up the very Root of Majestie it is no wonder if they made no scruple of Lopping the Branches of Honour And therefore The Commons of England as they called themselves many of whom were never born to an Inch of Freehold immediately cut this Gordian Difficulty of the Negative and indeed the whole Power of the Peerage by these Three Keen Votes Resolved upon the Question That the People under God are the Original of all Just Power Resolved c. That the Commons of England in Parliament Assembled being Chosen by and Representing the People have the Supreme Power of the Nation The Explanation of the Court with some Animadversions THE King sitting in a large Elbow-Chair covered with Crimson Velvet with Gold Fringe and Nails and a Velvet Cushion in a distinct Apartment directly over against the Lord President between the space allotted for the Counsel of the Common-wealth standing on the right hand of the King and the like vacant space leading from the Head of the Stairs to the Kings Apartment aforesaid These three several Divisions all level with the Floor of the Court were hung with Turky Carpets and Matted In the Partition allotted for the King was also placed a small Table covered with a Turky Carpet and a Standish and Paper set thereon if his Majesty should have occasion for it Note The King of the mere Motion special Grace and singular Dispensation of his Soveraign Commons was permitted and did sit with his Hat on all the time nay at the very moment of pronouncing the Bloody Sentence See the Journal Page 25. Thus they who thought it not Manners to take off his Hat yet thought it no Sin to take off His Sacred Head The Lord President Bradshaw sitting in an Elbow-Chair advanced upon the first rising of the Court having a large Desk fixed before him covered with a Velvet Fall and a large Velvet Cushion thereupon John Lasle sitting on the right hand of the Lord President William Say sitting on the left hand of the Lord President These two being appointed to be his Lordships Assistants Note That the said Lord President and his said Assistants being all three of the Long Robe sate in their Gowns the rest of the Commissioners in their usual Habits as Gentlemen and Souldiers Note That the said Lord President sat in a black Tufted Gown till the day of the Fatal Doom what time he changed it for a Bloody Scarlet Robe and had the Insolence to bid the King take particular Notice thereof thinking possibly by such his barbarous Insulting Pedantick Threats to strike Terror into the King with which yet the King was nothing moved or concerned Andrew Broughton John Phelps The two Clerks appointed to attend the Court being seated at the Feet of the said Lord President under the Covert of his Desk Journal Page 12. The Table placed before the said Clerks whereon sometimes lay the Common-Wealths Mace and Sword of State or Justice Sometimes I say for at other times the said Sword was advanced in the head of the Guards with Partizans standing in the Court on the right hand of the King as he sate and the said Mace was sometimes handed by their Serjeant at Arms on the out-side of the Bar nigh the King on his left-hand But in this they are to be pardoned it being the first time they had Kinged it and therefore it was not to be expected that they should be so ready and exact in their Ceremonies The Scale of Benches which were covered with Scarlet Bays and the Foot-steps matted reaching up from the floor of the Court within 5 or 6 Foot of the very Glazing of the west Window of Westminster-Hall whereon sate the rest of the Commissioners The Atchievement of the Common-wealth of England Which surely the Usurpers had caused there to be fixed like the Hand writing on the Wall in direct view of the King to let him know That His Kingdom was numbered and finished and Monarchy it self abolished Well hoping at the sight thereof his Royal Countenance would change and his Knees smite one against the other But his Sacred Majesty not conscious of nor dreading any thing which they had either the Malice or Impudence to Act Affront Affright or Charge him with viewed it with his own to wit an undaunted unchangeable Countenance and with a Majestick gate Lyon Passant like made towards the place they had prepared for him at his own leisure while the Impatient Serjeant at Armes on the other side the Partition was fain to attend his Princely Motion with the Mace Shouldered and who was visibly struck with such Astonishment that he went Trembling and Quaking scarce able to support the Mace or to hold up the Bar to let the King into his Apartment aforesaid where the King presently sat himself down in the Chair set there for him and upon all occasions offered him by the Court always rose up with that Presence of mind and Princely Meen that made the Commissioners shamefully hang down their Heads none of them bearing up but the Frontless Lord President who throughout brazened it like the True and Trusty Chief Commissioner of the bold Usurpers while the King never seemed in the least concerned at what he had to say or durst to say or do unto him the King not giving them the Glory or Pleasure to say within themselves That they had at last made him yield or at least dismayed him With which his Princely Courage and Constancy the Spectators on the Scaffolds being justly and highly affected they could no longer forbear but burst out into loud Acclamations God bless your Majesty God save the King And which were seconded and returned as loud from the thronged Multitude in the Hall which made the Commissioners as it were start and look about them to find themselves thus deceived in the People it being easie to believe they expected their Crucisiges and not those Hosannahs Whereupon Order was given to the Cryer and to the Officers attending in the Hall also strictly to Charge and Command Silence which yet did hardly prevail with the People Oliver Cromwell sitting on the right side of the Escocheon or Shield as the Supporters of the Common-wealth Henry Martin sitting on the left side of the Escocheon or Shield as the Supporters of the Common-wealth I do not remember there was any Escrote or Motto for how wicked soever they then thought That God was such an One as Themselves yet did they at present forbear to declare so they being not then at that Height at which they soon after arrived in their Coyn The Blasphemous Motto whereof on the Reverse was God with us The Galleries and Scaffolds on either side the Court thronged with Spectators The Floor of the Court Matted and kept clear and open as here represented by the Guards on either side no person being permitted to abide between the King the Counsel and the Court but the known Officers and Messengers appointed to attend the Court. Note That the Level
their Forces demolish all their Out-works and Fortifications and suffer the whole Army to March through the City all which to the Eternal Dishonor of those Pusillanimous Cowards only Valiant in Rebellion they presently after most Triumphantly put in Execution This great Rub being so fortunately surmounted they now began to open the Dismal Scene and that they might extinguish the least remaining Sparks of Loyalty they fall to Menacing such as durst in the least Oppose them For upon the Debate which happened concerning the Nulling of all Acts Orders c. from July 26. 