Cromwel after he had gotten into his own hands the absolute power of England Scotland and Ireland by the Name of Protector did never dare to take upon him the Title of King nor was ever able to settle it upon his Children His Officers would not suffer it as pretending after his death to succeed him nor would the Army consent to it because he had ever declared to them against the Government of a single person B. But to return to the King What Means had he to pay What Provision had he to Arm nay Means to Levy an Army able to resist the Army of the Parliament maintained by the great Purse of the City of London and Contributions of almost all the Towns Corporate in England and furnished with Arms as fully as they could require A. 'T is true the King had great disadvantages and yet by little and little he got a considerable Army with which he so prospered as to grow stronger every day and the Parliament weaker till they had gotten the Scotch with an Army of 21000 Men to come into England to their Assistance But to enter into the particular Narration of what was done in the War I have not now time B. Well then we will talk of that at next meeting Behemoth PART III. B. WE left at the Preparations on both sides for War which when I considered by my self I was mightily puzled to find out what possibility there was for the King to equal the Parliament in such a course and what hopes he had of Money Men Arms Fortified places Shipping Councel and Military Officers sufficient for such an Enterprize against the Parliament that had Men and Money as much at command as the City of London and other Corporation Towns were able to furnish which was more than they needed And for the Men they should set forth for Soldiers they were almost all of them spightfully bent against the King and his whole Party whom they took to be either Papists or Flatterers of the King or that had designed to raise their Fortunes by the plunder of the City and other Corporation Towns And though I believe not that they were more valiant than other Men nor that they had so much experience in the War as to be accounted good Soldiers yet they had that in them which in time of Battle is more conducing to Victory than Valor and Experience both together and that was spight And for Arms they had in their hands the Chief Magazines the Tower of London and the Town of Kingston upon Hull besides most of the Powder and Shot that lay in several Towns for the use of the Train'd Bands Fortified places there were not many then in England and most of them in the hands of the Parliament The King's Fleet was wholly in their Command under the Earl of Warwick Councellors they needed no more than such as were of their own Body so that the King was every way inferior to them except it were perhaps in Officers A. I cannot compare their Chief Officers for the Parliament the Earl of Essex after the Parliament had voted the War was made General of all their Forces both in England and Ireland from whom all other Commanders were to receive their Commissions B. What moved them to make General the Earl of Essex And for what cause was the Earl of Essex so displeased with the King as to accept that Office A. I do not certainly know what to answer to either of those Questions but the Earl of Essex had been in the Wars abroad and wanted neither Experience Judgment nor Courage to perform such an undertaking And besides that you have heard I believe how great a Darling of the People his Father had been before him and what Honour he had gotten by the Success of his Enterprize upon Cales and in some other Military Actions To which I may add that this Earl himself was not held by the people to be so great a Favorite at Court as that they might not trust him with their Army against the King And by this you may perhaps conjecture the Cause for which the Parliament made choice of him for General B. But why did they think him discontented with the Court A. I know not that nor indeed that he was so He came to the Court as other Noble-men did when occasion was to wait upon the King but had no Office till a little before this time to oblige him to be there continually but I believe verily that the unfortunateness of his Marriages had so discountenanced his Conversation with Ladies that the Court could not be his proper Element unless he had had some extraordinary favour there to ballance that Calamity but for particular discontent from the King or intention of revenge for any supposed disgrace I think he had none nor that he was any ways addicted to Presbyterian Doctrines or other Fanatick Tenets in Church or State saving only that he was carried away with the Stream in a manner of the whole Nation to think that England was not an absolute but a mixt Monarchy not considering that the Supream Power must always be absolute whether it be in the King or in the Parliament B. Who was General of the King's Army A. None yet but himself nor indeed had he yet any Army but there coming to him at that time his two Nephews the Princes Rupert and Maurice he put the Command of his Horse into the Hands of Prince Rupert a Man than whom no man living has a better Courage nor was more active and diligent in prosecuting his Commissions and though but a young man then was not without experience in the conducting of Soldiers as having been an Actor in part of his Fathers Wars in Germany B. But how could the King find Money to pay such an Army as was necessary for him against the Parliament A. Neither the King nor Parliament had much Money at that time in their own Hands but were fain to rely upon the Benevolence of those that took their parts Wherein I confess the Parliament had a mighty great advantage Those that helped the King in that kind were only Lords and Gentlemen which not approving the proceedings of the Parliament were willing to undertake the payment every one of a certain number of Horse which cannot be thought any very great assistance the persons that payed them being so few For other Moneys that the King then had I have not heard of any but what he borrowed upon Jewels in the Low Countries Whereas the Parliament had a very plentiful Contribution not only from London but generally from their Faction in all other places of England upon certain Propositions published by the Lords and Commons in June 1642. at what time they had newly voted that the King intended to make War upon them for bringing in of Money or Plate to maintain Horse and Horse-men and to buy Arms for the preservation of the publick Peace and for the defence of the
they sent up to some of their Friends at Court a certain Paper containing as they pretended the Articles of the said Pacification a false and scandalous Paper which was by the King's Command burnt as I have heard publickly and so both parts returned to the same condition they were in when the King went down with his Army B. And so there was a great deal of Money cast away to no purpose But you have not told me who was General of that Army A. I told you the King was there in Person He that commanded under him was the Earl of Arundel a Man that wanted not either Valour or Judgment But to proceed to Battle or to Treaty was not in his power but in the King 's B. He was a Man of a most Noble and Loyal Family and whose Ancestors had formerly given a great overthrow to the Scots in their own Country and in all likelihood he might have given them the like now if they had fought A. He might indeed but it had been but a kind of superstition to have made him General upon that account though many Generals heretofore have been chosen for the good luck of their Ancestors in like occasions In the long War between Athens and Sparta a General of the Athenians by Sea won many Victories against the Spartans for which cause after his death they chose his Son for General with ill success The Romans that conquered Carthage by the Valour and Conduct of Scipio when they were to make War again in Africk against Caesar chose another Scipio for General a Man valiant and wise enough but he perished in the Employment And to come home to our own Nation the Earl of Essex made a fortunate Expedition to Cadiz but his Son sent afterwards to the same place could do nothing 'T is but a foolish superstition to hope that God has entail'd success in War upon a Name or Family B. After the Pacification broken what succeeded next A. The King sent Duke Hamilton with Commission and Instructions into Scotland to call a Parliament there and to use all the means he could otherwise but all was to no purpose for the Scotch were now resolv'd to raise an Army and to enter into England to deliver as they pretended their Grievances to his Majesty in a Petition because the King they said being in the hands of evil Councellors they could not otherwise obtain their Right but the truth is they were animated to it by the Democratical and Presbyterian English with a promise of reward and hope of plunder Some have said that Duke Hamilton also did rather encourage them to than deter them from the Expedition as hoping by the disorder of the two Kingdoms to bring to pass that which he had formerly been accus'd to endeavour to make himself King of Scotland But I take this to have been a very uncharitable censure upon so little ground to judge so hardly of a Man that afterwards lost his life in seeking to procure the Liberty of the King his Master This resolution of the Scots to enter England being known the King wanting Money to raise an Army against them was now as his Enemies here wished constrained to call a Parliament to meet at Westminster the 13 th day of April 1640. B. Methinks a Parliament of England if upon any occasion should furnish the King with Money now in a War against the Scots out of an inveterate dissaffection to that Nation that had always anciently taken part with their Enemies the French and which always esteemed the Glory of England for an abatement of their own A. 