesiastical Affairs, and extends it as he pleases over the Civil.

These were the Seeds which this Bishop planted while he was Bishop of London; you may be sure he'll reap a good Crop now he's become Metropolitan of all England. During the time of his being Bishop of London, he was look'd upon as the Rising Sun, which the flattering Students in both Universities worshipped; but after he became Arch-Bishop, the Learning of both Universities were Brawls about Arminian Tenents in the Schools and Sermons, The Arminians treating their Opponents with all taunting and reproaching Terms; and if their Opponents retorted, they were had up into the High Commission, where the Arch-Bishop presided, assisted by his Ecclesiastical Judges, and Ministers of the Prerogative Court, and some of his Majesty's Privy-Council; but I do not read of one cited for maintaining Arminian Tenents. It's scarce credible how the Business of this Court, the Star-Chamber, and Council-Table swelled, and what cruel and unheard of Censures were made, especially in the Star-Chamber, against all sorts of People, who did offend either against the King's Prerogative Royal, or the Arch-bishop's Injunctions, which must be obeyed as Articles of the Church of England: The Thunder of them was not restrained within the Bounds of England, but terrified almost all Scotland, who were bitter Enemies to Arminianism.

At this time of day the Court-Bishops disclaimed all Jurisdiction from the King in Bastwick's Censure, who was to pay 1000 l. Fine, to be excommunicated, debarr'd of his Practice of Physick, his Books to be burnt, and his Person imprisoned till he made a Reclamation, and all this for maintaining the King's Prerogative against the Papacy. See Whitlock's Memoirs.

The Bounds of England were too narrow to restrain this Man's Ambition; and therefore before he had been two Months Arch-bishop, viz. the 8th of October, 1633. he advised the King [...] make a Reformation in the Church of Scotland; not by Confe [...] in Parliament, but by his Prerogative Royal: the Beginning [...] this Reformation must begin at the King's Chappel Royal, whe [...] the English Service, the Surplice, and the receiving the Sacrament [...] is enjoined; and that the Lords of the Privy Council, the Lord of the Sessions, and the Advocate, Clerks, Writers to the Priv [...] Signet, and Members of the College of Justice, be commande [...] to receive the Sacrament once every Year in the said Chappe [...] and the Dean to report to the King, who does, or who does [...] obey; and the Arch-bishop had a Warrant from the King, to [...] [Page] Correspondence with the Bishop of Dunblane, and to communicate to him his Majesty's farther Pleasure herein. And so we leave the Affairs of the Church here for a while, and see how Affairs stood in the State since the Dissolution of the last Parliament.

In the last Parliament among many famous Members, Sir Thomas Wentworth and Mr. Noy excelled; Sir Thomas for his admired Parts, and natural and easy Elocution; Noy, as a most profound Lawyer; both zealous Patriots for the Rights and Liberties of the Subject. And upon the 12th of February, 1628. when the Debates for granting Tunnage and Poundage to the King, was in the House of Commons, Mr. Noy argued, We cannot safely give, unless we be in Possession, and the Proceedings in the Exchequer be 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 has 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 King's already, we do not give it: So that these two must be reckoned among those Vipers, which the King declared at the Dissolution of the Parliament, and must look for their Reward of Punishment.

The Reward of Punishment, which these two Vipers had, was, that Sir Thomas Wentworth was made Lord President of the North, and Mr. Noy Attorney General; Sir Thomas strained the Jurisdiction so high, that it proved the Ruin of the Court, and the Rise of the Fame of Mr. Edward H [...]de (after Chancellour of England) for the Speech he made in 1641, against the Abuses committed in it, whilst Sir Thomas was President; and Noy, now he is become Attorney, is become the most intimate Confident of the Arch-bishop, and as forward in Informations in the Star-Chamber, High Commission and Council-Table, as Sir Robert Heath was, who is made Chief Justice in the Common Pleas, to make room for Noy to be Attorney General.

But while the King was erecting this new Principality over his Subjects, which none of his Ancestors or Predecessors before his Father and himself ever pretended to in England; it's fit to look a little abroad, and see how the Case stood there.

The Dutch, the next Year after that his Father had given up the Cautionary Towns, which Queen Elizabeth kept, and delivered up to him by her Death, well knowing the Poverty of King James, and the ill Terms between the King and his Subjects, took the Boldness to fish upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, with their Busses and other Vessels guarded by Men of War, in Defiance of him; and now Grotius (no doubt set on work by some of his Country-men) perceiving how intent King Charles was in erecting his new Dominion over his Subjects, that he became careless [Page] of all his Foreign Affairs, took the Impudence to write a Mercenary Treatise, called Mare Liberum, wherein he will not allow the King to have any Title to the Soveraignty of the British Seas, or his Subjects any more Right to fish in them, than the Dutch, or any other Nation. But how consistible this Treatise is to Truth, Antiquity, the sacred Scriptures, or to Grotius himself, or to the Practice of his Country-Men, is now fit to be enquired into. And since I have as well as I can asserted the Laws and Constitutions of my Country at home, I will with that Sincerity that becomes an English-man, endeavour to vindicate the Honour of it abroad, especially in our King's Soveraignty of the British Seas, which Grotius so absurdly in his Mare Liberum, endeavours to rob them of.

An Answer to Grotius his Mare Liberum, wherein is shewed how often he contradicts himself; how ignorant he is in all Principles and Methods in Reasoning; and how impossibly contrary his pretended Arguments are to Sacred History, and all antient Authority.

But before we enter hereupon, it's fit to see, how the Case stood before Grotius wrote his Mare Liberum, as well in reference to the King of England's Claim, as how the Case stood between the King and Dutch, when Grotius wrote his Mare Liberum.

And that we may avoid the endless Confusions, which Grotius above all other Writers abounds in, I require these Premises.

First, That God made all things in the Waters, as well as upon the Earth, for the Use of Man.

Secondly, That no Man upon the Waters, as well as on the Earth, did live out of Society.

Thirdly, That in Society the Offices of commanding and obeying are necessary.

Fourthly, That Anarchy is as abhorrent among Men upon the Waters, as upon the firm Land; and as impossible for Men to subsist in the one as in the other.

Fifthly, Piracy by Sea, is a Crime equal to Theft by Land.

Sixthly, Killing a Man by Sea, without lawful Authority, is a Crime equal to Murder by Land.

Note, Grotius answers not one of these Principles, nor shews by any Authority, when or where the Dominion of the Seas was by Usurpation: Whereas the contrary has been practised by Kings and States, as old as there are Records of any times; but only feigns Premises, not only contrary to the Authority of sacred History, and all Antiquity, but such as are absurd, blasphemous, and impossible, considering the Nature of Man: But these are not said in his Mare Liberum, but in his Preface and Treatise of War and Peace. So that to have answered these in this Treatise, [Page] would have swelled it to a much greater Bulk than intended; but if God please, I shall hereafter answer these in a Treatise by it self.

The Principles thus premised, we proceed to enquire what Soveraignty the Kings of England have claimed in the British Seas, bordering upon England and Ireland, since that Kingdom became subject to the Crown of England; and leave it to unbiassed Readers, whether the Kings of England claimed any thing contrary to any of these Premises.

The Claims which the Kings of England make to the Soveraignty of the British Seas, are threefold:

1. To protect their Subjects in all their just Employments upon the British Seas, from all Hostility by Enemies; whereof the Fishing in these Seas are the chief.

2. To prevent Hostility by other Nations in these Seas.

3. To receive an Acknowledgment from all Nations for their Protection in these Seas, by striking their Flag in Submission to the King's Men of War which protect them.

By this Dominion of the British Seas, the Kings of England more secure their Subjects from foreign Invasion, than any other Potentates in the World, how great soever their Territories are, can do.

I will not swell this Treatise with what Mr. Selden, Sir John Burroughs, Mr. Camden, and others, have written of the Kings of England being possest of these Rights by immemorial Prescription; and of the Maritime Laws they have made, as well in reference to their Subjects as Foreigners; nor of the Treaties they have made with Foreign Princes, and the Compositions they have made for Licence to fish in the British Seas, before the Dutch Government was formed into States: nor was ever these Rights disputed by any of them, before Grotius did this Year.

Nor is this Dominion in the Seas new in the World, but as old is any Records of Time; for of old the Egyptians, Phenicians, and Athenians enjoyed it, and set Bounds to other Nations, how far they would permit Nations to trade in them.

Sir Walter Rawleigh, in his History of the World at large, sets forth the long Wars between the Romans and Carthaginians, in the first Punick War for this Dominion; and the Romans being often beaten by the Carthaginians, resolved to desist further Contention herein, till they found that it was to little purpose to strive to extend their Dominion by Land, if the Carthaginians were Masters at Sea.

So that the Dominions of the Seas, which beat upon the Shores of Princes, are not new, or only usurped by the Kings of England, but used by other Princes and States of old.

From more antient, to descend to more recent times; the Ve [...]etians claim the Soveraignty in the Adriatick Gulf, tho the Venetian [Page] Territories on either side of it are not one sixth part of it; and cause all Ships, even of the King of Spain and Great Turk, whose Territories on both sides the Gulf are fivefold more than the Ve [...]etians, to pay Customs and other Duties.

In the Year 1630, Mary the Sister of the Queen of Spain being espoused to the Son of the Emperor Ferdinand, the Vice-Roy of Naples provided a great Fleet to transport her to Triesti; but tho the Venetians were involved in a War abroad, and infected with a Plague at home, they would not permit it; but conveyed her by a Fleet of their own. See Jo. Palatius de Dom. Maris, l. 2. c. 6.

In the Year 1638, a Turkish Fleet entring the Gulf without Licence, was assaulted by the Venetian Admiral, who sunk divers of their Vessels, and forced the rest to fly to Valona, and there besieged them, tho the City and Port were in the Dominion of the Great Turk: yet tho a dangerous War was like to have ensued hereon, the Venetians, rather than lose their Dominion, insisted on their Right, and concluded an honourable Peace with the Turk; wherein it was agreed, That as often as any Turkish Vessels did without Licence enter the Gulf, it should be lawful for the Venetians to seize upon them by force, if they would not otherwise obey, (see the Justification of the second Dutch War by K. Charles II. pag. 58) and the Grand Signior prohibits all Nations, except his Vassals, to enter the Euxine or Black Sea, as also the Red Sea.

Dr. Stubbe, in his Justification of King Charles the Second's Dutch War, pag. 126. says the Danes and Norwegians would not permit either Fleming or English to fish near Schetland without Licence previously obtained; and if any presumed to fish without Licence, they punished them with Loss of Life and Limb, and were obliged to repair to Berghen, and pay their Duties into the King's Exchequer there, as appears by the Danish Records, and other Monuments preserved in England: and this avowed to have been practised consantly time out of mind, Ann. 1432.

Afterwards, upon the Marriage of James 3. of Scotland with Margaret the Daughter of Christian 1. of Norway, the Rights of the Fishery upon Schetland was transferred to the King of Scotland and his Heirs, Anno 1470. and William Walwed, a Scots Lawyer, c. 3. de Dominio Maris, says, That in the past Age, after a most bloody Quarrel between the Scots and Hollanders about the Fishery, the Matter was at last composed in this manner.

That in time to come the Hollander should keep at least eighty Miles from the Coasts of Scotland: And if by Accident they were driven nearer by the Violence of the Weather, they paid a Tribute at the Port of Aberdeen before their Return; where there was a Castle built and fortified for this and other Occasions.

Dr. Stubbe says, that Gerard Malinus, a most inquisitive Person, informed him, That after the Agreement between the King of [Page] Scotland and the Hollanders, that the Dutch should not fish within eighty Miles of the Scots Coast, lest the Shoals of Herrings should be interrupted; King James, before his coming to the Crown of England, did let the Fishing upon the Coast of Scotland to the Hollanders for 15 Years: And if this happen'd in the Year 1594, when Prince Henry was born, then in the Year 1609, the Term expired, when King James, by his Proclamation, enjoined the Dutch which fished upon the Coast of Scotland, to take Licences. But certain it is, that the Dutch, to caress King James the more, at the Christning of Prince Henry were his Godfathers, and presented the Prince with 400 Ounces of fine Gold, and a Deed sealed, whereby the Prince was yearly to receive 5000 Florins out of Camp-vere.

Mr. Stubbe says, pag. 131, I believe from Authors truly cited by him, The King of Denmark receives at his Ward-House in the Sound one Dollar for a Licence, and for the Seal, or Rose, a Noble of every Ship; and for every Last of Herrings (being 12 Barrels) one Dollar. In Russia, many Leagues from the Main (or Land) the Fishermen pay great Taxes to the King; and in most places, none but the Natives are permitted to fish; but where the Hollanders are permitted to fish, they pay the tenth Fish to the Emperor. The King of Sweden, amongst the Regalities of that Crown, hath that of the tenth Fish caught in his Seas; or if not that, a Composition for the Fishery: he has also several Districts, Channels, or Veins Royal in his Seas, which are appropriated to his particular Use. Nor is there any Fishing permitted in the open Seas there, but by Leave and Direction of the Governour of the neighbouring Ports.

And Page 132 he says, the same is practised by the King of Portugal in the Kingdom of Algarsues, and the Natives pay a certain Tribute for their Liberty to fish: And in Spain, the Duke de Medina Sidonia does rent out of the Maritime Jurisdiction what he hath in reference to Fishing, for 80000 Ducats of yearly Revenue.

Has not Grotius a fruitful Brain, to find out those Usages by Princes and States, in all Ages, to be Usurpation against natural Right, which lib. 1. sect. 10. tit. 5. de jure Belli & Pacis, is immutable by God himself; and which never any Man before presumed to question? But before we enquire into the Causes from which Grotius assumes to himself a Power, which he denies to be in God Almighty, let's see how the Case stood with the Dutch when Grotius wrote his Mare Liberum, both at home and abroad.

Tho the Seas were free, Jure naturali, as Grotius says, yet I have seen a Dutch Placart, printed the Year before Grotius wrote his Mare Liberum, viz. 1632, and which Grotius might have seen as well as I, wherein the States prescribe when and where the Dutch shall begin and proceed in their Fisheries; and wherein they [Page] forbid the Use of French Salt in all their Fisheries; and that Salts used in all of them shall be three times revised in three several Offices, upon Penalty of Forfeiture of Fish and Salt: which, by Grotius's Doctrine, is an Usurpation of the Natural Right which every Man has in the Sea, and immutable by God himself.

Dr. Stubbe, Page 132, says, That the Fishermen in one Year paid the States 300000 l. for the Herrings and Codfish taken upon the Coasts of England and Scotland; besides the tenth Fish and Cask, paid for Waftage, which comes at least to as much more, which are Duties proper to the Kings of England and Scotland. So that if what the Kings of England ever claimed by immemorial Prescription, be an Usurpation against natural Right, by Grotius's Doctrine, I would be willingly informed by any of Grotius's Disciples, by what Right then do these new States impose these things upon the Dutch, who fish in these Seas.

If the Sea be free, Jure naturali, let any Man shew a Reason, how the Dutch erect their East-India and West-India Companies only to trade in the East-Indies, Africk and the West-Indies, exclusive to the rest of the Dutch, without a Violation of the natural Right of the other Dutch, which Grotius says is immutable by God.

As Grotius's Title, Mare Liberum, is absurd, and contrary to the Practice of his Country-men, so his Manifesto of it is not less arrogant and intolerable, viz. To the Princes and free People of the Christian World, without so much as the Addition of sending greeting. An Arrogance which no Pope ever assumed, yet done by Grotius, an exotick and proscribed Traitor, for raising Arms, and endeavouring to subvert the establish'd Church and State of his native Country.

The Topick whereon he founds his Manifesto is general, and such as no Thief or Rogue ever pleaded to save their Lives; viz. It is an Error not less old than pestilent, which many Mortals, but those especially who most abound in Wealth, perswade themselves that Just and Ʋnjust is not distinguished by its own Nature, but by an empty Opinion and Custom of Men; and that all Right is to be measured by the Will, and the Will by Profit.

But who these are who maintain these Opinions, Grotius names none; if they were his Acquaintance (which I believe none of the Kings or Free People were, except his Country-men were) he should have convinced them to their Faces, and not sneakingly have cavill'd at them behind their Backs. I say, I find this by no Nation or People so much practised as by the Tripolins, Tunis, Algier, and Sally-men, and his Country-men, as will appear: And if this will not oblige all Christian Princes and Free People to abandon all their Rights of Dominion to the Seas, whereof they have been possessed by immemorial Prescription, and leave all free for [Page] the Dutch to do what they please in them, then Grotius is at a Non-plus further to enforce it in his Manifesto: If any Man can find any thing else to do it, let him have it for his Pains, I'll not envy him. But how hainously soever Grotius takes this old and pestilent Error, yet he allows it in himself, L. 1. C. 1. Sect. 10. de Jure Belli & Pacis, where he makes the Original of Human Society and the Law of Nature to be from the Will of Man, and to be immutable by God himself: But of this more shall be said hereafter.

The first Chapter of Grotius his Mare Liberum is, to shew, that Jure Gentium, Navigation is free to all Men every where; and therefore the Dutch may trade to the East-Indies, tho the Portuguez were Lords of the whole East-Indies; but much more it would be unjust in the Portuguez to exclude the Dutch from trading with those People there who have no Dependance upon the Portuguez, and are willing to entertain Trade and Commerce with the Dutch.

Answer, He who accuses another of any Crime, had need take care he be not guilty of the same himself; and if it be so old and pestilent a Crime in Princes and States to claim a Dominion in the Sea, tho enjoyed by Immemorial Prescription, Grotius should have done well to have shewed how his Country-men (the beginning of whose States was in the Memory of thousands then alive) should arrogate to themselves to be Commanders of all the Seas in the World, Protectors of all the Kings and Princes in Europe, and Supream Moderators of all the Affairs of all Christendom, as you may read in William de Britaine of the Dutch Ʋsurpation, pag. 20.

If it be so old and pestilent an Error in the King of England to claim an Acknowledgment of Submission of the Dutch, for the Kings protecting them in the British Seas; how much more pestilent an Error was it for the Dutch, Anno 1620, without any Provocation of the English, and in time of Peace, to seize the Bear and Star, two English Ships, in the Straits of Mallaca, going to China, and confiscated Ships and Goods valued at 150000 l.? See William de Britaine, pag. 18. So that it is by Grotius his Doctrine an old and pestilent Error in the King of England, to protect all Nations in the British Seas from Piracy and Violence, and free to the Dutch to be Pirates in the Indian Seas by a Grant from Hugo Grotius.

If the Seas be free, Jure Gentium, for all Nations to trade with one the other, How then came it to pass, that the Dutch excluded all Nations from trading to Amboyna and Polloroon for Spice, to which they had no Title, but by forcing the English from them in times of Peace, and when they received no Injury from the English, &c. to say no worse?

And if it be so much more injurious for the Portuguez to hinder the Dutch from trading to those Kingdoms and People in the East-Indies, [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] who have no Dependance upon the Portuguez; I would know a Reason why it is not as highly injurious in the Dutch by their Fort Lillo upon the Scheld, to hinder the English and all other Nations from trading to Antwerp, and other Places in the Spanish Netherlands, which have no Dependance upon the Dutch.

Here give me leave to observe, (tho after Grotius wrote his Mare Liberum) That in the Marine Treaty made by King Charles the Second, Anno 1674, it was agreed by the first Article, that the Subjects of the King should with all Freedom and Safety sail and trade in all those Kingdoms and Countries in Peace, Amity or Neutrality with the King, and not be hindred or molested by Military Force, or Ships of War of the Dutch, upon any occasion of Hostility or Difference which now is or hereafter shall be; yet this Treaty was scarce concluded, when the English Ships trading to Antwerp, were stopt by a Dutch Man of War riding before the Fort Lillo, and forced to go back to Flushing or Rotterdam, and there constrained to unlade their Vessels and pay their Customs, and lade their Goods in Dutch Bottoms, and to pay such Fraights as the Dutch pleased to impose upon them, and this Usage notwithstanding this Treaty is still continued. I think a like Instance cannot be given, that ever any King of England served the Dutch or any other Nation so trading in the British Seas.

I do agree with Grotius, that God hath so disposed this our Habitable Globe, that some Places abound with things convenient and necessary for Human Use, which the People of other Places want; and that for the Entertainment of mutual Society and Commerce in all the habitable Places of the World, Accession may be had by Water, which cannot be done by Land; but this cannot be done in a State of Anarchy, or where Men live out of Society; which tho Grotius would have the Dominion of the Sea to be, yet he gives not one Instance of it, nor how it can possibly be: but more of this when we examine Grotius his Original of Human Society in his Treatise, De Jure Belli & Pacis.

The second Chapter of Grotius his Mare Liberum is, that the Portuguez have not right of Dominion to those Indies to which the Dutch trade, by the Title of Invention, or first finding them out.

Answ. They have as good a Title as the Dutch have to their new Batavia, which they filcht from the Natives; or to Amboyna, Polloroon, the Islands of Seran, Nero, Waire, Basingen, Latro, Cambello, Nitto, Larica and Lantare, which they filcht from the English, then at Peace and Amity with them.

The third Chapter is, the Portuguez have no right of Dominion to the Indies by the Donation of the Pope.

Answ. Yet this Title is better than the Dutch have, who have no Donation but by their own Will and Usurpation.

[Page] The fourth Chapter is, the Portuguez have no right of Dominion against the Indians by the Title of War.

Answ. As much as the Dutch have; nor did they ever practise such Barbarities against the Natives and other Nations trading to the East-Indies, as the Dutch have done and yet do.

The fifth Chapter is, that the right of navigating to the Indies, is not proper to the Portuguez by the Title of Occupation; and here Grotius tells you abundance of Fictions of Poets, and Tales of popular Orators, which may serve better for Ballads, than Foundations of a Discourse of this Nature.

Answ. The Portuguez Title herein is better than the Dutch, for they were Occupatants long before the Dutch were, or their Government was form'd into States.

The sixth Chapter is the same with the third, and needs no other Answer.

The seventh Chapter (tho in the Print the third) is, that the right of Navigation is not proper to the Portuguez by the Title of Prescription or Custom.

Answ. As Grotius puts the Case at large, I do not find nor believe the Portuguez ever claimed or pretended to any such Custom or Prescription; so this is a Bag of Clouts of Grotius his own setting up, and he might have saved himself the labour of throwing Stones at it.

The eighth Chapter is, that Jure Gentium, Trade is free with all Men.

Answ. True, but this is in established Governments, and not in a State of Anarchy, and where Men live out of Society, as Grotius drives at.

In the ninth Chapter, Grotius chews the Cud upon what he said Chapter the fifth, and needs no other Answer.

The tenth is the same with the third Chapter.

The eleventh Chapter is, that the Trade with the Indians is not proper to the Portuguez by right of Prescription or Custom.

Answ. This Chapter is more restrained than the seventh, yet it is so large, if you take the Indies, as our East-India Company does, from Cape Bon Speranza to the North of China, including the East of Africk, and both sides of the Red-Sea and Persian Gulph, and the Islands which lie between the Cape of Good-Hope and the North of China, it is more than half the Circumference of the Globe of the Earth: But this is another Bag of Clouts of Grotius's setting up, for I do not believe or find the Portuguez ever made any such Claim, or if they did, it would have been impossible to have maintained it.

The twelfth Chapter is, that the Portuguez endeavour by no Equity to forbid Trade, which if they do, I do agree with Grotius. These Premises thus learnedly established, you need not doubt but that

[Page] The thirteenth Chapter is, that the Dutch have a Right of entertaining Commerce to the East-Indies, as well in Peace and in making Truces, as in War.

Note, I have heard a Story of the Cham of Tartary, that after he has din'd, he gives leave by sound of Trumpet to all the other Princes and Potentates in the World to go to Dinner: so Grotius after he had bound up all Nations at Land by his Civil Compact in his Jus Belli & Pacis, in his Mare Liberum gives the Dutch Liberty to do what they please at Sea, by a Grant from Hugo Grotius.

But I have often wondred what should engage Grotius to write this Treatise of Mare Liberum in favour of his Country-men; for at this time he was a proscribed Traitor by them, and if you'll take his Word, in the Dedication of his Jus Belli & Pacis to Lewis the 13th, he was ill used by them, unless it were as Caius Marius did, after he was proscribed by the Senate to be an Enemy to Rome, refused to enter Rome till his Proscription was revoked by the Senate, which when they met to do, Marius entred Rome and massacred them; so Grotius hoped by this Treatise to have his Proscription reversed, and that he might return home again to set his Countrey-men at Land together by the Ears, and in Tumults, as he endeavoured to have done before.

And if it be true which Grotius says, Lib. 2. cap. 2. de Jure Belli & Pacis, that before the Civil Pact all things at Land were in common; and that no Man had Right to any thing, but that another by the same Right might take it from him, and that the Civil Pact was never of the Sea: Whether this does not justify all Pirates and Robbers at Sea in all their Depredations and Piracies? But because we see but by halves here, we will hereafter examine his Civil Pact, and see how Men by his Reasons come to be bound up by Land and loose at Sea, which neither Mr. Selden, nor any other that I have seen who wrote against Mare Liberum have done. But if it be so old and pestilent an Error in all other Christian Kings and States, to assert their Rights and Dominion upon the Seas, Grotius, if he had had any Ingenuity, should have admonished his Country-men to have avoided this old and pestilent Error before he charged all other Christian Princes and States with it, but of this he says not one word.

But to return; Noy, how zealous soever he was against granting the King Tunnage and Poundage, he must now find a way how the King may raise Ship-money, besides Tunnage and Poundage not granted by Parliament, nor Ship-money neither: The Ground-work was, that the King was in great danger by Pirates, and the King sole Judg of the Danger: He had finished the Work, but liv'd not to see it put in Execution, for he died the 9th of August, 1634, to the great regret of the Arch-bishop.

[Page] In September following Sir Edward Coke died, but upon his Death-bed Sir Francis Windebank, Laud's old Friend, by an Order of Council came to search for seditious and dangerous Papers, by virtue whereof he took Sir Edward Coke's Comment upon Littleton, and the History of his Life before it, written with his own Hand, his Comment upon Magna Charta, &c. the Pleas of the Crown, and Jurisdiction of Courts, and his 11th and 12th Reports in Manuscript, and I think 51 other Manuscripts, with the last Will of Sir Edward, wherein he had for several Years been making Provisions for his younger Grand-Children: the Books and Papers were kept till seven Years after, when one of Sir Edward's Sons in 1641, moved the House of Commons, that the Books and Papers taken by Sir Francis Windebank might be delivered to Sir Robert Coke, Heir of Sir Edward, which the King was pleased to grant, and such as could be found were delivered; but Sir Edward's Will was never heard more of to this day.

I do not find that the Arch-bishop was the first Mover of this, nor do I find the like was ever done before the Arch-bishop was Primier Minister of State; yet this I find, that Windebank was found to be one of the Fomenters for carrying on the Popish Design with Con Cardinal Richlieu's Chaplain, in the Year 1640.

Sir Edward is removed by Death in September, and Sir Robert Heath in October is removed from being Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas, to make room for Sir John Finch, as Heath before had been made Chief Justice to make room for Noy to be Attorney-General: You need not fear but that Sir John Finch (now a Favorite of the King and Queen and Arch-bishop) who could put no Question when he was Speaker, shall without Question judg Ship-money to be lawful, whatever Magna Charta, or Petition of Right says to the contrary: Nor shall he stay here, but be the prime Agent in breaking through the Bounds of Charta de Foresta, by enlarging the Limits of the Forests, so as no Man, if the Parliament in 1641 had not prevented it, could tell where it would have stopped. But this was not all the Reason why Heath was turn'd out and Finch put in, it was Kilvert's Pleasure, one of Laud's Instruments, to ruin his Patron the Bishop of Lincoln, as you may see in the second Part of his Life, fol. 118. tit. 113. and it exceeds all Belief, by what execrable means Laud, by Finch, Kilve [...]t and Windebank, conspired the Ruin of the Bishop of Lincoln, if so grave an Author as the Bishop of Litchfield had not reported it in the Bishop of Lincoln's Life. See the second Part, fol. 138.

The Writs for Ship-Money are now issued out; the Proceedings against the Officers for not collecting the Assessments, as Constables, Bayliffs, and other Officers, were to bind them over to answer at the Council-board, and Commitment, if any refused to give Bond; but if Sheriffs neglect to collect all such Assessments in their [Page] Year, they shall stand charged with the Arrears. Thus things at present stood, but the breaking the Bounds of the Forests was but in Embrio, yet in a hopeful Production.

Thus things stood in the State about the end of the Year 1634. In the Church the Arch-Bishop had the sole Supremacy, not only in England, but in Scotland, having got a Warrant from the King to hold Correspondence with the Bishops; and also in Ireland, being chosen Chancellor of the University of Dublin, and having got Sir Thomas Wentworth to be Lieutenant of Ireland, who was now as much his intimate Confident as Noy was before.

In England, the Arch-bishop's Injunctions for wearing the Surplice, receiving the Sacrament kneeling, and placing the Communion-Table Altar-ways, and railing it about, &c. were vehemently prosecuted, with the opprobrious Names of Puritan and Schismatick fixed upon Nonconformists, with Deprivations and Censures upon Lecturers and Chaplains who refused to come up to them; if they did, they must forsake their Patrons, Patronesses and Flocks who provided them Bread, so that they contended pro Aris & Focis, and otherways no Provision was made for them. On the contrary, they retorted on the Bishops and promoted Clergy with bitter Terms of Popishly affected, and Rags of Superstition and Idolatry; so that the Contentions all over the Kingdom were as fierce as in the Universities.

But it had been happy for this Nation, if the Effects of these Contentions had been terminated in the Bounds of it: For the Arch-bishop in his Metropolitan Visitation this Year 1634, summoned the Ministers of the Dutch and French Churches to appear before his Vicar-General, where all the Natives, viz. born in England, were enjoined to repair to their several Parish-Churches to hear Divine Service and Sermons, and perform all Duties and Payments required in that behalf.

The Descendants of those Walloons persecuted by Alva, and of the French by Henry II. of France, had for near ninety Years been allowed their several Congregations by Queen Elizabeth, King James I, and had the Royal Word of King Charles for enjoying of them: But now at once they must be turn'd out of them.

When these Injunctions were to be put in Execution at Norwich, the Dutch and French Congregations petitioned Dr. Matthew Wren, that these Injunctions might not be imposed upon them; but finding no Relief, appealed to the Arch-bishop, who return'd a sharp Answer, that unless they would submit, he would proceed against them according to the Laws and Canons Ecclesiastical.

Here take notice, that as the Spanish Trade was the most enriching Trade to this Nation; so the Trade to Hamburg, and the Countries and Kingdoms within the Sound with our Woollen Mafactures, was the best the English had for Employment of People [Page] Shipping and Navigation: The Company which traded into the Sound, was called the East-Country Company, and Queen Elizabeth, and after her King James, to honour them, called it the Royal Company.

This Trade the English enjoyed time out of mind; and the Cloths which supplied it, were principally made in Suffolk and Yorkshire: And Ipswich as it was the finest Town in England, and had the Noblest Harbour on the East, and most convenient for the Trade of the Northern and Eastern Parts of the World, so till this time it was in as flourishing a State as any other in England.

The Bishop of Norwich straining these Injunctions to the utmost, frighted thousands of Families out of Norfolk and Suffolk into New-England; and about 140 Families of the Workers of those Woollen Manufactures, wherewith Hamburg and the Countries within the Sound were supplied, went into Holland; where the Dutch, as wise as Queen Elizabeth was in entertaining the Walloons persecuted by the Duke of Alva, established these English Excise-free, and House-Rent free for seven Years; and from these the Dutch became instructed in working these Manufactures, which before they knew not: The Consequence whereof shall be shewn hereafter.

But the Care of the Arch-bishop for Reformation of the Church of Scotland, was not less than for that of England; and to that end got the King to sign a Common-Prayer Book for the Use of the Church of Scotland; and gave order to the Bishops there, to compile certain Canons for the Government of the Church, and there to be imposed by Regal and Episcopal Authority; and to this end Laud held Correspondence with the Arch-bishop of Saint Andrews, and other Bishops of Scotland.

Whilst these things were brewing in England and Scotland, you need not fear Ireland, now Sir Thomas Wentworth was Lieutenant there: a most dreadful War overspread Germany; and Philip the 4th, a weak lascivious Prince, reigned in Spain, so as Richlieu had a fair Opportunity to subdue Monsieur the King's Brother, and overthrow the Forces raised by the Duke of Momerancy, to assist Monsieur; wherein the Duke was unhappily taken Prisoner, and had his Head cut off, being a young Prince of greatest Hope, the most antient of the French Nobility, and the last of his Line.

But the Cardinal did not rest here, but built more and better Men of War than had been before in France, and Spain shall first find the Force of them, in return of their Kindness in joining their Fleet with the French, in relieving St. Martins in the Isle of Rhee, besieged by the English: And this Year 1634, Richlieu trickt Charles Duke of Lorain out of his Dutchy; and the next, the [Page] King of France proclaims open War against Spain by Sea and Land; and in 1638 (ten Years after the Spaniards joining with the French against the English) the French besieged Fontaraby by Land, which the Spaniards intending to relieve by Sea, the Spanish Fleet is encountred by the French, and beaten; the French took eleven great Ships, whereof six of them were richly laden for the Indies, and burnt two Gallions upon the Stocks, and six others entirely finished: In the Ships taken, besides their Equippage, and other Ammunition of War, the French took an incredible Number of Cannons, 100 whereof were Brass, with the Arms of the House of Austria upon them. Afterward, the French and Spanish Fleet fight in the Mediterranean Sea, where the Spaniard is again beaten by the French; and by Land the French take from the Spaniard Landrecy, Beaumont, and de la Valette in the Spanish Netherlands; Perpignan (the Key of Spain, on the Foot of the Pyrenean Hills) in the Country of Rousillion; and Barcelona, a good Port, and the capital City of Catalonia.

In England, this Year 1635, there was great Contrivance between the Arch-bishop Laud, and Bishops of Scotland, how to erect a High Commission Court in Scotland by the King's Authority, without Consent in Parliament, for proceeding against such as would not submit to the Common-Prayer Book, and Canons enjoined by the King, and Bishops of Scotland; and upon the 28th of February, the Arch-bishop consecrated Dr. Manwaring Bishop of St. Davids, a worthy Successor to so Saint-like and pious a Predecessor; for this Bishoprick was Laud's first Preferment.

You have seen his Grace of Canterbury's Temper towards the King's Subjects; now see how it was towards the King. His Grace being as high as England could admit, viz. Metropolitan, and first Peer thereof, would visit both Universities by his Metropolitan Right, and not by Commission from the King, and signified so much to both; to which both answered, That to admit it without a Warrant from the King, was a Wrong to the Ʋniversities; his Grace was Chancellour of Oxford, and the Earl of Holland of Cambridg. The Cause came to a hearing before the King and Council, the 21st of June, 1634; where the Attorney General Banks was for his Grace against the King, Mr. Gardener, the Recorder of London, [...]or Cambridg, and Serjeant Thyn for Oxford, the Cause was shortly this.

Both sides agreed in this, that both Universities were of the King's Foundation, and so might be visited, as they had often been, by Commission from the King: But this would not do with his Grace, he would, to use his own Words, visit by his own Right.

[Page] Serjeant Thyn urged against this, the King's Foundation of the University of Oxford, and that never any Arch-bishop so visited: But the Recorder could not say so of Cambridg; which happened upon this Occasion. In the Reign of Richard the 2d Wickliff's Doctrine prevailed much in both Universities; and Arundel, then Arch-bishop of Canterbury, (as zealous to suppress the Wicklevites, as Laud was the Puritans) to suppress them did visit Jure Metropolitano; but Oxford opposed him forti Manu: Upon this Arundel appeals to the King, who being a weak Prince, and as zealous for the then Church, as King Charles was for Laud's, declares the Right to be in the Bishop; so did Henry the 4th, the Current running against Wickliff, which was after confirmed in Parliament; but Cambridg was not in it: Yet never before did any Arch-bishop visit Oxford, nor Cambridg, since the Year 1404, Jure Metropolitano, as his Grace would do; and so the Cause went for the Arch-bishop.

Plum'd thus in his own Feathers, all black and white, without one borrowed from Caesar, whereby the more he assumes to himself, the less he leaves the King, he now soars higher; the Bishops of the Province of Canterbury, in their own Names, enjoin the Removal of the Communion Table in the Parish-Churches and Universities, from the Body of the Church or Chancel, to the East of the Chancel, and cause Rails to be set about the Table, and refuse to administer the Sacrament to such as shall not come up to the Rails, and receive it kneeling; that the Book of Sports on Sundays be read in Churches; and enjoin Adoration.

I do not find that Adoration was ever enjoined before, nor any of the fore-named Injunctions in any Canon of the Church; sure I am, they were never publickly put in Execution: so that whether these were any of the Canons of the Church or not, was not understood by one of 10000; and the Lecturers, Chaplains and School-masters, who had no Maintenance from the Church, being principally struck at by these Injunctions, make all the sinister and worst Constructions they could invent against them; so that though those Injunctions had been founded in the Canons of the Church, yet the contrary was believed, and so had the same Effect as if they had not been founded in the Church-Canons.

Here I cannot omit one Passage; That several were deprived by the Bishop's Authority, for refusing to read the Book of Sports on Sunday: Whereas King James the 2d allowed the seven Bishops a legal Trial for refusing to enjoin the Clergy to read his Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, and the Bishops were acquitted.

That the Legality of these Proceedings might be manifest, a Proclamation was issued out, that it was the Opinion of the Judges, that the Act of the 1 Edw. 6. 2. which ordains that Bishops [Page] should hold their Ecclesiastical Courts in the King's Name, or by Commission from him, was repealed by the 1st of Queen Mary; though this Act was repealed by the 1 Jac. 25. and so the Act 1 Edw. 6. 2. was revived, and so resolved upon a full Debate in Parliament 7 Jacobi.

The Thunder of those Canons, the terrible and unheard of Execution of them in the Star-Chamber against all Opposers, by Speech or Writing, so terrified the Puritans which would not submit, that incredible Numbers of them left the Kingdom, to inhabit in foreign Plantations, especially in New-England, where these Ecclesiastical Canons could not well play upon them. But to restrain the further Evasion of them, the King by Proclamation, the 30th of April, 1638, stops all the Ports of England, to keep them in it: The Reason was, no doubt, that they might be better instructed in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England here, than elsewhere.

But Ship-Money, notwithstanding my Lord Keeper Coventry's Charge to the Judges last Year, that in their Circuits they should give Charge how justly the King required Ship-Money for the common Defence, and with what Alacrity and Chearfulness they (the Subjects) are bound in Duty to contribute; yet this did not pass-for true Doctrine with all▪ for Mr. Hambden upon Advice with Holborn, St. John, and Whitlock, denied the Payment, whereupon several other Gentlemen refused also.

Hereupon the King was advised by the Lord Chief Justice Finch to require the Opinion of his Judges, which he did in a Letter to them; and after much Solicitation by the Chief Justice, promising Preferment to some, and highly threatning others whom he found doubting, he got from them in Answer to the King's Letter and Case, their Opinion in these Words.

We are of Opinion, that when the Good and Safety of the Kingdom in general is concerned, and the whole Kingdom in danger, you may by your Writ under the Great Seal of England, command all your Subjects of this your Kingdom, at their Charge, to provide and furnish such number of Ships, with Men, Victuals and Ammunition, and for such time as your Majesty shall think fit, for the Defence and Safeguard of the Kingdom from Peril and Danger. And that your Majesty may compel the doing thereof in case of Refusal or Refractoriness. And we are also of Opinion, that in such Case your Majesty is sole Judg, both of the Danger, and when, and how the same is to be prevented and avoided.

This Opinion was signed by Davenport, Denham, Hutton, Croke, Trevor, Bramston, Finch, Vernon, Berkly, Crawley, and Weston. See Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 24.

The King having previously extorted the Judges Opinions exparte, gave order for the Proceedings against Mr. Hambden in the [Page] Exchequer, where he pleaded; and the King's Counsel demurring, the Point in Law came to be argued on both sides. Mr. Whitlock has a remarkable Passage of Judg Croke, concerning his Opinion in the Case, of which he speaks knowingly, viz. that the Judg was resolved to give his Judgment for the King, and to that end had prepared his Argument; yet a few Days before he was to argue, upon some Discourse with some of his nearest Relations, and most serious Thoughts of the Business, and being heartned thereto by his Lady, who was a good and pious Woman, told her Husband upon this Occasion, That she hoped he would do nothing against his Conscience, for fear of any Danger or Prejudice to him or his Family; and that she was content to suffer Want, or any Misery with him, rather than be an Occasion for him to do or say any thing against his Conscience or Judgment.

Upon these and many the like Incouragements, but chiefly upon better thoughts, he suddenly altered his Purpose and Arguments, and when it came to his turn, contrary to Expectation, he argued and declared his Opinion against the King; and so did Judg Hutton after; however the rest of the Judges gave their Opinions against Mr. Hambden.

However the King this Year, to sweeten the Judges Opinion for levying Ship-Money, set out a Navy of sixty Men of War to disturb the Dutch Fishing on the Coasts of England and Scotland, under the Command of the Earl of Northumberland, who seized and sunk several of the Dutch Busses; whereupon they sued to the King for leave to fish, promising to pay an Acknowledgment of 30000 l. per Annum. But this ill agreed with the King's Reason for levying Ship-Money, which was, that Pirats infested our Coasts to the indangering the Safety of the Nation. See William de Britaine, f. 16, 17.

But if the Dutch were thus bold upon our Coasts, by the Liberty granted them by Hugo Grotius, they were much bolder in the East-Indies, where they stile themselves Soveraigns of all the Seas in the World; for Anno 1620, they seized upon two Ships of the English called the Bear and the Star, in the Straits of Mallaca, going to China, and confiscated Ships and Goods valued at 150000 l. I suppose Grotius could not give a like Instance of any Dutch Ships so used for passing through the Channel; and last Year, viz. 1635, an English Ship called the Bona Esperanza going towards China by the Straits of Mallaca, was violently assaulted by three Dutch Men of War, the Master and many of the Men killed, and the Ship brought into Mallaca, and there the Ship and Goods were confiscate valued at 150000 l. and this very Year the Dragon and Katherine two English Ships of Sir William Courten, valued at 300000 l. besides the Commanders and others, who had great Estates in them, were set upon by seven Dutch Men of War, as [Page] they past the Straits of Mallaca from China, and by them taken, the Men tied back to back, and thrown over-board, the Goods taken out of the Ships, which were sunk, and seized for the State.

The State and Church of England thus established in Doctrine and Discipline, the Arch-bishop's next Care was, to have the same in Scotland; and herein he was so absolute, that the King told the Marquess Hamilton, when he was his Commissioner in Scotland, that the Arch-bishop was the only English-man he entrusted in the Ecclesiastical Affairs in Scotland: and no Care need be had of the Church of Ireland, since my Lord Viscount Wentworth was Lieutenant there, who, to all Intents, pursued the Arch-bishop's Instructions. Here let's see how the Church stood in Scotland, before the Arch-bishop undertook to reform it.

James the 5th of Scotland died the 13th of December, 1542, leaving only one Daughter, Mary, but five Days old, by Mary of Lorain his Wife, Sister to Francis Duke of Guise, and Charles Cardinal of Lorain, two the most powerful Princes in France, after King Henry the 2d, and the most zealously addicted to the Popish Religion.

After the King's Death, Cardinal Beaton got a Priest (Henry Balfour) to forge the King's Will, whereby the Cardinal, the Earls of Huntley, Argile and Murray, were to have the Government during the Queen's Minority; but the Nobility not believing it, chose the Earl of Arran Governour; and Henry, the King of England, desiring to unite the Kingdoms, by marrying his Son Edward with the Infant-Queen, sent a solemn Embassy to the Governour and Council of Scotland, to consent to this Marriage, which was done, only the Queen Dowager, and the Cardinal dissenting; and this was confirm'd by the Parliament convened at Edinburgh the 13th of March following: Yet the Queen-Mother and Cardinal got the Queen to be married to Francis the Dauphin, Son of Henry the 2d of France.

In this Parliament the Scots were permitted to read the Scripture in the English Tongue, till the Prelates should publish one more correct. But in the Year 1559, the Scots began their Reformation in Religion at Perth: the intervening Accidents of the Scots Endeavours to reform, and the Opposition by the Regent, the Cardinal, and the Prelates, you may read in Bishop Spotswood's History of the Church of Scotland, and Sir James Melvil's Memoirs.

To suppress the Progress of this Reformation, the Queen-Mother, who was Regent, calls in an Army and Navy of French to oppose them: The Reformers call in an Army and Navy of English; the English Fleet fire the French Ships in their Harbour, and compel the French to leave Scotland; and in 1560, the Queen Regent died, leaving Scotland in a kind of Interregnum.

[Page] In August following, a Parliament convened at Edinburgh by a Warrant from the King and Queen, wherein the Mass and Popery were suppressed, and the Reformation of the Kirk of Scotland in Doctrine and Discipline established; but the King and Queen, now of France as well as Scotland, refused to confirm either; nor was this Kirk-Doctrine and Discipline confirmed till the Queen was deposed, and Murray made Regent in 1567.

The Reformation was purely after the Mode of Calvin, and Church of Geneva; a Common-Prayer was ordained, not strictly to be observed, but as a Pattern of Prayer: In it were ordained four sorts of Assemblies, viz. National, Provincial, Weekly Meetings of Ministers, and the Eldership of every Parish.

Superintendents were likewise established, whose Office was to visit the Kirk within limited Places; these had Power to cite and deprive Ministers, but must be assisted by some grave Ministers next adjoining, as also to ordain Ministers.

But the Hierarchy of the Church of Scotland, as they were esteemed one of the States in Parliament, was not then, nor after taken away by Parliament, nor their Power of Ordination and Visiting within their Diocesses; yet in Visitation and Ordination the Superintendents had a concurring Power with the Bishops, and the Bishops were subject to be cited and proceeded against for Scandal, neglect of their Office, Symony, &c. by the General Assemblies.

This Reformation, viz. 1581, was subscribed by King James and all the Houshold, and afterward King Charles in 1633, being crowned at Edinburgh, where the Form ordained by the King was observed, and the King swore to observe the Reformation as it then stood: But some Alterations were made by King James in 1610, and by the five Articles of Perth, in favour of the Bishops, and more conformable to the Church of England.

King James, who loved the Presbyterians in Scotland no better than the Puritans in England, Anno 1610, called a General Assembly at Glascow, wherein these Conclusions were enacted.

1. That the Indictions of General Assemblies belong to the King by the Prerogative of his Crown.

2. That Synods be kept twice in the Year, to be moderated by the Arch-bishop and Bishop of the Diocess.

3. That no Excommunication or Absolution be pronounced without the Knowledg and Approbation of the Bishop of the Diocess.

4. That the Presentation of Benefices for the time to come by Death or Lapses be directed to the Arch-bishop or Bishop of the Diocess.

5. That in Deposition of the Ministers, the Bishop do associate himself with some of the Ministers within the Diocess.

[Page] 6. That every Minister at his Admission do swear Obedience to his Majesty and his Ordinary.

7. That the Visitation of the Diocess be made by the Bishop himself; but if the Diocess be too great, by such a worthy Minister of the Diocess as the Bishop shall appoint.

8. That no Convention of Ministers be moderated by the Bishop, or a Minister named by him: No Minister to speak against any of these Conclusions.

This Year also King James, not well pleased with Presbyterian Ordination, caused the Arch-bishop of Glascow, the Bishops of Brichen and Galloway, to be re-ordained in England by the Bishops of London, Ely and Bath; and also erected a High Commission in Scotland for ordering Ecclesiastical Affairs, which you may read in Spotswood's History of the Church: and all these were ratified by the Parliament holden at Edinburgh, 1612.

But King James did not stay here, but propounded to have these five Articles to be passed the General Assembly in Scotland.

1. That the Sacrament be received Kneeling.

2. That the Sacrament be not denied Dying Persons desiring the same.

3. That Baptism be not deferred longer than till next Sunday after Birth, unless there be reasonable Cause to the contrary.

4. That apposite Sermons be made upon the days of Christ's Birth, Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, and sending the Holy Ghost.

5. That the Minister in every Parish catechize Children, so as to be qualified to be confirmed by the Bishop in his Visitation.

These five Articles with some Difficulties passed the General Assembly at Perth, 1618, which were agreed to by a Parliament convened at Edinburg, 1621.

Thus the Church stood in Scotland when the Arch-bishop Laud would make it conformable in all Points to that he was now establishing in England. The first Step he moved herein, was by preferring the Bishops in Scotland in almost all Preferments before the Nobility; so that of thirteen, nine were Privy-Counsellors, and Spotswood, Arch-bishop of St. Andrews, was Chancellor, and others were of the Exchequer; and Maxwell, Bishop of Ross, contended with the Earl of Traquair to be Lord-Treasurer; and were Sticklers to have Tithes, and Impropriations, and the Abbots Lands to be restored to the Church; and the Weekly Meetings of the Ministers are termed Conventicles by the Bishops. Tho the Doctrine of the Church of Scotland were Calvinism, yet all Countenance and Encouragement by the Bishops were given to the Professors of the Arminian Tenets: So that the Brawls and Contentions [Page] about them were as high in the University of St. Andrews, as in Cambridg and Oxford.

There had not been one General Assembly since that of Perth 1618, when in 1637 the Common-Prayer, Canons, and High-Commission were imposed by the King's and Bishop's Authority; and besides the High-Commission, the Bishops had Warrants from the King, to grant Commissions in their several Diocesses, to name Assessors, Ministers and Gentlemen, which might punish Offenders. And tho the Common-Prayer, mutatis mutandis, was the same with the English, yet in the Administration of the Sacrament the Form was the same in the Mass, without the Exhortations in the English Common-Prayer.

The first Trial how passable they would be was upon Easter-day, the Service was read at Edinburgh, when no Tumult followed; but when it was next read, the 23d of July following, all the City was in an Uproar, and the next day the Lords of the Council issued out a Proclamation to discharge the Tumults of the People upon pain of Death; yet divers Ministers at Edinburgh opposed the reading of the Common-Prayer, and petitioned the Council against it.

Harvest coming on, all things seemed quiet, but at the end of it Edinburgh swelled with all sorts of People: the Council fearing whereto this Concourse would tend, by three Proclamations commanded all sorts of People (not Inhabitants, or not having Business) to depart upon Penalty of Horning and Rebellion: Instead of Obedience, the Women and Children petition the Council against the Common-Prayer-Book, and soon after the Noblemen, Barons, Ministers, Burgesses and Commons; which were sent to the King, who commanded the Privy-Council to signify his Majesty's Aversness to Popery and Superstition. In this Confusion the Earl of Traquair Treasurer, and Roxborough Privy-Seal, go to the King for Instructions how to proceed; their Instructions were to remove the Session or Term to Sterling, and by Proclamation to forbid all Persons coming to Sterling, unless they declare the cause to the Council, and procure a Warrant for the same upon Penalty of High-Treason.

This Proclamation was encountred by a Protestation of Noblemen, Barons, Ministers and Burgers at Edinburgh, against the Roman Idolatry and Superstition, the Common-Prayer-Book, Canons and High-Commission: And they enter into a solemn Covenant to maintain the Confession of Faith, subscribed by the King's Father and his Houshold, 1580, and after by all Ranks of People, 1581, to which they swear a mutual Defence of one another against all Opposers; and to this purpose they erected Tables or Persons to take Subscriptions of all sorts of People.

[Page] Traquair could not stem the Tide, and so acquainted the King herewith, who sends the Marquess Hamilton his Commissioner, with Instructions one way or other to compose these Disorders. When he came into Scotland, he first demanded of the Covenanters what they required of the King for accommodating their Grievances. Secondly, What might be expected from them for returning to their former Obedience, especially renouncing their Covenant. But nothing would content them but a General Assembly and free Parliament: they forbid him the use of the Common-Prayer in the King's Chappel, and admonish him and the Council to subscribe their Covenant. These Proceedings running so high, the Marquess durst not pursue his Instructions, being sure they would be affronted.

The Marquess gives the King an account of these things, and desires further Instructions, which were to gain time till the King could get a Fleet and an Army in readiness to compel the Covenanters to Obedience, but not to consent to the calling of a Parliament or General Assembly till the Covenant be given up; that now his Crown and Reputation for ever lies at stake; that he had rather suffer the first, which time would help, than the last, which is irreparable; that the Explanation of the damnable Covenant makes him to have no more Power than a Duke of Venice, which he will rather die than submit to: Yet without dying he did submit to the Revocation of the Service-Book, Canons, High-Commission, and the Articles of Perth, forsakes the Bishops, and by a Proclamation, Sept. 22, 1638, commands the Covenant to be subscribed by the Privy-Council and all his Scotish Subjects; but this would not content the Covenanters, because it came not from a General Assembly, and because the Band of mutual Defence was not in the Proclamation.

Having gone thus far, there was no going back, and the King's Army and Navy was not yet ready, the King therefore indicts a General Assembly to be held the 21st of November 1638, at Glasgow, and a Parliament to meet at Edinburgh the 15th of May following.

The General Assembly met accordingly, but the Marquess and the Assembly were at Variance about the Elections and Votes of the Lay-Elders, and the Bishops sitting in the Assembly, and the Votes of the King's Assessors in it: But what the Marquess would have, the Covenanters would not, whereupon the Marquess on the 28th dissolves the Assembly upon Penalty of High-Treason.

The Covenanters and General Assembly protest against this Dissolution, and sit notwithstanding, yet profess all Duty and Obedience to the King in its due Line and Course, which in plain English is, They'll do what they will; and if the King will do what they would have him, they will be obedient Subjects. And in this Session they depose and excommunicate all the Bishops of Scotland. To this [Page] State within less than two Years has his Grace of Canterbury brought the Church of Scotland, and a terrible Cloud hangs over that of England, whereby his Grace will have the Glory of becoming a Martyr in it.

Weston Earl of Portland died in the Year 1634, and Dr. Juxton, Bishop of London, was made Lord-Treasurer, by whose prudent Management it's said, that in less than five Years he had lodged 900000 l. in the Exchequer; and now the King had raised an Army of about 20000 Horse and Foot, made the Earl of Arundel General, Lord Viscount Wentworth Lieutenant-General, and Earl of Holland General of the Horse; and had fitted up a Navy, with 5000 Land-Men commanded by Marquess Hamilton, to compel the Scots to their Obedience, and marches at the Head of this Army himself.

It was time, for the Scots were up in Arms too, had seized the Regalia at Dalkeith, and brought them to Edinburgh, taken Dumbarton, and routed the Scots who took the King's part at Aberdeen, which they likewise took.

This King's good Nature never more appeared than in his Necessities; so that when he came to York, by Proclamation he recall'd 31 Monopolies and Patents formerly granted by him, he not before understanding how grievous they were to his Subjects.

The Scots, that the English might have no Jealousy of an Invasion, had resolved not to come within ten Miles of the Borders with their Army. When the King came to Berwick, the Earl of Holland made two vain and inconsiderate Incursions into Scotland, and upon the Approach of the Scots retreated; and these were the only Actions of this War by the English.

Upon the Retreat of the Earl the English Army was contemned by the Scots, who advanced to the Borders, and pitched their Tents in sight of the English, before any notice was given of their Motion: this raised a Murmur all over the English Army, where Provisions were not only scant, but their Bread and Biscake mouldy, nor was there any prospect of a further Supply.

However the Scots propose a Treaty of Accommodation, which the King's Necessities compell'd him to submit to, which being made (the Terms you may read in Rushworth's and Franklin's Collections) the King disbands his Army, and withdraws his Navy; this was all the Scots cared for; for the Treaty being upon equivocal Terms, the Scots were resolved to make their own Interpretation, and stand by it, and to that purpose hold Correspondence with the French King, and stile him Au Roy, and also with the discontented in England, and buy Arms and Ammunition at Bremen and Hamburg.

To forment these Jealousies, and propagate the Popish Interest, Cardinal Richlieu employs one Chamboy, or Chamberlain in Scotland, [Page] and Con, or Cunaeus, his own Chaplain in England, whose chief Confidents were the Earl of Arundel, General of the King's Army, and his Countess, Sir Francis Windebank Principal Secretary of State, Sir Toby Mathews, Endymion Porter, English, and one Read and Maxwel, Scots. See this at large in Rushworth's Collections, fol. 1318, 1319, 1320, 1321, to 1326.

This Year my Lord-Keeper Coventry died, and Sir John Finch, Chief-Justice of the Common-Pleas, was made Lord-keeper of the Great Seal, no doubt for promoting the Legality of Ship-money, and enlarging the Bounds of the Forests.

The Cloud rising so thick in the North, presaged a Storm, which to dissipate, the King summons a Parliament to meet the 23d of April, 1640. the Arch-bishop and the Earl of Strafford giving out, according to the Advice which Sir Robert Cotton gave the Duke of Buckingham, that they were the first Movers of it.

At the opening of this Parliament, the King lays before them his Necessities for Money in the first place, as he had done in all the three Parliaments before, and that Delay was all one with a Denial, and communicates to them the Covenanters Letter to the French King, imploring his Assistance: But the House of Commons having found the Effects of giving Money before Grievances were redrest, both in the 18th of his Father's Reign, and in the first of his, began at Grievances, now multiplied by the Additions of Ship-Money, breaking the Bounds of the Forests, and Monopolies multiplied without end, the Arbitrary Power of the Star-Chamber and High-Commission against those who opposed the Proceedings of the Innovations brought into the Church, and the Imprisonment, and unheard-of Censures of their Members for their Proceedings in the House last Parliament; so that instead of enjoying any Benefit by the Petition of Right, the Church and State was in a manifold worse State than before: they had now found by Experience, that no Laws or Judgments in Parliament could bind the King's Prerogative, but that he would act quite contrary, as in the Cases of Mountague and Manwaring, &c. and how could the Parliament rely upon his Royal Word (which he would upon all occasions give) when they found no Assurance in any Law, nor so many Declarations of his observing them?

However, the Commons upon the 2d of May resolved to take care of supplying the King upon the 4th, when Sir Henry Vane told them, that the King of his Grace and Favour upon their granting 12 Subsidies to be paid in three Years, would forbear levying Ship-Money, and abolish it; and for their Grievances, they should rely upon his Royal Promise, and give as much time now as may be, and after at Michaelmas next; and that the King expected a positive Answer.

[Page] Hereupon the House was turned into a grand Committee, and spent the whole Day upon the Message, but came to no Resolution, and desired Sir Henry Vane to acquaint the King, that the House would next day proceed upon the King's Supply: But next Morning early, Secretary Windebank (in actual Correspondence and Conspiracy with Cunaeus, Richlieu's Chaplain, for subverting our Religion, and introducing Popery) commanded the Speaker to Whitehall, and the same Day the King dissolved the Parliament, and the next Day the Lord Brook's Study, Cabinet, and Pockets, were searched for Papers, and Mr. Bellasis and Sir John Hotham were convened before the Council, to answer concerning Passages in Parliament; and giving no satisfactory Answer, were committed Prisoners to the Fleet, till further Order from the King and Council; and Mr. Crew was committed close Prisoner to the Tower, till further Order from the Council; and no Cause shewed in either of these Warrants.

The greatest Objection against Hereditary Monarchy is, that Princes Ears are always open to Minions, Flatterers, and Sycophants, whereby they rarely understand the state of their own Affairs, or of their Subjects: To attemper this, the Wisdom of our Constitution ordains, That Parliaments be frequently held, to represent to the King the state of the Nation, and so to inform him of Grievances, that they may be redressed. And so inviolably has this mutual Correspondence between the King and Parliament been observed in all Ages, that I do not believe any King or Queen of England, and of the English Race since Henry 3. ever dissolved one Parliament in Displeasure, before King James; whereas of eight Parliaments, these two Kings, of the Scotish Race, dissolved seven in Displeasure. Yet never did Parliaments, in any Reign, demean themselves more chearfully to any King than to these two: and I challenge any one to shew, that in any one respect they intrenched upon any just Prerogative of either of these Kings, or did any Act not warranted by former Precedents.

It's true, Queen Elizabeth would not endure to have the Parliament to meddle with the state of the Church as 'twas established, nor hear of declaring a Successor; and when either of these were moved contrary to her express Order, she would commit the Members, but easily dismiss them; otherwise, I believe in no Age any Member of Parliament was ever committed or censured by any King of England before King James, for debating or reasoning of the state of the Nation or Church.

In the 20th of Edward 3. John of Gaunt, the King's Son, the Lords Latimer and Nevil, were accused in Parliament for misadvising the King, and were sent to the Tower for it; and Henry 4. Rot. Parl. 5. upon the Complaint of the Commons against four of his Servants and Counsellors, that they might be removed, declared [Page] openly, That tho he knew nothing against them in particular, yet he was assured that what the Lords and Commons required of him, was for the Good of himself and Kingdom; and therefore he banish'd them, and at the same time declared he would do so by any other who should be near his Royal Person, if they were so unhappy as to fall under the Hatred of his People.

Whereas this King, tho the Duke of Buckingham were accused of more Crimes in Parliament, than is recorded of Pierce Gaveston, and the Spencers in Edw. 2d's time, and of the Duke of Ireland, Tresilian, and Belknap, in Rich. 2d's time, and of the Death of this King's Father to boot; yet rather than the Duke shall be brought to Trial, the King dissolves the second Parliament of his Reign: And in his Declaration for dissolving the three Parliaments, calls the questioning his Ministers an Invasion upon his Prerogative, and that through them they endeavoured to wound their Soveraign's Honour and Government.

Since the Statute De Tallagio non Concedendo, in the Reign of Edward the I, I think no mention has been made that ever any King of England taxed the Subject before this King and his Father, except Edward the IV by Benevolence, for which his Memory is bitterly stained in the Parliament-Roll of the second Chapter of Richard the III, tho it be not in the printed Statutes; and by a Loan demanded in the Reign of Henry the VIII by Cardinal Wolsey, the raising of which had near raised a Rebellion; which when it came to the King's Ear, he laid the Blame upon the Cardinal, and said, he would not rend his Subjects from the Law, and forbid further proceeding in it.

Arch-bishop Abbot excepts against his Licensing Sybthorp's Sermons, for that the King's taxing Loans by his own Authority, was neither by the Laws nor Customs of England: the King in his Answer says, He did not stand upon the Laws and Customs of England, for he had a Precedent for it, and would insist upon it. The Arch-bishop replied, He thought it was a Mistake, and feared there was no such Precedent; and that Henry the VIII desired but the sixth part of Mens Estates, but the King required the full six Parts, so much as the Men are set at in the Subsidy-Book. And when the Commons in the third Year of his Reign made a Remonstrance against the King's taking Tunnage and Poundage, not granted by Parliament, the King calls this a detracting from their Soveraign, and commands all who have or shall have any Copies of it, to burn them upon Pain of his Indignation and high Displeasure.

The King for Causes of dissolving this Parliament, (the last he shall ever dissolve) begins with the usual Stile, That he well knows, that the Calling, Adjourning, Proroguing and Dissolving Parliaments are undoubted Prerogatives inseparably annexed to his Imperial Crown; of which he is not bound to give any Account, but [Page] to God alone, no more than of his other Regal Actions. But quid gloriaris? Did ever any King of England say this before his Father and himself? Or in what common-Law, or Acts of Parliament is this to be found? Or if he had such Power, Why does the King so often boast of it? Sure it had been better done by another than himself. Is this a time of day, when this Prince had lost all his Honour abroad, to magnify himself that he has Power to dissolve Parliaments at home, and thereby obstruct those Ways by which he might unite himself to his Subjects, and then glory that he is only accountable to God for all his Actions? Nebuchadnezzar's Boast, Is not this the Babel which I have built? was but a Bauble to this. He said this but once, and God sent him seven Years among Wild Beasts; and he saw his Pride, and he repented: This King upon all Occasions makes his Boasts; but I do not find he ever repented of any of them.

But admit the King had this Power, and also that the Opening, Adjourning and Proroguing Terms, and granting Commissions of Oyer and Terminer, and times of their Sitting and Continuance for Executing Justice, be Prerogatives inseparable to the Imperial Crown, of which he is accountable to God only: Yet if he shall not open the Terms, or grant Commissions of Oyer and Terminer; or if he does refuse to have Justice done between himself and Subjects, or between his Subjects, but instead thereof prorogue or adjourn Terms, and withcall his Commissions of Oyer and Terminer, and declare to Him only belongs the Power of opening the Terms, and of granting Commissions of Oyer and Terminer, and that he is only accountable to God for all his Actions; would not this be a Failure of Justice? and can any Man believe that he would be God's Vicegerent herein for the Good and Benefit of his Subjects?

The Act of the 25 of Edward the III determines what Treasons are cognisable by the King's Judges, but the other Treasons at Common-Law are only determinable in Parliament; and one of the chiefest Ends in calling Parliaments, is when the Judges themselves, or Ministers of State becoming corrupt, and too great for the ordinary Courts of Justice, they may be punished in Parliament: it is therefore greater Injustice, and infinitely more dangerous to the King and Subjects, to deny the Nation this Right, than to deny Justice to particular Subjects.

The King is Head of the Common-wealth, and the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation unite them into one Body; which if they cease, there is neither King nor Common-wealth; and by the 4 Edw. 3. c. 4. Parliaments shall be holden every Year; and by 36 Edw. 3. c. 10. Parliaments shall be holden once a Year, and oftner, if need be, that Grievances and Mischiefs be redrest: How then does it become the King to glory, that the Calling, [Page] Adjourning, Proroguing and Dissolving Parliaments are undoubted Prerogatives, inseparably annexed to the Imperial Crown? which in plain English is to say, It is a Prerogative inseparable to the Imperial Crown, to rend himself from his Subjects, and to make himself neither King, nor the Nation his Subjects.

But if the King be accountable only to God for his Actions, how comes it that he so often appeals to the People by these Declarations against their Representatives, or rather against the People and their Representatives, to his own Minions and Flatterers; which are worse than any other Rebels and Traitors? for these appear barefac'd what they are, whereas those steal away the Love and Obedience of his Subjects, and provoke them either to be Rebels and Traitors, or careless to assist him against such as are: And this was the Case of Edward the 2d and Richard the 2d; and now it comes fast upon this unhappy King, for so hereafter he will ever be.

In September this Year the Dutch fell upon a Fleet of the Spaniards in the Downs so furiously, as, being 53 in Number, made them cut their Cables, and run 23 of them on Shoar, whereof 3 were burnt, 2 perished on the Shoar; the Remainder of the other 23 were deserted by the Spaniards, and mann'd by the English to save them from the Dutch, the other 30 put to Sea, of which only 10 escaped: Yet the King, however he gloried in being stiled Soveraign of the British Seas, took no Care to vindicate this against the Dutch, to whom he was now become as contemptible as to his Scotish Subjects. Now let's see how things stood in Scotland.

After the Pacification between the English and Scots, yet full of Jealousy on either Part, the King sent for 14 of the principal Covenanters to come to him at Berwick, which the Scots refused, and only sent Montross, Lowden, and Lowthian; these three Lords seemed much mollified by what the King had granted, and promised all Obedience to the King.

The King urged Hamilton to be his Commissioner, which he refusing, he made Traquair, but tied him up to close Instructions, and in August he indicts a General Assembly: the Bishops protest against it; and the Covenanters supplicate the Commissioners and Council, that Episcopacy be declared unlawful, and the Covenant subscribed by all the Scotish Nation; which the Commissioners verbally consented to.

Here you must understand, that the Covenanters make the Kirk a distinct Table or Body from the Civil, of which Christ Jesus is the only Head; and that the Parliament is obliged to pass all the Acts of a General Assembly: so that though by many Acts of Parliament, the Bishops Sitting and Voting in Parliament is ordained and confirmed; yet the voting Episcopacy to be unlawful, [Page] hath rescinded all those Acts of Parliament: for Sublata Causa, tollitur & effectus.

Upon the 30th of October in 1639, the Parliament met; but upon the Difference between the Houses and the Earl of Traquair, about naming Lords of the Articles, the Earl prorogues them to the 14th of November, which the Parliament protest against, and declare all Proceedings in Parliament to be as valid, as if no Prorogation had been.

The Parliament hereupon appoint a Committee to represent this to the King, and in the mean time to expect the King's Answer, and make the Earl of Dumfermling and the Lord Lowden their Deputies to do it, who coming without Warrant from the Earl of Traquair, were commanded back again without Audience.

Then the King commands the Commissioner Traquair to prorogue the Parliament to the second of June in 1640, and that Traquair should come and give an account of the Matters proposed in Parliament; and Traquair having gotten one of the Letters which the Covenanters had sent to the French King for his Protection and Assistance of the Covenanters, subscribed by Rothes, Montross, Lesley, Mountgomery, Lowden and Forester, brings this with him, and delivers it to the King, for which the Scots would never forgive the Earl, but ever after deemed him an Incendiary.

This yet being unknown to the Covenanters, they petition the King to permit them to send some of their Members to vindicate their Proceedings; which the King did, and they sent the Earl of Dumfermling and Lowden again. The King when they came to London claps Lowden close Prisoner in the Tower, and expected that this Confederacy between the Scots and French, would be a means to procure the Parliament to assist him more powerfully against the Scots: but the King having dissolved the Parliament, he as suddenly dismist him as before he had committed him, which did the King no good.

This unhappy King would as easily be excited to give harsh language as be put upon sudden Actions, and as soon leave them, and often proceed quite contrary: And now the King taxes the Scots Proceedings to be Traiterous and Rebellious, and causes a Paper published by the Scots after the Pacification to be burnt by the Hand of the common Hangman; but the Scots insisted their Proceedings to be according to the Covenant, which they could not start from, and that therein they were the King's most Dutiful Subjects.

Things could not long stay here, but upon the 20th of August in 1640, the Scots enter England with an Army of about 22000 Men, commanded by General Lesley, to deliver a Petition for Reformation of Religion and State, and to justify their Proceedings, [Page] and begin as the King did at the opening of all his Parliaments, with the Necessity of their Proceedings.

The King the same day the Scots entred England, posts to York, having made the Earl of Northumberland General of his Army, the Earl of Strafford Lieutenant-General, and my Lord Marshal, the Earl of Arundel, General of his Forces on the South-side of Trent.

When the King came to York, his first Care was to stop the Scots from passing the River Tine, and commanded the Lord Conway and Sir Jacob Astly to oppose them; but the Scots having the advantage of the Ground, and sixfold more in number than the English, force their Passage at Newborn, about five Miles from Newcastle to the West, and take Newcastle, and after Durham, and tax the Counties of Northumberland and Durham at 850 l. a day, but the Rents of the Papists and the Church of Durham they take over and above.

The King instead of fighting the Scots, is encountred with Complaints from the Inhabitants of Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, of the Miseries of their Condition; then with Petitions from many of the Nobility, the City of London, and other Places, for a free Parliament: upon this the King assembles a great Council of the Nobility to advise what to do.

Now things are brought to the Point Richlieu had designed them: The King in these two Expeditions had spent all the 900000 l. he before had lodged in his Exchequer, and now had two Armies to maintain in the Bowels of his Kingdom, when he not only had no means to pay either, but also without doubt the Scotish Army were Pensioners to France.

The Lords advise a Truce, which is accepted, and all agreed, but how to pay the Armies till a Parliament meet, was a Question: the Scots coming for all the English Mens Gudes, demand but 40000 l. per Mensem, but, like their Country Pedlars, fall to 25000 l. which is agreed; which, with the Charge of the English Army, would amount to 60000 l. per Mensem, to save the Country from Free-quarter.

In this Treaty the King named the Earl of Traquair to be assistant to the English Peers; but the Scots excepted against him as an Incendiary, and one to be brought to Punishment; the King submits, and leaves him out. But how to provide Money to pay both Armies till the meeting of the Parliament, which was to meet the third of November, is the Question: The King had not Credit, it could not be had but from the City of London, which was upon ill Terms with the King; for Alderman Atkins, Sir Nicholas Ranton, and Alderman Geere, were by Order of the Council, in Prisons in London, and the Attorney-General had Orders to draw an Information against them in the Star-Chamber, for refusing to [Page] return the Names of such as were able to lend upon a Loan of 200000 l. demanded by the King.

The Lords therefore of the Great Council write to the City of London, signifying the King's gracious Resolution of calling a Parliament, wherein he promised all Grievances to be redrest, the Miseries of the Country, if the Armies were not paid; and not less than 200000 l. could prevent them, and the Lords would give their Bonds for the City's Security; whereupon the City lent the Money, and then the Treaty was adjourned from Rippon to London. But that we may better see how things stood at the opening of the Parliament, let us look back a little.

After the King had dissolved the Parliament, May the 5th, he left the Convocation sitting, who frame an Oath, wherein they swear never to consent to alter the Government of the Church by Arch-bishops, Bishops, Deans and Arch-deacons, &c. as it stands now established, and as by right it ought to stand (which was interpreted to be Jure Divino.) They also made sixteen Canons, and Goodman Bishop of Glocester, for refusing to subscribe the Oath and Canons, was suspended: Being encouraged by Mountague, Bishop of Norwich, and Laud's Creature, who, Goodman said, had in his Person visited, and held Correspondence with the Pope's Nuncio, and received his Letters in behalf of his Son, who was then travelling to Rome, and by his Letters had extraordinary Entertainment there.

Nor did the Convocation stay here, but granted the King a Benevolence of six Subsidies to be paid in six Years, the Refusers to be suspended and excommunicated: To such an Extremity did the Clergy push things in this techy and disorderly time. But any Man may easily guess the Spring which set all these Wheels in motion. And it is observable, that the Clergy, who now taxed their fellow Subjects without Consent of the Commons, shall ever hereafter be taxed by the Commons, without the Consent of the Clergy.

CHAP. III.
A Continuation of this Reign to the Death of the King.

UPon the third of November the Parliament met, and the Nation, which for above fifteen Years had been ridden by a more than French Government, now look upon the Parliament (I mean the Houses) to become their Redeemers; and by how [Page] much more Honour the Nation gives them, so much less they leave to the King: And here again you may see the unhappy Fate of Princes, who treat their Subjects as Enemies, and Favourites as their only Friends and Confidents: For the first that forsook the King and run beyond Sea, was Canterbury's old Friend, Secretary Windebank; next after him flies Finch, and after the Earl of Arundel; and scarce one of his old Favourites, I mean before the Scots Troubles, stood by him, except my Lord Cottington: Secretary Cooke was either really or politickly sick; Juxton, Bishop of London, indifferent, and in all the Wars lived in the Parliament Quarters, but all the rest sided with the Parliament against him: Only Laud and Strafford are laid in Prison, and after put to Death.

Nor were the Factions less pliable to entertain these Minions and Favourites, than they were forward to join with them: I'll give you one Instance herein; In this Parliament all those who would not join them were called Delinquents; and upon a Debate in the House of Commons, concerning an Order in the Star-Chamber signed by my Lord Privy-Seal, Secretary Cooke, and others, it was moved to send for Secretary Cooke as a Delinquent: Another Member (my nearest Relation, from whom I had this) moved, That since Sir John Cooke was aged and infirm, and above a hundred Miles off, and my Lord Privy-Seal in Town, therefore that the House should proceed against my Lord: To whom Mr. Pym reply'd, That whatever my Lord's ante Acta Vitae were, yet since he now went right, that all ought to be forgotten.

Nay, so zealous were these new-converted Minions and Favourites, that rather than forsake their Seats in Parliament, they'll lose their Places at Court. You have heard how my Lord Privy-Seal became Lord Chief-Justice of the King's-Bench, after which the King made him Earl of Manchester, Lord Privy-Seal, and President of the Council; my Lord-Keeper Coventry was upright in all his Decrees, but my Lord Privy-Seal sets up the Court of Requests to have a concurring Jurisdiction with the Chancery; and Men whom my Lord Coventry did not please, brought their Causes into the Court of Requests; so that in a short time the Practice of this Court swell'd so much, that my Lord Privy-Seal made more Clerks and Attorneys than ever was known before.

King Charles sent to the Bishop of Ely, that he (the King) would have Hatton-House in Holborn for Prince Charles his Court, and that the King would be at the Charges for maintaining the Bishop's Title, tho the Bishop told me it cost him many a Pound: so in the Bishop's Name a Suit was commenced in the Court of Requests for Hatton-House. Before the new Buildings were built, Hatton-Garden was the [...]nest and greatest in or about London, and my Lady Hatton had planted it with the best Fruit, Vines and Flowers which could be got; but upon commencing this Suit she [Page] destroy'd all the Plantations, yet defended her Cause with all Opposition imaginable: But at last in 1639, notice was given to my Lady to hear Judgment; and at the day my Lady appear'd in Court, when my Lord Privy-Seal demanded of my Lady's Counsel, If they had any more to say, otherwise, upon his Honour, he must decree against my Lady. Hereupon my Lady stood up and said, Good my Lord, be tender of your Honour, for 'tis very young; and for your Decree I value it not a Rush, for your Court is no Court of Record: And the Troubles in Scotland growing higher, the King had no Benefit of the Decree, nor my Lord any Credit in his Court ever after.

Nor were the Descendants of many of the King's Favourites more faithful to the King than their Fathers, as the Lord Kimbolton, Sir Henry Vane, jun. Sir John Cooke, Henry Martin, &c.

Now when it was too late, like a Man who begins his Business the last day of the Term, the King seems to alter his Countenance, and indulge another sort of Men in Church and State, who were opposite to the Principles in Bishop Laud's Regency. Dr. Williams censured and imprisoned in the Tower, has all the Proceedings against him in the Star-Chamber and High-Commission revers'd, and taken off the File; and Mountague, Bishop of Norwich, dying in the beginning of the Parliament, Dr. Hall is translated from Exeter to Norwich, and Dr. Brownrig, a most learned and zealous Anti-Arminian, is made Bishop of Exeter, &c. my Lord Chamberlain Pembroke is removed, and the Earl of Essex put in his place; Sir Robert Holborn made Attorney-General, and Oliver St. John Solicitor, both which were Mr. Hambden's Counsel against the Legality of Ship-Money.

But neither these Actions, nor the King's repeated Royal Word could gain Credit with the Parliament, (I mean the Houses) who tho at another time they would have dreaded a standing Army, now resolve to maintain two, till their Grievances were redrest: And sure now it was a lamentable State the King was reduced to; he that before, rather than hear of what he had done, did not care what he did, and therefore dissolved four Parliaments, now every day hears of what he had done, yet cannot help it. His Judges, which before had refused to bail his Subjects committed by the King without Cause, are themselves now committed against the King's Pleasure, and no Bail to be taken for them: The King's Customers, who by the King's Order seized and sold the Merchants Goods for non-payment of Duties not legally imposed, are themselves seized, and fined more than they are worth.

Herein the King was only passive, but the Houses would not stay here; but tho the Commons at first impeached the Earl of Strafford before the Lords in their Judicial Capacity, wherein the King's Consent was not actually necessary, yet they after proceeded [Page] against him by Bill, wherein the Attainder must be actually assented to by the King, personally, or by Commission, which the King did, my Lord Privy-Seal and the Earl of Arundel (I believe very unwillingly) being Commissioners; and the same day passed an Act, That the Parliament should not be Prorogued, Adjourned, nor Dissolved without their own Consent, which proved as great a Grievance as the King's proroguing and dissolving them at Pleasure. And the passing these Laws so frightned my Lord Treasurer Juxton, the Master of the Court of Wards, and the Governor of the Prince, that they all resign'd their Places.

Besides these, the King passed an Act for a Triennial Parliament to meet, if not by usual means, then by others, whether the King would or not. And an Act for the utter abolishing the Star-Chamber and High-Commission Courts: And to make it a Praemunire in every one of the Privy-Council to determine any Causes cognisable at Common Law: An Act to abolish the Court of the Council and President of the North; and an Act to rescind the Jurisdiction of the Court of Stanneries: An Act to repeal the Branch of a Statute made the first of Eliz. cap. 1. to authorize Ecclesiastical Persons, natural born Subjects of England, to reform Errors, Heresies, Schisms, &c. An Act for declaring Ship-Money, and all Proceedings therein void: An Act for ascertaining the Bounds and Limits of the Forests as they were in the 20th Year of King James: And an Act to prevent the vexatious Proceedings touching the Order of Knighthood. These Acts thus passed, the Houses thought themselves secure enough, and so paid off and disbanded the English and Irish Armies, and sent the Scots into their Country again.

The much greater part of the Gentry, and also of the Members of both Houses, would have been content to have staid here; and many believed if the Parliament had met at York or Oxford, they would; but this could not be without disgusting the City of London, from which only the Loan of 200000 l. could be raised for Payment of the Armies till Provision could be made by Parliament.

But it was decreed that things should not rest here; and that the Faction in the House of Commons might get a Majority at one Vote, as they order'd it, they voted all those who had been instrumental in Monopolies, or in Ship-Money, or Collectors of the Customs, out of the House, and others to be chosen in their Places: And the Rabble in the City in Tumults exclaim'd against the Bishops and Popish Lords Votes; hereupon the Bishops enter their Protestations against all Proceedings till they might sit and vote freely, whereupon they are committed to the Tower, and a Law was passed to disable the whole Hierarchy for the future to have any Place in Parliament.

[Page] As the Scots began their Reformation with a Covenant, so the Commons began theirs with a Protestation, wherein they Promise, Vow and Protest in the Presence of God, to maintain the true Protestant Religion expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England, and, according to their Duty and Allegiance, to maintain and defend his Majesty's Royal Person and Estate, the Power and Privilege of Parliament, and Liberties of the Subjects, and to preserve the Union and Peace between the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland: but herein was the Difference between the Scots and English; the Scots would improve their Covenant, and establish it in England, but the English scarce ever after care for their Protestation.

However, the Commons prevail with the Lords to take it, and then impose it upon the Nation, upon the Penalty of being deemed Malignants and Disaffected.

The King, little pleased with what he had done, and less with what the Houses had done without him, follows the Scots into Scotland, and there cajoles the Covenanters with all Courtship imaginable; makes Lesley, the Scots General, Earl of Leven, and confers other Honours upon the Covenanters; calls a Parliament, and consents to the Extirpation of the Hierarchy, and establishes Presbytery as fully as the Kirk of Scotland could desire: The Scots at present promise all Duty and Obedience to him, but how well the King found it, in a short time will appear.

Whilst the King was thus busied in Scotland, a horrible and hellish Massacre was perpetrated in Ireland by the Irish upon the English, wherein it's computed above 200000 Protestants, Men, Women and Children, were butcher'd; after which followed an universal Rebellion, excepting in Dublin, Londonderry and Inniskillen, which was headed by the Pope's Nuncio, a most proper Head for such a Body: Yet so intent were the Factions in England and Scotland in establishing their Designs, that little care was had of the miserable Relicks of the Protestants in Ireland.

It appears evident to me, that Richlieu's Scarlet was deep dy'd in the Blood of the poor English in this Massacre, for these Reasons.

1. That the Scots, who at this time were Pensioners to France, were not medled with in their Lives and Fortunes, as you may see in Sir Richard Baker, f. 315. a, b.

2. The King being in Scotland when he heard of the Massacre of the English and Rebellion of the Irish, he moved the Parliament of Scotland, then sitting, for a speedy Relief to the English, which they refus'd. And it's strangely observable, That tho the Massacre and Rebellion in Ireland brake out the 23d of October, yet the King did not proclaim them Rebels till the first of January, and then by Proclamation gave a strict Command, that no more than [Page] forty of them should be printed, and that none of them should be published, till his Majesty's Pleasure was further signified.

Upon the King's going into Scotland, the Parliament prorogued themselves to a certain Day; But the Commons appointed a Committee to prepare Business against their next Meeting, yet send Spies to observe all the King's Actions; and after the King's Return to London, which was upon the 25th of November 1641, the House of Commons upon the 5th of December make a Remonstrance of all the King's Miscarriages abroad, and of the Grievances and Illegalities of his Ministers at home, from the beginning of his Reign; and that the King might be sure to see it as well as hear of it, they print and publish it.

The King not being used to such Language, was stung to the quick by the Commons Declaration; and to retaliate it in Act, upon the third of January enters the House of Commons, and demands five of their Members to be tried for High Treason, for holding Correspondence with the Scots: Than which he could not have done a more imprudent Act; for by it he unravelled all that he had done in Scotland, by involving the Scots in the same Crime.

But the Members had their Agents in the King's most secret Councils, and had notice of the King's coming before, and so the five Members were withdrawn. This Act of the King did not only set the House in a Flame, and put the City into Tumults, but brought Petitions from Buckingham-shire, (where Mr. Hambden, one of the Five Members, was Knight) that the Privileges of Parliament might be secured, and Delinquents brought to condign Punishment. All this while poor Ireland lay bleeding.

The King, as unstable in his Resolutions as inconsiderate in his Actions, retracts all he had done, and promises not to do so again: But to no purpose, for the Members resolve not to trust his Royal Word, Prerogative, and absolute Will and Pleasure, and therefore will tear the Power of the Militia from him. Rather than suffer this, tho upon the Pretence of Tumults, the King resolves to leave London.

But before the King left London, my Lord Mayor Sir Richard Gurney, Sir George Whitmore, Sir Henry Garoway, and other principal Citizens, waited upon the King, and engaged, if he would stay, they would guard him with 10000 Men, if occasion were; and told him, If he went, he would leave the City open for the Members to do as they pleased, and that they were sure to be first undone; the King told them he was resolved: Then Sir Henry Garoway said, Sir, I shall never see you again. However, his Eldest Son, Mr. William Garoway (a worthy Gentleman, who yet lives) went with the King, and followed him in all his Wars.

[Page] The worthy Citizens proved true Prophets; for soon after the King left London, the Members imprisoned my Lord Mayor, Sir Henry Garoway, Sir George Whitmore, and all others whom they suspected would be faithful to the King; and then in London began to assume the Power of the Militia.

After the King left London, he went to York, and from thence went towards Hull, but is shut out of the Town by Sir John Hotham, whom the King proclaims Traitor; and now before it came to Sword and Pistol, Men began a War with their Pens: And herein it is observable, that the Writers for the King chiefly maintained his Cause out of Sir Edward Coke's Pleas of the Crown, which by Order of the King's Council, was upon Sir Edward's Death-Bed, seized as dangerous and seditious; and I do not find any who wrote for the Parliament, ever used any one Topick out of it to justify their Cause; tho it and Sir Edward's other Books of the Comment upon Magna Charta, and Jurisdiction of Courts, were printed by Order of the House of Commons, and by them petitioned that the King would deliver the Originals to Sir Robert Coke, Sir Edward's Heir.

Whilst things were in this Hurly-burly in England, Portugal and Catalonia revolt from the Spaniard; which as it was a mighty Blow to Spain, so it much conduced to the Advancing the Designs of Cardinal Richlieu in France.

In England things could not hold long at this Stay, but upon the 22d of August the King comes to Nottingham, and hastily sets up his Standard there, and invites all his loving Subjects to come to his Assistance against the Rebels. Never was Nation shuffled into such unhappy Circumstances; for to join the King, was to return to his Prerogative Royal, and Absolute Will and Pleasure; and I have oft heard several of those who followed the King in the War, say, They as much dreaded the King's overcoming the Parliament-Party, as they feared to be overcome by them: And the Houses had broken the Fundamental Constitution of the Nation, so as no Man could tell where they would stay.

Now are things brought to that pass Richlieu design'd them, viz. England and Ireland in Civil Wars, and Scotland Pensioners to France, so as he might now securely carry on his Designs of advancing the Grandeur of France, without any Fear of Disturbance from hence. And now you may see the miserable Condition the King's Minions and Favourites had brought upon the King, and all his Kingdoms: Yet it is observable how great the Loyalty of the Nobility and Gentry was to the King, that from so low Beginnings, in all Appearance they would have subdued the Parliament-party, if the Scots next Year had not come to their Assistance; whereas in the Reigns of Edward the 2d and Richard the 2d, though the Grievances of the Nation were more in one Year of this King's [Page] Reign, than in both their Reigns, yet both were expelled and lost their Lives, their Subjects not drawing a Sword in their Defence.

An Apology.

BEfore we enter upon the War between the King and Parliament, it will not be amiss to enquire into the Causes of it, and who first began it; and whether the King, or Parliament, or both, designed it: And I am the rather induced hereto, because I am told that I have unjustly charged the Parliament with beginning the War; and that the contrary appears by a Treatise written by Tho. May Esq of the Causes and Beginning of the Civil Wars in England: So that the Question between us is not who first designed the War, but who began it. But because Designations and Intentions precede Action, I will begin, so far as appears to me, Whether the King or Parliament first designed this War, or whether it were not intended by both. And give me leave to shew a little of Mr. May's Partiality in the Business.

I say Mr. May is partial, where page 13 he says, after the Pacification made with the Scots 1639, that when the King came to London, his Heart was again estranged from the Scots, and Thoughts of Peace; he commanded by Proclamation that Paper which the Scots avowed to contain the true Conditions of the Pacification, to be disavowed and burnt by the Hands of the common Hangman: So that he makes the Scots Parties and Judges in their own Case, without mentioning the Articles of the Pacification, or what the Scots avowed to contain the true Conditions of it. We will therefore set forth the Articles of the Pacification, and let another Judg whether the Scots observed them, or had any Thoughts of Peace. The Articles were,

1. The Forces of Scotland to be disbanded within 24 Hours after the Agreement.

2. The King's Castles, Ammunition, &c. to be delivered up.

3. His Ships to depart after the Delivery of the Castles.

4. All Persons, Ships and Goods, detained by the King, to be restored.

5. No Meetings, Treaties or Consultations to be by the Scots, but such as shall be warranted by Act of Parliament.

6. All Fortifications to desist, and be remitted to the King's Pleasure.

7. To restore to every Man their Liberties, Lands, Houses, Goods and Means.

The Articles were signed by the Scots Commissioners, and a present Performance of them on their Parts promised and expected.

The King justly performed the Articles on his part: but the Scots kept part of their Forces in being, and all their Officers in pay; and the Covenanters kept up their Fortification at Leith, [Page] and their Meetings and Councils, and inforce Subscriptions to the late Assembly at Glasgow, contrary to the King's Declaration; they brand those who had taken Arms for the King, as Incendiaries and Traitors, and null all the Acts of the College of Justice, as you may read in Mr. Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 29. So that tho the King performed all the Articles of Pacification on his Part, the Scots performed not one on their Part. Nor did the Scots stay here, but published a Paper very seditious against the Treaty, which is that which Mr. May speaks of: I do not find the Copy of it; but even Mr. Whitlock (no great Friend to the King's Cause) calls it so. Nor did the Scots stay here, but levied Taxes at ten Marks per Cent. and made Provision for Arms, as you may read in Sir Richard Baker's History, f. 408. and more at large in the second part of Rushworth's Collections; and all this before the King commanded the Scots Paper to be burnt by the Hand of the Common Hangman: And therefore the King justly commanded the Scots Paper to be burnt by the Hand of the common Hangman.

And Mr. May says, The honest People of both Nations began to fear another War.

But why does Mr. May say, the honest People began to fear another War? Was it honest in the Scots to break all the Articles of the Pacification, to keep their Forces in a Body, and their Officers in Pay, contrary to the Pacification; to raise Taxes, and make Provision of Arms; and after all, these honest Men to begin to fear another War?

Mr. May goes on, and says, The King in December told the Council, he intended to call a Parliament in England in April following: But rational Men did not like it, that it was deferred so long; and that the Preparations for a War in Scotland went on in the mean time.

The last part is gratis dictum by Mr. May, nor does he mention any Preparation for a War, in any one particular; nor do I find this said by any other: But admit the King had made Preparation for a War with Scotland, yet by all Laws of God and Man, the King might justly have done it, after the Scots had broken all the Articles of Pacification, kept an Army on foot against it, levied Taxes by their own Authority, and made Provision of Arms without the King's Authority, which besides the Perfidiousness of the Scots, is Treason in the highest degree: And I would be glad to be informed by what other means the King could vindicate his Honour, or relieve his oppressed Subjects, otherwise than by a War.

Mr. May goes on, and says, They (these rational Men) were likewise troubled that the Earl of Strafford, Deputy of Ireland, a Man of deep Policy but suspected Honesty, one whom the King then used as a bosom Counsellor, was first to go into Ireland, and call a Parliament in that Kingdom.

[Page] And what then? Why might not the King call a Parliament in Ireland, as well as in England or Scotland? And if these rational Men did not like it (as he says) that a Parliament should be deferred so long in England, why should these rational Men be so troubled that the King should call a Parliament in Ireland? Nor does Mr. May give any Reason why they should be so troubled.

Besides, Mr. May says, The King at that time had broken up the Parliament in Scotland, which the Scots complained of (the Business of State depending) as a great Breach of their Liberties, and against the Laws of that Kingdom.

So here again, Mr. May makes the Scots Parties and Judges in their own Cause, and is not ingenuous in thus charging the King at random, and not shewing what Business of State was then depending: It's fit therefore to shew what Business of State was then depending, before Mr. May's rational Men should be so troubled at the King's breaking up the Parliament.

The Scots having, as before said, violated all the Articles of Pacification on their part, and persecuted the Loyal Scots, expresly contrary to the Pacification, as Incendiaries and Traitors, levied Taxes, provided Ammunition of War, and kept an Army on foot: The Parliament, over and above these, formed these Demands to be made to the King.

1. That Coin be not medled with, but by Advice in Parliament.

2. That no Stranger be to command or inhabit in any Castles of the King's, but by their Advice.

3. That no Honour be granted to any Stranger, but such as have a competency of Land-Rent in Scotland.

4. No Commissioner or Lieutenancy but for a limited time. And next, they protest against the Precedency of the Lord Treasurer and Lord Privy Seal, as not warranted by any positive Law. See Baker, 408.

These were the Businesses of State which Mr. May speaks of; which added to what the Scots usurped before, I would know what Regality would be left for the King, and a Reason why Mr. May's rational Men should be so troubled for the King's dissolving the Parliament.

Mr. May drives on, and says, Upon which they sent some Lords into England, to intreat the King for a Redress of such Injuries as they had received since the Pacification; which were, that the Parliament was broken up before any Business done. If they made it their Business to divest the King, as they did, of his Rightful Regalities, the King had reason therefore to break them up.

That Edinburgh Castle was garison'd with far more Soldiers than was needful. So here the Scots are Parties and Judges in their own Cause; and you need not doubt, but that so many Soldiers as shall be able to defend the Castle, shall be judged by the Scots to be more than is needful.

[Page] That Dunbritton Castle was garison'd by English Soldiers. And why might not the King do it? for the English as well as Scots were his Subjects. But I dare say, if these had been the honest rational English-men May speaks of, neither he nor the Scots would ever have complain'd of it.

That the Scots which traded to England and Ireland (sure they mean Pedlars prohibited by Law) were enforced to take new Oaths, contrary to their Covenant, and altogether contrary to the Articles of Pacification: Whereas their Covenant is a new Oath contrary to their Allegiance: And if there were any such new Oaths, why do neither the Scots nor Mr. May name them? or if any such were imposed, that was so far from being altogether contrary to the Articles of Pacification, that I say they were not contrary to any one Article of the Pacification; unless the Scots or Mr. May could make new Articles of Pacification, and other than those before mentioned.

The King, Mr. May says, imprisoned those Lords, sending one of them, the Earl of Lowden, to the Tower, and commanded a Charge of High Treason to be drawn against him, concerning a Letter which the Scotish Covenanters had written to the King of France (French King had been as well) for his Assistance, and Lowden had subscribed it: But the Accusation was frivolous, easily answered, and came to nothing, because these Letters were not sent at all; and besides, it was before the Pacification, upon which an Oblivion of all things were agreed.

So here are two impertinent and frivolous Answers to excuse a most treasonable and rebellious Conspiracy, to bring in a foreign Power into Scotland; for it was subscribed by Rothes, Montross, Lesley, Marre, Montgomery, Lowden, and Forrester, under the Title of Au Roy, or our King, to Lewis 13. The first is, That those Letters were not sent at all, because they were intercepted by the Earl of Traquair, the King's Commissioner in Scotland. If Mr. May had not been a Christian, yet the very Heathen, by the Light of Humane Nature, could have informed him, that▪

—Scelus intra se tacitum qui cogitat ullum,

Facti Crimen habet.—

And if Conspiracies of Rebellion and Treason against Princes shall be esteemed frivolous, unless they evade into Actions, Princes and States too would be in a very unsecure state, and all Counsel and Endeavours to prevent them would be vain and frivolous; and I say, here was a double Overt-Act in this Conspiracy, one the Conspirators Meeting, the other the Subscribing the Paper.

The other Answer, That the Pacification was after the Subscription, and so there was an Oblivion upon it: But the Pacification was reciprocal between the King and Scots; and if the Scots first broke the [Page] Pacification, as they did, let them take all that followed; and therefore the King had no Reason to perform his Part, nor the Scots to complain, if the King had hanged and quartered Lowden.

The War, Mr. May says p. 16. went on, the Earl of Strafford commanding in Chief, the Earl of Northumberland not being in Health, who was appointed General. But if Mr. May had been ingenuous and impartial, he should have told on which Side the War began, which he does not; but only says, the Scots had not been backward, for having been debarred of their Trade, and lost their Ships by Seizure, they entred England with an Army, expressing their Intentions in writing to the English, and bringing with them a Petition to the King.

Admit all this to be true, the Scots should first have represented this to the King, and what was their Loss by being debarred of their Trade, and the Value of their Ships so seized; and upon Denial, to have granted Letters of Reprizal till they had recovered Satisfaction: but of this Mr. May says not one Word, nor do I find or believe, the Scots ever did demand Satisfaction before they entred England in open Hostility, and in Defiance of the King and English Nation; and for the Manner of bringing their Petition to the King, it was without Precedent, or such as never was done by any other People; for they entred England, and maintained their Army by Plunder and Rapine upon the English; and when Lesley came to Newborn upon Tine, he craves leave of my Lord Conway, ordered by the King to guard the Pass there, to pass with his Petition to the King, which my Lord Conway granted, with a considerable Number, but not with his Army. Hereupon Lesley, who had the Night before planted nine Pieces of Cannon on Northumberland side, by force of them passed the Tine, and killed and took 300 English Prisoners, and after took New-Castle, and seized four great Ships of the English, laden with Corn, and imposed a Tax of 350 l. a day upon the Bishoprick of Durham, and 300 l. a day upon the County of Northumberland, upon pain of Plundering; and the Scots committed many Injuries and Insolencies upon the English where the Scots quartered; as you may read in Mr. Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 34, 35.

Thus was the state of things altered. Mr. May says, pag. 34. it should be pag. 18. And that War which was intended for an Enslavement of both the Nations (truly said, but untruly intended) became the Bond of Concord between them. God defend the Nation for time to come, of such Concord, or such Causes of it.

The Parliament, Mr. May says, began with Matters of Religion: divers Ministers who had been of good Lives and Conversations, conscientious in their ways, and diligent in their Preaching, and had by the Bishops and those in Authority, been motested and imprisoned, for not conforming to some Ceremonies which were imposed on them, were [Page] now by the Parliament relieved and recompensed for their Suffering: and others who had been scandalous, either for loose wicked living, or else Offenders in way of Superstition (both which, to discountenance the Puritans, had been frequently preferred) were censured and removed. Here Mr. May is right, but yet partial, in that he does not tell how that the Orthodox Clergy, as the Bishops of Lincoln Williams, Dr. Hall of Norwich, Dr. Prideaux of Worcester, Dr. Brownrig of Exeter, Dr. Morton of Durham, &c. and all the Orthodox Anti-Arminian Heads of both Universities, and also Dr. Saunderson, Dr. Featly, and many others, underwent the same Fate with those Ministers which Mr. May speaks of.

Pag. 38. which should have been 24. Mr. May says, That the Parliament ordered that the Scots should be recompensed for all their Charges and Loss by that mischievous War which the King had raised against them. Here Mr. May is not only partial and unsincere, but the contrary hereof is true; for the Scots in the former War took up Arms and seized the Regalia at Sterlin, took Towns in Scotland, and other ways committed Acts of Hostility before the King raised Arms to suppress them, as is before; and so they did in this latter, raise Arms in Scotland before they invaded England, before the King raised any Army. [See Whitlock's Mem. fol. 276.] Where Mr. May had this, unless framed by himself, I cannot tell; but Sir Richard Baker recites the Demand at large, and the Commons Answer to them. And this Mr. May speaks of, is the sixth Demand, Wherein they desire, from the Justice and Kindness of the Kingdom of England, Reparations concerning the Losses which the Kingdom of Scotland hath sustained, and the vast Charges they have been put unto, by occasion of the late Troubles. To which the Commons answer,

That the House thinks fit, that a Friendly Assistance and Relief shall be given towards the Supply of the Loss of the Scots; and that the Parliament did declare, that they did conceive that the Sum of 300000 l. is a fit Proportion for their Friendly Assistance and Relief, formerly thought fit to be given towards the Supply of the Loss and Necessities of their Brethren of Scotland; and that the Houses would in due time take into Consideration the Manner how, and when the same shall be raised. Now let any Man shew out of Mr. May, where that mischievous War, which the King had raised against them, is to be found. If Mr. May had been a faithful Historian, he should have made Truth, and not the Distempers of a distracted Time, nor the Clamours of his prejudic'd Brain, to have been the Measures of his Story.

He should have set forth, how like Pedlars they treated the English in their Particulars in their 8th Demand of 514128 l.—9 s. besides the Loss of their Nation to 440000 l. Yet they did not give in that Account with an Intent to demand a total Reparation [Page] of all their Charges and Losses, but were content (good Men) in some measure to bear a Remnant.

Mr. May should have set forth, how perfidiously the Scots dealt with the English Nation, when in their Remonstrance, at their first coming in, they professed, that they would take nothing of the English, but for Money or Security; whereas they plundered and taxed Northumberland, New-Castle, and the Bishoprick of Durham; so that those Places could not recover their Losses in 20 Years, as Sir Benjamin Rudyard in open Parliament charged them: and that the English formerly established the Scots Reformation at their own bare Charges; whereas the Scots presumed to require a greater Sum than was ever given the King. Which you may read more at large in Sir Rich. Baker, fol. 417.

These are the Parliament's Brethren, for whose Brotherly Assistance they voted 300000 l. towards a Supply of the Losses and Necessities (note that) of our Brethren of Scotland, and that the Parliament would in due time take into Consideration the Manner of raising, and Days of Payment; and in the mean time, leave New-Castle, Northumberland, and Durham, a Prey to these devouring Scots. But lame-footed Vengeance shall overtake this Fraternity, and that by no visible Power at present, but what shall arise from among themselves. I could add many more Particulars of Mr. May's Partiality and Insincerity; but this already said is sufficient: And now it's time to enquire whether the King or Parliament, or both, designed the ensuing War, and who first designed it; tho the Distemper of the Times was so distracted and variable, that it's hard to judg of Intentions by Actions.

The Royalists excuse the King from any Intention of a Civil War in England, in that he protected no Man from the Justice of the Parliament, and that he had put away all those which the Parliament called Evil Counsellors, both in Church and State, having made Mr. St. John his Attorney, and Mr. Holborn his Solicitor, both which were his Antagonists in imposing Ship-Money; and upon his going into Scotland, made the Earl of Essex Chamberlain, and General of his Forces on this side Trent; and in the Church reversed all the Proceedings in the Star-Chamber against the Bishop of Lincoln, and preferred Dr. Hall from Exeter to the Bishoprick of Norwich, and made Dr. Brownrig Bishop of Exeter, and Dr. Prideaux Bishop of Worcester, who were the most Learned of the Church of England, and most opposite to the Arminian Tenets, and of most exemplary Life and Piety; and before his going into Scotland, passed all Bills presented to him by the Houses, even that of not dissolving the Parliament without their Consent; which he would never have done, if he had had any Intention of raising a War against them, or a Civil War in England.

[Page] Mr. May, p. 43. it should be p. 25. tells us of a twofold Treason against the Parliament, (if you'll take his word) and that the King was knowing of both; one was to have delivered the Earl of Strafford out of the Tower, but Sir William Balfour the Lieutenant would not consent to it: Here note, The King made Balfour, a Scot, Lieutenant of the Tower, one of the greatest Places of Trust in England, without any Complaint of the Parliament; whenas the Parliament of Scotland, in their second Demand made to the King, would have no Stranger to command or inhabit in any Castles of the King's without their Consent.

The other part of this Treason, chief of all the rest, (But why all, when but two?) Mr. May says, was a Design to bring up the English Army, which was in the North, and not yet disbanded; this Army they had dealt with to engage against the Parliament's sitting, and (as they alledg) to maintain the King's Prerogative, Episcopacy, and other things against the Parliament it self.

This Charge is so false, as well as partial, as no Man who had any regard to Truth, Honesty, or Fairness, would have so expos'd himself; for if the King's Prerogative be not maintain'd, he can neither govern his Subjects nor protect them from Foreign Enemies, and Episcopacy is one of the Constitutions of the Nation; and how the maintaining these can be against the Parliament, had need of a wiser Head than Mr. May's to shew: But these two are not all Mr. May says, but there were other things against the Parliament, (if there had been other things, I do not think Mr. May would in Modesty have conceal'd them); but since Mr. May has not given the Causes of this chief Treason, I will do it, and not follow Sir Richard Baker, nor Franklin, lest they should be deemed to be partial to the King's Cause, but Mr. Whitlock, whom no Man believes to be so, who, fol. 44. b. says,

June 19th, It was voted that the Scots should receive 100000 l. of the 300000 l. the Scots by a Paper pretended Necessity for 125000 l. in present; the Parliament took off 10000 l. of 50000 l. which they had appointed for the English Army, and order'd it for the Scots.

The Lord Piercy, Commissary Wilmot and Ashburnham (Members of Parliament) sitting together, and murmuring at it, Wilmo [...] stept up and said, That if such Papers of the Scots could procure Monies, he doubted not but the Officers of the English Army would soon do the like; and this caused the English Army to say, The Parliament had disobliged them.

The Officers put themselves into a Juncto of sworn Secrecy, and drew up some Heads by way of Petition to the King and Parliament for Money for the Army, and not to disband before the Scots; to preserve the Bishops Votes and Functions, and to settle the King's Revenue.

[Page] The Army tainted from hence, met and drew up a Letter or Petition, which was shewed to the King, approv'd and signed by him with C. R. and a Direction to Captain Leg, that none should see it but Sir Jacob Ashley, (it should have been Astly) the main drift was, That the Army might be call'd up to attend the Safety of the King's Person, and Parliament's Security; or that both Armies might be disbanded. Where is this chief Treason lodg'd, unless in Mr. May's Brain? Or, where is the King's Prerogative mention'd? But as the Times then went, Mr. May took liberty to say what he list to humour them, the Scots must be obey'd in whatsoever they demand, and it must be chief Treason in the English to petition.

Mr. May, p. 32, 33. will have the King's going into Scotland to be a Design to raise War against the Parliament of England, and to that end tells a Story of a Scots Writer, that published, that it was to engage the Scots against the Parliament of England, with large Promises of Spoil, and offering Jewels of great Value for Performance of it; but he names not the Scot, and leaves it uncertain for the Reader to judg by what fell out afterward: But if he (the King) did, it was a matter of great Falshood (Mr. May says) having as yet declar'd no Enmity against the English Parliament: From the same Author, he says, it was to make sure of those Noblemen of that Kingdom he doubted of, as not willing to serve his turn against England; and true it is, that about September Letters came to the standing Committee at Westminster, that a Treasonable Plot was discovered there against the greatest Peers of the Kingdom, (but says not which Kingdom) upon which the standing Committee, fearing some Mischief from the same Spring, placed strong Guards in divers Places of the City of London. But in all this the Fox is the Finder, and Mr. May as partial and false as in all he said before.

The truth was, Jealousies and Fears were fomented by the Parliamentarians, and even by the Members themselves, against the King and Royalists: But Mr. Whitlock, tho of like Affection with Mr. May, yet a much more impartial Representer of the Actions of those Times, fol. 49. a. represents it thus:

The Marquesses of Hamilton and Argyle withdrew from the Parliament in Scotland upon Jealousy of some Design against their Persons; but upon Examination of that matter by the Parliament there, it was found to be a Misinformation, yet the same took fire in our Parliament, upon the Surmises of some; whereupon the Parliament here appointed Guards for London and Westminster, and some spake [...] without Reflection upon the King.

The Royalists charge the Parliament, at least the Commons, with a Design to raise War against the King, and to make him odious to the People, after he had granted all the Parliament desired of him, and given up those whom they call'd evil Counsellors, [Page] to their Justice, for their Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom after the King's return out of Scotland: which because of the Extraordinariness of it we will recite it verbatim, as is said by Mr. Whitlock, f. 49. b.

The House of Commons prepared a Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom, wherein they mentioned All the Mistakes, Misfortunes, Illegalities and Defaults in Government since the King's coming to the Crown, the evil Counsels and Counsellors, and a malignant Party; that they have no hopes of settling the Distractions of this Kingdom for want of a Concurrence with the Lords.

This Remonstrance was somewhat roughly penn'd, both for the Matter and Expressions in it, and met with great Opposition in the House, insomuch as the Debate of it lasted from three a Clock in the Afternoon till ten next Morning; and the sitting up all Night caused many of the Members, through Weakness or Weariness, to leave the House, and Sir B. R. (I think he means Sir Benj. Rudyard) to compare it to the Verdict of a starv'd Jury.

When the Vote was carried, tho not by many, to pass the Remonstrance, Mr. Palmer, and two or three more, made their Protestation against this Remonstrance, for which they were sent to the Tower.

This Remonstrance was presently printed and published by the Parliament, contrary to the King's Desire, and before his Answer made to it, which came forth shortly after to all the Heads of it.

Now let any shew a Precedent, when one State in Parliament appealed to the People, and arraigned the King, and the other two States, unheard, and against the King's express Desire, and he shall be my great Apollo. And if the End be first consider'd in every Action, what could be the End of publishing this Remonstrance? Or how could it tend to the settling the Distractions of the Kingdom? I make this difference between Reproof and Reproach; Reproof is privately to admonish another of such Speeches and Actions as tend to the hurt of his Reputation and Fortune, so as this other may avoid them for the future; Reproach is to divulge the Speeches and Actions of another, to the lessening of the Fame and Credit of that other: Reproof is the Act of a Friend, Reproach of an Enemy. And was this a time of day for the Commons thus to reproach the King for his past Actions, after he had redressed all their Grievances, and given up his Evil Counsellors to their Justice? Or, was it ever known before, that when the King had redressed Grievances, they should be after rip'd up to reproach him?

The first Effects of this Remonstrance, Mr. Whitlock mentions, is, That during this time, and taking the opportunity from these Differences between the King and Parliament, divers of the City of the meaner sort came in great Numbers and Tumults to Whitehall, [Page] where, with many unseemly and insolent Words and Actions, they incensed the King, and went from thence in like Posture to Westminster, behaving themselves with extream Rudeness towards some of the Members of both Houses: and tho the King sent to the Lord Mayor to call a Common Council to prevent these riotous Assemblies, yet I do not find the Commons took any Care herein; and how these Actions of the Commons tended to settle the Distractions of the Nation, or the Relief of Ireland, let any impartial Man judg. But of all this Mr. May takes no notice, yet does of the Parliament's petitioning the King for a Guard for the Security of their Persons, being informed of a Plot contrived against them, (such another as that of Scotland) and the Earl of Essex to command it, which tho the King denied, he promised to take care for their Safety.

Since Mr. May had no better luck with his Scotish Plot, he'll be sure of one now, by the King's entring into the House of Commons attended by 300 Gentlemen, and seated in the Speaker's Chair, and demanded five Members, viz. Mr. Hollis, Sir Arthur Haslerig, Mr. Pym, Mr. Hambden, and Mr. Stroud, to a fair Trial, and would be as careful of their Privileges as ever any King of England was. But in regard Mr. May is so short and partial in this, we'll state the Case as reported by Mr. Whitlock, f. 50. a.

The King being informed that some Members of Parliament had private Meeting and Correspondence with the Scots, and countenanced the late Tumults from the City, he gave a Warrant to repair to their Lodgings, and to seal up the Trunks, Studies and Chambers of the Lord Kimbolton, Mr. Pym, Mr. Hambden, Mr. Hollis, Sir Arthur Haslerig, and Mr. Stroud, which was done, but their Persons were not met with.

The King caused then Articles of High Treason, and other Misdemeanours against those five Members, to be exhibited.

1. For endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government, and deprive the King of his Legal Power, and to place on Subjects an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power, by foul Aspersions on his Majesty and Government, to alienate the Affections of his People, and [...] make him odious.

2. To draw his Army to Disobedience, and to side with them i [...] their Traiterous Designs.

3. That they traiterously invited and encouraged a Foreign Power t [...] invade England.

4. That they traiterously endeavoured to subvert the very Right and Being of Parliament.

5. For endeavouring to compel the Parliament to join with them [...] their Traiterous Designs; and to that end have actually raised and countenanced Tumults against the King and Parliament.

[Page] This great Breach of Parliament-Privilege (Mr. May says) happened in a strange time to divert the Kingdom from relieving Ireland: And did not the Commons Remonstrance against the King and House of Lords do so too? And when Men, especially Princes, are reproached and defamed, regular Actions are not always consequent.

The Censures of the King's Act was variously scanned by Men of different Affections: The Royalists said, Privilege of Parliament extends not to Treason, Felony, or so much as Breach of the Peace. And the Commons frame and publish a Declaration, That there was never such an unparallell'd Action of any King to the Breach of all Freedom, not only in the Accusation of their Members, ransacking and searching their Studies and Papers, and seeking to apprehend their Persons; but now in a Hostile Way, He (the King) threatned the whole Body of the House. This was Jan. 5. 1641.

And after the Commons published another Vote, That if any arrest a Member of Parliament by Warrant from the King only, it is a Breach of Privilege; and that the coming of Papists and Souldiers to the number of 500 armed Men (Mr. May says but 300, and Mr. Whitlock says, with his Guard of Pensioners, and follow'd by about 200 of his Courtiers) with the King to the House, was a traiterous Design against the King and Parliament.

They vindicate the five Members, and declare, That a Paper issued out for apprehending them, was false, scandalous, and illegal, (How could they tell before they heard both Parties?) and they ought to attend the Service of the House, and require the Names of those who advised the King to issue out that Paper, and the Articles against the five Members: Which if the King had done, they would have been exposed to more Violences of the Rabble than those which befel the Bishops, and other Members of Parliament, by a great Number of Persons which came from the City to Westminster, where they offered many Affronts to the Bishops and others in a tumultuous manner. See Whit. Mem. f. 51. a. But of this no notice was taken by the Commons or Lords that I can find; so that as the Temper of the Times then went, it was a notorious Breach of Privilege in the King to demand five Members to answer Articles of High-Treason, but none in the Rabble in a tumultuous manner to affront and use Violence to the Bishops and others who were coming to do their Duties and Service in Parliament.

These Actions Mr. May, p. 41. calls petitioning by the Rabble, and many times to utter rude Speeches against some Lords, whom they conceived to be evil Advisers of the King, which, however it was meant, produced ill Consequences to the Commonwealth, and did not so much move the King to be sensible of his grieving the People, as arm him with an Excuse of leaving the Parliament and City for fear of what might ensue upon such tumultuous Concourse of Men. [Page] And why was not this a reasonable Excuse for the King to leave the Parliament and City, when they countenanced these Tumults, and the King had not Power to suppress them?

Mr. May goes on, and says, Ʋpon this ground twelve Bishops at that time absenting themselves, entred a Protestation against all Laws, Votes and Orders, as Null, which in their Absence should pass, by reason they durst not for fear of their Lives come to perform their Duties in the House, having been rudely menaced and assaulted. And why might not the Bishops enter such Protestation? for if it be a Maxim in all Assemblies, that Plus valet contemptus unius, quam consensus omnium, then does the Contempt and Affront of a whole Order of Men, who have a Right of Suffrage, much more render the Actions of the rest invalid?

However, Mr. May goes on, and says, Whereupon it was agreed by both Lords and Commons, that this Protestation of the Bishops was of dangerous Consequence, and deeply entrenched upon the Privilege and Being of Parliaments; they were therefore accused of High-Treason, apprehended, and committed Prisoners to the Tower. And I say, a time shall come, when in Parliament these Men, who run thus high against the Bishops and established Church of England, shall be prosecuted by a contrary Extream, and the Church by Law exalted higher than it was before.

Mr. May goes on, and says, Thus was the Parliament daily troubled with ill Work, whereby the Relief of Ireland was hindred. If they were thus troubled, they may thank themselves for beginning these Troubles, as well by the Commons Remonstrance against the King and Lords, as by their countenancing the Tumults. By this time things were so envenom'd, as would admit of no Lenitives, especially by the Commons; and the King went from London to Hampton-Court, and sent a Message to the Parliament, and advises them, To digest into one Body all the Grievances of the Kingdom, and send them to him, promising his favourable Assent to those Means which should be found most effectual for Redress, wherein he would not only equal, but excel the most indulgent Princes. The Parliament thank'd him; but nothing but having the Militia at their Disposal would secure their Fears and Jealousies.

This was as new in England as the perpetuating the sitting of the Parliament; and if the King should grant it, it would be a total Subversion of the Monarchy: For the Parliament being perpetual, and having the Power of the Militia, the Government must be either a Commonwealth, or an Oligarchy, and the King insignificant in it; yet have it the Parliament would, notwithstanding other Grievances, and the deplorable State of Ireland: And therefore upon the 26th of February they tell the King plainly, That the settling the Business of the [Page] Militia will admit no more Delay; and if his Majesty shall still refuse to agree with his two Houses of Parliament in that Business, and shall not be pleased upon their humble Advice to do what they desire therein, that then for the Safety of his Majesty, of Themselves, and the whole Kingdom, and to preserve the Peace thereof, and to prevent future Fears and Jealousies, they shall be constrained of themselves, without his Majesty, to settle that necessary Business of the Militia. See Whit. M. f. 54. a.

Here 'tis observable, That as the King feigned a Necessity to raise Ship-money for the Good and Safety of the Kingdom in general, when the whole Kingdom is in danger; the Judges gave their Opinion, That the King may by his Writ under the Broad Seal of England, command all his Subjects of this Kingdom to provide and furnish such Number of Ships, with Men, Victuals, and Ammunition, and for such time as the King shall think fit, for the Defence and Safeguard of the Kingdom from such Peril and Danger; and that by Law the King may compel the doing thereof, in Case of Refusal and Refractoriness; and that in such Case the King is sole Judg, both of the Danger, and when and how the same may be prevented and avoided: So now the Parliament pretending a Necessity for the Safety of the King and of Themselves, and the whole Kingdom, and to preserve the Peace thereof, will tear the Militia from him. In this State things could not stand long at a Stay.

Mr. May, p. 47. will have the Queen's going into Holland with her Daughter, and carrying with her the Crown-Jewels of England, and pawning them there, whereby she bought Arms for the War which ensued, that it was then designed by the King against the Parliament: but if Mr. May had been sincere, he should have told too, as Mr. Whitlock does, f. 59. a. how the Parliament took 100000 l. of the 400000 l. they voted to be raised for Ireland; and whether this was not for the War which ensued in England.

Mr. May, p. 48. recites three Votes of Parliament, 1. That the King's Absence so far remote (being then at York) from his Parliament, is not only an Obstruction, but may be a Destruction to the Affairs in Ireland.

2. That when the Lords and Commons in Parliament, shall declare what the Law of the Land is; to have this not only questioned and controverted, but contradicted, and a Command that it should not be obeyed, is a high Breach of the Privilege of Parliament.

3. That they who advised the King to absent himself from the Parliament, are Enemies to the Peace of this Kingdom, and justly to be suspected to be Favourites of the Rebellion in Ireland. But Mr. May should have added, that it is not the King's Presence in London, or any other Place, but his assenting to Bills presented to him, which he may do by Commission as well as Personally, that enacts them [Page] into Laws; and that the King after he went from London, passed the Bill for taking away the Bishops Votes in Parliament, and that no Clergy-Man should exercise any Temporal Jurisdiction; which the King did with remorse enough, and only to humour and appease the Temporal Lords and Commons in Parliament; and the Bishops in Parliament are one of the 3 States of England. The King moreover in his Absence, upon a Motion by the Parliament, put Sir John Byron from being Lieutenant of the Tower, and Sir John Conniers to succeed him; and refers the Consideration of the Government, and Liturgy of the Church, wholly to the two Houses: see Whitlock's M. f. 53. b. But nothing less than the King's parting with the Militia would satisfy the Parliament, which the King would not part from: so now it's left fair for indifferent Men to judg, whether the King or Parliament, or both, designed the ensuing War. And to proceed to set forth who began it.

I have said in the first Page of this King's Reign, or p. 153, That the first Fifteen Years of it were perfectly French, and such as were never before seen or heard of in the English Nation; this brought on a miserable War in all the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, and Destruction upon the King, when is was not in the Power of those which first raised the War against him, to save his Life, which they would have done.

I am told, that the last Part of this Paragraph, is an unjust Charge upon the Parliament, in that they acted defensively in this War, and that the King first raised Arms; and this by the Authority of Mr. May.

If I be mistaken, I have the Authority of him who could best know; I mean the King at his Death, who declared, That he never did begin the War with the two Houses of Parliament, as all the World knows; that they began with him; it was the Militia they began upon; they confest that to be his, but they thought fit to have it from him: and to be short, if any body will look into the Dates of those Commissions, theirs and his, and likewise to the Declarations, they will see clearly, that they began these unhappy Troubles, not he. See Whit. Mem. f. 369. a. and all the Writers of those times.

If this be not Authority sufficient to shew the Parliament began the War; the first Scuffle between the King and Parliament, was about the Business of Hull, where the Parliament had committed the Charge of the Town and Magazine to Sir John Hotham, one of the Members of the Commons, who was sent down thither to remove the Magazine to London: but the Country of York petitioned it might still remain at Hull, for securing the Northern Parts, especially the King residing there.

Hereupon the King taking a Guard of his Servants and some Neighbouring Gentry, upon the 23d of April went to Hull, but contrary to Expectation, found the Gates shut, and the Bridges [Page] drawn up, by Sir John, and his Entrance denied, though but with 20 Horse; which so moved the King, that he proclaimed Hotham a Traitor, and sends to the Parliament for Justice against him.

To this the Parliament return no Answer; but justify Sir John Hotham, and order that the Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace do suppress all Forces which shall be raised, or gathered together against Hull, or to disturb the Peace; nor did they stay here, but put the Power of the Militia in Persons nominated by them, excluding the King in ordering any thing together with them; and authorized Hotham, by his Warrants, to raise the trained Bands in Yorkshire, to march with their Arms into Hull, where he disarmed them, and turned them home again. See Whit. Mem. f. 55, 56. So I submit this to Judgment, whether this was not raising Arms against the King, being done by Subjects, and contrary to the King's Command; and if the King did encrease his Guards, yet this was subsequent to the excluding the King from having Power in the Militia, and Hotham's Raising Arms, and Disarming the Trained Bands of Yorkshire.

Mr. May says, p. 55. the Parliament being then intent upon settling the Militia by Land, took care also to seize the Navy into their Hands, and ordered the Earl of Warwick to be Admiral, to put this in Execution: but the King had chosen Sir John Pennington to that place instead of the Earl of Northumberland, and sent a Command to the Earl of Warwick, to resign the Place to him (Pennington:) But the Earl chose rather to obey the Ordinance of Parliament, and with great Courage and Policy got the Fleet into his Hands, tho many of the Captains stood out against him; but the Earl deprived them of their Commands, and possest himself of the Ships, taking shortly after another Ship called the Lyon, of great Import, coming out of Holland and laden with Gun-power, which proved a great Addition to his Strength. So here was a double Beginning of the War by the Parliament, both in seizing the Fleet, and taking the Lyon, and this before the King committed any Act of Hostility.

And for the carrying on this War, (which Mr. May calls the Cause) the Parliament upon the 10th of June, made an Order for bringing in Money and Plate, to raise Arms for the Cause, and the Publick Faith for Repayment to them which brought it in. So here the Parliament raised Money, as well as Forces, for carrying on the War, before the King levied any: And so I leave it to Judgment who first began the War.

Objection. The Parliament raised Arms for their own Defence, and Security of the Nation.

[Page] Answer. This is said, but of no kin to Truth or Reason: for Men defend what they are possest of, and the King was possest of the Militia and Fleet, when the Parliament ravish'd both from him; nor did the King use either against the Parliament, when they invaded them. Besides, the King (at least, as he declared) endeavoured to defend the established Religion, and Laws of the Land; whereas the Parliament contended to abolish the Established Religion, and to exalt themselves above the Laws of the Land.

Objection 2. That the King had so often violated the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, and governed so Arbitrarily, that the Parliament could have no Security for the future to prevent his so doing again, so long as the King was possest of the Militia.

Answer. The Case was not the same then, when the King resolved to have no more Parliaments, as now, when the King had made this Parliament perpetual, and had passed the Triennial Bill, for Parliaments to meet whether he would or no: And tho Favourites and Flatterers instill'd those things into the King, when they were without any Fear or Apprehension of being questioned by a Parliament, yet now the Parliament had so severely prosecuted and punished such Men, and being perpetual, or at least to meet Three Years after every Dissolution, none would presume to advise the King in things derogatory to his Honour, and the Interest of the Nation. And now we proceed to the ensuing War.

The Parliament, before the King set up his Standard at Nottingham, Aug. 22, Voted, That an Army should be raised for the Defence of the King and Parliament; that the Earl of Essex should be Captain General of the Army, and the Earl of Bedford General of the Horse.

The War began first between the Marquess of Hartford for the King in the West, and the Earl of Bedford for the Parliament; the Earl being worsted by the Marquess at Sherborn-Castle. Goring got into Portsmouth, and held it for the King; but could not hold it long, for the Country joining with Sir John Meyrick, forced him to surrender, who thereupon went into Holland; and my Lord Say, St. Johns, and Weemen, with Colonel Whitlock, enter Oxford, and keep it for the Parliament.

But the Face of Affairs soon changed; for the King having made the Earl of Lindsey his General, and the Parliament the Earl of Essex; upon the 23d of October the Armies met, and fought at Edghil, with uncertain Victory, which both sides claimed: the Earl of Lindsey was mortally wounded, and taken Prisoner; the Right Wing of the King's Horse, commanded by Prince Rupert, brake the Left Wing of Horse of the Parliament's, which [Page] Prince Rupert pursued too far, tho with great Slaughter; but the King's left Wing of Horse was broken by Sir William Balfour, Sir Philip Stapleton, and the Lord Fielding.

However the Victory was uncertain, the Success was not so, for the King took Banbury Town and Castle, and Oxford; and Prince Rupert took my Lord Say's House at Brought, and made Excursions near London: whereupon the Parliament recalled Essex to defend themselves.

And it was time, for the King was marching towards London, having taken Reading and Henley; and at Brentford both Armies fought, Essex being assisted by the Trained Bands and Apprentices of London, and the King was forced to retreat; and if Essex had followed, in all Appearance the King would have lost his Army, not having Bullet enough to have maintained one quarter of an Hour's Fight: and towards the latter end of the Year, Prince Rupert storms Cirencester, and puts many of my Lord Stamford's Regiment to the Sword, and took 1100 Prisoners, which were used with great Barbarity; and Colonel Nathaniel Fines, in the West, was routed by Prince Rupert; and in the North, Sir John Hotham was beaten by the Forces commanded by the Earl of Cumberland, Sir Fran. Worsley, Sir Marm. Langdale, and Sir Thomas Glenham.

This Year there was a Treaty of Peace at Oxford; the Parliament's Propositions were, That the King should disband his Army, return to the Parliament, leave Delinquents to Trial, and Papists to be disbanded.

That a Bill be brought in for abolishing Episcopacy, &c. and such other Bills as should be presented for Reformation; Recusants to abjure Papacy, to remove malignant Counsellors, to settle the Militia as the Parliament desired, to prefer to Offices such as the Parliament should name, and to take in all that were put out of Commissions of the Peace.

A Bill to vindicate the Lord Kimbolton, and five Members; to enter into Alliances for the Palatinate, and to grant a general Pardon, excepting to the Earl of New-Castle, Digby, and others.

To restore Parliament-Members to their Offices, and to restore their Losses.

The King proposed,

That his Revenue, Magazines, Ships, and Forts, be restored; That what had been done contrary to Law and the King's Right may be recalled; That all illegal Power claimed, or acted by Order of Parliament, be disclaimed: And as the King will consent to the Execution of all Laws concerning Popery and Reformation, so he desires a Bill for preserving the Common-Prayer against Sectaries; that all Persons excepted against by this Treaty, may be tried per Pares, with a Cessation of Arms, and a free Trade.

[Page] This Treaty began March 4. 1642, and broke off April 15. following, viz. 1643. But this is observable in this fickle King, that four Days before the Treaty broke off, the King said, he was fully satisfied, and promised to give the Parliament-Commissioners his Answer in Writing, according to their Desires; but because it was past Midnight, he would have it drawn up in Writing, and give it them in the Morning: but instead thereof, the King gave them a Paper quite contrary to what was concluded the Night before. Whitlock's Mem. fol. 65. a.

The Treaty of Peace thus broke off, both sides proceed in War. The Queen this Year, about the beginning of May, landed at Scarborough in Yorkshire, from Holland, having avoided a Squadron of Men of War designed by the Parliament to intercept her, and brought abundance of Arms, and about 3000 Soldiers, and was proclaimed Traitor by the Parliament, and after joined with the King and his Army at Edg-Hill in Warwickshire. And if the Parliament prospered so ill last Year, they succeeded worse this; for the Earl of Northampton enters Litchfield, and drives the Parliament's Forces into the Close; and after that defeats Sir John Gell, and Sir W. Brereton, but the Earl was slain at the Head of his Forces: and the Earl of New-Castle, in the North, overthrew the Parliament's Forces commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax at Bradforth; and Sir William Waller is defeated in the West; Prince Rupert takes Bristol, and Prince Maurice, Exeter, Biddiford, Barnstable, Appleford, and Dartmouth: The great Hambden is routed, and mortally wounded at Chalgrave Field by Prince Rupert. And now the King had two conquering Armies in the North and West, and the Parliament none considerable to oppose either; so that if either the King, or the Marquess of New-Castle, had marched to London, in all Appearance either Army would have found little Opposition: but instead hereof, the King sits down and besieges Glocester, and the Marquess of New-Castle comes before Hull.

This gave the Parliament an Opportunity to recruit Essex's Army, and to enter into a Treaty to procure the Scots to bring an Army into England again for to assist the Parliament.

In this Treaty a double Consideration is remarkable; first, The Instability of humane Actions, which are founded in Passion and Prejudice, for there was but one Year between this Treaty and the National Protestation by the Parliament, to Maintain the true Protestant Religion, expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England (which Passage Mr. Whitlock in his Memoirs, fol. 43. has left out) and according to their Duty and Allegiance, to maintain and defend his Majesty's Royal Person and Estate, the Privileges of Parliament, and Liberties of the Subjects, and to preserve the Union between the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland; and this to be taken by all English-men: but now the Scots would [Page] not stir one Step, unless the Parliament of England would join with them in their Covenant, which ill agreed with their Protestation; which the Parliament submitted to.

The other, was a Discovery of a Spark, which soon after broke out into such a Flame, as consumed the Covenant, Presbytery, the Parliament, King, and Church and State of England; for tho during the Prosperity of the King's Affairs this Fire was covered, yet when young Sir Henry Vane (who was one of the Parliament's Commissioners, and one who loved the Presbyterian Government no better than the Episcopal) saw that the Parliament would submit to the Scotish Covenant and Discipline, he stifly opposed it singly, and at last carry'd it, that the Nations should join in a Solemn League: and the Scots would have Church-Government to be according to the Example of the best Reformed Churches; but Sir Henry Vane insisted to have it according to the Word of God only, and carried both points. Afterwards, one of Sir Henry's Fellows expostulated with him, why he should put them to so much Trouble about such needless Trifles? Sir Henry answer'd, He was mistaken, and did not see far enough into the matter; for a League shewed it was between two Nations, and might be broken upon just Reasons, but not a Covenant; and that Church-Government, according to the Word of God, by the Difference of Divines and Expositors, would be long enough before it were determined, for the learnedst held it clearly for Episcopacy; so that when all agreed, we may take in the Scots Presbytery. See the Life of General Monk, p. 23, 24. written by his Chaplain Dr. Gumble.

