thâ— sight yet be not extream to mark what we have done amiss and enter not into Judgment with thy Servants but in Mercy consider whereof we are made and remember that we are but Dust encompass'd with Frailties and Infirmities and so prone to Evil that of our selves we are not able so much as to think a good Thought therefore cleanse and purifie us both in Body and Mind that we may be able to do that which is acceptable in thy sight take away the reigning power of Sin that our Wills and Affections may be brought into obedience to the Law of Christ and let the time past suffice us to have wrought the will of the Flesh raise up our thoughts and desires Heaven-wards and convince us of the emptiness and vanity of these sublunary Enjoyments that we may not be drawn aside by them let us use this World as if we used it not and consider it but as a Passage into Eternity let us ever be mindful of the Snares and Temptations that lye in our way and that the Devil as a roaring Lyon walks about continually seeking whom he may devour that he is crafty and subtile and knows how to suit his alurements and wiles to the temper and inclination of every one of us give us Grace to resist him and Power to withstand and conquer all his Devices strengthen us with Grace in the inward man that we may be able to present our selves before thee at the great day of account holy and acceptable in thy sight And to that end let us be daily searching and trying our ways and doings that we may find out our weaknesses and infirmities and discover the Sin that does the most easily beset us and then let us meekly and earnestly beg thy gracious assistance against them and be thou found of us we humbly pray thee oh most merciful Lord God Let us be daily making an even reckoning with thee by Repentance and let it be sincere and from the Heart convince thou us of the danger of a late or Death-bed Repentance make us mindful of our short and uncertain stay and abode here let us be ever mindful that the young dyes as well as the old the healthy as well as the diseased let us not presume upon our Constitution or Youth but remember that the time of our departure is set and that after death there remains no more atonement for Sin Therefore O Lord we entreat thee to make us wise unto Salvation that at what hour soever the Master comes we may be found doing his Will and then receive the Reward which thou hast promised to those whom thou shalt find so doing Look down in mercy upon this poor Nation prevent those Judgments which our Sins and Transgressions have called loud for against us and cause thy Face to shine upon us and to that end be merciful to the King that he may see his true Interest and let all his Designs and Consultations be directed to the advancement of thy Glory and setling the Peace of this Land let no weapon formed against this ancient Government prosper and turn the designs of all those who have Evil to our Sion upon their own Heads with shame and confusion to the manifestation of thy Glory and the Comfort of those who wish her well and to all those whom thou shalt call out to have a share in the administration of affairs give them Understanding to see what they ought to do and say and Courage to reveal what thou shalt put into their Hearts and do it with an honest and upright intention that they may have cause to hope for thy Blessing upon their Endeavours and let us all learn to fear thee and in our greatest difficulties to look up unto thee and not to depend on an Arm of Flesh make us a People zealous of good works and let Holiness to the Lord be engraven upon us And bless us also of this Family all those that are related unto it and those for whom any of us may be in a particular way concerned for give us Grace to walk humbly and with obedience before thee let us in our several employments and stations study to do our duty conscientiously setting thee before us in all our Actions add unto us the good things of this Life bless our Basket and Store and so thankfully receive and carefully bestow them that they may be Blessings and not Snares to us let us whilst we are here live to thy praise and glory and be such eminent Patterns of upright living that others seeing our righteous conversation may also glorifie thee our Father which is in Heaven And remember we beseech thee all the Sons and Daughters of Affliction visit them with thy Kindness as their several wants and necessities do require support them under thy Hand lay no more upon them than they shall be able to bear and let the chastisement of their Bodies turn to the health of their Souls and enlarge thou our bowels and charity to every Object that needs it let us give without grudging and bless thy Name that we are not in their stead And now O Lord from the bottom of our Hearts we return our praise and thanks for all the Mercies and Favours we have received at thy hands we acknowledge that we are unworthy of the least of them and have not been sensible of our obligations to thee but oh Lord as thou hast hitherto conferr'd them upon us without any Merit on our part so we beseech thee to continue them to us for thy Son's sake Jesus Christ and we desire at this time in particular to offer up our tribute of Praise and Adoration for thy unspeakable goodness to several of this Family in that thou hast deliver'd us from those Fears and Apprehensions we had concerning them Death seem'd to threaten them and the Grave ready to devour them but blessed be thy great Name that didst rebuke their Distemper and hast given us such hopes of their perfect recovery thou wert the needful Help in time of trouble and let us learn by this to look up unto thee in all our distresses Take us this night into thy protection let no Evil approach us but let our Beds be places of ease and of refreshment to every one of us and raise us up in the morning fitted for our several Callings and Duties Hear us O Lord and answer us not according to our demerits and unworthiness or coolness in asking but according to thy love in Jesus Christ to whom with thy self and Holy Ghost be all Praise and Adoration both now and for evermore Amen These following were some Occasional Additions GRacious God who out of thine infinite Goodness dost allow us the favour of coming into thy presence and to make our Supplications unto thee possess us we beseech thee with such a sense and dread of thy Divine Majesty that our Thoughts may be so entirely intent upon the service that we are now to perform that