'T is indeed commonly seen that neighbour Nations envy one anothers Honour and that the less potent bears the greater malice but that hinders them not from agreeing in those things which their common ambition leads them to And therefore the King found not the more but the less help from this Parliament and most of the Members thereof in their ordinary Discourses seemed to wonder why the King should make a War upon Scotland and in that Parliament sometimes called them Their Brethren the Scots But in stead of taking the Kings business which was the raising of Money into their Consideration they fell upon the redressing of Grievances and especially such ways of levying Money as in the late Intermission of Parliaments the King had been forced to use such as were Ship-Money for Knighthood and such other Vails as one may call them of the Regal Office which Lawyers had found justifiable by the Ancient Records of the Kingdom Besides they fell upon the Actions of divers Ministers of State though done by the King 's own Command and Warrant in so much that before they were to come to the business for which they were called the Money which was necessary for this War if they had given any as they never meant to do had come too late It is true there was mention of a Sum of Money to be given the King by way of bargain for the relinquishing of his Right to Ship-Money and some other of his Prerogatives but so seldom and without determining any Sum that it was in vain for the King to hope for any success and therefore upon the 5 th of May following he dissolved it B. Where then had the King Money to raise and pay his Army A. He was forced the second time to make use of the Nobility and Gentry who contributed some more some less according to the greatness of their Estates but amongst them all they made up a very sufficient Army B. It seems then that the same Men that crossed his business in the Parliament now out of Parliament advanced it all they could What was the reason of that A. The greatest part of the Lords in Parliament and of the Gentry throughout England were more affected to Monarchy than to a Popular Government but so as not to endure to hear of the King 's Absolute Power which made them in time of Parliament easily to condescend to abridge it and bring the Government to a mixt Monarchy as they call'd it wherein the absolute Sovereignty should be divided between the King the House of Lords and the House of Commons B. But how if they cannot agree A. I think they never thought of that but I am sure they never meant the Sovereignty should be wholly either in one or both Houses Besides they were loth to desert the King when he was invaded by Forreigners for the Scots were esteemed by them as a Forreign Nation B. It is strange to me that England and Scotland being but one Island and their Language almost the same and being governed by one King should be thought Forreigners to one another The Romans were Masters of many Nations and to oblige them the more to obey the Edicts and Laws sent unto them from the City of Rome they thought fit to make them all Romans and out of divers Nations as Spain Germany Italy and France to advance some that
shall approve of that the Servants then about them against whom the Houses have just exception should be removed 5. That no Marriage be concluded or treated of for any of the King's Children without consent of Parliament 6. That the Laws in force against Jesuits Priests and Popish Recusants be strictly put in execution 7. That the Votes of Popish Lords in the House of Peers be taken away and that a Bill be passed for the education of the Children of Papists in the Protestant Religion 8. That the King will be pleased to reform the Church-Government and Lyturgy in such manner as both Houses of Parliament shall advise 9. That he would be pleased to rest satisfied with that Course that the Lords and Commons have appointed for ordering the Militia and recall his Declarations and Proclamations against it 10. That such Members as have been put out of any Place or Office since this Parliament began may be restored or have satisfaction 11. That all Privy-Councellors and Judges take an Oath the form whereof shall be agreed on and setled by Act of Parliament for the maintaining the Petition of Right and of certain Statutes made by the Parliament 12. That all the Judges and Officers placed by Approbation of both Houses of Parliament may hold their places quam diu bene se gesserint 13. That the Justice of Parliament may pass upon all Delinquents whether they be within the Kingdom or fled out of it and that all persons cited by either House of Parliament may appear and abide the Censure of Parliament 14. That the General Pardon offered by his Majesty be granted with such Exceptions as shall be advised by both Houses of Parliament B. What a spiteful Article was this All the rest proceeded from Ambition which many times well-natur'd men are subject to but this proceeded from an inhumane and devilish cruelty A. 15. That the Forts and Castles be put under the Command of such persons as with the Approbation of the Parliament the King shall appoint 16. That the extraordinary Guards about the King be discharged and for the future none raised but according to the Law in case of actual Rebellion or Invasion B. Methinks these very Propositions sent to the King are an actual Rebellion A. 17. That his Majesty enter into a more strict Alliance with the United Provinces and other Neighbour Protestant Princes and States 18. That his Majesty be pleased by Act of Parliament to clear the Lord Kimbolton and the five Members of the House of Commons in such manner as that future Parliaments may be secur'd from the consequence of that evil President 19. That his Majesty be pleased to pass a Bill for restraining Peers made hereafter from sitting or voting in Parliament unless they be admitted with consent of both Houses of Parliament These Propositions granted they promise to apply themselves to regulate his Majesties Revenue to his best advantage and to settle it to the support of his Royal Dignity in Honour and Plenty and also to put the Town of Hull into such Hands as his Majesty shall appoint with consent of Parliament B. Is not that to put it into such hands as his Majesty shall appoint by the consent of the Petitioners which is no more than to keep it in their hands as it is Did they want or think the King wanted common sense so as not to perceive that their promise herein was worth nothing A. After the sending of these Propositions to the King and his Majesties refusal to grant them they began on both sides to prepare for War The King raising a Guard for his Person in York-shire and the Parliament thereupon having Voted that the King intended to make War upon his Parliament gave order for the mustering and exercising the People in Arms and published Propositions to invite and incourage them to bring in either ready Money or Plate or to promise under their hands to furnish and maintain certain numbers of Horse Horse-men and Arms for the defence of the King and Parliament meaning by King as they had formerly declar'd not his Person but his Laws promising to repay their Money with Interest of 8 l. in the 100 l. and the value of their Plate with 12 d. the Ounce for the fashion On the other side the King came to Nottingham and there did set up his Standard Royal and sent out Commissions of Array to call those to him which by the Ancient Laws of England were bound to serve him in the Wars Upon this occasion there passed divers Declarations between the King and Parliament concerning the Legality of this Array which are too long to tell you at this time B. Nor do I desire to hear any Mooting about this Question for I think that general Law of Salus Populi and the Right of defending himself against those that had taken from him the Sovereign Power are sufficient to make legal whatsoever he should do in order to the recovery of his Kingdom or to the punishing of the Rebels A. In the mean time the Parliament raised an Army and made the Earl of Essex General thereof by which Act they declared what they meant formerly when they petition'd the King for a Guard to be commanded by the said Earl of Essex and now the King sends out his Proclamations forbidding obedience to the Orders of the Parliament concerning the Militia and the Parliament send out Orders against the Execution of the Commissions of Array Hitherto though it were a War before yet there was no Blood shed they shot at one another nothing but paper B. I understand now how the Parliament destroyed the Peace of the Kingdom and how easily by the help of seditious Presbyterian Ministers and of Ambitious Ignorant Orators they reduced this Government into Anarchy but I believe it will be a harder Task for them to bring in Peace again and settle the Government either in themselves or any other Governor or form of Government For granting that they obtained the Victory in this War they must be beholding for it to the Valor good Conduct or Felicity of those to whom they give the Command of their Armies especially to the General whose good success will without doubt draw with it the Love and Admiration of the Soldiers so that it will be in his power either to take the Government upon himself or to place it where himself thinks good In which case if he take it not to himself he will be thought a Fool and if he do he shall be sure to have the envy of his subordinate Commanders who look for a share either in the present Government or in the Succession to it for they will say has he obtain'd this power by his own without our Danger Valor and Counsel and must we be his Slaves whom we have thus raised Or is not there as much Justice on our side against him as was on his side against the King A They will and did in so much that the reason why
seconded by Prince Rupert who was then abroad in that Countrey carried the Place These were the chief Actions of this year 1642. wherein the King's Party had not much the worse B. But the Parliament had now a better Army in so much that if the Earl of Essex had immediately followed the King to Oxford not yet well fortified he might in all likelihood have taken it for he could not want either Men or Ammunition whereof the City of London which was wholly at the Parliaments Devotion had store enough A. I cannot judge of that but this is manifest considering the estate the King was in at his first marching from York when he had neither Money nor Men nor Arms enough to put them in hope of Victory that this year take it all together was very prosperous B. But what great folly or wickedness do you observe in the Parliaments Actions for this first year A. All that can be said against them in that Point will be excused with the pretext of War and come under one name of Rebellion saving that when they summoned any Town it was always in the name of King and Parliament the King being in the contrary Army and many times beating them from the Siege I do not see how the right of War can justifie such Impudence as that But they pretended that the King was always virtually in the two Houses of Parliament making a distinction between his Person Natural and Politick which made the Impudence the greater besides the folly of it for this was but an University quibble such as Boys make use of in maintaining in the Schools such Tenents as they cannot otherwise defend In the end of this year they solicited also the Scots to enter England with an Army to suppress the Power of the Earl of New-Castle in the North which was a plain Confession that the Parliaments Forces were at this