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
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
and Annâ—â—â— all such as have not been before confirmed by him or some of his Predecessors New England had a Charter but no one will be so stupid to imagine that the King was bound to grant it them neither can you without impeaching the prudent Conduct and Discretion of your Fore-Fathers so much as think they would put themselves to so vast an Expence and unnecessary Trouble to obtain that which as English Men they thought themselves to have a sufficient Right to before They owe it only to the Grace and Favour of their Sovereign and if they had made better use of it to promote the Ends for which it was granted the weight of those Afflictions under which the People of this Country now groans would not have lain so heavy upon them at least they would have less deserved them Besides the Parliament of England have never by any Act of theirs favoured the Plantations or declared or inlarged their Privileges but have all along demonstrated that they were much differenced from England and not to have those Privileges and Liberties which England enjoyed being in all Acts relating to the Plantations restrained and burthened beyond any in England as appears by the several Acts made for the increasing of Navigation and for regulating and securing the Plantation Trade I think I have both by good Authority Practice and Precedent made it plain That the Plantations are of the Dominion of the Crown of England and without any regard to Magna Charta may be rul'd and govern'd by such ways and methods as the Person who wears that Crown for the good and advancement of those Settlements shall think most proper and convenient therefore neither the Commission to the Prosident nor that to Sir Edmond Andros can be said to be Illegal Since then such an one might lawfully be granted you have great reason to commend the Moderation of the Gentleman who was intrusted with it and to return Thanks to Almighty God for placing over you a Person indued with that Prudence and Integrity that he was so far from exceeding his Commission that he never put in execution the powers therein granted him Have there been any Taxes laid upon the People but such as were settled fifty years since and made perpetual by Laws of their own making Any part whereof might be retained and in force after the condemnation of their Charter that the King thought fit Who hath been transferr'd out of this Territory Or were ever fewer Rates paid than under him And whereas it is also alleaged in the Declaration That there were courses taken to damp and spoil their Trade while neither the Honour nor Treasure of the King were advanced Give me leave to tell you the same is altogether false and mistaken for the very considerable increase of Their Majesties Revenue arising by Customs not at all altered under Sir Edmond's government doth sufficiently demonstrate that the regular and lawful Trade of this Territory was exceedingly improved under him 'T is true the Acts for Regulating the Plantation-Trade and Navigation little regarded under the Massathusets Government to the great prejudice of the Revenues of the Crown and detriment of its European Subjects were carefully inforced and their constant and profitable correspondence with Foreigners and Pyrats diligently obstructed which was very disagreeable to many Persons who had even grown old in that way of Trade and was I believe one chief cause of the Revolution which seems evident by their falling again upon the same measures since that change By this is meant Courses taken to damp and spoil their Trade for which I hope the Government will not lie under any imputations in the Judgment of considering Men. I shall say little concerning the King's Treasure for it is clear to all that know this Country that under the late Government there was never so few Taxes paid nor until the Indian Rebellion a fuller Treasury since the settlement of these parts and 't is plain That the alteration of the Massethusets Government and annexation of the rest of those petty Colonys did highly conduce to the King's Honour and the good and welfare of his Subjects for all that Country which was every day subject to the Incursions of the French was no sooner taken into the King's hands and united but they became formidable And all endeavours to make them demolish the Fort of Oneagra which they had Built and Garrisoned some hundreds of Miles within the English Dominions in the Year 1687 proved unsuccessful until the Union of the said Colonys under the Commission so much complained of And I do heartily wish that the Divisions now among you do not encourage them to take the advantage of this opportunity and by an utter destruction of all this Continent experimentally make good my Assertion And 't is as plain that the King's Subjects which for many years had groaned under the severlty of a Tyrannical and Arbitrary Constitution deprived of the Laws and Liberties of English-men forced in their Consciences suffered death for Religion and denied Appeals to the King were eased of those intolerable Burthens and allowed the free Exercise of their Religion and the benefit of the Laws of England which were duly and truly administred unto them by which the Honour of the King is advanced to the highest pitch 4. 