THere hath been much time ſpent to prove our Charge, and your Lordſhippes have heard my Lord of Straffords defence with as much patience. You have alſo heard our Evidence ſummed up whereby wee have proved that hee hath by traiterous words Councels and Actions, traiterouſly endeavoured to ſubvert the fundamentall Lawes of England and Ireland, and in ſtead thereof to introduce an Arbitrarie and tyrannicall Government againſt Law. This (my Lords) is that poyſonous Arrow that hath tainted his blood, this is that Cup of deadly wine that hath intoxicated him.

My Lords, It coms to my ſhare to ſhew you how miſchievous an Act of Treaſon it is by that Law that hee hath appealed unto, which is the ſupreame Law, (to wit) publike good, for his Poſition was this, That Salus Populi, is Suprema Lex. All Lawes are derived from this as its fountaine, and end here as its proper Center. And thoſe Actions that are oppoſite to this are againſt Law.

Firſt, My Lords, It is ſuch an offence as comprehends all offences, ſuch a treaſon as comprehends all treaſons.

The Earth (my Lords) is a Seminarie of all flowers, ſo is this a Seminarie of all offences.

My Lords, this Law puts a difference betwixts good and evill; take away the Law (my Lords) and Nature becomes a Law to it ſelfe. As Pride will bee a Law, Luſt will bee a Law, Rapine a Law, Treaſon a Law, which Lawes have ruled in Ireland ever ſince my Lord came thither.

Take away the Kings protection from the people, and you take away the peoples allegiance to the King. Prerogative is the bounds of libertie, and (my Lords) they muſt not conteſt one againſt another.

My Lords, I beſeech you conſider, yee have all under this cuſtodie; and if you take away this, you take away your goods, liberties and lives.

My Lord hee ſaith, that Ireland was a conquered Nation, why? were not all Nations conquered? England, Wales, &c.

The next is this, that it is an offence full of danger to the Kings perſon and Crowne, it nouriſheth diſſention and tumults in a people. If you conſider the hiſtories of the Nations under arbitrary government, you ſhall find them full of cruelty and bloody Maſſacres; yea, if you pleaſe to peruſe our Engliſh hiſtories, you ſhall finde that when Arbitrarie government was ſet up, how many Kings fell by cruell and bloody hands, which is fearefull to relate.

Thirdly, my Lords, It is dangerous to the King, Firſt, in reſpect of his honour, Secondly, in reſpect of his profit, and Thirdly, in reſpect of his greatneſſe: yet all theſe have beene put on upon the face of this Treaſon as ſo many vizards, can it be (my Lords) for the Kings honour, to have his Miniſters to lay all the fault upon the King? To kill, to impriſon, to uſe Rapine, to levie warre againſt his people, and to ruine the State, and then all theſe diſhonourable acts to bee laid on the King? Is this for the Kings honour?

Secondly, It is contrary to his profit, for if there bee not an affectionate ſupply from the people to the King, hee can never grow in his revenue.

Nay, this (my Lords) is the Kings moſt certaine Revenue, that iſſues from the affection of his people, for other Revenue, as Lands, or the like, are ſubject to many Inconveniences, to many ſubſtractions and penſions, but this is free and wholly to himſelfe, theſe fourteene yeares paſt, ſince there hath beene an unhappy ceſſation of Parliamentary proceedings, the King hath had leſſe Revenue, and it doth him leſſe good.

Nay, there hath beene more wanting to the King, than many yeers before. Againe, it is unprofitable, and that is worſe, for the King loſt by it, for it hath coſt him theſe two yeares more than it coſt Queene Elizabeth in all her warres in Ireland and Spaine, yea, (I feare) more than is to bee repaired in an age.

Thirdly, in point of greatneſſe; the World is a ſociety of Kingdomes, and it is not enough for a King to be great at home, but to equall his fellow Princes abroad, Nay to bee above them in honour and Majeſtie, in Riches and glory.

But my Lords theſe Counſells of late that have beene given his Majeſty, have rendred him contemptible to his enemies, uſeleſſe to his diſtreſſed friends, and had they not beene prevented, in time would have made him uncapable of any deſigne at home or abroad.

A fourth Conſideration is this, my Lords, it is deſtructive to wealth and valour; it corrupts our peace, and in peace, makes us have the malignities of Warre: and for wealth, who will venture his goods, life, his liberty in the way of trading and commerce, when hee knowes not upon the returne of it' whether it be his owne or not.

Nay, my Lords, it imbaſeth the ſpirits, and valour of a Nation, when they muſt ſtand in feare of pilloring, ſcaffolding, and the like puniſhments, it makes men to bee of baſe ſpirits.