time inferior to the King 's and most men thought that if the Earl of New-Castle had then marched Southward and joyned his Forces with the King 's that most of the Members of Parliament would have fled out of England In the beginning of 1643. the Parliament seeing the Earl of New Castle 's Power in the North grown so formidable sent to the Scots to hire them to an Invasion of England and to complement them in the mean time made a Covenant amongst themselves such as the Scots had before taken against Episcopacy and demolished Crosses and Church windows such as had in them any Images of Saints throughout all England Also in the middle of the year they made a solemn League with the Nation which was called the Solemn League and Covenant B. Are not the Scots as properly to be called Forreigners as the Irish Seeing then they persecuted the Earl of Strafford even to death for advising the King to make use of Irish Forces against the Parliament with what face could they call in a Scoth Army against the King A. The King's Party might easily here have discerned their Design to make themselves absolute Masters of the Kingdom and to dethrone the King Another great Impudence or rather a bestial incivility it was of theirs that they voted the Queen a Traitor for helping the King with some Ammunition and English Forces from Holland B. Was it possible that all this could be done and men not see that Papers and Declarations must be useless and that nothing could satisfie them but the deposing of the King and setting up of themselves in his place A. Yes very possible For who was there of them though knowing that the King had the Sovereign Power that knew the Essential Rights of Sovereignty They dreamt of a mixt Power of the King and the two Houses That it was a divided Power in which there could be no peace was above their understanding Therefore they were always urging the King to Declarations and Treaties for fear of subjecting themselves to the King in an absolute obedience which increased the hope and courage of the Rebels but did the King little good for the People either understand not or will not trouble themselves with Controversies in writing but rather by his Compliance and Messages go away with an opinion that the Parliament was likely to have the Victory in the War Besides seeing the Penners and Contrivers of these Papers were formerly Members of the Parliament and of another mind and now revolted from the Parliament because they could not bear that sway in the House which they expected men were apt to think they believed not what they writ As for Military Actions to begin at the Head Quarters Prince Rupert took Brimingiam a Garrison of the Parliaments In July after the King's Forces had a great Victory over the Parliaments near Devizes on Roundway-down where they took 2000 Prisoners four Brass Pieces of Ordnance 28 Colours and all their Baggage and shortly after Bristol was surrendred to Prince Rupert for the King and the King himself marching into the West took from the Parliament many other considerable places But this good fortune was not a little allayed by his besieging of Glocester which after it was reduced to the last gasp was relieved by the Earl of Essex whose Army was before greatly wasted but now suddenly recruited with the Train'd-Bands and Apprentices of London B. It seems not only by this but also by many Examples in History that there can hardly arise a long or dangerous Rebellion that has not some such overgrown City with an Army or two in its belly to foment it A. Nay more those great Capital Cities when Rebellion is upon pretence of Grievances must needs be of the Rebel-party because the Grievances are but Taxes to which Citizens that is Merchants whose profession is their private gain are naturally mortal Enemies their only glory being to grow excessively rich by the wisdom of buying and selling B. But they are said to be of all Callings the most beneficial to the Common-wealth by setting the poorer sort of People on work A. That is to say by making poor People sell their labour to them at their own prizes so that poor People for the most part might get a better Living by working in Bridewel than by spinning weaving and other such labour as they can do saving that by working slightly they may help themselves a little to the disgrace of our Manufacture And as most commonly they are the first Encouragers of Rebellion presuming of their strength so also are they for the most part the first to repent deceived by them that command their strength But to return to the War though the King withdrew from Glocester yet it was not to fly from but to fight with the Earl of Essex which presently after he did at Newbury where the Battle was bloody and the King had not the worst unless Cirencester be put into the Scale which the Earl of Essex had in his way a few days before surprized But in the North and the
to perform July the 11 th the Parliament sent their Propositions to the King at New-Castle which Propositions they pretended to be the only way to a setled and well grounded Peace They were brought by the Earl of Pembroke the Earl of Suffolk Sir Walter Earle Sir John Hyppesly Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Robinson whom the King asked if they had power to Treat and when they said no why they might not as well have been sent by a Trumpeter The Propositions were the same dethroning ones which they used to send and therefore the King would not assent to them Nor did the Scots swallow them at first but made some exceptions against them only it seems to make the Parliament perceive they meant not to put the King into their hands gratis And so at last the bargain was made between them and upon the payment of 200000 l. the King was put into the hands of the Commissioners which the English Parliament sent down to receive him B. What a vile Complexion has this Action compounded of feigned Religion and very Covetousness Cowardice Perjury and Treachery A. Now the War that seemed to justifie many unseemly things is ended you will see almost nothing else in these Rebels but baseness and falseness besides their folly By this time the Parliament had taken in all the rest of the Kings Garrisons whereof the last was Pendennis Castle whither Duke Hamilton had been sent Prisoner by the King B. What was done during this time in Ireland and Scotland A. In Ireland there had been a Peace made by order from his Majesty for a time which by Divisions amongst the Irish was ill kept the Popish Party the Pope's Nuntio being then there took this to be the time for delivering themselves from their subjection to the English Besides the time of the Peace was now expir'd B. How were they subject to the English more than the English to the Irish They were subject to the King of England but so also were the English to the King of Ireland A. This Distinction is somewhat too subtil for common Understandings In Scotland the Marquess of Montrosse for the King with a very few Men and miraculous Victories had over-run all Scotland where many of his Forces out of too much security were permitted to be absent for a while of which the Enemy having Intelligence suddenly came upon them and forced them to fly back into the Highlands to recruit where he began to recover strength when he was commanded by the King then in the hands of the Scots at New-Castle to disband and he departed from Scotland by Sea In the end of the same year 1646. the Parliament caused the Kings Great Seal to be broken also the King was brought to Holmeby and there kept by the Parliaments Commissioners and here was an end of that War as to England and Scotland but not to Ireland About this time also died the Earl of Essex whom the Parliament had discarded B. Now that there was peace in England and the King in prison in whom was the Sovereign Power A. The Right was certainly in the King but the Exercise was yet in no body but contended for as in a Game at Cards without fighting all the years 1647. and 1648. between the Parliament and Oliver Cromwel Lieutenant-General to Sir Thomas Fairfax You must know that when King Henry the 8 th abolished the Popes Authority here and took upon him to be the Head of the Church the Bishops as they could not resist him so neither were they discontented with it For whereas before the Pope allowed not the Bishops to claim Jurisdiction in their Diocesses Jure Divino that is of Right immediately from God but by the Gift and Authority of the Pope now that the Pope was outed they made no doubt but the Divine Right was in themselves After this the City of Geneva and divers other places beyond Sea having revolted from the Papacy set up Presbyteries for the Government of their several Churches and divers English Scholars that went beyond Sea during the persecution in the time of Queen Mary were much taken with this Government and at their return in the time of Queen Elizabeth and ever since have endeavour'd to the great trouble of the Church and Nation to set up that Government here wherein they might domineer and applaud their own Wit and Learning and these took upon them not only a Divine Right but also a Divine Inspiration and having been connived at and countenanced sometimes in their frequent preaching they introduced many strange and many pernicious Doctrines out-doing the Reformation as they pretended both of Luther and Calvin receding from the former Divinity or Church-Philosophy for Religion is another thing as much as Luther and Calvin had receded from the Pope and distracted their Auditors into a great number of Sects as Brownists Anabaptists Independents Fifth-monarchy-men Quakers and divers others all commonly called by the name of Fanaticks in so much as there was no so dangerous an Enemy to the Presbyterians as this brood of their own hatching These were Cromwel's best Cards whereof he had a very great number in the Army and some in the House whereof he himself was thought one though he were nothing certain but applying himself always to the Faction that was strongest was of a colour like it There were in the Army a great number if not the greatest part that aimed only at rapine and sharing the Lands and Goods of their Enemies and these also upon the opinion they had of Cromwel's Valor and Conduct thought they could not any way better arrive at their ends than by adhering to him Lastly in the Parliament it self though not the Major part yet a considerable number were Fanaticks enough to put in doubts and cause delay in the resolutions of the House and sometimes also by advantage of a thin House to carry a Vote in favour of Cromwel as they did upon the 26 th of July For whereas on the fourth of May precedent the Parliament had voted that the Militia of London should be in the hands of a Committee of Citizens whereof the Lord Major for the time being should be one shortly after the Independents chancing to be the major made an Ordinance by which it was put into hands more favourable to the Army The best Cards the Parliament had were the City of London and the Person of the King The General Sir Tho. Fairfax was right Presbyterian but in the hands of the Army and the Army in the hands of Cromwel but which Party should prevail depended on the playing of the Game Cromwel protested still obedience and fidelity to the Parliament but meaning nothing less bethought him and resolv'd on a way to excuse himself of all that he should do to the contrary upon the Army Therefore he and his Son-in-law Commissary-General Ireton as good at contriving as himself and at speaking and writing better contrive how to mutiny the Army against the Parliament To
