Self-will they broke down a Wall CHAP. V. Vpon His Majesty's passing the Bill for the Triennial Parliaments and after settling this during the Pleasure of the two Houses PArliaments saith Sir Robert Cotton are the times in which Kings seem less than they are His Reign of Hen. III. p. 1 and Subjects more than they should be A smart Character whether we respect those Paaliaments of Henry the Third of whom it was spoken or that Parliament of 1640. of which we are now speaking And yet they are become so congenial and as it were bred up and embodied with the English Temper which as it naturally relishes nothing but what comes from them so it rarely disputes any thing that is transacted by them that some have thought this might be one reason that inclin'd His Majesty to pass these Bills though for my part I 'll believe no Man against the King when he says That the World might be confirm'd in my Purposes at first to contribute what in Justice Reason Honour and Conscience I could to the happy Success of this Parliament which had in me no other design but the general good of my Kingdoms I willingly passed the Bill for Triennial Parliaments Which as gentle and seasonable Physick might if well applied prevent any Distempers from getting any head or prevailing especially if the Remedy prov'd not a Disease beyond all Remedy And as to the other for settling this during the Pleasure of the Houses An Act saith the King unparallell'd by any of my Predecessors yet granted on an extream Confidence I had that my Subjects would not make an ill use of an Act by which I declar'd so much to trust them as to deny my self so high a Point of my Prerogative c. Whereas saith our Answerer He attributes the passing of them to his own Act of Grace and willingness as his manner is to make Vertues of his Necessities he gives himself all the Praise and heaps Ingratitude upon the Parliament to whom we owe what we owe for those beneficial Acts but to his granting them neither Praise nor Thanks No! and by what Law I would fain know is the King obliged to pass every Bill that is offered him He swears 't is true to defend the Laws i. e. Such Laws as are then in being but that obliges him to no futurity in granting every thing whether good or bad that shall be offer'd him And therefore unless he had shewn at least some one Act of Parliament that had not the Royal Assent to it he might with more Modesty have acknowledged that it was in the King's Option whether to have passed these Acts or not Sir Ed. Coke 4 â—â—nst 25. because neither of the Houses singly not both of them together can make any binding Law without the King's Concurrence which gives the Embryo Life and quickens it into 〈◊〉 Law But saith he The first Bill granted lesâ— than two former Statutes yet in force by Edward the Third that a Parliament should be called every Year or oftner if need were Very well anâ— there being no more in it it is somewhat strange methinks how the King could be necessitated to the passing it or that the Houses eveâ—â— desired it When all that he says to it is Thaâ— the King conceal'd not his unwillingness in testifying a general dislike of their Actions and told theâ— with a Masterly Brow that by this Act he had obliged them above what they had deserved And truly if the King had said it or given thaâ— Masterly Brow for which yet he brings nâ— Voucher but himself those subsequent Acts oâ— Parliament which repeal'd both these Acts have sufficiently evidenc'd their particular dislike of them also in that they nulled them And how well they were pleas'd with their Persons or their Actions the Statute of the 12th of Charles the Second before-mention'd may satisfie any Man And as to the other Act for settling their sitting c. The King saith he had by his ill Stewardship and to say no worse the needless raising of two Armies intended for a Civil War beggar'd both himself and the Publick Left us in score to his greedy Enemies their Brethren the Scots to dis-engage which great Sums were to be borrow'd which would never have been lent if he who first caused the Malady might when he pleas'd reject the Remedy And from thence and other the like dross meerly thrown in to help out Weight which yet he never gives he comes to this That it was his Fear not his Favour drew that first Act from him lest the Parliament incens'd by his Conspiracies against them should with the People have resented too heinously those his doings if to the suspicion of their danger from him he had also added the denial of this only means to secure themselves And now to examine it a little he charges the King with the needless raising two Armies intended for a Civil War What the Houses then intended was afterwards visible by its Effects a Civil War But that the King should intend it and at the same time divest himself of his Power is manifestly ridiculous For as he says himself 1641. this Bill was pass'd in May whereas the King besides his