'T will be but time lost to say any thing of the Red-coats for no body can be so void of Sense and Reason to think that so many Thousand Men which at this day inhabit this Colony could be imposed upon by 100 Red-coats and if any body hath been so vain as to threaten them with more I look upon it an effect of passion or folly For Experience which certainly is the most convincing Argument in the World tells you there is no such thing 5. What is meant by Preserments and who are called Strangers and Haters of the People I must confess I cannot easily comprehend unless to inhabit fourteen or fifteen Years within the Territory will make a Man such Is there any one Gentleman of the Council that hath either been displaced or put into that Station by the Authority there Which of your Judges are Strangers Were not Three of them brought up amongst you and of your own Communion And was not the other in the same Imployment in some part of this Territory at the time of the Annexation From whom had the Secretary and Collector his Commission Certainly from no body here Did the alteration of the Government change your Treasurer Is it not the same Sir Edmond found here Is he not a Man of Estate good Credit and Reputation and one of your own Countrymen Were not all Officers in the Government as well Magisterial as Ministerial natural born Englishmen and Subjects to the Crown of England How then are Strangers and Haters of the People preferr'd when there is not one that can reasonably and justly be so termed in any place of Trust or Office throughout the Dominion
AN IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF THE State of New England OR THE Late GOVERNMENT there Vindicated In Answer to the DECLARATION Which the FACTION set forth when they Overturned That GOVERNMENT With a Relation Of the Horrible Usage they treated the Governour with and his Council and all that had His Majesty's Commission In a LETTER to the CLERGY there By John Palmer LONDON Printed for Edward Poole at the Ship over against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1690. THE PREFACE THERE was so much Industry used in New England by those who had taken upon themselves the Government that nothing should come abroad which might undeceive the People already wrought to such a pitch of Credulity easily to believe the most monstrous Lyes and Follies that the ensuing Letter could not be Printed without excessive Charge and Trouble the Press being forbid to any that were injur'd to justifie themselves though open to all that would caluminate and abuse them so that for several Months it appeared in Manuscript by stealth branded with the hard Name of a Treasonable and Seditious Libel and would have been little better than Death for any one in whose Hands it should have been found but remained unanswered although Care was taken that it came to the Hands of some of the Persons to whom it was directed I was then oblig'd to conceal my Name because I was in their Hands and liable to whatever their Malice could prompt them to impose upon me but being now at Liberty and having revised it I have thought fit for the Justification of Sir Edmond Andros and the rest of my Fellow-Sufferers to make it publick here that the World may see how barbarously we have been used and most unmercifully dealt withal by those Professing People who for the better effecting the Subversion of Kingly Government and establishing their Old Commonwealth contrary to the Laws both of God and Man and their Faith given detain'd us Ten Months in Prison without any Mittimus or just Cause alledged for their so doing and afterwards caused us to be put on Board a deep loaden Ship where we endured all the Miseries of a Troublesome Winter Voyage but by God's Blessing escaped both the danger of the Seas and our Enemies and appeared at the Council-Board where the worst of our Enemies even the very Men that had so unjustly imprisoned and detain'd us had nothing to say or object against us Their Declaration published as the Cause of their Insurrection is herein particalarly answered and matter of Fact truly alledged not in Scandalous Base and Abusive Reflections as some of their Pamphlets are stuff'd withal but with that Sincerity and Moderation which becomes a Christian and altho' there are many things in it so frivolous that to Men of Business it may seem impertinent to answer yet I hope to be excused because the meanest things made so deep an Impression on the Vulgar and Ignorant People that it was absolutely necessary they should be undeceived I hope it will satisfie every unprejudiced Person and sufficiently convince the World that our Imprisonment was not for any Crime commmitted but that we being imployed from the Crown by our Removal the more easie Subversion of Monarchy and Destruction of the Church of England might be effected both which they ever mortally hated and had long before plotted to ruine making use of this juncture of Affairs and Their Majesties Names to cloak their Design whilst their Service was never intended as is evident by their withdrawing the Force from the East-ward by which their Majesties Fort and Garrison of Pemyquid and the whole County of Cornwall the greatest part of the Province of Mam and part of the Province of New Hampshire were lost the Inhabitants being driven from their Houses and above 300 of them taken Captives and Murthered by the Indians embezling their Majesties Stores Arms and Ammunition seizing and dismaniling their Fright destroying their Revenue setting up a Republick Government making Laws erecting Courts of Judicature condemning and executing their Fellow Subjects denying them Appeals to their Majesties and burthening them with intollerable Taxes without any manner of Lawful Authority for so doing to the great Violation of the Laws and destructive of the Liberty of the Subject The State of NEW-ENGLAND Impartially