1647. to August 6. Sir Arthur Hasilrig openly declared in the House That some Heads must fly off and that he feared the Parliament of England would not Save the Kingdom of England that they must look another way for Safety And many other threatning Speeches were made by Sir H. Vane Jun. Sir John Evelyn Jun. Prideaux Gourdon Mildmay Scot and Cornelius Holland and in conclusion a Letter with a Remonstrance full of Invectives and Menaces from the General Fairfax and the general Council of the Army was produced by which Means they gained that Point also Upon the 24. of December the four Bills whereby the King was to be Devested of every thing but the Empty Name were sent to the King as the Conditions of restoring him to his Liberty and Crown And upon the third of January the Kings answer was Read and Debated upon which Sir Thomas Wroth broke out into this Extravagant Speech fitter for Bedlam Himself or rather Tyburn than St. Stephen's Chappel That Bedlam was appointed for Mad-men and Tophet for Kings That our Kings of late had carried themselves as if they were fit for no place but Bedlam and therefore Moved first to Secure the King and keep him close Prisoner in some Inland Castle with strong Guards Secondly to draw up Articles of Impeachment against him Thirdly to lay him aside and settle the Kingdom without him and for his own particular he said he valued not what Form of Government they set up so it were not by Kings and Devils This was Seconded by Ireton who spoke the Sense of the Army and said That the King had denyed Safety and Protection to his People by denying the four Bills That Subjection to his was but in lieu of Protection from him to the People that This being denied by the King they may well deny any more Subjection to him and settle the Kingdom without him That it was expected after so long Patience they should now shew their Resolution and not desert those Valiant Men of the Army who had ingaged for them beyond the possibility of retreat And to put the thrust home to the very Heart of the King towards the latter end of his Speech laying his Hand upon the Hilt of his Sword that Sorcerer Cromwel stood up and spake to this Effect That it was now expected that the Parliament should Govern and Defend the Kingdom by their own Power and Resolution and to teach the People no longer to expect Safety and Government from an Obstinate Man whose Heart God had hardened That they who had defended the Parliament from so many hazards difficulties and dangers with the expence of their Blood would defend them herein with Fidelity and Courage against all Opposition whatsoever therefore that they ought not to teach them by neglecting their own and the Kingdoms Safety in which their own is included to think themselves betrayed and left to the Rage and Malice of an irreconcilable Enemy whom they had subdued for the Parliament's sake and therefore in probability likely to find his future Government of them insupportable and more inclined to Revenge than Justice lest otherwise Despair should teach those Valiant Men to seek their Safety in some other means than adhering to the Parliament when they shall plainly see you will not stick to your selves and how destructive such a Resolution in them may be to you all added he I tremble to think and leave to you to Judge Whereupon the Question was immediately put Whether the Two Houses should make no more Addresses or Applications to the King and the House being Divided with the Yeas were 141. with the Noes 91. So it passed in the Affirmative But matters did not run so smoothly as they had hoped For the general Cry of the Nation was for a Personal Treaty with the King This was violently opposed by the Independent Faction and because there appeared great Inclinations in the City to favour the King they Threatned That after they had done with Colchester they would Humble that Proud City of London And to the Eternal Shame and Confusion of these Pretenders to Conscience and to Tender Conscience too the Reader shall hear that hideous Animal upon this occasion bray out the Bloody and Treasonable Thoughts of the Party possessed with this Legion in one of those Pamphlets which according to their constant Practice when they have the Press at Liberty they Print and Disperse abroad to poyson the abused People and to incite and animate them to Disloyalty Treason and the most Flagitious Villanies under pretence of following the Directions and Dictates of Conscience The Paper wears this Title The Voice of Conscience to all Well-meaning Citizens Printed July 16. 1648. And thus he Harangues the People If you desire to see a longer and more Bloody War and London as the Chief Seat thereof weltring in its own Blood your Wives Children and Families starved and pined to death through Poverty Famine and want of Trade if you would overthrow Parliaments for ever and subject both them and all People to the Will of the King and his Courtiers if you desire to see Foreigners invade you on all Hands and many Armies at once Quartered upon your Land putting hard for a New Conquest of this miserable divided Nation and if you desire to see your Wives and your Daughters ravished before your Faces and your Childrens Brains Dasht against the Stones by lustful and Blood-thirsty Cavaleers then follow the Steps of your Wealthy head-strong Aldermen and Common-Council-Men in their hasty pursuance of a Personal Treaty with the King or which is all one removing him out of the Armies Power For if you do flatter not your selves but be assured most Impious Confidence as certain as God is in Heaven you will see those Miseries come to pass and that swiftly too you will be devoured in an instant without Hope of Remedy But if you abhor and would prevent those Mischiefs then avoid and detest their Ingagement fly from it as from a Serpent it being a Viper bred in your own Bowels to destroy you and if you have unadvisedly subscribed it Repent speedily and Recal your Hands They most grosly delude you and abuse the Parliament in pretending they are able nay willing to Prevent or Suppress Tumults Trust them once and they will desire no more they will soon make it past a Treaty And when you lye at their Mercy complaining of
of the Clock declaring that from thence they intended to Adjourn to the same Place again But that the Reader may have the entire Relation of this deplorable Tragedy I have from the most Authentick Prints inserted at large the interlocutory Passages between the King and Bradshaw of which Mr. Phelpes in his Journal gives only a succinct Account which take as follows His Majesty with his wonted Patience heard all these Slanders and Reproaches sitting in the Chair and looking sometimes on the Pretended Court sometimes up to the Galleries and rising again turned about to behold the Guards and Spectators then he sate down with a Majestick and unmoved Countenance and sometimes smiling especially at those Words Tyrant Traytor and the like Also the Silver Head of his Staff happened to fall off at which he wondered and seeing none to take it up He stooped for it himself The Charge being read Bradshaw began Sir You have now heard your Charge read containing such Matters as appear in it You find that in the Close of it it is prayed to the Court in the behalf of the Commons of England that you Answer to your Charge The Court expects your Answer King I would know by what Power I am called hither I was not long ago in the Isle of Wight how I came there is a longer Story than I think is fit at this time for Me to speak of but there I entred into a Treaty with both Houses of Parliament with as much Publick Faith as its possible to be had of any People in the World I Treated there with a number of Honourable Lords and Gentlemen and Treated honestly and uprightly I cannot say but they did very Nobly with Me We were upon a Conclusion of the Treaty Now I would know by what Authority I mean Lawful There are many Vnlawful Authorities in the World Thieves and Robbers by the High-ways but I would know by what Authority I was brought from thence and carried from place to place and I know not what And when I know by what Lawful Authority I shall Answer Remember I am your King your Lawful King and what Sins you bring upon your heads and the Judgment of God upon this Land Think well upon it I say think well upon it before you go further from one Sin to a greater Therefore let me know by what lawful Authority I am seated here and I shall not be unwilling to answer In the mean time I shall not betray my Trust I have a Trust committed to me by God by old and lawful Descent I will not betray it to answer to a new unlawful Authority Therefore resolve me that and you shall hear more of me Bradshaw If you had been pleased to have observed what was hinted to you by the Court at your first coming hither you would have known by what Authority which Authority requires you in the Name of the People of England of which you are Elected King to Answer King No Sir I deny that Bradshaw If you acknowledge not the Authority of the Court they must proceed King I do tell them so England was never an Elective Kingdom but an Hereditary Kingdom for near these thousand Years Therefore let me know by what Authority I am called hither I do stand more for the Liberty of my People than any here