of England and from declaring those met at Westminster Rebels though the King again and again importun'd them to it and took their Refusal so ill that in one of his Letters to Queen intercepted at Naseby he reflects heavily upon them for it and calls them in derision his Mungrel Parliament It was likewise the dismal Prospect he had of this War even in the beginning of it that mov'd that Accomplish'd Gentleman the Lord Falkland to throw away his Life rather than be a witness of the Miseries were coming upon the Nation For though he was Secretary of State to the King and follow'd his Fortune yet seeing all his Endeavours for promoting a Peace were in vain he went on with a Party to skirmish with the Enemy the day before the first Battel of Newbury and being dissuaded by his Friends as having no Call to it being no Military Person he said He was weary of the Times and foresaw much Misery to his Countrey and hop'd he should be out of it e're night So pushing into the Battel he was slain Many Endeavours were us'd from time to time to bring Matters to an Accommodation by way of Treaty Endeavours that were us'd for an Accommodation but still some one unlucky Accident or another render'd them all abortive At the Treaty of Vxbridge though the Parliament's Demands were high and the King show'd a more than ordinary Aversion to comply with them yet the ill posture of the King's Affairs at that time and the fatal Consequences they fear'd would follow upon breaking off of the Treaty oblig'd a great many of the King's Friends and more particularly that Noble Person the Earl of Southampton who had gone Post from Vxbrige to Oxford for that purpose to press the King again and again upon their Knees to yield to the necessity of the Times and by giving his Assent to some of the most material Propositions that were sent him to settle a lasting Peace with his People The King was at last prevail'd with to follow their Counsel and the next Morning was appointed for signing a Warrant to his Commissioners to the effect And so sure were they of a happy end of all differences that the King at Supper complaining his Wine was not good one told him merrily He hop'd that his Majesty would dâ—ink better before a Week was over at Guildhall with the Lord Mayor But so it was that when they came early next morning to wait upon him with the Warrant that had been agreed upon over Night they found his Majesty had chang'd his Resolution and was become inflexible in these Points The unhappy Occasion this Alteration has lain hitherto a Secret in History and might have continued such still if a Letter from the Marquess of Montross in Scotland Montross's Fatal Letter whereof I have seen a Copy under the Duke of Richmond's Hand did not give a sufficient Light into it To make the Matter better understood it 's necessary to say something of Montross and his Actions in Scotland This Nobleman had been at first very active and zealous for the Liberties of his Countrey and was the first man that past the River Tweed at the Head of Five hundred Horse upon the Scots First Expedition into England But being afterwards disoblig'd or as some say repenting of his former Error he left that Side and came in to the King at the breaking out of the War between Him and the Parliament When the Scots came into England the second time to assist the Parliament Montross apply'd himself to the King for a Commission to levy War against his Rebel Subjâ—cts as they were call'd of Scotland assuring his Majesty he was able with the Assistance of his Friends and Concurrence of the rest of the Royal Party to make at least a very considerable Diversion if not to reduce the whole Countrey to his Majesty's Obedience Accordingly the Marquess was made Governor of Scotland where in the space of five Months with a handful of raw undisciplin'd Men and those not half arm'd he did over-run a great part of the Countrey and gain'd three very considerable Battels the last of which was that of Inverlochy fought the second of February 1644. according to the English and 1645. according to the Scotch Account In this Battel the Earl of Argyle was entirely defeated and the Prime of the Noble Family of the Campbells cut off with inconsiderable Loss on Montross's side who next day dispatch'd an Express to the King with the News of this and his two former Victories And in his Letter express'd his utter Aversion to all Treaties with his Rebel-Parliament in England as he calls them Tells the King he is heartily sorry to hear that his Majesty had consented to Treat and hopes it is not true Advises him not to enter into Terms with his Rebellious Subjects as being a thing unworthy of a King And assures him That he himself was now so much Master of Scotland that he doubted not but to be able within a few Months to march into England to his Majesty's assistance with a brave Army And concludes with this odd Expression When I have conquer'd from Dan to Beersheba as I doubt not I shall very quickly I hope I may have then leave to say as David ' s General said to his Master Come thou lest this Countrey be call'd by my Name This Letter writ with such an Air of Assurance and by a Person that was thought capable to make good his Promises and the Matter contain'd in it suiting but too well with the King's Inclinations was unluckily deliver'd to the King but a few Hours before he was to have sign'd the Warrant before-mention'd and had as ill effects as the worst of King Charles's Enemies could have wish'd for it dash'd out in a moment all the Impressions his best Friends had been making upon him for a considerable time towards a full Settlement with his People It look'd as if there was some secret Fatality in this whole matter for it could hardly have been imagin'd that a Letter writ the Third of February in the furthermost North Corner of Britain should come so soon to Oxford considering the length of the Journey the badness of the Roads at that time of the Year especially through the Mountainous parts of Scotland together with the Parliament's and Scotch Armies and Garisons that were posted all along the Road And yet certain it is it came through all these Dangers and Inconveniences in very few days for it 's indors'd upon the Copy I have seen That it was deliver'd to the King during the Treaty of Vxbridge which every body knows began the 30 th of Ianuary and ended the 22 d of February And further it must have been deliver'd before the 19 th of February because King Charles takes notice of it in a Letter to the Queen of that Date found among others at Naseby where he says Though I leave News to others yet I cannot but tell
regret the Hard Usage which the Protestants meet with in other Countries and wish they were but as well treated there as the Roman-Catholicks are here Before I have done I beg leave to take notice of a Pamphlet that came out last Summer call'd Cursory Remarks upon the Proceedings of the Last Session of Parliament The Gentleman that wrote it had not only the Honesty to publish an Answer to his own Book but in that Answer to insinuate that I was the Author of it All the Use I shall make of this unusual Liberty of the Press is to declare That I have not publish'd any one Paper Pamphlet or Book these Six Years And though I have but little Leisure and yet less Inclination to appear again in Print yet if ever I alter my Resolution and publish any thing hereafter I will certainly put my Name to it as I have done to these Memoirs THE CONTENTS THE Excellencies of the English Constitution and the various Changes that have happen'd in it Page 1 The State of England under Queen Elizabeth 3 Her Character 5 The Character of her Ministers particularly of Walsingham Cecil c. and of the Members of the House of Commons in her time 8 Her Conduct towards Mary Queen of Scots 15 King James the First 's Accession to the Crown and the Condition of England under his Reign 19 His Character 20 The Character and Deathof Prince Henry 23 The Character of the Queen of Bohemia and King James's Conduct in the Business of the Palatinate 27 The Fate of Sir Walter Raleigh 28 King James's Conduct in teh Interdict of Venice 34 King Charles the First 's Accession to the Crown and the Condition of England at that time 37 The Breach betwixt Archbishop Abbot and Bishop Laud 38 The Rise of King Charles's Troubles and the first and second War with the Scots 41 The meeting of the Parliament November 1640. 45 The Fall and Character of Wentworth Earl of Strafford 47 The Fall and Character of Archbishop Laud 55 The Famous Petition and Remonstrance of the state of the Nation and the King's Answer 61 His coming to the House of Commons in Person to demand the Five Members and the Consequences of it 63 His Leaving the Parliament and the beginning of the Civil Wars and who began it 66 The Treaty of Uxbridge how unsuccesful and the Marquis of Montrose's fatal Letter the Cause 63 The Character and Fall of King Charles the First 74 His Opinion of Defensive Arms in the bisiness of Rochel 79 The Character of his Favourite Buckingham 84 The true Cause of the Scot's coming into England being a forg'd Letter 91 King Charles's design beâ—ore his Death to Resign the Crown And the Army 's to set up the Duke of Gloucester 98 His Consulting the Sortes Virgilianae 100 The Vsurpation and Character of Oliver Cromwell 102 The Restoration of King Charles the Second and the Manner of it with Monk's part in it and the Risk Monk ran in Scotland 114 One of the true Causes of the Fall of Chancellor Clarendon 122 The discovery of the Popish Plot and its Consequences 123 The Bill of Exclusion the design of it and how manag'd 125 The Disgrace of the Duke of Monmouth and the Consequences of it 131 The Protestant Plot and the Effects of it 133 The Death of King Charles the Second and the Suspicions about the Manner of it discuss'd 135 His Character 143 The Reign of King James the Second 148 The Advantages and Examples he might have maâ—e use of 150 His Brother's and Pope Innocent II.'s Advice to him 152 His first Speech to his Privy Council 153 His first Speech to his Parliament 156 His Second Memorable Speech to his Parliament 157 Two Letters from a Foreign Minister to their Ambassador in England upon the occasion of this Speech 159 Monmouth's Invasion and the Grounds of it 160 Some Passages out of Monmouth's Pocket-Book 166 Monmouth's Character 167 His Letter in his Retirement 169 King James's Speech to the Parliament upon Monmouth's Defeat 171 The Parliament's Address thereupon 173 The Sense of a Foreign Minister of this last Speech 175 The Advances made to the Subversion of the English Constitution 177 King James's Ambassy to Rome and how received 178 The Panegyricks of King James upon that occasion 182 The Manner how King James had been treated by another Pope in his Marriage with the Princess of Modena 187 King James grants a Toleration of Religion 191 He assumes a dispensing Power 194 He sets up an Ecclesiastical Commission 197 The Suspension of the Bishop of London 198 The Proceedings against Magdalen-College 201 His Second Declaration for Liberty of Conscience 206 The Affair of the Seven Bishops 208 The Birth of a pretended Prince of Wales 212 A new Parliament design'd and to what end 213 The Prince and Princess of Orange's Opinion about the Penal Laws and Test and how obtain'd 215 The Army Modell'd 220 The Methods us'd in Ireland and Tyrconel's Advancement 222 The Regulating of the Corporations and the Severities against the Protestants 228 The Act of Attainder there 232 The Interest that Foreign States had in England 234 The Emperor's Letter to King James 236 The Interest of the Prince of Orange 237 The bad Circumstances of the House of Orange at the Birth of the Present Prince of Orange now King of England 238 How he came to be Restored in Holland 240 The Desolation of Holland in 1672 242 The Reasons of that Desolation 244 The Difficulty the Prince of Orange had to grapple with 247 The Duke of Luxemburgh's Cruelties at Swammerdam 249 The Affair of Overall's Convocation and how resented by King James 255 His Letter to Dr. Abbot on that Occasion 257 ERRATA PAGE 62. Line 14 15. for the King's Answer to it at its delivery read Answer to them at their delivery MEMOIRS Of the most Material Transactions in England c. THERE is not a Natiâ—n in Europe that from the Constitution of its Government might have promis'd it self a more firm and lasting Repâ—se than England And yet scarce any Kingdom we know upon Earth has suffered so many and various Convulsions As if some malevolent Planet had over-rul'd one of the best of Human Constitutions and by an unaccountable Fatality had render'd ineffectual all the Endeavours of our Ancestors to make themselves and their Posterity happy under a Limited Monarchy A Monarchy in which the Prerogative of the Prince and the Liberty of the People are so equally temper'd that there seems nothing wanting that may tend to the Happiness of either The King of England has the Glory to Rule over a Free People The Excellency of the English Constitution and the People of England that of being subject to a Monarch who by the Laws of the Countrey is invested with as much Power and Greatness as a Wise and Beneficent Prince can reasonably wish for To compleat all the Crown of England has been for many Ages Hereditary and fix'd in
