Magistrates have for several Weeks declared their Opinion and voted to lay themselves at His Majesty's Feet by an humble submission and resignation of themselves to his Majesty's pleasure not being willing to contend with his Majesty in a course of Law but by the next opportunity to dispatch their Agents fully impowered to make their Submission according to his Majesty's said Declaration but by no means can at present obtain the consent of the Depuries whereby to make it an Act of the Corporation and therefore have agreed with them to a power of Attorneyship to save a Default in hopes that further time will prevail to dispatch their Agents accordingly and shall earnestly endeavour to give the People a better understanding before the next Ship Sail from hence His Majesty by this finding that all the easie means he had used could not bring them to any answer for the Crimes and Misdemeanors laid to their charge nor produce any thing else but baffles and delays gave Order to his Attorney-General to sue out a Writ of Scire Facias from the High Court of Chancery against the Governour and Company which was accordingly done directed to the Sheriffs of London c. and made returnable in Easter-Term in the 36th Year of His Majesty's Reign wherein they were required to make known to the said Governour and Company at London That they appear in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery at Westminster on the Day of the return thereof to shew cause wherefore the said Charter for the Reasons in the said Writ of Scire Facias mentioned and contained should not be made void null and cancell'd and the Liberties and Privileges thereby granted to the said Governour and Company be Seized into the King's Hands upon which Writ the said Governour and Company not appearing another Writ of Scire Facias of the same Tenor issued forth returnable in Trinity-Term then next following when the said Governour and Company appeared by their constituted Attorney and Council but refused to Plead to the said Writ only moved for time to send to New England which not being agreeable with the Rules and Practice of the Court in such Cases could not be allowed but in Favour to them a Rule was made That unless they Pleaded by the first day of the then next Michaelmas-Term Judgment should be entered by Default And in that Term for default of Pleading Judgment was entered on His Majesty's behalf and the said Charter adjudged to be void null and cancell'd and that the Liberties and Privileges of the said Governour and Company be Seiz'd into the King's Hands which was accordingly done by the Exemplification of the said Judgment in the Reign of K. James the Second and by His Majesty's Commission to a President and Council to take the Government of this Countrey All which Proceedings are most just and legal according to the Rules and Practice of the Law of England and agreeable with many Precedents of the like Nature both ancient and modern Besides all Companies Corporations or Bodies Politick made or granted by Letters Patents or Charter from His Majesty for any part or places beyond the Seas are by themselves or Agents to be alwaies ready to answer His Majesty in any of his Courts at Westminster when he shall think fit to order any Suit or Writ to be Sued or Prosecuted against them and are supposed to be resident in or about London or Westminster for that purpose as the East-India Royal African Bermoodos and Hudsons-bay Companys are who have their Trade Factories Collonys and Plantations abroad in Asia Africa and America And in the like state or condition were the Company or Corporation of Massathusets-Bay in New England to be according to the Capacities given them by their Incorporation of Suing and being Sued Pleading and being Impleaded as appears by the Dogget-Book of the Council when the Charter was first Granted wherein if they have neglected their Duty as well as exceeded their Powers and Privileges granted and would not put themselves into a condition to be heard when they ought and might it is not His Majesty nor the proceedings of His Courts that are to be blamed but themselves 3. That there was a Commission sent to the President and the successive one to Sir Edmond Andros are both true but that they were Illegal is a Position too confidently asserted by the Pen-man who seems to be more a Clergyman than a Lawyer but because the well clearing up of this point will be of great service to the subsequent Discourse 't will not be amiss that it be throughly considered I shall therefore lay down this as a certain Maxime both consonant to Reason and the Laws of the Land That those Kingdoms Principalities and Collonies which are of the Dominion of the Crown of England and not of Empire of the King of England are subject to such Laws Ordinances and Forms of Government as the Crown shall think fit to establish New England and all the Plantations are subject to the Dominion of the Crown of England and not to the Empire of the King of England Therefore the Crown of England may Rule and Govern them in such manner as it shall think most fit For the proof of which I shall instance Wales which was once a Kingdom or Territory govern'd by its own Laws but when it became of the Dominion of the Crown of England either by Submission or Conquest it became subject also to such Laws as King Edward the First to