that come to be my pretended Judges and therefore let me know by what lawful Authority I am seated here and I will Answer it otherwise I will not answer it Bradshaw Sir How really you have managed your Trust is known your way of Answer is to interrogate the Court which beseems not you in this condition You have been told of it twice or thrice King Here is a Gentleman Lieut. Col. Cobbet ask him if he did not bring me from the Isle of Wight by force I do not come here as submitting to the Court. I will stand as much for the Priviledge of the House of Commons rightly understood as any man here whatsoever I see no House of Lords here that may constitute a Parliament and the King too should have been Is this the bringing of the King to his Parliament Is this the bringing an end to the Treaty in the Publick Faith of the World Let me see a Legal Authority warranted by the Word of God the Scriptures or warranted by the Constitutions of the Kingdom and I will answer Bradshaw Sir You have propounded a Question and have been answered Seeing you will not answer the Court will consider how to proceed In the mean time those that brought you hither are to take Charge of you back again The Court desires to know whether this be all the Answer you will give or no. King Sir I desire that you would give me and all the World satisfaction in this Let me tell you It is not a slight thing you are about I am sworn to keep the Peace by that Duty I owe to God and my Country and I will do it to the last breath of my Body And therefore you shall do well to satisfie first God and then the Country by what Authority you do it If you do it by an Vsurped Authority you cannot answer it There is a God in Heaven that will call you and all that give you Power to account Satisfie me in that and I will answer otherwise I betray my Trust and the Liberties of the People And therefore think of that and then I shall be willing For I do avow That it is as great a Sin to withstand Lawful Authority as it is to submit to a Tyrannical or any other ways Vnlawful Authority And therefore satisfie God and Me and all the World in that and you shall receive my Answer I am not afraid of the Bill Bradshaw The Court expects you should give them a final Answer Their Purpose is to Adjourn till Monday next If you do not satisfie your self though we do tell you our Authority we are satisfied with our Authority and it is upon God's Authority and the Kingdoms and that Peace you speak of will be kept in the doing of Justice and that 's our present Work King For Answer Let me tell you you have shewn no Lawful Authority to satisfie any reasonable man Bradshaw That 's in Your Apprehension We are satisfied that are your Judges King 'T is not My Apprehension nor Yours neither that ought to decide it Bradshaw The Court hath heard you and you are to be disposed of as they have commanded So commanding the Guard to take him away His Majesty only replied Well Sir And at his going down pointing with his Staff toward the Axe He said I do not fear that As He went down the Stairs the People in the Hall cried out God save the King notwithstanding some were set there by the Faction to lead the Clamour for Justice Painted Chamber 22 Jan. 1648. Commissioners Present John Bradshaw Serjeant at Law Lord President of this Court William Say John Downs Edward Whaley
next day being Tuesday at Twelve of the Clock to the Painted Chamber withal giving Notice that from thence they intended to Adjourn to this Place again Sunday having been spent in Fasting and Seditious Preaching according to the Mode of these Impious Hypocrites who used to Preface Rebellion and Murder with the Appearance of Religion the Illustrious Sufferer was as is before in Phelpe's Journal related placed before the infamous Tribunal vvhere their Mercenary Sollicitor Cooke opened the Tragick Scene thus displaying his Talents of Impudence and Treason Cooke May it please your Lordship my Lord President I did at the last Court in the behalf of the Commons of England exhibit and give in to this Court a Charge of High Treason and other High Crimes against the Prisoner at the Bar whereof I do accuse him in the Name of the People of England and the Charge was read unto him and his Answer required My Lord He was not pleased to give an Ansvver but instead of ansvvering did there dispute the Authority of this High Court My Humble Motion to this High Court in the behalf of the Kingdom of England is That the Prisoner may be directed to make a Positive Ansvver either by vvay of Confession or Negation vvhich if he shall refuse to do that then the Matter of Charge may be taken pro confesso and the Court may proceed according to Justice Bradshavv Sir You may remember at the last Court you vvere told the occasion of your being brought hither and you heard a Charge read against you containing a Charge of High Treason and other High Crimes against this Realm of England you have heard likewise that it was prayed in the behalf of the People that you should give an Answer to that Charge that thereupon such Proceedings might be had as should be agreeable to Justice You were then pleased to make some Scruples concerning the Authority of this Court and knew not by what Authority you were brought hither You did divers times propound your Questions and were as often answered That it was by Authority of the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament that did think fit to call you to Account for those High and Capital Misdemeanors wherewith you were then charged Since that the Court hath taken into consideration what you then said they are fully satisfied with their own Authority and they hold it fit you should stand satisfied with it too and they do require it that you do give a positive and particular Answer to this Charge that is exhibited against you They do expect you should either confess or deny it If you deny it is offered in the behalf of the Kingdom to be made good against you Their Authority they do avow to the whole World that the vvhole Kingdom are to rest satisfied in and you are to rest satisfied vvith it and therefore you are to lose no more time but to give a positive Ansvver thereunto King When I was here last 't is very true I made that Question and if it were only my own particular Case I would have satisfied my self with the Protestation I made the last time I was here against the Legality of this Court and that a King cannot be Tryed by any Superior Jurisdiction on Earth But it is not my Case alone it is the Freedom and the Liberty of the People of England and do you pretend what you will I stand more for their Liberties For if Power without Law may make Laws may alter the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom I do not know what Subject he is in England that can be sure of his Life or any thing that he calls his own Therefore when that I came here I did expect particular Reasons to know by what Law what Authority you did proceed against Me here and therefore I am a little to seek what to say to you in this Particular because the Affirmative is to be proved the Negative often is very hard to do But since I cannot perswade you to do it I shall tell you my Reasons as short as I can My Reasons why in Conscience and the Duty I owe to God first and my People next for the Preservation of their Lives Liberties and Estates I conceive I cannot answer this till I be satisfied of the Legality of it All Proceedings against any Man whatsoever Bradshaw Sir I must interrupt you vvhich I vvould not do but that vvhat you do is not agreeable to the Proceedings of any Court of Justice You are about to enter into Argument and Dispute concerning the Authority of this Court before vvhom you appear as a Prisoner and are charged as an high Delinquent If you take upon you to dispute the Authority of the Court we may not do it nor will any Court give way unto it you are to submit unto it you are to give a punctual and direct Answer whether you will answer your Charge or no and what your Answer is King Sir By your favour I do not know the Forms of Law I do know Law and Reason though I am no Lawyer professed But I know as much Law as any Gentleman in England and therefore under favour I do plead for the Liberties of the People of England more than you do and therefore if I should impose