egregiously imposâ—d upon for there was no way to come at the Town but through Parts of Germany that were in the hands of Spain and so the Spaniards continued Masters of Frankendale When several other Princes were some time after upon entring into a League for Restitution of the Palatinate and the House of Austria was beginning to doubt the Success Gundomar play'd another Engine to break their Measures by proposing a Match with the Infanta of Spain for the Prince of Wales as the easiest and surest way to restore the Palatine Family which like all the rest was only to amuse King Iames and was equally unsuccessful It were too long to give the Detail of King Iames's Conduct in this Affair which was all of a piece The Author sums up the ills that attended it in this That thereby the Protestant Religion was entirely rooted out of Bohemia the Electoral Dignity transferr'd from the Palatine Family the Palatinate it self lost the Liberty of Germany overthrown and which he mentions with a sensible Regret the famous Library of Heidelburgh was carried to Rome to the irreparable Prejudice of Learning So that Gundomar had good reason to say in one of his Letters to the Duke of Lerma printed in the History of that Duke's Life That he had lull'd King James so fast asleep that he hop'd neither the Cries of his Daughter nor her Children nor the repeated Sollicitations of his Parliament and Subjects in their behalf should be able to awaken him There are two Passages more very observable in this Author The Court of Spain finding King Iames had broke off the Spanish Match and was brought to see how egregiously he had been abus'd in it they ventur'd upon a bold Attempt to trouble his Affairs by whispering in his Ears some things to make him jealous of his Son And that a good while after when King Charles and his Parliament were entring upon vigorous Measures to espouse the Palatine Cause they found ways to sow Divisions between him and his People that in progress of time broke out into a Civil War The latter needs no Commentary and the former is sufficiently explain'd Hacket's Life of Bâ— William by what a late Author has writ in the Life of Bishop Williams concerning that Prelate's being instrumental in making up some secret differences betwixt King Iames and his Son the Prince of Wales a little before King Iames's Death Spanhemius sums up what relates to this Affair with this Remark That never Prince was more oblig'd to a Sister than King Charles the First was to the Queen of Bohemia since it was only the Consideration of her and her Children who were then the next Heirs to the Crown of England that prevail'd with the Court of Spain to permit him to see England again As in most Foreign Transactions King Iames was unhappy In the Interdict of Venice so more particularly in the difference between Pope Paul V. and the Venetians There appear'd at that time a wonderful Disposition in that State to work a Reformation in the Church and throw off the Papal Yoke In order to advance it King Iames dispatch'd Sir Henry Wotton his Ambassador to Venice and hearing that Spain had declar'd for the Pope he declar'd for the Venetians and acquainted Iustiniani their Ambassador in England That he would not only assist Them with all the Forces of his Kingdom but engage all his Allies in their Defence At Sir Henry Wotton's Arrival the Breach between the Pope and the Republick was brought very near a Crisis so that a total Separation was expected not only from the Court but the Church of Rome which was set on by the Learned Padre Paulo and the Seven Divines of the State with much Zeal and conducted with as great Prudence The Ambassador at his Audience offer'd all possible Assistance in his Master's Name and accus'd the Pope and Papacy of being the chief Authors of all the Mischiefs in Christendom This was receiv'd with great Deference and Respect to King Iames And when the Pope's Nuncio objected That King Iames was not a Catholick and so was not to be rely'd upon the Doge took him up briskly and told him That the King of England believ'd in Iesus Christ but he did not know in whom some others believ'd King Iames had sent with Wotton his Premonition to all Christian Princes and States translated into Latin to be presented to the Senate which Padre Paulo and the other Divines press'd might be done at his first Audience telling him they were confident it would have a very good effect The Ambassador could not be prevail'd with alledging he had positive Orders to wait till St. Iames's Day which was not far off This Conceit of presenting K. Iames's Book on St. Iames's Day spoil'd all for before that day came the Difference was made up and that happy Opportunity lost So that when he had his Audience on St. Iames's Day and had presented the Book all the Answer he got was That they thank'd the King of England for his good will but they were now reconcil'd to the Pope and that therefore they were resolv'd not to admit of any Change in their Religion according to their Agreement with the Court of Rome How little Reputation he acquir'd in the Matter of the Venetian Interdict appears yet more plainly in this That in all the numerous Collections we have of Letters that pass'd on that Subject between the Cardinals of Ioyeuse and Perron the Marquis de Fresnes and Henry IV. there is not the least notice taken of King Iames or his Embassy To have done with King Iames it was said That he divided his time betwixt his Standish his Bottle and his Hunting The last had his fair Weather the two former his dull and cloudy and therefore that it was no wonder his Writings were so variable and that after he had pleaded for Witchcraft and the Pope's being Antichrist Somerset's Affair and the Spanish Match cur'd him of both After having enjoy'd for the most part of his Life a firm Health he died of a Quartan Ague in the Fifty ninth Year of his Age and with such suspicious Circumstances as gave occasion of Enquiry into the manner of his Death in the two first Parliaments that were call'd by his Son all which came to nothing by reason of their sudden Dissolutions King Charles the First came to the Crown under all the Disadvantages that have been mention'd The Reign of King Charlâ—s I. and yet the Nation might have hop'd that their Condition would be mended under a Prince of so much Virtue as indeed he was if the Seeds of Discontent which were sown in his Father's time had not every day taken deeper Root and acquir'd new Growth through the Ill Management of his Ministers rather than any Wilful Errors of his own Some of them drove so fast that it was no wonder the Wheels and Chariot broke And it was in great part to the indiscreet Zeal of a
Fifthly his Lungs were very black and in divers places spotted and full of a thin watery Blood Lastly the Veins in the hinder part of his Head were fuller than ordinary but the Ventricles and hollowness of the Brain were full of clear Water In witness whereof with our own Hands we have Subscribed this present Relation the 7th day of November 1612. Mayerne Atkins Hammond Palmer Gifford Buttler NUMB. VI. Mr. Secretary Vane's Notes about the Earl of Strafford's Advice to King Charles to bring over an Army from Ireland Whitlock's Memoirs p. 41. to subdue England Note This was the most dubious and yet the most material Article against him which contributed most to his Ruin The Title of them was No danger of a War with Scotland If Offensive not Defensive K. Charles HOW can we undertake Offensive War if we have no more Money Lord Strafford Borrow of the City 100000 l. Go on vigorously to levy Ship-money Your Majesty having tried the Affection of your People you are absolv'd and loose from all Rule of Government and to do what Power will admit Your Majesty having tried all ways and being refus'd shall be acquitted before God and Man And you have an Army in Ireland that you may employ to reduce this Kingdom to Obedience for I am confident the Scots cannot hold out Five Months A Bp. Laud. You have tried all ways and have always been denied it is now lawful to take it by Force Lord Cottington Levies abroad there may be made for Defence of the Kingdom The Lower House are weary of the King and Church All ways shall be just to raise Money by in this inevitable Necessity and are to be us'd being lawful A Bp. Laud. For an Offensive not a Defensive War Lord Strafford The Town is full of Lords put the Commission of Array on foot and if any of them stir we will make them smart NUMB. VII The Theatrical Manner of Archbishop Laud's Consecrating Katherine Creed-Church Rushworth Part 2. Vol. 1 p. 77. in London ST Katherine Creed Church being lately repaired was suspended from all Divine Service Sermons and Sacraments till it were Consecrated Wherefore Dr. Laud Lord Bishop of London on the 16 th of Ianuary being the Lord's Day came thither in the Morning to Consecrate the same Now because great Exceptions were taken at the Formality thereof we will briefly relate the manner of the Consecration At the Bishop's approach to the West-door of the Church some that were prepared for it cried with a loud voice Open open ye everlasting Doors that the King of Glory may enter in and presently the Doors were opened And the Bishop with some Doctors and many other principal Men went in and immediately falling down upon his Knees with his Eyes lifted up and his Arms spread abroad uttered these words This Place is holy this Ground is holy In the Name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost I pronounce it holy Then he took up some of the dust and threw it up into the Air several times in his going up towards the Chancel when they approached near to the Rail and Communion-Table the Bishop bowed towards it several times and returning they went round the Church in Procession saying the Hundredth Psalm after that the 19 th Psalm and then said a Form of Prayer Lord Iesus Christ c. and concluding We Consecrate this Church and separate it unto thee as holy Ground not to be prophaned any more to common use After this the Bishop being near the Communion-Table and taking a written Book in his hand pronounced Curses