they require first That the King be brought to Justice 2. That the Prince and Duke of York be summoned to appear at a day appointed and proceeded with according as they should give satisfaction 3. That the Parliament settle the Peace and future Government and set a reasonable period to their own sitting and make certain future Parliaments Annual or Biennial 4. That a competent number of the King 's Chief Instruments be executed And this to be done both by the House of Commons and by a general Agreement of the People testified by their Subscriptions Nor did they stay for an Answer but presently set a Guard of Soldiers at the Parliament-house-door and other Soldiers in Westminster-Hall suffering none to go into the House but such as would serve their turns All others were frighted away or made Prisoners and some upon divers quarrels suspended Above 90 of them because they had refused to vote against the Scots and others because they had voted against the Vote of Non-Addresses and the rest were an House for Cromwel The Fanaticks also in the City being countenanced by the Army pack a new Common Councel whereof any forty was to be above the Major and their first work was to frame a Petition for Justice against the King which Tichborne the Major involving the City in the Regicide delivered to the Parliament At the same time with the like violence they took the King from Newport in the Isle of Wight to Hurst Castle till things were ready for his Trial. The Parliament in the mean time to avoid perjury by an Ordinance declared void the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance and presently after made another to bring the King to his Trial. B. This is a piece of Law that I understood not before that when many Men swear singly they may when they are assembled if they please absolve themselves A. The Ordinance being drawn up was brought into the House where after three several Readings it was voted That the Lords and Commons of England assembled in Parliament do declare That by the fundamental Laws of the Realm it is Treason in the King of England to Levy War against the Parliament And this Vote was sent up to the Lords and they denying their consent the Commons in anger made another Vote That all Members of Committees should proceed and act in any Ordinance whether the Lords concurred or no and that the People under God are the original of all just Power and that the House of Commons have the Supream Power of the Nation and that whatsoever the House of Commons enacteth is Law All this passed nemine contradicente B. These Propositions fight not only against a King of England but against all the Kings of the World It were good they thought on 't but yet I believe under God the original of all Laws was in the People A. But the People for them and their Heirs by consent and Oaths have long ago put the Supream Power of the Nation into the hands of their Kings for them and their Heirs and consequently into the hands of this King their known and lawful Heir B. But does not the Parliament represent the People A. Yes to some purposes as to put up Petitions to the King when they have leave and are grieved but not to make a Grievance of the King's Power Besides the Parliament never represents the People but when the King calls them nor is it to be imagin'd that he calls a Parliament to depose himself Put the Case every County and Burrough should have given this Parliament for a Benevolence a Sum of Money and that every County meeting in their County-Court or elsewhere and every Burrough in their Town-Hall should have chosen certain men to carry their several Sums respectively to the Parliament Had not these men represented the whole Nation B. Yes no doubt A. Do you think the Parliament would have thought it reasonable to be called to account by this Representative B. No sure and yet I must confess the Case is the same A. This Ordinance contained first a Summary of the Charge against the King in substance this That not content with the Encroachments of his Predecessors upon the freedom of the People he had designed to set up a Tyrannical Government and to that end had raised and maintained in the Land a Civil War against the Parliament whereby the Country hath been miserably wasted the publick Treasure exhausted thousands of people murdered and infinite other mischiefs committed Secondly A Constitution passed of a High Court of Justice that is of a certain number of Commissioners of whom any 20 had Power to try the King and to proceed to Sentence according to the merit of the Cause and see it speedily executed The Commissioners met on Saturday Jan. 20 th in Westminster-Hall and the King was brought before them where sitting in a Chair he heard the Charge read but denied to plead to it either Guilty or Not Guilty till he should know by what Lawful Authority he was brought thither The President told him That the Parliament affirmed their own Authority and the King persevered in his refusal to plead though many words passed between him and the President yet this was the substance of it all On Monday January 22 the Court met again and the Solicitor moved that if the King persisted in denying the Authority of the Court the Charge might be taken pro confesso but the King still denied their Authority They met again January 23 and then the Solicitor moved the Court for Judgment whereupon the King was requir'd to give his final Answer which was again a denial of their Authority Lastly They met again January 27 where the King desir'd to be heard before the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber and promising after that to abide the Judgment of the Court The Commissioners retir'd for half an hour to consider of it and then returning caused the King to be brought again to the Bar and told him that what he proposed was but another denial of the Courts Jurisdiction and that if he had no more to say they would proceed Then the King answering that he had no more to say the President began a long Speech in Justification of the Parliaments Proceedings producing the Examples of many Kings killed or deposed by wicked Parliaments Ancient and Modern in England Scotland and other parts of the World All which he endeavoured to justifie from this only Principle That the People have the Supream Power and the Parliament is the People This Speech ended the Sentence of death was read and the same upon Tuesday after January 30 executed at the Gate of his own Palace of White-hall He that can delight in reading how villainously he was used by the Soldiers between the Sentence and Execution may go to the Chronicle it self in which he shall see what Courage Patience Wisdom and Goodness was in this Prince whom in their Charge the Members of that wicked Parliament
Commission from the present King hoping to do him as good Service as he had formerly done his Father but the Case was altered for the Scotch Forces were then in England in the Service of the Parliament whereas now they were in Scotland and many more for their intended Invasion newly raised Besides the Soldiers which the Marquess brought over were few and Forreigners nor did the Highlanders come in to him as he expected in so much as he was soon defeated and shortly after taken and with more spightful usage than revenge requir'd executed by the Covenanters at Edenburgh May 2. B. What good could the King expect from joyning with these men who during the Treaty discovered so much malice to him in one of his best Servants A. No doubt their Church-men being then prevalent they would have done as much to this King as the English Parliament had done to his Father if they could have gotten by it that which they foolishly aspir'd to the Government of the Nation I do not believe that the Independents were worse than the Presbyterians both the one and the other were resolv'd to destroy whatsoever should stand in the way to their Ambition but necessity made the King pass over both this and many other Indignities from them rather than suffer the pursuit of his Right in England to cool and be little better than extinguished B. Indeed I believe a Kingdom if suffered to become an old Debt will hardly ever be recover'd Besides the King was sure wheresoever the Victory lighted he could lose nothing in the War but Enemies A. About the time of Montrosse his death which was in May Cromwel was yet in Ireland and his work unfinished but finding or by his Friends advertised that his presence in the Expedition now preparing against the Scots would be necessary to his design sent to the Rump to know their pleasure concerning his return but for all that he knew or thought it was not necessary to stay for their Answer but came away and arriv'd at London the sixth of June following and was welcomed by the Rump Now had General Fairfax who was truly what he pretended to be a Presbyterian been so catechis'd by the Presbyterian Ministers here that he refus'd to fight against the Brethren in Scotland nor did the Rump nor Cromwel go about to rectifie his Conscience in that Point and thus Fairfax laying down his Commission Cromwel was now made General of all the Forces in England and Ireland which was another Step to the Sovereign Power B. Where was the King A. In Scotland newly come over He landed in the North and was honourably conducted to Edenburgh though all things were not yet well agreed on between the Scots and him for though he had yielded to as hard Conditions as the late King had yielded to in the Isle of Wight yet they had still somewhat to add till the King enduring no more departed from them towards the North again But they sent Messengers after him to pray him to return but they furnished these Messengers with strength enough to bring him back if he should have refused In fine they agreed but would not suffer either the King or any Royalist to have Command in the Army B. The sum of all is the King was there a Prisoner A. Cromwel from