in every thing that half the Effect is lost before they are put in Execution As in bestowing Imployments or other Favours the Party does for the most part attend so long till thereby the thing receives so great an allay and comes with so ill a Grace that half the obligation is lost before it is given And the delatoriness in all other Matters looses much of the advantage that might have been had by a quicker dispatch and often creates a necessity to supply by a second Act what was lost by the delay in the first and though at last the point may be gain'd yet being forc't to do that at twice which might have bin done at once is no great reputation to such Methods Dispatch being the life of Execution as steddiness is of Council And this slow progress is almost unavoidable for these Persons who have hemmed the King in will not loose the advantage that is to be had in disposing of Imployments they will keep the Candidates as long as they can in suspence to see who will bid highest whereas a greater dispatch in the disposing of them would be the loss of several Visions of Angels which else they may hope to see and much more haste cannot well be expected in other things by reason that the proceedings are in a new way more uncertain and round about and so very much depending upon every step It s no wonder if there be so much Caution and Jealousie as to make the resolutions and execution far slower than if they had been managed in the Old Track What has bin said does not argue against a due Care and Circumspection so as not to prevent all precipitancy rashness or indiscreet haste and yet the Caution that goes further than so is needless and that which turns to the prejudice of it is in no sort to be justified And though by an unusual slowness a point may have bin gain'd yet there is no more reason for the future to take that Method in other Cases than to make use of a desperate remedy in all Cases because it once had good success and there is as little reason to observe the same Rules and Methods in all Governments for that Prince who does so it argues his insufficiency to govern But the most fatal consequence of a Cabinet Council is that in a short time it disposes the King to be weary and uneasie with Men of Interest and Desert their Room being more welcome to him than their Company and then he lays hold on every occasion to put slights upon them and to shuffle them out of their Imployments for his Appetite being depraved by those of the Cabinet he cannot rellish those wholesome Advicee which the others think they are bound in duty to offer him but when the King makes himself strange to such Men the People won't believe that he has any good meaning to them They may suspect that their Properties are in danger when those that have bin the great Defenders of them are in no credit with him No Man ever got the good Opinion of the Nation till by the whole Course of his Actions he had made it evident that he preserved the Publick good to his own private Advantage and therefore if the King does account the Publick Good and his Interest to be the same thing who ought he then so much to esteem as those who are in the good liking of the Nation who ought he so much to incourage or on whom so much to depend as they For their Advice will be faithful and he may be sure as none are so able to serve him as they so none will be more ready and forward When he imploys none but such as these and values every Man according to the rate that the Nation sets upon him he then at once bows the hearts of all the People as one Man and thereby becomes as safe and great both at home and abroad as the Wisdom Blood and Treasure of the Land can make him it makes every Man believe that it is more his Interest to preserve the Kings Life than to secure his own and that it is his duty to make the King easie in every respect rather than to increase the Wealth and Prosperity of his own Family that which used to be so tedious and uneasie to other Kings will be laid upon the shoulders of the whole Nation for every Man will make it his business that no detriment shall befal the Kings Affairs Informations for Libels and Reflections upon the Government will then be useless for neither his Name nor Administration will never be mention'd but with all respect and beseeming expressions and those hours which those at Court used to spend in undermining each other will be wholly imploy'd in his Service and in short he may be gratified in every thing that his heart can desire But if he lay such Men aside then as Naturally as Corruption suceeds Death their rooms must be supply'd by others who have neither Interest Principle nor Morality but are Compounded of Knave and Fool the very Scum of the Land and will do any thing without asking a question provided they be well paid and the result of all their Advice will be to estrange his Heart from his People But when the Nation shall perceive him to be thus encompassed they will not be so prone to trust him as to observe his proceedings for under such Circumstances his aspect must be very Malevolent what good can be hoped for when he accounts them the fittest to serve him and the properest object of his favour whom the People may justly repute their Enemies but well may they be alarum'd when such are imploy'd as were obnoxious in the time of his Predecessor for it 's a certain argument either of the unskilfulness or foulness of a Gamester when he desires to play with marked Cards so necessary it is for Kings to consider well who they imploy because the People Judge of the King according to the Complexion of those that are about him Wisely therefore did H. IV. upon an address of the Commons remove several Persons that he was very tender of saying he did it not that he could accuse them of any thing but because the People had an ill Opinion of them for he knew that they were competent Judges in the case And as Politick was it of H. VIII to give up Empson and Dudley to Justice who might have done as much for him as they had done for his Father but he considered that to part with the hearts of the People for all the Wealth they could procure him would be a very ill bargain for he understood he might command all that was his Subjects so long as he and they were upon good terms and that King is not much disposed to be well with his People when he is fond of a few Men who cannot pretend to any great merit But when the King shall once in good earnest take Men of
dependance by the hand he 'll quickly find himself alone with them For all Men of worth and honour will of their own accord be as forward to quit their Imployments as he is willing to put them out because the tenderness that they have for their reputations will not allow them to mingle with worser men than themselves and the rather because it would give countenance to the irregular and disobliging Methods which may be advised to by the other sort of men And for this they will not be the worse thought on by their Country but like Gold ten times purified they return home with all the advantage that can be and those who honoured them before will then fall down and worship them no Man ever has lost the esteem he had got with the People for being turn'd out at Court it being a great mistake that any Man will be lessen'd in the Opinion of the Nation by being turn'd out of his Imployment either because he gave bold Advice or would not comply against his Judgment or else by quitting of his place rather than by staying to give a countenance to other Mens proceedings for in such Cases the King suffers more in the good Opinion of the People than the Person whom he dismiss'd from his Service and in what a miserable condition is that King who has lost the hearts of his People for nothing on Earth can repair it or be an equivalent and how shall he recover their affections when honest Men are fled from him and none are left near him but such as whose interest it is to keep him at a distance from his People And though he may return to a right mind and pretend and promise never so fair yet the Nation and every honest and wise