Now my Lords, to imbaſe the Kings Coyne, if it be but ſix pence or twelve pence, tis Treaſon by the Law, and a man muſt dye for it: what is it then to imbaſe our ſpirits, my Lords? truly it is a matter of great importance.

Fifthly it doth diſable the King, and makes him unfit to deale with forraigne enemies, for every one thinks to ſlip his necke out of the collar, when hee ſhall bee forced to it.

The ſixt conſideration is, that it is againſt the Covenant betwixt the King and his people.

Before my Lords I ſpoke of a legall Oath, but now I ſpeake of a perſonall, for we ſweare our allegeance to him, and he the maintenance of our Lawes to us: he is our husband, and we his wife; he is our father, and we his children: he is to maintaine our liberties, and we his Dignities, and our duties.

And my Lords, Iuſtice Thorpe was condemned and executed, for breaking the Kings oath: My Lords, he broke not his owne oath, nor did the King breake his oath, and yet for violating that oath, that the King had taken to his Subjects, he ſuffered.

Ah what an unfortunate man then is the Priſoner at the Barre, that hath in all his Counſels, in all his words, in all his actions, broken the Kings oath, and as much as in him lay, violently perſwaded the King to countenance him in all his actions?

The ſeaventh conſideration is this my Lords, it is againſt the end of government, for the end of government is to preſerve men in their eſtates, lives, and liberties, but an Arbitrary power deſtroyes all this: the end of government is to advance vertue and goodneſſe, and to puniſh vice: but this cheriſheth all diſorder.

Now my Lords, I come to ſhew the vanity of his excuſes, that he hath made for himſelfe.

The firſt is the liberty of giving Counſell, being a Counſellor, true my Lords, he hath this liberty, but its bounded within its liſts, and it muſt be ſuch a Counſell as muſt ſtand with the ſacred Majeſty, and the proſperity and weale of his Subjects, for if Counſell be bad, it poyſons the Conſciences of Princes, it infects their eares, for all government proceedes from the Prince, as from a fountaine: now if the fountaine bee poyſoned, how can the ſtreames bee free?

A ſecond ſhift is, that hee hopes your Lordſhips will bee carefull to ſecure your poſterity, and not to admit of this as Treaſon.

My Lords, I know your Lordſhips will be carefull to ſecure your ſelves, but by your vertues, not by your vices.

The third excuſe is, the goodneſſe of his intentions: truly, my Lords, good and evill lye cloſe together, not eaſily to be diſcerned, if they be naturall corruptions, but for Murthers, Adultery, Rapines, and Treaſons, theſe are ſo monſtrous, that they may eaſily be diſtinguiſhed.

And I cannot bee perſwaded that ever he intended well, that acted ſo ill.

The Fourth excuſe is the Kings neceſſities.

My Lords, this neceſſity came from his owne counſels.

A fifth excuſe is, that it was for the Kings honour, and the maintenance of the Kings power.

My Lords, it hath bin declared unto you, that the Kings power doth not extend to any thing againſt Law, by which he hath ſworne to rule us, and to maintaine out Liberties and priviledges for us, and this hath bin declared by five Parliaments, and alſo will appeare in the caſe of the Petition of Right, and in the caſe of ſhipmoney.

A ſixt is, that hee adviſed the King to do it with moderation and reparation.

My Lords this is a contradiction, for there can bee no reparation for this.

The ſeaventh excuſe is, that no horrid facts did follow his Counſels: truly my Lords we thanke God, his ſacred Majeſty, and his wiſe Counſell for that, or elſe God knowes what fearefull things would have befallen us, nor are wee free from it as yet.

To conclude, now my Lords, give me leave to entreat you to conſider the Treaſons ordinarily practiſed, when the act is done, they ceaſe as in killing that noble King of France, and the ſeveral plo •• againſt Queene Elizabeth, but this Treaſon of my Lord of Strafford • , is a ſtanding Treaſon, which when it had bin done, it had bin permanent from generation to generation.

And now my Lords, theſe lawes that he would have overthrown, muſt now bee his Judges, and hee is to be Judg'd by law, and that law will have marke enough of it to deſcribe it, for it is a law againſt ſuch as breake the fundamentall law of the Kingdome.

And my Lords give me leave to informe you that under favour this is not to make a new way for blood, nor is the crime of Treaſon in my Lord of Strafford the leſſe, becauſe none would venture upon ſuch a horrid Treaſon, in two hundred and forty yeeres.

But my Lords, for the making of our charge good by law, as wee have fully proved it by Teſtimony, we muſt reſort to Counſell, with the houſe of Commons, and truſt to your Lord ſhips Juſtice.