Journey into Scotland retired not from Whitehall till above half a Year afterwards and when he left it considering their respective Conditions might have as truly said Cum baculo transivi Jordanum istum And how then could he intend a Civil War Having as our Accuser says so beggar'd himself For what concerns the King's Enemies and their dear Brethren I refer it to its proper Place And for what relates to the Sums of Money to be borrow'd besides what I have already shewn how they were dispos'd of Chap. 1 I add this That they could not have put the Kingdom into a Posture of a Defence i. e. â—â—â—'d a Rebellion without it And withal considering that the King set not up his Standard till the August following 1642. he must have been much shorter sighted than our Answerer all along endeavours to make him to have design'd a War without Sir Edward Coke's Materials Firmamentum belli Ornamentum pacis which the Houses having taken his Revenue into their Hands all the World knew he wanted But the 〈◊〉 â—ot yet run to the end of the 〈…〉 King taxes them for undoing what they found well done Yet knows they undid nothing but Lord Bishops Liturgy Ceremonies c. judged worthy by all Protestants to be thrown out of the Church But what Protestants were they that so judg'd it Those of the Church of England were I am sure of another Opinion and the temporal Laws of the Kingdom had sufficiently establish'd them And therefore since Interest had so blinded his Intellect that he world not see were he now living I could tell him wherein they had undone what they found well done And because there are many yet in being who perhaps may be willing enough to be satisfied
rebuke them sharply from one of themselves even a Prophet of their own In a word true Morals and good Thoughts lose nothing of their Innate Excellence from whencesoever they are handed to us The Devil had not been the Enemy but Friend of Mankind if he had spoke no worse in Paradise than he did at Delphos viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy self And therefore admitting the Accusation were true where lies the Scandal Nor will he have done while there 's a drop yet left The King says He call'd this Parliament with an upright Intention to the Glory of God and his People's good Our Answerer makes this of it That there be some whom God hath given over to Delusion whose very Mind and Conscience is defil'd of whom St. Paul to Titus makes mention To which I say there is not any one such Expression in the whole Epistle but others there are whom he calls Evil Beasts Slow-bellies and Lions With which I leave him and proceed to the second Section CHAP. II. Vpon the Earl of Strafford's Death I Looked upon my Lord of Strafford saith His Majesty as a Gentleman whose great Abilities might make a Prince rather afraid than asham'd to employ him in the greatest affairs of State Yes saith our Answerer He was a Man whom all Men look'd upon as one of the boldest and most impetuous Instruments that the King had to advance any violent or illegal design He had rul'd Ireland and some Parts of England in an Arbitrary manner Had endeavour'd to subvert Fundamental Laws and Parliaments To make Hostility between England and Scotland And Counselled the King to call over that Irish Army of Papists to reduce England For which and many other Crimes alledged and proved against him iâ— twenty eight Articles he was Condemned of High Treason by the Parliament The Commons by the far greater number Cast him The Lords likewisâ— agreed to the Sentence and the People cry'd out foâ— Justice c. Only the King saith he was not satisfied in his Conscience to Condemn him of High Treason In reply to which I think he might morâ— truly have said not prov'd but alledg'd as I shalâ— come to shew presently That he was oncâ— the Darling of the Commons His Tryal of Tho. Earl of Strafford Fol. 763. to 769. we have several Instances of it in Mr. Rushworth But alas the King had made him Lord Deputy of Ireland and the heighth of that Sphere contracted Envy in the Great Ones and an Odium in the People nor is it every one that can say nâ—â—pluribus impar Though during that his Government he improv'd the Revenue of that Kingdom which before his time had been rather 〈◊〉 Charge than Advantage to this and procur'd of the King that all Impropriations then in thâ— Crown be restor'd to the Church of that Nation and supplied it with Learned Men out oâ— England upon the Scottish Invasion in 1639 he counsell'd the King 't is true to fight them out Vox Reipub honesta sibi anceps as Taciâ—â— of Galba on the like Occasion for the Scotcâ— Commissioners not long after preferr'd that Charge in Parliament against him before-mention'd And then for the Irish Army of Papists c. that brings me naturally to the Article themselves which were as is said Twentâ— Eight in number Some of which were for matters of Fourteen Years standing some of them as the First Seventeenth Eighteenth