Man will be Jealous that every advance he makes is only a Masque or Disguise that he puts on and not that his heart is right in the matter Now when ill Men are imploy'd and advanced as well as others The pretence is either because of their great abilities or usefulness or else that in point of Policy it is convenient to make use of all men without distinction for this indulgence will allay heats and put an end to differences and unite all into the same interest whereas if any are left out they are thereby cut off from the Common Interest and only those sort of Men can be depended on who are thus favoured and imploy'd This will not bear so much weight as at first sight it seems to carry Ability or fitness is the first step to preferment and that is a happy Government that considers it in Persons before they are imploy'd but let Men be never so able yet if they are defective in integrity the unum necessarium is wanting for a Man of Ability without Honesty is like a Ship without ballast he cannot move steddily every little wind of advantage carries him to and fro backwards and forwards and he never sticks at any point longer than he can serve himself by it If there can ever be a necessity of making use of an ill Man it must be because his knowledge transcends the rest of Mankind or else because another wise Man cannot be found but England was never yet so barren of able men that there was a necessity of imploying Knaves or Men obnoxious when ever the Nation falls under such Circumstances it is then visited with a sore Judgment To make use of Knaves is ever a remedy worse than the Disease seldom any good but frequently a great deal of mischief ensues upon it and the Ability of any Person if he be a Knave is rather an Argument to avoid than imploy him because by how much the more able he is by so much is he capable of doing the greater mischief To allay heats and animosities to put an end to future differences and to unite all Parties is an excellent design and a great happyness if it could be effected But withall care is to be taken that whilest one storm is laying a greater is not thereby raised and whilest in the conjuring down of one Devil it does not raise two and in the making up of Divisions worser are created thereby and by gaining one Enemy Twenty Friends are lost and nothing seems to lead so directly to it as equally and without distinction to imploy men of all sorts and Opinions and there is another Method that will give less cause of discontent to any Party For it will be agreed That to pardon a Criminal is as great an act of goodness as to reward the good Service of another Person If all have equal Right and speedy Justice impartially be done to every Man this must be confessed to be a Righteous Government and if it be not too extream to mark what is done amiss nor too strickt to measure every Offender a Peck out of his own Sack nor too rigidly to judge every Man according to his own Law this must be allow'd to be a merciful Government and if at the same time the King bestows his favours and imployments only on such as best deserve them where is the injustice or partiality of this proceeding or who can justly take offence at any part of it And therefore when a King does equally and without distinction bestow his Favours and Imployments on all Interests and Parties there ought to be three things in the case First That all Parties are equal Secondly That he cannot depend upon one more than another Thirdly That his Obligations to all Parties are equal Every one of which is very strange when it is so but much more wonderful will it be when they all happen together For as to the first It is not easie to imagine that all Parties will ever be so equal so as that no one will be bigger than any of the rest no more than it can be supposed that all Men will ever have an equal measure of understanding uninterrupted experience proves that it never was so and there is nothing to induce us to believe that it ever will be so For so long as there are either Fools or Knaves there will be difference in the size and strength of Parties and there will be Fools and Knaves till Christs Kingdom comes â—â—s to the second it may be said That it will be a very extraordinary juncture whenever it happens that the King cannot depend upon one Party more than upon another since the reason of it will be this because the Principles of every party will be equally dangerous or advantagious to the King or equally different or agreeable to his this is a remote supposition and cannot be expected on this side the Grave and therefore it will follow that he cannot have a like confidence of all Parties but must depend upon some more than upon others and this dependance will naturally fix it self either on them whose Principle it is to support the common good or else on such as are more disposed to comply with
my thoughts what is to be done In the first place I do propose that every Man of them shall on their knees confess their fault to all the Commons and that to be done at this Bar one by one Next That as far as they are able that they refund all the Money they have received for secret Service Our Law will not allow a Thief to keep what he has got by stealth but of course orders restitution and shall these proud Robbers of the Nation not restore their ill gotten goods And lastly I do propose that they be Voted incapable of serving in Parliament for the future or of injoying any Office Civil or Military and order a Bill to be brought in to that purpose For it 's not fit that they who were so false and unjust in that Trust should ever be trusted again This Sir is my Opinion but if the House shall incline to any other way I shall readily comply provided a sufficient mark of Infamy be set on them that the People may know who bought and Sold them A SPEECH For the Sitting of PARLIAMENTS And against FAVOURITES A King of England at the head of his Parliament is in his full strength and power and in his greatest Splendor and Glory It is then that he can do great things and without a Parliament he is not very formidable Therefore when Kings leave off the use of Parliaments and rely upon the Advice of particular Favourites they forsake their chiefest Interest they lay aside the Staff that supports them to lean upon a broken Reed that will run into their hands and this is proved by the Example of former Kings What Kings perform'd such Enterprizes and did such wonderful things as those who still consulted their Parliaments And who had more the Command of the Peoples Purses than those Kings who met the Natives frequently in Parliament As Witness Hen. I. Edw. I. Edw. III. Hen. V. Hen. VIII Q. Eliz. and what Kings were so mean and obscure despised by their Neighbours and abhorr'd by their Subjects as those who left off the use of Parliaments and doted upon their Favourites As witness Will. II. King John Henry III. Edward II. Richard II. Henry VI. And I think it 's undeniable that when the King leaves off Parliaments he forsakes his Interest he refuses the good and chooses the bad I wish it could not be said that for two years last past the use of Parliaments has almost been laid aside It 's too true that Parliaments have been delayed and there is but a little between delaying and denying and the first