upon those that should afterwards prophane that Holy Place by Musters of Soldiers or keeping prophane Law-Courts or carrying Burdens through it and at the end of every Curse he bowed towards the East and said Let all the People say Amen When the Curses were ended he pronounced a number of Blessings upon all those that had any hand in Framing and Building of that Sacred and Beautiful Church and those that had given and should hereafter give any Chalices Plate Ornaments or Utensils And at the end of every Blessing he bowed towards the East saying Let all the People say Amen After this followed the Sermon which being ended the Bishop consecrated and administred the Sacrament in manner following As he approached the Communion-Table he made many several lowly Bowings and coming up to the side of the Table where the Bread and Wine were covered he bowed seven times and then after the reading of many Prayers he came near the Bread and gently lifted up the corner of the Napkin wherein the Bread was laid and when he beheld the Bread he laid it down again flew back a step or two bowed three several times towards it then he drew near again and opened the Napkin and bowed as before Then he laid his hand on the Cup which was full of Wine with a Cover upon it which he let go again went back and bowed thrice towards it then he came near again and lifting up the Cover of the Cup looked into it and seeing the Wine he let fall the Cover again retired back and bowed as before then he received the Sacrament and gave it to some principal Men after which many Prayers being said the Solemnity of the Consecration ended NUMB. VIII The Order of Council against Archibald the King's Fool for affronting Archbishop Laud. IT is this day ordered by his Majesty Rushworth Part 2. Vol. 1. p. 471. with the Advice of the Board That Archibald Armstrong the King's Fool for certain scandalous Words of a high nature spoken by him against the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Grace and proved to be uttered by him by two Witnesses shall have his Coat pull'd over his Head and be discharged of the King's Service and banished the Court for which the Lord Chamberlain of the King's Houshold is prayed and required to give Order to be executed And immediately the same was put in Execution NUMB. IX The Petition of the House of Commons Husband 's Collect. in 4 to from p. 1. to p. 29. and their Remonstrance of the State of the Nation presented to K. Charles I. at his Return from Scotland in 1641. Together with the King's Answer and the Declaration he afterwards publish'd to the same purpose Note That the Matters contain'd in these Four Papers were the Grounds of the Civil War and came afterwards to be decided by the Sword The Petition of the House of Commons which accompanied the Declaration of the State of the Kingdom when it was presented to his Majesty at Hampton-Court Most Gracious Sovereign YOur Majesties most humble and faithful Subjects the Commoners in this present Parliament assembled do with much thankfulness and joy acknowledge the great mercy and favour of God in giving your Majesty a safe and peaceable return out of Scotland into your Kingdom of England where the pressing dangers and distempers of the State have caused us with much earnestness to
one Family The Breaches that have been sometimes made in the immediate Line not at all derogating from the nature of a Successive Monarchy so long as a due Respect is had to the Blood and for the most part the next immediate Heir except only upon great and urgent Difficulties and Emergencies The Crown being thus Hereditary it might have reasonably been expected That we should not only be strangers to the Inconveniences that arise naturally from Competitions in Elective Kingdoms but that it should be always the Interest of the Prince that 's in Possession of the Throne so to govern his People as not to put them upon the necessity at any time to break through the Succession and pass by the next Immediate Heir But such is the brittle state of human things that notwithstanding all the Advantages and Excellencies of the English Constitution scarce an Age has pass'd without some remarkable Struggle either between King and People for Prerogative and Liberty or between Competitors for the Crown it self The Glory of England was arriv'd to a high pitch in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth The Reign of Q. Elizabeth Her People liv'd at their Ease and were happy under her Auspicious Conduct and her opprest Neighbours felt the benign Influences of her great and bountiful Mind She it was that made Head against the then Paramount Power of Christendom and that in both the Old and New Worlds And it was in a great measure owing to her Conduct and Fortune that the Spaniard fell short of the Vniversal Monarchy To draw a Picture worthy of Queen Elizabeth Her Châ—ractâ—â— were a Task fit only for the Greatest Masters since all that ever was Great or Wise in Womankind did contribute to make up her Character As to her Person she had but little of a Regular Beauty in her Face but that was well proportion'd and in the main very agreeable Her Mien and Gait were Noble and in every thing she said or did there was something of Majesty that stâ—uck more Awe than Love Tho when she had a mind she could put on Charms that few were able to resist In her Features Person and Mien she had more of Henry the Eighth than of the Unfortunate Anna Bullen her Mother But they were his good and none of his ill Qualities which she deriv'd from her Father Her Youth was a continued Scene of Afflictions but she was happy in that she suffered one of the greatest before she was capable of feeling the weight of it for she was scarce Three Years old when her Mother was sacrific'd to the Rage and Jealousy of her Husband And she that had been the Year she was born declar'd not only Heir Apparent of the Crown but which was out of the ordinary Road Princess of Wales and that by Act of Parliament was now by another Act declar'd Illegitimate and excluded from the Succession Notwithstanding this strange Reverse of Fortune particular Care was taken of her Education especially by her Brother Edward the Sixth who lov'd her above all things and was scarce ever pleas'd but in her Company Before she was Seventeen Years of Age she understood perfectly well the Latin French and Italian Tongues and was so far Mistress of the Greek that she translated into Latin Two of Isocrates's Orations one of which I have seen of her own Hand-writing corrected by her Tutor but in Three places whereof one is an Error only in the Orthography She was indefatigable in the Study of Learning especially Philosophy History Divinity and Rhetorick not forgetting both Vocal and Instrumental Musick as far as it might become one of her Quality Being thus Learned it was no wonder she form'd her Tongue and Pen to a pure and elegant way of speaking and writing and her Mind to the Noblest Notions of Philosophy and the highest Practice of Virtue Her Brother dying Queen Mary's Hereditary Aversion to her upon the account of their Mothers broke out with all the marks of Ill-Nature and Revenge And Philip the Second who prov'd afterwards her greatest Enemy was the Person that preserv'd her Life but it was upon a mere political Design which however miscarried During all that Reign the Princess Elizabeth was tost from one Confinement to another being oblig'd many times to suffer Indignities far unworthy of her Birth till at last by the Death of Queen Mary she was call'd from a Prison to a Throne at the Age of Twenty five Years Upon receit of the News of her Sister's Death and that she her self was proclaim'd Queen it 's said she fell down upon her Knees and after a short silence broke out with these words of the Psalmist A Domino factum est isâ—ud est mirabile in oculis nostris Which Words she took afterwards for her Motto in some of her Gold Coin During all the time of her Reign she would never allow her Title to be debated or reason'd upon nor so much as explain'd or vindicated She thought it sufficient that she wore the Crown and was resolv'd and knew well how to maintain it upon her Head without the help of Paper-Arguments She receiv'd with Indignation a Proposition that was made to her to have her Title asseâ—ted in Parliament And scorn'd to Repeal even the Act which declar'd her Illegitimate and incapable to succeed Her Reign was long and glorious being lov'd of her People fear'd and admir'd by her Enemies and attended with constant Success in all her Enterprizes Never Prince was better serv'd nor more happy in the choice of her Servants and no Age can instance such a Set of Able Ministers as she had Her Court at home was the quiet and happy Seat of the Muses while her Fleets and Armies abroad gather'd Laurels every where for their Mistress and themselvts She had to perfection the Art of pleasing her Parliament and she and they never parted in discontent but with the highest proofs of mutual Confidence What sort of men they were that composed the House of Commons during her Reign and of how different a stamp from those in that of her Sucâ—essor Appendix Numb 1. The Character of the Members of Parliament in Q. Elizabâ—th's Reign is best express'd in the words of Sir Robert Nauntwell Secretary to King Iames who was a Member of Parliament in both Reigns which may not be improper to insert in the Appendix If Queen Elizabeth can be properly said to have had Favourites they were chiefly the Earls of Leicester and Essex but she never fail'd to humble them upon every occasion where they presum'd too much upon her Favour The one she recall'd with Ignominy from his Government of the Vnited Provinces for behaving himself haughtily in his Office And at another time upon his threatning Bower the Vsher of the Black Rod to have him turn'd out of his Place for stopping one of his Retinue at the Queen's Bed-Chamber Door she told him with a severe Frown accompanied with an Oath My Lord I had