not insisted on and others as the Fourteenth Twenâ—y first Twenty Second Twenty Fourth not â—rg'd Dr. Nalson's impartial Collect Part 2. Fol. 8. And to disable him of the Testimony and Assistance of Sir George Ratcliffe his quondam Secretary and now Friend he also was charged with High-Treason and Confederacy with him and sent for out of Ireland The Earl had now been under five Months Imprisonment when the 22d of March 1640. he was brought to his Tryal which held till the 13th of April following and in which he defended himself so well that since there was neither Matter nor Proof enough against him to take off his Head by the Common-Law it was resolv'd a Bill of Attainder should The pinching Article against him was the Twenty third and is the main Particular mention'd in the said Bill viz. That he advis'd the King that he was loose and absolv'd from the Rule of Government and that he had an Army in Ireland by which he might reduce this Kingdom A shrewd Article no doubt and sufficiently evidences their Crime that without the King's Consent afterwards brought the Scots into England But let us see how this was proved There had been an old grudge between Sir Henry Vane the Father Secretary to the King and my Lord of Strafford touching the Title of Baron of the Castle of Raby of which Vane was Proprietor and endeavour'd the Honour to himself notwithstanding which the King had given it to the Earl of Strafford And is so happen'd that the said Sir Henry having a sudden occasion to make use of a Paper gave his Son young Sir Henry Vane the Key of his Cabineâ— where lay another Key which open'd a Tilâ—â— in which he found some short Notes of a Committee of eight of the Privy-Council of whicâ— the said Earl was one upon this Question Whâ—ther the War with Scotland should be offensive or defensive In which there were Words 〈◊〉 spoken by the said Earl somewhat to that puâ—pose but still relative to the War with Scoâ—land However young Sir Henry carries it 〈◊〉 the Lords and makes it an Article of the Additional Charge against him which upon fuâ—â— Evidence of such of the said eight as were noâ— in Prison terminated in this The Earl oâ— Northumberland being interrogated touchinâ— these Words absolutely denied that ever hâ— heard the said Earl speak them Mr. Treasurer Sir H. V. shuffled in his Evidencâ— forward and backward The Tryal Fol. 563. and at last said hâ— thinks they were spoken positively or to thaâ— effect And a shrewd Evidence for the proof of a Bond The Lord Treasurer declar'd that he never heard the said Earl speak thâ—â— said Words or any thing like it The Lord Cottington to the same purpose and thinkâ— the Earl might say The Parliament had noâ— provided for the King and that the King ought to seek out all due and lawful ways to employ his Power and Authority Caste Candide which Words he very well remembers The Marquess Hamilton that he hath often heard the said Earl use those last Words to the King for otherwise said the Earl it were unjust and oppressive And to the same purpose the Lord Goring â—ll Nelson Fol. 87. and Sir Thomas German in behalf of the said Earl However die he must and to that end a Bill of Attainder was prepar'd by both Houses to which the King May the first in the House of Lords the Commons then present declar'd That in his Conscience he could not condemn him of Treason On which a City armed Rabble of
left Complaints of Grievances Innovations in Religion Growth of Popery and Arbitrary Power and single out the Earl of Strafford for an example of their Justice The King I said was got into the matter and had discover'd whose Correspondencies and Engagements they were that had embroil'd his Kingdoms and ordered his Attorney to draw a Charge of High-Treason against the Lord Kimbolton Mr. Pym Mr. Hanbden Mr. Hollis Sir Ar. Haslerigg and Mr. Strode Which was accordingly done and the substance of it is this That they have Traiterously endeavour'd to subvert the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom Saudeâ—sin's Hist of K.C.I. Fol. 473. and to deprive the King of his Power That they have endeavoured by foul Aspersions to alienate the Peoples affections from the King That they have traiterously invited and encourag'd a foreign Power to invade His Majesties Kingdom of England That for the compleating their traiterous designs they have actually rais'd and countenanc'd Tumults against the King and Parliament And that they have traiterously conspired to levy and actually have levied War against the King Nelson 2d Part F. 811. ad idom On this the King having first demanded them of the House by a Serjeant at Arms a Warrant is granted to apprehend them but missing their Persons Id. Fol. 514. their Trunks are seiz'd and seal'd up While this was yet doing the Commons had notice of it and thereupon Vote That on all like occasions for the future any Member might call a Constable to his assistance defend himself and seize