mend this slip and addes a resolution that till the Commissioners did the thing he advises he would take a Commission from himselfe to doe it To al which I say no more then indignus tu qui diceres tamen For the charge I may adde neque hoc opprobrio digni sunt Men in trust and Authority should take care that the People may rather have the advantage then the knowledge of their proceedings Things that are to be done by them are necessarily to be made knowne to them and to satisfie them in their obedience the ground of the command or something shewing the Equity and necessity of it is usually premitted as is done in the preamble of Acts Ordinances and Declarations But to make knowne the debates and those humane passions incident thereunto it were sometimes to discover nakednesse where it ought not to minister strifes to make the people Judges of them whom they have made so I have heard that the custome of Scotland is otherwise where there is a diligent eye had to the Presse which is not as here which is one of our faults prostitute to the lust of every Pamphlet and a reverend reservednesse kept upon their Counsels and actions onely so farre as the people are concerned in obeying things are carefully made knowne to them and difficulties removed And certainly those that are reserved at home will not judge it meet to be very open elsewhere for though the Proverb is not strictly to be applyed yet it carries a generall equity and decency In alienâ—m domum cum veneris mutus surdus esto The Gentleman makes some Objections which he answers he that hides can finde but unawares ties some knots which he cannot easily undoe For instance his second Objection in the Answer to which he affirmes that the Commissioners of Scotland doe not sufficiently discharge their duty in making knowne to the Parliament and Assembly to the full the truth of all things by their papers which he proves by an assertion which for want of other strength he doubles that what is de facto concerning all must be made knowne to all The sounder axiome were what concernes all to know must be made knowne to all for otherwise who will deny but the people are concerned in Counsels Deliberations and conclusions of things to be done they being the subject and end of them and yet this Author grants that these things are to be made knowne to the Trustees of State But I have no mind to wrangle Let us see the strength of the Argument which is this The Trustees of the State and Church are not Lords of them but servants therefore the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland are to impart to the people of England their papers and proceedings This conclusion seemes to me larger then the Premisses and like to have the lot of a building wider then the foundation the true inference from the Antecedent is rather this Therefore the Commissioners of Scotland as good servants should give an accompt to them that intrust them so farre as is expected or required But shew me where the people of England conferred that trust upon the Commissioners from Scotland or where they required any accompt Doubtlesse those Honourable Persons doe give accompt and satisfaction to them from whom they received their Commission and trust and need not doe it to any other And though that expression of servants as opposed to a Lordly usurpation is good as to the thing yet the word seemes to give too specious a ground for such a corrupt inference as this If the Rulers be servants the people are Masters whereas the truth is the Magistrate serves the good of the people rather then the people as the Apostle expresseth it Rom. 13. They are the Ministers of God to the people for good Ministers or servants of God that this their appellation to the peoples good that is their use Thus the Angels serve the Saints who are yet lower then the Angels and Pastours the people whom yet they rule over in the Lord Me thinks those that hate Independency in the Church should not affect popularity in the State but any thing for a turne But let me leave this Rule with my friends and Country-men that though it be fit that all exorbitant usurpation and arbitrary dominion of Rulers have a seasonable stop lest publike Liberty suffer yet must it be done without debasing those in authority whose honour and esteeme with the people is necessary to the order and conservation of the whole alwayes provided that this tender regard need not be had to any of what place soever that are in open hostility against the people who make no other use of their power and Reputation then to deceive and destroy the people of which our instance is too neare As for the freedome of Iohn Knox and George Bucanan mentioned pag. 12. I could well consent it were revived so it be rightly bestowed as by them it was sc. against the Popery of the then Queen and the self-interests of great men in publick works and against tyranny in Princes King Charles deserves a severer Schoolemaster then ever King Iames had Secondly after this expostulation with the Commissioners ending pag. 14. the Narration begins in