whom they submitted thought fit to impose as may plainly appear in the Preamble of the Statute of Rutland Leges consuetudines partium illarum hactenus usitatas coram Nobis preceribus Regni nostri fecimus recitari quibus diligenter auditis plenius intellectis quasdam illarum de consilio Procerum predictorum delevimus quasdam permissimus quasdam correximus etiam quasdam alias adjiciendas faciendas decrevinis eas de caetero in terris nostris in partibus illis perpetua firmitate teneri observari volumus in forma subscripta We have caused the Laws and Customs of those parts hitherto used to be recited before Us and the Peers of Our Realm which being diligently heard and more fully understood some of them by the Advice of Our Peers aforesaid We have obliterated some We have allowed and some We have corrected And have also Deereed That some others shall be made and We will that for the future they be holden and observed in Our Lands in those parts with perpetual Firmness in manner hereinafter expressed Then follow the Ordinances appointing Writs original and judicial in many things varying from those of England and a particular manner of proceeding And again in the close of the same Statute Et ideo vobis Mandamus quod praemissa de caetero in omnibus observetis ita tantum quod quotiescunque quandocunque ubicunque Nobis placuerit possimus praedicta Statuta earum partes singulas
declarare interpretari addere sive diminuere pro Nostrae libito voluntatis pront securitati Nostrae Terrae Nostrae viderimus expediri And therefore We Command you That from henceforward you observe the Premises in all things so only that as often whensoever and wheresoever We please We may Declare Interpret Add to and Diminish from the said Statutes and every part of them according to Our Will and Pleasure so as We shall see it expedient for the safety of Us and Our Land aforesaid In the next place I shall instance Ireland That it is a Conquer'd Kingdom is not doubted Cooke Rep. Fol. 18. but admitted in Calvin's case and by an Act of the 11th 12th and 13th of King James acknowledged in express Words viz. Whereas in former times the Conquest of this Realm by His Majesty's most Royal Progenitors Kings of England c. That by virtue of the Conquest it became of the Dominion of the Crown of England and subject to such Laws as the Conqueror thought fit to impose until afterwards by the Charters and Commands of H. 2. K. John and H. 3. They were Intituled to the Laws and Franchises of England as by the said Charters reference being thereunto had may more fully appear I shall only instance two The First is out of the close Rolls of H. 3. wherein the King after Thanks given to G. de Mariscis Justice of Ireland signifies That himself and all other his Lieges of Ireland should enjoy the Liberties which he had granted to his Lieges of England and that he will grant and confirm the same unto them Claus 1. H. 3. Dorso 14. which afterwards in the 12th Year of His Reign he did as followeth Rex dilecto fidelio suo Richardo de Burgo Justiciar ' suo Hibern Salutem Mandarimus vobis firmiter praecipientes quatenus certo die loco faciatis venire coram vobis Archi-Episcopos Episcopos Abbates Priores Comites Barones Milites Libere Tenentes Balivos singulorum Comitatuum coram eis publici legi faciatis Chartum Domini Johannis Regis Patris Nostri cui sigillum suum appensum est quam fieri fecit jurari a Magnatibus Hiberniae de legibus consuetudinibus Angliae observandis in Hiberniae Et praecipiatis eis ex parte nostra quod leges illas consuetudines in Charta praedicta contentas de caetero firmiter teneant observent The King to his Faithful and Beloved Richard de Burg Justice of Ireland Greeting We have Commanded you firmly enjoyning you That on a certain day and place you make to come before you the Arch-Bishops Bishops Abbats Priors Earls Barons Knights and Free-holders and the Bayliffs of every County and before them you cause to be publickly read the Charter of the Lord King John our Father to which his Seal is affixed and which he caused to be made and Sworn to by the Nobility of Ireland concerning the Laws and Customs of England to be observed in Ireland And commanded them on our behalf That for the future they firmly keep and observe those Laws and Customs contained in the Charter aforesaid By all which it is evident That after the Conquest and before the recited Charters the Inhabitants there although composed of many Free-born English Subjects who settled themselves amongst them were neither govern'd by their own Laws nor the Laws of England but according to the good pleasure of the Conqueror And if you will take the Opinion of Sir Edward Coke in his Annotations on the Great Charter he tells you plainly That at the making thereof it did not extend to Ireland or any of the King 's Foreign Dominions but after the making of Poyning's Law which was in the 11th Year of H. 7 long after the Great Charter it did extend to Ireland I have only one Instance more and that is The usage of Foreign Nations in their Plantations and Settlements abroad The Governments of the Vnited Provinces and Denmark are well known in Europe and yet in all their Plantations their Governments are despotical and absolute all the power is in the hands of a Governour and Council and every thing is ordered and appointed by them as is sufficiently