The Parliament having recruited the Earl of Essex's Army, he forced his Passage, and relieved Glocester; the King's Army retreat to Newbury, where it was charged by Essex, and worsted; and in the Fight, the Ornament of the Age, the learned and most ingenious Lord Falkland, tho weary of his Life, and presaging his own Destiny, was slain, as were the Earls of Sunderland and Carnarven.

If the King's Army had such bad Success before Glocester, my Lord of New-Castle had worse before Hull; for lying in a moorish unhealthy place, in a sickly season of the Year, viz. September and October, the whole Army fell into Fluxes and other Distempers, so as they were forced to raise the Siege, having done nothing considerable in it: besides, at this time Lyn-Regis in Norfolk (a Place near as considerable as Hull) was seized by the Gentry of Norfolk, and might have been relieved, if New-Castle had not been engaged in besieging Hull. Tho the English and Scotish Parliament agreed in their Solemn League and Covenant, yet so did not Sir John Hotham and his Son with the Preferment of Sir Thomas Fairfax and others in the North, so that Sir John Hotham refused to serve under Fairfax. Hereupon the Parliament intended to have displaced Hotham; which when he heard of, both he and his [Page] Son treated with the Marquess of New-Castle to deliver Hull to the King; and the Parliament suspecting the Design, sent Sir Matthew Bromton (Sir John's Brother-in-law) to seize both Father and Son: which Sir John little suspecting till it was too late, fled to Beverly, where he was seized by his own Soldiers, and carried to Hull, from whence Sir Matthew sent both Father and Son to London, where soon after both lost their Heads.

When the Parliament sent Commissioners to invite the Scots to come to their Assistance, the King sent Letters to disswade them from it, urging the manifold Grants he had given to them when he was in Scotland last, which compleated all they could ask; and their solemn Protestations to be for ever his Majesty's most obedient Subjects. See the Act cited by Sir Rich. Baker, fol. 514. That it should be detestable Treason in the highest degree, for any of the Scots Nation, conjunctly or singly, to raise Arms or any military Force upon any Cause whatever, without the King's Commission. But now, unprovoked by the King, and against his express Command, they in open Hostility enter England a second time against him; so little Faith or Honour was to be trusted to from these Covenanters: for the Scots having made their Market with the King, resolve to improve it with the Parliament, and besides their Pay, or Wages of Iniquity, will have the Covenant and Kirk-Government imposed upon the English as well as Scots Nation; and tho the King's Letters were signed by 19 Lords, the Scots ordered them to be burnt by the common Hangman; and in order hereunto, General Lesley, now Earl of Leven, upon the 16th of January enters into England again, with an Army of above 20000 Scots. The King, to add Reputation to his Arms, summoned the Members of Parliament which followed him, to meet at Oxford upon the 22d of January, where they voted the coming of the Scots to be Treason and Rebellion: but because they would not come up to the King's Desire, in Voting the Members at Westminster to be no Parliament, the King, in great Displeasure with them, and in his Letters to the Queen, calls them his mungrel Parliament; such was the Kindness the King shewed those Noble Lords and Gentry for sacrificing their Lives and Fortunes for his Service. And to oppose the Scots, the King makes a Cessation of Arms with the Irish, and draws back into England the English which he sent to oppose the Irish; but these were every where beaten, 1500 of them cast away by Sea, and the greatest Body of them commanded by Sir Michael Ernley, Major General Gibson, Sir Francis Boteler, and Colonel Monk (who shall unravel all the Parliament and Scots were now weaving) were totally routed and dispersed by Sir Thomas Fairfax, joining with Sir William Brereton near Nantwich; and all these, with Colonel Gibs, Harmon, Sir Ralph Dawns, with 14 Captains, 26 Ensigns, and other inferiour Officers, and 1500 common Soldiers, taken [Page] Prisoners, with the loss of their Cannon and Baggage: So that, as Serjeant Whitlock observes, f. 79. a. these Irish never did the King any considerable Service. But to sweeten this, Prince Rupert at the close of this Year beat Sir John Meldrum a Scot, who besieged Newark, and his Army surrendred up their Arms: Upon which the Parliament-Garisons in Gainsborow, Lincoln, and Sleford, quitted these Places to the King's Forces. And here we will end the Year 1643. and take notice how Mr. Serjeant Whitlock, f. 64. b. errs in point of Time, where he says the Scots passed the Tyne in 1642, under General Lesley to assist the Parliament; and f. 67. a. he says, the Queen was brought to Bed at Exeter of the Princess Henrietta Maria, (which for ought appears, was before the Queen landed from Holland) for she was born the 20th of June 1644. See Sir Rich. Baker's Hist. f. 434. a.

Anno Reg. 20. Dom. 1644.

The Wonders which succeeded these two Years in England will better appear if a View be taken of the present Posture of Affairs, as they stood in the beginning of this Year: England and Scotland are united in one Solemn League and Covenant; in January last, Lesley (or Leven) enter'd England with an Army of 18000 Foot, and 3500 Horse and Dragoons, and soon after the Earl of Calendar enter'd England with an Army of 10000 Scots more; these commanded by old and experienced Officers; and the English Parliament's Armies were commanded by as brave and resolute Commanders as were to be found in Europe: The Fleet wholly at the Parliament's Devotion, and so was the City of London. So that if you look upon the Superstructure, nothing could appear more strong and lasting.

And all this time you hear little of Oliver Cromwel, more than that he was a Captain of Horse, and being of a bold and active Spirit, secured the Town of Cambridg for the Parliament, and was very diligent in obstructing several Levies for the King in Cambridgshire, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk: For these Services he had a Commission to be a Colonel of Horse, and having an insinuating and canting way of preaching, and seeming very Godly, raised such a Regiment of Horse as was no where to be found; the Riders, spirited with Zeal to the Cause, yet not of the Scots mode: and to secure them without, Oliver took care to provide them able Horses, and to be well arm'd and accoutred; so as every one of them, beside Sword and Pistol, had Pot, Back and Breast, Musquet-proof.

He was Nephew to Sir Oliver Cromwel, who had a very great Estate, but his Father being a younger Brother, had not above 300 l. per Annum, as was said. Their Name originally was not [Page] Cromwel, but Williams, and the Name of Cromwel was by this Accident: When Cromwel Earl of Essex fell, in the Reign of Hen. 8. he had Cromwel's Ancestor in his Service, who was a Person of lively Parts, and industrious in Business, which Hen. 8. observing, took him into his Sereice, but upon all occasions call'd him Cromwel; and the King being ask'd the Reason, answer'd, He call'd him so in Cromwel's time, and would continue to call him so still; and this continued down to Sir Oliver's, and our Cromwel's time.

Our Oliver being of a turbulent and aspiring Disposition, his Father's contracted Fortunes could not support his Extravagancies, whereby he was like to have fallen into those Troubles which usually attend such Follies; and to prevent them he sets up for New-England, where he becomes a most zealous Promoter of their Cause: But this could not long continue him there; for in their first planting themselves they were poor, so as he could not find Means and Opportunity to support his Extravagancies, and so back he came again into England.

About the Year 1638, the Undertakers to drain the Fen-Lands in Lincolnshire and the Isle of Ely, set up; this Undertaking was mainly opposed by the Town of Cambridg, fearing it would spoil their Navigation between Cambridg and Lyn-Regis, whence Cambridg was supplied with Sea-Coal, Wine and other Provisions.

When the Writs were issued out for calling the second Parliament in 1640, Oliver sets up to be chosen Burgess for the Town of Cambridg, assuring them that if he were chosen, he would make it his Business to overthrow the Project of draining the Fens. But tho by this Project he got to be chosen, yet after he became Protector he most industriously promoted the Project of draining the Fens.

But tho Cromwel was of a turbulent and aspiring Spirit, yet before the Civil Wars broke out in England, he was not conversant in any Military Discipline, nor indeed of any other Learning, or just or lawful Calling: His Person was of a robust and coarse Complexion, his Face red, so was his Nose, (I fancy like the Roman General Sylla's) great and straked with blew Veins. In promoting his Cause and Interest he was most industrious and indefatigable: These Qualities were observed and feared by some both of the King's and Parliament's Party, before they came to be publickly known and put in Execution. I'll give an Instance or two hereof.

When the King summoned the Members of Parliament of his Party to meet at Oxford in January last, Williams Arch-bishop of York was likewise summoned, with whom the King privately consulted what Course was best to be taken in the present Circumstances of his Affairs: the Arch-bishop advised him by all means to come to an Agreement with the Parliament; for since the Scots were [Page] come into England in such numerous Armies, and the English of the Parliament's Party in these two last Years having acquired a Military Knowledg, it would in all appearance be impossible for the King long to withstand their Forces; but above all, he advised the King to get Cromwel over to his side, if possible; otherways to take him off by any means, or he would be the King's Ruin; as you may read more at large in the second Part of the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Williams.

Nor was Cromwel less terrible to the Earl of Essex, and the Scots Commissioners, than to the King's Party; so that one Evening the Earl and several of his Confidents, viz. Mr. Hollis, Sir Philip Stapleton and Sir John Meyrick, and others, with the Scots Commissioners, were in Consultation how to get rid of Cromwel, and sent to Serjeant Whitlock and Maynard about it, who came, and Essex told them, that he sent for them to have their Advice and Counsel upon a Matter of great Importance concerning both Kingdoms; in which the Lords Commissioners of Scotland are concerned for their Kingdom, as we for ours, and they as well as we know your Abilities and Integrity, and are desirous of your Counsel in this great Business; which both the Serjeants promised faithfully to give. But here take notice, That as the English Parliament call'd those who were opposite to them Malignants, so the Scots call'd those opposite to them Incendiaries.

At the Desire of Essex, the Chancellor of Scotland (Lowden) spake as followeth.

Mr. Maynard and Mr. Whitlock;

I Can assure you of the great Opinion both my Brethren and self have of your Worth and Abilities, else we should not have desired this Meeting with you: And since it is his Excellency's (Essex his) Pleasure, that I should acquaint you with the Matter upon whilk your Counsel is desired, I shall obey his Commands, and briefly recite the Business to you.

You ken vary weele that Gen. Lieutenant Cromwel is no Friend of ours; and since the Advance of our Army into England, he has used all under-hand and cunning Means to take off from our Honour, and the Merits of this Kingdom, an evil Requital of all our Hazards and Services; but so it is, and we are nevertheless fully satisfied of the Affections and Gratitude of the gude People of the Nation in general.

It is thought requisite for us, and for carrying on the Cause of the twa Kingdoms, that this Obstacle or Remora be removed out of the way, whom we foresee will be no small Impediment to us in the gude Design we have undertaken.

[Page] He not only is no Friend to us and the Government of our Church, but he is also no well-willer to his Excellency, whom you and we have all Cause to love and honour; and if he be permitted to go on this way, it may, I fear, endanger the whole Business; therefore we are to advise of some Course to be taken for Prevention of this Mischief.

You ken vary weele the Accord betwixt the twa Nations, and the Ʋnion by the solemn League and Covenant; and if any be an Incendiary between the twa Nations, how he is to be proceeded against. Now the Matter is wherein we desire your Opinions, what you take the meaning of the Word Incendiary to be, and whether the Lieutenant General be not sike an Incendiary, as is meant thereby; and whilk Way wad be best to proceed against him, if he be proved sike an Incendiary, and that we may clepe his Wings from soaring to the Prejudice of our Case.

Now you may ken, That by our Law in Scotland, we clepe him an Incendiary, wha kindleth Coals of Contention, and raiseth Differences in the State, to the Publick Damage; and he is Tanquam Publicus Hostis Patriae. Whether your Law be the same or not, you ken best, who are mickle learned therein, and therefore we desire your Judgment in these Points.

Mr. Whitlock answered first, and after a short Preface said, The Sense of the Word Incendiary is the same with us as your Lordship has expressed to be by the Law of Scotland, One that raiseth the Fire of Contention in a State, that kindleth burning hot Flames of Contention; and so it is taken in the Accord of the two Kingdoms.

Whether Lieutenant Gen. Cromwel be such an Incendiary between the two Kingdoms as is meant by this Word, cannot be known but by Proofs of his particular Words and Actions, tending to the kindling of this Fire of Contention between the two Nations, and the raising of Difference between us.

If it do not appear by Proofs he has done this, he is not an Incendiary; but if it can be made out by Proofs, that he hath done this, then he is an Incendiary, and to be proceeded against for it by the Parliament, upon his being thus accused for those things.

This I take for a Ground, That my Lord General and Lords Commissioners of Scotland, being of so great Honour and Authority as you are, must not appear in any Business, especially of an Accusation, but such as you shall see before-hand clearly will be made out, and be brought to the Effect intended.

Otherwise for such Persons as you are, to begin a Business of this Weight, and not to have it so prepared before-hand as to be certain to carry it, but to be put to a doubtful Trial, in case it should not succeed as you expect, but that you should be foiled in it, it would reflect upon your great Honours and Wisdom.

[Page] Next, As to the Person who is to be accused as an Incendiary, it will be fit, in my humble Opinion, to consider his present Condition, and Parts, and Interest, wherein Mr. Maynard and my self by our constant Attendance in the House of Commons, are the more capable to give an Account to your Lordships; and for his Interest in the Army, some Honourable Persons here present, his Excellency's Officers, are best able to inform your Lordships.

I take Lieutenant General Cromwel to be a Gentleman of Quick and Subtile Parts, and one who hath, especially of late, gained no small Interest in the House of Commons, nor is he wanting of Friends in the House of Lords, nor of Ability in himself to manage his own Part or Defence to the best Advantage.

If this be so (my Lords) it will be more requisite to be well prepared against him, before he be brought upon the Stage, lest the Issue of the Business be not answerable to your Expectations.

I have not yet heard any Particulars mentioned by his Excellency, nor by my Lord Chancellor, or any other; nor do I know any in my private Observations, which will amount to a clear Proof of such Matters as will satisfy the House of Commons, in the Case of Lieut. Gen. Cromwel (and according to our Law, and the Course of Proceedings in our Parliament) that he is an Incendiary, and to be punished accordingly.

However, I apprehend it to be doubtful, and therefore cannot advise at this time he should be accused for an Incendiary, but rather that Direction may be given to collect such particular Passages relating to him, by which your Lordships may judg whether they will amount to prove him an Incendiary, or not.

And this being done, we may again wait on your Excellence, if you please, and upon View of those Proofs we shall be better able to advise, and your Lordships to judg what will be fit to be done in this Matter.

Mr. Maynard agreed with Mr. Whitlock in every Particular, and only varied that the Word Incendiary is not much conversant in our Law, nor often met with in our Books; but more a Term of Civil Law and of State, and so to be considered in this Case.

Mr. Hollis, and Sir Philip Stapleton, and others spake smartly to the Business, and mentioned some particular Passages and Words of Cromwel, to prove him an Incendiary; and that he had not that Interest in the House of Commons as was supposed, and would willingly have been upon the Accusation of him: but the Scots Commissioners were not so forward to join with them in it. So Cromwel escaped. But so did not Mr. Hollis and Sir Philip, about two Years after, upon Cromwel's Accusation of them.

[Page] If it be so strange that Cromwel so bred, and having no Correspondence abroad or at home, should in two Years time get such an Ascendant over the Parliament's Army in England, so commanded and disciplin'd as aforesaid; it will appear more admirable by what mean Persons he chiefly atchieved it, as by Pride, Whaley, Hewson, Harrison, Goff, Ven, Barkstead, Cobbet, Okey, &c. broken Citizens, and not before acquainted with any Military Discipline.

But while this Canker-Worm was breeding in the Bowels of the Parliament and Army, the Winds of adverse Fortune blew almost constantly in the Face of the King's Affairs; and to tell particularly of all the Battels, Sieges and Rencounters which happened in England in these two next Years, would swell this Story to a much greater Bulk than I design: You may read them at large in Mr. Whitlock's Memoirs, and Sir Richard Baker's History of Charles the First: And to say nothing of it, would be a Gap in this Treatise, which would interrupt the Design of it.

Upon the 29th of March, the King's Army, commanded by Gen. Forth and Sir Ralph Hopton, was totally routed near Winchester, by Sir William Waller, Sir William Balfour, and Sir Arthur Haslerig (and 'twas observed that two Irish Regiments which served the King in this Fight, were the first which broke and run away:) And soon after Captain Swanley secured Milford-Haven, Haverford-West, and all Pembrook-shire, for the Parliament: And upon the 11th of April, my Lord Fairfax, and his Son Sir Thomas, took Selby in Yorkshire by Storm, and in it Col. Bellasis Governour, with most of the other Officers, and 1600 Common Soldiers, with all their Guns, Arms and Ammunition.

To qualify these Losses in some measure, the King about the latter End of June, fights Waller at Cropredy-Bridg, and routs him, kills 300 of his Men, and Weems General of the Ordnance was taken Prisoner, with two Lieutenant-Colonels, three Captains, and several other Officers, and 180 Common Soldiers, with 14 pieces of Cannon.

This small Victory bore no Proportion to the irreparable Loss the King sustained in the North: for York being besieged by the United Forces of Manchester, both the Fairfaxes, Father and Son, and Leven (or Lesley) General of the Scots; Prince Rupert with all the Powers he could raise, marched to the Relief of it, after he had relieved Latham-House in Lancashire, bravely defended by the Countess of Darby. The Parliament Forces hereupon raised their Siege, and the Prince fetching a Compass about, relieved York, and joined with the Marquess of Newcastle, so as the Prince's Army was 27000 strong; with which he marched to Marston-Moor, whither the Parliament's Army was marched before; and upon the third of July, both Armies fought, and the Prince with the Left Wing charged the Parliament's Right Wing, and routed and [Page] pursued them a great Way; so did General Goring, Sir Charles Lucas, and Major General Porter, rout the main Body of the Parliament's Army; so that all the three Parliament Generals, Fairfax, Manchester and Lesley gave all for lost.

But the Prince, as he did before at Edghill, pursuing the Enemy too far, gave an Opportunity to Sir Thomas Fairfax to rally his Men, and joining with Cromwel's Regiment of Lobsters, armed with Pot Back and Brest, fell upon the Right Wing of the King's Army, and routed them, and also the rest of the King's Foot, destitute of Horse, and obtain'd a compleat Victory. In this Fight above 7000 were slain, 3000 of the King's part taken Prisoners, and 25 Ordnance, 47 Colours, 10000 Arms, two Waggons laden with Carabines and Pistols, 130 Barrels of Powder, with all the Bag and Baggage.

After this the Parliament's Generals returned to the Siege of York, and summoned it, which was delivered up to them by Sir Thomas Glenham, and the Marquess of Newcastle went beyond Sea. Thus was all the North reduced to the Parliament by the fatal Rashness of the Prince, who might have avoided the Fight, and joined with the Marquess of Montross and Col. Clavering, who were with 6000 Foot within two Days march of him.

The North thus subdued, upon the Matter, Essex by the Perswasion of my Lord Roberts, marches into the West, but a different Fate attended him: For the King followed him, and joining with Prince Maurice, followed Essex into Cornwal, where he block'd up all the Avenues, so as Essex must either fight or be starv'd; but in regard that the King had possest himself of all the Passages, Essex could not fight without an apparent Hazard of the Loss of his Army; However, Sir William Balfour with 2300 Horse, brake through the King's Army, and got to Salt-Ash, and from thence to Plimouth, which held for the Parliament.

Now were the Parliament's Foot in a wretched State, the King closely pursuing them, and the Countrey People rising upon them: Hereupon Essex deserts them, and with divers of his Officers by Sea got to Plimouth, leaving Skippon to take care of the rest; who upon the 2d of September capitulated, to deliver up to the King all their Artillery, with all the Bag and Baggage; no Person under a Corporal to wear any kind of Weapon; all Officers above, to wear only Sword and Pistol. And so Skippon marched to Pool, which was in the Parliament's Power.

The Ill Success of Essex in this Expedition, was the Cause of Essex his Fall, (tho the Parliament at present seemed to be otherwise disposed) and of the Rise of Cromwel, as we shall observe.

Whilst these things were doing in the North and West, other Actions of less Consequence happened. Sir Thomas Middleton having [Page] taken Mountgomery-Castle, the King's Forces advanced in a much greater Body to retake it; whereupon Sir Thomas retreated: But being joined with Sir William Brereton, Sir John Meldrum (a Scot) and Sir William Fairfax, returned and charged the King's Party, and took Prisoner M. G. Broughton, Lt. Col. Bludwel, M. Williams, nine Captains, many inferiour Officers, and 1500 common Soldiers: Of the Parliament's Party Sir William Fairfax was slain with Eleven Wounds, Maj. Fitz-Symons, and about 40 Souldiers, and 60 wounded. Monmouth Town and Castle were surprized by Massey, with the Loss only of Six Men. Lieut. Gen. Lesley in the North, fell upon the Forces commanded by Sir Philip Musgrave, kill'd divers upon the Place, and took 100 Prisoners. My Lord Herbert, Son of the Earl of Worcester, was beaten by Massey, who killed 50, and took 60 Prisoners; and Massey fell upon a Party of the King's near Beachy, killed 70, and took 170 Prisoners: and Col. Charles Fleetwood took two Troops of the King's Horse near Belvoir Castle.

From these lesser Actions we now advance to tell of Greater: The Parliament's Army every where victorious in the North, Lesley had now an Opportunity to return to New-Castle, which he summoned to yield, which being refused, he stormed and took it by Force; whereupon Sir John Marlay the Mayor, and others, fled to the Castle, and would have capitulated, but were denied, and so were forced to surrender at Discretion.

But how successful soever the Parliament's Forces were in the North after the Fight at Marslon-Moor, the King reaped but little after the Parliament's Foot had delivered up their Arms in the West; for Essex having joined Manchester and Waller, resolved to hinder the King's Return to Oxford, and upon the 23d of October rendezvouz'd the Army at Aldermaston-Park, and next Night privately passed the Water at a Ford near Padworth, and next Morning to Bucklebury-Heath near Newberry, where the King then was; and about 12 a Clock drew down their whole Army between Thatcham and Shaw, and skirmished with the King's Horse; Manchester's Troops and the London Train'd-Bands crossed the River Kennet between Newberry and the Hill, and forced the King's Party which kept the Pass from thence, with some Execution; but Sir Bernard Astley (Son of Sir Jacob or the Lord Astley) coming to their Rescue, forced the Parliamentarians back again.

In the Afternoon 4000 of Essex and Waller's Horse and Dragoons, with 500 Foot, charged the King's Forces on the West of Newberry, and forced them to retreat in some Disorder, and some of the King's Field-Pieces were taken; Essex followed the Success, and charged the King's Life-Guard, whom he overpowered, and had much more endamaged, if the Lord Bernard Stuart had not [Page] come to their Assistance, and secured their Retreat: but the Parliamentarians every way advancing, beat the King's Army out of the Field, with the Loss of many Colours, and two Pieces of Cannon. Sir Anthony St. Leger, Lieutenant-Colonel Leak, Lieutenant-Colonel Topping, and Captain Catclyne (elder Brother of Sir Nevil Catclyne, my worthy Friend) were killed; and the Earl of Cleveland, and some few others, taken Prisoners.

If the King's Affairs succeeded so ill in the West, they did worse in the North; for Leverpool submitted to the Parliament, and Lesley had Tinmouth-Castle (a Place which hereafter he shall be better acquainted with, tho not in the Quality of a General of an Army, but a Prisoner) surrender'd upon Articles.

After this, Janus's Temple was shut this Year, if you begin it at January. And now a Treaty of Peace at Vxbridg is set on foot at the Desire of the King; but no Success attended it.

This Year, tho the Princes Rupert and Maurice followed the King in his Wars against the Parliament, yet the Elector Palatine, Frederick, their elder Brother, petitioned the Parliament that he might come over, and take the Covenant; which tho at first they refused, yet afterwards they admitted him, and allowed him 8000 l. per Annum out of my Lord Petres and other Delinquents Estates: and so he continued till after the Treaty at Munster 1648, where he led a Life not becoming a Prince in Adversity.

The Treaty of Peace at Ʋxbridg not succeeding, the Parliament took the Town of Shrewsbury, which, as it is one of the most famous of all the Towns of England, so it stopt, on that part, the Entercourse of Wales with the Counties of Salop, Chester, and Worcester.

But to throw a little Water into the Wine of the Parliament's Successes, Sir Marmaduke Langdale, about the Beginning of March, routed a great Body of the Parliamentarians in Yorkshire, and defeated the Army commanded by my Lord Fairfax, which besieg'd Pomfret-Castle; and from thence marched into Leicestershire, and defeated a great Body of the Parliament's Forces commanded by Colonel Rossiter.

Anno Reg. 21. Dom. 1645.

We begin this Year with the Self-denying Ordinance, (tho Mr. Whitlock and Sir Richard Baker differ a little in point of time, Sir Richard Baker says it was this Year, Mr. Whitlock 1644.) But the Lords refused to concur with the Commons herein; so as this Ordinance began with a Rupture between the two Houses, so you'll see it shall be the Ruin of the Parliament's, as well as the King's Designs.

[Page] Mr. Whitlock made a fine and learned Speech against this Ordinance, which you may read at large fol. 114, 115. of his Memoirs. The pretended Reason for this Ordinance was, the Thinness of the House, which by Employment in the War, would render them much thinner: To which Mr. Whitlock answered, It might be supplied by filling up the Commons by new Elections.

He objected against the Ordinance, the Examples of the Grecians and Romans, who had the greatest Offices both of War and Peace conferred upon their Senators; because they having greater Interests than others, were more capable to do them the greatest Services: and that by passing this Ordinance, they would lay aside the General Essex, the Earls of Warwick, Denbigh, and Manchester, the Lords Willoughby and Roberts; and of their own Members, the Lords Grey (of Growby) and Fairfax, Sir William Waller, Cromwel, Mr. Hollis, Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Brereton, and Sir John Meyrick.

Tho the Commons passed the Self-denying Ordinance, yet they dispensed with it in reference to Cromwel, Skippon, and Ireton, and Sir William Waller. Hereupon the Earls of Essex, Denbigh, and Manchester, lay down their Commissions. Here it's observable, That the Earl of Essex, as he was the first which headed an Army against the King, and whose Authority was so great, that 'twas believed if he had not done it, the Parliament could not have rais'd an Army, is now the first discarded by the Commons, without giving any Reason.

In this new Establishment of the English Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax was made General, Cromwel Lieutenant-General, and Skippon Major-General. The Royalists conceived Mountains of Advantages to follow (and that not improbably) from the Divisions in the Parliament's Army, which succeeded quite contrary.

For upon the 3d of April, Fairfax having gathered his Army together at Windsor, sent Cromwel with a Brigade of Horse and Dragoons, to intercept a Convoy of Horse which Prince Rupert had sent from Worcester to fetch off the King from Oxford, with a Train of Artillery to take the Field; which Cromwel met at Islip, and routed them, took divers Prisoners, and 200 Horse: and from thence Cromwel march'd and took Bletchingdon-House, commanded by Colonel Windebank (Sir Francis's own Son) by Surrender upon the first Summons; for which Windebank was sentenced by a Court-Martial, and shot to Death. But Cromwel had not so good Success at Faringdon, which he assaulted, and was beaten off, with the loss of 200 of his Men.

The King understanding that Fairfax had a Design to besiege Oxford, sent to Prince Rupert and General Goring to fetch him off, which they did about the beginning of May; and the King marched towards the Relief of Chester, then besieged by the Parliament's Forces: and Fairfax lays close Siege to Oxford.

[Page] The King relieved Chester; and in his Return, takes Leicester by Storm: This put Fairfax to his Trumps, so that if he continued the Siege of Oxford, he would leave all the mid-land parts of England to the Mercy of the King. So he raises his Siege, and marches to fight the King's Army.

My Lord Astley was Lieutenant-General of the King's Foot, whose Nephew was Sir Isaac Astley, my Lord's eldest Brother's eldest Son, who married a Cousin-German of mine; and after the War was over, my Lord Astley being at his Nephew's, in Discourse of the Wars, my Lord told him, That upon the Approach of the Parliament's Army, the King called a Council of War, where by the Advice of my Lord Astley it was resolved to march Northwards, and destroy the Country Provisions, and leave the Parliament's Army at their Election, whether they would follow the King, or besiege Leicester: But next Morning, quite contrary to the Order of Council, Orders were given to prepare to fight the Parliament's Army, when there was little time to draw up the Army; so inconstant and irresolute was the King in this, as of almost all his other Actions; and so forward was the King herein, that he marched to meet Fairfax's Army near Naseby in Northamptonshire. This was upon Saturday, June the 14th.

And if the Resolution to fight was inconsiderate and rash, so was the Fight; for Prince Rupert, who commanded the right Wing of the King's Horse, charged the left Wing of the Parliament's, commanded by Ireton, and routed them, and wounded Ireton in the Thigh; and as before, at Edg-hill and Marston-Moor, he pursued the Enemy so far, that he left the rest of the Army exposed to the Assaults of the Enemy; so here he followed the Chase almost to Naseby, leaving the left Wing of the King's Army commanded by Sir Marmaduke Langdale, open, to be charged by Cromwel.

That which compleated the Parliament's Victory, and the King's utter Overthrow in this Fight, was, the not observing the Orders the Day before, of the King's Retreat; for Yorkshire being opprest by the Parliament's Forces, Sir Marmaduke had Expectation of relieving the King's Party there, which being cross'd by the Resolution of this Day's Fight, his Brigade, as well as himself, grew discontented; so as he no ways answered the Gallant Actions which before he had atchieved: And Cromwel having forced Sir Marmaduke to retreat, joining with Fairfax, charged the King's Foot (who had beaten the Parliament's, and got Possession of their Ordnance, and thought themselves certain of the Victory) but being in Confusion and out of Order, and having no Horse to support them, were easily over-born by Fairfax and Cromwel; and so Fairfax's Army obtain'd a most absolute Victory over the King's.

[Page] We hear no more of Prince Rupert in this Fight, who, 'twas believed, was the first Mover of it, till of his Arrival at Bristol.

In this Fight, the Earl of Lindsey, the Lord Astley, and Colonel Russel, were wounded, and 20 Colonels, Knights, and Officers of Note, and 600 common Soldiers, were slain on the King's side; and 6 Colonels and Lieutenant-Colonels, 18 Majors, 70 Captains, 80 Lieutenants, 200 Ensigns and other Officers, and 4500 common Soldiers, were taken Prisoners; 12 Pieces of Cannon, 8000 Arms, 40 Barrels of Powder, 200 Carriages, with all their Bag and Baggage, with store of rich Pillage, 3000 Horse, one of the King's Coaches, with his Cabinets of Letters and Papers: And the King fled towards Wales.

If the King were unfortunate in the Success of this Fight, he was not less in the Discovery of his secret Counsels with the Queen, which were so contrary to those he declared to the Kingdom; for in his Letter to the Queen, he declared his Intention to make Peace with the Irish, and to have 40000 of them over into England to prosecute the War here. And in others he complained, he could not prevail with his Mungrel Parliament at Oxford, to Vote that the Parliament of Westminster were not a Lawful Parliament: So little Thanks had these Noble Lords and Gentlemen for their exposing their Lives and Fortunes in Defence of the King in his Adversity. What then might they expect, if he should prevail by Conquest? That he would not make a Peace with the Rebels (the Parliament) without her Approbation, nor go one jot from the Paper she sent him: That in the Treaty at Uxbridg, he did not positively own the Parliament, it being otherwise to be construed, tho they were so simple as not to find it out: and that it was recorded in the Notes of the King's Council, that he did not acknowledg them a Parliament. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 147. a.

The Members having got these Papers, not only printed and published them, but order'd them to be kept upon Record; and also made a publick Declaration of them, wherein they shew what the Nobility and Gentry which follow'd the King might trust to.

The King's Army being overthrown, the Parliament had two Armies, and the King none, but that which was commanded by General Goring, which at that time besieg'd Taunton, and sore distrest it; but it being governed by Blake (after the famous Admiral for the Rump and Cromwel by Sea) it made indeed a wonderful Resistance. And now you'll see the King's Garisons surrender by heaps.

For, two Days after the Fight at Naseby, viz. June 14. Fairfax sat down before Leicester, where my Lord Loughborough was Governour, and made a large Breach towards Newark; whereupon the Governour surrendred it.

[Page] After the Surrender of York, the Year before, the King made that noble Gentleman, Sir Thomas Glenham, Governour of Carlisle, which he defended till the Garison were forced to eat Horse-flesh: And the Town being besieged by the English and Scots, Sir Thomas, to throw a Bone of Dissension between them, deliver'd it up to the Scots, about a Week after the Surrender of Leicester.

From Leicester, Fairfax marches to the Relief of Taunton; whereupon Goring drew off, and retreated to Langport, where Fairfax routed Goring, kill'd 200 of his Men, took 1400 Prisoners, and pursued the rest to Bridgwater, which Fairfax besieg'd, and had it surrender'd upon the 23d of July.

And about that time, Pontfract Castle in Yorkshire surrender'd to M. G. Pointz; and upon the 25th of July, Sir Hugh Cholmly surrender'd Scarborough Castle to Sir Matthew Boynton; and upon the 11th of September, Fairfax storm'd Bristol, and Prince Rupert surrender'd the Castle upon Terms.

Tho the City of Hereford bravely defended it self against General Lesley, and his Scots, from the 13th of July to the 1st of September, and then forced Lesley to raise the Siege, upon pretence of relieving his own Country, then over-run by the Marquess of Montross; yet it was soon after surprised by Colonel Birch and Colonel Morgan.

Nor were the King's Forces in the Field more fortunate than those in Garison; for the King having got together a Body of about 5000 Men, most Welch, marched towards the Relief of Chester, then besieged by Sir William Brereton, and Colonel Jones; but in his March, he was fought by General Pointz at Routon-Moor, within two Miles of Chester, where the King was worsted, and the Lord Bernard Stewart (Brother to the Duke of Richmond) kill'd.

The King's Affairs being thus desperate in England, all the Hopes now were of Scotland, where Montross had conquer'd it from one End to the other, and had no visible Army to oppose him; and the King, to make Scotland secure, commanded my Lord Digby and Sir Marmaduke Langdale, to join Montross with their Horse: in pursuance whereof, they marched to Sherborn in Yorkshire, where they surprised 700 of the Parliament's Foot, with their Arms and Baggage; but staying for Carriages, Col. Copley, Lilbourn, and Alured, fell upon them, and routed them, killing and taking 100 Officers, 300 Soldiers, and 600 Horse, with their Furniture, and my Lord Digby's Coach: And my Lord Digby marching on with the rest of his Forces, was set upon at Carlisle Sands, and utterly defeated; from whence my Lord and Langdale escaped to the Isle of Man, and after into Ireland.

From Routon-Moor, the King got to Newark, where Ma [...]or-General Gerrard charged the Lord Digby, lately defeated at Sherborn, [Page] with Treason: Prince Rupert, and Maurice, the Lord Hawley, and Sir Richard Willis the Governour, sided with Gerrard; and the Lord Bellasis, and many others, with Digby; and so did the King, who displaced Willis, and made the Lord Bellasis Governour. This caused great Dissension, not only in the Garison, but in the Officers of the Army which the King brought with him; so that the Princes Rupert and Maurice, General Gerrard, my Lord Hawley, and Willis, forsook the King, and sent to the Parliament for Passes to go beyond Sea.

In this forlorn state the King left Newark, and with 300 Horse got safe to Oxford, where the Princes Rupert and Maurice (not knowing whither else to go) came, and were seemingly reconciled to him; but upon the Return of the King's Horse, Pointz meets and routs them. Here the King again sent to the Parliament for a Treaty of Peace, which was rejected upon this Occasion.

Letters were taken in my Lord Digby's Coach, after his Rout at Sherborn, and also in the Pockets of the Arch-bishop of Tuam, who was slain in an Overthrow of the Irish at Sligo in Ireland; wherein the King offered the Irish a Toleration of their Religion, themselves to choose a Governour of their own, and to be entrusted with several Castles and Forts for their Caution, upon Condition that they send 10000 Men into England, to assist him against his Enemies. And with these, they found the Copy of the King's Commission to the Earl of Glamorgan, impowering him to treat with the Rebels, viz.

CHARLES, by the Grace of God, &c. To our Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin, Edward, Earl of Glamorgan: We reposing great and especial Trust and Confidence in your approved Wisdom and Fidelity, do, by these Presents (as firmly as under our Great Seal to all Intents and Purposes) authorize and give you Power to treat and conclude with the Confederate Roman Catholicks in our Kingdom of Ireland: If upon necessity any thing be condescended to wherein our Lieutenant cannot so well be seen, as not fit for us, for the present, publickly to own; therefore We charge you to proceed, according to this our Warrant, with all possible Secrecy: and whatever you shall engage your self upon, such valuable Considerations as you in your Judgment shall deem fit, we promise, in the Word of a King and Christian, to ratifie and perform the same, of that which shall be granted by you, and under our Hand and Seal, the Confederate Catholicks having, by their Supplies, testified their Zeal to Our Service. And this shall be, in each Particular, to you a sufficient Warrant.

Given at Our Courtat Oxford, the Twentieth Day of May, 20 Car.

[Page] Glamorgan had brought his Business to some Issue, when State-Reasons enforced Ormond, and Digby, and the Council, to imprison him; but this gave Distaste to the Irish, who thereupon suspected double Dealings, and so neither sent over the promised 10000 Men, nor any Aid to Westchester, tho Glamorgan was quickly released upon the Bail of six or eight Irish Peers. The Parliament hereupon was so incensed, that they refused either to treat with the King, or to admit him to come to London, (see Baker, f. 473.) or this Business to end here; but rendred all the King's subsequent Treaties with the Parliament suspected, and the end of attaining the King's Propositions more difficult. And here you may see how this King would prostitute his Honour and Christianity, contrary to what he so often professed, not only to the Parliament, but also to the Duke of Ormond, his own Party.

Now things every where go to wreck on the King's side; Dartmouth was surrendred to Fairfax, by Sir Hugh Pollard the Governor; Sir William Vaughan, with such Forces as he could get together, marching to relieve Chester, was utterly routed by the Parliament's Forces, and Chester surrendred to Sir Will. Brereton; Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire (the Seat of the Earls of Rutland) was surrendred to General Pointz by Sir Gervais Lucas the Governour; my Lord Hopton is beaten by Fairfax in Devonshire, whereupon Hopton accepted of Terms from Fairfax, and disbanded his Army, and went into France: After which all the Garisons in Cornwal surrendred to Fairfax, except Pendennis Castle and St. Michael's Mount: Latham-House which the Countess of Derby bravely defended two Years against the Parliament, was surrendred in December, and Basing-House was taken by Storm: And that which compleated the Ruin of all the King's Affairs in England, was the Surprize and Defeat of my Lord Astley at Donnington near Stow on the Wold, where he was taken Prisoner the 21st of March; and when he was a Prisoner, he told some of the Parliament Officers, You have done your Work, and may go play, unless you fall out among you selves.

Anno Reg. 22. An. Dom. 1646.

In this desperate State of the King's Affairs in England, the King's Expectations in Scotland were much fallen too: For after the Defeat of my Lord Digby and Sir Marmaduke Langdale, the Scots had little to do in the North; so as General Lesley had leisure to march to Newark with his Foot to join M. G. Pointz, who had block'd it up; and David Lesley with the Horse to march into Scotland, where Montross his Men after he had beaten Gen. Bailey at Philipshaugh, being full of Plunder, and being a Voluntier Army, and not under regular Discipline, disbanded in great Numbers and [Page] returned home, when David Lesley set upon the Remainder and routed them, and gave Quarter to the rest, whom yet he murdered in cold Blood. Here you may see the different Tempers of the English and Scots Nation, for you find no such Acts done in England in the Heats of all the War.

In all the War in Scotland the Marquess of Huntley obstinately refused to join with Montross; and after the Defeat of Montross's Foot, Montross went in Person to entreat Huntley to join in their common Interest against the Kirk, which Huntley not only refused, but would not deign to see Montross, [yet this did Huntley no good, for after Montross his Army was disbanded, the Kirk-Party cut off his Head] so as Montross was forced to retreat into the Highlands, and act defensively.

Exeter upon the 13th of April surrenders to Fairfax, which was followed by Barnstable Town and Fort, St. Michael's Mount, Dunstan Castle, Woodstock, and other Places of less Note.

Sir Thomas Glenham having honourably defended York and Carlisle, the King thought no other so fit to be Governour of Oxford as he, which being block'd up by the Parliament Forces, the King thought himself in no Security in it; for the Parliament refused to admit him to come to London, unless he signed their Propositions. Now the French Ambassador in the Scots Quarters advised the King to throw himself into the Scots Power; herein you may observe, that tho Richlieu were dead, yet Mazarine continued the Correspondence between France and Scotland, which yet were Pensioners to France.

This being Hobson's Choice, the King only accompanied by one Hudson a Minister, and Mr. John Ashburnham, throws himself into the Power of the Scots then besieging Newark, this was the fifth of May.

Thus this poor Prince to avoid his present Condition, seeks Protection from those which brought him into it; which tho he got nothing by it, yet the Scots instead of protecting him, shall only make a Bargain and Sale of him: for having him in their Power, they resolve to make a double Market of him, viz. To have him to order Montross to disband his Army, and then to retire out of Scotland, and then to sell him to the Parliament for so much as they could get: that of Montross, it was no sooner asked than granted; but soon after he was gone, the Covenanters seize Huntley and cut off his Head; the Parliament too desire the King to give Order for the English Garisons to surrender, which he granted; so here we end the Wars in England and Scotland between the King and Parliament at present. And now you'll see how the ending of these Wars was the beginning of the Ruin of the Parliament and Scots Covenanters; for the Scots having got their Ends by Montross his disbanding his Army, yet the Bargain for the [Page] Sale of the King being a mighty Matter to the Scots, required a longer time, and the Scots would not lose one Scotish Pound they could get for him; and therefore, tho the King put himself into the Power of the Scots the 5th of May 1646, yet the Bargain was not concluded till January following, and then the Scots flush of Money return home, finding all things in Peace now Montross is gone; and the Parliament having bought the King, confine him to Holdenby-House, a House of the King's in Northamptonshire, under the Guard of a select Company of Covenanters, whereof Sir John Cooke, Secretary Cooke's Son, was one.

Thus this Prince, who before had shifted the worthy Members of Parliament from one Prison to another, that they might have no Benefit of their Habeas Corpus's, and the Constables of Hertfordshire from one Messenger to another, is himself shifted from one Place a Prisoner to another, without any hope of an Habeas Corpus: He that before, by his absolute Will and Pleasure, would without any Law seize his Subjects Goods, and commit them to Prison, cannot now enjoy his own Estate in his own House: He that before arbitrarily raised Ship-Money, has not now one Ship to command.

One would think the Covenanters had their Game sure enough, now those in Scotland had got rid of Montross, and full of Money, and those in England had got the King in their Power, and the King's Army utterly subdued, and both Kingdoms united into one solemn League and Covenant; so that both may sing their Requiem for many Years.

But see the Instability of Human Affairs, where they are not founded in Truth and Righteousness; for the Scots Directory, Catechism and Government, sorted as ill with the English Genius, as Laud's Liturgy, Canons and High Commission did with the Scots; and the rigid Execution of them as insolent and tyrannical, as the Proceedings in the Star-Chamber and High-Commission; and these being general, equally offended all: and tho the Cavalier Party being under the Hatches said little, yet the Brawls and Invectives between the Presbyterians and other Parties, were as fierce as between the Arminians and Orthodox in Laud's time, so that things were not like to continue long at this rate.

The Parliament having the King now in their Power, the Scots gone, yet Ireland (I mean the English Interest in it) in a very deplorable State, and being apprehensive of the Temper of the Army, whose Principles were Anti-Presbyterian; and that they might in some measure ease the Countrey of maintaining the whole Army, resolved that 12000 of the Army should be sent over into Ireland to be commanded by Major General Skippon, and 6000 Horse, 2000 Dragoons, and 6000 Foot to be kept up in England, and commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax.

[Page] Cromwel was aware of what the Members designed, and the Members were as jealous of Cromwel, and therefore would not dispense with the Self-denying Ordinance, that he should be in the Army; however, Cromwel had his Agents in it, and by the Ministers and other zealous Independants, foment their Jealousies, that the Parliament designed to disband them without Payment of their Arrears; and in this Ferment they chose two out of every Regiment, which they called Adjutators, to whom they gave Power to hold Councils, and judg what was fit to be done for the common Good.

These Adjutators were called Levellers, who cried up Liberty, and the Power of the People, and assumed to themselves a Power in their Councils above what the Colonels claimed.

The Proceedings of the Adjutators startled the Parliament, and in a great measure the Colonels and Officers of the Army; so that unless Cromwel did appear in the Army, and by his Authority did restrain the Licence which the Adjutators assumed, they sat very loose in their Places.

Cromwel knew this as well as they, and that the Adjutators struck at his Authority as well as the Officers; so that when there was a Debate in the House of Commons how to suppress the Adjutators, Cromwel professed, and called God to witness, That he was certain the Souldiers would at the first word of his Command, if he were among them, throw down their Arms at the Parliament's Feet; and solemnly swore, that he rather wished himself and his whole Family burnt, than that the Army should break out into Sedition: And the House had so little Wit as to believe him, and so sent him down to appease the Army.

Hereupon Cromwel order'd a general Muster of the Army upon Hownslow-Heath, where the Army was divided, and the Levelling Party refused to come under Cromwel's Command; whereupon Cromwel sent to the Levellers to send some to treat of their Grievances, which they did; and when they came, Cromwel with an undaunted Boldness pistoll'd three of the most forward of them, and seized the rest, and then the Levelling Part of the Army submitted.

The Sectaries, of which the Army was composed, tho they had the Sword in their Hands, yet had no face of Authority to recur to, the Presbyterian Members in both Houses being three to one; they therefore send Cornet Joyce with a Party of Horse to Holdenby, who the 4th of June 1647, (which was in less than four Months after the Members had brought the King thither) take the King out of the Parliament-Commissioners Power, and keep him in the Army.

And now this poor Prince (for so he may be truly called, since he, who before by his absolute Will and Pleasure would take his Subjects Estates, has now no Power to get his own) is fallen into [Page] the Hands of another sort of Flatterers than in the former, yet these intended him no more good than the former, viz. only to gratify their Ambition, Avarice and Treachery, by making use of the King's Name.

These seem to lament the hard Conditions the Members impose upon him, not only in his Liberty, but in keeping him from his Children and Friends, and allow him both, professing they would never lay down Arms until they had put the Scepter into his Hands, and procured better Conditions for his Friends.

In order hereunto, they seem to join the King's Interest with theirs; and in their Declaration for Redress of Grievances, declare for the King and People, and that the Members prefix a certain time for their sitting, so that a new Parliament may be called, and thereby the Nation settled upon sure Foundations.

Here you may observe a new Face of the Parliament's Affairs quite inverted; for the Army were as much in love with their being so, as the Parliament was of their sitting: And now the Army, which was rais'd only to do the Parliament's Journey-work, would only allow the Members a certain time for their sitting. And because Denzil Hollis, Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Lewis, Sir John Clotworthy, Sir William Waller, Sir John Maynard, Major General Massey, Mr. Glyn, Colonel Walter Long, Colonel Edward Harley, and Mr. Ant. Nichols, were the leading Men in the House of Commons for establishing the Covenant, and disbanding the Army, the Army charge them with High-Treason; the Charge against them was Cant, after the Mode of the Times, That they obstructed the Business of Ireland, to have acted against the Army, and against the Laws and Liberties of the Subject, and were Obstructers of Justice.

Here you may see into what a Labyrinth of Distraction and Confusion Men run, when they forsake the ways of Justice and Righteousness: For when Mr. Hollis and Colonel Long, 4 Car. were imprisoned for performing the Trust reposed in them by their Country, they had the Testimony of a good Conscience for their Support, and the known Laws for their Protection; and here they knew what to trust to, and so they insisted upon the Laws, and by them in due time were delivered from their Imprisonment; but now the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation were broken down, and they charged at random by the Army, they had no Defence to recur to, but for Safeguard fled beyond Sea. What became of Colonel Long I cannot tell, but Mr. Hollis never return'd till after King Charles the Second's Restoration; and Sir Philip Stapleton being suspected to have the Plague, was shut out of Calais, and 'twas said dy'd in a Ditch.

What Thanks now had Sir Philip Stapleton, Sir William Waller, and Major General Massey for all their valiant Services to the Parliament, whilst Oliver was whistling to his Cambridg Teem of [Page] Committee-Men, a new Tune of the way of Ordinances, Dispensations, Righteousness, and Providence? and whereto can they go to find Relief?

Glyn had so little Wit, as to believe the Law would be his Protection, and so did abide a Trial: but he was mistaken in his Measures; for tho he defended himself with much Prudence, yet he was discharged from being a Member of the House, and committed to the Tower during their Pleasure. But the House proceeded higher against Sir John Maynard, and order'd an Impeachment of High Treason to be drawn up against him; and ordered Nichols to be taken into Custody, but he escaped from the Messenger.

The English Covenanters could not be so purblind, as not to see whereto this tended; and were madded that they which had begun the War, and by the Aid of their Brethren of Scotland, were in a fair Possibility of bringing it to their Desires against the King, should not only be outed of their conceived Glory and Reward by these Upstarts of the Army, but also the principal of them to be persecuted and destroyed for continuing firm to their Gude-Cause.

The Militia of London was setled upon the 4th of May, in the Management of the Presbyterians, who were very industrious in compleating their Companies, both of the Trained-Bands and Militia; but this was counter to the Design of the Army, and judged to be a Conspiracy against it: whereupon Fairfax (who bore the Name, tho Cromwel rul'd all) upon the 10th of June sent a Letter to the Parliament, That the Militia of the City of London might be put into the Hands of Persons that were better affected to the Army: Which the Commons tamely submitted to; and upon the 23d of July repealed the Ordinance of the 4th of May.

Hereupon the City met in Common-Council, and resolved to petition the Commons against it, which they did; and upon the 26th, by the Sheriffs, and some of the Common-Council, delivered their Petition to the Commons: And about an Hour after, about 1000 Apprentices delivered another Petition, complaining, That to order the City's Militia was the City's Birth-right, belonging to them by Charters confirmed in Parliament; for Defence whereof, they had adventured their Lives as far as the Army: And desired that the Militia might be put again into the same Hands in which it was put with the Parliament's and City's Consent, by the Ordinance of the 4th of May.

Upon the reading of this Petition, the Lords revoked the Ordinance of the 23d of July, and renewed that of the 4th of May, and sent it down to the Commons for their Consent, and kept back some of the Commons, till the Members within agreed with the Lords, and then they returned: And after some time, they, [Page] or some others, upon the rising of the House, took the Speaker and thrust him back into the Chair, and there kept him and the Members, till they enforced them to pass a Vote, That the King should come to London: And then both Houses adjourned for four Days.

In this Interval, the Members which favoured the Army, and the Speakers of both Houses, went to the Army, and there complained of the Violences upon the Parliament, tho none were done to the Lords: And after the four Days Adjournment, the Houses met, and the Lords chose my Lord Hunsdon their Speaker, and the Commons Mr. Henry Pelham, and passed these Votes:

1. That the King should come to London.

2. That the Militia of London should be authorized to raise Forces for the Defence of the City.

3. That Power be given to the same Militia to choose a General. And,

4. That the 11 Members impeached by the Army should take their Seats in Parliament.

This was upon the 30th of July.

The Citizens armed with these Powers, proceed to raise Forces under the Command of Sir William Waller, Major-General Massey, and Colonel Pointz; but these, tho numerous, being suddenly raised, so as the Soldiers not being well listed, 'twas like no great Opposition could be made against an old experienc'd and victorious Army: Besides, the Borough of Southwark were generally for the Army; and a Party of the Army seized upon the Block-house at Gravesend, and block'd up the City by Water towards the East, and the Army towards the West.

The Aldermen and Common-Council of the City now desert their three Generals, Waller, Massey, and Pointz, and sent to Fairfax for a Pacification; which he granted them upon these Terms:

1. That they should desert the Parliament then sitting, and the 11 Members.

2. That they should recal their Declaration lately divulged.

3. That they should relinquish their present Militia.

4. That they should deliver up to the General, all their Forts, and the Tower of London.

5. That they should disband all the Forces they had lately [...]aised, and do all things else which were necessary for the Publick Tranquillity.

All which the City submitted to: So the Speakers and Members which had run to the Army returned again, and annulled all the Acts and Orders which had passed since the 26th of July last.

[Page] Here observe, That the Members which did not run to the Army, but met in Time and Place according to that Adjournment, were as much a Parliament, as those which continued at Westminster after the King left them; and the Members which met at Oxford were as much a Parliament as those which met after they were restored by the Army.

When the Members were returned, the Commons voted an Impeachment of High Treason against the Earls of Suffolk, Lincoln, and Middlesex, and the Lords Berkley, Hunsdon, Willoughby of Parham, and Maynard; such a Stalking-Horse was Treason now made, and the Crime no more than what themselves had done after the King left them. And Sir John Gage, the Lord-Mayor, Alderman Bunce, Langham, Cullam, and Adams, were committed to the Tower for High-Treason, for Forcing the Parliament. But if this were Treason in them, before the next Year goes round you'll see Cromwel out-treason this a Bar and half. And as Sir Phil. Gurney, Sir Henry Garoway, and Sir George Whitmore, were committed to the Tower for adhering to the King against the Parliament; so now the Mayor and Aldermen were committed to the Tower for adhering to the Parliament against the Army.

During these Discords and Confusions, the Scots were in great Grumble, that the Work of Reformation, which united both Kingdoms in Adherence to their Solemn League and Covenant, was in danger to be overthrown by the over-spreading of Heresy and Schism; which was so much more lamented, by how much after their Bargain and Sale of the King, both Houses voted, That if the King refused to pass Propositions for Peace, they will do nothing which may break the Ʋnion and Affection of both Kingdoms, but to preserve the same. This was the 28th of December, 1646.

Now both Factions, Parliament and Army, seem to court the King; and the Parliament sent Propositions of Peace to the King at Hampton-Court, the same they sent to the King at New-Castle, when he was in the Power of the Scots: which you may read in Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 120. b. and 121. a.

But now the Mystery of Iniquity works; for Cromwel was as fearful the King should agree with the Parliament, as the King was unwilling to agree to them: and therefore Cromwel gave Instructions to the Commissioners, That if the King would assent to Propositions lower than those of the Parliament, that the Army would settle him again in his Throne. Hereupon the King returned Answer to the Parliament, That he waved now the Propositions sent to him, or any Treaty upon them, and flies to the Proposals of the Army, urges a Treaty upon them, and such as he shall make; professes he will give Satisfaction to settle the Protestant Religion, with Liberty to tender Consciences; to secure the Laws, Liberty and Property, and Privileges of Parliament: and of those concerning Scotland, he will treat apart [Page] with the Scots Commissioners. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 271. b.

Upon the reading of the King's Answer, a Day was appointed by either House to consider of it; and that in the mean time it be communicated to the Scots Commissioners.

There was a Report at that time, and so yet continues, (tho I cannot find the bottom of it, yet I am confident in time it will appear) that Cromwel made a private Article with the King, That if the King closed with the Propositions of the Army, Cromwel should be advanced to a Degree higher than any other, as Vicar-General of England, as Cromwel was in the Reign of Henry 8.

But the King was so Uxorious, that he would do nothing without communicating it to the Queen; and wrote to her, That tho he assented to the Army's Proposals, yet if by assenting to them he could procure Peace, it would be easier then to take off Cromwel than now he was the Head that govern'd the Army.

Cromwel, who had his Spies upon every Motion of the King, intercepts these Letters, and resolved never to trust the King again; yet doubted that he could not manage his Designs, if the King were so near the Parliament and City as Hampton-Court: therefore Cromwel sent to the King, That he was in no Safety at Hampton-Court, by reason of the Hatred which the Adjutators had to him, and that he would be in more Safety in the Isle of Wight. Hereupon the King, upon the 11th of November (while the Parliament and Scots Commissioners were debating the King's Answer to their Propositions) at Night made his Escape, having Post-Horses, and a Ship provided for him at Southampton, accompanied only with Sir John Berkley, Colonel Leg, and Mr. Ashburnham, and came to the Isle of Wight; which would morally have been impossible, if Cromwel and his Agents had not put the King upon it.

But how concealedly soever Cromwel and his Son-in-law Ireton had carried the Business of the King's Escape to the Isle of Wight, yet the Adjutators had some Jealousy upon them, that they designed to have the King establish'd; and possest the Soldiers with much Prejudice against them. Fairfax doubting the Event of these Practices, dismist the Adjutators to their several Regiments, and sent most of their Officers to their several Charges, and appointed a General Rendezvouz of the Army at Cork-bush-field between Hertford and Ware, upon the 14th; which the Adjutators endeavour'd to have prevented. The next Day many Soldiers, of five whole Regiments, mutiny'd against their Officers, and wore Marks of Distinction to be known from the rest. Cromwel, Ireton, and some other of the Officers, struck at by the Adjutators, were very active in suppressing them, and seized upon some of the principal Mutineers, and one or two of them were shot before their Troops were reduced; and most of the Mutineers, and the Officers which [Page] favoured them, were tried at Court-Martials, and cashier'd; and three of them condemned to die. And for this Cromwel had the Thanks of the House: but it will not be long before they shall find little Joy of it.

From the Isle of Wight, the King, upon October the 18th, sent to the Members for a personal Treaty of Peace at London: which, after much Debate, was agreed to, upon these four Preliminaries.

1. An Act For Raising, Settling, and Maintaining Forces by Sea and Land, within the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, and the Dominion of Wales.

2. An Act For recalling all Declarations, Oaths, and Proclamations against the Parliament, or those who had adhered to them.

3. An Act, That those Peers who were made after the Great Seal was carried from the Parliament, may be made uncapable of Sitting in the House of Peers.

4. That Power may be given to the Houses, to adjourn as they shall think fit.

The King, it may be, not knowing Cromwel had intercepted his Letters to the Queen, and so trusting to Cromwel's Promises, and the Scots Commissioners flatly protesting against these Preliminaries, as opposite to Religion, the Crown, and Agreement of the Kingdoms; refused to sign any Propositions till a Peace was made, which might comprehend all Interests. Which had no other Effects, than that the Lords and Commons Voted,

1. That they will make no further Applications or Addresses to the King.

2. That no Addresses or Applications be made to the King by any Person whatsoever, without Leave from both Houses.

3. That the Person or Persons that shall make Breach of this Order, shall incur the Penalty of High Treason.

4. That they will receive no more Messages from the King; and that no Person do presume to bring any Message from the King to both or either Houses of Parliament, or any other Person. But these Votes were too hot to hold long.

These Votes were so pleasing to the Army, that it was declar'd by a Council of War the 17th of January, That they resolved to endeavour to preserve the Peerage and Rights, and the Rights of the Peers of England, notwithstanding any Scandals upon them to the contrary. Yet within little more than a Year, the Rump, set up by the Army, shall turn them out of doors, as dangerous and useless.

Here see what a Labyrinth Men run into when they forsake the Paths of Justice! for as Socrates says, Plato Eutiphro, If Men in Dissension will not submit to some certain Rule which may determine them, their Dissensions will be endless: and that the Will of the [Page] Gods, if it be divided, cannot be the Rule to determine Justice; for Men in obeying one God, may disobey another.

If therefore the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation may not be the Rule which may determine the Controversies between the King, the Members, the Scots, and the Army, then nothing can; for else, what pleased one would displease the other.

The King would gladly have had the Law to have determined the Controversies; for this would have vested him in his Royal Power, and by the 18th of Henry 7. would have justified all his Subjects who fought for him. But the Members would not submit to this, being to divest themselves of the Power they thought they had in their hands; nor the Scots, because their Solemn League and Covenant was enacted by no Law in England; nor least of all would it please the Army, who nourished Designs against the King, Members, and Scots.

To such a deplorable state is this poor King and Kingdom fall'n, past all humane Relief! yet it's admirable, to consider how Divine Justice pursued the Causers of it, even in the Series by which they were promoted. The King, who would not have the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation to be the Rules of his Subjects Obedience, but his Prerogative, and Absolute Will and Pleasure, cannot now by it command one Servant: He who before, against Law, committed so many of his best Subjects close Prisoners, whereof several died in Prison, for asserting his Subjects Rights, without any Benefit of Law, is now, by his Subjects, made close Prisoner against Law, and without any Benefit of it: He who before dissolved four Parliaments, because they in all dutiful Ways would have addressed unto him to be reconciled to his Subjects, is now denied, under Penalty of High Treason, to have any Address made to him by any of his Subjects: He who before had so many Forests for his Pleasure, yet not contented with what the Law and his Ancestors had left, but would break the Bounds of them, that his Subjects Inheritance might become a Prey to wild Beasts, has not now a Horse, Hound, or Beast, to take Pleasure in. But these things will not stay here; for it is the unhappy Fate of Princes, rarely in their declining state to stay till they fall to the bottom. And here we end the Year 1647; and hereafter shall observe the Divine Justice overtaking the other Promoters of the Miseries both in England, Scotland, and Ireland. And if I shall ill perform it, yet it may be a Ground-work for another to do it better.

In this Confusion the Nation began to forget the times under the King's Government, now they saw no end of these: And tho the Essex-Men, who had the Bounds of their Forests broke down, and were the first who petition'd the Parliament to redress Grievances, and bring Delinquents to condign Punishment, yet they [Page] are now the first who petition the Commons for a Personal Treaty with the King, and then the Surrey-Men; but were differently received, and some of the Surrey-Men kill'd. This was in May, 1648.

The Scots too, offended that they and their Solemn League and Covenant were not taken notice of in the Preliminary Treaty with the King, call a Parliament, and order the Raising an Army to deliver the King out of Prison.

The rude Entertainment of the Essex and Surrey-Men, was so far from quelling them, that they rise in Arms in Essex, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, Wales, and the North, and declare for the King and People: Sir William Batton too, who was Vice-Admiral of the English Fleet, goes over to Prince Charles with 17 Men of War, and declare for the King, having set Rainsborough (made Admiral by the Army) on Shore. This was in May and June, and soon after, viz. in June, the Surrey-Men rise, being headed by the Duke of Buckingham, and his Brother the Lord Francis, with the Earl of Holland.

But it was decreed, that this Prince, who for 15 Years had violated the Laws and Constitutions of this Nation, and without any Law or just Reason had so often imprisoned his best Subjects for endeavouring to reconcile him to his Subjects, should now himself, being made a Prisoner against Law, find no Relief by Law, or Endeavours of his Loyal Subjects.

For Cromwel sends Horton into Wales, against Major-General Laughorn, and Colonel Poyer, who headed the Welch, and had seized Pembrook and Tenby-Castles: Fairfax marches into Kent, and Rainsborough into the North, where the Northern-Men had seized Pontfract-Castle; and the Members restore the Earl of Warwick to be Admiral, and fit out a Fleet under him, to suppress that which joined the Prince of Wales.

Horton beats the Welch, and took Laughorn and Poyer Prisoners, and besieges and takes Pembrook and Tenby: but whilst he besieged these, Hamilton, who the Year before was released from being a Prisoner in Pendennis-Castle by the King, for holding Correspondence with the Covenanters while he was Commissioner, now comes into England, to discharge the King from his Imprisonment, with a numerous Army of Scots, which Sir Marmaduke Langdale, Major-General Massey, and many English join: against these, Cromwel, after the Surrender of Pembrook and Tenby, marches, and utterly routs them, and takes Hamilton Prisoner.

Nor were the Fate of the Kentish, Essex, and Suffolk Men better; for Fairfax fights, and beats the Kentish Men at Maidstone; the Remainder, under my Lord Goring (whom the King had made Earl of Norwich) cross the Thames at Greenwich, and join the Essex Men, headed by Sir Charles Lucas, and march to Colchester, [Page] where my Lord Capel, and many Suffolk Men, joined them: Fairfax pursues them, and after a stubborn Siege of 11 Weeks, forces it to surrender, being reduced to extream Famine; and after caused Sir Charles Lucas, and Sir George Lisle, to be shot to Death.

Equal to this, was the Success of the Surrey-Men; for they were routed by Sir Michael Lewesly, and my Lord Francis killed near Kingston: But the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Holland, with those which were escaped, fled over Kingston-bridg, and were pursued by Colonel Scroop, and overtaken at St. Neots, where Major-General Dolbier is killed, the Earl of Holland taken Prisoner, but the Duke of Buckingham escaped.

But the Northern-Men, besieged in Pontfract Castle, are not so easily subdued; on the contrary, a Party of about 30 Horse break through the Besiegers, and surprize Rainsborough in his Bed at Doncaster, about 12 Miles from Pontfract, and kill him, because he refused to be carried off a Prisoner; but Pure Famine at last forced the Besieged to surrender.

The revolted Fleet, now commanded by the Princes Rupert and Maurice, partly cajol'd by the Earl of Warwick, their former Admiral, and unwilling to forsake their Country, Wives and Children, in great part return to the Parliament; the rest were after pursued by Blake and Popham to Ireland, from thence to Portugal; from whence they were forced by Blake to Carthagena, where Blake run the Princes Ships on shore: yet the Princes having then but three Ships left, and having no Port in Europe to protect them, seek for one in the West-Indies, where Prince Maurice is lost in a Hurricane; and Prince Rupert after got into France, and sold the Remainder of this miserable Fleet, being two tatter'd Ships, to Mazarine, to fit out himself for other Adventures.

Whilst the Army was thus busied abroad, the Members having got possession of the Fleet, and the City of London being well affected to them, they join with the Scotish Commissioners, and rescind the Votes of Non-Addresses to the King; and in September appoint a Conference with the King at Newport in the Isle of Wight, to continue for 40 Days; and to that purpose, take the King out of Prison, and allow him the Liberty of the Island: and the King upon the Matter, with Reluctancy enough, grants the Scots and Members their own Demands.

But neither the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, nor the Endeavours of his Loyal Subjects, nor the joint Desires of the Scots and Members, who had brought the King to this Condition, could protect this unhappy Prince from his approaching Ruin: for the Army, every where victorious over the Scots and Royalists, draw together, and make a Remonstrance against all Peace with the King; that Justice may be done upon him; that the Crown and [Page] Church-Lands, be sold to pay their Army, and that the present Parliament be dissolved, and another called, which they present to the Members the Twentieth of November. And herein Cromwel and his Son-in-law Ireton were the principal Promoters.

But the Members were intent upon the King's Answer to their Propositions, and laid aside the Army's Remostrance, which they take as a slighting of them, and then seized the King in the Isle of Wight, and make him Prisoner in Hurst-Castle, an unhealthy Place; and march to London, pu [...] Garisons into Whitehall, Noble-Mens Houses, and posted themselves about the Palace Yard.

Notwithstanding the Member [...]n [...] upon the first of December, and vote the King's Concessions to be a sufficient Ground for a Peace; and then adjourn for a Week: But when the Members were to meet again, they found all the Avenues to the House beset with Soldiers, who exclude all which were not of their Faction from entring the House, which were not one fourth part, and make the Residue Prisoners.

So that if the Mayor, Sir John Gage, and the Aldermen his Brethren, were guilty of High Treason for committing a Force upon the Parliament, viz. for continuing the Militia of London in the City the Year before, how much more was it High-Treason in Cromwel and his Agents, to keep back by Force three Fourths of the Members from entring the House, and making them Prisoners, that the Rumps of the rest might do his Journey-work?

So farewel Presbytery, and all the Scotish Trumpery in England: nor shall these secluded Members ever meet more, but to dissolve themselves and make room for another Parliament, which shall legally persecute them, and their Solemn League and Covenant, as much as they by it persecuted the King, and their fellow Subjects, against Law. Nor was Presbytery much longer liv'd in Scotland, where they shall never see it restored by this now Race of Kings, which shall plague them with the Exercise of Archbishops and Bishops, which by their Covenant they are sworn to abolish; and cut off the Head of the principal of their Faction, allowing them as little place for the Exercise of Presbytery, as they now do the Episcopal Party.

Having, tho but in Epitome, seen the various Accidents in War, whereby the King came to be in this Distress, before we declare his End, and the manner of it, it's fit, in short, to take notice of the several Treaties of Peace between the King and Parliament, and the Improbability of the good Success in any of them.

The first Propositions for Peace which the Parliament sent to the King, was June the 2d, when the King was at York, before the War broke out, which were Nineteen; which you may read at larger in Sir Richard Baker, f. 518. a. b.

[Page] In these Propositions no mention is made either of the Scots Covenant, or abolishing Episcopacy; yet some of them were so inconsistent with Monarchy, and Arbitrary in the Parliament, as the King in Honour and Conscience could not condescend to them.

I say the King could not in Honour or Conscience condescend to the 9th Proposition, 15 and 16 Propositions, to settle the Militia as the Parliament have ordered (without the King) That all Forts and Castles of the Kingdom be disposed of by the Parliament (viz. The Houses) and that the King discharge all his Guards and Forces, and not to raise any but in case of actual Rebellion. But how could this be done by the King, when the Militia and Forts of the Kingdom were in the Power of the Houses?

So here the King, who by Virtue of his Office, is obliged to preserve the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, and to suppress all Disturbers of them at home, and to defend the Nation from all Foreign Invasion, has no means to do any of them.

Objection. But the King had so often violated the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, by being armed with these Powers, that the Nation could be in no Safety, if they were continued in him.

Answer. It's true, the Nation was in a very calamitous Estate herein: But if the Members had only made it their Business how to have restrained the King herein, and to have preserved the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, it would have had another Face than now, when the Members are setting up themselves to do the same thing which they feared the King should act.

I say, the King could not in Honour or Conscience agree to the 13th Proposition, That the Justice of Parliament (viz. the Members) should pass upon all Delinquents, and they to appear and abide by their Censure: For Delinquent is a Word unknown to our Laws, and so equivocal, that it may signify whatever the Members pleased.

So that if the King had agreed to these Propositions, he would have been a King that could neither have executed Justice, nor shewed Mercy; and the Houses have an unlimited Arbitrary Power to do whatever they pleased.

To the Propositions the King returns a sharp Answer, That the Houses contrary to Law, had pressed their Ordinances upon the People, wrested from him the Command of the Militia; countenanced the Treason of Hotham, and had directed to the People Invectives against his Government, and asperst him with favouring Papists; and therefore protested, that if he were utterly vanquished and a Prisoner, in a worse Condition than any of his most unfortunate Predecessors had ever been reduced to, he would never stoop so low as to grant these Demands, and to make himself of a King of England a Duke of Venice.

[Page] But when the Covenanters in Scotland sent their Proposition to his Majesty, he returned Answer, he would rather die than submit to them, and from a King of England make himself a Duke of Venice: Yet the next Year of his own Accord went into Scotland, and by Act of Parliament granted the Covenanters all they desired, (which yet perplext all the subsequent Treaties of Peace in England) and more, as the Case now stood.

The next Treaty was at Oxford, in the beginning of 1643, which broke off the 15th of April, and nothing agreed to upon this Score: The Parliament Commissioners gave such Reasons for the King to assent to one of the most material Points of the Treaty, that the King assented to it; but being 12 a Clock at Night, it could not then be reduced to Writing, but he promised it should next Morning, when the King gave them a Paper quite contrary; whereupon the Treaty broke off. See Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 65. a. b.

For in the next Treaty at Ʋxbridg, which was in December, 1644, the Parliament not only insisted, that the King's Nephews, Rupert and Maurice, though Princes Foreign born, and so no Subjects to the King of England, but many of the principal Lords and Gentry, who assisted the King in this War, and who by the 11 Hen. 7. 18. were protected for assisting the King, should be excepted out of Pardon by an Act of Indempnity; which if they had had no Law to have protected them, yet the King could not in Conscience have offered them up a Sacrifice for assisting him.

But another Difficulty arose in this Treaty, which the Parliament would have imposed upon the King, contrary to the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, viz. To extirpate Episcopacy, and to impose the Scots Covenant and Directory upon the Nation, though the Bishops were excluded their Sitting in the House of Lords, by an Act in 1641, and none in Orders to exercise any Civil Office: So that the Houses not content with what had been already granted, but grasping at more, they lost all; for in the first Parliament, Car. 2. they were restored to their Seats in Parliament again.

Objection. But if Episcopacy were Jure Divino, as the King was informed by his English Bishops; and therefore the King could not in Conscience submit to the abolishing of it; then it is Jure Divino in Scotland, as well as England; and if the King of his own Accord, could go out of England, to abolish it in Scotland, Why should the King against the Advice of both Nations, not do the same in England?

Answer. He that shall answer for all the Actions of this Prince, shall have a great Task: Nor can I give any other Answer to it, than that because a Man has done an ill Act, it shall be a Precedent to him to do it again.

[Page] But if the King should have consented to abolish Episcopacy in England, and set up Presbytery, I do not see any Benefit the King could have reaped by it, according to the Covenanters Practice and Principles: For, if the Scots (after the King had abolished Episcopacy in Scotland, and set up Presbytery there, and that the Scots had thereupon promised all Obedience to the King in time to come; and declared by Act of Parliament, That it was detestable and damnable Treason in the highest Degree, for any of the Scots Nation either conjunctly or singly, to levy Arms, or any Military Forces upon any Pretence whatsoever, without the King's Command) could raise Arms, unprovoked by the King, and against his express Command, and invade England; why should the English Covenanters, after the King should have abolished Episcopacy in England, be more obliged to perform any Agreement they made with the King in England, then the Scots Covenanters were in Scotland?

When the King desired the Scots Parliament, upon the breaking out of the Irish Massacre and Rebellion, to assist him against the Irish, they refused, because Ireland was not subject to Scotland; and tho England be not subject to Scotland, yet the Scots, against the King's Command, can assist by Arms the Parliament against him: So that if the Covenant could entitle the Scots to be so false, perfidious and treacherous to the King after he had abolished Episcopacy in Scotland; Why should not this be a Precedent for the English Covenanters to be so in England, after the King should abolish Episcopacy in it, and establish Presbytery?

The Overtures for a Treaty at Oxford in November 1644, preceded that at Ʋxbridg, whence, upon the King's Desire, it was adjourned, and Passes reciprocally of safe Conduct were granted to Commissioners on both sides to meet the 29th of January, wherein the Commissioners from Scotland were included.

The Scots Commissioners being included in this Treaty, you need not doubt but their principal Care shall be to establish their Solemn League and Covenant, and the Presbyterian Government as firm in England as in Scotland; and to this end, the three first days were set apart for Religion, three other Days for the Militia, and three other days for the Settlement of Ireland.

How humble soever the Scots were (if you'll take their Word) yet the first Debate arose between the English and Scots Commissioners concerning Precedence, which you may read in Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 122. a. b.

But when the Business concerning Religion came to be debated, nothing less than that Presbytery was Jure Divino would down with the Scots; nor was Episcopacy less Jure Divino by the English Commissioners for Religion. But both these Assertions are false and blasphemous, for Jus Divinum is so inseparably inherent in [Page] God, as cannot be communicated to any Creature: and though God by Divine Law or Institution did impower Bishops and Priests with Episcopal and Priestly Power, to perform their Offices designed by God, for the planting and continuing the Gospel; yet the Jus Divinum, from whence these Institutions were derived, remains the same in God as before. As God by the Law of Nature gives Parents a Dominion over their Children, and Husbands over their Wives; yet the Divine Right which gives these Powers, is the same as before; and Parents and Husbands have no Divine Right hereby, but a Temporal Right by Nature, or the Law of Nature: so Bishops and Priests have no Divine Right to exercise their Ghostly Powers, but a Spiritual Right given them by God's Law or Institution, supernaturally or extraordinarily given. If Bishops and Priests had a Divine Right, they might create Divine Laws, which in Terminis I believe none of them will affirm: However you may see how the Theologues (as they call themselves) impose by this Cant upon the World; and what endless Discords, Factions and Wars have been raised hereby, no Man conversant in History can be ignorant of. The Principal whereof was Dr. Steward, and Mr. Henderson and Marshall for Presbytery: but the Zeal on both Parts being so obstinate, as well as contradictory, would have taken up more than all their Time in these Broils, if a Stop had not been put to them upon the Motion of the Marquess of Hartford, on the King's Part, and the Earl of Pembrook, Mr. Hollis, and other Commissioners, on the Parliament's; that they might proceed upon the other Points of the Militia and Ireland.

In both these there was as little Agreement as in that of Religion, not any one Point being agreed to by the King's Commissioners; so the Treaty ended, and nothing concluded.

The other Treaties at New-Castle, Hampton-Court, and the Isle of Wight, we have taken notice of before. So that the King was as unsuccessful in his Treaties, as in his Arms.

The Catastrophe of this Tragedy resolves into the King himself: for this Juncto, after called the Rump-Parliament, having thus purged the House, assume to themselves the Supream Power of Ordering the English Affairs; confirm the Vote of Non-Addresses to the King, and raze the Votes of having a Conference with the King, and the Declaration that the King's Concessions were a sufficient Ground for a Peace, out of the Journals of the House: And vote, first, that all Power resides in the People: Secondly, That the Power belongs to the Peoples Representatives in the House of Commons: Thirdly, That the Votes of the Commons have the Force of a Law without the King: Fourthly, That to take Arms against the Representatives of the People, or the Parliament, is High-Treason: Fifthly, That the King himself took up [Page] Arms against the Parliament, and therefore is guilty of all the Blood shed in this Civil War, and ought by his own Blood to expiate it.

The Nation was astonished at these Votes: for the Person of the King of England was ever esteemed Sacred; and therefore tho his Ministers were always accountable in Parliament for using, or abusing the Name of the King, to gratify their Ambition and wicked Designs against the King or Kingdom, yet in no time was any King of England arraigned and judged to die by his own Subjects; and tho Edward the Second, Richard the Second, Henry the Sixth, and Edward the Fifth were murdered by wicked Men, yet none of these suffered upon pretence of Justice.

But lame-footed Vengeance shall overtake both Rump and Army, and as they both joined by Force to impose these upon the King and Nation, so both without Force, or any Man kill'd in their Defence, shall be cashier'd with all imaginable Ignominy and Reproach. These Men, whom nothing but the King's and his Loyal Subjects Blood could satiate against Law, shall by Law have their own Blood shed in the most terrible manner the Law can inflict: these Men who would have the Crown and Church-Lands for their Avarice, shall either die or be hang'd as a Company of Beggars: Richard Cromwel, Oliver's Heir, being undone to pay the Charge of his Father's Funeral; or those who had Estates shall forfeit them, to encrease the Revenues of the Crown.

The Regicides, to put the best Face they could upon this audacious Act, send the Bill for Trial of the King up to the Lords for their Concurrence; but so far were the Lords from concurring, that they threw the Bill over the Bar: Hereupon the Rump vote the Lords dangerous and useless; yet Henry Martin said, they were useless, but not dangerous. Then the Rumpers advise with the Judges about the Trial of the King, who unanimously declare it against Law, and the Scots Commissioners protest against it. But neither Authority, Law nor Reason, would take place with those Men; so they erect a new Court never heard of before, called a High Court of Justice for the Trial of the King, to consist of (I think) Seventy, two thirds of which were Souldiers, who by putting the King to Death expected the Reward of the Inheritance both of the Crown and Church.

If it be Misery to have been happy, to what a miserable State have these cursed Minions, Flatterers and Sycophants brought one of the greatest and most high-born Princes in the Western World, to gratify their Ambition, Lust and Avarice? for this Prince whom they would have to rend his Subjects from their Laws, has now no Subjects who dare protect him by the Laws: He who before so often gloried, that to him alone belonged the Power of Proroguing, Adjourning and Dissolving Parliaments, who never did [Page] him Wrong, but met to assist him against those who wronged him, and to have reconciled him to his Subjects, has now no Power to dissolve this Rump of a Parliament which will not be reconciled to him: He who before so often called his truly Loyal Subjects, Undutiful, Seditious and Vipers, (Terms unusual in Princes) shall hear himself call'd Tyrant, Murderer, and Traitor, by his implacable Subjects: He who before so often gloried, he was only accountable to God for all his Actions, shall be now called to an Account by a company of Men, for Actions whereof they themselves were much more guilty, and be sent to God to pass his Accounts there also.

For upon the 20th of January the King was haled before this Assembly, where he was charged of Treason, Tyranny and Murder, for raising War against the Parliament and People of England: Tho it's evident the Members seiz'd the Militia, the Tower of London, and Fleet, which Powers were inherent in the King, and shut him out of Hull, and granted Commissions for levying Souldiers before the King set up his Standard at Nottingham. But admit the King did first raise Arms to have forced the Parliament, and first actually set up his Standard against them, and that was a Crime, yet was the Regicides Crime greater, who had forced the Parliament, and set up themselves instead of it.

The King, now too late, flies to the Laws of the Land for his Protection, protests against the Jurisdiction of the Court, as established by no Legal Authority, and declares his Life was not so dear to him as his Honour and Conscience, and the Laws and Liberties of his People, and that he will lose his Life, rather than submit to such a Tyrannical Court. And at last the King desired to be heard before the Lords and Commons, in some things which concerned the Peace of the Kingdom, and Liberty of the Subjects: but this too was denied: And so the 4th day after this Appearance, Bradshaw the President gave Sentence upon him to lose his Head, all the Court to the number of 67, owning it by standing up: Which Sentence was executed the 30th of January.

The Character of King Charles the First.

THus fell one of the greatest and most high-born Princes of the Western World. In his Person he was somewhat more than ordinarily tall, and the Composition of it was framed in most exact natural Proportion of Parts; so that he was very active, and of a fine Mein in his Motion, which was commonly more than ordinarily fast: yet he appeared best on Horse-back, and excelled in managing his Horse; so that when he was in Spain, in sight of the King, Queen, the Infanta's, and the Infanta Maria, whom he courted, [Page] or at least seemed to do so) and innumerable other Spectators, he took the Ring in his first Course. His Visage was long, and appeared best when he did not speak; for he had a natural Impediment in his Speech, and would often stutter in it, especially when he was in Passion.

To these Natural Endowments may be added, a Temperance in Eating and Drinking, and Chastity (tho his Enemies unjustly traduced him otherways) rarely to be found in Princes. He was born in Scotland, about two Years before his Father became King of England; and being bred from his Infancy in a most luxurious and flattering Court, tho he avoided the Luxury of it, yet the Flattery of it took such deep Root in him, that he would never permit free Counsel to take any Impression in him. In his Nature he was over parsimonious, ill becoming so great a Prince.

He laid the Foundation of an unhappy Reign before he became King, not only in his Dissimulation in the Treaty of Marriage with the King and Infanta of Spain, to the Displeasure of his Father; but much more in the French Treaty, not only in submitting to grant a Toleration of the Popish Religion, and that his Children should be brought up under their Mother till they were twelve Years old, but by engaging to assist the French King with a Fleet against the Reformed in France, which he did, tho the French broke their Faith, in denying Mansfield to land the Army at Calais raised for the Recovery of the Palatinate.

Unlike his Predeces [...]or Henry the Fifth, who so soon as he became King, banished all his Flatterers and loose Companions, and betaking himself to grave and wise Counsel, he became the most Renowned and Victorious of all our English Kings: Charles became more wilful, and gave himself to be more governed by Favourites after he became King than before: So that the insite Piety and Affection which is due to Parents, and usually exprest in some mournful Demeanour upon their Death, took no Impression in him after his Father's Death; but contrary Passions against his Father's Counsel and Will prevailed upon him: For next day after his Father's Death, only the King and Buckingham present, the Keeper, Williams, coming to wait upon him; the King asked him whether the Parliament were dissolved upon his Father's Death? Which when the Keeper told him it was, the King commanded him to issue out new Summons for calling another, and not to stay a day, for Subsidies must be had for carrying on a War against Spain: and when the Keeper advised him to consider a little hereof, and that before Writs were issued out, Interest should be made about Elections, the King in Displeasure turn'd from him: Which you may read in the second Book and second Folio of the Keeper's Life. And these two things were observable in this Prince, That when any advised him against his Will, he would never ask it after, [Page] or be Friends with him; and that in all his Reign, as well in Prosperity as in Adversity, he would never own any one of his Irregularities to be so, but justified them all to his Death.

As Henry was the most self-denying of all his glorious Actions, ascribing them only to God; so Charles upon all occasions in all his irregular Actions, gloried he was accountable to none but God for them.

After he was married, he became the most uxorious Husband of all our English Kings, except Henry the Sixth; and being intangled by the Articles of Marriage, which the Queen fostered, and the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation contrary to them, which his Parliaments stedfastly asserted, he became both ways uneasy, and to reconcile them was impossible. But to me it seems, how uxorious soever the King was, yet during Buckingham's Regency (for so it may be truly called) he had an Ascendency over the Queen, as appears by the French War in the second Year of the King, notwithstanding all the Power of the Queen against it.

He was unaffable in his Conversation, and Approaches to him very difficult, and those with such strained Submissions as were never required by any of his Predecessors. As his Actions were without Counsel, sudden, and inconsiderate; so were his Resolutions as variable and uncertain, so that oftentimes he would change them the same day: And as his Actions were without Counsel, so were his Designs without Secrecy, which blasted them as well at Home as Abroad.

He was so superstitiously addicted to the Arminian Clergy, which flatter'd him, that I do not find, except Juxton Bishop of London, that he preferr'd any others in the Church, till he fell into Adversity.

In his adverse Fortune he would betake himself to contrary Extreams, yet be as inconstant in them as in his Actions in Prosperity: He was only constant in his Affections to the Queen, (after he had given up his Favourites in his prosperous Fortune to the Parliament) and her Counsels fixed stedfast in him, tho in his Declarations to the Kingdom and Parliament he profess'd otherwise; and herein he was as unhappy as he was before in his Designs in his Prosperity; for they, whether by Fate or his own Imprudence, became known to his Enemies, who blaz'd them abroad, not only to the Nation, but all the World: so that the sincerity of his Promises and Declarations became suspected as well by his Friends as Enemies, and all Accommodation with them more difficult; whereby it came to pass that his Armies being subdued by them, and thereby falling into the Hands of his Enemies, he became a Sacrifice to them in the 49th Year of his Age, having reigned 23 Years, ten Months, and three Days, leaving six Children, three Sons, Charles Prince of Wales, James Duke of York, [Page] and Henry Duke of Gloucester, whereof the two elder were Exiles; and three Daughters, Mary Princess of Orange, and Elizabeth a Virgin, who not long survived him, and Henrietta Maria born at Exeter.

So that as King John, and his Son Henry the Third, lost all Normandy, and the greatest part of Aquitain to the French, by endeavouring a more than Legal Jurisdiction over their Subjects, whereby they lost their Love and Obedience; so these two Princes, Father and Son, by raising and Arbitrary Power over their Subjects, not only lost their Honour Abroad, but with their own Subjects, (and for want of whose Assistance this King lost his Life) and suffered the French to grow so great, as to endanger the Safety of their own Subjects in the Realms of England, Scotland and Ireland.

I'll conclude this Story with one which a learned Gentleman who liv'd in those Times affirmed: When the Duke of Buckingham was stabb'd by Felton, 1628, the Earl of Portland was then newly made Lord Treasurer; and the King to manifest his Affection to the Duke, order'd the Treasurer to issue out of the Exchequer 30000 l. I think, for a solemn Funeral for the Duke: but the Treasurer unwilling the King should be at so hateful an Expence at a time when the King was at War with France and Spain, told the King, that the Sum laid out in erecting a stately Tomb for the Duke, would be a more lasting Monument of his Favour to the Duke, than a Funeral-Expence, which would be but the Work of a Day, and soon forgot: The King assented, and several Patterns were brought, and what the King lik'd the Treasurer dislik'd, till at last the King pitch'd upon one, which he said he would have; but then the Treasurer said, Sir, what will the World say, that you should be at such an Expence for a Favourite, when your Father has not a Stone to cover him? which struck the King so, as he proceeded no farther in it. I remember (I think it was in 1669.) that the Commons voted 50000 l. for the Charge of taking up this King's Body, and the solemn Funeral of it, and to have a Monument for it; but as if it had been blasted by Fate, it was not done, King Charles his Son, they say, forbidding it.

As to the State of the Nation, in reference to our Foreign Neighbour Nations, at the Death of King Charles, we shall find the Dutch making their Advantage of the English Dissensions, as before they did of the easy and remiss Nature of King James, when in the Year 1618, they seiz'd upon the Island of Amboyna, and expell'd the English thence, to say no worse: For Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pindar, at the desire of King Charles, had fitted out two Ship fraighted with our Native Commodities [Page] to endeavour an Establishment of a Trade to China, where our Cloths were much more useful than in the Trade to the East-Indies, where the Trade is carried on in the Torrid Zone, and so our Cloths of little use; whereas the North and middle Parts of China are either cold or temperate, and so our Cloths of great use there, and desirable by the Natives. At this time the English had no East-India Company, but the Trade was free to the English, as that to Spain then was, and so now is; nor was the East-India Company incorporated till the Year 1657, by Oliver Cromwel. The Ships which Sir William Courten, and Sir Paul Pindar fitted and fraighted out, wherein the Earl of Shrewsbury, and I have heard, the Earls of Northumberland and Warwick were concerned, one was called the Bona Esperanza, the other the Henry Bonadventura, which made a more hopeful Voyage to China, than can be expected to any Place in the East-Indies.

The Dutch, as jealous of a Partner in the East-India Trade, as a Dotard is of a fair Wife, the Pope of his Triple Crown, or the King of Spain of his West-Indies, set out, without any Declaration of War, two Men of War under the Command of one Geland, to intercept these Merchant-Men in the return of their Voyage homeward; and met with the Bona Esperanza between Goa and Maccao, in the Straits of Malacca, and take her with all her Cargo, and carry her to Batavia, and there (without any legal Process) confiscate the Ship and all her Lading; this was in the Year 1643. And also the same Year they seize the other Ship the Henry Bonadventura near the Island of Mauritius, which, with all her Cargo, the Dutch seized, nor ever made any Restitution of either to this day. How well King Charles the Second vindicated his Subjects herein will hereafter appear; and how impossible it became for the English to retrieve this Trade after Oliver had established the East-India Company exclusive to all other English Men, is obvious to any Man: But what can't Queen-Money, and a company of—do?

It was now above thirteen Years since the Dutch, in the Year 1635, entertain'd the English fled from Laud and Wren's Injunctions, whereby they acquired the Art of making the Woollen Manufactury of Essex and Suffolk, which before the Dutch knew not; and the Wars in England breaking out, the English did not so fully supply the Countries within the Sound, as before; and then the Dutch were rather Interlopers, than Competitors in the Trade of Woollen Manufacturies to those Countries.

This want of Supply put the Silesians and Polanders upon a Necessity of being supplied other ways, and making a Vertue of Necessity, got Artificers to instruct the Natives of Silesia, and [Page] the Werstern Parts of Poland, by compounding the Wools of Poland and Silesia, to make a coarse sort of Cloths▪ called Slesys, which clad the poorer and ordinary sort of the Inhabitants, whereby the English to this day have lost the Trade of coarse Cloths to these Places, which before they solely enjoy'd. This was one Reason that the Dutch became Competitors with the English in the other Trades for Woollen Manufactures within the Sound.

For tho the English Manufactures were much better, and could be sold cheaper than the Dutch; yet the Dutch Navigation for foreign Vent, was manifoldly cheaper, and more convenient than the English, in regard of the Conveniency of their building Ships proper for all Trades, which the English understood not; for a Dutch Vessel of like Dimensions, besides the convenience of building, is built near half cheaper than the English can, and then is navigated with less than two thirds of the Hands.

To this Cheapness of Shipping and Navigation, is added the Advantage the Dutch have above the English in compunding Fraights in this Navigation; for all the Countries within the Sound stand in need of Salt, and covet drinking Wines and Brandy: These the Dutch not only import, by the Cheapness of Navigation, cheaper than the English can, but paying little or no Customs upon their Importation, can vend them so much cheaper in their Trades into the Sound, as their Navigation is cheaper, and the English Customs are more: So that if the Navigation of the English be double dearer, when Ships of like Dimensions be full fraight, then if a Dutch Ship be full fraight, and an English but half fraight, the English becomes fourfold dearer; and this became so much more to the English, by how much the English Fraights were less after the Silesians and Polanders had got the Art of making Slesys; from thence it followed, that the English (by reason of the Dearness of their Navigation) could not sell their Cloths so cheap, but the Dutch became Competitors with them, having learnt the Art of making Cloths from those which fled into Holland to avoid Laud's and Wren's Persecutions, in not complying with their Ecclesiastical Injunctions.

This Year 1648, at the Treaty of Munster, a Peace was made between the King of Spain and the States of the Ʋnited Netherlands, wherein they were declared free States, and so had as free a Trade with Spain as the English; so that tho the English upon the matter had had the sole Trade to Spain, exclusive to the Dutch, for near forty five Years, now the Dutch were Competitors in it with the English, as well as that into the Sound, with Woollen Manufactures.

[Page] In this Treaty too a Peace was made between the Empire and the Swede, so much to the Advantage of the Protestants, that the Pope's Nuncio protested against it, yet the Elector Palatine must be content with half his Country, the upper Palatinate being given to the Duke of Bavaria (Head of the Catholick League against the Protestants) who is made a Seventh Elector.

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A DETECTION OF AFFAIRS During the INTER-REGNƲM, OR In the INTERVAL between the Death of King Charles I. and the Restoration of King Charles II.
BOOK III.

CHAP. I.
Of the Administration of Affairs by the Rump-Parliament.

FAith, Truth, and Piety, are rarely found in Men who follow Camps. The Army, who in their Remonstrance would have the Parliament dissolved, and another called which might settle the Nation; now they had got the Rump to be their Head, whereby they may share the Church, Crown-Lands, and Delinquents Estates among themselves, regard [Page] neither Parliament nor Nation; and sure never was there such a Generation, who so impudently out-braved Truth, and all that may be call'd Sacred. If you could force a Belief into them, they first told you they fought for King and Parliament; then they declared for the King and People against the Parliament; and now they have taken off the King, if you will have any Benefit of their Protection, you must engage to their Government, without King or House of Lords, and be content with a piece of the Commons, call'd the Rump.

Not content with the Death of the King, the Rump proceeds to abolish Monarchy, and place the original Power of Government in the People, whose Representatives they are, if you'll take their Word; and voted it High Treason to restore Monarchy, or to assist, or pray for Charles Stuart, or any of that Line; overthrow the King's Statue, with an Exit tyrannus Regum ultimus, Nor are they satiated with the Blood of the King, but erect another High Court of Injustice, whereof one Lisle, an ignorant Fellow, was President; who condemns the Marquess Hamilton, Earl of Holland, and Lord Capel, for raising Arms against the Parliament, which themselves had destroy'd.

But tho the Rump and Army were establish'd upon these strange Principles, yet being the Instruments of Divine Vengeance, like a Torrent broke loose from raging Seas, in less than five Years time they overwhelm not only England, but Ireland and Scotland, almost pull'd the Dutch States up by the Roots, and made France and Spain tremble. But that we may observe what follow'd, let's see what went before.

The Scots were the first who invaded England against the King, to impose their Solemn League and Covenant, which was more against the English Laws and Constitutions than Laud's Service-Books, Canons, and High-Commission, were against the Scotish. In July last the Scots invaded England, commanded by the Marquess Hamilton; in August, Cromwel routs, and utterly overthrows this Army, and takes Hamilton Prisoner: So the Scots who began these Wars first, are the first chastised by this English Army. But this is but the Earnest of what shall follow.

The secluded Members who first join'd the Scots, beginning first with an equivocal Protestation, but after downright joined with the Scots in their Covenant, are now not only turned out of the House by the Rump, but kept in nasty Prisons, till they became as little dangerous as The House of Lords.

The horrid Irish Massacre and Rebellion succeeded in the third place: And now the Rump, having established themselves by subduing of the Scots under Hamilton, and deposing the secluded Members, are laying Rods in Piss to scourge these abominable Irish. But before we proceed, let's see how things stood in Ireland.

[Page] In October 1641. the Irish Massacre was, which succeeded in a Rebellion, in which Richlieu's Scarlet was as deep dyed, as in the Scotish and English Commotions. The Head of this accursed Crew was John Baptista Pennuncio, the Pope's Nuncio, who in his Passage through France threatned he would suffer no Man to live in Ireland that wished well to the King, or to the English Affairs. Thus you see how all the Factions conspired against the King, the Laws and Constitutions of England: But for these last seven Years, viz. so long as the Distractions were continued in England, the War was pursued but by halves in Ireland.

King Charles, in his Life-time, had made the Marquess of Ormond Lieutenant of Ireland, who in 1643 made a Truce with the Irish, that the King might make use of the English in England: But the Irish kept their Faith no better in it, than the Scots had before with the King in the Peace in 1639. For on a sudden they rise against the Marquess (now the English are sent into England) and had surprized him, if he had not been informed before, and escaped into Dublin: and being in no Condition to defend it, but obliged to deliver it up either to the English sent by the Parliament, or to the Irish, he gave it up to the English, who make Colonel Jones Governour; and so Ormond leaves Ireland.

After the Marquess was withdrawn, the Nuncio behaved himself (like a Church-Man) with such a Despotical Tyranny, that he became intolerable, even to the Irish themselves; who, being press'd by Jones, Coot, and Monk, combine in a Body, and send to the Queen and to the Prince of Wales (for then the King was close Prisoner in the Isle of Wight) to return the Marquess of Ormond, and they would submit to his Authority, and join to expel the Scots and Parliament's Forces. The Nuncio taking this for an Affront to his Authority (being that of the Apostolick See, which is infallible) threatens Excommunication to them who should not obey him; but neither he, nor his Excommunication, were obey'd, but was forced to Capitulate with the Irish themselves to procure his Departure, which was as shameful, as his Entrance was proud and insolent.

Upon the Marquess's Return, he enter'd into most dishonourable Articles with the Irish; which yet would not please Owen Ro Oneal, who join'd with the Parliament's Forces, and reliev'd Londonderry, then besieg'd by the Lord Ardes.

After this Pacification with the Irish, such as it was, Ormond raises a numerous Army, and by my Lord Inchiqueen, routs a Party of Jones's going to Drogheda, who takes the Town, and Dundalk, Green-Castle, Newry, and Trim, and returns Victorious to the Marquess. Hereupon the Marquess besieges Dublin, but unfortunately sends my Lord Inchiqueen into Munster, with, if not the greatest, the best part of the Army; Jones falls upon the Remainder, and [Page] utterly routs them: This was in August 1649. And the same Month Cromwel lands at Dublin with an Army of 15000 old Soldiers.

Upon this Disaster, the Irish, no more to be reconciled to the English, than the Scots Covenanters to Episcopacy, quarrel with the Marquess; which was never after composed: So the Marquess left Ireland again, leaving the Earl of Clanrickard Deputy.

Cromwel, after his landing, first storms Drogheda, or Tredah, with a most terrible Execution; and after, in less than one Year, all Ireland, upon the matter, is reduced to the Obedience of the Rump; who take dreadful Vengeance upon all the Irish who could be found to have had any hand in the Massacre of the English.

The King, Charles II. having lost England and Ireland, with all their Dependencies, except the Isles of Guernsey, Jersey, Man, and Scilly, and the Plantations in America, which shall soon follow, set up for Scotland, and makes the Marquess of Montross his Commissioner; who having got together about 400 Swedes, Danes, Poles, and Germans, lands them at the Wick of Cathness in April 1650, and takes Dumbeath: But Lesley having sent Major-General Straughan, with 300 choice Horse, he set upon this ill composed Body of Montross, and utterly routs them: Montross fled, but was betrayed by the Laird of Aston, who had formerly served him.

The Covenanters, to shew their Clemency and Humility, bind the Marquess in a Chair planted backwards on a Cart, that all Men might see him, the Hangman, with his Hat on, riding before; and upon the 28th of May 1650, by a Sentence pronounced the Day before by the Lord Lowden, was hanged upon a Gibbet 30 Foot high, at the Cross of Edinburg, for three Hours: after which, he was quarter'd, and his Head set upon the Talbooth, and his Legs and Arms over the Gates of Sterlin, Glasgow, Dundee, and Aberdeen. But see the Piety and Commiseration of these humble People! They order, in the Sentence, that if he repented, so that his Excommunication should be taken off, the Trunk of his Body should be buried in the Grey-Friars; otherwise, in the Burrough-Moor, the Common Burial of Malefactors. But Vengeance shall soon overtake these cruel Proceedings.

For the Kirk, sore afflicted for their deposed Brethren in England, now in nasty Prisons, whereby Heresy, Schism, and Profaneness raged, and the Throne of Presbytery was defaced, but being unable of themselves to restore their Brethren, before Montross's Death, had agreed to have the King proclaimed King of Scotland, England, France, and Ireland; yet so as to take the Solemn League and Covenant, to give Signs of Sorrow and Repentance for his Father and Mother's Sins, and banish and turn out of his Court all who had not taken the Covenant, or taken up Arms for his Father. But the Kirk could not have found a Plant [Page] so unlikely to produce the Fruit of Repentance, or to establish the Throne of Presbytery, as this King. However, they'll try what's to be done; and to this end, send Commissioners to treat with the King at Jersey, not yet reduced by the Rump: and a Treaty is agreed to, to be at Breda in Holland.

The King was perplex'd what to do; for to be a King in Fact, he desired above all things: but to forsake his Mother and Father's Friends, was grievous to him; and to come to the Stool of Repentance, was full sore against his Will. Yet to be a King, as a Man does for a Wife, he forsakes Father, Mother, and his dearly beloved Friends, and comes to Breda: There the News comes of Montross's tragical Defeat and Execution, which had like to have spoil'd all; but over Shooes, over Boots; on he goes, having submitted to all the rigid Terms the Kirk-men imposed upon him. And in June 1650, arrives in Scotland, to be anew instructed in the Discipline of the Kirk.

The Rump in the mean while were not idle, you must think; for having spued up Presbytery in England, they scorn'd to chew the Cud of it from Scotland: and therefore Fairfax having refused to command an Army against the Scots, they send for Cromwel out of Ireland, by this time is good as reduced by him, and declared him General of all the Forces of England, Scotland, and Ireland; who, about the latter end of June 1650, enters Scotland, with a well-disciplin'd rather than a numerous Army: and having taken many Places of small moment, and often beat the Scots in Skirmishes, upon the 3d of September utterly overthrows the much more numerous Kirk-Army at Dumbar, commanded by their old General Lesley, 3000 Scots killed, 9000 taken Prisoners, all their Baggage and Ammunition, and above 200 Colours, which, as Trophies, were hung up in Westminster-Hall, where the English and Scots had before taken such Pains and Care to unite both Nations in their Solemn League and Covenant.

Whilst these things were doing, the Kirk at Edinburg were close at their Devotion, hourly expecting the Feet of those which should bring the glad Tidings which were at hand; when Lesley, the same Day, brings Tidings of their utter Overthrow. Now was all their Joy turned to Lamentation and Wo, and the Songs of Sion are like to be sung in a strange Land.

To augment these Miseries, the King, who could not submit to the rigid Discipline of the Kirk, runs from Schole to the House of the Lord Dippon, intending for the Highlands, where he might go to School with more Liberty. Now all is in a Hurlyburley. After the King runs Montgomery from the Kirk, promising the King, if he would return, the Kirk would remit part of their Discipline: upon which, the King returned to St. Johnstons.

[Page] The King thus returned, did not please the Kirk-men, for being beaten by the English, they rail against those that called the King in too hastily, before he had given Marks of his Repentance and Conversion to God; and that it was not lawful for any who were truly Godly to take up Arms for him; and for the Advancement of the Kirk, made Kerr and Straughan Generals of the Kirk-Forces. But Straughan runs to Cromwel, and Kerr is utterly defeated, wounded, and taken by Lambert.

Whilst these things were thus doing in Scotland, let's see what was doing in England: In January this Year the Rump erected a High Court of Justice, whereof one Keeble, an ignorant Petty-fogging Lawyer, was President in Norfolk, upon pretence of an intended Insurrection for bringing in of the King, where 24 were condemned, and 20 executed, whereof one Mr. Hobbard, Brother or near Kinsman to Sir John Hobbard, who after married Cromwel's Niece, and Widow of Col. Hammond, was one. And in March following the Rump erected another High Court of Justice, which condemned Sir Henry Hide for taking the King's Commission to be his Ambassador at Constantinople.

The Kirk-Party now lose their Reputation; they had nothing left, but to preach and pray, and rail: and now the Parliament and General Assembly take in all who will take the Covenant, but all to no purpose.

For Cromwel having taken Edinburgh Town and Castle, Jedworth, Reslan and Tantallon Castle, sends Overton and Lambert, in Boats over the Frith, who rout Sir John Brown, and Major General Holborn, kill 2000 of their Men, and take 1200 Prisoners, and Brown himself, with 42 Colours.

Now, though Scotland were a cold Climate, 'twas too hot to hold the King and his Army, and therefore with them he slips into England, by the Way of Carlisle, leaving the Kirk in Lamentations and Woes, that Heresy and Schism had overspread the Beauty of Holiness, now Profaneness and Superstition had left it.

Harrison and Lambert followed the King, and Cromwel soon after, who at Worcester (that Day Twelve Month after he had routed the Scots at Dunbar) utterly again routs the Scots and English, kills 3550, with Duke Hamilton and General Forbes, and takes 5000 Prisoners, with the Earls of Rothes, Kanwarth, Kelly, the Lord Sinclare and Montgomery, General of the Ordnance; and soon after, David Lesley (who fought not, or but little in the Battel) is routed by Lilburn, and taken Prisoner, with Lauderdale (who held Correspondence in England with the Covenanting Scots) and the Lords Kenmore and Middleton: Yet the King by a Miracle escaped, to be restored King Charles II.

But the same Fate did not attend the Noble Earl of Derby, who coming out of the Isle of Man, with about 250 Foot, and 60 [Page] Horse, to have assisted the King, which he joined with about 1200 raised Men in Lancashire, (where he was highly honoured and beloved) was set upon by Col. Lilburn (John's elder Brother) and routed the 29th of August, where the Lord Widdrington, Sir Thomas Tiddersly, Col. Boynton, Sir Francis Gamul, Major Tro [...]lop, Sir William Throgmorton, Col. Leg, Col. Ratliff, and Col. Gerard, with some others, were taken Prisoners; but the Earl tho wounded, escaped to the King at Worcester: but it was his hard Fortune to be afterwards taken, and tried by a Court Martial upon the 6th of October, which consisted of 20 Officers and Captains, five Colonels, Maj. General Milton, and Col. Mackworth President, at Chester; and upon the 22d was beheaded.

When Cromwel came into England, he left Monk to command in Scotland, who besieges and takes Sterlin-Castle by Surrender, with all the Guns, Ammunition and Arms, Money, Jewels, and the Registers transferred from Edinburgh thither, and quite defaced the lofty Inscription:

—Nobis haec invicta dedere

Centum sex Proavi—

About this time old General Lesley was raising an Army in Perthshire. Monk sends Morgan and Alured to prevent it; who surprized them, and take Lesley, the Earls of Crawford and Lindsey, the Lord Ogilby, and many other Prisoners: and after take Dunfrise.

At this time Monk besieges and takes Dundee by Storm with as terrible an Execution, as Cromwel the Year before had done at Tredah: Here it was, and at Sterlin-Castle, the Scots had lodged all their Plunder and Money they had got in England, which was so plentiful, that the English common Souldiers shared Money by Hatfuls. The Terror of this Success frighted Aberdeen, and all the other Towns in Scotland into Obedience; nor did it stay here, but all the Isles of Orcades and Shetland submitted; which neither Roman nor English Force could ever accomplish.

Now the Kirk-Party are all in Yelling and Woes, Heresy and Schism had overspread the beauteous Discipline of Reformation: Now they cannot persecute other Men, they exclaim and cry out they are persecuted themselves: Their Nobles (except Argile) which are not killed, are committed to Prison, that they might share in the Tribulations, as well as Triumphs of their Brethren in England.

But the Tribulations of the Covenanting Party did not end in Imprisonment only, but extended to Life; for upon the 22d of August, Love and Gibbons (two most zealous Covenanters) were executed by a Judgment of a High Court of Justice (as 'twas called) for holding Intelligence with their Brethren in Scotland; so that this High-Justice, or Summum Jus, reached the Covenanters as well as the Royalists.

[Page] Now the Rump change the Fabrick of the Scotish Government, and make Itinerant Judges, part Scots, part English, and make a Council of State of that medly; yet allow them 30 Commissioners to sit and vote in their Parliament at Westminster; so that tho the Crown of Scotland were independent upon the Crown of England, yet Scotland, as well as Ireland and England, must depend upon the Rump: And that the Scots may be the more tamely ridden, they are denied Arms, and even Horses, unless on necessary Occasions.

The Victory at Worcester swelled the Sails of Cromwel's Ambition brim full, so that he began to entertain Thoughts of Setting up himself; yet being a ticklish Point, wherein he was sure to be opposed by the Factions as well as Royalists, upon the 10th of December, he called a Meeting of divers Members of the House, and some of the Principal Officers of the Army, and proposed to them, That now the old King being dead, and his Son defeated, he held it necessary to come to a Settlement of the Nation; and that he requested this Meeting, that they might consider and advise what was fit to be done, and to present it to the Parliament: So much easier is it to destroy a Government, than to erect another. And now Cromwel and his Adherents had overturned the Government of Three Kingdoms, they are to advise and consider how to erect another: This was the good Fight which these Men fought to destroy, and then knew not what to do. However we'll give the Account of these Mens Opinions verbatim, as I find it in Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 492. a. b.

Lenthal. My Lord (who made him so?) This Company were very ready to attend your Excellency, and the Business you were pleased to propound to us is very necessary to be considered: God hath given marvellous Success to our Forces under your Command, and if we do not improve these Mercies (Blood, Rapine and Murder) to some Settlement, such as may be to God's Honour and the Good of the Commonwealth, we shall be very much blame-worthy.

Harrison. I think that which my Lord General hath propounded as to a Settlement both of our Civil and Spiritual Liberties, and so that the Mercies which the Lord hath given in to us, may not be cast away; how this may be done is the great Question.

Whitlock. It is a great Question indeed, and not suddenly to be resolved; yet it were pity that a Meeting of so many able and worthy Persons, as I see here, should be fruitless; and I would humbly offer in the first Place, whether it be not requisite to be understood in what way this Settlement is desired, whether by an Absolute Republick, or with any Mixture of Monarchy.

Cromwel. My Lord Commissioner Whitlock hath put us upon the right Point, and indeed it is my meaning, that we should consider whether a Republick, or a mixt Monarchical Government, will be best [Page] settled; and if any thing Monarchical, then in whom that Power shall be placed.

Sir Tho. Widdrington. I think a mix'd Monarchical Government will be most sutable to the Laws and People of this Nation; and if any Monarchical, I suppose we shall hold it most just to place that Power in one of the Sons of the late King.

Fleetwood. I think that Question, whether an absolute Republick, or a mix'd Monarchy be best to be settled in this Nation, will not very easily be determined.

L. C. J. St. John. It will be found that the Government of this Nation, without something of Monarchical Power, will be very difficult to be so settled, as not to shake the Foundation of our Laws, and the Liberties of the People.

Lenthal. It will breed a strange Confusion, to settle a Government of this Nation without something of Monarchy.

Desborough. I beseech you, my Lord, why may not this as well as other Nations be governed by a Republick?

Whitlock. The Laws of England are so interwoven with the Power and Practice of Monarchy, that to settle a Government without something of Monarchy in it, would breed so great an Alteration in the Proceedings of our Law, that you will scarce find time to rectify; nor can we well foresee the Inconveniencies which will arise thereby.

Whaley. I do not understand Matters of Law, but it seems to me the best way, not to have any thing of Monarchical Power in the Settlement of our Government; and if we should resolve upon any, whom should we pitch upon? The King's eldest Son hath been in Arms against us, and his second Son is our Enemy.

Widdrington. But the late King's third Son, the Duke of Glocester, is still among us, and too young to have been in Arms against us, or infected with the Principles of our Enemies.

Whitlock. There may be a day given for the King's eldest Son, or for the Duke of York his Brother, to come in to the Parliament, and upon such Terms as shall be thought fit and agreeable, both to our Civil and Spiritual Liberties, and a Settlement may be made upon them.

Cromwel. This will be a Business of more than ordinary Difficulty; but really (a Word much used by him) I think, if it may be done with Safety, and Preservation of our Rights, both as Englishmen, and as Christians, that a Settlement of somewhat of Monarchical Power would be very effectual.

So that the Soldiers were for a Republick, except Fleetwood, who knew not what to say; the Lawyers for a mix'd Monarchy, and many for the Duke of Glocester to be King; but then Cromwel, (designing for himself) still put off the Debate to some other Point; so the Company part without any Result at all: yet Cromwel discovered by this Meeting the Inclinations of the Persons [Page] which spake, for which he fished, and made use of what he thus discerned. But this Point was too tender to be further pressed at this time, and so we leave it, till Cromwel shall give a further Occasion.

In October, this Year, Haines reduced Jersey to the Rump; and in January the Isle of Barbadoes was surrender'd to Askew, sent thither by the Rump; and in this Month, an English Man of War meeting with some Dutch Fishermen, demanded the tenth Herring, as a Duty for their Fishing in these Seas; which the Dutch denying, the English sunk one of their Ships, and all the Men were lost, (see Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 487. b.) and here began the first Quarrel between the Rump and Dutch.

The Rump thus every where Victorious at home, yet it may be fearing they had disgusted all Christian Princes by the Death of the King, (and already the Czar of Muscovy had revoked all the Privileges of Trade which had been granted to the English in the Reigns of Q. Mary and Q. Elizabeth, and continued in the Reigns of King James and King Charles, and banished the English out of his Dominions for putting the King to Death) upon the 11th of March sent the Chief Justice St. John and Mr. Strickland to treat of a Coalition with the Dutch, whose Title and Government were the same, or not unlike to the Rump's; and if this could be obtained, both Republicks being incomparably superiour to all the Kings in the World by Sea, they need not fear any Enemies abroad.

But the Dutch fearing this Coalition with England, (where the Harbours for Shipping are more, and much better than those in Holland) would rob them of the Trades they were possessed of, and that their rich Merchants, in case of a Coalition, would be tempted to lay out their Monies upon real Securities in England, rather than to venture them in the contingent Accidents of Trade, not only refused to enter into a Coalition, but rudely treated St. John; whose haughty Spirit ill brooking such Affronts, made a Report of his Embassy, little to the Dutch Advantage.

Hereupon the Rump made the Act of Navigation, designing thereby to have, in a great measure, lessened the Dutch Trade, and encreased the English; tho both succeeded quite contrary, as hereafter we shall make it appear: Yet the English, by virtue of this Law, took Occasion to search the Dutch Vessels, and often to make Prize of them; whereupon the Dutch sent over four Ambassadors, Catz, Van de Peere, Sharp, and Newport, to pacify the Rump, which they were so far from effecting, that the Rump, upon their first Audience, upon the 15th of April, demand the Arrears for the Dutch Fishing upon the Coasts of England and Scotland; that the Survivors of the Dutch, assisting in the Massacre of the English at Amboyna, should be given up to Justice; and a free Trade up the Scheld.

[Page] The Dutch Ambassadors were surprized at these Demands, having no Instructions thereupon; or if they had, could not have given any reasonable Answer against them: Yet still they continued to make great Protestations of their Love and Affection to the Commonwealth of England, and their most ardent Desire of propagating and encreasing the true Reformed Religion; yet privately gave the State an Account how little was to be expected from the Rump by a Treaty. Hereupon the Dutch prepare for a War, nor was the Rump herein behind hand with them.

The Dutch in May set out a Fleet of Men of War, commanded by Van Trump, pretending for the Security of Trade, but with Instructions not to strike Sail to the English Flag; and upon the 17th of May came into Dover Road with 45 Sail of Men of War, where Trump rode at Anchor, as if he defied what the English could do to him.

Blake, the English Admiral, had but 15 Men of War, yet resolved to have an Account of Trump what he had to do in Dover Road, and sailed directly to him: hereupon Trump stood to the East-ward, and by that means being become Head-most of the English Fleet, bore directly upon them; and being come within Musquet-shot of the English, Blake gave Order to fire at Trump's Flag, which was done thrice, but instead of striking it, Trump poured in a Broad-side upon Blake, and Major Bourn at this time coming to Blake's Assistance with 8 Men of War, both Fleets engaged from four in the Afternoon till Night, wherein there were not less than 2000 Shot exchanged upon one and the other side; and the Dutch had one Man of War taken and another sunk, and 150 Men slain; but the English had not one Ship lost or disabled, and very few Men killed: This Fight was the 19th of May. Van Trump in the Night drew his Ships on the Back of the Goodwin Sands, and next Morning sailed back to Zealand, instead of securing the Dutch Trade.

Hereupon the Rump set a Guard upon the Dutch Ambassadors at Chelsey; but tho the English Fleet in this Fight received little Damage, yet that of the Dutch was so batter'd, as made it unfit to fight. About this time Virginia submitted to the Rump, but not New-England, nor ever after did that I can find.

The Dutch thus balk'd in their Expectation of great things to be done by Van Trump, and finding the contrary Success, sent a Paper to their Ambassadors in England, which was presented to the Council of State the 20th of June, therein taking God the Searcher of all Hearts to witness, that the most unhappy Fight of the Ships of both Commonwealths, did happen against the Knowledg and Will of the Lords States-General of the Ʋnited Netherlands, and that with Grief and Astonishment they received the fatal News of that unhappy rash Action. A likely matter, as if Van Trump should [Page] dare to do such an Action without their Order, and they not punish him for it.

That they did consult and endeavour to find out what Remedy chiefly may be applied to mitigate that raw and bloody Wound, and to that end had written to gather a solemn Meeting of Parliament or all the Provinces, whereby they doubt not but a Help may be found out for these Troubles, and a better hope of our Treaty in hand for the common good of both Nations, to shun the detestable shedding of Christian Blood (so much desired, and would be dearly bought by the common Enemies of both Nations.) We again crave this most Honourable Council, and beseech you by the Pledges both of common Religion and Liberty (Terms unusual in the High and Mighty States, and never used by them to any King since the Reign of Queen Elizabeth) mean while to suffer nothing to be done out of too much Heat, that afterwards may prove neither revocable nor repairable, but too late Vows and Wishes; but rather that you would let us receive a kind Answer without further Delay, upon our last Request.

To this Cant, wherein God's sacred Name is exposed to cover Dutch Hypocrisy, the Rump gave this Answer: That calling to mind with what continued Demonstrations of Friendship and Affection, from the beginning of their Intestine Troubles, they have proceeded with the Neighbours of the United Provinces, they do find themselves much surprized with the unsutable returns they have made thereunto, and especially at the Acts of Hostility lately committed in the very Roads of England upon the Fleet of this Commonwealth, the matter of Fact whereof stated in clear Proofs, is hereto annexed: Ʋpon serious Consideration of all, and of the several Papers delivered by your Excellencies to the Council of State, the Parliament thinks fit to give this Answer.

As they are willing to make a charitable Construction of the Expressions used in these Papers, endeavouring to represent the late Engagements of the Fleets without their Knowledg, and against the Minds of their Superiours; so when they consider how disagreeable to that Profession, the Resolution and Actions of your State, and of their Ministers at Sea, have been, even in the midst of a Treaty offered by themselves, and managed by your Excellencies, by the extraordinary Preparations of 150 Sail of Men of War, without any visible occasion, but what does now appear a just ground of Jealousy in your own Judgments, when your Lordships pretended to excuse it, and the Instructions themselves given by your Superiours to their Commanders at Sea, they do find too much cause to believe that the Lords States of the United Provinces have an Intention by Force to usurp the known Rights of England in the Seas, to destroy the Fleets, that are under God, their Walls and Bulwarks, and thereby to expose this Commonwealth to Invasion, as by this late Action they attempted to do.

[Page] Whereupon the Parliament conceive they are obliged to endeavour, with God's Assistance, as they have opportunity, to seek Reparation of the Wrong already suffered, and Security that the like be not attempted for the future.

Nevertheless, with this Mind and Desire, that all Differences between the two Nations may (if possible) be peaceably and friendly composed, as God by his Providence shall open a way thereunto, and Circumstances shall be conducing to render such Endeavours less dilatory, and more effectual than those of this kind have hitherto yet been. See Whitl. Mem. f. 510. a, b.

This was the 10th of June, and on the 12th Captain Peacock and Captain Taylor in two of the English Frigats, fought with two Dutch Men of War on the Coast of Flanders, for refusing to strike their Top-sail; and after a short Dispute, the English took one of them with all their Officers and Mariners, but she was so torn that she presently sunk, and run the other upon the Sands to avoid being taken.

Upon the 13th Blake took 26 Sail of Dutch Merchant-Men near the Downs, and three Men of War, having before staid ten more of the Holland Ships; and upon the 29th the Rump passed these Votes.

1. That the Lords States do pay to this Commonwealth the Charges and Damages they have sustained by their Attempts.

2. That upon Payment or securing thereof, shall be a Cessation, and their Ships and Goods released.

3. This being assented to and put in Execution, the Security for the time to come, to be a firm Amity and Interest of the two States for the good of both.

Hereupon the Dutch Ambassadors the next day, viz. June the 30th, demanded Audience of Leave to depart, which was granted; but the Rump would not recede from demanding Satisfaction for all their Damages. Hereupon the Dutch Ambassadors returned home.

The Dutch foreseeing a Coalition with England, or a War would necessarily follow, and being set against the Coalition, resolv'd upon a War, and to that end enter into a Confederacy with the King of Denmark against the English.

Now both Rump and States make all imaginable Preparations for War; and about the beginning of July, Blake with a gallant Fleet went Northwards, and left Sir George Askue to command the rest of the Fleet in the Downs, who took five Dutch Merchant Men, and Blake in his Passage took two Men of War, and two Merchant-Men; and within a day or two after, viz. the 4th of July, Sir George met 40 Dutch Ships, took 7 of them, burnt 4, and ran 24 on Ground upon the French Shore, where, tho the French protected them against the English, yet coming aboard the Dutch Ships, they plunder'd them.

[Page] Upon the 24th, Blake took 100 of the Dutch fishing Busses, and in them 1500 Prisoners: and about the last of July Blake fell upon the Dutch Convoy for their Fishery in the Northern Seas, consisting of 12 Men of War, and sunk three, and took the other nine, with all the Dutch Busses, and unloaded all their Fish, and sent the Fishermen home; and Blake also took three of the Dutch East-India-Men richly laden. In these Actions Blake had but 8 Men of War, and Blake sent six of the Dutch Men of War to Major General Dean in Scotland.

Upon the 20th of August, Sir George Askue with 38 Sail of Men of War set upon the Dutch Fleet of 55 Sail, and 15 Merchant-Men near Plimouth; the Fight lasted three days, and the Dutch lost two Ships, one sunk, the other burnt, the English none. Hereupon the Dutch retired to the Coast of France, and Sir George follow'd them, and charged them, and sunk the Dutch Admiral, and lost but one Fire-ship, who having taken out her Men, sent her among the Dutch; but being upon the French Coast, Sir George pursued the Dutch no further, and went Northward to repair his Fleet.

At this time there was no Peace between the English and French, and the Spaniards having besieged Dunkirk, the French set out a Fleet under the Duke of Vendosme to relieve it: This Fleet was set upon by Blake in the Downs, who had then but 7 Men of War with him, whereof the Soveraign was one; and upon the 6th of September, Blake engaged the whole French Fleet, and took 7 of their Men of War, and dispersed the rest; whereupon Dunkirk, and after Gravelin submitted to the Spaniard.

Van Trump upon his Misfortune having laid down his Commission, his Command was given to De Wit; and the King of Denmark having made a League with the Dutch against the English, seized all the English Ships and their Effects within the Sound or Zundt, and joined five of his Men of War with the Dutch.

But the Success of the English Fleet in these Seas was not answered in the Levant; for Captain Bodiloe with five or six English Frigats, was set upon by Van Galen, Admiral of the Dutch in those Seas, about the latter end of September, with 16 Dutch Men of War, in which Encounter the Phoenix (formerly mistaken for the Garland) was taken by the Dutch, and the English forced to retire under the Protection of the Port of Leghorn: but Van Galen bought this Victory with the loss of his Life; and upon the 20th of November following, Captain Cox with two Boats of brave English in the Port of Leghorn, boarded her and brought her off, and young Van Trump was forced to skip into the Water, to save his Life, or being taken Prisoner.

De Wit had small Joy of his Employment, having De Ruiter joined in Commission with him; for having fitted out so great a [Page] Fleet as the Dutch could put out, they took their Station in October on the side of the North-Foreland upon the Kentish Coast.

Blake having been on the Western Coast, and having taken five Dutch West-India Ships, and six Straits Ships, valued at 200000 l. hastned with his Fleet towards the Dutch, and divided it into three Squadrons, one commanded by himself, another by Vice-Admiral Penn, and the third by Rear-Admiral Bourn; and upon the 28th of October engaged the Dutch Fleet, and boarded and took their Rear-Admiral, and sunk two more of them, and one was blown up; and the rest of the Dutch Fleet was so shatter'd that it was forced to fly, and was pursued by the English twelve Leagues: the English lost not one Ship, tho many of them were disabled in their Rigging.

Van Trump thus laid aside, the ill Success of De Wit and Ruiter put the States to their Trumps what to do; when the King of Denmark, fearing to be called to a severe Account by the Rump for his seizing the English Ships in the Sound, in case the Rump prevailed over the Dutch, sent a Message to them, proffering to assist them with 20 Men of War, if they would re-establish Van Trump again in his Command, which the Dutch did.

Van Trump thus re-established, used all possible Industry to [...]it out another Fleet, and having got 80 Sail of Men of War, and 10 Fire-ships, sailed directly to the Downs, where Blake lay with about 40; and upon the 29th of November a furious Fight was between them, which lasted from two in the Morning till six at Night (this cannot be, considering the time of the Year, yet Baker, f. 625. b. says it) I think it should have been from ten in the Morning: When the Dutch Fleet, double in Number to the English, prevailed, and took the Garland Frigat, and burnt the Bonadventure, and sunk three more: on the Dutch side, one of their Flag-Ships was blown up, and all the Souldiers and Mariners were lost but two, and Van Trump's and De Ruiter's Ships much damaged; and if the Night had not favoured the English, the whole Fleet would have been in danger to be lost.

After the Fight Van Trump sailed to the Westward, to convoy home the Dutch-French Fleets; and now the Dutch were so elated by their Victory, that they talk'd of nothing but blocking up the River of Thames, and forcing the English to a Peace, but they were mistaken in their Measures.

For the Rump, with incredible Diligence and Conduct, repair'd their shatter'd Fleet, and fitted up another, to the Amazement of the Dutch, commanded by Blake, Dean and Monk (newly come out of Scotland, the reason whereof you'll hear by and by) and upon the 8th of February set Sail from Queenborough with 60 Men of War, from whence they sailed to Portsmouth, where they were joined with 20 Men of War more, and from thence sailed over [Page] against Portland, half Seas over, to call Trump to an Account for passing the Channel without the Rump's leave: and upon the 18th of February the Southern Ships of the English Fleet descried the Dutch Fleet, consisting of 76 Men of War, which had the Charge of convoying 30 Merchant Ships.

Blake and Dean were in the Triumph, and with 12 Sail more engaged the Gross of the Dutch Fleet; and the Triumph having received 700 Cannon-shot in her Hull, was bravely relieved by Lawson (the rest of the English Fleet being not able to come up.)

But when the rest of the English Fleet came, a most furious Fight succeeded, wherein the Dutch had six Men of War taken and sunk, whereof one was a Flag-Ship; but the English lost not one Ship, tho many were disabled and sent into Portsmouth.

The next day after in the Morning, the Dutch Fleet was discerned seven Leagues off Weymouth, whither the English ply'd, and in the Afternoon engaged them with like Fury they did the day before: Trump put his Merchant Men before him, and after the first Shock, fought retreating towards the Coast of Bulloign; but in his way thither, the English Frigats at large took many of his Merchant Men, and Lawson boarded and took one of the Dutch Men of War.

The next day, Sunday the 12th, early in the Morning, the English renewed the Fight, which continued till four in the Afternoon; then the Wind proving cross to the English at N. N. E. Trump got to Calais Sands, and the English thought fit to pursue him no further.

In these three Fights the Dutch lost eleven of their Men of War, and 30 of their Merchant Ships; the English lost but one Ship, the Sampson, but the Captain, Button, and most of the Men were saved, tho the Captain was much wounded.

This Victory of the English was so much more surprizing to the Dutch, by how much they expected Van Trump should have block'd up the River of Thames, and obliged the English to seek a Peace: but the Success proving so contrary, the common People in the Dutch Provinces were all in an Uproar and Tumult, whereupon the Province of Holland (without the Consent of the other Provinces, which was contrary to the Constitution of their Government) did privately imploy Colonel Doleman and some others (gaining to them Hugh Peters) to try the Inclinations of the Rump for a Peace.

Here take notice, that King Charles the Second employ'd one Mr. Stubbe, commonly call'd Dr. Stubbe, (who was a Man of great Parts) to write a Vindication of the second Dutch War in his Reign, whereby Stubbe had the opportunity of inspecting all the Manuscripts relating to the English Treaty with the Dutch in this Treaty; for the Rump refused to treat with them but in writing: [Page] and out of these, and Leo ab Aitzma (a most faithful Collector of the Treaties of Peace and War and Commerce between the Princes and States of his time, and sometimes before) Dr. Stubbe hath, I believe, faithfully set out this Treaty of Peace between the English and Dutch; and therefore, tho but in Epit [...]me, I shall take him for my Guide herein.

The Rump did not refuse to treat of a Peace upon just and honourable Terms, but not in Holland or any Neutral Place; nor would they condescend to any Treaty before Holland made the first Overtures in Writing. Whereupon the States of Holland upon the 18th of March, by their Secretary Herbert Van Beaumont, sent the Rump a canting and equivocal Letter, wherein I cannot find one Categorical Proposition, and wherein the sacred Name of God is more rent and torn than I can find in any of our Enthusiasts; of their Zeal for the Reformed Religion, much endanger'd by this War, and the Joys the Enemies of it conceived thereby; and of their Desire of preventing the further Effusion of Christian Blood; and carried on by a pious Zeal, and in no wise constrained by any other Consideration: That Consideration may be had what may be done for the Honour and Glory of God, and the good of each State; whereupon, without doubt, the good God for his Name sake, and by the Inspiration of proper and fit Expedients, will give his Blessing, &c. Which Letter you may read at large in Stubbe's Vindication, p. 78, 79. and in Leo ab Aitzma, p. 816, 817.

The Rump having got this Letter, and to make a further Distraction in the States General, sent an Answer the first of April 1653, to the States of Holland, and a Letter to the States General: that to the States of Holland was,

That the Inconveniences to Religion in general, and to the Trade and Liberties of each Nation, were such as any man might have foreseen; and that none could be ignorant how requisite it was for both Nations to preserve a good Correspondence and Amity together; that the English had not omitted any thing on their parts, but the Dutch had assaulted them in the midst of a Treaty for a strict Ʋnion; and their Ambassadors had used such Tergiversation, as made them justly imagine that their sense of things was different from what they now professed. That the good Endeavours of the Parliament were answered with unusual Preparations, Acts of Hostility, and other extraordinary Proceedings thereupon. That they had this Comfort and Satisfaction in their own Minds amidst the Troubles and Calamities of War, that they had with all Sincerity done what lay in their Power to obviate all the Evils specified: That they did look upon the Overtures of Holland, if approved by the States General, to be an effectual means for composing this unwelcom War; however, the Parliament having discharged their Duty, would with Patience acquiesce in the Issue of Providence, whereof they had so gracious Experience.

[Page] That to the States General was, That there could be no doubt of the sincere Affection and good Will which the English did bear to the United Provinces; so that it might be well imagined, that they were really inclined, by just and honourable means, to extinguish the Fire of War, stop the Effussion of Christian Blood, and restore Amity between the two Nations: That as they had not been wanting in the Beginning to prevent the ensuing Calamities, so they were not altered with Successes from their former good Intentions: That they were ready, upon the Grounds expressed in the Letter from the Provincial States of Holland and Friezland, friendly to compose Differences, &c.