Barwick sends a Declaration to the Scots telling them he had no quarrel against the People of Scotland but against the Malignant Party that had brought in the King to the disturbance of the Peace between the two Nations and that he was willing either by Conference to give and receive satisfaction or to decide the Justice of the Cause by Battle To which the Scots answering declare That they will not prosecute the King's Interest before and without his acknowledgment of the sins of his House and his former ways and satisfaction given to God's People in both Kingdoms Judge by this whether the present King were not in as bad a condition here as his Father was in the hands of the Presbyterians of England B. Presbyterians are every where the same they would fain be absolute Governours of all they converse with and have nothing to plead for it but that where they Reign 't is God that Reigns and no where else but I observe one strange Demand that the King should acknowledge the sins of his House for I thought it had been certainly held by all Divines that no man was bound to acknowledge any man's sins but his own A. The King having yielded to all that the Church requir'd the Scots proceeded in their intended War Cromwel marched on to Edenburgh provoking them all he could to Battle which they declining and Provisions growing scarce in the English Army Cromwel retir'd to Dunbar despairing of success and intending by Sea or Land to get back into England And such was the Condition which this General Cromwel so much magnified for Conduct had brought his Army to that all his Glories had ended in Shame and Punishment if Fortune and the faults of his Enemies had not relieved him For as he retir'd the Scots followed him close all the way till within a Mile of Dunbar There is a ridge of Hills that from beyond Edenburgh goes winding to the Sea and crosses the High-way between Dunbar and Barwick at a Village called Copperspeith where the passage is so difficult that had the Scots sent timely thither a very few men to guard it the English could never have gotten home For the Scots kept the Hills and needed not have fought but upon great advantage and were almost two to one Cromwell's Army was at the foot of those Hills on the North side and there was a great Ditch or Channel of a Torrent between the Hills and it so that he could never have got home by Land nor without utter ruine of the Army attempted to Ship it nor have stayed where he was for want of Provisions Now Cromwel knowing the Pass was free and commanding a good Party of Horse and foot to possess it it was necessary for the Scots to let them go whom they bragged they had impounded or else to fight and therefore with the best of their Horse charged the English and made them at first to shrink a little but the English Foot coming on the Scots were put to flight and the flight of the Horse hindered the Foot from engaging who therefore fled as did also the rest of their Horse Thus the folly of the Scottish Commanders brought all their odds to an even Lay between two small and equal Parties wherein Fortune gave the Victory to the English who were not many more in number than those that were killed and taken Prisoners of the Scots and the Church lost their Canon Bag and Baggage with 10000 Arms and almost their whole Army The rest were got together by Lesly to Sterling B. This Victory happened well for the King for had the Scots been Victors the Presbyterians both here and there would
Christendome will be subject to these fits of Rebellion as long as the World lasteth A. Like enough and yet the fault as I have said may be easily mended by mending the Universities B. How long had the Parliament now sitten A. It began November the third 1640. My Lord of Strafford was impeached of Treason before the Lords November the 12 th sent to the Tower November the 22 d his Tryal began March the 22 d and ended April the 13 th After his Tryal he was voted guilty of High Treason in the House of Commons and after that in the House of Lords May the 6 th and on the 12 th of May beheaded B. Great Expedition but could not the King for all that have saved him by a Pardon A. The King had heard all that passed at his Tryal and had declared he was unsatisfied concerning the Justice of their Sentence and I think notwithstanding the danger of his own Person from the fury of the People and that he was counsel'd to give way to his Execution not only by such as he most relied on but also by the Earl of Strafford himself he would have pardoned him if that could have preserved him against the Tumult raised and countenanced by the Parliament it self for the terrifying of those they thought might favour him and yet the King himself did not stick to confess afterwards that he had done amiss in that he did not rescue him B. 'T was an Argument of good Disposition in the King but I never read that Augustus Caesar acknowledged that he had done a fault in abandoning Cicero to the fury of his Enemy Antonius Perhaps because Cicero having been of the contrary Faction to his Father had done Augustus no service at all out of favour to him but only out of enmity to Antonius and out of love to the Senate that is indeed out of love to himself that swayed the Senate as it is very likely the Earl of Strafford came over to the King's Party for his own ends having been so much against the King in former Parliaments A. We cannot safely judge of mens Intentions but I have observed often that such as seek preferment by their stubbornness have miss'd of their aim and on the other side that those Princes that with preferment are forced to buy the obedience of their Subjects are already or must be soon after in a very weak condition for in a Market where Honour and Power is to be bought with stubbornness there will be a great many as able to buy as my Lord Strafford was B. You have read that when Hercules fighting with the Hydra had cut off any one of his many heads there still arose two other heads in its place and yet at last he cut them off all A. The Story is told false for Hercules at first did not cut off those heads but bought them off and afterwards when he saw it did him no good then he cut them off and got the Victory B. What did they next A. After the first Impeachment of the Earl of Strafford the House of Commons upon December the 18 th accused the Arch-bishop of Canterbury also of High Treason that is of Design to introduce Arbitrary Government c. for which he was February the 18 th sent to the Tower but his Trial and Execution were deferr'd a long time till January the 10 th 1643. for the Entertainment of the Scots that were come into England to aid the Parliament B. Why did the Scots think there was so much danger in the Arch-bishop of Canterbury He was not a Man of War nor a Man able to bring an Army into the Field but he was perhaps a very great Politician A. That did not appear by any remarkable event of his Counsels I never heard but he was a very honest man for his Morals and a very zealous promoter of the Church-Government by Bishops and that desired to have the Service of God performed and the House of God adorned as suitably as was possible to the Honour we ought to do to the Divine Majesty But to bring as he did into the State his former Controversies I mean his squablings in the University about Free-will and his standing upon Punctilio's concerning the Service-Book and its Rubricks was not in my opinion an Argument of his sufficiency in Affairs of State About the same time they passed an Act which the King consented to for a Triennial Parliament wherein was Enacted That after the present Parliament there should be a Parliament called by the King within the space of three years and so from three years to three years to meet at Westminster upon a certain day named in the Act. B. But what if the King did not call it finding it perhaps inconvenient or hurtful to the safety or peace of his People which God hath put into his charge For I do not well comprehend how any Sovereign can well keep a People in order when his Hands are tied or when he hath any other obligation upon him than the benefit of those he governs and at this time for any thing you have told me they acknowledged the King for their Sovereign A. I know not but such was the Act. And it was farther Enacted That if the King did it not by his own Command then the Lord Chancellor or the Lord Keeper for the time being should send out the Writs of Summons and if the Chancellor refused then the Sheriffs of the several Counties should of themselves in their next County-Courts before the day set down for the Parliaments meeting proceed to the Election of the Members for the said Parliament B. But what if the Sheriffs refus'd A. I think they were to be sworn to it but for that and other particulars I refer you to the Act. B. To whom should they be sworn when there is no Parliament A. No doubt but to the King whether there be a Parliament sitting or no. B. Then the King may release them of their Oath A. Besides they obtained of the King the putting down the Star-Chamber and the High-Commission-Courts B. Besides if the King upon the refusal should fall upon them in anger who shall the Parliament not sitting protect either the Chancellor or the Sheriffs in their disobedience A. I pray you do not ask me any reason of such things I understand no better than you I tell you only an Act passed to that purpose and was signed by the King in the middle of February a little before the Arch-bishop was sent to the Tower Besides this Bill the two Houses of Parliament agreed upon another wherein it was Enacted That the present Parliament should continue till both the Houses did consent to the Dissolution of it which Bill also the King signed the same day he signed the Warrant for the Execution of the Earl of Strafford B. What a great Progress made the Parliament towards the ends of the most seditious Members of both Houses in so little time