all such Persons The next Morning the King goes to the House with part of his ordinary Guard of Pensioners and orders them to stay without and having rested himself in the Speaker's Chair told them He came to demand five Persons whom he had accused of High Treason Id. Sander Fol. 474. And though no King that ever was in England could be more tender of their Privileges that yet they knew there was no Privilege against Treason So Sir Fâ— Coke a â—â—st 25. And looking round him I see faith he they are gone But assured them in the word of a King that he never intended any force but to proceed against them in a legal fair way and therefore expected the House would send them to him and so went off Nor was he yet out of hearing when the general Cry was Privilege Privilege And the next day they Vote this coming of the King a breach of Privilege and adjourn for a Week into London there to sit as a General Committee pretending they were not safe at Westminster and though the King afterwards wav'd their Prosecution would not be satisfied unless he also discover'd who gave him that Counsel to come to the House as if it were not enough that he for bore his Enemies without he also betray'd his Friends Upon this Tumult upon Petition and Petition upon Tumult daily encreasing the King Queen Prince and Duke retire to Hampton-Court the Members in the mean time passing to and from Westminster with Hundreds of Boats Flags Seamen Rabble and Huzza's as they pass'd by Whitehall And now again judge any sober Man between the King and them The King to avoid the ill consequence of a denial gave his Assent to the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford He demands Justice against the five Members and 't is refus'd him If they were guilty why were they protected against him And if not guilty why did they not clear themselves The King came to the House with an attendance short of his ordinary Guard and it was Voted a Breach of Privilege They had their armed Tumults of Six Thousand at a time to awe the King's Friends and no notice taken of it but rather encourag'd Whereas it is Lex consuetudo Parliamenti That wheresoever the Parliament is holden Sir F. Coke 3 Inst 160. there ought to be no wearing of Armour exercise of Plays games of Men Wothen or Children much less Riots What shall I add They in the Year 1647. submitted eleven of their Members to the impeachment of an Army after that their House to be garbled and when contrary to the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom they had voted themselves the Legislative Power of the Nation as tamely submitted to be turn'd out by their Journey-Men And yet when the safety of the Nation was at stake insolently contend nay mate it with their Sovereign And therefore weighing altogether in a true Balance judge I say wherein the King was to blame or where lay this breach of Privilege And for what His Majesty's Intention in this matter was besides what has been before urg'd take this further from himself where he says If he purpos'd any Violence or Oppression against the Innocent then let the Enemy persecute my Soul tread my Life to the Ground and lay my Honour in the Dust To which this Accuser thus What needs there more disputing He appeal'd to God's Tribunal and behold God hath judged and done to him in the sight of all Men according to the Verdict of his own Mouth Whereas in Common Humanity as a Man Charity as a Christian Reverence to him as a King and Duty as his King he might and that truly have said 2 Sam. 3.34 As a Man falleth before wicked Men so fell'st thou The Breath of our Nostrils Lam. 4.10 the Anointed of the Lord was taken in their Pits of whom we said under His shaddow we shall live among the Heathen CHAP. IV. Vpon the Insolency of the Tumults WHat and how frequent the Tumults of London and Westminster that follow'd the convening of this Parliament were is obvious enough to every Man that knows the least of our own Story and how aptly His Majesty has compar'd them not to a Storm at Sea which yet wants not its Terror but an Earthquake which shakes the very Foundations of all may be also as visible from the too sad effects of them Earthquakes the more general they are do less hurt by reason of the united weight which they offer to subvert whereas narrow and particular Earthquakes have many times overturn'd whole Towns and Cities And such was the Case here The Kingdom as yet stood well enough witness those the Nobility and Gentry who out of a principle of Honour and Honesty adhered to the King Some humours t is true might glow and estuate in the Body but they were not yet got into the Head That Ricketty Head that was already swoll'n too big for the Body But when they once discover'd that Vent all gather'd to it and shook those Foundations which the Wisdom of so many Centuries had been laying and securing as I shall come to show presently In the mean time our Answerer for what concerns the King's Words says The matter here is not whether the King or his Houshold Rhetorician have made a Pithy Declamation against Tumults but first whether they were Tumults or not next if they were whether the King himself did not