This Letter had the desired Effect of the Rump, for the rest of the Provinces complained, that Holland had broke the Union, which that State would have salved by a manifest Lie, in denying they ever wrote such a Letter: However, the rest of the Provinces, fearing the Calamity would be common to them all if the War continued, did consent to a Treaty of Peace with the Rump. However, the Rump, in their Letter to the States, refused to give them any other Title than the States General, notwithstanding the Title of High and Mighty, obtained at the Treaty of Munster not five Years before; nor did they assume this Title, when they returned their Answer to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England.

To these Letters the States General returned this Answer to the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England, That they always endeavoured, with a good and sincere Intention, not only to keep, but to augment more and more, all manner of Friendship and Correspondence with the said Parliament; and would now do any thing that might contribute to so pious and Christian an Ʋnion, desiring a Neutral Place, and Plenipotentiaries might be appointed forthwith on both sides. But before this Answer was returned, a new face of things happen'd in England; for Oliver had turn'd out the Rump, and set up for himself. How this came about, and what Steps Cromwel took to do this, is now fit to be enquired into.

Herein I take the Confidence to say, that as the Covenanters subduing the Royalists was the Cause of the Ruin of the Covenanting Parliament; so was Cromwel's Victory over the King at Worcester, the Ruin of the Rump: for Cromwel, after that Fight, having nothing to do, set his whole Thoughts how he might, tho not under the Title of King, usurp the Dominion of these Kingdoms, already subdued by the Rump; and the Rump improvidently enabled him to do it, when upon the 16th of June 1650, they constituted Cromwel Captain-General, and Commander in chief within Ireland as well as England: which you may read in Whitlock's Memoirs, pag. 511. a.

[Page] You have heard how Cromwel felt the Pulse of the Lawyers and Soldiers for the Establishment of the Nation, and how the Lawyers were of Opinion, that no Settlement could be made without some mixture of Monarchy, and that it was [...]it that the Duke of Glocester should be intrusted with something of a mixt Monarchy; and that Cromwel's Opinion was really that a Settlement, with somewhat of a mixt Monarchy, would be very effectual; but this somewhat of a Settlement of mixt Monarchy he reserved for himself: but herein he found three Rubs, and Rump, the Duke of Glocester, and Monk in Scotland, (who, I verily believe, had a great Awe upon Cromwel) whereupon, to remove these two latter, in February 1652 he got the Duke of Glocester to be sent beyond Sea; and about the same time, or a little before, sent for Monk into England, and found him pliable to Cromwel's Design of setting up himself: but to cover this, he made Monk one of the three Admirals at Sea, with Blake and Dean, tho Monk was wholly ignorant of Sea Affairs.

These two Rubs thus removed, only the Rump stood in Oliver's way to set up himself; but before he discover'd this openly, he enter'd into a long Dialogue with Commissioner Whitlock, which you may read at large in his Memoirs, fol. 523, 524, 525, 526. wherein Cromwel takes notice, as well as Whitlock, of the Danger of a Victorious Army lying idle in Peace, more than in War; and of their murmuring in not being rewarded according to their Deserts; and that the Army had a strange Disgust against the Parliament for their Pride, Ambition, Self-seeking, engrossing all Places of Honour and Profit to themselves and Friends, and their daily breaking forth into new and violent Factions; their Delays in Business, and Design to perpetuate themselves; their medling in private Matters, contrary to the Institution of Parliament; their Injustice and Partiality in those Matters, and the scandalous Lives of some of the chief of them: so that unless there be some Authority so full and high as to restrain and keep things in better Order, and that may put a stop to these Exorbitancies, it will be impossible, in humane Reason, to prevent our Ruin.

Whitlock magnifies Cromwel's Government of the Army, yet finds great Difficulty how he could reform the Parliament, he being subordinate to them, and having taken his Commission from them, and hopes the greater part of the Members are not such, as Cromwel says, when great Matters come before them.

Cromwel answered, My Lord, There is little hopes of a good Settlement by them, really there is not, but a great deal of fear that they will destroy again what the Lord hath so graciously done for them and us: we all forget God, and God will forget us, and give us up to Confusion; and these Men will help it on if they be suffered to proceed in their ways: some Course must be taken to curb and restrain them, or we shall be ruin'd by them.

[Page] Whitlock answered, We our selves have owned them the Supreme Power, and taken our Commissions from them; and how to restrain them after this, will be hard to find out.

Cromwel. What if a Man should take upon him to be King?

Whitlock. I think the Remedy worse than the Disease.

Cromwel. Why do you think so?

Whitlock. ‘As to your own Person, the Title of a King would be of no Advantage, because you have the Kingly Power in you already; concerning the Militia, as you are General; as to the Nomination of Civil Officers, those whom you think fittest are seldom refused; and tho you have no Negative Vote in passing Laws, yet what you dislike is not easily carried; and the Taxes are already settled, and in your Power to dispose the Moneys raised; and as to the foreign Affairs, tho the Ceremonial Part be to the Parliament, yet the Expectation of good or bad Success, is from your Excellency; and particular Solicitations of foreign Ministers are made to you only.’

‘So that I apprehend indeed less Envy and Danger, but not less real Opportunities of doing Good, in your being General, than it would be if you had assumed the Title of King.’ Whitlock after enlarged himself, ‘How dangerous it would be to Cromwel to assume the Title, for that the main Controversy between us and our Adversaries, is to be established in a Monarchy or a Free State, and most of our Friends have engaged with us upon the Hopes of a Free State, and to that end have undergone all their Hazards and Difficulties; if then your Excellency shall take upon you the Title of a King, this state of your Cause will be thereby wholly determined, and Monarchy established in your Person; and the Question will be no more, whether our Government shall be by a Monarch or Free State, but, whether Cromwel or Stuart shall be our King?’

After Whitlock desired his Excellency to consider his Condition; viz. ‘You are environ'd with secret Enemies: upon your subduing the publick Enemy, the Officers of the Army account themselves all Victors,’ and have had an equal share with you.

‘The Success which God hath given us hath not a little elated their Minds, and many of them are turbulent and busy Spirits, and are not without their Designs, how they may dismount your Excellency, and some of them get into the Saddle; how they may bring you down,’ and set up themselves.

‘They want not Counsel and Encouragement herein, it may be from some Members of Parliament, who may be jealous of your Power and Greatness, lest you should grow too high for them, and in time over-master them; and they will plot to bring you down first,’ or to clip your Wings.

[Page] Cromwel thank'd Whitlock for his good Advice; then ask'd him, What were his Thoughts for Prevention of the Mischiefs which hung over our Heads?

Whitlock advised him to make a private Treaty with the King of ‘Scots, whereby he did not doubt, but in the Condition the King was in, but Cromwel might secure himself and Friends, and might make himself and Posterity as great and permanent to all humane Probability, as ever any Subject; and provide for his Friends,’ as well as secure our spiritual and civil Liberties. Cromwel heard him, and seem'd displeas'd, and brake off the Discourse; and his Carriage to Whitlock, from that time, was altered.

Notwithstanding the manifold Pretensions of the Dutch and Rump, wherein God's sacred Name was so often exposed to cover their Hypocrisy of sincere Love and Friendship of either State to one another, and of their Zeal for Propagation of the Honour of God, and encreasing the true Reformed Religion, neither State trusted the other, but made all imaginable Preparations for carrying on the War; and the Rump, for Encouragement of the Seamen, order'd them some Pay before-hand, and Subsistence for their Families in their Absence; and that for every Ship which shall be adjudged good Prize, 40 l. per Tun, and 6 l. for every Piece of Cannon taken or found in Prize-Ships, and 10 l. for every Piece of Cannon which should be taken on board of any Ship they should take or fire, to be distributed to the Seamen according to their Qualities; and that whosoever should enrol themselves in the Parliament's Service within 40 Days, should receive a Month's Pay, not to be passed upon Account; and Hospitals provided for sick and wounded Men. This was in Jan. 1652.

Cromwel's Ambition to be uppermost, could no longer be supprest; but now the Rump being the only Obstacle, he first set the Officers of his Army to bait the Rump, which they did with the Words Cromwel put in their Mouth, and which he before declared to Whitlock.

During these Commotions, Doleman and Hugh Peters, set on by the Dutch, did make very submissive Applications to the Council of State and Rump, confessing they were not able to contest with the Puissance of England; offering to acknowledg to the English the Sovereignty of the British Seas, and to pay 300000 l. to the Rump: but the Dutch above all things dreading the Rump, animated Cromwel with the Promise of a far greater Sum, in case he would depose the Rump. See Stubbe, pag. 81.

If the Dutch dreaded the Rump, the Rump did not less dread Cromwel, and therefore made their Application to Monk for Protection, but failed, for Cromwel had gained him before, and he discovered all to Cromwel, and that he had no Concern for them, [Page] nor Obligation to them, as you may see in Dr. Gumble's History of Monk's Life, pag. 73. So that Monk was not now of the same Mind as he was afterward when Lambert turn'd the Rump out of doors.

All other Obstacles thus removed, and Cromwel heightned in his frantick Resolutions, by the Expectation of Mountains of Gold from the Dutch, upon the 20th of April, with a Party of Soldiers with him, marched to the House, and led a File of Musqueteers in with him, and the rest he placed at the Door of the House, in the Lobby; and entring the House in furious manner, bid the Speaker leave the Chair, and told the House, ‘That they had sat long enough,’ unless they had done more Good (I could have told him, they had done two good Deeds for him; one, in taking away the King's Life, to let him into his Throne; the other, that they had made him General, to enable him to turn them out of doors) ‘That some of them were Whore-masters, looking towards Henry Martin and Sir Peter Wentworth; That others of them were Drunkards, and some corrupt and unjust Men, and scandalous to the Profession of the Gospel; and that it was not fit they should sit any longer as a Parliament, and desired them to go away.’

But the Speaker not stirring from his Seat, Col. Harrison took him by the Arm to remove him from his Seat; which when the Speaker saw, he left the Chair: Some of the Members rose up to answer Cromwel, but he would suffer none to speak but himself. He bid one of the Soldiers Take away that Fool's Bawble, the Mace; and stay'd himself till all the Members were out, and then caused the Doors to be shut up.

We will look upon this Act in a threefold Consideration; viz. In the Doers; to whom done; and in the Manner of it.

1. The Doers were the Rump's Servants, raised by the Rump, and no ways provoked by the Rump. So little do Benefits received by ill Men create any Obligation of Gratitude in those who receive them.

2. The Rump were a Parliament which were impowered to make War or Peace, or were not; if they were not, then Cromwel and his Assistants Commission from the Rump to judg the King to Death, and all the Acts of Hostility which they did during these Wars, were Murder or Rapine: but if they were a Parliament, who might grant Commissions in War, and make Laws, then Cromwel and his Assistants were greater Rebels and Violators of the Liberties of the Nation, than either the Irish or Scots were against the King, or the Royalists against the Parliament; for the Irish and Scots pretended Grievances and Oppressions against the present Powers, whereas Cromwel and his Assistants pretended not one categorical Complaint against the Rump; and the Royalists fo [...]ght to preserve the Establish'd Laws and Constitutions [Page] of the Nation, which Cromwel and his Assistants did not. Besides, herein Cromwel and his Assistants assumed a Power above Regal, in deposing the Rump, if it were a Rightful Parliament, which the King could not do without their Consent.

3. For the Manner of Cromwel's Deposing the Rump, it was so barbarous and rude, as I do not think you will find the like among the most Savage People, unless it were when Cromwel and his Agents deposed the Secluded Members: Yet sure there was a Divine Justice in both; for as the Covenanting Members expelled the Royalists for not taking the Covenant, or joining with them in the Innovations which the Covenanters brought into the Church and State; so Cromwel and the Rump expelled them for their Covenanting, and set up themselves instead of them; and now Cromwel does the like by the Rump, to exalt himself.

Thus, by their own mercenary Servants, and not a Sword drawn in their Defence, fell the Haughty and Victorious Rump, whose mighty Actions will scarcely find Belief in future Generations; and to say the Truth, they were a Race of Men most indefatigably industrious in Business, always seeking for Men fit for it, and never preferring any for Favour, nor by Importunity. You scarce ever heard of any revolting from them in England, Scotland, or Ireland, during their time, except by the Levellers, 1649. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 385, 386, 387. No Murmur or Complaint of Sea-men or Soldiers employ'd by them either by Sea or Land, for want of Pay: In all the Ports of England, during the Dutch War, Money or Credit was found to pay off the Sea-men whenever their Ships were designed to be laid up. Nor do I find they ever press'd either Soldiers or Seamen in all their Wars. And as they excelled thus in their Management of Civil Affairs, so it must be owned, they exercised in Matters Ecclesiastick no such Severities as either the Covenanters, or others before them, did upon such as dissented from them.

And as the Rump were thus industrious and victorious in War, so were they not negligent in reforming the Abuses in the Practice of the Common Laws; and to that end, in October 1650, order'd that all the Books of the Laws be put into English, and that all Writs, Process, and Returns thereof, and all Patents, Commissions, Indictments, Judgments, Records, and all Proceedings in Courts of Justice, shall be in the English Tongue, and not in the Latin, or French, or any other Language. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 459. a.

The Rump further ordered a Committee for regulating the Law; and the Committee reported the Draughts of several Laws, viz.

1. The taking away Fines upon Bills, Declarations, and Original Writs.

[Page] 2. Against Customary Oaths of Fealty and Homage to the Lords of Mannors.

3. For taking away common Recoveries, and unnecessary Charge of Fines, and to pass and charge Land intailed, as Lands in Fee Simple.

4. For more speedy Recovery of Rents.

5. Touching Pleaders and their Fees.

6. For more speedy regulating and easy Discovery of Debts and Damages, not exceeding 4 l. and under. See Whitlock's Mem. fol. 504. a.

Whether the Rump passed these into Laws, I do not find; but if they did not, they might have done, if Cromwel had let them alone: and they sat not four Years and three Months.

But how industrious and victorious soever the Rump was in War, they were not so wise in Counsel, by making the Act of Navigation: and tho we have before demonstrated the manifold Mischiefs and Inconveniences which this Law has brought upon this Nation, and shall more particularly hereafter (if God pleases) in Answer to those Reasons which Sir Josiah Child and Sir Francis Brewsier pretend in Defence of it; yet it's fit that we here shew, how that the Rump was mistaken, as well in the End, as Causes of this Law.

If we look upon Britain, it is an Island, and divided into two Kingdoms, England and Scotland; and both these Kingdoms, before they were united under one King, viz. James I. by imm [...] morial Prescriptions, were possessed of the Sovereignty of the Sea adjoining their Coasts, wherein no Nation (before King James I.) presumed to fish, without Agreement or Leave first obtained from those Kings.

The first who presumed to fish in these Seas, without such Licence or Agreement, were the Dutch; yet never disputed their Right to it, before Grotius (and he only that I can find) disputed it. The Dutch Fishery upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, is the Foundation of all the Dutch Greatness at Sea, and wherein they employ more Shipping and Mariners than the English do in all their foreign Trades; with this further Advantage to the Dutch, that they have all their Mariners at home, or near home, so that they are always ready, upon all Occasions, to serve the States; and there being but little Difference of Climate, are healthful and strong: whereas the English in their long Voyages, especially to the East and West-Indies, are far from assisting the Nation in time of need; and by the Diversities of Climates, and eating oversalted Meats, and drinking sowr Drinks, causes such Sickness and Mortality amongst them, that it's a Question, whether we lose more Sea-men, or make more Mariners in them; and those which survive are so feeble, that a healthy Mariner will beat two of them.

[Page] The Rump therefore should have considered from what Cause the Dutch were enabled to carry on this Fishery in Foreign Trades exclusive to the English: And first negatively, That the Dutch were not enabled to do this from any Principals of their own, for they had neither Timber to build Ships, nor Pitch, Tar, Hemp or Flax, or Iron for fitting them up; nor Salt to cure their Fish; their Ports from which they fished, not half so good, or a quarter so many as the English; and the Coasts upon which they caught these Fish, more convenient for the English than the Dutch, and an Englishman of a stronger Constitution than a Dutch-man, and tenfold more; so that herein the English had all natural Advantages above the Dutch. Now let's see how the Dutch could do this.

The English, tho there were tenfold more Men in England than in Holland, could not employ one Man to ten which the Dutch employed in their Fisheries upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, for these Reasons. First the Dutch employed and gave Encouragement to all sorts of People in these Fisheries, as well Foreigners as Natives; whereas Foreigners fishing from the English Ports, is denied by a Law in England; nor are Foreigners only excluded herein, but all the Ports of England, being Corporations, the Freemen in them make the rest of the Nation Foreigners to them: so that the Fisheries upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, between the English and Dutch, are of a general Freedom in the Dutch Netherlands; and the Freemen of the Ports of England, who being few, and generally Beggars, have few Men, and less Means, to be Competitors with the Dutch in these Fisheries. But the Rump not considering these Causes, but restraining this Fishery only to English-men, at least three Fourths English, have made the English in no Capacity to be Competitors with the Dutch in the Foreign Trades of the Fish caught upon the Coasts of England and Scotland: besides the Dutch had their Agents, Factors, and Correspondents in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other Places, for a Market for the Fish they caught, whereas the Poverty of our Corporation-Men denied the English this Benefit.

The Rump in making the Act of Navigation, did not consider that the Fish caught on the Coasts of England and Scotland, cost nothing but the catching; so that they who can catch them cheapest, and cure them best, are sure of a Foreign Market against them whose Charges are more, and they ignorant in the Curing of them: The Rump therefore restraining the English to fish in Ships 40 per Cent. dearer than the Dutch, and 40 per Cent. dearer sailed, (and who knew not how to cure Herring and Cod-fish so well as the Dutch) has eternally fixed the Fisheries in the Dutch, exclusive to the English, so long as the Act stands in force; and how this has made good the Title of their Act, For Encouragement of encreasing Shipping and Navigation, let any Man, not in the Temper the Rump was when they made this Act, judg.

[Page] The Rump should have encountred the Dutch with their own Weapons, and made all the Ports of England, not only free to all English in these Fisheries, but to Foreigners; and made them free to import all sorts of Timber for building Vessels for these Fisheries; as also for rough Hemp, Flax, Pitch and Tar, for fitting up Vessels for these Fisheries, so as we might have had the Materials as cheap as the Dutch; and also have given Rewards and other Encouragements to Foreigners to instruct us how to build Vessels as cheap and convenient for the Fisheries as the Dutch, and how to cure them; and denied the Dutch the Benefit of drying their Nets in the Fisheries, or to take in fresh Water or Provisions in their Fisheries, as the Dutch do to the English in their Plantations in the East-Indies; and have taken off the Imposts in England, which the Dutch pay in Holland; and then the Rump might have beaten the Dutch out of these Fisheries without fighting with them, and made our Maritime Towns as great and flourishing as those in Holland. But the Temper the Rump was then in would not admit of any of these Considerations; and it's admirable to me, that all the Parliaments since have been of the Rump's Temper herein, and never taken these things into Consideration; tho the Coast-Towns of England are not only ruined by the Act of Navigation hereby, and the Fisheries not only on the Coasts of England and Scotland, but those to Iseland and Greenland, ruin'd only by this Law, without possibility of retrieving them, so long as it stands in Force.

If the restraining the English, in their Fisheries, to English-built Ships, and sail'd by three Fourths English, be so pernicious to the English in our Fisheries, the Reasons are the same in the Foreign Vent of our Native Commodities: for obliging the English to vend the Manufactures of the Nation in these near double as dear built Ships, and sailed by near double Men, and permitting the Dutch to buy our Manufactures, the Dutch by their Cheapness, and more convenient building of Ships, has outed this Nation of their Navigation to Muscovy, and all the Kingdoms and Countries within the Sound with them, as much to the Encrease of the Dutch Navigation, as the lessening of the English.

And as this Law is so injurious to the English in our Fisheries, and Foreign Vent of our Manufactures, so it is not less in the Importation of Foreign Commodities, by restraining the Import of them to English-built Ships, and sailed by three fourths English, and the Natives of those Places from whence they shall be imported, whether they have Ships or not. I'll give but two Instances herein, viz. in our Trades to Norway for Timber, Pitch and Tar, and to Liefland and Prussia for rough Hemp and Flax; for which Trades the English never built one Ship since this Act; and by reason of the Dearness and Inconveniences of our English Ships in these Trades, the Norwegians have encreased their Navigation from [Page] 6 Ships of about 60 Tun, to above 200 of three, four, five and six hundred Tun; and the English pay near double the Price for these they did before the Act.

And as the Inhabitants of Liefland and Prussia, rarely or never trade with us in rough Hemp and Flax; so the Dutch importing these by the Cheapness of their Navigation one third cheaper than the English; and when they are made into the Manufactures of Cordage, Sails and Nets, the Dutch, by the Act of Navigation may import them; whereby the English in their Fisheries, and the Foreign Vent of their Commodities, have lost the Manufactures of them, and by a Foreign Expence buy them of the Dutch and French, as much to their enriching and Employment of their People, as to our Impoverishment, and the Loss of employing ours. It's fit to give this light Touch of the Mischiefs and Inconveniences this Act has brought upon the Nation; but hereafter I shall enlarge upon them, when I reply upon Sir Josiah Child and Sir Francis Brewster's Defence of it, as before.

CHAP. II.
A Continuation of this Treatise during the Vsurpation of Oliver Cromwel.

WHEN Men forsake the plain and foreknown Ways of Justice and Righteousness, they not only run into Confusion, or contrary Extreams; but these they endeavour to sanctify by previous swearing to them, and imposing them upon other Men. In Scotland 1638, the Scots, without the King's Consent, made their Covenant, wherein they abjure Episcopacy, and swear a mutual Defence of one another herein, against all Persons whatsoever, without excepting the King; and imposed this upon all Sorts of People with Violence, and Menaces, as beating, tearing of Clothes, drawing of Blood, and exposing thousands to Injuries and Reproaches; and notwithstanding several Laws to the contrary, expelled all Professors of Colleges, and Ministers out of their Places, who refused to subscribe their Covenant. See Baker's Chron. fol. 461. a.

To encounter the Scots Covenant by a contrary Extream, the English Convocation, in the Year 1640, after the King had dissolved the Parliament, imposed, without Consent in Parliament, an Oath, wherein they swear, That they approve the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, as containing all things necessary [Page]to Salvation; that they will not endeavour to bring in any Popish Doctrine contrary to it: That they will not consent to alter the Government of this Church, by Arch-Bishops, Bishops, Deans and Arch-Deacons, &c. as it now stands, and ought by right to stand; nor to subject it to the Ʋsurpations and Supersttitions of Rome: That this they do plainly and sincerely acknowledg and swear, and do it heartily and willingly. Thus was God's Sacred Name exposed to cover their Ambitious Designs, on both sides, and for which neither gave any Reason. Nor did this Convocation stay here, but imposed, without Consent of Parliament, six Subsidies upon the Clergy, to be paid in six Years, for carrying on a War against the Scots, the refusers to be suspended and excommunicated: Thus you see now, In Nomine Domini, on both sides, these Feuds began at the Clergy; and the King to secure the Convocation, set Guards about Westminster Abby.

Here let's examine and compare these two Oaths: The Covenanters in Scotland swear, ‘That according to their Places and Callings, they shall endeavour the Preservation of the Reformed Church of Scotland, in Doctrine, Worship, Discipline and Government:’ At this Time there was no Reformed Church in Scotland but the Episcopal, unless the Scots Covenanters erected another: So here the Scots do not distinguish, which Church they swear to endeavour to preserve; nor say what the Doctrine, Discipline, Worship and Government of the Church of Scotland was. So that herein; in the first part of the Oath, they swear equivocally; and in the second, they swear by Implicit Faith, without declaring wherein their Doctrine, Discipline, Worship and Government does consist.

‘That they shall also endeavour the Extirpation of Popery, Prelacy,’ Superstition, Heresy, Schism, Prophaneness, &c. All Oaths are to be taken in Truth, viz. of what a Man knows, or truly intends: Can any Man believe; that every Scot which swears the Covenant, knows what Popery, Prelacy, Superstition, Schism and Prophaneness are, especially when they have an &c. joined to them? I do not believe that ever the Church of Rome, or any other Nation, ever imposed such an Equivocal and Canting Oath, as this Covenant, by a Rout of Men, and contrary to the establisht Government in being, and against the King's express Will.

And to make all sure, they swear, ‘to defend all those that shall enter into this Covenant, and shall zealously and constantly all the Days of their Lives continue therein.’ But God shall soon blast this abominable Swearing, to the Destruction of these Covenanters.

The Oath of the Covenant was purely promissory, wherein they swear what wondrous Acts they would do in Preservation of their Kirk, &c. and for the Extirpation of Popery, Prelacy, &c, and for the mutual Defence of one another. But the first Part of the Convocation-Oath is assertory, wherein they swear, that they [Page] approve the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, as containing all things necessary to Salvation; so as there is no further need of searching the Scriptures, and no Man needs further to seek his Salvation with Fear and Trembling, if he be conversant in the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England. The next part of it is negatively Promissory, that they will not bring in any Popish Doctrine contrary to it. The third part of it is partly Promissory, and partly Assertory; Promissory, not to give Consent to alter the Government of this Church by Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Arch-Deacons, &c. Assertory, as it now stands, and ought to stand. The fourth part is Promissory, not to subject it to the Usurpations and Supersitions of Rome (without declaring what these were.) The last part of this Oath is Assertory, That this they do plainly and sincerely acknowledg and swear, and do it heartily, willingly and truly.

Now let's see the Success of this jumbled Oath, and Grant of these Subsidies; first, the King never got one Groat of them. Secondly, The very next Year after, viz. March 10th, the Commons voted that no Bishop should have any Vote in Parliament; nor any judicial Power in the Star-Chamber, nor Authority in Temporal Matters; and that no Clergy-man shall be in Commission of the Peace: and upon the 22d of June the High Commission Court, and Star-Chamber (wherein Laud and the Prerogative Clergy plaid their Pranks) were abolished by Act of Parliament: and soon after, viz. January 12th, Twelve of the Bishops were committed to the Tower for High Treason, for protesting against all Votes and Orders of the Lords during their Absence; and soon after the King passed a Bill for taking away the Bishops Votes in Parliament; so little Success had the Clergy in their Convocation-Oath.

As the Clergy, without Consent in Parliament, imposed the Convocation-Oath upon the rest of the Clergy: So the Parliament, (I mean the Lords and Commons) without the Consent of the King, imposed upon the Subjects a Vow and Protestation to maintain and defend, so far as lawfully may be, the true Reformed Protestant Religion, expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England, and according to the Duty of the Allegiance to his Majesty's Royal Person, Honour and Estate, to defend the Privileges of Parliament, and Liberties of the Subject; and by all just and honourable Ways, endeavour to preserve the Union and Peace of the Three Kingdoms; and neither for fear, nor other respect, relinquish the Promise, Vow and Protestation. See Baker's History, fol. 508. b.

But the Lords and Commons were not constant to their Vow; for within less than two Years after, they impose their Solemn League and Covenant (being basely imposed upon them by the Scots) upon the rest of their Fellow-Subjects, with all the Scotish Cant, and [Page] &c. too; and this is observable, that the Presbyterians, who so bitterly inveighed against the &c. in the Convocation-Oath, without any scruple swallowed the &c. in their Solemn League and Covenant. It's scarce credible, by what Severity this Covenant was, after the Scots Temper, imposed upon all other sorts of Men, as well Dissenters from the Church of England, as those of the Church.

This Temper was too hot to last long; for about three Years after the Independents outed the Presbyterians, and set up the Engagement to be true to the Rump, without King or House of Lords; nor did this Engagement last five Years, but was outed when Cromwel set up himself, and imposed the Recognition for establishing himself. Now let any shew, how in any Nation since the Creation, in less than 13 Years time, Men so often swear and forswear Governments, which were so often changed, and he shall be my great Apo [...].

The Secluded Members, and the Rump, if you'll take their Words, were the Representatives of the People, (but without a Head) and could not be dissolved by the King without their Consent; yet O. Cromwel and his Myrmidons, without their Consent, dissolved them both. And as these were Bodies without a Head, so Cromwel and his Army, (like that of the Egyptian Mamalukes) were a Monstrous Head without any Body of the Nation, yet with this Difference, the Mamalukes chose their Sultan, but Cromwel exalted himself without the Army's Choice.

The first Manifesto that Cromwel made known to the Nation, was this, I Oliver Cromwel, Captain General, and Commander in Chief of all the Armies and Forces, raised and to be raised within this Commonwealth, &c. So here Cromwel, by his own Authority, makes the Army perpetual, having deposed the Parliament, which were made perpetual by Act of Parliament.

I have often admired upon what Bottom Cromwel stood when he presumed to do these things; for the Sectaries and Fifth Monarchy-Men, who were the Creatures whom he at first most relied upon, when they perceived his Ambition, then became his utter Enemies; the Presbyterians and Independents hated him for the Violences he put upon them; and the Royalists both dreaded and hated him.

All Kings of England in their Coronation-Oath before, sware to govern by the received Laws and Constitutions of the Nation; but Cromwel having subverted these, neither says nor swears by what Laws or Rules he'll govern: and tho both in the Saxon and N [...]rman Dynasties, the Hereditary Succession of the Kings was often changed; yet none succeeded which was not of the Royal Blood (which cannot be said of the Caroline and Capusian Lines of France, nor in the Succession of the Race of the Kings of Spain) yet Cromwel, [Page] without Law, or being of the Royal Blood, made himself more absolute than any of our Kings before him.

Now Terras (I am sure Britannias) Astraea reliquit; Justice, Truth and Plain-dealing is fled the Land, and Dissimulation, Hypocrisy, Intriguing and Designs rove all England over, and Cromwel to support his ill-establish'd Greatness, sets all his Agents and Sycophants on work to congratulate and approve his Actions, and to stand by and assist him. One of the first of these was from the Officers of the English Army in Scotland, (no doubt but excited by Monk in the State he stood then with Cromwel.) So that as from Scotland our Civil Wars first began, and from thence their solemn League and Covenant was so rigidly imposed in England; so from thence now come Congratulatory Addresses to Cromwel for overturning all they had done; and a time shall come when a Storm shall come from Scotland, which shall disperse and unravel all that the Covenanters, Rump and Cromwel had done; thus you'll see how lame-footed Vengeance shall overtake them all. Having seen how Cromwel established himself, we'll proceed to see the Success.

The Dutch above all things dreading the Rump, animated Cromwel to dissolve them, promising greater things to him than they had done to the Rump in case he would do it, which being done, the Dutch (not unreasonably) hoped by the Disorders which would arise in England by it, they should be better able to deal with Cromwel than the Rump; and, notwithstanding their calling God to witness of their sincere Love and Affection to the English Nation, and desire of propagating the true Reformed Protestant Religion, with all imaginable Diligence, set out a greater Fleet to Sea than they had done before, and Trump gave out he would fire the English Ships in their Harbours and the Downs before the English Fleet should get out.

But the Rump, who well understood what Faith or Credit was to be given to the Dutch Protestations, were not behind-hand with the Dutch in their Naval Preparations, which Cromwel found ready to fight with the Dutch; and sooner than the Dutch look'd for, the English Fleet commanded by Monk and Dean, Penn Vice-Admiral, and Lawson Rear-Admiral, upon the second of June engaged the Dutch, and at the beginning Dean was kill'd by a Cannon-Ball, but the Dutch sore pressed upon by the English bore away, and made a running Fight, having a Ship of 42 Guns sunk by Lawson, and 140 Men in her; but the Winds blowing cross, the English could not that day do much more Execution.

Next day Monk engaged the Dutch Fleet again, and sunk six of their best Ships, two were blown up, and eleven taken, one Vice-Admiral and two Rear-Admirals, with two of their Hoys, and thirteen hundred and fifty Prisoners; and of the English not one Ship was lost or disabled, and besides Admiral Dean, but one Captain killed.

[Page] The Dutch thus balk'd of their Expectation of firing the English Ships in their Harbours, and in the Downs, send Beverning, Newport, Vande Parro and Jonstal, to Cromwel and the new Council of State (for Cromwel had discharged the old one.) And Beverning repeats the former Cant of calling God the Searcher of all Hearts to witness, the sincere Affections of the States towards the Commonwealth of England; and prayed that God with his Holy Spirit might preside at all their Consultations, and bless their Government and the Nation, with all Prosperity and Happiness, and desired that the Memory of the past Actions might be obliterated, and a perfect Amity and indissoluble Ʋnion, and more entire Correspondence than ever might be established between the two Nations; and concluded, That the Great, most Good, and most Merciful God would preside in their Councils with his Spirit of Peace.

To this Cant the Council return'd a peremptory Answer, That without Satisfaction for what had been acted against England, and befitting Security that no such thing should be attempted again, they could not proceed to any League or Alliance.

But rather than submit to this Introduction of a Treaty, the Dutch resolve to try once again their Fortune by War, and fit out the greatest Fleet they could, to be again commanded by Van Trump. These were encountred by Monk, who fought them on the 29th and 30th of July, and took and sunk 30 of their Men of War, whereof eight were Flag-Ships, and retook the Garland, formerly taken by the Dutch from the English, kill'd Van Trump, and took above 1000 Prisoners, whereof Vice-Admiral Evertson was one; and 'twas conjectur'd 6000 of the Dutch were kill'd and drowned, no Quarter being given during the Fight.

In this Engagement the English had but two Ships fired, whereof the Oak was one, but most of her Men were saved, but had 250 Men slain, and 700 wounded; of the slain were Capt. Cox, Graves, Chapman and Peacock; of the wounded were Capt. Stokes, Seaman, Rous, Holland and Cubi.

Between these Fights, viz. July 8. Cromwel, by the Title of, I Oliver Cromwel, Captain General, and Commander in Chief of all the Forces raised and to be raised within this Commonwealth, summons 144 (which was twelvefold the Number of the Tribes of Israel) of his own Nomination, to take upon them the supream Government of the Nation. These were Anabaptists and Fifth-Monarchy-Men, Cromwel believing them to be the properest Instruments to do his Journey-work, but was mistaken.

Upon the 4th of July, 120 of these appeared at White-Hall, and being set round a Table in the Council-Chamber, Cromwel and the Officers of the Army standing about the middle of the Table (this was such a Ra [...]y-Show as ne're before was seen in fair Albion's Isle) Cromwel made a Speech to them, shewing the Cause of [Page] their Summons, and that they had a clear Call to take upon them the supream Authority of the Commonwealth, and urged divers Places of Scripture to admonish them to do their Duties.

Then Cromwel, to manifest the Clearness of their Call, produced an Instrument under his own Hand and Seal, whereby he did, with the Advice of his Officers, devolve and intrust the supream Authority and Government of this Commonwealth into the Hands of the Persons then met. It seems then the other 24 which were not yet come up had no part of the Supream Authority and Government of the Commonwealth, but a less Number may do the Work.

For Cromwel then tells them, that any forty of them are to be held and acknowledged the Supream Authority of the Nation, and all Persons within the same are to yield Obedience and Subjection. Yet this clear Call binds them to sit no longer than the third of November, and that three Months before their Dissolution they make Choice of other Persons to succeed them, who are not to sit longer than a Year, and to be left to them to take care for the Succession of the Government, and so Cromwel and his Officers left them: But he had as good said nothing, for his Supream Authority sat longer than the third of November, yet never made choice of other Persons to succeed them, nor took any care for the Succession of the Government.

However this Thing, or Creature of Cromwel's, calls it self a Parliament; and because one Praise God Barebone a Leatherseller, was a famous Member in it, 'twas called Barebone's Parliament, and they chose one Rouse their Speaker. But how Godly soever Cromwel seem'd to appear by his divers Texts of Scripture, in devolving the Supream Authority of the Nation upon these Men, yet he retained the Wisdom of the Serpent, and by his own Authority imposed six Months Assessments upon the Nation, which you may see in Baker's History, fol. 618. b. which Whitlock takes no notice of; and if he had not, it's a Question whether his chosen Creatures, The Supream Authority of the Nation, would have done it.

Barebone's Parliament was so highly pleased with Monk's Victory over the Dutch, that they order'd a Day of Thanksgiving for it, with a Narrative to be publickly read, and also several Chains of Gold to be given to Blake (tho he was in neither of these Fights) Monk, Penn and Lawson for their good Service, and a Gratuity to all the other Officers and Seamen according to their Quality over and above their Pay. This is observable, that Cromwel himself put the Chain of Gold, and the Medal with the Representation of a Sea-Fight, which Barebone's Parliament had given Monk, about his Neck, and having invited Monk to Dinner, made him wear it all the while. See the History of Monk's Life, p. 77.

Whilst Cromwel and his Supream Authority were thus jolly in England, all was in Confusion and Distraction in Holland (I mean [Page] the Dutch Provinces) the common People obey'd no longer their Government: The Placarts of the States General were despised, and they in danger to be ruined and plunder'd by the ignorant and impetuous Rabble. The Dutch Ambassadors here could obtain no other Terms of Peace than by a Coalition, Satisfaction for Damages received by the English, and Security for the future, that the Dutch should not do the like again, and that the Dutch take a Lease for 21 Years for Fishing, and to pay an Annual Rent.

The Council thus resolute, and Plenipotentiaries tried what Terms of Peace might be had from Barebone's Parliament: But these took the Dutch to be the Outworks of Babylon, which must be taken down before there could be any coming at the main Fort: They looked upon the Dutch as Carnal and Worldly Politicians, Enemies to the Kingdom of Christ, and such as would upon all occasions retard the Progress of the Saints and People of God, in overturning the Powers of this World: That Antichrist, the Man of Sin, could never be destroyed in Italy, whilst the Dutch retained any considerable Strength in the United Neterlands.

They did not insist upon the Flag, nor Dominion of the Seas, but held it necessary in order to the Coming of Christ, and his Personal Reign, that the Seas should be scoured and preserved as peaceably as the Land, that both ought jointly to submit to the Power of King Jesus, whose Ways they, and not the Hollanders, were to prepare: They allowed the Procedure of the Dutch by Petition, since the Power of the Council of State was all one with that of the Saints, and theirs derived from him to whom all Power is given: And upon that account the Dutch ought to continue their Addresses of Meseignours, & Tresillust [...]es Seignours, to the Council of State, not in the sense they are forbidden in the Gospel, but that whereby our Lord Christ assumes such Titles, and confers them on the Saints: That the Saints therefore might tolerate them, and the Dutch ought not to refuse them, lest it should be a Rejection of the Kingdom of Christ, which was now approaching: That the Dutch ought to kiss the Son lest he be angry, and should have a care how they contemn his Holy Ones, lest they were chastised with the Rod of Iron. See Stubbe, p. 91, 92.

The Dutch were now more confounded and perplex'd than ever, it was difficult to treat with, and impossible to prevail upon these Men: They were now in danger to be ruin'd as Enemies to Christ, rather than England; and a Coalition with England would not satisfy, except they likewise annexed their Provinces unto the Fifth Monarchy.

In Holland the Provinces met to consult what to do; the Opinion of Holland was never to enter into a Coalition with England, but that a strict League defensive should be proffered; that they ought to contract Foreign Amities, especially with France, and to equip out a Fleet with all possible Expedition: Yet they had little [Page] reason to expect much Help from France, being then imbroiled in Civil Wars; besides, they had so juggled with France, and falsified their Faith since the Treaty at Munster, that they had little reason to expect Help from France. The other Provinces were for entring into a League with the Elector of Brandenburgh, and other German Princes, and giving Assistance to the Scots, for at this time Major General Middleton was raising some Tumults there; but their Necessities were present, and these Treaties remote and dangerous, they could not get any great Benefit by a Treaty with the German Princes, they having (except Brandenburg, who had but little) no Power at Sea. Besides, these Alliances would cost dear, and the Dutch pretended they were poor, and also such an Alliance would prove dangerous; for the Elector of Cologne might demand the Restitution of Rhineburg, Orsoy, Rees, and other Places which the Dutch had filch'd from that Electorate; so might the Elector of Bradenburgh, of Wesel, and other Places wherein the Dutch kept Garisons above 40 Years; besides, they feared the Emperor might claim in right of the Empire; and little good could be expected from assisting the Scots, without being superiour at Sea, and sending a Land Army, which the Dutch could not spare.

They therefore gave Orders to their Plenipotentiaries, to protract time according as they saw Disorders to encrease between Cromwel and his Supream Authority; to be ample in the Generals concerning the Defence of the Reformed Religion, and of the Houshold of Faith, to reject the Coalition, to offer to enter into a strict and intimate League, but deal as tenderly as they could in point of Reparation, Satisfaction or Security.

All these things were known to Cromwel's Council of State, and they resolved to handle them accordingly; and when these were communicated to Barebone's Parliament, they said, it was no more than was prophesied in Scripture, and in course to be expected, that the Gentiles should rage, and the Kings of the Earth set themselves against the Kingdom of Christ; but they should fall before him, and be broken in pieces. That they were fierce to encounter Gog and Magog, and by a series of Victories inflam'd to encounter this Antichristian Host. It's tedious to set forth the manifold Tautologies recited by Stubbe and Leo ab Aitzma, who could not err herein, and all the Dutch Cant in securing the true Reformed Religion, and of their love and desire of the Prosperity of the English Commonwealth.

The Council of State since the Dutch refused a Coalition, and thereby became our Equals, resolve to make them humble without it, and therefore impose 27 Articles upon the Dutch, which may be seen in Leo ab Aitzma, p. 837, &c. But Mr. Stubbe mentions but five, viz. the third, twelfth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and seventeenth, besides Satisfaction and Reparation made for [Page] several Wrongs, Injuries, and Depredations, done and committed upon the English, as well in the East-Indies as elsewhere, by the People of the Ʋnited Provinces, with Power nevertheless of the Council, to add, alter, and enlarge the said Articles, or any of them, before the Conclusion of the Treaty, as they shall find occasion for the same in the future Management thereof.

The 3d Article was, That the Ships, Guns, and Furniture, and the Goods and Merchandizes, and other things, which had been taken in Harbour or at Land from the Dutch by the English, during the War, should be accounted as part of Satisfaction and Reparation for the Charges and Damages which the English had been put to during the War: And the States General should pay to the English such further Sum for Reparation as aforesaid, and in such manner as shall be agreed upon by this Treaty: And thereupon all Offences, &c. to be forgotten.

The 12th Article obliges them, Not to permit the Prince of Orange, or the Princess Mary, to relieve with Counsel, or Victuals, any Rebels or Enemies of the Common-wealth of England, &c. and to seclude the Prince's Lineage from being State-holders, Admiral, General, or Governour of any of their Towns. I'm perswaded Cromwel was the Contriver of this Article; the Reason you'll see hereafter.

The 14th Article, That they (the Dutch) were not to enter or pass the British Seas, but with a certain Number of Men of War, to be agreed upon in this Treaty: But in case the States General should have occasion to pass the said Seas with a greater Number of Ships of War, that they should give Notice of their Intentions to the English, and obtain their Consent before they put to Sea.

The 15th Article, wherein Stubbe follows the English Manuscript, and not Leo ab Aitzma, which much differs from it. As the Commonwealth of England have declared their Resolutions, that they will from time to time take care to put forth upon their Seas a convenient Number of armed Ships for the Defence and Safeguard thereof, and to maintain and preserve all lawful Navigation, Trade, and Commerce therein, against Pirates and Sea-Rovers, and all others that shall act or do any thing to the Disturbance thereof; so for the greater freedom of Commerce and Navigation, that neither Commonwealth shall give Reception to any Pirates, &c.

The 17th Article obliges the Dutch to take a Lease for 21 Years for the Fishing, and to pay an Annual Rent. Here note, That tho the Dutch pleaded the Grants of the Kings of England to the Dukes of Burgundy, and Kings of Spain, for Licence to fish upon the Coasts of England, which they could no ways pretend to after they had rent themselves from their Subjection to the Kings of Spain, and their immemorial Prescription to fish in these Seas, tho Thousands were then alive who were born before they became States; yet they were not so impudent to plead Grotius's Mare Liberum, that they had as much Right to fish in these Seas, as the English.

[Page] Thus far Cromwel's Council and the Rump went in equal Paces, and the Dutch now were in no better state than when Cromwel deposed the Rump: But two Accidents, which were not in the Dutch Power, contributed to their Deliverance from the desperate state they were reduced to; one was Oliver's Ambition; the other, the Frenzy of Barebone's Parliament: for Cromwel, however he accused the Rump of Selfishness, was himself much more selfish; for without any regard to the Honour or Interest of the English Nation, now makes it his Business to join in a Defensive League with the Dutch, against the King and Royal Family, to set up himself and his Posterity. Barebone's Parliament was contrary to Cromwel's Designs, and he knew 'twas impossible to alter them; and therefore resolv'd one way or other to be rid of them: and the Dutch dreaded them; and therefore the Dutch Plenipotentiaries told Cromwel, that in case he would depose them, and assume the Government to himself, they would be ready to accord with him upon more moderate Terms, and enter into such a Defensive Alliance, as should secure him against his foreign and domestick Enemies: This was the 7th of December. See Stubbe, p. 110.

The Frenzy of Barebone's Parliament was as intolerable to the Nation as to Cromwel; so that no Man could judg of their Designs, or where they would end. Their Prate was, to make way for Christ's Monarchy upon Earth, which they were sure was at hand, now they were got together: therefore they pronounced Priesthood to be Popery; paying of Tithes, Judaism; the Laws of England, The Remains of the Roman Yoke; Schools and Colleges, Heathenish Seminaries of curious and vain Learning; and Nobility and Honour, contrary to the Law of Nature and Christianity.

Tho these had sat above five Months, yet they made but four Laws; one, for punishing seditious Sea-men, caused by their tumultuous demanding their Tun and Gun-Money taken from the Dutch, and granted them by the Rump: another, For Marrying by Justices of Peace: the third, For Registring Births, and not Christnings: and the fourth, was an Act brought in by Praise-God Barebone, Against Building, unless upon old Foundations, within ten Miles of London; tho his Son designs to build London all the Country over upon new Foundations.

But tho Cromwel was resolved to be rid of Barebone's Parliament, yet he would not proceed in that rude and Ruffian manner as he did against the Rump, but wheedled with Rouse the Speaker, and some of his Creatures, that it should be moved in the House, That their sitting longer would not be for the Good of the Commonwealth, and that it would be fit for them to resign up their Powers to the Lord-General again: Whereupon the Speaker, with such Members as would follow him, went to White-hall, and under their Hands resigned up their Power to Cromwel. See Whitlock fol. 551. [Page] Dr. Bates, in his Elenchus, pag. 165. says Cromwel made a shew of Wonder at it, denying utterly and rejecting it; but at length, with much ado, was prevail'd upon. This was Decemb. 12.

The Copy of Cromwel's Countenance was quite contrary to his Actions; for tho he seemingly refused to accept of the Resignation made by Rouse and his Followers, yet he sent a Party of Souldiers to purge the House of those who stay'd behind; whereof Major-General Harrison was one, who would have taken Lenthal out of the Chair when Cromwel outed the Rump. See Baker's Hist. fol. 620. a. There was a Mistake in the former Impression in point of Time, That Cromwel accepted of the Protectorate by Praise-God Barebone's Parliament, which he assum'd not till four days after, viz. December 16.

Before we proceed to see how Cromwel behaved himself after his resuming the Government again, it's fit to see how the Case stood between the English and French at this time, as also the Dutch and French, in reference to this War. Tho there was no declared War between the English and French, yet there often happen'd Acts of Hostility between them, the French making Prize of the English Ships at Sea, and the English much more of the French: and upon the 7th of September 1652, the English in the Downs set upon a French Fleet laden with Provisions and Ammunition, under the Convoy of so many Men of War as the French could well set out, and dispersed the Fleet, and took seven of their Men of War, whereby the Spaniards were enabled to retake Dunkirk and Graveling, taken from them by the French in the Year 1646. The next Year, viz. in October 1653, Captain Hayton in the Saphire, came up to eight French Men of War, and shot twice at their Admiral, who returned him a Broad-side, and Hayton endeavoured to have boarded her, but she got away: Hayton with his single Ship engaged the rest, and took the French Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral, and another of their Men of War, and many rich Prizes, with the Loss but of four Men, and some wounded. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 547. b. So inconsiderable were the French at Sea in those Days.

However, the Dutch held constant Intelligence with the French in all their Negotiations with the English during this War, as you may see in Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 568. as appears by Monsieur Chanute's Speech to the States; wherein, in this low state of the Dutch, he gives them the Title of High Puissances: and when the Dutch were in their distressed state, in the time both of the Rump and Barebone's Parliament, the French fearing the Dutch's Ruin, or such a Peace as the English should impose upon them, proffer'd to be at half Charges with the Dutch in case they would continue their War with England; otherwise the French were not able to contribute but little to help them at Sea. Now let's see if Oliver's [Page] Government was as arrogant, impolitick, selfish, and dangerous to the Safety of the Nation, as his first assuming it was rude and barbarous.

After the Supream Power of the Nation had been thus tumbled from Post to Pillar, from Cromwel to Barebone's Parliament, and from them to Cromwel again; upon the 16th of December, Cromwel and his Officers, after several Days seeking of God, tho it was resolved on before, resolved, That a Council of Godly, Able and Discreet Persons should be named, consisting of 21, and that the Lord-General should be chosen Lord Protector (for King, good Man, he would not be:) but le [...]t he should go too far astray, tied himself up to an Instrument of Government, which he swore to in these Words; I have accepted thereof, and do declare my Acceptance thereof accordingly; and do promise, in the Presence of God, That I will not violate or infringe the Matters and Things therein contained, but to my Power observe the same, and cause them to be observed; and shall in all other things, to the best of my Ʋnderstanding, govern these Nations according to the Laws, Statutes, and Customs, seeking their Peace, and causing Justice and Law to be equally administred.

In the former Impression I followed Cromwel's Instrument of Government, as it is set forth by Dr. Bates; but finding this differ from Mr. Whitlock, not only in the Number of the Articles, but in the Substance of several of them, I shall now follow Mr. Whitlock, as being of better Authority, tho not particularly recite them all, being long; but make Remarks upon several of them, to shew how inconsistent this Instrument was with Cromwel's Oath, and how he observ'd it in his future Actions.

Cromwel's Council was Philip Lord Viscount Lisle (now Earl of Leicester) Charles Fleetwood his Son-in-law, John Lambert, Sir Gilbert Pickering, Sir Charles Woolsley, Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (after Earl of Shaftsbury) Edward Mountague (after Earl of Sandwich) John Desborow (his Brother-in-law) Walter Strickland, Henry Lawrence, William Sydenham, Philip Jones, Richard Major, Francis Rouse, and Philip Skipton Esquires.

The 5th Article is, That the Protector, with the Consent of the major part of the Council, have Power of War and Peace. How well he observed this in his Peace with the Dutch and French, and War with Spain, will appear afterward.

The 6th Article is, That the Laws shall not be altered, suspended or repealed, nor any new Law made, nor any Tax, Charge, or Imposition laid upon the People, but by common Assent in Parliaments, save only as is expressed in the 30th Article. How does this Article agree with the 27th, That a constant Revenue shall be raised for the maintaining 10000 Horse and 20000 Foot in England, Scotland, and Ireland; and 200000 l. per Annum to himself, beside the Crown-Lands: or with the 38th Article, To repeal all Laws, Statutes and [Page] Ordinances, contrary to the Liberty Cromwel grants to all tender Consciences (as he calls them) in the next preceding Articles, where he excludes Popery and Prelacy? Or how did Cromwel observe this Article when he imprisoned the Royalists which would not give Security for their Good Behaviour to him? and whether they did or not, took from them the tenth part of their Estates, and put them to Death by his High Court of Justice, as he call'd it.

The 8th Article is, That Parliament, after the first Day of their Meeting, shall sit five Months, and not in that time be Adjourned, Prorogued, or Dissolved, without their Consent. Yet he dissolved the next Parliament (as he called them) within five Months after their first sitting, with their Consent; and if they refus'd, had his Janizaries in Westminster-hall, and in the Court of Requests, to have forced them, as he did by the Rump, (this is true of my own Knowledg) and declared what should be Treason. See Whitlock's Memoirs, fol. 563. b.

The 34th Article is, That the Chancellor, Keeper, or Commissioners of the Great Seal, the Treasurer, Admiral, Chief Governours of Scotland and Ireland, and the Chief Justices of both the Benches, shall be chosen by the Approbation of Parliament; and in the Intervals of Parliament, by the Approbation of the major part of the Council, to be afterwards approved by Parliament. I deny any of these Officers were ever chosen or approved by Parliament: if any were, it lies upon another to prove them to be so chosen or approved by Parliament.

Thus by manifold Perjuries, deepest Dissimulation, Hypocrisy, and foul Ingratitude, Cromwel waded through a Sea of Blood in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and then deposed them who had raised him, for which he had murdered thousands for but attempting to do what he had done. He aspired to the Dominion of Britain and Ireland, which the Rump had conquered to his hand; and by Monk's Victories over the Dutch, Holland lies at his Mercy: so that as Cromwel was the most absolute Tyrant that ever raged in England, so was he not less terrible to his neighbouring Nations. And now he had it in his Power to do what he will, let's see how like a Beast he did what he did.

Of all our neighbouring Nations, the Dutch and French were the most formidable to the English; the Dutch being not only Competitors with the English in Trade, but Contenders with them in the Dominion of the Seas; and the French the most formidable and faithless by Land; and of all Nations, the English Trade to France was the worst, being as much to the enriching France, as the impoverishing England: Spain neither a neighbouring Nation to England, except some part of Flanders, nor any ways formidable to England by Sea or Land; yet of all others, the English Trade with Spain was the most beneficial and enriching to the English. [Page] Now let's see how diametrically contrary to the English Interest Cromwel acted in every one of these.

After Cromwel had assumed the Protectorate, Mr. Whitlock says, he observed new and great State, and all Ceremonies and Respects were paid to him by all sorts of Men, as to their Prince; and Stubbe says, upon the 20th Notice was given to the Dutch Plenipotentiaries, by Cromwel's Master of the Ceremonies, of his being Protector, and how ready he was to treat with them, and how kind he would be to them; but they must pay him the same Honour and Respect which was heretofore exhibited to the English Kings, and in their Writings and Discourses give him the Title of Highness, which was in Use before that of Majesty; that they not being in the Quality of Ambassadors, but Lords Deputies Plenipotentiaries, must be uncovered in his Presence.

In this state Cromwel takes the Treaty of Peace out of the Council's Hands (tho it ill agreed with his Oath to the Instrument of his Government) and upon the 26th of December (but ten Days after his assuming the Protectorate) by his Secretary Thurlo [...], brought the Dutch Plenipotentiaries a Writing, wherein the Satisfaction of the 3d Article, demanded by the Council, was wholly omitted; but the Claims of the East-India Merchants and others were to be compounded. The 15th Article was changed so, as that neither the Dominion of the Seas was mentioned, nor their Ships to be searched; but they were to strike the Flag, and lower their Top-sail to any English Man of War within the British Seas: with several other Concessions.

Now the Dutch Artifice, after having made so many Protestations of agreeing with Cromwel upon better Terms than they would, if he would dissolve the Rump and Barebone's Parliament, appeared: for notwithstanding Cromwel had omitted the Satisfaction demanded by the third Article, and qualified the fifteenth; yet looking upon Cromwel's state uncertain, and that he stood in as much need of them as they of him; without giving any Answer, upon the 28th of December desired a Passport to depart. Now Cromwel perceived how the Plenipotentiaries had deluded him, and therefore declared, That if they departed without concluding and signing the Treaty, and mutually engaging to ratify it in a certain time, he would not be obliged to it, or any part thereof. Hereupon the Plenipotentiaries staid; and Cromwel in plain Terms told them, Without the Seclusion of the Prince of Orange from being Stadtholder and General, no Peace was to be expected. But if Cromwel thus juggled with his Council, the States of Holland and West-Friezland did not less with the States of the rest of the Provinces.

[Page] For by the 9th Article of the Union at Ʋtrecht, 1579, No Truce, Peace, or War, should be made without common Consent of all the Provinces, and not by the States General. Yet this Treaty was broken by the States of Holland, when they made a Truce with the King of Spain 1609, for twelve Years, without the Consent of the other Provinces, or States General: So did they at Munster, 1648, make a separate Peace with Spain, notwithstanding several Treaties with France to the contrary; which Stubbe, pag. 72, 73, 74. cites out of Leo ab Aitzma; the rest of the Provinces detesting and declaiming against it, as perfidious, treacherous, &c.

Cromwel knew this, and the Potency of Holland above the rest of all the other Provinces, as also their Aversion to the House of Orange, and Instructions of the Provinces not to exclude the Prince of Orange: Hereupon Cromwel entred into a secret Conference with Beverning (the same, I think, that in 1679, at Nimeguen, made the separate Peace with the French, without the Confederates, or the Consent of the rest of the States) That if the Province of Holland would sign a secret Article for to exclude the House of Orange, he would be content to proceed in the Treaty of Peace. But Beverning pretending he had no Instruction therein from the States, they had a Passport to return to Holland, January 6.

These stay'd longer before their Return than Cromwel expected, which put him in a great Wrath and Confusion, and seem'd to make great Preparations for carrying on the War. The Dutch, to amuse him, send over the same Men in a splendid and formal Embassy, with Consent to all the other Articles, except the Seclusion of the Prince of Orange; which Cromwel signed upon the 5th of April 1654, and Peace was thereupon proclaimed at London: but Cromwel would not exchange the Ratifications, unless the States of Holland and West-Friezland would make a Decree for excluding the House of Orange from being Stadtholders and General; which the said States did upon the 4th of May 1654, in these Words, That the Noble and Potent States of Holland and West-Friezland, would never elect his present Highness, or any of his Lineage, to be Stadtholder, or Admiral of their Province; neither should their Province ever give their Suffrage or Consent, that he, or any of his Family, should be Captain-General of the Forces of the Ʋnited Provinces; the rest of the Provinces protesting and declaiming against this, as much as they did against the States of Holland and West-Friezland for making a separate Peace at Munster, without the Consent of the French King.

By this it's evident, That Sir William Temple, in his Observations upon the Ʋnited Provinces, pag. 115. is mistaken; where he says, That the Union of Ʋtrecht was never broken before the Year 1668, when the States General (and not of Holland alone) concluded the Peace of Aix la Chapelle.

[Page] Here you see how selfish Cromwel was, and how little he regarded the Honour and Interest of England in this Peace; for he not only remitted the 300000 l. which the Dutch proffered the Rump for the Damages the English sustained by the War (See Stubbe, p. 112. in the Margin) but left out the Coalition; the Revenue to be Annually paid to the English for Liberty to fish in the British Seas; the Soveraignty of the Seas, except the Flag; Security from the Dutch not to molest the English in time to come; and to have their Ships searcht in passing through the British Seas; and not to set out any greater than such a Number of Ships of War, without giving an Account to the English State of the Reason; and also, that the English should have a Free Trade up the Scheld: and because both the Rump, Council and Oliver himself had demanded Justice against those that were alive, who had any Hand in the Massacre of the English in Amboyna; Cromwel suffered himself to be deluded by the Dutch in referring it to 8 Commissioners; and if they agreed not in 6 Months time, Umpires were to be chosen. See Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 568. b. But no Agreement was made, and Cromwel never further minded it. And this is observable, that notwithstanding both the Dutch and Cromwel's Protestations of calling God the Searcher of all Hearts to witness, how much by this Peace they designed the Glory of God, and the Promotion of the true Reformed Religion abroad; yet there is not one Article concerning the same, nor any Protestant Prince named in it, except the King of Denmark, who was to pay the English Merchants their Damages for the Embargo he had laid upon their Ships in the Sound. And Dr. Gumble says, p. 74. That Monk did often highly resent this Peace as a base Treachery in Cromwel.

Mazarine endeavoured to have had the French included in this Treaty, but the States of Holland regarded him not more than in that of Munster. The Dutch by this Peace had an Opportunity to build more and greater Men of War, than they could if the War had continued, of which you'll hear more about 10 Years hence.

Mazarine finding himself thus neglected by the Dutch in their Treaty of Peace with the English, sends Monsieur Burdeaux Extraordinary Ambassadour to Cromwel to obtain a Peace with him; and was not so squeamy in excluding the King and Royal Family out of France, as the Dutch were in excluding the Prince of Orange; but as preparatory to it, proffered to exclude the King out of Paris (I think France) as you may see in Whitelock's Memoirs, f. 565. But this did not procure a Peace till the Year 1655.

After Monk's Triumphant Victories over the Dutch, Cromwel having no further Use of him at Sea, sent him back to govern Scotland; but when he shall come there, Cromwel shall never get him out again; nor shall he come out of Scotland, but utterly to exclude [Page] Cromwel's Posterity from ever mounting to his ill gotten Greatness; and to unravel all that the Presbyterian Parliament, the Rump and Cromwel, had been near twenty Years in Weaving. But in regard General Monk hath born so great a Figure in this Treatise, and shall much more hereafter, it will not be amiss to see how the Case stood with him, before he entred into the Parliament Service.

He was the second of Three Sons to Sir Thomas Monk of Potridge in Devonshire, and born in the Year 1608. And being a younger Brother, and having a Mind above his Fortunes, he endeavoured to advance them by a Military Profession. His Birth sorted with his Desires, his Family being of great Antiquity, and he no stranger to the Royal Blood, one of his Maternal Ancestors being a Daughter (but not Legitimate) of Edward the Fourth.

At the Age of Seventeen Years he served King Charles the First in the unfortunate Expedition to Cadiz: And at the Age of Eighteen, he served in the more unfortunate Expedition to the Isle of Rhee; yet was not his Courage daunted by these Misfortunes, but he followed the Earl of Oxford (General of the English) in the Low-Country Wars against the Spaniard, until the Civil Wars began to break out in England, between the King and Parliament: And the Irish Rebellion first breaking out, he took a Commission from the Earl of Leicester (agreed to be Lieutenant in Ireland by the King and Parliament) against the Irish: But the King and Parliament after falling out, the King sent the Earl of Ormond, Lieutenant of Ireland, and Monk took a Commission from him to serve against the Irish.

When the Scots came with an Army into England to assist the Parliament, the King made a Cessation of Arms with the Irish, and recalled the English sent to subdue the Irish, to assist him against the English and Scots; these, in which Monk's Regiment was included, were utterly defeated by Sir Thomas Fairfax, joined with Sir William Brereton, Gell, Middleton and Mitton, and Monk taken Prisoner, and sent to the Tower; where he continued near 4 Years.

In this time he fell into great Poverty and Want, but was relieved by a near Kinsman of mine, Sir R. C. then a Prisoner in the Tower with him, and whilst he was a Prisoner, did conform to the Prayers and Liturgy of the Church.

When the Parliament made the self-denying Ordinance, thereby to depose the Earls of Essex and Manchester from their Commands, as being more inclined to a Pacification with the King, than the Parliament were willing they should be; Cromwel (knowing the Worth of Monk) sent to him to take a Command in the Army, to be new modelled under Fairfax and him, which Monk accepted.

[Page] The Bishop of Ely (who was Prisoner in the Tower with Monk) told me, that after he had accepted a Commission, and was released from his Imprisonment, Monk, before he went out of the Tower, went to visit the Bishop, and beg his Blessing, which after the Bishop had given him, he said, Now Colonel you have changed Sides, we expect neither to see, nor hear from you more; the Colonel then protested, He would never wear a Sword against the King. It seems he did not think Fighting against the Irish and Scots, was wearing a Sword against the King; for he did not only wear, but draw his Sword against them: And tho he changed Sides, he did not his good Nature to Sir R. C. For on the first opportunity after he came out of the Tower, he took a Journey into the Country to visit Sir R. C. (who was released out of the Tower a little before) and to thank him for his Favours when they were Prisoners.

But lest Cromwel's assuming the Supreme Authority of the Nation should too much savour of Selfishness, he having no Authority but from himself, therefore he summons a Company of Men, so many to be chosen by each County, but not of like Number; and others to be chosen by such Towns as he named, to meet the 3d of September 1654 at Westminster. He upon their Meeting, and before he permitted them to enter the House, told them, That some Years ago, none would have thought of such a Door of Hope: That he knew there were yet many Humours and Interests, and that Humours were above Interests: That the Condition of the English was like Israel in the Wilderness: That this was an Healing-Day: There was neither Nobleman, Gentleman nor Yeoman before▪ known by any Distinctions: We had not any that bore Rule or Authority, but a great Contempt of Magistracy and Christ's Ordinance: That the Fifth Monarchy was highly cry'd up by Persons who would assume the Government; but that desired thing wanted greater Manifestation than appeared, for such Men to change the Authority by▪ He desired this Assembly to remedy all these Disorders; shewed, That the Wars with Portugal and France (for yet he had not made Peace with it) do, and did eat up all the Assessments: That Swarms of Jesuits are crept in to make Divisions, which were grown so wide, that nothing but Government could remedy them: And let Men speak what they would, he could speak it with Comfort before a greater than any of them. Then he shewed what he had done during his Government: First, his Endeavours to reform the Laws; next, his filling the Benches with the ablest Lawyers; then his Regulation of the Chancery, and his Darling Ordinance for the Approbation of Ministers (which hindred all that list from invading the Ministry) by Men of both Perswasions, Presbyterians and Independents, &c. And lastly, his being instrumental in calling a Free Parliament; which he valued, and would keep it so above his Life.

[Page] But this Cant did little edify the greater part of the Members, who again chuse Lenthal Speaker, and fall upon a strict Enquiry into Cromwel's Instrument of Government, which the Officer-Members oppose, alledging, That the Instrument was the Foundation of the Government by which they met; and therefore could not be brought into Debate: And Lambert said, If the Parliament would not confirm them, they would call another, a Third and Fourth, till 'twas done.

Yet this frighted not the Republican Party, who boldly said, That the Government was usurped by Fraud and Force, not procured by Right, nor confirmed by the free Votes of the People: that it laid Snares for the Liberty of the Common-wealth, and made way for a most grievous Tyranny. Nay, one said, Since we were so near approaching to Monarchy, it were better to call one of the Royal Family to the Government, than that Cromwel should usurp both Scepter and Crown.

These Debates nettled Cromwel to the quick, so that in an unusual Heat he tells them these Debates would turn all things into Confusion, and make them to return to their former Chaos: And that they were to build upon the Foundation of the Instrument, not to overturn it; with a great deal more of such Stuff.

But if Admonition would not prevail, he'll try what may be done by Force; so next Day he set a Guard upon the House, who would let no Member enter, but he who subscribed a Recognition, To be faithful to the Protector, and not to endeavour to change the Government of a single Person: When many of the Republican Party refusing, the Cromwellian Faction within Doors, became near equal to the Republican.

The secluded Republicans, rather exasperated than subdued by Cromwel's Repulse, join with a Republican Party of the Army, who consult how they might apprehend Cromwel, and bring him to a Trial before the Parliament for his Treasons against the Common-wealth: But Cromwel being quick-scented, smelt out this Conspiracy, and so prevented it; and upon the 22d of January 1654, dissolved the Parliament, tho they sat not 5 Months, which he sware by his Instrument of Government.

As the Republicans were impatient under Cromwel's Government, so were the Royalists: For in March, after Cromwel had dissolved his Parliament, the Cavaliers designed to rise, but could not get together; yet Sir Joseph Wagstaff with a Body of Wiltshire Men, when the Assizes were holden at Salisbury, seize upon the Judges in the Circuit, and proclaim the King, but were soon dispersed by Captain Crook, who granted Colonel Penruddock, and those with him, Articles of War upon his surrendring himself, to be indemnified in their Lives and Estates. But Cromwel sent other Judges, who condemned Colonel Penruddock and Captain Groves for High Treason, for which they lost their Heads; and [Page] several others were hanged and quartered.

Cromwel being thus at Odds with his Parliament, and his standing Army in such intestine Feuds, and Supernumeraries of the cashier'd Armies commanded by Essex, Manchester, Waller, Massey, &c. discontented, now contrives how to get freed from the Dangers he apprehended from them; and therefore, with as much Selfishness, and Dishonour and Loss to the Nation, as by his Peace with the Dutch, he, without Cause shewn, makes War upon Spain.

By Cromwel's War with Spain, the Dutch, who since the Peace of Munster 1648, became Competitors with the English in the Spanish Trade, are now sole Proprietors of it, as much to their Inriching as our Impoverishing; whereby they not only redeemed the Losses they sustained in the War with us, but were enabled to build more and much greater Men of War than they had before. And of this you'l hear more about 10 Years hence.

But these were not all the Losses which the English sustained by this War, for Cromwel did not begin it as just Princes do, by complaining of Injuries done, and demanding Redress, and in case of denial to proclaim War; but sneakingly, and like a Pirate, fits up a Fleet under William Penn, (own Father to the now William Penn) and puts on board a Land-Army, commanded by Colonel Venables: Thus shipp'd, away they sail for Hispaniola; the Design was to take Sancto Domingo, and after Carthagena, where they were sure was Gold enough; but care was taken the Souldiers and Sea-men should have little enough.

When the English arrived at Hispaniola, some Souldiers were landed in sight of Sancto Domingo, whilst they were to fetch a Compass, and land to attack the Town on the other side; but these mistaking their Place of landing, landed ten Miles beyond: The Sun was scorching, the Country uncouth, sandy and woody; and the English ignorant of the Way, were so overcome with Heat and Thirst, that many of them died outright; others so spent, as they could not march, so were killed by the Spaniards without fighting: Yet some few feebly arrived▪ to join their Companions, when, to the breaking of all their Hearts, they opened their Commission, and found, that upon Pain of Death, All the Gold, Silver and Rich Goods, should be brought into a Common Treasury.

This was cold Comfort to these wretched Men in this scorching Climate, where they could no longer stay; so away they sail to Jamaica, where a Plague overtook them, so that in less than six Months time, not two Hundred of this whole Army outlived it. Thus you see how Divine Vengeance overtook this part of the Army Abroad, after their Perfidiousness, Treachery and Hypocrisy at home: And this Calamity was brought upon them by him whom they had set up to enable him to do it. And Cromwel, who expected Mountains of Gold, (like Sir Walter Raleigh, in King James [Page] the First's Reign, by his Expedition to Guiana) contracted such a Debt by this Expedition, that by all his Tricks he could never after overcome: And as Sir Walter lost his Head by his Expedition, so did Cromwel his Reputation.

But if Cromwel lost by this War, the Nation and Spanish Merchants lost much more; for the Spaniards seize and confiscate all the English Effects in Spain; which were so much more, by how much the Merchants were surprized in it, they having no Notice of it, by which they might have withdrawn their Effects in the Spanish Power: and the Privateers from Dunkirk, Ostend, and the Ports of Biscay and Galicia, did the English Merchants in all their Trades more Damage than they sustained in the Dutch War; with this Difference, that the English took above seventeen Hundred Prizes from the Dutch, which eased the English Charge in the War against the Dutch; whereas in this the English took none, or but very few from the Spaniard.

Nor had the English Nation any Benefit of the Two Ships taken by Blake in September 1656 off the Coast of Spain; where one was sunk, another burnt, and two broke to pieces on the Shoar; so that of eight Plate Ships, but two got into Cadiz: On the contrary both England and Europe suffered by Blake's burning the Spanish Plate-Fleet in Sancta Cruz, in April 1657; whereby, tho it were the immediate Loss of the Spaniard, yet in Consequence this was a Loss to Europe in all their Trades to Spain, which became so much lessened by this Loss, as the Spaniard had thereby less means to hold Trade and Commerce with the Nations who traded to Spain, or any of its Dominions.

Thus we have seen Cromwel make Peace with the Dutch, to the endangering the Safety of the Nation, and War with Spain, to the enriching the Dutch, and to the impoverishing the English; next you'll see him make Peace with France, not only to the impoverishing the English, but to the endangering the Safety, not of England only, but of all Christendom.

But that we may take a better View of what followed, it's fit to look back, and see how things stood before.

About the latter end of 1642, Cardinal Richlieu died; and in May following, Lewis the Thirteenth died, his Son, the now French King, being in the fifth Year of his Age: But Cardinal Mazarine succeeding Richlieu in being Prime Minister of State, not yet being warm in his Office, the Prince of Conde, and generally the Nobility of France rose in Arms against him; and to them the Parliament of Paris joined, and proscribed Mazarine, and set a Reward upon any who should bring his Head.

However the Queen Mother continued firm to Mazarine; and it was the Felicity of Mazarine to force the Pass (I think) at Charenton, which Conde had ordered Marshal Tureen to keep. Conde [Page] chafed at this Loss, which was the loss of Paris, receives Tureen with Indignation and Reproach: Mazarine takes the Advantage of this, and wins Tureen to his side, which made Conde betake himself to Bourdeaux, from whence he sent to the Rump for Assistance; but the Rump being resolv'd upon a War with the Dutch, gave the Prince no Assistance.

After the Reduction of Paris, all France in a short time was reduced to the King's Obedience; yet the Prince of Conde's haughty Spirit could not bend to submit to the Cardinal, but served the King of Spain in Flanders, when in the Year (I think) 1653, he destroy'd and took half the French Army which besieged Valenciennes.

In these Commotions, tho the French in the Year 1646, took Dunkirk and Graveling from the Spaniard, yet in the Year 1652, the Spaniard retook them both from the French, and the Spaniard was enabled to do this by the English; for tho the Rump could not or would not assist the Prince of Conde in Bourdeaux, yet having a Squadron of Men of War in the Downs, when a great French Fleet under a Convoy of Men of War were going to relieve Dunkirk (besieged by the Spaniards) these were set upon by the English, and the whole French Fleet destroy'd or scatter'd, and so Dunkirk soon after surrendred, as did Mardike and Graveling.

Nor were the Spaniards less successful in Catalonia, for having expell'd the French out of it, in the Year 1652, they reduced Barcelona (the Metropolis of that Province, and one of the best Ports in all Spain:) but these Successes will not long continue; and if the Spaniards were beholden to the Rump for reducing Dunkirk and Graveling, they may ascribe the loss of them, and of many more Towns and Dominions, to Cromwel.

In our Trades to Spain, we were as much Gainers by them, as Losers by the French, so as we could better sustain the Losses wherein we debauched our selves by drinking Spanish Wines: whereas in this War with Spain, and Peace with France, we doubly debauched our selves in drinking French Wines, which became so much more, as Spanish could not be had.

King James and Charles the First, except in the business of Rochel, were only Lookers on, whilst this French King's Father rooted out the Power of the Reformed in France, expell'd the Duke of Lorain out of his Country, supported Portugal and Catalonia in their Rebellion against Spain, tam'd the Duke of Savoy, and took Pignerol, (the Key of his Country) and other Places from him, as also Brisac from the Empire, and Landreshy and other Places from the Spaniard. Whereas Cromwel actually joined with the French in an offensive War against the Spaniard, whereby he first made the French so formidable, that it's a Question, whether it be in the Power of Christendom to restrain his boundless Ambition [Page] by Land; for besides the routing of the Spanish Army near Dunkirk by the English and French, or rather by the English without the French, they took from the Spaniard, Winixburgh, Furnes, Bourbock, Dunkirk, Mardike, Graveling, Montmeily, Ipre, and other Places.

But the Land could put no Bounds to the French Ambition, and therefore Mazarine made use of this Conjuncture to enlarge the French Dominion by Sea, without which all the French Grandure by Land could not protect France from the Insults and Invasions which the English and Dutch might make upon it by Sea: And herein Mazarine wisely considered, that the Dominion of the Sea could not be attained but by Navigation, nor could Navigation be had but by Trade to support it.

Of all Trades the Fishing-Trade most increases Navigation both my Mariners and Ships. For in other Trades by Navigation, as to Turkey, Miscovy, the East and West-Indies, it may be we imploy a thousand Men in making Cloths, &c. to ten Mariners in the Foreign Vent of them; whereas in the Fishing Trade every Man becomes a Mariner: Add hereunto, in the Fishing Trade the Mariners are always at hand for the Publick Service of their Country, and lusty, active and strong; whereas in the long Sea Voyages, especially to the East-Indies, the Mariners are long absent, and in the Diversities of Climates, and by salt Meats and sowr Drinks become subject to infinite Distempers: so that it may be a Question, Whether in these Voyages, we do not lose more Men than make Mariners? And of those which survive, one Fisherman shall by his Health and Strength beat three of them.

Besides, in our Foreign Trades by Navigation, we employ only Men in them, whereas in the Fishing Trade, we employ all sorts of People, Men, Women and Children, in curing and drying Fish, and in making Cordage, Nets and Sails for the Fishing-Trade. The Fishing-Trade upon the Coast of England and Scotland, the French could not hope to drive the Dutch out of; but the New-found-land Fishery was too remote from the Dutch, and the French should only have the English to contest with in it.

Here let's see how the Case stood between the English and French in this Contest. The New-found-land Fishery was carried on by the Inhabitants of the Port-Towns of Cornwal, Devon and Dorsetshire: these Ports were all Corporations, which excluded all other Men from carrying on this Trade; and these Corporation-Men being few and Beggars, could not enlarge their Fishing-Trade beyound their Men and Stock.

Whereas Havre de Grace, St. Malo's, Morlaix, Brest, Blavet, Rochford, Bayon, and other Western Ports of France, are not only manifoldly bigger and better peopled than the Ports of the Western and Southern Parts of England, but the French King contributed [Page] three hundred thousand Pistols for carrying on the New-found-land Fishery; and for further Encouragement, gave half Pay to lusty young Men above their Wages for two or three Voyages, for the increase of Mariners; and in all the Ports of France erected Schools for instructing Youth in Mathematical Learning gratis.

The Fish caught in the New-found-land Fishery cost nothing but the catching and curing, so that they who can catch and cure them cheapest, are sure of a Foreign Market in their vending: And this creates another Navigation and Employment of Mariners. And here let's see if the Act of Navigation be not as much a Cause of enabling the French in carrying on this Fishery, as it is eternally of fixing the Fishing-Trade upon the Coast of England and Scotland, and the Green-land Trade, upon the Dutch and Hamburghers.

The French have upon the Coast of France (I dare say) near twenty-fold more Timber to build Vessels for the New-found-land Fishery, than can be had at like distance from the Ports of Cornwal, Devon and Dorset; and, I believe, as cheap as the English pay for the Carriage of theirs to the Ports: and when it comes there, the French Timber is wrought much easier than the English; and Vessels made of French Timber draw less Water, and are sailed with fewer Hands: Besides, the French encourage all Foreigners to build their Vessels more conveniently for this Trade, than the English understand.

And as the French have much more manifoldly the Advantage above the English in building Ships, so have they more in Plenty of Hemp and Flax for fitting up Ships for this Trade (wherein, I suppose, they do not restrain the French from curing Flax and Hemp in standing Waters) and in Proportion as much cheaper than the English can fetch Foreign Hemp and Flax in English-built Ships, and sailed by three fourths English: So that to the Poverty of these beggarly Corporations, this wise Law of Navigation obliges the English to encounter the French in the New-found-land Fishery, in Ships doubly as dear built, and sailed by near double the Charge, and so as the English are like to come to a sorry Market abroad, if they can find none at home, for their Fish caught in this Trade.

Add hereunto, that the English, who cannot cure a White Herring, Pilchard, or Cod-fish, are too wise to be instructed in this Trade, but keep the Fish on Board till it becomes stale, and so cannot be so well cured as when new caught; whereas the French cure them on board; so, as they take them cheaper, so they cure them better: The Success hereof you will hear more hereafter. So that from the Act of Navigation made by the Rump, and this War by Cromwel, we may date the Fall or Decay of the beneficial [Page] Trades of England, and also of the Value of the Lands of England, being a necessary Consequence.

Having seen Cromwel lay a Foundation for the Ruin not of England only, but of the Western Dominions of Europe abroad, by exalting the French Grandure by Sea and Land; we'll see how he behav'd himself at home, and how he established his ill acquired Dominion in himself and Posterity.

He set up fourteen Major-Generals over England and Wales, with an absolute Power to enquire after all those who had bore Arms, or been sequestred for being Malignants, and to make them pay the tenth part of their Estates, and to be imprisoned till they gave Security for their Good Behaviour to Cromwel. These Major-Generals acted their Parts to the Life; and being an obscure company of mean Fellows (except Fleetwood) lorded it over the Nobility as well as Gentry and Clergy, with an unheard-of Insolence. Here I take liberty to tell, it may be, a not unpleasing Story.

My Father was a Member of the Long Parliament, and one of the first Rate which was expell'd the House, sequestred and imprisoned for Malignancy, first at Yarmouth, after at London: And whilst he was a Prisoner there, the Committee at Haberdashers-Hall sent a Messenger to him, to pay 300 l. for the five and twentieth part of his Estate, for being resident in London.

My Father was not forward to return an Answer, till the Messenger told him he must have an Answer: Then my Father told him, that such Residence as he had in London, he wished to those who sent him. Afterward Sir Anthony Weldon▪ (Chair-man to the Committee in Kent) sent to him, that if he would send the Committee his Court-Rolls, they would keep his Courts for him; to which my Father answered, the Parliament had kept him Prisoner near three Years to prove him a Knave, but Sir Anthony should not beg him for a Fool.

My Father would never own the Parliament's Power, by petitioning them, or paying any Taxes assessed by them; yet by the Solicitation of my Mother, he was discharged of his Sequestration and Imprisonment.

Of all the Provinces of these Major-Generals, Fleetwood's was the greatest, being the Associated Counties, which were Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgshire, Huntingdonshire, and (I think) Hertfordshire.

I do not remember Fleetwood ever acted of himself, but one Haynes was his Deputy: But because these Major-Generals were Men of Action, and so could not always attend this Business, they appointed Committees of their own Gang, mean and profligate Fellows, who should not vary one Tittle from their Instructions: One Day an Attorney was Chair-man to tha [...] in Suffolk.

[Page] In the Year 1656, one Major Rolston (who served under Sir Richard Willis, when he was Governor of Newark for the King, and who betray'd the Cavaliers Designs to Cromwel) came to me and told me, the King was making great Preparations to land in England, and that the Cavaliers were intending to rise all over England to assist him: This he assured me he had from Sir Richard Willis, and told me I could not do the King greater Service, than to provide some Horse-Arms, Back, Breast, Pot and Pistols.

Hereupon I went to London, and bought a Dozen of either, and had them put up in two Hampers, and see them put on Ship-board, and then returned into the Country, and took care upon the first Arrival of the Ship to have notice of it: And when the Ship arrived, I ordered the Business so, that in the Night I got them to my Father's House; this was upon a Friday; and that Night my youngest Brother and I so disposed of them, that I believe none but we two knew where.

Upon Sunday, about Midnight, my Father's House was broke into by a Party of Horse-Men sent from Yarmouth, and the Cellars, and all suspected places of the House were searched for Arms, but none found, but the Swords of me and my Brother, which hung up in the Hall, which they carried away as well as my Father and Brother: My Father was old, very fat and unweildy, my Brother young, (about nineteen Years old) raw, and of little Experience in Martial or any other Affairs; but whither they were carried we could not tell.

The News of this Exploit was soon blazed all the Country over, and this brought me a Ticket to meet Rolston, and a Cousin German of mine at a certain Place, for we had our Meeting-places.

We met with heavy Countenances, not one of us but expected to be hanged, tho I had more reason to fear it than either of them: The danger was, my Brother would discover all, they both wished I had been taken, so my Brother had not: I thanked them for their good Wishes, but this availed nothing; what was to be done now my Brother was a Prisoner, was to be advised of, they both could not tell what to do, but hanging was the best we could expect.

At last I told them that these Fellows were Sancho Pancho's Stamp, Proud to the Humble, and Humble to the Proud, and therefore nothing was to be done with them but by Hectoring: they both agreed, but neither of them would undertake it, but left it to me.

The next day News came from my Father from Yarmouth, for Drink and Diet; for he said this Devil could be cast out no other way than by Fasting; and therefore would neither pay for any Meat or Drink which was sold there, nor give the Souldiers one Penny who guarded him: And by this time I got some inkling, that my Brother had discovered our Design of rising to a [Page] mean Fellow, whose Mother Hopkins the Witch-finder had been hanged for a Witch, who had informed one of the Bresters, of which there were three Brothers, Robert, Francis, and Humphry, (all stiff Cromwelians) of it.

The next Day I went to Yarmouth, where I found my Father and Brother at Variance, for they were not at good Terms one with the other, and Soldiers guarding them. At first I expostulated with the Soldiers for taking away my Sword, which they had nothing to do with; which they denied, or shifted from one to another; which was all I cared for. Then I complained that my Brother should be hurried into Prison upon the Story of a Rogue, whose Mother was hanged for a Witch: This, my Father said, was too late now, for my Brother had confest all to the Governour; it seems they had put burning Matches between his Fingers to do it.

So I went to the Governour, and told him how unhappy my poor Brother was, to be so hardly used upon the sole Testimony of so vile a Fellow. To which he answered, That it was past now; and by that time his Examination was before the Protector. But, said I, if you have any thing against my Brother, it does not appear you have any thing against my Father; and his Case was not usual heretofore, an aged unweildy Man to have his House invaded at Midnight, and his Person hurried into Prison at that season.

To which the Governour answered, That what the Protector demanded, that my Father should give Security to the Protector for his Good Behaviour (which I was sure he would never do) could do my Father no hurt.

To which I replied▪ That no Man who is bound to his Good Behaviour is taken for a Man of Good Behaviour; and that now, as the Protector will have the tenth part of his Estate for having been sequestred, so he might take half or all his Estate for having been bound to his Good Behaviour. To which the Governour not answering, told me, He would not have taken the Language my Father gave the Protector from any body else. I told him, My Father always led a free Life, and the Governour could not expect he should be metamorphos'd upon his Appearance before him. So I left him, and went to my Father, and asked him what he had said which gave the Governour such Offence? He said he knew nothing, unless it were that the Governour ask'd him if he knew the Protector? he said, yes, and his Father too, when he kept his Brew-house at Huntington.

Next Day the Soldiers carried my Brother for London: I went part of the way with him, and, when I could get an Opportunity, instructed him what to do: and about three Days after, my Fa [...]er returned to his House in Sir Nicholas Bacon's Coach; for after [Page] my Brother was gone, the Governour ordered my Father to be released; who to get out of Town, not staying to send for his own Coach or Horses, took one of the Carts (peculiar to the Town of Yarmouth, which have two Wheels behind, and over them a place to carry Goods from Shipboard to the Merchants Ware-houses) and in it went to Sir Nicholas Bacon's. It's strange how such an odd thing should be so long remembred; for, above twenty Years after, I being at the South End of Yarmouth, and my Horse standing at the North (about three quarters of a Mile) and seeing one of these Carts, I asked the Owner if he would carry me to my Inn, and I would give him Six-pence; we agreed, and the Fellow told me how before he had carried my L—to Sir Nicholas Bacon's in it.

My Father had not been long returned, but he received a Summons from Haynes to appear at Bury, to give the Protector Security for his Good Behaviour, and shew Cause why he should not be decimated. My Mother was now dead, and Security I was sure my Father would not give, nor any that I knew would appear for him: So I took up his Case, and appeared for him; I excused his not coming for his Age and Unweildiness, which was allow'd: But I told the Committee, my Father was not in their Instructions, for tho he had been sequestred, yet no Charge was alledged against him; and so, upon hearing his Case, the Parliament discharged his Sequestration: But 'twas to no purpose to talk Reason to these Fellows, for they said, he was in their Instructions, and so order'd him to be decimated. I told them I would not submit to it, but protested against it, and appeal'd from them to the Protector.

I was content to take this Occasion to go to London, more to take Care of my Brother than in hopes to get off my Father's Decimation: And when I came to London, I knew not how to get a Petition to be delivered to Cromwel. Major-General Skippon's Father was Servant to my Grand-father, and eldest Uncle, to whom I went; but when I named my Father, and his Case, he went out of the Room. I then applied my self to Mr. Nathaniel Bacon, who was one of Cromwel's Masters of Requests; who promised to deliver my Father's Case to Cromwel, and that I should have an Answer.

So I appear'd before Cromwel, (which was the only time I ever saw him) in Henry the Eighth's Chamber in White-hall; but Mr. Bacon stood at the further Door, and Cromwel and I at the Door next the Closet: Cromwel seem'd to read the Petition, tho to my Apprehension he read not one Line of it, but sometimes look'd upon me, then upon the Paper; and after some Pause told me, Mr. Bacon should give me a satisfactory Answer: Then Cromwel [...]old me, He knew my Father very well, and that I had a very fair [Page]Sister; and I believe would have gone on at this rate, when I humbly thank'd his Highness for his Favour to my Father, and so went off.

I had heard enough of Cromwel, not to believe any thing he said; and therefore I told Mr. Bacon, that unless I saw the Order of the Protector to the Major-General upon my Father's Appeal, I would not take it out. Mr. Bacon told me, it was not usual, yet I should have it; which was as much as I could desire. Yet upon some private Queries between Cromwel and his Parasites, it signified nothing as to my Father's Decimation; but whether the contesting his not being in the Major-General's Instruction, or the Humour of giving Security being abated, my Father was not further prosecuted for giving Security, which was all I cared for; and I believe my Father was the only Man who was sequestred in England, who escaped it without Imprisonment.

My Brother proved stanch (as we say) and would not make any further Discovery, tho Cromwel proffer'd to prefer him in the Army; and the Major-General's Power declining, and Cromwel's third Parliament coming on, at last, by my own proper Charges, I got him released.

About this time Cromwel sent Colonel Overton (it may be suspecting Monk) with a Commission to command in the North of Scotland, as Major-General. Overton being a Fifth-Monarchy-Man, highly stomach'd Cromwel's Protectorship, anew sets up Agitators in their several Regiments, and had several Meetings with them at Abe [...] deen: They drew up a Declaration against Cromwel's Usurpation; of this Monk had Knowledg, but took little Care to disturb them: but when they agreed upon their Declaration against Cromwel, they consult how to assassinate or secure Monk; who thereupon changes and encreases his Guards, seizes upon the Conspirators, tries several of them, cashiers others, and sends Overton Prisoner to Cromwel.

In these Times a Rapsody of Socinianism, Pelagianism, and Arianism, as sprung from the Seeds of Arminianism, was vented all over the Nation, especially in the Army: the Ringleaders of these were Bidle, Cops, Fry, Erbury, Saltmarsh, &c. But more blasphemous than these was one James Naylor, (I saw him when he stood in the Pillory before Westminster-hall) who personated our Saviour (and was like his Picture) in his Words and Gestures; and so mad was he, and many of his Crew, that getting upon a Horse-Colt (an Ass would have becom'd him better) he came riding to Bristol, his Sect strewing his way with Leaves and Boughs of Trees, crying Hosanna, Blessed is he who cometh in the Name of the Lord. Nor did he stay here, but imitated our Saviour in affecting his Divinity; as, that he could Raise the Dead, Heal the Sick, and Fast 40 Days.

[Page] In these Distractions without (to prevent which Cromwel took little Care) Cromwel had little Peace within: He was obey'd by none for Love; had no Title to his Greatness but by Barebone's Parliament, of his own making, his own Will, and the Flattery of some of the Officers of his Army: yet the Body of the Army, and a greater part of the Officers, look'd upon him as a Tyrant and Usurper; and with these the Generality of the Commonwealth Party agreed: The Presbyterian Party hated him, and he knew the Royalists would never obey him, if ever they could find an Opportunity to get rid of him.

The Crown-Lands, and the established Revenues, he reserved by his Instrument of Government, would not near maintain the Charges of his Intelligence and Army, which in a manner lived upon Free Quarter; and the Decimation of the Royalists bore no Proportion to support them. His Expendition to Hispaniola, from which he expected Mountains of Gold, proved not only dishonourable, but thereby he contracted so great a Debt, as he could never live to overgrow.

In these Disquietudes of Mind, his Looks were intent upon new and unusual Spectacles: He took particular notice of the Carriage, Manners, Habit, and Language of all Strangers, especially if they seemed joyful: He never stirr'd abroad without strong Guards, wearing Armour under his Clothes, and offensive Arms too; never came back the common Road, or the same Way he went, and always passing with great speed; had many Locks and Keys for the Door of his Houses; seldom slept above three Nights in one Chamber, nor in any which had not two or three Back-doors, and Guards at all of them.

To these, Dr. Bates, in the second Part of his Elenchus, adds this, That Cromwel being much troubled with the Stone, used sometimes to swill down several sorts of Liquors, and then stir his Body by some violent kind of Motion, as, riding hard on Horseback, jolting in a Coach, &c. that by such Agitation he might disburden his Bladder. Wherefore one Day he took with him his Secretary Thurlow, that they two might privately use this Exercise in a Coach in Hide-Park.

When they came thither, Cromwel got into the Coach-box, drawn by six brave Horses, lately presented to him by Count Ollenburg; and so soon as Cromwel began to snap his Whip, the Horses ran away, and the Postilion was thrown off the Fore-horse; the Horses fretting and growing unruly, tost Cromwel from his Seat upon the Pole, and falling from thence upon the Ground, was intangled in his Coat, and dragged up and down till he received many Bruises, a Pocket-Pistol in the mean time going off, [...]d his Coat rent: but a Guard of Horse, which waited at the [...]ate, seeing the Disaster, hasting toward his Assistance, dis [...]tan [...]ed him out of the Danger. [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] [...]

[Page] However Cromwel, to establish his ill-acquired Greatness in his Family, makes his Son Henry Lieutenant of Ireland, and fain would have made his Son Richard Governour of Scotland; but Monk would not budg there, which it may be was as great an Affliction to Cromwel, as all those he laboured under before.

Now was Cromwel driven to a Forc'd-put; if a Parliament could not help him, he had lost his Game: So he in September 1656 sets up a new Bawble, call'd a Parliament. Cromwel set his Wits upon Tenterhooks to have those chosen for England to be for his Turn; he cared not so much for those sent from Scotland and Ireland, being sure of them.

To this purpose, his Major-Generals used all their Endeavours equally to hinder the Elections of Royalists and Republicans, for neither would sute with Cromwel's Designs: However, Cromwel would not suffer any to enter the House before he subscribed to the Authority of the Protector.

These Men chose Sir Thomas Widdrington Speaker, who June 1657 begirt Cromwel in Protectorean Robes, for King he would not be; and told him, That the Robe of Purple is the Emblem of Magistracy, which imports Righteousness and Justice; the Robe of Mixt Colour, Justice and Mercy; and a great deal more of such Stuff, which Cromwel regarded no more than he did Barebone's Parliament and his Instrument of Government.

To ease Cromwel of the Trouble, this Parliament put down the Major-Generals, who were become troublesome to Cromwel himself as well as the Nation in general; and made it Treason to conspire Cromwel's Death; and that the Royal Family should be renounced. These gave Cromwel the Customs, and a Triennial Tax upon all Houses built upon New Foundations in London, and within ten Miles round, that every one of them should pay Cromwel a Year's Rent: And to endear him the more, this Parliament gave Cromwel Leave to name his succeeding Protector; which he kindly accepted.

By this you may see the Nature of the Beast; for when Cromwel's former Parliament disputed the Authority of his Instrument of Government, he told them, It was the Foundation of Government upon which they must build, and not destroy; and therefore it was unalterable by Act of Parliament: and by the Instrument his Council was to chuse a Successor. But now 'tis for his Turn, the Parliament may alter his Instrument, and give him Power to name his Successor.

This Alteration of naming a Successor, had another Effect too; for Lambert, who expected to succeed Cromwel, and therefore told Cromwel's former Parliament, That unless they would confirm it, they (the Officers of the Army) would call another, and a third and fourth, till the Instrument of Government was confirmed. [Page] Now his Hopes of Succession were balk'd, he tack'd about, and seem'd to join with the Republican Party. Hereupon Cromwel took away Lambert's Commission, and made his Son-in-law Fleet-wood Lieutenant-General in his place. So that tho Cromwel got a Power after his Death, he distracted his Power whilst he was alive.

And as Pedlars, which have not Gold, yet will shew something which may glister like it; so Cromwel, that his Parliament may seem like a Parliament, will have a House of Lords too: but these are not Lords with Titles, but Lords of the Lord knows what. If you'll take the Measures of the rest, I'll give you a List of some of them: There was Pride the Brewer, Huson the Shooe-maker, Barkstead the Thimble-seller, Cooper an Haberdasher of small Wares, Whaley a Broken Clothier, &c. Yet these Lords must not be called the Ʋpper, but The Other House of Parliament.

Nothing could have madded the Republicans more than this Other House of Parliament. What, said they, have we fought to Depose the Prerogative-Creatures, the Lords, those Limbs of Tyranny, who so lorded it over the Free-born People of England; and shall we submit to these Creatures of Cromwel, to usurp the same Tyranny over us and the Free-born People of England!

Nor did this end in Words only, but the Republicans conspire to make an Insurrection against Cromwel, but were discover'd and dispersed by Cromwel; for which, Cromwel committed Lawson (afterward Sir John) Harrison, Rich, (Sir Robert's own Father) Danvers, and several other Officers: And one Sundercome more boldly attempted to have killed Cromwel, as he should pass from White-hall to Hampton-Court; and to that purpose, had prepared a Blunderbuss loaded with twelve Bullets, to shoot him out of an Arbour as he should pass in a narrow Way in Hammersmith: but one Toop, who seemed to conspire in it, discovered this to Cromwel, and so Sundercome was taken, and condemned for High Treason by Cromwel's Law made this Parliament: but Sundercome escaped the Execution, being found dead in his Bed before.

Nor did this and the Other House agree better than Cromwel and the Commonwealth-Men; this scorned the Other House, as having no Authority from the People, and were as vain as useless: so that to prevent further Heats, Cromwel adjourns them for six Months.

I'll vie this Cromwel against Tarquin, Agathocles, either of the Dionysius's, or any of the Roman, Athenian or Sicilian Tyrants, that he was a more arrogant and boundless Tyrant than any or all of them.

For if Tyranny be either Sine Titulo, viz. To arrogate a Power over another, which he hath nothing to do with, or ab Exercitio, to be bound by no Laws; then both ways Cromwel was a [Page] greater Tyrant; for Tarquin had a Title, and his Vices were rather personal and particular, than tending to subvert the Roman Laws and Constitutions: So were the Vices of Agathocles and both the Dionysius's, &c. Whereas Cromwel's Title was only from some corrupted Officers of an Army raised by his twice deposed Masters, and what Widdrington begirt him with.

So tho Cesar and his Successors, did assume to themselves an Imperial Power▪ which did not well sute with the Consular and Tribunitial Dignities; yet they never made a Pack of Senators to do whatsoever they would have them; nor forced or corrupted the Free Voices of the Romans, in chusing such Tribunes as the Emperors pleased; and permitted the Roman Laws to have their free Course.

Whereas Cromwel made a Parliament (as 'twas called) of his own Nomination; and tho he called two more, yet they met by Elections utterly unknown to our Laws and Constitutions; and when they met, he would suffer none to sit, but such as would own his Authority.

By our Laws the King cannot tax the Subject, but by Consent in Parliament; whereas Cromwel, by his Instrument of Government, of his own Will alone, taxed the Nation to maintain him an Army of Twenty Thousand Foot and Ten Thousand Horse, and after taxed the Cavaliers a tenth Part of their Estates.

It's the Birth-right of every English-man, not to be punished in his Person, Liberty or Fortune, but by Judgment of his Peers, or the Law of the Land; and these to be done by Legal Officers; whereas this Cromwel, without any Law, imprisoned, and took away Mens Lives and Estates, by a new thing called A High Court of Justice, never heard of in this Nation, before the Rump and himself; the Judges whereof were of his own naming▪ and his Janisaries, the Soldiers, his Military Executioners.

But it may be objected, Cromwel had reason for erecting his High Court of Justice, having been so ill used by Jurors: for he had by them tried John Lilburn twice for High Treason, and Sir John Stawel thrice, who were acquitted by these Juries; yet neither of them could be discharged from their Imprisonment, which by Law they ought to have been.

But that which madded Cromwel most, and made him utterly out of love with Juries, was, that three Men, Davison, Holder and Thorold, being apprehended, upon Suspicion of endeavouring to bring in the King, were committed Prisoners to a Provost Marshal; and these having obtained leave of the Provost to walk abroad under the Guard of a Souldier, they would have wheedled the Souldier to have made their Escape, which the Souldier refusing, they killed him.

[Page] Cromwel, who before designed to have sacrificed these Men by a High Court of Justice, having, as he thought, a more plain Proof of Murder against them, than he had for their endeavouring to bring in the King, would now try them at Common Law by a Jury.

When they came upon their Trial, they pleaded Not Guilty; and upon their Trial the Question was, Whether they were legally committed; which if the Jury found, they were to find them guilty of Murder; if not, they could find it but se defendendo, or at highest but Manslaughter; and the Jury found them not legally committed, and so acquitted them of Murder. This put Cromwel so out of conceit with Juries, that he never after made use of them in Capital Cases: However by this he might see, he was as little regarded by the Body of the Nation, as by his discarded Officers and the Commonwealth-Men.

Nor was Cromwel a better Governour in Church than State, for he prostituted all Orders of Christianity; and so little regarded things dedicated to Sacred Uses, that he made St. Paul's Church a Garison for his Souldiers, and a Stable for Horses: and his Want of Money was as Great, as the Love of the Nation was little.

This being a forc'd-Put, he'll try once more what he can get by a Parliament; and that it may be a Free Parliament, it should be made up of the other House, and Republicans were permitted to sit in this. Thus qualified, they met upon the twentieth of January, 1657. Never was such Brawling heard, the Republicans brawling against Cromwel's Creatures in this House; and both against Cromwel's Lords in the other House: so that it may be truly said of this Parliament,

That this did out-babble that of Barebone's as far,

As these above those Men in Number are,

viz. Above Three-fold more.

Cromwel therefore, not able to endure their Jangling longer, and having got not a Groat by them, suddenly dissolved them, and shall never call another.

To make this Tragedy a little comical, Cardinal Mazarine was as little a Slave to his Word as Cromwel, and endeavoured to enlarge the French Dominions by as unworthy means as Cromwel did to establish his. About this time a Party of the Garison of Ostend, with the Privity of the Governour, held Intelligence with Mazarine, and after with Cromwel, to betray the Town to the French, wherein Cromwel was to have his Share: Mazarine was to send a Land-Army, commanded by Marshal d' [...] Aumont, and Cromwel was to provide a Fleet to transport them; and the Articles of Agreement were agreed upon between the supposed Conspirators and [Page] the Cardinal in April 1658: but here Cromwel was at greater Charge for his Fleet, than Mazarine for his Army, and Cromwel had outbid Mazarine for the Bargain, but little Money was to be paid before the Town was surrendred.

The Agreement being made, upon the 14th of May 1658, the Fleet appeared before Ostend, and the Garison in the Fort permitted the French to pass and land; but the Governour fearing if the English Fleet should enter, they might endanger the Town, with his own Hands pulled down the white Flag, and set up the bloody Flag: but before the English Fleet could tack about, it was sore galled by the Artillery planted upon the Fort, before it could get out of their reach; and the French which landed were killed or taken every Mother's Son, to the number of 1500; the Marshal was of the number of the Prisoners. This Story is pleasantly and particularly printed in Spanish by one of the Agents; translated into English under the Title of Harm watch, Harm catch.

Mazarine with much ado got his Men again which were not killed; but how shall Cromwel get his Money again, of which he had more need than Mazarine had of his Men? nor would Mazarine part with one Groat, he had been out of Pocket too much to redeem the French.

By this time Cromwel was in ill Plight, hated of all Factions as much as of the Royalists; he had nothing to trust to but a Mercenary Army, which he could not pay, and above half of these would have been content to have his Throat cut: His Means would not pay for the Intelligence he was forced to buy at home and abroad, to discover the Practices which were every day hatching against him: So as he had no Security, but in the general Fear, which all the Factions, as well as he, had, that their Discords might give an Occasion of restoring the King, to the ruine of them all.

Nor were their Fears without Ground, for at this time there was an Inclination of the Royalists in all parts of England to rise; and the Marquess of Ormond was sent by the King to encourage it, having gotten a Company of Men together beyond Sea, under the Command of General Marsin to assist them.

But Cromwel had his Spies every where, who betray'd all; the principal of these Spies was Sir Richard Willis, (who was always upon his Discovery of these Plots, one of the first committed to the Tower) and one Corker (who had served King Charles the First, and was one who assisted in killing Rainsborough at Doncaster) so as Cromwel nipp'd all in the Bud before they moved: Yet notwithstanding all his Diligence, Ormond made his Escape, only to give the King an Account of the Discovery and Ruine of his Design.

[Page] Though the Royalists could draw no Blood from Cromwel, yet he resolved to take some from them; yet would not do it by Juries, (having had such ill Luck with them) but by a Court of Justice of his own Creatures and Nomination, headed by Lisle.

Before these were haled my Lord Mordant, Sir Henry Slingsby, Dr. Hewet, the two Staleys, Woodcock, Mallery, Rivers, Dike, and many others.

Dr. Hewet denied their Jurisdiction, and was condemned for Contumacy; Sir Henry Slingsby pleaded, yet was condemned; my Lord Mordant was acquitted by the Majority of one Vote, when [...]ride came in, who if he had been there, had turned the Scales; and Woodcock behaved himself so well as he was acquitted: The rest were condemned, yet some for Money got their Pardons; and others, who had not so much Money, for somewhat less, and swearing themselves out of the Plot, saved their Lives. Sir Henry Slingsby and Dr. Hewet were beheaded, others hanged and quartered.

Yet this good Success gave little Comfort to Cromwel, for to all his former Disturbances were added the Disorders of his own Family; his Son-in-law Fleetwood, and Brother-in-law Desborough, caballing with the Republicans and Dissenting Officers, so as they rarely visited him; tho Cromwel, to sweeten Fleetwood, promised to name him his Successor; and to these, Lambert, since his Discarding, joined.

Cromwel having so little Dependance on his Army, sets up another of Voluntiers, to have Eight [...]ounds a Year apiece to be ready to serve him: These were a Company of Fellows, who as their Pay was little, so were their Horses Jades and lean, and a Troop of any Army-Horse would beat ten of them; yet they served Cromwel so far, as to seize Malignants whenever he sent them; and were Spies over all suspected Persons, and to inform him of their Demeanour.

All the Joy Cromwel had in these Anxieties and Inquietudes, was in his beloved Daughter Cleypole, who even to his Heart-breaking, died the 6th of August 1658, and upon the third of September following, he himself followed her, in a terrible Storm of Wind; a day upon which at D [...]nbar in Scotland, and Worcester in England, he had sent so many thousands before, for which he then was to give an Account.

However Cromwel lived, yet when he died, all the Flattering Poets strained their Wits to that Pitch, to celebrate his Encomiums, so as that they could never after arrive to it.

[Page]

The Good Deeds of Oliver Cromwel.

THUS in some measure, and in Epitome, you have seen, if not the Life, yet the Rage of Cromwel in his Usurpation; in which, as I have said nothing of him for Spite, having never done me any Wrong, but what was common to all the Nation; so I think in Justice I ought to do him Right, wherein (as I conceive) he deserved well of the Nation.

1. By Blake he more humbled and subdued the Algerine, Tripoli and Tunis Pirates, than ever any before or since did.

2. Westminster-Hall was never replenished with more learned and upright Judges than by him; nor was Justice either in Law or Equity in Civil Cases more equally distributed, where he was not a Party.

3. When the Norway Traders represented to him the Mischief and Inconveniences the Act of Navigation brought upon the Nation, (which may be at large said elsewhere) Cromwel, during his time, dispensed with it, and permitted the English to trade to Norway for Timber, Masts, Pitch, Tar and Iron, as before the Act: And by a Law made in Cromwel's Third Parliament in June 1657, which was but five Years after the Rump's Act of Navigation, Licence is given to transport Fish in Foreign Bottoms. See Whitlock's Memoirs, f. 661. a. So little then was the Act of Navigation regarded.

4. Tho Cromwel play'd the Fool in making War upon Spain, and Peace with France, yet he made a more advantageous Treaty of Commerce for the English to France, than before they had: I have not seen it, but had this from our English Merchants who traded to France.

5. Tho Cromwel joined Forces with the French against the Spaniard, yet he reserved the Sea-Towns conquered from the Spaniard to himself; so had Dunkirk and Mardike delivered up to him; and would have had Ostend, if the Garison had not cheated both Mazarine and him; thereby to be Arbitrator over the French, as well as Spaniard, when he pleased.

6. Cromwel out-vied the best of our Kings, in rendring our Laws to the Subject in the English Tongue; for tho Edward the Third (the most Excellent of our Kings) permitted Pleading in the English Tongue, yet he went no further; whereas Cromwel rendred, not only the Pleadings, but Practice, and Laws themselves into the English Tongue; and herein he▪ imitated our Saviour, common Justice, and the Practice of the most Learned and Civilized Nations.

[Page] I say, he imitated our Saviour, who after his Ascension wrought his first Miracle, by inspiring his Apostles to speak all Languages, to teach the Gospel to all Nations in their Native Tongue; and by the same reason, all Nations ought to be instructed in their Laws in their own Tongue.

I say, this is conformable to common Justice; for all Laws ought to be a Priori: for where there is no Law, there is no Transgression; and if Laws be rendred in a Tongue not understood, it's all one to those who understand not the Language, as if there had not been Laws.

The Romans and Grecians, who were the most Learned and Civiliz'd of all Nations, would never endure a Foreign Word in any of their Laws, lest the Subject through Ignorance of it might be unjustly punished, when 'twas not his fault. When Caesar was murder'd in the Senate, and the Senators were ready to cut one another's Throats, Cicero cried out, Let there be an Amnestia, and for the future the Power to reside in the Senate: And you may read in his second Philippicks, the long Apology he makes for suddenly using this Foreign Word in the Senate. And Tiberius asked leave of the Senate to use Monopolion, because 'twas foreign to the Latin. And the Romans, as well as Grecians, not only instructed Youth in their Laws, but in all Arts and Sciences in their Mother-Tongue, and thereby became the most Learned of all Nations. But these good Deeds of Cromwel you'll soon see will not long out-live him.

CHAP. III.
A Continuation of this Treatise, from the Death of Cromwel, to the Restoration of King Charles the Second.

AFter the Death of Cromwel, there was some Grumble between the Republican Officers of the Army and Protectorian, who should succeed: Those said, that Cromwel when he was well, promised his Son-in-law Fleetwood, that he should succeed; but these said, That tho Cromwel was sick, yet he declared his Son Richard his Successor, and that this was his last Will: And besides, Cromwel's Council (which by the Instrument of Government had the Power) had elected Richard; and so Richard was proclaimed Protector in all the publick Places of England, Scotland and Ireland.

[Page] Richard thus seated, not only the Protectorian, but the Officers of the Republican Faction congratulate him, and under their Handwriting, promise to be true to him: and what Cromwel so industriously obtained from the Mercenary Officers of the Army in England and Scotland, to congratulate him in his assuming the Protectorian Dignity, and to assist him in it with their Lives and Fortunes, is now voluntarily done by numerous Companies of Sycophants from all Parts of the Nation, to the number of ninety Congratulatory Addresses, which Richard had as little good of, as King James II. had from those above thirty Years after, When they flatter'd that Prince in those things which tended to the Subversion of the English Constitution, both in Church and State.

But Richard's wandring Joys faded in the Bud: For after his Father's Funeral, the Pomp whereof undid him, the Republican Officers cabal and conspire to depose Richard, and exalt Fleetwood; and in two respects they say Fleetwood ought to be Protector; one, that he was truly Godly, and an expert Leader, and had been tried to be so in many Difficulties: The other, Cromwel had by his last Will, when he was Compos Mentis, design'd him his Successor; whereas Richard was substituted in a surreptitious manner, by the Craft of some of the Council, when Cromwel had lost his Senses.

Lambert, after he had been discarded by Cromwel, betook himself to Wimbleton-House, where he turned Florist, and had the fairest Tulips and Gelli [...]owers that could be got for Love or Money; yet in these outward Pleasures he nourished the Ambition he entertain'd before he was cashier'd by Cromwel: And in these Dissensions, as Tortoises do upon the approach of the Spring, he comes abroad, and becomes a prime Ring-leader in the Cabal, and in due time shall be the Ruin of them all.

The first thing they agree upon, was to restore the common Souldiers to their former Pay, which Cromwel had retrench'd two Pence a day: And herein they shew their good Will, as Dego did; but how to pay the Souldiers they could no more tell, than how Dego's Executors should pay his Legacies.

In this Kindness to the common Souldiers, the Officers did not forget themselves, and charge the Memory of Cromwel, that he ruled over them with a Tyrannical and Despotical Power, turning out and putting in Officers by his own Will; therefore they petition Richard, That for the future, no Souldier be turned out of his place without a Council of War, nor any Action brought but by Martial Law: That no Souldier be tried in any Criminal Case, but in a Court-Martial; and that the Souldiers have Power to chuse their own General.

Richard was Head of no Faction as his Brother Fleetwood was, nor was his gentle and easy Nature a [...]it Match to encounter the [Page] intriguing Designs of Lambert, or resist the rude Attacks of his Clownish Uncle Desborough, and so foresees no Help to be had for his Security, but from a Parliament.

Therefore Richard summons a Parliament to meet at Westminster upon the 27th of January 1658, of the Composition made by his Father, of this and t'other House; this to consist of 400 English, 30 Scots, and as many Irish.

This and t'other House met accordingly, when this House fell at Variance with t'other House, by what Right they sat there: Nor did this House agree better with the Scots and Irish sitting there, having no Right to sit and vote with the free-born English, they being conquer'd Slaves, and Creatures of the Protector: Nor did the Republican and Protectorian Factions agree better. However, all agreed to recognize Richard Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland; yet would not agree to Cromwel's Instrument of Government, but inveighed bitterly against it, as being extorted from a lame Parliament that was neither [...]ull nor free: But they recalled Overton, who was imprisoned in Jersey by the Arbitrary Will of Cromwel, and made an Ordinance against the meeting of the Officers of the Army to hold Consultations; till the Parliament should determine Affairs.

This Ordinance stung the Caballing Officers to the quick, so that they resolved to be rid of Richard and his Parliament too; but how to do this, or where to begin, admitted of great Debate: For to begin at Richard now the Parliament was sitting might be dangerous, since the Parliament had so lately recognized him, and so many thousands of the People had congratulated his Assumption into the Protectorate. And to begin at the Parliament might be as dangerous, for this they thought would disgust the Nation in general; neither did they know whether the Parliament would be disbanded by them: they therefore resolve they'll make Richard dissolve them, and take the Odium upon himself; and when that's done, they'll do well enough with Richard.

To this end the Officers urge Richard to make good their Proposals: but the Protectorian Officers advised him to seize the Heads of the Republican, which tho Richard durst not come to, yet he spake high, and threatned the Officers to cashier them.

This had a double Effect, for the Protectorian Officers, the Lord Falconbridg, Captain Philip Howard, Colonel Ingoldsby, Whaley, Goff, and others, seeing the meanness of Richard's Spirit in neglecting their Advice, leave him, and the Republicans were not to be quelled with Words, but exasperated by them; so that upon the 22d of April they beset White-hall, and sent Desborough and Fleetwood, to beseech him to dissolve the Parliament; and if 'twere not speedily done, they would set fire to the House, and kill all who should resist; which so frightned Richard, that he forthwith signs [Page] a Proclamation for dissolving the Parliament. The Parliament thus dissolved, Richard's Turn was next to be deposed, not one of the manifold thousands of the ninety Congratulatory Addresses, who promised to stand by Richard with their Lives and Fortunes, speaking one word in his behalf; and so shall such another Turn about thirty Years after be served on King James the Second.

Tho Richard and his Parliament were out, yet something else must be in; yet before they would put in any thing else, the Republican Officers send Ingoldsby, Goff, Whaley, my Lord Falconbridg and Howard (after Earl of Carlisle) after Richard and his Parliament, and take in Lambert, Harrison, Rich, Parker, Okey, and others, whom Cromwel turn'd out: But before they would set up any thing instead of Protector, they make Fleetwood General by Sea and Land, and Lambert Lieut. General.

To prepare the way for what was to be set up, the Officers prepare a Remonstrance, inveighing bitterly against the Malignants, (for so they call' [...] the Royalists) that they had printed Lists, and marked for Destruction the Godly (especially the King's Judges▪); and therefore they would revive the Good Old Cause, and restore the Rump Parliament: but William Pryn, according to his rude way of writing, answered them, That their Cause was neither Good nor Old, and bitterly charges them with Treachery and Ingratitude.

But all to no purpose; for since no better was to be had, these Officers awake the Rump out of their Lethargy, wherein they had been above five Years asleep, and now were become so miserably lean, that none but the Officers could abide the sight of them; they could get but forty two together, and these looked so wretchedly, that they had much ado to get Lenthal to be Head again to it. But how nasty soever the Rump was, the first secluded Members would have sat with them, but the Rump would none of that, but set Guards at the Door of the House to keep them out.

Thus got together, they again depose Richard, and send Ludlow to do the same by Henry in Ireland: and thus you see what Security can be had by relying upon a Mercenary Army, one part of it exalted the Father, and another part of the same Army deposed both the Sons.

But in Scotland they let Monk alone, who promised to be true to them. Yet these were not the Hal [...]yon Days the Republican Officers expected by restoring the Rump; for the Rump, tho it had been long asleep, yet remembred they were before tuned out by the Officers of the Army; and that they shall do so no more, they make Lenthal General of all the Forces in England, Scotland and Ireland, by Sea and Land.

The Rump being contemptible to all the Nation, and the Officers of the Army being thus divided and subdued, and like Virginal-Jacks, [Page] when one was up the other was down, raised the Expectation of the Royalists, That a sudden Change would be, which could end in nothing but restoring the King: And the Presbyterians, exasperated by the Rump's Repulse, again resolve not to sit quiet under it, and therefore a Correspondence is held between them and the Royalists, to depose the Rump whatever came of it.

To this end Sir George Booth rises in Cheshire, with whom Sir Thomas Middleton joined, but was ill seconded by the Royalists.

This alarm'd the Rump, for they expected no better from the Presbyterians than the Royalists: And now the Rump not well knowing the Man, had so little Wit as to send Lambert against Sir George; and you'll soon see Lambert shall do that by the Rump, which the Presbyterians and Royalists both together could not do.

For Lambert having overthrown Booth, and taken him Prisoner, tho the Rump were mightily joy'd at it, and voted Lambert a Gratuity of a Thousand Pounds, yet this no ways alter'd the Designs of Lambert, which ever since the Death of Cromwel he had been hatching.

For Lambert, after the Defeat of the Cheshire-men (in his return for London) at Derby, the 16th of September, procured a Petition from the Officers to the Rump, that Fleetwood might be General of the Army, and himself Lieutenant-General: He was content to give Fleetwood the first Place, as Cromwel had given Fairfax; for he knew himself to be too hard for Fleetwood, and a much better Souldier, and so would do what he list: And the greater part of the Officers in London join with Lambert in his Petition.

The Rump was more alarm'd at this Petition, than at Sir George Booth's Insurrection; so as all Prosecution against him and the Cheshire-Men was at a stand; nor were the Rump of one piece among themselves: for Sir Arthur Haslerig (a hot-headed Man) was violently against the Army, and said, they made the Parliament a precarious thing; and that Lambert trod Cromwel's Steps, and his seeming Modesty in preferring Fleetwood was but a Decoy: But young Sir Henry, now become old Sir Henry Vane, with much more cunning, endeavour'd to carry on the Designs of Lambert and his Faction.

However, the Majority of the Members, rather than be deposed, depose Lambert, Desborough, Berry, Kelsey, Ashfield, Cobbet, Creed, Parker and Barrow, and make a Council of War, without naming a General, of Fleetwood, Monk, Haslerig, Ludlow, Morley and Overton. And to starve Lambert and his Officers, the Rump vote, That no Money shall be raised without Consent in Parliament, and he that shall do it, shall be guilty of High-Treason against the Commonwealth. And the Nation, to whom the Rump and Army were alike hateful, took this for a very good Law.

[Page] However, before this Infant Council of War should be warm in their Seats, Lambert resolves to beat up their Quarters, and marches directly to London: but the Rump, who had Intelligence of Lambert's Motion, would not tamely be turn'd out, but appoint Moss and Morley's Regiments to guard the House; yet Lambert, upon the 13th of October, with a stronger Guard, hastens to the Old-Palace-Yard, and before the Members came, set Guards upon all the Avenues to the House, not permitting any Member to enter, and sends the Speaker back into the City.

Now is the Rump's Lethargy (from which they were recover'd but five Months and some few Days) turned into a Convulsion; and the next Fit you'll see will carry it quite off.

Instead of the Rump, the Officers set up a new thing, which they call The Committee of Safety, which consisted of 22; whereof Vane, Fleetwood, and Ludlow, were prime Directors.

Lambert having thus turned out the Rump, his Turn shall be next: But before we proceed, it's fit to see how things stood in Scotland; where, at this time, all things (contrary to the Scotish Temper) were in perfect Peace and Quiet: and to keep the Scots so, the Rump and Cromwel had built four Citadels upon the four principal Passes in Scotland, viz. at Leith, Aire, St. Johnstons, and Inverness, which bridled the Scots from holding Communication within Land, and which cost above 30000 l. being three Regular Fortifications on the North Sea, and one upon the West, for to relieve the English in case of Land-Sieges, or other Accidents.

After Monk had perfectly subdued Scotland, he took Care for constant Supplies out of England for the Payment of his Soldiers, whereby he kept them in such regular and severe Discipline, that Disorders rarely happen'd among them; and hereby Scotland did never before abound in so much Wealth and Trade: and to these, Monk duly observed all Articles made with the Scots, whereby the common sort of Scots enjoyed more Liberty and Wealth than ever before they had under their Lords and Lairds: and now no Man durst oppress his poor Tenants and Neighbours. He likewise supprest all those Scotish Feuds which before so often raged in Scotland; and compelled the Clergy to mind their own Function, without meddling with Temporal Affairs. So as the Scots never lived so free and happy under their Kings, Nobles, and Lairds, as in that short time they did under Monk's Regency.

In this State Monk hired the Countess of Bucklough's House, about five Miles from Edinburgh, which had fine Gardens, Orchards, and a stately Park, walled about, belonging to it; and here he fell into the Acquaintance of the principal Nobility and Gentry of Scotland, and by his Familiarity and Affability with them, he gained their Love and Friendship: And in this State Cromwel would have found it a hard Task to remove him.

[Page] After Cromwel's Death, and that his Son Richard became Protector, he caress'd Monk by frequent Letters, and great Protestations of Kindness, intreating also his Advice and Assistance, letting him know, that his Father did recommend to him, as an especial Command, to be chiefly ruled by his Prudence. Monk in return answered, That he was very remote, and could not well tell what to write at such a distance; but advised him to call a Parliament, which was the Wisdom of the Nation, by whom he might be best instructed: which Richard did, and if he had stood by them, it's thought Monk would have stood by him; but Richard spoil'd all by dissolving the Parliament; and when the English Army had deposed his Brother Henry, by frequent Messages and Letters he invited Monk to appear, to give a Check to the mutinous and seditious English Army, which now courted Monk as well as he; and so did the Rump after they were restored: So that in all the Troubles and Alterations in England, both England and Ireland too courted Monk, who sat still, and was quiet in Scotland.

Lambert's firy Ambition burnt out that Prudence which Cromwel observed, in making sure of Monk before he attempted to turn out the Rump; which Lambert did not, nor so much as made his Design known to Monk. The turning out the Rump, and erecting a Committee of Safety to govern, being Sectaries, Republicans, and Enemies to Monk, which he called Fanaticks, he knew no Good was intended him by this Change; and therefore resolved not to submit to it: But herein Monk proceeded with as much Caution and Prudence, as Lambert did in Haste and Folly. Here you may see how Ambition and Interest change Mens Actions; for herein, what Monk allowed in Cromwel, he disclaims in Lambert.

For upon the 18th of October, Monk marched with his own Guards from Dalkeith to Edinburgh, where his own Regiment of Foot quartered, and seized all such Officers as he suspected would not be true to him in his Design, and secur'd them; and drew his Forces into the Field, and gave them an Account of his Resolution, To adhere to a Civil Authority, and not to follow the English Army in their mad Counsels and Fanatick Courses; which was entertained by the Soldiers, and generally by the Scots.

At his Return out of the Field, he received an Express from the Governour of Berwick, That he feared he should not be able to secure the Town for him, almost all the Officers in the Town being Anabaptists: Whereupon Monk gave Order for a Troop of Horse to march to Berwick, to fetch away the ill-affected Officers, and sent also a blank Commission to the Governour to put in what Officers he pleased; but it was difficult to get a Troop to march, being about 40 Miles from Edinburgh, the Days short, and Ways deep and bad: yet Captain Johnson undertook the Journey, and arrived at Berwick but the Night before Colonel Cobbet entered [Page] Berwick, sent from Lambert; whom Johnson seized, and sent Cobbet and the suspected Officers Prisoners to Edinburgh.

'Twas well Monk succeeded so well at Berwick, for otherwise he had had a hard Game to play, the English Army in Scotland being far off, in the more remote Northern and Western Parts of it, and Lambert upon his March from London, with (it may be) the bravest Body of Horse in Europe, against him, and could augment his Foot in his March. But if Monk was fortunate in reducing Berwick, he was not less unfortunate in endeavouring to reduce Carlisle; for having sent Captain Dean upon that Account, his whole Troop deserted him, and joined with the Garison. Besides, Monk having sent Letters to many of the Officers in Ireland whom he thought he might confide in, and to the Officers in the English Fleet then riding in the Downs, they all refused to join with him. Hereupon the Sectaries in the English Army grew insolent, and drew off from Monk in Discontent: whereupon Monk kept back their Pay, and bid them seek their Arrears of them to whom they were going; which they could not have done in a worse time, now the Rump had voted it Treason to raise any Money to pay them: these Officers were above 140, and their Arrears Monk kept, the better to pay the Officers he could confide in. However, this could not secure Monk of those Soldiers which he confided in; for Robinson, a Captain of Dragoons, having received his Pay, and the Soldiers Back, Breast, and Pot, ran away with his whole Troop to New-Castle; and most of Twisleton's Regiment refused Monk's Service. However Monk, by Dr. Troutbeck, received secret Assurance from my Lord Fairfax, to be assisting to him.

Now with insincere Affections both sides agree to a Treaty of Accommodation to be at London, and Monk named Wilks, Knight, and Cloberry, his Commissioners: these had publick Instructions from the General Council, and private from the General; to which the Committee of Safety named three (whose Names I do not find) to treat with them. These agreed that a Committee of 19 should be appointed; five for England, not Members of the Army, viz. Whitlock, Vane, Ludlow, Salway, and Berry; five for Scotland, viz. St. John, Warreston, Harrington, Scot, and Thompson; the rest for England, Scotland, and Ireland, to be Members of the Army; they to determine the Qualifications of the Members of Parliament.

That two Field-Officers of every Regiment, and one Commission-Officer of every Garison, and 10 Officers of the Fleet, shall meet at a General Council, to advise touching the Form of Government.

Monk, as astonished at this Agreement, and contrary to his wonted Reservedness, told the Messenger, That if the Honesty of some, certainly the Prudence of them all was to be suspected, and committed Wilks to Prison for transgressing his Commission; and [Page] 'twas observed, he never was so much out of Humour as upon his Commissioners assenting to this Agreement: for by this Agreement, the Committee would consist of threefold more for England and Ireland than for Scotland; and the General Council fourfold more: so that Monk and all the Scots Officers would be at their disposing.

Dr. Gumble, pag. 152, 153. says, While Monk was in this melancholy Mood, not speaking, or permitting any to speak to him; one of Monk's Acquaintance, who was of a pleasant and free Conversation, came where Monk was, who asked this Gentleman, What he had to say to this Agreement? Truly Sir, says he, I am come to make a little Request to you. What's that, I wonder, says Monk? Even that, says he, you will sign me a Pass to go for Holland; yonder is a Ship at Leith that is ready to sail. What, says Monk, will you leave me? He answers, I know not how you may shift for your self by your Greatness; but be confident, they will never be at rest till they have torn you from your Command; and what they will do with you then, it concerns you to consider; but for my self, tho I am a poor Man I will never put my self into their Power, for I know it will not be for my Safety. What, replies Monk hastily, will you lay the Blame upon me? If the Army will stick to me, I will stick by them. The Officers gave him Assurance they would, for the Danger was common to them all: And such a Joy among them hereupon succeeded, that some expressed it with Tears.

'Twas said, That Fleetwood was as fearful of Lambert upon this Agreement, as Lambert was of Monk, in case he would not agree to it. Monk therefore wrote to Fleetwood, That the News of a Pacification was very agreeable to him, but that he found some things doubtful in the Conditions, and other Matters not rightly transacted by his Commissioners; that therefore, that the Agreement might be more solid, he desires the Number of the Commissioners might be encreased, and Newcastle as a more proper place for the Meeting. Fleetwood (tho disswaded from it by Whitlock and others) agrees to this, and so does Lambert, whereby he did not shew himself a great Statesman.

Monk now resolved not to submit to this present Committee of Safety in England, sent Circular Letters to every Shire in Scotland to send to Edinburgh two Commissioners, and to every Burrough to send one; who met at Edinburgh, where they granted Monk 30000 l. Sterling above the Assessments, and proffered to assist him with 20000 Men if he pleased: Monk accepts of the first, and demurs upon the second; but only desired of them to take Care in his Absence that no Disturbances should be; and that they abjure King Charles and his Interest. I know Dr. Gumble denies this latter; yet I cannot believe the Scotish Writers about this time, viz. two or three Years after, should so positively affirm this, [Page] which all Scotland must know to be a Lie, if it were not so.

Monk having obtained this Aid in Scotland, which was Treason to impose in England, by this time Lambert being come to Newcastle, sent three Regiments of Horse, and one of Dragoons, into Northumberland, to seize on my Lord Grey of Werk's Rents; but Monk prevented the Design, having before done the Work, and carried the Money into Scotland; which Dr. Gumble says, was after restored. Hereupon Monk seizes Colonel Zanchy (who was sent from Newcastle with Letters to proceed in an additional Treaty) for Breach of certain preliminary Articles, one whereof was, That no Forces on either side should advance forward during the Time of the Treaty: And now Monk advances to Coldstream, a poor Place upon the Tweed, and there pitches his Tents; where he received Intelligence, that the Forces in Ireland had declared for Monk, and such as opposed his Designs were all secured. This was managed by the Earls of Orrory and Montrath, Sir Theophilus Jones, the Warrens, and Captain Fitz-Patrick (who after did the King excellent Service in securing Dublin for him) and others. And sure it's observable, that as our Civil Wars began first from Scotland, then from Ireland; so first from Scotland, then from Ireland, should arise that Peace which after succeeded in England.

Rubicon thus passed, all Terms of Accommodation ceased; Monk's Army consisted of four Regiments of Horse (and those pitiful ones) commanded by Morgan, Johnston, Knight, and Cloberry; and six of Foot, commanded by Major-General Morgan, (whom Lambert had sent to treat with Monk) Fairfax, Rede, Lidcot, and Hubblethorn. Monk had this Advantage of Lambert, That his Horses were well fed, and his Souldiers lay in Tents; whereas Lambert's Horse had nothing but what they plunder'd, and his Foot were dispers'd into Quarters where they could get them: And at this rate Lambert came to Newcastle.

Whilst these things were doing, all was in a Hurlyburly in London: The Apprentices rise, and are suppressed by Hewson; however, the Citizens take the Rump's Vote for not paying Taxes without Consent of Parliament, for good Law; and therefore will pay none: and the Country follow their Example. The Souldiers too, tho they would be glad of their Pay when they could get it, yet agreed among themselves, That their Officers might fight with one another if they pleased, but the Souldiers would fight for none of them. My Lord Fairfax and the York-shire Gentry rise against Lambert behind, and Monk marches on before. Portsmouth, headed by Haslerig, Walton, and Morley, declares for the Rump; and Lawson, Admiral of the Fleet, stopt the Mouth of the Thames, threatning the Committee of Safety, That unless they restored the Rump, not one of them should escape.

In this violent Motion, or Commotion, the Lord Willoughby, Alderman [Page] Robinson (after Sir John) Major-General Brown (after Sir Richard) and some others, came to Mr. Whitlock (then one of the Commissioners of the Broad Seal) and propounded to him to go to Fleetwood, to advise him to send to the King at Breda (it should have been to Brussels, for the King came not to Breda before he was advised to it by Monk) and to offer to bring him in upon good Terms, and thereby prevent Monk's Designs; which Whitlock did, as at the Desire of them and Sir William Fleetwood his elder Brother; and shewed Fleetwood, unless he did it, he and all the Parliament-Party would be left at the Mercy of the King, whom Monk would bring in without any Terms, as he after did.