and other Writings could have done by far and I wonder what kind of Men they were that hindered the King from taking this Resolution A. You may know by the Declarations themselves which are very long and full of quotations of Records and of Cases formerly Reported that the Penners of them were either Lawyers by profession or such Gentlemen as had the Ambition to be thought so Besides I told you before that those which were then likeliest to have their Counsel asked in this business were averse to absolute Monarchy as also to absolute Democracy or Aristocracy all which Governments they esteemed Tyranny and were in love with Monarchy which they used to praise by the Name of mixt Monarchy though it were indeed nothing else but pure Anarchy And those Men whose Pens the King most used in these Controversies of Law and Politicks were such if I have not been misinformed as having been Members of this Parliament had declaimed against Ship-Money and other Extraparliamentary Taxes as much as any but when they saw the Parliament grow higher in their Demands than they thought they would have done went over to the King's Party B. Who were those A. It is not necessary to name any man seeing I have undertaken only a short Narration of the follies and other faults of men during this trouble but not by naming the persons to give you or any man else occasion to esteem them the less now that the faults on all sides have been forgiven B. When the business was brought to this height by Levying of Soldiers and seizing of the Navy and Arms and other Provisions on both sides that no man was so blind as not to see they were in an estate of War one against another why did not the King by Proclamation or Message according to his undoubted Right dissolve the Parliament and thereby diminish in some part the Authority of their Levies and of other their unjust Ordinances A. You have forgotten that I told you that the King himself by a Bill that he passed at the same time when he passed the Bill for the Execution of the Earl of Strafford had given them Authority to hold the Parliament till they should by consent of both Houses dissolve themselves If therefore he had by any Proclamation or Message to the Houses dissolved them they would to their former defamations of his Majesties Actions have added this that he was a breaker of his word and not only in contempt of him have continued their Session but also have made advantage of it to the increase and strengthening of their own Party B. Would not the King 's raising of an Army against them be interpreted as a purpose to dissolve them by force And was it not as great a breach of promise to scatter them by force as to dissolve them by Proclamation Besides I cannot conceive that the passing of that Act was otherwise intended than conditionally so long as they should not ordain any thing contrary to the Sovereign Right of the King which Condition they had already by many of their Ordinances broken And I think that even by the Law of Equity which is the unalterable Law of Nature a man that has the Sovereign Power cannot if he would give away the Right of any thing which is necessary for him to retain for the good Government of his Subjects unless he do it in express words saying That he will have the Sovereign Power no longer For the giving away that which by consequence only draws the Sovereignty along with it is not I think a giving away of the Sovereignty but an error such as works nothing but an invalidity in the Grant it self And such was the King's passing of this Bill for the continuing of the Parliament as long as the two Houses pleased But now that the War was resolved on on both sides what needed any more dispute in writing A. I know not what need they had but on both sides they thought it needful to hinder one another as much as they could from Levying of Soldiers and therefore the King did set forth Declarations in print to make the People know that they ought not to obey the Officers of the new Militia set up by Ordinance of Parliament and also to let them see the Legality of his own Commissions of Array And the Parliament on their part did the like to justifie to the People the said Ordinance and to make the Commission of Array appear unlawful B. When the Parliament were Levying of Soldiers was it not lawful for the King to Levy Soldiers to defend himself and his Right though there had been no other Title for it but his own Preservation and that the Name of Commission of Array had never before been heard of A. For my part I think there cannot be a better Title for War than the defence of a man 's own Right but the People at that time thought nothing lawful for the King to do for which there was not some Statute made by Parliament For the Lawyers I mean the Judges of the Courts at Westminster and some few others though but Advocates yet of great reputation for their skill in the Common Laws and Statutes of England had infected most of the Gentry of England with their Maxims and Cases prejudged which they call Presidents and made them think so well of their own knowledge in the Law that they were very glad of this occasion to shew it against the King and thereby to gain a Reputation with the Parliament of being good Patriots and wise States-men B. What was this Commission of Array A. King William the Conqueror had gotten into his hands by Victory all the Land in England of which he disposed some part as Forests and Chases for his Recreation and some part to Lords and Gentlemen that had assisted him or were to assist him in the Wars upon which he laid a charge of Service in his Wars some with more men and some with less according to the Lands he had given them whereby when the King sent men unto them with Commission to make use of their Service they were obliged to appear with Arms and to accompany the King to the Wars for a certain time at their own charges and such were the Commissions by which this King did then make his Levies B. Why then was it not legal A. No doubt but it was legal but what did that amount to with men that were already resolv'd to acknowledge for Law nothing that was against their Design of abolishing Monarchy and placing a Sovereign and absolute arbitrary Power in the House of Commons B. To destroy Monarchy and set up the House of Commons are two businesses A. They found it so at last but did not think it so then B. Let us now come to the Military part A. I intended only the Story of their Injustice Impudence and Hypocrisie therefore for the proceeding of the War I refer you to the History thereof written at
forth they were erecting that High Court of Justice which took away the Lives of Duke Hamilton the Earl of Holland and the Lord Capel Whatsoever they meant by a fundamental Law the erecting of this Court was a breach of it as being warranted by no former Law or Example in England At the same time also they Levied Taxes by Soldiers and to Soldiers permitted Free quarter and did many other Actions which if the King had done they would have said had been done against the Liberty and Propriety of the Subject B. What silly things are the common sort of people to be cozened as they were so grosly A. What sort of people as to this matter are not of the common sort The craftiest Knaves of all the Rump were no wiser than the rest whom they cozened for the most of them did believe that the same things which they imposed upon the generality were just and reasonable and especially the great Haranguers and such as pretended to Learning for who can be a good Subject in a Monarchy whose Principles are taken from the Enemies of Monarchy such as were Cicero Seneca Cato and other Politicians of Rome and Aristotle of Athens who seldom spake of Kings but as of Wolves and other ravenous Beasts You may perhaps think a man has need of nothing else to know the Duty he owes to his Governour and what Right he has to order him but a good Natural Wit but it is otherwise for it is a Science and built upon sure and clear Principles and to be learned by deep and careful study or from Masters that have deeply studied it and who was there in the Parliament or in the Nation that could find out those evident Principles and derive from them the necessary Rules of Justice and the necessary Connexion of Justice and Peace The People have one day in seven the leisure to hear Instruction and there are Ministers appointed to teach them their Duty but how have those Ministers performed their Office A great part of them namely the Presbyterian Ministers throughout the whole War instigated the People against the King so did also Independents and other Fanatick Ministers The rest contented with their Livings preached in their Parishes Points of Controversie to Religion impertinent but to the breach of Charity among them selves very effectual or else eloquent things which the People either understood not or thought themselves not concerned in But this sort of Preachers as they did little good so they did little hurt The mischief proceeded wholly from the Presbyterian Preachers who by a long practiced Histrionique faculty preached up the Rebellion powerfully B. To what end A. To the end that the State becoming popular the Church might be so too and governed by an Assembly and by consequence as they thought seeing Politicks are subservient to Religion they might govern and thereby satisfie not only their covetous humour with Riches but also their malice with power to undo all men that admir'd not their wisdom Your calling the People silly things obliged me by this Digression to shew you that it is not want of Wit but want of the Science of Justice that brought them into these troubles Perswade if you can that man that has made his fortune or made it greater or an Eloquent Orator or a Ravishing Poet or a subtil Lawyer or but a good Hunter or a cunning Gamester that he has not a good Wit and yet there were of all these a great many so silly as to be deceiv'd by the Rump and Members of the same Rump They wanted not Wit but the knowledge of the Causes and Grounds upon which one Person has a Right to govern and the rest an Obligation to obey which Grounds are necessary to be taught the People who without them cannot live long in peace amongst themselves B. Let us return if you please to the Proceedings of the Rump A. In the rest of this year they voted a new Stamp for the Coyn of this Nation They considered also of Agents to be sent to Forreign States and having lately receiv'd applause from the Army for their work done by the High Court of Justice and encouragement to extend the same farther they perfected the said High Court of Justice in which were tryed Duke Hamilton the Earl of Holland Lord Capel the Earl of Norwich and Sir John Owen whereof as I mentioned before the three first were beheaded This affrighted divers of the King's Party out of the Land for not only they but all that had born Arms for the King were at that time in very great danger of their Lives For it was put to the question by the Army at a Councel of War whether they should be all Massacred or no where the Noes carried it but by two Voices Lastly March the 24 th they put the Major of London out of his Office fined him 2000 l. disfranchised him and condemned him to two months Imprisonment in the Tower for refusing to proclaim the Act for abolishing the Kingly Power And thus ended the year 1648. and the Monthly Fast God having granted that which they fasted for the Death of the King and the Possession of his Inheritance By these their Proceedings they had already lost the Hearts of the generality of the People and had nothing to trust to but the Army which was not in their power but in Cromwel's who never failed when there was occasion to put them upon all Exploits that might make them odious to the people in order to his future dissolving them whensoever it should conduce to his ends In the beginning of 1649. the Scots discontented with the Proceedings of the Rump against the late King began to Levy Soldiers in order to a new Invasion of England The Irish Rebels for want of timely resistance from England were grown terrible and the English Army at home infected by the Adjutators were casting how to share the Land amongst the Godly meaning themselves and such others as they pleased who were therefore called Levellers Also the Rump for the present were not very well provided of Money and therefore the first thing they did was the laying of a Tax upon the People of 90000 l. a month for the maintenance of the Army B. Was it not one of their quarrels with the King That he had Levied Money without the consent of the People in Parliament A. You may see by this what reason the Rump had to call it self a Parliament for the Taxes imposed by Parliament were always understood to be by the Peoples consent and consequently Legal To appease the Scots they sent Messengers with flattering Letters to keep them from engaging for the present King but in vain for they would hear nothing from a House of Commons as they called it at Westminster without a King and Lords But they sent Commissioners to the King to let him know what they were doing for him for they were resolv'd to raise an Army of 17000 Foot and
