Selected quad for the lemma: kingdom_n
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A35917
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A Dialogue betwixt Sam. the ferriman of Dochet, Will. a waterman of London, and Tom. a bargeman of Oxford upon the Kings calling a parliament to meet at Oxford.
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1681
(1681)
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Wing D1353; ESTC R29722
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21,830
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32
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take a Licence with that the Member said Sirra for your sake and such sawcy Rogues as you are we will have that Watermans-Hall pulled down as well as vve have pulled dovvn the Court of the Marshes of VVales That vvas the Court I vvas talking of Tom. I hope thou heard'st them say nothing of the VVestern Barges VVill. did'st thou VVill. No Hang you you are belovv their Consideration but they talked much about Seamen and the Fleet and against Souldiers And then for the Papists they vvould have utterly destroyed them and no great matter if they had for those Rogues have been the occasion of all this Poder has been even since the Beginning of these Times And they say they Fired the City and brought the Plague out of France and set it amongst us at London Sam. How should that be For vvhen the Visitation began at London I heard of no Plague in France VVill. But I heard a Doctor one of the Royal Society say as I carried him once There be Rogues that vvill bring Bottles of Infected Air vvith them if it vvere out of Turkey that as soon as they are opened vvill infect a whole House then they take an Antilop that no Infection can touch themselves And that some Papists did this I have heard a Justice in the City took Examinations upon it and it was proved Tom. But what would they have done against the Presbyterians Independants Anabaptists and Quakers The Scholars at Oxford say those are as great Enemies to the Church and the University as the Papists VVill. They would have made them as good Protestants as any is in Oxford Tom. Which way must this have been VVill. Why they would have made the Church-men have left out some of their Prayers and given over the Surplice and some other Popish Tricks and then they would have come to Church and been all one Tom. That is the Church-men must have become Presbyterians and then all would have been right VVill. Indeed I think they would not have yielded much to the Bishops For they were bloody mad at them and I think if they had sitten till now they would have sent them to the Church from the House to pray to God but not to have letten them prate any more to the House of Lords Tom. It will be good for them to talk no such Talk at Oxford the Bishops are in great Power amongst the Scholars VVill. Then as to their own Members they turned them out and took others in at their will and pleasure and if they made any Fault they expelled them and wherever any stood in Competition for any Town him they knew would give his Vote along with them was admitted right or wrong And then they terrified all the Sherriffs Mayors and Bailiffs in the Kingdom besides abundance of Gentlemen and other honest Country-men For on the least Complaint of any Man's misdemeanor or Information from any Member immediately a Serjeant at Arms was sent for them and so much a Mile and Hour paid and down on their Mary-bones to their Worships and a sound Scolding from Mr. Speaker or else to the Tower or the Gate-House they went The King God bless him never took a quarter of that State on him they did Sam. It seems they would have all the World to ask them Forgiveness whether they made them any Fault or not and they themselves would ask no body Pardon for what they had done VVill. It was brought to that pass that two Foot-boys Boxing one day in the Palace Yard he that was beaten proved to belong to a Member and told the other Boy if he knew his Master he would cause him to be sent for in Custody for keeping such a Rogue as he was that had committed a Breach of Priviledge in beating a Member's Servant The Boy replied if it would do him any Kindness he would beat him again and tell him his Master's Name into the Bargain and would lay him a Crown that tho' his Master should bid the Speaker and all the House of Commons kiss his they durst not send a Serjeant at Arms for him The beaten Boy much netled at his Speech laid down his money as the other did Now said the Boy my Master is the King of France and I am come over with some of his Servants to fetch Horses out of England Go bid thy Master and the House of Commons send a Serjeant at Arms to fetch him over Sam. Before my Heart is was a good Answer I hope he won his Moneys Will. So he did but it was put into a Waterman's Hands and when it was demanded says the Beaten Boy Sirrah give it him if you dare if his Master be the King of France I 'll make you answer it before the House of Commons The Waterman durst do no other but give either their own Moneys There is no contending with Parliament Men or Parliament Men's Men nor Boys Tom. And yet I know a Bayliff has nabbed several of them and matters not a Straw to arreast any Member of the last Parliament Will. That 's nothing they are now no Parliament-men but let 's see if that Stout Fellow dare nabb any of them when they are new chosen Tom. That I don't know Will. O those that are in any danger of Bayliffs are mighty cunning at their Times and know their Hits to a Minute they appear abroad at London a certain Number of days before the Sitting of the House as sure as Swallows against warm Weather and after the Sessions they are Presto begon not one to be seen except it be that we chance to carry them by Water from the Temple or White-Friars to Scotland-Yard they have a strong Garrison in either of those Places out of Priviledge time as they call it Sam. Well but pray thee Will. let us have it all out what they did Will. It is impossible as I told thee For me to tell a quarter what they did they stopped Irish Scotch and Welch Cattel from coming to the City and Pork Mutton Veal and Lamb from any of those Places and it was said if they had sate long enough they would have stopped Essex Calves and Hampshire Hogs Tom. And yet the City still doats upon these Parliaments Will. Nay they would have made such Laws about wearing of Cloth and Woollen Stuffs as would have beggared an hundred thousand Souls that are Silk-Weavers Silk-Dyers and such like Will. What matter they if they can but find a way to make Acts to set their Grounds dearer and rack their poor Tenants they care not if half of the Kingdom starve Sam. And yet they talk so much for the General Good and against the absolute Power of the King and the Court how can they make this out Will. They call that Power which they themselves both do act by and would govern all by the Liberty of the Subject tho' no Subject but a few Members have any Liberty at all But if his Majesty God bless him should act