Whitlock therefore propounded to Fleetwood one of these two things; Either to give Order to all his Forces to draw together, and himself and Friends to appear at the Head of them, and so get what Strength they could that would stand by them; and accordingly to take further Resolutions, if they found their Strength but small (which he doubted;) then with those few which he had; to go to the Tower, and take Possession of it; and to send to the Mayor and Common-Council that he would join with them to declare for a Free Parliament; which he thought the City would willingly do, and furnish him with Money for his Souldiers, which would encrease their Numbers.

Fleetwood asked him, If he would go with him into the Field, and to the Tower? Whitlock said, He would. Then Fleetwood asked him, What was the other Way he had to propound to him in this Exigency? he said it was, That Fleetwood should immediately send away some Person of Trust to the King at Breda (Brussels) to offer to him his and his Friends Service to the restoring the King to his Right, and that upon such Terms as the King should agree upon; and for this purpose, to give Instructions to the Party whom he should send upon this Affair. Fleetwood asked him, If he would be willing to go himself upon this Employment? who answered, He would, if Fleetwood thought good to send him. With this, and some other Discourse, Fleetwood seemed fully satisfied to send Whitlock to the King, and desired him to go and prepare himself forthwith for the Journey; and that he and his Friends would prepare Instructions for him, so that he might begin his Journey this Evening, or early next Morning.

Whitlock going away, met Vane, Desborow, and Berry, coming to speak with Fleetwood; and about a quarter of an Hour after, Fleetwood returned, and, in much Passion, told Whitlock, I cannot do it, I cannot do it: who desir'd his Reasons; Fleetwood answered, I am engaged not to do any such thing without my Lord Lambert's Consent: then Whitlock told him, You will ruin your self and Friends. See his Memoirs, fol. 692.

Thus you see how Man proposes, but God disposes: Monk that made the Scotish Nobility abjure the King and his Interest, brought him in; and Fleetwood, who would have done it, could not do it.

[Page] Fleetwood and his Committee of Safety, seeing all things now desperate, sent a humble Message to Lenthal to beseech him and the Rump, to take upon them the Supream Government again, which they graciously accepted, but came staggering into the House, being miserably shaken by their Convulsion, tho it lasted not 2 Months, a shrewd Sign they were not long liv'd.

The first thing the Rump did now they were out of their Fit, was to recal Lambert's and Fleetwood's Commissions, tho they needed not have done it, for their Souldiers which before would not fight for them, now would not keep them Company, but deserted them; so that their Conditions were right lamentable: Lambert had no body to fight for him, nor Fleetwood scarce any to condole with him in his present Solitudes: However, the Rump committed Lambert to the Tower.

Monk now having broken off the Treaty of Accommodation with the Committee of Safety, marches on, and is every day addressed to, That the Nation might have a full and free Parliament; yet every one understood what was intended by it: and at Morpeth he met with a Letter from the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, by their Sword-bearer, promising the Concurrence and Assistance of the City in it: And that the End for which a Free Parliament was to be called, was interpreted by hanging out the King's Picture, which was no less gazed at by them, than by the Welch-men at King Taffy's Effigies at the Welch-Gate at Shrewsbury.

When Monk came into Yorkshire at North-Allerton, he was met by the Sheriff of the County, and at York he was magnificently treated by the City, and caressed by my Lord Fairfax, and a numerous Gentry; and here he received into his Service some of Lambert's Regiments, and sent back Major-General Morgan into Scotland, to keep all quiet there.

The Rump were scarce recovered out of their Convulsion, when they fell into a terrible Quotidian Ague, which shaked them grievously; and yet could get no Physician which could administer any Comfort: They were sure they were no way concerned in the Nation's and City's Addresses to Monk for a Full and Free Parliament; they could not trust the English Army, nor would the Army trust them; all their Hopes were in Monk and his Army, yet were afraid of them; and tho they were so, yet could not tell to whom they should complain.

However not to be utterly wanting to themselves, they sent Luke Robison and Scot, to congratulate Monk's coming, and thank him for the Rump's Recovery; but not to speak one Word of the Ague the Rump were fallen into.

These met Monk at Leicester, and did their Errand, but Monk understood their Meaning, as well as they; and was as close in concealing his Intentions, as they were of their Errand; which was [Page] to observe, and to be a Spy upon him in all his Motions: And Monk so far complied, as at Northampton he made the Officers of the Irish Brigade abjure the King and his Interest.

When Monk came to St. Albans, he sent to the Rump to turn all those treacherous Souldiers who had been so unfaithful to them, out of the City and Lines of Communication; which the Rump consented to: and the Day after, the 3d of February, in a Military Pomp, led his Army through London, and lodg'd in White-hall.

But the Rump's Frights were without end, for now they dreaded the Return of Charles Stuart (so they call'd the King) more than Sir G. Booth's Insurrection, or the Officers Rebellion; and since they could not fight him unless Monk help them, they'll try to swear him out, and see if Monk will join with them in it. And therefore the Council of State, next Day after Monk came to White-hall, tender'd him the Oath of Abjuring the King and Royal Family; which Monk thought not fit then to do, but said, He would consider some time of it.

The next Day after, Monk, attended by Robison and Scot, went to the House, where the Speaker caress'd him in a florid Speech, congratulating his coming to Town; and in the Name of the House, thank'd him for the great Service he had done them. To which Monk, in a plain Soldier-like Answer, said,

That amongst the many Mercies of God to these poor Nations, their Restitution was not the least; that it was his Work alone, and to him belongs the Glory of it; that he esteemed it an Effect of God's Goodness, that he was some ways instrumental in it; wherein he did no more than his Duty, which did not deserve the high Mark of Favour they put upon it: That he would trouble them with no large Narratives, yet desired leave to acquaint them, That in his March from Scotland he observed the People in most Countries earnestly desired a Settlement for a full and free Parliament; and that they would determine their Sitting, a Gospel Ministry, Encouragement for Learning in the Ʋniversities; and that the Secluded Members before 1648, might be admitted without previous Oaths.

That he had answered, They (the Rump) were a free Parliament, and if there were any Force upon them, he would remove it; that you would fill up your House, and then would be a full Parliament; and that you had already determined your Sitting. And for the Ministry and their Maintenance, the Laws and Vniversities, you had declared largely concerning them in your last Declaration. That for the Gentlemen secluded before 1648, you had already given your Judgment, and that they ought to acquiesce therein: but to admit Members to sit without a previous Oath, was never done in England: yet begg'd leave to say, That the less Oaths and Engagements were imposed, your Settlement would be sooner attained; yet that neither the Cavalier nor Fanatick Party have any share in the Civil or Military Power. Then he recommended to them the State of Scotland and Ireland, which you [Page]may read at large in the third Part of Dr. Bates's Elenchus.

The Rump were as little pleased with Monk's Speech, as the Council of State with his Refusal to take the Oath of Abjuring the King and Royal Family; therefore, seeing he would not Swear as the Rump would have him, they'll try if he will Do as they will have him.

The Common-Council in London had passed an Order, That unless they had a full and free Parliament, they would pay no more Taxes. This so startled the Rump, that the next day after Monk had been at the House, they sent to him to send 12 of the forwardest Citizens to the Tower, and to pull up the City-Posts, Chains, and Portcullices.

In Obedience to the Rump's Order, Monk marches into the Old Exchange, and secur'd as many of the Citizens the Rump ordered, as he found there; but when he issued out his Orders to pull down the Posts, Chains, Gates, and Portcullices, the Officers withdrew, and consulted what to do; and resolved, They could not obey these Orders, and offered to lay down their Commissions. Monk endeavour'd to pacify them; and told them, The Orders of the Council were to be obeyed; but they persisted, so as he was forced to set his lesser Officers to do the Work, but did not pull down the Gates and Portcullices, thinking he had done enough to satisfy the Rump, but was mistaken, for the Rump sent more peremptory Orders, to pull down the Gates and Portcullices; which piece of Drudgery Monk perform'd.

Col. Herb. Morley, a Non-Abjurer of the King, at this time was Lieutenant of the Tower, and took this Occasion to come to Monk, and assured him for the Tower, himself, and Sir J. Fagg his Brother-in-law, whose two Regiments were in London, and were resolved to agree with him in any Matters that should be for the publick Peace and Settlement. This was a Preparative to what followed; and that Night Monk returned to White-hall.

And the next Day, or a Day after, Praise-God Barebone, with a multitude of Water-men and others (who it may be could neither write nor read) presented a Petition to the Rump, for the excluding the King and Royal Family, and that those who refused should not be capable of any Imployment: for which the Rump thank'd them; but the Success shall be no better than Richard's 90 Congratulatory Addresses.

This struck directly at the Authority of Monk: whereupon he called a private Council of his Confidents, to advise what to do: where it was resolved to take a General Muster of his Army in Finsbury-fields the 11th of Febr. From whence Monk wrote to the Rump, That the Services he had done them were slighted, whilst the late Traitors, no less Enemies to them than the Commonwealth, had more Esteem than he: From whence else was their Kindness to Lambert and Vane, and new Offences against him, and their Respect to that leering Heretick Barebone and all his Rabble? And therefore demanded that the filling up their Members be within a Week, and their Sitting determined, and to give place to a new Parliament.

[Page] From Finsbury, Monk sent to the Mayor, That he would dine with him at the Bull-head in Cheapside; where he desired the Mayor, in the Evening to call a Court of Aldermen at Guild-hall. This was blown about the City, and thousands came to Guild-hall (and I amongst the rest) to see what the Meaning of it should be.

About six Monk came, and all the way as he came, and quite through the Hall, the Cry was, A Free Parliament. I saw him when he lighted out of his Coach, and went leaning on Col. Cloberry's Shoulder, into the Mayor's Court, but not one word he said; and when he came into the Mayor's Court, he read a Letter he sent that Morning to the Rump, and then returned: the Cry was the same, A Free Parliament. Monk said nothing; Cloberry said, You shall have a Free Parliament. And it's not to be imagin'd, how far this spread in so little time; for, I believe, in less than 2 Hours all the Bells of London were ringing; and in all the Streets (to the number, 'twas said, of above 6000) Bonfires were made, and Rumps of all sorts roasting. But that Night Monk did not return to White-hall, but lay at the Glass-house in Broadstreet.

If the Rump were nettled at Monk's Speech, they were now ready to die for fear; but since they could not shew their Teeth▪ they would shew their Back-sides, and voted a Committee of Five; to order the Affairs of the Army, whereof Monk to be one.

But Monk, who but 4 Days before was so terrible to the City, is now become their Darling; they let him have 30000 l. to pay his Army in the City; whereas that without, was like a Herd of Goats upon the Mountains, having no body to look after them, nor a Penny to help themselves. And Monk now having his Army entirely at his Devotion, scorn'd, for all the Rump's Vote, to suffer any other of their Committee to partake with him in any part of his Authority over it.

And now Monk, with a better Authority, and more Applause than Cromwel had, might have set up himself for Protector, or what he pleas'd; but he saw the Genius of the Nation lay another way, and that 'twas more secure to follow it, than to set up himself against it.

He held therefore private Intelligence with the Heads of the Secluded Members about their Restoration on certain Conditions: The Secluded Members were zealously disposed to out the Rump upon any Terms, whatever came of it; they had more to say against the Rump, than the Rump had against the Officers of the Army, who had twice deposed them; and the Rump began the Game with the Secluded Members before the Officers began with them. So upon Feb. 21. Monk gave the Command of the Guard to Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper (after Earl of Shaftsbury) to permit the Secluded Members to enter the House; the first whereof was W. Prynn, tied to a great Basket-hilted Sword: yet the Rumpers were not excluded, nor did the Secluded Members care for it, being four to one. And so the Rumpers left the House, and fell into a Relapse of their [Page] Convulsion, out of which they never recovered: nor did Barebone's Rabble afford them any Relief.

Thus you see the Rump and Secluded Members were like Virginal-Jacks too, when one was up, the other was down; for the Secluded Members, who before would not have the Nation or themselves safe, unless they were an Undissolvable Parliament, now, to be revenged on the Rump, are content to meet only to do Monk some Journey-work, and then dissolve themselves.

The Secluded Members, after they were in, repeal their own Exclusion; then vote Monk General of all the Forces in England, Scotland, and Ireland; Mountague, Admiral of the Fleet; set Sir George Booth, and those in Prison upon that account, at liberty; and soon after sent Lambert in his room; and grant a Tax for Payment of the Army, which now no Man disputed.

But Monk's Cares did not end here; the Army without were more than fivefold to his within the City: he therefore sent Letters to all the other Regiments of the Armies in England and Ireland, To certify the Reason of the re-admission of the Secluded Members, that without it there was no way to satisfy the Nation, or raise Money to pay the Army; and with large Assurances of their Constancy in their old Profession and Principles.

The Souldiers in general were glad to be out of their starving and wandring state, and therefore in shoals submitted to Monk, who yet would not receive them, unless they would swear to be true to this Parliament (as 'twas called) which he could but little trust to, they having so often forswore themselves before; yet these at present serv'd his turn, and those who refus'd he cashier'd.

Now had horrible Dread overwhelm'd the Rumpers, especially the Regicides; they saw themselves hated by almost all the Nation, yet at irreconcilable Variance one with another; the Body of the Army which had raised them, turned now against them: they knew the Secluded Members had but a limited time to sit, and then to dissolve themselves to make room for another, which would certainly bring in the King, to their utter Destruction.

In this Consternation, Lambert escap'd out of the Tower, and Col. Rich refused to submit: Lambert posts to Warwick, where he met Axtel, Okey, Cobbet, Creed, and some other disbanded Officers, to whom many disbanded Soldiers joined, which made up a little Army.

Colonel Streater (a Confident of Monk's) from Northampton, gives Monk an Account of this; whereupon the Council of State, settled by the Secluded Members, proclaim Lambert and all his Adherents Traitors; and Monk sent Col. Rich. Ingoldsby (a Gentleman of more true Courage than 20 of these sniveling Fellows, who was before cashier'd for adhering to Ric. Cromwel, when the Officers depos'd him) with a strong Squadron of Horse, to join Streater's Foot, against them.

When these were joined, upon Easter-day, near Daventry, both [Page] Armies came within sight of one another; when Lambert made an Overture to Ingoldsby to restore Ric. Cromwel: but Ingoldsby knew this Game was lost, and that Lambert did not mean sincerely; and so they fought. Ingoldsby charged home, and Lambert's Men could not sustain the Shock, but fled; and Ingoldsby (it's said) took Lambert Prisoner with his own hands, Lambert crying, Quarter, good my Lord (for Ingoldsby was one of Oliver's Lords of the other House) spare my Life. With Lambert, Cobbet and Creed were taken Prisoners; Okey and Axtel escaped now, but could not escape a greater Punishment than befel Lambert, Cobbet, or Creed, for they were hang'd and quarter'd for having been K. Charles's Judges. Nor was Rich's Fate much better than Lambert's, for Col. Ingoldsby at Bury in Suffolk cashier'd him, it's said, at the Head of his Regiment, and disbanded it.

This was the End of that Invincible Army, subdu'd by not one 6th part of it self; for Monk, when he came from Scotland, had but 4 Regiments of Horse, and 6 of Foot, and (I believe) not 10 Men killed in their Defence; and not one in the Reduction of the invincible Armado. And now 'tis time to see what followed; the Secluded Members, with much ado, having dissolved themselves, upon Mar. 17. issued out Writs for another to meet, yet in the Name of the Keepers of the Liberties of the Commonwealth of England, upon Apr. 25. the Elections to be as they were before the Year 1640. The gazing World eagerly expected the Success of this wondrous Revolution.

If we look abroad, we shall see Mazarine, after Cromwel's Death, not foreseeing wherein the Confusions and Disorders in England would end, unless in the Restoring the King (which, by Monsieur Bourdeaux, the French Ambassador in England, he diligently used his utmost Endeavours to prevent) now sets up a Treaty of Peace with Spain, and to forward it, propounds a Marriage between the French King and the eldest Infanta of Spain; the younger was after married to the now Emperor Leopold, and the now King of Spain not born. This Treaty was called The Pyrenaean Treaty.

But as this Treaty was made in deepest Dissimulation and Treachery, so were the Preparations to it; for at the same time (the War continuing between Spain and Portugal) the French King made an offensive League with Portugal for 10 Years, not to treat with Spain, unless the Portuguese were entirely satisfied in all their exorbitant Demands of Spain; in which 'twas agreed, That all the Harbours the Portuguese should take in Spain, either upon the one or other side of the Sea, shall be put into the Power of France: which you may read in the most excellent Treatise of the truly honourable and learned Statesman the Baron d' Isola, Of the Buckler of State and Justice, Chap. 1. And in regard there is so great a Connexion of the Pyrenaean Treaty with that of the Life of King Charles II. we'll be more particular in it before we enter on the other.

The Baron, in the 2d Article or Chapt. says, the moving Cause of [Page] the Peace was, The Desire of the Good, Quiet, and Ease of the Subjects of both Kings. The Object was, To put a period to so many Mischiefs; the Effect, To forget and extinguish all the Causes and Motives of the Wars past, and to establish a sincere, entire, and durable Peace between the Kings and their Successors. For attaining these Ends, the Spaniard insisted that these Points were necessary, viz. The Infanta's disclaiming all her Right and Title to the Kingdom of Spain, or any of its Dominions; that the French should not directly or indirectly assist the Portuguese in their War against Spain; and by the by, That the Prince of Conde should be restored to all the Estate and Governments he enjoyed before he joined with the Spaniard against Mazarine and his Faction; and that the Duke of Lorain should be restored to his Dutchy, with all the places which he had possest in the Bishopricks of Metz, Toul, and Verdun.

The Articles of the Infanta's Renunciation were soon agreed to reciprocally, but that of abandoning the Portuguese stuck at present, the French having so lately made an Offensive League with the Prince Regent: And that the Treaty might be agreed without the French abandoning of Portugal, the French proffered the Restitution of all the Places conquered from Spain during the War (but promised more than they could perform, for Dunkirk and Mardike were not in their power) and also other Countries, and entirely to restore the Prince of Conde.

But without abandoning Portugal nothing was to be done, and so the French King did promise and oblige himself, upon his Honour, and in the Faith and Word of a King, for himself and his Successors, not to meddle any more in the Affair of Portugal; nor to give to it, either in general, or to any Person or Persons of it in particular, of what Estate, Dignity or Condition, at present or hereafter, any Aid or Assistance, publick or secret, directly or indirectly, of Men, Arms, Ammunition, Victuals, Ships, or Money, under any Pretext, nor of any thing that is or can be by Land or Sea▪ or any other fashion; nor permit any Levy to be made in any part of his Dominions; nor grant free Passage to those who shall come out of other Countries; which shall come to help the Realm of Portugal. And was signed by the King, Mazarine, Clergy and Nobility of France.

Towards the End of this Treaty, K. Charles II. about the End of November (the Differences between Monk and the Officers of the English Army being in the highest Ferment) came to it, that his Concerns might be concerted in it; he was received by Don Lewis de Haro (that Spanish Minister) with as much Honour and Veneration, as if possest of all his Kingdoms, but negligently and slightly by Mazarine and the French Ministers: And sure the Indignity here offer'd to his Person, and the Industry of Bourdeaux at London, in endeavouring to keep him from being restor'd, would have made another not to forget these about 5 or 6 Months after. But if the King's Restoration came not from some other place, he might have waited long enough for it here; for France would not, and Spain could not assist him.

[Page]

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, DURING THE REIGN OF K. CHARLES II, &c.
BOOK IV.

CHAP. I.
This Reign detected to the beginning of the first Dutch War.

AS the Nation thought they could not be redeemed from the Arbitrary Government of King Charles the first, but by the Long Parliament it 1640, so they thought they could not be redeemed from the Confusions, Rage and Distractions they labour'd now under, but by restoring King Charles the Second.

To gratify this Expectation, the Convention who met on the 25th of April 1660, Hand over Head, without any Preliminaries [Page] of asserting the Rights and Liberties of the English, so manifestly violated by his Father and Grandfather, restored the King without any Contradiction.

Upon his Restoration there were but five of the Bishops living, viz. Dr. Juxton, Bishop of London; Dr. Fruin, Bishop of Chester; Dr. Wren, Bishop of Ely; Dr. Warner, Bishop of Rochester; and Dr. King, Bishop of Chichester: These three latter lived to die in their Bishopricks, and in the Interval between the beginning of the Long Parliament, and the Restoration of the King (near twenty Years) upon the matter, all these Leases of the Church were expired, whereby incredible Sums of Money were raised by the new-promoted Bishops to their vacant Sees, without any regard to the rest of the poor sequestred Clergy, their Wives or Children: But the Jollity of the Convention for having got their King, put such mean Thoughts out of their Consideration.

The Hopes of the happy Days to come under this King's Reign, quite blotted out their Remembrance of the Days of his Father's and Grand-father's Reign: On the contrary, to flatter him, they stiled his Father, The Martyr for the English Church and State. Now they had got him they would hold him, he might do what he list for all them, and so he did; which the Nation submitted to, rather than return to the Confusions and Disorders of the Times after his Father's Death: Nay, the Memory of these Times was so odious, that if even the Parliament took notice of his Actions, his Flatterers charged them with returning to the Parliament in 1640.

The Convention took terrible Vengeance on his Father's Judges; for tho they did not all suffer in their Persons, scarce any of them but forfeited their Estates: So as these Men who would have his Father's Life, and Crown-Lands for their Estates, lost their own Lives, and had their Estates added to the Revenues of the Crown: tho this was but as Water poured into a Sive, yet it's observable, that the Instruments who acted in the King's Death should be thus punished, and Lenthal the Speaker, who granted the Commission to act, should escape free.

The Presbyterians were scarce wet with the Tail of this Storm, none of them (except those in sequestred Livings) being punished either in their Persons or Fortunes; and many of them were preferred in high Places both in Church and State.

The poor Cavalier, or Loyal suffering Party, who hoped for a Heaven upon Earth in this King's Reign, fell into a worse State that that they were in before: For as Messeray said of the Reign of Henry III. of France, It was the Reign of Favourites, wherein the Subjects▪ (it's said) paid so much, yet never was any King so poor: So it may be said of this. And the Cavalier Party having before mortgaged their Estates to redeem their Sequestration, the Remainder [Page] paid the Taxes to the King, and the other Part the Interest to the Mortgage; nor were they any ways countenanced by the King.

For his Favourite [...] ▪ were a Generation of People who knew not his Father, but who humoured him in his Sensual Pleasures and Prodigality; and were of the Female as well as Male Sex; who were a sort of Favourites his Father was not acquainted with, nor do I find he ever regarded the Memory of his Father; but that he industriously endeavour'd to have it believed, the Portraiture of his Father's Sufferings, a Book of late so much controverted, was none of his.

However, his Mother had a great Ascendant over him, so that she being a Daughter of France, inclin'd him to embrace the French Interest against his own: And she living near ten Years after his Restoration, so fixed this into a Habit in him, that in all his Life after he could never get rid of it, notwithstanding all the Provocations of the French King to the contrary. But it's time now to take a View of this King's Actions.

The Desires of the King to be restor'd were no less than those of the Nation, that he should, tho upon any Terms; for upon the Dissolution of the secluded Members, the King left Brussels (as you'll soon see he left Spain, who had harboured and relieved him in the time of his Exile, to join with France, who had expell'd him to join with Oliver, and by its Ambassador Bourdeaux at this time was using all its Endeavours to keep him out) and came to Breda, from whence he sent Letters by Sir John Greenvile (after Earl of Bath) to Monk, Mountague, (after Earl of Sandwich) and the Mayor of London.

The Presbyterians, who thought to have had the same Power they had when the secluded Members dissolved themselves, were shrewdly mistaken, for the Body of the Commons were Royalists, who chose Sir Harbottle Grimston their Speaker, and upon the opening of the Convention, the Royalist Lords, double more than the Presbyterians, entred into the Lords House, which the Presbyterians complained of to Monk, who answer'd, Now they were in, he had no Power to turn them out; so the Royalists were double to the Factions in both Houses of this Convention, so as the King need not fear his Restoration.

Now half England, of all sorts (except the Rumpers) cross the Seas to Breda, to make their Bargains with the King before he should come into England: the King promises fair to all, which it may be was impossible to perform, which caused Murmur afterward: And the Convention after they had proclaimed him King by inherent Birth-right, sent him 50000 l. 10000 l. to the Duke of York, and 5000 l. to the Duke of Glocester; and the City of London sent the King and his Brothers 12000 l.

[Page] Upon the 11th of May, both Houses sent Commissioners to Breda, to invite the King to return, and Admiral Mountague with a Royal Fleet to convoy him over, who upon the 25th landed him at Dover, where Monk met him upon his Knees, the King embracing him and kissing him, and next day at Canterbury created him Knight of the Garter, the Dukes of York and Glocester putting the George about his Neck.

'Twas rather a Madness than Jollity, all sorts of People expressed in the King's Passage from Dover to White-hall. The Nation was never so fine in Cloths, even the poor Cavaliers will be as fine as the best, tho they never live to pay their Tailors; nor shall the King take any care of them, his Favourites being of another Stamp than those who served his Father: Never were such Pageants, Triumphal Arches, and sumptuous Feasts seen in the City before; for which the poor Orphans Money in the Chamber of London must pay the greatest part.

When the King was restor'd, the Nation was in a Martial Posture, and the Manners of the People generally more severe and sober, than in his Father's and Grand-father's Reigns.

The first that made Court to the King were the Dutch, when he was at Breda, to enter into a League with them; but the King, by the Advice of Sir Edward Hide, (it's said) wisely answered, That this would look as if 'twere done by Restraint, the King being in their Power; besides, he was not yet possest of his Kingdoms, nor had established his Privy-Council: Yet the Dutch were the first who caress'd him with a most rich and splendid Gilded Yatch, to prepare him for a Treaty after his Accession to his Crowns.

Nor were the rest of the Princes of Europe long after the Dutch, in congratulating the King's Restoration, the French King being one of the first: The Spaniard made not so much haste, yet hoped for a better Reception than the French; and that the King of Spain might have a better Reception, he sent the Prince de Ligny his Ambassador, who in the Splendor of his Train much outvied the French. It's true, the Prince got a Peace with the King for his Master the King of Spain, but he got as little good by it, as the King of Spain did by that he made with the King's Grand-father, King James the First.

With better Success came the French Ambassador, tho I do not find he made any League with the French against the Spaniard, as Oliver did; nor was there any need of it, the French having made a deceitful Peace with the Spaniard at the Pyrenaean Treaty, yet you shall soon see both Kings dealt as ill with the King of Spain, as if he had been an open Enemy: And the more to endear himself with his Brother of France, the King rejected the advantagious Treaty of Commerce which Oliver made with France, as done by an Usurper, and never after (at least that I ever heard of) made [Page] any other instead of it, but left his Subjects to be used even as the French King pleased in their Trades to France.

Henry the Seventh was the first of our English Kings who used Guards, and he set up the Yeomen of the Guard, which was followed by all the Kings of England since: but tho the Convention had paid off and disbanded the English Armies, yet the King besides his Band of Pensioners, in imitation of the French, must have Guards of Horse and Foot, and the Parliament gave him Revenue enough to encrease these to what Number he pleased: But it had been better for him if he had imitated the French too, in preferring Men who were qualified, but few of these were to be found there: And tho he gave near double the Pay to these, yet was he much worse served than if Men of Merit had been there for half the Pay; for scarce one of the Officers but bought their Places; and this was so common, that the Prices were certain; so not he who deserved, but he which gave most was preferred; and when he was in, he owed the King no Service, having paid for what he had; and so his Business was how to improve his Bargain, not serve the King. And herein too the poor Cavaliers had the worst, they not having so much Money to buy as others had.

I take it for granted, that the first League which the now French King made after he came to Majority (I mean after twenty one Years of Age) was that of the Pyrenaean Treaty, the Breach of all the rest before we will lay to the Charge of Cardinal Mazarine: We will therefore see if the French King was not as little a Slave to his Word in this League, as Mazarine was in any before; and you'll see that in all the Leagues this King after made, he was as little a Slave to his Word as in this Treaty.

We have in the former Book set down particularly the Article whereby the French King, upon his Honour, and the Faith and Word of a King, did promise neither directly nor indirectly to assist Portugal against Spain; yet at the beginning of the Treaty they secretly conveyed Troops into Portugal in several Bodies: And when upon Complaint of the Marquess de la Fuente, they sent publick Orders to the Governours of their Ports, not to suffer any Souldiers to embark for Portugal, they did not abstain by Connivance under-hand to let them pass. Nay, when Marshal Turene made publick Levies to assist Portugal, it being complained of by the Marquess de la Fuente, they answered, it was a particular Act of the Marshal, and the Court of France had no Hand in it. And also continually supplied Portugal with Corn, and all sorts of Ammunition: And France also fomented the Obstinacy of Portugal to continue the War, when Spain offered them advantagious Terms of Peace. This, and much more you may read in the second Article of The Buckler of State and Justice.

[Page] Nor did the French King stay here, but (being become the dearest Confident with his Brother of England) almost as soon as the King was settled, the French sent Monsieur Courtin to move the King not to abandon Portugal; nor did he yet stay here, but Mazarine dying much about the latter end of Summer, having a Stone in his Heart, (so the French Pasquils said) in September or beginning of October the Queen-Mother came over, seemingly to treat with her Son for a Marriage between Monsieur of France, and her fair Daughter Henrietta Maria, the King's beloved Sister: Yet it seems to me the Marriage of the King with the Infanta of Portugal was not less designed than that with Monsieur: And besides these, you will soon hear of something else which brought the Queen-Mother into England.

As the Designs of the Queen's coming over were dark, so I acknowledg I have not seen any of the Treaties or Transactions concerning them, but must take Measures by what followed, and so far as I had Light from what went before; yet in all of them it seems evident to me, that the Queen shewed her self to be more affectionate to her Daughter than Son, and to be more a Daughter of France, than Queen of England.

But before I proceed, it will be convenient to take notice of the deplorable State of Spain, which their Ambition in seeking so many Foreign Dominions, and a Tyrannical Government had brought it to: For before the Accession of their American Dominions which they acquired by unjust War, and unheard-of Cruelties in all the ten Years War between Ferdinand and Isabella with the Moors (who had seven hundred Years been possessed of the Kingdoms of Granada, Murcia, and a great part of Andaluzia) every Year the Moors and Christians brought near a hundred thousand Men into the Field to fight one with another; yet the Kingdoms of Arragon, Navar and Portugal were Neutral in all the War: Whereas now all the Kingdoms of Spain (except that of Portugal) were united under this King Philip the Fourth, yet out of them all he could not raise an Army to fight the Portuguese, but trusting to the French Faith in the Pyrenaean Treaty, sent the Army in Flanders under the Command of the Marquess Caracene to do it.

The King imbraced the Overtures of both Marriages; and now the French King doubly, if not trebly, assured of his Brother of England, as well by the Treaties of these Marriages as by his Message by Courtin, no longer acts covertly in assisting the Prince Regent of Portugal against Spain, but bare-fac'd sent Marshal Schomberg with an Army and Fleet to their Assistance, yet this Army was not sufficient to make an Offensive War against Spain; but Portugal stood only upon the Defensive.

[Page] The Want of Money a little retarded the Marriage of the Princess with Monsieur; but this might be easily help'd, if the King would give up Dunkirk to the French, whereby he might pay 200000 l. for his Sister's Portion (which was more than his Father had with his Mother) and also receive 200000 l. more for himself. Nor was this all, he might save the Charges of maintaining a Garison there; yet the Parliament in the Hereditary Excise, allowed him 60000 l. per Annum for the Support of it. I do not find this mentioned in the Body of the Act, yet several Members assured me, it was so intended in the passing the Act.

All this the King agreed to, and so Dunkirk and Mardike Fort were given up to the French, against all the Laws of Humanity, Justice and Prudence.

I say it was against all the Laws of Humanity; for the Spaniard entertained and relieved the King, when the French had expelled him, and joined with Oliver the Usurper of all his Dominions. It was against Justice; for the Soveraignty of Dunkirk was of Right and Justice the Spaniards. And against the Rules of Policy and Prudence; the French Nation being the Natural Enemies of the English, and the next Neighbour to it, and of all Nations the most formidable.

It had been happier for the poor Spaniard, and the English Nation, if the Unkindness of the King to the Spaniard had ended in his giving up Dunkirk to the French: but it ended not here; for the King imployed the Army which should have kept Dunkirk against the Spaniard in Portugal; and with these and another Band of the disbanded English Army joined to them; the French, Portuguese and English, or rather the English without them, routed the whole united Army of the Spaniard at the Fight of Elvas: So as now the French had a new Inlet into Flanders, and the Spaniard no Army to defend it. This was a foul Blot in the Spanish Politicks, by their King's trusting to the Faith of his Brethren of England and France. But this will not stay here, as hereafter you will see.

Here I take leave so well as I can, to vindicate the Memory of my Lord Chancellor Hide, from two Aspersions (as I conceive) cast upon him; one, That he was the Adviser of the giving up Dunkirk to the French: The other, That he was the Procurer of the King's Marriage with the Infanta of Portugal.

For the first, I was assured by a credible Person (tho a Confident of my Lord Chancellor's) that he was so far from advising the King to give up Dunkirk to the French, that only he and my Lord Treasurer Southampton (upon whose Honour my Lord Chancellor relied more than any other) of all the Council, entred their Protestations against it. The Truth of this may be resolved, by inspecting the Privy-Council's Books.

[Page] It's true, I cannot prove negatively, that my Lord Chancellor did not first propound the King's Marriage with the Infanta of Portugal; yet it seems to me reasonable he did not, for these Reasons.

I never heard of any Discourse of this Match, before the Arrival of the Queen-Mother in England; or if any were, it's probable that Monsieur Courtin had this in his Instructions, as well as that of moving the King not to abandon Portugal, for both these tend to the same end; and the French King, all his Reign after, sought to attain his Ends by Women, as well as other Ways: Nor can it be believed that the Prince of Portugal, now engaged in War against Spain, should pay the Queen's Portion 400000 l. I believe he did what he could, give up Tangier and Bombay to the King, which last Place he leased to the East-India Company for 10 l. per Annum, but the Money was paid by the French King.

Though the Factions had such ill Success with previous Swearing, which every one imposed upon the Nation when it was uppermost, and which no Man regarded when another succeeded; yet upon the Restoration of the King, the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy (which latter was only imposed upon certain Sorts of Men; and, as my Lord Verulam says, sinks deep into the Conscience, and was therefore interpreted by Queen Elizabeth in her Injunctions, which were after confirmed by Act of Parliament) were imposed upon all sorts of People, and the Refusers looked upon as Enemies to the King, and Favourers of the late Times.

And tho the Convention sate but from the 25th of April, 1660, to the 29th of December following, yet by this time the outward Face of almost all the Nation was quite changed; the Cavalier Party, under the Persecution of the late times, lived quietly upon that part of their Estates which was permitted them after their Compositions, and the Governing Factions put on a Countenance of Godliness and Sobriety; whereas in the Jollity of the King's Restoration, all sorts of Men (even the Factions) endeavoured to imitate the profuse Prodigality and Luxury of the Court; which scarce entertained any but upon those Terms. To humour the King, the Publick Theaters were stuffed with most Obscene Actions and Interludes, and the more Obscene pleased the King the better, who graced the opening of them with his Presence, at the first Notice of a new Play.

In this State the Convention was dissolved, and a Parliament met the eighth of May, 1661. where that they might outvy the Convention in Loyalty, in the first Chapter they make Words to compass or imagine any Bodily Harm, Imprisonment, or Restraint upon the Body of the King, or to Depose him, or levy War against him, to be High-Treason: And if any shall any ways affirm the King to be a Heretick or Papist, shall be incapacitated to hold [Page] any Ecclesiastical, Civil or Military Imployment: And that it shall be a Premunire in any to say, The Long Parliament begun in November 1640 is not dissolved; or that there lies any Obligation upon any one from any Oath to endeavour a Change of Government either in Church or State; or that one or both Houses of Parliament have a Legislative Power: and declare the Oath, commonly called The Solemn League and Covenant, to be an unlawful Oath, and imposed upon the Subject against the Fundamental Laws and Constitutions of the Nation: And Chap. 5. declare against Tumultuary petitioning the King or Parliament: And Chap. 6. declare the sole Right of the Militia to be in the King. This Parliament, upon the thirtieth of July, was adjourned to the twentieth of November.

This being but an Adjournment, and so the Act of the Houses, (for as yet the King did not exercise his Prerogative of Proroguing them, which hereafter you will see him very prodigal of) I do not find that this Adjournment was made, that the King might better proceed in his Bargain and Sale of Dunkirk to the French. Yet I do say that before the Parliament met, it was (as I remember in September) that the Bargain and Sale was perfected, and Dunkirk put into the Power of the French.

But neither the Sale of Dunkirk without, nor the keeping up a standing Army within (called the King's Guards) after it was disbanded and paid off by the Covention, nor the King's Manner of Life, could any ways abate the Loyalty of this Parliament to the King; and keep him they would whatever came of it: And to all the Provisions for Security of his Person and Power, they will add that to keep him in, which the Rump in its last Breath did to keep him out, viz. To swear to keep him out. And therefore the Parliament, Chap. 2. made the Corporation-Oath to be taken by all the Members of Corporations, viz. I A. B. do declare and believe, that it is not Lawful, upon any Pretence whatsoever, to take Arms against the King: And that I do abhor that Traiterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person, or against those who are commissioned by him: So help me God. This I think is one of the first Laws that ever was made, to swear to Opinions and Belief: And sure if Swearing would determine Controversies and Beliefs, all Learning, Reasoning and Instruction would be at an end; and he that swears most is the best Logician, and the Godliest Man. We will therefore consider the Nature of an Oath, and those who are to take this Oath.

If we consider Man, and other Sensitive Creatures in their Creation and Generation, they were all passive, and they were created and generated without any Act of their own Will, or the Counsel or Concurrence of any Creature, but of a Divine and Omnipotent Power; and by a Providence and Prescience not less wise [Page] and good, than the Power was Omnipotent, they had Food, and other Means for their Continuance in this World provided before they were created or generated.

But though God, without the Act of the Will of any Creature, did make Man and other Sensitive Creatures, by an inimitable Power, which he communicated to no Creature; and by an unscrutable Wisdom and Goodness did provide for them before they were made or generated; yet did he not in vain make them Organical Bodies, endued with Life, Sense and Motion; so that after they were made, they might seek food which God had before provided for them, and preserve themselves from other Creatures which might be hurtful to them.

As Sensation is naturally common to Man, and other Sensitive Creatures, so are the Passions of Love, Fear, Hatred and Desire; viz. Love of those things which conduce to their Welfare and Preservation; Fear of those things which are hurtful to them, accompanied with an Hatred of them; and a Desire of generating their Like in other Bodies.

Besides these Attributes common to other Creatures, God endued Man with an Intellectual and Reasonable Soul, which is proper to Man, exclusive to other Creatures; and made all things in this our Habitable World for the Use of Man, and therefore created Man for a Nobler End than can be found in this World, viz. capable of Eternal Happiness in a better.

But though God made all things in this World for the Use of Man, yet few things are useful to Man, but as they are made so by Humane Labour, Industry and Art; yet no Art or Science in Man is innate or connatural, or comes to pass by Inspiration, Fate, or Chance, but by Education, Learning and Experience: We do not read that God ever made a House, Cloth, a Ship, &c. without Man; whereas Nature of her own Accord has provided Food and all things necessary for other Creatures, without any Act or Care of theirs: Thus Nature clothed Sheep and Beasts with Wool and Hair; Fowls with Feathers, and Fish with Scales: And tho Fowls make their Nests, and Conies and Badgers Berries, yet they do these by an insite connatural Power, not learned or taught by any Creature.

Other Creatures live free and independent upon one another, except the young ones of some Creatures, while they can seek their Food and Preservation; and are either Solivagous and Hurtful, as Foxes, Wolves and Tigers, &c. or live promiscuously in Herds and Flocks, and are innocent Creatures, as Sheep, Goats, &c. whereas Men live in Dependency one upon another, so as no Man can subsist of himself; but depends upon another for things which conduce to their Welfare and Preservation; and are neither Solivagous, nor live promiscuously in Flocks and Herds, but in [Page] Society and Conversation; and keep Company by Election or Choice, as they stand in need of other Men, either for their Necessity, Convenience or Pleasure: and Men are distinguished from other Men by their Manners and Conversation, so as it becomes Scandalous to keep Company with Debauched and Vicious Men.

As other Creatures live free and independent upon one another, so have they all things which Nature had provided for them in common; whereas Man lives upon those things wherein he has Property exclusive to other Men: So that it is wicked and unjust for any Man who has no Property in a thing, without the Consent of him who has Property in it, to take it from him.

In this State of Society, out of which no Man lives, God did not endue Man with Understanding and Reason in vain: for whereas other Creatures pursue their Actions, being excited by the Passions of Love, Fear, Hatred and Desire; yet Man depresses these, and governs his Actions by Understanding and Reason, so that Humane Society may be preserved.

Speech and Letters are necessary in Humane Society and Conversation; which wise Nature (which never acts in vain) hath denied other Sensitive Creatures, which govern their Actions by Sense, and their Passions, these having no need of them. Speech is the Mean or Instrument by which Men converse to the Hearing of one another; and Letters to the Sight: Other Creatures hear the Sound of Speech, and can see Letters, but do not understand the Power of the Words, or Construction of them.

Man is born the most impotent of all other Creatures; being naked and unarmed, yet can neither clothe nor defend himself without the Help of another; he has nothing to feed himself with but what he has from another; yet if he takes any thing from another, without the Consent of that other, it will be Wickedness and Theft: He is obliged to live uprightly and justly with other Men; yet understands not how to live uprightly and justly, but as he is instructed by Education, Learning and Experience; he is obliged to speak and write in Truth, but neither Speech nor Letters are Insite or Connatural, but acquired by Instruction and Learning from others.

All Humane Learning, Reasoning and Instruction in Religion, Morality, and in every Art and Science, is begotten from the Powers which God had before implanted in the Learner, and from the Principles which were before understood by him: so that if a Man be born blind, it will be in vain to instruct him how to be a Painter; or if Dumb, to be a Musician or Orator; or if he be not Compos Mentis, so as to understand the Principles from which he is to be instructed, Instruction will be as vain to him, as to teach a Dumb Man to be an Orator, or a blind Man a Painter: So that it [Page] is from those Powers which God has implanted in Man, without the Will of Man, that Man becomes capable of being instructed by Man; and therefore Man is obliged to give God all Honour and Praise before any other, that he endued him, without the Help of any other, with an Intellectual and Reasonable Soul, capable of Instruction.

The End of all Learning, Reasoning and Instruction, is how from Premises or Principles, which a Man before understood as an Intellectual Creature, to govern his Intentions, Speech and Actions from them in time to come rationally: So that as the Understanding is of the Causes of things and Actions which were before; so Reason is of the Consequences of Speech and Actions in time to come. The Understanding is from the Act and Power of God, but Reason is from the Act or Power in Man. So that though a Man may instruct another, who hath a competent Understanding, how to act Rationally in Consequence, yet no Man can instruct another who is a Fool or Madman, how to understand Principles from which he is to be instructed, so as to judg and act rationally.

As every Learner is presumed to understand the Principles from which he is to be instructed, so the Principles are assumed, not proved, and are to be without Question or Dispute: For if the Question of any rational Proposition be but probable or uncertain, the Conclusion or Consequence, will be less probable and more uncertain.

For the better understanding an Oath, it will be very requisite to distinguish between Understanding and Knowledg; for Man understands Intelligible Beings, as God, the Soul, a Law, Religion, Justice, &c. which can never be the Objects of Sense, but may be said to know what he understands, sensibly, viz. of things and Actions which are perceived by Sense; as a Man, a Horse, a Tree, may be perceived by other Sensitive Creatures: But that these do exist, is intelligible. So it is that Man is an Intellectual and Reasonable Creature; and that God has made all sensible things in the World for the Use of Man, &c. and these can never be the Objects of Sense.

As Man excels all other Creatures as he is an intellectual and reasonable Creature, [...]hereby he honours God, is helpful to other Men, and preserves Peace in Society; so on the contrary, Man above all other Creatures abounds in Pride, Ambition, Arrogance, Malice, Revenge, Covetousness, and unlawful Lust, whereby God becomes dishonoured, and the Peace of Humane Society disturbed; so as it is necessary in all Kingdoms and Countries, that these be restrained and punished by Civil and Coercive Laws.

Laws are twofold, Divine and Humane; Divine Laws are twofold, viz. Natural, and Supernatural revealed in the sacred Scriptures: [Page] Natural, which are presumed to be alike engraven on the Mind of Man: Supernatural are those which Man obeys by God's special Favour and Grace. Natural Laws are Affirmative and Negative; Affirmative, That Man honour God above all Creatures, and that he converse truly and uprightly with Man: Negative, That he do not blaspheme or dishonour God, nor wrong, or deal falsly or deceitfully with another, neither in his Intentions, Speech nor Actions: so that Civil Laws do not forbid Blasphemy, or Immoral Speech and Actions, but indifferently in divers Countries and Places punish them.

I say the Law of Nature is alike inplanted in all Intelligible Creatures; for where there is no Law, there is no Transgression nor Omission: And therefore if all Men did not understand that Blasphemy, and Immoral Speech and Actions were wicked, it would be Tyranny to punish them: So as Humane Judgment and Justice are necessary for Preservation of Humane Society; and the End of Humane Judgment and Justice, is, as well to restore them to Right who suffer Wrongfully, as to punish Wrong-doers.

It's fit here to distinguish between Knowledg and Belief; Knowledg is immediate of those things and Actions which fall under the Sense of Man, and therefore not learned or taught, but alike understood by all Men: And Verity and true Speech is what a Man knows; whereas Belief is a Reliance upon what another says to be true.

In all Legal Judgment upon which Justice is executed, Judges in Civil Affairs assume two Premises, which are to be without Question or Dispute, viz. some foreknown Law, and some Speech or Act done; so that if the Law and Fact be but probable or uncertain, the Judgment will be less probable and more uncertain: But in giving Judgment, Judges do not swear to their Opinions, but make some Laws to be their Reasons of them.

A Promise is twofold, Affirmative and Negative, and is of time to come, and is a Respecter of Persons. An Affirmative Promise, is a Speech or Writing, wherein one or more assure another or more, upon their Truth or Faith to do such an Act, in his or their Power, in some certain Time and Place; or to be serviceable to another or more, for some time, or during Life, as they shall be able: a Negative Promise is when one or more, upon their Truth or Faith, assure another, not to do such an Act; and if the Parties mutually promise, this is a Contract.

A Promissory Oath, is when one or more affix God's Name (which implies an Imprecation of God's Judgment upon them) that they will do or not do, what they promise: But sure Men who give Promissory Oaths, ought to be well assured they can do what they promise; and ought (considering the Frailty of Humane Nature, and the infinite intervening Accidents which they [Page] annot foresee, or if they could, could not prevent) to implore God's Assistance to enable them to perform their Promise. And I do say, and verily believe, that of all Men, those who soonest make Promissory Oaths, do most break them; and that Men who are so forward to make these Promissory Oaths by them, cover their Designs of deceiving the other, more than of performing their Promise.

An Oath is so sacred, that as God will not have Divine Adoration, or Worship, to be given to any other but himself, so neither will he have an Oath to be taken by any other Name; not by the Sun, Moon, Earth, or all the Host of Heaven. And if he will not hold him Guiltless who takes his Name in vain, how will he hold him Guiltless who swears in vain? Thereby not only lessening the Veneration due to his Name, but designing by it to deceive another.

In all my Observations, I never knew any Man, who made no Conscience of Swearing, or taking God's Name in vain, but made less in taking care to perform his Promises: And when I hear a Man begin with Swearing, (not duly called unto it) I suspect he has either some Design in it, or that thereby he would create a Belief to that which is not true.

But how Legally or Illegally soever these Promissory Oaths are imposed, I never heard of any who was prosecuted for Perjury upon them, except Mr. Long, Sheriff of Wilts, prosecuted in the Star-Chamber, for that he had sworn (as all Sheriffs do) not to go out of the County without leave from the King; yet being chosen a Parliament-Man, 3 Car. 1. came to serve in Parliament, for which he pleaded the King's Writ, which was Leave from the King; and the Earl of Argyle, about the Interpretation of the unintelligible Scotish Test. And I dare say, That if the Oath of Allegiance to the King were but once taken, it would be held in greater Veneration than by often taking it upon these Premises. Let's see whether the Corporation-Oath be an Assertory, or Promissory Oath, or neither: And in regard it is in two Parts, consider both. The first is,

I A. B. do declare and believe, That it is not lawful upon any Pretence whatsoever, to take up Arms against the King.

This Part of the Oath is not Promissory, and so an Assertory Negative Oath: Here I will not dispute whether there can be a Negative Assertory Oath; yet I do say such an Oath can never extend farther than to him who swears he does not know what he is required to swear: But he can never swear that another does not know it. So tho a Man may believe it's not Lawful for a Man to take Arms against the King upon any Pretence whatsoever, yet he can never extend it further than himself.

[Page] But I say this sort of Swearing destroys the Religion and End of an Assertory Oath, which is only to what a Man knows certainly to be true; but no Man certainly knows that an Opinion or Belief is certainly true: But tho by some apparent Reason, or the Authority of another, I may be of an Opinion, or Belief, yet upon clearer Reason and better Authority, I may alter my Opinion and Belief, which a previous Assertory Oath can never oblige me to. In Justice therefore an Assertory Oath, That I Believe, or am of Opinion, is not admitted, unless he that testifies swears the Ground or Cause of his Belief or Opinion to be certain and true of his own Knowledg.

I desire to know what were the Grounds or Reasons of this Corporation-Oath, which every one ought to swear to be true of his own certain Knowledg, before he believe it not to be lawful upon any Pretence whatsoever to take up Arms against the King. Or, admit there might be Reason for this Belief, yet if the Causes of this Belief were not before known to the Taker of this Oath, so as the Taker knows them to be true of his certain Knowledg, this Oath, if any, is Perjury.

The other Part of this Oath is, And I do abhor that Traiterous Position of taking Arms by his (the King's) Authority against his Person, or against those who are commissionated by him. So help me God.

So that from swearing Negatively to Belief in the first part of this Oath, we come to swear Affirmatively in this part of it: But this part not being Promissory of Time to come, is an Assertory Oath too, if any, besides the taking God's Name in vain, or worse.

An Assertory Oath is of what a Man knows to be certainly true, and what was immediately the Object of Sense. Here a Man swears not that he knows, but abhors: and what does he abhor? That Traiterous Position of taking Arms by the King's Authority against his Person, or those commissionated by him. Is Traiterous Position the Object of Sense, and immediate, so as the Swearer knows what the meaning of Traiterous Position is? Which I believe not one of twenty does: Or is not some Inference deduced from some Law or Usage, which cannot be the Object of Sense, and so not to be sworn to?

The End of an Assertory Oath, is to inform the Judg and Jury, so that Justice may be determined by it: but here is neither Judg nor Jury to inform: What can be the end of this Swearing? Why, 'tis because otherwise the Swearer cannot be a Member of the Corporation; but if I cannot take his Word, I'll not take his Oath: And he that swears most to get Places, is least worthy of them. And I dare say he so much less understands his Duty in any Place, by how much the more he is ready to swear to get into it: And you will see that those Men who are so ready to swear [Page] by this Oath which they did not understand, to get to be Members of Corporations, shall be more ready to forswear themselves in giving up their Charters, which they had sworn to maintain and keep, and which they understood they ought to do.

Religion, Piety, Judgment, Justice and Righteousness, are the ways by which God is honoured, and Peace and Happiness established in Nations and Kingdoms: And will God instead of these, suffer his Sacred Name to be prostituted by vain Swearing, so as to pass unpunished? Did not the Prophet Hosea, Ch. 4. v. 3. of old complain, That the Land mourned because of Oaths? And hath not our Land mourned ever since the Convocation, after the Dissolution of the Short Parliament 1640, did enjoin the Oath, I A. B. swear that I approve the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England, as containing all things necessary to Salvation, and will not consent to alter the Government in the Church, by Arch-bishops, Bishops, Deans and Arch-Deacons, &c. to be taken by all the Clergy? Was God well pleased that his Sacred Name should be affixed to such Stuff? Or did this establish this Hierarchy? Did not the Parliament about a Year after expel the Bishops out of the Lords House, and imprisoned their Persons, and made them and all Deans and Arch-Deacons uncapable of Temporal Jurisdiction? And did not England and Scotland about two Years after join in a Covenant, and swear to extirpate Arch-bishops, Bishops, Deans, and Arch-Deacons? Did not the Engagement expel the Covenant, and the Recognition to Oliver out the Engagement, till Men neither regarded what they had sworn, nor cared what they swore to? Monk before he came out of Scotland, caused the Scots to abjure the King and his Interest: So in his coming to London, he did by the Officers of the Irish Brigade, and the Rump died abjuring the King and Royal Family; yet in less than four Months after the King was restor'd.

Before the Scots would admit the King to land in Scotland, the 23d of June 1650, they made him, with his Hands lifted up, swear in the Presence of Almighty God, the Searcher of all Hearts, his Allowance and Approbation of the National Covenant, and Solemn League and Covenant, and Directories of Worship; and not only to give his Royal Assent to Acts of Parliament enjoining the same in all his Dominions, but to observe them in his private Family: And upon his Coronation on the 11th of January 1651, repeated the same Oath. Yet how little did this avail him, or the Covenanters? for in less than eight Months Cromwel drove him and his Covenanters quite out of Scotland. And I dare say, the King never after made use of them in his private Family, nor ever after give his Assent to any Act of Parliament enjoining the Covenants, tho he were restored to all his Dominions.

[Page] From swearing the Corporation-Oath, the Parliament proceeds, That all Members of Corporations declare against the Solemn League and Covenant, in these words, I A. B. do declare, That I hold there lies no Obligation upon me, or any other Person, from the Oath commonly called the Solemn League and Covenant, and that the same was in it self an unlawful Oath, and imposed upon the Subjects of this Realm against the known Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom.

This Declaration is as vain, and more wild than the Corporation-Oath; for 'tis but matter of Belief or Opinion, and so no Issue can be taken upon it: but if there could in him who declares, yet none can be taken upon that part which declares there lies no Obligation upon another; and I'll put it upon this Issue, that such a Declaration was never before enjoin'd by any Law.

And if the Covenant be an unlawful Oath in it self, because imposed by no lawful Authority, yet I say that no Authority under Heaven can make the taking God's Name in vain lawful, much less to take a vain or superfluous Oath.

From new invented swearing, and declaring to keep the King in the Kingdom, the Church makes many new invented Prayers for him, especially that for the Parliament, wherein they tell God that the King is their most Religious and Gracious King; as if he were so, and God did not know it; and if he were not so, to perswade God he was so.

De Jove quid sentis? Will God be mock'd? Is not he Omniscient, and knows the Secrets of every Man's Heart? Has he any need to be informed what Man is? Or did this King's manner of Life induce the Church to inform God that he was most Gracious, or full of Grace? Or his devout Behaviour at his seldom Presence in Divine Service, declare him to be most Religious? This King's Father and Grand-father's Flatterers went no higher than to flatter them, that they were bound by no Laws, and accountable to none but God for all their Actions, and that their Subjects were bound to obey them in all, under Penalty of Damnation: They never went about to perswade God they were most Religious and Gracious in so doing.

The Parliament chimed in with the Church, and by the Act of Ʋniformity, enjoin, That every one who holds an Ecclesiastical Promotion, shall publickly declare before his Congregation his unfeigned Assent and Consent to every thing contained and prescribed in the Book, entituled, The Book of Common-Prayer, &c. Put these together: I. A. B. do declare my unfeigned Assent and Consent, That the King (Charles II.) is my most Religious and Gracious King: If he be so, how came you to know it? And if you do not know it, how came you so unfeignedly to assent and consent that he is so? But tho to get your Living you tell the Congregation so, when you do not know it; I think it's dreadful [Page] for you to tell God Almighty he is so, if you be not very well assured he is so. But you'll soon see what Care this King took of the Church of England, which took such Care for him.

Was God well pleased with these things? You shall soon see unjust Wars and dishonourable Peace: Such Judgments of Plague, Fire and Invasion into our Ports, as never before were heard of: And tho God's Judgments were in the Land, the People did not learn Righteousness, but continued a divided and factious Nation, and a People laden with Iniquity: The Honour of the Nation not only lost abroad, but a joining with a neighbouring Faithless, Boundless and Ambitious Prince, to the endangering the Subversion of the Religion, Constitutions and Liberties of the English Nation. Now let's see what is doing in Scotland.

If a Man reads Buchanan's and Drummond's History of Scotland, they will better judg of General Monk's prudent Government and Conduct in it for eight Years together: For from the Contest between Bruce and Baliol, for the Succession to the Crown of Scotland, about the Year 1280, till James VI. came to the Crown of England, I scarce find five Years Peace together in any of the Reigns between: And if for some time the Scots were freed from open War, yet scarce at any time were they freed from Feuds among the Nobility, or the Nobility at Discord and Variance with their Kings.

After the Reformation of Religion in Scotland, which began in the first Year of Queen Elizabeth, by her assisting the Nobility with an Army by Land, and a Fleet by Sea, whereby the French sent by Henry the Second of France, (Father of Francis the Dauphin, who had married Mary the Scotish Queen) to subdue Scotland to a Conformity to the Romish Church, were outed; the Kirk of Scotland set up a Jurisdiction as independent from the Civil as the Romish was, and held it up during the Reign of Mary; and after they had expelled her, and chosen her Son James King (about fourteen Months old) in the Regency of Murrey, they got their Church-Discipline established by Act of Parliament: This was in the Year 1567.

The Kirk being possest of this Power during the Minority of King James, and several of the Nobility having got a great share of the Crown-Lands of Scotland, the King upon his Majority was so poor, that he was not in a Condition to keep up the State of a King, much less to curb the Insolence of the Kirk, the Nobility who had got the Crown-Lands joining with them.

Tho Queen Elizabeth did not love the Kirk-Party, yet was she content to have Scotland in this State; for thereby she preserv'd the English Borders free from the Depredations which the Scots usually made upon them, and therefore secretly countenanced both the King and Nobility, who had got the Crown-Lands; However [Page] ever she allowed the King a Pension yearly, whereby she kept the King, as well as Kirk and Nobility, depending upon her.

In this State England and Scotland stood till the Death of Queen Elizabeth; but it was ill timed of King Charles I. to grant Commissions to enquire into the Crown-Lands usurped in his Father's Minority, and soon after to endeavour to set up Laud's Injunctions, and High-Commission in Scotland, which made the Nobility as well as Kirk so fierce in opposing them.

King Charles, offended at the Proceedings of the Parliament of England in 1641, goes into Scotland, and establishes the Kirk in all their Pretensions, and disclaims all Title to the Crown-Lands usurped in his Father's Minority, which no ways mollified either: But next Year the Scots sent an Army under Lesley (made an Earl by the King) against him in Aid of the English Parliament: But tho the Kirk and Nobility were thus insolent against their Kings, they patiently submitted to Monk during his Government in Scotland, except some few Disturbances made by General Middleton.

For neither Cromwel nor the Rump before him, trusted to the Scotish Oaths, or Solemn League and Covenant, but after they had subdued them, bridled them with Forts built upon the principal Passages of Scotland, and disarm'd all the Nobility and Gentry, and thereby kept them in Peace, which King Charles by all the Condescensions he submitted to, could not procure. And hereto, that the common sort of Scots lived in more Freedom under Monk, than under their Lords and Lairds; so that neither the Kirk or Nobility could form the Body of an Army against the English.

Before the King was restor'd, the Army which would have kept him out was dissipated the Year before by Monk, and after his Restoration was disbanded, and so the English Nation was restored to its former Government: But it was not so in Scotland, for not only the Forts which bridled them, but the Army which conquer'd them, was still kept up. Nor had the Scots any hopes of being freed from these Fetters, but by an intire Submission to the King.

Upon the King's Restoration, many Debates were in the Council in England, about the calling a Parliament in Scotland, and the demolishing the Forts for keeping the Scots in Subjection; but neither were so easily determined, for in all Scotland after Montross was butcher'd, I do not find there was one of the Nobility, except his Son, which were not Popish or Presbyterian; and the Presbyterian Party had been so rigid against the King when he was in Scotland, and intolerable to his Father, that above a Year past before any Resolution was taken in either.

Lauderdale, as before said, was taken Prisoner after the Fight at Worcester, and from that time kept Prisoner in Windsor-Castle, from whence he was set free upon the King's Restoration, but became [Page] so poor, that it's said he could not meet the King, for want [...] Money to pay for a Pair of Boots.

This Imprisonment was doubly happy to him: for during the Restraint of his Body, he enlarged the Faculties of his Mind; and being a Man of Parts, improved them by Contemplation and Study, wherein he met with more Helps than it may be he could have found in Scotland; whereby he became of greater Abilitie [...] to serve the King, than could be found in any other of his Countrymen; and being in England, found better Opportunities to have them known to the King, than any of his absent Country-men could.

In the late Wars between the King and Parliament, he, with Sir John Cheesley, were ordered Commissioners by the Kirk-Faction to the Parliament in England, for propagating the Presbyterian Government: But this being most detestable at Court, Lauderdale to raise himself, set himself with all his Skill to oppose it; and by it, at first, got to be made Principal Secretary of State of Scotland: and as Runnagadoes from Christianity, become the greatest Persecutors of Christians, so was Lauderdale of the Kirk and Presbyterian Government. However, Lauderdale seemed zealous for calling a Parliament in Scotland, and demolishing the Forts tha [...] bridled the Scots, which Monk opposed: and hereby Lauderdale became popular in Scotland; so that all Applications to the King from thence was by Lauderdale.

In this state it was not easily determined who should be Commissioner in Scotland, in case a Parliament should be called; for Affairs were not yet ripe enough to make a Popish one, nor would the Court trust a Presbyterian one: and Lauderdale would not forsake his Post at Court, where he govern'd all, but continue it that all the Motions in Parliament might receive their Life from him. At last it was agreed, That Middleton (who first served the Kirk against King Charles I. and after changing Sides, made some Bustle in Scotland, after the King left it) should be created an Earl, and made Commissioner, and a Parliament should be called in Scotland.

The Nobility and Gentry of Scotland, clearly saw there was no other way to redeem Scotland from being a conquered Nation, and a Province to England, but by an entire Submission to the King. Lauderdale knew this as well as they, and therefore resolved to make them pay dear for their Deliverance; and now you shall see the Nobility and Gentry, which with the Kirk united against King Charles I. divide under his Son, and sacrifice the Kirk and all their Discipline, to make an Atonement for themselves. The first Act which was shewed herein, was upon this Occasion.

The firy Zeal of the Kirk-men burnt up all Rules of Prudence, or the Consideration of the present State of Scotland; so that even [Page] in this state, Crowns and Scepters must submit to the Kirk. And that the King might know his Duty, a Company of them met together, and drew up a Supplication (as they said) but in nature of a Remonstrance to the King, setting forth the Calamities they groaned under in the Time of the Usurpers, by their impious Incroachments upon the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and the Liberties thereof; which of themselves they were not able to suppress and overcome: and the Danger of the Popish and Prelatical Party now beginning again to lift up their Head, they press him to mind his [...]aths and Covenant with God, &c.

The Committee of Estates well knowing how ungrateful this would be to the King, upon the 23d of August 1660. sent a Party and apprehended these Men, whereof one Mr. James Guthry was the chief, (of whom you'll hear more hereafter) and committed them Prisoners to Edinburgh-Castle, and from thence Guthry was sent Prisoner to Dundee, for treasonable and seditious reflecting on his Majesty, and on the Government of England, and the Constitution of the Committee of State, and tending to raise new Tumults, and kindling a new Civil War among his Majesty's good Subjects.

This was the first Spark, which soon burnt into such a Flame, as totally consumed the whole Kirk-Party in Scotland, and left them in a much worse plight than before, when they suffered under the Usurpation (as they called it) of the English.

For during the late Usurpations, the Kirk enjoyed a Liberty of Conscience: but it's the Nature of some Men, that unless they may persecute other Men, they'll exclaim they are persecuted themselves; and therefore (since they were not able to do it themselves) they minded the King of his Covenant with God, to extirpate Heresy, Schism, and Profaneness, and to remove the stumbling which the King had given them, in admitting Prelacy, Ceremonies, and Service-Book in the King's Chappel, and other Places of his Dominions.

But these Men were mistaken in their Measures; for after the King was expelled from Scotland by Cromwel, he little (I may say never) observed the Directory of Worship, Confession of Faith, and Catechisms in his Family, according to the National and Solemn League and Covenant, as he repeated in his Coronation-Oath, and less the establishing Presbyterian Government in England and Ireland, and least of all in Scotland.

For one of the first Acts of the first Sessions, was an Anniversary Thanksgiving, to be observed on every May 29, with this Proem.

The States of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland, taking into their Consideration, the sad Condition, Slavery and Bondage, this antient Kingdom has groaned under these twenty three Years (the time when the Troubles arose in K. Charles the First's Reign) in which, under very specious Pretences of Reformation, a publick Rebellion [Page] has been, by the Treachery of some, and Misperswasion of others, violently carried on against sacred Authority, to the Ruin and Destruction, so far as was possible, of Religion, this King's Majesty, and his Royal Government, the Laws, Liberties, and Property of the People, and all the publick and private Interests of the Kingdom; so that Religion it self hath been prostituted for the Warrant of all these treasonable Invasions made upon the Royal Authority, and disloyal Limitations upon the Allegiance of the Subjects: Therefore upon the 29th of May be set apart for an Holy Day, &c. Yet soon after the King's Restoration, he wrote to the Presbytery of Edinburgh, promising to countenance the Church as by Law established: But Lauderdale knew his Mind better.

Here it's observable, That in 1638, when the Kirk were so zealous, with lifted-up Hands in the Presence of the Eternal God, to swear to establish their National Covenant, there was not one of the Nobility (but the Popish) except the Marquess of Hamilton, and the Earl of Traquair, but joined with the Kirk, expresly against the King's Command: Traquair, the Kirk-Party proceeded against as an Incendiary; and after, Hamilton secretly joined with the Covenanters, for which King Charles I. made him Prisoner in Pendennis-Castle; from whence he was discharged when Fairfax had it surrender'd: And not one of the Nobility (except Argile and Cassels) but declare this, and all the Kirk-Proceedings since, Treasonable Rebellion against the Laws, Liberties, and Property of the People, and Prostitution of Religion; and this Declaration was celebrated with a double Sacrifice, the Marquess of Argile being executed as a Traitor, for holding Correspondence with Cromwel, and his Head set where Montross's stood on the Monday before; and Mr. Guthry, on Saturday after, for refusing to own the Jurisdiction of the Judges in Ecclesiastical Affairs, had his Head set upon one of the Ports of Edinburgh.

This was a sad Presage to the Kirk of what followed: For as they, without the King, would impose their Solemn League and Covenant upon England; now, by the King and Parliament, an Oath of Allegiance (in the very Nature, if not the Words, of the Oath of Supremacy in England) is imposed upon them; wherein they are to swear, That the King is the supreme Governour over all Persons, and in all Causes, &c. and, That they will maintain, defend, and assist his Majesty's Jurisdiction aforesaid, against all deadly Enemies; and shall never decline his Majesty's Power and Jurisdiction, as they shall answer it to God. And all Persons who refuse to take this Oath, to be uncapable of any publick Trust, and to be look'd upon as Persons disaffected to his Majesty's Authority and Government.

And the 11th Act of the first Session says, That it is the inherent Privilege of the Crown, and undoubted Prerogative of the Kings [Page] of Scotland, to have the sole Power of chusing Officers of State, &c. and of holding and dissolving Parliaments, &c. and, That it is High Treason in any of the Subjects, to make Leagues with Foreigners, or among themselves, without his Majesty's Authority first had, &c. And therefore the League and Covenant, and all Treaties thereon, are not obligatory; and that none presume to require, or renew the swearing the said League and Covenant.

The next Act (I cannot say of Parliament, for it was purely arbitrary) was the total rooting out the Presbyterian Government in Scotland, and upon this Occasion.

Mr. James Sharp, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Farwel, Mr. Leighton, (but whether sent for by the King, or sent by the Kirk-Party, I do not find) came in 1661 to London, and were ordained Deacons and Presbyters, and after consecrated Bishops by the Bishop of Winchester, and two other Bishops: The Acceptance of which was a Renunciation of their Presbyterian Ordination; nay, it was a Declaration of the Invalidity of their former Ordination: and thereupon, the King, on the 6th of September 1661, issued out a Proclamation, declaring his Royal Pleasure to be for the restoring the Government of the Church of Scotland to be by Arch-bishops and Bishops, as it was exercised in the Year 1637; and that he had nominated and presented Arch-bishops and Bishops to their several Bishopricks, and to have the same Authority they had in the Reign of his Grand-father. Thus you see the Presbyterian Government, which was set up by such odd swearing, without the King, is by his sole Authority utterly subverted.

In Obedience to this Proclamation, the Privy-Council, the 9th of January following, did discharge all Ecclesiastical Meetings in Synods, Presbyteries, and Sessions, until they be authorized by the Arch-bishops and Bishops, upon their Entry into the Government of their respective Sees; which was to be done speedily.

Tho this Proclamation, and Intimation of the Privy-Council, had prevented the Parliament, yet, to make sure Work of both, the Parliament, in their second Sessions, Redintegrated the Bishops to the Exercise of their Episcopal Function, and to all their Privileges, Dignities, Jurisdictions, and Possessions, due, and formerly belonging thereunto.

And another Act did ordain all Ministers to repair unto their Diocesan Assembly, and concur in all Acts of Church-Discipline, as they should be thereunto required by the Arch-bishops, or Bishops of the Diocess, under pain of being suspended from their Office and Benefice till the next Diocesan Meeting for their first Fault: and if they amended not, to be deprived, and the Church to be declared vacant.

In the Year 1649, (when there was no King in Israel) the Parliament, at the Instance of the Kirk, by the 39th Act, Discharge all Patrons, and the King not excepted, from Presentations to [Page] Church-Benefices, for that the Estates of Parliament were sensible of the great Obligations that lie upon them by the National Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant, and by many Deliverances and Mercies from God, and by the late solemn Engagement unto Duties, to preserve the Doctrine, and vindicate the Liberties of the Kirk of Scotland, and advance the Work of Reformation therein to the utmost of their Power: And considering that Patronage and Presentation of Kirks is an Evil and Bondage, under which the Lord's People, and Ministers of the Land, have long groaned; and that it hath no Warrant in God's Word, but founded on the Common Law, and is a Custom Popish, and brought into the Kirk in time of Ignorance and Superstition; and that the same is contrary to the 2d Book of Discipline, in which, upon solid and good Grounds, it is reckoned among the Abuses that are to be reformed, and unto several Acts of the General Assembly; and that it's prejudicial to the Liberties of the People, and planting of Kirks, and unto the free calling and entring of Ministers unto their Charge.

This Act did not hold long, for next Year Cromwel enter'd Scotland, and overturned all the Tables of Presbytery: nor was this much mended after the King's Restoration; for in the second Session of the first Parliament, 1662, the Parliament did ordain All Ministers who had enter'd to the Cure of any Parish, within Burgh or Land, in, or since the Year of God 1649, to have no Right unto, or up-lift the Rents of their respective Benefices, modified Stipends, Marsh or Glebe, for this instant Year 1662, nor for the Year following, unless they should obtain a Presentation from the lawful Patron, and have Collation from the Bishop of the Diocess where he liveth, before the 20th of September next.

Tho the High Commission which Laud so zealously endeavour'd to erect in Scotland, was put down by Act of Parliament 1641. in England, yet the King, by the inherent Right of his Crown, and by the Virtue of his Prerogative Royal, and supreme Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical, erected one in Scotland: The Commissioners were partly Ecclesiasticks, and partly Lay-men; who, or five of them, whereof one to be a Bishop, had a more arbitrary Power over the Clergy, than was practised in England under Laud, and more than Laud could have expected for a High Commission for Scotland in the King's Father's Reign.

Thus you see the Kirk, which would be a distinct Table, and independent upon the Crown of Scotland, are by the Prerogative of it committed to the arbitrary Mercy of the Prelates, whom, for above 24 Years, they had been railing against, and by many Oaths sware to extirpate.

But the Tribulations of the Kirk, for the time to come, do not end here; for the Parliament resolve to stigmatize them for their Actions past, and therefore upon the 5th of September 1662, [Page] they form a Declaration to be subscribed by all who shall have any publick Charge, Office, and Trust within the Kingdom, in these Words.

I—do sincerely affirm and declare, That I judg it unlawful for Subjects, upon Pretence of Reformation, or any other Pretence whatsoever, to enter into Leagues and Covenants, or to take up Arms against the King, or those Commissionated by him; and that all these Gatherings, Convocations, Petitions, Protestations, and erecting and keeping Counsel-Tables, that were used in the beginning, and for carrying on the late Troubles, were unlawful and seditious: and particularly, That those Oaths, whereof the one is called the National Covenant, (as it was sworn and explained in the Year 1638, and thereafter) and the other entitled, A Solemn League and Covenant, were, and are in themselves, unlawful Oaths; and were taken by, and imposed upon the Subjects of this Kingdom, against the Laws and Liberties of the same; and that there lieth no Obligation upon me, or any of the Subjects, from the said Oaths, or either of them, to endeavour any Change or Alteration of the Government, either in Church or State, as it is now established by the Laws of the Kingdom.

Thus you see the Parliament throw this upon the Son, which his Father so zealously contended for, even to the Loss of his Life: and when they had done all they could, the Son little cared for what they had done.

For the Year after, viz. 1663, the King granted a Toleration, and Indulgence to Dissenters from the Church. Thinking Men thought this strange, that the King should the Year before pass the Act of Ʋniformity, as the best Means to secure the Church against Popery and Fanaticism, and in this grant a Toleration. It could not be in Favour of them termed Fanaticks, who kept him from his Crown; and last Year Venner with his Party, would have expell'd him again: And this Year, Swarms of Pamphlets were spread abroad, to defame his Person and Government: For printing some of which, Twyn the Printer was hanged.

Thinking Men considered too the time when this Indulgence was granted: for as the King in the Sale of Dunkirk, chose to do it in the Interval of the Sitting of the Parliament, so he did grant this Indulgence (I think) in November, when the Parliament was prorogued to February.

But tho the Parliament would take no notice of the Sale of Dunkirk, they did of this; and therefore the Commons upon their Meeting, entred into a serious Debate about it, and made an Address to the King, humbly representing, How it would reflect upon the Wisdom of the Parliament, to have such an Alteration made so soon, and that for ought they could foresee, would end in Popery: And sure the Commons were true Prophets herein.

[Page] However, whether the King fearing the Continuance of the Indulgence might retard the Commons in giving him Money, or that time was not yet ripe enough to insist upon it at present, he recalled his Declaration: So that tho the King did establish a High Commission in Scotland, by his Prerogative Inherent in his Crown, which the Parliament agreed to in Scotland; yet this Indulgence had not the like Effect in England.

This Indulgence may seem more strange, if we look into Ireland, where the Irish this very Year were contriving a Massacre of the Protestants, and holding Intelligence with the French King, which you may read at large in Plunket's Trial, and this proved by Popish Witnesses. I do not find the Irish had any Countenance herein by the King; nor do I believe the French King acquainted his Brother of England with it: Yet the Insincerity of the King's Intentions of any Benefit the Protestant Dissenters should have by this Indulgence, will appear by this, that when the Parliament, seeing the Danger which the Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters might bring upon the Nation, had prepared Bills for the Ease of Protestant Dissenters, the King would not pass them.

However the Memory of the Rage and Tyranny of the late Times took deeper Impression in the Parliament, than the Fear of Popery, intended by the King's Toleration and Indulgence, and therefore the Parliament from new invented Swearing, and new invented Declaring, proceed to new invented Laws against Dissenters and Conventicles; and the Act of the 16 Car. 2. c. 4. does declare the 35 of Eliz. c. 1. to stand in full Force, and ought to be put in Execution: and did also enact, That if any Number above Five more than the Family shall meet in any Assembly or Conventicle, upon Colour or Pretence of Religion, in any other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy and Practice of the Church of England, he shall be committed Prisoner for the first Offence, there to remain for a Term not exceeding three Months, unless such Offender shall pay a Sum of Money, not exceeding Five Pounds; for the second Offence, to be committed to Prison for a Term, not exceeding Six Months, or pay a Sum not exceeding Ten Pounds; and for the third Offence to be transported beyond the Seas for the Space of seven Years, unless he pay one hundred Pounds.

I will not dispute the Justice of these Laws; but I say, no Human Laws can divest Men of Human Nature, but that Man as well as all other Creatures, will endeavour by such Means as they are endued with, to preserve their Being and Subsistence in this World. And herein I again observe the unhappy State of this Nation in the Education of Youth in the Grammar-Schools, and our Academical Learning, (as 'tis called:) For tho a great Part of the Youth of England have Means to maintain them, after they have lost [Page] their time of Youth, under this unprofitable Breeding, whereby they are no way instructed how to live and converse in this World; yet double, if not treble Numbers of Youth, are thus bred, who have little or no Means to maintain them after they become Men, and more than can be maintained by the Revenues of the Church, as they are established.

I say therefore, this kind of Breeding Youth, shall eternally create Feuds, and a kind of Civil War, between those who are in Church-Preferments, and those excluded from them; and these for their necessary Subsistence, shall become Patrons of Factions opposite to the Church, within the Kingdom, and to the promoting the Popish Interest without. In the late Times, when the Presbyterians bare the Sway▪ were there not enow of that Party to supply the Vacancies of the Sequestred Clergy; besides such Swarms of the Patrons of Independency, as were more numerous than they, and who turned them out: Yet was there a large Relick for to promote the Popish Faction. Upon the Restoration of the King, when the Sequestred Clergy were restored, were there not Multitudes of such Clergy as would have conformed, yet could not get any Preferment in the Church? Thus excluded, what other means had they to subsist, but to become Nurseries of Factions, which were opposite to the Church? and tho these Laws were intended against Protestant Dissenters, who had no other means of living but dissenting, yet you shall soon hear of another Sort of Dissenters; and these secretly countenanced by this most Religious and Gracious King, which shall be much more dangerous to this Church and State, than those against whom these Laws were made. And I say, the Ʋnreasonableness of Separation from the Communion of the Church of England will no more prevent this, than Origines Sacrae, by not only confounding, but inverting all Rules and Methods of Reasoning, prove a Deity, or the Authority of the Sacred Scriptures, thereby making them the Creatures of a Creature, and the Production of a Fantastick Brain.

CHAP. II.
A further Account of this Reign, to the End of the Second Dutch War.

THe King being thus established in England and Scotland, tho he was not so in Ireland, this Year shews the Effects of his Power by making a War upon the Dutch; and even this War [Page] 'twas believed, was carried on by French Counsels: For so long as the English and Dutch stood united, it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for the French King to encrease his Grandeur, either by Sea or Land, if the English and Dutch should oppose it. However, the outward Appearance seemed otherwise on the French Part: for in the Favour of the Dutch, he made War upon the English, tho to no Benefit of the Dutch, other than by the influence of his Party upon the English Counsels. But to return his Courtesy, the Dutch during this War built him six great Men of War; and the Dane joining with the Dutch and French against the English, built the French as many more; so that whilst the English and Dutch were fighting with one another to destroy their Men of War, the French King looked on, and without fighting encreased his.

The English and Dutch had been above Eighty Years Competitors in the East-India, African and American Trades; so that if either had a mind to quarrel, it would not be hard to find an Occasion for it. Queen Elizabeth kept so severe a Hand over the Dutch, that they durst not presume to give the English any Cause of Offence during her Reign; nor do I find the English gave them any in King James's Reign: Yet the Dutch gave the English a most abominable one, in the Business of Amboyna.

The World taking notice of the Vast Power at Sea, and Wealth which the Dutch acquired by the Fishery upon the Coasts of England and Scotland; King Charles I. required a Tribute or Acknowledgment from them about the Year 1630, as a Right belonging to his Crowns of England and Scotland. The Dutch were resolv'd not to part with their Fishery, and unwilling to pay the King any Acknowledgment for it; and instead of Payment, set Hugo Grotius to work, with his Pen to discharge it: Which he did in a little Treatise, called Mare Liberum.

The King to vindicate his Soveraignty, set Mr. Selden, (then at ill Terms with him, for I think he was a Prisoner in the Tower, for not submitting the Debates in Parliament to the Cognizance of the Council-Table and Court of King's Bench) to write Mare Clausum, in Answer to Grotius's Mare Liberum: Yet this is observable, how much the Dutch Interest governed their Reason; for soon after, (I will not say the certain time) in all their Manifesto's in the East-Indies, the Dutch stiled themselves Soveraigns of the Southern Seas: And, as such, you'll hear how they exercised their Soveraignty over the English.

But King Charles (though he raised Ship-Money upon Pretence of suppressing Pirates, and for Safety of the Nation) in May 1636, issued out a Proclamation, forbidding the Dutch and all Foreign Nations Fishing upon the Coasts of England and Scotland; which the Dutch little regarding, set out for this Fishery notwithstanding: Whereupon the King commanded the Earl of Northumberland, [Page] with a Fleet of sixty Men of War, to take an Account of their Disobedience. The Earl with this Fleet, fell in upon the Dutch, and dispersed them, and cut their Nets, so as the Dutch were forced to seek for Shelter in the King's Harbours; where they were detained till they made a Composition to pay the King Thirty Thousand Pounds sterling yearly, for Licence to fish: And this was all the Action done, by raising Ship-Money for the Safety of the Nation, (whereof the King was sole Judg) and for Suppressing Pirates.

The Dutch in return, next Year, or the Year after, upon Pretence of taking in fresh Water, seize upon New-York in Long-Island in America, and change the Name into New-Amsterdam. But at this time things were in highest Ferment, both in England and Scotland, about establishing Laud's Injunctions in England, and erecting a High Commission in Scotland, by the King's Supreme Ecclesiastical Power, which the King was so intent upon, that he neglected to call the Dutch to an Account for the Surprisal of New-York.

In the Year 1643, the Dutch, by Virtue of their Soveraignty in the Southern Seas, by one Geland, in a Hostile Manner, between Goa and Maccao, in the Straits of Malacca, made Prey of the Bona Esperanza, and spoiled her of all her Tackle, Apparel, Furniture, and all the Goods and Lading in her, in her Return of a very hopeful Voyage from China, and carried them to Batavia, where without due Process of Law, they were confiscated: and the same Year, the Ship called the Henry Bonadventura, being come on Ground near the Island Mauritius, was seized with all her Goods and Lading, by the Dutch East-India Company, and kept from the Owners: And these Actions, both in the East and West-Indies, were done in time of Peace between England and Holland.

These Ships were set out by the Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir William Courten, Sir Paul Pindar and others, by Virtue of a New Charter granted by King Charles the First, in the Year 1635, and had laid the Foundation of a much more advantageous Trade for the English, than that of the English East-India Company: For the Northern and middle Parts of China, are cold or temperate, and so our Woollen Manufactures would have been very acceptable to them; whereas they are of little Use in the Southern Parts of India, and all the Islands in the Indian Ocean, which lie in the Torrid Zone.

The Earl of Shrewsbury, Sir Paul Pindar, and Sir William Courten, being Royalists, took no Care for Satisfaction in the late times: Nor do I find the Rump made any of these the Causes of the War between the Dutch and them; nor did Oliver in the Peace he made with the Dutch, take any Notice of these Violences used by the Dutch against the English, or the Honour of the Nation; yet he would [Page] not by his Peace, discharge the Dutch from the Business of Amboyna, but this was referred, 'twas said, to the Cantons of Switzerland, to be determined by them; but was never after regarded.

But King Charles II. being at better Terms with his Parliament and Subjects than his Father, the next Year after his Restoration, viz. 1661, sent Sir Robert Holmes with a Squadron of Men of War, and some Soldiers to America, with which he reduced New York, and all that which the Dutch had taken from the English in Long-Island: And from thence Sir Robert Holmes sailed to Africa, and took Cape Verd, and some other Places, where the English had Factories.

And about the same time, the Earl of Shrewsbury, with William Courten, (Grandson of Sir William) and the Executors and Creditors of Sir Paul Pindar, represented their Case to the King; who by Letters under the King's Signet Manual, demanded Reparations of the States for these Depredations, by Sir George Downing the King's Envoy, without any Satisfaction.

Thus things stood, when the Algerines being at War with the English and Dutch, the Dutch by their Ambassadour, desired the King in 1663, to join a Squadron of Ships with the Dutch, to reduce the Algerines to better Terms, which the King did, and sent a Squadron under Sir John Lawson to that end: And the Dutch sent another commanded by De Ruiter seemingly, but not designedly, for to join Sir John against the Algerines.

For De Ruiter after he had entred the Straits, abandoned Sir John Lawson, and sailed to Cape Verd, and dispossessed the English of their Factories, nor did he stay there; but sailing thence, he attempted Barbadoes, but was beaten off with loss: But with better Success he sailed to Long-Island, where he made great Depradations.

This Double-dealing of the Dutch alarm'd the Parliament, so as they petitioned the King to make War upon the Dutch, and the King was well disposed to it; (having before designed it, as many thought, and so took this Occasion for it:) nor were the City of London less forward than the Parliament for promoting this War; and upon that Account furnished the King with several Sums of Money, for which both Houses gave the City Thanks, upon the Twenty Fifth of November, 1665.

The King the Day before, made this Speech to the Commons. Mr. Speaker, and you Gentlemen of the House of Commons, I know not whether it be worth my Pains to endeavour to remove a vile Jealousy which some ill Men scatter abroad, and which I am sure will never sink into the Breast of any Man who is worthy to sit upon your Benches; that when you have given me a Noble and Proportionable Supply for the Support of a War, I may be induced by some evil Counsellors, (for they will be thought to think very respectfully of my Person) to make a sudden Peace, and get all the Money for my own Private Occasions.

[Page] But let me tell you, and you may be confident of it, That when I am compelled to enter into a War for the Protection, Honour and Benefit of my Subjects, I will (God willing) not make a Peace, but upon the obtaining and securing those Ends for which the War is entred into; and when that can be done, no good Man will be sorry for the Determination of it. But the War was not declared till the 22d of February following: But here I observe, that neither my Lord Chancellor Hide, nor my Lord Treasurer Southampton were present in Council at it.

It may seem strange to any Man conversant in our Government, that the King in less than four Years and a half after his Restoration, should be in such a Necessity of borrowing such Sums of Money of the City; for the disbanding of the Army was paid by the Convention and Parliament, and the Parliament had settled the Excise on him, which was cessed at 500000 l. per Annum, and the Customs at 600000 l. and Chimney-Money worth 150000 l. per Annum, and 12 Car. 2. c. 26. granted the King the Arrears of twelve Months Assessment, commencing the 25th of December 1659, and (C. 29.) gave the King 70000 l. and (C. 34.) also the Post-Office, worth 50000 l. per Annum; and in the 13 Car. 2. cap. 3. vested in the King the Arrears of the Excise and new Imposts; and in the second Session (Cap. 3.) the Parliament gave the King 1270000 l. and (Cap. 5.) a voluntary Contribution, and (C. 8.) gave the poor Cavaliers 60000 l. that the King might never hear more of them; and (C. 9.) granted a further Relief for the poor and maimed Officers which had served the King's Father; and also (Cap. 15.) four intire Subsidies by the Laity and four by the Clergy, besides all the forfeited Estates both in England and Ireland.

So that the Excise, Customs, Chimney-Money, Post-Office and forfeited Estates, at a moderate Computation, may be computed at 1600000 l. per Annum, a new Addition to the Crown which Queen Elizabeth had not; only the Court of Wards was exchanged for part of the Hereditary Excise. And, if you compute but six Months Arrear of the twelve Months Assessment at 70000 l. per Mensem, beginning at Christmass 1659, this will amount to 420000 l. and the Arrears of the Excise and new Impost at 300000 l. and 70000 l. granted the King, 12 Car. I. 29. and the 1270000 l. 13 Car. II. 3. and the voluntary Contribution at 300000 l. and the four Subsidies granted by the Clergy and Laity at 400000 l. besides the new added Revenue of 1600000 l. per Annum to the Crown, the King in less than four Years and a half received 2860000 l. or two Millions eight hundred and sixty thousand Pounds.

Yet the King paid no Debts of his Father's, nor do I find he built any new Men of War, nor made any War except that last Year against the Algerines: It's true, he married his Sister, but [Page] had twice her Portion of the French King for the Sale of Dunkirk, and also 400000 l. Portion with the Queen. Now let's see how things stood in Scotland.

During the Earl of Middleton's Commission, the Parliament of Scotland granted the King so great a Revenue, that the King signified his Pleasure not to raise any more; but tho Middleton in the general Opinion had done more in Scotland than could have been expected, yet Lauderdale thought he had not done enough, and therefore got the Parliament to be dissolved, and a new one to be called in 1663, and the Earl of Rothes (the Ring-leader of the Presbyterians in the Reign of Charles the First, and was the first that subscribed the Letter to Lewis the XIIIth for his Aid, by the Appellation of Au Roy) to be made Commissioner.

The King's Supremacy in all Ecclesiastial and Civil Matters, and so great a Revenue as the King could ask being settled by Middleton, one would have thought no more could be done; yet another Law must be passed, intituled the Humble Tender: Whereby the Kingdom of Scotland is obliged to raise the King twenty thousand Foot, and two thousand Horse sufficiently armed, and furnished with forty days Provision, to be in a readiness at his Majesty's Call: And also that all Scots-Men from sixteen to sixty, if the King should have further use of them, should hazard their Lives and Fortunes, as they shall he called by his Majesty, for the Safety and Preservation of his Sacred Person, Authority and Government, to march into any part of Scotland, England or Ireland, for the suppressing any Foreign Invasion, or Intestine Troubles, or any other Service wherein his Majesty's Honour, &c. was concerned: And this Law it may be was the Equivalent for which the Forts were demolished. Tho Rothes was Commissioner when the Act passed, yet Lauderdale assumed to himself the Glory of it; and it's observable, this Act passed the same Year, and about the same time the King issued out his Declaration of Indulgence to the Dissenters in England.

Thus you see, as the Parliament of Scotland outrun the Parliament of England in Loyalty to the King, so at least they went hand in hand with them in grauting the King more Aids than he would ask of the Subjects of his antient Kingdom.

Never had Kings of England or Scotland their Debts so easily paid, or was one tenth part so highly caressed by their Subjects in a time of Peace. Was it not strange then that the King should be in such Necessities for Money, as to borrow such great Sums of the City for carrying on this hasty War before the Parliament should meet to supply him?

Whereas when Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown, her Revenue, besides the Court of Wards, and the Dutchy of Lancaster, was but 188179 l. per Annum, and the Crown left in Debt by her Father, Brother and Sister (which she afterwards paid;) [Page] and for the four first Years of her Reign, the Parliament gave her but one Subsidy and two Fifteens about 120000 l. Yet in these Years she fitted up her Navy Royal, so as it was not only superiour to those of all the Neighbouring Nations, but of any Prince in the World; and also sent a Fleet and Land-Army into Scotland, with which she expelled the French out of it. And the Parliament in the fifth Year of her Reign gave her but another Subsidy, and two Fifteens, wherewith she assisted the Princes of the Reform'd Religion in France: Whereas the Parliament in the fifth Year of this King's actual Reign, gave him 2467500 l. for carrying on the War against the Dutch.

I will not dispute the Justice of this War, yet sure never was any made with such Precipitancy and Inconsideration both abroad and at home: for as the King entred into no Alliances or Confederations abroad in it; so on the contrary, France and Denmark (our next Neighbouring Nations) join'd with the Dutch against the King; and that tho the Spaniard stood Neuter in it, yet the King had little reason to expect any Benefit from him, having been so used in the King's Sale of Dunkirk to the French, and joining with the Portuguese and French against the Spaniard.

And as the King had made no Foreign Alliances abroad, so had he not laid up any Naval Stores at home; and, which is worse, he had the Act of Navigation (tho made by the Rump, yet the Parliament 13 Car. II. confirmed it, or set the Royal Stamp upon it) to struggle with to supply himself with Naval Stores for carrying on the War.

For the Rump were as hasty in making the Act of Navigation, as the King was in entring into this War, and made it general, without any Consideration of Time, either in War or Peace: and herein their Zeal to make this Law outrun their Wit or Memory; for these very Men about ten Years ago, viz. 16 Car. I. 21. (which yet stands unrepealed) taking notice of the manifold Mischiefs, tho in time of Peace, which happened by reason the Importation of Gunpowder was prohibited, contrary to Law, viz. That the Price of Gunpowder was excessively raised, many Powder-Mills decayed, the Kingdom much weakned and endangered, the Merchants much damnified, many Mariners and others taken Prisoners and brought into miserable Captivity and Slavery, many Ships taken by Turkish Pirates, and many other Inconveniences thereby ensued, and like to ensue: Therefore this Act made the Importation of Gunpowder, Salt-petre, and Brimstone free to Strangers as well as Natives, and a Premunire to hinder it. Whereas in this War, if the East-India Company shall set double or treble the Price upon Salt-petre, or if their Ships should miscarry, yet by this Act it is Confiscation of Ship, Goods, Tackle, Apparel [Page] and Ammunition, for the Subjects of any other Nation to import Salt-petre, or Gunpowder.

The King, tho this were a Naval War, having laid up no Stores for it; yet if the Swede from any Port of Norway but Gottenburg, or if the Bradenburgher, Lubeker, Hamburgher, or Emdenber, should import any from any Port of Norway, or any rough Hemp or Flax from Leifland or Prussia for making Cordage or Sails, this had been Confiscation of Ships, Goods, Guns, Tackle, Ammunition and Apparel by this Act.

This Act restraining the English in the Newcastle Trade, and to the Plantations, to navigate their Ships by three fourths English, the King was forced to man his Fleet with pressed Men, the greater part whereof were Land and Water-Men: Whereas, if it had been free for the English during the War to have imployed Foreigners in these Navigations, the King might have above twenty thousand of his best Sea-men more than he had to man his Fleet, and the City of London, and other Parts of England throughly supplied with Coals at half the Prices, and with more Security.

The King by reason of this Act, in the first Year of this War, was forced in the dead of Winter to send Sir John Harman to Gottenburg with a Squadron of Men of War for Masts, Pitch and Tar, where by the Coldness of the Season some of the Ships were frozen up, and many of the English lost their Noses, and were benumm'd in other Parts with the Cold: Yet all agreed, if the King had not been supplied with Naval Stores by this Fleet, he could not have fitted out a Fleet next Year.

These things, tho evident to any Stander-by, yet the Parliament took no notice of them: However, the King wisely dispensed with the Act of Navigation, so far as it related to the Importation of Naval Stores, and Hemp, and Flax, with this different Success, that tho the Parliament the Year before boggled at the King's dispensing with the Penal Laws against Dissenters, yet they took no notice of the King's dispensing with the Act of Navigation.

Tho this War was thus hastily begun, yet was it managed more carelesly and prodigally than ever any was before: The Officers of the Fleet, like those of the Guards, bought their Places to sell their Lives; the poor common Sea-men not paid, and wanting Money to pay their Quarters, were forced to take Tickets for less than half their Wages: whilst Favourites swelled into incredible Riches by the Ruin and Spoil of the Nation. The innumerable Prizes taken from the Dutch, were so far from contributing to the Charges of this War, that many of them were given to Women and Favourites, and became a Charge to the King: no Inspection must be into the defraying the Monies given for the War, [Page] for this was to distrust the King: The Officers who had bought their Places in the Fleet, instead of minding their Business, made it their Business how to be Gainers for the Purchase of their Places, and caballed how they might improve their Interest at Court.

However, the King receiving no Satisfaction from the Dutch for the Injuries done to Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pindar, upon the 17th of May 1665 granted Letters of Reprisal to Sir Edward Turner and George Carew, their Executors, &c. against the Dutch, till they should be satisfied 151612 l. This Grant to stand in force notwithstanding any Peace to be made, till Sir Edward Turner, &c. were fully satisfied of the said Sum, with all their Costs and Damages.

Sir Thomas Allen opened the first Sea Campagn, by falling upon the Dutch Smirna-Fleet, and took four of them richly laden; and the third of June following, the English Fleet commanded by the Duke of York, Prince Rupert Admiral of the White, and the Earl of Sandwich of the Blue, fought the Dutch off the Coast of Harwich, where the Dutch were put to flight; Opdam their Admiral was blown up, and Cartinere, Stillingwolf and Stamp Flag-Officers, killed, and eighteen of the Dutch Fleet sunk and taken; and if it had not been for fear of disturbing the Duke in his next Night's Sleep, it's believed the whole Dutch Fleet might have been destroy'd. But in this Fight, the English lost the renowned Earl of Marlborough; who, tho Admiral in King Charles the First's Reign, died a private Captain in this Fight; Rear-Admiral Sanson was killed in it, and Vice-Admiral Lawson soon after died of his Wounds.

The Duke of York was of too estimable a Value to be ventur'd any more in this War, for in his Person the Hopes of this War and Declaration of Indulgence resolved: So the Earl of Sandwich was made Admiral, Sir Thomas Allen of the White, and Sir Thomas Tiddiman of the Blue Squadrons.

The Dutch were so damaged in the first Fight, that they were not in a Condition to set out another Fleet this Year. But the Dutch having lodged their East-India and other Fleets in Bergen in Norway, the English Fleet sailed thither to attack them in it.

But Sir Thomas Tiddiman, who was ordered to do it, did not sail into the Harbour as he might have done upon his first Approach, but sent to the Governour of the Castle to treat without; the Dutch within, alarm'd at the Danger, set all hands on work that Night, so that by the Morning they had so fortified the Castle, that it was impossible for the English to force a Passage: and the Weather growing boisterous, it being towards the latter end of September, the English Fleet was forc'd to return; nor could the Dutch Fleet stay in Bergen; and in their Return home, two of their richest East-India Ships, and about 80 Sail of their other [Page] Ships fell to the English share: but tho they were deep laden when the English took them, they became much lighter before they came into the English Harbour.

It seems God was not pleased with these things; for this Year he sent a horrible Plague, which raged over almost all the Parts of England. The greatest Plague which happened since Edward the Third's time in England, was in the first Year of this King's Grandfather; yet a greater in the first Year of his Father's Reign; and now a greater than either, in the sixth Year of his actual Reign. And as the Plague drove the Parliament to Oxford in his Father's Reign, so did it now in his.

But neither the Mourning of the Land because of Oaths, the Plague, this Dutch War, nor the King's Declaration of Indulgence for dispensing with the Penal Laws against Dissenters, could abate the Parliament's Zeal in prosecuting Protestant Nonconformist Ministers, but they made a Law, called the Five-Mile-Act, whereby they were banished five Miles from any Corporation, or Market Town, and had this Oath imposed upon them.

I A. B. do declare, That it is not lawful, upon any Pretence whatsoever, to take up Arms against the King; and that I do abhor that traiterous Position, of taking up Arms by his Authority against his Person, or any that are commissionated by him, in pursuance of such Commission. And I do swear, that I will not, at any time to come, endeavour the Alteration of the Government either in Church or State. So help me God.

The poor Non-conforming Ministers did quietly submit to this in England, but the Presbyterians did not so to the High Commission erected in Scotland; for about this time they rose in Arms at Pentland, against the Persecution of the Prelates who disturbed them in the Execution of their Ministry; but were soon broken, and a terrible Execution follow'd upon them, as Traitors and Rebels.

In England, the Parliament at Oxford granted the King 1250000 l. for carrying on the War against the Dutch; and in the Spring 1666 the Plague ceasing, the King set forth a Fleet under the Command of Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albemarle, Sir Thomas Allen Admiral of the White, and Sir William Berkley of the Blue. But the Dutch and French now try to do that by Craft which they could not do by Force and Plain-dealing: And to this purpose it was given out, that the French had fitted up a strong Fleet to join the Dutch; and this so prevailed upon the King and Council, that upon the 29th of May (a remarkable Day) when the English Fleet was riding in the Downs, Prince Rupert, in all haste, was ordered with the White Squadron to sail to the West, to fight the French Fleet [Page] coming to join with the Dutch. I desire to be particular in some part of what followed, because I had it from Sir John Harman himself, who was Vice-Admiral of the Blue.

At the same time Prince Rupert sailed from the Fleet, the Dutch put out to Sea, the Wind at North-east, a fresh Gale; this brought the Dutch Fleet on the Coast of Dunkirk, and carried the Prince to St. Helens, on the Isle of Wight: but the Wind suddenly turning into the South-west, blew a strong Gale, which brought the Dutch and Duke to an Anchor; when Captain Bacon of the Bristol, by firing of his Guns, gave notice to the Duke of the Approach of the Dutch.

Hereupon the Duke summoned all the Captains on board him, not to consult whether to fight the Dutch, but to order them to weigh Anchor, and fight the Dutch. This was the 1st of June, the Wind at South-west blowing a stiff Gale, so that the Dutch were forced to cut their Cables, not having time to weigh Anchor; and tho the English had the Weathergage of the Dutch, yet the Wind so bowed the English Ships, that they could not use their lowest Tire when they came up to fight the Dutch.

Sir William Berkley's Squadron led the Van: but the Duke, when he came on the Coast of Dunkirk, to avoid running on a Sand, made a sudden Tack, which brought his Top-mast to the Board; whereupon he was forced to lie by 4 or 5 Hours, till another was set up: but the Blue Squadron knowing nothing of this, sailed on, fighting through the Dutch Fleet, which were 5 to 1 of the Blue. Here Sir William was killed, and his Ship (the Swiftsure, a second Rate, and all her Guns Brass) taken, so was the Essex, a Frigat of the third Rate, and Sir John Harman in the Henry got among 9 Ships of the Zeal and Squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Everts; and these so disabled the Henry, that Everts offered Sir John Quarter if he would yield; but Sir John told him 'twas not come to that yet, and gave him a Broadside, and killed Everts.

Hereupon this Zealand Squadron sailed to assist their Fellows behind, and only left Sir John to the Mercy of 3 Fireships; one of which grappled the Henry on her Starboard Quarter: The Dutch Fireships do not take Fire at first, as the English do, but first raise a Smoak incredibly stinking, and so thick as nothing can be seen at the least distance, so as it could not be seen where the Fireship's Grappling-Irons were fixed; but upon the Fireship's taking Fire, Sir John's Boatswain swung himself into the Fireship, and by the Light of the Fire found where the Grappling-Irons were fixed in the Fireship, and let them loose, and got on board again.

But another Fireship grappled the Henry on her Larboard Quarter-Deck, and took Fire, and Sir John's Chaplain, and about 50 more, skipped into the Sea; whereupon Sir John ran among the Mariners, and threatned to kill any other who did not assist in [Page] quenching the Fire: whereupon Sir John's Cabbin-Boy seeing the Sails on fire, with wet Cloths encounter'd and put it out; but the Cordage being burnt, the Cross-beam fell upon Sir John's Leg, and broke it.

By this the third Fireship made towards the Henry, but 4 Pieces of Cannon laden with Cross-shot disabled her; so that Sir John set up Jury-Masts, and brought the Ship into Harwich, and the next Day after fitted her up, and tho his Leg was broke, went out to Sea again to have fought, but the Fight was over before he could come up to the Fleet.

In this Day's mad Fight, wherein the English could make no use of their lower Tire of Guns (and therefore Sir Thomas Tiddiman, Rear-Admiral of the Red, refused to engage) the English were much damnified in their Rigging, yet next Day the Duke engaged the Dutch again, tho above double his Number of Ships, and the Dutch hourly receiving fresh Supplies; so he did the Day after, the 3d of June, when the Duke caused several of his most disabled Ships, after he had taken out their Men, to be burnt, and had but 16 Ships left able to fight, with which he retreated, putting them between the Dutch and his unburnt disabled Ships.

Towards the Evening, the English espied the White Squadron making up towards them; but the English engaged with the Dutch, striving to make their nearest Way to meet the White Squadron. The Prince Royal (it may be the best Man of War in the World, and best gunn'd) commanded by Sir George Askew, run on a Sand, and was lost, and Sir George made Prisoner; yet next Day the Fleets fought again, and by the help of the White Squadron, the English Fleet, with much ado, got into Harbour again; leaving it a Problem, whether it were a greater Treachery to divide the Fleet, or Madness to fight the Dutch with the rest, when they could not use their lower Tire of Guns.

The English and Dutch thus engaged at Wars at home, the French King, instead of sending his invisible Fleet into the Channel to assist the Dutch, sends a visible Fleet to the subduing the English in their Plantations in the Leeward Islands, and almost totally expell'd the English out of St. Christophers, and interrupted them in their Trade to their other Islands, and assumed a Soveraignty in those Seas: where, at present, we leave him, and return to England.

The Loss and Damage which the English sustained in the last Fight, gave the Dutch an Opportunity to put out to Sea, and ride braving upon our Coasts 3 Weeks, or a Month, before we could repair, and fit out another Fleet: but upon the 17th of July, the English put to Sea again; whereupon the Dutch retreat to their own Coasts, where the English again engage them upon the 25th, and where they beat the Dutch, and forced them into their Harbours: In the Fight, Everts (Brother to Everts, killed by Sir John Harman) [Page] Admiral of the Zealand Squadron, Tirich Hides of the Friezland Squadron, Vice-Admiral Conder, and 6 Captains, and Vice-Admiral Banker's Ship, and the best Ship of Harlem, were taken and burnt. The English lost but one Ship, commanded by Captain Haiman.

The Dutch thus driven in, gave the English an Opportunity to burn the Village of Brandaris in Schelling, and fire above 150 Sail of the Dutch within the Fly.

Upon the 16th of August the Dutch put to Sea again; and now the English had 10 or 12 Men of War more than the Dutch, (which was the only time, in this and the other Dutch War, the English had so many Men of War as the Dutch) and to the Amazement of Standers-by, the Dutch forsook their own Coast, and sailed towards the French; for which no other Reason could be given, but that the French King (who equally loved the Dutch and English) had decoyed the Dutch to join that invisible Fleet, which we divided ours to fight with.

The English pursued the Dutch through the Straits between Dover and Calice, and were ready to engage them, when by a terrible Storm the Wind drove the English to an Anchor at St. Helen's Point, where in the Passage the St. Andrew (a second Rate Ship) broke her Back upon a Sand, and the Dutch came to an Anchor in the Bay of Bulloigne: and the Wind about the 8th of September turning, brought the Dutch home before the English could engage them.

And in that instant, September the 2d, as near as could be conjectured, that this Storm arose which saved the Dutch Fleet, the City of London flew on Fire: nor did the Desolation made by the Fire end in it; but when it was over, by Order of Council, all the Houses upon the Tower Ditch, to the number of about 200, were pull'd down, to preserve the Tower from the Danger of another Conflagration now the City was burnt.

The Firing of the City of London so soon succeeding the Division of the Fleet, caused a strange Consternation, not only in Mens Minds in London, but all the Nation over, That there were Designs to ruin the Nation as well on Shore as at Sea; whereupon infinite varieties of idle Tales and Stories were printed, as well as said; so as tho a general Fear of Plots against the Nation was evident, yet in this Confusion, the Cause from whence the City of London became fired was not only smothered, but the Means of searching into it prevented. Herein I will take notice of only two Particulars, both which are mentioned in Sir H. C's Speech in the third Westminster Parliament, which met the 21st of October 1680.

In April 1666, next before the Fire of London, several Persons confessed they had been treated with, and had treated with others [Page] to burn the City of London in September following, tho the Parliament were then sitting, and this a Matter of State proper to be enquired into by Parliament; yet these Men were hanged, so as no further Enquiry could be made into it; and all those who were taken in carrying on the Work, discharged, except one Hubert a Papist, who confessed that he and others set the City on Fire.

Upon this Hubert was condemned; but I do not find he was examined who those other were who joined with him in it, or who set him on work: but this I find, that Mr. Hawles, in his Remarks upon Fitzharris's Trial, fol. 5. says, That the Commons resolving to examine Hubert upon the Matter, next Day Hubert was hanged before the House sat, and so could tell no further Tales.

Those who excused the firing of London to have been by Design, or that Hubert had any hand in it, said Hubert was mad, and knew not what he did or said: And why then would they let him be tried upon it? For it is not only contrary to our Laws, but to the Law of Nature and Humanity, to try and convict a Mad-man of any supposed Crime, when he is incapacitated to make any Defence, as a Mad-man is. And tho the Statute of 33 Hen. 8. in High-Treason ordains, That if a Man fall mad after he had committed High-Treason, yet he should be tried for it and executed; yet this extends only to High-Treason, upon which Hubert was not tried; but even this Law being deemed inhumane and cruel, was soon after repealed. But this Case of Hubert's only led the Van; you'll hear of others of like nature, which followed.

I remember very well, that when it was blazed about that Hubert was mad, and the City in Ruin, Hubert was carried to shew where he fired the City; and tho it was in its Ruin, Hubert shewed those who brought him, where it began. I confess I was not present then; but such was the Fame of it, which I never heard to be contradicted.

This Year the Parliament, that they might not less contribute to the French Grandeur by Sea, than the Rump had done by the Act of Navigation, made a Law (18 Car. 2. cap. 2.) against Importation of Irish Cattel; which, in regard it is the only Law since the Creation which was ever made by any Prince or State, to make things necessary for Preservation and Convenience of Humane Subsistence scarce and dear, we will more particularly make these Observations upon it.

The Reason given for this Law was, That the Importation of Irish Cattel had fallen the Rents and Value of the Lands of England, and were like to fall more.

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Observation I.

It's true, the Rents, and Value of the Lands of England, were fallen at this time considerably, but not from the Importation of Irish Cattel; for Lands are valuable as Trade is more or less, and Money more plentiful: And we have shewed, That the Severity used by the Bishops in 1636 had sent many of our Woollen Manufacturers into Holland, as much to their Enriching, as to our Impoverishment: That by the Treaty of Munster in 1648, the Dutch became Partakers with us in the Spanish Trade, whereby, above all others, we were enriched: That by reason of the Act of Navigation, we have, upon the matter, lost the most beneficial Trades to Hamburgh, and into the Sound, with our Woollen Manufactures. And besides the eternal fixing the Fishing-Trade upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, to the Dutch by this War, we have totally lost the Greenland Fishery, and the Dutch partake with us in the Iseland and Westmony Fishing Trades, and the French to the Newfound-Land: That by Oliver's breaking with the Spaniard, and joining with the French, the Dutch got all the Riches of the Spanish Trade, whilst we were bound to be Losers by the French.

I will add two more Reasons of the Fall of the Lands of England. One, The advantageous Treaty of Commerce made by Oliver with the French, was not established by the King; but a much worse, if any, submitted to: And after, the French set such high Imposts upon our Commodities, that Sir John Trevor, in his Appeal, takes notice that we did not vend one fourth of the Commodities we before exported into France, whilst we consumed French Wines, Brandies, and other French Wares, more than before: So that about this time, or soon after, the Lords Commissioners for a Treaty of Commerce with France, appointed a Committee to inspect the Difference of the Ballance; which, besides those of Gloves, Lace, Ribbon, and other Toys, did amount yearly to 965128 l. 17 s. 4 d. imported from France, more than exported out of England.

The other is, That the most gainful Trade the English have, is that to Spain, which has no other Means to maintain it, but by the Returns of their Fleet; which since we took Jamaica, the Buccaneers so interrupted the Spaniard in the West-Indies, that as the Spanish Loss and Returns were more difficult, so much was our Trade to Spain damnified.

Observation II.

The Importation of Irish Cattel might fall the Rents of Lands, yet not make them the less valuable; for if Landlords would content [Page] themselves with the Product of their Tenants Labours, so that if they could buy their Commodities half, or one third, &c. cheaper, their Lands would be as valuable as if they had half, or one third, &c. more Rent, and they pay so much more for their Commodities: besides, many thousands of People might subsist by their Labours where Provisions are cheaper, which could not, if dearer; and the Charge of maintaining the Poor are so much more, as Provisions are dearer; and so much less must the foreign Vent of our Manufactures be, as Provisions are dearer whereon Workmen subsist. But admit the Importation of Irish Cattel had caused such Plenty of Provision as the Nation could not have expended, yet if Commodities be Riches, the Nation would have been so much more enriched by the Importation of the Irish Cattel; and by this means might have established a foreign Trade upon that Account: and only by foreign Trade the Nation is enrich'd.

Observation III.

The Returns which the English made for Irish Cattel were Clothes, Hats, Caps, Stockings, Hops, and other Manufactures, which upon the Act ceasing, the People who subsisted by working these, necessarily fell into Decay and Poverty; so as the Value of the Lands of England were lessen'd both ways: for as these People who by their Labours were enabled to buy Provisions, to the Improvement of the Value of the Lands of England; so by their Poverty they became a Charge and Burden to them.

Observation IV.

If it be Injustice and Wickedness to take away another's Lands or Goods without a just Cause, it's equally, or more wicked and unjust, to take away the means of living from industrious Men in their just Employments, and make no Retribution; both which this Law did to the People employed in the Manufactures returned for Irish Cattel. Nor did this Law make any Provision for the Mariners employed in bringing over Irish Cattel, nor pay the Owners of the Vessels employ'd in it for their Vessels, now they had lost their Employment. Nor did the Parliament give the King any Satisfaction for 30000 l. per An. Duties, paid the King for importing Irish Cattel.

Observation V.

By this Law the English lost the Manufactures of the Hides, Tallow, and Horns of the Cattel, which might have been wrought in England, and gave them to other Nations, if the Irish should not [Page] work them; to the Loss of the Employment of the English, and thereby lessening the Value of the Lands of England.

Observation VI.

Suppose that we had no Act of Navigation, but our Western Men might have built and fitted out Ships for the Newfound-Land Fishery as cheap as the French; yet by this Act against Importation of Irish Cattel, the French being enabled to victual Ships cheaper from the Ports of Ireland, than we from the English; the French, from this only Cause, may have the foreign Vent of the Newfound-Land Fishery, whilst the English are necessitated to vend theirs only in England; which is as much a Grievance, as the Importation of Irish Cattel; for the Expence of them will as much fall the Price of Flesh, as the Importation of the Cattel.

Observation VII.

By this Law, the English have lost the Benefit of Victualling foreign, as well as English Ships, from our own Ports, and established them in Ireland, to the lessening the Value of the Lands of England, and this in time of Peace: And in time of War, by how much cheaper foreign Nations can victual Ships from Ireland than we can from England, so much cheaper they may manage War, and continue it longer.

Observation VIII.

The Wools of Ireland are generally better than those of England, (I have it by very good Authority;) and by the 14 Car. II. 18. it's Felony to export any out of England or Ireland: The Reason given is, it would decay the Woollen Manufactures, ruin many Families, and be the Destruction of the Navigation and Commerce of England and Ireland.

And why would it decay the Woollen Manufactures, and ruin many Families, to export Wool? The common Reason given is, That the Natives of other Countries would work them cheaper than the English, whereby we should lose the Employment of our People. If this be a Reason, this Irish Act was made in an ill time to make Provisions dearer, which will necessarily resolve into a further Dearness, because those who work our Woollen Manufactures must live by Food; and so much the dearer Food is, so much dearer must Mens Labours be.

But I say this is not the Reason; for no People in the World, in like Circumstances, take so much Pains, for so little Profit, as the Combers, Spinners, and Weavers do in our Woollen Manufactures; [Page] and I'm sure the Wools and Fullers-Earth in England are cheaper here than can be had elsewhere; and an English Man or Woman hath a better Habit of Body, and as good a Wit, as a French or Dutch Man or Woman; and that in Holland they pay as much for Excise for Meat and Drink, as in England is paid for them.

I'll give the true Reason, why, if the Dutch or French get our Wools and Fullers-Earth, they may vend the Manufactures cheaper in foreign Trade than the English. The Wools of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestarshire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, Huntingtonshire, Hertfordshire, &c. are in the dead of the Winter, brought by Land-Carriage to Norwich and Colchester; and even the Wools of the Sheep killed in London, are carried to Colchester to be wrought there; and then by another Land-Carriage they are brought to London, as our Western Cloths are: And then none but the Free-men of London must buy them, at, it may be, 20 per Cent. cheaper than they might be sold if the Trade were free; then they must be vended abroad in English-built Ships, double as dear by the Act of Navigation, and these sailed by near double the Hands of foreign Ships of like Dimensions; and if any Returns be made, they shall pay twofold more Duties than if they were imported into Holland and Hamburgh: And upon other Terms ou [...] Poor must not be employed, working Woollen Manufactures.

It's agreed, the vast Riches of France arise by the Trades which the English, Dutch, Dane, Hamburgher, Embdener, Lubecker, and Bremeners drive, trading into France for Wines, Brandies, Salt, Paper, and the English besides these, for Linen, Cordage, and Sails. Suppose then, the French King should by Edict ordain, that these should be first brought by Land-Carriage to Paris, and then none but the Free-men should buy them at what Rates they please, and then these should vend them in foreign Trade only in French-built Ships, and these sailed by three fourth parts French, whether they have Ships or Men or not; and the Returns made of them, to pay him twofold more than if they were imported into Holland or Hamburgh, &c. Would not any Man think he were mad? Yet what would that differ from our Practice?

At this rate we have in England more Wools than we can work; and by this Act the Irish are forced to breed Sheep upon the Grounds they bred their Cattel before the Act; and by the Act of 14 Car. II. 18. it's Felony to export the Wools, so as the Irish are necessitated to work them, where Provisions are cheaper than in England, and where they shall not be at the unnecessary Land-Charges of Carriage of their Wools, and Re-carriage of their Cloths; where they shall not be restrained to the vending of them to Free-men of Corporations at 20 per Cent. Loss; and [Page] where their Ports are better and more convenient for foreign Trade than those of England; and then the English must condescend to the Terms of the Irish, or these will undo more Families, and more decay the Trade of our Woollen Manufactures, than if Foreigners wrought the Irish or English Wools.

Observation IX.

Ireland is a Kingdom depending upon England, and Trade and Commerce create a mutual Correspondence and Interest between Countries, so as this Law makes the Correspondency and Interest of Ireland to depend upon other Countries; whereas it is the Interest of England, that England should have been the Mart or Store-house of all the Wools, Hides, Tallow, &c. renewed in Ireland; as England is the Store-house of the Product of our Plantations, or as Holland is of the Spice-Trade.

These ruinous and mischievous Consequences this Law has brought upon England and Ireland, only that the Northern and Western Men might have a Monopoly of imposing what Rates they pleased upon the Eastern and Southern Parts of England, I may safely say to the lessening the Rates and Value of those Lands at 30 per Cent. and I dare say from many less Causes; or if this Partial Law had been imposed by any King out of Parliament, it might have caused a Rebellion in England and Ireland too: Yet it had been the Interest of the Northern and Western Men to have continued the Importation of Irish Cattel; for in breeding Cattel they can make but one Return in five Years, whereas they might make four Returns in one Year by the Irish Cattel imported: Yet in many Land-Taxes, the Parliament taxed the Southern and Eastern Parts of England near double more than the Northern and Western.

But neither the King's Management of Business, this Infant-Law, the Fire of London, the pulling down the Houses upon the Tower-Ditch, the Plague, nor the Act of Navigation, now sixteen Years old, could allay the Parliament's Heat from carrying on this War against the Dutch; and therefore they gave the King 1256000 l. towards it: but the King had other Occasions for the Money, and thought he better otherwise could dispose of it, upon the Assurance he had from his Mother out of France, that the Dutch would not set out another Fleet this Year, tho the French King used all means that the Dutch should do it: And this Year the Zealanders set out a Squadron of Ships, and took Surinam from the English in America.

Relying upon his Mother's Intelligence, the King, by the Mediation of the Swedish Ambassador, entertains a Treaty of Peace with the Dutch, whilst they make all possible Preparations for War, [Page] which all the World saw but the King, who would not see it; and so took no Care to set out a Fleet to fight them, nor to protect his Fleet in their Ports.

However, the King at this time was not pleased with the Insults of his Brother of France upon the English in their Plantations in the Leeward Islands; and therefore sent Sir John Harman with a Squadron of Frigats, to repress the French Insolence there: Sir John had the Gout so as he could not go; but upon the Discovery of the French Fleet, got upon his Feet, and gave Orders to fight the French, which he did, and beat them; and during the Fight, walked and gave Orders as when well. But the Fight was no sooner over, when Sir John returned to his gouty Lameness again, and after reduced Surinam to the English: but this was after the Peace of Breda between the English and Dutch.

The Dutch having compleated their Fleet, upon the 9th of June entred the River: I was on the 10th, in the Morning, walking in St. James's Park, when a Gentleman whispered to me, That the Dutch were enter'd the River. Then the King had fed his Ducks, and was walking on the West-side of the Park; and as we walked, Prince Rupert overtook us, and met the King at the further End of the Pall-Mall; and the King told the Prince how he had shot a Duck, and such a Dog fetch'd it: and so they walk'd on till the King came to St. James's House, and there the King said to the Prince, Let's go see Cambridg and Kendall, (the Duke's two Sons, who then lay a dying) but upon his Return to White-hall, he found all in an Uproar, the Countess of Castlemain (as 'twas said) bewailing above all others, that she should be the first torn in pieces.

Hereupon the Duke of Albemarle was posted down to Chatham, where, in a Council of War, it was resolved to sink all the Ships; but as they lay, there was not Water enough. The Dutch found an easy Passage, after they broke the Boom which lay cross the River; for no Fort was then finished at Sheerness, and that at Ʋpnor ruin'd for want of Repair: however, the Duke put some Guns into it, which shooting high, little damaged the Dutch in the Passage: So the Dutch fired the Royal James, London, and Royal Oak; and the Henry being afloat, run so violently upon Rochester-bridg, the Tide forcing her, as endanger'd the breaking of it; and the Royal Charles was carried off by the Dutch.

I was then at London, and also in the Plague and Fire Years, yet in neither did I observe such Consternation and Confusion in the Looks of all Men as at this time, and with great Cause: for if the Dutch had then come up to London, they had found all open to them; not one Gun mounted at Tilbury Fort, nor one Frigat ready in the River; so as they might have forced all the Ships in the River up to the Bridg, and there have burnt them; which [Page] would certainly have fired the Tower, and all the Suburbs West to Black-wall, as well as Southwark, below Bridg.

Nor were the Ships at Portsmouth in more Safety; and the Dutch had Ships enow to have made both Attempts at the same time; but whilst the Dutch lay loitering below Sheerness, the English had time to plant some Guns in Tilbury Fort, and sink Ships cross the River at Woolwich: And the King sent the Earl of Macclesfield and Captain Elliot to Portsmouth, who used such Diligence in fortifying it, that when the Dutch came before it, they thought not fit to attempt to do what they had done at Chatham.

However the Dishonour which the Nation sustained by this Action may be forgotten, yet the sudden and more dishonourable Peace concluded at Breda the 9th of July following, will never be: Where the 3d Article is,

That all Offences, Injuries, Damages, and Losses sustained on either side by the King and States, or their Subjects during this War, or at any time before, upon any Cause or Pretence whatsoever, be totally expunged, and buried in Oblivion.

So that by this Article the Business of Amboyna is buried, and never to be called in Question; which Oliver, tho he made Peace with the Dutch, would not do, but was referred to the Cantons of Switzerland, who never did any thing in it.

By this Article the Dutch had Polloroon (out of which they had expelled our East-India Company during this War) confirmed to them, whereby they became sole Proprietors of the Spice-Trade, as well in Europe, as other Parts of the Indies, Arabia, and Persia: And by this Article they were to have the Plantation of Surinam restored to them, because taken by Sir John Harman after the Treaty.

The 4th Article is, That all Ships, Goods, and Moveables, which at any time had come into the Power of either Party, or their Subjects, should remain in the present Possessors thereof, without any Compensation or Restitution for the same, without any Exception of Place, Time, or Things.

The 5th Article was, That all Actions, Ships, and Pretensions whatsoever for the same, should remain void, obliterated, disannulled, and nothing moved thereupon hereafter.

The 8th Article is, That under the foresaid Renunciation, and Stipulation, all Letters of Mart, Reprisals, or Counter-Mart, general or particular, ought to be comprehended and revoked, by virtue of that Article accordingly, notwithstanding any Grant to the contrary.

This was the Success of the King's Speech to the Parliament, upon his declaring War against the Dutch, that as he enter'd into the War for the Protection, Honour, and Safety of his Subjects, so without these he would not make a Peace: and this Benefit Sir Edmund Turner and Mr. Carew had of their Letters of Reprisal, [Page] wherein the King granted, That they should stand good, notwithstanding any Peace to be made with the Dutch, until they had fully reprized their Debt of 151612 l. and Charges of Reprizal: nay their Agents were tried by a Commission out of the Admiralty for Piracy, for acting under the said Grant, the Silver Oar being carried before Sir Lionel Jenkins, who was very zealous to have hanged them; but the Common-Law Judges were of another Opinion, and so they did not lose their Lives, as Sir Edmund and Mr. Carew did their Debts: yet the French sped not so well as the Dutch in this Peace, being to restore all they had taken in the Leeward Islands to the English.

And now the Steed is stoln, the Stable-door is shut: for after the Peace, thousands of People were pressed in London to finish the Fort at Sheerness; and it being a terrible aguish Time, in an aguish Place, almost all fell sick, and it was deemed by many, that more died there than in all the Dutch War.

In this Consternation, 'twas necessary to do something to appease the Parliament and People, and so the King sends for the Seal from my Lord Chancellor Hide; which was no sooner done, but the Parliament were as fierce upon him as for the Dutch War▪ One of his intimate Friends told me, he took Counsel with his Friends, whether he should stay or leave the Kingdom; they all advised him not to stay; and so he left the Kingdom, yet fell into more Danger than if he had not: for at Diep, a Company of rude Sea-men endeavour'd to have assassinated him. Thus fell this great Chancellor and Statesman, I do not say a Sacrifice for either King or People, having followed the King's Father in all his Wars, and himself in his Exile: yet he lived to see two Lord Chancellors in England, and two Lord Keepers alive at the same time (no Argument of the Steadiness of Counsels after him:) Two were deposed as well as he; and the third, with much ado, lived to die in the Place. A little before his Deposure (as if he had lived long enough) that great Standard of Loyalty and true Nobility, my Lord Treasurer Southampton, died; but sure so upright a Chancellor, or two such honourable Counsellors and Statesmen, for their Integrity to the English Interest, and great Understanding in State-Affairs, have not since succeeded: but they were but two to too many others, and the King's Inclinations were towards the other side; so as neither he, nor my Lord Treasurer Southampton were present at the Council when the War was declared against the Dutch: But this Power was in the Wain, and the Torrent run t'other way.

It was time for the Dutch to make Peace with England; for this Summer the French King, with a mighty Army, was fallen into Flanders, and like a Torrent, had ravaged Artois, Hainault, and other parts of the Spanish Netherlands, and taken Charleroy, Oudenard, [Page]Aeth, Courtray and Lisle. But that we may take a better View of this War we must look back.

In the Year 1612 there was a cross Marriage between Lewis XIII. of France and Philip IV. of Spain: Lewis married Ann, Philip's Sister, and Philip married Elizabeth, Lewis his Sister: By Elizabeth Philip had Don Belthazar, and the Infanta married to the French King by the Treaty of the Pyrenees.

In the Year 1649 (Elizabeth of France being dead) Philip married Ann the Daughter of Ferdinand the Third, Emperor, Philip's own Niece, by whom he had Charles the now King of Spain. I do not find whether Don Belthazar was dead before the French King married his Sister, but Charles the now King was born about Nine Months after the Pyrenean Treaty.

By the Pyrenean Treaty, the French King, by all that they call sacred in the Church of Rome, and by all the Clauses the Wit of Man could express to avoid Evasion, disclaimed all Right or Title to Spain, or any part of it, in the Right of the Infanta; and Philip dying in the Year 1665, the French King did engage his Faith and Royal Word to the Queen by the Marquess De la Fuente, that he would Religiously keep the Peace, and continue a faithful Friendship with her and her Son during his Minority; nay, after the Eruption by the French into Flanders, the Arch-Bishop of Ambrun did, in Verbo Sacerdotis, protest and vow to the Queen, that his Master (the French King) would never break with the King of Spain, or invade his Dominions during his Minority.

By this time the Dauphin (I think) was about Six Years old, and his Father, to cover his Hypocrisy and Perfidy, pretended that the Women of Brabant, by the first Venter, inherit before the Males of the second: but you shall see Brabant flow over all the Spanish Netherlands; and therefore no Act of his could preclude the Dauphin, who was born of Elizabeth, Philip's first Wife; which vain Pretension was throughly confuted by the renowned States-man, the Baron de Isola, in his excellent Treatise termed The Buckler of State and Justice.

However, about four Days after the Arch-Bishop of Ambrun's Protestation, the Queen of Spain had notice of a Manifesto published by the French King, that he had so fully proved his Son's Title, that he did not think himself obliged to spend any time in unprofitable Contests about it; yet not to make War, but to take Friendly Possession of what was so justly due to the Dauphin.

Never was Spain at so low an Ebb, and unable to make Opposition to the French, as at this time: for besides our King's giving up Dunkirk to the French, and the breaking of the Spanish Army at the Fight at Elvas in Portugal, which should have defended Flanders, the War still continued there, where the French by a Treaty [Page] with Portugal, (contrary to the Pyrenean Treaty) were to have all the Port Towns taken from the Spaniard: The Buchaneers at Jamaica plagued the Spaniard in the Returns of their Plate-Fleet, and plundered and fired many of the Spanish Towns upon the firm Land: And Don John (the King's Bastard Brother) and the Queen, were at highest Discord about her Confessor Nitard, so as Don John refused to accept of the Government of Flanders again to oppose the French.

Here 'tis observable how much the French King's Ambition prevail'd beyond his Zeal to Religion; for in 1665 and 1666, the Irish had been treating with him, to send an Army into Ireland to assist the Irish in a designed Rebellion against the King, which this Year was brought to Maturity; and the French King promised to send them Forty Thousand Men to land on St. Lewis's Day, in August: But he kept his Promise no better with them to assist them, than he did his Oath at the Pyrenean Treaty, not to assist the Portuguese, and to the Queen Regent in Spain, not to invade any of the Spanish Dominions during the Minority of the King.

The King either stung with the Success of his Mother's Assurance, that the Dutch would put out no Fleet this Year, or at this time angry with his Brother of France, for the Ravages he had made upon the English in the West-Indies, whereby the King's Customs were much lessened; or it may be, having some Seeds of the wholsome Counsels which the Chancellor Hide and Treasurer Southampton had infused into him, how dangerous it would be to England as well as Holland for the French to make a Conquest in Flanders; sent to Sir William Temple, his then Resident at Brussels, to take joint Measures with the States for restraining the Progress of the French Conquests in Flanders: This was in January 1667/8.

The French Progress in Flanders more nearly concerned the Dutch than the English; the Spanish Netherlands being the Barrier to secure the United Netherlands from sinking under the Power of France, and therefore the Dutch States readily complied with Sir William's Proposals, and Sir William waited upon the King to give him an Account of his Negotiation; and within 5 Days after was sent back with Powers to conclude a stricter Defensive League than that at Breda between England and Holland; either by Mediation or Force, to stop the further Progress of the French Army in the Spanish Provinces: And because the Swedes soon after entred into it, it was called the Triple Alliance. This preserved what the French had left untaken, and the Spaniard was forced to sit down by the Loss.

But whatever the Spaniard lost by the French Ravages, the English gained this Benefit by it: That one Brewer (whose Parents were said to be English) with about fifty Walloons, who wrought and died Fine Woollen Cloths, came into England; and the King, [Page] after the Example of two of his wisest and most renowned Predecessors, Edward III. and Queen Elizabeth, entertain'd them against our Barbarous Law, or rather Usage, against Foreigners partaking the Benefit of Natural-born English; and by them the English, in a few Years time were instructed to make and dye fine woollen Cloths cheaper by 40 l. per Cent. than they could do before; not only to the Benefit of the English at home, but in foreign Vent abroad; which before the Dutch had.