considered c. Reverend Sirs TWO Months have already past away since with Astonishment I have beheld the most deplorable Condition of this Country into what a Chaos of Confusion and Distraction have this People run themselves and in what a labyrinth of Miserys and Perplexitys are they involved 'T is high time now to make some serious Reflections on the State of Affairs In the first place therefore 't will be necessary to consider 1. For what Reasons and to what End did they take up Arms 2. Whether those Reasons be Substantial and such as carry with them weight enough to justifie the Act and whether the proposed End can be obtained by such Methods 3. If not What will be the Event and whether any way be left open for a Peaceable and Friendly Settlement Although 't is not a doubt but a prevailing Party among you to gratifie their Malice Ambition or Revenge have been the Plotters and Contrivers of these unhappy Troubles and the better to carry it on have made use of the deluded Countrymen as the Monkey did the Cats Foot to pluck the Chesnut out of the Fire Yet I shall not meddle in that matter I will only instance such things as Conversation and Report have brought to my Knowledge or as I shall find obvious in the Declaration the sum of which is 1. That above ten Years since there was an horrid Popish Plot in the Kingdom of England in which the Extirpation of the Protestant Religion was design'd and there was great reason to apprehend the Reform'd Churches of New-England were to be over-whelm'd in the same Pit of Ruine and Destruction 2. That the better to effect it their Charter the only Hedge which kept them from the wild Beasts of the Field was both injuriously and illegally Condemned before it was possible for them to appear at Westminster in the Legal Defence of it and without a fair leave to answer for themselves 3. That by an illegal Commission they were put under a President and Council which was soon superceded by another more Arbitrary and Absolute to Sir Edmond Andros giving him Power by the advice of his Council to make Laws and levy Taxes as he pleased to muster and imploy all Persons resident in the Territory as occasion should require and them to Transfer to any English Plantation and that there were courses taken to damp and spoil their Trade while neither the Honour nor the Treasure of the King was advanced 4. That several Redcoats were brought over to support what should be imposed upon them and more threatned 5. That Preferments were principally loaden on Strangers and Haters of the People 6. That they were Squeez'd and Oppress'd by a crew of abject
Persons from New York who took and extorted extraordinary and intollerable Fees 7. That it was impossible to know the Laws that were made and yet dangerous to break them 8. That by some in open Council and by the same in private Converse it was affirmed That the People in New England were all Slaves and the only difference between them and Slaves was their not being Bought and Sold and that it was a Maxime delivered in open Court by one of the Council That they must not think the Privilege of English-men would follow them to the end of the World 9. That they were denied the Privileges of Magna Charta and that Persons who did but peaceably object against raising Taxes without an Assembly were for it severely Fined 10. That Juries have been pick'd and pack'd and that some People have been Fined without a Verdict yea without a Jury 11. That some People have been kept long in Prison without any Information against them or being charged with any Misdemeanor or Habeas Corpus allowed 12. That Jury-men were Fined and Imprisoned for refusing to lay their Hands upon the Book as they came to be Sworn contrary to the Common Law of New England 13. That there was a discovery made of Flaws in the Titles of their Lands and that the Governour denied that there was any such thing as a Town among them and that more than a few were by Terrors drawn to take Patents at excessive rates 14. That Writs of Intrusion were issued out 15. That the Governour caused their Lands to be measured out for his Creatures and that the right owners for pulling up the Stakes have been grievously molested and several Persons had their Commons begg'd 16. That the forcing of the People at the East-ward to take Patents gave a rise to the late unhappy Invasion by the Indians 17. That blank Patents were got ready to be sold at great Prices 18. That the Governour and five or six of the Council did what they would and that all such as were Lovers of their Country were seldom admitted 19. That all manner of craft and rage was used to hinder Mr. Mather's Voyage to England and to ruine his Person 20. That although the King promised Mr. Mather a Magna Charta for redress of Grievances and that the Governour should be Wrote unto to forbear these measures that he was upon yet they were still injur'd in these very things which were complained of 21. That the Ministers and Churches have been discountenanced 22. That they were imbryar'd in an Indian-War and that the Officers and Soldiers in the Army were under Popish Commanders 23. That the rest of the English Plantations being alarm'd with just fears of the French who have treated the English with more than Turkish Cruelty could not but stir them up to take care for their own Preservation lest they should be delivered to the French before Orders could come from His Hihgness the Prince of Orange and the Parliament of England 24. That they have for their Example the Nobility Gentry and Commons of England and above all they esteem it their Duty to God so to have