manifest to those that are acquainted with Batavia Surrinam Curasao New York when formerly in their hands and the Island of St. Thomas By which it is evident That those Kingdoms and Principalities which are of the Dominion of the Crown of England are subject to such Laws Ordinances and Methods of Government as the Crown shall think fit to Establish The next thing then to be proved is That New England and all the English Colonies are subject to the Dominion of the Crown of England as Wales and Ireland are and not to the Empire of the King of England as Scotland is 'T is a fundamental point consented unto by all Christian Nations that the first Discovery of a Countrey inhabited by Infidels gives a Right and Dominion of that Countrey to the Prince in whose Service and Imployment the Discoverers was sent Thus the Spaniard claims the West-Indies the Portugals Brasile and thus the English these Northern parts of America For Sebastian Cabot imployed by King Henry 7. was the first Discoverer of these Parts and in his Name took Possession which his Royal Successors have held and continued ever since therefore they are of the Dominion of the Crown of England and as such they are accounted by that excellent Lawyer Sir John Vaughan in his reports Vauh Rep. Craw versus Ramsey which being granted the Conclusion must necessarily be good and it will follow That Englishmen permitted to be Transported into the Plantations for thither without the Kings Licence we cannot come can pretend to no other Liberties Privileges or Immunities there than anciently the Subjects of England who removed themselves into Ireland could have done For it is from the Grace and Favour of the Crown alone that all these Flow and are dispenced at the pleasure of him that sits upon the Throne which is plain in the great Charter it self where after the Liberties therein granted by the King it concluded thus Tenendas habendas de Nobis haeredibus Nostris in perpetuum To have and to hold of Us and Our Heirs for ever which by the Learned Sir Edward Coke is thus explained These words saith he are not inserted to make a Legal Tenure of the King but to intimate that all Liberties were at first derived from the Crown Instit page 2. fol. 4. Barbados Jamaica the Leeward Islands and Virginia have their Assemblies but it is not sui juris 't is from the grace and favour of the Crown signified by Letters Patents under the Broad Seal But the Laws made by these Assemblies with the consent of the Governour are no longer in force than till the King is pleased to signifie his Disapprobation of them which power he hath always reserâ—â—â—â—o himself and can whenever he thinks fit Repeal
6. Who are meant by abject Persons from New York wants an Explanation for none of the Gentlemen that came from thence now in any Authority but are well known to have liv'd there for a long time in Esteem and Reputation enough to merit a better Epethite of all good and honest Men and I believe it will one day appear that their Faithful discharge of their Duties their constancy and steadiness to the Church and Laws of England and unshaken Loyalty and Fidelity to the Crown was their greatest Crime I am not well acquainted what Fees were taken but this I know that a Committee of the Council were appointed to make a settlement of Fees for all Officers throughout the Government which was effected approved of and sent to England and if any one have exceeded those Limits they deserve to be called to account but it ought to be in a due course of Law For the personal miscarriages of a Ministerial Officer are no sufficient Warrant for an Insurrection neither ought the whole Government to be Subverted because Tom or Harry are ill Men. The Authority can but provide good and wholsome Laws for the punishment of Evil doers and cause those Laws to be put in execution against Offenders But if any one doth me a personal wrong for which I have a Remedy by Law and I will not take it I ought not to quarrel with the Government for 't is my own Fault and I might have redress if I would Personal Crimes must be censured Personally and a Government ought no more to be scandalized and aspersed because an Extortioner is in it than because there is a Felon or a Traitor 7. I need not tell you that the Statute Laws of England are Printed at large and that many Abridgments of them are so likewise and easie enough to be procured neither can it be but very well known that all the Acts of the Governour and Council were solemnly published with Sound of Trumpet as soon as made and Authentick Copies afterwards transmitted to the Clerks of each respective County throughout the Territory Why then it should be said that it was impossible to know the Laws I see no reason unless by it is meant the Common Law and if so you may as well quarrel because every common Person doth not understand Euclid or Aristotle for the knowledge of the Law cannot be attained without great Industry Study and Experience and every Capacity is not fitted for such an Undertaking Ex quovis Ligno non fit Mercurius If this was a Grievance What a miserable condition are they in now that instead of not knowing the Law there is no Law for them to know 8. What rash or indiscreet Expressions may fall from any single Person of the Council either in his private or politick Capacity I will not undertake to justifie all Men