I think it was this Year the French sell into the Franche County of Burgundy, and took Dole and Besanzon: but this being a Barrier to the Swiss against the French Power, as the Spanish Netherlands are to the Dutch, the Swiss recalled their Subjects out of the French Service, and ordered the levying Sixty Thousand Men to expel the French out of the County of Burgundy: and now it was not time for the French King to contend against the Triple League, and the Swiss too, so he gave up Dole and Besanzon again to the Spaniards, and withdrew his Forces out of the County. Thus was Spain saved by others when they could not help themselves.

The banishing the Chancellour Clarendon did palliate, but the Triple League reconciled all Difference between the King and Parliament, as if no Dutch War, or Miscarriages had been; and for the Triple League, they granted the King a Treble Supply, viz. 20 Car. II. c. 1. 301000 l. upon Wines and Liquors: Secondly, an additional Duty of 8 l. per Tun on French Wines, &c. and 12 l. per Tun on Spanish Wines for eight Years, which amounted to 560000 l. this was the 22 Car. II. And also, cap. 3. an Act for sale of the Fee Farm Rents to the Value of 1300000 l.

An. Dom. 1668.

But you'll see these dear bought Joys soon will fade, for the great Clarendon and noble Southampton now are gone, and another Generation is springing up, and that with such forward Growth (as all Weeds do) that upon the Joy of the Triple League, the House of Commons having given the King the 301000 l. Mr. Clifford (after Lord Treasurer) in April following told a Friend of Sir William Temple's, that for all this great Joy, it must not be long before we have another War with Holland; and this very Year a French Man gave my Lord Arlington the Design of laying another Holland's War, and the Advance of it by the Practice of Monsieur Colbert, upon the Ministers of our Court.

An. Reg. 21. Dom. 1669.

However the Devil will play at small Games rather than stand out: for now the French King's Hands are tied up by the Triple League [Page] and Treaty at Aix la Chapelle, from taking more Towns in the Spanish Netherlands: Yet he exacted great Contributions from the Dutchies of Limburgh and Luxemburgh, and confiscated the Estates of those in his Conquests, who would not forswear their Allegiance to the King of Spain, and endeavoured to surprize the Town of Hainault. And tho by the Pyrenean Treaty the Duke of Lorain was to be restor'd to his Dutchy; yet the Duke, tho a Friend to the King, was rejected from entring into the Triple League, which he endeavoured, and therefore incurred the French King's Displeasure, who in the Year 1669, seized upon the poor Remainders of his Country, and ordered one of his Generals to seize his Person, and bring him either dead or alive. And tho by the Treaty of Breda the French King was to restore the English to their Plantations in St. Christophers, which the French had taken from them, yet hitherto he refused to do it.

In this trifling, which the Hector of France did only to keep his Hand in ure, he did not sleep otherways; the Triple League stuck sore in his Conscience, which, unless broken, would set Bounds to his boundless Ambition: In its infant State Monsieur Colbert, in the first Year, had made some Steps towards it; but the next Year made such Advances, that he had almost brought the Destruction of it to Perfection: To facilitate this hopeful Project, Madam, the King's beloved Sister, came in June 1670, to Dover, with full Powers to conclude this desired Business.

The King was not long behind, but with equal Desire, and extraordinary Affection, meets his Sister, where all things are concluded, which, tho as dark as Hell, yet were as secret as Witchcraft, which would have no Light, but by their Consequences: and that this well-laid Design might not be forgotten, the Princess left her Woman, Madam Carwel, after Dutchess of Portsmouth, with the King to put him in mind of it: but the Princess was unhappy in this; for Monsieur her Husband entertained a furious Jealousy in his frantick Brain, that something else besides this hopeful Project was designed by the Princess; so that though she were in perfect Health, and never more pleased than when here, yet, upon her Return, she in the Glory of her Age, but Twenty six Years old, died suddenly, so that the Cause of her Death was as dark as the Design she came for.

But there is neither Sister, Father or Mother with Kings and Kingdoms: The sudden Death of Madam put no stop to the ratisying the Business she came for, but the Marquess of Bellefonds is sent hither, and an honourable Person is sent into France, for both Kings Ratification of it.

Hereupon the French King descended from his Stiffness, and delivered the English their Grounds in St. Christophers to Sir Charles [Page]Wheeler, yet destroy'd all the Plantations, plundered and carried away all that was portable, laid the whole Country waste, and left it in a much worse Condition than if it had never been planted.

The French King by his English Pensioners, did not only keep the Emperor and Duke of Lorain out of being desirous to enter into the Triple League, but he enters into a stricter League with the Arch-bishop of Collen, and the Bishop of Munster (two Princes of the Empire) against the Dutch, and now began to sit out a greater Fleet of Men of War than ever any French King did before: Nor were the Dutch behind-hand, but made proportionable Advances, not doubting but the King would make good his Proportion, according to the League so lately made between the King and them, in case the French King made any Attempt upon them.

Upon the 24th of October 1670, the Parliament met again, and notwithstanding all the Aids granted the King in April before, my Lord-Keeper Bridgman told the Parliament the great Care his Majesty had of them and the Kingdom since their last Recess, and that besides the triple Alliance, he had made many advantagious Alliances, both for Security and Profit of Trade with the Swede, Dane, Spaniard, and Duke of Savoy: But since the Dutch and French made such vast Naval Preparations, it was necessary for the Safety and Honour of the Nation, that the King should at least keep equal Pace with them, which could not be done without great Supplies, which must be speedily granted; for the King intended to put an End of this Session before Christmas: but the Success of this Speech so ill agreeing with the Premises, it was not permitted to be printed, yet you may read it at large in Mr. Marvel's Growth of Popery: But whatever Treaties of Commerce were made with other Princes, the Keeper finds none with France, where neither the advantagious Treaty made by Oliver was observed, nor any new one made, but the French King did use the English with all imaginable Oppressions, without any Redress from the King.

However, this Speech wrought so pathetically with the Parliament, that they gave the King one Shilling in the Pound of the real Value of all the Lands of England for one Year, and an Additional Excise upon Beer and Ale for six Years, and the Law-Bill for nine Years; which three Bills were computed at two Millions and a half.

And now this dark Design, founded in such deep Dissimulation, Hypocrisy, and Perfidiousness, as Oliver Cromwel would have been ashamed of and blush'd at, begins to receive Light: For, the Parliament having granted the King the Aids, were in Consequence prorogued, and did not meet to act till the fourth of February 167 1/2. But in regard that not only the extirpating the Protestant Religion, [Page] but the Subversion of the Western Parts of Europe was now designed, which extended as far as the Baltick Sea, and the Bounds of the Turkish and Tartar Empires, we will be a little particular in it. But what is most amazing is, that the King, in appearance a Protestant, and a free independent King, so used by the French King in his Exile, and since his Restoration, should be so forward in joining with a Faithless and Boundless Ambitious Neighbouring Prince, which if his Design had succeeded, had involved the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in the same Condition with the rest of Christendom.

The Vizard-Mask under which the Popish Party covered their Hypocrisy, in propagating their Catholick Cause [for plain-dealing must never be expected in it] in King Charles the First's time, was Arminianism, which then had the Ascendant in Laud's Regency: but since the King's Restoration the Protestant Dissenters being so fiercely prosecuted by the Parliament, it was judged that the dispensing with Penal Laws against Dissenters from the Church of England would conjoin the Protestant Dissenters Interest with the Popish; and this not only appeared by Practice, but by Design in Coleman's Letters to Father Ferier and La Chaise, the French King's Confessors.

As before the first Dutch War, the King issued out his Declaration of Indulgence for dispensing with the Penal Laws in Ecclesiastical Affairs in the Interval of the sitting of the Parliament, so did he before the second War. It seems to me that the Designers of this War got some secret Oath or Promise from the King that he should not do the like again; for the King told the House of Commons he would stand by his Declaration of Indulgence, and sure nothing but Queen Money would have got him off.

However, these Conspirators were more zealous than politick; for before the King issued out his Declaration of Indulgence in England, upon the 26th of February 1671, he issued out his Proclamation in Ireland, wherein he granted general Licence to all Papists to live in Corporations, exercise Trades there, and enjoy the same Privileges as other Subjects ought to do; which was a greater Privilege than his Protestant Subjects had, for by their Charter, all who were not free of the Corporations could not have the Benefit of their Privileges.

But that the Catholick Design might take deeper Root and Continuance, the Duke of York's Sons being dead, and the Princesses his Daughters being bred up in the Protestant Religion, Care must be taken to establish the Popish for the time to come; for which it was expedient the Duke should marry some Popish Princess, and to this end the Arch-Dutchess of Inspruck was propounded, and a Treaty entred into upon it.

[Page] But tho the Princess's Religion pleased the French King, yet the Interest this Marriage would bring with it did not: So that tho the Treaty were far advanced, yet the French King (who ruled all the Roast) propounded the Princess of Modena (the Daughter of a little Italian Prince, and a Dependant of the French King's, yet had a great Interest in the Court of Rome) and this, against all Endeavours of the Parliament, and to the Dishonour of the Treaty with the Arch-Dutchess, prevailed, the French King having adopted her a Daughter of France, and given her a Portion.

But while these Designs are laid in the dark here in England, the French King, bare-faced by his Ambassador at Vienna, in a solemn Speech declared, that his Master had undertaken the War against Holland for propagating the Catholick Cause, and that all good Christians were bound to join with him to extirpate Heresy, and that he would restore all his Conquests to re-establish the true Worship banish'd out of the Holland's (meaning the Ʋnited Netherlands) Territories, which you may read more at large in Mr. Secretary Trevor's Appeal, &c.

Now let's see how agreeable these Mens Morals were to their Religious Pretences in laying the Scene for this designed Dutch War. The Treasury, since the Death of my Lord Treasurer Southampton, was managed by Commissioners; and if the Aids granted by the Parliament were not sufficient for carrying on the King's Designs, the French King is to supply him further: but things were not ripe enough yet for these Monies to be returned into the Exchequer, lest they might give cause of Suspicion; and therefore between six and seven hundred thousand Pounds were received by Mr. Chiffins, he to have two Pence in the Pound, to be disposed of as the King shall order. If you doubt this, you may examine Mr. Chiffins's Accounts when he was advised to pass them, and take his Quietus out of the Exchequer.

Tho by the Defensive League between the King and States when the Triple League was entred into, the King and States were mutually engaged to supply each other with a certain Number of Men and Ships in case of any Foreign Invasion upon either; yet now the King hath Subsides given him by the French King to join with him against Holland, which by the Defensive Alliance the King was obliged to assist.

The King who was so great in the Love of his Subjects and Parliament for the Triple League, and had received such vast Sums for it, now at the Instance of the French King sends Mr. Henry Coventry to the Court of Sweden to dissolve it, which he did so effectually, that that King not only stood Neuter at the beginning of the War with the Dutch, but in it joined with the French King against the Confederates; and this Success Mr. Coventry had, that for this Business which put all Christendom into a Flame, he [Page] was by the King made principal Secretary of State, and it may be presented with his fine Ranger's Place in Enfield-Chase too, and that perhaps with thrice more by the French King: Whereas Sir William Temple, who was the principal Instrument in the Peace at Nimeguen, lost 2200 l. by it, and his only Recompence was to be Secretary of State in Mr. Conventry's Place, if Sir William would give him 10000 l. for it.

The Triple League thus dissolved, all Obstacles which might retard the Progress of this pious Work must be removed: And now my Lord-keeper Bridgman having done by his Speech the Conspirators Work for Money, has done his own too, and is turn'd out of his Place; and my Lord Ashley Cooper, Chancellor of the Exchequer, is made Lord Chancellor of England; and Earl of Shaftsbury; Mr. Clifford, (after Lord Clifford) Lord High-Treasurer of England; and my Lord Arlington Chamberlain to the King's Houshold, and Prince Rupert, the Duke of Ormond, and Secretary Trevor discarded from the Committee of Foreign Affairs; so as the CABAL, viz. Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington and Lauderdale govern all.

The first Result of this sacred Conclave, was the shutting up of the Exchequer, wherein the Bankers (who formerly had furnished the King with mighty Sums of Money at extorsive Interest) had lodged between 13 and 1400000 l. of the Subjects Money; this was in January 167 1/2. One would think these Monies added to the Aids granted in the last Session of Parliament, with those received from France, might have carried on the War against the Dutch on the King's Part; but to make sure, the Fleet for which the Parliament gave such vast Sums, to be equal with the French or Dutch, is set out under Sir Robert Holmes to surprize the Dutch Smirna-Fleet, which he vainly attempted the thirteenth and fourteenth of March 167 1/2; and to sanctify so Herotick an Act; at this very time the Declaration of Indulgence was printed and published the fifteenth.

The French King having gotten the King into his Net▪ let's see how he used him: The French King openly declar'd, that 'twas none of his Quarrel, and that he only engaged in it out of respect to his Person, and therefore before any War was declared, the King must first break the Peace, by the Attempt upon the Dutch Smirna-Fleet.

The Dutch, alarm'd at the Attempt upon their Smirna-Fleet▪ and being in no Condition to resist both Kings, sent Deputies to both to know upon what Terms they would agree to Peace: Those sent to our King were denied Audience, and kept at Hampton-Court till it were known what the French King's Pleasure was; but those sent to the French King had Answer, That what the King had was his own, and what he should conquer should be his without [Page] an Equivalent, and declared the States might deal with England as they pleased, and come off as cheap as they could, because by their Treaty they were not bound to procure them any Advantages. Yet, all this the King as patiently submitted to now, as before he suffered one Marsilly to be broken on the Wheel at Paris, without one word from him in his behalf, for being his Agent to the Swiss, to invite them to join in the Guaranty of Aix; who upon the Scaffold had twenty Questions asked him in relation to his Majesty's Person, and a strict Enquiry of the Particulars that passed between the King and him; all which you may read at large in Mr. Secretary Trevor's Appeal: And this pitiful Story you may find in a little Treatise termed Colbert's Ghost, printed at Cologn, 1684.

I find little difference in the Causes of this War by these two Kings. The French King's was, that the Dutch had acted in Diminution to his Glory, but says not wherein. The King of England's was, the Dutch had not yielded him the Honour due to his Flag.

The Cabal sought for a fourfold Cause of this War, the Insults upon the English in the East-India Trade, the detaining the Engglish Planters in Surinam against the Treaty at Breda, and horrid Pictures in Defamation of his Majesty, and his Flag.

To this purpose the Committee for the East-India Company was summoned to shew Cause: who answer'd and gave it under their Hands, That since the Treaty at Breda they knew no Cause, nor as yet the Dutch could pretend to no more than was granted by it, they having not as yet assisted the young King of Bantam against his Father, and made use of the young King's Name to expel the English Factories from the Pepper Trade, as before they had the Spice Trade.

For detaining the English Planters in Surinam; it was answer'd, the Planters were not willing to forsake their Subsistence, and be turned into the wild World to seek it; and that the Dutch perform'd their Part with Mr. Secretary Trevor, and therefore it was no fault of theirs if it were not observ'd; nor did they hinder them when they were transplanted to repair the Ruin of the English Plantation in St. Christophers made by the French.

For the Pictures the Dutch answered, they knew of none, except one Medal, which might be liable to any such Construction; but so soon as they knew of it, they caused the Stamp to be broken.

For that of the Flag, the Case stood thus: the Dutch having fitted up a Fleet of Men of War in jealousy of the French, were riding near their own Coast, when one of the King's Yachts discharged a Gun at the Admiral to strike Sail; which the Admiral not doing, was the cause of the Breach for the War, tho the States disown'd [Page]the Refusal, and offer'd to make any Satisfaction the King should require. But it is the End which crowns the Work in every Act, and therefore the Declaration concludes, That notwithstanding this War, the King will support the Treaty at Aix la Chapelle according to the Scope and Intent of it, and preserve the Ends of it inviolable: As if the getting the Swede out of it, and joining with the French against the Dutch, diametrically contrary to it, were the Support of that Treaty; or that the subduing Holland, so that the French should be Lord on both sides of the Spanish Netherlands, could be to protect them against the Power of the French. Good God! Did these Men believe Heaven or a God! But all Moral Vertues, and whatsoever may be called sacred, must give way to the Advancement of the Catholick Cause.

By this time the French King by the Benefit of the Act of Navigation, Oliver's Peace with France, and War with Spain, our King's supine Negligence, and the Addition of twelve great Men of War built by the Dane and Dutch in the former Dutch War, had got a Navy equal to the Dutch or English; yet how to damage or destroy these, and to instruct his Men to fight, is the French Game now to be play'd: And therefore for this time the French permitted the English to have the Red Flag, and the French were content with the White: Yet here it's observable, That in all the former Fights with the Dutch, when the French and Dane joined against the English, except that when the Fleet was divided, the English put the Dutch to flight; whereas in all the Fights (which were four) wherein the French joined the English, the English came off with more Loss than the Dutch.

Things thus order'd, the Duke of York was Admiral of the Red, or the whole Fleet, Monsieur D'Estree of the White, and my Lord of Sandwich of the Blue: And thus they rode at Anchor in Sould-Bay the 28th of June 1672, the Wind blowing at North-East, a stiff Gale: And upon that day there was a mighty Sacrifice to Ceres and Bacchus on board the Fleet by the Flag-Officers; and at the same time, the other Captains in imitation of their Admiral, went on Shoar to perform the same at Alborough, Dunwich, and Sould.

In their Jollity on Board, my Lord Sandwich (not at good Terms either with the Duke or with the French) said, that as the Wind stood, the Fleet rode in danger of being surprized by the Dutch, and therefore thought it adviseable to weigh Anchor, and get out to Sea: The Duke retorted upon him, as if this had been said out of Fear, which the next day 'twas thought was the loss of the Earl, and the brave Ship the Prince Royal.

The Sacrifice ended, and when all were Vino somno (que) sepulti, the Thunder of the Cannon of the Scout-Ships about two in the Morning, gave Notice that the Dutch Fleet was approaching to call the English to an account for their Yesterday's Jollity.

[Page] Now all things were in Confusion, our drowsy Officers were in no case to go to Counsel, nor had time for weighing Anchor, the Cables therefore were cut to avoid being burnt by the Dutch Fire-Ships, and the Long-boats were sent near the Shoar to wait upon their sleepy Officers. Here was no time to draw into a Line of Battel▪ but it happened that about four in the Morning a Calm fell, which continued till after six, whereby the Captains had time to get on Board, tho not to consider how to fight: And I have heard experienced Sea-men say, if this Calm had not happened, the whole English Fleet had been in danger to be stranded or burnt.

The Coast of Sould-Bay lies near North and South, the North-most part inclining into the East, called Eastonness; being the most Eastern Part of England, but towards the South it inclines into the West.

The French lay South, the Duke's Squadron in the midst, and my Lord Sandwich on the North; so as the French had most Sea-room, and the Blue least.

When the Dutch engaged the Fleets, the Wind was South-East; and the Dutch did not fight close with the French, yet the French shot furiously, but their Shot fell short: But with great Courage the Dutch fell upon the Duke's Squadron, and more fiercely upon the Blue, the Dutch having near one third more than the English; and thus the Fight held till about 11, when the French by this time might have weathered the Dutch, and disingaged the English; but did not: Now the Wind had got North-East, and Van Gent, the Dutch Vice-Admiral, with three Men of War, whereof one lay across his Haulser, sorely distressed my Lord Sandwich, when Sir Joseph Jordan (Vice-Admiral of the Blue) who might have disengaged the Earl, sailed to the Red to assist the Duke, and it's believed the Earl might have done so too, if his great Spirit could have digested his yesterday's Taunt: So this noble Earl and his brave Ship perished; with many young Gentlemen besides Mariners. Towards two the English got the Weather-gage of the Dutch, and then the Fight ended; nor did the French serve the English better in any of the other Sea-Fights, which let others tell, I have had enough of this.

Tho the Dutch could thus cope with the English and French at Sea, yet they found another kind of Task of it by Land: And let's look back a little, and see how this Calamity came upon them, and some things we are necessitated to resume here, tho mentioned before upon another occasion, to make Matters more plain and obvious.

There is no Man conversant in the Stories of those Times, but understands that the Foundation of the Dutch States was laid by William Prince of Orange (Father of Maurice, and Henry Frederick, [Page] Grand-father of King William) who and his Brothers all lost their Lives in establishing it, with the Assistance of Queen Elizabeth.

Queen Elizabeth, however she made use of the Dutch to curb the aspiring Dominion of the Spaniard, knew their Nature so well as never to trust them, and therefore bridled them by keeping the Brill, Ramakins and Flushing (the Keys of the Maeze and Scheld) in her Dominion.

The Queen in assisting the Dutch made one Article, That two such English Men as she should name, should sit and vote in their States. But the Dutch growing mighty by her Assistance, and withal ungrateful, formed a private Cabal at Amsterdam, where they managed all the secret Affairs of their State; and in this Barnvelt was the Head.

The Queen incensed herewith, in the Year 1598 called the States to an account for all the Monies she had expended in their Support, which was 8000000 Crowns, or two Millions Sterling; the Dutch pleaded Poverty, and their Inability of Payment, and beseeched her, that as she excelled all others in Glory and Power, so she would continue her Mercy and Pity to these distressed States.

The Queen answered them, She had been often deluded by their deceitful Supplications, and ungrateful Actions, and pretences of Poverty, and that they bare no Reverence to Superiors, nor took any Care but for themselves.

The States were confounded with this Answer, and to appease her, promised to pay her the whole Debt after the War, and during the continuance of it to pay her 100000 l. per Annum, and that the English Garisons in the Brill, Ramakins and Flushing, should be paid by the States.

The Queen, tho not much trusting the States, yet wisely considering, that if she refused these Offers, the States might alter, and put themselves under the Protection of France, now at Peace with the Spaniard, by the Peace at Vervins the Year before, or that they might make a Peace with Spain, whereby she might lose the whole Debt, and Dependance the States had upon her, accepted their Terms: But I do not find they ever performed any of them, except the Payment of the English in Garison in the Cautionary Towns, which how well they observed this, when they found it their Interest not to do it, has been said before.

For in the Year 1609, the Dutch made a Truce with the Spaniard for eleven Years, when Barnvelt, Hugo Grotius, &c. (Heads of the Lovestein and Arminian Faction) conspired how to get rid of the English and Prince of Orange (by whom the Dutch became States.) It's said before how easily in King James the First's Reign they got rid of the English; but their Attempt upon the Prince [Page] not succeeding, Barnvelt lost his Head, and Grotius had lost his too if he had not fled the Country.

But tho Barnvelt's Head was cut off, the Faction did not die with it; for after the Dutch had made Peace with the Spaniard, at the Treaty of Munster 1648, tho in the Life of the then Prince of Orange (the King's Grandfather, and the most Renowned General of the Time) the Lovestein Faction stirred not, yet he dying within the Year after the Treaty, (I think) they began to play their Game against his Son, a Prince of Lively and Active Courage, about twenty two Years of Age; and after the Example of Barnvelt, laid their Foundation by disbanding the English, by whose Blood and Valour, under the Conduct of three Princes of Orange, they became States.

The Prince, if he suffered this, foresaw his Authority was next struck at, therefore resolved to prevent it, and to be before-hand with the Conspirators at Amsterdam, where the Scene was laid; and in great Silence marched within three Hours march of Amsterdam: but the Weather being dark and foggy, the Hamburgh Post past by the Prince undiscover'd, and gave the Burghers account of the near Approach of the Prince, whereupon they opened their Sluces, and by drowning the Country, stopt the Prince's March, whereby he not only lost his Design, but his Life; for upon the 24th of October 1650, he died, they say of the Small Pox, leaving the Princess big with Child of the now King William.

Now had the Lovestein Faction a fair Field to play their Game in, and so the English were disbanded; and having the Rump in England, who would be accounted States as well as they, they thought all cock-sure; for they were sure the Rump would take as much Care to keep out the King, as they to suppress and depose the Prince of Orange, born after his Father's Death.

But tho the Lovestein Faction thought they had a sure Game against the Infant Prince, they found they had a hard Task to play their Game against the Rump, who next Year made War upon them; and tho the King offer'd to assist them against the Rump with the Fleet Sir William Batton had brought over to him, yet such was their Aversion to any thing which they thought might tend to the Benefit of the Prince, that they refused the King's Assistance, and so had been rooted out from being a State, if Oliver's Design of keeping out the King, as well as the Prince of Orange, had not prevented it.

After the Dutch made Peace with Oliver, being before at Peace with France, Spain and the Empire, they now set all their Wits to work to establish their Commonwealth without the Prince of Orange; and to make sure work, God's sacred Name must be prostituted to establish their Ambition, Perfidiousness and Ingratitude, by swearing never to admit of a Stadtholder; nor did they [Page] stay here, but imposed the same upon the Prince: The Success you'll soon hear.

In this seeming Prosperity, they made John De Witt (a Fellow as arrogant and insolent as ungrateful, factious, and imitating French Modes) Pensionary, or rather Dictator of Holland; whose chief Business was to depress the Prince, thereby arrogating so much more to himself as he debased the Prince and his Authority; and so intent he was hereon, that he neglected to take care of the Military Discipline which was exercised in the United Provinces, whilst they continued in War with Spain; and in all their Garisons (especially those upon the Rhine) instead of the old experienced Governours, De Witt and his Faction put in Burgomasters Sons, and Favourites of their Faction opposite to the Prince.

Now you shall see De Witt and his Faction outwitted by the French, and by the same Artifice, by which they had outwitted our King and his French Counsellors.

For De Witt having lull'd the King into the Security of a deceitful Peace, whereby the Dutch got the Opportunity of Firing our Ships at Chatham, and then the Peace at Breda; and after having gotten the King into the Triple Alliance, De Witt ascribed the Glory of all these to himself, and became so insolent hereon, that he became intolerable to all but his own Faction.

The French King coop'd up by the Triple Alliance, used this Finess to break it; his Pensioners in England represented to the King the Insolence of De Witt and the Dutch, upon the Treaty at Breda, and it may be more than was true▪ and how that the French King had by the Treaty restored what he took from the English in St. Christophers during the War, whereas the Dutch still detained Polloroon, and Surinam, though taken in the War; and how dishonourable it would be to the King not to vindicate his Honour herein, and how ready his Brother of France would be to assist him in it. These Counsels had the Effects before shewed.

In all this Time the French King entertained a Treaty with the Dutch, to be a Mediator between the English, and them, about their settling Trade and Commerce, but especially in the East-Indies; and the Dutch embraced the overture, wherein the French were no more sincere, than the Dutch were with the English in the Year 1667, before they fired our Ships in their Harbours.

The Dutch lull'd into Security by this Treaty, made no Preparations by Land against the French, either by raising an Army, or fortifying their Garisons.

Whilst the French King was thus wheedling De Witt and his Faction, he corrupted one Mombas, (a French-man, and an Officer of War in the Dutch Service) who betrayed all he could learn or observe to the French King; and one Desroches▪ a Captain in the [Page] Prince of Conde's Guards, and a Kinsman of Mombas, prevailed with him the Winter before the War broke out, to take a Journey into France, fully to inform the King of the State of Affairs in Holland, and to take further Instructions from the King.

Thus the French King having made a strict Alliance with the Arch-Bishop of Cologn, and Bishop of Munster, (two implacable Enemies of the Dutch, for having filcht some Towns from them) utterly surprized the Dutch, and marched with a mighty Army to Wise, a small City upon the Maez, in the Bishoprick of Liege, where he staid a Fortnight for further Instructions from Mombas.

The Dutch now roused out of their stupid Security, to take Counsel what to do, the Prince of Orange's (though they had forsworn him St [...]dtholder, yet allowed him a Place among the States) Counsel was, to put ten Thousand Men into Mastricht, and to encamp with the rest at Bodegrave, whose Situation was most advantageous to cover Holland, and to abandon the rest of the Places above the Rhine: Monsieur Opdam, and Celidreck, who spoke for the Nobility, were of the same Opinion.

But De Witt and his Faction, (little versed in Military Affairs, yet ruled all the roast) would keep all or lose all, (and so they did;) and tho the Garisons upon the Rhine were weak, and ill provided, they made them much weaker, by detaching great Numbers out of them to put into Mastricht.

Mombas gave the French King an Account of all this, and how easily all the Towns upon the Rhine might fall into his Power.

The French King nicks the Opportunity, and passed the Maez, and easily put to flight some Troops which the Dutch had advantagiously posted to oppose him, and came before Orsoy, which next day was surrendred to him.

From thence he marched to Rhinburgh and Dossery, both which surrendred, and Dossery without shooting one Cannon, for which the Governour lost his Head. Wesel was delivered to the Prince of Conde, after the Trenches had been opened for a day or two; and the Governour had a Sword passed over his Head by the Hangman, for making so feeble a Defence. Barick at the same time was taken by Marshal Turenne; and the Prince of Conde advancing, took Deudekom, Rees, and Emerick, with the same Facility as he had done Wesel. Thus you see these De Witts, (or without Wits) after their supine Negligence of preserving their Country for twenty Years, by their Ignorance, or stubborn Opposition to the Prince, made the French King's Passage more easy to destroy their Country.

Here the French Arms seem to stop, for the Issel, by reason of its Depth, not only forbad the French a farther Progress, but the strong Retrenchments on the other Side, where the River is more fordable; when two Gentlemen of the Neighbourhood of Tolhuys [Page] came to the Prince of Conde at Emerick, and promised to shew him a Passage over the Rhine, where there were but one Hundred Paces swimming. The Prince of Conde hereupon, sent the Count De Guiche, to try the Truth hereof, with the two Men, who brought the Count opposite to the Tol-huys, where plunging into the Water, the Count followed them, and found what they had said to be true.

The Prince hereupon acquainted the French King, who came that Night and supped with the Prince, and ordered his Army to march towards the Rhine; whither they came about half an Hour before day.

You have seen how easy a Conquest the French King made of all the Towns on the Rhine, by the Advice of these witless De Witts: now you shall see how by their Advice, they gave him as easy a Passage over the Rhine, to the Ruin and Loss of all their Up-land Towns, and Country on this side of it.

The Prince of Orange (who in this Exigence De Witt's Faction permitted to be General) not knowing the Man, sent Mombas with a Body of Horse and Foot to guard the Passage over the Rhine, those of the Issel being already secured from the Passage of the French; but Mombas seeing this might prevent the French King's Passage, wrote to some of the Deputies of the States, that there was no Likelihood of the French passing the Rhine, but if they pleased, he would put himself into Nimeguen, where he believed they bent their March, which these Deputies ordered him to do.

At this time the Prince was gone out from the Camp with a Detachment, and upon his Return was surprised with what Mombas and the Deputies had done; and forthwith sent Wartz with some Troops to the Tol-huys, to intrench himself there; b [...] though Wartz made all the Haste he could, the French appeared on the other side of the Rhine, which caused him to intrench his Infantry, and caused the Cavalry to advance along the Rhine.

The French King caused his Cannon to play upon Wartz's Cavalry, who sheltered themselves from the Shot, among the Trees upon the River, whilst the French passed it, though some were drowned in it; which Wartz's Cavalry did not hinder: but when they perceived some of the French Troops had come over, and began to form a Squadron, they came from the Shelter of the Trees; but instead of pressing upon the French, they made a Halt, and made their Discharge at so great a Distance, as did no Execution; and thereby gave the French an Opportunity of joining those who were before come over.

The Foot divided from the Horse, and discouraged by their base Cowardise, and not having time to intrench themselves, demanded Quarter, which the Prince of Conde granted, in case they laid [Page] down their Arms. But the Duke of Longueville, advancing to the Brink of the Dutch Retrenchment, fired his Pistol, whereupon the Dutch discharged a whole Volley upon the French, and killed a considerable Number of them, whereof Longueville was one, and the Prince of Conde wounded.

Hereupon the French stormed the Trenches, wherein they found some Resistance, and put all to the Sword, but those who escaped by Flight; and took and plundred the Castle of Tol-huys, and put all the Isle of Betue under Contribution.

The Disaster of the Dutch ended not here, for the Dutch which guarded the Issel, fearing the French would fall upon them behind, fled from their Posts, and left the Passage free to the French; so as the King in Person took Doesburg and Turesune, Nimeguen, Swoll, Daventer, Grave, Arnheim, Skinenschon, and Creveceer; and the Bishop of Munster, Coventer.

Whilst the King besieged Doesburg, the Burgomasters of Ʋ trecht surrendred the Keys to the King, who sent the Marquess of Rochfort to take Possession of it; who made such Haste, that he neglected to take Muiden, then abandoned, whereby he might have bridled Amsterdam.

Thus you see what a deplorable State the Ingratitude and Perfidiousness of these Men had brought their Country to; and you'll soon see that these Men who had sworn to exclude the Prince from being Stadtholder, shall themselves be deposed from being States, and no other visible Hopes left to free their Country from the Calamities which they had brought upon it, but by exalting this Prince, which they had formerly sworn never to do. And 'tis more observable, that both the De Witts were massacred by the Rage of the People, in whom the De Witts, and Barnvelt before them, placed all Soveraignty, and might do as they pleased.

To compleat the miserable Condition of the Dutch Provinces, the King had raised an Army commanded by Marshal Schomberg, (who had done what he could for the French in Portugal, the Queen Regent of Spain, upon the French Irruption into the Spanish Netherlands in 1667, having made Peace with Portugal) and Col. Fitz-Gerald, an Irish Papist, Major-General: The Business of this Army was, as the Vogue went, That since the French King could not get that part of Holland which was drencht by Fresh Water, to souse it with Salt Water, by cutting down their Sea-Banks; but Point Homo.

For the Dutch Mob, astonished and confounded with the Loss of their Country by Land, and opposed by Two the most Powerful Kings in the whole World by Sea, in a Rage assassinated the Two De Witts, Cornelius and John, as the Betrayers of their Country, and the Causers of this War, and depose the States, who [Page] they thought were of the Lovestein, or De Witts Faction, and restore the Prince of Orange (now in the first Year of his coming to age) to the Command of his Ancestors, and make Monsieur Fagell Pensioner of Holland.

The Prince being the King's Nephew, and having never offended him, raised an Expectation in the People, and Fear in the French King, that the King would not suffer the Prince to fall into a worse State than the De Witts intended, by suffering the French to conquer Holland, whereby the Prince's Authority must needs be swallowed up. This the French King foresaw, and therefore to obviate it, the French King was the first who made Application to the Prince, and proposed to him the making him Soveraign of the Ʋnited Provinces, under the Protection of England and France: (such a Protection was never heard of before) But the French King knew how to deal with his Brother of England.

It's admirable to consider, that notwithstanding the Conquest by the French of the other Provinces, and the Desolation of Holland, and the long Prejudices, even from his Cradle, against him by the Lovestein Faction, this Generous Prince in his most florid and ambitious Age, should out of his vertuous, innate Love to his Country, stand so firm to it, that his Answers were, That he would never betray a Trust reposed in him, nor sell the Liberties of his Country, which his Ancestors had so long defended, and God so blest him herein. But out of these Ruins shall this limited Prince arise, and put a check to the boundless and arbitrary Ambition of this designing French Universal Monarch, as his Ancestors before had to the Spanish.

The King it seems could not but see, that whilst he got nothing but blows by Sea, the French got all by Land; and therefore sent the Duke of Buckingham, my Lords Arlington and Hallifax, to the French King, keeping his Court at Ʋtrecht, but with Instructions as secret and dark, as those of making the War: These when they came into Holland, were informed of the French Designs; and the King's Answer to their Deputies was, viz. That the King might treat as he pleased, but that what the French King had got, was his own; and that what he should get he would not restore without an Equivalent. Which raised such an Indignation in them that nothing would serve their turn but destroying, at least mastering the French Fleet: And in this Humour they went to the Prince of Orange, and promised the same; and engaged to their utmost, to bring the French King to be satisfied with Mastricht, and of keeping Garisons in the Towns upon the Rhine, belonging to the Electors of Brandenburgh and Cologn.

From Holland Two of these proceed to the French Court at Ʋ trecht, where the French Air changed their Minds they left in Holland, and about Four Days after sent word to the Prince of Orange, [Page] that the States must give Satisfaction to both Kings jointly, and that neither would treat separately; upon which the Prince desired to know what the Kings joint and respective Demands were, and of the new Agreement made by them, so contrary to their Promise to the Prince and States: Whereupon Mr. Secretary Trevor makes these Queries.

1. Whether they were sent to promote the French Conquest? If not, why, by making the Peace impossible, as far as in them lay, would they force the Dutch to submit to the French Dominion?

2. Whether they did not know that the French Demands alone had been rejected by the States, and that the granting of them would make it impossible for the Dutch to give the King any Satisfaction?

3. Whether having received from the Prince and States all imaginable Assurances of their Designs to return to the King's Amity, and to purchase it at any Rate they could, they could faithfully neglect these, and enter into a new Engagement, so prejudicial to England?

4. How far those who were joined in Commission, did concur in their Judgment; and whether these Considerations with many others, were not represented to them, and urged by some who desired to serve the King faithfully?

5. Whether or no it was for that Reason they opposed to fiercely my Lord Viscount Hallifax's (whom came a Day or two after them) Appearing and Acting jointly with them, tho in the same Commission with them, in as ample a Manner as themselves?

6. Who were those who (after my Lord Hallifax could be kept out no longer) went privately to the French Camp under Pretences, and had Negotiations of their own on foot?

7. Whether they had order to call the French King King of France, and to name him before their Master, as well in the French Demands, as of his Majesty's, in all their Agreements which they sent to the Prince of Orange?

8. Whether they had Instructions to stand in the Behalf of the French upon the Publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion in the Ʋnited Provinces, the Churches to be divided to the Roman Priests to be maintained out of the Publick Revenue? And to bind the King's Hands, so that the French King may be sure of his Bargain, these Plenipotentiaries (Two of them) agreed with the French, that the King should not treat nor conclude a Peace with the Dutch without them: But the French King shall find no more Security herein, than the Dutch and Spaniard did in the King's joining in the Triple League.

[Page] For the Support of this holy Catholick Design, stood my Lord Treasurer Clifford, and a new Band of Parliament-Pensioners, never before heard of in England, at Board and Wages: but these being a kind of Land-Privateers, are to tax the Country to pay themselves, and to do whatsoever shall be commanded, or no Purchase no Pay.

In this state of Affairs the Parliament met again the 4th of February 1671/ [...], when the Commons, like Men coming out of a drowzy Lethargy, began to consider the dangerous state of the Nation, and the dangerous Consequences of the severe Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters, by provoking them to join with the Popish; and therefore, tho they question'd the King's Declaration of Indulgence, and no Money was like to be had unless he recall'd it, yet upon the 14th of February, the Commons resolved, Nemi [...] contradicente, That a Bill be brought in for the Ease of his Majesty's Subjects, who are Dissenters in Matters of Religion from the Church of England. And a Bill passed the House accordingly, but was stopt in the House of Lords, (Causa patet) the dead Weight joining with the Caballing Party.

But whatever the Commons thought of the King's Dispensing Power in England, Lauderdale (the fifth in the Cabal in England) was of another Opinion in Scotland; for in the second Parliament c. 1. held by him, he gets an Act declaring, That by Virtue of the King's Supremacy, the ordering the Government of the Church does properly belong to his Majesty and Successors, as an inherent Right of the Crown; and that he may enact and emit such Constitutions, Acts, and Orders concerning Church-Administrations, Persons, Meetings, and Matters, as he in his Royal Wisdom shall think fit, &c. any Law, Act, or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

And that he might not be less active in Scotland than his Brother Clifford was in England, and Buckingham and Arlington were in Holland, being armed with these other Powers, he made all sorts of People depose upon Oath, their Knowledg of the Persons of Dissenters, not Popish Meetings, in the Exercise of their Worship, upon Penalty of Fining, Imprisonment, Banishment, and Transportation, to be sold for Slaves; imprisoning all outed Ministers who shall preach out of their Families, till they give Security of 5000 Marks Scot, not to do the same again; every Hearer, being a Tenant, to pay 25l. Scot, and Cotter 12, toties quoties they shall offend; and that it shall be Death for any to preach in Fields or Houses where any are without doors; and 500 Marks Reward for any to secure such dead or alive: and gave Orders, That every Man, for himself and all under him, should give Bond, not to go to Field-Meetings, and to inform against, pursue, and deliver up all outed Ministers to Judgment.

[Page] The Execution of these Orders was not by legal Officers, but by an Army of Highland Robbers, who quartered upon the Country: so that it may be a Question, whether the French King did not take his Measures in his Dragoon-Reformation, by the ground-work laid by Lauderdale.

But his Grace (which it seems did work irresistibly) did not stay here; for his Highland Army, which consisted of eight or nine thousand Men, not only lived upon Free Quarter, upon all sorts of the King's peaceable Subjects, but in most places levied great Sums of Money, under the Notion of Dry Quarters: they had only regard to the Duke's private Animosities; for the most part of the Places where they quartered and destroyed, had not been guilty of Field-Conventicles. The King's Subjects were denounced Rebels, and Captions issued out for seizing their Persons, for not entring into Bond, That neither they, nor any under them, shall go to Field-Conventicles; and the Nobility and Gentry were disarmed, who had ever been faithful to the King, and assisted in suppressing Field-Conventicles. Indictments were delivered in by the King's Advocate in the Evening, to be answered next Morning upon Oath, otherwise they were to be reputed guilty. These and many more of this kind, in the Matters relating to Lauderdale's Administration of Affairs in Scotland, were represented to the King, and that by his Command; and are in Lauderdale's and his Lady's Impeachment, which are all in Print. Notwithstanding all this, it was this Lauderdale who had procured an Act of Parliament to raise 20000 Foot, and 2000 Horse, to march into England to serve the King upon all Occasions. And tho the Duke, to prevent the Fame of his Actions arriving in England, had by a Proclamation forbid all Subjects to depart the Kingdom without Licence, yet the Noise of his Actions flew every where in England, not less than the Censures of the Star-Chamber and High Commission, in Laud's Regency, did in Scotland; and in due time the Duke shall hear of them. Can any Man now believe, That the King, by his Declaration of Indulgence, intended any Benefit to the Dissenters in England, whilst Lauderdale, without doubt by his Order, was acting these things in Scotland?

The House of Commons could not at first step forget all the Loyalty they before profest to the King, nor yet would they own the Dutch War; and therefore they voted the King 1238750 l. to supply the King's extraordinary Occasions; but before they would let this Bill slip through their Fingers, they tack'd a Bill to it, by which no Papist should have any publick Employment. This Bill catch'd my Lord Treasurer Clifford, the first in the Cabal, who was forced to resign his Treasurer's Place, or renounce Popery, which he would not do; his Pensioners not being against it, hoping thereby to get the Places which the Popish Party held; and even my [Page] Lord Chancellor Ashley, from Delenda Carthago, now sets up for the Country Party, against the Designs of the Cabal: so moultry are all Designs, which are not cemented in Justice and Honour.

The King having got the Bill for the Money, the further Sitting of the Parliament became uneasy to him; whereupon the Parliament was adjourned till the 20th, and after to the 27th of October, viz. 1673.

During this Recess, there were three Sea-Fights between the English, French, and Dutch, Prince Rupert Admiral, in all which the French stood aloof, looking on whilst the English and Dutch battered one another; only Monsieur de Martell, for engaging, was recalled, checked, and dismissed.

As the English thrived no better by Sea, so neither did the French by Land; for first the Elector of Brandenburg, then the Emperour, and at last the King, or Queen Regent of Spain, apprehensive of the Danger common to them all, of the French subduing the Dutch Provinces, entred into a mutual League for their Defence: and by their Conjunction, the Prince of Orange recovered many of the Ʋpland Towns, in almost as little Time as the French had taken them.

In this state the Swede now broke loose from the Triple League, whereby he opened the Gap to let in this Confusion, and became a Pensioner to France, and proposes a Treaty of Peace to be held at Cologn; and thither the King, the Emperor, the French King, and the King of Spain, send their Plenipotentiaries to treat of it.

The French King's Propositions were so insolent, that if granted, our King could have nothing; yet the King (pudet haec) insisted, That tho he was contented with such Propositions as he required, so as accepted in ten Days, yet if granted by the States, they should be of no force: nor will he enter into any Treaty of Peace, unless his most Christian Majesty shall receive Satisfaction from the States in his Particular.

After the French King should have all, the King's Demands were a Regulation of the Trade to the East-Indies, a Settlement of the Freedom of Navigation in Europe, the Arrears for the Fishing-Trade upon the English Coast, to assert a settled Revenue to the Crown for every Buss or Dogger-boat for the future; and to make Satisfaction for the Damages sustained by the Depredations upon the Ships and Lading taken from Sir Paul Pindar, and Sir William Courten, &c.

In this Interval of the Parliament's Recess, the King took the Seals from my Lord Chancellour Ashley; now made Earl of Shaftsbury, and gave them to Sir Heneage Finch, a Person of singular Integrity, Eloquence, and Veracity; who to those insite Excellencies which were natural to him, improved them, by the great Example of his Uncle John Finch, likewise Keeper of the Great Seal [Page] in the King's Father's Reign; yet with a different Fate, for the Temper of the Times would not bear his Uncle's Integrity, Eloquence, and Veracity; whenas the Nephew, with prosperous Gales, continued his Course till he arrived at Lord Chancellour, Lord Daventry, and Earl of Nottingham, and kept the Seals to his dying Day; which not one of his three Predecessors could do: And Sir Thomas Osburn succeeded Lord Treasurer. So C. and A. are out; we shall soon see what became of B. A. and L.

At last the 20th of October came, and the Parliament met again, when at the opening of the Session, the new Lord Keeper, with admired Eloquence and Veracity (which he retained to his dying Day) made a large Deduction of the Dutch Averseness to Peace; their uncivil Demeanour to the King's Plenipotentiaries at Cologn, and how indirectly they dealt with the King in all the Overtures of Peace; and therefore a necessary Supply, proportionable to the Greatness of the King's Affairs, was not only demanded, but Care to be taken for Payment of the Bankers Debt, otherways Multitudes of the King's Loyal Subjects would be undone.

But neither the Keeper's Eloquence nor his Veracity would down with the Commons; for during this Recess, the Terror of the French Progress had alarm'd the Nation as well as the rest of Christendom: The French Legerdemain at Sea was so much more taken notice of as our Loss was more, by their looking on whilst the English and Dutch destroyed one another. The Commons were frighted at the standing Army in England, commanded by a Foreigner, and an Irish Papist, taking all Military Liberty as in Time of War. It was more than whisper'd, the Conditions proposed by the King's Plenipotentiaries at Cologn were impossible; which tho granted, yet no Peace was to be had, unless the French King was answer'd in his Demands: nor were the Commons content with their Prorogation, till the Marriage with the Princess of Modena was past Cure.

Hereupon the Commons, on the 31st of October, bound themselves by a Vote, That considering the present Condition of the Nation, they will not take into further Consideration any Aids or Charges upon the Subject, except it shall appear that the Obstinacy of the Dutch shall render it necessary; nor before this Kingdom be effectually secured from Popery and Popish Counsels, and other Grievances redressed.

This early Vote of the Commons was so much more surprizing to the Band of Pensioners, who as yet had not earned their Bread, by how much they expected Mountains of Gold should fall from my Lord Keeper's Eloquence and Veracity. And now is the King▪ like his Father when he went to York to fight the Scots, reduced to a fine state, all the Monies received from the French King, like Water spilt upon the Ground, never to be collected: Besides the [Page] Band of Pensioners, he had a Land Army to maintain, and a Fleet at Sea, which the French Subsidies would not one fourth maintain: He could not avoid the Clamours of his Subjects whose Monies were shut up in the Exchequer, nor the Merchants who had supplied his Navy in this and the former Dutch War; yet their Graces the Dutchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth, must be maintained sutable to their Qualities; so must the Dukes of M— G—S—N—R— St. A— and Earl of P— besides Portions to be provided for many of his Off-spring of the other Sex. He had already provided Titles for the Cabal, except Buckingham, who could not be greater. However, you'll see this Vote of the Commons will work powerfully, notwithstanding the Agreement at Ʋtrecht that the King shall not make a separate Peace without the French King, nor any Peace with the Dutch, unless the French King shall be satisfied in his Particulars at Cologn.

Nor did the Commons stay here, but C. and A. being gone, one dead, the other turned to t'other side, they fell upon B. A. and L. and addressed themselves to the King that they might be removed from his Councils, Presence, and all publick Employment: and upon the 4th of November moved,

1. That the Alliance with France was a Grievance.

2. That the evil Counsel about the King was a Grievance to the Nation.

3. That the Lord Lauderdale was a Person grievous to the Nation, and not fit to be trusted in any Office or Trust, but to be removed.

The Rump of the Cabal thus used, frighted the whole Band of Pensioners into a Fear, their Turn would be next, at least their Pensions not paid; and therefore to undo all that was done, in a Hurry the Parliament was prorogued to the 7th of January following, not having sat eight Days.

But the Commons needed not to have been so fierce upon B. A. and L. for B. was now going off, and A. being the King's Brother-in-law was spited that he was twice balked in being Lord Treasurer; and if he did not turn to t'other side, yet he would never be reconciled with my Lord Treasurer: Only L. now remained to be quit with the Commons, to get an Act of Parliament in Scotland to raise 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse, to serve the King upon all Occasions.

The King having so hastily begun this War, by two such Acts as were without Precedent, viz. The shutting up the Exchequer, and the Attempt upon the Dutch Smyrna Fleet, was now as forward to make a Peace with the Dutch, even upon any Terms; tho but last Year his Plenipotentiaries had agreed at Ʋtrecht with the French King, not to make Peace with the Dutch without him; and this Year at Cologn, to grant no Peace unless the French King be satisfied in his Particulars.

[Page] By this time the CABAL was degenerated into a Juncto, and this was compounded too of five, viz. My Lord Keeper F— L—Lauderdale, Arlington, and Secretary Coventry, in room of Secretary Trevor, now dead.

It was agreed by the whole Juncto, That Sir William Temple was the most proper Agent for making this Peace, not only for his Abilities and great Reputation he had acquired in concluding the Triple League, but for the Honour and Esteem the King of Spain and States of Holland held of his Integrity and Conduct: And in order hereunto, my Lord Arlington, from the King and Juncto, complimented Sir William, and told him, He would not pretend the Merit of having named him (Sir William) upon this Occasion, or whether the King or my Lord Treasurer did it first, but that the whole Committee joined in it, and concluded, That since a Peace was to be made, no other Person to be thought so fit for it; and therefore the King, with many kind Expressions, gave order to Sir William to prepare for his Journey, and the Secretary to draw up his Instructions.

But how forward soever the Juncto were for Peace, the Dutch out-run them, or at least kept equal Pace with them: for tho the Prince of Orange were victorious in Holland, and with admired Prudence and Conduct, like another Scipio, carried the War out of his Country, and thereby saved it; for in the dead of the Year he joined Montecuculi the Emperor's General, and besieged and took Bon (the Residence of the Elector of Cologn) and thereby cut off the Communication between France and Holland, whereby the French were forced not only to quit their conquer'd Towns by heaps, but he opened a Passage for the Imperial Forces to join the Dutch and Spanish; yet the Dutch, having but newly recovered their drowned Country, and lost their Trade, the Charges of maintaining their Land Army became so great, that it was impossible this Year to set out a Fleet by Sea.

The Dutch States therefore gave the Marquess of Frezno (the Spanish Ambassador in England) Power to treat and conclude a Peace with the King, which came in three Days after the Juncto had sent to Sir William: and this, by Sir William's Advice, stayed his Journey into Holland, it being more honourable for the King to be sought to, than seek a Peace; and that the King's Interest might be better pursued at London than at the Hague.

The King and Juncto agreed to it, and withal added, That tho Sir William did not treat the Peace at the Hague, he should at London: And when Sir William had received his Instructions, he at three Meetings with the Marquess concluded the whole Treaty with the Satisfaction of the King.

Sir William says, the Articles being publick, need no Place here; but the two Points of greatest Difficulty were the Flag, [Page] and recalling the English Troops out of the French Service: But that this last was composed by private Engagements to suffer those to wear out without any Recruits, or not to permit new ones to go over; yet at the same time to give Leave to the Dutch to raise such Levies as they should think fit in his Majesty's Dominions.

But this is an odd Equivocation to recal the French Troops, which was to let them wear out, without Recruits, which was not observed neither, for Men were not only encouraged, but pressed to this Service: and to these in the French Service does Sir William and the Germans too ascribe the Glory of all the French Actions, who not only in Turenne's Life, but at his Death, saved the whole French Army. But if this be as Sir William says, yet the King hereby, instead of being the Protector, becomes a Murderer of his Subjects, in permitting them to kill one another on both sides; for it is impossible the War should be just on both sides: Nor do I believe the like Precedent can be shewed, unless by the King's Grandfather James I.

I confess, I have not seen the Articles of the Treaty at large; but by so much as I have seen, I do not find that the Arrears for the Dutch Fishing upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, agreed upon in King Charles the First's Time (which was 30000 l. per Annum) and a settled Revenue for that Fishery for the Time to come, insisted upon at the Treaty of Cologn; nor the Damages to the Executors of Sir Paul Pindar and Sir William Courten, were so much as mention'd in it. It may be the 800000 Patacoons to be paid by the Dutch to the King by this Treaty, were intended in Satisfaction of the Executors Demands, of which they denied they ever received one Penny.

This hasty Peace thus huddled up, in less than 4 Days, viz. between the 5th or 6th and 9th of February, would not admit of the Establishment of a Marine Treaty, and Regulation of the East-India Trade between the English and Dutch, and Treaty at Cologn: And therefore it was agreed, That Commissioners on both sides were to meet at London to treat of these, and determine them in three Months after such Meeting: and in case any Differences should not be adjusted, these to be referred to the Queen Regent of Spain, who should name 11 Commissioners, the greater part of whom should determine the Differences in 6 Months after, and these to meet in 3 Months after the Queen Regent shall have taken the foresaid Arbitriment upon her self.

But the States, as wise in this Treaty as the English were improvident and hasty, got the 7th Article agreed to, viz. That the Treaty made at Breda 1667, as also other Treaties renewed by it, be confirmed, and remain in full Force and Vigour, as far as they shall not be contrary to this present Treaty.

[Page] The Marine Treaty was agreed by the Commissioners; but the first and fifth Articles ill observed by the Dutch, as I have seen made publick; but nothing was agreed for the Regulation of the East-India Trade, nor any thing concerning it referred to the Queen Regent of Spain.

This is that honourable Peace, to his Majesty's Satisfaction, which succeeded this glorious War, to the Expence of such vast Treasure and Charge to England, and involving Christendom into a War, wherein we taught the French to fight by Sea, while they encouraged the Dutch and us to destroy one another, whereby we got nothing but dry Blows, except the 800000 Patacoons: for the Flag was ever given by the Dutch to Queen Elizabeth, King James, and King Charles I. and by the Treaty to Oliver in 1654, and to the King in 1666 and 1667, nor ever desired by the States: But the Dutch got confirmed the Islands of Amboyna and Polloroon, which they had ravished from the English, (whereby they not only supply Europe, but India and Persia, with Spice) and Surinam; and also got discharged again from the Piracy or Robbery perpetrated upon the Bona Esperanza and Henry Bonadventura in Time of Peace, and all the Arrears of 30000 l. per Annum, for fishing upon our Coasts since 1636. So little Regard was had, in this Treaty, either of the King's Honour, or of the Good or Interest of the Nation.

However, 'twas the Interest of Spain to promote this separate Peace with the Dutch; for this Year the French King having brib'd the Swiss to a Compliance, took the Franche County from Spain, the Swiss keeping Garisons in Dole and Besanzon: And this Year Messina revolted from Spain, and submitted to the French King.

CHAP. III.
A further Detection of this Reign till the breaking out of the Popish Plot.

TO mollify his most Christian Majesty, highly exasperated, you must think, by this Peace, the King, 'twas said, and I believe it, sent his Ship-Carpenters to instruct the French how to build his Men of War: and I say, Sir Anthony Dean told me, that by Order of the King, he built the Model of a Man of War (as I remember he said of a hundred and fifty Tuns) and carried it by Water to Roan, from whence the French King convey'd it by hand to Versailles, and had it launched into his great Pool he had [Page] made there, where he came on board, and had much Conference with Sir Anthony upon it.

And if the Service of the English commanded by Turenne in France were not sufficient for carrying on the War against the Confederates, the King emptied his own Magazines to fill the French; and that from June 1675 to June 1677, Granadoes were sent without Number, under colour of unwrought Iron; Lead-shot twenty one Tuns, Gun-powder seven thousand one hundred and thirty four Barrels, Iron-shot eighteen Tuns six hundred Weight, Match eighty eight Tuns and a thousand Weight; Iron Ordnance four hundred forty one, Quantity two hundred ninety two Tuns, nine hundred Weight; Carriages, Bandaliers, Pikes, &c. uncertain.

In return of these Kindnesses, the French King not only exorbitantly enlarged his Impositions upon the English in their Trade to France, but let loose his Privateers upon the English, as if there had been no Peace, and plunder'd, murder'd, made Prize of their Ships and Effects, and confiscated them; block'd up our Coast, and took our Ships out of their very Ports: and if Complaints were made at his Soveraign Port, they were baffled, except some which were redeemed by Sir Ellis Leighton's Interest (a most notorious—) who made a second Prize of them. Mr. Marvel, at the End of his Growth of Popery, gives an Account of sixty three of these, with the Masters Names, their Burden, Lading, and the Ports they belonged to, from 1674 to the latter end of 1676.

Now the King, who by this War had set Christendom in a Flame, being himself got out of it, sets up to be a Mediator for Peace; and no Man so fit to be employed in it as Sir William Temple, who having observed how the Ministers had deceived him or themselves, and advised the King to break Treaties so solemnly agreed upon, would not take this Employment upon him before he had sounded the King's true Sentiment, and trust no more to his Ministers.

Sir William therefore, in a Conference with the King in his Closet, and in a well composed Speech, reflected upon the Cabal, how ill he had been advised to break Treaties so solemnly agreed to, and how ill they had succeeded, how different the Constitutions of France were from those of England, and how different the State of the Crown now was from that when it had the Court of Wards, and Knights Service, and large Revenues of Lands, and Fee-Farms which now were alienated: so that Gourville well observed, that a King of England who will be the Man of his People, is the greatest King in the World; but if he will be something more, he is nothing at all.

The King heard Sir William attentively, yet impatiently at first, but at last the King said, Gourville had reason for what was said, and [Page] said, And I will be the Man of my People: but you'll see the King shall not long hold in this Mind; for Monsieur Barillon, the French Ambassador, and the Dutchess of Portsmouth, by the Agency of a French Monk, who had changed his Frock for a Petticoat, shall unravel all Sir William had been weaving in the Treaty of Nimeguen.

Sir William's Embassy was declared in May 1674, and his Dispatches finished in July following, when he went into Holland: But it seems to me the French Interest was chiefly designed, even in this Embassy; for tho Sir William's Instructions were for a general Peace, yet his Application was first to the States, and after to the Prince, that they would accept of it, and after their Acceptance of it, to endeavour it with their Allies; which looks as if the King rather intended a separate Peace with the Dutch and Spaniard, than a general one: and this the King endeavoured during the whole Treaty at Nimeguen, as you may see at large in the second Part of Sir William Temple's second Memoirs, and so ended at last; and so the States understood it, who tho at first desirous of a separate Peace, yet in Honour they could not leave out the Confederates who had saved their Country: And if the French King could have a separate Peace with the States and Spain, he little cared for the Empire, being in a Treaty with Count Teckely to raise a Rebellion in Hungary, and to engage the Turk in a War against the Empire.

Tho the King had got out of this War, yet this Summer the French King got the Swede into it (and as justly as the King began this War by his Attempt upon the Dutch Smirna-Fleet, for the Elector of Brandenburg had withdrawn a great Army out of his Country, to assist the Confederates upon the Rhine against Monsieur Turenne, who commanded the French) without declaring War, the Swede made War against him in Pomerania, tho it had like to have cost the Swede all he had in Pomerania; for the Elector returning at the latter end of the Summer, routed the Swedish Army, and after took Stetin (the Metropolis of Pomerland) and had kept it, if afterwards the Dutch had not made a separate Peace, and left him and the Empire too, who had saved them, to the Mercy of the French: And this had been done a Year sooner if the Noble Constancy and Authority of the Prince of Orange had not opposed it, who this Year fought the great Battel at Seneff against the Prince of Conde, with uncertain Victory.

You have seen how we got Peace abroad, now let's see how things stood at home. Tho the Popish Party had been twice balk'd in their Designs, I mean by the King's recalling the Indulgence, and this Peace, yet were their Hopes and Designs by the Marriage of the Duke with the Princess of Modena more heightned than ever; for they knew the King being involved in all sensual [Page] Pleasures, and therefore hating the Cares and Troubles of Business, might easily be prevailed upon by Importunity; and the Dutchess being an adopted Daughter of France, and having her Advancement and Portion from the French King, was obliged to propagate the French Designs with the Duke, and he with the King: And the Advancement of the Catholick Cause was the most pi [...]us and glorious Work they could promote, and therefore Coleman (the Duke's Secretary) now holds Intelligence with Father Ferrier (the French King's Confessor) Ferrier with the Jesuited Faction in France, and Coleman with those in England how to manage the King in order to it.

The Bargain was soon made by Coleman and Ferrier, and his Christian Majesty was fully satisfied of the Duke's good Intentions towards him, so that he esteemed both their Interests to be one and the same: This Return was by Sir William Throgmorton, June 2. S. N. 1674, to Coleman.

This Coleman communicates to the Duke, who commanded Coleman to answer, That the Duke was very sensible of his most Christian Majesty's Friendship, which he would cultivate with all the good Offices he was capable of, and that the Duke was fully convinced that their Interests were one, and the Parliament was not only unuseful, but dangerous both to England and France; and that it was the Duke's Opinion, That if his most Christian Majesty would write his Thoughts freely to the King upon this Subject, and make the same Offer of his Purse to dissolve this Parliament, as he made to the Duke to call another, he did believe it very possible for him to succeed; and from this time to the breaking out of the Popish Plot, you shall see the Parliament call'd, prorogu'd and adjourn'd, by Order from France, or French Ministers and Pensioners.

That this Design may be carried on in Masquerade, the whole Band of Pensioners make it their Business to possess whom they could perswade, that the Church is in danger, (truly said, but untruly intended) and that the Nation was running into Forty One: All Countenance and Hopes of Preferment were promised to those who would support the Church from the Danger of Forty One. This was blaz'd abroad, and encouraged by all sorts of printed Pamphlets, and if they met with Opposition, the Authors and Printers were persecuted for publishing unlicensed Pamphlets: Mr. Roger L'Estrange was the Champion and Pensioner of the Cause: Never did Man fight so to force the Whig into the Church, and when he was there made a Trimmer of him, and would have him out again: Forty One was his Retreat against all who durst contend against him and the Government. This was the Licenser of the Press, but never was there such a Press Rifler.

[Page] For propagating this holy Cause, Sir Francis North is made Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas, Sir Richard Rainsford Chief Justice of the King's-Bench, William Mountague Chief Baron, Vere Bartue a Baron of the Exchequer, Sir William Scrogs a Justice of the Common-Pleas, and Sir Thomas Jones of the King's-Bench, Men all durante bene placito: You need not fear the Chancery, for at this time there were four Chancellors and Lord-Keepers alive.

The Parliament was to have met the 10th of November 1674, but the Instructions from France were not yet sufficiently ripened, so 'twas put off till the 13th of April 1675.

At the opening of this Session, my Lord-keeper told the Houses, No Influence of the Stars, no Configurations of the Heavens are to be feared so long as these two Houses stand in good Disposition to each other, and both in a happy Conjunction with their Lord and Soveraign, but they ought not quieta movere, nor res parvas magnis motibus agere.

The House of Commons had been sullen these two last Sessions, and proceeded contrary to the Humour and Design of the Court, and therefore a Bill was brought into the House of Lords, e [...]tituled, An Act to prevent the Danger that may arise from Persons disaffected to the Government, which was the same imposed upon the dissenting Clergy by the Oxford five-Mile-Act: this my Lord-keeper said was a moderate Security to the Church and Crown, which no honest Man could refuse, and who did, gave great suspicion of dangerous and Antimonarchical Principles: This Oath or Abhorrence or Test is mentioned before, and is now set on foot to be taken by all who enjoy'd any Beneficial Offices, Ecclesiastical, Civil or Military, to which were added Privy-Counsellors, Justices of the Peace, and Parliament-Men.

It's strange to me that Princes, or indeed other Men, who have any Piety or Fear of God, should think to be secure in unjust Actions, by Mens swearing to observe them: For tho Human Actions be voluntary, yet the End and Design by them is not in Human Power: Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but only God can give the Blessing; with what reason then can Man expect a Blessing from God, because his Name is profaned, and made as a stalking-Horse to attain it? What Security had the Presbyterians by their Covenant, or the Rump Parliament by their Engagement, or Oliver or his Son by their Recognition? And more I think the King could not expect hereby.

Whereas Princes whose Thrones are establish'd by Justice and Righteousness, have a nobler Security than can be hoped for by Mens previous swearing to get Offices and Employments; so that Trajan, who was truly called the Just, put his Sword into the Praetorian Prefect's Hands, and bid him draw it against him, whenever he should attempt any thing against the Publick Good.

[Page] This King had a way, never gone by any of his Predecessors, to be present in the House of Lords at Debates, and would solicit Lords for their Votes: This was first declaimed against by my Lord Lucas, as an Awe upon the Peers in their Debates and Votes. This Oath being the Gap to let in the Popish Designs, you cannot think the King would now be away, but give all Countenance to the passing of it; the Bishops to a Man were for passing of it, so were all the Court-Lords, or those who hoped for Preferment, so as these were the much greater Part: Yet the Country Lords when they debated it in Paragraphs, made it inconsistent with the present Constitution of the Nation, vain and superfluous, and inconsistent in it self, which held for seventeen days together: But the Debates were laid aside by the Commons Votes against the Jurisdiction of the Lords in Appeals from Chancery. These Debates you may read at large in Print in a Tract intituled, A Letter from a Person of Quality to his Friend in the Country.

But because my Lord-keeper will have an ill-meant Distinction between the King's Natural and Politick Capacity, I'll put one Case which I do not find in all these Debates: The one Part of the Oath is, I declare, That it is not lawful upon any Pretence whatsoever, to take up Arms against the King; and, that I do abhor that Traiterous Position of taking Arms by his Authority against his Person, or against those who are commissionated by him, in pursuance of such Commission. Suppose Duke Lauderdale should have a Commission from the King to bring his twenty two thousand Scots into England (and you cannot believe the Scots Law to do it was made to no purpose) and plunder, and dispossess the English of their Estates; and the Sheriffs of the Counties should raise the Posse to suppress them, and compel them to keep the Peace, as the Sheriff by his Commission and Oath is bound to do: On which side does the Abhorrence of the Traiterous Position of taking up Arms against those commissionated by the King lie? But you'll say this cannot be imagined; and I say, the Design of imposing this Oath, makes this not only imaginable, but believed to be intended.

In the Debates the Commons raise a Storm against the Lords Jurisdiction in Appeals from Chancery, upon which the King prorogued the Parliament to the 13th of October 1675.

Tho the Duke lost Ground in the House of Commons, and was disappointed in carrying the abhorring Test in the House of Lords, yet he gained so much upon the French King, that upon the second of June he offered the Duke his Friendship, the use of his Purse to the assisting of him against the Designs of his and the Duke's Enemies; and protested their Interests were so close linked together, that those who opposed the one, should be looked upon as Enemies to the other, with much more, as you may read in the Duke's Letter to Le Chaise, the 29th of June 1675.

[Page] Tho the French could not fight against the Dutch in Conjunction with the English, yet without the English they can fight the Spaniard and Dutch: For the Spaniard (having block'd up Messina in Sicily by Land, which last Year revolted to the French) agreed with the Dutch to send a Fleet of Men of War to join the Spanish, to block up Messina by Sea, which the Dutch this Year did under De Ruyter; but were so niggardly in it, that the French beat both Dutch and Spanish Fleets, and killed De Ruyter: This was a just Reward returned to the Dutch, for building the French six great Men of War six or seven Years before. Just so Richlieu served the Spaniard in 1637, for joining with the French, in expelling the English out of the Isle of Rhee.

Tho the King were the first in the Triple League for the Guaranty of the Treaty of Aix, for the Preservation of Flanders; and tho the King in his Declaration at the beginning of this War, had engaged to support the Peace made at Aix; yet the French King this Summer took the City of Limburg, being the chief of one of the Spanish Provinces: which the King not only takes no notice of, but tells Sir William Temple, (newly commanded out of Holland by the King) that some warm Leaders in both Houses had a mind to engage him in a War against France, which they should not do, because he was sure they would make use of it to the Ruin of his Ministers. If the King were unhappy in his Declaration, he was not less in saying this to Sir William, to whom the Year before he promised to be the Man of his People, but is now of his Ministers: And sure he was the first Prince that ever profest it.

Upon the 13th of October the Houses met, and the King asked a Supply for building of Ships, and to take off the Anticipation upon his Revenue.

In the Interval of this Recess, the Debates of the Abhorring Oath became publick, which so nettled the Court and Church-Party, being the more numerous, that since they could not prevail by Reason, they would by Fire, and therefore ordered them to be burnt, which made the Debates so much more to be enquired into, and hereby received a greater Light.

The Commons had before them several Bills for preventing future Mischief, viz.

The Habeas Corpus Bill.

A Bill against sending Men Prisoners beyond Sea.

Against raising Money without Consent in Parliament.

Against Papists sitting in either House.

For more speedy convicting of Papists.

And for recalling his Majesty's Subjects out of the French Service.

These Bills being so diametrically contrary to the French and Popish Designs, and the Commons now more peremptorily than [Page] before, opposing the Lords Jurisdiction in Appeals from Chancery, so that they voted, Whosoever shall solicite or prosecute any Appeal against any Commoner of England from any Court of Equity before the House of Lords, shall be deemed and taken a Betrayer of the Rights and Liberties of the Commons of England, and shall be proceeded against accordingly: And the Commons having commanded the Counsel (who pleaded before the Lords) to the Tower, (How much is the case now altered?) the King took thereby an occasion to prorogue the Parliament from the 22d of November 1675, to the 16th of February 1676, which is above a Year; in which time, by a Law in Edward the Third's time, a Parliament was to be called; and as it was without Precedent, so it caused new Debates and Heats in both Houses when they met.

In this long Recess, I find but few Motions of the French and Popish Councils more than what appeared in Sir Thomas Gascoin's and other Trials: For Coleman's last two Years Letters were supprest, as was his Book of Entries; and the Commotions raised in Britany and Guiene, by the Impositions imposed upon the Inhabitants, hindred the French this Year from their usually more early opening their Campagn than the Confederates; so that every where the Confederates prevailed against the French; Tureen's Army was distressed by Montecuculi, and himself killed, yet the Army got on the French side of the Rhine, by the Bravery and bold Stands of the English. The Dukes of Lunenburg routed Marshal Crequy's Army, and after took Triers, and made Crequy Prisoner; and the Imperialists also took Philipsburg; the Elector of Brandenburg routed the Swedes in Pomerland, entred into a League with the King of Denmark, who took Wismar from the Swede: and the Prince of Orange took Binch from the French, and rased it. But the Progress of all these Victories were stopt, by the unaccountable Retreat of Montecuculi out of Alsatia with his whole Army back over the Rhine, it was said by express Orders from Vienna, thereby leaving Alsatia in the Power of the French, to the breaking of the old Duke of Lorain's Heart; who at that time had, and never before, so fair a Prospect of the Recovery of his Country.

If the Commotions in Britany and Guiene retarded the French opening the Campagn last Year, the King shall make amends in this: For having provided Stores for Horse and Man in his Frontier Garisons, in February 167 6/7 he block'd up Valenciennes and Cambray, and committed such Ravages, by burning and destroying those Parts of Germany which lay opposite to him on the other side of the Rhine, as if he made War not to conquer, but to destroy, tho this were at a time whilst they were in a Treaty of Peace with the Empire and King of Spain.

Upon the 17th of March, he, notwithstanding the extream Coldness of the Season, took Valenciennes, and from thence marched [Page] to Cambray, and laid Siege to it and St. Omers; and after the opening of his Trenches Cambray surrendred, but not the Citadel, our King looking on, as if he had not been concerned in the Guaranty of the Treaty of Aix: Nor could the Prince of Orange prevent this, the Spanish Garisons being ill provided, and the Confederates being so slow in getting into Bodies to oppose the French; or if they had been to be got together, they could not have kept the Field for want of Provisions for Horse and Man.

However, tho the Prince could not come time enough to relieve Cambray and Valenciennes, yet with the single Forces of the States, the Spaniard not so much as supplying him with Guides, marched to the Relief of St. Omers; but the Duke of Luxemburg joining with the Duke of Oleance, met the Prince at Mount-Cassel, where at first the Dispute was brave, but the first Regiment of the Dutch Infantry breaking and falling into Disorder, the Prince rallied them several times, and renewed the Charge, but could not prevent their plain Flight; yet made so brave a Retreat, which wanted little of the Honour of a Victory; so both the Citadel of Cambray and St. Omers, upon the 20th of April, fell into the French Hands, and thereby the main Strength of the Frontier to the Dutch Netherlands lost: And by these Conquests the French King not only delivered his own Subjects from the Contributions they paid to these Cities, but enlarged his upon the Residue of the Spanish Netherlands.

Upon the 15th of February 167 6/7, the Parliament met again, and from the Variance between the Houses about Appeals from Chancery to the Lords, they fell at Variance in both Houses, whether this long Prorogation were not a Dissolution: The Contest was highest in the House of Lords, and the Duke of Buckingham, the Earls of Salisbury and Shaftsbury, and Lord Wharton, where committed close Prisoners to the Tower for their Reason alledged; yet the Lords who voted their Commitment this Session, were as zealous the last to petition the King to dissolve the Parliament, when the Commons contested their Jurisdiction in Appeals from Chancery: But tho the Commons being in love with their sitting, resolved the Parliament not to be dissolved, yet they committed none of their Members for debating whether the Parliament were not; and granted the King an Additional Duty upon Beer, Ale and other Liquors for three Years; for now was the time to secure Religion and Property, said my Lord Chancellor.

But whether the Parliament were dissolved or not, the Commons were mightily alarm'd at the French Progress in Flanders, and therefore upon the 23d of May resolved, that an Address be made to the King to enter into a League Offensive and Defensive with the States General of the Ʋnited Provinces, and make such other Alliances as he should think fit against the Growth and [Page] Power of the French King, and for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands.

It seems the Ministers were as fearful of a War, as the Commons were of this Peace, wherein the Spanish Netherlands were in such Danger; and therefore the King in his Answer upon the Twenty eighth of May, told the Commons, They had so intrenc [...] upon so undoubted a Right of the Crown, that in no Age it will appear (when the Sword was not drawn) the Prerogative of making War and Peace had been so dangerously invaded; with a great deal more of su [...] Stuff, and therefore assures them, that no Condition shall make him depart from, or lessen so essential a Part of the Monarchy▪ A Man I think may swear out of what Quiver this Arrow was shot.

As if any King were less a King for being well advised, especially by those who can best assist him. To advise and to act, [...] different. The Commons did not in this Address, treat either [...] War or Peace, but only advised or counselled the King; excited to it by their own, as well as the King's Danger, by the Grow [...] of the French: And sure Princes have not such a Prerogative, a not to take Advice or Counsel, in less Actions than of War and Peace.

If you look upon the King's former Actions, what Glorious Wars, and Honourable Peaces he had made, you had little reason to think it so dangerous to his Prerogative, to advise him: For my part, I wonder the Commons should make any Address to him about them, since they could have no Security in any Answer he should make to their Address.

For was not the King a Guaranty in the Treaty of Aix, for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands, before the Swede entred into the Triple Alliance? And did not the King in the Beginning of this War declare he would observe the Treaty of Aix, which he might do, tho the Swede were out of it? And was not the King by the last Peace with the Dutch, obliged to withdraw his Subjects out of the French Service; yet did not only continue them, but permitted, nay pressed his Subjects to recruit and encrease them?

In the first Dutch War, (which was designed for the Overthro [...] of the Protestant Interest) then the Commons Advice was embraced, and thankfully entertained; but in this, for the restraining the boundless Ambition of the French King, is an unheard of Usurpation of the King's Prerogative.

However, by this the Commons might perceive what Thanks they had from this King for their Restoration of him; and for the manifold Millions they had poured upon him for the maintenance of his Prodigality and Luxury; and how much he preferred the Enjoyment of his Minions and Flatterers, above his own Honour, the Safety and Welfare of himself, the Nation or Christendom.

[Page] The King to shew his further Indignation to the Commons, and to take French Counsels for Reparation of their dangerous Invasion of his Prerogative, signified to the Commons that they should adjourn till the sixteenth of July following; which was so absolutely obeyed by the Speaker, then Mr. but now Sir E. S. that without the Consent of the House, or so much as putting the Question, he adjourned them to the sixteenth of July; though Sir John Finch was impeached for the same thing of High Treason in Parliament in 1640. So that if the Parliament were not dissolved by the last long Prorogation, another Question may now arise, whether it was not so by their Separation, without either Prorogation or Adjournment.

But in this time of War, it seems the French King was not at leisure to give Counsel; therefore when the Parliament met on the tenth of July, Mr. Secretary Coventry signified, that it was his Majesty's Pleasure they should be adjourned to the Third of December, which Mr. Speaker did again by his own Authority: But before the Third of December, the King issued out his Proclamation, that he expected not the Members Attendance then, but that those about the Town might adjourn themselves to the Fourth of April, 1678; yet when the House met the third of December, Mr. Secretary Coventry delivered the House a Message from the King, that the House should be adjourned but to the fifteenth of January, 1677, which Mr. Seymor this third time did.

Thus did the Speaker make a threefold Invasion upon the Privilege of the House, for the House's once presuming to invade his Majesty's Prerogative of making War and Peace.

In this Jumble of Adjournments, the Prince of Orange about the End of September came into England, and from Harwich rode Post to New-Market, where the Court then was; his Business was twofold, a Wife, and a Treaty with the King for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands, terribly shaken by this last French Campagn.

Sir William Temple was sent into Holland, by the King, in July 1674, to mediate a Peace between the French King and States, and after that to offer the King's Mediation for a general one, between the Confederates and French King. The Spaniards were fearful of this, and the Prince jealous of it, so that the Governour of the Spanish Netherlands refused Sir William a Guard to go to the Prince, and the Prince declined Sir William's coming to him; so as Sir William was forced to return to Holland, and wait for the Prince there till the Campagn was over.

After the Prince returned to the Hague, Sir William acquainted him with the Powers the King had given him, and that the King desired to act in concert with the Prince, and therefore desired, so soon as might be, to understand the Prince's Opinion therein.

[Page] The Prince's Opinion was, That the States with any Faith could not make a separate Peace, and thereby expose the Confederates, who had saved the States, to the Mercy of the French King; nor could a general Peace be made unless Flanders was left in a Condition to defend it self: That it was in the King's Power to induce France to what was just, and that the Prince must perform what his own Honour, as well as what the States were engaged to for their Allies, let it cost what it would. This Answer was coldly received by the King, so as he made no Reply to it.

My Lord Arlington possest the King, that it was Sir William's ill Management that the Prince was not pliable to the King's Desires, but if the King would imploy him in the Affair, by the Benefit of his Lady's Relations, the Prince might be better disposed: So in November following the King sent my Lord Arlington upon this Affair to the Prince, and my Lord Ossery (who had married Madam Beverwort, the Countess of Arlington's Sister.)

My Lord Arlington treated the Prince with that Authority, Arrogance and Insolence, and so artificially, that the Prince, who was of a plain and free Disposition, could not bear it, but said the King never intended he should treat him (the Prince) after that manner: Sir William and my Lord too had Instructions to sift the Prince to a Discovery of Applications made to him by discontented Persons in England; and to enter into secret Measures with the Prince, to assist the King against Rebels at home; and to sweeten all, my Lord Ossery gave the Prince Hopes of a Match, with the Princess Mary, the Duke's eldest Daughter: but the Prince would not treat of a separate Peace, was obstinate against the second, said that the third was a Disrespect to the King to think that he was so ill beloved; and that his Fortunes were not in a Condition for him to think of a Wife: so that my Lord Arlington every way failed of his Expectation, lost much of the King's Favour, and utterly dissolved the Friendship and Confidence he believed he had in the Prince.

On the contrary, though my Lord Ossery had above any other, more bravely fought against the Prince's Interest by Sea in this last War with the Dutch, yet the Sympathy of their noble Natures begot a Friendship, which no Power less than Death could dissolve; and my Lord became Partaker with the Prince in that glorious Attempt against the Duke of Luxemburg, upon the Relief of Mons, the Success of which was stopped by the unhappy separate Peace the States made with France; and the Proposition which my Lord made of the Match between the Prince and the Princess, made such an irresistible Impression in the Prince's Mind, that would admit of no other Relief but Enjoyment.

[Page] Though the Prince could not suppress, yet he concealed his Desires of matching with the Princess Mary, till a little before the opening the Campagn 1676, when he disclosed them to Sir William Temple; but before he made any Paces towards the attaining his Desires, he desired Sir William's Opinion of the Person and Disposition of the Princess.

Sir William, who was glad to find the Prince's Resolution to marry, being a Debt due to his Family, and the rather because he was the only one of the Masculine Line of it, replied, That he knew nothing of his own Knowledg of the Disposition of the Princess, but had always heard his Wife and Sister speak with all the Advantage that could be of what they could discern in a Princess so young, and more by what had been told them by her Governess.

Hereupon the Prince resolved to write to the King and Duke, and beg their Favours to him in it, and that my Lady Temple being to go over into England, upon Sir William's private Affairs, should deliver his Letters to both, and desired that my Lady, during her Stay in England, would endeavour most particularly to inform her self of all that concerned the Person, Humour and Disposition of the young Princess.

About two or three Days after the Prince brought his Letters to my Lady Temple, he went to the Army; my Lady Temple into England, and about the beginning of July, Sir William to Nimeguen, to assist with Sir Lionel Jenkins as Mediators for a General Peace.

The States were desirous of Peace, yet durst not break from their Confederacy, not trusting England enough, nor France at all, so as to have Dependency upon either after the Peace made: The French knew the States were bent upon Peace, but the Prince against any, but what was consisting with his Honour, and the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands, so as to be a secure Barrier to the States against the Power of France. The French Designs, under the Covert of the general Peace to be treated at Nimeguen, were to break the Confederacy, and therefore their Ambassadors, the Marshal D'Estrades, and Monsieur Colbert accosted Sir William, and told him they had express and private Orders from their King to make particular Compliments to him, upon the Esteem their King had for his Person. They told him, they knew that the States were bent for Peace, which could not be had unless the Prince of Orange would interpose his Authority, which was so great with the Allies that they were sure the Allies would consent to whatever Terms the Prince should propose for a Peace, and therefore there was no Way to procure a happy Issue, but for the Prince privately to agree with France, upon the Conditions, in which the Prince might make use of the known Temper of the [Page] States to bring it to a separate Peace, in case the unreasonable Pretences of the Allies should hinder a general one: that the Duke of Bavaria had so acted his part with France at the Treaty [...] Munster, whereby he owed the Greatness of his House, that b [...] pursuing the same at Nimeguen, it would be in the Prince [...] Orange to do the same for himself and his Family: and that [...] what concerned the Prince's personal Interests, their Master had given them Assurance he should have a Carte Blanch to write his own Conditions: that tho they had other ways of making these Overtures to the Prince, yet their Orders were to do it by none but Sir William, if he would charge himself with [...] that they knew the Confidence the Prince had in him, and how far his Opinion would prevail with the Prince; and that [...] Sir William would espouse this Affair, besides the Glory of having alone given Peace to Christendom, he might reckon upon what he pleased from the Bounty and Generosity of the King their Master.

Sir William, in a well-composed Answer, acknowledged his Obligations for their King's good Opinion of him; but that his Instructions were for a general, not for a private Peace: For the Prince of Orange, he assured them it was his Opinion, That the Prince had none for his, or any Man's else, further than their Arguments prevailed upon his Judgment.

The Attacks upon Sir William not succeeding, Monsieur d'Estr [...] des turned his Battery upon Pensioner Fagel, to the same purpose the Ambassadors had done to Sir William, of all the Advantage, to the Interest of the Prince. How these wrought upon the Pensioner, Sir William does not say; but says, all the Offers of Advantages made to the Interest of the Prince, met with no other Reception than what the Prince had foretold, tho at this time the Prince struggled under great Difficulty, by reason of the French [...] great Treasure, and great Order of disposing it: The French Magazines were always filled in the Winter, so as it enabled them to take the Field as they pleased in the Spring, without fearing the Weather for their Foot, or expecting Grass for their Horse. On the other side, the Spaniards wanting Money and Order, left their Troops in Flanders, neither capable to act by themselves, nor in Conjunction with others, upon any sudden Attempt, nor to supply with Provisions, either Dutch or Germans, that should come to their Relief: and their Towns were ill fortified, and worse defended; so that the French King in April took Conde in four Days and in May the Duke of Orleans took Bouchain, and the Prince of Orange besieged Maestricht without Success.

But neither the good Success of the French this Campagn, nor the ill Success the French Ambassadors had upon the Prince of Orange to induce him to a separate Peace, retarded the French [Page] from pursuing of it; for the French, by their Emissaries in Holland, but especially at Amsterdam, offer such a Reglement of Trade as the People could desire; the Restitution of Maestricht, and all Satisfaction to the Prince of Orange he could pretend to upon his Loss, or their Seizures in the War. This put the Mob into a Ferment of having a separate Peace; nor could any thing have allayed it, but the noble Constancy of the Prince of Orange, which stood unshaken, in opposing it in all these Difficulties.

However, this Campagn the Elector of Brandenburg, in several Encounters beat the Swede, and was in a hopeful State to have expelled them out of Germany; and it had been just they had been so: for the King of England and the King of Sweden were Guarantees in the Triple League at Aix la Chapelle, for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands against the French King: whereas the King of England stood still, only looking on, whilst the French Arms by Piecemeals devoured them; and the King of Sweden, in Conjunction with the French King, assisting him in the War. Put not your Trust therefore in such Princes.

The Prince of Orange, however his Constancy in opposing a separate Peace was unshaken, yet in the distracted State of the Confederates, and the violent Humour of the Peoples running into it, saw it was impossible to keep them out of it, unless the King of England would interpose his Authority further, than by being a bare Mediator, and acquainted the King with it: But the King, in a long Letter under his own hand, instead of an Answer, complained, That the Confederate Ministers in England caballed with Parliament-Men, and raised all Mens Spirits against Peace as high as they could, so that it was difficult for him to make any Steps with France towards a general Peace, unless the Dutch Ambassador Van Beningham would put in a Memorial pressing the King from the States, to do it; and declared, that without it, all Flanders would be lost.

The Prince, to comply with the King, replied how willing he was that Van Beningham should put in such a Memorial from the States; and that if the King pleased to have a sudden Peace, the Prince thought it must be done upon the Foot of the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, which he would have the more Ground for, because it was a Peace which he both made and warranted.

Sir William at this time was at the Hague, when his Colleague Sir Lionel Jenkins wrote to him, That there was a Negotiation of a separate Peace treating between the French Ambassadors and Beverning (the Dutch Agent) at Nimeguen, without any Communication of it to the Mediators; upon which Sir Lionel acquainted the Court of England with it. Whereupon Orders were dispatched, That in case a separate Peace was concluding, or concluded, the Mediators should publickly protest against it in his Majesty's Name.

[Page] This Sir William Temple wrote to my Lord Treasurer, and Secretary Coventry, That he could not understand the Reason of such a Protestation: for if a separate Peace were thought so dangerous at Court, as he knew it was in the Country, the King might endeavour to prevent it, and had it still in his Power, as he had had a great while; but if it were once concluded, any other Effect of such a Protestation, unless it were to irritate both Parties, and bind them the faster, by our being angry at their Conjunction, could not be expected: Nor did he know what Ground could be given for such a Protestation; for tho the Parties had accepted the King's Mediation for a General Peace, yet none of them had obliged themselves to the King not to treat of a separate one without his Mediation; or if they had, he did not see why the same Interests that could make them break through so many Obligations to their Allies, should not make them as bold with a Mediator: That as to prevent the thing may be a very wise and necessary Counsel, so the King's Resolution in it ought to be signified as early as can be, where it is like to be of that moment to France. But if the thing should be first done, as he could not tell how well to ground any Offence, so he could as little how to seek Revenge, and it would be to stay till we were struck, and then trust to crying out: That his Opinion was, it were better to anger one of the Parties before a separate Peace, than both of them after; and if we must strain any Points of Controversy with them, to do it rather by making a fair and general Peace, than by complaining and protesting against a separate one. But our Counsels at Court, he says, were so in Ballance between the Desires of living at least fair with France, and the Fears of too much displeasing the Parliament upon their frequent Sessions, that our Paces upon the whole Affair look'd all like cross Purposes, which no Man at home or abroad could well understand, and were often mistaken by both Parties engaged in the War, as well as by both Parties in the House of Commons, till the thing was wrested out of our hands.

Upon the 5th of January 1676-77, Sir William received Answer from the King to his last Dispatches by the Prince's Direction, which consisted of two Parts; the first, an Offer of the King's Entrance into the strongest Alliance with the States, thereby to secure them from all Apprehensions from France, after the Peace should be made; the second was, the King's Remarks rather than Conclusions or Judgment upon the Terms propounded by the Prince for a Peace; that he (the King) believed it might be compassed with France, upon the Exchange of Cambray, Ayre, and St. Omer, for Aeth, Charleroy, Oudenard, Conde, and Bouchain.

This Answer was so different from what the Prince proposed, so illusive, and of so little Security to the Dutch, that the Prince [Page] told Sir William, that he would rather die than make such a Peace; and complained that the Offer of Alliance was wrote to him by the King's own Hand, but this about the Terms of Peace from the Secretary's Hand, which was in a Stile as if he thought the Prince a Child, and to be fed with Whipp'd Cream: That since all this had been before the foreign Committee, he knew very well it had been with the French Ambassador too, and that the Terms were his, and were a great deal worse than if they had directly come from France.

But the French King's wheedling our King and the Dutch about a separate Peace, no ways abated the Vigour of his Prosecution of the War whilst Peace was mediating: for, in the beginning of the Year he takes the Field with a huge Army, and block'd up Cambray and Valenciennes about the End of February; and having provided sufficient Magazines for Subsistence of his Forces, which neither the Spaniard nor Germans had, broke into Flanders, and into the Parts of Germany on the other side of the Rhine, and with the most cruel Ravages of burning and spoiling those Parts of Germany that could be exercised, and such as had not been used on either side since the War began. The Allies made Complaints of this new manner of making War to his Majesty (as Guarantee to the Treaty at Aix la Chapelle) who employed his Offices towards France to hinder such Proceedings; but the Things was done, and the Point gained, which was by an entire Ruin of those Countries, from hindring the Imperialists from finding any Subsistence for their Troops if they should march into Alsatia, and thereby divert those Forces the French resolved to employ in Flanders, before the Dutch could take the Field and march to the Relief of those Places they intended to attack.

Before any Dutch, Spanish, or German Army could be brought into the Field, the French took Valenciennes, and laid Siege to St. Omer and Cambray: But before they had taken St. Omer, the Prince of Orange, with the Forces of the States, the Spaniard assisting him with no Forces, not so much as Guides, resolved to relieve it, tho with the hazard of a Battel. But the Duke of Orleance leaving a part of his Forces to defend the Trenches, and joining with the Duke of Luxemburg, with all the Troops the French King could send, met the Prince at Mount Cassel; where, after a sharp Dispute, the first Regiment of the Dutch Infantry began to break into Disorder: The Prince went immediately to that Place where the Shock began, rallied them several times, and renewed the Charge; but at last was born down by the plain Flight of his Men, whom he was forced to resist as Enemies, and fall in among them with Sword in hand, and cut the first over the Face, and cried out aloud, Rascal, I'll set a Mark on thee at least, that I may hang thee at last. But neither Voice, Action, Threats, nor Example, [Page] would give Courage to Men that had already lost it: so he was forced to recoil to those Troops which stood firm, and made so brave a Retreat, as was near equal to a Victory: So as Flanders had only Mons and Namur for a Frontier by Land, and Newport and Ostend by Sea. However, the Prince made an Attempt upon Charleroy, which did not succeed.

Hereupon the Prince seeing all Attempts against the French would be in vain, unless the King came in to assist the Confederacy of the Allies, sent Monsieur Bentink into England, to desire the King's Leave to make a Journey into England so soon as the Campagn was over; to which he received this cold Answer, That the Prince would first think of making the Peace, and rather defer his Journey till that were concluded. Could any Man now believe any other Prince should be so supine as not to apprehend the imminent Danger his Nephew stood in, and in consequence his own Dominions? And tho all the World but he saw and dreaded this, yet the King, as at the End of the first Dutch War, would not. This was about the beginning of June; and about the middle of it, Sir William Temple's Son brought him Letters from my Lord Treasurer, That he should come over and enter upon the Secretary's Place, which Secretary Coventry had offer'd to lay down upon the Payment of 10000 l. and that the King would pay half the Money, and the Treasurer must lay down the rest at present; but did not doubt but the King would find a way of easing him of that too.

What could be expected in such a Reign, where Secretaries of State, who are the Eyes of the King and Kingdom, to take Care of all foreign and domestick Affairs, which cannot be carried on without Charges, should purchase their Places, and thereby not only disable them in the Performance of their Office, but utterly to neglect it, and make it their Business how they may be Gainers by their Purchase they had so dearly bought? But Sir William excused it, as not being able to raise 5000 l. now his Father was alive: And tho Secretary Coventry came cheap enough by the Place, it seems he was either unwilling Sir William should succeed him in it, or that he would not trust to the 5000 l. to be paid by the King, unless he might chuse his Successor, who, it may be, would have given him 15000 l. for it.

After Sir William came over, and the Bargain for the Secretary's Place not succeeding, the King had often Conferences with him about the Peace, and the Prince's coming into England: he had a great Desire for the first, but not for the other, till the first were done. He said his Parliament would never be quiet with him while the War lasted, and then leave him in it, unless they might have their Terms in removing and filling Places, which he should be very loth to be so much at their Mercy; and that the longer the War continued, the worse it would be for the Confederates, [Page] and worse for Flanders, and therefore would have the Prince make a Peace for them if they would not do it themselves; and that if the Prince and he would fall into Terms about it, he was sure it might be done; and desired Sir William to make a short Turn to the Prince, and try if he could perswade the Prince to it: But Sir William excused it, and desired Mr. Hide (now Earl of Rochester, who was then at Nimeguen) might do it: but I don't find any thing came of it.

About the latter End of September, as before noted, the Prince took his Journey for England, and landed at Harwich, and from thence came to New-Market, where the Court then was; where he was kindly received by the King and Duke, who both invited him often into Discourse of Business, which the Prince avoided industriously, so as the King bid Sir William ask the Prince the Reason of it: the Prince told him, he was resolved to see the young Princess before he enter'd into that Affair, and get to proceed in that before the other of Peace: whereupon the King, to humour him, left New-market some Days sooner than he intended, and came to London.

The Prince, at first sight, was so pleased with her Person, and all those Signs of such a Humour as had been before described to him, that he immediately made his Suit to the King and Duke, which was well received and assented to, but upon Condition the Terms of Peace abroad might be first agreed to between them. The Prince excused himself, and said, he must end his first Business before the other. The King and Duke were both positive otherwise, that that of Peace should precede: but the Prince continu'd resolute for the former, and said, His Allies were like to have hard Terms of Peace as things stood, and would be apt to believe he had made this Match at their Cost; and for his part, he would never sell his Honour for a Wife: But the King and Duke continued in their Resolution for three or four Days.

In the Obstinacy of these contrary Resolutions between the King, Duke, and Prince, Sir William Temple chanced to go to the Prince one Evening after Supper, and found him in the worst Humour he had ever seen him in; and told Sir William, he repented he ever came into England, and resolved he would stay but two Days longer, if the King continued in his Mind of treating upon the Peace before Marriage; and that before he went, the King must chuse how they must live hereafter; for he was sure it must be like either the greatest Friends or the greatest Enemies: and pressed Sir William to let the King know so next Morning, and give him an Account what he should say upon it.

Next Morning Sir William told the King all the Prince had said to him, and the ill Consequences of a Breach between them, considering the ill Humours of so many of his Subjects upon our late [Page] Measures with France, and the Invitations made to the Prince by several of them during the late War. The King heard Sir William with great Attention; and when he had done, said, Well, I was never deceived in judging of a Man's Honesty by his Looks; and if I am not deceived in the Prince's Face, he is the honestest Man in the World, and I will trust him, and he shall have his Wife, and you shall go immediately and tell my Brother so, and that 'tis a thing I am resolved on.

Sir William did so, and the Duke at first seemed a little surpriz'd; but when Sir William had done, the Duke said, the King shall be obey'd, and I would be glad all his Subjects would learn of me to obey him.

From the Duke, Sir William went to the Prince, and told him all this Story: At first the Prince seem'd diffident, but soon embraced Sir William, and told him he had made him a very happy Man, and that unexpectedly; and so he left the Prince, to give the King an Account of what passed, and in the Prince's Ante-Chamber met my Lord Treasurer, who undertook to adjust all the rest between the King and the Prince, which he did so well, that the Match was declared that Evening at the Committee before any other in the Court knew any thing of it.

When the Match was known, the Nation entertained it with an universal Joy: yet the French Ambassador and my Lord Arlington were displeased at it; the French Ambassador, because he had not given his Master an Account of it; and my Lord Arlington, because nothing of near such moment had passed, and he not acquainted with it: and within two or three Days after, the Marriage was consummate.

The Prince having so happily gained the first part of his Design in coming into England, the Terms of Peace were agitated immediately, and Sir William Temple was admitted to be present at the Debates. The Prince insisted upon the Strength and Enlargement of a Frontier on both sides of Flanders; otherwise he said France would end this War with the View of beginning another, and carrying Flanders in one Campagn.

The King was content to leave that Business a little looser, upon Confidence that France was so weary of the War, that if they could get out of it with Honour, they would never begin another in this Reign: that the King was past his Youth, and lazy, and would turn to the Pleasures of the Court and Buildings, and leave his Neighbours at quiet.

But the Prince thought France would not make a Peace now, but to break the present Confederacy, and to begin another War with more Advantage and Surprize: that their Ambition would never end till they had all Flanders and Germany to the Rhine, and thereby Holland in an absolute Dependance upon them, and us in [Page] no good one: and, that Christendom could not be left safe by the Peace, without a Frontier as he proposed for Flanders, and the Restitution of Lorain, as well as what the Emperour had lost in Alsatia.

Sir William Temple told the King, that in the Course of his Life, he had never observed Mens Natures alter by Age or Fortune, but that a good Boy made a good Man, a young Coxcomb an old Fool, and a young Fripon an old Knave; that quiet Spirits were so, and unquiet would be so, old as well as young; that he believed the French King would have always some Bent or other, sometimes War, sometimes Love, sometimes Building; but was of the Prince's Opinion, that he would ne'r make Peace but with a Design of a new War, after he had fixed his Conquests by the last.

The King approved of what Sir William had said, and the Points of Lorain and Alsatia were easily agreed to by the King and Duke, but they would not hear of the Restitution of the County of Burgundy (tho it were part of the Spanish Netherlands, which the King was obliged to protect against France, by the Treaty of Aix) as what France would never be brought to; yet the Prince insisted much upon it; which the King imagined was by reason of the Prince's own Lands in that Country, (which are greater and more Seignurial than those of the Crown of Spain there) and thereupon the King told the Prince, That for his Lands there, he would charge himself, that the Prince should enjoy them as safe under France as under Spain; or if the Prince would part with them, the King would undertake to get him what Price he would value them at: to which the Prince generously reply'd, That he would not trouble himself nor the Peace about that matter; and that he would be content to lose all his Lands there, to get one good Town more for the Spaniard upon the Frontier of Flanders. So here the King and Prince agreed.

But then another Debate arose between the King and Prince, one pretending France would never be brought to this Scheme, the other that Spain would never be brought to it; but at last it was agreed, that the Peace should be made upon these Terms: All to be restored by France to the Emperor and Empire, that had been taken in the War; and the Dutchy of Lorain to the Duke, and all on both sides between France and Holland: and to Spain, the Towns of Aeth, Charleroy, Oudenard, Courtray, Tournay, Conde, Valenciennes, St. Gillain and Binch, which were nine Towns: that the King shall endeavour to procure the Consent of France, and the Prince of Spain: And to this purpose, the King should send some Person immediately over with the Proposition, who should be instructed to enter into no Reasoning upon it, but demand a positive Answer in two Days; and after that term, immediately return. And then the King ordered Sir William within two Days to make himself ready to go and acquaint the French with it.

[Page] At this Agreement between the King and Prince none were present besides the Duke, my Lord Treasurer, and Sir William Temple, so as the French Ambassador was as much surprized in it, as before he was at the Marriage of the Prince: but this could not be longer conceal'd from him, than when it began to be put in Practice; yet it seems to me he was acquainted with it before, and that the King had taken other Resolutions than what was agreed upon but the Day before.

For Sir William having prepared all things in a Readiness to go, the Evening before, he met the King in the Park (St. James's) who call'd to him, and told him he had been thinking upon Sir William's Errand, and how unwelcome he should be in France, as well as the Message; and that having a Mind to gain Peace, he was unwilling to anger them more than needs: besides, the thing being not to be debated or reasoned, any Body else would serve the Turn as well as he, whom he had other use of. Sir William was very glad of it, knowing how ungrateful a Messenger he should be upon this Account. Then the King asked Sir William what he thought of my Lord Duras, (a French-man, and a great Favourite of the Duke's, and since Earl of Feversham.)

It seems the King asked Sir William's Opinion only for Form and Fashion sake, for the thing was the Morning before agreed upon, at the Desire of the Duke, upon pretence that France would accept of the Terms, and that he had a Mind to have the Honour of it by sending a Servant of his own. So my Lord Duras went immediately after with the Orders; and some few Days after, the Prince and Princess embarked for Holland, where Affairs pressed his Return, beyond the Hopes of my Lord Duras from France, the King assuring the Prince he would never part with the least part of the Scheme sent over, and would enter into a War with France, if they refused it. But (pudet haec) you'll soon see another Face of Affairs after the Prince was gone; nay before he went, it was a great Mortification to him, to see the Parliament prorogued till the next Spring; which the French Ambassador had gained of the King, to make up some good Meen with France, after the Prince's Marriage, and before the Dispatch of the Terms of a Peace to that Court. I should not have ventured to say this, if that honourable Gentleman Sir William Temple, in his second Memoirs, which are printed, fol. 302. had not said it before.

But how honourable and sincere soever the Prince's Actions were in the Management of this whole Affair, the outward Face of things had another Appearance, which caused great Jealousies of him, not only among the Amsterdamers, and Common People in Holland, but even among the Consederates; for the Prince [Page] sending Monsieur Bentink privately over into England about the beginning of June, and Sir William Temple so soon after following, and the Prince's raising the Siege before Charl [...]r [...]y the next day after my Lord Ossory came to his Camp, and the Prince's going in September following into England; these things thus concurring, passed not without many Reflections, not only in Holland, but among the Allies, as if there were Intelligences between the King and him, which were heightned by the Marriage; the main Business of the Treaty made by the King and Prince about the Peace being yet in Embrio; so as the Prince and Princess were coldly received in Holland upon the Prince's Return; and these Jealousies encreased more upon the Transactions between the English Court and France. But sacred Truth, and the Integrity of the Prince, shall vindicate his Honour, even among those who most suspected him, and were so jealous of his Actions.

The Noise of a Peace with France so soon after the proroguing the Parliament, raised a Ferment in the Nation, of some Design of the Court, as dangerous to the Nation as the Dutch Jealousies that their Liberties were in by the Prince's Treaty and Marriage with a Daughter of England. And now the Prince was gone, and out of Sight, he was out of Mind too by the King, in respect to the Terms of Peace agreed to, and the solemn Promise the King made to the Prince upon his Departure, that he would never par [...] with the least Point in the Scheme sent into France, and make War upon it if it were refused.

For upon my Lord Duras's Arrival at Paris, the Court were surprized, at least seemed so, both at the thing, and more upon the manner of it; yet made good Meen upon it, took it gently, and said, The King (of England) knew very well he might be always Master of the Peace: but some few Towns in Flanders seemed very hard, especially Tournay, upon whose Fortifications such vast Treasure had been expended; and that they would take some short time to consider of the Offer. But my Lord Duras told them he was tied to two Days stay, but when that was out, was prevailed upon to stay some few Days longer, (which he durst not have done without secret Orders from our Court contrary to his Instructions) and at last came away without any positive Answer. Hereupon the King, instead of declaring War against France, as he so solemnly promised the Prince, entred into a Treaty with the French Ambassador at London, which by French Artifice was so spun out in length, without any positive Refusal, that the Blow came to be eluded which could not otherwise be avoided, as Sir William Temple says, tho I believe it was intended even when the Prince went out of England.

However, about the latter end of December 1677, the King sent to Sir William Temple to the Foreign Committee, and told him he [Page] could get no positive Answer from France, and therefore resolved to send him into Holland, to make a League there with the States for forcing France and Spain into a Peace upon the Terms proposed, if either refused. To which Sir William told the King, what he had agreed was, to enter into a War with all the Confederates in case of no direct and immediate Answer from France. That this perhaps would satisfy the Prince and Confederates abroad, and the People at home: But to make such a League with Holland only, would satisfy none of them, and disoblige both France and Spain. Besides, it would not have such an Effect or Force as the Triple Alliance had, being a great Original, of which this seemed an ill Copy: And therefore excused himself from going. And so the King sent Mr. Thyn with a Draught of the Treaty to Mr. Hide, who was then come from Nimeguen to the Hague, upon a Visit to the Princess, which was done, and the Treaty signed the 16th of January, (tho not without great Dissatisfaction to the Prince.)

This Tergiversation of the Court set fire to the Jealousies in Holland, especially at Amsterdam, that the Prince by this Marriage had taken Measures with the King as dangerous to the Liberties of Holland, and make it there believed, that by this Match the King and Duke had wholly drawn the Prince into their Interests and Sentiments. The French hereupon proposed other Terms of Peace to the Dutch, far short of the King's, and less safe for Flanders, restoring only six Towns to the Spaniard, and mentioning Lorain but ambiguously, which would not have gone down in Holland but for the Suspicions raised by the Prince's Marriage among the People there, who had an incurable Jealousy of our Court, and thereupon not that Confidence in the Prince that he deserved.

If we take this Reign as one thing, you'll find it made up of almost infinite Confusions and Disorders, and scarce one regular Act in it; and now we are come to one which is without any Precedent, which was this: You heard before how the King to gratify the French Ambassador for not acquainting him with the Marriage with the Prince, had prorogued the Parliament to the 8th of April next, viz. 1678. And now Mr. Thyn had made this League with the States, the King thought this a good occasion to get Money from the Parliament upon it, and was loth to stay till the 8th of April for it; and therefore by his Proclamation, commands the Parliament to meet upon the 15th of January, before the 8th of April.

Prorogations of Parliaments are new, and I think were never heard of in England before the Reign of Henry VIII, and are said to be the Acts of the King, but Adjournments the Acts of the House to a certain Time and Place, and both Houses must be sitting and in being when they are either so prorogued or adjourned. I remember upon the discovery of C [...]leman's Letters the Court [Page] were mightily surprized at it, and the Parliament was to have met some few days after upon a Prorogation, which the King in that Surprize unwilling they should, did therefore call a Council to advise whether he might not prorogue them to a further day without the Houses meeting, and 'twas said my Lord Chancellor Finch was of Opinion he might; and thereupon Sir Edward Seymour, Speaker of the House of Commons, having Occasions in the Country, went out of Town: but some body acquainted the King of the Doubtfulness of the Chancellor's Opinion, and desired the King to advise with old John Brown, who had been Clerk of the Parliament for near forty Years; the King did so, and John Brown was positive, that in case the Houses did not meet at the Time and Place appointed, the King by his Proclamation could not prorogue them, but it would be a Dissolution of the Parliament: Whereupon the Speaker was sent for back again, and so many of both Houses met as would make a Parliament (which it's said is forty Commoners and seven Lords) and then the King prorogued them. But this Consideration was not (that I find) taken notice of by either House, tho both met according to the King's Proclamation.

The Houses thus met, the King acquainted them with the League he had made with Holland, and demanded Money of them to carry on the War against France, in case France did not comply with the League; whereupon the Parliament granted him a Tex by Poll, and otherways, which amounted to 1200000 l. not for Peace, but to enter into an actual War with France: But this Tax shall only beget another, to disband an Army raised upon that Pretence, tho no War was entred into against France.

But so far was the French King from giving up any Towns, notwithstanding the Agreement the King had made with the Prince, or the League he had made with Holland, that about the latter end of January he had made an Attempt upon Ipre, and threatned Ostend, and in March following, by open Force, takes both Ipre and Gaunt; yet the French Ambassador here continued his Court and Treaty with all the Fairness that might be.

The French having now taken Ipre and Gaunt, were so far from proceeding in any Treaty either with England, the Confederates, or Holland, or in the Treaty at Nimeguen, that about the first of April the French King made publick Declaration of the Terms upon which he resolved to make Peace, which, tho very different from those agreed upon between the King and Holland, and more from the Pretensions of the Allies, yet this way of treating the French pursued in the whole Negotiation afterwards, declaring such and such were the Conditions, which they would admit, and no other, and upon which the Enemies might chuse either War or Peace, and to which France would not be tied longer than the 10th of [Page] May, after which they would be at Liberty to change or restrain as they should think fit.

But how imperious soever the French were abroad, yet they dreaded a Conjunction of England either with the Dutch or Confederates, and therefore thought fit to wheedle our Court till the Affairs of the Confederates should become so desperate as to submit to what Terms the French King should impose upon them: And to this purpose Mr. Mountague (now Earl) sent a Pacquet to my Lord Treasurer, giving an account of a large Conference Monsieur Louvoy (the French King's grand Minister of State) had with him by the King his Master's Order, wherein he represented the Measures they had already taken for a Peace in Holland upon the French Terms; and that since they were agreed there, they hoped his Majesty would not be against it: That however, France had ordered him to make his Majesty the Offer of a great Sum of Money for his Consent, tho the thing was already accepted by Holland, and wherein his Majesty was consequently not concerned.

The French Ambassador at London (confident this Bait would take the King) began to change his Language, That his Majesty should be Arbiter of the Peace: But now being assured his Master had agreed with Holland, he seem'd to wonder and expostulate why the King should pretend to obtain better Terms for the Spaniards than the Dutch their Allies were content with.

You have heard the Agreement between the King and Prince before he went into Holland, as well on the behalf of the Empire and Duke of Lorain, as of the Spaniards, and how it was not observed by the King, and of the time when the Prince arrived in Holland, and of the unjust Jealousies had upon the Prince thereby, as well by the Confederates as by the Dutch, and of the separate League the King made with the States, for enforcing the French to come up to the Agreement between the King and Prince of Orange, and how the King had got twelve hundred thousand Pounds of the Parliament for entring into an actual War with France, and how the French King, in defiance of the King and States, instead of giving up any Towns, had taken Ipre and Gaunt, as well contrary to this Agreement and League as to the Treaty of Aix: Now let's see how the King proceeded, after the Dutch, contrary to the League with the King, had accepted the French Terms.

Having got the Money of the Parliament for making the League with the Dutch, upon the Terms agreed upon by the Prince, he now saw no reason why he should not get the Money the French offer'd him if he would agree to the Terms he had made with the Dutch, and to that purpose order'd Sir William Temple to treat upon it with the French Ambassador, who had Orders to that purpose: [Page] Sir William would have excused it, but the King told him he could not help seeing him, for the Ambassador would be at his House next Morning by seven a Clock, and then he came, but Sir William told him he had been very ill in the Night, and could not enter into Business; so the Ambassador was disappointed of his Design at that time: However the Bargain went on, not only for the Money, but something else, so that Sir William Temple says, p. 321. There was one Article in this private Treaty the King took such Indignation at, that he would never forget it whilst he lived.

There was but one Accident favourable to the Confederates in all these Treaties, viz. the French apprehensive of a Conjunction between the English and Dutch, who at this time were much more powerful at Sea than France, thought they might block up Messina by Sea, while the Spaniard besieged it by Land, and so might lose all the Cannon, Provisions and Stores they had in it; to prevent which, they abandoned it while it was in their Power to secure their Effects there, and left the Messinians their Confederates to the Mercy of the Spaniards.

Beverning was the Agent which managed this Treaty upon the French Terms, and Beverning was sent to the French Camp, where the Terms of Peace were concluded about the latter end of June, and a Cessation of Arms for six Weeks, that the Spaniards might come into the Peace upon the Terms proposed: But if they should not, his most Christian Majesty assured the States, that he would always provide such a Barrier in Flanders, as they thought necessary for their Safety; and after the Peace should be made, and the antient Amity restored, he would be ready to enter into such Engagements with them as should for ever secure their Repose and their Liberties, viz. he would be the Fox that should preserve these Geese.

Indignation will not suffer this to pass over without Reflection, that the World may see what Trust is to be given to French Faith. Did not he make this War upon the Dutch, only because of the ill Satisfaction he had of the Dutch Behaviour toward him, being risen to that degree, that he could no longer, without Diminution of his Glory, dissemble his Indignation against them, &c. and therefore resolved to make War against them by Sea and Land? Did he not in the beginning of this War, by all French Artifice, court the Prince of Orange to take upon him the Soveraignty of the Dutch Provinces? Did not his Ambassadors court Sir William Temple, Pensioner Fagel, and the Dutch themselves, and that the Prince should make what Terms he pleased, so as to make a separate Peace? And now he is making a separate Peace with a pack of factious Dutch, of the Louvestein Faction, opposite to the Prince, to wheedle them, that after the Peace was made he would enter into such Engagements with them as should for ever secure their Repose [Page] and their Liberties, meaning to depose the Prince from having any Power or Authority with them.

In this hopeful Security of this Faction relying upon French Faith, the Marquess de Balbaces proposed when the six Towns in Flanders should be given up to the Spaniard upon the French Terms to which the French Ambassador answered, That his Master being obliged to see an entire Restitution made to the Swede of all they bu [...] lost in the War, could not restore the Towns in Flanders to th [...] Spaniard, till those to the Swede were likewise restored. So that now the Dutch by this separate Peace must only stand still and loo [...] on, if the King of Denmark, and the Elector of Brandenburg wil [...] not deliver the Towns they had taken from the Swede, which [...] like they would not, nor could the Dutch compel them, while [...] French take all Flanders, and impose what Terms they please upon the rest of the Confederates.

Beverning could not tell what to say to this, and acquaints the States with it; the States were confounded at it, and could neither tell what to do, nor to whom to complain: To the Confederates they were asham'd to complain, who had so generously entred into the War for their Preservation, when otherwise they had [...] under the French Tyranny without possibility of Relief, and therefore had great reason to be offended at their endeavouring to make a separate Peace, thereby to expose them to the Fury and Tyranny of the French Arms; and the Counsels of the Court of England were so loose that no Reliance could be had upon them: But it was Hobson's Choice, that or nothing.

That we may take all fair before us, let's now see the Fruits the Dutch had of their Cessation of Arms for six Weeks, to try if they could bring in the Spaniard to comply with the Terms which the French had imposed upon Beverning and his Faction, for restoring six of the nine Towns to the Spaniard, which was agreed upon between the King and Prince, and also by the League which the King made with the States: The French King after he had taken Ipre and Gaunt, Luxemburg proceeded to block up Mons, and Schomberg threatned to besiege Cologn: and thus the Dutch bound Hand and Foot had no body else to complain to, or expect any Relief from, but the Court of England.

The Dutch had a little before sent over one Van Lewen, who was the chief of the Town of Leyden (who Sir William Temple says, was a Man of great Honour and Worth) to treat with the King to enter into a War against France, which the King was obliged to by the League with them, and had received 1200000 l. of the Parliament for carrying it on; and by Van Lewen the States acquaint the King with the Terms upon which the French King would restore the six Towns in Flanders to the Spaniards: the King at first seemed not to believe it, but having sent to the French Ambassador [Page] (Barillon) to know the Truth of this; which the Ambassador owning, he seemed surprized and angry at this proceeding of France, and next Morning sent for Sir William Temple to the Foreign Committee, and there declar'd his Resolution of sending him immediately into Holland with a Commission to sign a Treaty with the States, by which they should carry on the War, and the King to enter into it in case France should not consent to evacuate the Towns within a certain time limited; and the King took Pains to press Van Lewen to go over with Sir William to perswade the States of the King's Sincereness and Constancy to pursue these Measures to the utmost of his Power.

Armed with these Powers, away goes Sir William and Van Lewen, and were received with all imaginable Joy by the Dutch; and Sir William by the Prince, hoping by his Errand and Success of it, either to continue the War, or to recover such Conditions of Peace for his Allies as had been forced out of his Hands by force of a Faction begun at Amsterdam, and after spread into the rest of the Provinces: All the Provinces, even those which were so forward for the Peace upon the French Terms, were so forward in this Negotiation, that in six days the Treaty was concluded; by which France was obliged to declare within fourteen days after the Date thereof, that they would evacuate the Spanish Towns, or in case of Refusal, Holland was engaged to go on with the War, and England immediately to declare it against France in Conjunction with Holland, and the rest of the Confederates. Here observe, that tho Sir William was one of the Mediators of Peace at Nimeguen, yet whilst this Negotiation was perfected, his Post was to be at the Hague, for a Tale depends upon it.

The Wisdom, as well as the Integrity of the Prince in the whole Negotiation of this Affair, was now so conspicuous, that the States owned the Prince had made a truer Judgment than they had done of the Measures which they were to expect either from England or France; and if it happens that England in this Business shall prove as fickle and loose as before, yet this shall never be ascribed to the Prince, who was always the same he was before. So now all Preparations were made for the Relief of Mons, and ten thousand English being arrived in Flanders, who were ordered to join the Prince, he resolved to relieve Mons, or to die in the Attempt.

After the Treaty concluded, and signified to France, all Arts that could be were on that side employed to elude it by drawing this Matter into a Treaty, or into greater length, which had succeeded so well in England, that they offered to treat upon it at St. Quintin's, then at Gaunt; but the States were firm, not to recede from their late Treaty made with the King, [Page] and so continued till about Five Days before the Term was to expire.

You heard before how the King had solicited Van Lewen to accompany Sir William Temple, to assure and perswade the States to pursue the Measures Sir William and he went upon to their utmost: but alas, now when Sir William, as well as the Prince, were out of Sight, they were out of Mind too; and now Sir William was gone, he forgot the Indignation which Barillon had put upon him in the Treaty for the French Money he was to receive for joining in the French Terms with the Dutch; which he then said he would never forget so long as he lived. But now you shall see how absolute a Dominion the French King had over him, and by what Instruments he governed him, viz. a French Man, a French Woman▪ and a French Monk, who had changed his Frock for a Petticoat: The French Man was Barillon, the French Woman was the Dutchess of Portsmouth, and the French Monk was one Du Cross: These three met the King in the Dutchess of Portsmouth's Chamber, and in one hour's time agreed, that Du Cross should carry Sir William Temple a Pacquet, wherein the King commanded him to go immediately to Nimeguen, and there endeavour all he could to perswade the Swedish Ambassadors, as from the King, to let the French Ambassadors there know, That they would, for the Good of Christendom, consent, and even desire the French King no longer to defer the Evacuation of the Towns, and consequently the Peace, upon the sole Regard and Interest of the Crown of Sweden; and Sir William was likewise commanded to assure the said Ambassadors, that after the Peace his Majesty would use all the most effectual Means he could for the Restitution of the Towns and Countries the Swede had lost in the War. This was to get Sir William out of the way, who spirited the Dutch in the Action, that Du Cross might play his Pranks in the rest.

But before Du Cross had brought his Pacquet to Sir William, he had gone about most industriously to the Deputies of the several Towns, and acquainted them with it, and that the Terms of Peace were absolutely agreed upon between the two Kings: That he had brought Sir William Orders straight to get to Nimeguen, and that upon his Arrival there he should meet with Letters from my Lord of Sunderland (the King's Ambassador at Paris) with all the Particulars concluded between them.

Sir William followed his Instructions, and when he came to Nimeguen there were but three Days of the Term fixed by the late Treaty between the King and States at the Hague, either for the French Assent to the Evacuation of the Towns, or for carrying on the War in Conjunction of Holland with England, and consequently with the rest of the Confederates, but there found no Letters from my Lord Sunderland of the Particulars of the Peace concluded [Page] between the two Kings; but on the contrary a Manifesto to the Dutch by the French Ambassadors, why their Master could not consent to it, without the previous Satisfaction of Sweden, whose Interest he esteemed the same with his own; but yet declaring he was willing to receive any Expedients the States should offer in this matter either by their Ambassadors at Nimeguen, or such as the Dutch should send his most Christian Majesty at St. Quintin or Gaunt.

The Dutch Ambassadors gave an Answer in writing, declaring it was a Matter no longer entire, since upon the Difficulty raised about the Evacuation of the Towns, the States their Masters had been induced to sign a Treaty with England, from which they could not recede, nor from the Day therein fixed for the determining the Fate of War or Peace; and as there was no Time, so there could be no Deputation to St. Quintin or Gaunt, nor any other Expedient besides the Consent of France to evacuate the Towns.

The Dutch Ambassadors having blown off his Chaff, the French Ambassador then declared to the Dutch, that they found the King their Master was resolved at the Desire of the Swedes to retard the Peace no longer upon their Consideration, and would consent to evacuate the Towns, upon Condition the States would send their Deputies to treat upon the Ways of securing the future Satisfaction to Sweden, which was by both intended: But the Dutch Ambassadors continued peremptory, there could be no Deputation made by their Masters; and if the Term fixed by the late Treaty with England should elapse, there was no remedy but that the War must go on: to which the French Ambassadors replied, That their Hands were bound up from further proceeding without such a Deputation.

Whilst the French were thus wheedling with the Dutch to elude the Term fixed for the French evacuating the Towns, at the same time Luxemburg pressed Mons, and Schomberg seemed to threaten Cologn; when the fatal Day came, whether a sudden Peace or long War were to be reckoned upon in Christendom, when Boreel came early that Morning from Amsterdam, to the Dutch Ambassadors at Nimeguen, which were Beverning and one Haren; and then Boreel went to the French Ambassadors, and after some Conference with them, the French Ambassadors and Boreel went immediately to those of Holland, and declared to them that they had received Orders to consent to the Evacuation of the Towns, and thereupon to sign the Peace; and that very Day at Night, tho late, Beverning signed a Treaty of Peace and Commerce, Sir William Temple and Sir Lionel Jenkins refusing to join in it, and the Confederates exclaiming against it.

[Page] The next day after this Peace was thus signed, came an Express to Sir William Temple from our Court, with the Ratification [...] of the late Treaty between the King and States, with Orders immediately to proceed to the Exchange of them; whereupon St. William went from Nimeguen to the Hague, and the next Day after his Arrival made an Exchange of the Ratifications.

Now was Holland in as much Disorder as the Confederates were at Nimeguen; the Pensioner and several of the Deputies were as much dissatisfied with Beverning's Peace, as the Confederates were, and said he could not sign the Peace before he had acquainted the States with it, and received new Orders there upon it; and talked of calling him into Question for it, and of disavowing what he had done, and thereupon of having recourse to the Treaty made with the King, which they now ratified.

But the Deputies of Amsterdam, with whom others joined, declared their Satisfaction of the Conclusion of the Peace made by Beverning, and argued the Weakness of their Confederates, especially Spain; and the Unsteadiness, and Irresolution of England▪ had made the Peace absolutely necessary to Holland: But however, this Confusion, and indeed the Fate of Christendom, were the Consequences of Du Cross's Pacquet, and his acquainting the Deputies with a Peace made between the two Kings; yet how dishonourable soever this was to the King, he was not at all concerned at it that I can find; but pleasantly told Sir William Temple, Th [...] the Rogue Du Cross had outwitted them all. Could this be believed, if the great Authority of Sir William Temple had not said it?

During these Brawls, both at Nimeguen, and all Holland over, the Prince of Orange, upon the Fourteenth of August, stormed Luxemburg's Camp before Mons, wherein the brave Duke of M [...] mouth, and the noble Earl of Ossery were Partakers in the Glory of it: and notwithstanding the French Posts were fortified with all imaginable Art, and that the Prince's Army had undergone the Fatigue of a hard March, attack'd them with a Resolution and Vigour that at first surprized them, and after an obstinate-Fight▪ so disordered them, that though the Night prevented the further Prosecution of the Action, yet it was generally concluded, That if the Prince had been at Liberty next Day to have pursued the Action with seven or eight Thousand English, who were ready to have joined him, he might in all Appearance, not only have relieved Mons, but have made such an Impression into France, as had been often designed, but could not be done before: And I dare say, if Luxemburg had had the like Advantage over the Prince, the Dutch would have heard further of it; but the Prince was bound up by a limited Authority, and so could not pursue the Advantage he had acquired against the French.

[Page] The Success of the Battel at Mons, though the Prince's Army were withdrawn, gave new Life to the Spaniards and Confederates, that the War would go on according to the Ratification of the Treaty at the Hague, exchanged the Day before the Fight, by Sir William Temple and the States, whereas Beverning's Peace at Nimeguen was concluded without the States; besides, English Forces arrived daily in Flanders, as if the King were now resolved to join with the Dutch in carrying on the War pursuant to the League; which made the Confederates as well as the Spainards refuse to agree to Beverning's Peace.

Besides, neither the French Pretensions to the County of Beaumont, and the Town of Bovignes, nor in what Plight the six Towns should be delivered up, whether demolished, or in the Plight they then stood, nor the Dependences upon the Six Towns were adjusted by Beverning's Peace: But this Hope of the Spaniards and Confederates shall cost them dear, and only serve to advance the French Terms, and intolerable Ravages of the French upon them.

For the French cared little for the Confederates in Disjunction with the Dutch, and as little for the Dutch, when he had obtained his Ends upon the Confederates; and therefore the French fall to their wheedling Trade again with the Dutch; and the French King sent a Courier to Nimeguen, to satisfy the States in those Clauses of the Treaty, wherein they seemed justly to except against Beverning's Conduct, thereby to cover the Credit of that Minister who had been so affectionate an Instrument in the Progress of the Treaty; and gave them (the States) Liberty a little to soften the Rigour the French had as yet exercised in the smallest Points contested with the Spaniards; and at last dispatched an Express to the Dutch Ambassadors, with Power to remit all the Differences which obstructed or retarded the Conclusion of the Treaty between France and Spain, to the Determination of the States themselves.

This Bait these Gudgeons swallowed as if no Hook had been in it; so that several Towns and Provinces proceeded with a General Concurrence to the Ratifications of the Peace, that they might lie ready in their Ambassadors Hands to be exchanged, when that of Spain's should be signed; and so diligent was Beverning in carrying on the French Designs, now they were thus entertained in Holland, that they huddled up the Treaty between France and Spain▪ and by the twentieth of September, the Ratifications of it were exchanged with the usual Forms, and now the Dutch Ambassadors are become Mediators of (or Conspirators in) this Treaty, whilst Sir Lionel Jenkin▪ the King's Mediator, only stood still looking on and having no Hand in it; and all the Ambassadors of the other Allies, as well as the Spaniard, enraged and exclaiming against it.

During this Conspiracy, the French Troops made Incursions into the rich Parts of Flanders, which had been covered in the time [Page] of the War; and there exacted so great Contributions, and made such Ravages where they were disputed, that the Spanish Netherlands were more ruined between the signing of the Peace, and the Exchange of the Ratifications, than they had been in so much time during the whole Course of the War. At last the Outcries and Calamities of the poor Flemins moved the Spaniards out of their slow Pace, so that they were forced to accept of the Terms the French and Dutch would give them.

And now the Dutch had done the French Work with Spain, the will do the rest without the Dutch; and piece-meal made the Duke of Lorrain, the Emperour and King of Denmark, and all the Princes of the Empire submit to such Terms as the French pleased: The Particulars and manner of it, you may read in the second part of Sir William Temple's Memoirs, which are printed.

And now the French King had by the Help of the Dutch, made his Market by the Peace at Nimeguen, let's see how he improved it after: The French King sets up a Court of Claims in Alsatia and Flanders, to determine the Dependences upon those Towns, which he kept by the Treaty of Nimeguen, both in Flanders and Alsatia, where he is sole Judg, and executes his Judgments by Military Execution: It's scarce credible the Ravages he made hereby, and what Titles he set up: I'll give but one Instance herein, mentioned by Sir William Temple, p. 370. The Town of Tournay was to have been given up to the Spaniard by the Agreement made between our King and the Prince; this was left out in the French Terms accepted by the Dutch; and Aeth was to be one of the six Towns to be delivered up to the Spaniard by the Dutch Terms with the French; and the French had dismembred above sixty Towns which were dependent upon Aeth, and added them to the Chatellence, or Bailywick of Tournay; and were thus belonging to Aeth, when the Spaniard transferred Aeth to the French by the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle: but now Aeth must be restored to the Spaniard in the Condition they left it, and not what they found it: So that by these Acquisitions which the French got by this Treacherous Peace, he got more in Consequence, than by the War.

[Page]

CHAP. IV.
A Continuation of this Reign, to the End of the Oxford Parliament.

WHen the Parliament had given the King 1200000 l. for carrying on an actual War against France in January last, the Popish Plot was then in Embrio, and the Parliament were so mortified by the Answer which the King made to them upon the twenty eighth of May before, for advising him to enter into a League with the States General of the Ʋnited Provinces, against the Growth and Power of the French King, and Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands, &c. that they never durst meddle more in it; and it may be concurred more readily in giving the King 1200000 l. for carrying on the War against France, upon the League which he had made at the Hague, by Mr. Thyn, though Sir William Temple refused to have any Hand in it, as is said before.

The Commons in Parliament for the first ten Years of this Reign were Tories, and all their Business was against the Protestant Dissenters from the Church, scarce taking notice of the Papists, till the Breach of the Triple Alliance; the second Marriage of the Duke of York; the second Indulgence for Liberty of Conscience; the Attempt upon the Smirna Fleet; the shutting up of the Exchequer; and the King's making War upon the Dutch in Conjunction with the French: these thus successively acted, opened the Eyes of the greater part of the Commons, that for their own and the Nation's Safety, they became more numerous in the House than the Tory Party; yet retained their Loyalty to the King, I verily believe, as firm as any English Men before them.

But out of the House the Feuds of the Tories and Whigs were as invenomed, as those between the Guelphs and Gibelines, which for three hundred Years involved Germany and Italy in intestine Wars: The Tories cry'd up the Court, and the Court countenanced them; and the Tories having the Dominion of the Press, printed all Sorts of Irritating Libels against the Whigs, and if the Whigs answered, they were prosecuted for printing Illicite; when the Tories could make no other Reply, but that the Whigs were running back to 1641.

The Tories had got a new invented Doctrine of inconsistible Terms, called, Passive Obedience: I would willingly be informed in the Grammatical Construction of these two Words, how a Noun Adjective or Participle, can alter the Signification of a Noun Substantive; for if any one be subject to another, and be commanded [Page] or forbidden by this other, it is Disobedience if he does not the Command of this other: How therefore Passive joined to Disobedience, can make it Obedience, had need of a better Interpretation than what the Tories give; which is, if you cannot obey, you must suffer: But this is another Proposition; and so Disobedience here is Disobedience still; and the true Construction of Passive Obedience, is Disobedience, and be hang'd for it.

The Tories and Whigs in these Feuds, were apt to take Fire and divulge, [...]ay it may be invent Stories of one another, and the Popish Party nourished Designs against both; and being countenanced by the Tory Party, in the Interval between the Prorogation of the Parliament which met by Anticipation (as Sir William Temple calls it) in January 1677-78, made a great Out [...]ry, which was blazed by the Tories, That there was a Design by the Whigs of killing the King: but it happened, Mr. Hawles says in Fitz-Harris's Trial, f. 3. to be in such a Place and Manner, as afterwards Oates discovered the Papists intended to have done it.