which the Author layes open in the first place the carriage of things betwixt the Scots and the King at their first entrance which I meddle not with onely give this note on the behalfe of England that whatsoever was then done as is alleadged contrary to justice and Faith must not be set in the least degree upon the accompt of this Kingdome whose proper Representative is the Parliament who disclaimed the whole businesse it was the work of the King not the Kingdome of the Faction not the Nation But I rest in the thoughts of the Act of pacification Thirdly the next thing to be insisted on is of more consequence and will require a full clearing which is found at the 18. pag. sc. The Scots under God are the cause of assembling the Parliament of the continuance of it and of the preservation of it from totall destruction and ruine And to this purpose there are divers passages which I think fittest to summe up together and give them some dilucidation rather then opposition Another expression of this kind is pag. 94. The Scots were in a kinde the onely hinderers of the Kings compassing his designe pag. 99. 100. For whom they have hazarded and many lost their lives when they might all this while have sate at home quietly pag. 112. They make our quarrell theirs have undergone the burthen for our sakes to free us from it They are become miserable to pull us out of misery a thing not to be parallel'd Pag. 114. They have crucified themselves for their Brethren Pag. 142. Who have ventured yea lost themselves in a manner with all that is deare unto men for their sakes to doe them a double good to help them out of trouble and
after the first charge by the shot which though it was not very dangerous being but a rake in the neck yet the Pistoll being discharged so neare that the powder hurt his face and troubled his eyes was a better excuse for withdrawing if he had done so which yet he did not then many a gay man had that day Pag. 37. It is said that the Scots upon the taking of New-Castle carryed themselves with such moderation that the Enemies who had been in Armes against them were constrained to speake well of them Their moderation is acknowledged as to violence but as for the Testimony fetched from the mouth of the Enemies there was too much reason for it in regard that they especially one of the principall of them Sir Nicholas Cole a person excepted from pardon in the Propositions of both Kingdomes sent to the King at Oxford was detained for some time from the Justice of the Parliament of England who sent a Warrant for him by the Generall of the Artillery then commanding in Chiefe in the absence of the noble Generall who kept him company frequently let him live in all freedome and jollity and would not part with him till by an Order from the Parliament of Scotland procured by a Commissioner sent thither he was constrained so to doe and for other Enemies they sought and found protection in some Regiments of the Scottish Army which occasioned their speaking well But I have no mind to aggravate but must adde that the excuse he makes of Military order in the next page satisfies not for as I take it our Military force serves for nothing but the establishment of Civill power and peace I know no Military Order could keep the party above named from being disposed according to the will of the Parliament from the 20. of October till the February after and till the Parliament of Scotland very justly and honourably interposed their Authority Pag. 38. and 39. He makes a digression to set forth the malignancy and poverty of the North thereby to prejudice many of their just complaints and to make the stirring of the Westmoreland-men the more inexcusable I shall give you as true an account as the Manifest of the North both in generall and with respect to the particular mentioned of the rising in Westmoreland First as for the Malignancy of the North it had three disadvantages first its distance from the Parliament and City of London Secondly the want of good Ministers which I wish the Parliament and Assembly would heartily consider of there being not above foure Ministers in the foure Northern Counties capable of persecution by the Enemy when these Warres began The people are destroyed for want of knowledge If some of that strength which hath been spent at London in endlesse Debares about Discipline had been bestowed in Doctrine in the North and such like barren places Heu quantum terrae potuit pelagique parari Hoc quem civiles c. I wish Ministers were more of the temper of that holy Apostle who laboured more abundantly then they all who strived to preach the Gospel not where Christ was named lest he should build on another mans foundation But the warmth and accommodations of the South and Principles of self-love in men too suitable to them are fundi nostri calamitas This hath been the principall means how the Northern parts both of England and Scotland have proved so disadvantagious to this Cause And lastly the Nobility of these parts who were well affected lived out of the Countrey and the Gentry