are not endued with qualifications alike every one in that Station ought to give his Opinion as he himself understands the Matter and if any one have unadvisedly uttered Words so disagreeable I know no Body injur'd by it neither can the Government be justly censur'd for it 9. That the Privileges of Magna Charta and other Liberties of English-men were denied them is a thing which can never be made appear however admitting it I have sufficiciently discuss'd that Point in the Third Article By the Persons said to be severely Fined for peaceably objecting against raising of Taxes without an Assembly I conjecture are meant the Ipswich-men who were so far from a peaceable objecting that they assembled themselves in a riotous manner and by an Instrument conceived in Writing did Associate and oblige themselves to stand by each other in opposition to the Government and by their Example influenced their Neighbours to do the like And this by the Law is esteemed an Offence of that Nature that it is next door to Rebellion for which they were Indicted Tryed and Convicted either by Verdict or their own Confession 10. I cannot justifie that Sheriffs who doth either pick or pack a Jury 't is both repugnant tothe Law and his Oath and he deserves no favour that can be Guilty of such a Crime but let him first be known and the thing proved for I do not remember any one that hath been Convicted nor so much as accused for such an Offence Judgments upon Demurers and Defaults are so practicable and warrantable by the Law that nothing can excuse the enumerating them amongst the Grievances in the Declaration but the Pen-man's want of Knowledge in that Profession 'T is a Maxime Volenti non fit injuria and when both Plantiff and Defendant do by a joynt consent submit to the determination of the Court or by their own negligence make default Who hath the wrong Where is the Injury This hath been a practico so frequently used in your former Government though under another Name that no body can be ignorant of it 11. That any one hath been Imprisoned without being charged with Crime or Misdemeanour is an Allegation which I dare be bold to say can never be proved I have heard indeed an Habeas Corpus demanded upon the Statute of the 31. C. 2. was denied in Major Appleton's Case who was one of the Ipswich-men before-mentioned but let any considering Man peruse the Act and I believe he will be easily convinced that it is particularly limitted to the Kingdom of England besides he was committed only because he would not find Sureties for the good Behaviour and the question was not whether he should be Bailed for upon finding the said Sureties he must have been discharged of course so that it was not the want of an Habeas Corpus detain'd him in Prison but his own wilful and obstinate Humour if they do but consider well how many Gentlemen lie now in stinking Goals and close Prisons without either Mittimus or Crime laid to their charge and without the allowance of an Habeas Corpus although demanded I am sure they cannot but blush when they read that part of the Declaration 12. That Jurymen were fined and imprisoned for refusing to lay their hands to the Book I presume is a mistake probably they may have been fined for their contempt and sent to Prison for not paying that Fine which by the Law may be Justified for evrey Court may fine any man for a contempt in open Court and they themselves are Judges of the Contempt Whether it be a forcing of Conscience or not I shall leave to Casuists but I am very well satisfied it is not comprehended within the late Indulgence Yet admit it were the Judges are sworn to do their Duties in their Offices according to the Laws of the Land Prescription is a good and sufficient Law the form of laying the Hand upon the Book hath been the only modus of Swearing time out of mind therefore the laying the Hand on the Book in Swearing is a good Law and the Judges cannot dispence with it Salvo Sacramento
any Christian Settlement reduced to the extreamest Wants and Necessities And all things brought to that pass that if our unhappy Domestick Troubles had not intervened the War before this time would have been advantageously Finished without any Rates or Taxes on the Country for by his Excellencies good Husbandry the standing Revenue would have defrayed the Charge 'T is true you have lost some of your Friends and Relations in that Expedition but could the Governour keep them a Live Are not Diseases in Armies as Fatal to Men as the Sword When Death comes 't is not to be avoided and you see that all your Art and Care hath not been sufficient to Preserve your dearest Friends at Home from the greater Morcality which hath run through this Crountry Did any of them Dye neglected Which of them wanted any thing to be had in those Parts Did his Excellency lye upon Beds of Down and fare Deliciously every Day No the same Meat the same Drink the same Lodging in their Quarters and Marches very common to all only he was generally the least taken care for To what a degree of Madness and Impiety are we then grown so Falsly and Maliciously to Re-criminate a Person who for your Defence and Security hath so generously exposed himself to the Hardships of that Cold and Uncomfortable Clymate and the Fatigues of War against a Barbarous and Savage People And certainly if God Almighty hath not given over this