have domineer'd again and the King been in the same condition his Father was in at New-Castle in the hands of the Scottish Army For in pursuit of this Victory the English at last brought the Scots to a pretty good habit of obedience for the King whensoever he should recover his Right A. In pursuit of this Victory the English marched to Edenburgh quitted by the Scots fortified Leith and took in all the Strength and Castles they thought fit on this side the Frith which now was become the Bound betwixt the two Nations and the Scotch Ecclesiasticks began to know themselves better and resolv'd in their new Army which they meant to raise to admit some of the Royalists into Command Cromwel from Edenburgh marched towards Sterling to provoke the Enemy to fight but finding danger in it return'd to Edenburgh and besieged the Castle In the mean time he sent a Party into the West of Scotland to suppress Straughan and Kerr two great Presbyterians that were there Levying of Forces for their new Army And in the same time the Scots Crowned the King at Schone The rest of this year was spent in Scotland on Cromwel's part in taking of Edenburgh Castle and in attempts to pass the Frith or any other ways to get over to the Scottish Forces and on the Scots part in hastening their Levies for the North. B. What did the Rump at home during this time A. They voted Liberty of Conscience to the Sectaries that is they pluckt out the Sting of the Presbytery which consisted in a severe imposing of odd Opinions upon the People impertinent to Religion but conducing to the advancement of the power of the Presbyterian Ministers Also they Levied more Soldiers and gave the Command of them to Harrison now made Major-General a Fifth monarchy-man and of these Soldiers two Regiments of Horse and one of Foot were raised by the Fifth-monarchy-men and other Sectaries in thankfulness for this their Liberty from the Presbyterian Tyranny Also they pulled down the late King's Statue in the Exchange and in the Nick where it stood caused to be written these words Exit Tyrannus Regum ultimus c. B. What good did that do them and why did they not pull down the Statues of all the rest of the Kings A. What account can be given of Actions that proceed not from reason but spight and such like passions Besides this they receiv'd Ambassadors from Portugal and from Spain acknowledging their Power And in the very end of the year they prepared Ambassadors to the Netherlands to offer them friendship All they did besides was persecuting and executing of Royalists In the beginning of the year 1651. General Dean arrived in Scotland and on the 11 th of April the Scottish Parliament assembled and made certain Acts in order to a better uniting of themselves and better obedience to the King who was now at Sterling with the Scottish Forces he had expecting more now in Levying Cromwel from Edenburgh went divers times towards Sterling to provoke the Scots to fight There was no Ford there to pass over his Men at last Boats being come from London and New-Castle Collonel Overton though it were long first for it was now July transported 1400 Foot of his own besides another Regiment of Foot and four Troops of Horse and intrencht himself at North-ferry on the other side and before any help could come from Sterling Major-General Lambert also was got over with as many more By this time Sir John Browne was come to oppose them with 4500 Men whom the English there defeated killing about 2000 and taking Prisoners 1600. This done and as much more of the Army transported as was thought fit Cromwel comes before St. Johnstons from whence the Scttuish Parliament upon the news of his passing the Frith was removed to Dundee and summons it and the same day had news brought him that the King was marching from Sterling towards England which was true but notwithstanding the King was three days march before him he resolved to have the Town before he followed him and accordingly had it the next day by Surrender B. What hopes had the King in coming into England having before and behind him none at least none Armed but his Enemies A. Yes there was before him the City of London which generally hated the Rump and might easily be reckoned for 20000 well Armed Soldiers and most men believ'd they would take his part had he come near the City B. What probability was there of that Do you think the Rump was not sure of the Service of the Major and those that had command of the City Militia And if they had been really the King's Friends what need had they to stay for his coming up to London They might have seized the Rump if they had pleas'd which had no possibility of defending themselves at least they might have turned them out of the House A. This they did not but on the contrary permitted the recruiting of Cromwel's Army and the raising of Men to keep the Country from coming in to the King The King began his March from Sterling the last of July and August the 22 d came to Worcester by the way of Carlisle with a weary Army of about 13000 whom Cromwel followed and joyning with the new Levies environ'd Worcester with 40000 and on the third of September utterly defeated the King's Army Here Duke Hamilton Brother of him that was beheaded was slain B. What became of the King A. Night coming on before the City was quite taken he left it it being dark and none of the Enemies Horse within the Town to follow him the plundering Foot having kept the Gates shut lest the Horse should enter and have a share of the Booty The King before morning got into Warwick-shire 25 Miles from Worcester and there lay disguis'd a while and afterwards went up and down in great danger of being discover'd till at last he got over into France from Brighthemsted in Sussex B. When Cromwel was gone what was farther done in Scotland A. Lieutenant-General Monk whom Cromwel left there with 7000 took Sterling August 14 th by Surrender and Dundee the third of September by Storm because it resisted this the Soldiers plundered and had good Booty because the Scots for safety had sent thither their most precious Goods from Edenburgh and St. Johnstons He took likewise by Surrender Aberdeen and the place where the Scottish Ministers first learned to play the fools St. Andrews Also in the Highlands Collonel Alured took a knot of Lords and Gentlemen viz. four Earls and four Lords and above twenty Knights and Gentlemen whom he sent Prisoners into England So that there was nothing more to be fear'd from Scotland all the trouble of the Rump being to resolve what they should do with it At last they resolv'd to unite and incorporate it into one Common-wealth with England and Ireland And to that end sent thither St. Johns Vane and other Commissioners
Admiral to bid him strike his Flag a thing usually done in acknowledgment of the English Dominion in the narrow Seas which accordingly he did Then came up the Vice-Admiral and being called to as the other was to take down his Flag he answered plainly he would not but after the exchange of four or five Broad-sides and mischief done on either part he took it down but Captain Young demanded also either the Vice-Admiral himself or his Ship to make good the damage already sustained to which the Vice-Admiral answer'd that he had taken in his Flag but would defend himself and his Ship Whereupon Captain Young consulting with the Captains of his other Ships lest the beginning of the War in this time of Treaty should be charged upon himself and night also coming on thought fit to proceed no farther B. The War certainly began at this time but who began it A. The Dominion of the Seas belonging to the English there can be no question but the Dutch began it and that the said Dominion belonged to the English it was confessed at first by the Admiral himself peaceably and at last by the Vice-Admiral taking in their Flags About a fortnight after there happened another Fight upon the like occasion Van Tromp with 42 Men of Mar came to the back of Goodwin-Sands Major Bourne being then with a few of the Parliaments Ships in the Downs and Blake with the rest farther Westward and sent two Captains of his to Bourne to excuse his coming thither To whom Bourne return'd this Answer That the Message was civil but that it might appear real he ought to depart So Tromp departed meaning now Bourne was satisfied to sail towards Blake and he did so but so did also Bourne for fear of the worst When Tromp and Blake were near one another Blake made a Shot over Tromp's Ship as a warning to him to take in his Flag This he did thrice and then Tromp gave him a Broad-side and so began the Fight at the beginning whereof Bourne came in and lasted from two a Clock till night the English having the better and the Flag as before making the Quarrel B. What needs there when both Nations were heartily resolv'd to fight to stand so much upon this Compliment of who should begin For as to the gaining of Friends and Confederates thereby I think it was in vain seeing Princes and States in such occasions look not much upon the Justice of their Neighbours but upon their own Concernment in the Event A. It is commonly so but in this Case the Dutch knowing the Dominion of the narrow Seas to