through the want of the powerfull preaching of the Gospel were not so sound which hath made the North in the condition it was But yet give me leave to say that for ought I ever observed or heard the Commonalty of these parts were never so ill affected but if due care had been taken to ingage them they had been as serviceable to this Cause as any other Northumberland as Norfolke But more particularly for Cumberland and Westmoreland they have shewed themselves the least disaffected of any other For first though they were arrayed by Sir Philip Musgrave under the pretence of the defence of their owne Countries yet they never would be perswaded to goe out of them to the prejudice of the Parliament for ought I have heard they were willing to agree with Laneashire and when they were in Armes and might have resisted the Scotch Horse for they had that strength which the Horse thought not fit to force yet upon a Letter from Mr. Barwis they gave way for the Scots to come in among them And the County of Cumberland raised 1800. Foot and 400. Horse at their own charge under the Command of Sir Wilfred Lawson for the reduction of Carlile And these Counties were not so poore but that in the space of six moneths or little more the Scottish Horse and Dragoones had from thence about the value of one hundred thousand pounds in mony and provisions more then ever the Earle of Newcastle had from them which argues they were not so poore and spent as that they were sensible of the least thing could be demanded And to speake more particularly of Westmoreland where the resistance to the Scots was though I know no man justifies the action for they should have addressed to the Parliament yet these things may be considered First they had expended for the entertainment of the Scotch Army 40000. l. or thereabouts as much as they could well indure without intermission so that now indeed they began to be sensible Secondly the Generall had so farre resented their charge that he had under his hand forbidden his Souldiers levies of money Thirdly the Parliament had also made an Ordinance for the entertainment of the Scottish Army dated February 20. laying the charge of it upon all parts of the Kingdome in their power that the North might be eased which for ought the Scottish Officers then knew might be effectuall for their pay Fourthly the Scottish Horse there quartered had so full pay for the Winter that the necessities of the County were beyond the necessitie of the Souldier These things considered will make the Westmorland mens resistance though it may be not justifiable yet not wholly inexcusable seeing their ground was necessity and their end the vindication not onely of the Authority of Parliament forbidding arbitrary Impositions by Armies and ordering other wayes of provision for Souldiers but of the Scottish Generall who had strictly forbidden the continuance of the assessement There is added pag. 39. a bitter and I think unjust reflection upon the Commissioners employed by the Parliament in the North who were Sir William Armyne Mr. Hatcher Mr. Robert Goodwin Mr. Barwis Mr. Darley Mr. Fenwick who put too much power in the hands of wicked Malignants as Recusants Prelaticks men lately in actuall Rebellion who spoyle the Countrey oppresse honest men c. A high Charge but no proofe except the Assertion he sayes indeed that men without
discourse Pag. 67 68 69. occasioned by a Speech uttered publiquely by one to this purpose That the maine quarrell the Parliament stood for at first and thereafter did take up armes for was not Religion nor the reformation of the Church but the freedome and libertie of the Subject Which saying he pleads to be injurious but handles it injuriously for he makes the sense of that speech to be this The Parliament did not from the beginning intend a true reformation of Religion wch it affords not the Parliament may intend reformation and yet not fight for it And without prejudice to the Parliament let me declare my opinion The Parliament I doubt not did looke at Religion as the foundation and perfection of the Kingdomes happinesse and had it chiefly in their eye Some indeed have thought them more intent to Liberty upoÌ„ a mistake they could not be earnest for Religion unlesse they were for Liberty which is the fence and preservative of the practise of it But yet if I were asked the ground of the Parliaments taking up armes de facto I should not answer the reformation of Religion for I make some question whether Religion especially the reformation of it be so proper a quarrell for the sword but that seeing the King instead of suffering Justice to be executed upon offenders prepared violence against the Parliament and in it against our liberty with all the fruits of it of which the enjoyment of Religion was the choicest they raised an Army to defend us and themselves that they might sit with freedome and liberty to performe their trust for the preservation and reformation of the Kingdome which they have attended as much as the difficulties and distractions of the times would permit