People to believe Lies their Eyes must be by this time open and they cannot but know how much they have been put upon Shamm'd and Abus'd Who are Popish Commanders in the Army Will any Man Bare-fac'd Aver so great an untruth It must be Confessed there was one and no more under that Circumstance who had the Command of a Company of the King 's standing Forces and was not Commissioned for the Army besides if he had hath he not Lived long amongst us Did any one ever question his Ability Courage Fidelity and Conduct and ought not that Liberty of Conscience which has been so hotly Preached up even to the Encouragement of immoral Acts amongst you be equally beneficial to him with other Men Especially when the Gentlemen in the Country were so far from offering their Service in the Expedition that some of the most Eminent amongst them have absolutely refused the Service and they have been told the Governours proposal to the Council about his going to the Eastward met with no Opposition lest some of the Military Men there should have been bound in Honour to have taken that Imployment upon themselves 23. That some of the English Plantations in the West-Indies which were Contiguous to the French should be Alarm'd is no wonder for they were ever Jealous of their Neighbourhood and alwaies stood upon their Guard but that you should be afraid of being delivered up to the French when there is neither War betwixt the two Crowns nor any Frenchmen that we can yet here of to receive you is one of the most unaccountable things in the World From what parts must they come From Canada you know they can not they want both Men and Ships and have reason enough to look to themselves France have their Hands full at home and 't is well known they cannot spare any from the West-Indies they made their outmost Effort against Estalia and by the best Intelligence I can get in that Service or War there was not one Frigat Must they then drop out of the Clouds or do you expect a Fleet from Utopia Certainly this must needs convince any considering Man that these poor People have been extremely abus'd and they must be Stupid and Senseless who think that Sir Edmond Andros and Ten or Twelve Men more for that is all the Number said to be concerned in this wonderful Plot Could they be guilty of so horrid a Wickedness and Impiety Were able to deliver so many Thousand Men well appointed into the Hands of a few French-men who from God knows whence were to come The Lord knows when 24. That it was either their Duty to God or that they had the Nobility Gentry and Commons of England for their Presedent I cannot by any means allow and I am amaz'd to see Christians call that a Duty which God has so remarkably shewed his Displeasure against in all Countries and Ages Is not Rebellion as the Sin of Witchcraft Numb 11.12.16 Who was it that sent the Leprosie amongst the Children of Israel for their murmering Psal 78. Or how came the sudden Fire with which they were burnt up How many Thousands perished by the Pestilence Or were they a few that were stung to Death by the Fiery Serpents Do we not read that the Earth opened and swallowed up some of their Captains with their Wives and Children quick which horrible Destruction fell upon the Children of Israel for their murmering against Moses whom God had appointed their head and chief Majestrate What shall I say of Absalom What of a Achitophel Or what of Sheba Holy Writ is so full of Examples of the like Nature that no Body can esteem that a Duty which is so often testified against And as it is far from being their Duty to God so there is no Parellel between the Proceedings of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal in England and theirs here for the Design of Establishing Popery and Arbitrary Government in this Colony is altogether Ridiculous and Incredible for who was to have effected it Could those few of the Church of England that with the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes so lately opposed it in Europe and that in all Ages have been the only Bulwork against it Or were the Presbyterians Independants or Anabaptists to have brought this about It must have been one of those for I dare be bold to say there are not Two Roman Catholicks betwixt this and New York I have sufficiently demonstrated in the third Article the little Right we have to any other Government in the Plantations and that we cannot justly call that Arbitrary which by the Law we are obliged to submit to So that betwixt their Condition and ours there can be no Parity As their Reasons and yours were different so are the Measures which have been taken for his late Highness the Prince of Orange having well-weighed and considered the tottering Condition of the Protestant Religion all over Europe thought it was high time for him to take up Arms as well for his own Preservation as that of his Neighbours and Allies We do not find that notwithstanding the Danger that hung over their heads the People of England took up Arms to right themselves but instead thereof they became humble Suppliants to his Highness for his Favour and Protection which he was pleased to grant them Neither do we find that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal assumed any Authority for which they had no colour of Law As they are Peers they are invested with the highest Authority and are the