he frequently ask'd it and particularly in a Printed Letter of his to Cecil The Honour of Knighthood though often prostituted since was in so great Esteem in her Reign that a Gentleman of Lincolnshire having rais'd Three hundred men for her Service at Tilbury Camp upon his own Interest told his Wife at parting That he hop'd thereby to deserve the Queen's Favour so far as that she should be a Lady at his Return She had a particular Friendship for Henry the Fourth of France and to her in a great measure he ow'd his Crown She never laid any thing more to heart than his changing his Religion And it was a long time before she could be brought to believe it But when she receiv'd the Account of it from himself all her Constancy fail'd her and in the Agony of her Grief snatching a Pen she writ him a short Expostulatory Letter worthy of her self Appendix Numb 4. and of that melancholy occasion which is related in the Appendix This her Grief says her Historian she sought to allay by reading the Sacred Scriptures and the Writings of the Fathers and even the Books of Philosophers translating about that time for an Amusement Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiae into Elegant English The only Action that seems to reflect upon her Memory was the Death of Mary Queen of Scots The Affair of Mary Stuart Q. of Scots There had been an Emulation betwixt them of a long standing occasioned at first by the latter's assuming the Arms and Title of Queen of England which it 's no wonder Queen Elizabeth highly resented A great many other Accidents did contribute to alienate their Affections But when it fell out that every day produc'd some new Conspiracy against the Life of Queen Elizabeth and that in most of them the Queen of Scots was concern'd either as a Party or the Occasion Queen Elizabeth was put upon a fatal Necessity of either taking off the Queen of Scots or exposing her own Person to the frequent Attempts of her Enemies With what Reluctancy Queen Elizabeth was brought to consent to her Death and how she was deceiv'd at last in Signing the Warrant for her Execution by the over diligence of her Secretary and Privy-Council Cambden her Celebrated Historian has given us a very full and impartial Account Yet Queen Elizabeth is not altogether excusable in this matter for Queen Mary came into England upon a Promise made her long before Queen Elizabeth sent her once a Ring and at the same time a Message That if at any time she wanted her Protection she might be assured of it and the Token betwixt them was Queen Mary's sending her back the same Ring That Unfortunate Princess seeing her Affairs desperate in Scotland dispatch'd a Letter to Queen Elizabeth with the Ring to put her in mind of her Promise but without waiting for an Answer she came into England the very next day They were both to be pitied the one for her Sufferings and the other for being the Cause of them And I have seen several Letters in the Cotton-Library of Queen Mary's Hand to Queen Elizabeth writ in the most moving Strain that could be most of them in French being the Language she did generally write in There was one particularly wherein she tells her That her long Imprisonment had brought her to a Dropsical Swelling in her Legs and other Diseases that for the Honour of her Sex she â—orbears to commit to Paper And concludes thus Your most Affectionate Sister and Cousin and the most miserable Princess that ever wore a Crown When such Letters as these had no influence upon Queen Elizabeth it may reasonably be concluded That nothing but Self-Preservation could oblige her to carry her Resentments so far as she did To sum up the Character of this Renowned Queen in a few words She found the Kingdom at her coming to the Throne in a most afflicted condition embroil'd on the one side with a Scotch and on the other with a French War the Crown overcharg'd with her Father's and Brother's Debts its Treasure exhausted the People distracted with different Opinions in Religion her self without Friends with a controverted Title and strengthen'd with no Alliance abroad After one of the longest Reigns that ever was she died in Peace leaving her Countrey Potent at Sea and Rich in People and Trade her Father's and her Brother's Debts paid the Crown without any Incumbrance a great Treasure in the Exchequer the Coin brought to a true Standard Religion settled upon a regular and lasting Basis her self having been admir'd and fear'd by all her Neighbouring Princes and her Friendship courted by Monarchs that had scarce ever before any further knowledge of England but the Name So that her Successor had good reason to say of her That she was one who in Wisdom and Felicity of Government surpass'd all Princes since the days of Augustus After all To the Reproach of those she had made great and happy she was but ill attended in her last Sickness and near her Death forsaken by all but three or four Persons every body making haste to adore the Rising Sun With Queen Elizabeth dy'd in a great part the Glory and Fortune of the English Nation and the succeeding Reigns serv'd only to render hers the more Ilustrious As she was far from invading the Liberties of her Subjects so she was careful to maintain and preserve her own just Prerogative nor did ever any Prince that sat upon the English Throne carry the true and essential parts of Royalty further But at the same time the whole Conduct of her Life plac'd her beyond the Suspicion of ever having sought Greatness for any other end than to make her People share with her in it It was not so with the Prince that succeeded her The Reign of K. Iames. He was the more fond of Prerogative because he had been kept short of it in his Native Country He grasp'd at an Immoderate Power but with an ill Grace and if we believe the Historians of that time with a design to make his People little If so he had his Wish for from his first Accession to the Crown the Reputation of England began sensibly to sink and Two Kingdoms which disunited had made each of them apart a considerable Figure in the World now when united under one King fell short of the Reputation which the least of them had in former Ages The latter Years of King Iames fill'd our Annals with little else but Misfortunes at home and abroad The Loss of the Palatinate and the Ruin of the Protestants in Bohemia through his Negligence the Trick that was put upon him by the House of Austria in the business of the Spanish Match and the continued Struggle betwixt him and his Parliament about Redress of Grievances were things that help'd on to lessen his Credit abroad and imbitter the Minds of his Subjects at home Repenting of these unlucky Measures too late King Iames went off
the State not much lamented and left in Legacy to his Son a discontented People an unnecessary expensive War an incumbred Revenue and an exhausted Treasury together with the Charge of his Grand-children by the Queen of Bohemia that were now divested of a large Patrimony deriv'd to them by a long Series of Illustrious Ancestors In fine he entail'd upon his Son all the Miseries that befel him and left in the minds of his Subjects those Sparks of Discontent that broke out some Years after into a Flame of Civil War which ended in the Ruin of King Charles and of the Monarchy with him This Prince His Character though his Father and Mother were esteemed the Handsomest Couple of the Age they liv'd in was himself but a Homely Person nor in any of his Features was to be found the least Resemblance of the Beautiful Mary Stuart or Lord Darnly No Prince had a more Liberal Education And it could not well be otherwise having the Celebrated Buchanan for his Tutor He was acquainted with most parts of Learning but valued himself upon his Knowledge in Divinity above the rest in which he writ some things that were much esteem'd at that time He writ and spoke well but in a Stile that border'd too much upon Pedantry which was indeed the common Fault of that Age. As to his Religion notwithstanding all his Advances to the Pope and Papists upon the account first of the Spanish and afterwards the French Match he was really Calvinist in most Points but that of Church-Government witness some of his Books and his Zeal for the Synod of Dort But as to Episcopacy he shew'd so much Learning and Reading in his Arguments for it at the Conference of Hampton-Court that Archbishop Whitgift said He was verily persuaded the King spake by the Spirit of God Notwithstanding his Mother was dethron'd to make room for him and consequently he could have no Right but the Consent of the People while she liv'd yet upon all occasions he was fond of being thought to have a Divine Right to the Crown His Courage was much suspected and some would ascribe his want of it to the Fright his Mother was in upon the Death of David Rizio The Troubles of his Youth were various occasion'd chiefly by Factions of Great Men that strove who should have the Management of him But when he came of Age he sought all occasions to be reveng'd upon such of them as were living and the Posterity of those that were dead Goury's Conspiracy being in it self so improbable a thing and attended with so many inconsistent Circumstances was disbeliev'd at the time it was said to have been attempted And Posterity has swallow'd down for a Truth what their Ancestors took for a mere Fiction He came to the Crown of England by Lineal Descent and the Verbal Designation of Queen Elizabeth upon her Death-bed And the Conspiracy wherewith Cobham and Sir Walter Raleigh were charged to set him by the English Throne was no less Mystery than that of Goury's had been before The only uncontroverted Treason that happen'd in his Reign was the Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot. and yet the Letter to the Lord Mounteagle that pretended to discover it was but a Contrivance of his own the thing being discover'd to him before by Henry the Fourth of France through the means of Monsieur de Rhony after Duke of Sully King Henry paid dear for his Friendship to King Iames and there is reason to believe that it was upon this account among others that a Party of the Church of Rome employ'd Ravillac to murther that Great Man King Iames was equally happy and unhappy in every one of his Children The Character of Pr. Henry Prince Henry was the Darling of Mankind and a Youth of vast Hopes and wonderful Virtues but was too soon Man to be long-liv'd The Duke of Sully being in England to congratulate King Iames upon his Accession to the Crown laid the Foundation of a strict Friendship betwixt his Master and Prince Henry which was afterwards carried on by Letters and Messages till the Death of that King Though it 's a Secret to this day what was the real Design of all those vast Preparations that were made by Henry the Fourth for some time before his Death yet certain it is those Preparations were such as kept all Europe in suspense And I have seen some Papers that make it more than probable that Prince Henry was not only acquainted with the Secret but was engag'd in the Design But whatever it was it prov'd abortive by the Murther of that Excellent King just at the time when it was to have been declar'd his Army being ready to march Prince Henry surviv'd him but two years and dy'd universally lamented The World is very often willing to attribute the Untimely Death of Princes to unfair Practices and it was the general Rumour at that time that this Prince was poison'd Whatever was in it there is yet in Print a Sermon preach'd at St. Iames's upon the Dissolution of his Family that boldly insinuated some such thing And also Sir Francis Bacon Lord Chancellor of England in his Speech at the Trial of the Earl of Somerset had some Reflections upon the Intimacy of that Lord with Sir Thomas Overbury which seem to point that way insomuch that there were several Expressions left out of the printed Copy that were in the Speech But after all there is an Account in Print of what was observable upon the Opening of Prince Henry's Body under the Hand of Sir Theodore Mayerne and Five other Physicians Appendix Numb 5. from which there can be no Inference drawn that he was poyson'd The Second of King Iames's Children was the Princess Elizabeth Of Queen of Bohemia married to the Elector Palatine who was afterwards to his Ruin elected King of Bohemia It is hard to say whether the Virtues of this Lady or her Misfortunes were greater for as she was one of the best of Women she may be likewise reckon'd in the number of the most unfortunate King Iames thought to retrieve his Son-in-law's lost Fortune by the way of Treaty but in that and in every thing else the House of Austria outwitted him so that the poor Prince Palatine gain'd nothing by his Alliance with England but the hard Fate to be abandon'd by those whose Honour and Interest it was to support him Nor had the Crown of England any share in the Honour of re-establishing the Palatine Family which happen'd Thirty Years after for at the time of the Treaty of Munster when that matter was setled King Charles the First was so far from being in a condition to mediate for his Friends that he was himself a Prisoner to those very Enemies that in a few Months after the signing of that Treaty took his Life Of whom being the Youngest of King Iames's Children and of his Misfortunes there will be too much occasion to speak in the following