And to that end called an Assembly of Divines that they might from them receive some light to direct them in the execution of their power in matters of Religion He spends some further time in discussing that Position Whether Liberty were the maine quarrell I answer They looked at Libertie primò but not primarioÌ„ Religion as the furthest end but Liberty as the next meanes The infringement of libertie gives advantage to corruption in Religion as our Adversaries well know when they with equall pace brought on slavery and superstition Here the Author takes a needlesse ground to tell the people that which is not true That they are in a worse case in respect of Liberty then formerly by paralleling Committees with the Star-Chamber and Taxes with Ship-money This sounds more like sedition then truth For howsoever Committees may be guilty of partialities and miscarriages yet their maine intent is our preservation not our burthen as the other Courts were And we have now a better appeale from a Committee to the Parliament then we had from the Star-chamber to the King Injury may be done now as well as then but not so professedly or with so little remedy And as for taxes heavier then Shipmoney I wonder either at your face or at your judgement In the beginning of the 70 pag. you make a plaister of the necessitie of taxes but it is not so wide as the wound The wiser of the people see and discover your fallacious dealing and see a great deale of difference betwixt the Kings destroying their right in Ship money and the Parliaments preserving their right notwithstanding taxes which I hope will not last long I passe to the second exception against the new Modell pag. 72. 74. which is led up by a story of the Kings courting the Scottish Officers and his successe which I meddle not with The exception is that at the making of the New Modell were cashiered of the Scots in one day above two hundred brave fellowes I answer the Parliament were entring upon a way of good husbandry in reducing their Armies and it may be they thought these brave fellowes would be too chargeable But in earnest you say two hundred of the Scots were cashiered you should have used a milder terme and said reduced Cashiering implyes a fault Reduction none As two hundred Scots so soure hundred English were at that time put out of employment and brave fellowes too for ought I know It 's strange to mee that the Parliament of England should not without exception forme an Army as seemes best to them for their own defence and the Kingdomes Especially when the Scots had so great an Army in England and another in Ireland where employment was to be had But the Parliament to shew they had no nationall respect named foure Colonels of the new Modell and some Captaines besides a Lievtenant Colonel who is adjutant Generall of their foot a place of great trust who all except the last refused to serve The grounds of their laying downe are said to be three First because the rest of their Countrymen were not employed There was no use of them if we had men of our own Nation they were in reason to be preferred â—eteris paribus and it is not without its exception that they will not serve unlesse so many together Secondly They were nominated to inferiour employments that is a question they were but Major Generalls to Major Generalls and Commanders of parties but I stand not upon that Let the Earle of Manchester Sir William Waller be Generalls yet those Gentlemen knew that in the places they came from beyond Sea if they returned they must accept of such employments as these or lower and I hope we shall not have a perpetuall warre in England Sudden risings from a Lieutenant Colonell to a Lieutenant Generall must have fudden falls Thirdly Men unacquainted with warre and averse to the Covenant should have been employed with them from whom they could not expect true sellowship or obedience to Orders The men have confuted your Exception for Military vertue by their diligence and valour And though there be in the Army men that have taken the Covenant and make conscience of it yet if there be any that have not there is no discord but all unanimously prosecute the ends in the Covenant so farre as they are matter of Warre As for your question Whether the Parliament in leaving out some or the Officers not left out in laying downe their Commissions were more in the Wrong It 's answered neither of them in the Wrong Me thinkes he that considers how faithfull and how succesfull the Army under Sir Thomas Fairfax hath been and reckons up Naseby Leicester Langport Bridgewater Sherborne Bristoll Basing Winchester Barkley and other Honour which God hath put upon that Army should be well content with the New Modell But an Objection followes But God hath blessed the honesty and piety of some men extraordinarily in the new Army so that great things are done by it This is a sad objection but you answer'd it by acknowledging the good done but no thanks to the profession of Holinesse of this or that man they will joyne with you and say in the Apostles language Acts 3.