would think to have prov'd where when and how at least rendred it probable that there was once some such thing done though the Grant be lost And if they took it themselves it was Unjust in its Original and consequently they had no more Right to chuse their Kings than Children have to chuse their Fathers And yet from this false Position magisterially determines That Kings do no Acts of Grace and Bounty but in discharge of their publick Duty The Sum of the King's Discourse saith he is against settling Religion by violent Means and yet never did thing more eagerly than to molest and persecute the Consciences of most religious Men and made a War and lost all rather than not uphold an Hierarchy of persecuting Bishops That Consciences are not to be forced but to be reduced by force of Truth aid of Time and use of good Means of Instructions and Perswasions was his Principle as well as Queen Elizabeth's but saith Sir Francis Walsingham concerning the Queen's proceedings in the like Cases Causes of Conscience when they exceed their Bounds V. Hist of the Reform Part 2. f. 418. and grow to be matter of Faction lose their Nature and Sovereign Princes ought distinctly to punish their Practices and Contempt though colour'd with the pretences of Conscience and Religion And according to this saith he the Queen proceeded And if the King also did distinguish Faction from Conscience and Tenderness from Singularity blame the Law not him But He obtruded new Ceremonies upon the English and a new Liturgy upon the Scots with his Sword Saving the Reverence of the Thing it is Indifferent whether a Man Preach with his Hat on or hung upon a Pin the Hugonots have one way and the English another The same also may be said of Ceremonies but how indifferent soever they are in themselves when they are once commanded the indifferency ceases in the Law that enjoyns them And for that other of the Liturgy upon the Scots the King obtruded it not on them much less with his Sword because it was sent them at their own Request as I have shown before But admitting their Kirk liked it not what had they to do with a Church that did Or what Authority had Tweed to reform Thames least of all to give Law to their King and that too with beat of Drum and Colours displayed Especially when one of their own Acts of Parliament says Continuation of Sir R. Baker f. 514. That it should be damnable and detestable Treason in the highest Degree to levy Arms or any Military Forces upon any pretext whatever without the King 's Royal Commission Nor is this all For their National Covenant oblig'd them to his Defence or else what means this Expression in it Sir W. Dudg his short View f. 132. That whensoever his Majesty's Honour and Interest should be in Danger they would as one Man obliged by the Laws of God and Man apply themselves to his Succour and Defence And the Chancellor and others the Lords of that Kingdom had by their Letter of 1. July 1643. assured his Majesty That no Arms should be raised without his special Commission And after all this and contrary to the Common tye of Nature to run into open Rebellion against him What may it mean I 'll tell ye This Matter had been hatching ever since the Third of his Reign and though the Chick appear'd not till the Year 1637 yet it could run about with the Shell upon its Head and it wanted not Friends in England to keep it alive till it could feed it self and if it liked not one Barn-door take to another The Metaphor is too visible to need Application There was a kind of a Kirk Party in England that finding the King firm to his Principles knew there was no better way to deal with him than by reducing him to Necessities to the end that being forc'd to extraordinary means for Supply he might disgust the People and consequently attract an Odium But what 's a Bow without a Bowman The Scots and they made but one Kirk Money was the Nerve that would keep them together and what need many words among Friends Nor were they long without the occasion of shewing their Fidelity The new Liturgy as before had been sent to Edinburgh The Scots presently take the Alarm are quieted again but lost nothing by it and in return make the King all Protestations of future Loyalty How comes it then you 'll say that it was not long after that they invaded England and after that took Arms for the Parliament against the King The Case is plain the King had no Money the Houses had or at least knew where to get it Nor will it be unworth any Man's while to see what that was They had as a Relief to the Scots for their Losses 17 Car. 1. and a supply of our Brethren of Scotland for so the Act words it 220000 l. rais'd for them by Act of Parliament By an Ordinance of Lords and Commons Vid. Hughes's Abridgement of Acts and Ordinances p. 92. 