few days before his Return to fall into new Heats about Innovations in Religion the Rebellion in Ireland Plots said to be laid in Scotland the disabling the Clergy to exercise Temporal Iurisdiction and excluding the Bishops from Votes in Parliament All which matters together with Reports that were buzz'd about of some Designs against the Parliament led the House into that Remarkable Petition and Remonstrance of the State of the Nation The Petition and Remonstrance of the II of Commons to King Charlâ—s in which they ript up again all the Mismanagements in the Government since the King 's coming to the Crown and attributed all to Evil Counsels and Counsellors and a Malignant Party about the King This Remonstrance was roughly penn'd both for Matter and Expression and met with great Opposition in the House the Debate lasting from Three a Clock in the Afternoon till Ten a Clock next Morning and was presented to his Majesty the Eighth Day after his Return from Scotland It was no wonder King Charles was surpriz'd at this Petition and Remonstrance considering how much he had done to comply with his Parliament in all they desired And since from these two Papers and from the King's Answer to it at its delivery and the Declaration he publish'd more at large afterwards to the same purpose the Reader will be better enabled to make a Judgment of the Cause and Arguments on both Sides for the Civil War that ensued I have plac'd all the Four in the Appendix Appendix Numb 9. The Length of them may be more easily pardon'd since upon the Matters contain'd in them the whole almost of all the Differences that came to be decided by the Sword happen'd to turn Things were now going fast on towards lessening the Confidence betwixt the King and Parliament K. Charles's coming to the II. of Commons to demand the Five Members And yet there were not wanting Endeavours on both Sides to accommodate Matters by soft and healing Methods when the King 's coming to the House of Commons in Person to demand Five of their Members whom he had order'd the day before to be impeach'd of High-Treason did put all into a Combustion and gave occasion to the House to assert their Privileges with a greater Warmth than ever This was the most unlucky Step King Charles could have made at that Juncture And the Indiscretion of some that attended the King to the Lobby of the House was insisted upon as an Argument that the King was resolv'd to use Violence upon the Parliament which it 's to be presum'd was a thing far from his thoughts The Five Members had hardly time to make their Escape just when the King was entring and upon his going away the House adjourn'd in a Flame for some days ordering a Committee to sit in Guildhall in the mean time as if they were not safe at Westminster Whoever they were that advis'd the King to this rash Attempt are justly chargeable with all the Blood that was afterwards spilt for this sudden Action was the first and visible Ground of all our following Miseries It was believ'd That if the King had found the Five Members in the House and had call'd in his Guards to seize them the House would have endeavour'd their defence and oppos'd Force to Force which might have endanger'd the King's Person But the Consequences were bad enough without this for immediately upon it there was nothing but Confusion and Tumults Fears and Iealousies every where which spread themselves to Whitehall in the rudest manner so that his Majesty thinking himself not safe there he retir'd with his Family to Hampton Court The King leaving the Parliament in this manner there were scarce any hopes of a thorough Reconciliation But when after a great many Removes from place to place The Beginning of the Civil Wars his Majesty came to set up his Standard at Nottingham there ensued a Fatal and Bloody War which it's reasonable to believe was never design'd at first by either Side Each Party blam'd the other for beginning this War and it 's not easy to determine which of them began it Though the King made the first Steps that seem'd to tend that way such as raising a Troop for a Guard to his Person summoning the Gentlemen and Freeholders of several Counties to attend him in his Progress to the North and ordering Arms and Ammunition to be bought in Holland for his use Yet the Parliament did as much at the same time for they likewise rais'd Guards of their own and took care that the Magazine of Hull should not fall into the King's hands So that the King and Parliament prepar'd themselves insensibly for War without considering that these Preparations must gradually and inevitably come to Blows in the end The King 's setting up his Standard at Nottingham was not the first publick Notice of this War as has been commonly reported by Historians that should have known better for that was not done till August 22. 1642. and yet the House of Commons past these Two Votes the 12 th of Iuly before 1. That an Army should be forthwith rais'd for the Safety of the King's Person Defence of both Houses of Parliament and of those who have obey'd their Orders and Commands and preserving of the true Religion Laws Liberty and Peace of the Kingdom And 2. That the Earl of Essex should be General and the Earl of Bedford General of the Horse To which Votes the House of Lords agreed Whoever begun the War it was carried on in the beginning with equal Success and it was hard to determine which Side had the better Till in the Sequel the Loss of Essex's Army in the West and other disadvantages brought the Parliaments Affairs to a low Ebb and seem'd to promise the King an entire Mastery To retrieve their sinking Fortune the Parliament was oblig'd to call in the Scots to their Assistance which so far turn'd the Scale that the King lost ground every day after And the Defeat of his Army at the Battels of Marston-Moor and Naseby put him out of capacity to keep the Field and broke entirely all his Measures During the whole Course of this Vnnatural War it was hard to divine what would be the Fate of England whether an Absolute Vnlimited Monarchy a new huddled-up Commonwealth or a downright Anarchy If the king should prevâ—il the first was to â—e fearâ—d considering that the many Indignities put upon him might imbitter him against the Parlâ—ament If the Parliament should prevail the second was to be apprehended And if the Army should set up for themselves as afterwards they did the last was inevitably to follow All which some of the best men about the King wisely foresaw and trembled at the Event of every Battel that was fought whoever happen'd to be Victors It was the dread of these Misfortunes that hinder'd the Lords and Commons whom the King call'd to Oxford to assume to themselves the Name of The Parliament
any Age has produc'd and gave us a signal Instance how far it is possible for the same Person to be the Favourite of two Successive Monarchs He possess'd King Iames's Favour without a Rival and without any other Interruption but that Cloud which the Intrigues of Spain rais'd against him in the King's mind which has been already hinted at wherein the Son shar'd equally with the Favourite and which Bishop Williams's dexterity soon dissipated King Charles out-did his Father in his Kindness to Buckingham and had no Favourite after him He had all the Qualities that are requisite for a Court and fit to acquire and preserve his Master's Affection Notwithstanding he was in his Temper highly Generous and Beneficent and that there were few Great Families in England but he had some way or other oblig'd either in themselves or their Relations yet he fell under the Misfortune that attends Favourites but it must be own'd he was rather envied than hated He had the ill luck to be charg'd with a great many things of which he was innocent and particularly in relation to the Spanish Match By all that I have seen he deserv'd the Thanks of the Nation upon that account rather than an Impeachment in Parliament For it was he chiefly that broke off that Match when he saw how much King Iames suffer'd in his Honour through the manner he was treated in it which he found out sooner than the King did himself It 's none of the least Proofs of the Duke of Buckingham's Innocency in these matters that Spanhemius in his History of the Electrice Palatine writ long after Buckingham's Death speaks always honourably of him in the Business of the Palatinate whereas at the same time he exposes King Iames's Conduct It 's a vulgar mistake That he came to be the First Minister merely through the Caprice of King Iames for the Court unanimously promoted his Interest and recommended him to the highest Favour in opposition to Somerset whose Arrogancy Covetousness and Pride had disoblig'd every body and made both the King and the Court weary of him No Servant did his Master more Honour in the Magnificence of his Train and the splendid Manner of his living especially in his Embassy to France whâ—re in the Gracefulness of his Person and Nobleness of his Behaviour and Equipage he out-did any thing that ever was seen of that kind before He was more form'd for a Court than a Camp and though very Brave in his Person he was Unsuccessful in the only Military Expedition he was engag'd in which was that of Rochell And when he was upon the embarking a second time to repair that Disgrace he was basely murder'd amidst a Croud of his Friends and in the height of his Glory To return to King Charles's Character If he had any Personal Faults they were much over-weigh'd by his Virtues But an Immoderate Desire of Power beyond what the Constitution did allow of was the Rock he split upon He might have been happy if he had trusted more to his own Judgment than that of those about him for as in his nature he was an Enemy to all violent Measures so was he apt to submit his own Reason to that of others when any such things came under consideration There was another Error that run through the whole Management of his Affairs both Domestick and Publick and which occasion'd a great part of his Misfortunes He appear'd many times stiff and positive in denying at first what he granted afterwards out of time and too late to give satisfaction which encourag'd ambitious and interested Persons to ask more than they thought of at first and lost him the fruits of his former Concessions So that in the whole Conduct of his Life he verified this Maxim That Errors in Government have ruin'd more Princes than their Personal Vices I shall have done with this Melancholy Subject after the Reader has been acquainted with one remarkable Accident not hitherto mention'd with that Exactness it deserves by any Author I know of which considering its Consequences is an extraordinary Instance upon what small Hinges the greatest Revolutions may turn That the principal Rise of all King Charles's latter Troubles The true Cause of the Scots coming first into England was from the Second War with the Scots has been already show'd But what the Motives were that embolden'd the Scots to alter their Measures from those they had observ'd in the first War continues in great part a Mystery to this day In the first War they stood upon the Defensive only and came no further than their own Borders but in the second they acted so much in the offensive that they march'd into England as far as Durham and were coming on further if the Treaty that was set afoot at Rippon had not stopt them All the Accounts we have of this proceeding of the Scots do seem to be grounded upon the Informations they had of the Backwardness of England to assist the King in this War and that they were well assur'd of Friends all over the Kingdom and some of nearest access to the King's Person who they knew would interpose in their behalf rather than Matters should come to Extremities But these general Encouragements can hardly be thought to have had such weight with the Scots as to make them venture upon so bold an Attempt and therefore it 's but reasonable to believe they went upon surer Grounds when they made this Invasion This matter will be set in a clearer Light when the Reader is acquainted That a Forg'd Letter pretended to be sent from some of the most Leading Men of the Nobility of England came to have the same effects as if it had been a True One and really sign'd by the same Persons whose Names were affix'd to it Which fell out in this manner After the Pacification at Duns which put an end to the first War the King at his Return to London was prevail'd with upon the account of several things the Scots were said to have done contrary to the Articles of the Treaty and the Duty of Subjects to order the Pacification to be burnt by the hands of the Common Hangman To reduce them to obedience he was meditating a New War and in order thereto was levying another Army and was pleas'd to call a Parliament to assist him in it The Scots had their Commissioners at London at that time who wanted not Friends in both Houses to inform them of every thing that happen'd in Parliament and Council which they fail'd not to write home to their Countrey advising them to be on their Guard and to put themselves in a posture not to be surpriz'd The Scots knowing how matters went in England and that a new Storm was like to break out upon them were resolv'd to put themselves into a Posture of Defence and to the Forces they had not yet disbanded they added considerable new Levies both of Horse and Foot Their Preparations went faster on