Hereupon Mr. Cleypole (Oliver's Son-in-law) was imprisoned in the Tower, (the Place you'll see, where the Papists acted all their Designs) for designing to kill the King; and in Trinity Term 1678, Mr. Cleypole had an Habeas Corpus to the King's Bench, and was brought up in order to be bailed, and produced Persons of Worth to bail him; but the Penalty of the Bail set by the Court was so high that the Bail refused to stand, and Mr. Cleypole was remanded to the Tower: But the Term after, when the Matter of which he was accused, appeared to be the Design of other People, he was let go, for fear the Examination of it should go further in proving the Popish Plot than any thing at that time discovered; and therefore no further Inquiry was made on whose, or on what Evidence he was committed.

The first who gave Light to the Popish Plot was Titus Oates, which if it had depended upon his single Testimony, had not like to have gone any further, the Court and Tories being so industrious to ridicule it, if some other Accidents should not make Oates's Testimony more credible: Oates therefore refers himself to Coleman's Papers, where the whole Design would appear to have been carried on for the last five Years.

The Court could not but inquire into the Truth of this, but proceeded so slowly in it, that Coleman had time enough to convey away all the Papers of his last 2 Years, with his Book of Entries of them, tho his Servant Boatman upon his Examination deposed, he saw Coleman's Book of Entries but two Days before Coleman was made Prisoner, and that had usually Letters every Post from beyond Sea: However the Letters which were found, amazed the greater Part of the Council.

But tho these Letters began this Plot in the Year 1673, yet it is evident by the Testimony of Florence Wyer, who was a Roman Catholick, [Page] that a Popish Plot was carried on in Ireland, in the Year 1665 and 1666, and brought to Maturity in the Year 1667. For Col. Kelly and Col. Bourn were sent into Ireland from the French King, with a Commission to muster as many Men as they could, the French King promising to send an Army of Forty Thousand Men, to establish the Roman Catholick Religion, upon St. Lewis's Day in August: But the French King, as before noted, had other Designs in his Head, and at that time was engaged to make good the Dauphin's Title to Brabant and the other Spanish Territories, and so kept his Word no better with the Irish, than he had done his Faith in the Pyrenean Treaty: the Irish hereupon complained to the Cardinal of Bovillon, of the French King's Breach of Promise to them, and that he should turn his Army against the Catholick King, and not redeem Ireland from its Heretical Jurisdiction, which you may read at large in Plunket's Trial, and how it was carried on till the Discovery of that in England; and all this proved by Roman Catholicks.

If those Counsellors which were not engaged in the Popish Plot were amazed at this Discovery of Coleman's Letters, those who were ingaged in it were not less surprized; and the Parliament being to meet some few Days after, I think the 1st of October; the King hereupon, as aforementioned, took Counsel whether he might not prorogue it to a further Day; and 'twas said Chancellour Finch was of Opinion he might, whereupon Mr. Seymour (now Sir Edward) then Speaker of the Commons, went out of Town: but upon Advice of John Brown Clerk of the Parliament, that so many Members of both Houses must meet and sit when a Prorogation was made, Mr. Seymour was recalled, and the Houses met, and were prorogued accordingly.

Between this Prorogation and the meeting of the Parliament, Sir Edmundbury Godfrey was murdered Oct. 12. and if the Council were amazed at Coleman's Letters, the whole Nation was not less at the Murder of Sir Edmund, and the time set for the meeting of the Parliament being about 9 or 10 Days after, the Court thought not fit to make another Prorogation, to take new Counsel upon the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey.

Here I think fit to relate one Story concerning the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, which I find no where in Print, and the rather for that Sir R. S. so ridicules Prance's Evidence, because he recanted before the King in his Closet all that he had been examined and swore to about Sir Edm. Godfrey's Murder, which he again recanted after he came to Prison; a Papist he was, and by Profession a Silver-Smith, and wrought for the Priests and others in Somerset-House, and was assisting at the Murder of Sir Edm. Godfrey, and also at the carrying the Body out of Somerset-house; and sometime after the Murder of Sir Edm. Godfrey was discovered [Page] some of Prance's Neighbours having observed that Prance did not come to his House for several days, they represented it to some Members of the House of Commons, that they had a great Suspicion that Prance had a Hand in the Murder of Sir Edmund; and thereupon they got an Order to seize Prance, and bring him before the House, which they did, and the House ordered Sir Rich. Everard and Sir Charles Harboard to examine him.

Before the Murder, Le Faire, Pritchard and other Priests treated with Bedlow, to be assisting in the Murder of Sir Edm. but Bedlow, tho he promised it, relented, and did not come; but the Monday after the Murder, viz. Oct. 14. he met Le Faire in Red-Lyon Court, who charged him with not keeping his Word, but charged Bedlow to meet him at 9 a Clock in Somerset-house, and there told Bedlow that tho he was not assisting as he promised in the killing of Sir Edm. yet if he would be assisting in the carrying him off, he shold have 2000 l. Bedlow then desired Le Faire, if he might not see the Body, who told him, yes; which Bedlow did, and then they advised about the Disposal of it, and Bedlow advised the sinking the Body in the River with Weights, which was not agreed to; thus far Bedlow deposes: but in seeing the body, Bedlow saw Prance there in the Company too, but did not know him before.

Bedlow says, he was troubled in Conscience, having twice taken the Sacrament to conceal the Business, and went to Bristol, where God put it into his Heart, that some Murders were past, and greater to come, for Prevention whereof he was convinced it was his Duty to come to London to reveal this Wickedness, which he did, and came into the Lobby of the House of Lords to make a Discovery, where I then saw him.

In the mean time Sir Charles Harboard and Sir Rich. Everard having examined Prance, and the House being set, left Prance to the Care of the Constable of Covent-Garden; who brought him into the Lobby of the House of Lords, where Bedlow seeing him, but never before he saw him in Somerset-house, Bedlow charged the Guards to seize him, for that he was one of those he saw at Somerset-house, where the Body of Sir Edm. Godfrey lay: and by the same token he had then a black Peruke, but now none; hereupon Search being made, the Peruke was found. Here I make a twofold Remark, one of the Strangeness of the Discovery of Prance by Bedlow who had never but once seen Prance before, and that by Candle-light, and in a Peruke, should yet upon the first Sight of him know him again without Peruke; the other, is the Clearness of Sir Edm. Godfrey's being murdered, and the Body's being in Somerset-house, upon Monday after the Murder the Saturday before; and from hence it was that Prance became an Evidence in this Discovery.

Now let's see how things stood upon the Meeting of the Parliament upon the 21st of October 1678, both abroad and at home. [Page] And herein both Houses were as warm in Enquiry into them, as the Court was cold.

It was but in January before, that the Parliament had given the King 1200000 l. for carrying on a War against France, in Conjunction with the Dutch, and their Allies: and upon their Meeting, they found a treacherous separate Peace made by a Faction of the Dutch with the French, and upon French Terms, wherein the King had taken Money of the French to join with this Dutch Faction in it. Besides the King's Guards, which he might encrease as he pleased, as well as keep up those he had, there was now another Army raised, which now it was of no further Use abroad, they dreaded as much as they did the French Arms now he had subdued the Confederates, by the Dutch Disjunction from them; and the Discovery of the Popish Plot carried on at home, whilst these things were thus agitated abroad, was to them a Demonstration, the same Councils which governed abroad did so at home.

And if the Parliament were thus amazed at their Sitting, it was no way lessened when as they found that in this very Month no less than 57 Commissions were discovered for raising Soldiers, granted to several Romish Recusants, with Warrants to muster without taking the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and the Test, countersigned by Sir J. W. Secretary of State; whereupon, the Commons committed him to the Tower; yet the King next Day discharged him, with a Reprimand to the Commons: but upon the Commons Address to the King about it, the King, as before in his Declarations of Indulgence, promised to recal them.

However, the Commons appointed a secret Committee to enquire to the Bottom of the Popish Plot; who having made some Progress in it, upon Friday the 1st of November came to this Resolution, Nemine contradicente, That upon the Evidence that has already appeared to this House, this House is of Opinion, That there hath been, and still is, a damnable hellish Plot, contrived and carried on by Popish Recusants, for assassinating and murdering the King, subverting the Government, and rooting out and destroying the Protestant Religion. Which being the same Day communicated to the Lords, they unanimously and readily concurred with the Commons in it; and upon the 5th, the Commons impeached the Earl of Powis, the Viscount Stafford, and the Lords Arundel of Warder, Petre, and Bellasis, of High Treason.

The Commons having proceeded thus far in searching into the Popish Plot, upon the 27th of November proceeded in their next Fear of the Army raised, and now indeed in Flanders, where the French Army raged, after the Dutch had made their separate Peace, without Opposition, and the English Army only a Burden to the Country, and of no Use to restrain the French Ravages; and Voted,

[Page] 1. That it is necessary, for the Safety of his Majesty's Person, and preserving the Peace of the Government, That all the Forces which have been raised since the 29th of September 1677, and all others which have been since that time brought over from beyond Seas from foreign Service, be forthwith disbanded.

2. It is the humble Opinion of this House, That the Forces which are now in Flanders may be immediately called over, in order to their disbanding.

3. That the House would to Morrow Morning resolve it self into a Committee of the whole House, to consider the Manner of disbanding the Army.

The five Popish Lords had been impeached by the Commons about a Fortnight, and no Articles exhibited against them, when the King gave the Commons an Account, that he had given Order for seizing Mr. Mountague's Papers, upon Information that he had held several Correspondences, whilst he was Ambassador in France, with the Pope's Nuncio, without any Direction or Order of his Majesty.

But Mr. Mountague, the same Day, produced two Letters from my Lord Treasurer, whilst he was Ambassador in France, which being read, the House resolved to impeach the Treasurer, and the same Day ordered a Committee to draw up Articles against him; which on Saturday the Committee did, and on Monday following impeached the Treasurer upon them: whereas the Commons had not yet exhibited any against the Popish Lords. This was upon the 23d of December.

But if the Treasurer was constant to himself, I do not understand how the Commons Impeachment of him in the 4th Article could consist with the King's Displeasure against him for the quite contrary, viz. That he suppressed the Evidences, and reproachfully discountenanced the King's Witnesses in Discovery of the Popish Plot: And Sir William Temple says, pag. 391. That the Treasurer was fallen into the King's Displeasure for bringing the Popish Plot into Parliament against the King's absolute Command.

However, the Parliament granted the King 693388 l. to disband the Army, and also an Additional Duty upon Wines for 3 Years: but no more Money being like to come this Sessions, upon Monday the 30th of December he prorogued the Parliament to the 4th of February next, and then told them, That it was with great Ʋnwillingness that he was come to tell them that he intended to prorogue them; that all of them were Witnesses he had not been well used, the Particulars of which he would acquaint them with at a more seasonable time, (but when will that be? for he never saw them after:) In the mean time, he would immediately enter upon the disbanding the Army, and do what Good he could for the Kingdom, and Safety of Religion, and that he would prosecute the Discovery of the Popish Plot, [Page]to find out the Instruments of it, and take all the Care that is in his Power to secure the Protestant Religion as it is now established. How well this was performed you'll soon see; and before the 4th of February he dissolved this Eighteen-year-old Parliament. The Vogue went, It was upon the Account of my Lord Treasurer, tho I believe, upon severer Thoughts, it will seem rather to have been done upon the Account of the Popish Lords and Popish Plot. These Feuds in the Nation, and Jealousies between the King and Parliament, stifled the Apprehensions of the dreadful growing Power of the French King, and made fair Weather for him to prosecute his boundless Ambition, without any Regard of his Faith or Honour, where-ever he could extend it.

Never did one Parliament succeed another so early as the next did this long Parliament; for the King, by his Proclamation, dissolved the Long Parliament upon the 25th of January, and the same Day issued out Writs for a new one to meet at Westminster the 6th of March following; which was just 40 Days between the Test and Return.

In this Interval, the Blaze of the Parliament's Vote of their Apprehensions of a damnable and hellish Popish Plot had taken deep Impressions in the Minds of Men in general; and the Whigs taking Advantage of it, in this short Interval run down the Tories without Opposition: nay, even the King himself apprehended there could be no Hopes of attaining his Ends in the next Parliament, but by seeming zealous in the prosecuting the Discovery of the Popish Plot, and that he would not longer be governed by Favourites and single Councils.

There had been several Debates in the House of Commons, of the dangerous Consequences in reference to the Duke of York's Succession to the Crown, and that the Bottom of the Popish Plot centred in the Duke's being a Papist, and the presumptive Heir to the Crown; but I do not find they came to any Vote upon it, yet resolved upon the 8th of November to make an Address to the King, That the Duke might withdraw himself from his Person and Councils; and in Conformity therewith, the Duke went, or was sent into Holland: and upon the meeting of the Parliament, the King acquainted them how great things he had already done for the preventing the Progress of the Popish Plot; as the Exclusion of the Popish Lords from their Seats in Parliament, and the Execution of several Men upon the Score of the Plot, as well as the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey; but above all, that he had commanded his Brother from him, because he would not leave malicious Men room to say, he had not removed all Causes which could be pretended to influence him toward Popish Counsels; and tells, That as he had not been slack in putting the present Laws in Execution against Papists, so he was ready to join in making such further [Page] Laws as may be necessary for the securing the Kingdom against Popery; and then demands a Supply, and concludes with his Desires to have this a healing Parliament.

The House chose Mr. Seymour, the Speaker of the last Parliament, to be their Speaker in this, but the King rejected him, which was no good Presage of a healing Parliament; and so the Commons chose Mr. Serjeant Gregory, and the King accepted him.

The Commons began where the last Parliament left, in prosecuting their Impeachments against the Earl of Danby, and the Popish Lords in the Tower; but who should be first tried, and what were the Jurisdiction of the Bishops Right of Voting in their Impeachments, and their Judgments in Cases of Blood, run quite through this Sessions, wherein the Lords and Commons seldom agreed. There were two things which made the Earl of Danby's Case more favourably spoken of; one, That tho he was prosecuted several Weeks after the Popish Lords were committed, yet the Commons would not proceed in their Impeachments against the Popish Lords before the Lords had given their Judgments upon the Earl's Plea; The other was a Vote of the Commons upon the 9th of May, That no Commoner whatsoever should presume to maintain the Validity of the Earl of Danby's Pardon without Leave of the House first obtained, and that the Persons so doing shall be accounted Betrayers of England: and there was no Nobleman a profest Lawyer; so that tho the Earl's Plea upon his Pardon was Matter of Law, yet no Commoner must presume to plead his Cause.

The King, besides his sending the Duke of York beyond Sea, that the World might now see how otherways he was become a new Man for the future, upon the 20th of April 1679 made this Declaration in Council, and in Parliament, and after publish'd it to the whole Nation, how sensible he was of the ill Posture of his Affairs, and the great Dissatisfaction and Jealousies of his good Subjects, whereby the Crown and Government were become too weak to preserve it self, which proceeded from his use of a single Ministry, and of private Advices; and therefore professed his Resolution to lay them aside for the future, and be advised by those whom he had then chosen for his Council in all his weighty and important Affairs, together with the frequent Advice of his great Council in Parliament: and indeed in this Council were many worthy Members; my Lord of Shaftsbury was President of it, and the then Sir Henry Capel, and Sir William Temple, Members of it.

But this Declaration of the King's, added to the sending the Duke of York into Holland, had not the King's desired Effect; the Commons, (besides the Dread of the Popish Plot as well at present, but more in consequence) after the King had declared he would not alter the Succession of the Crown in the right Line, [Page] were no ways satisfied with the Disbursements of the Money, nor the disbanding the Army, yet were resolved it should be done, and voted another Sum of 26462 l. for it; but it was not carried without some Difficulty, that these Monies should be paid into the Exchequer, but Chamber of London: however, the Commons carried, That the Money so raised should be appropriated to that Use, and to that End appointed Commissioners to disband the new-rais'd Army, and so voted, That the Continuance of any standing Forces in this Nation, other than the Militia, to be illegal, and a great Grievance and Vexation to the People, hereby meaning the King's Guards. They also ordered a Bill to be brought in, for annexing Tangier to the Imperial Crown of England; and voted, That those who did advise the King to part with Tangier to any foreign Prince or State, or were instrumental therein, ought to be accounted Enemies to the King and Kingdom.

But how jealous soever the Commons were of the King, yet they conceived it was his Life which secured them from the Fears they dreaded of the Duke's coming to the Crown; and therefore upon the 11th of May voted, Nemine contradicente, That in Defence of the King's Person and the Protestant Religion, this House does declare, that they will stand by his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes; and that if his Majesty shall come to an untimely End (which God forbid) they will revenge it upon the Papists.

It seems the Commons had more Care of the King than he had of himself; for he not only countenanced the Plotters, but ridiculed the Plot. In his Speech at the opening this Parliament, he told them he had not been idle in discovering the Plot; and in the last, he told Sir William Temple he was displeased with the Earl of Danby for bringing the Popish Plot into Parliament, against his absolute Command. Oliver's Professions and Actions never appeared so hypocritical and deceitful as this King's; and all this after the Parliament had voted there was a hellish Conspiracy by the Papists against his Life: and this proved by a Cloud of Witnesses, agreeing in the Manner and Circumstances of it, as Oates, Bedlow, Prance, Dangerfield, Bolron, and Mowbray, many of which had never seen one the other before they gave their Testimonies.

Objection. These were Witnesses of suspected Fame, therefore no Credit ought to be given to them. But admit this were true, which is not, for except Dangerfield, and while Prance was frighted with Terror, there was no Objection against Oates, Bedlow, Mowbray, and Bolron, it will admit of a twofold Answer.

1. Truth is one, and consists in entire parts, whereas Error and Falshood is infinite; and therefore it had been impossible that Mowbray and Bolron, who had never seen Oates or Bedlow before they gave their Testimonies, and Bedlow who had never known Mowbray, Bolron, nor Oates, should concur not only in the Design [Page] of killing the King, but in the Manner, Place, and Circumstances of it.

2. Admit these Mens Evidence might not have been credited in other Cases, yet it's fit to consider Witnesses in civil or criminal Cases; in civil Cases Men may make Elections of what Witnesses they please, and it is their Fault if they make not use of Men of know Integrity and Repute, that more Credit may be given to their Evidence: and the End of civil Actions and Contracts is, that they may be known; but immoral and wicked Actions are Deeds of Darkness, and contrived so as that they may not be known; so that the Knowledg of them comes to pass either by Accident, or from the Conspirators themselves: as if only one Man sees a Murderer or a Thief kill or rob another, if his Testimony shall not be taken because otherwise an ill Man, Multitudes of Murders and Thefts might pass unpunished. So if Cicero, when Fulvia first discovered Catiline's Conspiracy to him, had told her she was a Whore, and no Credit could be given to any thing she said, Rome might have been in a Flame as London was, and all the Senators Throats might have been cut.

But admit no Credit could be given to any or all these Mens Testimonies, who were all Roman Catholicks; I would know what Objection could be against Mr. Jenison (a Gentleman of Birth and Quality) who gave no Evidence at Ireland's, Wakeman's, Pi [...] kering's, or Grove's Trials, and changed his Religion when he heard that Ireland, who was his Father Confessor, at his Death denied that he was in Town, but in Staffordshire, when Oates and Grove's Maid said he was in London in August 1678, and printed it, and the Reasons of it; and also at my Lord Stafford's Trial in open Parliament deposed, That Ireland told him there was but one that stood in the way, and that it was an easy thing to poison the King, and that Sir George Wakeman might easily and opportunely do it; and that in August 1678, (when Ireland at his Death declared he was in Staffordshire) Ireland told Mr. Jenison in London, when he was newly returned from Windsor, how easily the King might be taken off, and asked Mr. Jenison if he would be one of them who should go to Windsor, and assist at the taking off the King, and proffered Mr. Jenison to remit 200 l. which he owed Ireland, if he would: Then Ireland asked if he knew any stout Irish-men; who answer'd he knew Captain Levallian, Mr. Kerney, Brohal and Wilson. Ireland told him he knew Levallian and Wilson; and then Ireland asked him if he would go with them, and assist them in taking off the King: after this Ireland told Mr. Jenison he was going to the Club, where Mr. Coleman, Mr. Lavallian, and Kerney would be, and he wanted 80 l. which he desired Mr. Jenison to return him.

[Page] Mr. Jenison further deposed, That his Brother, Mr. Thomas Jenison (a Jesuit) said, If C. R. will not be R. C. which he interpreted to be, Si Carolus Rex non esset Rex Catholicus, non diu [...]ret Rex Carolus; and that it was no great Sin to take him off: Mr. Jenison desiring a new Commission in the new rais'd Army, his Brother told him he would procure him one from the Duke of York, and that there was another Army to be raised, but this was not to be till the King was taken off; and this I say, that about this time there was a general Rumour of a Page being kill'd upon a Couch in the Night at Windsor, where the King was laid but a little before; and that the King, upon the Fright of it, came next Morning to London; and that it was Prince Rupert who, with much Importunity, got the King (having been drinking hard before) from the Couch, and put him to Bed; and that the Page who was killed asleep upon the Couch, was wrap'd up in the Cloak the King was in.

The Commons likewise resolved Nemine contradicente, That the Duke of York being a Papist, and the Hopes of his coming as such to the Crown, have given the greatest Countenance and Encouragement to the present Conspirators, and the Designs of the Papists against the King and Protestant Religion.

But the Designs of the King was, how to get Money for providing a Fleet for our common Security now in time of such a Peace as the French King had granted Christendom, after the King had taken his Money to join in it, and after he had taken the Parliament's Money to enter into an actual War against France; and after the Parliament had twice given Money for disbanding this Army, which not succeeding, the Commons dreading how Monies given at this time of Day might be employed, took no more Care in it than the King did in the Discovery of the Popish Plot; so he prorogued the Parliament upon the Twenty seventh of May to the Fourteenth of August, and upon the Twelfth of July dissolved them.

We shall better take a View of what followed the Prorogation of the Parliament in England, if we take a Step into Scotland, and see what's doing there. Upon the 3d of this Month of May, John Balfour of Kinlock, David Hackston of Rathilelet, George Balfour of Gilston, James Russel in King's Kittle, Robert Dingwall a Farmer's Son in Caddam, Andrew Guillon a Weaver in Balmerinoch, Alexander Henderson and Andrew Henderson Sons of John Henderson of Rillbrachment, and George Flemming, Son to George Flemming of Balbuthy, murdered Doctor Sharp Arch-bishop of St. Andrews, who, before the King's Restoration, had held an exalted Place in the Scotish Presbytery, and was in high Esteem among them, in as vindictive a manner as was that of the Marquess of Montross about twenty one Years before, as being a [Page] perjured Apostate Prelate, a Villain, a Persecutor of the Godly, a Betrayer of Jesus Christ and his Church; and which augmented the Horror of the Fact, if my Author of the second Address to the Free-men of England, pag. 58. says true, Th [...] they several times beat down the Arch-bishop's Daughter upon her Knees, begging her Father's Life, and trampled upon he [...] and wounded her.

This barbarous Act was a Prelude to what followed; for upon the 29th of this Month, a Party of about 80 of the Covenanters met at Ragland in Scotland, well mounted and well armed, and proclaimed the Covenant, and burnt several Acts of Parliament made against it, and for establishing Prelacy, since the Year 1660, and would have affixed their Declaration at Glascow, but were prevented by the King's Forces for that time.

This Rebellion of the Covenanters, initiated by so horrid a Fact, did not extend so far, as the Covenanters in their Fren [...] and Zeal imagined; yet upon Sunday the 1st of June they rendezvouz'd about fifteen hundred Men upon Louden-Hill; on [...] Wier commanded the Foot, and the Horse was under Robert Hamilton, one Patron, with Balfour and Hackston, (which two [...] assassinated the Arch-bishop.)

With this Force they took the City of Glasgow; and to she [...] how all Crowns and Scepters must vail to them, they published two Proclamations. The first of which was, ‘We the Officers of the Covenanted Army, do require and command [...] the Inhabitants of the Burgh of Glasgow, to furnish us with 24 Carts and 60 Horses for removing our Provisions from this Place to [...] Camp, where-ever we shall set down the same, and to abide with us for that End during our Pleasure, under pain of being reputed our Enemies, and proceeded against accordingly.’

The other was, ‘We the Officers of the Covenanted Army, do require and command the Magistrates of Glasgow to extend and banish forth thereof all Arch-bishops, Bishops, and Curates, their Wives, Berns, Servants, and Families, and Persons concerned in the King's Army, within 48 Hours after publishing hereof, under highest Pains.’

And then they published a long Declaration of their taking up Arms for a free General Assembly, and free and unlimited Parliament, to redress the manifold Grievances there enumerated, and humbly to request his Majesty to restore all things as he found them when God brought him home to his Crown and Kingdoms; that was, to the Dominion the Rump-Parliament in England had over them: which you may read at large in the aforesaid Author, from pag. 67 to 74.

[Page] To these Declarations the said Author, p. 17. adds, they barbarously treated the dead Body of one Graham, whom they had killed at a Conventicle: They committed insufferable Insolencies in the Houses of the regular Ministers and Loyal Gentlemen as they marched along to Glasgow, stabbing and gashing his Majesty's Picture where-ever they found it: They behaved themselves barbarously in the House of the Arch-bishop of Glasgow, where they burnt his Books, cut in pieces his best Furniture and Hangings, and almost kill'd a Gentlewoman with Blows who was left to keep the House, for saying, Gentlemen, I hope you'll remember you are in an Arch-bishop's House. They sacrilegiously entred the Cathedral of Glasgow, and finding a Tombstone over two of the Children of the Bishop of Argile, with an Inscription of a Modern Date, they digged up their Bodies, run them through with their Swords, and left them lying above Ground.

In the mean time the Council of Scotland were not idle, but raised an Army, and quartered it at a place called Blackborn, to prevent the Covenanters Approach to Edinburgh, and gave the King an Account of these things, and expected his Majesty's further Orders: And now I'll tell a wonder which will scarce be believed in future Generations. The King sent the Duke of Monmouth from London upon the 20th of June, and the Duke rode above three hundred Miles upon that day and the two next days, and upon the 23d ordered and disposed the King's Army raised by the Council, that he fought the Covenanters and routed them, killing about seven hundred of them, and took above eleven hundred of them Prisoners; and now it may be you will hear of a Wonder in Consequence after this Fight as great as the Fight, and the Duke's Journey before it.

I do not question but the Design of the Court in sending the Duke of Monmouth into Scotland to suppress the Covenanters, was by it to make him odious to the Presbyterians, and other Dissenters from the Church of England, in case he suppressed the Covenanters, which tho the Duke did, yet the End designed by the Court in it did not succeed.

For the dreadful Apprehension of the Duke's Succession to the Crown of England, had taken a deep Impression in another sort of Men besides Dissenters: and where Men are fearful of Danger, they will seek all means how to prevent the Danger, especially where the Power of doing ill is greater; and therefore another sort of Men, no Whigs, might have their Eyes upon the Duke of Monmouth, as the only means to prevent the Duke of York's Succession to the Crown; his Title to the Crown of England, if he could get an Act of Parliament for it, being as good as that of John, alias Robert Stuart, the Son of Elizabeth Moore, from whom the King and the Duke of York were both descended, and in whose [Page] Right they claimed the Crown of Scotland, if not those of England and Ireland.

However, this gave the Lie to the Tories, that all those were Commonwealths-Men who would not submit to the Illegal and Arbitrary Will of the King, and their Doctrine of Passive Obedience; and that Kings, Jure Divino, may do what they list, tho God has set Laws and Bounds to all the created Bodies of Heaven and Earth, and all other Creatures in them. But how mischievous these Doctrines have proved to these three Kings of the Scotish Nation has been already said, and I say it has been such flattering Doctrines as those that ruined all these Kings and Kingdoms (except the Gibeonites, Joshua 9. the State of Venice, and that of Geneva, for Du Salez was a just and vertuous Prince) from which Commonwealths arose. Who ever, before King James and King Charles the First's Reign in England, heard of talking of Commonwealths in England, and the several sorts of Governments, viz. Monarchy, Aristocracy, Democracy, which two latter, tho they have the same Names, yet no two of either in their Constitutions were like one the other? And as these Commonwealths took their Rise from the Tyrannies of Kings and Princes; so the exploded Government of the Rump, if it were a Democracy or Commonwealth, gave Life to all those Confusions, Perjuries, Breach of Leagues, and devilish Practices of this Reign, which would have been intolerable in any other, and would have been opposed, if not by rising in Arms against them, yet at least in not so profusely pouring out Money for not continuing and carrying of them on.

The Popish Faction were more jealous of the Duke of Monmouth, than the Tories were of a Commonwealth, and the rather because there was a Pamphlet printed, that the King was married to the Duke's Mother, and rumoured abroad that Sir Gilbert Gerrard had a Black Box, in which the Marriage of the King with the Duke's Mother was fully proved and made out; and the fear of the Duke of York's Succession was so fix'd in Mens Minds, that the Story of the Black Box was generally divulged, and for ought I know, believed by those who were fearful of the Duke of York's Succession.

If this could be made out, the Popish Faction would lose the Tories and Passive-Obedience-Men, who at present were their dearest Joys, and without them they had not Means to carry on their Design of propagating the Catholick Cause; they were sure of the King (tho it's believed he loved not the Duke of York) and therefore the King made three Declarations, the first of the second of June 1679, wherein he calls the Report of his Marriage or Contract with Mrs. Walters, alias Barrow, the Duke of Monmouth's Mother, false and scandalous; and upon the sixth of January [Page] following, declared, that they who should say he was married or contracted to the Duke of Monmouth's Mother, were neither his nor the Duke's Friends, and declared in the Presence of Almighty God, that he was never married nor contracted to any other Woman but his Wife Queen Catherine; and upon the third of March following, declared in Council, and entred it into the Council-Books in the Presence of Almighty God, that he was never contracted or married to any other Woman but his Wife Queen Catherine: and the Popish Party were sure enough no Issue would spring from thence to the Prejudice of their Cause.

And that the King might gratify this Faction, as well as he had done the Nation in sending the Duke of York out of it, he sends the Duke of Monmouth after him; but the Duke being informed that Banishment is a Punishment which the King cannot inflict upon any Man unless he be convicted of some Crime, the Duke of Monmouth returns again, and the Duke of York followes him, with this different Success, that the Duke of Monmouth had all his Places of Profit and Trust taken from him, and the Duke of York was sent High Commissioner into Scotland, where the Duke of Monmouth's Victory at Blackborn had left a clear Field in Scotland for the Duke of York to play what Game he pleased; but how well this agreed with the King's Speech at the opening of the Parliament, That he had commanded his Brother to absent himself from him, because he would not leave malicious Men room to say that he had not removed all Causes which could be pretended to influence him to Popish Councils, a little time will shew: but before we take a View of the Duke of York's Actions in Scotland, it's fit to see how things were carried on in England, between the Dissolution of the Parliament and the meeting of the next, or third Westminster-Parliament of this Reign.

The King by Proclamation dissolved the Parliament upon the 12th of July 1679, and issued out Writs for the meeting of another the 17th of October following; but like the usual Methods of other things in this Reign, when they met, he prorogued them to the 26th of January following, and then prorogued them to the 5th of April following, viz. 1680, and from thence to the next 17th of May: And when they then met, prorogued them to the first of July, and from thence to the 21st of October, when he graciously declared they should then sit. And now let's see what's doing in the mean while for the discovery and suppressing of the Popish Plot.

To humour the Court the Tory Party set their Wits to work to ridicule the Popish Plot, and Roger L'Estrange, as Pensioner of the Party, comes weekly, or oftner out in defiance of it, who is Party, Judg, Licenser, and Rifler of the Press, whilst his Antagonist Care (who wrote The Weekly Packet of Advice from Rome, [Page] wherein he discovered the Frauds and Superstitions of that Court and Church) is not only thereupon arraigned, convicted and sentenced, for printing illicite, or without Licence; but by an Order of the Court of King's Bench, it was ordained, That the Book int [...]led, The Weekly Advice from the Church of Rome, or the History of Popery, shall not from thenceforth be printed or published by any Person whatsoever.

Then a Design was set on foot to throw the Popish Plot upon the Presbyterians, by leaving Papers of a Plot in the Lodgings of the principal Persons, who were active in the discovery of the Popish Plot, and then to search their Houses, and prosecute them upon it, and these Papers to be given in Evidence against them▪ Mrs. Cellier was a principal Agent herein, and Dangerfield as her Instrument, at first made an Attempt herein upon Colonel Mansel, who was prosecuted upon it, but the Examination of it was referred to Sir William Jones, then Attorney General, upon whose Report of it to the Council, they thereupon voted Colonel Mansel innocent, and Dangerfield guilty, and that this was a Design of the Papists to lay the Plot upon the Dissenters Charge, and a further Pro [...] of the Popish Plot. But this was such a Crime in Sir William Jones, that he was soon after put out of his Place, and Sir Robert Sawy [...] put in, who would not venture the loss of his Place for such another Report.

By this time my Lord Chief Justice's Zeal, which he professed for discovery of the Popish Plot, was inverted into the quite contrary, and he was not of the Opinion of the Council: For after this Dangerfield procured his Pardon, and then discovered the whole Plot, which he printed; hereupon Mrs. Cellier was prosecuted, and tried before my Lord Chief Justice Scroggs upon the eleventh of June 1680. and Mrs. Cellier excepting against Dangerfield's Evidence, he having his Pardon, the Case was sent to the Court of Common-Pleas, for their Judgment upon it; who gave it, that Dangerfield's Evidence was good: yet let any Man read the Trial, and see how the Chief Justice rated and vilified him, so as Mrs. Cellier was quit; and after the Trial committed Dangerfield to Prison, upon the account there was a Defect in his Pardon, though it was not then before him, whether there was any Defect in his Pardon or not.

Then the Popish Party set another Design on foot, to suborn the Discoverers of the Popish Plot, for which Mr. Reading was tried and committed, and also to suborn, defame and scandalize the King's Evidence in the Discovery of the Popish Plot: for which Thomas Knox and John Lane were convicted upon the twenty fifth of November 1679, and John Tasborough and Ann Price upon the third of February following.

[Page] Another Step towards the Discovery of the Popish Plot and Subversion of Popery, was to discharge those in Prison upon it; and in order to it, you may read in the Trial of Sir George Wakeman, Corker and Marshal, what a Stress my Lord Chief Justice Scroggs put upon Oates his not accusing Sir George Wakeman, upon his Letter before the Council, when Oates was so tired, weak and confounded with his other Evidence, that he was scarce able to stand; and how the Chief Justice repeats this, and bids the Jury weigh it well, and not be amazed or affrighted at the noise of Plots, and that Sir George Wakeman's, Corker's and Marshal's Blood lie at Stake, as did his and the Juries Souls, &c. And in my Lord Castlemain's Trial, how he undervalued Dangerfield's Evidence, and told the Jury that Treason must be proved by two Witnesses, and if they doubted upon one, it was his Opinion it was but a single Evidence.

These Prisoners thus discharged, the next Design to crown the Work, was to make a Precedent, That no future Prosecution should be made for convicting Roman Recusants; and to that end, in Trinity Term 1680, before the Parliament met, the Chief Justice Scroggs discharged the great Inquest of Oswaldston, before they had given in their Presentments of several Bills of Indictments against the Duke of York and other Roman Catholicks.

I do not find that in all these Transactions, the King made use of the Council which he chose the twentieth of April 1679, where my Lord Shaftsbury was President, and Sir Henry Capel, Sir William Temple, and many other noble Persons were Members of it, when he declared in Council, and Parliament, and to the whole Nation, How sensible he was of the ill Posture of his Affairs, and the great Dissatisfaction and great Jealousies of his Subjects, whereby the Crown and Government was become too weak to preserve it self, which proceeded from a single Ministry, and of private Advices; and therefore profess'd his Resolution to lay them wholly aside for the future, and to be advised by those able and worthy Persons whom he had then chosen for his Council; and by the frequent Advice of his Parliament in all his weighty Affairs. I do not find when he dissolved this Council, yet I am confident none of these things were done by their Advice: yet this I find that none of these were present, when the King in Council the third of March 1679, declared against his Marriage with the Duke of Monmouth's Mother, and this was within the Year after the twentieth of April 1679. How the Duke of York carried on the Design of the Discovery of the Popish Plot, and endeavoured the Suppression of Popery in Scotland at this time, is not yet ripe to be declared; but in this Posture things stood in England when the Parliament met the twenty first of October 1680.

Upon the opening of the Parliament, the King told them, The several Prorogations he had made, had been very advantagious to our Neighbours, and very useful to him; for he had employed that time [Page] in making and perfecting an Alliance with Spain, sutable to that which he had before made with the States of the Ʋnited Provinces, and they also had with Spain, consisting of mutual Obligations of Succour an [...] Defence.

So then it was not for the Transactions aforesaid, and the sending the Duke of York High Commissioner into Scotland, which no doubt but the Parliament, if they had been sitting, would have boggled at, but for making and perfecting Alliances with the States of Holland; and if any such Alliances were making, or made, what would the sitting of the Parliament have hindred them▪ I'm sure they might and would have advanced them.

It was in November 1677, that by the Agreement between the King and Prince of Orange, the French should deliver up to the King of Spain, the Towns of Aeth, Charleroy, Oudenard, Courtray, Tournay, Valenciennes, St. Gillain, and Binch; Lorain to that Duke, and the Towns which the French had taken in Alsatia to the Emperor: and in case of Refusal within two days after by the French King our King was to declare War against the French King, and join with the Dutch States and Confederates to compel the French to it; and at the Prince's Departure promised him never to depart from the least Point of it.

It was not two Weeks before the King brake this Promise, and to amuse and raise a Jealousy among the Confederates by Mr. Thy [...], (Sir William Temple refusing to have any hand in it) about the latter end of December following made a separate League with the Dutch States upon the Parliament's giving him 1200000 l. to enter into an actual War against France.

In May following, viz. 1678. the King took French Money to join with a Faction in Holland, to make a separate Peace with France, upon delivery of six of the nine Towns to the Spaniard, whereof two of the three not to be delivered to the Spaniard, were Tournay and Valenciennes, worth all the rest; and the Duke of Lorain and the Emperor left loose and uncertain.

In July following, upon the French refusal to deliver up these six Towns to the Spaniard, the King would declare War against France, and join with the Dutch and the rest of the Confederates in it.

Hereupon Sir William was sent to the Hague, and in six days time concluded a League with the States, that if within fourteen days after the Date of it, France did not declare to evacuate these six Towns, Holland engaged to proceed in the War against France, and Sir William sent over the Conditions to be ratified by the King.

During these Transactions in Holland, and it may be before the League came over to be ratified by the King, the King sent Du Cres with Instructions to Sir William Temple to remove from the Hague to Nimeguen, and to divulge that the King and French King had [Page] absolutely agreed and consented to a Peace, and that he had brought Orders to Sir William Temple, to go straight to Nimeguen, where he should meet with Letters from my Lord of Sunderland the King's Ambassador at Paris, with all the Particulars concluded between them: The Fourteen Days for the French Agreement to evacuate the Towns, running so fast away in the mean time, that Beverning and his Faction, upon the last of the Fourteen Days, pleaded a petty Necessity of huddling up that treacherous Peace which left Christendom to the Mercy of the French.

Would not one think it strange now, that the Dutch and poor Spaniard should have such a mutual Confidence in our King's Faith, and to trust to his mutual Obligations of Succour and Defence? Or that the King should be so staid in making this League? for it was above eighteen Months after the Prorogation of the last Parliament, to the Meeting of this, and above Fifteen Months from the Dissolution of it; and yet so hasty in all his other Leagues.

After the Benefits which Christendom, as well as England, may reap by these Alliances, if our Divisions at home do not make our Friendship less considerable, the King thought fit to renew all Assurance that can be desired for Security of the Protestant Religion, which he is resolved to maintain against the Conspiracies of our Enemies: ‘Can any Man who reads the Transactions between the Prorogation of the last Parliament, and the Meeting of this, force a Belief of this?’ And concur with any new Remedies which shall be proposed, which may consist with preserving the Succession of the Crown in its due and legal Course of Descent; ‘That is, Let the Wolf be Shepherd, and let the Sheep make what Laws they please for their Preservation.’

Was it not known that the Duke of York was a Jesuited Papist; whose Maxims are, That no Faith is to be kept with Hereticks, which he esteemed all others in England but those of his own Romish Faction to be? Could the King believe that the Duke's Succession could be any Security to the Protestant Religion (as the King calls it) which the Duke esteemed Heresy, and to be rooted out by Fire and Sword? or that any other but the Duke's Faction could be protected by him, when he esteemed them Hereticks, Schismaticks, Church-Robbers, and no Christians?

It's true, at this time the King of Portugal was made a Prisoner, to restrain him from his immoral and wicked Actions, whilst his Brother in his Imprisonment acted as Regent of Portugal, in his Brother's Name: But upon the Duke's Succession, how could a Regent act when the King was not a Minor, but of full Age double, and at large, in the King's Name, and contrary to his Will and Pleasure, and this to consist with the Security of the Protestant Religion or Laws?

[Page] In the Debates in the House of Commons, many Expedients were propounded, how the established Government in Church and State could be preserved, and none could be found in case the Duke succeeded: so the Country Party moved, that the Court Party would propound Expedients herein; but either they could not, or had no Instructions from the Court to warrant such Expedients as they should propound.

But if the due and legal Descent of the Crown must be preserved, though to the Destruction of the Church and State; they who advised the King to be so positive herein, should have done well to have declared what Law in England declares the Descent of the Crown of England, or how this becomes due. I am sure the Act of the first of Henry the IV intailed the Crown upon the King, and the Heirs of his Body; and so did that of the first of Henry VII. before he married the Lady Elizabeth, Edward the Fourth's Daughter; and if Henry the seventh's Title to the Crown had been good by inherent Birth-right, yet he had been an Usurper: For his Mother, under whom he claimed, lived all his Reign, and so she did some time after Henry the VIII became King, as you may read in Stow's History, p. 487. And how was the due and Legal Succession of the Crown of England observed in the Reign of Henry the VIII, when by his Will he might name what Successor he pleased, as has been said; or in Queen Elizabeth's Reign, when it was in Parliament declared Treason to affirm the Parliament might not dispose of the Succession of the Crown in her Reign, and a Premunire at this Day? And let any Man shew that ever there were three Kings before these of the Scotish Race, in the Saxon, Danish, or Norman Race, which succeeded successively by inherent Birth-right, I will submit that all I have said is not true: and why then must such a Stress be put for the preserving the Descent of the Crown in its due and legal Course, without declaring what is that due and legal Course, to endanger the Subversion of the Church and State of England?

Then the King recommends to the Parliament, a Strict Enquiry into the Popish Plot, and that the Lords in the Tower be brought to a speedy Trial, without which he did not think himself or the Parliament safe. The constant Vogue was, ‘That the King dissolved the two last Parliaments to preserve the Lords in the Tower from being brought to Trial;’ and I am sure that you will soon hear that the King did not believe his and the Nation's Safety did consist in the Trial of the Lords in the Tower.

Then the King tells the Parliament what Danger Tangier was in, and what vast Expence he must be at to keep it: ‘And the Commons last Parliament drew up an Act to settle it upon the Imperial Crown of England, and that they who did advise the King to part with Tangier to any Foreign Prince or State, or were instrumental [Page] therein, ought to be accounted Enemies to the King and Kingdom.’ And what Care the King took to keep it, will soon appear, tho 'twas said, the Parliament (I think it was out of the Chimney-Bill) gave him 40000 l. per Annum towards the Preservation of it to the Crown of England.

The King goes on and says, That above all the Treasure in the World, which he was sure would give him greater Strength both at home and abroad, than any Treasure can do, is a perfect Union among our selves, yet says not wherein we should unite. ‘Truth and Unity are one, and consist in intire Parts; but Falshood and Discord are infinite: What Truth or Unity could be in the King's loose and irregular Actions, so confounding, and every day varying from what he had promised before? Or how is it possible for the Nation to unite under Terms which are inconsistible and impossible, viz. Unite to preserve the Constitutions of the Kingdom, and yet be at no Discord with the King, who they were morally certain, would make it his Business to subvert them?’

If we should be so unhappy (the King says) as to fall into such Misunderstanding among our selves as would render our Friendship unsafe to trust to, it will not be wondred at if our Allies shall begin to take up new Resolutions, and perhaps such as may be fatal to us; and advised them not to gratify our Enemies, and dishearten our Friends by any unreasonable Disputes, viz. to take all by an implicit Faith. ‘I do not understand what the King means by Misunderstanding among our selves, which may render our Friendship to our or his Allies unsafe; nor does he say wherein such Misunderstanding consists; I'm sure the Parliament misunderstood him when they gave him 1200000 l. to enter into an actual War against the French King, in the Defence of these Allies; and when he had got the Money, to make a separate Peace with a Faction of the Dutch, to the Ruine of his Allies; and take French Money for it: and to get the Parliament twice over to disband this Army, for fear he should turn it against them and the Nation; and now 'twas disbanded, to give Money to raise another, upon Pretence of assisting these Allies, now they were forced to such a dishonourable Peace with the French; or that our Allies, as the King calls them, would ever trust to any more of his Alliances.’

If any should so happen (the King says) the World will see it is no Fault of his, for he had done all that was possible for him to do to keep us in Peace while he lived, and to leave us so when he died.

‘Can any Man believe the King believed himself herein? Or that any Man will be his Voucher for it? Even my Lord C. F. out of the Field of his sweet lisping Eloquence, could not gather [Page] one Rhetorical Flower to make a Flourish upon this Speech; nor assure the Parliament upon his Veracity, that Now, Now was the time to secure their Religion and Properties: nay, the Commons gave so little Credit to this Speech, that they would not deign to debate it,’ or one Paragraph in it.

Neither the Ba [...]t of Tangier, nor the King's making Alliances with the Dutch and Spaniard (if any such were in his Ramble of Prorogations of this Parliament) would make the Commons give more Money: This Parliament met in a contrary Humour to that of the Long Parliament, and that from contrary Causes; for that Parliament adored him as their Deliverer from the Rage and Persecution of the late times, whereas this Parliament met in Dread and Terror of the Nation at present, and were frighted at the Prospect of the Consequence of it after the King's Death.

The Commons heated by the Dissolutions of the two last Parliaments, when they were searching into the Discovery of the Popish Plot; and exasperated against the Tories, for ridiculing the Popish Plot, and for abhorring petitioning the King to let the Parliament sit, in order to prosecute and secure the Nation against it, &c. proceeded in another Temper, I think, than any other ever before: and in Truth I do not desire the Prosecution of the Commons in the Long Parliament in the first ten Years against the Protestant Dissenters, and of the Commons of this Parliament against the Tories, should be taken for Precedents by any Parliament in time to come.

When Parliaments met annually, or at least frequently, I think a Complaint cannot be found against any Man for Breach of Privilege: but when there were long Intervals of Parliaments, from whence the Consequence resolved into long Sittings of Parliaments, which began in the Reign of Henry VIII, then the Inconvenience (I may say) of Privilege of Parliament first began; nor do I find any before the latter end of Henry VIII, nor does Mr. Petit, in his Precedents from Arrests, and other Privileges of Parliament-men, cite any before the Thirty fourth of Henry VIII, in Case of Mr. George Ferrers, Burgess for the Town of Plimouth, being arrested for Debt; and this was taken for such a Novelty, that he takes up near seven Pages to recite the Proceedings of the Commons upon it; and how the King being advertised thereof, called the Chancellour, the Judges, the Speaker of the Commons, and the gravest Persons of them, wherein he commended the Wisdom of the Commons in maintaining their Privileges (which he would not in any Point have infringed) and that the Privileges of Parliament extend to the Servants of the Commons from Arrests, as well as to the Persons of the Commons. It's worthy Observation with what Sobriety and Justice the Commons proceeded herein: They ordered [Page] their Serjeant forthwith to repair to the Compter in Breadstreet, wherein Mr. Ferrers was committed, with his Mace to demand his Delivery, which the Serjeant did to the Officers of the Compter, who notwithstanding refused to do it, and beat and hurt some of the Serjeant's Officers, and broke his Mace; and during the Brawl the Sheriffs of London came in, who countenanced the Officers of the Compter, and refused to deliver Mr. Ferrers, and gave the Serjeant proud Language, and contemptuously rejected his Message: Hereupon the Commons commanded the Serjeant to demand the Sheriffs of London to deliver Mr. Ferrers, by shewing them his Mace, which was his Warrant for so doing; whereupon the Sheriffs delivered him accordingly; but then the Serjeant having further Command from the Commons, charged the Sheriffs to appear personally on the Morrow by eight of the Clock, before the Speaker in the nether House (or of the Commons) to bring thither the Clerks of the Compter, and such other of their Officers as were Parties in the Fray, and to take into Custody one White, who had wittingly procured the said Arrest, in contempt of the Privilege of Parliament.

The next day the two Sheriffs, with one of the Clerks of the Compter, and the said White, appeared in the Commons House, where the Speaker charging them with their Contempt and Misdemeanour, they were compelled to make immediate Answer, without being admitted to Counsel; and in conclusion the Sheriffs, and the said White were committed to the Tower, and the Clerk (which was the Occasion of the Fray) to a place called Little Ease, and the Officer which did the Arrest, called Taylor, with four other Officers, to Newgate, where they remained from the Twenty eighth to the Thirty first of March, and then were delivered at the humble Suit of the Mayor and their other Friends.

The next Breach of Privilege reported by Petit, is eight Years after, viz. the fourth of Edward VI, by one Withrington, who made an Assault upon the Person of one Brandling, Burgess of New-castle; but the Parliament drawing towards an End, the Commons sent Withrington to the Privy Council; but the Council would not meddle in it, and sent the Bill of Mr. Brandling's Complaint back again to the Commons according to the antient Custom of the House; whereupon the Bill was sent to the Lords from the Commons, when Withrington confest he began the Fray upon Dr. Brandling, upon which he was committed to the Tower. This was in the Year 1550.

Mr. Petit finds not another Breach of Privilege, till the Fourteenth of Elizabeth, twenty one Years after, which was done by one Arthur Hall, for sundry lewd Speeches used as well in the Commons House, as abroad; who was warned by the Serjeant to appear [Page] before the Bar of the Commons to answer for the same, and upon his Speech, upon the humble Confession of his Folly, he was remitted, with a good Exhortation given him by the Speaker. Here I observe these three Particulars.

1. The Rarity of these Breaches of Privileges of Parliament in former times.

2. The Justice of the Commons in their Proceedings of Breach of Privilege, to cite the Person or Persons to appear before them, to answer for themselves before the House passed any Censure upon them.

3. That in none of these Censures they enjoined the Delinquent to pay their Fees to their Serjeant, for the Serjeant is the King's Officer, and by the 26th West. 1. no Officer of the King's shall take any Fee or Reward for doing his Office, but what he receives from the King, upon Penalty of rendring double to the Plaintiff, and be further punished at the Will of the King. And Sir Edward Coke in his first Inst. Lib. 3. Sect. 701. Tit. Extortioners, says, this was the antient common Law, and the Penalties added by the Statute; and that tho some Statutes since have allowed the King's Officers in some Cases to take Fees for executing their Offices, yet none other can be taken but what such Statutes allow; and that all Officers of the King, who take Fees otherwise, are guilty of Perjury. I would know by what Law the Commons Serjeant takes his Fees, and how the Commons can absolve him from Perjury for taking such Fees.

Whereas in this Parliament rarely a Day passed wherein Men upon bare Suggestions, and absent, were not judged, and Execution ordered for high Breaches, and notorious Breaches of the Commons Privileges, yet most of these not foreknown, and ordered to be taken into Custody, tho in Northumberland and Yorkshire: and rarely I think any of them were discharged without paying their Fees, but what Fees was what the Serjeant pleased; nay, the Commons outrun all which was ever thought of before: For on Tuesday the 14th of December, having voted one Mr. Herbert Herring to be taken into Custody, and Mr. Herring absconding from being taken, the House resolved, ‘That if he did not render himself by a certain Day, they would proceed against him by Bill in Parliament for endeavouring by his absconding to avoid the Justice of the House.’ Though I doubt the Lords, in the Temper they were in, nor the King neither, would have passed such a Bill.

It was strange methought that the Commons should be so zealous against any Arbitrary Power in the King, and take such a Latitude to themselves; which puts me in mind of a Story I have heard of an old Usurer, who had a Nephew, who had [Page] got a Licence to preach, and the Uncle having never done any thing for his Nephew, he resolved to be revenged upon his Uncle in a Sermon which he would preach before his Uncle in the Parish where he lived, and made a most invective Sermon against Usury and Usurers; but after the Sermon was done, the Uncle thank'd his Nephew for his good Sermon, and gave him 2 Twenty-shilling Pieces: the Nephew was confounded at this, and begg'd his Uncle's Pardon for what he had done, for he thought he had given him great Offence; No, said the Uncle, Nephew, go on and preach other Fools out of the Conceit of Ʋsury, and I shall have the better Opportunity of putting out my Money.

Yet so zealous were the Commons against Popery and Arbitrary Power, that upon the 15th of December they resolved that one Mean for the Suppression of Popery is, That a Bill be brought in to banish immediately all considerable Papists out of the King's Dominions.

And that a Bill be brought in for an Association of all his Majesty's Protestant Subjects, for the Defence of his Majesty's Person, the Defence of the Protestant Religion, and for the Preservation of his Majesty's Protestant Subjects, against all Invasions and Oppositions whatsoever, and for preventing the Duke of York, or any other Papist, from succeeding to the Crown.

And upon the 16th of December the Commons read another Bill the first time for exempting his Majesty's Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties imposed upon the Papists; and upon the 18th ordered a Bill to be brought in to unite his Majesty's Protestant Subjects.

In this Ferment of the Commons this Parliament, they run counter to the Commons of the last Parliament; for then they chose Mr. Edward Seymour to be their Speaker, and when the King refused him, they were much disgusted: but in this Parliament the Commons the 25th of November impeached him upon four Articles, and a Motion was made for an Address to be made to remove him from his Majesty's Council and Presence. And in the last Parliament the Commons would not proceed to the Trial of the Popish Lords in the Tower, before the Lords should give their Judgment upon the Earl of Danby's Plea; whereas in this Parliament they proceeded to the Condemnation of my Lord Stafford, without taking any notice, that I can find, of having the Lords Judgment upon the Earl's Plea.

The Commons took Care also to prosecute and impeach all those that countenanced the Popish Plot, or were Abhorrers of petitioning the King for the Meeting of the Parliament in the manifold Prorogations of it; and voted, That it is, and ever hath been, the undoubted Right of the Subjects of England, to petition the King for the Calling and Sitting of Parliaments, and Redress of Grievances.

[Page] And that to traduce such petitioning as a Violation of Duty, and to represent it to his Majesty as tumultuous and seditious, is to betray the Liberty of the Subject, and contributes to the Design of subverting the antient legal Constitutions of this Kingdom, and introducing Arbitrary Power.

The first that fell under these Votes was Sir Francis Withens (after made a Judg) a Member of the Commons, whom they voted to be a Betrayer of the undoubted Rights of the Subjects of England, and ordered him to be expelled the House for this high Crime, and to receive the Sentence at the Bar of the House kneeling; which he submitted to.

The next was Sir George Jefferies, then Recorder of the City; and ordered that an humble Address be made to the King to remove him out of all publick Offices, and that the Members which served for the City should communicate this Vote to the Court of Aldermen.

Upon this Account (tho the Commons discriminated the Crime) they ordered Sir Giles Philips and Mr. Coleman to be sent for into Custody of the Serjeant at Arms, for detesting and abhorring the petitioning for sitting of the Parliament, and voted it a Breach of Privilege of Parliament: the like the Commons did by Captain William Castle, Mr. John Hutchinson, Mr. Henry Walrond, Mr. William Stavel, Mr. Thomas Herbert, Sir Thomas Holt Serjeant at Law, and Mr. Thomas Staples: and because Sir Francis North (Chief Justice of the Common Pleas) advised, and was assisting in drawing up a Proclamation against petitioning for the sitting of the Parliament; the Commons voted, That it was a sufficient Ground for the House to proceed against him for high Crimes and Misdemeanours. The like Vote passed against Sir Thomas Jones, one of the Judges of the King's Bench, and Sir Richard Weston one of the Barons of the Exchequer. I do not find these Votes went further; but the Commons actually impeached Sir William Scroggs of High Treason, for discharging the Grand Jury of Middlesex before they had finished their Presentments, and for the Order made in the King's Bench against Care's Pacquet of Advice from Rome, [...] the History of Popery, that it should be no more printed or published by any Person whatsoever. I do not find the Articles particularly recited, but they were ingrossed upon the 7th of January, and the Impeachment carried up to the Lords by my Lord Cav [...] dish, and received by the Lords.

Note, in this common Danger the Commons ordered Leave to bring in a Bill for a general Naturalization of all Protestant Aliens, giving them Liberty to exercise their Trades in all Corporations. Now it's time to see wherein the Lords and Commons did agree, and wherein they ran counter.

[Page] The Lords agreed with the Commons in repealing the Act of 35 Elizabeth, viz. for Payment of 20 l. per mensem for every Man who resorted not to his Parish-Church, being so terrible a Law, that it lay dormant above 80 Years, and in the Feuds between the Tories and Whigs, it was begun to be put in Execution; which the Commons apprehending would make a Breach so wide as to let in Popery, which would make no Distinction between Dissenters and the Sons of the Church, they brought in a Bill for repealing the said Act of 35 Eliz. which passed the Commons upon the 26th of November, and was sent up to the Lords, who agreed to it.

As the Lords joined with the Commons in passing this Repeal, so did the Commons join with the Lords in their Vote the 4th of January, viz.

Resolved by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, That they do declare that they are fully satisfied, that there now is, and for divers Years last past there hath been, an horrid and treasonable Plot and Conspiracy, contrived and carried on by those of the Popish Religion in Ireland, for massacring the English, and subverting the Protestant Religion, and antient established Government of that Kingdom. To which the Commons added, That the Duke of York being a Papist, and the Expectation that Party had of his coming to the Crown, hath given the greatest Encouragement to the Popish Plot, as well in Ireland as here.

But the Lords ran counter to the Commons in the Bill intituled An Act for securing the Protestant Religion, by disabling James Duke of York to inherit the Imperial Crown of England, and Dominions and Territories thereunto belonging; for after the Reading it the first time in the House of Lords, and the Question being put, whether it should be read a second time, it was resolv'd in the Negative by above a double Majority of Votes.

If the Lords and Commons ran counter in some things, the King and Commons ran counter almost in every thing. The King's main End in calling this Parliament, was to get Money for the Preservation of Tangier, and in perfecting the Alliance he had made with Spain.

The Commons would not give any Money upon the Account of Tangier, for three Reasons: One was, For that as the state of the Nation stood, it might augment the Strength of the Popish Party, and encrease the Danger of the Nation: Another was, There were several Regiments besides the Guards in pay in England, which might be transported to Tangier with little Charge, and be maintained there as cheap as here: And the third was, That that Garison was the Nursery of Popish Officers and Soldiers.

The Commons would not give Money for the pretended Alliance of mutual Obligations of Succour and Defence with Spain, for three Reasons.

[Page] 1. The Jealousy they had of the King's Sincerity in this Alliance, and the more because the King did not declare to them what manner of Alliance this was, and it might be more to the Prejudice than Benefit of this Kingdom; or if it should have been to the Benefit of the Kingdom, they could have no more Assurance of the Performance of it, than they had of the Triple League, that made with the Prince of Orange, or that made between the King and States of Holland by Mr. Thyn on the King's Part, which were all broken almost as soon as made.

2. The Impossibility of any Benefit which could arise to England and Spain by such an Alliance: for if all Christendom, after the separate Peace which the King joined with the Dutch Faction in, could not uphold Spain and the Spanish Netherlands from falling under the Dominion of the French, how could the King, in the feeble and distracted state of the Nation, be in a condition to support it without them?

3. The Unreasonableness of giving Money upon this Account; for tho oftentimes the Kings of England have demanded Supplies for maintaining vast Wars, yet never any King of England before demanded Supplies for making Alliances, and not declare what such Alliances were.

But if any such mutual Alliances of Succour and Defence were made between our King and the King of Spain, I'm sure they were ill observed by the King; for two Years after, viz. 1682, the French blocked up the City of Luxemburgh, and the next Year took Courtray (one of the six Towns delivered back to the Spaniard, by Beverning's separate Treaty from the Confederates) and keeps it to this Day; and so the French King does Luxemburgh, which he took by plain Force from the Spaniard the next Year after, viz. 1684. I wish I could find any mutual Succour of Defence the King gave the King of Spain in any of these, either by this Alliance, or as the King was Guarantee in the Treaty of Aix la Chapelle, which in his Proclamation against the Dutch, in the second Dutch War, he declared he would maintain.

Nor did the Commons only run counter to the King's Designs of getting Money, but considering the dangerous and weak state of the Kingdom, as by the Debt the King had contracted by shutting up the Exchequer, and his squandring away almost all the antient Revenues of the Crown; and to prevent the like upon the Revenue settled upon the King since his Restoration, upon the 7th of January resolved.

1. That whosoever shall lend or cause to be lent, by way of Advance, any Money upon the Branches of the King's Revenue, arising by Customs, Excise, or Hearth-money, shall be adjudged a Hinderer of the Sitting of Parliaments, and be responsible for the same.

[Page] 2. That whosoever shall accept or buy any Tally or Anticipation upon any part of the King's Revenue; or whosoever shall pay such Tally hereafter to be struck, shall be adjudged to hinder the Sittings of Parliaments, and be responsible therefore in Parliament.

Now let's see wherein the King run counter to both Lords and Commons. After the Lords had agreed with the Commons in the Repeal of 35 Eliz. the Bill was taken from the Lords Table, and never heard of after, which no Man durst have done without the King's Command, at least Privity. Herein you may observe the Insincerity of the King's Indulgences, for dispensing with the Penal Laws against Dissenters, when he nourished those Ends by them which the Parliament dreaded; and now the Parliament would have legally eased them, the Bill must be ravished away.

Here is a greater Wonder yet to be told of this Parliament; for notwithstanding all these Discords between the Lords and Commons, and the King and the Lords and Commons, yet they all reconciled in making the Act against the Importation of Irish Cattel, &c. perpetual, thereby to perpetuate the Discords between the Kingdoms of England and Ireland, as much as those between Whig and Tory. And in this posture of Affairs the King prorogu'd the Parliament from the 10th to the 20th of January 1681, and upon the 18th dissolved them. This Dissolution caused a great Amazement in the Nation; but in some measure to allay it, the King summons another to meet the 21st of March following, at Oxford. This rais'd a Jealousy in the Nation and many of the Nobility, that there was some hidden Design nourished in the Court, which might have dangerous Influences upon the Nation and the Parliament too.

Hereupon 16 of the Nobility petitioned the King against the Meeting of the Parliament at Oxford; and my Lord of Essex, upon the Delivery of it, made a short Speech, which I believe was not forgotten afterwards.

The Lords in their Petition set forth, ‘That the King, by divers Speeches and Messages to both Houses of Parliament, declared to them the Danger which threatned his Person and the whole Kingdom, from the mischievous and wicked Plots of the Papists, and the sudden Growth of a foreign Power, from which no Remedy could be provided, unless by Parliament, and the uniting the King's Protestant Subjects.’

‘That upon the 21st of March 1679, his Majesty having chosen a Council of many honourable Persons, declared to the Parliament and whole Nation, That being sensible of the Evil of a single Ministry or private Advice, for the future he would refer all things to that Council, with the frequent Advice of his great Council of Parliament.’

[Page] ‘That to their unspeakable Grief, that Parliament was soon after prorogued, and dissolved before it could perfect their intended Relief and Security to the Nation; and tho another were called, yet they were not permitted to sit till the 21st of October last, when his Majesty declared, That neither his Person nor the Kingdom could be safe till the Plot was gone through; yet upon the 10th of January following it was prorogued, whereby all their pious Endeavours to save the Nation were overthrown, and the good Bills for uniting his Protestant Subjects brought to nought, the Discovery of the Irish Plot stifled, and the Witnesses to prove the same discouraged, whereby the Strength and Courage of our Enemies both at home and abroad, are encreased, and our selves and Country left in Danger to be lost and brought to Desolation.’

‘That in these Extremities, under God they had nothing to comfort them but the Hopes of the Parliament's meeting at the Day to which they were prorogued; but that not only failed by their Dissolution, but to call another at Oxford, where neither Lords nor Commons can be in Safety, but exposed to the Swords of Papists and their Adherents, of whom too many were crept into his Majesty's Guards; the Liberty of Speaking destroyed, and the Validity of their Acts left disputable: That the Straitness of the Place could not admit of the Concourse of People which follow the Parliament: That the Witnesses to give Evidence against the Popish Lords and others would be put to great Charges, which they cannot bear, nor trust themselves under the Protection of the Parliament, which it self is under the Power of Guards and Souldiers; and therefore pray that the Parliament may meet and sit at Westminster.’ Sir W. J. adds another Reason, ‘That the Meeting of the Parliament at Oxford would have the Inconvenience of making use of the Journals of the Houses, and other Records.’

I do not find what Answer the King gave the Lords, but he expressed his Displeasure by a Frown: and how loose soever he was in all his Promises to the Parliament, you'll see him steddy in this of the Parliament's meeting at Oxford, yet not forget the Lords that petitioned him, whereof the Duke of Monmouth, the Earls of Bedford, Essex, and Shaftsbury, were four. But before we proceed to discover what was done in this short Interval between the Dissolution of this last Westminster Parliament and the meeting of that at Oxford, it will not be amiss to take the Resemblance which was between the Tories and Whigs at this time, with the Prerogative-Men and Puritans during Laud's Regency in the Reign of King Charles the First.

[Page] In those Times the Prerogative and high-flown Church-men, however they were countenanced and preferred by the Court, yet of all Factions were the least considerable in the Nation, and had the least Interest in it, even less than the Papist; and when they had by their Extravagancies and tyrannical Dominion given such a Reputation to the Puritan Party, as by Contradiction or Opposition of them to be able to raise a War in the Nation▪ they were not only less assisting the King in it than the Papists, but generally ran counter, and they and their Sons joined with the Puritans against the King: So that the King being assisted in the War by the Nobility and Gentry, who desired to preserve the Constitutions of the Church and State, and by the Papists, the Storm fell upon them without Distinction; so that these equally exasperated against the Factions, upon King Charles's Restoration were easily reconciled to join against them: and thus it continued not only in the Body of the Nation, but in the Parliament for the first ten Years after the King's Restoration.

But then the Popish Designs at Court beginning to appear almost bare-fac'd, the Commons began to tack about, but so did not the Lords, especially the Lords Spiritual, who could not forget the Injury done, not only to their Persons, but their whole Order, as well in throwing them out of the Lords House, as extirpating Episcopacy: and the King having multiplied a Nobility of his Favourites, these joined with the Bishops (who yet maintained the King's absolute Power, under a new Title of Passive Obedience to it) had a great Majority opposite to the Commons.

As Laud's Instruments had the Dominion of the Press, whereby they vented all their Spight against the Puritans, and persecuted them if they made any Answer, so did the Tories; and as Laud's Faction stigmatized all others (except Papists) which were not of their Faction, with the Name of Puritans, so did the Tories all other but Papists, with the Name of Whigs. But herein the Tories in this Reign had a great Advantage above the Prerogative-men in King Charles the First's Reign; for this Prince was of a more parsimonious Nature, not at all becoming so great a Prince, and had not one third of the Revenue which his Son had, who profusely scatter'd it amongst his Minions and Favourites: and sure it will set an ill Character upon his Memory, to have it left upon Record by what strange ways to Honour and Justice, he made himself a Drudg to his Favourites to get Money from his Subjects to support them; whilst he became a Pensioner to the French King himself, and was so loose in all his Leagues which he made with all other Princes and States.

[Page] After the Popish Plot broke out, and the King had dissolved the Long Parliament, the whole Genius of the Nation became quite altered, as plainly appeared in their Election of the Commons in these two succeeding Westminster Parliaments, who for their Quality were equal to any House of Commons that ever was before; and the Tories have now as little an Interest in the Nation as the Prerogative-men had in King Charles the First's Reign i [...] Laud's Regency.

However the Tories were balked of the Expectation of their Pensions, by the Commons giving no Money in these two last Parliaments; yet they abated nothing of their Impudence in making all but themselves and the Papists to be Whigs, and that a [...] was now running back to Forty One, and into a Commonwealth. In this Disguise, since the Meal-Tub Plot had no better Success▪ one Fitz-Harris the Son of Sir Edward Fitz-Harris (both Irish, and Papists) sets up another like that of the Meal-Tub, but was carried on with higher Countenance; for the Countess of Powis was the greatest concerned in that, but you'll see a greater concerned in this, tho the Design was as dark as secret, and the Discover [...] of it by all Court-ways endeavoured to be suppressed. So much as was suffered to come to Light was,

Edward Fitz-Harris was the Son of Sir Edward Fitz-Harris, [...] (it's said) was an Agent in the Irish Rebellion, if not in the Massacre in 1642. and this Edward Fitz-Harris was a great Correspondent with the Dutchess of Portsmouth, and her Wom [...]n Mrs. Wall, and the Confessor of the French Ambassador: and the Dutchess had several times supplied Fitz-Harris with Money, and at one Time with 250 l.

Fitz-Harris became acquainted with one Everard beyond Sea▪ where they were in the French King's Service: There was a strange Story of this Everard, for after the King's Restoration he was [...] about three Years kept in a dark Dungeon in the Tower, where, 'tis said, the Nails of his Fingers and Toes grew like the Take [...] of a Hawk: but the Fact for which he was committed was as [...] as was Fitz-Harris's Design.

About the Beginning of February, after the Parliament [...] dissolved, Fitz-Harris renews his Acquaintance with Everard and represented to him the Advantages he might have by forsaking the English Interest, and ingratiating himself into the [...] and Popish.

Fitz-Harris told Everard he might be serviceable to this Intere [...] if he would make a Pamphlet, which might reflect upon the King [...] to alienate him from the People, and the People from the King [...] Everard said he would do any thing for his Interest, but did [...] understand this to be so; yet Fitz-Harris, upon the 21st of [...] gave some Heads by Word of Mouth to draw such a Pamphlet.

[Page] Everard acquaints several with what Fitz-Harris had said, and perswaded one Mr. Smith, in a concealed manner, to hear the further Discourse between Fitz-Harris and him: Everard also perswaded Sir William Waller to be there in like manner.

Upon the 22d Mr. Smith came to the Place appointed, but Sir William Waller did not: there Fitz-Harris gave Everard Instructions, That the King and all the Royal Family must be traduced to be Popishly and Arbitrarily affected from the Beginning; that King Charles the First had a hand in the Irish Rebellion; and that King Charles the Second did countenance the same by preferring Fitz-Gerald, Fitz-Patrick, and Mont-Garret, who were in the Irish Rebellion; that the Act forbidding the calling the King a Papist, was to stop Peoples Mouths, when he should encline to further Popery, which appeared by his adhering so closely to the Duke of York's Interest, and hindering him from being proceeded against in Parliament, and hindering the Officers put in by the Duke, to be cast out; and for that the Privy-Counsellors and Justices of the Peace which were for the Protestant Interest, were turned out of all Places of Trust; and that it was as much in the Peoples Power to depose a Popish Possessor as a Popish Successor; and seeing there were no Hopes the Parliament, when they should meet at Oxford, could do any Good, the People were bound to provide for themselves.

After this, Everard and Fitz-Harris agreed to meet there the next Day; and in the mean time Everard sent a Letter to Sir William Waller to meet there, and be concealed, to take notice of the Passages: Sir William came, and was secretly placed by Everard; but before Sir William was so placed, Everard gave him two Copies of the Instructions which Fitz-Harris gave Everard to draw up into a Libel, which Sir William marked.

Soon after Fitz-Harris came and enquired of Everard what he had done; who answered, he had drawn two Copies of the Business, and prayed Fitz-Harris to see how he liked them: Fitz-Harris altered one of them, yet thought it not full enough, but would have it fair wrote out for the French Ambassador's Confessor. After that, Everard desired Fitz-Harris to give him his Instructions in Writing, in which Paper Fitz-Harris wrote, That it was in the Peoples Power to depose a Popish Possessor as well as Successor, and other treasonable Heads. And next Day Fitz-Harris came to Everard for a Copy fair written out, which was delivered to Fitz-Harris, who promised Everard a Recompence, which was to be the Entrance into the Business; but Everard should be brought into the Cabal, where several Protestants and Parliament-Men were to give an Account to the French Ambassador of what was transacted. But before Fitz-Harris was to receive the Libel back, he was to go to my Lord H—of Escrick.

[Page] Before this, Fitz-Harris had received of the Dutchess of Portsmouth 250 l. to bring my Lord H—to the King's Interest, Mrs. Wall said; which Fitz-Harris pursued so well, that my Lord waited several times upon the Dutchess, and found the King there; and the Night before my Lord Stafford's Sentence, Fitz-Harris came to my Lord from the King, and told him, that the King would take it as a great Resignation of my Lord to the King's Will and Pleasure, if the next Day my Lord would go vote for my Lord Stafford.

This Design was to be carried on in the Name of the Nonconformists, and put upon them, and to be dispersed by the Penny Post to the Protesting Lords and leading Men in the House of Commons, who were to be taken and searched so soon as they received it. Everard said the Court had a Hand in it, and th [...] the King had given Fitz-Harris Money, and would give him mo [...] if it had Success; and the King told Sheriff Cornish, that Fitz-Harris had three Months before his Apprehension been with the King, and acquainted him that he was in Pursuit of a Plot, which much related to his Majesty's Person and Government; which the King did countenance, and gave him some Money.

Sir William Waller acquainted the King with the Particulars he had taken whilst he was concealed: the King thank'd Sir William, and commanded Secretary Jenkins to issue out a Warrant for apprehending Fitz-Harris, and Sir William to take Care for the Execution of it.

But Sir William was no sooner gone, but Sir William said he was informed by two worthy Gentlemen, that the King was highly offended with him, and the King said he had broken all his Measures, and that he would have him taken off one way [...] other.

Sir William was as forward in taking Fitz-Harris, as before he was in discovering his Plot; and having apprehended him, he was committed to Newgate, where he was examined by Sir Robert Clayton and Sheriff Cornish, to whom Fitz-Harris declared his Willingness to discover the whole Design the next Day after: but Fitz-Harris next Day was removed to the Tower▪ which was not done to Sir Thomas Gascoign, and the Popish Lords.

Upon the 21st of March the Parliament met at Oxford; the Members of the Commons were generally the same as the last Parliament, and those which were not, were of the same Kidney [...] the others were; so that they proceeded where the last Commons left, and sat but seven Days, wherein they had these fo [...] Considerations under their Debates; first, the preparing a [...] against the Duke of York's Succession; the second, the taking the Bill of the Repeal of the Act of 35 Eliz. out of the House of [Page] Lords; the third an Inquiry into Fitz-Harris's Business; the fourth a Prosecution against the impeached Lords in the Tower.

The Commons spent the three first Days in choosing their Speaker, and confirming him, and in taking Oaths as the Laws direct; so that it was Thursday the twenty fourth of March before they entred upon any Business, and being dissolved upon the Monday following, they could make but little Progress upon the four Particulars aforesaid; and each of them was so green, that the Court would not endure much Enquiry into any one of them.

Upon the Debate of Fitz-Harris's Business, one of the Members reported how that one Hubert had confessed that he had fired the City of London, upon which the House resolved to examine him next Morning, but before the House sat next Morning, Hubert was hanged to prevent it; and they remembred there was a Design to have tried the Popish Lords in the Tower by Indictment, to prevent which the Commons exhibited general Impeachments against them, with that Success that the Lords were never tried upon Indictments, and the Judges gave their Opinions they could not.

Hereupon the Commons ordered an Impeachment of Fitz-Harris, upon Friday the twenty fifth of March, and ordered Sir Lionel Jenkins to carry it up to the Lords, who at first refused it, saying, The sending of me upon this Message reflects upon my Master the King, and do what you will I will not go. Hereupon seveveral moved to call him to the Bar, and several Speeches were made of his Offence; but at last he relented, and carried up the Impeachment to the Lords, but the Lords threw it out.

But the Lords having thrown out the Impeachment, the Commons, the next Day being Saturday the twenty sixth, ran high in their Debates upon it: One said, this was to have no further use of a Parliament, but to serve a present Purpose: Another said, Indictments were brought against the Lords in the Tower, yet that was no Impediment against their Impeachment in the Lords House; and the last Day of the last Sessions of Parliament, the Lords accepted an Impeachment of the Lord Chief Justice Scroggs; and that this Denial of Justice by the Lords, was greater than my Lord Chief Justice Scroggs's Denial of taking Presentments from the Grand Inquest of Middlesex, by how much the Commons of Parliament are the great Inquest of the Nation. Another said, this is a new Plot against the Protestants, of which Fitz-Harris is accused, and the Commons impeach him, and the Lords say, We will not hear it; and that if it were not for the Lords, Fitz-Harris might have discovered all the Conspiracy, and the Protestant Religion might have been saved; and therefore moved, That the denying this Impeachment, tends to the [Page]Subversion of the Constitution of the Parliament, and of the Protestant Religion.

Another said, That this was a Confirmation of the Design to murder the King, and the Duke consenting to destroy his own Brother, and our King; and therefore moved, ‘That if any Judg, Justice or Jury proceed upon Fitz-Harris, and he be found Guilty, That the House would declare them guilty of his Murder, and Betrayers of the Rights of the Commons of England:’ to which was added upon the Motion of Sir W. J. ‘or that any Inferiour Court shall proceed,’ &c. which was passed.

The Reason of these Votes were, That if Fitz-Harris were tried upon an Indictment, he must have been tried singly upon the Fact, whether he were guilty or not of contriving and dispersing the Libel, but upon an Impeachment the Commons might enquire into the whole Conspiracy.

Sunday March 27. The Houses sat not, and the next Day, Monday 28, in the Morning the King came suddenly and unexpectedly to the House of Peers, and sent for the Commons and dissolved the Parliament, and immediately took Coach and drove to Windsor, leaving both Houses in an Amaze, and the City of Oxford in a Hubbub.

If it were Sir William Jones who wrote the just and modest Vindication of the two last Parliaments, viz. the last Westminster Parliament, and this at Oxford, pag. 393. he says, The Peers at Oxford were so wholly ignorant of the Council, that they never thought of a Dissolution, till they heard it pronounced; yet the Dutchess of Mazarine published the News at St. James's many hours before it was done.

If the Nation, as well as the Parliament and City of Oxford, were amazed at this Dissolution and Manner of it; they were not less with the Declaration that followed it, which though the King did not communicate to the Council till Friday the eighth of April, yet the next Page says, Monsieur Barillon, the French Embassador, read it to a Gentleman upon the fifth of April before, and demanded his Opinion of it, which the Embassador might better remember because of the great Liberty the Gentleman took in ridiculing it to his Face.

It's observable that that Declaration was printed in French as well as English; and many Gallicisms in it, and particularly, That it was a Matter extreamly sensible to us, which was a Form of speaking peculiar to the French, and unknown to any other Nation.

The Substance of the Declaration contained the Dissatisfaction the King took at the two Westminster Parliaments, that they gave him no sutable Return to support the Alliances which he had made for the General Peace of Christendom; nor for the further Examination into the Plot; nor for the Preservation of Tangier; and for [Page] their Votes, ‘That no Man should lend any Money upon any Branches of the Revenue, or buy, or pay any Tally of Anticipation upon any part of the King's Revenue. (This was not so, for the Commons restrained them to the Custom, Excise, and Chimney-money given for other Ends; see the Votes) that they passed a Vote, That the prosecuting of Protestant Dissenters was a Grievance to the Subject,’ &c. by which they assumed to themselves a Power of suspending Laws; ‘So the Commons might do any other Law found by Experience to be grievous and dangerous to the Subject, and must do so in order to repeal such Laws; and did not the King do so twice before by his Declaration of Indulgence, though to a contrary End to what the Commons intended?’

That these Proceedings caused him to dissolve that Parliament, and to assemble another at Oxford, who had warning given them of the Errors of the former, and were required to make the Law of the Land their Rule; and adding, that he would not depart from what he had formerly declared concerning the Succession, yet declared he was ready to hearken to any Expedients by which the Religion established might be preserved, yet the Monarchy preserved; viz. How to preserve Fire and Water mingled together: and was not the Monarchy of Scotland preserved, though his Grandfather reigned twenty Years in Scotland while his Mother was alive, without her, and so continued after her Death?

That no Expedient would be entertained but a total Exclusion; nor could be, nor did the King ever propound any, how otherwise the established Religion might be preserved.

That the Business of Fitz-Harris was carried to that Extremity, that there were no hopes of a Reconciliation, &c. and put the Houses out of a Capacity of transacting Business: it was upon Friday the twenty sixth of March, the Commons sent up the Impeachment of Fitz-Harris, and there were but Saturday and Sunday between this and the Dissolution of the Parliament, and the Houses sat not on Sunday, so that the King's no Hopes (or indeed Fears) of a Reconciliation were very sudden; ‘Why might not the Lords, if they had been permitted to have sat upon Conferences with the Commons, and hearing their Reason, have altered their Resolutions, which is usual? and it seems this Resolution of the Lords was very sudden, and admitted of no great Debate, to receive the Impeachment of Fitz-Harris, and the same Day to throw it out,’ which caused him to put an end to that Parliament.

However the King says, that notwithstanding the Malice of ill Men, who laboured to perswade the People that he intended to lay aside the Use of Parliaments, he declared that no Irregularity in Parliament should make him out of love with them, and that he was resolved to have frequent Parliaments (yet lived near four [Page]Years after, and never called another) and in the Intervals would use his utmost endeavours to extirpate Popery, and redress the Grievances of his Subjects (the truth of this will best appear hereafter.

This Declaration, which carries the Title of his Majesty's Declaration to all his loving Subjects, was ordered to be read in all the Churches of England; but if the Matter of it were so surprizing and amazing to the Nation, the Manner of it was not less. For never any King of England before, as King, no not this King's Father or Grandfather, ever spake to his Subjects, but either personally in Parliament, or under the Broad Seal of England: Whereas this Declaration is only Signed Francis Gwyn, it might have been as well Edward Coleman, and the Subjects as much obliged to have taken notice of the one as of the other.

And the Reason is twofold, one, That the Chancellor or Keeper is responsible if he puts the Seal to any Declaration or Proclamation not warranted by Law; and therefore my Lord Chancellor Finch's Sagacity, in not putting the Seal to this Declaration, was as apparent as his Veracity, which he would not expose in seconding the King's Speech at the opening the last Westminster Parliament: And the other is to avoid all Impostures and Cheats, which might otherwise be imposed upon the Nation, under the Name of the King.

That we may take a better View of the rest of this King's Reign (if it be worthy to be called so) it's fit we look into Scotland, and see what's doing there for the Discovery of the Popish Plot; but it's fit to look a little back, and take notice that the King in his Speech at the opening of the Second Westminster Parliament, told them that to take away all room for any Jealousy of his not prosecuting the Discovery of the Popish Plot, he had sent his Brother beyond Sea; but having by the Duke of Monmouth, wholly suppressed the Kirk Party in Scotland, he fairly sends for the Duke of York back again, and from an Exile made him Vice-Roy or Regent of Scotland, where all things lay open for him to prosecute his Designs as he pleased.

When the Duke came into Scotland, the Earl of Argyle was one of the first that waited upon him: The Earl's Story will better appear, if first you take his Character.

He was Son of the Earl of Argyle, after made Marquess by King Charles the First, who so preferred him, to take him off from heading the Kirk Party, and thereby to oblige him to become of the King's side; which had no Effect, for the Marquess, above any other of the Scotish Nobility, was a most zealous Assertor of the Kirk's Power, and was the Head of them when Montross took up Arms against them; but though the Marquess was most unfortunate in it, yet it no ways abated his Zeal to the Kirk, nor was he less esteemed by them.

[Page] When Cromwel had overthrown Duke Hamilton, and taken him Prisoner, who came into England, not to establish the National League and Covenant, but to deliver King Charles out of Prison: The zealous Kirk Party were highly offended at it, and the Marquess of Argyle was the principal Agent to call Cromwel into Scotland to suppress the Hamiltonian Faction, and to establish the Kirk; which Cromwel then did (though he undid it soon after) and for this the Marquess was, the first Year after the King's Restoration, condemned and executed for High Treason, upon which he lost all his Honours as well as his Estate.

But in all the Marquess's Actions, his Son, the Lord Lorn, run counter to him, and when this King Charles was in Scotland, he was of all others the most obsequious to him; and afterward when Middleton made some Incursions into Scotland for the King, Lorn was most assisting in them: Hereupon, after the Marquess was attainted and executed, King Charles restored his Son to all his Father's Estate and Honours except that of Marquess.

Afterward the Earl of Argyle continued constant in his Integrity to the King in all his Civil Affairs, and was most zealous and forward in suppressing Tumults, and Field-Conventicles; so that before the Duke came into Scotland, the King had so entire a Confidence in the Earl, that he gloried that in thirty Years (which must be computed from the King's going into Scotland in 1650) he never received one Frown from the King: how he should become such a prejured Traitor after the Duke's coming into Scotland, is now to be enquired into.

The Earl of Argyle was one of the Lords of the Articles, and by the Duke made one of the Committee for the Articles of Religion, which by the Custom of Scotland, and by the King's Instruction, was to be the first thing treated of.

In this Committee, an Act was prepared for securing the Protestant Religion, which approved the Confession of Faith; and also the Act containing the Coronation Oath, to be taken by all the Kings and Regents of Scotland, before their entry to exercise their Government.

This Act, as drawn, was less binding to the Successor of the Crown, as to his own Profession; yet did oblige as strongly the Maintenance of the Protestant Religion in the publick Profession by all others, as before, and added a Test to be taken by all in publick Emploiments, to exclude the Popish Party out of them: and because in case of a Popish Successor, all Fines and Forfeitures by Papists would be insignificant, viz. remitted, this intended Act did ordain, that such Fines and Forfeitures, one half should be to the Informers, the other to charitable Uses.

But this Act being so contrary to the Duke's Design, the Committee of Religion was discharged from meeting again; and another [Page] short Act was brought into Parliament, ratifying all former Acts for securing the Protestant Religion: so that in this first Act the Duke pursued not his Instructions, but went contrary to them, and to the Custom of Scotland.

At the passing this Act the Earl of Argyle proposed that all Acts against Popery might be added, which was opposed by the King's Advocate, and some of the Clergy; yet seconded by Sir George Lockhart, and the President of the Sessions, it passed without a Vote: but such was the Jealousy of the Parliament, that this did not secure the established Religion, that several of the Members desired other Additions and Acts, which the Duke in open Parliament promised, when Time and Opportunity offered, should pass; but when at any time this was proposed, the Test was obtruded.

If the Parliament were so zealous to secure the established Religion, the Duke was not less to secure the Succession of the Crown of Scotland, shrewdly struck at in England, in the very Person of the Duke; and to that end a Bill was brought in and passed, wherein it was declared High Treason to affirm that the Succession of the Crown of Scotland can be altered from the next of Proximity of Blood: but how agreeable this was to the Title of the Bruces and Stuarts, who had no Title to the Succession of the Crown of Scotland but by Act of Parliament, has already been shewed; and how disagreeable this Act was to the Duke's Grandfather's Succession to the Crown of Scotland, without any Act of Parliament, let any Man judg.

This Act was not only thus contrary to the Laws and Usages of Scotland, but the Act is equivocal, if not contradictory to the Duke's Design: for there is a difference between the next Heir and the next in Proximity of Blood; as if a Man had several Sons, and the eldest has a Son or Daughter, his Father living, and after his Father dies, his eldest Son's Son is Heir, and his other Sons and Daughters are next in Proximity of Blood; the Heir being a degree in Blood further removed from the common Ancestor, than his Uncles or Aunts: and this was the case of Richard II. of England, Son of the Black Prince, Edward the Third's Eldest Son, who succeeded to the Crown of England, though his Uncles, the Dukes of Clarence, Lancaster, York and Cambridg, were nearer of Blood to Edward the Third.

This Act for the Succession of the Crown of Scotland, was succeeded by another called the Test, as contradictory to it self, as contrary to the Act of Succession, to be taken by all Persons in publick Trust in Scotland, wherein they solemnly Swear, in the Presence of the Eternal God, whom they invoke as Judg and Witness of their sincere Intention of this their Oath,

‘That they own and profess the true Protestant Religion contained in the Confession of Faith, recorded in the first Parliament [Page] of King James the Sixth, and believe the same to be founded on, and agreeable to the Written Word of God: That they will adhere thereto, and endeavour to educate their Children therein, and never consent to any Change or Alteration contrary thereto; and renounce all Popish and Fanatical Doctrines inconsistent with the said Protestant Religion and Confession of Faith. And by this their solemn Oath they Swear, That King Charles the Second is the only Supream Governour of this Realm, over all Persons, and in all Causes, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil; and renounce all Foreign Jurisdiction of the Pope, or any other Person: and promise to bear true Faith and Allegiance to the King, his Heirs and Lawful Successors, and to their Power to defend all their Rights and Prerogatives. And by this their solemn Oath they Swear, They judg it unlawful for Subjects, upon pretence of Reformation, or any Pretence whatsoever, to enter into any Covenants or Leagues, or to convene, &c. in any Council to treat of any Matter of State Ecclesiastical or Civil, without his Majesty's special Command, or express Licence; or to take up Arms against the King, or those commissionated by him: That they will never rise in Arms, or enter into such Covenants or Assemblies: That there lies no Obligation upon them by the National Covenant, or the solemn League or Covenant, or any other way to endeavour any Change or Alteration of the Government, either of Church or State, as by Law established: and promise and swear to the utmost of their Power, to maintain the King's Jurisdiction against all deadly, and as they shall answer it before God: and that they took this Oath in the true and genuine Sense and Meaning of the Words, without any Equivocation, Mental Reservation, or Evasion, and never to accept of any Dispensation from any Creature. So God help them.’

By these two Acts you may observe the Scotish Temper, (whether it were natural, or in contradiction to the Kirk-Party, I will not say, nor how much higher it flew than the Tory in England) but because of the extraordinariness of these two Acts, it's fit to make some Reflections upon them. Such another Law as that of the Succession, was made the twenty first of Richard the Second, in the Case of Roger Mortimer, which lasted not longer than the next Year after, when the Law was not only repealed, but Henry the Fourth succeeded contrary to it; whereas this Law continued for above eight Years after, when it not only lost its Force, but another Face appeared in Scotland, and so continues in spight of this Law. Now from this treasonable Law, let us make some Remarks upon this ranting, swearing Law, called the Test.

We have said elsewhere, that all Oaths are assertory of the Truth of Things, Speech and Actions in time past, or promissory [Page] to do or forbear to do some Act in time to come: and now let's consider what is Truth, and the End of an assertory Oath.

Truth is proper to intellectual and reasonable Creatures; and is either the apprehension of intelligible Beings, as God, a Law, the Soul, Time, &c. which can never be the Objects of Sense, and of the Causes and Consequences of Intentions, Speech and Action, for Sense is not of Futurity, but of present Things and Actions; the Consequence or Inference will be whether good or bad, just or unjust, &c. However all intelligible Beings, and the Causes of Things and Actions are ever assumed, not sworn to; and if another does not nor will assent to them, swearing to the Truth of them will be to no purpose: So it is of the Consequence of Speech and Actions; if another be not convinced from the Reason of such Consequence or Inference, swearing it to be so will never do it.

But though sensible Things, Speech and Actions, are perceived by the Senses, and understood to exist or be, yet these are known to be by some, and not by others; and in Justice and Judgment, the end of an assertory Oath is to inform the Judg of the Truth of what a Man knows, which otherwise might be concealed: and here I say, that as God's Name in Religion, Piety and Justice, is to be invoked, when it is not in vain, but for God's Honour; so otherwise to use or abuse his sacred Name in vain, is dishonourable to God, and makes it vile and contemptible. Now let's see how the ranting Swearing of this Test agrees with the Religion and Obligation of an Oath, and observe it in its Particulars or Confusion. It begins,

I solemnly swear in the Presence of the Eternal God, whom I invoke as Judg and Witness of this my sincere Intention of this my Oath, that I own and profess the true Protestant Religion contained in the Confession of Faith, recorded in the first Year of King James the Sixth.

So that here is a most horrible Swearing, and Invocation of God's sacred Name, and yet neither an assertory nor promissory Oath; for an assertory Oath, is of some Act or Speech in time past, which was transient, and not when the Oath was taken; and a promissory Oath is of time to come: whereas in this Oath the Taker swears in the present time he does own the Protestant Religion recorded in the Confession of Faith in the first Year of King James the Sixth. I believe there is such a Record, intituled, The Confession of Faith, in the first Year of King James the Sixth, because Spotiswood and other Scotish Authors say so: but to swear by the Eternal God, that it contains the true Protestant Religion (when the Name is not in it) is such an implicite Faith as can scarce be found in the most superstitious in the Church of Rome. Christian Faith is a Belief of God's Revelations in the Scriptures; to which [Page] if any add or dimniish, his Name shall be blotted out of the Book of Life, Rev. 22. 18, 29. But where the Scots found their Confession of Faith in the first Year of King James, Knox no where tells, tho he was the Founder of it.

And I believe the same to be agreeable to the Written Word of God.

But what need you swear by the Eternal God you do so? If you demonstrate or give the Reason of your Belief, which you do not, this might convince another, which your Swearing never will.

That I will adhere thereto, and endeavour to educate my Children therein.

The more obstinate Man you, and so much the worse for your Children.

And never consent to any Change or Alterations thereto.

This might have been left out, for if you adhere to it, you cannot consent to any Change or Alteration.

And renounce all Popish and Fanatical Doctrines inconsistent with the said Protestant Religion, and Confession of Faith.

I take a Renunciation to be a Disclaimure of what was before; so that if you renounce all Popish and Fanatical Doctrines, &c. it seems before you owned them: yet you neither tell what these Popish and Fanatical Doctrines are, or wherein they are inconsistent with the Protestant Religion and Confession of Faith; or how you come to know so: and if you do not, it ill becomes you to prostitute God's sacred Name, to swear to what you do not know.

And by this my solemn Oath I swear that King Charles the Second is the only Supream Governour of this Realm, over all Persons, and in all Causes, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil.

By which of your Senses do you know this, by your seeing, smelling, touching or tasting? Or if it be by another's having told you so, will you swear to whatever another tells you? Or if another should tell you that King Charles the Second is not the only Supream Governour, &c. will you swear by the Eternal God he is not so? or if King Charles should be dead when you are swearing this, which he may for ought you know, how long will you hold of this Mind?

And that I renounce (what, again?) all foreign Jurisdiction of the Pope, or any other Person.

If I cannot take your Word, I'll not think the better of it for your swearing to it.

And promise to bear true Allegiance to the King, his Heirs, and Lawful Successors.

'Tis well if you hold long in this Mind; but before you renounced all foreign Jurisdiction of the Pope, suppose (and be not affrighted at it) King Charles the Second, and his Lawful Successor, should now be contriving the bringing in this Foreign [Page] Jurisdiction; how by the Eternal God, would you be [...] Faith and Allegiance to them herein?

And to my Power defend all their Rights and Prerogatives, &c.

Yet you neither declare what these Rights and Prerogatives are, which you swear to defend; and 'tis twenty to one you do not know these Rights and Prerogatives; and so you solemnly swear to you know not what: or suppose the King and his Lawful Successor should say it was one of his Prerogatives to bring in the Papal Jurisdiction; how would this consist with your solemn Faith and Allegiance to the King and his Lawful Successors, and your renouncing all Foreign Jurisdiction?

And I judg it unlawful for Subjects, upon Pretence of Reformation, or any Pretence whatsoever, to enter into any Covenants or Leagues, or to convene, &c. in any Council, to treat of any Matter Ecclesiastical or Civil, without his Majesty's special Command, and express Licence, or to take up Arms against the King, or those commissionated by him.

So that here you judg without any Reason of your Judgment, and must have your Judgment pass for currant because you swear to it; and at this rate you may swear and judg as you please, and sure never before was ever Religion or Judgment established upon such Foundations.

That I will never rise in Arms, or enter into such Covenants or Assemblies.

For all your swearing to this, yet I believe my Lord Commissioner will not trust to your Oath, and the rather because you were so loose to it in observing your solemn League and Covenant, which you sware with as servent Affection, as you now seem to do to this, and with Hands and Heart lifted up to the most high God.

That there lies no Obligation upon me by the National Covenant, [...] solemn League and Covenant, or any other way to endeavour any Change or Alteration of Government, either in Church or State, as now established.

Does there lie no Obligation upon you by the solemn League and Covenant, &c. to endeavour any Change or Alteration in Church or State? why, you as solemnly sware that as this; and by that you sware to extirpate Prelacy, and here you swear never to endeavour any Change of it. Or do you think you please his Highness my Lord Commissioner herein, whose Business it is, not only to make Alterations, but to subvert your Church and State? And if you will make no Alterations in either, it will not be long before you shall see Alterations made in both without you.

And I promise and swear to maintain the King's Jurisdictions against all deadly, as I shall answer it before God.

[Page] Why this again? For before you sware to maintain all the King's Rights and Prerogatives, and what does the King's Jurisdiction add to them? However you are very prodigal of your Swearing; and if his Highness will not believe you for your Swearing before, you'll try how far he'll believe you now.

And that I take this Oath in the plain and genuine Sense and Meaning of the Words, without any Equivocation, Mental Reservation, or Evasion, and never to accept of any Dispensation from any Creature. So God help me.

This is well sworn to interpret your Truth and Sincerity, especially when the whole Oath is Confusion, Equivocation, or Contradiction, and not one plain and intelligible Sentence in it.

In the Debates in Parliament for passing this Test, the Earl of Argyle declared his Opinion, That as few Oaths as could be should be imposed; and that the Oath of Allegiance and Declaration had effectually debarred all Fanaticks of getting into any Places of Trust; and though some Papists had swallowed the Oath, yet a Word or two of Addition to guard against them, was all he judged necessary.

The Earl opposed the dispensing with the King's Sons and Brother's taking the Test, for that the King and People were of one Religion, and hoped the Parliament would do nothing to loose what was fast, nor open a Gap for the Royal Family to differ in Religion; for their Example, if it once appeared to the People to be honourable, would have more Followers than a Thousand others would have; and therefore wished, if any Exception were, it might be particular to his Highness: which the Duke opposing, the Earl concluded, if it did pass, it would do more hurt to the Protestant Religion, than all the rest of the Acts and many other Acts would do good.

This Plainness of the Earl was the Cause of all that befel him, as he was afterwards told by the Bishop of Edinburgh; but the first Appearance of the Duke's Displeasure, was two Bills given in against him, one by the Earl of Errol, the other by the King's Advocate, who acknowledged it to be done by Commandment, otherwise it was without his Line. These struck at the Earl's Estate and Honours; only that of Errol was, that the Earl's Estate might be liable to pay him and others for the Debts contracted by his Father: The Advocate's Claim was to all his Heritable Offices.

But the Duke being informed that a Judgment in this Case, would have exposed the Marquess of Huntley's Estate, (who was a zealous Papist) the Duke of his own Accord put a full Stop to it; for he found, he said, it did plainly impugn the King's Prerogative, and might be of ill Consequence.

[Page] After this the Parliament was adjourned, and a new Design was to get a Commission from the King, to review all the Earl's Rights and heritable Offices, and to charge his Estate for more than 'twas worth: Hereupon the Earl applied himself to the Duke against such a Commission, and intreated him, that if any quarreled his Right, his Case might be remitted to the ordinary Judicatories according to the established Laws of the Land; but this was not granted, yet the Duke was pleased to allow the Earl time to go into the Country to bring his Evidence, with a Promise no Commission should pass till the Earl's Return. But you'll see something more than the Earl's Estate was designed.

For the Earl was no sooner gone, but he and the President of the Sessions were turned out of it: Hereupon the Earl wrote to the Earl of Murray, the King's Secretary, praying leave to wait upon the King, which he was pleased readily to grant; and upon his Return to Edinburgh, begg'd the same Favour of the Duke, who told him he might not kiss the King's Hand till he had taken the Test.

Here you may observe, the Test was not to be taken by any but those who bear Office, nor to be imposed upon any before the First of January 1680, and this was about the Beginning of November before: and the Earl being acquainted that one of the Clerks of the Council was appointed to summon the Earl to the Council the next Day, which he conceived to be to take the Test, he asked the Duke, if with his Favour he might not have the Allowance by the Act? The Duke told him no; and the Earl urged it again in vain; all the Delay he could obtain was but till Thursday the third of November, the next Council-Day of Course: Then the Earl said, he was the less fond of the Test, because he found some who had refused it, were still in Favour, and others, as the Register, who had taken it, were turned out; at which his Highness laught. But how comes your Highness, said the Earl, to press the Test so hastily? Sure there are some things in it which your Highness does not overmuch like. To which the Duke answered angerly and in a Passion, most true, that the Test was brought into Parliament without the Confession of Faith; but the late President caused put in the Confession, which makes it such as no honest Man can take it (which is a greater Contravention and depraving the Test, than the Perjury and Treason charged upon the Earl for them;) then the Earl replied, he had the more Reason to advise.

In this Interval the Earl spake with the Bishop of Edinburgh, and saw his Explanation of the Test, and that of the Bishop of Aberdeen, and the Synod's Explanation of the Test, and the Explanation of it by the Synod and Clergy of Perth, and that of the Earl of Queensberry; which as they differ all from one another, so were [Page] they printed and made publick, and which you may read at large in the Earl of Argyle's Case.

It's observable, that tho by the Test they swear the Confession of Faith, recorded in the first of King James the sixth, To be founded upon and agreeable to the Word of God, and that they will never consent to any Change or Alteration thereto, and at last swear they take it in the plain and genuine Sense and Meaning of the Words without any Equivocation; yet the Bishop of Aberdeen, and the Synod, in the 2d Article of their Explanation say, We do not hereby prejudg the Churches Right to, and Power of making an Alteration in the said Confession, as to the Ambiguity and obscure Expressions thereof, or of making a more unexceptionable Frame: and having made several other Exceptions, the Sixth Article concludes, When we swear that we take the Test in the plain and genuine Sense of the Words, &c. we understand it only so far as it does not contradict the Exceptions.

And the Synod of Perth makes four explanatory Exceptions to the Test, and the fifth concludes, When we swear in the genuine and literal Sense, we understand it so far as the Test is not opposite or contradictory to the aforesaid Exceptions; and before they subscribed this, they were allowed to insert after the Oath, We underwritten, do take this Oath, according to the Explanation made by the Council, approved by his Majesty's Letter, and do declare we are no further bound by it.

Thus things stood with others, when the Earl of Argyle, upon Wednesday the Second of November waited upon the Duke, and humbly besought him to decline his present taking of the Test: but if his Highness would have a present Answer, he begg'd that he would accept of the Earl's refusing it in private, which the Duke denied; then the Earl desired he might go home and consider, and he would either give Satisfaction, or the time prescribed by the Act of Parliament would elapse, and then he would go off in Course and without Noise, which the Duke absolutely refused: upon which the Earl asked what good his appearing in Council to refuse (I think it should have been reside) there would do? to which the Duke answered, he need not appear, but imploy some Friend to speak for him, and named one.

Hereupon the Earl drew a Letter to the Person the Duke named, wherein he exprest his constant Resolution to continue a true Protestant and loyal Subject, which were the true Ends of the Test: but the Letter concluding a Delay of taking the Test (which no honest Man, the Duke said, could do) and the Duke having given some Indication how little pleasing that Office would be to him; neither the Person named by the Duke, nor any Friend of the Earl's would by any means accept of it.

[Page] But the Earl being advised that an Explanation of the Test would be more acceptable, the Earl drew a short one, and put it into his Pocket, but would not offer it till he knew the Duke's Pleasure; and being told by the Bishop of Edinburgh, it would be very kindly accepted, the Earl went into the Council-Chamber, and with an audible Voice, read his Explanation of his taking the Test, close by the Duke, whereupon it was administred to him, which the Duke accepted with a Smile, and commanded him to take his Place, which at that time was next the Duke, and the Duke spake several times privately to him, and always pleasantly: However the Earl was so cautious, that after he had made the Explanation of the Test in Council, he would not communicate it to any other.

The Earl's Explanation was, I have considered the Test, and I am desirous to give Obedience as far as I can. I'm confident the Parliament never intended any contradictory Oaths, therefore I think [...] Man can explain it but for himself; accordingly I take it as far as [...] is consistent with it self, and the Protestant Religion: And I do declare that I mean not to bind up my self in my Station, and in a lawful Way, to wish and endeavour in a lawful Way, any Alteration I think to the Advantage of the Church and State, not repugnant to the Protestant Religion and my Loyalty; and this I understand as part of my Oath.

And as the Earl was so cautious in not communicating his Explanation of the Test, so was it never so much as charged upon him that he ever disparaged the Test, or disswaded any other from taking it: However this must be the Grand Work for his, and only his Destruction; for, as was said, many others had explained their taking the Test, much more contradictory than the Earl had done, and printed and published their Explanations.

Next Morning the Earl waited upon the Duke, expecting his Yesterday's Countenance, and beginning to speak, the Duke interrupted him, and said he was not pleased with his Explanation: the Earl answered he did not give it till the Duke allowed him: the Duke acknowledged the Bishop of Edinburgh had told him, that he intended an Explanation, but the Duke said, he thought it would have been a short one, such as the Earl of Queensberry's: to which the Earl answered, he heard what he said, and that the Earl said the same thing in private to him; and the Earl going on to say more, the Duke interrupted him, saying, It's past with you, but it shall pass so with no other.

The next Day after the Earl was summoned again to the Council, to take the Test as one of the Lords of the Treasury, and an extraordinary Council was held at the Abbey: Where, so soon as they were met, the Test was tendred to the Earl, saying as before, when the Earl of Roxburgh standing behind the Duke, and never [Page] heard to speak in Council before, with Clamour asked what the Earl of Argyle had said? which the Duke told him; upon which Roxburgh desired that what the Earl had said the Day before might be repeated, which at first he declined, till he was peremptorily commanded by the Duke; the Earl then said, he had a Note of what he had said in his Pocket, which the Duke commanded him to produce, which he did, and was willing to sign it; but the new Lord President (now made Chancellour) and the new made Register, did not agree whether the Earl should then sign it, the Treason not appearing, as when they talked of it in private: So the Earl was bid to withdraw, and when he was called in, he was positively required to sign the Paper he had given in; to which the Earl answered, that if the Words did please them, as when they were given in, he would; but if there were the least Matter of Displeasure in them, he would forbear: whereupon he was removed, and being called in, he was told he had not given the Satisfaction required in the Act of Parliament in taking the Test, and therefore could not sit in Council: to which the Earl answered, that he judged all the Parliament meant was to exclude the Refusers of the Takers of the Test from their Places, to which he submitted, and that as he had served his Majesty faithfully within doors, so he was resolved to do without doors, and so made his Obeisance and went out. But now the Earl saw his Estate, Life and Honour were struck at, he communicated these Secrets to some for his own Vindication.

Upon Saturday the fifth of November, the Earl waited upon the Duke again, and told him he was strangely surprized that the saying he could not bind himself up in a lawful way, &c. as contained in the Paper, was looked upon as a Crime, when as he had said the same to him before without any Offence, and that the Duke then said they were unnecessary Words, that the Earl scrupled needlesly, and that he was not tied up by that Oath as he imagined; and that, after a little Pause, the Duke told him, you have cheated your self, you have taken the Test: to which the Earl answered, then he hoped his Highness was satisfied; but the Duke, after some other Expostulations, told the Earl, That he and some others had a Design to bring Trouble upon a Handful of poor Catholicks that would live peaceably however they were used, but that it should light upon others.

Now the Design appears barefac'd: for, would you think it, the Earl having delivered the Explanation of his taking the Test by the Duke's peremptory Command, this is interpreted a publishing of it; and upon Tuesday the eighth of November, a Council was called without calling the Earl to it, and an Order was sent by one of the Clerks of the Council to the Earl, that before 12 a Clock next Day, he should enter himself a Prisoner in the Castle of Edinburgh, and a Warrant was sent to the Deputy Governour to [Page] keep him Prisoner, wherein the Word Sure firmance, tho fairly writ, was struck out: The Earl obeyed, and by himself alone, in a Hackney Coach, rendred himself a Prisoner accordingly: And now you'll see how absolutely in this deputed Authority the Duke demeaned himself without Reserve; what then might be expected from him in Case he should become King?

The Earl some Days after he had rendred himself Prisoner, wrote to the Duke, telling him how he had obeyed his Highness and Council's Order in rendring himself a Prisoner, and how that he wrote no sooner, lest he might be thought too impatient of Imprisonment, which appeared to be the Effects of high Displeasure, which he hoped he no ways deserved, and was resolved to continue all Duty and Obedience to his Majesty and Highness, and begg'd to know what Satisfaction was expected, where and how he might live in his Highness's Favour: to which no Answer was returned, but a Summons charging the Earl with leasing making, and depraving of Laws: And after another Summons came out, and published, with Sound of Trumpet, charging the Earl with Perjury and Treason; but when it was told the Duke that such a Process threatned the Earl's Life and Fortune, the Duke said, Life and Fortune! God forbid.

The very Day, November the eighth, that the Council ordered the Earl to render himself a Prisoner, the Council sent a Letter to the King, wherein they sent the Earl's Explanation of his taking the Test, and how they had commanded his Majesty's Advocate to raise a Pursuit against the Earl upon it; yet expecting his Majesty's Commands for their further Prosecution of it.

But the King might command what he pleased, his Commissioner and Council would do what they would with it: for before any Return of their Letter, they caused the King's Advocate to exhibit an Indictment against the Earl, upon the Points of slandering and depraving: And after the Return of the King's Letter, they ordered a new Indictment against the Earl, containing, besides the former Points, the Crimes of Treason and Perjury, before they acquainted the King with it.

The Earl thus mewed up, that he might not give any Offence, twice petitions the Duke and Council, that Sir George Lockhart might be his Advocate to plead his Defence, yet both times refused; the Reason of these Petitions were, that without Leave none would dare to plead the Earl's Cause, for fear of the King's Displeasure: However, by the Act, 11 Jac. 6. Cap. 90. It is the undeniable Privilege of all Subjects accused for any Crimes, to provide themselves Advocates, to defend their Lives, Honours, and Lands, against whatsoever Accusation: So by the 11 Jac. 6. c. 90. it is declared, That in case Advocates refuse, the Judges may compel them. Hereupon the Earl drew up a Letter of Attorney, constituting Alexander[Page]Dunbar to require Sir George Lockhart to plead for him, which the Duke no sooner heard, but said, If Sir George Lockhart plead for the Earl, he shall never plead for my Brother nor me.

But the Earl might set his Heart at rest, for whatever Counsel he had, his Case was fore-judged, before heard: However, for forms sake, upon the Twelfth of December 1681, the Earl was brought by a Guard of Soldiers before the Justice Court, where the Earl of Queensberry was Chief Justice General, and the Lords Narin, Collingtoun, Newtoun, and Hirkhouse, Lords Justiciary sitting in Judgment. It is inconsistent with the Design of this Treatise to set down the Earl's Speech at large, and the long and learned Pleadings of Sir George Lockhart, and Sir John Dalrymple, for the Earl's Defence, and the King's Advocates pleading against the Earl, and their Doubling's and Tripling's; yet it's fit to say something of them, and leave the Reader at Liberty to read them at large in the Earl's Case, which is printed.

The Earl in his Defence only claims the Privilege of the meanest Subject, tho under an ill Character, to explain his own Words in the most benign Sense, and how strange and impossible it would be to believe he intended any thing but what was sutable to the Principles of his Religion and Loyalty, though he did not express himself at all.

Then he enlarged, how from his Youth he had made it his Business to serve his Majesty faithfully, constantly, and to his Power, especially in all times of Difficulty, and never joined or complied with any Interest or Party contrary to his Majesty's Authority, and so, that he never received a Frown from his Majesty these thirty Years; and that even in this Parliament, how he had shewed his Readiness to serve the King and Royal Family in so vigorously asserting the Lineal Succession of the Crown, and in offering Supplies to his Majesty and Successor; and that he had always kept his Tenants in Obedience to his Majesty.

How strange then is it, that Words spoken for the clearing his own Conscience, should be wrested into Treason, especially where the same was done before by many Orthodox Clergy, whole Presbyteries, Synods, and some Bishops? so that an eminent Bishop took the Pains to write a Treatise that was read over in Council, and allowed to be printed, and a Copy given to him, which contains all the Expressions he is charged for, and many more may be stretched to a worse Sense; and having wished all Happiness to the King, and a Continuance of the Lineal Succession, left his Defence to his Advocates, Sir George Lockhart and Sir John Dalrymple: then several Letters from General Middleton and the Earl of Glencarn were read, testifying the Earl's Loyalty and Services to the King.

[Page] The Treason charged upon the Earl in the Indictment consists of these six Heads.

1. That the Earl considered the Test, and was desirous to give Obedience to it as far as he could; clearly insinuating thereby he was not able to give full Obedience.

2. That he was confident the Parliament never intended contradictory Oaths; thereb [...] to insinuate to the People that the Parliament did impose contradictory Oaths.

3. That every Man must explain for himself, and take it in his own Sense; whereby that excellent Law lost its Obligations.

4. That he took the Test so far as it was consistent with it self and the Protestant Religion; which depraved the Test, and misrepresented the King's Parliament's Proceedings in the highest Degree.

5. That he did not mean, by taking the Test, to bind up himself from wishing and endeavouring any Alteration in a lawful Way which he shall think fit, for advancing the Church and State: where, by his Example, he invited others to be loose from the Test, to make Alterations.

6. That he understood this as part of his Oath; which was Treasonable Invasion upon the Royal Legislative Power, as if it were lawful for him to make to himself an Act of Parliament.

For the better understanding the Earl's Case, it's fit to consider, first, the Test was not to be imposed upon any but those who bear Office; and the Earl was desirous to have laid down all his Offices, which was denied him. Secondly, it was not to be imposed before the first of January, whereas all these Proceedings against the Earl upon the Test, were not only unwarrantable, but the Council usurped the Royal Legislative Authority by imposing the Test upon the Earl before. Thirdly, that this Explanation of the Test by the Earl, was by the Duke's Command and Allowance of the Council one Day, and the next Day made Treason for publishing it, the Earl being peremptorily commanded by the Duke to deliver the Explanation he had drawn in Writing to the Council.

1. The Earl's Counsel insisted, that the Earl having before always dutifully and loyally behaved himself to the King, his Words and Intentions ought to be interpreted in the best Sense, and in his Favour.

2. That the Act against Leasing-making, and depraving the King's Laws, were for plain Words and Speeches, tending to make Discords between the King and People, and were never intended against a Person in Judicature, required to give the true Sense of a Law to the best of his Skill and Conscience; and that it would be strange in such a Case, that this should be a Crime, if one Man differ from another; whereas oftentimes not only learned Lawyers, but the Judges themselves differ about the Interpretation of Laws.

[Page] 3. That the Act of Parliament does not impose the Test generally, but as a Qualification for those who shall bear publick Office; and therefore it is just and commendable in any Person who has a Scruple of Conscience upon him, to declare his meaning in taking of it how he understands it; it matters not whether he errs or not, for Conscientia etiam erronea obligat, especially where a Man's Conscience is opposite to his Interest, as in this Case, to lose his Preferment; nor was this any Reflection by the Earl upon the Act of Parliament, nor their Prudence in imposing the Test.

4. Tho the Earl could not take the Test, otherwise than he explained it; yet by the Act, there was no greater Penalty than that Habetur pro recusante, he should not hold his Places of Trust.

5. That the Counsel allowed the Earl's Explanation, by bidding him take his Place, after he had made his Explanation.

6. The Earl's Explanation could not be treasonable, viz. Animo defamandi, whenas he only made it to the Council when required, whereas some Bishops, whole Presbyteries and Synods had made Explanations of the Test, and in downright Terms charged it with Inconsistencies and Contradictions, and these allowed to be printed, before the Earl made his; and even the Council themselves had made an Explanation of it, before the Earl was tried, tho the Parliament was then in being, and this made publick. Q. If this were not more Treason than the Earl's, tho his Counsel durst not say so.

7. That the Earl by making his Explanation, has assumed a Legislative Power: to which it was answered, The Legislative Power extends to all, but the Earl's Explanation refers only to himself, how he understood he might take the Test; and this was done without any Diminution to the Legislative Power of making or interpreting Laws; and if the Legislative Power be not satisfied, it cannot extend any further than that the Earl shall be a Refuser of the Oath, which is neither Treason nor Perjury, as was charged upon the Earl.

8. That the Earl was ready to give Obedience as far as he could, did not import the Parliament had imposed an unlawful Oath: for here is no Impeachment of the Justice or Prudence of the Lawgiver; nor can any Law be so plain, especially affirmative Laws, as this is, that every Man shall understand it alike; and if one Man declare one Sense of it, and another otherwise, how does this become Treason in one or the other, or import the Injustice or Illegality of the Law?

9. That the Earl was confident the Parliament never intended contradictory Oaths; which was so far from being treasonable, that, considering the plain downright Objections spread abroad of the Inconsistencies and Contradictions of the Test, it was a high Vindication of the Parliament.

[Page] 10. Therefore he thinks no Body can explain it but for himself; which having no reference to any other, this cannot be taken for any diminution of the Parliamentary Authority, or depraving of the Law.

11. That he takes it so far as it is consistent with it self, and the Protestant Religion: if this be a Crime, the Earl is neither the Beginner nor Promoter of it; so many Bishops, Synods, and Presbyteries having before printed it with Allowance from the Council: nor the Promoter of it; for the Earl said this only for himself, and was passive in it, being required by the Council to make his Explanation, and if they divulged it, 'twas their Fault.

12. That he did not bind up himself in his Station, and in a lawful way, to wish and endeavour any Alteration, he thinks to the Advantage of the Church or State, not repugnant to the Protestant Religion and his Loyalty. This has reference to the Earl in his Station, as he is a Peer of Scotland, who has not only a Right in Parliament to debate freely of any Law in being, but is a Member which has a Legislative Right and Vote to repeal as well as make Laws; and herein can no more bind up himself, than one Act of Parliament can bind another Parliament.

Note, the Earl does not say this is part of the Test-Oath, but part of his Oath in the Sense he takes the Test, which makes no alteration of the Test.

The King's Advocate, Sir George Mackenzy, being one of the Conspiracy in contriving the Earl's Destruction, you need not fear but he'll strain his Wit to make good his Indictment of the Earl.

He begins with a long Invective against the jugling Covenant; and this excellent Law, the Test, was established to prevent the like for the future: and that no Law is of private Interpretation, and if it were, Men would be loose from Obedience to all Law; and concludes with a Lie, that there was no force upon the Earl to take the Oath, that he took it for his own Advantage.

It's true, no private Interpretation of any Law is of force to bind another; and whatsoever Interpretation another makes of any Law, it makes no Alteration in the Law: but if a Man be asked his Opinion of any Law, or Point in Law, and he gives it according to the best of his skill, shall this be taken for Treason and depraving of the Law, and a Man be in danger of his Life for it? This was the Earl's Case, he was called upon by the Duke to take the Test, with his Explanation before he did it; and whereas Mackenzy says there was no Force upon the Earl, I'm sure, if my Author says true, the Earl refused to give in the Paper, whereof he is indicted, and proffered to lay down his Offices upon it, till the Duke peremptorily commanded him to do it: if this were not Force, I would know what is; I'm sure there [Page] was no Force, but Corruption and Bribery upon the Advocate, to enter into this villanous Conspiracy against this Noble Earl, to murder him under the Pretext of Justice, which is to be esteemed sacred. And let any Man read his whole Harangue, and see if there be any thing in it but forced and strained Inferences; or any one Proof against the Earl, within the Act 60 Parl. 6. Mary, or the 9 Act. Par. 20. Jac. 6. which makes it Treason to make false Construction of Laws to others, with a Design to raise Sedition and Dissension among the King's Subjects; so that some Overt Act or Speech to others with a Design to raise Sedition, &c. must be proved; and not what is said in the Council, or any Court of Judicature.

However, as was the Advocate, such were the Assizers, whereof the Marquess of Montross (the Earl's Father's most bitter Enemy) was the Fore-Man, and the rest of the Pack of the same Stamp; who, with one Voice, found the Earl guilty of Treason, Leasing-making, and Leasing-telling; but like conscientious Men, having made the Earl to have forfeited his Life, Honour and Estate, by a Majority they find the Earl innocent of Perjury, which they could get nothing by.

So that the Noble Lord Lorn is become the Forlorn late Earl of Argyle; yet the Earl, not to be wanting to himself in this deplorable State, next day but one, viz. December the 15th, by a Friend humbly intreated to speak with the Duke: who returned Answer, It was not ordinary to speak with Criminals, except with Rogues on some Plot, where Discoveries might be expected. By this you may see what Spirit governed this Prince, and what might be expected from him, if he became King.

The next Day after the Earl's Sentence, viz. December the 14th, the Council gave the King notice of it, and expected his further Pleasure, now the Work is done to his Hand: but it seems his Highness was very impatient till he had the Earl's Blood; for he said, If the Express from the King came not timously, he would take upon himself what was to be done; by which you may see what an Ascendency the Duke had over the King: However, the Earl upon the sixteenth, petitioned the Duke, that he might send a Petition to the King, which was refused.

Things brought to this Extremity, and the Earl hearing that some Troops, and a Regiment of Foot were to be brought down from the Castle to the Common Goal, from which Criminals were usually brought to Execution, he resolved to try to make his Escape; and the rather, because about seven at Night, he had notice that new Orders were given for further securing him, and that the Castle Guards were to be doubled, and that none were suffered to go out without shewing their Faces, and therefore a Friend advised him not to attempt it; No, said the Earl, now is the Time, and so he attempted it, and it pleased God he escaped.

[Page] Hereupon the Lords of Assize, upon the twenty third of December, pronounced the Earl guilty of the Crimes of Treason, Leasing-making and Leasing-telling, for which, being detained in the Castle of Edinburgh, out of which, since the Verdict, having made his Escape, therefore they adjudged the said Earl to be executed to Death, and his Name, Memory and Honours to be extinct; and his Arms to be riven forth, and delete out of the Book of Arms, swa that his Posterity may never have Place, nor be able hereafter to bruick or joyse any Honour, Offices, Titles or Dignities within this Realm i [...] time coming; and to have forefaulted all his Lands and Tenements, &c.

But tho the Earl be escaped out of Prison, whereto shall he flee? For Terras (I'am sure Britannicas) Astraea reliquit; he had some thoughts of casting himself at the King's Feet, but those soon vanished, for the same Counsel which governed in Scotland, raged all England over; and so privately he passed into Holland, where for some time we leave him, and see what's doing in England.

Mr. Hawles in his Remarks upon Fitz-Harris's Trial, F. 18. out of Tully's Offices, lays this down for a Rule, That nothing is profitable but what is honest; for which Tully gives many Reasons, but nothing so convincing as the Examples he brings in publick and private matters; and tho the Empire was vast, and he bore a great Figure in it, and was very knowing in the Greek and Roman Histories, yet was he not able to bring a hundredth Part of Examples to prove his Position, as had been in this little Island in the space of eight Years: And in his Preface, gives six Reasons for the Disaffection to the late Government, viz. Exorbitant Fines, cruel and illegal Prosecutions, outragious Damages, dispensing with the Test and penal Laws, and undue Prosecutions in criminal, but more especially in capital Matters. But these I take to be the Effects of those Councils which governed in England ever after the King's Restoration, tho they did not so manifestly appear till the Duke was sent into Scotland, and after the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford; and for these first six Years after the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford, the Tories in England as well as in Scotland, were the Tools which the Popish Faction made use of for carrying on their Designs, then they were laid by, and the Whigs set up, as they thought, to finish the Work.

The Tories were so far from being suppressed by the Proceedings of the Commons against them last Westminster Parliament, that they only so much more irritated them against the Whigs after the Dissolutions of the last Westminster and Oxford Parliaments, and this was what the Popish Party desired.

The King's Declaration, signed Francis Gwyn, was not only obeyed by the Tories, but entertained with unexpressible Joy, and celebrated with manifold Returns of Thanks to his Majesty; and now nothing but Halcyon Days were expected, and an absolute Dominion over [Page] the Whigs: and the King, to gratify the Tories in their Jollity, and after the Bill for repealing the Act of 35 Eliz. was taken out of the House of Lords before it was passed, which little sorted with the King's Declarations of Indulgence, has this Law now put in Force against the Dissenters, and prosecuted with that Violence, that many thousands of Families were undone by it, yet little of the Money levied upon them was brought into the Exchequer, and you may be sure the Prosecutors would take their own share, and it was no difficult Matter to get a Grant, or at least a Pardon for the King's. Among the rest of the Worthies in this pious Business, one Jenner a Lawyer was one, who for this and other meritorious Acts, was after knighted and made one of the honourable Barons of the Exchequer; and Sir Dudly North, the Keeper's own Brother, was another: and though these Men were excepted out of the Act of Indemnity made by this King, and Informations against them in the Exchequer, and among the rest, against this Jenner, yet upon pleading their Pardons, I do find no great matttr came of them. And now since the Meal-Tub Plot, and that of Fitz-Harris had no better Effect, the Court sets up another to throw the Popish Plot upon the Nonconformists.

You have heard before how there appeared to be a Popish Plot carried on in Ireland, ever since the Year 1665, for establishing the Popish Religion, and that several Witnesses were brought out of Ireland to prove it, and how that the Lords in Parliament having throughly enquired into it, did upon the sixth of January last, viz. 1680-81, send this Message to the Commons,

Resolved by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament assembled, that they do declare that they are fully satisfied that there now is, and for divers Years last past, hath been an horrid and treasonable Plot, continued and carried on by those of the Popish Religion in Ireland, for massacring the English, and subverting the Protestant Religion, and the antient Government of that Kingdom, to which they desire the Concurrence of this House, to which the Commons agreed.

The Evidence by which the Lords discovered this Plot, were generally Irish, and of the Popish Religion, and it's probable, were Partakers of the Design of this Massacre, and had not their Pardons; or if they had, they were poor, and had no means to subsist, now the Oxford Parliament was dissolved and no Prospect of another, especially having now lost their Friends and Dependance for having given their Evidence of the Discovery of the Plot, and were in a strange Country. In this state the Court imployed a sort of Men, partly by Terror, and partly by their Necessities, to work upon the Irish, to pervert their Evidence another way.

And the Cause being the same, it had the same Effect upon others as well as the Irish: for the Oxford Parliament being dissolved, and all Hopes of Enquiry further into the Popish Plot, growing [Page] desperate; Dugdale, Turbervile and Smith, not having (that I can find) gotten their Pardons, and having lost their Dependances upon their having given their Evidence, and being reduced to the same Necessities the Irish Witnesses were, were easily wrought upon to smother the Popish Plot, and to swear another upon the principal Inquirers into the Popish; nay, even my Lord H—(tho not in the like Circumstances) could not procure his Pardon till his Drudgery of Swearing was over.

The Foundation thus laid, now we proceed to shew how the King made good his Declaration for calling frequent Parliaments, and in using his utmost Endeavours of extirpating Papacy; and it is without any Precedent, that ever any King before did truckle to such vile and mean things, to invert his Declaration, and his manifold repeated Promises to the Parliament.

The 28th of March the Parliament at Oxford was dissolved, and upon the 27th of April following, an Indictment of High Treason was preferred against Edward Fitz-Harris to the Grand Jury at Westminster for the Hundred of Oswalst; but the Grand Jury having the Vote of the Commons of the 27th of March so fresh in their Memories, desired the Opinion of the Court, whether they might safely proceed upon it: and you need not doubt but the Court gave their Opinion they might. So the Grand Jury found the Bill.

From the time that Fitz-Harris was removed from Newgate to the Tower, which was 10 Weeks before this Indictment, he was kept so close Prisoner, that his Wife, nor any others, were permitted to come at him; whereas the Lords impeached in Parliament had the Liberty of the Tower, and for any Man to visit them.

Yet Fitz-Harris's Wife, foreseeing the Design of the Trial of her Husband, had gone to Counsel, and had a Plea drawn to the Jurisdiction of the Court; to which the Attorney-General demurred, and Fitz-Harris's Counsel joined in the Demurrer.

It were Vanity and extream Arrogance in me, to judg of the nice Pleadings on both sides, concerning the Form and Substance; or to give a Reason why the Court over-ruled Fitz-Harris's Plea, since the Court did not.

Yet, I say, the Reports of Coke, Dier, Plowden, and others, would have proved dry Businesses, if the Courts of Westminster-Hall had given such Judgments as the King's Bench did in Fitz-Harris's Case.

And I say also, That no Man lives out of Society and Commerce; and that in every Country there are Laws for the Preservation of Mens Lives, and to protect them in Society and Commerce; and that in every Country there is a Power which is loose from these Laws, and gives Laws to all the Subjects of those Countries.

But because all Laws are vain unless they be executed, every Country has Judicatories wherein these Laws are executed, which [Page] differ in different Countries. The supreme Power of this Nation resides in a Parliament, whereof the King is the Head; and the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Representatives of the Commons, are the Body.

These Courts of Judicature have their distinct Jurisdictions, and are restrained to certain Rules and Methods: the highest of these Courts are the Body of the Parliament, viz. the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, which have distinct Jurisdictions, but are not bound up in their Judicatories by such strict Rules as other Courts are.

Other Courts take Cognizance of civil and criminal Cases between particular Men; but these Courts of Parliament take Cognizance of the State and Grievances of the Nation, where only they find Relief: and tho no other Courts take Cognizance of Matters transacted in Parliament, yet either of these Courts take Cognizance of all Proceedings in other Courts, and not only reverse all illegal Proceedings in them, but punish the Judges of all other Courts for any Errors or Abuses committed by them: so if any Person or Person shall grow so great as to be dangerous to the Publick, tho they be out of the Reach of other Courts, yet they are subject to these Courts of Parliament; and by these Courts the English Nation have preserved their Liberties and Laws, now France and Spain have lost them, which before had their Assemblies of the States (all one with our Parliaments) and in losing them have lost their Liberty and Laws, to the Arbitrary Will of their Princes.

The Jurisdiction of Parliaments hath been in all Ages in England esteemed sacred, so that other Courts rarely presumed to take Cognizance of Cases which were in the Jurisdiction of, or depending in Parliament; for this was to depose the Parliament, and usurp their Jurisdiction: nor do we read that ever any other Court assumed this Authority, but in the Reigns of Kings affecting Tyranny and Arbitrary Power.

The first Judges which (I think) gave their Opinion, That the Courts in Westminster Hall might take Cognizance of Causes determinable in Parliament, were Tresilian and Belknap, in 11 Rich. II. for which they were impeached by the Commons in Parliament, of no less than High Treason; and for which, by Judgment of the Lords in Parliament, Tresilian was hanged, and Belknap banished. Mr. Williams, in his Pleadings for Fitz-Harris, cites another Case in 20 Rich. II. of a Person who exhibited a Petition in Parliament, which suggested something which amounted to High Treason (which it may be was determinable by Common Law.) This Person was after indicted at Common Law, found guilty, and pardoned; but because the Business was depending in Parliament, the Prosecution and Judgment were made void in Parliament.

[Page] The next Case, I think, (but of an higher Nature, for Tresilian and Belknap only gave their Opinion) was that of Sir John Elliot, my Lord Hollis, &c. 5 Car. I. when an Information was exhibited against them in the King's Bench, they pleaded to the Jurisdiction of the Court, being for Matters transacted in Parliament: the Court over-ruled their Plea, and gave Judgment against them, and Reasons (such as they were) for their Judgment: but in the 19 Car. I. upon a solemn Debate in the Commons House, and upon their Reasons given at a Conference with the Lords, the Judgment of the King's Bench, Reasons and all, were reversed by a Writ of Error in the Lords House; and after, the Judges who gave the Judgment were impeach'd of High-Treason by the Commons, for endeavouring to subvert the fundamental Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom.

This Case of Fitz-Harris I take to be the fourth of this kind, yet shall open a Gap for a fifth: but that this Case may be better understood, it will be necessary to distinguish between an Indictment or Information, and an Indictment by the Commons in Parliament.