27 Octob. 43. 66666 13 4. for their Brotherly Assistance in the defence of the common cause of Religion and Liberty By a like Ordinance Feb. 20. 1644. 21000 l. per Mens Id. p. 178. for the maintenance of the Scots Army under the Earl of Leven Further confirm'd Id. p. 197. June 13. 1645. Continued for four Months more Id. p. 220. 25 Aug. 1645. By a like Ordinance Id. p. 201. June 20. 1645. 130000 l. for enabling the Scots Army to advance Southward And by a like Ordinance Decem. 3. 1645. 31000 l. Id. p. 237. for payment of the Scots Army Besides all which I find in the continuation of Sir Richard Baker Fol. 611. Several other Moneys rais'd for the Scots which because they agree neither in Sum nor time I thought fit to transcribe and leave it to my Reader to judge of it as he thinks fit Taxed by them in 16 Car. 1. 350 l. per diem on the Bishoprick of Durham and 300 l. per diem on the County of Northumberland on the penalty of Plundering In the 20th they were impowered by Parliament to assess for themselves the twentieth part of the North c. In the 21st sent them 30000 l. to induce them to besiege Newark In the 22d 200000 l. more for delivering up the King And another 200000 l. secur'd them out of the publick Faith And 16000 l. allowed them for the charge of their Carriages All which I leave as I said to my Reader to judge and whether notwithstanding all that cry of Religion and Loyalty it far'd not with them like Atalanta in the Fable Declinat cursus Ovidâ—◠〈◊〉 l. 10. Fâ—â— 15. aurumque vâ—luâ—ile tollit And truly considering all if they were not well paid for their Pains I wish they were CHAP. XIV Vpon the Covenant UPON this Theam saith our Answerer his Discourse is long his Matter little
what the Memorandum further says That King Charles the Second and the Duke of York did assure him it was none of the said King 's compiling c. An Earl it is said wrote it and I dispute it not but this I say That neither the King nor the Duke could speak it of their own knowledge but as by report from others because the King then Prince of Wales from his Expedition into the West with General Ruthien from whence he went off to France could not have seen His Father in near four Years before His death and therefore it seems improbable that the King should have shewn him a Letter To the Prince of Wales and at the same time told him it was not of his own compiling when yet the Letter says Id. Iâ—â—n 221. Son if these Papers come to your hands c. and concludes Farewel till we meet if not on Earth yet in Heaven And if the King did not tell him so then what he assured the Earl could not be of his own knowledge And for the Duke of York he was under Thirteen at the Surrender of Oxford from whence he was brought to St. James's where he made his Escape for Dort so that except when he saw his Royal Father at Hampton-Court which could not be often he could not have seen him in two Years and an half before his Death Nor seems it probable that the King should communicate his Thoughts with a Person of those Years albeit a Prince and his Son but not his next Heir But on the contrary more probable for both that what they so spake was but by report which young Princes are but too apt to take up from those who to cover their own Ignorance perswade them it smells too strong of the Pedant for a King to take up a Pen when yet the greatest of former Ages are oftner remmembred by their Pens than their Swords Caesar yet lives in his Commentaries M. Aurelius in his Philosophy and we may read Trajan by his Epistles to Pliny But to come nearer home Our Henry the first is as well known by the Name of Beauclerke as of King of England Henry the Eighth's Pen not his Sword gave him the Title of Defender of the Faith And this the Royal Portraict of our murther'd Sovereign shall outlast every thing but it self and Time Lastly And if there yet want some living credible Testimony of that time or matter of Record since Sir William Dugdate an indefatigable Searcher of our English Antiquities and perfect Master of the Transactions of his own Time gives us this gradual account viz. That these Meditations had been begun by His Majesty in Oxford long before he went from Oxford to the Scots under the Title of Suspiria Regalia That the Manuscript it self written with his own Hand being lost at Naseby was restored to him at Hampton-Court by Major Huntington who had obtain'd it from Fairfax That Mr. Thomas Herbert who waited on His Majesty in his Bed-Chamber in the Isle of Wight and Mr. William Levett a Page of the Back-stairs frequently saw it there and not only read several parts of it but saw the King divers times writing farther on it And that that very Copy was by his Majesty's direction to Bishop Duppa sent to Mr. R. Royston a Bookseller at the Angel in Ivy-Lane the 23d of December 1648. who made such Expedition that the Impression was finish'd before