me and having formerly serv'd me on several Occasions and always approv'd the Loyalty of their Principles by their Practices I think them now fit to be Employ'd under me and will deal plainly with you That after having had the benefit of their Services in such time of need and danger I will neither expose them to Disgrace nor my self to the Want of them if there should be another Rebellion to make them necessary to me And at last he tells them That he was afraid some may hope that a difference might happen betwixt Him and his Parliament on that occasion which he cannot apprehend can befal him or that any thing can shake them in their Loyalty to him who will ever make all returns of kindness and protection and venture his Life in the Defence of the true Interest of the Nation It was no wonder That this Speech surpriz'd a people who valu'd themselves so much upon their Liberties and thought themselves secure of them both from the Constitution of their Government and the solemn repeated promises of their Prince They found too late that their fears in the former Reign of a Popish Successor were too well grounded and how inconsistent a Roman Catholick King is with a Protestant Kingdom The Parliament did in humble manner represent the inconvenience that might attend such Measures The Parliaments Address to K. Iames upon that Speech at least to render him inexcusable for what might Ensue And that they might not be wanting to themselves and their Posterity they Voted an Address wherein they told him That they had with all duty and readiness taken into Consideration His Majesty's Gracious Speech And as to that part of it relating to the Officers of the Army not qualified for their Employment according to the Act of Parliament they did out of their bounden duty humbly Represent to His Majesty That these Officers could not by Law be capable of their Employments and that the Incapacities they bring upon themselves that way could no ways be taken off but by an Act of Parliament Therefore out of that great Reverence and Duty they ow'd to His Majesty they were preparing a Bill to indemnify them from the inconveniences they had now incurr'd And because the continuing them in their Employments may be taken to be a dispensing with Law without an Act of Parliament the consequence of which was of the greatest concern to the Rights of all his Subjects and to all the Laws made for the security of their Religion Therefore they most humbly beseech His Majesty That he would be graciously pleas'd to give such Directions therein that no Apprehensions or Iealousies might remain in the hearts of his Subjects Over and above what was contain'd in this Address the House of Commons were willing to capacitate by an Act of Parliament such a Number of the Roman Catholick Officers as King Iames should give a List of But both this Offer and the Address was highly resented and notwithstanding that they were preparing a Bill for a considerable Supply to Answer his extraordinary Occasions and had sent to the Tower one of their Members for speaking indecently of his Speech King Iames was influenc'd to part with this his first and only Parliament in displeasure upon the Fourth day after they presented the Address As his former Speeches to his Council and Parliament had put a Foreign Court to a Stand what to think of him so this last put them out of pain and convinc'd them he was intirely Theirs Their sense of it can hardly be better express'd than in a Letter from Abroad contain'd in the Appendix Appendix Numb 17. which by its Stile though in another Hand seems to be from the same Minister that writ the two former In which he tells the Ambassador here That he needed not a surer Character of King James and his Intentions than this last Speech to the Parliament by which they were convinc'd of his former Resolution to throw off the Fetters which Hereticks would impose upon him and to act for the time to come En Maistre as Master A word till then altogether Foreign to the English Constitution What other Effects this Speech had upon the Minds of People at Home and Abroad may be easily guess'd from the different Interests they had in it Nor is it to be pass'd over without some Remark That the Revocation of the Edict of Nants which probably had been some time under Consideration before was now put in Execution to the Astonishment of all Europe The Parliament being dissolv'd and no visible means left to retrieve the Liberties of England King Iames made haste to accomplish the Grand Design which a head strong Party about him push'd on as the certain way in their opinion to Eternize his Name in this World and to merit an Eternal Crown in the other They foresaw that this was the Critical Iuncture and the only one that happen'd since the days of Queen Mary to Restore their Religion in England And if they were wanting to themselves in making use of it the prospect of a Protestant Successor would infallibly prevent their having any such opportunity for the future King Iames was pretty far advanc'd in years and what was to be done requir'd Expedition for all their labour would be lost if he should die before the accomplishment If he had been Younger or the next presumptive Heir had not been a Protestant there had been no such absolute necessity for Dispatch But the Uncertainty of the King's Life call'd for more than ordinary diligence in a Design that depended meerly upon it The Party being resolv'd for these Reasons to bring about in the Compass of one Single Life and that already far spent what seem'd to be the Work of a whole Age they made large steps towards it Roman-Catholicks were not only Employ'd in the Army but brought into Places of greatest Trust in the State The Earl of Clarendon was forthwith remov'd from the Office of Privy-Seal and the Government of Ireland to make room for the Earl of Tyrconel in the one and the Lord Arundel in the other Father Peters a Iesuit was sworn of the Privy Council And though by the Laws it was High-Treason for any to assume the Character of the Pope's Nuncio A Pope's Nuncio in England yet these were become too slender Cobwebs to hinder a Roman Prelate to appear publickly at London in that Quality Duke of Somerset and one of the greatest Peers of England was disgrac'd for not paying him that Respect which the Laws of the Land made Criminal To bear the Publick Character of Ambassador to the Pope An Ambâ—ssador sent to Rome was likewise an open Violation of the Laws But so fond was the governing Party about King Iames to show their new-acquir'd Trophies at Rome that the Earl of Castlemain was dispatch'd thither Extraordinary Ambassador with a Magnificent Train and a most Sumptuous Equipage What his Secret Instructions were may be
to accomplish his Design for what a Parliament it may be would not do he was resolv'd that an Army should and therefore Care was taken to model his Troops as much to that end as the shortness of time would allow The Modelling of the Army Ireland was the inexhaustible Source whence England was to be furnish'd with a Romish Army and an Irish Roman-Catholick was the most welcome Guest at Whitehall They came over in Shoals to take possession of the promis'd Land and had already swallow'd up in their Hopes the best Estates of the Hereticks in England Over and above compleat Regiments of them there was scarce a Troop or Company wherein some of them were not plac'd by express Order from Court Several Protestants that had serv'd well and long were turn'd out to make room for them and Seven considerable Officers were cashier'd in one day merely for refusing to admit them The chief Forts and particularly Portsmouth and Hull the two Keys of England were put into Popish Hands and the Garisons so modell'd that the Majority were Papists To over-awe the Nation and to make Slavery familiar this Army was encamp'd Yearly near London where the only Publick Chappel in the Camp was appointed for the Service of the Romish Church and strict Orders given out That the Soldiers of that Religion should not fail every Sunday and Holiday to repair thither to Mass. As Ireland was remarkable for having furnish'd King Iames with Romish Troops sent into England The Methods us'd in Ireland so was it much more for the bare-fac'd and open Invasions that were made there upon the Liberties and Rights of the Protestants That Kingdom was the most proper Field to ripen their Projects in considering that the Protestants were much out-number'd by the Papists and had been for some Ages the constant Object of their Rancour and Envy which had been more than once express'd in Letters of Blood King Iames did recall the Earl of Clarendon from the Government of Ireland Tyrconnel made Lord Lieutenant of Ireland soon after he was sent thither and appointed the Earl of Tyrconnel to succeed him who was a Gentleman had signaliz'd himself for his Bigotry to the Church of Rome and his Hatred to the Protestants The Roman-Catholick Clergy had recommended him to King Iames for that Post in a Letter mention'd at length in the Appendix Appendix Numb 21. As one that did first espouse and chiefly maintain the Cause of the Catholick Clergy against their many and powerful Enemies for the last Five and twenty Years and was then the only Person under whose Fortitude and Popularity in that Kingdom they durst with chearfulness and assurance own their Loyalty and assert his Majesty's Interest Making it therefore their humble Request That his Majesty would be pleas'd to lodge his Authority in his hands to the Terror of the Factious and Encouragement of his Majesty's faithful Subjects in Ireland promising to receive him with such Acclamations as the long-captiv'd Jews did their Redeemer Mordecai Which Letter show'd they were no less mistaken in their History of the Bible than their Advice to the King for it does not appear by the Story of Mordecai in the Scripture that he was ever sent to the Iews or remov'd from the City of Susa after he came into Favour with Ahasuerus However Tyrconnel fully answer'd the hopes and expectations of the Papists and the fears of the Protestants of