a Belief upon any man without Reasons given for it it were unreasonable But I must tell you that by that Reason that I have as thus informed I cannot yield unto it Bradshaw Sir I must interrupt you you may not be permitted You speak of Law and Reason it is fit there should be Law and Reason and there is both against you Sir The Vote of the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament it is the Reason of the Kingdom and they are these too that have given that Law according to which you should have Ruled and Reigned Sir You are not to dispute our Authority you are told it again by the Court Sir it will be taken notice of that you stand in contempt of the Court and your contempt will be recorded accordingly King I do not know how a King can be a Delinquent but by any Law that ever I heard of all men Delinquents or what you will let me tell you they may put in Demurrers against any Proceeding as Legal and I do demand that and demand to be heard with my Reasons if you deny that you deny Reason Bradshaw Sir You have offered something to the Court I shall speak something unto you the Sense of the Court. Sir neither you nor any man are permitted to dispute that Point you are concluded you may not demur to the Jurisdiction of the Court if you do I must let you know that they over-rule your Demurrer They sit here by the Authority of the Commons of England and all your Predecessors and you are responsible to them King I deny that shew me one Precedent Bradshaw Sir You ought not to interrupt while the Court is speaking to you This Point is
of the sanguinary desires of the Separatists he may consult a Pamphlet Intituled Justices Plea Printed and Published August 1 st 1644 of which this is the Abridgment The Cruel Miscreant addresses himself to the Assembly of Divines and by that he should be a Presbyterian and vehemently exhorts them to move the High and Honorable Court of Parliament that Justice may be speedily and severely Executed upon all the most Disloyal and Treacherous Enemies of the Kingdom For saith he One if not the main provoking Cause of all our Miseries is that Wrath-provoking Sin of Impunity and not Executing Justice and deserved Punishment upon Eminent Offenders and Malefactors amongst us Then he falls upon quoting and misapplying Scripture and the History of Achan Joshua 7 th and from thence proceeds to charge the Blood of Bohemia the Palatinate Rochel the Isle of Rhee Ireland and England upon the King and Loyal Party whom according to the Presbyterian Rhetorick he Styles Papists Atheists Pontificians and Malignants of all Sorts and Sexes and adds he some of them are put into our Hands as so many devoted Achans accursed ones yet of all of them but one Capital Offender except some Inferiour ones Three in London and as many at Bristol brought by our Renowned Joshua's meaning the Faction of the Two Houses to deserved Death and Destruction P. 1. The Remedy saith he of England's Malady which is a State Gangrene is the serious zealous and unpitying Execution of Justice upon the said Malefactors and by no means out of Pretence of sinful Pity or Partiality to spare the Lives of any whom God hath thus appointed to Death And this he endeavours to prove to be a Duty first from Precepts Gen. Cap. 9. Ver. 6. Whosoever sheddeth Mans Blood by Man shall his Blood be shed This is a general Rule saith he and from one end of the Bible to the other admits of no Exception either of Princes or Peasants Noble or Ignoble So that here you see is a Fatal Blow directly levell'd at the Kings Neck by the Presbyterian Doctrine though the Independents robb'd them of the power of putting it in practice but he goes forward leaving the impressions of his Cloven-footed Tutor upon every step he takes and falls with him to his Scriptum est quoting 1 Sam. Chap. 15. Ver. 2 3. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts I remember that which Amaleck did to Israel how he laid wait for him in the Way when he came up from Egypt Now go and smite Amaleck and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not but slay both Man and Woman Infant and Suckling Oxe and Sheep Camel and Ass The Royalists were the Amalekites and the most Religious King in the World was in Presbyterian Dialect Agag and this was the Doom to which they were adjudged by these pretended Saints and that too as peremptorily as if God had told them his Will by immediate Revelation as he did to Samuel and had declared the King and his Loyal Subjects his unpardonable Enemies and as Wicked Idolaters as were the Amalekites and their King Agag But the killing Blow was alway that passage Revelations Chap. 18. Ver. 6. Reward her even as she rewarded you and double unto her double according to her works in the Cup which she hath filled fill to her double and then to be sure they came to the dashing out the Brains of the Babylonish Brats the Cavaleers against the Stones Lastly adds he that of the Prophet Jeremy which I most humbly and heartily desire all our Grave and Godly Parliamentary Worthies should be most often and extraordinarily minded of Jer. Chap. 48. ver 10. Cursed be he that doth the work of the Lord deceitfully and Cursed be he that keepeth back his Sword from Blood Here 's a Precept cries out this Son of the Horseleech with a witness indeed a Precept under no less than a Curse yea an ingeminated Curse to shew the certainty and severity of Gods displeasure in the neglect of it yea we see it is called a dealing deceitfully with God and Men to do it slightly much more not to do it at all the Lord give those whom it most nearly concerns care and conscience timely and truly to set upon it Page 3. But lest the Authority of perverted Scripture-Precepts should not be sufficient to stimulate and instigate the Heads of the Faction to so much Cruelty and so many indiscriminating premeditated Murders he proceeds to furnish Presidents to fortifie his bloody Doctrine and first saith he affirmatively Phineas Executed Judgment on Zimri and Cozbi Upon which Text adds he as Reverend and Mellifluous Mr. Marshal in his Sermon observes That one man by his Holy Zeal may be a means to save a whole Kingdom how much more then a whole Parliament punishing Offenders in a Legal way by the Rule of Justice Then he produces Jehu Executing Vengeance upon Joram and Ahaziah two Kings and slaying the seventy Sons of Ahab and the two and forty Brethren of Ahaziah King of Judah 2 Kings Chap. 9 and 10. From Positive he proceeds to Negative Presidents as he calls them to shew that God was displeased for neglecting Executing Vengeance upon Capital Offenders instancing in the Quarrel between the Benjamites and Israelites Judges Chap 20 th the whole Chapter being as he saith the very Case of England comparing the King and his Party to the wicked Benjamites who had committed and justified that inhumane Rape upon the Levites Concubine and the Parliament and Faction to the true Israelites Then he tells you the story of Ahab's permitting Benhadad to escape 1 Kings Chap 20. ver 42. And he said unto him thus saith the Lord because thou hast let go out of thy hands a man whom I appointed to utter destruction therefore thy Life shall go for his Life and thy People for his People Then he instances in Saul's forfeiting his Kingdom for sparing Agag King of the Amalekites 1 Sam. Chap. 15. Ver. 23. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord he hath rejected thee from being King A strong push for Deposing and Murdering the King as being rejected of God as Saul was But in regard this was addressed to People who had Pretended most wonderful tenderness of Conscience lest there should be any remains of that he comes now to hardning of them by answering an Objection Obj. What is all this to us of the Ministry Answ It concerns you all very much and you also in the first place even You Reverend Gentlemen Such as are Arch-Enemies to God and his most Righteous Cause who have suck'd the Blood of Gods precious Ones are now held in Prison among us they are only imprisoned but some only pincht in their Purses and set at Liberty at least from danger of Death And this I say nay God says Justice is grievously neglected and the just Wrath of God highly incensed and exasperated against us for the same Now you Reverend Gentlemen are Sentinels and Watchmen Ezek.