An Indictment or Information is at the Suit of the King, and the Judges and Jury are tied up to some single Issue; as in this Case of Fitz-Harris, the Trial was, whether he was guilty or not of the Treason whereof he was indicted.

But an Impeachment of the Commons is at their Suit, and of all the Commons of England; nor are they tied up to one single Issue, but impeach for Treason, and other Crimes and Misdemeanours in the same Impeachment; they assume to themselves, That all the Commons in England have a Right in the King, and all the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, and therefore can impeach where none of the Courts of Westminster-hall can take any Cognizance at the Suit of the King, either by Indictment or Information.

After Fitz-Harris was committed to Newgate, he was examined by the Earls of Essex and Shaftsbury, Sir Robert Clayton, and Sheriff Cornish, who found in him a Disposition to discover the bottom of the Popish Plot, and also to make a further Discovery of the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey; but the next Day Fitz-Harris was carried to the Tower, and kept close Prisoner, and out of their Power, to whom Fitz-Harris promised to make a Discovery.

The Commons conceiving themselves and all the Commons of England concerned in this Plot (wherein the French Ambassador, his Confessor, my Lord H—, the Dutchess of Portsmouth, and her Woman Wall, and even the King himself, for Fitz-Harris had several times acquainted the King with it, and the King gave him Money, and countenanced it, were Agents) impeached Fitz-Harris, thereby to enquire into the Bottom of this Business, [Page] which no Court in Westminster-Hall could do; and this I take to be the Reason of the Commons Vote of the 27th of March 1681, That if any inferiour Courts shall proceed upon Fitz-Harris, and he be found Guilty, the House will declare them guilty of Murder, and Betrayers of the Rights of the Commons of England: And so it fell out, that Fitz-Harris being indicted upon the single Issue of contriving and publishing the Libel, was convicted and executed upon it, tho he desired to proceed upon the Discovery of this Plot to the Earls of Essex, Shaftsbury, and to Sir Robert Clayton, and to make an End of his Evidence against my Lord H—, which was denied. So that whether Fitz-Harris was murder'd in his Person or not, it's no Question but his Evidence for further Discovery of this and the Popish Plot was murder'd by this Trial.

I will make these Remarks more upon this Trial, that in the Case of Tresilian and Belknap, the Nation was in no other Danger than the Courts of Westminster-Hall's invading the Jurisdiction of Parliament; and the Case of my Lord Hollis, Sir John Elliot, Mr. Selden, &c. was only for Misdemeanour; whereas the King's Person, and the Safety of the Nation, were concerned in the Discovery which Fitz-Harris might have made, (see Mr. Hawles's fine Remarks upon the Practices and Illegalities of the Judgment of the Court not warranted by the Common or any Statute Law) and that the Consequences of this Trial were manifoldly more mischievous to the Nation than if Fitz-Harris's Design had taken Effect.

The Fright of Fitz-Harris's Discovery of this new Popish Plot being seemingly allayed by his Death, Revenge, with winged Haste pursues the Discoverers of the old. It was in Trinity-Term that Fitz-Harris was tried and executed; and after this Term, an Indictment of High Treason was exhibited to the Grand Jury of London against Stephen Colledge, a mean Fellow, but a great Talker against the Popish Plot, who was more known by the Name of Protestant Joiner than Stephen Colledge. The Fore-man was one Wilmer: This Indictment would not down, but the Grand Jury returned an Ignoramus upon it, for which Wilmer was forced to fly his Country.

The Design not succeeding in London, the Scene against Colledge is laid at Oxford; the Judges were Chief Justice North, Justice Jones, Justice Raimond, and Justice Levins: To make sure of a Bill to be found there against Colledge, the King's Counsel had prepared Witnesses at the Assizes to post thither; and there, to make sure Work, the King's Counsel are privately shut up with the Jury till they had found the Bill, which Mr. Hawles says was a most unjustifiable and unsufferable Practice.

Whilst these things were contriving, Colledge had the Honour, as well as Fitz-Harris, to be committed and continued a close [Page] Prisoner in the Tower, yet the Lords impeached in Parliament had the Liberty of it, and free Access was permitted to them: it's true indeed, Colledge was permitted to have a Solicitor and Counsel, which was Mr. West, I think a Plotter or Setter in the Rye-Plot, as dark as Fitz-Harris's, and as like it as two Apples are one to the other.

But this was not out of Favour to Colledge, but to betray him; for when the Bill against Colledge was found at Oxford, Murrel a Goaler, and Seywel a Messenger were sent to bring Colledge to Trial; who, after they had taken him out of Prison, run him into a House, and by Order of the King's Counsel, took from him all his Instructions for his Defence, and carry'd them to the King's Counsel, as well to disable him to make his Defence, as to enable the King's Counsel how to proceed against him by some way he was not provided to make his Defence.

Upon Colledge's Arraignment, he demanded his Papers taken from him by Murrel and Seywel, which were denied by the Court till he had pleaded guilty or not to his Indictment. Here take notice▪ that Sir Francis Pemberton, Sir Thomas Jones, and Justice Raimond, having done the Court's Job in Fitz-Harris's Trial, a new Set of four is made to do this of Colledge's; the chief of these was Sir Francis North (a Man cut out to all Intents and Purposes for such a Work, and as if born to do it, his Father was a Committee-Man in all the late Times against King Charles I. and his Grandfather one of the seven who condemned Arch-bishop Laud) it's no matter who were the other three, for North was the Mouth of the Court.

This was the first time that ever any Prisoner had his Instructions taken from him to make his Defence, and at a time when there were such Contrivances to take away his Life. My Lord Chief Justice told Colledge, he took not away his Papers; but Colledge replied, they were taken from him upon pretence of bringing them to his Lordship.

The Court and Counsel had a twofold Design upon Colledge in seizing his Papers; one, to trapan Colledge to plead guilty or not before they deliver'd the Papers; which having done, it was too late to plead either to the Jurisdiction of the Court, or that the Indictment was erroneous, as it was, it being of different Natures, as, for Treason and Misdemeanours.

Here I leave it to the Learned to judg whether the Court and King's Counsel did not in this Indictment endeavour to depose the Parliamentary Authority, and usurp it themselves; for tho the Commons may impeach generally for Treason and Misdemeanours in the same Impeachment, yet neither by the Common, or any Statute Law, any such Indictment can be.

[Page] The other Design was to disable Colledge to make his Defence after his pleading not guilty: Colledge finding himself thus beset tho a mean Man, yet with a Roman Courage said, This was a horrid Conspiracy, not only against his Life, but against all the Protestants of England: And herein he proved a true Prophet.

The Courage of the Man put the Court and King's Counsel to the Whisper▪ which was never before done in any Court of Common Law; and now the Court must be adjourned, the Pretence being for Dinner, tho they had breakfasted but a little before: and before their Return, the King's Counsel altered their Method of proceeding against the Prisoner from that they before designed; and so sorted their Evidence that they might not contradict one another, and so would not examine some of his Evidence.

Yet upon the Return of the Court, the Attorney, Sir R. S. for fear his Instructions might not well be remembred or understood, moved, the King's Evidence might be examined in the hearing of one another; which tho over-ruled, yet 'twas not observed: and to satisfy the Jury, the Court (Sir F. N.) told them in summing up the Evidence, they would inform the Jury what part of it was Treason, and what Misdemeanor, which they did not. Mr. Hawles's learned Remarks herein, as well upon Law and Practice, are worthy the Consideration of the Parliament.

The Court and Counsel thus armed Cap-a-Pe, and the Prisoner bound Hand and Foot, you need not doubt of a glorious Victory over him: And now let's see by what valiant Combatants they a [...]chiev'd it.

The first Champion against Colledge, but whether to prove Treason or Misdemeanour is not yet determined, was Stephen Dugdale, That in a Barber's Shop and a Coffee-house he had spoken vilifying Words of the King; that Colledge had shew'd him several scandalous Libels and Pictures, of which he was the Author; that Colledge had a silk Armour, a Brace of Horse-Pistols, a Pocket-Pistol, and a Sword; that he had several stout Men would stand by him, that he would make use of them in Defence of the Protestant Religion, and that the King's Party were but a handful to his.

To pass over the Improbability of Colledge's designing Treason against the King, and trust the Management of it to Papists, and none of them ever discovered the thing they swore, till after the Parliament at Oxford, tho most, if not all, were pretended to be transacted or done before; let's see what Credit could be reasonably given to any of the Evidence against him.

1. Dugdale's Evidence was confronted by Dr. Oates, who testified that Dugdale said, He knew nothing against any Protestant in England; and being taxed by Oates, that he had gone against his Conscience in the Evidence he gave to the Grand Jury at London against Colledge, Dugdale said, It was long of Colonel Warcup [Page](a worthy Person, who, for this and such like Services, is since Knighted) for he could get no Money else. Elizabeth Hunt testified, That after Colledge was in Prison, Dugdale told her, He did not believe Colldge had any more hand in conspiring against the King, than the Child unborn; and that he had as live have given an 100 l. he had never spoken what he had; and that he had nothing to say against Colledge which would touch his Life: and Yates testified, that when he said Colledge was an honest Man, and stood up for the King and Government; Dugdale answer'd, I believe he does, and I know nothing to the contrary.

Haynes swore Colledge said, Ʋnless the King would let the Parliament sit at Oxford, they would seize him, and bring him to the Block; and that he said, The City had fifteen hundred Barrels of Powder, and ten thousand Men ready at an hour's warning.

2. To confront this Evidence, Hickman testified that Haynes swore, God damn him he cared not what he swore; for it was his Trade to get Money by Swearing. Mrs. Hall said she heard Haynes own, That he was employed to put a Plot upon the Dissenting Protestants. And Mrs. Richards said, She heard him say the same thing. Whaley said, Haynes stole a Silver Tankard from him: And Lun said, Haynes said, The Parliament were a Company of Rogues for not giving the King Money; but he would help the King to Money enough out of the Fanaticks Estates. Everard testified that Haynes said, His Necessity and hard Pay drove him to say any thing against the Protestants. Turbervile swore, Colledge said at Oxford, That he wished the King would begin; if he did not, they would begin with him, and seize him; and that he (Colledge) came to Oxford for that purpose.

3. Oates said, Turbervile said, a little before the Witnesses were sworn at the Old-Baily, That he was not a Witness against Colledge, nor could give any Evidence against him; and that after he came to Oxford, he had been sworn before the Grand Jury against Colledge; and that the Protestant Citizens had deserted him, and God damn him he would not starve.

John Smith swore, Colledge's speaking scandalous Words against the King, and of his having Armour, which he shewed Smith, and said, These are the things that will destroy the pitiful Guards of Rowley; and that he expected the King would seize some of the Members of Parliament at Oxford, which if done, he would be one should seize the King: that Fitz-Gerald had made his Nose bleed, but before long he hoped to see a great deal more Blood shed for the Cause: that if any, nay Rowley himself, came to disarm the City, he would be the Death of him.

4. To confront this Evidence, Blake testified that Smith said, Haynes's Discovery was a Sham-Plot, a Meal-Tub-Plot. Bolron said, Smith would have had him swore against Sir John Brooke, my Lord Shaftsbury, and Colledge, things of which he knew nothing, [Page] and told him what he (Bolron) should swear, lest they should disagree in their Evidence. Oates testified, Smith said, God damn him, he would have Colledge's Blood: and Mowbray testified that Smith tempted him to be a Witness against Colledge and Sir John Brooke, and said, if the Parliament did not give the King Money, and stood on the Bill of Exclusion, that was Pretence enough to swear a Design to secure the King at Oxford: And Everard and others testified, Smith said he knew of no Presbyterian or Protestant Plot; and said, Justice Warcup would have perswaded him to swear against some Lords a Presbyterian Plot, but he knew of none.

These were the material Evidences thus confronted, which should prove Colledge's Treason and Misdemeanour for taking away his Life: But this Evidence was so baffled, that for Shame the King's Counsel never play'd them after against any other but my Lord of Shaftsbury, but were forced to set up for new against my Lord Russel, Colonel Sidney, &c.

Objection. In criminal Cases, especially of Treason, if Evidence did not arise from the Conspirators, who are supposed to be ill Men, scarce any other means can be found for preventing or punishing these; and that Dangerfield was of an ill Fame, and Dugdale, Smith, and Turbervile, were Witnesses in Discovery of the Popish Plot, and so their Evidence is to be credited as well in this as in the Popish Plot.

Answer. Nor would the Popish Plot have been believed, if it had no Foundation but the Credit of the Witnesses; but Coleman's Letters, Sir Edmundbury Godfrey's Murder, and Harcourt's Letters of it that Night to Evers my Lord Aston's Confessor, &c. gave more than sufficient Evidence of the Popish Plot: beside, the Evidence in the Popish Plot did arise from the Evidence of their own Accord, not hired and sought to give it, as in this. And can any Man believe that Colledge, so zealous a Protestant, should design the Destruction of the King, and contrive it by Papists, to whom he was so averse? And it were Madness to think Colledge could do this alone; for none of all the Evidence swear any other to be concerned with him in it.

There were other Evidence against Colledge, viz. Mr. M [...]sters, Sir William Jennings, about Words which Colledge should speak; and Atterbury, Seywel, and Stevens, concerning finding Pictures in Colledge's Possession when they seized him: but, as Mr. Hawles observes, these, by no Law in England, could be made Treason, admitting all they said to be true: But tho at Colledge this Scene began, and he was executed as a Traitor, it did not end in him, as he prophesied.

[Page] For Colledge's Blood was too mean a Sacrifice to appease the offended Ghosts of the martyred Roman Saints, and was but an Inlet to spill nobler Blood; therefore upon the 31st of August he was executed, and upon the 24th of November following, 1681. the Earl of Shaftsbury had a Bill of High Treason at the Sessions of the Old-Baily, London, preferred against him.

I will not here curtail any of the Remarks which Mr. Hawles has made upon this Bill, or the Trial of my Lord Russel, Colonel Sidney's, Mr. Cornish's and Wilmer's Trials, but leave them entire to the Reader; it's enough for me to shew how well the King, by these Trials, made good his Declaration of preserving the Protestant Religion, and his utmost Endeavour to extirpate Popery: yet I shall make some Remarks upon my Lord Shaftsbury's Case which Mr. Hawles either has not, or not so fully.

Upon the 20th of April 1679, the King, after he had sent the Duke into Holland, dissolved his old Privy Council, and chose a new one, whereof the Earl of Shaftsbury was President; and in Parliament declared the ill Effects he had found of single Councils and Cabals, and therefore had made Choice of this Council, which next to the Advice of his great Council of Parliament (which he would often consult in all his weighty and important Affairs) he would be advised by this Privy Council: and to take away all Jealousy that he was influenced by Popish Councils, he had sent his Brother beyond Sea.

But now, quanto mutatus! No more Parliaments so long as this King lives. The Council, whose Advice, next the Parliament, he would take, is now dissolved, and the President's Life is sought for; the Duke of late sent away, that he might not influence the King's Councils, is now returned, and governs all, and made High Commissioner of Scotland, where, at this time, he is contriving the Destruction of the noble Earl of Argile, whilst his Brother is doing that of my Lord of Shaftsbury, and both act their Parts under the Vail of sacred Justice.

But how to bring the Earl of Shaftsbury upon the Stage, was Matter of great Inquiry; other Evidence besides Irish, and those Colledge had so baffled, could scarce be found; and this Evidence, 'twas feared, would no more prevail upon a London Grand Jury, than before it did when the Bill was preferred against Colledge.

Captain Henry Wilkinson was a Yorkshire Gentleman, who having served King Charles I. in his Wars, and been very instrumental in the Restoration of King Charles II. being fall'n into Decay (a Fate usually attending the Cavaliers who served either of those Kings) was for his Sufferings, Integrity, and Honesty, preferred by the Earls of Craven and Shaftsbury to be Governour of Carolina, and one of his Sons to be Surveyor-General of it, and another a Register.

[Page] Captain Wilkinson made use of the little Stock he had left, and such Credit as he could procure, to fit himself upon this Account, and hired a Ship called the Abigail, of a hundred and thirty Tuns, and victualled her for the Master and ten Men, and such other Passengers as he should take in.

In this Number, one Mr. John Booth desired that he and his Family might accompany the Captain to Carolina, which was agreed to; but the Captain being under several Disappointments, and the charges of the Ship of four Months lying in the River, insupportable, the Captain was arrested and thrown into the Compter; from whence he removed himself to the King's Bench. The Captain's Necessities were equal, or more than those of the Irish Evidence, but the Captain (at least as he supposed) had no need of a Pardon for any thing designed against the King or Government, as the Irish Evidence had; so the first Attempt upon the Captain was to hire him to give Evidence against my Lord of Shaftsbury.

If Empson and Dudly were so zealous to fill Henry the 7th's Coffers, by straining the Penal Laws to utmost Rigour, as the Vogue went, Graham, Baynes and Burton, were as zealous to pack Juries, and procure Evidence for carrying on this black Design; but I do not find Burton was in this upon Captain Wilkinson.

Upon the eighth of October, Baynes made his first Attack upon the Captain, and told him, that he had been lately with Mr. Graham, who had a great Interest with my Lord H. and that the Captain could not but know much of my Lord Shaftsbury's Designs, and that he had now a desired Opportunity to discover them; and urged the Captain not to deny the proffer, and that he need not fear his getting a Pardon: but the Captain was constant that he knew nothing of any such Design. By this time Booth was a Prisoner in the King's Bench, as well as the Captain; and upon the eleventh, Booth attack'd the Captain, and told him he might have 500 l. per annum, or 10000 l. if he would discover what he knew of my Lord Shaftsbury's Design against the King, and that the Captain should appear at Court, and have Assurance of it from Persons of Honour; but this wrought not upon the Captain neither. Upon the thirteenth Baynes, Booth and Graham renewed the Promises Baynes and Booth had made, and that he should have the King's Promise for the same, and his Royal Word for a Reward for his Sufferings; and that Graham was sent by some of the Council to bring the Captain to the King, and that he had an Order for it: but all would not do; for the Captain was resolved not to go to White-Hall if he could help it. Upon the fourteenth Booth told the Captain, that Mr. Wilson, my Shaftsbury's Secretary (who was a Prisoner in the Gate-house) had sent to the Council, that he would come and discover all he knew; and therefore he urged the Captain to have the Honour of being the first Discoverer, and that [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] to the former Promises the Captain should have 500 l. per Annum settled on him in Ireland by the D. of York: but all to no purpose.

Upon the fifteenth, Booth and Baynes attackt the Captain again: the Captain asked Baynes why he was so urgent for his Testimony; Baynes answered, That as yet they had none but Irish Evidence, which would not be believed, but if the Captain came to it, he was not blemished in his Credit; and then Baynes told him, if he would not go, he (Baynes) had a Habeas Corpus from my Lord Chief Justice Pemberton, to carry him to White-Hall.

In the Afternoon the Captain was carried by his Habeas Corpus to Whitehall, and examined in the Secretary's Office by my Lord Conway, and Secretary Jenkins; and in his Examination, in comes the King into the Office, as before he had done into the Dutchess of Portsmouth's Chamber, when my Lord H—came to kiss her Hand, and there the King told the Captain he had served his Father and him faithfully, and hoped he (the Captain) would not now decline his Obedience; to which the Captain answered, he never deserved to be suspected: then the King told him he had not the Opportunity to serve his Friends, but hoped he might: then the King examined him what he knew of my Lord Shaftsbury's having a Design against his Person; but the Captain upon his Oath denied he knew any thing, so the King left him to the further Examination of Secretary Jenkins.

But this Business did not stay here; for the Captain was carried into another Room, where were present the King, my Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice Pemberton, and several other of the Nobility, with Graham, Baynes and Booth; where my Lord Chancellor was very sharp upon the Captain, and put several Questions to the Captain, which he could not answer, and told the Captain, there were two sorts of Advancements, and that the Captain was like to come to his Trial before the Lord Shaftsbury.

The Business was, Booth had sworn that the Captain had a Commission from my Lord Shaftsbury, for a Troop of fifty Men, to be my Lord's Guards against the King, and that Booth was listed in it: This Booth had sworn, but was so unfortunate in it, as to swear, this was when the Parliament was at Oxford, at which time the Captain was making his Preparations for his intended Government of Carolina: but whether the King believed the Captain or Booth, is unknown, but it stop'd here, and the Captain was no higher advanced upon Booth's Oath, nor could be prevailed upon to be a Witness against my Lord Shaftbury, though his Wife was as much tempted to have it so, as the Captain was; so the Captain's only Advancement was, to be remanded to Prison.

However, it was resolved that my Lord Shaftsbury should be prosecuted, and so upon the 24th of November a Bill of High Treason was preferred against him to the great Inquest at the Sessions-House [Page] in the Old-Baily: and Baines proved a true Prophet, though Booth sware to the Captain's Command of Fifty Men, to be a Guard to my Lord; for the Jury neither believed him nor the Evidence so baffled at Colledge's Trial, nor the Irish Evidence added to that, and so returned an Ignoramus upon it.

Suetonius, in the Life of Tiberius, says, he could never have made such Ravages upon the Roman Empire, and exercised such Cruelties, if he had not been backt by an Officious and flattering Senate, which carried the Face of Justice in it: and tho it be evident, that for near Eighty Years, these three Kings of the Scotish Race had been endeavouring to establish an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government over this Nation, yet except King James the First, who, if his Necessities had not forced him, would have never had a Parliament after the first, and who by his own Authority created so many Monopolies, and Benevolences, and in the Parliament of the 12th and 18th Years of his Reign, without any Colour of Justice, imprisoned so many worthy Gentlemen, without the Benefit of Habeas Corpus's, for their Debates in Parliament; yet these other two pretended to raise their Tyrannies under the Form of Justice, and therefore Charles the First after he for Fifteen Years together, had not only exceeded his Father in granting Monopolies, and raising Money by Loans, Benevolences, Coat and Conduct Money, but also in taking the Customs without Grant of Parliament, and such as were never granted by Parliament, and in further raising Ship-Money, and imprisoning the Members of Parliament without Benefit of their Habeas Corpus's; yet he thought best to do it by such Judges as he should make: So this King, in the Executions of Fitz-Harris and Colledge, would have the Colour of Justice by a Form of Law, for which there was no Law.

But as the Knights of Malta could make Knights of their Order for eight Pence a-piece, yet could not make a Soldier of Sea-man: So these Kings, tho they could make what Judges they pleased to do their Business, yet could not make a Grand-Jury, from whom the Judges in all criminal Cases between the King and Subject must take their Measures: these Grand-Juries in London are returned by the Sheriffs, and the Sheriffs are chosen by the Livery.

This Difficulty after my Lord Shaftsbury's Case, put the Court to their Trumps, and at present a Stop to their Proceedings: The Assistance of the Duke of York was necessary, but at this time he was as busy in Scotland about my Lord of Argyle, as his Brother was in England about my Lord Shaftsbury.

The City upon the Dissolution of the Four last Parliaments, were aware of the Designs of the Court, and chose Sheriffs accordingly; when Colledge's Bill was preferred, Mr. Cornish and Bethel were Sheriffs, and now another such was preferred against [...] [Page] Lord of Shaftsbury, Sir Thomas Pilkington and Mr. Shute were Sheriffs; who, tho at other times Sheriffs would rather fine than serve, yet at this time none refused to serve, so that unless Sheriffs of another Stamp were chosen, all would be to no Purpose. It's scarce credible what a Noise the not finding my Lord Shaftsbury's Bill made; all Justice, now the Tory Party cried, was stopped, if these Ignoramus Juries were not set aside: R. L. S. proclaimed Forty one would inevitably return; and this countenanced by the Court, flew out of the City, all the Country over, so that scarce any other thing was to be heard but of Ignoramus Juries, and what would follow from them.

It was the latter End of Michaelmas Term, the great Inquest returned an Ignoramus upon the Bill of High Treason preferred against my Lord Shaftsbury, and in the Vacation all Wits were set on work how to take the Election of the Sheriffs of London out of the Power of the City, and no other Expedient could be found out but by taking away their Charter, which if it could be done, would not only entitle the Court to making of Sheriffs, but open a Gap to their making a House of Commons; for near 5/6 of the Commons are Burgesses and Barons of the Cinque Ports, who would not dare to contest their Charters, if the City of London could not hold theirs. So that in Hilary Term following, a Quo Warranto was brought against the City for two hainous Crimes, viz. That they had made an Address to the King for the Parliament to sit for Redress of Grievances, and to settle the Nation, (yet King Charles the First thought the Parliament's Vote of non-Addresses to him, was a Deposing of him) and that the City had raised Money towards repairing Cheapside Conduit, ruined by the Fire of London.

The City pleaded their Right, and the King replied, upon which there was a Demurrer, but Judgment was not given upon it till Trinity Term 1683. However the Novelty of the thing caused an Amusement upon the Generality of the City and Nation too, whereto this tended. In the mean time the Duke having done his Work in Scotland, was returned to London, and his Zeal for promoting the Catholick Cause, outwent his Patience for the Court's Judgment upon the Demurrer to the Quo Warranto; so that Courtiers of the First Magnitude appeared barefaced for the next Election of Sheriffs, and Sir Dudley North (Sir Francis's own Brother) and Sir Peter Rich were returned, one by a shameless Trick, the other by open Force. Tho the Court had gained this Point, they thought not fit to push it further till the Demurrer to the City Charter were determined, in which such Haste was made, that only two Arguments were permitted on either Side, one in Hilary Term 1682-83, and the other in Easter Term following, and so Judgment was given in Trinity Term next after, against the City.

[Page] The Judgment against the City was as strange as the Election of the Sheriffs, for it was without any Reason, and by two Judges only; one was Sir Francis Withens (who had heard but one Argument, and I believe understood but little of that) and who after, in the Absence of Sir Edward Herbert, delivered that for his Opinion which Sir Edward, when present, disowned; and Sir Thomas Jones. However, they said Justice Raimond was of their Opinion, and so was Saunders, the Chief Justice, tho he was past his Senses, and only had Sense enough to expostulate with them for then troubling him, when he had lost his Memory.

But the Court of Kings Bench were not so ripe for this hasty Judgment, as that at White-Hall was for Discovery of Plots against the Government and Justice of the Nation; of which they set three on Foot: viz. A Plot to surprize the Guards; the Rye-Plot, to murder the King and Duke as they should come from New-Market; and the Black-Heath Plot, for the People to rise upon a Foot-Ball Match: if those Sheriffs would not do the Court's Work, you may be sure the next should, where the King should have the Nomination; but these were as trusty as any the King could make, and it was now Graham and Burton's Work to find Good Jury-Men, and then the Sheriffs would be sure to return them.

In all these Plots, for ought I can find, the Fox was the Finder; my Lord H—and Rumsey, in that of the Guards; Lee and Goodenough in that of Black-Heath; Keeling and West in that of the Rye-Plot. Lee was set to trapan Rouse and Baker in the Black-Heath Plot. Rumball (at whose House 'twas said the Rye-Plot was to be acted) upon his Death denied he ever knew of any. But the Great Design was upon my Lord of Essex, and my Lord Russel, one the most eminent of the Nobility, for his great Honour, and all eminent Vertues; the other of the Commons; and both zealous Protestants, and Opponents to the Design of introducing Popery and Arbitrary Power.

I will not again curtail Mr. Hawles's learned Remarks upon my Lord Russel's Trial, on the Thirteenth of July, 1683. yet I must observe, how that that Day, whether my Lord of Essex killed himself, or was to be killed, the King and his Brother were both in the Tower when the Act was done, and immediately Notice was sent to the Old-Baily, to give Notice of it to the Court, that in the worst Sense, Use might be made of it by the King's Counsel against my Lord Russel.

The Blaze of the Earl's having murdered himself, having had its designed Effect upon my Lord Russel's Trial, the next Step was to satisfy the Nation the Earl murdered himself; and to this Purpose the Coroner's Inquest must necessarily sit, and give their Verdict; but so the Business was ordered, that before the Jury was impannelled, the Earl's Body was taken out of the Closet [Page] (where 'twas pretended he murdered himself) and stript of his Clothes which were carried away, and the Closet washt; and when one of the Jury insisted upon seeing my Lord's Clothes in which he died, the Coroner was sent for into another Room, and upon his Return, told the Jury, it was my Lord's Body, not his Clothes, they were to sit upon: and when it was moved that the Jury should adjourn, and give my Lord's Relations Notice, Tha [...] if they had any thing to say on my Lord's Behalf; it was answered▪ The King had sent for the Inquisition, and would not rise from the Council-Board till it was brought.

I do not find, that when the like Practices were used, and whe [...] the Coroner's Inquest found Sir Thomas Overbury died a Natural Death in the Tower, that two Years after, when Reves, the Apothecary's Servant, made the first Discovery of Sir Thomas his being poisoned, that Reves was prosecuted for flying in the Face of the Government, and questioning the Justice of the Nation, as Mr. Speke and Mr. Braddon were for endeavouring to discover the Murder of my Lord of Essex. I'm sure their Inducement for the Proofs of it, were manifoldly more than Reves's were of Sir Thomas Overbury's; and I wish I understood what their Crimes were more than Reves's: but that being for the King and Justice of the Nation, they ought to have been encouraged, if there had been no foul dealing in the Earl's Death.

After the Death of these Noble Persons, the rest of the Game was plaid without scarce any Rub: Colonel Sidney, Bateman, Walcot, Hone and Rouse, followed for Treason all, and all of different Complexions; and where Treason could have no Colour, actually to take away the Lives of the Opponents of Popery and Arbitrary Power, Misdemeanours are set on foot to take away their Means of living; Fines from 10000 to 100000 l. for words against the Duke; though by Magna Charta, a Salvo Contenemento is reserved for Misdemeanors against the King. Graham and Burton would find Juries for all, and the Sheriffs would return them to do the Work.

But the Rage and Tyranny against the Opponents of Popery and Arbitrary Power, was not more illegal than the Indulgence to the Lords impeached by Parliament; for the King resolving to have no more Parliaments, upon the present Constitution, made Judges to take Bail for them to appear next Parliament: Hereby as much invading the Rights and Jurisdiction of Parliament, as the Judgments against Fitz-Harris, Colledge, my Lord Russel, Colonel Sidney, &c. were illegal; which though at Common Law they might have been Treason, yet by the Statute of the 25th of Edward the Third, the Judges in Westminster-Hall were prohibited to take Cognisance of them, and by the Act of 13 Car. 2. c. 51. wherein the Prosecution ought to be within Six Months [Page] after the Fact, and the Indictment within three Months after.

Though the City of London, and many other Cities in England, those their Sheriffs; yet the Sheriffs of all the other Shires and Counties of England were named by the King: so that the King's next care was how to subvert the Constitution of Parliament, and like Oliver Cromwel, have a House of Commons of his own making: For the House of Commons is compunded of five hundred and thirteen Members, whereof but ninety two are Knights of Shires; so that near 5/6 are Burgresses, Citizens and Barons of the Cinque Ports: The Generality of the Corporations which send these Members are poor decayed places, and so not able as the City of London to contest their Charters, or if they could, they had little hope to keep them, now London could not hold theirs. Yet this would cost the Court a great deal of time to bring Quo Warranto's against above two hundred Corporations; and now all Hands are set at work to prevail upon these poor Inhabitants, and mighty Rewards are promised to those who should surrender them: but because Money was scarce, Bargains were made with Multitudes of them, to have Grants of Fairs for surrender of their Charters, and those which refused had Quo Warranto's brought against them.

To humour the Court, and in perfect hope that in time the Mountains would bring forth, a Multitude of Corporations (or rather some loose vain Men, who assumed the Names of the Corporations) by heaps surrendred their Charters; and at excessive Rates (I cannot say renewed, but) took new ones, whereby the King reserved to himself the Power of disposing of all Places of Profit and Power, which at present was intrusted in their Hands who had betrayed their former Trust: nor did these Men care for the expence of purchasing their new Charter, tho it were to the starving the Poor of their Corporations, who should have been fed with the Monies expended in the Purchase.

But a Multitude of lewd Fellows, who in meaner Corporations, were all as willing to betray their Charters as the Richer, yet had not Money to purchase new ones, and without it nothing could be had, and never was King furnished with such a Lord Keeper (for by this time North, who had drawn the King's Declaration against petitioning for a Parliament, and for which he was impeached in Parliament, and had so highly merited in Colledge's Trial, was made Lord Keeper) and Attorney General for taking Money with both Hands; though by their Oaths they ought to have, to the best of their Skill, informed the King of the Justice and Lawfulness of all those things which were to pass the Seals: and this put some stop to the hurry of the surrender of Charters.

But in these Corporations there were some Members, who made a Conscience of their Oaths, and betraying their Trusts, [Page] and according to the Obligation to both, performed their Duties; but these were prosecuted as Rioters and Tumultuous Persons, and fined extravagantly, even to their undoing, and imprisoned till payment, and bound to their good Behaviour.

These things were not carried on with that Security, but some Umbrages of fear there were, that some Disturbances might arise before they could be brought to Perfection: to quell them, if they should happen, The Duke had secured Scotland, and had 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse, and a Year's Pay, to be assisting upon all Occasions; a greater liberty was given to the Irish than ever; and to crown the Work, Tangier is demolished, and the Garison which was a Nursery of Popish Officers and Souldiers, is brought over and placed in the most considerable Parts of England.

Whilst the King is framing this goodly Structure, the French King, against his Faith at the Treaty of Nimeguen, by foul and base Treachery, seizes upon Strasburg on the Rhine (the most considerable City of Germany) and by plain Force took Courtray, and the City of Luxemburgh from the Spaniard, notwithstanding the late Treaty of Mutual Assistance between the King and Spain, and had encreased his Men of War at Sea to be more and greater than those of the King's; and his New-found-land Fishery, to be twenty fold more than it was 1660. and the English fallen not to 1/ [...] of what it was: yet in this dreadful State, the Feuds of Whig and Tory no ways abated, and both so stupid as if neither were concerned in this Design common to them both.

But though this most religious and gracious King (for so the Tories will have him, to whom all their nonsensical Doctrine of Passive Obedience is due) had by the help and indefatigable Industry of the Tories, laid this Foundation for the Ruine and Destruction of this Church and State, yet he lived not to compleat this goodly Structure, for he died upon the sixth of February 1684-85. (it may be the sooner, because he made no more haste to do it) in the thirty seventh year of his Reign, computing it from his Father's Death, after he had lived fifty four Years, eight Months and eight days.

The Character of King Charles II.

HIS Person was of a very well composed Structure, tall above the ordinary Stature of other Men not much; much more resembling his Grandfather Henry IV. of France, by his Mother, than his Father, or his Grandfather King James: And as in his Person he more resembled Henry than either his Father or Grandfather James, so did he in his Humours; for both had lively and pleasant Wits, and would be wondrous facetious and pleasant with [Page] those which humour'd them in their Pleasures, and were of free Access; whereas King Charles the Father, was grave and severe in his way, hard of Access, and that by such strained Terms of Submission as were never heard of before in England, and, I believe, no where else: and King James was slovenly in his Behaviour, and more servile to his Favourites than they to him. Like his Grandfather Henry, Charles gave himself up to all sensual Pleasures, without any Controul; but unlike his Father, who was temperate and chaste: Like his Grandfather Henry in Profession of his Religion, for both seemingly professed that which neither believed; Unlike his Father, who while he did what he would, was severely addicted to what he professed: Unlike to his Father and Grandfather Henry in Covetousness, but like his Grandfather James in profuse Prodigality to his Favourites, but unlike his Father and Grandfather Henry in Parsimony, ill becoming so great Kings: like his Father and Grandfather James, in laying the Foundation of the Ruin of the Grandure of England abroad, and the Church and State at home; unlike his Grandfather Henry, who laid the Foundation of the Grandure of France.

Tho Henry and Charles were esteemed Clement and Merciful Princes, till the Rage of the latter end of Charles's Reign, yet both were most vindictive against any who reproached their licentious Liberty in their lustful Pleasures; as appears by Henry's putting the Duke of Biron to Death (more, as Sir Walter Raleigh observes, for the Taunt he gave when Henry brought Madam Gabriel to the Siege of Amines, That she was the Fortune of France, than for Biron's Conspiracy with the Duke of Savoy) and by that of cutting off Sir John Coventry's Nose, for the Report which was of Sir John, that he asked the Question, Which of the King's Favourites, Men or Women? Unlike to both Father and Grandfather James, Charles was to his own Cousin-German, the Elector-Palatine, for they both, at least seemingly, endeavoured to have restored the Prince's Father to his Country after he was dispossessed of it by the Emperor and King of Spain; whereas after this Prince was restored to a part of it by the Treaty of Munster, this King, without any Offence or Provocation given him by the Elector, assisted the French to ruin and destroy it.

But he's gone, God knows by what means, and the Possession of the Crown takes away all Attainders: And now he's gone, he left the Nation more vitiated and debauched in their Manners than ever it was before by any other King; having not only squander'd away the antient Revenues of the Crown, which were esteemed sacred, and which should have supported it against foreign Force and intestine Discord, but left such a Debt upon it as never before was heard of, nor contracted by such means, having prostituted the Majesty of his Crown in becoming a Pensioner to France, and advancing [Page] that Interest to be as formidable and dangerous to the rest of Christendom as to his own Dominions; and embroiled [...] Subjects in intestine Feuds and Discords, as if thereby he designed them an easy Prey to the French and Popish Interest; and having by Bribery and Corruption so vitiated all publick Offices, both Sacred, Civil, and Military, that they became habitual, and so fix'd, that it would become difficult, if possible, to reform them.

And as this King's Actions were little and dark, so was his Funeral, for never any King, who died possest, was so obscurely and meanly buried; hurried in the dead of the Night to his Grave, as if his Corps had been to be arrested for Debt, and not so much as the Blue-Coat-Boys attending it; his Brother, then King, shewing as little Gratitude to him for all his Favours, as he had done to the Nation for all their Loyalty, and incredible Sums of Money poured upon him: And as his Father and Grandfather had not a Stone to cover their Graves, thereby to preserve their Memories in future Generations; so neither had he, nor any of his Name hereafter is like to have, as King of England.

But now he is gone, all the dreadful Presages of the four last Parliaments are come upon the Nation; and nothing left to secure the Nation's Fears, unless that the Crown being so in Debt, and the Excise for the King's Life dying with him, the Parliament would not be so prodigal of their Bounty, as to grant this King's Successor such a Revenue, which might enable him to attain his Ends, by the Ruin of the Church and State of England.

The Good Deeds of King Charles II.

1. HIS dispensing with the Act of Navigation in the first Dutch War, whereby he was enabled to continue the War against the Dutch two Years longer than he did, and the Dutch otherwise might have fired the Ships in our Harbours a Year sooner, and forced the King to a more inglorious Peace than that he made in the Year 1667, whilst the Parliament, in the Temper it was in, sat still, and took no notice of these things.

Objection. If the King has Power to dispense with the Act of Navigation, by the same Reason he may dispense with other Laws; and so the Laws of the Nation will be loose, and subject to the King's Will at his Pleasure.

Answer I. I wish all Legislators in passing Laws would be of another Temper than when the Rump made this Law, which was in spight of the Dutch, without any Consideration of the dreadful Consequences it has brought upon the Nation both within and without; or in another Temper than the Parliament was in in the [Page] twelfth Year of the King, when they passed or confirmed this Law without any consideration of Times, whether in War or Peace.

II. If the Act of Navigation had been in general a good Law, yet Times must be distinguished; and in War, Civil Laws are silent: so that for the Preservation of the Publick, the King may destroy particular Mens Interest, as in case of firing the Suburbs of a City to preserve the City, and destroy the Fruits of the Ground rather than these shall sustain an Enemy to the endangering the whole Nation: but it was much more reasonable for the King to grant Liberty, without any Destruction or Wrong to his Subjects, to dispense with the Act of Navigation, and give all Foreigners Liberty to import Gunpowder and all sorts of Naval Scores, &c. for the Nation's Preservation in the time of War with the Dutch. And, I say, it was Prudence in Oliver, tho in time of Peace, to dispense with the Act of Navigation in reference to the Trade to Norway and Sweden, after the Norway Merchants had represented to him, how grievously the Norwegians, by this Act imposed upon not only the English Subjects, but upon Oliver himself, in building and fitting up his Men of War.

2. The second better Act of King Charles, was his dispensing with the Law against Foreigners partaking the Benefits of the natural-born Subjects of England, by permitting Brewer and his Walloons (tho Papists) after they fled from the Rage of the French Ravages in Flanders in 1667, to plant and settle themselves in the West; whereby the English became instructed how to make and dye fine Woollen Cloths 30 per Cent. cheaper than they could before: and herein the King imitated two of his most glorious Predecessors that ever reigned in England, I mean Edward III. and Queen Elizabeth, Princes who no ways affected Tyranny or Arbitrary Power.

I say the King might justly and legally do this; for tho the King cannot dispense with Laws which have a complicated Interest with himself and Subjects, to the Wrong of his Subjects; yet the King may dispense with those Penalties which properly belong to him, even in criminal Cases, as to the Life and Estate of an Offender, and therefore much more where there is no Offence, and the End for the publick Good: as in this Case of Brewer, and all other Foreigners, the Penalty is, if they trade, they shall pay Strangers Duties; but this is to the King; and if he pleases, he may take to other Duties than his natural-born Subjects pay, whereby the Foreign and Fishing Trades which are carried on in Holland might not be carried out of England, and thereby the Navigation of England become double or treble to what it now is, and the ruined and even desolate Coast-Towns of England flourish, as Hamburgh, Amsterdam, Gottenburgh, Diep, St. Maloes, and other Ports. Would not this be not only for the enriching, but strengthning the Nation, [Page] and that in a double Proportion? for we should be so much more rich and strong here, as other Nations would be less, and in a worse state to make War upon us. Nay, should we only make our Ports free, as Leghorn, Marseilles, and as of late the Pope has Civita Vecchia, would not the Nation be so much more enriched as the Goods imported are more? I would know from whence else it was that France became so enriched above all other Countries (for Mines they have none) but from the vast Trades the English, Dutch, Swedes, and Danes, drove in France?

And suppose the King should dispense with Foreigners purchasing Lands in England, and not take them, as he may do if he pleases, whereby Millions of Money would be brought into England, the Lands we shall have still; and would not the Nation be so much more enriched hereby as the Purchase-Monies are more? And would not the Nation be so much more peopled and strengthned, as the Purchasers are more? and the King's Revenue by Excise and Customs so much more encreased, as the Consumption of these and their Descendants shall be more? Merchants, to enrich themselves and the Nation, run great Hazards, and are often undone in their Merchandizing; whereas the Nation, nor any Man else, runs any Hazard by Foreigners purchasing Lands in England.

Ambitious Princes, to acquire more Subjects, run great Hazard, and destroy and make Men miserable, and ruin Countries, to accomplish their Designs; whereas none of these attend the Permission of Foreigners to trade and inhabit among us: and when they are once settled, theirs and the Nation's Interest will be the same, and both alike obliged to defend them.

Xenophon, in Cyropaedia, says, That by reason of the Goodness and Justice of Cyrus's Reign, many Nations became his Subjects. Will any say Cyrus was less a King hereby? Or should we be less a Nation, if by the Benefit of our many Advantages in Trade we should by others encrease our Trade, which we cannot of our selves? Nay, should we not so much more enrich and strengthen our selves? When I consider these things, I wonder Foreigners should be at such Charges to purchase their Freedom by an Act of Parliament, whenas the King may do it if he pleases; unless it be that their Posterity shall not inherit: but if the King may permit Foreigners to purchase without taking the Forfeitures, or grant them a Licence to purchase, he may grant them a Licence to settle their Estates as they please.

3. The third good Act of K. Charles, was his marrying the late Queen to his present Majesty, tho by the manner of it, it seems to me he did it by Surprize; and I'm apt to believe, if he could well have come off from it again he would, as appears by the Story.

4. We may add this fourth, That he bred up the late Queen and her Sister after the Religion of the Church of England.

[Page]

A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England, DURING THE REIGN OF King JAMES II, &c.
BOOK V.

WHAT before King Charles II. acted in Masquerade, King James did bare-fac'd; and here you'll see how plain and easy a Passage the Absolute Will and Pleasure-Men, and Passive Obedience-Men had made for this King to overthrow the whole Church and State of England, and by what steps he proceeded in it; the King's Speeches looking one way, and he going quite contrary.

Upon the 6th of February in 1684/85. the Day of his Brother's Death, the King declared in Council, That since it had pleased God to place him in that Station, to succeed so good and gracious a King, as well as so kind a Brother; that he thinks fit to declare his Endeavours to follow his Brother's Example, more especially in that of his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People, and make it his Endeavour to preserve the Government both in Church and State, as it is by Law established; Commends the Church of [Page] England's Principles and Members; knows likewise, that the Laws of England are sufficient to make the King as great a Monarch as he can wish; and therefore, as he will never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown, so he will never invade any Man's Property.

The next Sunday after his Brother's Death, the King went publickly to Mass, and that Week (I think) he order'd his Brother's dying in the Communion of the Church of Rome, and before his Death, his receiving his Viaticum, and other Ceremonies of that Church, and attested by Father Huddleston, to be printed; and also the Papers taken out of the King's Strong-box, shewing, that however he outwardly appeared otherwise in his Life, yet in his Heart he was sincerely a true Roman Catholick: So that however he promised to preserve the Church of England, as by Law established, yet his Profession was of the Church of Rome, which curses the Church of England, and declares them Hereticks, Schismaticks, and Sacrilegious Persons, with whom no Faith is to be kept.

The King's Father, Charles I, took the Customs before granted by Parliament; this King took both Customs and the Excise, granted only for the Life of his Brother, before they were given him by Parliament: How this corresponded with the King's Promise but the Week before, that he would never invade any Man's Property, I do not understand; for tho in every Government no Man has Property against the Supream Power, yet by the English Constitutions, the Supream Power of the Nation is in the Parliament, in Conjunction with the King: and the King's taking both the Customs and Temporary Excise for his Brother's Life, by his only Will and Pleasure, was as much a Violation upon the Property of the Subject, as if he had taken the rest of their Goods and Inheritances.

To the King's Promise of preserving the Church and State of England as by Law established, he adds, That he will imitate his kind Brother in his great Clemency, and Tenderness of his People.

The first Act of the King's Clemency and Tenderness to his People, was extended to Dr. Oates; but tho the Act was compleated in this King's Reign, the Scene was laid in his good and gracious Brother's, when Oates was Fined 100000 l. for Scandalum Magnatum against the Duke of York, in saying, The Duke was reconciled to the Church of Rome, and to be kept close Prisoner till the Fine was paid.

Oates being thus mew'd up, upon the King's coming to the Crown an Indictment of Perjury is contrived against him upon two Points; one, That Ireland was not in London from the 3d of August in 1678, till the 14th of September next following; when Oates, in Ireland's Trial, said, He was in a Consult concerning the killing the King, about the middle of August: The other was, That [Page] Oates was at St. Omers all April and May in 1678; when Oates, in Harcourt and Whitebread's, &c. Trials swore, They were at a Consult the 24th of April, concerning killing the King, and establishing the Popish Religion. But that a better View may be had of this Trial of Oates, it's fit to look back into King Charles II's Reign.

It seems evident to me, That after the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford, (and I believe it will to any other that shall read King Charles's History) that he designed never after to have another Parliament, until he should get the Corporations to surrender their Charters, so as they should elect no other Members than pleased him; and in the mean time to take off the Heads of those who were zealous in prosecuting the Popish Plot.

Upon the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford, the Feuds between the Whigs and Tories were in highest Ferment; so that whatever was done against the Whigs, was cried up by the Tories, and Addresses made by them to the King, that they would live and die with him, in them. And because the Whigs (as they were called) would not find Bills against my Lord of Shaftsbury and Colledge, they resolved to carry the Election of Sheriffs in 1682, wherein Mr. Dubois and Mr. Papillon (Whigs) stood Candidates against Sir Peter Rich and Sir Dudley North (Tories); but they resolved by Right or Wrong Rich and North should carry it, and so they did; but by what Right, you may judg by the Prints.

The Tories having gained this Point, Sir R. S. Gra. and Burt. are Instruments for packing Juries; the Judges, North, Pemberton, and Saunders, &c. shall do their parts for declaring Charters void, and for Trying Fitz-Harris, my Lord Russel, Colonel Sidney, Sir Thomas Armstrong, &c.

But the taking off the Heads of the Whigs was but half this Design; the impeached Lords in the Tower must be let loose, or the Game was but half play'd: This was so ticklish a Point, that neither Pemberton nor Saunders could be brought up to it; but Saunders dying, and Pemberton removed to the Common Pleas, Sir Geo. Jeffries was set up to do this Work, which he did to content, and so was initiated to do what other Journey-work the Court should order. And now before him Oates is to be tried for Perjury, upon the two Points aforesaid.

Ireland was tried above six Years before, viz. in December 1678, before a Jury of Judges in the Old-Baily, and so was Whitebread and Harcourt within about a Month less than six Years, viz. in June 1679. Ireland pleaded he was not in London from the 3d of August till the 14th of September; and Whitebread, Harcourt, &c. pleaded that Oates was at St. Omers all April and May in 1678; so that if their Witnesses said true, 'twas impossible Oates's Testimony of Whitebread's being at the Consult in April, and Ireland's in August, could be true.

[Page] That Oates was in Town in April and May in 1678, was proved by Sir Richard Barker, Mr. Walker a Minister, Mr. Clay a Romish Priest, Mrs. Mayo, Sarah Ives, Mr. Smith (Oates's Schoolmaster, with whom Oates dined about the Beginning of May) Mr. Page, and Butler (Sir Richard Barker's Coachman.) But besides Oates and Bedlow's swearing Ireland was at the Consult in August, only Sarah Pain (who had been Servant to Grove, one of the Jesuits) swore Ireland was in Town in August.

Oates thus mew'd up, the St. Omers Boys are sent for over in all haste (and you need not doubt had new Instructions) and the Crew of Staffordshire Witnesses: the Boys to swear Oates was at St. Omers all April and May; the Staffordshire Witnesses, that Ireland was in Staffordshire, or thereabouts, in August and September. Jeffries was the Judg, and you need not doubt of a Jury, to chime into Jeffries summing up the Evidence.

Things standing in this Posture, Oates is tried upon the 9th of May upon Perjury, upon these two Points. At the Trial, Oates could get only four Witnesses to appear, (and 'twas a Wonder he could get any) viz. Mr. Walker the Minister, who after so long time, durst not trust to his Memory, to swear positively Oates was in Town, unless he should have the Minutes of his Examination before; and so Mr. Page; but Mayo and Butler both swore Oates was in Town: but unless Sarah Pain could be found, 'twas impossible for Oates to prove Ireland was in Town in August, for Bedlow was dead, and Oates could not swear for himself.

But Ex tempore verum nascitur. Ireland was Confessor to Mr. John Jenison, Father of Mr. Thomas Jenison, (a Jesuit in this Conspiracy, and who died in Newgate) elder Brother of Mr. Robert Jenison: This Mr. Jenison having been at Windsor in August 1678, came from thence to Ireland's Chamber the 19th, and found him pulling off his Boots on the Frame of a Table, being newly come from Staffordshire. Ireland ask'd him from whence he came? who told him, from Windsor. Ireland enquired about the Diversions of the Court; Jenison said, His Majesty's chief Delight was in Hawking and Fishing, accompanied only with two or three, early in the Morning: How easily then might he be taken off! answer'd Ireland. Then Ireland asked Mr. Jenison if he would be assisting in taking off the King? which if he would, Ireland said he would forgive him 20 l. which he owed Ireland. Afterwards Ireland ask'd him if he knew any Irish-men, who were courageous and stout? Jenison told him he knew Captain Levallian, Kerney, Broghall, and Wilson: then Ireland ask'd him if he would go along with these, and assist in taking off the King? which he refusing, Ireland said he knew Levallian and Kerney, and set down the other two Names in writing, and said he was going to the Club to Mr. Coleman, Mr. Levallian, and Kerney; and dunn'd Mr. Jenison for the 20 l. [Page] which he owed Ireland: but Ireland, at his Death, denying he was in Town, from the third of August till the fourteenth of September, Mr. Jenison changed his Religion upon it, and printed the Reason; and after upon his Oath at my Lord Stafford's Trial declared this, and a farther Account of the Conspiracy against the King, and for introducing the Popish Religion.

If living Testimonies shall be doubted, yet I conceive I shall put it out of doubt, that Ireland was in Town, when his Staffordshire Witnesses said he was in Staffordshire, by a Proof which could not be bribed or corrupted.

One Mr. Benjamin Hinton, a Goldsmith in Lombard-street, was Ireland's Cashier; and Mr. Hinton going out of Town at that time in Aug. 1678, met Ireland at or about Barnet, coming for London, when Ireland told him, that he had extraordinary Occasions for Money, and urged Hinton to go back with him; but Hinton told him, his Man could do Ireland's Business as well as he, and his Occasions would not permit him to go back. I asked Mr. Hinton the Truth of this, to which he would not give me any Answer; but be this true or false, it's entred into Hinton's Book of Accompts, paid to Mr. Ireland's own Hands, whereas the other Entries are, paid by his Order: and 'tis said Mr. Hinton's Man would depose he paid these Monies to Ireland himself.

Mr. Hinton afterwards failing, a Commission of Bankrupt was sued against him, and his Book of Accompts was delivered, and kept at the Widow Vernon's Coffee-house in Bartholomew Lane, on the back side of the Royal Exchange, where any Man may see the Truth of this Entry. I am assured Mr. Hinton was in Court at Oates his Trial, to have testified this, but was terrified from it for fear of being undone.

However Oates was found guilty of Perjury upon both Points in this Trial, before Jefferies and his Brethren; and his Sentence was to be whipt from Aldgate to Newgate, the next Wednesday after, and the Friday after (but a Day between) from Newgate to Tyburn, which was put in Execution with the utmost Rigour; the Stripes of the first Whipping being so sore and green upon the second, that few other Men could have undergone the second; to stand in the Pillory five times in the Year, and to be a Prisoner during Life, which was as close as his Whipping was severe. This was the first Act of this King's Clemency and Tenderness to his People, in Imitation of his good, gracious and kind Brother, and this before any general Pardon (as is usual upon Kings coming to their Crowns) or the Parliament had met: but it might be easily presaged whereto this tended; and tho it began with Oates, yet Dangerfield underwent as severe a Punishment, with a worse Fate, for discovering the Meal-Tub Plot, to have thrown the Popish Plot upon the Presbyterians.

[Page] These were the Preparations which King James made before the Parliament met, to demonstrate to the World and them, how sincerely he had made good his Promise to his Privy Council, That he would never invade any Man's Property, and imitate his good and gracious Brother in his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People; and make it his Endeavours to preserve the Government both in Church and State, as it was established by Law: By Law; no new Laws can be made, nor old ones repealed, or the Subject taxed, but by Parliament. But Flatterers in this King's Father, and Grand-father's Reign, ascribed these Powers to the King without Consent in Parliament, and that Obedience was due to their Absolute Will and Pleasure; and the Parasites of this King and his Brother did the same, but under a new Doctrine, termed Passive Obedience: but these Princes not trusting to this, would make a Parliament Felo de se, and by corrupting them in their Principles, ruin the Being of them, and so to be at the sole disposing of the Prince.

The House of Commons is made up of 513 Members, whereof 92 are Knights of Shires and Counties, the rest are Citizens, Burgesses, and Barons of the Cinque Ports, so as the Knights of the Shires are not near one Fourth of the House of Commons. The King creates the Temporal Lords in Parliament, and names the Spiritual: so that if the King can make the Members of Corporations to give up their Charters, and take such as he shall grant, it will be in his Power to make above ⅘ of the House of Commons.

The Parliament at Oxford being dissolved, the Contrivance of the Court was to play this Game; but because Quo Warranto's against all the Charters in England, tho the King had made Judges, and the Sheriffs would be sure to return such Juries as should be sure to do the Work, would take up so much time, as King Charles should never live to enjoy the Fruits of his Design;

'Twas therefore contrived, that after the Court had got North and Rich Sheriffs to return such Juries as should do their Work, to begin at the City of London; and if the Court could have Judgment against their Charter, few or none of the other Corporations would presume to abide the Contest.

So said, so done; for in Trinity-Term, in 1682, Judgment was given against the City Charter, yet there were three remarkable Observations upon it: First, It was without any Precedent. Secondly, It was by two Judges only, and but two Arguments upon it, and no Reason given of it: And Thirdly, it was ushered in but two Days before, by pretending the discovering of a Plot to amuse the Nation; so as no Man presumed to take notice of the Legality of this Judgment, for fear of being prosecuted for Arraigning the Justice of the Nation, and flying in the Face of the Government.

[Page] Hereupon Swarms of the richer Sort of Corporations surrendred their Charters, and took new ones, as the King pleased, and paid dear for them, and the King in return of their Kindness granted them new Fairs and Markets; but tho the richer Sort of the Corporations could pay the Keeper North, and Attorney Sawyer sound Fees for their Purchase, yet a Multitude of the meaner Sort could not come to their Price, and without Money no New Charters could be had, which put a Rub to the compleating this Work in King Charles his time; yet the good Will of the Members of these petty Corporations was not less.

The King's Care for the Knights of Shires, was less than for the Corporations; for the Sheriffs, Lords, and Deputy-Lieutenants, and Justices of Peace being of the King's Nomination, and the Tory Party having perfectly subdued the Whigs, the King by the same Power which made North and Rich Sheriffs, could have what Knights of Shires he pleased.

King James made good his Word he promised his Privy Council, that he would never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown; (of which no Question is to be made, but those which his good and gracious Brother had left him possest of, were the principal) and how hasty soever he was after in his Actions, yet he took great Care how to exercise the Prerogative his Brother assumed in modelling Corporations, to improve it to his utmost Advantage; and therefore, though his Brother died upon the 6th of February, 1684-85, yet no Parliament met till the 19th of May, and then they did not sit to act before the 28th, which is much more than threefold the time from the issuing out of the Writs, and the 40 Days of their Meeting.

In the mean time all Hands are set on work to chuse such Members as should do the Court's Work; they were sure enough of such Corporations as had surrendred their Charters, and bought new ones; the beggarly ones, which could not come up to the Price of renewing their Charters, were graciously promised to have new ones Gratis, as they after had, if they behaved themselves well in the Choice of their Members: The Lords and Deputy-Lieutenants were as imperious in the Choice of Knights of the Shire, as my Lord Mayor was in the Choice of North and Rich for Sheriffs. But that we may take a better View of the Acts of the Parliament of King James, it's fit to consider how the Case stood with the King.

King James while he was Duke of York, was observed to be constant to his Word, and a true Friend, which made him more courted than his Brother; he had a Revenue of near 150000 l. per An. and was a frugal and careful manager of it; and this he brought as an Accession to the Crown, when he became King: K. Charles had more built, and better furnished his Royal Palaces [Page] (which he had not given away) than any King of England before; and the Parliament about six Years before his Death, had given him 600000 l. for building thirty new Men of War, to make his Fleet more formidable than that of the Dutch, or French King, and the Nation in Peace unless among our selves; so that it might have been reasonably expected a much less Revenue than what King Charles had, added to that of the Duke's, might have supported the ordinary Expence of the Crown, if no extraordinary should happen.

Notwithstanding all this, the King upon the 28th of May, told the Members (such as they were) the same things he told his Privy Council, that he might not seem to have said it by chance; and in return thereof, he expected they should settle his Revenue (because he had taken it without them) during his Life, as it was in the time of his Brother, for the Well-being of the Government, which he must not suffer to be precarious, which I believe was the first time any King of England so caressed a Parliament; but these (if they were worthy to be called a Parliament) being made to his Hand, the King might do and say to them what he pleased.

Before the Kings of the Scotish Race came to bear rule over us, the Methods of Parliaments were to represent the Grievances of the Nation; and upon Redress of them the Parliament gave the King a Gratuity, which before the 35th of Queen Elizabeth, did never exceed one Subsidy, and two Tenths of Fifteenths; and the King in return, granted an Act of Pardon to his Subjects: Thus a mutual Correspondence was entertained between the King and Kingdom.

But when King James the first came to the Crown, the representing the Grievances of the Nation, by his disorderly Reign, was Language intolerable to him, so that of four Parliament▪ (which were all he had in his Reign) in the last he boasted, He had broke the Neck of three of them; and his Son broke the neck of the four first Parliaments of his Reign: yet such was the Temper of those Times, that to humour th [...]se Princes, the Parliament of 18 Jac. I. and the 1st Car. I. altered the Methods of Parliament, and that of the 18th gave King James two entire Subsidies; and that of the 1st Car. I. gave King Charles two entire Subsidies before Grievances were redressed. King James I. in return of their kindness, not only brake the Neck of the Parliament, but committed many of the worthiest Members close Prisoners to the Tower, for pre [...]ming to debate them: King Charles did not commit any Members of this Parliament (tho he did in his 3d and 4th Parliament) but brake the Neck of the Parliament rather than they should enquire into the Duke of Buckingham's Actions, and the imbezelling the Monies given by the Parliament for the Support of the Palatinate.

[Page] Heretofore Grievances were in the Nation, whereas at the Death of King Charles the II. the whole Nation was in a most grievous and dangerous State, which the Parliament of King James (if it be worthy to be so called) took so little notice of, that instead of representing the State of the Nation to King James, they without redressing any, gave him a Revenue, to enable him to ruin Church and State, upon the Foundation which his Brother had laid.

The 1st Act was to settle the Customs and temporary Excise upon the King as it was settled before upon his Brother; but the King had little reason to thank them for that, for he took both before they gave them, and called them by that Title, His Revenue.

The 3d Act was an Imposition upon Wines and Vinegars, imported between the 24th of June 1685, until the 24th of June 1693, towards a Supply for Repairs of the Navy, and providing Stores for the Navy and Ordnance, and other his Majesty's weighty and important Occasions: They shall soon find the weight and importance of his Majesty's Occasions. But this was not the only Reason; the Customs which were 800000 l. per annum, as granted to his Brother, and a greater Revenue than any King of England (except the religious Houses, granted to Henry the VIII.) had before, would have done this: They add their thankful Acknowledgment of his Majesty's favourable and tender regard of his Commons; They had but little experience of it yet, and shall find less afterward.

The 4th Act grants in Imposition upon all Tobaccos and Sugars, from the 24th of June 1685, to the 24th of June 1693, for the Repairs of the Navy, and providing Stores for the Navy and Ordnance, and the payment of Debts due to his late Majesty's Servants and Family, and other the King's weighty and important Affairs: But this Act being represented to be dangerous to the Trade of our Plantations, some of the Members said for the King, if it succeeded so, the King promised not to collect them, so the Act passed. But the Plantations being sore oppressed by this Act, claimed the Benefit of the King's Promise, but were answered, It was Insolence in any Subject to challenge the King of his Promise, which was all the Benefit they reaped by it.

The 5th Act granted the King an Imposition on all French Linens, and all East-India Linen, and several other Manufactures of India, and French wrought Silks and Stuffs, and all Brandies imported from the first Day of July 1685, to the first day of July 1690. The reason of this Act was, the Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion, and the Acknowledgment of his Majesty's favourable and tender regard of his Commons.

And that there might be a nearer Conjunction between the King and his dear Brother of France, for carrying on their great and important Affairs, the Parliament repealed the Prohibition of [Page] French Wine, Vinegar, Brandy, Linen, Cloth, Silks, Malt, Paper, or any Manufactures made or mixed with Silk, Thread, Wool, Hair, Gold or Silver, or Leather, being of the Growth and Manufacture of France, by the 29th and 30th of King Charles the Second.

The 9th Act enables the King to make Grants, Leases and Copies of Offices, Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments of the Dutchy of Cornwal, or annexed to the same; and if this were not enough, it confirms the Grants already made: so that all the sacred Patrimony of the Crown, which was not squandred away by his Brother, this King is intituled to do by Law.

Yet after all this, that this good King might be at no unnecessary Charges, the 10th Act makes provision for necessary Carriages for him in his Royal Progress and Removal, how grievous soever to the Subject.

The 11th Act provides Carriages by Land and Water, for the use of his Majesty's Navy and Ordnance.

And after all this, the 12th Act grants the King five Shillings per Tun extraordinary upon every Voyage, which any Foreign Ship shall make from Port to Port in England, and twelve pence per Tun for every Voyage which a Foreign built Ship, not free, shall make.

I have heard this Revenue with the Hereditary Excise, and the other Revenues of the Crown, computed at 2400000 l. per Ann. to which Revenue if you add 150000 l. per Ann. which the King had when he was Duke of York, the whole will amount to two Millions five hundred and fifty thousand Pounds per Ann. which was threefold more than ever any King of England (except Hen. VIII.) had before this King's Brother.

But Quorsum haec? for except the Tumult which the Duke of Monmouth raised, the Nation was at Peace abroad; so that by granting the King this Revenue, one of these two Consequences would necessarily follow: either the King might maintain an Army of forty thousand Men, to ride the Nation as he pleased; or if he would contract his Expence to 700000 l. per Ann. which, I say, was a greater Revenue than ever King of England (except Hen. VIII.) had before his Brother, he might in less than seven years time, hoard up more Money in his Exchequer (allowing ten Millions to be in England) than was in the Nation; and thereby render the Nation in as bad a State as Egypt was in the Reign of Pharaoh, in the seven Years Famine, when the Egyptians were forced to sell the King their Land to buy them Bread. Now let's see to whom this Revenue was given, and who gave it.

This King was a profest Jesuited Papist, whose Principles are, That not only the Givers of this Revenue, but the whole English Nation (except the Popish Faction) are Schismaticks, Sacrilegious Persons, [Page] and Hereticks, with whom no Faith is to be kept; and could any Man believe this profuse Donative which these Men gave, who called themselves a Parliament, could change the King's Nature, and the Principles of the Jesuits, which forsooth must be infallible, so that the King should neglect these, and imploy this Revenue for the benefit of Schismaticks, Hereticks and Sacrilegious Persons?

And if in all free Assemblies, a Violence or Contempt upon any one, who hath a Right of Suffrage, invalidates all the Acts of that Assembly; what then shall be deemed of this House of Commons, where such Violences were offered in the Election of the Knights of Shires, and where so many Corporations were either over-aw'd to surrender their Charters, or had perfidiously against their Oaths given them up to take new ones, as the King pleased? And if the first Act of Henry IV. repealed all the Acts of the 21 Rich. II. because they intrenched upon the fundamental Rights of the Nation, I'm sure there is more Reason for the Parliament to repeal the Acts of this pretended Parliament, where so many Violences and Frauds were done before their Assembly, which we do not read were done before the Parliament of 21 Rich. II. met.

And as this grave Assembly heaped such a Revenue upon the King without redress of one Grievance, so they took no care to secure the Nation by a general Act of Grace or Pardon for time past, but left all to the King's good Nature, who had promised to imitate his good and gracious Brother, but especially in his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People. And now the Parliament had done the King's work, they had done their own too; and for the time to come, he will do what he pleaseth without them: yet at present, he only prorogued them till November following, when they shall hear more of his Mind. And now 'tis time to see what the King acted between.

The first Act of Gratitude which the King testified to the Memory of his good and gracious Brother, was his obscure and mean Burial of him, as you have heard before.

And after the King had defeated the Tumult raised by the Duke of Monmouth, his next Act of Gratitude to his kind Brother, was to sign a Warrant of Execution for the Duke (his Brother's beloved Son) without any Trial or Process of Law against him: But his Grandfather James the First had either done the like, or at least not unlike it, when he came to Newark upon Trent, in his Passage to London, at his first coming to the Crown; one was said to cut a Purse, whereupon the King without more ado signed a Warrant for his Execution to the Sheriff, and the poor Fellow was executed accordingly.

The Duke suffered upon the 15th of July, but the Issue of Blood did not stanch with him▪ for towards the latter end of August, a [Page] Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer was granted to Sir George Jefferies, and four other Judges, to try the Duke of Monmouth's Adherents in the West: But as the Duke suffered without any Trial, and so was unjustly put to Death, so I believe, this Commission was initiated by such a Trial as can scarce be parallel'd by any other; and this was the Case.

Alicia Lisle, a Woman of extream Age, was Wife of Lisle, (one of King Charles the First's Judges, and who was President of the High Court of Justice, as 'twas then called, in the Trials of Duke Hamilton, the Earl of Holland, and my Lord Capel; and also in the Trial of Sir Henry Slingsby, Dr. Hewet, &c.) and had entertained after the Defeat of the Duke of Monmouth, one Hicks (a Non-Conformist Minister) who was with the Duke, not in any Proclamation that he was so; and one Richard Nelthorp (a Stranger to Mrs. Lisle) who was in the Proclamation, and Out-lawed of High Treason; for which she was tried at Winchester for High Treason, for comforting and assisting Rebels.

It appears by the publick Prints, the Jury were so unsatisfied by the Evidence, (Hicks not being in any Proclamation, and Nelthorp unknown to Mrs. Lisle) that they thrice brought her in Not Guilty; at last, upon Jefferies Threats, they brought her in Guilty of High Treason, and so had Sentence passed upon her accordingly, which in Women is to be burnt, but the Execution was by beheading of her; so that whether the Sentence was just or not, the Execution was unjust; for though the King may pardon or mitigate the Punishment of any Crime against him, as to pardon Treason, or to mitigate the Execution to beheading, which is part of the Sentence, yet he cannot alter the Punishment into any other than the Law prescribes: but the Convention after King William came in, were so dissatisfied in her Case, that though they could not restore her to Life, yet they reverst the Judgment for her Death.

From this uncertain Justice, Jefferies and his Brethren make haste to proceed in their Commission Summo Jure, and from Winchester, by Salisbury, upon the 3d of September (a day fam'd for Oliver's Victory over the Scots at Dunbar, over King Charles the II. at Worcester, and for his Death) arrives at Dorchester; and because time was precious, the next day Jefferies contrives this Stratagem to shorten his Work.

Thirty Persons being found by the Grand Inquest to have assisted the Duke of Monmouth, when they came upon their Trials, and before they had pleaded, Jefferies told them, that whosoever pleaded Not Guilty, and was found so, should have little time to live, and if any expected Favour, he must plead Guilty.

[Page] But the Prisoners trusted little to what Jefferies said, and pleaded Not Guilty, yet 29 were found Guilty, and immediately Sentence was passed upon them, and a Warrant of Execution signed upon Monday following; after which a couple of Officers were sent to the Goal, to take the Names of all the Prisoners, who told the Prisoners, if they confest, they might expect Mercy, otherwise none was to be hoped for: these wretched Men thus wheedled, pleaded Guilty, and so at one Sentence Jefferies condemned 292, whereof 80 were executed.

From Dorchester Jefferies proceeded to Exeter, and used the same Stratagem as at Dorchester: for one Mr. Fower Acres being arraigned, and pleading Not Guilty, yet being found so, had immediately Sentence passed upon him, and Execution awarded upon it; whereupon 243 pleaded Guilty, and by one Sentence had Judgment passed upon them.

From Exeter Jefferies marched to Taunton, where some few pleaded Not Guilty; but being found, had immediately Sentence and Execution awarded; the rest terrified, pleaded Guilty, and had Sentence passed upon them: and thence Jefferies marched to Wells, where he finished his bloody Assize, where and at Taunton he condemned above 509, whereof 239 were executed, and had their Heads and Quarters set up in the principal Places, and High Roads of Somerset and Dorsetshires, to the terror of Passengers, and annoyance of those Parts. In these Executions I find one remarkable Story; it's printed in a Treatise, called The New Martyrology, fol. 478.

Colonel Holmes, and 11 more of those condemned at Dorchester, were carried from Dorchester to Lime towards their Execution, by six in a Coach, and six in a Cart; and at Lime they were put in a Sledg prepared to carry them to be executed; but the Horses could not be driven to go, but turned backward: whereupon the Coach-horses were taken from the Coach, and put to draw the Sledg, but then the Sledg broke; so the poor Men were forced to go on their Feet to their Execution.

I will not dispute the Justice of these Executions; but I say, Justice ought to look forward, viz. to terrify others from committing like Crimes, never backward to take Pleasure in punishing; and a black Brand is set upon the Reigns of those Princes which shed much Blood: nor do we read in any Story, such a Sea of Blood flowed from Justice as did in less than eight Months after this King began his Reign: and that which rendred it more remarkable was the King's Profession to his Privy Council, and after to the Parliament, That he would imitate his good and gracious Brother, but above all, in his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People.

[Page] But if Justice look'd forward in Jeffries's Executions, it did not in Kirk's, (who was one of King James's Major-Generals in the Expedition against the Duke of Monmouth) who when after the Duke's Defeat he came to Taunton, caused 90 wounded Men, who had been taken Prisoners, not permitting their Wives or Children to speak with them, to be hang'd, with Pipes playing, Drums beating, and Trumpets sounding; and after, their Bowels to be burnt, their Quarters to be boiled in Pitch, and hang'd in several parts of the Town: and I have heard, that when afterwards Kirk was charged with this Inhumanity, he excused it, that he could do no less, it being but part of the Instructions he had from the Right Honourable the Earl of F—, General in this famous Expedition.

As yet no Pardon could be hoped for to any one, but by those which could purchase it by the Ruin of their Estates; and those which could not purchase one, were sold for Slaves to the Plantations.

When Justice could take no further place, then out comes a Pardon, but so ridiculously cruel, as will scarcely be believed; for not only those who escaped were excepted, but a Company of Girls, some of 8 or 9 Years old, who had made some Colours, and presented them to the Duke of Monmouth while he was at Taunton, these were excepted by Name; and no Pardon could be purchased for this Treason, till the Girls Parents had paid more for it than would have provided a Marriage Portion when they should come of Age.

But suppose the King did imitate his good and gracious Brother in his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People, and that Justice only looked forward in these Executions; yet we will give Instances wherein this King did not imitate his good and gracious Brother in his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People.

Alderman Cornish, tho he had committed two horrible Crimes in the Reign of King Charles; one, in presuming to examine Fitz-Harris while he was a Prisoner in Newgate, before he was hurried from thence to the Tower, to prevent his further Examination; the other, that he testified at Fitz-Harris's Trial, that King Charles told Mr. Cornish, that the King did countenance Fitz-Harris in his Design, and had given him Money; yet King Charles was so good and gracious, as not to take away Mr. Cornish's Life.

But the offended Ghosts of Coleman, Ireland, Harcourt, &c. were no ways appeased by the Blood which flowed from the Stripes of Oates's Sentence; nothing less than a Sacrifice of humane Blood must be offered to them, and this to be performed by affixing Sacred Justice to it.

[Page] Upon Tuesday the—of October, Mr. Cornish, having no dread of any Accusation upon him for any Crime, but freely following his Profession, was clapt up close Prisoner in Newgate, without use of Pen, Ink, or Paper, till Saturday Noon, when he had notice of an Indictment of High Treason against him on Monday following, and could get no Friend to come to him till 8 a clock at Night: Next Day Mr. Cornish's Children petitioned the King to have his Trial put off, which was referred to the Judges (who you may be assured had their Instructions) who denied it, tho he knew not whether his Trial were for Treason against this or the late King, and his most material Witness was above 140 Miles off, and was also denied a Copy of the Pannel of his Jury.

The Charge of High Treason against him was, That in the Year 1682, he had promised to be assisting to James late Duke of Monmouth, William Russel Esquire, and Sir Thomas Armstrong, in their Treasons against King Charles II.

The only Witness to prove this was Colonel Rumsey; who swore, That about the latter end of October, or beginning of November, at Mr. Sheppard's House, Ferguson told Mr. Cornish, that he had read a Paper to the Duke of Monmouth, Lord Russel, Lord Grey, and Sir Thomas Armstrong, which they desired should be read to Mr. Cornish; that Mr. Sheppard held the Candle while it was reading, and afterward they asked him how he liked it, who said he liked it very well. He remembred two Points in it very well; one was for Liberty of Conscience, the other was, That all who would assist in that Insurrection who had had Kings Lands, or Church Lands, should have them restored to them. Rumsey did not hear all the Paper, but observed only these two Points; it was a Declaration on a Rising, and when the Rising was to have been, it was to have been dispersed abroad: there was a Rising intended at that time, and Mr. Cornish said, He liked the Declaration, and what poor Interest he had he would join in it.

Rumsey had sworn at my Lord Russel's Trial, that Mr. Cornish was not at the Reading or the Declaration by Ferguson; and being tax'd for it in this, said it was out of Compassion to the Prisoner; and Mr. Sheppard, who was subpoena'd for the King, testified Mr. Cornish was not there.

Richard Goodenough was the other Witness, which was about Words foreign to Rumsey's Testimony, about seizing the Tower, and a Rising in the City; which if what Goodenough said had been true, yet Mr. Cornish could not have been found Guilty of Treason: for tho by the first Act of Parliament after the Convention of King Charles II. Words were made Treason against the King during his Life, yet were they to be prosecuted within six Months, and the Person to be indicted in three Months after; whereas these Words were pretended to be spoken in Easter Term in 1683, which was two Years and a half before.

[Page] Add hereto, the Words were imperfectly said by Goodenough, and might be applicable to a pretended Riot, wherein Mr. Cornish was concerned; and that Goodenough was upon ill Terms with Mr. Cornish, because he would not trust Goodenough to be his Under-Sheriff. You may read the Trial at large, with Mr. Hawles his fine and learned Remarks upon it; and how rudely Mr. Cornish and his Witnesses were used at his Trial, and how notwithstanding his Quality, after Conviction he was tied, as if he had been a boisterous and dangerous Rogue, and that by Order, and executed with the utmost Rigour of the Law for this far-fetch'd and ill-proved Treason. But these Tories shall soon see they labour for others, not for themselves; and these whom they now persecute shall have the Ascendant over them. And I observed this of Sir Thomas Jones, who was Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas, and most active in this Trial, that he was one of the first, if not the first, who was turned out of his Place for giving his Opinion, the King could not dispense with the Test and Penal Laws.

The Design thus deep stained in humane Blood, first budded in Ireland; but whether it was in Affirmance of the King's Promise to his Privy Council, and after repeated by him in Parliament, that he would make it his Endeavour to preserve the Church and State of England as by Law established, let any Man who reads the following Story judg.

The Book stiled the State of the Protestants in Ireland, said to be written by Bishop King, fol. 58. says, That King James was no sooner settled in his Throne, but he began to turn out some Officers who had been most zealous for his Service, and had best deserved of him, meerly because they had been counted firm to the Protestant Religion and the English Interest, such as my Lord Shannon, Captain Robert Fitz-Gerald, Captain Richard Coote, Sir Oliver St. George; and put in their places, Kerney (one of the Russians designed to murder Charles II.) Anderson (a mean Fellow) Sheldon (a profest Papist) and one Graham: and fol. 59. saith, the Duke of Ormond was sent for abruptly, and divested of the Government; and immediately the modelling of the Army was put into the Hands of Colonel Richard Talbot, a Man of all others most hated by the Protestants, and who had been named by Mr. Oates, in his Narrative, for this very Employment; so that many who believed nothing of the Plot before, gave Credit to it now, and said, That if Oates were an ill Evidence, he was certainly a good Prophet. Now let's see the Character the Bishop gave Talbot, and the manner of his reforming the Army.

Talbot knowing how necessary it was to have the Army fitted for his purpose, prosecuted it in such manner as might be best expected from a Man of so insolent a Temper. He exercised at the same time so much Barbarity and Falshood, that if the Army had [Page] not been the best principled with Loyalty and Obedience in the World, they had mutiny'd, or at least dispatch'd him. In the Morning he would take an Officer into his Closet, and with all the Oaths, Curses, and Damnations, which were never wanting to him, he would profess Friendship and Kindness to him, and promise him the continuance of his Commission, and in the Afternoon cashier him with all the Contempt he could heap upon him; nay, perhaps while he was thus caressing him, he had actually given away his Commission: As for the Souldiers and Troopers, his way with them was, to march them from their usual Quarters to some distant place, where he thought they were least known, where they should be put to the greatest Hardships, and where he stripped them; the Foot of their Clothes, for which they had paid, and the Troopers of their Horses, Boots, and Furniture, bought with their own Money; and sent them to walk barefooted 100 or 150 Miles to their Homes or Friends, if they had any: sometimes he would promise them something for their Horses, but then they must come to Dublin for it; if any came to demand the small Pittance he had promised them for their Horses, or Arrears of Pay, he contrived it so, that they must be obliged to wait till they had spent twice so much as they expected, and most of them, after all, got nothing: by which means 2 or 300 English Gentlemen, who had laid out all, or a good part of their Fortunes, and contracted Debts on Commissions, were left not worth any thing, but were turned out without Reason, or any Consideration, and 5 or 6000 Souldiers sent a begging. Yet this Talbot, Bishop Tyrrel, so early as in July 1685, (in the Interval of King James's Parliament) recommends to the King as the most fit Man to be Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, as you may read in his Letter to the King in Bishop King's Appendix, fol. 295. So that what-ever the King said, either to his Privy-Council or Parliament, he was proceeding on his Design he had been long before contriving.

I do not find the Parliament, at their next Meeting in November, took notice of any of these things; but the King, in his Speech to them at their Meeting, made it (to me it seems) plainly appear he designed the same in England which he was practising in Ireland.

He told them, That the Militia, so much before depended on, was not sufficient for his Occasions, and that nothing could do but a good Force of well-disciplined Troops in constant Pay to defend as from such, as either at home or abroad are disposed to disturb [...]: That in Truth his Concern for the Peace and Quiet of his Subjects, as well as for the Safety of his Government, made him think a necessary to encrease the Number as he had done. This he [...]wed as well to the Honour and Security of the Nation, whose [Page] Reputation was so infinitely exposed to all our Neighbours, by having been laid open to the late wretched Attempt (Monmouth's) that it is not to be repaired without keeping such a Body of Men on foot, that none may ever have the Thoughts again of finding us so miserably unprovided: That it was for the Support of this great Charge, which is now more than double what it was, that he asked their Assistance, in giving him a Supply answerable to the Expence it brings along with it: That he could not doubt, but what he had begun, so much to the Honour and Defence of the Government, would be continued by them with all Chearfulness and Readiness, which is requisite for a Work of so great Importance.

Then he goes on, and says, Let no Man take Exception that there are some Officers in the Army not qualified according to the late Tests for their Employments; these Gentlemen (he said) he must tell them, are most of them well known to him, and having formerly served him on several Occasions, and always approved the Loyalty of their Principles by their Practice, he thinks them now fit to be employed under him; and that he would deal plainly with them, that after having had the Benefit of their Services in such a time of Need and Danger, he will neither expose them to Disgrace, nor himself to the want of them, if there should be another Rebellion to make them necessary to him.

Then he cajoles them, and tells them he is afraid some Men might be so wicked to hope and expect that a Difference might happen between them and him: but when they consider what Advantages had arisen to him and them, in a few Months, by the good Understanding they have hitherto had, what wonderful Effects it had already produced in the Charge (Change) of the whole Scene of Affairs abroad, so much to the Honour of the Nation, and the Figure it ought to make in the World, and that nothing can hinder a further Progress in this way to all their Satisfactions, but Jealousies and Fears among our selves; he will not apprehend that such a Misfortune could befal him and them, as a Division, or but Coldness between them, nor that any thing could shake them in their Steadiness and Loyalty to him, who (by God's Blessing) would always make them all Returns of Kindness, with a Resolution even to venture his own Life in the Defence and true Interest of this Kingdom.

H [...]e let us see how this King's Speech corresponded with that to his Privy Council, and that of the 28th of May before, and his Actions between the Prorogation and Meeting of the Parliament; and I will speak it in the Person of the King.

At my first coming to succeed so good and gracious, as well as so kind a Brother, I then promised to endeavour to follow his Example, and more especially in his great Clemency and Tenderness [Page] to his People; his Kindness to me I have endeavoured to shew in his solemn Burial, and the Execution of his Son, without any legal Trial or Process: and sure none of you but must needs take notice how I have endeavoured to imitate him in his great Tenderness and Clemency to his People, not only in the Mercy I extended to those who assisted in Monmouth's Rebellion, but in the Trials of Oates and Cornish, tho my good and gracious Brother thought it not fit so to do.

I then told you, as I would never depart from the just Rights and Prerogatives of the Crown, so I would never invade any Man's Property: but this must be only understood in England; for since that I have given Colonel Richard Talbot (whom I intend to make Lord-Lieutenant in Ireland) an independent Commission to reform the Army in Ireland, and to take the Troopers Horses, Pistols, Swords and Boots, and the Arms and Clothing of the Foot, which they had bought and paid for, without paying for them.

I then told you, I would endeavour to preserve the Church and State of England, as established by Law; but now I tell you, that I have employed some Officers in the Army, not qualified according to the late Tests; and will deal plainly with you, I will neither expose them to Disgrace, nor my self to the want of them.

The Militia is not sufficient for my Occasions, nothing but a good Force of disciplin'd Troops, in constant Pay, will do it; and to that purpose, I think it necessary to encrease the Number to the proportion I have done, viz. double, for which I ask your Assistance, in giving me a Supply answerable to the Expence it brings along with it.

Tho I have disbanded the Army in Ireland, which were as true Passive-Obedience-Men as could be got for Love or Money, yet were they not fit for my Occasions; and tho I have encreased my Army in England to such a Proportion as you now see, and officer'd with such Officers as are not qualified by the late Tests, yet they are not fit for my Occasions, and for which I ask your Assistance, in giving me a Supply answerable to the Expence it brings along with it: yet let no Man be so wicked, as to hope this may put a Difference between you and me; but consider what Advantages have arisen to us in a few Months by the good Understanding we have hitherto had, and the wonderful Effects it hath already had. Now let's see what Influence this King's Speech had upon the Members.

The Lords, hand over head, ordered Thanks to the King for his good and gracious Speech; but it did not pass so hastily with the Commons, but they debated it Paragraph by Paragraph: and because the Militia had not been so forward as the King would have them, they voted, that they would take into their Consideration how to make it more useful in time to come, in case such dangerous [Page] Attempts should be made, as in Monmouth's Rebellion; and upon the 16th of November made this Address to the King.

Most Gracious Sovereign,

WE Your Majesty's most Loyal and Faithful Subjects, the Commons in Parliament Assembled, do in the first place (as in Duty bound) return Your Majesty most humble and hearty Thanks for your great Care and Conduct in the Suppression of the late Rebellion, which threatned the Overthrow of this Government, both of Church and State, and the uttter Extirpation of our Religion as by Law established, which is most dear to Ʋs, and which Your Majesty has been graciously pleased to give Ʋs repeated Assurances You will always Defend and Support, which with all grateful Hearts we shall ever acknowledg.

We further crave leave to acquaint Your Majesty, that we have with all Duty and Readiness taken into our Consideration Your Majesty's gracious Speech to Ʋs; and as to that part of it relating to the Officers in the Army, not qualified for their Imployments, according to an Act of Parliament made in the 25th Year of the Reign of Your Majesty's Royal Brother of Blessed Memory, Intitled, An for preventing Dangers which may happen from Popish Recusants, We do out of Our bounden Duty humbly represent unto Your Majesty, that these Officers by Law be uncapable of their Imployment, and that the dangers they bring upon themselves thereby, can no ways be taken off but by Act of Parliament: Therefore out of the great Deference and Duty we owe unto Your Majesty, who has been so graciously pleased to take notice of their Services to you, we are preparing a Bill to pass both Houses for Your Royal Assent, to Indemnify them from the Penalty they have now incurred; and because the continuance of them in their Imployments, may be taken to be a Dispensing Power with that Law without Act of Parliament, the Consequence of which is of the greatest Concernment to the Rights of all your Majesty's Dutiful and Loyal Subjects, and to all the Laws made for security of their Religion; We therefore the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses of your Majesty's House of Commons, do most humbly beseech Your Majesty, that You would be graciously pleased to give such Directions therein, that no Apprehension or Jealousies may remain in the Hearts of Your Majesty's Good and Faithful Subjects.

This Address was like the shutting the Stable-door when the Steed was stoln; these Commons had no such Apprehensions when they heaped such an exorbitant Revenue upon the King, to enable him to maintain an Army of 40000 Men, to ride them and the Nation when he pleased; and now they see the King drives a Way which tends to the Nations as well as their Destructions, they tell the King such Ways may give Apprehensions and Jealousies in the Hearts of His Majesty's good and faithful Subjects. Did not [Page] the Commons in all the four Parliaments in King Charles the 2d's Reign, declare what would be the Consequences of the Duke of York's coming to the Crown? and did the Duke's Actions, while he was Regent in Scotland, any ways alleviate those Parliaments Fears? Could this Parliament (as 'twas called) now they were got together again, and saw Colonel Talbot with an independent Commission from the Lord Lieutenant, so barbarously disbanding the Army in Ireland, because guilty only of being Protestants, yet believe the King would admit of no Papists in his Army in England? Could they believe that once professing of the King, who was a Jesuited Papist, that he would maintain the Church and State as by Law established, would wash out all the Jesuit Principles which had taken such deep root in him, that no Faith is to be kept with Hereticks, which the King esteemed these, who had prostituted him with such a vast Revenue, and all the Nation besides who were not of his Faction, to be; but that by Fire, Faggot, and all other such means they were to be rooted out, and grow no more upon the Face of the Earth?

The Bishops retained fresh in memory, during the Reign of King Charles the 2d, the Indignities the Factions in the late times had shewed to their Persons and Revenues, so that they were not only opposite to the Commons in passing the Bills which the Commons had prepared for uniting the King's Protestant Subjects, when they perceived the Danger the Nation was in by the Popish Designs; but stifly opposed the passing The Bill of Exclusion against the Succession of the Duke of York, and all along King Charles his Reign, countenanced the Doctrine of Passive Obedience, as thinking themselves, and their Order most secure under it; but herein their Politicks failed them.

For now the Bishops perceived a more terrible Storm coming upon them, by a Faction who never shewed Mercy to any opposite to them whenever it came in their Power; and the Doctrine of Passive Obedience had made a plain and easy Passage for the Popish Faction to take Possession of this Power: The Bishop of London therefore, after the Lords had voted an Address of Thanks to the King's Speech, moved in the name of himself and all his Brethren, that the House would debate the King's Speech, which, as it was extraordinary and unusual in the House, so was it not less surprizing to the King and Court, who now dreaded the Lords would concur with the Commons in their Address; to prevent which, the King first prorogued, and then dissolved the Parliament, and never called another in all his Reign: And thus the King made good to the Parliament, in his Speech to them the 28th of May, That the best Way to engage him to meet them often was, to use him well, and did expect that they would comply with him in what he desired, and that they would do it speedily, that it might be a short Sessions, [Page]and that he and the Parliament might meet again to all their Satisfactions: and for the Bishop of London, the King shall remember his Motion in due time, when he shall plead no Privilege of Parliament.

The King having so ill performed his Promise to the Parliament, of often meeting of them, where he might hear of it again, which by no means he would endure; after he had dissolved them, had a fair Field without any Rub to do what he pleased; and to petition him, or represent the Grievances of the Nation out of Parliament, shall be a great Crime, next to High Treason: And now 'tis time to observe the Steps the King proceeded by, to maintain the Church and State of England, as by Law established.

His Brother had laid the Foundation of making a Parliament felo de se, by hectoring and making Bargains with Corporations to surrender their Charters, and taking new ones from him; whereby he reserved a Power, that if they did not send such Members as pleased him, he would resume the Charters he granted them: and herein he made a great Progress, till his Keeper and Attorney General refused to grant Patents to such poor Corporations as could not pay their Fees, so as a new Keeper or Chancellor, and Attorney-General must be had, who would grant Patents gratis, or a Stop would be made in the Progress of so noble a Design.

In a lucky Hour my Lord Keeper N—died at Astrop-Wells, I think when Jeffries was in his March to the West, and for a Reward of my Lord Jeffries's Clemency that he shewed, had the Seals given him, with the Title of Lord Chancellour; but the Attorney was not so lucky, but lived to be turned out, and another put in his Place, which would perform his Office more charitably to these indigent Corporations, which could not pay their Fees in taking new Patents, after they had perfidiously betrayed their old.

But this was but one Step towards this Holy Work; the King, to make a thorow Reformation, will make the Judges in Westminster-Hall to murder the Common Law, as well as the King and his Brother designed to murder the Parliament by it self; and to this end, the King, before he would make any Judges, would make a Bargain with them, that they should declare the King's Power of dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests made against Recusants, out of Parliament.

However herein the King stumbled at the Threshold; for it's said he began with Sir Thomas Jones, who had merited so much in Mr. Cornish his Trial, and in the West; yet Sir Thomas bogled at this, and told the King, He could not do it: to which the K. answered, He would have Twelve Judges of his Opinion; and Sir Thomas replied, He might have Twelve Judges of his Opinion, but would scarce find Twelve Lawyers of his Opinion. The Truth of this I have only from Fame; but I'm sure the King's Practice in reforming [Page] the Judges, whereof all (except my Lord Chief Baron Atkins, and Justice Powel) were such a Pack as never before sat in Westminster-Hall, gave credit to it.

But if the Lord Chief Justice Thorp, for taking a Bribe of 100 l. was adjudged to be hanged, and all his Lands and Goods forfeited, in the Reign of Edward the 3d, because thereby as much as in him lay, he had broken the King's Oath made unto the People, which the King had intrusted him withal; and if Justice Tresilian was hanged, drawn and quartered, for giving his Judgment that the King might act contrary to one Act of Parliament; and if Blake, the King's Counsel, Ʋsk, the Under-Sheriff of Middlesex, and five more of Quality, were hanged in the Reign of Henry the 4th for but assisting in Tresilian's Judgment; What then did these Judges deserve, which made Bargains with the King before-hand, to break the King's Oath he had made to the People, and entituled the King to a Power to subvert the Laws, and gave Judgment before-hand to act contrary to them? Andrew Horn in his Mirror of Justice tells us, That King Alfred (the Mirror of Kings) hanged Darling, Segnor, Cadwine, Cole, and 40 Judges more, because they judged in particular Causes contrary to Law: But sure this was not more to Alfred's Honour, than it was to the Dishonour of King James, to make Bargains before-hand with Judges, to give Judgment contrary to the Laws themselves; and unless they would break the King's Oath to his People, they should not be his Judges.

The Laws and Constitutions of this Nation, as has been already noted, make it a Kingdom, whereof the King is Head, and the Nation the Body; so that if you take away the Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom, there is neither King nor Kingdom. Did not the King then descend from his Majesty, in rending himself from his Kingdom, by breaking Laws, whereby he ceases to be a King, and the Nation to be a Kingdom? And what was it for that the King would not be content with the Soveraignty he had over the Nation, wherein his Majesty consisted, but would strain it into a Tyranny over the Nation? It was to introduce a foreign exploded Dominion of the Pope, denied by our Saviour, and asserted by the Devil; whereby how absolute soever the King would be over his Subjects, yet himself and Kingdom must be at the Pope's Disposal, to be deposed and destroyed, as the Pope pleased.

Bishop King in the State of the Protestants in Ireland, fol. 18. gives this Account of one Moore a Romish Priest, who preached before the King at Christ's-Church in Dublin, in the Beginning of the Year 1690, where he told him to his Face, that he did not do Justice to the Church and Churchmen; and amongst other things said, That Kings ought to consult Churchmen in Temporal Affairs, the Clergy having a Temporal, as well as Spiritual Right in the Kingdom; [Page]but Kings had nothing to do in the Management of Spiritual Affairs, but were to obey the Orders of the Church.

Thinking Men could not conceive this dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests against Dissenters, was any ways intended in favour of the Protestants; for notwithstanding the Slaughter Jeffries had made of them in the West, the rest all over England were imprisoned, and forced to give Security for their good Behaviour. Nay, my Lord D. of Albermarle, who had done the K. so signal Service, in keeping the Devonshire Men from joining with the D. of Monmouth, must be sent out of England to Jamaica; and the Earl of Pembroke, and others, who had been so active in suppressing Monmouth, were scarce thanked, and but coldly entertained at Court.

If things were acted with this (indeed bare-fac'd) dissimulation in England, they were not less in Ireland; for the King having revoked the Duke of Ormond from his Lieutenancy, and given Talbot an independent Commission, to make such a reform of the Army there, as is aforesaid, made my Lord Clarendon Deputy-Lieutenant, and Sir Charles Porter Chancellour, who arrived there the 10th of January 1685-86, with a Charge to declare that the King would preserve the Acts of Settlement and Explanation inviolable, and to assure all his Subjects, he would preserve these Acts as the Magna Charta of Ireland: but this Declaration compared with Talbot's reforming the Army in Ireland, seemed as strange, as that the King's dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests, was in favour of the Protestant Dissenters in England.

In Scotland the King had so settled Affairs there, when he was Commissioner, that after the cutting off the Earl of Argyle, he did not doubt to carry on his Designs more bare-fac'd there than in England or Ireland; and therefore tho he did not call a Parliament till April 1686, yet in his Letter to them of the 12th he takes no Notice of the Protestant Dissenters, but recommends to them his innocent Roman Catholick Subjects, Who had with their Lives and Fortunes been always assistant to the Crown in the worst of Rebellions and Ʋsurpations, tho they lay under Discouragements hardly to be named: These he heartily recommended to their Care, to the end, that as they have given good Experience of their true Loyalty, and peaceable Behaviour, so by their Assistance they may have the Protection of his Laws, and that Security under his Government, which others of his Subjects had; not suffering them to lie under Obligations which their Religion cannot admit of: by doing whereof they will give a Demonstration of the Duty and Affection they had to him, and do him most acceptable Service. This Love he expected they would shew to their Brethren, as they saw he was an indulgent Father to them all.

The King having settled his Prerogative in Westminster-Hall, by dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests, in the Beginning of the Year 1686 granted a Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs; but [Page] it was not opened to act till the 3d of August following: why it lay so long dormant I do not find, but only guess, that the King might the better settle his Dispensing Power in the Country, by such Judges as he had made, as well as in Westminster-Hall; and that he might be more at leisure to carry on the Design for surrender of Charters, (wherein one Robert Brent, a Roman Catholick was a prime Agent) and great Care was taken, that the beggarly Corporations might surrender their Charters, and take new ones, without paying Fees: and if any should be so honest, as to insist upon their Oaths and Trust reposed in them, for Preservation of their Charters, to be prosecuted as riotous and seditious Persons. But in regard the Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs was not printed that I can find, nor is in the State Tracts, I thought fit to insert it here, as I had it in Manuscript from a learned Hand.

JAMES the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.

To the most Reverend Father in God, our Right Trusty, and Right well-beloved Counsellor William, Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan; and to Our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Counsellor George, Lord Jeffries, Lord Chancellour of England; and to Our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Lawrence Earl of Rochester, Lord High Treasurer of England; and to Our Right Trusty, and Right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Robert, Earl of Sunderland, President of Our Council, and Our Principal Secretary of State; and to the Right Reverend Father in God, and Our Right Trusty and well-beloved Counsellor Nathaniel, Lord Bishop of Duresme; and to the Right Reverend Father in God, Our Right Trusty and well-beloved Thomas, Lord Bishop of Rochester; and to our Right Trusty and well-beloved Counsellor Sir Edward Herbert, Knight, Chief Justice of the Pleas, before us to be holden assigned, Greeting.

We for divers good, weighty and necessary Causes and Considerations, Us hereunto especially moving, of our meer Motion, and certain Knowledg, by force and virtue of Our Supream Authority and Prerogative Royal, do assign, name and authorize by these our Letters Patents, under the Great Seal of England, you the said Arch Bp of Canterbury, Lord Chancellor of England, Lord High Treasurer of England, Lord President of Our Council, Lord Bishop of Duresme, Lord Bishop of Rochester, and our Chief Justice aforesaid, or any three or more of you, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, from time to time, and at all times during our Pleasure, to exercise, use, occupy, and execute under us all manner of Jurisdiction, Privileges and Preheminences in any wise touching, or concerning any Spiritual or [Page] Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions within this our Realm of England, and Dominion of Wales; and to visit, reform, redress, order, correct and amend all such Abuses, Offences, Contempts and Enormities whatsoever, which by the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm, can, or may be lawfully reformed, ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained or amended, to the Pleasure of Almighty God, and encrease of Vertue, and the Conservation of the Peace and Unity of this Realm. And we do hereby give and grant unto you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, thus by Us named, assigned, authorized and appointed, by force of Our Supream Authority and Prerogative Royal, full Power and Authority from time to time, and at all times, during Our Pleasure, under us, to exercise, use and execute all the Premises according to the Tenour and Effect of these our Letters Patents, any Matter or Cause to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. And We do by these Presents give full Power and Authority unto you, or any three, or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the Lord Chancellor to be one, by all lawful Ways or Means from time to time hereafter, during Our Pleasure, to enquire of all Offences, Contempts, Transgressions and Misdemeanours, done and commited, contrary to the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Our Realm, in any County, City, Borough, or other Place or Places, exempt or not exempt, within this our Realm of England, and Dominion of Wales, and of all and every the Offender or Offenders therein; and them and every of them, to order, correct, reform and punish by Censure of the Church. And also We do give and grant full Power and Authority unto you, or any three, or more of you as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, in like manner as is aforesaid, from time to time, and at all times during Our Pleasure, to inquire of, search out, and call before you all and every Ecclesiastical Person or Persons, of what Degree or Dignity soever, as shall offend in any of these Particulars before mentioned; and them and every of them to correct and punish for such their Misbehaviours and Misdemeanors, by suspending, or depriving them from all Promotions Ecclesiastical, and from all Functions in the Church, and to inflict such other Punishment or Censures upon them, according to the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm. And further we do give full Power and Authority unto you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, by virtue hereof, and in like manner and form as is aforesaid, to inquire, hear, determine and punish all Incest, Adulteries, Fornications, Outrages, Misbehaviours and Disorders in Marriage, and all other Grievances, and great Crimes or Offences which are punishable or reformable by the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Our [Page] Realm, committed or done, or hereafter to be committed or done, in any Place exempt or not exempt, within this Our Realm, according to the Tenor of the Ecclesiastical Laws in that Behalf; Granting you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the Lord Chancellor to be one, full Power and Authority to order and award such Punishment to every such Offender, by Censures of the Church, or other lawful Ways, as is abovesaid. And further, We do give full Power and Authority to you, or any three or more of you as aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellour to be one, to call before you or any three, or more of you as aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, all, and every Offender, and Offenders, in any of the Premises; and all such as you, or any three, or more of you as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, shall seem to be suspected Persons in any of the Premises which you shall object against them; and to proceed against them, and every of them, as the Nature and Quality of the Offence, or Suspicion in that Behalf shall require; and also to call all such Witnesses, or any other Person or Persons, that can inform you concerning any of the Premises, as you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one; and them, and every of them, to examine upon their Corporal Oaths for the better Trial and opening of the Truth of the Premises, or any Part thereof. And if you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, shall find any Person or Persons whatsoever obstinate, or disobedient in their Appearance before you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Chancellor to be one, at your Calling and Commandments, or else in not obeying, or in not accomplishing your Orders, Decrees and Commandments, or any thing touching the Premises, or any Part thereof, or any other Branch or Clause contained in this Commission; that then you, or any three or more of you as aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, shall have full Power and Authority to punish the same Person or Persons so offending, by Excommunication, Suspension, Deprivation, or other Censures Ecclesiastical: And when any Persons shall be convented, or prosecuted before you as aforesaid, for any of the Causes above expressed, at the Instance and Suit of any Person prosecuting the Offence in that Behalf, that then you, or any three or more of you as aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, shall have full Power and Authority to award such Costs and Expences of the Suit, as well to and against the Party as shall prefer or prosecute the said Offence, as to and against the Party, or Parties that shall be convented, according as their Causes shall require, and to you in [Page] Justice shall be thought reasonable. And further, Our Will and Pleasure is, That you assume our well-beloved Subject William Bridgman, Esquire, one of the Clerks of our Council, or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies in that behalf, to be your Register, whom we do by these Presents depute to that effect, for the registring of all your Acts, Decrees, and Proceedings by virtue of this our Commission; and that in like manner, you, or any three or more of you, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, by your Discretions shall appoint one or more Messenger or Messengers, and other Officer or Officers necessary and convenient to attend upon you for any Service in this behalf. Our Will and express Commandment also is, That there shall be two Paper-Books indented and made, the one to remain with the said Register, or his sufficient Deputy or Deputies, the other with such Persons, and in such Places, as you the said Commissioners, or any three or more of you, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, shall in your Discretion think most fit and meet; in both which Books shall be fairly enter'd all the Acts, Decrees, and Proceedings, made or to be made, by virtue of this Commission. And whereas our Universities of Oxford and Cambridg, and divers Cathedral and Collegiate Churches, Colleges, Grammar Schools, and other Ecclesiastical Incorporations have been erected, founded, and endowed by several of our Royal Progenitors, Kings and Queens of this Realm, and some others, by the Charity and Bounty of some of their Subjects, as well within our Universities as other Parts and Places, the Ordinance, Rules, and Statutes whereof are either embezeled, lost, corrupted, or altogether imperfected; We do therefore give a full Power and Authority to you, or any five or more of you, of whom we will you the afore-named Lord Chancellor always to be one, to cause and command, in our Name, all and singular the Ordinances, Rules and Statutes of our Universities, and all and every Cathedral, and Collegiate Churches, Colleges, Grammar-Schools, and other Ecclesiastical Incorporations, together with their several Letters Patents, and other Writings, touching or in any wise concerning the several Erections and Foundations, to be brought and exhibited before you, or any five or more of you as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, willing, commanding, and authorizing you, or any five or more of you, as aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, upon the exhibiting, and upon diligent and deliberate View, Search, and Examination of the said Statutes, Rules, and Ordinances, Letters Patents, and Writings, as is aforesaid, the same to correct, amend, and alter. And also, where no Statutes are extant in all or any of the aforesaid Cases, to devise and set down such good Orders and Statutes, as you, or any five or more of you, as [Page] is aforesaid, whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one, shall think meet and convenient to be by us confirmed, ratified, allowed, and set forth for the better Order and Rule of the said Universities, Cathedrals, and Collegiate Churches, Colleges, and Grammar-Schools, Erections and Foundations, and the Possessions and Revenues of the same, as may best tend to the Honour of Almighty God, Encrease of Vertue, Learning, and Unity in the said Places, and the publick Weal and Tranquillity of this our Realm. Moreover, our Will, Pleasure, and Commandment is, That our said Commissioners, and every of you, shall diligently and faithfully execute this our Commission, and every Part and Branch thereof, in manner and form aforesaid, and according to the true Meaning hereof, notwithstanding any Appellation, Provocation, Privilege, or Exemption, in that behalf to be made, pretended, or alledged by any Person or Persons, resident or dwelling in any Place or Places, exempt or not exempt, within this our Realm, any Law, Statutes, Proclamations, or Grants, Privileges, or Ordinances, which be or may seem to be contrary to the Premises, notwithstanding. And for the better Credit, and more manifest Notice of your doing in Execution of this our Commission, our Pleasure and Commandment is, That to your Letters missive, Processes, Decrees, Orders and Judgments, for or by you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, to be awarded, sent forth, had, made, decreed, given, or pronounced, at such certain publick Places as shall be appointed by you, or any three or more of you as is aforesaid, for the due Execution of this our Commission, you, or some three or more of you, as is aforesaid, whereof you the said Chancellor to be one, shall cause to be put and fixt a Seal, engraven with the Rose and Crown, and the Letter J. and Figure 2. before, and the Letter R. after the same, with a Ring or Circumference about the same Seal, containing as followeth, Sigillum Commissiariorum Regiae Majestatis ad Causas Ecclesiasticas. Finally, We will and command all and singular other our Ministers and Subjects, in all and every place and places, exempt and not exempt, within our Realm of England and Dominion of Wales, upon any Knowledg or Request from you, or any three or more of you, as is aforesaid, to them or any of them given or made, to be aiding, helping, and assisting unto you and to your Commandment, in and for the due executing your Precepts, Letters, and other Processes requisite, in and for the due executing of this our Commission, as they and every of them tender our Pleasure and Will to answer the contrary at their utmost Perils.

In witness, &c.

Here I make these Remarks upon this Commission: First, That the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was first named in it, refused to act in it; so the Bishop of Chester was put in, tho not in the first place. Secondly, How unwarily it was drawn; for though I [Page] believe every one understands the Design of this Commission was to introduce a Roman Hierarchy, which assumes a Power over the temporal in order to the spiritual Good; yet here this Commission grants the temporal Power, (viz. the Chancellor, and any other two, viz. my Lord Treasurer, President, or Chief Justice) a Power of Excommunication, which is a pure spiritual Act. But whilst this Commission was thus in Embrio, 'tis fit to observe what was done before its coming into Act.

You have heard how severely Oates was treated for discovering the Popish Plot, Thomas Dangerfield's turn comes now to be as severely treated, but with a worse Fate, for discovering the Mealtub Plot, which was to have thrown the Popish Plot upon the Presbyterians.

Dangerfield in his Depositions before the Parliament had revealed that he was imployed by the Popish Party (chiefly by the Lords in the Tower, and Countess of Powis) to kill the King, and was encouraged, and promised Impunity and Reward, and part of it given him by the Duke of York for that end: Upon this he was tried in Westminster-Hall, in Trinity, I think, or Easter-Term, in 1686, upon a Scandalum Magnatum, and as Juries went, was found Guilty, and had the same Sentence of Whipping which Oates had, and in his return from his Whipping from Tyburn towards Newgate, was run into the Eye with a Tuck at the end of a Cane, by one Robert Francis (a fierce Papist) of which, with the Agony of his Whipping, he soon after died; but his Body was so swoln and martyr'd with his Whipping, that 'twas a question whether he died of the Whipping, or Wound in his Eye. You may read the Information at large, which was ordered to be printed by the Commons, Novem. 10. 1680. and after the Speaker Williams was fined 10000 l. for Licensing it (tho by Order of the Commons) to be printed.

The same Term (I think) Mr. Samuel Johnson, (commonly known by the Name of Julian Johnson) was sentenced by the Court of King's Bench, (Sir Edward Herbert Chief Justice) to stand three times in the Pillory, and to be whipped from Newgate to Tyburn, which was severely executed, for making this humble and hearty Address to all the English Protestants in the Army raised by the King.

Gentlemen,

NEXT to the Duty we owe to God, which ought to be the principal Care of Men of your Profession, (especially because you carry your Lives in your Hand, and often look Death in the Face) the second thing which deserves your Consideration, is the Service of your Native Country, wherein you drew your first Breath, and breath a free English Air. Now I desire you to consider how well you comply with these two main Points, by engaging in the present Service.

[Page] Is it in the Name of God for his Service, that you have joined your selves with Papists? who indeed will fight for the Mass Book, but burn the Bible, and who seek to extirpate the Protestant Religion with your Swords, because they cannot do it with their own? And will you be aiding and assisting to set up Mass-Houses, to erect that Kingdom of Darkness and Desolation amongst us, and to train up all our Children in Popery? How can you do these things, and call your selves Protestants?

And then what Service can be done your Country, by being under the Command of French and Irish Papists, and by bringing the Nation under a foreign Yoke? Will you help them to make forcible Entry into the Houses of your Countrymen, under the Name of Quartering, contrary to Magna Charta, and Petition of Right? Will you be aiding and assisting to all the Murders and Outrages, which they shall commit by their void Commissions? which were declared Illegal, and sufficiently blasted by both Houses of Parliament, (if there had been any need of it) for it was very well known before, that a Papist cannot have a Commission, but by Law is utterly disabled and disarmed. Will you exchange your Birth-right of English Laws and Liberties, for Martial and Club-Law, and help to destroy all others, only to be eaten up at last your selves? If I know you well, as you are English Men, you hate and scorn these things. And therefore be not unequally yoked with idolatrous and bloody Papists: Be valiant for the Truth, and shew your selves Men.

The same Considerations are likewise humbly offered to all English Seamen, who have been the Bulwark of this Nation against Popery and Slavery, ever since 88.

The first Lightning, which the dormant Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs produced, fell upon the Bishop of London, a Person of Exemplary Vertue and Loyalty, and who, besides the Nobility of his Birth, had his Father slain in the late Civil Wars, in defence of the King's Father's Cause, and had himself, and all his Brothers, freely and valiantly exposed their Lives in defence of it: The Crime alledged against him was, that by the King's Letter he did not suspend Doctor Sharp (then Dean of Norwich, now Archbishop of York) for preaching a Sermon against the Frauds and Corruptions of the Church of Rome, by a Power as Arbitrary, as that by which the Commissioners acted; and for this these Commissioners suspended the Bishop, tho every one understood the true Cause was the Bishop's Motion in the House of Lords to have debated the King's Speech. Tantum Religio potuit swadere malorum.

I'm perswaded King Charles the II. to make a Roman Hierarchy in Scotland, made the Bishops out of the most obnoxious of the Clergy, who besides their profligate Lives, run the King's Prerogative there to a higher pitch, than Laud in the King's Father's time did in England: And that towards the latter end of his Reign he laid the same design here; for the Bishopricks of Oxford, York, [Page] St. David's and Chester, becoming void about the latter end of his Reign, or beginning of King James's, (I'll not name the Bishoprick of Litchfield and Coventry, for the Petticoat governed in that Election) Dr. Samuel Parker (whom Mr. Marvel in his Rehearsal transposed calls Bays) a Man of a virulent Disposition, and who by railing against the Church got into Preferment, and when he was in, became a zealous Railer against them without, was made Bishop of Oxford; Dr. Cartright, (as high for the Prerogative as Parker) was made Bishop of Chester: and the Succession to these two Bishopricks was the more observable, because Parker succeeded Dr. Fell, and Cartright Dr. Peirson, Men of Piety and Learning, equal to any in their time: and one Watson (an obscure Man) was made Bishop of St. David's; but the Archbishoprick of York was reserved for a Person of another Temper, whom these Bishops were making way for.

The Presidentship of Magdalen College in Oxford becoming void, and the Fellows fearing a Mandamus would be imposed upon them for some Person not qualified by the Statutes, and whom by their Oaths they could not submit to, chose Dr. Hough for President, a Person qualified by their Statutes for that Place.

As the Fellows feared, so it came to pass; for the King sent them a peremptory Mandamus to chuse the Bishop of Oxford (Bays) their President; but he being a Person not qualified by the Statutes of their College, which the Fellows were sworn to observe, they in a humble Answer excused themselves, as being otherways obliged, as well by their Oath as Statutes. I will not repeat the Anger the King express'd hereupon, 'tis in Print; but sure such Language was never used by any Prince before.

But if the King's harsh Language will not work the Fellows to his Will, he will send the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Affairs among them to turn them out of their Fellowships, (wherein they had as much Property, as any other had to any real or personal Estate) nor shall these Commissioners stay here, but by a new strain of Tyranny, never practised but by Absolute Tyrants, they make the Fellows uncapable of any other Ecclesiastical Preferments.

The Fellows thus expelled, the Statutes of the College are thrown out of Doors, to make room for a Seminary of Jesuits and Popish Priests, as much tending to the Subversion of the established Church of England, as the Statutes of the College.

But see how God in his Providence blasted these things; for the Bishop of Oxford had scarce taken possession of his thus new-acquired Presidentship, when he died; and you'll soon see the Fellows restored again in spite of these Commissioners, and Dr. Hough made Bishop of Oxford; as well as President of Magdalen College.

[Page] If the King were zealous in advancing his Prerogative Royal both in the Church and State of England, he will not be less in Scotland; whereupon the 12th of February 1686-87. he issues out his Proclamation for Toleration of Religion, (which you may read in the State Tracts) wherein he asserts his Absolute Power, which he says, his Subjects ought to obey without reserve.

But the Toleration which the King allows his Roman Catholick Subjects in Scotland, he'll scarce permit to his Protestant Subjects in Ireland; for Tyrconnel (for so has Talbot merited for his Service in Reforming the Army) is not only made an Earl, but Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in the room of my Lord Clarendon, and one Fitton (made Sir Alexander, an infamous Person, detected for Forgery, not only at Westminster, but at Chester, and fined in the House of Lords) was brought out of the King's Bench in England, to be Chancellor and Keeper of the King's Conscience in Ireland, in place of Sir Charles Porter.

The first Proclamation which Tyrconnel issued out was dated Feb. 21. 1687. wherein he promised to defend the Laws, Liberties, and established Religion, but leaves out the preservation of the Acts of Settlement and Explanation: But tho at first he only left out the Acts of Settlement and Explanation, being resolved first to out the Protestants, and let the Irish into their forfeited Estates, yet did he not stay here; and Bishop King in his Treatise of the State of the Protestants in Ireland, gives so particular and methodical an Account how he proceeded in the destroying the Church and State of Ireland, as by Law established, that I refer the Reader to it, not intending to lessen it by taking parts of it.

When the Judges had been above a Year propagating the King's Power in Westminster-Hall, and in their Circuits, of dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests against Dissenters from the Church, upon the 25th of April 1687, out comes the King's Declaration to all his Subjects for Liberty of Conscience, wherein the King declares, That it had been a long time his constant Sense and Opinion, that Conscience ought not to be restrained, nor People forced in Matters of meer Religion; and that it was contrary to his Inclination, as he thought it to be the disinterest of the Government, by spoiling Trade, and depopulating Countries, &c.

Sure no Prince ever acted so in Extreams, yet his Actions so diametrically opposite to his Profession. Here you see a Jesuited Prince pleading for Liberty of Conscience, to the breaking down the [...]aws, which before he had so often professed to maintain; and for such a sort of Men, whom but little before he had slaughter'd, banished and imprisoned, as if he had designed to extirpate the whole Race of them. If to reconcile these to Truth, or Reality, be not as great a Miracle, as is in any of the Popish Legends, I'll believe them all, and be reconciled to the Roman [Page] Catholick Church, how inconsistible soever the Terms be.

The generality of the Protestant Dissenters having for near seven years together, been so severely treated by the Tories, were as forward to congratulate the King for his Indulgence in manifold Addresses, as the Tories were in King Charles his time, in their Addresses of Abhorrence to petition the King to call a Parliament to settle the Grievances of the Nation: However this Declaration was so drawn in the sight of every Bird, that (of my knowledg) many of the sober thinking Men of the Dissenters, did both dread and detest it.

That this Declaration might be more passable, Popish Judges were made in Westminster-Hall, and Popish Justices of the Peace, and Deputy-Lieutenants all England over; the Privy Council was replenished with Popish Privy Counsellors; the Savoy was laid open to instruct Youth in the Romish Religion, and Popish Principles; and Schools for that purpose were encouraged in London, and all other Places in England: Four Foreign Popish Bishops, as Vicars Apostolical, were allowed in Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction all England and Wales over.

From instructing the St. Omers Boys how to behave themselves in their Evidence to prove Oates was at St. Omers all April and May in 1678, my Lord Castlemain is sent Ambassador to the Pope, to render the King's Obedience to the Holy and Apostolical See, with great hopes of extirpating the Northern pestilent Heresy. In return whereof, the Pope sent his Nuncio to give the King his Holy Benediction; yet I do not find that he beforehand sent for Leave to enter the Kingdom, as was observed by Queen Mary, Henry VIII, and before.

The Judges in their Circuits had their private Instructions, to know how Men were affected with the King's Dispensing Power; and those who were disaffected to it, were turned out from the Lieutenancy and Commission of the Peace.

Justice, Judgment, and Righteousness support the Thrones of Princes, but these were Strangers to this King's ways, other Means must be found out to support and carry them through; a standing Army is judged the best Expedient: and as the King told the Parliament at their second Meeting, he had encreased his Army to double what it was before, so he made his Word good, that he would employ Men in it not qualified by the late Tests; and to this end, Tyrconnel having disbanded the English Army in Ireland, qualified by the Tests, sends over an Army of Irish not qualified by the Tests, to encrease the Army in England.

This Army thus raised against Law, committed all manner of lawless Insolences, though the King by several Orders would have had their Quarters restrained to Victualling-Houses, Houses of publick Entertainments, and such as had Licences to sell Wine and [Page] other Liquors; the Officers too, when they pleased, would be exempt from the Civil Power.

And though the King had no other Wars, but against the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation, yet he would have the Act of the 1, 2 Edw. 6. 2. which makes it Felony, without Benefit of the Clergy, for any Souldier taking Pay in the King's Service, in his Wars beyond Sea, or upon Sea, or in Scotland, to desert from his Officer, to extend to this Army thus raised by the King: And because the Recorder of London, Sir J. H. would not expound this Law to the King's Design, he was put out of his Place, and so was Sir Edward Herbert from being Chief Justice of the King's Bench, to make room for Sir Robert Wright, to hang a poor Souldier upon this Statute; and afterward this Statute did the Work without any further dispute.

Thus this Prince did not only assume a Power to controul the Laws of the Nation at his pleasure in Civil Affairs, but when he pleased made them bend to his Will to establish an illegal Army, and countenance the Effusion of Christian Blood: but you'll soon see God will blast these ungodly Ways; and that not the Arm of Flesh, but Judgment, Justice and Righteousness, establish the Thrones of Princes.

Thus Affairs stood in England, Scotland and Ireland in the year 1687. wherein I suppose no History mentions so great and violent Alterations in so little time, as in this King's Reign, all tending to introduce a Foreign Power, and to enslave the Nation, yet so patiently endured by it; but the Dangers of these Designs were not circumscribed within the bounds of this Nation, but extended into France, where for above twenty years, a Conspiracy was carried on for promoting these Designs thus far advanced; so that the Year 1688 had a much more terrible Aspect upon England, than the Year 1588 had, when Philip the II. designed the Conquest of it: for then the Nation was firm and intire for its own Interest; whereas this Year it was not only torn in pieces by internal Discords, but had an Army and Fleet designed to join with the French King, in propagating his boundless Ambition, not only upon England, but upon the Empire of Germany, Spain, Holland, the Duke of Savoy, and other Princes of Italy.

About the beginning of the year 1688, a Gentleman of High Jesuited Principles told me, The States of Holland were Rebels against the King of Spain, and that I should soon see the King of France would call them to an Account for it, and humble them; and that the French King would assist our King with Men of War▪ I took more heed to this, because I knew that he was frequently visited by several Jesuits, in whose Counsels I believe the French King's Designs this Year were locked up; for my Lord of Sunderland in his Letter, recited in the History of the Desertion, fol. 32. [Page] protests he knew nothing of a League between the King; yet you will see it come out another way. But my Lord of Sunderland says, that French Ships were offered to join with our Fleet, which was refused; however this shews there was a Design contriving by these Princes; yet at present the Affairs of France seemed to look another way, and a French Fleet and Souldiers in them are sent to Canada; the Design and Success you will soon hear of.

The King having thus, as he thought, laid a Foundation (tho it proved a very Sandy one) of his Designs; and to shew how Absolute he would be in them, upon the 4th of May passed an Order in Council, that his Declaration of Indulgence should be read in all Churches and Chappels in England and Wales in time of Divine Service, and that all the Bishops in their respective Diocesses should take care to have this done accordingly.

The Bishops who knew the Declaration of Indulgence was designed to conjoin the Protestant Dissenters with the Popish, to ruin the Established Church, easily foresaw that the Order to them was to pick a Quarrel with them; for the King might have ordered it to be read without, as well as by them: And, besides the Injustice of it, it was deemed an undecent thing, that the Fathers of the Church, in time of Divine Setvice, should be the Instruments to give a Liberty to all whether they should come to Divine Service or not.

Besides the Bishop of London, who stood suspended, thes Bishops, viz. the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Bath and Wells, Ely Peterborough, Chichester, St. Asaph, and Bristol, were in or about the Town; and this Order of Reading the Declaration in Churches was served upon them.

The Bishops in a humble Petition to the King gave their Reasons in Writing, (but so cautiously, that after it was drawn up, they would let no other Man see it before they presented it) why they could not comply with the Order of Council.

The Chancellor, tho he thought his Commission big enough to suspend the Bishop of London, and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridg, and expel the Master and Fellows of Magalen College in Oxford, yet it seems did not think it sufficient to suspend these Bishops, and therefore advised the King ('twas said) to try them upon an Information of High Misdemeanour in the King's Bench; and in order to it they were committed Prisoners to the Tower.

Accordingly the Bishops were tried in the King's Bench in Trinty Term following, upon an Information of High Misdemeanour, for their Petition to the King: but how secure soever the King and Chancellor thought themselves of the Judges, and tho Sir Robert Wright, who was Chief Justice, and Sir Richard Allibone (a known Papist) were two of them, yet they were not all of a Piece, for Mr. Justice Powel both learnedly and stoutly defended the Bishops Cause.

[Page] If we look down to the Bar, we shall see as strange a mixture as in the Bench; for the late Attorney-General Sawyer, and Solicitor Finch, who were so zealous to find my Lord Russel, Colonel Sidney, and Mr. Cornish, &c. guilty of High Treason, and for Surrender of Charters, now they are turned out, are as zealous for the acquittal of the Bishops; and the then Solicitor-General, of a most zealous Prosecutor of Abhorrers, and Searcher into the bottom of the Popish Plot, as zealous for finding their Misdemeanour. However the Jury acquitted the Bishops.

Unless it were when Monk came into the City the 12th of February, 1659-60. and Colonel Cloberry told the Citizens at Guild-Hall they should have a free Parliament, or when King Charles came into London the 29th of May following, never were such loud Acclamations of Joy exprest, as upon the Acquittal of the Bishops; nor did the Bounds of the City terminate this Joy, but it flew like Lightning to Hounslow Heath, where the King would be present to see the Army exercised, wherein he trusted (more than in Justice and Righteousness) to accomplish his Design: It seems the King was treated that Day by my Lord of Feversham. (General of the Army) in his Tent, when the News of the Bishops Acquittal arrived at the Army, which entertained it with a general Shout; the King ('twas said) was startled at it, and sent the Earl to enquire the Cause; the Earl in return told the King, 'twas nothing but the Souldiers Joy for the Acquittal of the Bishops: And call you that nothing? replied the King, who was much discomposed upon it; and well he might, for now he saw how little Confidence was to be imposed in the Army he so much relied upon.

It's a Duty incumbent upon Mankind, to honour and worship God, and give him Thanks for the Benefits received from him, and to petition and pray to him for continuance of them: Next after God, it's the Duty of all Subjects to honour the King, for the Benefits they receive by his Justice and Protection, and to petition and pray Relief from him for Oppressions and Injuries, which cannot be redressed by the ordinary Course of Law, or where the Ministers of the Law either cannot, or refuse to do Justice.

It's therefore the Wisdom of our Constitution, that Parliaments frequently meet, not only to receive Petitions against Oppressions or Injuries received, which were not or could not be redressed by the King's Ministers of the Law, but also to correct and punish the King's Ministers themselves, if they transgressed or neglected their Duty.

But tho frequent Parliaments are the most proper Expedients for the Subjects herein, yet oftentimes Accidents may be, which will not stay for relief by Parliament, as in Case of the Bishops. In May they are ordered to have the King's Declaration of Indulgence read in all Churches and Chappels of their respective Diocesses; [Page] and to do it, and to give no Reasons why they could not do it, would have been a manifest Contempt of the King's Authority; they could not do it either in Honour or Conscience; and by an humble Petition and Address, represent this to the King; and for ought appeared then, the King never intended to call another Parliament, till he had modelled them as much to his Will, as Cromwel did Praise-God Barebone's Parliament.

This Petition is made a High Misdemeanour, and the Bishops committed upon it, and Father Petre, the Club of Jesuits, the Attorney and Solicitor-General, Graham, Burton, &c. are all plotting how to make it so: So as now the Kingdom is without all hopes of a free Parliament, and yet it is a High Misdemeanour to address to, or petition the King.

And that this Order upon the Bishops to enjoin the Reading of the King's Declaration for Indulgence, was a Design upon their Persons, as well as upon the Church, is apparent; for after their Acquittal, Orders from the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Affairs were sent into all parts of England, to return an Account to the Lord Chancellor, of those that refused to read the Declaration of Indulgence, that they might be proceeded against for their Contempt: but the Reign and Rage of these Commissioners was too hot to last long; and now let's see what return of Praises and Thanksgivings the Bishops can make to God for their Deliverance.

God requires Truth in the inward Parts, and that it should govern all the Intentions, Speech and Actions of every Man, in his Conversation with Man, yet more in his Prayers and Petitions to God; and if it be an High Crime of Hypocrisy to speak or act contrary to a Man's Knowledg or Belief, for the end designed thereby is to deceive another, though God cannot be deceived, it's a greater Crime to approach his Omniscience with Prayers and Petitions contrary to a Man's certain Knowledg or firm Belief.

I take it for granted, that the Bishops understood the King's Declaration of Indulgence was an unlawful Act, and that if they had submitted to the King's Will to have enjoined it to have been read in all Churches and Chappels of their respective Diocesses, it had been an unlawful Act, which was one Reason they could not comply with the King's Will; and that this Declaration was not intended a Favour to the Protestant Dissenters, but a Design to ruin the established Religion, and Church of England; and the enjoining the Bishops to have read; was a Design upon their Persons, as well as the Declaration was upon the Church; and that the King professed himself to be of the Popish Religion, which they believed and declared to be Idolatry, in the worshipping Images, and derogatory to God's Honour by Invocation of Saints, whereby they grant to Creatures an Omniscience, which is inseparable from [Page] God, and only to be ascribed to him; and that the King had owned the Papal Power, (which not only claims a Dominion over all Kings and Kingdoms to be at the Pope's disposal, and who had declared the Church of England to be Heretical, Schismatical and Sacrilegious Persons, with whom no Faith is to be kept, but had assumed a Power equal or superiour to God himself, in dispensing with God's Laws, and setting its own above them) by sending his Ambassador to the Pope, and receiving his Nuncio.

With what Conscience then could the Bishops approach God's Altars in their highest Acts of Devotion, and in the Prayer for the Parliament, declare to God that he is their most religious King; and in the Litany to pray to God to keep and strengthen the King in the Worship of God, or Religion which the King profest?

And how could they delare to God, he is their most gracious Sovereign, when he had imprisoned them for not submitting to his unlawful Will, and had owned a Power which had declared them Hereticks, Schismaticks, and Sacrilegious Persons; who were by all ways and means to be extirpated from the Face of the Earth? Yet the Bishops by their Canonical Obedience were as much obliged hereto, and to enjoin the Clergy in their respective Diocesses to offer these Praises to God, as they were not to obey the King's Will by enjoining the King's Declaration of Indulgence to be read by all the Clergy in their Diocesses. To this Dilemma had the flattering Church and State in King Charles the II's Reign (tho intending it against the Presbyterians) by their Act of Vniformity, brought the Church and State too in the Reign of King James.

But lest this establishing of Popery should have no longer support than in the King's Life, a new Miracle is to be added to the Legend; for the next day after the Bishops were committed to the Tower, the Queen was brought to Bed of a Prince of Wales: so that now they had got a Prince of Wales, and the Queen received the Consecrated Clouts, and the Pope by his Nuncio is become God-father, a Foundation so infallible is laid for exalting the Papal Chair, and extirpating the Pestilent Northern Heresy, that it's Heresy to doubt it.

But Man purposes, and God disposes; and in truth, without God's special Assistance, not only these Dominions of England, Scotland and Ireland, but all the Western Parts of Europe, were not to be retrieved out of (I may say) even a desperate State; for in England the King had a standing Army of above 20000 Men, and the Whigs were but too forward to congratulate the King in his Designs, and in humouring him, in giving him up their Charters▪ as the Tories in King Charles his Reign, in their Abhorrences of the King's calling a Parliament, and as forward then, as the Whigs now in surrendring their Charters: The Protestant Army in Ireland not only disbanded by Tyrconnel, and a Popish Army set up. [Page] but the Protestants disarmed; and Scotland so perfectly subdued, that there the King's Absolute Will without reserve, must pass for Law: The King of Spain so weak, as not able to defend himself, much less relieve others; the Empire engaged in a War against the Turks in the East, so as the Western Parts were in no Condition to repel the Impression the French should make upon it: The Kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark remote, and at such natural Enmity with one another, that if one should side with France or England, the other would engage against it; and tho Holland were considerable elsewhere at Sea, yet their Strength at Sea was inferiour to the English, but much more in Conjunction of the French with the English.