Ireland for by the Ministry of this Rigid Man was the Ruin of the Protestant English Interest in that Kingdom in a great measure compleated At King Iames's Accession to the Crown the Army of Ireland consisted of about Seven Thousand Men all Protestants and zealous to the Service These were in a little time all turn'd out and the whole Army made up of Papists most of them the Sons and Descendants or near Relations of those that were Attainted for the Rebellion in 1641 or others that had distinguish'd themselves since that time by their notorious Villanies and implacable Hatred to the English and Protestant Interest Though in King Charles's time The Manner of filling up the Benches in Ireland by the Influence of the Duke of York there had been grounds of Complaint against some of the Judges in Ireland upon the account of their Partiality to the Papists yet when King Iames came to the Crown these very Judges were not thought fit enough for the Work that was design'd It was judg'd necessary to employ the most zealous of the Party those that from Interest and Inclination were the most deeply engag'd to destroy the Protestant Interest and accordingly such were pick'd out to sit in every Court of Justice The Custody of the King's Conscience and Great Seal was given to Sir Alexander Fitton a Person convicted of Forgery not only at Westminster-Hall and at Chester but Fin'd for it by the Lords in Parliament This Man was taken out of Gaol to discharge the Trust of Lord High Chancellor and had no other Qualities to recommend him besides his being a Convert to the Romish Church and a Renegado to his Religion and Countrey To him were added as Masters of Chancery one Stafford a Popish Priest and O Neal the Son of one of the most notorious Murderers in the Massacre 1641. In the Kings Bench care was taken to place one Nugent whose Father had lost his Honour and Estate for being a principal Actor in the same Rebellion This Man who had never made any figure at the Bar was pitch'd upon to judge whether the Outlawries against his Father and Fellow-Rebels ought to be Revers'd and whether the Settlements that were made in Ireland upon these Outlawries ought to stand good The next Court is that of Exchequer from which only of all the Courts in Ireland there lies no Appeal or Writ of Error in England It was thought fit that one Rice a profligate Fellow and noted for nothing but Gaming and a mortal Inveteracy against the Protestants should fill the place of Lord Chief Baron This man was often heard to say before he came to be a Judge That he would drive a Coach and Six Horses through the Act of Settlement And before that Law was actually Repeal'd in King Iames's Parliament he declar'd upon the Bench That it was against Natural Equity and did not oblige It was before him that all the Charters in the Kingdom were damn'd in the space of a Term or two so much was he for dispach A Learned Prelate Dr. King Bishop of Londonderry his State of Ireland under K. Iames. from whose Book all the things that here relate to that Countrey are taken does observe That if this Judge had been left alone it was believ'd in a few Years he would by some Contrivance or another have given away most of the Protestants Estates in Ireland without troubling a Parliament to Attaint them In the Court of Common-Pleas it was though advisable that a Protestant Chief Iustice should
Attainder past in Parliament in order to which evey Member of the House of Commons return'd the Names of all such Protestant Gentlemen as liv'd near them or in the County or Borough for which he serv'd and if he was Stranger to any of them he sent to the Countrey for Information about them When this Bill was presented to the King for his Assent the Speaker of the House of Commons told him That many were attainted in that Act upon such Evidence as satisfied the House and the rest upon common Fame In this Act there were no fewer Attainted than Two Archbishops One Duke Seventeen Earls Seven Countesses Twenty eight Viscounts Two Viscountesses Seven Bishops Eighteen Barons Thirty three Baronets Fifty one Knights Eighty three Clergymen Two thousand one hundred eighty two Esquires and Gentlemen And all of them unheard declar'd and adjudg'd Traytors convicted and attainted of High Treason and adjudg'd to suffer the pains of Death and Forfeiture The famous Proscription of Rome during the last Triumvirate came not up in some respects to the Horror of this for there were condemn'd in this little Kingdom more than double the Number that were proscrib'd through the vast Bounds of the Roman Empire And to make this of Ireland yet the more terrible and to put the Persons Attainted out of a possibility of escaping the Act it self was conceal'd and no Protestant allow'd a Copy of it till Four Months after it was past Whereas in that of Rome the Names of the Persons proscrib'd were affix'd upon all the Publick Places of the City the very day the Proscription was concerted and thereby opportunity was given to many of the Noblest Families in Rome to preserve themselves by a speedy flight for better Times There remain'd but one Kingdom more for the Romish Party to act their Designs in and that was Scotland where they reap'd a full Harvest of their Hopes and there were scarce left the least Remains of Ancient Liberty in that Nation Their Miseries were summ'd up in one new-coin'd Word which was us'd in all the King's Declarations and serv'd to express to the full their Absolute Slavery which was this That his Subjects were oblig'd to obey him without Reserve A Word that the Princes of the East how Absolute soever they be did never yet pretend to in their Stile whatever they might in their Actions But I leave the Detail of the Encroachments that were made upon the Laws and Liberties of that Kingdom to others that may be thought more impartial as having suffer'd less in their Ruins While King Iames was thus push'd on by a headstrong Party The Interest that Foreign Princes and States had in England to enslave his Subjects the other Princes and States of Europe look'd on with quite different Sentiments according as their own Interests and Safety mov'd them The greater part did commiserate the Fate of these Three Kingdoms and wish'd for their Deliverance The Protestants saw with Regret that they themselves were within an immediate Prospect of losing the most considerable Support of their Religion and both they and the Roman-Catholicks were equally convinc'd that it was their common Interest to have England continue in a condition to be the Arbiter of Christendom especially at a time when they saw they most needed it On the other hand it was the Interest of another Prince that not only the King of England should be his Friend but the Kingdom of England should become inconsiderable abroad which it could not fail to be when enslav'd at home King Iames had been again and again sollicited not only by Protestant Princes but those of his own Religion to enter into other Measures for the common Safety of Europe at least not to contribute to its Ruin by espousing an Interest which they judg'd was opposite to it The Emperor among others had by his Ambassador made repeated Instances to him to this purpose but with no better Success than the rest as appears by a Letter he writ to him after his Abdication The Emperor's Letter to K. Iames in Latin printed at London 1689. which has been Printed in several Languages and was conceiv'd in Elegant Latin as all the Publick Dispatches of that Court are But all these Remonstrances had no weight with King Iames though they had this good effect in the end as to put those Princes and States upon such Measures as secur'd to them the Friendship of England in another way The Power of France was by this time become the Terror and Envy of the rest of Europe and that Crown had upon all sides extended its Conquests The Empire Spain and Holland seem'd to enjoy a precarious Peace while the common Enemy of the Christian Name was making War with the Emperor and the State of Venice and was once very near being Master of the Imperial Seat whereby he might have carried the War into the Bowels of Germany The main Strength of the Empire being turn'd against the Turks and that with various Success there was another War declar'd against the Emperor by France so that it came to be absolutely necessary for Spain and Holland to interpose not as Mediators for that they were not to hope for but as Allies and Partners in the War These last as well as the other Princes and States that lay nearest the Rhine were expos'd to the Mercy of a Prince whom they were not able to resist if England should look on as Neuters or take part against them the last of which they had reason to fear Thus it happen'd that the Fortune of England and that of the greatest part of Christendom came to be link'd together and their common Liberties must of necessity have undergone one and the same Fate The latter from a Natural Principle of Self-Preservation were resolv'd to make their last Effort to break the Fetters which they saw were ready to be impos'd upon them And the other animated by the Example of their Ancestors and the Constitution of their Countrey which is diametrically opposite to Tyranny were resolv'd to venture All to retrieve themselves and their Posterity from the Chains that were already put upon them Both the one and the others might have struggled in vain to this day with the Ruin that threaten'd them The Interest the Prince of Orange had in England if Heaven in pity to their Condition had not provided in the Person of the Prince of Orange the only Sanctuary that was left them to shelter their sinking State This Prince by his Mother was a Nephew of England and in Right of the Princess his Wife the Presumptive Heir of the Crown By his Father's side he was Heir of an Illustrious Family that had eterniz'd their Name by delivering their Countrey from Slavery and laying the Foundation of a mighty Commonwealth which has since prov'd the greatest Bulwark of the Protestant Religion and the chief Support of the Liberty of Christendom A Family born for the good of Mankind to