by the same Power and do the same things which they do then they call the very same Power flat down-right Tyranny Tom. Do'st not thee remember Will. one day the last Summer when our Barge lay against York Stairs there was a great Noise about the Head Bayliff of Westminster breaking into an Embassenders House to seize upon some Goods which belonged to a Man was condemned to be Hanged at Tyburn and upon Complaint of the Embassender to the King the said Bailiff was taken and clapt into the Tower and every body said he would be hanged at the least for breaking the Common Law of all Nations But the next News we heard was that he had got some sort of a Warrant was made by the Long Parliament that set him at Liberty within three Hours after he was committed Will. I remember the time very well they call those Warrants Habeas Corpuses and they will fetch a Prisoner committed by the King out of any Goal in England but not one Committed by the House of Commons And this they call Priviledge of Parliament Tom. All these Gentlemen that were fetched up by Messengers and Serjeants they might by the Common Law have chosen whether they would have come or not There was a Knight in our County at Oxford that was sent for by a Messenger and he told the Messenger he had something else to do and would not come and said he would justifie it Will. Surely this was just about the time they were Dissolv'd otherwise he durst not have been so bold Tom. He said he had been a Member himself many Years and knew no Law to compell any Man to come before the House of Commons unless they had a mind themselves and therefore they sent to the King to get his Majesty's Proclamation to fetch him before them Will. So then His Majesty's Proclamation issued out at the desire of the Commons is of Force but when sent out by himself is worth nothing at all Sam Why so Will. Because I remember there were several sent for in Custody for obeying the King's Proclamation against Petitions and brought to their Knees If therefore that had been a good Proclamation why should any body have suffer'd for it And for any thing I know if his Majesty should have made a Proclamation to fetch up that Knight or any body disobeyed their Messenger it had deserved as much to have been disobeyed as that about Petitions unless the House of Commons can make a Proclamation contrary to Law a good one as this would have been For what need had they of the King's Proclamation if there had been Law to have fetched those men before them Tom. Now if those Men were fetched up did dare to sue and the Lawyers did dare to do their Office and the Judges did dare to give Judgment I am of Opinion they might bring Actions of false Imprisonment against the Messengers that fetched them up For if they had not full Power to punish those who did not obey them then surely those who were fetched had wrong done them Tom. But I dare assure thee neither Lawyer nor Judge dare meddle with any such matter If any of these Gentlemen would be so ventersome they will find no Law to stand against the Votes of the Commons till they find they are as much brought under as they say Harry the Eighth brought them they durst not prate in his Days as now they do Will. What did he do Tom. I have heard a Fellow of Maudlin Colledge say he tumbled them and made them do what he would himself and not what they had a mind to and not a word of Tyranny or Arbitrary Power Sam. But pray thee Will. some more of their Doings Will. I have told thee it is without end and therefore I will tell thee the last thing they did which was they Voted that if any man advised his Majesty to Prorogue them upon any Account but to disinherit the Duke he was an Enemy to the King and Kingdom Nay he was a Pensioner to the French King Tom. What whether he ever received any Money from the French King or not Will. Ay though he never received Penny of Mony from him or any body else by his means or order Tom. For any thing I know they might as well have said that he had been my Lord Mayor's Bull-rider I have often heard say that a Parliament can make a Man into a Woman and now I see they can make a man into a Pensioner of France tho' he be none Tom. What then was done Will. That very day notwithstanding all this they were Prorogued Tom. Then surely they will say either they were Prorogued by the Advice of some Body who for that Advice are Pensioners or if his Majesty Prorogued them on his ovvn Head then they vvill think tho' they dare not say that he himself is a Pensioner Will. And vvithin fevv days after they vvere Dissolved and ather order'd to be called at your Tovvn of Oxford Tom. Well for all that Sam 's Parson said There vvas a Parliament called at Oxford that vvas called the mad Parliament yet vvill I be hang'd if ever that vvas half so mad as this thou hast told us of For according to thy Tale this Parliament let nothing ' scape them to his Majesty they vvould have given nothing nor let any body lend him any thing but vvould get from him vvhat they could From the Duke they vvould have taken his Birth-right the Church and Religion they vvould have cast in a nevv Mould the Bishops and Clerks they vvould have nevv-fashioned if not utterly laid aside banished many of the Nobles taught the Judges of Westminster-Hall nevv Lavvs and made them pay for practising the Old terrified most of the Loyal Gentry of the Kingdom vvith Serjeants Messengers and Expensive Journeys the same with Mayors Sheriffs and Bayliffs Fault or no Fault taken away Courts and Priviledges from several Shires to their great harm to revenge themselves of particular men not only hinder'd Irish Cattel and other Provisions from the City but Beggar'd many thousands of Families of Silk-Weavers and other poor Handicrafts-men Sam. Nay these very Men were got to that Height they would have abused any Body they met with Gentle or Simple not paid a Farthing for crossing the Ferry but said they were Franke in Parliament-time as their Masters Letters were at the Post-house Tom. Was not this then as mad a Parliament as that Parliament they talk on at our Town If this next prove a madder than the last if it sit at our Town I 'll give any man leave to hang me at the Mast of my Barge Sam. For all this I believe they will not sit at Oxford for they say a many Noblemen have Petitioned the King's Majesty against it Will. And I can tell thee his Majesty said they should Sit at Oxford for all that Tom. Pray thee who were these Noblemen that Petitioned Will. I cannot tell thee who they were