However something must be done, for Modesty in this State had been the highest Crime; and of all Foreign Princes, the Prince of Orange was most immediately concerned, not only in the Oppression of the French King upon his Principality of Orange, and the Dangers which threatned the Ʋnited Provinces, by the swelling Grandeur of the French, but by the King's Arbitrary Proceedings in England; for the Princess was the Presumptive Heir to the Crown of England and Scotland. And since it is the Laws and Constitutions which erect these Nations into Kingdoms, whereof the King is the Head, then if the King destroys the Laws and Constitutions, he is neither King, nor the Princess of Orange Presumptive Heir to them; besides, since the King had assumed a Power of Dispensing with the Laws, he might as well in Dispensing with the Succession; and the Prince was well assured, neither those about the King, nor the Pope, would much favour his, or his Lady's Title to the Crown; nor was the introducing the Prince of Wales into the World intended, to have either the Prince or Princess come to the Crown of England.

The Prince of Orange thus injured by both these Kings, and being denied the Benefit of any Humane Laws, for redress has recourse to God and his Sword for relief, and opposes the Justice of his Cause against the Potency of his Adversaries: Nor does he take up his Sword to vindicate his own Rights only, but for restoring the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, to their antient Rights, Laws and Privileges invaded by King James, and to put a stop to the French King's boundless Ambition and Tyranny, in Murdering, Ravaging and Destroying, rather than making a War upon all his neighbouring Princes, not dispossest and ruined by him. A Design so great, by so little a Prince, as no less than a Divine Power could inspire him to such an Undertaking!

The Prince these two last years had several Conferences with the Electors of Brandenburg, Saxony, and the Princes of the House of Lunenburg, and other Princes of Germany, it's believed in concerting Measures how to behave themselves against the Designs of [Page] these two Kings; but the Results were so secret, that I find no mention of them.

But how secret soever these Results were, yet the Preparations to put them in Execution could be no Secret, especially the Naval Preparations by Sea; though the Dutch Ambassador assured the King, they were not intended against him, yet refused to communicate the Design.

At this time there was not only a high Ferment in all the Nation against the King's Proceedings, but in the Army against its mixture with Irish Officers and Soldiers; which put the King into a great Agony, which was increased by the Dutch Preparation: Whereupon the Marquess d' Albeville, the King's Envoy at the Hague, upon the 2d of Sept. N. S. 23d of Aug. O. S. put in this Memorial to the States General.

High and Mighty Lords,

THE great and surprizing Preparations for War, made by your Lordships by Sea and Land, in a Season when all Action, especially by Sea, is laid aside, giving just Cause of Surprize and Alarm to all Europe, obliges the King my Master, who has had nothing so much in his Mind, since his Accession to the Crown, as a Continuation of the Peace and Correspondence with this State, to order the Marquess d' Albeville, his Envoy Extraordinary, to know your Highnesses Intentions thereby.

His Majesty, as your antient Ally and Confederate, believes it just to demand this Knowledg, which he hoped with good Reason to have heard from your Ambassador; but as he sees this Duty of Alliance and Confederation neglected, and that such Power is raising without communicating the Intent in the least to him, he finds himself obliged to reinforce his Fleet, and to put himself in a Condition to maintain the Peace of Christendom.

The States paused upon an Answer to this Memorial, when upon the 9th of September, N. S. or the 30th of Aug. O. S. Monsieur d' Avaux, the French Ambassador, put in a Memorial to the States, wherein he foolishly discovers the Contrivances which had been so long hatching between his Master and King James; for after a long Story of his Master's Desire of maintaining the Peace of Europe, now he had actually broke it, he impertinently tells the States,

All these Circumstances, and many others, that I may not here produce, perswade the King my Master, with reason, that this Arming threatens England. Wherefore His Majesty hath commanded me to declare to the States, on his Part, that the Bonds of Friendship and Alliance between him and the King of Great Britain, will oblige him (the French King) not only to assist him, (the King of Great Britain) [Page] but also to look on the first Act of Hostility that shall be committed by your Troops, and your Fleet, against his Majesty of Great Britain, as a manifest Rupture of the Peace, and a Breach with his Crown.

Though the Dutch made no Answer to this Memorial, yet they made no Bones to make this Answer to the Marquess d' Albeville's: That they had armed in Imitation of his Britannick Majesty, and other Princes, and that they had thereby given no just Cause of Offence by arming, when all other Princes were in Motion; and that they were long since convinced of the Alliance which the King, his Master, had treated with France, and what had been mentioned to them by Monsieur le Count d' Avaux in his Memorial.

This Answer King James took all one, as if the Dutch had declared War against him; and all the Eyes of England are now turned toward Holland, as if from thence they expected Deliverance from the Designs of King James, and his Popish Crew; and the Fathers and Sons too of the Church of England, are at as much Variance in their private and publick Prayers to God, as Whig and Tory were in their Humours; for in their private Prayers they pray for Prosperity to the Prince of Orange, and in the Liturgy they pray that God would be King James's Defender and Keeper, giving him Victory over all his Enemies.

God was pleased to prefer the private Prayers of the Churchmen before those of the Church, and to have granted both, had been impossible, and to put a hook into the French King's Nose, who turned those Forces which he had raised (not for the Peace and Tranquillity of Europe, as d' Avaux said in his Memorial to the Dutch States) upon the Empire, where without any Declaration of War, or Cause alledged, he first fell upon Philipsburg, which he took, and after Heydelberg and Mainheim; and while he was thus engaged, he left the Prince of Orange free to vindicate his Cause against King James: whereas if the French King had turned those Forces which he employed against the Empire upon the Spanish Netherlands, (and he might as justly have done this as that) the Prince of Orange would have had little Force, and less Leasure to have made any Attempt upon King James: Thus God is pleased often to turn the Wisdom of the Crafty (I will not say Wise) into Folly and Destruction.

You have heard before how the French▪ King in the beginning of the Year had sent out a Fleet to Canada; whereupon the Company of Hudsons-Bay represented to the King their Apprehensions, it was a Design upon their Factories and Plantations, and so it succeeded; for the French seized upon a Fort and Plantation of theirs, called Fort Charles.

[Page] Towards the latter end of the Summer, the King, without the Knowledg of Hudsons-Bay Company, entred into a Treaty of Commerce with his Brother of France, in reference to the Trade of Canada, wherein it was concluded, that the Forts and Factories should be reciprocally enjoyed in the same state they were at the Conclusion of this Treaty, the French having taken the Fort and Factory of Charles about three Months before. So little did this King regard the Safety and Welfare of his Subjects, wherein his Majesty and Honour was founded, for to pleasure and endear his Brother of France, from whom he expected mighty things for the Advancement of his Prerogative without reserve, in England, Scotland and Ireland.

Thus have I brought down the History of this King's Reign, to the History of the Desertion, where at large and particularly you may read, how by a Wonder, equal to King Charles his Coming in, King James went out: And if no human Prospect could have foreseen where the Tyranny of King Charles the I's Reign would have ended, if the Long Parliament in 1640 had not put a full Stop to it; so no uninterested Person was so purblind, as not to see if the Heroick Magnanimity of this King in his Queen's, his own and the Nation's Right, and for the common Safety of Christendom, had not put a Stop to King James his Designs, but the Popish Superstition, and French Tyranny, would have been imposed upon these Kingdoms, and have overspread Christendom.

We admit these four Kings of the Scotish Race had an Hereditary Title to have governed England, by the Laws and Constitutions of it; yet no Hereditary King hath any higher Title, nor any Man a Right to do Wrong; and for an Hereditary King to govern otherways, is a greater Tyranny, than if an Usurper does, by how much he adds Perfidiousness, and Breach of his Trust to it.

Yet so it was, that these four last Kings of the Scotish Race, which should have been the Guardians of England, in preserving the Laws and Constitutions of it, and to have maintained the Honour of it abroad, made it their Business to have subverted them; and being thereby always at Variance and Contentions with their Subjects, lost their own and the Nation's Honour abroad; and by taking no Care of the foreign Concerns of the Nation, became contemptible to other Nations: Nay, the last three Kings, instead of restraining the French Ambition and Tyranny, joined with them in advancing of them; as if they designed to make the French King an Universal Monarch, as well as to destroy the Constitutions of England. And I would know a Reason why, now his Majesty King William has, by God's Blessing, redeemed this Nation from the imminent Danger which the French King, in conjunction with King James, designed upon the Western Parts of Christendom, as [Page] well as these Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, any Christian should endeavour or desire the Restitution of King James, any more than the Primitive Christians did Dioclesian, Maximi [...] and Maxentius, after God had freed them from their Rage and Persecution by Constantine.

APPENDIX.

MY Lord Bacon compares Times to Ways, some more plain and easy to pass, others more rugged, and more hard to pass; the former is better for him who lives in them, the latter is better for the Reader, not only in the Pleasure of reading the Variety of Accidents in them, but because in their Contests fine Notions arise, which otherwise might have been concealed, and which may be beneficial to the Readers in succeeding Times; and also in shewing the Causes of these Distempers, succeeding Generations may be admonished hereby to prevent them in time to come.

In these Treatises we have given an Account of the manifold Varieties of Accidents which have hapned for above 80 Years in the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, France, Spain, and the States of the Ʋnited Netherlands: and though the Roman and Grecian Histories may give Instances of the like by Land, yet none of them can shew the like of the French Grandeur by Sea, in little more than forty Years; but more especially, in that this was acquired in the Face of two neighbouring Nations, either of which could have prescribed Laws to all the World besides herein; the one claiming the Dominion of the British Seas, the other of the Indian and Southern Ocean.

On the other Side, Spain, which in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth was both the Envy and Dread of these Western parts of Christendom, is now fallen into that abject State, as it is scarce in the Power of Christendom to uphold it from falling under the Dominion of the French; and this History in some Measure hath shewn the Causes both of the Grandeur of France, and the Cadency of Spain.

To the natural Advantages which the French had above other Nations, after the Death of Queen Elizabeth, was added, that James the first, and Charles the first of England, whose Interest it was to have restrained the ambitious and aspiring Humour of the French, were degenerous Princes, wholly given up to be governed by Flatterers and Favourites, and made it their Business to usurp [Page] another Jurisdiction over the Nation, than they could claim by their Inherent Birth-right; so that if the Long Parliament in 1640 had not put a Stop to Charles his Career, no mortal Creature could have foreseen where it would have ended.

King James, not to disturb his licentious and voluptuous Pleasures, stood only still, and looking on, whilst Lewis the 13th had near broke the Interest of the Reformed in France; but Charles in the first Act of his Reign lent the French a Fleet to subdue the Rochellers, at that time superior to Lewis by Sea; and as inconsiderately in the second Year of his Reign made War with France, having in the first Year made War against the Spaniard, whereby both Spain and France joining against the English, brought that Loss and Dishonour upon the English, in the Expedition of the Isle of Rhee; and Charles being as loose in his Resolutions, as inconsiderate in his Actions, after the Death of the Duke of Buckingham, who had engaged him in both these Wars, made a secret Peace with the French, and left the Reformed out of it, though he engaged them to join with him in the War, whereby the whole Interest of the Reformed was rooted out: So that the Original of the French Grandeur by Sea and Land, may be truly ascribed to these two Hereditary Princes, James and Charles.

After the Tyranny of Charles his Reign had degenerated into the Usurpations of the Rump, they thinking to prejudice the Dutch made the Act of Navigation, which crampt up all the foreign Trades of England, and the fishing Trade (which above all others is the Nursery of Seamen, and encrease of Navigation) to English-built Ships, and sail'd with ¾ English, whether there be Ships, or Mariners or not, and without any Consideration of Times, whether of War or Peace.

Though we have in this History, and in The Reasons of the Decay of the Strength, Wealth and Trade of England, and also in the View of the Act of Navigation, in reference to the Laws which yet stand unrepealed, to the Trades for Masts, Rafters, Boards, foreign Oak, Timber, Pitch and Tar, and to the Trades for rough Hemp and Flax, and to the fishing Trades, and also to the Safety of the Nation against Foreign Powers, at large demonstrated the Iniquity of this Law, and the dangerous Consequences of it; yet it is fit even here to take some Notice of it, and of the Navigation of the Nation before the Act, and how the Case stands now by reason of it.

Before the Rump contrived the Act of Navigation, the English, as the Traders told me, alone fished upon the Coasts of Iseland and Westmony for Ling, and the Cod-fish called Haberdin; and at that time the Town of Alborough in Suffolk, as I was informed, fished yearly to those Seas with 35 Sail of Vessels, called Iselands-Barks; and the Town of Sould or Southold, with 15; and Great Yarmouth [Page] with manifold more, the Number I cannot tell: but this I can tell, That besides London, and other parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, which they supplied with this sort of Fish, as also the Navy Royal, and other Ships, with this sort of Provision, the Town of Yarmouth yearly exported to Calice, St. Valery, Diep, Havre de Grace, St. Maloes, Brest, and other parts of France, 150000 Haberdin and Ling; and by their Trades with these, returned Sails and Nets for their Navigation and Fisheries. Wells and Lyn in Norfolk too, drove Trades into these Seas, but I am not informed in how many Vessels; but I have heard the Inhabitants of Wells complain, that they have almost lost their Trades, and I belive Lyn wholly.

Before the Act of Navigation, the English from the Western Ports drove threefold a greater Trade in the Newfound-Land Fishery than the French; whereas the French now drive above twentyfold more the Trade to Newfound-Land Fishery than the English do: And I have heard Sir William Booth say, he had seen in one Year above 100 Sail of great French Vessels, of 20 and 30 Guns, sail into the Straits from their Newfound-Land Fishery, besides supplying France with them, and also their Trades to Spain and Portugal.

Before the Act of Navigation, the English from London and Yarmouth drove considerable Trades to Greenland for Whales; which Trades, as they are wholly lost to the English, so are they driven by the Dutch and Hamburghers, and in a great measure carried on by the French. I remember, that the next Year after this Revolution, the English took 14 of these French Vessels, in their Return from the Whale Fishery: and as this Fishery is wholly lost to the English, (which will never be retrieved by making it a Monopoly) so is that of the Town of Great Yarmouth into France, upon the account of the Iseland and Westmony Fishery, and the rest of the Trades of the English in that Fishery, not one tenth of what it was before the Act of Navigation; nor from the Western Ports to the Newfound-Land Fishery, one fifth of what it was before the Act of Navigation: and I wish the Parliament, at their next sitting, would enquire into the Truth hereof, to prove me a Liar. I say, That the Fishing Trades, above all others, encrease Navigation and Mariners; and if the Causes of the Cadency of our Fisheries and Navigation be not removed, the Loss of both will be inevitable; the Consequences whereof will be so dreadful to the Nation, that I tremble to think of them: for as we decline, both French and Dutch will raise themselves out of our Ruin.

Every Ship is made of her Hull, Masts, and Rigging, which are her Sails and Cables: Timber for the Hull (or Hulk) of a Ship we have in England; but I have shewed elsewhere, how improper our English Timber is in all our Navigations, except the New-Castle Trade, and so dear in the Carriage and Working, that the [Page] Dutch build the Hulks of Ships, of like Dimensions, for less than the English can; and by their great Experience in Building, build Ships for all sorts of Trades more conveniently; so that a Ship of like Dimensions, Dutch built, shall carry near one sixth more Fraight than an English.

Pitch, Tar, and Masts, we have not of our own, but trade generally to Norway for them; and as we order the curing of our Hemp in England, it's not only dearer here than it may be had from Liefland and Prussia, but so spalt (as they call it) that Cables made of it will not endure the Stress of Weather, when Ships ride at Anchor, as foreign Hemp will.

Before the Act of Navigation, the English traded to Norway in Dutch Vessels, or Bottoms, and then imported Masts, Raff, Pitch, Tar; and this the English might do by the Act of 1 Eliz. cap. 13. and then the English imported them so cheap, that the Norwegians could build but six small Vessels to trade into England: but after the Act of Navigation, when the Norway Trade was restrained to the Norwegians and English in their inconvenient dear-built Ships, in little more than two Years the Norwegians encreased their Ships from six to above sixty, and those of double Dimensions than the former were: but after Oliver dispensed with the Act of Navigation, the English Norway Merchants imported Goods so cheap, that the Norwegians were forced to sell their Vessels for want of Employment. This Mr. Lee and Mr. Smith, Norway Merchants, were ready to have testified before a Committee of the Commons, when Endeavours were used in 1667 for the free Importation of Timber, Board, and Raff, after the burning of the City of London: Tho these be dead, yet I am assured Sir William Warren and Mr. John Hammond, Norway Merchants, know this to be true.

But the Inhabitants of Liefland and Prussia trade not with us, and the Dutch, by the Cheapness of their Navigation, and full Fraight of their Vessels, import rough Hemp and Flax from Liefland and Prussia one third cheaper than the English can; and when these are converted into Manufacture of the Cordage and Sails, it's free for the Dutch to import them into England by the Act of Navigation; whereby we do not only lose the Employment of manifold thousands of poor People, and depend upon the Dutch, but pay one fourth more for these than if rough Hemp and Flax were freely imported.

From hence it was, and I speak this of my own Knowledg, that in the Year 1651 I was part Owner of a Vessel, built at Walderswick, before the Act of Navigation; and of another, built by the same Builder in 1655; and this latter cost near one sixth in proportion more than the former; and the Reason the Builder gave was, the Dearness of Masts, Cordage, and Sails: and I have [Page] no Reason to believe the Case is now any better, the Reasons being the same, and our Timber much dearer, and Carriage farther; so that I do believe the Carriage of our Timber to the Rivers where Ships are built, costs more than the Dutch pay for their Timber where they build Ships. Add hereto, That our Fishing, and other Vessels in Navigation, require one third more Hands to navigate them, than the Dutch (and for ought I know than the French) of like Dimensions.

Now consider, the Fish, in all Fisheries, costs nothing but the Catching and Curing; and that Nation which can catch them cheap, and cure them best, are sure of a foreign Trade for them against any other: and the English, by the Act, being obliged to fish in double dearer Vessels, and more inconveniently built, and sail'd by one third more hands than the Dutch (or French either, for ought I know) have eternally fixed the Fishing Trade upon the Coast of England and Scotland to the Dutch, lost the Greenland Trade, and retain not one fifth of the Trades we had to Iseland and Newfound-Land before the Act of Navigation.

After the Dissolution of the Rump, Oliver ruled; and tho for about two Years before his Death he gave the English some Benefit in building Vessels, by dispensing with the Act of Navigation, in reference to the Norway Trade, yet he took no care to relieve them by dispensing with it, for the free Importation of rough Hemp and Flax from Liefland and Prussia, for fitting up our Vessels, and Employment of our poor People, Men, Women, and Children; and tho he did well in so far dispensing with the Navigation, I'm sure he did ill by his frantick breaking with Spain, and joining with the French against it, to the irreparable Loss of the English, and not only to the endangering the Safety of England, but of Christendom.

It is not foreign to this Design, if Notice be taken, that after King James I. became King of England, to the Restoration of King Charles II. only Philip III. and Philip IV. were Kings of Spain, and both zealous bigotted Princes to the Romish Superstition, and both weak and effeminate Princes, wholly govern'd by Favourites; and Philip IV. a luxurious and vicious Prince; and that Ferdinand II. after the Victory at Prague, endeavoured to subject the Freedom of Germany by force, which brought the Swedes into Germany; and the French siding with the Swedes, took Philipsburg and Brisac upon the Rhine, which opened the two Passages into the Empire, by which this present King has been enabled to make those Wars and Ravages in the Empire which have since succeeded.

After the Restoration of King Charles II. the whole Series of his Reign was employed in assisting the French in all their ambitious Designs; so did the Dutch and Dane, when he had engaged them in a War with England; and the Oxford Parliament first made the [Page] Act against the Importation of Irish Cattel, whereby they disjoin'd the Interest and Dependency of Ireland upon England, and fixt it upon France and other Countries which traded with them, and enabled the French and Dutch to victual Ships cheaper in their Fisheries, and other Trades, than the English could, as much to their Benefit, as Prejudice to the English.

How King James II's Conjunction with the French had brought these Nations and Christendom to the Brink of Destruction, was said in his Reign. In this state these Kingdoms stood, when God was pleased to give them Deliverance by the Interpo [...]tion of his present Majesty; and now all the neighbouring Nations upon France, I mean Spain, the Empire, Savoy, and the Dutch, as well as England, were alarmed at their common Danger, by the French Ambition and Grandure; and all their Eyes were upon England, as if from thence they expected Safety: and now was the King of England again become the Arbitrator of Christendom, after the four former Kings were so contemptible, and neglected by it. But in two things the French King's Ambition, or rather Madness, put some Check to his aspiring Designs, viz. his Contests with the Pope about his Franchizes at Rome, and the Regalia's of France; and by the Extream on the other side, in his revoking the Edicts of Nants; and his Dragooning and Reforming the Protestants of France, whereby he lost innumerable of his Subjects, to the weakning of his own Power, and that in double Proportion; for his Enemies (as he made them) became so much the more numerous and stronger; for those which became Exiles, being an industrious sort of People, had contributed highly to the Encrease of the Wealth of France: so that now the Charge of the War must have been supported by those he left; yet in this state France alone, for above six Years, made an offensive and victorious War by Land against Germany, Spain, Holland, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Duke of Savoy, tho all these were assisted by the Power of England and Scotland.

Tho England embraced their Deliverance by the King, Ireland did not, nor was it their Interest; for why should the Irish join with the English, who would have no Trade with them against the French, upon whom the Irish depended by their Trade and Commerce? And it's observable, That tho the French assisted the Irish above three Years in their Wars against the English, yet it may be a Question, Whether the French did not gain more by their Trade with Ireland for Wools, Tallow, Raw Hides, and Provisions for their Fleet, than their Expence for carrying on the War against the English did amount to; whereas the English, in the War, were at a foreign Expence; and being a Naval War, were forced to victual their Fleets at one third greater Expence than the French could do from Ireland.

[Page] Another Advantage the French had over the English in this Naval War, was, that Brest lying South of Ireland, every Wind, not North, in one Course carries their Fleet to Ireland; whereas Chatham, from whence the English sent their Fleet to oppose them, lies fivefold more remote from Ireland than Brest does: nor can the Ships from Chatham be carried to Ireland, but by different Winds, and steering different Courses, almost from all the Points of the Compass; for it must be (after the Ships are come within the Buoy of the Nore) a South or South-west Wind to carry them to the Buoy of the Gunfleet, before they turn into the Deep Waters; then a quite contrary Wind brings them into the Downs and Channel; and when they have sailed above a hundred Leagues, another Wind carries them to Ireland.

From hence it was principally, that the French for above three Years together (so long as the War lasted) sent out their Fleets upon the Coast of Ireland, did their Business, and returned to Brest, before we could get out our Fleets to oppose them. Yet Falmouth and Milford-Haven are much better Ports, and lie better and more conveniently than Brest; Milford much more to have relieved Ireland, and oppose the French Designs at Brest; yet from neither did we send one Ship to do it.

I suppose if the Reason hereof be asked, it will be answered, That there were no Docks, Shipwrights, or Naval Stores in either, to have supplied our Men of War in those Ports. But from whence comes this to pass? There were two Reasons hereof, from within, and from without; from within, Foy and Haverford-West (and the Port Towns generally of England) are Corporations, and the Inhabitants poor, yet proud of their Prerogatives, in excluding the rest of the Nation, and so have so much less means for building Ships, Docks, or carrying on the Fishing, or any foreign Trades, as the Inhabitants are fewer and poorer, and generally they are all Beggars.

The other Reason, from without, is the Act of Navigation against Foreigners partaking equal Benent in Trade with the Natives of England; so that tho God and Nature have endowed this Nation with more excellent and noble Ports than any Nation in the World of like Bigness (except Ireland) for the Benefit and Convenience of the Nation, yet by the Iniquity and Folly of our Laws, we have made them vain, and of no use to our selves, nor any other Nation; whereas I am confident the French King would give any of his new conquered Provinces in the Spanish Netherlands to have one such Port as either Falmouth or Milford Haven, upon the Coast of Normandy or Bretaign, within the Channel. Notwithstanding these Obstacles, the Kingdom of Ireland is again reduced to the Dominion of the Kingdom of England: But, I say, tho we should destroy the French Fleet of War, yet if we do not redress [Page] the Oppressions which the English in their Trades and Navigation lie under, the Nation will be no ways secured from the growing Greatness of either French or Dutch; for the same Causes will have the same Effects.

EXPEDIENTS, by which the English Nation may be secured against the growing Greatness of the French and Dutch.
APOLOGY.

WE have epitomized the Causes of the declining of the Wealth, Strength, and Trade of England in this Epilogue, that they may be more obvious to the Reader than if he should look for them as they lie dispersed in the Body of the History; and I am conscious to my self of the Difficulties I labour under in these Expedients: For a Reformation of State Affairs cannot be made, but to the Hinderance of many particular Men, whose Education, it may be, has placed them in their Stations; these are known, and by these I am sure to meet with all possible Opposition: whereas in contending for the Benefit and Security of the Nation, every body's Business is no body's Business, and not one in ten thousand will concern themselves in it: however, Truth is sacred, and a divine Air attends it, and what is neglected in the present time may prevail in succeeding Generations. And I will beg but one thing of my Opponents, viz. That they will not answer me by Clamour, but by Reason, and not Reason in Extremes; for thereby we shall differ and wrangle in the Means without end: and let this stand for a Maxim, That the Publick, in all Business of this Concern, is to be preferred before the Private, and the Safety of the Nation before any Man's particular Interest.

The Security of every Country depends upon the Strength of one Country against another, in case of War between them; and herein Countries are to be considered as they are placed in reference to each other: The Bounds of Inland and Mediterranean Countries, are Rivers, Lines, and Forts, which are esteemed sacred; and a Violence done to them, is esteemed a just Cause of War; and so long as these are preserved, the Countries within are secured from foreign Wars.

Britain is an Island which knows no Bounds but the Ocean, and the Kings of it are Soveraigns of those Seas which beat upon the British Shores; and in preserving this Soveraignty, Britain is more secure from foreign Invasion than any other Kingdom in the [Page] World (how great soever) which is on the Terrene Continent.

But this Dominion hath been of late disputed by the Dutch, and is at present by the French; nor shall the King of Britain be secure of the Soveraignty longer than he is able to defend it against the French and Dutch, whereas at present the French contend for this Soveraignty against the English in Conjunction with the Dutch. But suppose by an Accident of the Times, in these Circumstances, the French had joined the Dutch, as they did in the first Dutch War in King Charles II's Time, not 30 Years since, what a Condition had these Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, been in? And I say, the King of England shall never be able to maintain the Dominion of the British Seas, and thereby secure the Safety of the Nation, unless he be able to defend it against the French in Conjunction with the Dutch.

I'm a Lover of Mathematical Learning, because it premises its Principles before Men begin to learn or reason from them; whereas otherwise, where Men begin Disputing, they proceed and end in Contention and Wrangling: and, I say, that Trade is a Principle to Navigation, but above all, the Fishing Trades; and therefore, as you encrease your Trades, so you may infinitely encrease your Navigation: and as Trade is a Principle to Navigation, so is Navigation a Principle to maintain the Dominion of the Seas; and therefore so much as the Trades of England be lessened, so much will the King be less able to maintain the Dominion of the Seas upon the Coasts of England and Scotland: and this will be in a double proportion; for so much as we lose in either, the French and Dutch will gain, as well to the Loss of England, as to the endangering the Safety of it against foreign Enemies. How therefore we may preserve the Trades which we now enjoy, and encrease them by our selves, and where we cannot do by our selves, by the help of others, is the main Design of these Expedients.

Expedient I.

That the King establish his Throne in Religion, Justice, and Mercy, and that herein the Subjects Fear God, and honour and obey the King; for if either stray from hence, they will fall either into Confusion or Tyranny, whereby the Nation will become divided in it self, to the endangering the Safety of it from within and without, and never be happy till it be restored to what it was before.

Expedient II.

1. That for the Conservation of the Trades we now enjoy, and for the Employment of our English Natives, Foreigners continue to be excluded from our American Plantations: and herein neither French nor Dutch have any Reason to complain; for the Dutch do the same in their Spice Trade, and so do both French and Dutch in their African and American Plantations: but herein it's not fit for [Page] the English to be restrained to English-built Ships, as well for the Inconveniences which have been shewed before, as for that we may want English Timber for this and our other navigating Trades, and the King for building and repairing his Navy Royal, wherein our English Men of War, built of English Timber, excel all other, being more tough, and less liable to splinter, whereby the English Men of War, built of English Timber, will endure a Battery, which Ships built of foreign Timber will not.

2. That the home-vent of our Newcastle and Sunderland Trades in times of Peace, be driven by the Natives of England, exclusive to Foreigners; as also our other Trades, from Port to Port in England, and also to Ireland; tho these be impoverishing Trades to the Nation: for the Pitch, Tar, Masts, Cordage and Sails, generally used in these Trades, are foreign Commodities to the Nation, and for acquiring which, we return very little of our Manufactures; and the digging the Coals out of the Pits, and burning them in London, and other Places, no ways enriches the Nation to supply the foreign Expence for Pitch, Tar, &c. used in them; nor are either old Men, Women, or Children, employed in these Trades, but only young and lusty Men, and that but half the Year: so that Ipswich, and other Coast-Towns, which depended upon these Trades, are almost quite unpeopled, by reason the rest of the Inhabitants find no Employment in them. However, I'm confident that this Newcastle and Home-Trade, and that to our American Plantations, employ above four fifths of all the Ships in all the Trades we drive by Navigation; and therefore we'll take care to keep these, by excluding Foreigners out of them in times of Peace: and unless Foreigners beat us out of these Trades, they cannot get them from us.

For ought I know, the Newcastle and Sunderland Trades are better carried on in English-built Ships than foreign, because Coals being a bulky Commodity, and lying loose in the Hold of the Ships, in stormy Weather and rolling Seas batter the sides of the Ships; and the English Timber being tougher than the foreign, it better endures this than those foreign built: but it were Arrogance for any to say, because of one Convenience no other Ships shall be employed in this Trade; for hereby the King may want English Timber to build and repair his Men of War: besides, all Arts and Sciences are infinitely progressive; and if the means for carrying on Arts be restrained or denied, this will not only cramp the Improvement of this Art, but make the present Performance of it more difficult; and no Man that is less conversant in any Art or Business, understands how to manage them so well as those Men who make it their Business, and are more conversant in them.

It is therefore extream Arrogance and Injustice in any one, to prescribe to another, how, and by what means, he shall manage his [Page] Business, and by no other: every Man in his Profession ought to use such just means for carrying on his Business as he shall find most convenient, and not be restrained to such means as another shall impose upon him; and therefore whatever my Opinion, or any Man's else be of carrying on the New-Castle Trade in English built Ships, yet it's not fit to impose it so upon others Negatively, that they shall use no others, Trade and all Arts flourishing most where they are more free, and have more means to improve them: and tho I believe our Turkey and Italian Trades are better carried on in English built Ships than others, because they being more Warlike, and double better Mann'd than Foreign, they will fight their Passage against the Algerin, Tunis and Tripoli Pirates, when other Foreign Vessels easily become a Prey to them; yet I think it unjust to forbid the English to trade in any other Ships into the Straits.

Expedient III.

Since the Strength and Trade of every Nation begins at the Inhabitants, it will be the Interest of the Nation to continue the Inhabitants in it; and how these Inhabitants may be imployed to the Benefit of the Nation is the next Consideration: And therefore it is expedient that the Liberty which at present is granted to Dissenters from the Church, be continued, lest by proceeding against them by severe means, as was done of late for five years together, (viz. from the year 1635, to 1640) and since, they flee out of England into our Foreign Plantations or into Holland, as they then did, and taught the Dutch the Woollen Manufactures wrought in Suffolk and Essex, which was one principal Cause that the English have almost lost all their Trades of Woollen Manufactures in the Kingdoms and Countries within the Sound, and thereby the Dutch Trade for these is vastly encreased; and also lest they be provoked into intestine Broils, as succeeded in the Year 1640. Nor has Holland had the Benefit of the Persecution of the Dissenters in England only, but I do assuredly affirm that the raging Persecution of the Protestants by Philip the II. in the Spanish Netherlands, and by Henry the II. in France, who found an Asylum in Holland against these Persecution [...], was the Original of the Dutch Greatness; and it may be a Problem, whether the now French King has not lost more by his revoking the Edict of Nants, and by his Dragooning Reformation of the Reformed, than he has got by all his Conquests in the Spanish Netherlands, the Empire, Savoy and Spain; and after all he is not sure, but in acquiring these he has endangered the safety of his Kingdom of France.

Expedient IV.

In the Imployment of the Natives there is a twofold Consideration: First, That the poorer sort of Youth be instructed how to be employed: And secondly, That no Man be excluded out of any [Page] Place, from having the Benefit of his Breeding and Labours: I see no reason why Men should merit their Freedom in any Art or Mystery, by their being bound Apprentice to it for seven Years; for if they have any Benefit by it, let them enjoy it: but to exclude any other from exercising his Trade, because (though a better Artist than one bound Apprentice to it) he has not served seven Years in it, is not only Tyranny and Injustice, but of publick Detriment.

I say it is Tyranny and Injustice, for the generality of Mankind eat their Bread in the sweat of their Brows, and Cares of Mind, and have no other Subsistence but by their Labours: and therefore to take from another his honest means of Labour and Living, is a greater wrong than to have robbed him; for this hinders him but in his present Condition, whereas it is worse to take a Man's means of Living, than to take away his Life; for this puts a Man upon the ungodly Courses of Thieving, Sherking and Deceit; and with what Justice can a Man be punished for doing ill, who is not permitted to do well?

I say, the denying a Man the benefit of his Labours is a publick Detriment, for all Countries flourish by the Inhabitants Labour and Industry in Living; and every Man's Labour being a Benefit to another, hereby the Publick becomes injured, as well as the Man that is denied the Benefit of his Labours.

Object. By the Act of the 5 Eliz. 4. it is unlawful for any to work in any Trade, in any Corporation, or Market Town, but he who has been bound Apprentice to it seven Years.

Answ. All Men by the Law of Nature are obliged to get their Livings by honest Callings, and to be helpful to other Men; and Humane Laws ought to aid the Law of Nature herein, and to punish those who hinder Men from their Labour and Imployment; and whenever Humane Laws are contrary to the Law of Nature, the Execution of them is practising Iniquity by a Law: If a Man has been bound Apprentice seven Years to any Profession, it may be he has thereby a Benefit above another not bound seven years; but shall this other therefore not subsist, or be of any Benefit to the Nation, because that was bound Apprentice? This is such a Topick in Reasoning, as I never desire to be conversant in.

But why must being bound Apprentice seven Years entitle a Man to a Freedom of working in any Art or Mystery? Suppose one is bound, and is a Block-head, and another more ingenious in it not so bound, is there any Reason that shall be free, and this other not imployed? I am assur'd it is otherwise in Holland, where Men in purchasing their Freedom are not questioned how long they have been bound Apprentice, but how well they can work in any Art or Mystery.

[Page] I agree there are some Professions which depend chiefly upon bodily Labour, as Black-smiths, Carpenters, Shipwrights, Husbandmen, &c. which cannot be well acquired but by being bound Apprentices to them for some Time or Years; but I see no reason why in others which do not so much depend upon bodily Labour, Youth should be bound Apprentice at all, but may be better instructed without it: for as in all scientifical Learning, Youth bred up together will better be instructed in Company, and learn by one another, than where one single Youth is instructed by one Man; so in the Arts of Combing, Spinning, Weaving and Knitting in Woollen Manufactures, and Silkthrowing, Weaving, and in many others, Youth will be much better instructed in Consort and Company, than when alone.

There is one Mr. Robert Cooke, who is a more rigid Pythagorean than any (I think) of the Antients, for he will not drink any thing but Water, nor eat any thing which had Sensitive Life; nay, he will not wear any thing which came of any living Sensitive Creature; but his Hat, Clothes, Shooes and Stockings, are all made of Linen, and so is the Bed he lies in.

After the Natives of Ireland, upon the Act against importing Irish Cattle, had converted their feeding Grounds of great Cattle into Sheep-folds, and the Wools of Ireland being generally better for Woollen Manufactures (as he told me) than those in England; this Mr. Cooke set up a Woollen Manufacture in the County (as I remember) of Wexford, wherein he set on work either 40 or 80 Looms, and I think each Loom imployed ten poor Children in sorting, combing and spinning of Wool; and would entertain none but poor married People and their Children in working, for whom he first provided a Habitation, and all sorts of Instruments for their Work, and Materials to work on; they needed no great Instruction how to work, but were instructed by one another in Consort, till they had learnt how to comb and spin; and in working in common, as they could improve themselves, so he preferred them. I asked him why he took only poor People and their Children? he told me, Because he was sure of them when he had most Benefit of them, whereas if he took young single People which lived of themselves, they would leave him when they could subsist without him.

Hereby Mr. Cooke holding Correspondence with Merchants in Holland for these Woollen Cloths, acquired great Riches; and a little before (I think the Year before) the Revolution of England, was made Sheriff of the County (I think) of Wexford: but being zealous against the Superstition of Rome, upon King James his coming into Ireland, Mr. Cooke came into England, and would have set up his Trade in Ipswich, if the Town would have permitted him, tho Ipswich be scarce half inhabited, which they would not; so he set up some Looms without the Town: but he told me, he [Page] could not get any Children to work, tho he proffered them a Penny in a Shilling more than was given either at Colchester or Norwich. I never saw him but once, and this was four Years since, and now I hear he is returned back to Ireland.

But admit binding of Apprentices were necessary in learning of Arts or Mysteries, I would fain know what is the Art and Mystery of Wholesale or Retail Traders, or of Vintners, that Youth should be bound Apprentice to them, or of what use are they to the Publick, but an unnecessary sort of People? And because these are bound Apprentice, which noways contributes to the Benefit of the Publick, therefore other People which do, shall reap no Benefit of their Labours, because these labour not at all.

Expedient V.

That for the future no Youth be bound Apprentice to any Vintner, Wholesale or Retail Trader, whereby the Nation may reap the Benefit of those which might have been thus bound in other Imployments.

Expedient VI.

That in all the Grammar-Schools of England, Youth of both Sexes be instructed in understanding the English Tongue, and to write it, and be taught the use of Addition and Substraction gratis; and if any will have their Children instructed in the Greek and Latin Tongues, let them pay for it; whereby Youth may be better enabled to manage their Business, in Dealing and Conversing in the World: for to speak and write in English, and Addition and Substraction, if they be not necessary, yet are very convenient to all the English of both Sexes. And hereby the Supernumeraries bred up in Grammar-Schools, and our Universities, more than the Revenues of the Church can maintain, may be restrained, and consequently a greater Uniformity in Religion wrought amongst us.

It were to be desired too, that all learned Books, especially Mathematicks and History, were rendred into the English Tongue, as Cardinal Richlieu has done them in French; and that in our Universities, these may be read to the nobler and better sort of Youth from their first Principles; and that Aristotle's Analyticks, Topicks, Physicks and Metaphysicks be supprest, not only as vain, but disposing to Contention and Discord; and that the Laws of England after the Example of the Grecians and Romans, might be rendred into the English Tongue, and their practice less mystical and chargeable.

Expedient VII.

That in every Village a Work-house be erected, or at least every Village contribute to the Erecting of one in another Village for to instruct the Youth of both Sexes in such Arts or Mysteries as are more proper in them, whereby the Nation may reap the Benefit of their Imployments, and the poorer sort of People not forced to flee out of their Country, or become a Burden to it.

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Expedient VIII.

That the Drudgeries of Drawers and Tapsters in Taverns and Ale-houses, be performed by Women, that the Men may seek better Imployments: I am sure they cannot be worse imployed.

Expedient IX.

That Foreigners be excluded from the Trade in Ireland, and that the Trade between England and Ireland be free, so that England may be the Store-house of the Irish Wools, Beef, Tallow, H [...]des, &c. as well as of the Products of our Plantations, whereby England may have alone the Navigation, as well as the Trade to it; and by the benefit of Manufacturing their Wools, Hides and Tallow, not only victual our Fleet in Navigation, and the King his Navy Royal cheaper, but also drive a Foreign Trade to France, Spain and Holland, upon the account of salted Beef, &c.

Let's see the dangerous State of this Nation, as the Case now stands between England and Ireland: Our Trades to Norway, Prussia and Liesland for Pitch, Tar, Masts, Raff, Boards, Timber, and rough Hemp and Flax, are generally a Foreign Expence, so is that to the East-Indies, which at a moderate Estimate amounts to a Million Sterling yearly; and we have little to supply for these, but by our Trade to Spain for Woollen Manufactures, which if we lose, the Nation could not support the Foreign Expence in these.

Now let's see the State of our Woollen Manufactures in England, compared with that in Ireland, in case Foreigners be permitted to trade into Ireland for them. In England the Wools of most of the Counties on this side York-shire, are brought by a Land-Carriage to Norwich and Colchester, to be manufactured there, and after that by another Land-Carriage brought up to London, as generally your Western Cloths are, where only the Free-men of London must buy them at their own Prices; and then in Foreign Vent they are restrained by the Act of Navigation to Ships doubly as dear built, and sailed with near double the Hands Foreign Ships of like Dimensions are; and all the Western Cloths in their Vent to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Turkey, by a much longer Voyage, than if they had been exported from any of their Ports.

Whereas Ireland is seated better than England for the Trades of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Turkey, and the Ports equally good, or better than those of England, I'm sure much better than from London: The Irish shall have no need to carry the Wools of Leinster and Munster to Ʋlster by a Land-Carriage; and when they are wrought there, to bring the Cloths to Dublin by another, where none must buy them but the Free-men at their own Rates, and these bound to vend them in double as dear-built Ships, and sailed with near double the Hands of other Nations: but if Foreigners be permitted to trade, they may have the Cloths from the next Ports where they are wrought, and where the Artificers can [Page] live much cheaper than in England. The same Reason will be to the prejudice of our Leather made of Hides, Calves and Sheep-skins in our Foreign Vent; and if the Irish want Artificers, you need not fear the Dutch will furnish them: and at this rate, how long shall we enjoy the Foreign Trade, and the Navigation to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Turkey, with our Woollen Manufactures or Leather? &c.

Expedient X.

That the English may import rough Hemp and Flax, Pitch, Tar, Masts, Deal Boards and Timber in any Vessels.

Object. This will ruin our building Ships in England, and the Navigation of it.

Answ. I expect such a large general Objection; but if we never built any Ship for these Trades, then our building Ships will not be prejudiced thereby; and if we imploy about 300 Mariners in the Norway Trade about three Months in the year, and 150 for six Months in the year to Liefland and Prussia, is this Imployment to be preferred to the free Importation of the Products of these Countries, and thereby save 1/4 of the Foreign Expence, and imploy, it may be, 50000 People, or more, Men, Women and Children, all the year round, in making Sails and Cordage for our Navigation, and Nets for our Fisheries; and hereby be able to fit up Vessels for our Navigation and Fishing Trades, as cheap as the Dutch, and cheaper than the French can?

Expedient XI.

That the English Merchants be permitted to buy Vessels for carrying on the Fishing Trades upon the Coasts of England and Scotland; I do not mean those mean Fisheries to supply London, and some places in England, by imposing double Strangers Duties upon Fish imported by the Dutch by the Act of Navigation; but such a Fishery, whereby the English may, in some measure, partake with the Dutch in their Foreign Trades of Cod-fish, and white Herrings, and also buy Vessels for the New-found-land Fishery.

Object. This would ruin our Natives in building Ships.

Answ. This is at large again; for if the Natives never built (I'm sure since the Act of Navigation) one Ship for this Trade of Fishing upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, what does this hinder them in building Ships for our other Trades? nor does this hinder the Imployment of Mariners in them, for we have imployed none in it these 30 Years: So that this Trade is like a great Man that is Lord of a great Lake, out of which his Neighbours grow rich and powerful by the Fish they take out of his Lake; but this Man is so in love with his Family, that he will not permit any of them to fish but by such Means or Instruments, as others of his Family will supply them with; but these are so dear and inconvenient for their Purpose, that they can only supply their Master's [Page] Family, whilst others supply his Neighbours better and cheaper; and in this State it will be in the Power of these others, to beat him and his Servants quite out of the Fishery, and take the whole Benefit to themselves.

In the New-found-land Fishery the English do, and always did build Vessels for it; but these are such, that the French have almost ruined their Fisheries, I am sure, in the foreign Vent of them; and therefore the buying Vessels for this Trade is as necessary, as for that of the Fisheries upon the Coasts of England and Scotland: and tho the English heretofore built Vessels for the Green-land, Iseland, and Westmony Fisheries, yet they were such, as the Dutch and Hamburghers have wholly worm'd us out of the Green-land Fishery, and left us very little of the Fisheries to Iseland and Westmony.

It were to be wished, that an Experiment might be made of building Vessels for our Fisheries, especially for that of the New-found-land in New-England, where Timber, Masts, Pitch, and Tar, are cheaper, and may be better had, than the Dutch can import these, or bring them into Holland down the Rhine and Maes: but the Attempt of this must be done for some Years upon a publick Account.

Expedient XII.

That the English be permitted to buy Ships in the foreign Vent of our Manufactures, and the Product of our Plantations. It's a strange thing to me, that in the Navigation of England, being so necessary for the Safety and enriching of it, others not conversant in it, as the Rump were not, should restrain it to one sort of Shipping; for such a Restraint cramps all Learning and Reasoning in every Art or Science, without any possible Progression or Improvement beyond it: and I say this Restraint was as absurd as impolitick; I say it was absurd, for it sets the Cart before the Horse, for Trade is a Principle to Navigation, and Navigation a Mean in carrying on Trade; so that as you encrease your Trades, you may your Navigation, if your Hands be not bound up from it: but if you begin at Navigation, and tie your selves only to one sort of Ships, it will be impossible to encrease your Trades beyond it, whereby all those Peoples Labours which are restrained to this Navigation will be lost, and these a Burden to the Nation.

I say, this Restraint is as impolitick, as absurd and unjust; for hereby you sacrifice not only the Navigation, upon which the Employment of People depended, to your Neigbours, it may be your Enemies, but intitle their People to those Trades which you so foolishly give them to your Loss, and it may be, Undoing.

To these is added another dreadful Consequence upon the Nation, by the Act of Navigation, which the Rump in their haste and [Page] spite against the Dutch did not foresee, at least not consider; for the restraining the Navigation of England to English built Ships, hath so wasted the Timber of England, that in convenient Distances for building, the King will not find Timber in England to build and repair his Navy Royal, if this Restraint be continued; and then in what a Condition will the Nation be? I will give some particular Instances hereof, which I know of my own Knowledg.

Having observed the Scarcity of Timber upon the Coast of Suffolk, (which I take to be the best of England for building Men of War) caused by the Act of Navigation; about 20 Years since, when I was at Bristol, one Captain Baily was building the Oxford Frigat; out of Curiosity I went to see it, and found the Captain on Board; and falling into discourse with him, among other things, I told him how scarce Timber was in Suffolk, but I hoped it was not so in the West; he told me it was much less there than in the East, and that he was forced to get Timber for building the Frigat from beyond Worcester, which was above fifty Miles from the Place, yet the Forest of Dean between, which Queen Elizabeth called one of the Nurseries of her Navy Royal.

About five Years since, one Captain Frame undertook to build two Men of War for the King, and he bought Timber for building them in Norfolk and Suffolk near 20 Miles from Great Yarmouth, from whence it was carried to Hull by Water to him: and I have a Tenant in Suffolk, who contracted about three Years since with Timber-Masters to be paid Sixteen Shillings a Load, or Tun, for carrying of the Timber for the Dock at Ipswich, to build their Ships, which is, I am confident, more than the Dutch pay for their Timber delivered at their Docks down the Rhine and Maes.

Objection. But if the English buy Ships for the Foreign Vent of our Manufactures, our Ship-Carpenters will be undone for want of Imployment.

Answer. So here the Interest of Ship-Carpenters is opposed to the Interest and Safety of the Nation; but if these built Ships as good and convenient as other Nations, the Merchants would not look further: but is there any reason because they cannot do it, the Nation must be undone? let them continue building Ships for New-Castle still, and they know no better; yet this is observable, that though our English Builders in this Trade have had a Monopoly in it above these Hundred Years, yet having no better Skill in it, and being too wise to be instructed, at last about six Years since they found out, that it was better to build them somewhat longer; yet these are the Artists our Merchants must trust to, and no other. I am confident that the French King understands the Advantages France reaps by the Act of Navigation, and that this was the Reason King James in his last Declaration promised to observe this Act inviolably.

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Expedient XIII.

That the foreign Vent of our English Manufactures, and the Product of our Plantations, be as free to the English in all Trades, as they are to Spain and Italy.

When any Man shall give a rational Answer to any of those manifold Reasons given by 3 Jac. 6. for the Freedom of Trade to Spain, &c. I will recant all which hath been said in any of these Expedients; or that there are not the same Reasons for the Freedom of the English in venting our Manufactures and Product of our Plantations in all our foreign Trades, as well as to Spain, except to Holland, who by the Cheapness of their Navigation may vend them again cheaper in Muscovy, all the Countries and Kingdoms within the Sound, and also to Spain, Portugal, Italy and Turkey, than the English can by their Navigation; but this is yet but problematically said, not granted: But in case the English Navigation were as free and easy as it is in Holland, then the Question would be at an End.

I do not speak this against the English trading in Consort or Companies, for I know many Trades may be better carried on in Companies than by particular Men, but against the Usurpation and Tyranny of Companies, who because they trade, therefore no other English shall; and this I say, that if Companies, as the Turkey Company (which of all others is least liable to Exception) carry on their Trades best for the Interest of the Nation, no particular Merchant could set up in competition with them; but if they leave Room enough for the Dutch, the French and Venetians to trade to Turkey with their Woollen Manufactures, why should any English Merchant not of the Turkey Company be excluded herein, yet these Trades free to other Nations? The East-India Company by their Charter claim a Liberty of Trade exclusive to the rest of the Nation, from the Cape of Good Hope, to the North of China; which if you take in both sides of the Red-Sea, and Gulph of Persia, and the Circuits of the Islands between the Cape of Good Hope and the North of China, is above half the Circumference of the Earth: So do the African Company from the Kingdom of Morocco, to the Cape of Good Hope, which if you take the Coast of Africa as it lies, is more than a Quadrant of the Circumference of the Earth; so that these two Companies claim a Trade exclusive to the English, of above 3/4 of the Circumference of the Globe of the Earth; and if they had Power as great as their Claim, they might give Laws to all the Princes of the World, as well as their poor fellow Subjects; and it may be a Question whether they would use them better. And is not the Hamburgh Company broke? And have not the East-Country Company upon the matter lost our Trade into the Sound, which within these sixty Years was the best Trade the English had for Woollen Manufactures in the World?

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Expedient XIV.

That the Customs upon the French Wines consumed in England, be 1/3 more than upon Portugal, Spanish and Italian Wines, whereas the Duties upon these are 1/3 more than upon the French; because our Trades to Portugal, Spain and Italy are beneficial Trades to the Nation, which by the Abatement of these Duties may be increased; whereas by the Ballance of our Trade with France, taken in the eighth Year of King Charles the Second, the Nation lost near a Million yearly in their Trade with France.

Expedient XV.

That the Duties imposed upon Salt, Wines and Brandies, be paid by the first Buyer after they are imported, and not the whole Cargo charged upon the Merchant; so that what is not consumed may be exported again.

The Reason of this is, that so much more as Ships are fuller fraught, so much cheaper will the Navigation be, not only of these but of all other Merchandize which compound the Fraight of the Ship; and hereby the Dutch, besides the Cheapness of their Ships, by compounding their other Merchandize with Salt, Wine and Brandies, which they import cheaper than the English, make all their Trades to Muscovy, and all the Countries and Kingdoms within the Sound, so much more easy and cheap, as their Vessels are more full fraught, by these.

Objection. If Salt, Wines and Brandy imported may be exported again, the King will lose his Customs.

Answer. I say not at all, for how do they do in Holland? and by the 4 Jac. 2. the additional Duties upon Tobaccos and Sugars are paid by the first Buyers; and by charging the whole Cargo, these are damned to a Consumption here in England; and if you did not, the King shall be paid for all that is consumed. On the contrary, I say, the King is more secured of his Duties hereby, than if the whole Cargo be charged; for let the Penalty stand, that the Merchant shall forfeit his Cargo if he make a false Entry, and who then will run the danger, when he is like to get nothing by it? whereas if the whole Cargo be charged, if a Merchant scapes but once, he will be no loser; if he be discovered the next time, he runs his Goods.

Expedient XVI.

That it be free to the English to import Salt, Wines and Brandies in any Vessels.

The Reason of this is, because our English Navigation is so dear, that the Dutch import these much cheaper than the English can, and therefore can export them into other Countries cheaper; whereby the English cannot so well compound their Fraight in the Northern Vent of our Manufactures as the Dutch; whereas if the English were free to import Salt, Wines and Brandies in any [Page] Vessels, all the Manufactures of England might be vended from their next Ports, and not by a tedious and chargeable Land-carriage brought up to London, to be fraighted from thence. And this benefit the Nation has naturally above the Dutch herein, that as our Woollen Manufactures are better than those in Holland, and may be cheaper than there, so we can compound Fraights with Lead and Tin, which the Dutch have not, and can ballast the Ship with Sea-coal, cheaper than the Dutch can.

Object. If the English should freely import Salt, Wines and Brandies, we should undo all our Mariners and Shipwrights.

Answ. What this again, and at large? So that unless you undo the Nation, you cry out, You are undone; but if you will do as well as other Men, you need not complain, for the English would imploy you before any other: But must the Nation be undone, because you are either ignorant, and will not, or have not means to serve the Nation?

Now let us see how far these Men would be undone, if the importation of Salt, Wines and Brandy were free for the English in any Vessels. If Salt were freely imported, we should be so much better enabled to cure Fish in all our Fisheries, and also in salting Provisions in all our Navigations, as well as the Navy Royal, upon Occasions; and be enabled to refine Salt so much cheaper, as Salt imported is cheaper: And what are the Ship-Carpenters hereby hindred? for they never built one Ship for this Trade, nor know how to build any other way than for the New-Castle Trade, which is free both to imploy their Shipping and Mariners; and therefore neither would be undone, if the Trade to import Salt by the English were free to do it in any Vessels.

For the Trade for French Wines, it is but three Months in the Year, viz. October, November and December, and these the most perillous of all the Year for Navigation, and in the most rude and boisterous Seas in the World, and the outward Vent to France no ways proportionable, but less by the Returns of the Wines; and what would be the Loss to the Nation, if these Ships were not thus endangered by this Voyage, or the Mariners not imployed in it?

The Reasons for the Import of Portugal, Spanish and Italian Wines, are not the same with the French; but if it were lawful for the English to buy Ships for the foreign Vent of our Manufactures, and the Product of our Plantations, the English hereby might in Return of their Trades, import Salt, Wines and Brandies cheaper from thence than the Dutch can; and if these were free to be imported and exported, I see no Reason why we might not reduce the Dutch to as low a Trade to the Sound, and to Muscovy, as they were before the Year 1635, and in a great Measure recover the Loss of these Trades.

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Expedient XVII.

That no Duties be withdrawn upon the Export of dying Stuffs and unwrought Sugars from our American Plantations.

The Reason hereof is, that the Manufacturing of any Commodities is so much more valuable to any Place by the Imployment of the People, as the thing manufactured is more valuable than the Principals; as it may be Wool, which is the Price but of one Shilling, if made into Cloth, may be of eight Shillings value, then seven Shillings will be Advantage to the Nation, by Imployment of the People; and if otherwise it were not wrought, these People might be a Burden to it. And the dying of Woollen Cloths, and silken Manufactures, is the best Imployment for our Midland People, next the making of them; and by withdrawing half the Duties upon dying Stuffs, we entitle the Dutch, Hamburgher and French to dye Woollen Cloths and Silks cheaper than we can. The same Reason is of withdrawing half the Duties upon unwrought Sugars, for hereby the Dutch and French may refine them cheaper than the English can, and thereby make them cheaper to themselves, and exclude us from the foreign Vent of our refined Sugars, as much to their enriching and encrease of Navigation, as to our Loss in both.

Expedient XVIII.

That it be free for all Nations to import Pitch, Tar, Masts, Boards, Raff, and all Sorts of Timber, and rough Hemp and Flax, into all the Ports of England and Wales, without paying any Duties.

The Reason of this is, hereby the English, if they can get Hands, may fit up Vessels not only for the Fishing Trades, but for all other Foreign and Domestick Trades; and so far as Foreign Timber be imployed in building Ships, we may build as cheap.

Object. 1. The King by this will lose considerably in his Customs.

Answ. It may be so, but hereby he will gain threefold more in building, repairing, and fitting up his Navy Royal: as I remember, when in 1667 after the burning of the City of London, Endeavours were used to procure these to be freely imported for the Benefit of rebuilding it; upon Search the Duties upon Pitch, Tar, rough Hemp and Flax in all England, did not amount to 1700 l. per Ann. and that very Year the King granted the Customs upon Masts, Boards and Timber, to Sir Robert Paston, (after Earl of Yarmouth) only reserving to himself (as I remember) 2600 l. per Ann. the greatest part whereof was afterwards begg'd: How it stands now I know not.

Object. 2. If this Importation be free, we shall undo our Norway Merchants and Traders to Liefland and Prussia.

Answ. And why undone? They are not excluded from trading hereby: But suppose these Traders be twenty, and they cannot, [Page] or will not supply the Kingdom so cheap as others; shall the Interest of the Nation, by imploying above (it may be) 100000 poor People in these all the Year round, (and we hereby be enabled at least to fit Vessels in all our Navigation as cheap as the Dutch, and cheaper than the French) be postponed to the Interest of twenty particular Men, who by this are no ways hindred in their Imployment, if they do it as well as others?

Expedient XIX.

That all Foreigners may be free to exercise any Mystery in any Art in any Place in England.

The Reason of this is, because if the Nation had all the Benefits proposed in these Expedients, and all other imaginable Advantages, they would not be of further use to the Nation than they had Hands to carry them on.

The Commons in the third Westminster Parliament upon the 31st of December, in 1680, Gave leave to bring in a Bill for a General Naturalization of Alien Protestants, and allowing them Liberty to exercise their Trades in all Corporations.

But why was this leave to be given only to Protestant Foreigners? Let's see how the Case stands, and what Benefit the Nation can reap from it, now the French King has expelled the Reformed out of France: As the Case stands, Holland, France and Flanders are the Places from whence we can expect any Benefit by this Liberty. In Holland Protestant Artificers are as free and easy as in England; but in Flanders, though they be an industrious and honest Sort of People, yet are they all Popish: and I am confident, if they thought they might freely exercise their Religion in England, Multitudes of them would seek an Asilum in England, to be freed from the Insults and Tyranny they are always subject to from the French; and it may be reasonably expected, that Multitudes of People in the French Conquests would flee the French Tyranny in them, if they might be free in their Religion in England: and it is not unlike, but upon Advantages given the French, we might procure many of them to fish from our Western Ports, if they were free in their Religion.

Object. But this Permission would disturb the Peace, and endanger the Safety of the Church of England.

Answ. Good Men are scarce, and so these Men had need of taking care for themselves; and these Men are as careful of the Church, as the Free-men are of their Privileges, and rather suffer the Nation to sink, than they any ways endangered.

Is not the Church of England in the Kingdom of England, and protected by it; so that if the Kingdom falls, the Church cannot stand? Did not our Saviour send his Apostles to propagate the Gospel in this World, though they suffered Persecution and Martyrdom for it? Yet these good Men are fearful of themselves and [Page] the Church of England, if others come to support the Kingdom, and enrich them: When any Foreigners are planted here, have not the Church-men, if they will make it their Business, an Opportunity of winning them to the Church of England, and have Reason, and the Authority of the Kingdom to do it? and if these will not prevail, the Fault is others, not theirs.

For my part I detest the Roman Superstition and Idolatry as much as any Man, and am as fearful of the Tyranny which the Pope claims, as well over Princes, as Mens Consciences; yet I apprehend no Danger of either, by this Liberty granted to Popish Artificers: for it is one thing for Jesuits and Popish Priests to make it their Business to pervert Men to their Sentiments, and another thing for poor Popish People to make it their Business how to subsist, which will take up their whole time, especially where they are in a strange Place, and Strangers to the People, (unless by accident in their Dealings for their Support) and also to the Language of the People where they live. I would know what Inconvenience has followed▪ for permitting Brewer and his Followers (which were all Papists) to instruct our Natives in making and dying fine Woollen Cloths: and in all the Disturbances and Tumults of the late Times after 1640, let any Man shew me one Instance wherein the Walloons, and their Descendants planted in London, Norwich, Colchester▪ or Canterbury, contributed to any of them; however they had been sufficiently provoked thereto, both by Arch-Bishop Laud, and Bishop Wren.

Expedient XX.

That it be free for all Foreigners to purchase Lands and Tenements in England.

The Reason hereof is, because where Men purchase Lands and Tenements, they design a Habitation, whereby the Nation will be so much more peopled as Purchasers are more, and the Kingdom so much strengthned, and the King's Revenues so much increased, as these Purchasers and their Families consume more excizable Goods, or foreign which pay Customs: and so much more as the Purchase-Money shall be more, so much more will the Nation be enriched; for the Lands and Houses we retain still, and the Purchase-Money is an Addition to the Treasure of the Nation: and this is so much an Advantage to the Nation, because no Man in it runs any Hazard or Venture of Loss by it; whereas in all the Wealth which Merchants acquire by Foreign Trades, they run not only the Hazard of Loss▪ but of being undone.

Expedient XXI.

That a publick Encouragement be given to all Foreigners which shall carry on the Fishing Trade from the Ports of England, in the New-found-land Fishery, and to Greenland, Iseland, Westmony, and upon the Coasts of England and Scotland, for the taking and curing White-Herring and Cod-fish.

[Page] The Reasons hereof are manifold; for above all other Trades, the Fishing-Trade encreases Mariners and Navigation; for every Man in the Fishing-Trade becomes a Mariner, whereas in the East-India and other Trades, it may be a thousand Artificers do not employ one Mariner; and in the East-India Trade, it may be a Question, whether we do not lose more Sea-men or make more Mariners; and those which survive, by reason of the Diversities of the Climates, and their feeding upon salted Meats, and drinking sour Drinks, are so feeble, that a Fisherman is able to fight and beat two of them: Add hereto, the Fishermen are always at home, and so at hand upon all Occasions to serve the Nation, whereas in the East-India Trade you scarce hear of one in two Years, and not in a Year from those to Turkey, and our American Plantations. Besides, these Fishing-Trades, above all others, employ all sorts of poor People at home, in making Ropes, Sails, and Nets for it.

If ever these Fisheries be retrieved, it will be with great Difficulty, and a Work of Time, considering the Poverty of the Coast-Towns of England, and the Potency of the Dutch and French in opposing us, who are possessed of them; and it is more difficult to retrieve a lost Game, than not to be able to play it before it be lost: yet this Benefit we have by it, that we have discovered how we lost our Game, and how the Dutch and French won theirs.

In the Fisheries upon the Coast of England and Scotland, besides the King's indubitable Right, whatever Grotius in his Mare Liberum says to the contrary, the English may take in fresh Water and Provisions, and dry their Nets upon the Shore, which the King may forbid Foreigners to do in their Fisheries, which may be of great Advantage to the English; for the Dutch begin their Fisheries of White Herring upon the Coast of Schotland or Schetland, upon the Rising Grounds (as they call them) and follow that Fishery four Months in the Year, before the Herrings come to the Coast of Norfolk and Suffolk, where we begin ours, which Fishery we enjoy no longer than while the Herrings pass to the South of Norfolk; so as the English enjoy this Fishery but about a Fortnight or three Weeks: and I am told, the Dutch in this Fishery are threefold more than the English, tho the English, by Men of War, force the Dutch to fish farther from the Coast than the English do: yet this Advantage the English have above the Dutch in this Fishery, that they can cure Red Herrings, which the Dutch cannot, for White Herrings cannot be cured into Red, but when new taken: so that the English, as soon as they take them, bring them to Yarmouth, Lestolf and Pakefield, where they make them Red; whereas the Dutch fishing a Fortnight or three Weeks before they return to their own Coasts, the Herrings become too stale to be made Red.

For the Employment of the English Natives in making Cordage, Nets, and Sails, for the Fishing Trades, it's requisite that Work-houses [Page] be erected in every Port-Town for poor Children to be instructed in Spinning and making Nets; and that rough Hemp, Flax, Pitch, and Tar, be bought at a publick Charge, and laid up in publick Ware-houses, and delivered to those who work, by select Officers, so that these be not bought up by Wholesale People, and by them sold to Retailers, to be sold to poor working People. These publick Stores, tho they be renewed, yet there need be no further Charge to the Corporation or Port after the first, because the first being paid out of the Labours of the working People, the Profit may buy more.

I think it were fit an Account were given to the Justices of the Peace of the next Division, of every Port-Town, in their Quarterly Sessions, of the state of the Stock of the Port, as well as the poor People employed hereby.

And for encrease of Work-men in these Manufactures, it is fit that all Vagabonds and wandring Persons should not be sent back to the places of their last Habitation, but to the Ports of England, to work in them; for bunching Hemp, and winding Ropes, require but little Skill besides bodily Labour, and Spinning and making Nets is soon taught: and that People which are punished by Whipping and Branding, and then let loose, should be punished with more than ordinary Labour in these, for some time, more or less, as the nature of their Crimes are, instead of those Punishments. So that tho our Timber be not so cheap and convenient for building Vessels for the Fishing Trade, yet when one is bought, we may fit it up for the Fishing-Trade as cheap as the Dutch, and cheaper than the French, and our desolate Coast-Towns be so much more peopled, as People shall be employed in making Ropes, Nets, and Sails, for the Fishing-Trade.

I wish an Experiment were made of our English Hemp, cured in running Streams, whether it would not take Tar, and endure a Straint, and not break, as well as foreign: I am sure, of my own Knowledg, the Wretting and Curing it in running Streams will not kill the Fish; and if for that time it makes the Water bitter, so as Cattel will not drink it, Men, for as little Charge, may make Pits for their Cattel to drink in them, as to cure their Hemp in them: and if, by this means, our Hemp should make as good Cordage as foreign, I am sure above 20000 Acres might be converted to planting Hemp in the Isle of Ely, the Fen-Lands in Lincolnshire, and manifold more in Ireland, which at present are of little use to the Nation; and if Hemp and Flax could be cheaper hereby than they are imported from Liefland and Prussia, the Nation would save the foreign Expence. But if Hemp and Flax should be planted, it is fit they should be exempted from payment of Tithes, for by it, it may be, foreign Hemp and Flax might be cheaper imported. But then where should People be [Page] got to these? It must be by Foreigners or Scots.

Object. Hereby you would undo the Church.

Answ. Not at all, for they have no Tithe-Hemp and Flax before they be planted, and so the Church and Church-men cannot lose or be undone, in not having that they never had; and why should the Interest of twenty or thirty Men be preferred to that of the Nation?

Suppose 10000 l. per An. should be given for binding 2000 Apprentices in the Fishing-Trade, and these, one with another, earn 20 l. per An. this would be 40000 l. a year Benefit to the Nation; and in 10 years this would be 400000 l. Benefit to it. I would know which way Money could otherways be better employed.

The French King, at his own Charge, erects Schools in all the Sea-port Towns of France, to instruct Youth in Mathematicks in the French Tongue gratis, and gives half Pay to all young lusty French, for two Years, who will employ themselves in the New-found-Land Fishery: and is it not fit the English should give equal or more Encouragement to the English for carrying on our Fisheries?

Suppose a Tax were given for this end, that all such Foreigners as would bring in any Fishing-Vessels into any of the Ports of England, the Foreigner should be paid the full Value of his Vessel, provided he laid out Money in purchasing a Tenement or Land in England, to secure him and his Interest in England. By this means the Nation exports no Money, which it must do in buying a foreign Vessel; the House and Land we still have, and gained a Vessel, and Master and Family, which we had not before; whereby the English may be instructed to cure White Herring and Cod-fish as well as the Dutch, and also how the Dutch and Hamburghers have improved the Whale-Fishery, as much to their Benefit and Navigation as our Loss.

It will be necessary, if the Nation designs to set up a Fishery from the Ports of England, that the Returns of Fish be imported Custom free; for otherwise it will be impossible to encrease the Foreign Trade for Fishing beyond the Returns which shall be consumed in England.

Object. This will hinder the King in his Customs.

Answ. Not at all, for the King has none in any of these Trades, so cannot lose by Goods imported in Return of them; but I say, the King will be a Gainer by the Excise of Beer, Brandies, and Wines, in victualling Vessels in this Trade; and by the Consumption of these, by these and their Families at home, which are employed in them.

Expedient XXII.

That Encouragement be given for building Vessels for the Fishing-Trade, and our other Trades in New-England.

[Page] The Reason hereof is, the English had better furnish themselves with Vessels by their Fellow-Subjects, than depend upon Foreigners for them, if this can be as cheaply and conveniently done by those as these.

I am sure the Principals of building Vessels in New-England, viz. Timber, Masts, Pitch, and Tar, may be cheaper had in New-England than the Dutch can acquire these out of Germany and Norway; and little Iron need be used in building them, especially if instead of Iron-bolts Trunnailing be used, which is much better.

But this building Vessels for the Fishing and other Trades in New-England, must for some time be done by foreign Carpenters, for our English know no other Modes in building but for the Newcastle Trade; and these are the Ships which the Act of Navigation calls our English-built Ships, which the English are obliged to trade in, in all their other as well as Newcastle Trade.

If the Parliament should give 2000 l. per Annum for some time, as five or six Years, to twenty Ship-Carpenters, which build Busses, and other Vessels in other Trades, to be paid above the Wages given in Holland, to each one hundred Pounds a Year more; I do not believe but that they may be had upon these Terms: and the Inhabitants of New-England are an industrious and numerous People, already build Vessels, as well for their Trades to our Plantations as to England, and would understand how much their Interest would be improved hereby, having Hands enough, and Materials better and cheaper than can be had in any other place.

Expedient XXIII.

That the Ports of England be free for all Foreigners to import and export all sorts of Merchandize.

The Reason hereof is, That the Wealth of every Nation consists in Goods more than Money; so much therefore as any Nation abounds more in Goods than another, so much richer is that Nation than the other: for Money is of no other use, than as employed in Trade; and therefore where-ever the Market is, Money will follow. Holland and Spain are plain Demonstrations hereof; for there is no Money in Holland but what they acquire by Trade, yet have Principals of Trade neither for Navigation nor Merchandize: whereas Spain has yearly many Millions of Treasure in it, and manifold Principals of Trade and Navigation, yet can keep no Money, whilst Holland abounds with it.

Suppose we should lose a hundred Sail of our laden Merchantmen, and all the Men, were it more or less, will not any Man say the Nation will be so much impoverished and weakned as the Goods and Ships are in Value, and the Mariners more? Convert the Proposition then, and suppose by the Freedom of our Ports Foreigners should bring in as many Ships, and Goods of like Value, and like Number of Mariners, would not this be as much an [Page] enriching and strengthning of the Nation as the other was an impoverishing and weakning of it?

Does not Leghorn flourish above all the Ports of Italy, by the Freedom of it? And does not the Pope see the Convenience of it, by making Civita Vecchia a free Port? And does not Gottenburg flourish above all the Port-Towns of Norway, tho made a free Port but for a time?

Sure a Stander-by would be amazed to see such vast Fleets of Dutch, Hamburghers, Danes, and Swedes, every Year pass by our excellent and safe Harbours of Falmouth, Plymouth, Dartmouth, Portsmouth, and Harwich, which are always open, to encounter the Sands of Zealand, and the unsafe Passage of the Fly or Vly, into the Ze [...]der Sea, where they are all the Winter in great Danger to be stranded by stormy Weather, and to be hal'd over the Pampus to prevent it, and the Rock before Hamburgh and Gottenburgh, and where they are frozen up commonly three Months in the Year, but more, if he be told the Reason of it, which is, Hell and Shipwrack is not more dangerous than our Ports, by the Act of Navigation, and the Law against Freedom of Trade in England; yet the English enjoy that Freedom abroad in France (when at Peace) in Portugal, Italy, and Turkey, which they deny others at home: and herein we'll observe our Saviour's Rule, To do as to be done by.

Admit the Freedom of our Ports should procure no Foreigners to inhabit with us, yet by their Trades, and laying up their Vessels in Winter-Seasons, the Nation would acquire the Benefit of victualling their Vessels, and supplying the Masters and Mariners with Provisions during their Abode, which would encrease our Markets, and enrich the Nation.

Object. If our Ports were free, we should undo our Natives in all their foreign Trades.

Answ. I expected no better Reasoning; but if we keep our Newcastle Trade, and that to Ireland, and our Plantations, exclusive to Foreigners, let any Man shew wherein this Nation can receive any Prejudice by Foreigners importing any sort of Goods, or by exporting ours, if the Natives be free to buy Ships: for my part I know none, except by the French bringing in wrought Silks; and this is a needless Fear, now silken Manufactures are so well wrought here, that if raw Silks be freely imported, silken Manufactures will be cheaper wrought here than can be imported from France, and some fine Needle-works in Linen from France and Flanders: forbid then that from France, but permit it from Flanders, thereby to enable them to hold a better Correspondence with us for our Woollen Manufactures.

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CONCLVSION.

I Have done, and I do not know but that I am the first that ever began a Work of this Nature; and I was the rather induced to it, because tho the Employment of People, and the Freedom of Trade, be the two great Principles of the flourishing and happy State of any Country, yet the Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy, whose Interest it is to have these, make it not their Business to understand them: and our Merchants, who are as understanding a sort of Men as any are in any other Country, tho they understand that Freedom of Trade and Employment of People be the greatest Happiness of any Country, yet these (especially those who act in Companies exclusive to the rest of their Fellow-Subjects) understand it to be their Interest in continuing the State of Affairs, in reference to Trade, as they now stand; for hereby they have the Employment of the Natives in their own Power, to take what they please off their Hands in foreign Trade, and at their own Prizes (beyond which the Natives cannot be employed in the foreign Vent of our Manufactures) and the Artificers in them reduced to poor Estate, and Multitudes of poor People made hereby a Burden to the Nation; besides manifold others seek their Subsistence (for all Creatures desire to subsist) by ungodly means: And as in the foreign Vent of our Manufactures, so the restraining the Import of foreign Commodities to our English Merchants (especially those who trade in Companies exclusive to their Fellow-Subjects) is not less injurious than the Export of our Manufactures; for hereby the Merchants impose what Rates they please upon our poor Artificers, and those which cannot come up to their Terms must not be employed.

Nor is it better in the Domestick Trades of our Manufactures, for few Manufactures can be managed but in Towns, and frequented Places, where the Workers may be assisted by others, and with those things which they stand in need of in their Employments; yet all our great and frequented Towns in England are Corporations and Market Towns, which exclude thousands of Artificers out of them, for not being free of them, or not having been bound Apprentices in them, [Page] whilst these Free-men, by the Prerogative of their Freedom, impose what Rates they please upon the poor Artificers, and set their own Prizes upon the Nobility, Gentry, and others who buy of them.

He that begins any Work, labours under manifold more Difficulties, and is more subject to Error than another who builds upon his Foundation. This is my Case, and therefore am more excusable for the Frailties and Errors I may have committed in this Design; but upon the Discovery of any, I promise to recant it. I am sure my Intention is honest herein, being for the Good of my Country; and those Labours are best which are spent in the Benefit of it.

FINIS.

ERRATA.

PAge 20. line 16. r. as fierce. P. 52. l. 16. del. this. l. 17. r. this House. P. 57. l. 16. del. the Parentheses. P. 100. l. 5. del. Comma after not. P. 118. l. 28. after drawn add;. P. 119. l. 41. del. the last that. P. 132. l. 15. r. Spanish Secretary. P. 135. l. 24. r. then went. P. 167. l. 30. r. then. P. 374. l. 15. del. Comma after God. P. 378. l. 10. and 379. l. 20. for former r. first. P. 398. l. ult. after confirmed put Comma. P. 530. l. 10. r. they will. P. 540. l. 37. r. 20 l. P. 646. l. 1. [...]. and not to do it, and give.

An Alphabetical TABLE OF THE Principal Matters contain'd in this BOOK.

[Page]

A.

ABbot, Arch-bishop, zealous for the Elector Palatine, 93. His plain Letter to the King, 111, 112. Refuses to license Sibthorp's Sermon, 197. Is basely dealt with on that account, ib. 268. His Character and Death, 238.

Abhorrers of Petitions for Parliament prosecuted by the Commons, 555, 556.

Act of 35 Eliz. repeal'd by Parliament, 557. but not by the King, 559.

Act of Vniformity, 439.

Adjutators in the Army, 318.

Albeville, Marquess, his Memorial at the Hague, 649.

Algerines at War with the English and Dutch, 452.

Alliance with Spain, the Commons Votes concerning it, 558.

Amboyna, the Dutch Cruelty there, 121.

Ancre, a French-man, his lamentable End, 86.

Ann, K. James's Queen, her Character, 75. Is averse to Villiers, and foretels what he would be, ib. 76, 124. Her Death, 88.

Apprentices, 663—665, 678.

Arbitrary Notions; see Cowel.

Archy, K. James's Fool, 112.

Argyle, Marquess, executed, 444. His Character and Story, 568, 569. Earl, his Character, &c. 568—570, 575—578. His Explanation of the Test, for which he's tried and condemned, but escapes, 578—586.

Aristotle's Logick censur'd, 22.

Arlington, Lord, rudely treats the Prince of Orange, but fails in his Design, 508.

[Page] Arminians severe against their Opponents, 242. See Mountague, &c.

Army declares for the King, 319. yet draw up a Remonstrance against him, march to London, and exclude most of the Members, 328.

Articuli Cleri; see Bancroft.

Ashley Cooper made Lord Chancellor, 478. Joins with the Country Party, and is turn'd out, 492. His Life most unjustly aim'd at, 596—598. Is clear'd by the Grand Jury, 599. Remarks on his Case, ib.

Askew Sir George his Success at Sea, 353, 354.

Avaux, the French Ambassador, discovers his Master's and K. James's Designs, 649, 650.

Audley Palace, what it cost, 77.

Author, Story of his Father, Brother, and Himself, in Cromwel's time, 392—396.

B.

BAcon, Sir Francis, censur'd for Bribery, 97.

Bancroft, ABp, for Absolute Power in the King, 57, 59.

Barebone's Parliament, 373. Their Thoughts of the Dutch, 374, 375. Their Articles with them, 376. Their Acts; resign their Power to Cromwel, 377.

Barnvelt, Head of a Dutch Faction, 33, 121. Takes Advantage of the ill Posture of K. James's Affairs, 80. Loses his Head for opposing the Prince of Orange, 121.

Batton, Sir William, joins Prince Charles at Sea, 326.

Bedlow discovers Godfrey's Murder, 534.

Bill of Exclusion rejected by the Lords, 557.

Billeting of Souldiers voted a Grievance, 207, 217.

Bishop of London, his Motion to debate the King's Speech, 629. Is suspended by the High Commission, 639.

Bishops in Scotland re-ordained, 122, 262. In England voted out of Parliament, 276. Oppose several good Bills, 490, 629. Several of 'em, both in England and Scotland, most profligate Persons, 639, 640. Seven refuse to read K. James's Declaration; are tried, and clear'd, 644, 645. Remarks thereon, and on their Prayers for the King, 645—647, 650.

Blake Governour of Taunton, 312. Commands at Sea, 327, 351, 353—355.

Bohemia, History of that Kingdom, 89—93, 101, 102. Chuse Frederick Count Palatine their King, 93.

Booth, Sir George, overthrown by Lambert, 409.

Bridgman, Lord Keeper, his Speech on K. Charles's Treaties, 475. Is turn'd out, 478.

Bristol; see Digby.

Britain, its Situation, Bounds, &c. 12. Justly claims the Soveraignty of the Seas, 659, 660. See Grotius.

Buckingham; see Villiers.

C.

[Page]CAbal in 1671. who they were, 478. Their pretended Causes of the Dutch War, 479. Another in 1673. 495.

Care, Henry, sentenc'd for writing his Weekly Packet, 546.

Carr, Sir Rob. has an extravagant Boon order'd by K. James, 61. Made Viscount Rochester, and courted by the Countess of Essex, 63. Procures the Ruin of Overbury, 64, 68—70. Created Earl of Somerset, and married in extravagant Splendor, 70, 71. His Fall, 74. His Pardon refus'd to be sign'd, 76. His vast Estate, 77. which is seiz'd by the King, 79. Tried for Overbury's Murder, ib.

Castlemain sent Ambassador to the Pope, 642.

Cavaliers slighted by Charles II. 424, 426.

Cecil, Lord Treasurer, saves K. James 15000 l. and how, 61.

Charles I. while Prince, his breach of Faith in Spain; breaks off his Match, 116, 117, 128. Is proposed to the French King's Daughter, 119, 125, 140. yet her Portion not a tenth of the Infanta's, 142. The extravagant Articles of her Marriage, 142, 143. Berule's Deputation for a Dispensation for it, 143—145. First 15 Years of his Reign perfectly French, 153. His great Wilfulness and Levity, 156, 187. Makes War on Spain at Buckingham's Instigation, 157. Commands Pennington to deliver up his Ships to the French, 162. His Warrant in favour of Papists; dispenses with the Laws, 165, 168. His first Breach with his Parliament, 166. His many Mistakes the first five Months, 171, 172. His ill Success in the War with Spain, 172, 173. Breaks his Word with the Keeper, 179. His peremptory Message to the Commons, with their Answer, and his threatning Reply, 183, 184. Reproves his Parliament, 184, 185. His Reasons for blasting Bristol's Articles against Buckingham, 187. The Lords Reasons against his, 188, 189. His Arbitrary Declarations after dissolving the Parliament in favour of Buckingham, descanted on, 190—192. Is accountable only to God, 190, 210, 219, 236, 268. Demands Money of his People out of Parliament, 196, 228, 252. Imprisons the Gentry for refusing to pay, and keeps up a Standing Army on free Quarter, 199, 228, 236. His dissembling and threatning Speech at the opening of Parliament, with large Remarks upon it, 202—206. His Message to the Commons to hasten Supplies, 210, 211. His Answer to the Petition of Right, 213. which he resolves to abide by, 214. Passes the Petition, 216. His unaccountable Speech against the Commons concerning Tunnage and Poundage, with Remarks on it, 219—224. Makes a Papist Lord Treasurer, 226. Commands the Speaker to put no Question concerning Grievances, 229. Imprisons several Members of Parliament, 232, 233. who are denied Bail, 234, 235. Displeas'd with the Judges Determination thereon, 235. His threatning Declaration at dissolving the Parliament, 236, 237. [Page] Makes Peace with France to the ruin of the Reformed, 237. Sends 6000 Men to assist the Swede, 238. His great Fickleness, 239, 271, 279, 298, 311, 330. Disturbs the Dutch fishing Trade, 259. His Instructions concerning the Scots solemn Covenant, 264. Summons a General Assembly and Parliament in Scotland, ib. Sends a Fleet and Army against the Scots, 265. Boasts of his Prerogatives in calling Parliaments, which is descanted on, 268—270. Marches against the Scots; is petition'd for a free Parliament▪ treats with them, 272. Is forsaken by his Friends, 274, 275. Begins his Reformation too late, 275, 286. Establishes Presbytery in Scotland, 277. Long before he declar'd the Irish Rebels, 277, 278. Demands five Members of the Commons, 278, 290. Is advis'd to stay at London, but would not, 278. Is refus'd Entrance at Hull; sets up his Standard at Nottingham; join'd by the Nobility, 279. Is worsted at Brentford, 297. Summons his mungrel Parliament at Oxford; makes Cessation of Arms with the Irish; withdraws his Forces from Ireland, 300, 343. His ill Success, 306, 308, 313, 315. His Counsels with the Queen discover'd, 312. Deals privately with the Irish, 312, 314. His Commission to Glamorgan, 314. Submits to the Scots, 316. who sell him: Is confin'd, 317. Is seiz'd by the Army, 318. His Letters to the Queen, threatning Cromwel, by whom he's remov'd to the Isle of Wight, 323. Treats with the Parliament, 324. Remarks on his sad State, 316, 317, 325—327, 333, 334. His Death, and Character, 334—337. A Story of him concerning Buckingham's Funeral, 337.

Charles II. takes the Covenant, and is proclaim'd in Scotland, 344, 345. Flies into England; is routed at Worcester▪ 346. Assists at the Pyrenean Treaty, and is slighted by the French, 422. Sends Letters from Breda, 425. Is restor'd without Terms, with an extravagant Joy; rejects Cromwel's Treaty of Commerce with the French, 426. whom he imitates in his Guards, 427. Delivers them up Dunkirk, and assists 'em against the Spaniard, 429. His Luxury, Debauchery, &c. 430. Calls a Parliament, ib. Restores Episcopacy in Scotland, 445. Grants a Toleration, 447. Afterwards takes it off, 448. Makes War on the Dutch, 452. His Speech to the Commons on that occasion, 452▪ 453. His vast Revenues, 453. compar'd with Q. Elizabeth's, 454, 455. His slight Preparations for the War, 455, 456. Is careless and prodigal therein, 456, 467, 468. His ill Success in the second Fight, 459, 460. Makes a dishonourable Peace with them, 469, 495—497. Enters into a League with the Dutch and Swede, 472. but breaks it off by means of his Sister, who soon after dies, 474. His deep Perfidiousness and Dissimulation, 475. Is a Pensioner to France, 477, 522, 523, 548, 561. Shuts up the Exchequer, 478. Makes War again on the Dutch without Cause, 478, 479. Suffer'd Marsilly, [Page] whom he employ'd in Switzerland, to be murder'd at Paris, 479. Raises an Army under Schomberg and Fitz-gerald, 487. Sends 3 Lords to the French on a dark Design, 488. His Demands at the Treaty at Cologn, 492. Assists the French with vast Stores, 498. Mediates a Peace betwixt France and the Confederates, 498. Breaks his Promise to Sir W. Temple, 499, 503. His unprecedented Prorogation of Parliament, 504. Insisted on by the Lords to be a Dissolution, 505. His Rage at the Commons for their Advice, descanted on, 506. Adjourns them without their Consent, 506. Endeavours a separate Peace betwixt France and the States, 507, 515. His Answer to the Pr. of Orange concerning it, 511. and to Sir W. Temple, 512. Treats with them, 516, 517. Sends Lord Duras into France, 518, 519. Treats about a War with France, 524, 525. Is govern'd by French Counsels; sends Du Cross to supplant Sir W. Temple, 526, 527. Calls his second Parliament which met in 40 days; pretends Zeal in discovering the Popish Plot, 537. Chuses a new Privy-Council, and promises to be ruled by his Parliament, &c. 538. His great Hypocrisy and Deceit, 539, 548, 559. Declares himself a Whore-master, 544, 545. His dissembling Speech to the Parliament after many Prorogations, with Remarks on it, 547—552. Summons a Parliament at Oxford, 559. Is concern'd in Fitz-Harris's Plot, 564. His Declaration at dissolving the Oxford Parliament, descanted on, 566—568. His Death and Character, 604—606. His obscure Burial, and good Deeds, 606—608. Died a Papist, 610.

Charter of London ravish'd by the Court, 600, 601, 614. and those of other Corporations taken and surrendred, 603, 615, 633.

Children more in England than employ'd, 27.

Clergy, when too numerous, the Cause of Factions, 240, 241, 449.

Cleypole, Cromwel's Son-in-law, imprison'd for a pretended Plot, 532.

Clifford foretels another Dutch War, 473▪ Made Lord Treasurer, 478. But being a Papist, is forc'd to resign, 491.

Cobbet Colonel taken Prisoner, 412.

Cockain's Project for dressing Cloths monopoliz'd, and the Consequences of it, 65.

Coke Sir Edw. grants a Warrant for seizing Somerset, 78. Remov'd from being Chief Justice, and why, 79, 82. Is prosecuted, 103. Imprison'd without Cause assign'd, and sued by the King, who is cast, 105. Not admitted into his Presence, 164. Is made Sheriff, and why, 180. Moves for the Petition of Right, &c. 207—209. Is against trusting to the King's Verbal Declaration, 211, 212. His sharp Speech against Buckingham, 215, 216. His Papers seiz'd at his Death, 253. His Books made use of by the King's Party, tho printed by the Parliament, 279.

Coleman holds Correspondence with the Jesuits, 500. His Papers, &c. convey'd away, 532.

[Page]Colledge, Stephen, clear'd by the Grand Jury of London, but basely murder'd at Oxford under a Colour of Justice, 591—595.

Cologn, Treaty there propos'd by the Swede, 492.

Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs by K. James, 633—637.

Committee of Safety, 410. Agree with Monk, 412. Are threatned by Lawson, 414.

Commons insist on deciding Elections, 52. Alarm'd at the Growth of Popery, &c. 97, 98, 493, 531. Present Remonstrances to the King, 98—100, 217. Their stinging Petition against Papists, 134, 138. Zealous against them, 166, 168, 169. Grant the greatest Tax ever given before, 206. Fall upon Grievances, 207, 216, 231, 266. Their Declaration against Tunnage and Poundage, 218, 219. Protest against paying Money not granted by Parliament, 229. Their Vow concerning Religion, 231. Zealous against Delinquents, 274. Their Remonstrance of all the King's Miscarriages, 278, 289. Inflam'd at his demanding the 5 Members, 278, 291. whom they vindicate, 291. Pass the Self-denying Ordinance, 310. Deliver up the Militia of London to the Army, which is petition'd against, 320. Treat with the King at the Isle of Wight, 327. Refuse to grant Supplies before the Nation is secur'd, 493, 531. Their Votes against the King's evil Counsellors, &c. 494. against the Lords Jurisdiction in Appeals from Chancery, 502, 504. Their Bills to prevent the French Designs, &c. 503, 555. Address the King for a League with the Dutch, 505. Their Votes for disbanding the Army, 536. for the King's Safety, 539. against the Tories, &c. 552. concerning the Revenue, 558, 559.

Confederates, their Success against the French, 504. Complain to our King of the French Ravages, 513. Exclaim against the separate Peace, 529.

Convention act hand over head in restoring Charles II. &c. 423, 424. Sent him 50000 l. 425.

Convocation frame an Oath to preserve the Church, and grant the King a Benevolence, 273, 367.

Cooke, Rob. a Pythagorean, his manner of living, &c. 664.

Cornish, Alderman, his hard Ʋsage, is murder'd, 622—624.

Corporation-Oath; see Oaths.

Corporations unjust in excluding Foreigners, 27, 658.

Cotton, Sir Rob. his Advice to the King, 199, 200.

Covenant; see Scots.

Covenanters rise in Scotland, their Proclamations, &c. 542. Their Actions; are routed, 543.

Coventry, Lord-Keeper, his Speech on the King's behalf, 184.

—Mr. Henry breaks the Triple-League, is made Secretary of State, 477, 478. Offers to sell his Place, 514.

Cowel his Interpreter incenses the Commons, 59, 60.

Croke Judg, a remarkable Story of him, 259.

[Page] Cromwel Lord, his Letter to Buckingham, 157.

—Oliver, his Pedigree, and Character; how he rais'd himself, 301, 302. Designs against him, 303—305. His first Success, and Loss, 310. Treats with the King, his Ambition therein, 322, 323. Intercepts the King's Letters, 323. Storms Drogheda, and reduces all Ireland, 344. Is declar'd General of all the Forces; his Success against the Scots, 345, 346. and at Worcester, 346. Contrives how to set up himself, 348, 358—361. Summons several great Men about settling the Nation, with their Opinions, 348, 349. Furiously dissolves the Rump, with Remarks thereon, 362, 363. His first Manifesto to the Nation, 370. Summons a Council to govern the Nation; his Speech to them, 372, 373. Gets rid of 'em, 377, 378. Appoints another Council; is declar'd Protector; his Instrument of Government, with Remarks, 379, 380. Treats with the Dutch; his Design against the Pr. of Orange, 381, 382. His Selfishness, &c. 383, 387. His pretended Parliament, and Speech to 'em, 385. Is highly disgusted, and dissolves 'em, 386. Makes an unjust War with Spain, with the ill Success of it, 387, 388. Assists the French against them, 389, 390, 401. His Ways to raise Money, 392. Is ill belov'd; under great Disquietudes▪ his Misfortune by a Coach, 397, 402. His third Parliament, 398. His House of Lords, 399. Is attempted to be kill'd ib. Compar'd with the greatest Tyrants, 399—401. His fourth Parliament, 401. His ill Success at Ostend, 402. His Army of Volunteers, and Death, 403. His good Deeds, 404, 405.

—Rich. declar'd Protector, 405. Has 90 Congratulatory Addresses presented him, 406. Recogniz'd by his Parliament, which he is forc'd to dissolve, and thereupon is depos'd, 407, 408.

D.

DAnby Earl, impeach'd by the Commons, 536, 538.

Dangerfield discovers the Meal-tub-Plot, is vilified by the Chief Justice, 546. His Trial, barbarous Punishment, and Death, 638.

Dean, Admiral, slain by the Dutch, 371.

—Sir Anth. sent into France to build Ships, 497.

Delinquents, first use of the Word, 274.

Denbigh Earl, sent to relieve Rochel, but did not, 225.

Derby Earl, routed, and beheaded, 347.

Deserters hang'd against Law, 643.

Dewit, John, his Character and Actions, 484, 485. He and his Brother assassinated by the Mob, 487.

Digby, Earl of Bristol, his noble Character, and severe Charges against Buckingham, 109, 110, 118, 137, 187. His Ruin design'd by the Prince and Buckingham; his Defence of himself, is recall'd from Spain, 119, 138, 139. Refuses the K. of Spain's generous Offers, 120. His Reasons for his Proceedings in Spain, 128, [Page]129. Is confin'd, and petitions the King, 139, 175, 185. Petitions the Lords for his Writ, whereon 'tis sent him, 186. Is accus'd by the King, &c. ib. Is committed to the Tower, 192, 193. Follow'd Charles I. in all his Adversity, 193.

Discords in Religion often arise from Kings, 17.

Dispensing Power; see James II.

Dissenters, a Bill for their Ease past the Commons, but fiting out by the Lords, 490. Fierce Laws against them in Scotland, ib. Sever [...] ly persecuted by the King and Tories, 587. Too forward to address K. James, 642, 647.

Dover Treaty, 474.

Dumbar Fight, 345.

Dunkirk sold to the French, 429.

Dutch declar'd Free States, 26, 61, 339. Much in our Debt, 32, 33, 54. Pay Tribute for fishing, 32, 61. Get their vast Debt remitted, and their Cautionary Towns, 80, 81. What they detain'd from the English, 115, 121, 249, 250, 338. Dispute the Sovereignty of the Seas with the English, 244, &c. Refuse a Coalition with England, 350, 374. Their Engagements at Sea with the Rump, 351, 354—356, 371, 372. Their pretended Excuses, &c. therein, 351, 352, 358, 372. Animate Cromwel against the Rump, 361, 371. Are in great Confusion, 374. Their advantageous Theaty with Cromwel, 383. Court Charles II. to a League, 426. An Account of their former Encroachments, &c. 450—452. Their double-dealing, 452. Their Engagements, at Sea with Charles II. 457—461. Enter the River, and burn our Ships, 468. Get a beneficial Peace with K. Charles, 469. yet their Smirna Fleet set upon; send Deputies to the English and French Kings, 478, 479. whose Fleets they rout, 481. Recapitulation of their History, 482, 483. Make a separate Peace with France, 523, 527. Complain to the English Court of the French, 524. Assist the Pr. of Orange in saving these Nations, 649. Their Answer to Albeville's Memorial, 650.

E.

EAst-India Company incorporated by Cromwel, 338.

Edghill, Battel there doubtful, 296.

Education of Youth, 23, 240, 448, 665.

Egerton Lord Chanc. refuses to sign Somerset's Pardon, 76.

Eikon Basilike disown'd by Charles II. 425.

Elector Palatine; see Frederick.

Elizabeth Queen forbid French and Dutch building Ships, 30. Granted the Dutch Licence to fish, 32. Her sharp Answer to them, 33. Allow'd K. James in Scotland a Pension, 34.

Elliot, Sir John, against the Court, 189, 213, 231. Information against him in Star-Chamber, 234, 235.

Essex Earl, the Parliament's General, 296, 297, 303. His ill [Page] Success, 307. Lays down his Commission, 310.

Essex Earl, murder'd in the Tower, 601, 602.

Exchequer shut up by the King and his Cabal, 478.

F.

FAirfax, Sir Tho. for the Parliament, 298, 300, 306. Is made General, 310.

—Lord, favours Monk, 412, 414, 416.

Falkland, Lord, slain; his Character, 299.

Felton stabs Buckingham, 225. Is threatned with the Rack, 227.

Finch Sir Joh. refuses to put any Question concerning Grievances, with Remarks thereon, 229, 230, 232. Is made Chief Justice, and complies with the King's illegal Actions, 253. Made Lord-Keeper, 266.

—Sir Heneage, made Lord Chancellor, &c. 492, 493. His Veracity Speeches, 493, 501.

Fines excessive granted the Duke of York, 602.

Fire of London, with Notes upon it, 461, 462.

Fishing Trade, and fishing on our Coasts, 32, 61, 83, 87, 243, 364, 376, 390, 391, 450, 653, 654, 675, 676, 679. Increases Navigation, 390, 676.

Fitton, an infamous Person, made Chancellor of Ireland, 641.

Fitz-harris, his Plot against the Dissenters, 562—564. Is committed to Newgate, but his Discovery prevented, 564, 588. Is tried and hang'd against the express Votes of the Commons, 591.

Five-mile-Act against Dissenters, 458. Design'd to be reviv'd by the Lords, with Remarks thereon, 501, 502.

Flanders overrun by the French, 470.

Fleetwood made General, 408. Is advis'd to bring in the King, 415.

Foreigners to be naturaliz'd, and otherwise encourag'd, 556, 607, 608, 674, 675. but kept out of our American Trades, 660.

France how bounded, 11, 28. Its Grandure owing to the Stuarts, 160, 480, 496—498, 651, 652. Its Success against Spain, 256.

Franche County invaded, 473.

Frederick, the Palsgrave, marries the Princess Elizabeth, 67. Has no Relief from his Father-in-law, 93, 94, 95. Enters Prague with an Army, 93. Totally routed, and retires into Holland, 95. Goes to his Army in Disguise, 107. which is routed, 108. Takes the Covenant, and has a Pension from our Parliament, 309.

Free Ports, 679, 680.

French routed at Sea by the English, 354, 378. Look'd on while the English and Dutch fought, 492. Beat Spaniards and Dutch at Messina, 503. Endeavour a separate Peace with the Dutch, 509—511. Their Imperiousness, 521. Wheedle the English and Dutch, 522, 529.

French King breaks the Pyrenean Treaty, 427, 428, 471. Expels the English out of S. Christophers, 460. Pretends to join the [Page] Dutch, 461. Breaks his Word with the Irish, 472, 533. Procures the Triple League to be broke, 474, 484. Sets out a Fleet against the Dutch, 475. Declares War to propagate the Catholick Cause, 477. His Perfidiousness, &c. 484, 498, 604. His Success and Ravages on the Rhine, Netherlands, &c. 485—487, 505, 513, 524, 530. Makes Prize of English Ships, 498. Endeavours to break the Confederacy, 509. His Promise to the States reflected on, 523. Falls upon the Empire without declaring War, 650. and the English Factories at Canada, 644, 650. Impolitick in his Persecution, 657, 662.

G.

GLemham, Sir Tho. for the King, 313, 316.

Godfrey, Sir Edmundbury, murder'd, 533, 534.

Goodman Bp of Glocester suspended at Mountague's Instigat. 273.

Grievances increas'd by Intervals of Parliament, 49, 61.

Grotius for the Arminians, 121. His Mare [...]iberum answer'd at large, 244—252.

Gundamor, Spanish Ambassador here, his Character, 98.

Guthry, Mr. James, imprison'd and beheaded, 443, 444.

H.

HAmbden refuses to pay Ship-Money, 258. Is prosecuted, 259. Is routed, 298.

Hamilton, Marquess, sent to quiet the Covenanters, 264. Marches into England on behalf of the King, and is routed, 326. Is executed, 342.

Harman, Sir John, his great Danger in the Dutch Fight, 459; 460. Beats the French Fleet in America; and reduces Surinam, 468.

Haslerig, Sir Arthur, against the Army, 409.

Hatton, Lady, refuses to part with Hatton-House; 274, 275.

Hayton, Capt. his noble Act against the French at Sea, 378.

Hemp and Flax, 677.

Henry IV. of France his Character, 28, 29, 67. His great Design prevented by his Death, 29, 66, 67.

Henry Pr. of Wales, his memorable Sayings; and noble Character, 65, 66. Suspected to be poison'd, and why, 66, 79.

Herbert, Sir Edw. sent Ambassador to France, is misrepresented, but boldly offers to clear himself, 96.

Hewet Dr. put to Death by Cromwel, 403.

Hide, Lord Chancellor, vindicated concerning the Sale of Dunkirk, and the Match with Portugal, 429, 430. His Fall, and Character, 470.

High Court of Justice; see Rump.

Holland privately seeks a Peace with the Rump, with their canting Letter to 'em, 356, 357. Agree to exclude the Pr. of Orange, 382.

Holmes, Sir Rob. falls upon the Dutch Smirna-Fleet, 478.

—Colonel, his suffering in the West, a remarkable Story, 621.

[Page] Hotham, Sir John, conven'd before the Council, 267. Keeps Hull for the Parliament, 279, 294. but after endeavours to deliver it up to the King, 299. for which he and his Son lose their Heads, 300.

Hubert hang'd for firing the City, to prevent a Discovery, 462.

Hungary commended, its Story, 89, 90.

Huntley, Marquess, loses his Head, 316.

I.

JAmes I. his Arbitrary Act at Newark, 35. Prodigal of Proclamations, 35, 48. Caress'd by all, especially the Dutch, ib. Glories in his Birth-right, &c. 34, 38, 51. Historical Remarks thereon, 38—47. His profane Swearing and Drinking, 36, 71, 151. Hates the Puritans, and is highly flatter'd by the Bishops, 37. His Arbitrary Proclamation at calling his first Parliament, 50. Quarrels with the Commons about deciding an Election, 52. Lets the K. of Spain raise Forces in his Dominions, 54. Monopolizes the Trade to Spain and Italy, 56. Is excessive prodigal to his Favourites, 59, 62, 77. Afraid to demand what's due from the Dutch, 60, 71, 121. His Ways of raising Money out of Parliament, 62, 106. Invades the Privileges of Parliament, 72. His loathsom way of kissing his Favourites, 78. Much impos'd on by the Dutch, 80, 81. Treats of a Marriage for his Son with the Infanta, 86, 98, 100. Commits all to Villiers, 87, 98. Is contemn'd by the Dutch, 87. by France and Germany, 97. by the Spaniards with Lampoons, 109. Hates Parliaments, 88. Huffs his Parliament in a Letter to the Speaker, 99. His long Invective against them, 100—102. Annuls the Commons Protestation, and dissolves them by an Arbitrary Proclamation, 104. Imprisons several Members, and the Earl of Southampton, 104, 105. His Arbitrary Charge to the Judges, 105. His fickle and perplex'd State at breaking off his Son's Match, 114, 115, 156. Resolves to fall in with Parliaments, 115, 125. Pretends no favour for Papists, 126, 145. His Speech on behalf of Buckingham, and doting on him, 136, 137. His weak Letter to the French King on account of his Son's Match, 140, 141. His Speech to the Lords of the French Council, 145. His Death, which seem'd suspicious, 147. His Character, 106, 107, 148—152. Could meet Popery half way, 148. Charg'd his Son to call Parliaments often, 156.

James II. while Duke of York, engages the Dutch, 457, 480, 481. His two Sons die, 468, 476. Is propos'd to the Arch-Dutchess of Inspruck, but married to the Princess of Modena, 476, 477. His Designs against England in conjunction with France, 500, 502. The Commons Votes against him, 541, 557. Is sent Commissioner into Scotland, 545, 568. His Actions there, 570. His Designs against the Earl of Argyle, 575, &c. His rude Answer to him, 585. Has 22000 Scots ready to assist him, 604. His Declaration to the Privy-Council on his being King, 609, 610. which he [Page] often broke, 610, 613, 617, 620—624. Takes the Customs and Excise before given him, 610, 614. His unparallel'd Cruelty, 613, 620—623, 638. His vast Revenue, 615, 617, 618. His ridiculous Pardon, 622. His Proceedings in Ireland, 624, 625, 632, 641. His Favour to the Papists, 625, 626, 632. Gets Judges to declare for his Dispensing Power, with Reflections thereon, 630—632, 642. Grants a Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs, 633, &c. Toleration in Scotland, 641. and Liberty of Conscience in England, which is descanted on, ib. Keeps a standing Army in time of Peace, 642, 643. Orders his Declaration of Indulgence to be read in Churches, 644.

Jefferies, the Commons Votes against him, 556. Releases the impeached Lords, 611. His savage Cruelty in the West, &c. 613, 620, 621. Is made Lord Chancellor, 630.

Jesuits, their Projects in England, 200, 201. for which some were taken, yet releas'd by the King, 201.

Ignoramus the Play, 74.

Ingoldsby sent against Lambert, 420.

Inoiosa, Spanish Ambassador, presents the King a Paper against the Prince and Buckingham, 130—132. which much perplexes him, 132, 133.

Johnson, Mr. Samuel, whipt for writing an honest Address to the English Army, 638, 639.

Jones, Sir Tho. his Thoughts of a Dispensing Power, 630.

—Sir Will. put out, and for what, 546.

Ireland, how bounded, &c. 12. A horrible Massacre there, 277, 343. Another design'd, 448. and a Rebellion in Conjunction with the French, 472, 533. K. James's Proceedings▪ there, 624, 625, 632, 641.

Irish Cattle, Act to prohibit their Importation, with 9 Observations upon it, 462—467. Is made perpetual, 559.

Judges, their Opinion for Ship-Money, 258. Those made by Char. II. 501.

Juries hated by Cromwel, 400, 401. Are pack'd to murder honest Men, 601, 602, 611.

Jurisdiction of Parliaments discust in relation to Fitz-harris, 588—590.

Jus Divinum, 330—332, 544.

Juxton, Bishop of London, made Lord-Treasurer, 265.

K.

KIngs their divided Will against Law, 5. Never parted with Parliaments in Disgust till the Stuarts, 205, 267. Not wont to be present at Debates in Parliament, 502. Never speak but in Parliament, or under the Great-Seal, 568.

Kirk, Maj. General, his barbarous Inhumanity at Taunton, 622.

Kirk-Party strict with James VI. 34. Mind the King of his Covenant, 443. See Scots.

L.

[Page]LAmbert turns against Cromwel, 399. After against his Son, 406. Is made Lieutenant-General, 408. Petitions the Rump, 409. Is turn'd out by them, ib. and after turns them out, 410. Marches against Monk, 412, 414. Is sent to the Tower, 416. Is routed, and taken Prisoner, 421.

Langdale, Sir Marmad. his Success for the King, 309. Is discontented, 311.

Laud, his Rise and Character, 122, 123. Puts the King on altering Religion in Scotland, 122, 123, 242, 255, 256, 260. Gets a Bishoprick by playing the Spaniel, 123. His ways to ruin Bishop Williams, 124, 239. Proves a Firebrand, &c. 157, 166, 167, 226, 239, 242. Is made Bp of London, 226. Favours Popery, 231. His great Care of the Church, 167, 227, 241, 242. Prosecutes his Injunctions concerning Ceremonies with great Severity, 254, 255, 257, 258. Quarrels with the King about visiting the Ʋniversities, 256, 257. Procures an Alteration in the Church of Scotland, 262, 263.

Lauderdale, some account of him, 441, 442, 454. Is bitter against the Presbyterians in Scotland; his Highland Government there, 490, 491.

Laws, &c. ought to be in the Mother-Tongue, 363, 404, 405, 665.

Lenthal made General by the Rump, 408.

Lestrange, Roger, Champion of the Tory-Cause, 500. Is employ'd to ridicule the Popish Plot, 545.

Levellers in the Army, 318.

Liberty of Conscience to be continued, 662. See Dissenters, and James II.

Lindsey, Earl, sent to relieve Rochel, but in vain, 225.

Lisle, Lady, her unparallel'd Case; is basely murder'd, 620.

London on ill Terms with the King, 272. yet lend him Money, 273. Raise Souldiers under Waller, &c. 321. In Confusion, 414. Join with Monk for a Free Parliament, 419. Is set on fire, 461. See Hubert.

Long Mr. sentenc'd in Star-Chamber, 234.

Lorain, Duke, basely dealt with by the French King, 474.

Lords, five impeach'd by the Commons, 535. See Jefferies.

Lowden Chancellor of Scotland, his Speech concerning Cromwel, 303, 304.

Ludlow deposes Henry in Ireland, 408.

M.

MAckenzy, Sir Geo. pleads against the Earl of Argyle, 584, 585.

Magdalen-College Story, 640.

Mansfield denied landing at Calais, contrary to Agreement, 146.

Manwaring for the King's absolute Power, 197. Impeach'd by the Commons, and sentenc'd by the Lords, 214, 215. Is promoted by Laud, 227, 256.

Marriage with France; see Charles I.

[Page] Marsilly murder'd at Paris, to the Dishonour of K. Charles, 479.

Marston-Moor Fight, 307.

Maurice, Prince, for the King, 298. Is lost in the W▪ Indies, 327.

May, Tho. Esq his Treatise of the Civil Wars disprov'd, 280—295.

Mazarine turns K. Charles, &c. out of France, 383. His Success against the Pr. of Conde, 388, 389. and Loss at Ostend, 402. Opposes K. Charles's Restoration, 421, 422.

Meal-tub-Plot discover'd, 546.

Militia, who shou'd have the Power of it, the chief Cause of the War, 296. Whether it belongs to King or Parliament, ib. 329.

Mombas betrays the Dutch, 484—486.

Monk takes Sterling-Castle and Dundee, 347. Complies with Cromwel, 359. Engages the Dutch, 356, 371, 372. Is caress'd on his Victory, 373. Sent to Scotland, 383. His Pedigree and Story, 384, 385. His Regency in Scotland, 410. Is much cour [...]ed; secures Berwick, 411. His ill Success; treats with the Committee of Safety, but displeas'd with the Agreement; with a Story of him, 412, 413. Sends to Fleetwood, summons a great Assembly at Edinburgh, abjures K. Charles, 413. His Success, 412, 416. Is declar'd for in Ireland, 412. Marches to London, is addrest for a Free Parliament, 416. Is carest by the Rump; his Speech to them, 417. Pulls down the Gates of the City; sends an angry Message to the Rump, 418. Declares for a Free Parliament at Guild-hall, and restores the secluded Members, 419. Meets the King at Dover, and is made Knight of the Garter, 426.

Monmouth, Duke, sent against the Covenanters, 543. 'Twas believ'd his Mother was married to the King, and why, 544. Is unjustly put to Death, 619.

Monopolies injurious, 55, 56, 65.

Montross for the King, 313, 315, 316. Is routed and executed, 344.

Morley, Col. Herbert, secures the Tower for Monk, 418.

Mountague accus'd by the Commons of Arminianism, 166. Is favour'd by the King, 166, 167, 171, 226. Impeach'd by the Commons for favouring Popery, 180—183, 226. Made Bp of Chichester, 226. and after of Norwich, 227. Holds Correspondence with the Pope, 273.

Muscovy, the Czar revokes the English Privileges on K. Charles's Death, 350.

N.

NAseby Fight, 311, 312.

Navigation-Act made by the Rump, 350. Its Inconveniences, 364—367, 391, 455, 653, 658.

Naylo [...], James, his Blasphemy, 396▪

Newberry first Fight, 299. Second Fight, 308.

Newfoundland Fishery, how the French got it from us, 390, 391.

[Page] North, Sir Francis, a Tool in the late Times, 592. Promoted, 603.

Northampton, Earl, concern'd in Overbury's Death; see Carr, and Overbury. Yet in favour with the King, tho a Papist, 72, 73▪ Incourages the Irish Papists, 74.

November 5. appointed an Anniversary Thanksgiving, 58.

Noy Mr. against the Court, 208. Is taken off by being made Attorney-General, 243. His Pretence for Ship-money, &c. 252.

O.

OAtes Dr. first discovers the Popish Plot, 532. His excessive Fine, 610. Indicted of two pretended Perjuries, 610—613.

His barbarous and illegal Punishment, 613.

Oaths, Remarks on that of the Scots Covenant, 368, 438. on the Convocation-Oath, 369, 438. on the Corporation-Oath, 431—439.

Orange, Prince, General for the Dutch, 486. Declar'd Stadtholder; is courted by the French King; his noble Answer to his Proposals, 488. His Success against the French, 492, 495. Fights the French at Mount Cassel, 505, 513. Comes into England, 507, 515. Opposes a separate Peace, 507, 508, 511. Advises concerning the Lady Mary, 509. His brave Resolution against the King's Answer, at which he's much disgusted, 515. Is married, 516. Treats of a Peace with France, 516, 517. Is suspected by the Confederates, and why, 518—520. but afterwards clear'd, 525. Routs the French before Mons, 528. His generous Design to save these Nations from Ruin, 648.

Orleans, Dutchess; see Dover.

Ormond, Marquess, makes Peace with the Irish, 343. His Design for the Prince defeated, 402.

Ossery, Lord, his Friendship with the Prince of Orange, 508.

Overbury, Sir Tho. his Story; is destroy'd by the King's Favourites▪ 62—64, 68—70. His Advice to Rochester, 64. His Murder discover'd, and how, 77—79.

Overton Col. conspires against Monk, 396.

Oxford Parliament; see Parliament. Treaty there broke off, and why, 314.

P.

PApists to be tolerated, 674, 675. see Popish.

Parliaments, their Constitution, Ends, &c. 48. Ought to be Annual, 49. Ʋsed to redress Grievances before they gave Money, 49, 97, 616. Never dissolved in Anger till the Stuarts, 205, 267. Endeavour'd to be overthrown by Char. II. 614, 630.

Parliament in 1640 redress the Nation's Grievances, 276. Enter into a Protestation, 277. Charg'd with beginning the War, 280, 286—296. Take the Militia from the King, 293, 294. Seize the Fleet, 295. Raise an Army, 296. Their ill Success the two first Years, 296—298. Treat with the Scots for Assistance, 298▪

[Page] Take their Covenant, 299. Place no Trust in the King, 315. Send an Army into Ireland, 317. Their Affairs inverted by the Army, 319, 320. Order the King to London, 321. Send Propositions to him, 322. Their warm Votes concerning no further Treaty with him, 324. See Commons.

Parliament of Char. II. their first Acts, 430, 431, 439. Address against the King's Indulgence, 447. Their Severity to Dissenters, 448, 458. Prohibit the Importation of Irish Cattle, 462. Grant a Tax for the War against Holland, 467. for the Triple League, 473. for a War against France, 475. Pass a Bill against Papists enjoying Places, 491. See Commons.

—at Oxford; Lords petition against its meeting there, 559, 560. Sits but 7 days; their Proceedings, 564—566.

—K. James's pack'd one, 615, 616. Scarce deserv'd the Name, 616, 617, 619. Their Acts, 617, 618. The Commons Address concerning Popish Recusants, 628. Remarks upon it, 628, 629.

Passive Obedience unknown to our Fathers, 206. Its Inconsistence, 531.

Peers Jurisdictions in Appeals question'd by the Commons, 502, 504.

Penruddock Col. beheaded after Articles granted him, 386.

Pensioners in Parliament, 490, 500.

Pentland, Scots rise there, but are terribly routed, 458.

Petition of Right, oppos'd by Buckingham, &c. defended by Williams, &c. 207. The Lords Saving to it oppos'd by the Commons 208, 209. Is passed, 210, 216. but broken by the King, 218, 227, 228, 236. Is printed by the King, with his Answer to it, 228.

Philip III. of Spain, his Character, 36.

Philips, Sir Rob. against the Court, 174, 180, 229.

Plague, a great one in 1 Jac. I. 37. A greater in 1 Car. I. 153. A yet greater in Char. II's Reign, 458.

Pontfract Castle surrendred to the Parliament, 327.

Popery, some of its Antichristian Doctrines, 149, 150. Is promoted by K. James, 642.

Pope's Nuncio heads a Rebellion in Ireland, 277, 343. His Despotick Tyranny there, 343. One arrives in England, 642.

Popish Party conceive great hopes of England from the Match with Moderna, 499, 500. Have Commissions for raising Souldiers, 535. Are favour'd by K. James; see James II.

—Plot, the Parliament's Votes concerning it, 535, 557, 587. The Evidence in it justified, 539, 540. Some Account of it, 540, 541. Its Discovery supprest, and how, 546, 547.

Ports, excellent ones in England, 658.

Portsmouth surrendred to the Parliament, 296.

—Dutchess, who she was, 474.

Prague; see Frederick.

Presbyterians join with the Royalists, 409.

Printers petition against Laud, 231.

[Page] Privileges of Parliament discust, 552—554.

Proclamations against talking of State-Affairs, 96, 97.

Prorogations of Parliament not used till Hen. 8. Account of one in Char. 2d's time, 520, 521, 533.

Protestants in France suffer by James I. 96. and by Charles I. see Char. I. and Rochel.

Puritans increase, 154. Oppos'd by Laud, &c. 122, 157, 227. Persecuted by him, 258.

Pyrenean Treaty, 421, 422. Broke by the French K. 427, 428, 471.

Q.

QƲeen proclaim'd Traitor by the Parliament, 298. Arrives in England on some dark Designs, 428.

Quo Warranto; see Charter.

R.

RAcking Men declar'd to be against Law, 227.

Raleigh, Sir Walter, his Story, 82—85. Is beheaded, the he had been pardoned, 85.

Rents, whence their Fall, 463.

Republicans conspire against Cromwel, 386, 399. Restore the Rump, 408.

Revenue of Q. Elizabeth, 32. of James II. which see.

Richlieu, some Account of him, 141, 142, 176. Is parallel'd with Laud, 239, 240. Promotes the Contentions in England and Scotland, 265, 272, 279. Engag'd in the Irish Massacre, 277, 343.

Rochel Fleet subdued by the French, English and Dutch, 174. Not reliev'd by the English as promis'd, 225. Miserably reduc'd, 226.

Roman Empire, the Causes of its Ruin, 17—24.

Rothes, Earl, Commissioner in Scotland, 454.

Rump Parliament, their Votes concerning the King, with Remarks, 332, 333. Erect High Courts of Justice, one of which takes off the King, 333, 346, 347. Abolish Monarchy, 342. Their prodigious Acts, ib. Their Success in Ireland, 343, 344. in Scotland, &c. 345—347, 350. against the Dutch, 351, 353— 356. Propose a Coalition with them, 350. Their Demands of them, ib. 353. Their Answer to the Dutch Excuses, 352, 353. Their Letter to the States of Holland, 357. to the States General, 358. Are turn'd out by Cromwel, 362. Their Character, &c. 363, 364. Are restored; by the Republicans, 408. Turn out Lambert, &c. and constitute a Council of War, 409. Are turn'd out again, 410. and put in again by Fleetwood, 416. Send to Monk, ib.

Rupert, Prince, lost several Battels by his Rashness, 297, 307, 311.

Forc'd into France, 327. Saves the King's Life at Windsor, 541.

Rushworth commended, 8.

Russel, Lord, murder'd, 601.

S.

[Page]SAndwich, Earl, affronted by the Duke of York; is slain, 480, 481. Scotland, Account of its Church-state, 260—263, 440, 441. Its Alteration endeavour'd; see Laud. Great Persecution there; see Lauderdale.

Scots oppose Common-Prayer, &c. and enter into a solemn Covenant against it, 263. Ʋp in Arms; propose an Accommodation, 265. Declare against Episcopacy, 270. Declar'd Traitors; enter England, 271. Keep not the Articles of Pacification, 280, 281. Began the War, 280—286. Break their Word with the King, and join the Parliament, 300, 331. Murder in cold Blood, 316. Sell the King, 317. Their Government not lik'd in England, ib. Are routed by Cromwel, which see. Their Government chang'd by the Rump, 347. Have four Citadels built to curb them, 410. Their happy State under Monk, ib.

—Parliament appoint May 29. an Anniversary Thanksgiving, 443, 444. Their other Acts; abolish Presbytery, 444—447. Grant the King a great Revenue, and pass the humble Tender, 454.

Scroggs, Chief Justice, illegally discharges the Grand Inquest, 547. Is impeach'd of High-Treason, 556.

Sea, its Dominion maintain'd by Navigation, 660.

Sea-men refuse to fight against Rochel, 159, 162. Are increas'd by the Fishing Trade, 390, 654.

Secluded Members restor'd; summon a Free Parliament, 419—421.

Selden Mr. for the Petition of Right, 209. His Speech concerning Grievances, 216.

Self-denying Ordinance, 309, 310.

Seymour Mr. invades the Commons Privilege, 507. Is impeach'd by 'em, 555.

Shaftsbury; see Ashley Cooper.

Sham-plots of the Court, for which good Men are murder'd, 601, 602.

Sharp, ABp of St. Andrews, murder'd, 541, 542.

Sheriffs instrumental to save honest Mens Lives, 590, 600. Illegally chosen in London, 600, 611.

Si [...]thorp for the King's absolute Will, 197.

Slingsby, Sir Henry, beheaded, 403.

Sobiez, his Success at Sea on behalf of the Reformed, 146.

Somerset; see Carr.

Southampton, Lord Treasurer, his Death and Character, 470.

Spain, how bounded, 1 Jac. I. 11, 25. Its Barrenness in People, and its Causes, 25. Never recover'd its great Loss in 1588, &c. 28. Its low State, 428, 471, 472, 652.

Spaniards, their Success against France, 389.

Spanish Trade, tho beneficial, forbid by Charles I. 174.

Standing Army a Grievance, 539. Kept up by K. James, 642, 643.

States of England Three, not King, Lords and Commons, 8. but Nobles, Commonalty and Clergy, 57.

[Page] Strasburgh treacherously seiz'd by the French, 604.

Succession to the Crown in England, 38—47, 550.

Surinam taken by the Dutch, 467. but regain'd, 468.

Surrey-Men rise for the King, but are routed, 326, 327.

Sweeds join with the French; at War against Brandenburg, 499, 511.

T.

TAlbot, his Barbarity and Falshood in Ireland, 624, 625. Is made Lord Lieutenant, 641.

Tangier, the Commons Votes concerning it, 539, 557.

Temple, Sir William, employ'd in the Treaty at Nimeguen, 472, 478. in the Peace with the Dutch, 495. His Conference with the King, 498. Treats of a Peace with the French and Confederates, 499. Is highly complimented by the French, 509, 510. His Thoughts of the Protestation against a separate Peace, 512. Is admitted to the Debates with the King concerning the Peace, 516, 517. His going to France prevented, 518.

Test in England reflected on, 501. In Scotl. with Remarks, 570—575.

Tiddiman; Sir Tho. his Neglect at Bergen, 457.

Tories charge the Whigs with a Design to kill the King, 532. Promote the Popish Designs, 544, 586. Their Impudence, 562.

Tour De la, Count, his Heroick Speech to the Bohemians, 91, 92.

Trade in Market-Towns, 27. To Spain gainful, 165, 387, 389, 463. to France prejudicial, 166, 389, 463, 672. In Wool, how we lost it, 338, 339, 662. To Greenland, Newfoundland, Norway, &c. 653—656. To America, Newcastle, 661. To Ireland, 656, 666. In Timber, 669. In Companies, and to East-India, &c. 670. Ought to be free, 663, 670—674, 679.

Traquair, Lord Treasurer in Scotland, 264, 266. Prorogues the Parliament there, which is protested against, 267.

Treason made a Stalking Horse, 322.

Treaty at Munster, 339, 340.

Treaties, Account of all between the K. and Parliament, 328—332.

Tre [...]or, Secretary, his Queries concerning Buckingh. &c. 489.

Triple League, 472.

Trump Van, Admiral for the Dutch; see Dutch.

Tunnage and Poundage; see Charles I. and Commons.

V.

VAne, Sir Henry, opposes the Scots Covenant, 299. Promotes Lambert's Interest, 409.

Villiers his Descent; comes into favour, 73. Advanc'd by Somerset's Fall, 74. His affable Carriage at first, 76. Is promoted, 77, 86, 111. Marries the greatest Fortune in England, 88. His great Titles, 111. Disswades the Prince from his Match with the Infanta, 113. Sets up to be popular, 115, 118, 125. His base Dissimulation in Spain, 116, 117, 158. Charg'd with being a Papist, and endeavouring to seduce the Prince, 118. His Narrative [Page] of Proceedings in Spain, with Remarks, 127, 129. Loses the King's Favour by means of the Spanish Ambassador, 132, 133. Restor'd to it again by the Keeper's fine Contrivance, 133, 134. Eager for a War with Spain, 155. His base dealing with the Rochellers, and the Merchants, whose Ships he hired, 159—163. His Behaviour at Paris, 157, 163. Is impeach'd by the Commons, 189, 190. Procures a War with France, 193—196, 198. His false Steps therein, 198. Is routed, 198, 199. Is stabb'd, 225.

Ʋsurer, a Story of one, 555.

Utrecht surrendred to the French, 487.

W.

WAgstaff, Sir Jos. seizes the Judges at Salisbury, 386▪

Wales, its pretended Prince, 647.

Waller, Sir William, for the Parliament, 298, 306. See Fitz-harris.

Walloons persecuted by Laud, 254, 255. Settle in Holland, 255. Come again into England, and encourag'd by Char. II. 472, 473, 607.

Walter, Sir Joh. dissents from the Judges, and is discharged, 236.

War with Holland projected by the French, 450, 473, 478, 484.

War and Peace-making claim'd by the King, 506.

Warwick, Earl, Admiral for the Parliament, 295.

Wenthworth, Sir Tho. a true Patriot, 209, 212. but made President of the North to his Ruin, 243. and Lieutenant of Ireland, 254, 260.

Weston, Sir Rich. made Lord Treasurer, tho a Papist, 226.

Whigs and Tories, 531, 532. Compar'd with the Prerogative-men and Puritans in Laud's time, 560, 561.

Whitlock, Serjeant, his Thoughts of Cromwel, &c. 304, 305, 348, 349, 359—361. Advises to bring in the King, 415.

Wilkinson, Capt. his Story; his noble Constancy, 596—598.

Williams, Lord-Keeper, his Thoughts of the Spanish Match, 113. His Ruin intended by Laud, &c. 124, 179, 253. Stops the King's Prohibition to the Judges and Bishops, 126. His curious Contrivance on Buckingham's behalf, 133, &c. Is commended by the King for it, 135. Ill requited by Buckingham, 136, 155. His Reasons against a War with Spain, 155. His Advices to the King, 168, 170, 302. to Buckingham, 169. His Character, 176, 177. His Requests to the King, &c. 177, 178. Is fin'd and imprisoned by Laud, 239.

Willis, Sir Richard, Cromwel's Spy, 393, 402.

Windebank, Sir Fr. seizes Sir E. Coke's Papers; favours Popery, 253.

Woollen Manufactures, the Inconveniences they labour under, 666.

Worcester Fight, 346.

Workhouses, 665, 677.

FINIS.

BOOKS sold by Andrew Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil.

[Page]

THE General History of England, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil, from the earliest Accounts of Time, to the Reign of his present Majesty King William. Taken from the most Antient Records, Manuscripts, and Historians. Containing the Lives of the Kings, and Memorials of the most Eminent Persons both in Church and State. With the Foundations of the Noted Monasteries, and both the Universities. Vol. I. By James Tyrrel, Esq Fol.

A New History of Ecclesiastical Writers: Containing an Account of the Authors of the several Books of the Old and New Testament; and the Lives and Writings of the Primitive Fathers; An Abridgment and Catalogue of all their Works, &c. To which is added, A Compendious History of the Councils, &c. Written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin, Doctor of the Sorbon. In seven Volumes. Fol.

An Essay concerning the Power of the Magistrate in Matters of Religion; wherein all the Arguments for Persecution, and against Toleration, are examin'd and refuted: With the most proper Method of destroying all Schisms, Heresies, &c.

A Detection of the Court and State of England during the four last Reigns, and the Interregnum. Consisting of Private Memoirs, &c. with Observations and Reflections: And an Appendix, discovering the present State of the Nation. Wherein are many Secrets never before made publick; as also, a more impartial Account of the Civil Wars in England, than has yet been given. By Rog. Coke, Esq The third Edition much corrected, with an Alphabetical Table.

Scotland's Soveraignty asserted. Being a Dispute concerning Homage, against those who maintain that Scotland is a Fee Liege of England, and that the K. of Scots owes Homage to the K. of England. By Sir Tho. Craig. Translated from the Latin Manuscript, with a Preface containing a Confutation of that Homage said to be performed by Malcom III. to Edward the Confessor, and published by Mr. Rymer. By Geo. Ridpath.

Ridpath his Shorthand yet shorter; or the Art of Short-writing advanc'd in a more swift, easy, regular and natural Method than hitherto. The second Edition.

A Discourse on the late Funds of the Million Act, Lottery-Act, and Bank of England: Shewing that they are injurious to the Nobility and Gentry, and ruinous to the Trade of the Kingdom. By J. Briscoe. The third Edition.

Mr. John Asgil his Plagiarism detected, &c.

[Page] Emblems, by Fra. Quarles; with the Hieroglyphicks: All the Cuts being newly illustrated.

The History of Genesis, illustrated with 40 Copper Plates.

Advice to the Young; or the Reasonableness and Advantages of an Early Conversion; In three Sermons on Eccles. 12. 1. By Joseph Stennett.

The Groans of a Saint under the Burden of a Mortal Body: A Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Belcher, late Minister of the Gospel, from 2 Cor. 5. 4. By the same Author.

Several Practical Pieces of Mr. Daniel Burgess; viz. Rules for hearing the Word of God. The Sure Way to Wealth. The most difficult Duty made easy. Foolish Talking and Jesting describ'd and condemn'd. The Christian Decalogue, or the Gospel's ten Commandments. The Church's Triumph over Death, a Funeral Sermon on Mr. Robert Fleming. A Funeral Sermon from Job 14. 14. on Mrs. Sarah Bull. Holy Union and Holy Contention describ'd and press'd. In single Tracts, or bound up together.

Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scripture.

Rutherford's Letters.

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, on the Book of Ecclesiastes. By Alexander Nisbet.

A Directory of Prayer; being a Commentary on the 20th Psalm. By R. Campbel▪

Chamberlen's Midwifery, the third Edition.

Artamenes, or the Grand [...]Cyrus. In 10 Vol.

A Birchen Rod for Dr. Birch, being an Answer to his Sermon before the Commons, Jan. 30.

A Defence of the Arch-bishop's Sermon on the Death of the Late Queen; and of the Sermons of the late ABp, Bp of Lichfield and Coventry, Bp of Ely, Bp of Salisbury, Dr. Sherlock, &c. on that and other Solemn Occasions; against the Aspersions of two Jacobite Pamphlets.

A Tragedy, called the Popish Plot, reviv'd. Wherein are several Letters, &c. of Dr. Oates to the Late Kings, and other Great Men.

The Rye-house Travestie. The History of the Late Jacobite Plot, in a Letter to the Bp of Rochester, by T. Percival.

[Page]

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A detection of the court and state of England during the four last reigns and the inter-regnum consisting of private memoirs, &c., with observations and reflections, and an appendix, discovering the present state of the nation : wherein are many secrets never before made publick : as also, a more impartiall account of the civil wars in England, than has yet been given : in two volumes / by Roger Coke ...

Coke, Roger, fl. 1696.

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1697

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A33686

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Wing C4975

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ESTC R12792

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12388713

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ocm 12388713

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60932

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— A detection of the court and state of England during the four last reigns and the inter-regnum consisting of private memoirs, &c., with observations and reflections, and an appendix, discovering the present state of the nation : wherein are many secrets never before made publick : as also, a more impartiall account of the civil wars in England, than has yet been given : in two volumes / by Roger Coke ..., Coke, Roger, fl. 1696.. The third edition very much corrected, with an alphabetical table..

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682, [22] p.

Printed for Andr. Bell ...,. London :: 1697.. (Errata: p. 682.) ("An alphabetical table" [i.e. index]: p. [1]-[20] at end.) (Advertisement: p. [19]-[20] at end.) (Reproduction of original in Huntington Library.)

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Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

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.