done Thus far have I trac'd the Declaration and do not know that any one thing material is omitted I shall now mention some other Matters which have occurred 'T was credibly Reported That Boston and all the Inhabitants were to be destroyed and to that end the Mohacques were to be brought down That there were several Fire-works prepared in the Fort and Vaults dug under Ground to blow up the Town That the Soldiers at the East-ward were all poisoned with Rum That there were thirty Sail of French Frigats upon the Coast With several other trifling things which I cannot recollect These are the principal Reasons alleaged for their taking up Arms now the end can be no other than the redress of those Evils ' complained of The next thing then to be considered of is Whether all or any of the Reasons aforesaid are sufficient to justifie their Proceedings and whether the proposed end can be attain'd by such Measures 1. That there was a Popish Plot is without doubt and if England at that time had fallen under the Yoak of Roman Tyranny 't is as certainly true New England must have undergone the same Fate but that this should be used or introduced as a Reason or Argument for vacating their Charter is beyond my Conception for if they had once prevailed How weak a rampart would the Charter have been against so cruel and powerful an Enemy Would the Papists have made Westminster-Hall the Arbiter Certainly no their Will would have been their Law and the Hedge would have been broke down with a great deal of ease Is it reasonable to imagine that after they had with Force and Violence attained their wished-for End in Old England they would make use of Politicks in New And as preposterous and unreasonable to Fancy that for that end the Charter was called in Question especially when you consider that four decades of Years have already past since the Crown of England first thought it not fit for them to hold any longer and several Years after the Popish Plot was discovered before the Scire Facias issued out 2. That the Charter was injuriously and illegally Condemned without giving them timely notice of it or allowing them to answer for themselves might bear some weight with it if true but it will appear quite otherwise and that they had opportunity enough to have made Defence on behalf of their Charter if they had thought fit For several Years before the proceedings to the Condemnation thereof our late Soveraign King Churles the Second by His Letters signified to them the many Complaints that were made to him of their Encroachments and ill Administration of the Government and to command that they should send over Agents sufficiently Authorized to answer the same which at length they so far comply'd with as to send them But when they were called to hear and answer the said complaints always excused and avoided the principal part thereof pretending they were not sufficiently impowered to that purpose and afterwards other Agents were sent fully impowered to answer but not to submit or conclude any thing And when His Majesty was pleased to cause a Writ of Quo Warranto to be sued forth against the Charter and sent over with his Gracious Declaration and proposals of such Regulations to be made therein as might be agreeable with His Majesty's Service and the good and welfare of his Subjects here and required an intire submission thereto the General Court would not submit to or comply therewith only a Letter was sent to the Right Honourable Sir Lionell Jenkins then Secretary of State Dated the 10th of December 1683. Subscribed by the Governour and eight of the Assistants only wherein after the acknowledgment of their having had a Copy of the Quo Warranto and his Majesty's Declaration they say That the major part of the
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
grand Conservators of the Peace of the Nation they never left their Duty and Allegiance to his late MAJESTY until he first left the Kingdom and all Things were transacted in his Name and by his Authority until the very minute the Prince was proclaimed who came not by force to Conquer and Subject the Nation to a foreign Power nor to Subvert and Destroy the lawful Government but to Maintain and Support the same in a peaceable manner by a Free Parliament The Prince nor Peers never abrogated nor altered any of the lawful Powers of the Nation but strengthned and confirmed all that were capable of beating Office by which there was always a due Administration of Justice The Sword was never said to Rule and Sway and by consequence that Confusion and Disorder avoided which their Illegal and Arbitrary Proceedings have precipitated us into As to the fanciful Stories of Macquas Subterranean Vaults Fire-Works French Frigats poisoning the Soldiers to the Eastward c. they are so apparently false and strangely ridiculous that by this time no Man in his Wits can believe them and I need no Argument to confute the Credit of those monstrous Follies since Time and Experience have sufficiently demonstrated them to be meer Lyes and Inventions And now I hope all sober thinking Men are convinced That the before-alledged Reasons are in themselves either absolutely false or of little moment and consequently no sufficient ground for taking up Arms all that remains on this head therefore will be to shew First That if all the Reasons had been tiue yet it could not justifie their Proceedings Secondly If their Condition had been as bad and their Grievances really as great as they were made believe those Measures could never mend the one nor redress the other The most excellent Grotius hath so learnedly wrote upon