reason to complain For as to the Motions of the Presbyterians for Reformation in Church Government in the whole First there is much Self-seeking for to what end is it motioned to have Parish-Ministers raised up to an equal Height as it were of Power and Authority with the Bishops but that They and the Bishops together keeping from the people their Rights and Liberties in the Gospel may equally Lord it and do what they please without control But our hope is that the Parliament being Men in whom the Lord hath put Wisdom and Understanding will for their Brethren and Companions sake yea and for their own Souls sakes too prudently foresee the Evil and prevent the Motion and not put Authority into their hands who will be if they have it as great Persecutors of the Saints as the Prelates formerly have been and so instead of one Lordly Domineering Bishop in a Diocess we shall then have one in every Parish and in some more to oppress and suppress all such as walk up to their Light more Closely and Conscionably in all Gods ways and what we speak we speak no more than what we have had woful Experience of and can make good by Proof But in the next place we cannot but take notice of their mixing of Heaven and Earth together motioning for a Discipline which is a very Hotch-Potch a Gallimaufrey compounded of Episcopacy Presbytery and Popery thinking in likelyhood to please all sides by framing like the Samaritans a Worship of Sundry Religions But the Lord sees their Halting and will one day reward them for it in their own bosoms as they have deserved and for these Reasons we desire the removing of this devised Liturgy and Hierarchy and that Christs true Ministry Worship and Government may be established by Act of Parliament Petition of the Independents supra citat Presbyt But when you have Petitioned you do not Acquiesce in the Wisdom and Justice of the two Houses who would have you quietly to attend the intended Reformation which they hope to perfect ere long by those Arms which they have raised to rescue the King from the Hands of his Evil Councellors and bring him back to his Great Council the Parliament Indep Alas Alas What do you tell us of Acquiescing What Favour can tender Consciences expect from Rigid Presbyterians who are resolved to set up their Discipline above all Power and to enslave both King and People Presbyt What can they expect but a Kingdom of Righteousness and that the King should be made the most Glorious King in Christendome as his Parliament hath promised him That the Parliament should injoy their Priviledges the People their Liberties and be freed from Monopolies Ship-money and the Antichristian Yoke of Prelacy and a National Church-Government according to the Word of God and the Solemn League and Covenant be established Indep Ah Sir From thence arise all our Fears Which are notably confirmed from former Experiences wherever Presbytery hath obtained Power For as to the King he must never flatter himself with any hopes from the Presbyterians Their Government carries such a special Enmity against Monarchy That whosoever will Found the one must rase the Fundamentals of the other For this little upstart Hierarchy can be little acknowledged where Kingly Power is This Epidemical Pest of Scotland was baptized by their Charity into a National Form in the Minority of King James when the great Lords and Clergy ruling all divided Stakes so that when he came at age and thought to grasp a Scepter he found a Manacle for it had consumed the Monarchie to a Skeleton the unlimited Power of the Convention of Estates and General Assembly especially like the Rod of Aaron was such a budding Evil that it devoured the Rod of Moses For where they prevail they will allow the King nothing but a Name without Substance the Bishops neither Name nor Substance And as for the People they must expect no more favour from them than the Prince For they leave the Lords and Gentry nothing but Slavery and the Commons Tyranny under the meanest of their fellow-Subjects And to say truth Solomon's great Vanity is a Prime Mystery of Presbyterian Government Servants on horseback and Princes on foot for they assert That Magistrates of what Degrees or Rank soever ought to use the Sword as they advise or command and compel others to submit to the Decree of the General Assembly And with what furious violence did they press their Covenant sequestring all that refused to take it So that they tread down all by a Moarnival or Two of Tyrants no less Monstrous perhaps for Pride than Ignorance in every Parochial Inquisition And should their Government be established in England for 24 Diocesses we should have 1000 Presbyteries besides the Torture of Classes Provincial Juntos Synods Assemblies And how many of the Clergy must be called off from their Charges to take upon their shoulders the Weight of Government which was their only Argument against the Bishops And certainly Tyranny is more supportable in a few than many hands and there is nothing to be expected but a fiery Tryal where the Furnace of Discipline is so excessively heated as it is by the Presbyterians there being in one Ordinance of theirs about the Lord Supper no less than Eighty sins named excluding the Persons accused of any one of them from it all which are left to the Malice of their Elders to accuse as they did Susanna So that a Citizen shall not dare to dispose of his Estate wear good Apparrel get ten twenty or thirty per Cent. by Lawful ways of Trade without the leave of the Elders And then for the Men of the Long Robe what will become of them For all matters of Controversie will come before the Consistory And after all this Lay-Eldership is a meer decoy the Preaching Presbyters will do all and the other must stand or fall according to his Report at the General Assembly The Case of the Kingdom Stated by M. N. Shewing the several Interests Printed 1647. Presbyt Kings and Parliaments have found a Notable Advocate of you I have heard your Party speak other Language even the most Wicked Blasphemies against this Reforming Glorious Parliament And to what purpose are your Fawning Applications to them whose Authority you do not own Pray do but hear this Paper read Upon sight and consideration of the Votes of Parliament Dated Die Veneris 20 Februarii 1645 and upon the Ordinance Dated Sabbati 14 Martii 1645. Intituled an Ordinance of the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament for keeping of Scandalous Persons from the Sacrament of the Lords Supper the enabling of Congregations for the choice of Elders and supplying defects in former Ordinances and Directions of Parliament concerning Church-Government Resolved by Tender Conscience with the consent of Gods Holy Word and Spirit assembled together That the Word of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament without the Word of the Lord of Heaven
fittest place I leave you and them Good Sir John Presbyter These are the Men and these are the Manners these are their Positions and Principles this is their Meekness and Charity their Tenderness and Unity these are their Thoughts of Monarchy and Episcopacy of Order and Government of Obedience and Subjection Here is a taste of their Divinity Humanity Morality Politicks Ethicks and Honesty though it is Canis ad Nilum only a few Snaps and away for fear of the Crocodiles and indeed Nilus is their proper Emblematical Parent and they are the very Crocodiles of Religion who are always Whining till they are able to devour the Government But certainly here is sufficient Deformity to perswade all Good Virtuous and Religious People for ever to abandon them not but that if I thought it necessary or that it would not Nauseate rather than Divert the Reader I could have blotted many more Pages out of their own Ink but truly measuring the Inclinations of others by my own I must ingenuously acknowledge that it gives me very slender diversion to Traffick in such Course Painting and such Ugly Colours but there is a necessity that he who must Paint the Infernal Legions of Darkness should dip his Pencil in the deepest Black and pourtray Deformity And that he who would from the Life draw the exact Picture of Presbyterians Independents and other Sects must fetch the best Colours to do it with from their own Shops And truly it is a satisfaction to me that I have not had this drudgery put upon me but that these Monsters have drawn the Lineaments of their own hideous Shapes and Figures And whatever Opinion the present Separatists may have either of me or of their Predecessors I think though I might have displaid their