step to a denyal is to delay Every Man knows the great need we have had of a Parliament these Seventeenth Months and why has it not met till now It 's very well known how earnestly it was desired by all good Protestants and true Englishmen and what applications have been made to His Majestie that it might sit and it could not be obtain'd till now And it is not to be forgotten how often it has been Prorogued and the Notice that has been given to the Nation of the several Prorogations the first time that we heard of them was by the Gazett in which is seldom any thing of truth and then out comes a Proclamation for a Prorogation about a day or two before the day of meeting When Gentlemen have disposed their Affairs that they may attend at the Parliament and possibly were on their Journey towards London upon the Road they meet the News of the Prorogation very good usage and there is nothing to be said in Justification of such short Notice but that when His Majesty by His Proclamation had appointed a farther time for the meeting of the Parliament that in plain English no Man must believe it would meet For if Gentlemen did believe it they would prepare for it and if they are prepared it 's but reasonable that sufficient Notice should be given to prevent them Certainly they who advised the King in this matter intended that none of His Majesties Proclamations should have any credit For His Majesty he put out several Proclamations against the Papists and we see how they are regarded not the least obedience yielded to them And this giving of such short notice was certainly done on purpose that those Proclamations should neither be obeyed nor believed Thus is the K. abused thus does he loose the hearts of his People and thus is the Nation abused What will become of us when we cannot believe what His Majesty says Out of Parliament the King cannot speak to his People in a more notable way than by Proclamation and as the matter is order'd these are not regarded In a Subject nothing is more Infamous than to say of him that his word is not to be relyed on he does not regard what he says And therefore what Villains are they who by their Advice do bring the King but into the suspition of it This delaving of Parliaments seems to portend the laying of Parliaments aside and if so an Army will follow for the King must govern either by a Parliament or an Army for one of them he must have now the way to get rid of Parliaments is this First Although they meet sometimes yet something must be started to hinder their success or if that wont do Prorogue or Dissolve them before any thing be finisht and thus Parliaments will be made useless and this being done it will not be long before they become burdensome and then away with them for good and all Kings only then grow out of conceit with Parliaments when their Favourites are so overgrown and their Actions are so exorbitant that they will not indure to be scann'd by a Parliament And therefore to save themselves they perswade the King to keep off the Parliament though it be to his great hurt For the last Trump at the Day of Judgment will not be more terrible to the World than the sound of an approaching Parliament is to unjust Ministers and Favourites That State is sick of a grievous Distemper when Kings neglect their Parliaments and adhere to Favourites and certainly that woe is then fallen upon that Nation which Solomon denounces for says he woe to that Nation whose King is a Child And without question he meant a Child in Understanding and not in Years We have had in England Kings who when they were Children by the help of a wise Council have govern'd very well But after that they took matters into their own hands it went very ill with England as Richard II. Henry VI. who whilest they were Children the Government was steer'd aright but their understanding not growing as fast as their Years they assumed the Government before they were ready for it and so managed matters that it 's better not to name them than to reckon them in the Catalogue of the Kings And there is yet another reason why great Favourites should advise against Parliaments Kings that dote too much upon
their Favourites do for the most part pick up mean Men people of no Fortunes or Estates upon whom it is that they place their favour to so high a degree And therefore it 's for their Interest to advise the King to govern by an Army for if he prevails then they are sure to have what heart can wish or if he fail yet they are but where they were they had no thing and they can loose nothing There is no Man but very plainly sees that there are People about His Majesty who advise him to shake off the Fetters of the Lawes and to govern Arbitrarily and I wish that their Advice have not prevailed for the most part yet I think His Majesties own Inclinations do not bend that way for he seems to love quiet and ease which no Prince can have that Rules by an Army Therefore before we can expect that His Majesty will come in to us these People of Arbitrary Principles must be removed from his Throne for whilest there are the same Advisers we must expect the same Advice whilest there are the same Councellors we must expect the same Results And this alone will not do it it 's but the first step to our happyness the Principles or Maxims of State must be removed it 's not taking away this or the other Man and putting in another to act by the same Rules that will cure our Disease but it 's the change of Principles that must do it You may remember in the last Parliament the change that was made in the Privy Council and Ministers and upon the first news of it I met with a Gentleman that had a great Service for White-Hall says he I hope now you are pleas'd what can you expect more from His Majesty I replyed I like it well yet not so very well for said I all is well that ends well for all is not Gold that glisters I am not sure that these Men that are put out have not left their Principles behind them when those are gone I shall like it very well The Man was angry and flung away saying you are hard to please and says I you are easie and so we parted And I pray you how much Wooll have we had after all this cry what benefit have we reaped by that change Do not we see that unless they would act by the Maximes of their Predecessors they must do nothing and therefore several did desire leave to go off Some of these worthy Lords and Gentlemen that did so are now in my eye and I shall ever honour them for it I cannot forget the promises made to the Parliament at the same time and how well they have been kept Therefore I think it 's very plain that till these Principles are removed from White-hall that all our labour and pains will end in nothing The way then as I conceive to do this is to lay before His Majesty the state of the case let us shew him how unable these Men are to serve him and how destructive to his Interest it is to follow their Advices and that he can be Safe and Great only by closing with his Parliament Would His Majesty be Safe alas what can his Creatures do just nothing they have no Power nor have they Will further than it serves for their own advantage But His Majesty is safe in his Parliament for it is the Interest of every Man in England to preserve and defend His Majesties governing