that dismal 30th of January on which the King was bereft of his Life As may be better read from himself Sir W. Dugdâ—â—â—'s Short View c. p. 380 381. in his Short View of the late Troubles in England And this further I speak of my own Knowledge That the very next Morning after that horrid Act I saw one of them and read part of it under the Title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which it now bears And for matter of Record and that the World may the more undeniably be convinc'd that both King Charles the Second and King James the Second did believe this Book was written by their Royal Father let him that doubts it but look upon Reliquiae Sacrae Carolinae Printed it the Year 1662 or any Impression of this Book since that time and he will find prefix'd to them a Privilege or Patent of King Charlâ— the Second to the said Mr. Royston his Executors c. for the sole Printing and Publishing the Book intituled Reliquiae c. and all other the Works of his said Royal Father and moâ— especially mentions these most excellent Meditation and Soliioquies by the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And it so happening that most of that Impression in 1662. coming to be lost in the Fire of London whereby the Book became very dear anâ— scarce to be had King James the Second upon his coming to the Crown reciting those former Letters Patent grants him the like Privilege for the Printing and Publishing the said Book as it had been in the Year 1662. And now what shall an honest Man do in such a Case sâ—aâ— he give Credit to a bare Memorandum of what another said and as 't is most probable by report only or say the Circumstances before were not of weight to two Records For my part I take the King's Certificate to be of high nature yet I should hardly believe thâ— King himself against any one single Record against which the Law of England admits no Averrment and therefore I think no Man ought to make more of a Posthumous Memorandum than what the Law makes of it In a word these Pathetick Meditations no sooner came abroad than the Nation was undeceiv'd concerning the Author the Scales were fallen from their Eyes and they religiously look'd on Him whom in the simplicity of their Hearts they had pierced These our Pharisees saw and confest it themselves but said they if we let it alone the Romans will come and take away our City And therefore finding they could not suppress them they made it their Eusiness what in them lay to blot them Nay to that impudence they were arrived that and I saw it my self this Icon was exposed to Sale bound up with the Alcoran III. What end I proposed to my self in making this Reply And that 's easily shown nor is it forbidden any Man to burn Incense where the Air 's infected That this Royal Martyr has been calumniated is but too visible but how justly I am coming to examine In which I have this advantage to my hand That Time the Mother of Truth has justified her Daughter concerning Him and might have stopt the Rancour of his most inveterate Enemies but that nothing how evident soever can affect those that have a secret against blushing To be short my end is to vindicate this Good this Just however Unfortunate Prince to blow off that Froth that has been thrown on his Memory and according to my strength deliver him to the World as he was A great if not the only steddy
the Power of levying Money to maintain it for twenty Years 2. That the King justifie the Proceedings of the Parliament in the late War and that all Declarations c. against them be declared void 3. That all Titles of Honour conferr'd by the King since the Great Seal was carried to Oxford in May 1642 be taken away 4. That the Parliament might adjourn themselves when where and for what time they pleas'd But the King refusing to grant them the Parliament Vote there should be no more Addresses made him And upon Cromwell's laying his Hand upon his Sword and telling them the People expected their Safety from them and not from a Man whose Heart God had hardned the Vote of Non-Addresses was made into an Ordinance and that it should be High-Treason to receive any Message from him And now Compassion for the King's Sufferings with the discovery of their Hypocrisie had begotten such a general Indignation against the Parliament that all Wales declare for the King The Surrey Men Petition the Parliament for a Personal Treaty the same was Kent coming up to have done but seeing how evilly those of Surrey had been Treated they threw away their Petition and took Arms under the Earl of Norwich The same did others at Maidstone Black-heath Kingstone c. Which though they were all defeated yet the Houses seeing how the Inclinations of the Kingdom went and Cromwell being out of the way in securing Edinburgh they revoke their Ordinance of Non-Addresses and send the King new Propositions not much easier than the former and upon his Answer to them they sent Commissioners to treat with him at Newport in the Isle of Wight Sept. 2. 