be a gallant Title and envyed by all the Nations that reach the Shore and consequently that they were likely to oppose it did wisely enough in making this Point the state of the Quarrel After this Fight the Dutch Ambassadors residing in England sent a Paper to the Councel of State wherein they stiled this last Encounter a rash Action and affirmed it was done without the knowledge and against the Will of their Lords the States-General and desir'd them that nothing might be done upon it in heat which might become irreparable The Parliament hereupon voted first That the States-General should pay the Charges they were at and for the damages they sustained upon this occasion 2. That this being paid there should be a Cessation of all Acts of Hostility and a mutual Restitution of all Ships and Goods taken 3. And both these agreed to that there should be made a League between the two Common-wealths These Votes were sent to the Dutch Ambassadors in answer of the said Paper but with a Preamble setting forth the former kindnesses of England to the Netherlands and taking notice of their new Fleet of 150 Men of War without any other apparent Design than the destruction of the English Fleet. B. What answer made the Dutch to this A. None Tromp sailed presently into Zealand and Blake with 70 Men of War to the Orkney Islands to seize their Busses and to wait for five Dutch Ships from the East-Indies And Sir George Ascue newly returned from the Barbadoes came into the Downs with 15 Men of War where he was commanded to stay for a Recruit out of the Thames Tromp being recruited now to 120 Sail made account to get in between Sir George Ascue and the mouth of the River but was hindered so long by contrary Winds that the Merchants calling for his Convoy he could stay no longer and so he went back into Holland and thence to Orkney where he met with the said five East-India Ships and sent them home And then he endeavoured to engage with Blake but a sudden Storm forced him to Sea and so dissipated his Fleet that only 42 came home in Body the rest singly as well as they could Blake also came home but went first to the Coast of Holland with 900 Prisoners and six Men of War taken which were part of twelve which he found and took guarding their Busses This was the first bout after the War declar'd In August following there happened a Fight between de Ruitter the Admiral of Zealand with 50 Men of War and Sir George Ascue near Plimouth with 40 wherein Sir George had the better and might have got an intire Victory had the whole Fleet engaged Whatsoever was the matter the Rump though they rewarded him never more employed him after his return in their Service at Sea but voted for the year to come three Generals Blake that was one already and Dean and Monk About this time the Arch-Duke Leopold besieging Dunkirk and the French sending a Fleet to relieve it General Blake lighting on the French at Calais and taking seven of their Ships was cause of the Towns Surrender In September they fought again De Wit and Ruitter commanding the Dutch and Blake the English and the Dutch were again worsted Again in the end of November Van Tromp with 80 Men of War shewed himself at the back of Goodwin-Sands where Blake though he had with him but 40 adventured to fight with him and had much the worst and night parting the Fray retir'd into the River of Thames whilst Van Tromp keeping the Sea took some inconsiderable Vessels from the English and thereupon as it was said with a Childish vanity hung out a Broom from the Main-top mast signifying he meant to sweep the Seas of all English Shipping After this in February the Dutch with Van Tromp were encountered by the English under Blake and Dean near Portsmouth and had the worst And these were all the Encounters between them in this year in the narrow Seas They fought also once at Legorne where the Dutch had the better B. I see no great odds yet on either side if there were any the English had it A. Nor did either of them e're the more incline to Peace For the Hollanders after they had sent Ambassadors into Denmark Sweden Poland and the Hans-Towns whence Tar and Cordage are usually had
to signifie the Declaration of the War and to get them to their Party recalled their Ambassadors from England and the Rump without delay gave them their parting Audience without abating a Syllable of their former severe Propositions And presently to maintain the War for the next year laid a Tax upon the People of 120000 l. per Mensem B. What was done in the mean time at home A. Cromwel was now quarreling the last and greatest obstacle to his Design the Rump And to that end there came out daily from the Army Petitions Addresses Remonstrances and other such Papers some of them urging the Rump to dissolve themselves and make way for another Parliament To which the Rump unwilling to yield and not daring to refuse determined for the end of their sitting the fifth of November 1654. But Cromwel meant not to stay so long In the mean time the Army in Ireland was taking Submissions and granting Transportations of the Irish and condemning whom they pleas'd in a High Court of Justice erected there for that purpose Amongst those that were executed was hang'd Sir Phelim Oneale who first began the Rebellion In Scotland the English built some Citadels for the bridling of that stubborn Nation and thus ended the year 1652. B. Come we then to the year 1653. A. Cromwel wanted now but one step to the end of his Ambition and that was to set his Foot upon the Neck of this Long Parliament which he did April the 23 d of this present year 1653. a time very seasonable For though the Dutch were not mastered yet they were much weakned and what with Prizes from the Enemy and squeezing the Royal Party the Treasury was pretty full and the Tax of 120000 l. a month began to come in all which was his own in right of the Army Therefore without more ado attended by the Major-Generals Lambert and Harrison and some other Officers and as many Soldiers as he thought fit he went to the Parliament-house and dissolv'd them turned them out and locked up the doors And for this Action he was more applauded by the People than for any of his Victories in the War and the Parliament-men as much scorned and derided B. Now that there was no Parliament who had the Supream Power A. If by Power you mean the Right to govern no body had it if you mean the Supream Strength it was clearly in Cromwel who was obeyed as General of all the Forces in England Scotland and Ireland B. Did he pretend that for Title A. No but presently after he invented a Title which was this That he was necessitated for the defence of the Cause for which at first the Parliament had taken up Arms that is to say rebelled to have recourse to extraordinary Actions You know the pretence of the Long Parliaments Rebellion was Salus Populi The safety of the Nation against a dangerous Conspiracy of Papists and a Malignant Party at home and that every man is bound as far as his Power extends to procure the safety of the whole Nation which none but the Army were able to do and the Parliament had hitherto neglected was it not then the General 's Duty to do it Had he not therefore Right For that Law of Salus Populi is directed only to those that have Power enough to defend the People that is to them that have the Supream Power B. Yes certainly he had as good a Title as the Long Parliament But the Long Parliament did represent the People and it seems to me that the Sovereign Power is essentially annexed to the Representative of the People A. Yes if he that makes a Representative that is in the present Case the King do call them together to receive the Sovereign Power and he divest himself thereof otherwise not Nor was ever the Lower House of Parliament the Representative of the whole Nation but of the Commons only nor had that House the power to oblige by their Acts or Ordinances any Lord or any Priest B. Did Cromwel come in upon the only Title of Salus Populi A. This is a Title that very few men understand His way was to get the Supream Power confer'd upon him by Parliament Therefore he call'd a Parliament and gave it the Supream Power to the end that they should give it to him again Was not this witty First therefore he published a Declaration of the Causes why he dissolv'd the Parliament The sum whereof was that in stead of endeavouring to promote the good of God's People they endeavour'd by a Bill then ready to pass to recruit the House and perpetuate their own Power Next he constituted a Councel of State of his own Creatures to be the Supream Authority of England but no longer than till the next Parliament should be called and met Thirdly he summoned 142 Persons such as he himself or his Trusty Officers made choice of the greatest part of whom were instructed what to do obscure Persons and most of them Fanaticks though stiled by Cromwel men of approved fidelity and honesty To these the Councel of State surrendred the Supream Authority and not long after these men surrendred it to Cromwel July the fourth this Parliament met and chose for the Speaker one Mr. Rous and called themselves from that time forward the Parliament of England but Cromwel for the more surety constituted also a Councel of State not of such petty fellows as most of these were but of himself and his principal Officers These did all the business both publick and private making Ordinances and giving Audience to Forreign Ambassadors But he had now more Enemies than before Harrison who was the Head of the Fifth-monarchy-men laying down his Commission did nothing but animate his Party against him for which afterwards he was imprison'd This little Parliament in the mean time were making of Acts so ridiculous and displeasing to the People that it was thought he chose them on purpose to bring all Ruling Parliaments into contempt and Monarchy again into credit B. What Acts were these A. One of them was That all Marriages should be made by a Justice of Peace and the Banes asked three several days in the next Market None were forbidden to be married by a Minister but without a Justice of Peace the Marriage was to be void So that divers wary Couples to be sure of one another howsoever they might repent it afterwards were married both ways Also they abrogated the Engagement whereby no man was admitted to sue in any Court of Law that had not taken it that is that had not acknowledged the late Rump B. Neither of these did any hurt to Cromwel A. They were also in hand with an Act to cancel all the present Laws and Law-Books and to make a new Code more suitable to the humor of the Fifth-monarchy-men of whom there were many in this Parliament Their Tenent being that there ought none to be Sovereign but King Jesus nor any to govern under him but the Saints