by his Parliament Does he want Money to make him easie I pray what can he expect from the Catterpillers his Favourites their care is not how to serve him but to make their own Fortunes But from his Parliament he need not want very plentiful supplies to preserve the Honour of himself and the Kingdom Would he maintain his Dominions and Rights what can his Creatures do but when he closes with his Parliament he can neither want the Heads Hearts and Purses of his People to serve him so that whatever His Majesty would have it is only to be had by his Parliament For his Favourites cannot in the least contribute to make him Safe or Honourable or whatever else a King may want or desire All the Use a King can have from His Favourites is to have Stories and Lies to set him at variance with his People I hope when the Case is laid before His Majesty that he will close with us but if his Judgment is so prepossessed that it will not convince him of his Interest then we must conclude that it is with him as it was with Rehoboam who forsook the Council of the Old Men and inclined to that of the Young Men who councelled him to tell the People that his little Finger should be thicker than his Fathers Loynes And I pray what was the effect of that huffing Speech Why Ten Tribes were taken from him and it was not his Young Men that could recover them for him again neither was it without a Parliament that his Majesty was brought into England I hope his Majesty has not forgot it Let them advise what they will but I am confident they will think on 't a good while before they will adventure to put those Arbitrary Councils into Execution it will prove a hot matter to handle For though I hope no Man here will lift up his hand against His Majesty yet we may oppose any Man that does seek to invade our Properties And for my own part I will Pistol any Subject be he the greatest in England that shall in deavour to deprive me of my just Right Let us do what we can to effect an Union between the King and his People and leave that Success to God Almighty and his will be done A SPEECH On the Occasion of some JUSTICES Being put out of COMMISSION I Was in hopes that some Gentlemen would have prevented me in what I have to say for I fear the House is under a great mistake as to those Gentlemen of the House who are put out of the Commission of the Peace For it is to speak to that chiefly I stand up I acknowledge that it is an unanswerable thing that other Gentlemen were put out but no doubt it was upon very weighty and warrantable grounds that the Gentlemen of the House were put out For without doubt His Majesty or who he be that advised him to it did think it reasonable and were sensible that we who attend the service of our Country in this place do spend our Time and Money and neglect our own Affairs and therefore when we come home its fit that we have a time of rest and that we be eased both in our Bodies and Purses and be at leasure to settle our own concerns and not that we should be tossed from one chargeable and troublesome Imployment to another So that we have great cause to be thankful for the care that is taken of us Besides there is a further regard had to us for this is a
particular interest as well as his duty does indispensibly oblige him to do what in him lyes to support it In order to this that which is now more especially expected from us is first To inquire into the neglects of those in whom the Law has reposed any trust and Second to discover those who have broken or violated the Laws that such criminals may be brought to condign punishment And since the execution of the Laws is our proper business and that the Laws should have their course is absolutely necessary to the being of the Government It may not be impertinent as I conceive at this time to say something of the Nature of Government and particularly of our own constitution or rather it seems necessary to take all occasions to explain it considering what variety of opinions there is amongst us of that which is or ought to be the Supreme authority or power in England Many wise and learned men have written of the Nature of Government and given excellent definitions of it but of all others Plato seems to me to have done it in the fewest and plainest words which are these Government or Law says he is to preserve the huge and indigested lump of a Multitude and to bring all disorder into proportion so as to become an harmony And Next to him is the learned Aquinas says that it is a rational ordinance for the advancing of the publick good Several others have spoken to the same purpose which I omit because I will be as little tedious as I can Two things I have observed from hence first That order and peace is or ought to be the end of every Government And second That in every Government there is some particular principle that runs through the whole Scheme of that Constitution and that as that principle is followed or neglected so accordingly it goes ill or well with the publick that is when those who are intrusted with the executive power do pursue that principle every thing moves regularly and the Government is firm and stable But when they steer by any other Measures the State does unavoidably fall into disorders and Convulsions and that whoever he be that is placed at the head of the Government if he desires to have the Hearts and Prayers of his People whilst he lives and that after-Ages shall bless his Memory It is necessary first That in general he resolve to Govern well And Secondly Throughly and rightly to apprize himself of that principle that is the Soul of the Government or at least-that he be advised by such as are most likely to know it and will give him faithful Counsel Otherwise he will be like a Traveller that in the Night misses his way upon some large Plain wandering he knows not whither and is more likely to meet with some disaster than to find his way Having said this it is natural for you to expect that I should tell you what that Principle is which is the Life and Foundation of this Government If I am not much mistaken and I am verily perswaded that I am not I take it to be this That every Subject of England has so clear a property in his Life Goods and Estate and every thing else which he possesses that they cannot be taken from him nor ought he to be disturbed in the Injoyment of them without his voluntary Consent or for some Offence against the Law And in the next Place that there be not a Failure in Justice that is That no man be left without remedy where his Right is concern'd and that every Criminal be pun sht according to the Demerits of his Offence I am apt to believe that every man will think that this is very agreeable to Natural Reason and then I don't see how it can be inconsistent with the Prerogative of the Crown altho' I know that not very long since and I fear yet there are some who carry the Prerogative much higher placing it above the Law but nothing save the Iniquity of the times and the Depravity of such mens Manners could support or give Countenance to so senseless a thought For they are very ignorant of the Nature of Prerogative if they think it is a Powet to do Hurt and not to do Good Certainly the Kings Prerogative is to help and relieve the People where the Edge of the Law is too sharp and