Principles which are equally Monstrous and Dangerous in the proper Colours of Truth yet I should not have bespattered my self at this gross rate to render them more ugly And indeed let who will dress these Principles in the Whitest Garb they will look like Negro's who though Apparrelled in the cleanest Linnen will be Negro's still But certainly as there can be no Exceptions against the Persons who have given these Characters they being the Principal Champions and Heroes of these two powerful Sects of the Presbyterians and Independents so there can be no doubt of the Truth of their Characters for like skilful Combatants as by long tryal they best knew each others defects so they addressed themselves most vigorously to attack each other in the weakest places and one may well perceive by the mutual Wounds they give and receive that they both wanted the Armour of Truth And most assuredly if all they charge each other to be Guilty of be true Hell hath nothing able much to surpass them in Blackness and if they be false nothing that can equal them in Malice and Falseness so that let their Accusations be true or false they manifestly prove each Faction to be most intolerably Wicked Faithless Mischievous and Dangerous to all Mankind and even to Humane Society And for my own particular I cannot see how it had been possible to have found any Arguments so capable to undeceive and deliver the deluded People of this Nation out of that strange fond Opinion which they have entertained of such Sanctimonious Impostors as these with which they themselves have furnished us against themselves and this I hope may likewise excuse the Repetition of such Treasonable Positions such unmannerly and bitter Invectives such fierce Accusations and such horrible Crimes as these two Factions are by their own Mouths and Pens convicted to be Guilty of But their greatest Guilt is still behind the very Quintessence of those Envenomed Anti-Monarchical Principles refined into one Dismal Act. For notwithstanding all these mutual Quarrels they were still most Harmoniously consenting and united in the Prosecution of the King as the Common Enemy And after all the Miseries of a Cruel Bloody and Unnatural War in which they had involved the Kingdom they proceeded at the last to Consummate all their former Wickednesses by the most Execrable Design that ever the Sun lent Beams to the Day to behold the Murder of the Ornament of Monarchy the Miracle of Piety and the Vice-gerent of Heaven upon Earth the King their King their Natural Liege Lord and Soveraign seeking the Security of their former Treasons by his Ruine and palliating their Rebellion by Murdering first his Innocence and then his Sacred Person and indeavouring to cover all their Former Crimes by committing Greater For the Independent Faction under Cromwel's Favour who had now openly declared himself of that Party having now got into their Possession the uncontrolable Power of the Sword they first Endeavour to get the King now a Prisoner to the Parliament into the hands of the Army which was now wholly Independent the Prebyterians being thrust out of all Military Employs this was in a little time by Cromwel's Power effected by one Joyce a Creature of his who when he had given him an Account of the Success of that Commission That 's well said Cromwel for now I have the King in my Power I have the Parliament in my Pocket The next step was to make sure of the City of London which by the mischief it had done the King was of too great Importance to be slighted and of great Necessity and Advantage to be gained They were very sensible should London heartily and unanimously oppose them that heavy Weight would be able to turn the Scale and very much Traverse if not Hazard the intire Ruine of their Designs This Cromwel knew so well that he was wont to say to his Confidents That London must be brought to more absolute Obedience or laid in the Dust A Declaration well worth the Consideration of that Noble City and a Caution to them for ever to be aware of these Treacherous Factions who if their Interest required it and their Power were able to effect it would make no Difficulty to Execute the Menace of that Infamous Vsurper But to proceed in order to the gaining of this Point they first Court the City to a Neutrality but the City declining that and there being some Overtures of an Accommodation with the King which Cromwel and his Party most dreaded he Threatens to March up with the Army to London whereupon the Citizens Hearts misgiving them and the Independents having gained upon diverse Considerable Members of it it was Resolved to try to divert that Storm whereupon they send Fowke Gibbs and Estwick to Treat with the Army who like perfidious and timerous Slaves betrayed their Trust and those that Employed them in that Affair For the Result of their Negotiation was That the City should relinquish the Power of the Militia and leave the Establishment of it to the Council of the Army That they should deliver up all their Forts the Line of Communication the Tower with all the Arms and Ammunition to the Army That they should disband
not to be debated by you neither will the Court permit you to do it If you offer it by way of Demurrer to the Jurisdiction of the Court they have considered of their Jurisdiction they do affirm their own Jurisdiction King I say Sir By your favour that the Commons of England was never a Court of Judicature I would know how they came to be so Bradshaw Sir You are not to be permitted to go on in that Speech and these Discourses Then the Clerk of the Court read CHARLES STVART King of England You have been accused on the behalf of the People of England of High Treason and other High Crimes the Court have determined that you ought to Answer the same King I will Answer the same so soon as I know by what Authority you do this Bradshaw If this be all that you will say then Gentlemen you that brought the Prisoner hither take charge of him back again King I do require that I may give in my Reasons why I do not Answer and give Me time for that Bradshaw Sir 'T is not for Prisoners to require King Prisoners Sir I am not an ordinary Prisoner Bradshaw The Court hath considered of their Jurisdiction and they have already affirmed their Jurisdiction If you will not answer we will give Order to Record your Default King You never heard my Reasons yet Bradshaw Sir Your Reasons are not to be heard against the highest Jurisdiction King Shew Me that Jurisdiction where Reason is not to be heard Bradshaw Sir We shew it you here The Commons of England and the next time you are brought you will know more of the Pleasure of the Court and it may be their final Determination King Shew Me where ever the House of Commons was a Court of Judicature of that kind Bradshaw Serjeant Take away the Prisoner King Well Sir Remember that the King is not suffered to give in his Reasons for the Liberty and Freedom of all his Subjects Bradshaw Sir You are not to have Liberty to use this Language How great a Friend you have been to the Laws and Liberties of the People let all England and the World judge King Sir Vnder favour it was the Liberty Freedom and Laws of the Subject that ever I took defended My self with Arms I never took up Arms against the People but for the Laws Bradshaw The Command of the Court must be obeyed No Answer will be given to the Charge King Well Sir Then Bradshaw Ordered the Default to be Recorded and the Contempt of the Court and that no Answer would be given to the Charge The King was Guarded forth to Sir Robert Cotton's House The Court Adjourned to the Painted Chamber on Tuesday at Twelve of the Clock and from thence they intend to Adjourn to Westminster-Hall at which time all Persons concerned are to give their Attendance His Majesty not being suffered to deliver his Reasons against the Jurisdiction of their Pretended Court by word of Mouth thought fit to leave them in Writing to the more impartial Judgment of Posterity as followeth HAving already made my Protestations not only against the Illegality of this Pretended Court but also That no Earthly Power can justly call Me who am your King in question as a Delinquent I would not any more open My Mouth upon this Occasion more than to refer my self to what I have spoken were I in this Case alone concerned But the Duty I owe to God in the Preservation of the True Liberty of My People will not suffer Me at this time to be silent For how can any Free-born Subject of England call Life or any thing he possesseth his own if Power without Right dayly make New and abrogate the Old Fundamental