16â—â— the Treaty to be transacted with Honour Freedom and Safety in which the King made such Concessions Decemb. 5. 16â—â— that it was resolv'd upon the question by the Commons That the King's Answers to the Propositions of both Houses are a ground for the House to proceed upon for the settling the Peace of the Kingdom But it seems they had been so long dodging about Trifles that Cromwell was come to London before any thing was done Nov. 20. 1648. For Fairfax and the General Officers had remonstrated and amongst other things requir'd That the Capital and grand Author of our Troubles the Person of the King be brought to Justice for the Treason Blood and Mischief he is therein guilty of c. But the Presbyterian Party standing strong to the Resolve aforesaid a Guard is set upon the House the major part of the Members are excluded and the King made a closer Prisoner in Carisbrook-Castle which brings me to these His Majesty's Meditations upon Death In which as from the precedent of several of his Predecessors both of England and Scotland well he might he makes this Judgment That there are but few steps between the Prisons and Graves of Princes And now we 'll see what this Accuser says when having lopp'd off more than three quarters of the Title that he may bring the rest to his own Model he goes on All other humane things are disputed and will be variously thought of to the World's end but this business of Death is a plain Case and admits no Controversie Nevertheless since out of those few mortifying Hours he can spare time enough to inveigh bitterly against that Iustice which was done upon him it will be needful to say something in defence of those Proceedings And makes this his Justice the Justification of that horrid Parricide from that universal Law Whosoever sheddeth Man's Blood by Man shall his Blood be shed And that other of Moses Ye shall not take Satisfaction for the Life of a Murtherer No exception in either of them And well may he call it Iustice when he so often blasphemes God in making him the Favourer of those the before unheard-of Villainies of that Usurpation and Tyranny as here also so wretchedly detorts Scripture to give it a Colour Whereas it was Injustice it self in its very Foundation as being directly contrary to the Law of God the Law of the Land and the Practice of the Jews from whom he draws his Authority To the Law of God whereby we are commanded First Negatively not to think ill of the King Curse not the King Eccles 10.20 no not in thy Thoughts Much less then may we speak it Thou shalt not speak Evil of the Ruler of thy People Exod. 22.18 Least of all may we do him hurt Touch not mine Anointed Secondly Affirmatively Psal 105.25 To Honour him as by the fifth Commandment and that with a Blessing annex'd to it That thy Days may be long in the Land To keep his Commandments Eccles 8.2 4. and that in regard of the Oath of God Neither may we give him any cause of Anger Prov. 20.2 for he that provoketh him sinneth against his own Soul And if thus far be true then I am sure it was Injustice to murther him To the Law of the Land Where besides what I have before said to the Soveraignty of the Crown of England to imagine the King's Death Chap. 6 To levy War against him in his Realm 25 Ed. 3. c. 2. or adhere to such as do so that it proveably appear by some Overt Act is High-Treason 3 Inst 12. The like is the Preparation by some Overt Act to take the King by force and strong hand and imprison him until he hath yielded to certain Demands And what must it then be to sit in Judgment upon him â— Ed. 3.19 who having neither Equal nor Superiour in his Realm cannot be Judged And greater than this what must it be to murther him And lastly contrary to the Practice of the Jews from whom he draws his Authority The Israelites had a hard Bondage under the Egyptians 〈◊〉 12 37. and yet that Moses whom he quotes and Six Hundred Thousand Footmen with him besides Children and a mix'd Multitude fled from Pharaoh 1 Sam 22.2 but did not rebel against him David in the head of an Army and those if we consider the Persons desperate enough fled from Saul And Eliah from Jezabel Seven Thousand Men yet left in Israel who had not bow'd their Knees to Baal 1 Kings 19.18 So that if Scripture Law or Practice have any Authority I think I need not labour the matter to prove it execrable as well as unjust Besides with what common Modesty could he tax the King with Blood when the Houses had form'd an Army so long before him as I have shewn before And therefore who shall be or was ever said to be guilty of the Blood spilt in a War the Aggressor or the Defendant when the Law chiefly regards the Original act Nor will Success more be able to alter the Nature of it than as says His Majesty The prosperous Winds which often â—ill the Sails of Pyrates do justifie their Pyracy and Rapine And were that true saith he which is most false