keen and not a Power by which he may Oppress and Destroy his Subjects Men are to be Govern'd by a Power that is guided by Reason unless we can suppose they have no more understanding and are of no greater Value than the Beasts that Perish It was said by one who was a very competent Judge in the Case as I remember it was Sir John Fortescue That it is a greater Power in a Prince to be restrained by Law from oppressing than to have an absolute Regal Power And says another great Author The way if Governing must be both right and clear as well as is the End And how this can be expected when a King is guided by no other Rule than that of his Will and Pleasure I don't see no more than that a man can depend upon the Weather Does not all the Examples of it that ever were prove that absolute Power and Oppression are inseparable and the one as naturally proceeds from the other as the Effect does from the Cause It 's a Riddle to me how that Prince can be called Gods Ordinance who assumes a Power above what the Law has invested him with to the grieving and oppressing of his Subjects May not the Plague Famine or Sword as well be called Gods Ordinance since one no less than the other is sent by him for the Punishment of that People he so Visits We may reasonably suppose that Order and Peace is much rather the End of Government than Oppression and Violence because God is a God of Order and when he sent the greatest Blessing upon Earth it was Peace and tho' God was often very wrath with the Kings of Israel and Judah for their Idolatry yet the Innocent Blood that they shed and the Violence and Oppression which they committed provoked him more highly and with his severest Judgements has always testityed his Displeasure against it I could run out into a large Discourse upon this Subject but I will stop here because I am perswaded that what I have already said is sufficient to convince any one that is unprejudiced That an absolute Power is so far from being the Right of a King of England that the exercise of such a Power is unlawful in any King I know very well that in the late Reigns this Doctrine would not have been indured to have said less than this would have lost a man his head For whoever would not comply with Arbitrary power was called Factious and an opposer of the Government But is it not Nonsence or very near a Kin to it to call that Seditious that is for bringing things
mans pleasure so we hold our Religion as precariously because a Prince can impose upon Slaves what Religion he pleases France is so pregnant an Instance of this that it puts the thing out of Dispute For while the Protestants kept their Liberties all was well with them yet no sooner was that wrested out of their hands but it was quickly seen what became of their Religion I have always thought that they began at the wrong End who reckoned themselves out of all other danger whilst they enjoyed the Exercise of their Religion it will not be denyed but that Liberty is a great Security to the free Exercise of Religion but if our Civil Rights are assaulted I don't see by what means Religion can rescue them out of Violent hands Besides there are many Instances where Religion has been used as a Stalking Horse to enslave a Nation For did ever any Man pretend to have a greater concern for the Church than Charles the 2d and yet no man more designed the Ruine or the Nation than he did which Example may occasion the People to suspect some Design upon their Liberties when the Prince pretends the greatest Care for Religion unless he be a man of great Morality and Religion appear in his Life and Practice as well as in his Words and Promises For it is scarce passible to inslave a free People by direct Force and therefore they must be gulled out of their Liberty by Art and underhand Practice and there cannot be a better blind than a pretended care for Religion to keep the people from observing what is designed against them So that if any thing is worthy of their Care it is their Liberty and in doing so you do the part of Loyal Subjects and good Christians whereas by the neglect of it you expose every thing that is valuable so you also lay a snare in the way of your Prince thereby tempting him to think of that which otherwise might not have come into his Thoughts And this Care is never to be neglected not even when any thing goes to their hearts Desire lest whilst you speak Peace to your selves there comes upon you sudden destruction For a Design is more likely to take effect when people suspect no such thing than when they stand upon their Guard There are many ways of Working People up into a Security of all which Promiles are the most fatal for without Performance they become Snares and therefore it is upon Actions and not upon words that a Wise Man will ground his Belief or Opinion Consider what is done and not what is said for whoever he be that is so wicked as to have a Design of inslaving the Nation he will never make a difficulty of promising very largely If then we ought to take care of our Liberty how ridiculous is it to talk of Serving the Crown when by that is meant To make the Kings Will and Pleasure the Measure of their Obedience it must be a mere Nonsensical Boast to talk at that rate when they have stript themselves of the means of Serving like Rational Creatures for when men have given up their Liberty what does all their Service to the Crown differ from that of a Beast The Service that we do for our Prince should be like that which we render unto God not a forc't and constrained but a free and reasonable Service So that I think I may say That he who hopes to recommend himself to his Princes Favour by such a piece of Service must needs be a very profligate Wretch and believe his Prince to be altogether such a one as himself For such a design is altogether unlawful because it is destructive to the Nature and End of Government Contrary to the Kings Coronation Oath inconsistent with Reason and a Violation of that Trust and Confidence which the people repose in the King For as I take it The Power that is lodged in the Crown is only a Trust and nothing more for he must have that Power either as a Trust or a Property and if he holds it as a Property then no Bounds or Limits can be set to it and he may use it as to him shall seem most meet What will Laws then signify To what purpose is the Coronation Oath and all those other Cautions that are taken to oblige the King to Govern according to the Laws and laudable Customs of the Realm and then every Prince that has been Deposed for committing Violence and Oppression was highly injured for there would be no other Standard of Right and Wrong but that of his Will and Pleasure But it is a common Practice to depose Kings when they become a Burthen to the People that being the proper and only remedy in such Cases For let any man tell me if he can whether the Liberty that remains in the World has been or can be preserved by any other Means than by that Power that is used in the people of laying aside such Kings whose Administrations become exorbitant For the Number of ill Kings exceeds so much that of the good ones that Liberty had been before this day swallowed by Prerogative without some such check and because so very much good or hurt is in the power of the Prince