Law of the Land Which I now take to be the present Case Wherefore when I came hither I expected that you would have endeavoured to have satisfied Me concerning these Grounds which hinder Me to answer to your Pretended Impeachment But since I see that nothing I can say will move you to it though Negatives are not so naturally proved as Affirmatives yet I will shew you the Reason why I am confident you cannot Judge Me nor indeed the meanest Man in England For I will not like you without shewing a Reason seek to impose a Belief upon My Subjects There is no Proceeding just against any man but what is vvarranted either by God's Laws or the Municipal Laws of the Countrey where he lives Now I am most confident This Days Proceeding cannot be warranted by God's Law for on the contrary The Authority of Obedience unto Kings is clearly warranted and strictly commanded both in the Old and New Testament which if denied I am ready instantly to prove And for the Question now in hand there it is said That Where the Word of a King is There is Power and who may say unto Him What dost Thou Eccl. 8.4 Then for the Law of this Land I am no less confident That no Learned Lawyer will affirm That An Impeachment can lie against the King they all going in His Name And one of their Maxims is That The King can do no Wrong Besides The Law upon which you ground your Proceedings must either be Old or New if Old shew it if New tell what Authority warranted by the Fundamental Laws of the Land hath made it and when But how the House of Commons can erect a Court of Judicature which was never one it self as is well knovvn to all Lavvyers I leave to God and the World to judge And it vvere full as strange that they should pretend to make Laws vvithout King or Lords House to any that have heard speak of the Lavvs of England And admitting but not granting That the People of England's Commission could grant your Pretended Power I see nothing you can shew for that for certainly you never asked the Question of the Tenth Man in the Kingdom and in this way you manifestly wrong even the Poorest Ploughman if you demand not his free Consent nor can you pretend any colour for this your Pretended Commission vvithout the Consent at least of the Major Part of every Man in England of vvhatsoever Quality or Condition vvhich I am sure you never vvent about to seek so far are you from having it Thus you see that I speak not for My ovvn Right alone as I am your King but also for the true Liberty of all My Subjects vvhich consists not in the Power of Government but in Living under such Laws such a Government as may give themselves the best Assurance of their Lives and Property of their Goods Nor in this must or do I forget the Privileges of Both Houses of Parliament vvhich this Days Proceedings do not only violate but likevvise occasion the greatest Breach of their Publick Faith that I believe ever vvas heard of with which I am far from Charging the Two Houses for all Pretended Crimes laid against Me bear Date long before this Treaty at Newport
Prisoner in mind of former Proceedings and that although by the Rules of Justice if Advantage were taken of his past Contempts nothing would remain but to pronounce Judgment against him they had nevertheless determined to give him leave to Answer his Charge which as was told him in plain terms for Justice knew no respect of Persons to plead Guilty or Not Guilty thereto To which he made Answer as formerly That he would not acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Court and that it was against the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom that there was no Law to make a King a Prisoner that he had done nothing against his Trust and issued out into such like Discourses Upon which the Courts Resolution was again remembred to him and he told That he had now the third time publickly disowned and affronted the Court That how good a Preserver he had been of the Fundamental Laws and Freedoms of the People his Actions had spoken that mens Intentions were used to be shewed by their Actions and that he had written his Meaning in bloody Characters throughout the Kingdom and that he should find at last though at present he would not understand it that he was before a Court of Justice Hereupon in the manner appointed the Clerk in the Name of the Court demanding the Prisoners Answer to his Charge and the same refused the Default was Recorded the Prisoner remanded and the Court Adjourned to the Painted Chamber Painted Chamber The Court according to their former Adjournment from Westminster-Hall came together from thence into the Painted Chamber where they sate privately and Ordered as followeth Ordered That no Commissioner ought or shall depart from the Court without the special leave of the said Court This Court took into consideration the managing of the Business of the Court this day in the Hall and the King's Refusal to Answer notwithstanding he had been three several times demanded and required thereunto and have thereupon fully approved of what on the Courts part had then passed and Resolved That Notwithstanding the said Contumacy of the King and refusal to plead which in Law amounts to a standing mute and tacit Confession of the Charge and notwithstanding the Notoriety of the Fact charged the Court would nevertheless however examine Witnesses for the further and clearer satisfaction of their own Judgments and Consciences the manner of whose Examination was referred to further Consideration the next Sitting and Warrants were accordingly issued forth for summoning of Witnesses Mr. Peters moveth the Court as a Messenger from the King viz. That the King desires he might speak with his Chaplains that came unto him privately but the House of Commons having taken that into their Consideration the Court conceived it not proper for them to intermeddle therein The Court Adjourned it self till Nine of the Clock to morrow morning to this Place What passed in the Hall more at large than is related by Phelpes in this Days Transactions see in the following Discourse The King being brought in by the Guard looks with a Majestick Countenance upon his Pretended Judges and sits down After the second O Yes and Silence commanded Cooke began more insolently Cooke May it please your Lordship My Lord President This is now the third time that by the great Grace and Favour of this High Court the Prisoner hath been brought to the Bar before any Issue joyned in the Cause My Lord I did at the first Court exhibit a Charge against him containing the Highest Treason that ever was wrought upon the Theatre of England That a King of England trusted to keep the Law that had taken an Oath so to do that had Tribute paid him for that end should be guilty of a wicked Design to subvert and destroy our Laws and introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government in the defiance of the Parliament and their Authority set up his Standard for War against the Parliament and People and I did humbly pray in the behalf of the People of England that he might speedily be required to make an Answer to the Charge But My Lord instead of making any Answer he did then dispute the Authority of this High Court Your Lordship was pleased to give him a further day to consider and to put in his Answer which day being Yesterday I did humbly move that he might be required to give a direct and positive Answer either by Denying or Confession of it But my Lord he was then pleased for to Demur to the Jurisdiction of the Court which the Court did then over-rule and command him to give a direct and positive Answer My Lord Besides this great Delay of Justice I shall now humbly move your Lordship for speedy Judgment against him My Lord I might press your Lordship upon the whole That according to the known Rules of the Law of the Land That if a Prisoner shall stand as contumacious in contempt and shall not put in an issuable Plea Guilty or Not Guilty of the Charge given against him whereby he may come to a fair Tryal that as by an implicite Confession it may be taken pro confesso as it hath been done to those who have deserved more favour than the Prisoner at the Bar has done But besides My Lord I shall humbly press your Lordship upon the whole Fact The House of Commons the Supreme Authority and Jurisdiction of the Kingdom they have declared That it is notorious that the Matter of the Charge is true as it is in truth My Lord as clear as Crystal and as the Sun that shines at Noon-day which if your Lordship and the Court be not satisfied in I have notwithstanding on the People of England's behalf several Witnesses to produce And therefore I do humbly pray and yet I must confess it is not so much I as the innocent Blood that hath been shed the Cry whereof is very great for Justice and Judgment and therefore I do humbly pray that speedy Judgment be pronounced against the Prisoner at the Bar. Bradshaw went on in the same strain Sir You have heard what is moved by the Councel on the behalf of the Kingdom against you Sir You may well remember and if you do not the Court cannot forget what dilatory Dealings the Court hath found at your hands You were pleased to propound some Questions You have had Your Resolution upon them You were told over and over again That The Court did affirm their own Jurisdiction that it was not for You nor any other man to dispute the Jurisdiction of the Supreme and Highest Authority of England from which there is no Appeal and touching which there must be no Dispute yet You did persist in such Carriage as You gave no manner of Obedience nor did You acknowledge any Authority in them nor the High Court that constituted this Court of Justice Sir I must let you know from the Court that they are very sensible of these Delays of yours and that they ought not being thus