the first of those that I shall presume to use no other Argument than his own upon that head which you may read in 4. Cap. Lib. 1. De jure Belli Pacis Thirdly These Measures could never better their Condition nor redress their Grievances unless they are so vain to imagine themselves capable of waging War with the Crown of England and all its Allies Is the King so inconsiderable a Prince that he should be forced Or can they think that the noise of their Thousands and Ten Thousands will frighten him into a Compliance Without doubt if they do they will too too late find themselves mistaken and a woful Experience will quickly teach them that the sole want of their Majesties Protection will in a very short time reduce them to the most miserable and deplorable Condition in the World But perhaps they may fancy that this Action of theirs hath extreamly obliged their Majesties and that all things now are become justly due to the Merits of their Services 'T will do very well if it be so understood but I cannot see the least probability of such a Construction for they have sufficiently manifested in their Declaration that Self-Interest fondness of their former popular Government and aversion to the Government establish'd from England was the first and principal Motive to their Undertakings and their Progress doth plainly demonstrate that they have only made use of their Majesties Names the better to effect their own Designs whilst every thing that hath any relation to them lies neglected and unregarded without any Recognition of their Authority over those Dominions or the least acknowledgment of their submission to such Orders as should come from them saving what particularly related to some few ill Men as they call them whom they they have imprisoned and detained without any Law or Reason So that they have rashly and imprudently adventured their ALL upon a Chance not an equal one Whether it will be well or ill taken If well they can expect nothing more than what they would have had by fitting still and quiet unless it be a vast charge trouble and expence which they have inevitably brought upon themselves If ill What will be the event In the first place This Country which hath so much valued it self for the true Profession and pure Exercise of the Protestant Religion will be termed a Land full of Hypocrisie Rebellion Irriligion and what not and they themselves a degenerate wicked People Secondly In all their Pamphlets and Discourses they have so magnified their Action and boasted of the vast Numbers they can bring into the Field that it must be of great import to the Crown of England to curb them in time to reduce them to their former Obedience and no body will imagine it consistant with the Interest of the Crown any more to trust Government in the hands of a People so ready and so able upon all Occasions to Revolt and set up for themselves and the stronger they are the more need there will be to keep them under Thirdly And lastly They will really endure and undergo all those Miseries and Calamities which they fancied to themselves under the late Government and become the Scorn and By-word of all their Neighbours What then remains but that they should endeavour to settle themselves in such a posture as may at least mitigate if not wholly prevent the before-mentioned Inconveniencies If their Charter be restored it can neither justifie their past Actions nor maintain their former Laws or Constitution of Government but render them liable to be questioned and Quo Warranto'd for their Malefesance whensoever the Supreme Authority shall think it meet There is nothing therefore that can be safe or caâ—â—e for them and of greater Service and Benefit than that they put themselves in a submissive and humble posture sit and ready to receive their Majesties Commands and not value themselves too much upon their own Merits lest they become unworthy of their Majesties Grace and Favour without which think what you will they can never be safe and secure from the Severity of the Laws which they have indisputably violated in Matters of the highest Nature and Consequence imaginable I hope every good Man will seriously consider the foregoing Discourse and suffer himself to be guided by the Dictates of Reason and not of Humor and Prejudice and then I am well assured it will be evident enough that they have mistaken their Measures and that a due sence thereof and a timely recess will more advantage them than an obstinate and wilful perseverance and that nothing but such a Remedy can restore their almost-perishing and undone Country to a lasting Peace and happy Settlement for which shall ever be the hearty Prayers of Your humble Servant J. Palmer POSTSCRIPT I Was principall induced to direct the precedent Discourse to you Gentlemen for two Reasons First Because I am well assured you have had a great share in the late Revolution and secondly Because I would be rightly understood which I am sure I can never fail of by Persons of your Learning and Worth and I hope you will be so kind to me and so just to your Country to let me know in the most publick manner you can wherein I have mistaken the Matter either in point of Fact or Judgment But if I have been so fortunate to convince you that wrong Measures have been taken and that the People had no Reason for what they have done nor no Bottom for what they are yet doing let me tell you 't is your Duty not only to admonish them but to reduce them to such a temper as becomes pious Men and good Christians for which you will have the Praise and God the Glory From the Castle the Twentieth Day of June 1689. FINIS