the value of a good King is inestimable To be delivered out of the Hands of an Oppressing King is a great Mercy yet such a price when put into the Hands of any People is seldom improved as it ought to be For Tacitus makes this Observation upon the Fall of Nero That the first day after the Reign of a Tyrant is always the best This is a great Truth and a Rule that has no exception For this several Reasons may be given For generally the people are so transported upon being eased of their Burthen that they neglect to make such provisions as are necessary to prevent the like Irregularities for the Future either from belief that no other man will be Wicked to the like degree or else from the fond Opinion that they conceive of him who was the chief Instrument of their Deliverance trusting that the same Principle of Honour and Justice that incited him to stand up in their Defence will prompt him to do all those things that are needful to settle the Government upon a lasting Foundation Which was something our Case upon the Restoration of King Charles 2d only with this Difference that instead of Repairing the Breaches which his Father had made the mistaken Loyalty of the Age helpt to make them wider Another Reason for Tacitus his Observation may be this Because the chief Instrument of their Deliverance altho' he appeared very zealous on their behalf yet he aimed at nothing but getting the Crown as it was when the Dauphine of France came over to assist the Barons against King John his Declaration was full of nothing else but the English Liberties yet it afterwards appeared that his Design in assisting them was only to get into the
considering that Popery was so long professed in this Nation To that a short Answer will serve That the Pope's Authority was never establish'd here by Law altho' he was allowed many things by reason of the Superstition and Blindness that then overspread this Island yet the King and Parliament could never agree to give him any power by Law nay when he grew immodest in his Encroachments upon the Church they made Laws to restrain him but the Truth is it was the Resolution of the Parliament and especially of the Lords that protected the Nation against the Pope but if Popery should now come in we should have it to all intents and purposes for it would possess both Church and State it must have all Q. Marys days are a sufficient Warning what we must expect from a Popish Successor and how far their Promises are to be relyed on for by the assistance of the Men of Norfolk and Suffolk it was that she did her business and what Promises did she make to them not to make any alteration in Religion and said many other fine things yet as soon as she was setled on the Throne the first thing she did was to alter Religion with the greatest violence and effusion of Blood that was possible and these Men of Suffolk and Norfolk felt the first stroke of her Hand and perhaps the greatest heat of her Fury But I have too far digressed from my first Argument which is That if Protection from the King is not given to his Subjects or Obedience in the Subjects is not paid to the King then if one side fail the other is discharged and the Condition being broken the Obligation is void And this was the reason why Vortigern the Saxon King was deposed by his Lords for he was grown too friendly to Heugist the Dane and the Lords perceiving that he intended to betray the Land to him they to prevent the Common Destruction and because by this practice he had absolved them of their Allegiance therefore they deposed him and set up his Son Vortimer because he was a true lover of his Country There are several other Instances of the like nature which would be needless to be cited because I should rather amuse than satisfie you of the Truth should I recount them all In the next place I do conceive that the King until he be Crowned is not so much King to all intents and purposes as he is after he is Crowned for if the crowning of the King be but a meer Ceremony or Compliment of State and not essential in giving him a Right to the Allegiance of the Subject then certainly no King of England would be troubled with the Ceremony of being formally crowned because then there will lye no Obligation upon him to take the Coronation Oath and so he may be more at liberty to act according to his Will because his Conscience will not be clogged with the weight of so solemn an Oath and then with less Infamy and Reflection he may suspend or pervert the Laws and therefore with submission to better Judgments I am not convinced that the King whilst he is uncrowned has that Right in our Allegiance as he has after that the Crown is set upon his Head in the same way that it ought to be done for before the Crown is set upon his Head by the Archbishop or other person appointed to do it the Nobility and People are asked if they will do their Homage and Service to him which by the way implies that the People are at liberty in the thing and that if he be Crowned it is by their Leave and Election then if the People consent the King takes the Coronation Oath which is to preserve the Church our Laws Liberties and Properties and to administer Justice indifferently and thus when he has Sworn to us the Crown is immediately put upon his Head and then the Nobility and People do their Homage to him and according to this has been the Practice ever since there were Kings in England And I believe there is scarcely an Instance where the People ever swore to the King before be had taken his Oath to them If there be any such President it is to be look'd upon as irregular and not to be a Direction to us for it is not impossible but such a thing may happen but however is it reasonable that one or two Instances shall be sufficient to invalid a Practice of several hundred years to the contrary And is it not a piece of nonsence that we should adventure our Religion and Properties and all we have in the Hand of him that for ought we know has an Obligation on him to ruine or give us up to a Foreigner and not in the first place to take Security from him that he will defend and do us right before we repose so great a Trust in him for otherwise such Confusion and such Contradictions would follow that the Wit of Man cannot invent how to salve them But I acknowledge there are some Instances where the People have sworn to the Succession in the life-time of the Father and thence some do inferr that the King is entitled to our Allegiance before the Crown is set on his Head but this under correction will not hold for it does not appear but that the intended Successor swore to them also at the same time and it is very probable he did yet if he did not it cannot thence be concluded that the King has Right to our Allegiance before he is Crowned for whenever it happen'd that the Successor was sworn to in the life-time of his Father if afterwards he came to the Crown he took the Coronation Oath before the People swore Allegiance to him And therefore it is very plain that an Oath taken to the Successor in the life-time of his Father is nothing more but a declaring the good liking they have of the Successor and that if in case he will promise to defend them and their Properties when his Father or Predecessor dies they will elect him for their King as possibly it might now fall out if in case the Duke of Monmouth were legitimate Don't you think that the People would be very inclinable to swear to his Succession next after the King And I believe you will never find it done but when the King had the Hearts of the People or out of the hopes they had in the Successor for English Men if the King pleases them he may have all they have even to their Skins as a wise man said If an English King will be kind to the People he can never want their Heads Hands and Purses and therefore it is that in the most peaceable and tranquil times that ever the Land saw when King and People had a mutual Confidence of each other we find things done by the King that are more irregular in those times of agreement than was done in times of greater confusion and the reason is because