Author Notwithstanding these Difficulties and Discouragements that seem'd insuperable wonderful and surprizing were the Consequences of the Prince of Orange's Restoration As if that Family alone were design'd of Heaven to be the Founder and Restorer of Holland It fell out that immediately upon his being call'd to the Helm the whole Scene of their Affairs chang'd to the better At the Head of a small ill-disciplin'd Army discourag'd by continual Losses he not only put a Stop to the French Conquests but by taking first Naerden in spite of an Army near four times greater than his own and carrying afterwards the War out of his own Countrey he oblig'd the Enemy to abandon their Conquests in Holland as fast as they had gain'd them and be contented to retire to the Defence of their own Frontiers This War was attended with various Successes on all sides and most of the Princes of Europe came to be some way or other engag'd in it till at last it ended in the Treaty of Nimeguen The part King Charles acted in all these Transactions contributed but little to his Glory for he had been unsuccessful while he was engag'd in the War and when he came to be a Mediator for the Peace all Parties grew jealous of him and neglected him It was during the Course of this War as has been said before that King Charles aton'd for all the Errors of his Reign by marrying his Niece the Lady Mary to the Prince of Orange And whatever were the Motives that induc'd him to comply in this with the Universal Wishes of his People it has been found since that not only England but the greatest part of Europe do share at this day in the Blessings that have attended it By this Match the Prince of Orange had a double Interest in England both as a Prince of the Blood himself and in Right of his Princess the next Presumptive Heir He liv'd with King Charles in as much Friendship as was possible for one that would not enter into an Interest separate from that of his Country or of England Insomuch that in all the Endeavours that were made to exclude the Duke of York from the Crown he look'd on without espousing any of the Parties that struggled for or against the Bill of Exclusion though he knew it was design'd that He and the Princess should succeed upon the Death of King Charles When King Iames came to the Throne the Prince of Orange tried all possible means to cultivate a sincere Friendship with him and to persuade him to enter into such Measures as might tend to the Common Safety of Europe and the Happiness of England which if King Iames had given Ear to would have preserv'd the Crown upon his Head And so cautious was he of giving him no reasonable ground of Complaint that though in King Charles's time he had given a Generous Welcome to the Duke of Monmouth at the Request of that King upon his retiring to Holland Yet as soon as he knew that that unhappy Gentleman designâ—d to invade England upon King Iames's Accession to the Throne he offer'd to come over in Person to his Assistance and sent him with all Expedition the English and Scotch Troops that were in the Service of the States It had been happy for King Iames if he had complied with the Advice of the Prince of Orange or had not by his Success against Monmouth been push'd on to make the Steps that have bee mention'd together with a great many more for Brevity's sake here omitted towards his own Ruin and that of the Constitution of England But being flatter'd with the gaudy Charms of Absolute Power and the empty Merit of Restoring the Romish Religion he drove on without Controul till at last he forc'd the People of England upon an inevitable necessity of calling in the Prince of Orange to retrieve the expiring Liberties of their Countrey At the same time an indissoluble Friendship and Alliance which King Iames had enter'd into when Duke of York and had cultivated afterwards when he came to the Crown was a matter of that vast Consequence to the Neighbouring Princes and States as would not permit them to stand by as unconcern'd Spectators of the Scene that was acting in England but oblig'd them likewise to save recourse to the Prince of Orange for breaking off their own Fetters by breaking first those of England But by what Steps and concurring Accidents and with what surprizing Circumstances this Mighty Design came about may some time or other though perhaps not so properly in this Age be the Subject of a Second Part when it meets with one of more Leisure and Capacity to write it FINIS Addenda ad Page 36. Concerning the Reign of King James I. It may not be impertinent in this place to say something of that Convocation that was held in the beginning of this King's Reign Which had never been taken notice of in History if it were not for the use that was made of it in our late Debates about the Lawfulness of the Oaths to his present Majesty This Convocation goes under the name of Overall's Convocation and has been of late years often mentioned in Print upon that account And since a very Learned Divine has told us upon a solemn Occasion Dr. Sherlock That it was the Canons of this Convocation that first Enlightned his Eyes and persuaded him of the Lawfulness of the Oaths to his Majesty I shall only take notice of a few things about them It 's very probable that this Convocation was call'd to clear some Doubts that King Iames might have had about the Lawfulness of the Hollanders the 〈…〉 off the Monarchy of Spain 〈…〉 withdrawing for good and all their Allegiance to that Crown Which was the Great Matter then in Agitation in most Courts of Christendom It appears plainly by some of those Canons that the Highflown Notions of Prerogative and Absolute Obedience which came afterwards into fashion were not much known at that time at least the Clergy were not of that Opinion It 's true This was the first time that the Distinction of a King de jure and de facto was ever mention'd as a Point of Divinity or a Doctrine of the Church though it had been taken notice of before and that but once as a Matter of Law in an Act of Parliament of Henry 7. But these Canons did never receive the Royal Approbation and therefore are in the same case as if they had never been King Iames thought these Points too nice to be much touch'd upon and was highly displeas'd with the Members of that Convocation for medling in Matters which he thought were without their Sphere Thereupon he writ that angry Letter to Dr. Abbot afterwards Bishop of Sarum the Original of which it was my fortune to fall upon and to publish upon another Occasion It 's hop'd the Reader will not be displeas'd to read it again And it runs thus Good Doctor Abbot I Cannot abstain
eaque quibus nunc frueris bona et si post ingens à Te pretiumâ— persolutum Tibi reddita fuerint non à Te coempta arbitrabitur sed quadam Superum prodigentiâ dona data Tibi demum gratulor praestantissime Orator quod tam faustum diem videris in Anglia detuleris in Vrbem Nam de Sapientia Tuâ quâ per eruditissimos libros Haeresim profligasti nihil attinet dicere nihil de Fortitudine quâ Carceres ipsos pro Catholica Religione tuenda non tam pertulisti quà m decorasti nil de Prudentia Nobilitate caeterisque dotibus Tuis Hoc unum universa Tua decora comprehendit quod ad maximum totius Regni negotium hoc est ut splendidissimâ— fungereris apud Innocentium P. M. legatione Iacobus II. Magnae Britanniae Rex maximus Te unum elegit quia unus dignus erat eligi alter eligere The Speech of the Rector of the College of Iesuits to his Excellency Roger Earl of Castlemain SIR YOU must not think this College alone can be mute and if they could their Silence must be a Crime at a Time when this City is filled with Vniversal Ioy upon the News of your Excellency's Arrival and all Places resound the Praises of James the Second and the Obligations the Catholick Church has to that Illustrious Prince I in the Name of this Learned Body do in the first place congratulate thee Innocent in whose Reign this flourishing Imperial Crown is added to the Papal Diadem It is now your Holiness can properly use that Apostolick Expression My Joy and my Crown Heaven has deferr'd this happy Day thus long That so great a Blessing might not be obtained without long and unwearied Prayers and at last effected when Two such Princes as James and Innocent should concur to reign the one in England and the other in Rome What a Support have all Catholick Kings gained by this Accession What an Honour has the Orthodox Faith receiv'd and what a Defence against the Enemies of the Name of Christ The Thunder of his Invincible Fleet will strike greater Terror into the Pyrates of Barbary and the Levant than Storms and Waves can do How highly blest art Thou O Britain Empress of the Ocean once secluded from the Earth now Mistress of the Commerce of the Eastern and Western World What Prosperity may'st thou not hope for under the Reign of so Excellent a Prince Raise thy Hopes Raise thy Courage and banish all unjust and unseasonable Fears I have no Inclination at this time to recount those Disasters and Calamities which England has been the Theatre for above an Age past to the Grief and Astonishment of the rest of the World But if Providence has made these the Steps for James the Second to mount the Throne I can hardly refrain declaring how cheaply thou hast purchased so great a Blessing It is certain their present Happiness will create Envy in succeeding Times and however dear it has cost them Posterity will esteem it more the Bounty and Profusion of Heaven than a Recompence of their Sufferings In the last place I must congratulate your Excellency who has first seen this happy Day at home and has next been the Messenger to bring it hither I shall not here presume to praise your Great Wisdom your Learned Writings against Heresy that steady Courage you have shewn in those many Prisons you have honour'd for your Zeal to the True Religion your prudent Conduct or your other extraordinary Qualities All these are summ'd up in one and your Character is in fine compleated by the Choice your Great Master has made of you to sustain the most considerable Affair of his Kingdom The present Glorious Embassy In which all the World must own Him to be the most competent Iudge and You the fittest Person NUMB. XIX The Answer of the Vice President and Fellows of Magdalen-College Oxon before the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Why they could not in Conscience comply with the King's Mandate THE said Vice-President and other deputed Fellows answered and said That the said Colledge of St. Mary Magdalen in Oxon is a Body Corporate governed by Local Statutes granted and confirmed to them by His Majesty's Royal Predecessor King Henry the 6th for Him and His Heirs and Successors under the Great Seal of England which are also since confirmed by several other Letters Patents of others of his Majesty's Royal Predecessors under the Great Seal of England That by the said Statutes of the College to the observation of which each Fellow is sworn it is ordered That the Person elected President thereof shall be a Man of good Life and Reputation approved Understanding and good Temper Discreet Provident and Circumspect both in Spiritual and Temporal Affairs And at the time of Election of a President the said Fellows are bound by the said Statutes to take an Oath that they shall nominate none to that office but such as are or have been Fellows of the said Colledge or of New-Colledge in Oxon or if they are not actually Fellows at that time of Election that they be such as have left their Fellowships in their respective Colledges upon credible accounts And when two qualified persons shall be nominated at the time of Election by the greater number of all the Fellows to the said Office of President the thirteen Seniors also swear that they will Elect one of them whom in their Consciences they think most proper and sufficient most discreet most useful and best qualified for the Place without any regard to love hatred favour or fear And every Fellow when he is first admitted into his Fellowship in the said Colledge swears that he will inviolably keep and observe all the Statutes and Ordinances of the Colledge and every thing therein contained so far as does or may concern him according to the plain literal and grammatical sense and meaning thereof and as much as in him lies will cause the same to be kept and observed by others and that he will not procure any Dispensation contrary to his aforesaid Oath or any part thereof nor contrary to the Statutes and Ordinances to which it relates or any of them nor will he endeavour that such Dispensations shall be procured by any other or others publickly or privately directly or indirectly And if it shall happen that any Dispensation of this sort of whatsoever Authority it shall be whether in general or particular or under what form of Words soever it be granted that he will neither make use of it nor in any sort consent thereunto That upon Notice of the Death of Dr. Clark Late President of the said Colledge the Vice-President called a Meeting of the said Fellows in order to the appointing a day for the Election of a new President and the 13th of April was the time prefix'd with power to proâ—ogue the same as they should see cause till the 15th beyond which time they could not statutably defer their Election and in