and corruption of Blood a severer Punishment cannot be impos'd than to be Fin'd more than a man can pay and to lye in Prison till he does But if some great Cases did happen which could not be foreseen it was always usual with the Judges when any such Case came before them to adjourn it to the Parliament which had been needless if they could have punish'd at the rate that our Judges have of late done Fifthly Because where-ever the Law has set down a Fine either by way of Punishment or Caution it seldom exceeds 2000 l. Nay even in that tender place of Liberty if a Judge shall not relieve with an Habeas Corpus but let the person languish in Prison yet the third Offence is but 2000 l. Penalty and I suppose that that is but inconsiderable in comparison of what any of the Judges are worth yet it being taken as a Punishment is by the Law look'd upon as a great Sum. Sixthly Because the Law of England being a Law of Mercy and very careful to prevent Violence and Oppression and to that end having for almost every Offence appointed its particular Punishment it cannot be suppos'd to have left so great a power in the Judges as they have exerted in this Case True it is some things are left to their Discretion because it was not possible to foresee every particular Case that might happen yet they are things of the least size that are so intrusted to their Judgment for as was said before matters of any considerable moment were still refer'd to the Parliament as also the review of what the Judges should do in those lesser matters which were left to their Discretion As these Proceedings are a great Wrong to the Subject so are they no less a Disadvantage to the King because they will make his Government look very rigid and severe and gives it a grim fierce Countenance which tho' I don't say that it will make the People rebel yet I am apt to believe that it will set them upon their guard its fair and gentle usage that prevails upon reasonable and free-born Men it 's an easie Government that will bow the Hearts of the People of England for says the Statute P.M. That the Estate of a King standeth more assured by the love of his Subjects than in fear of Laws so that the King will be on the losing band by these proceedings because it spoils the complexion of his Government And the King will yet be a farther Sufferer for if 30000 l. be the price of a Blow it will make White-hall very empty for he that goes thither must approach it with fear and trembling because he does not know but he shall be ruin'd before he comes thence for though a man arm himself with all the Resolution he can yet it cannot be Proof against the Contrivance of those that intend to do him a Mischief especially if he is not upon very good terms at Court there will never want those who will endeavour to draw him into the Snare hoping to merit by it though perhaps they mistake their aim yet however Revenge that is so sweet will be greatly encourag'd to provoke him because he cannot hope to reek his Malice so plentifully as this way because if his â—â—â—â—mpt succeed the other is ruin'd nay if he do not strike but only defend himself yet if the Judges don't like the Complexion of the Man they will call the Fox's Ears Horns and lay all the Blame on his Back and pronounce him more guilty that looks over the Hedge than he that steals the Horse Since the Business of my Lord Devonshire happened I have heard him blam'd as the Author of his own Misfortune and that he drew the Mischief upon himself and the Reason given was because he ought not to have gone to Court for said they he knew there were many there who wish'd him ill and therefore sooner or later he would meet with an Affront and if he once fell into their Hands he must expect no Quarter because Coll. Culpepper who without any provocation of my Lord's part had so unnecessarily fallen upon him and had by drawing Blood upon my Lord forfeited his Hand yet not only that but all the rest of the Judgment was pardoned and therefore as well that as this are look'd upon as businesses that were laid But in saying this I only tell your Lordships what is said without doors and I don't speak it as my Opinion but setting the tattle without doors aside I do conceive that can never be a just Judgment which injures the King as well as the party that is punish'd But the true nature of my Lord Devonshire's Offence has not yet been throughly considered the Law does in all cases give great Allowances to what is done on a sudden heat where there does not appear any Premeditation and for this Reason when a man is indicted for Murder if upon the Evidence there does not appear Malice prepence either express'd or imply'd the Party accused shall have his Clergy and for the same reason though it be Death to maim or disfigure another yet if it be done on a sudden heat the Party shall not dye for it for in these and the like cases the Law thinks him to be more blame worthy who gave the Provocation than he that was so provok'd because it was not the effect of an evil Mind but of Passion Et actus non sit reus nisimens sit rea If therefore it be true which I have heard That the King promised my Lord Devonsh that Coll. Culpepper should never come to Whitehall it will then follow that my Lord Devonshire's striking Coll. Culpepper was the effect of Passion and not of Intention because he could not expect to meet him where he did If so I conceive with submission that the Punishment and Offence don't in any measure bear proportion But I am perswaded that the Judges were resolved upon what they have done before they heard the Cause in case my Lord was found guilty and the rather because my Lord Chief Justice was harranguing the Offence beforehand for when my Lord Devonshire appeared 6. May he told him that to strike in the King's Palace was little less or next door to pulling the King out of his Throne Indeed on the last day of the Term he did explain them thus That the Time and Circumstances might be such as it would be little less than the assaulting the King in his Throne But several have told me who heard him and they say The first words of Time and Circumstances were not mention'd by him 6. May and in particular a Noble Lord of this House is one from whom I had my Information and if it were so those words savour too much of a prejudging the Cause There is no doubt but in case of a Fine set the Court may commit the Party in case of obstinacy for not paying the Fine into Court yet this is to be taken