Authorized by the Supreme Court of England to be thus trifled withal and that they might in Justice if they pleased and according to the Rules of Justice take advantage of these Delays and proceed to pronounce Judgment against you yet nevertheless they are pleased to give direction and on their behalfs I do require you that you make a positive Answer unto this Charge that is against you Sir in plain terms for Justice knows no respect of Persons you are to give your Positive and Final Answer in plain English whether you be Guilty or not Guilty of these Treasons laid to your Charge The King after a little Pause said When I was here Yesterday I did desire to speak for the Liberties of the People of England I was interrupted I desire to know yet whether I may speak freely or not Bradshaw Sir You have had the Resolution of the Court upon the like Question the last day and you were told That having such a Charge of so high a Nature against you your Work was that you ought to acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Court and to answer to your Charge Sir if you answer to your Charge which the Court gives you leave now to do though they might have taken the Advantage of your Contempt yet if you be able to answer to your Charge when you have once answered you shall be heard at large make the best Defence you can But Sir I must let you know from the Court as their Commands that you are not to be permitted to issue out into any other Discourses till such time as you have given a Positive Answer concerning the Matter that is charged upon you King For the Charge I value it not a rush It is the Liberty of the People of England that I stand for For Me to acknowledge a New Court that I never heard of before I that am your King that should be an example to all the People of England for to uphold Justice to maintain the Old Laws indeed I know not how to do it You spoke very well the first day that I came here on Saturday of the Obligations that I had laid upon me by God to the Maintenance of the Liberties of my People the same Obligation you spake of I do acknowledge to God that I owe to Him and to My People to defend as much as in me lies the Ancient Laws of the Kingdom therefore until that I may know that this is not against the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom by your favour I can put in no particular Answer If you will give Me time I will shew you My Reasons why I cannot do it and this Here being interrupted he said By your favour you ought not to interrupt Me. How I came here I know not there 's no Law for it to make your King your Prisoner I was in a Treaty upon the Publick Faith of the Kingdom that was the known Two Houses of Parliament that was the Representative of the Kingdom and when that I had almost made an end of the Treaty then I was hurried away and brought hither and therefore Bradshaw Sir You must know the Pleasure of the Court. King By your favour Sir Bradshaw Nay Sir By your Favour You may not be permitted to fall into those Discourses You appear as a Delinquent You have not acknowledged the Authority of the Court The Court craves it not of You but once more they command You to give Your Positive Answer Clerk do your Duty King Duty Sir The Clerk reads CHARLES STVART King of England You are accused in the behalf of the Commons of England of divers High Crimes and Treasons which Charge hath been read unto you The Court now requires you to give your Positive and Final Answer by way of Confession or Denial of the Charge King Sir I say again to you so that I might give satisfaction to the People of England of the clearness of My Proceeding not by way of Answer not in this way but to satisfie them that I have done nothing against that Trust that hath been committed to Me I would do it but to acknowledge a new Court against their Priviledges to alter the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom Sir you must excuse Me. Bradshaw Sir This is the third time that You have publickly disown'd this Court and put an Affront upon it How far You have preserv'd the Priviledges of the People Your Actions have spoke it but truly Sir Mens Intentions ought to be known by their Actions You have written Your Meaning in bloody Characters throughout the whole Kingdom But Sir You understand the Pleasure of the Court. Clerk Record the Default And Gentlemen You that took Charge of the Prisoner take him back again King I will only say this one Word more to you if it were only My own Particular I would not say any more nor interrupt you Bradshaw Sir You have heard the Pleasure of the Court and You are notwithstanding You will not understand it to find that You are before a Court of Justice Then the King went forth with the Guard And Proclamation was made That all Persons which had then appeared and had further to do at the Court might depart into the Painted Chamber to which Place the Court did forthwith Adjourn and intended to meet at Westminster-Hall by Ten of the Clock next Morning Cryer God bless the Kingdom of England Mercurii 24 Jan. 1648. Painted Chamber Three Proclamations made The Commissioners Present John Bradshaw Serjeant at Law Lord President Sir Thomas Maleverer Baronet Thomas Scot. Edward Whalley John Carew Edmund Harvey Owen Roe John Blackistone William Purefoy Henry Smith John Fry Francis Lassels Daniel Blagrave Anthony Stapeley Sir Gregory Norton Bar. William Cawley Robert Tichbourne Henry Marten Oliver Cromwell Sir John Danvers John Moore Richard Deane Vincent Potter Thomas Horton Cornelius Holland John Berkstead Tho. Lord Grey of Groby John Huson John Okey Gilbert Millington John Jones William Goffe Sir John Bourchier Isaac Pennington Ald. of Lond. Simon Meyne Adrian Scroope John Dixwell Isaac Ewers John Aldred Peter Temple Peregrine Pelham Edmund Ludlow John Hutchinson Thomas Pride William Heveningham Sir William Constable Francis Allen. The Court took into Consideration the Manner how the Witnesses should be Examined and in regard the King hath not Pleaded to Issue and that this Examination was ex abundanti only for the further satisfaction of themselves Resolved That the Witnesses shall be Examined to the Charge against the King in the Painted Chamber before the Court there Ordered That Mr. Millington and Mr. Tho. Challoner do forthwith repair unto John Brown Esq Clerk of the House of Peers for such Papers as are in his Custody which are conducible for the Business and Service of this Court and the said Mr. Brown is required to send the said Papers hither accordingly Witnesses Produced and Sworn in Court to give Evidence to the Charge against the King Henry Hartford Edward Roberts William Braynes Robert Lacy.
saw a Flagg flying upon the Tower of Nottingham Castle and that the next day afterwards he did see the King at Nottingham when the said Flagg was still flying which Flagg this Deponent then heard was the King's Standard He saith also That he did afterwards see the King at Cropredy-Bridge in the Head of his Army in a Fallow Field there and did see the King in pursuit of Sir William Waller's Army being then Routed which was about the Month of July 1644. And at that time this Deponent did see many People slain upon the Ground And further this Deponent saith That in or about the Month of Novemb. 1644. he did see the King at the last Fight at Newbury riding up and down the Field from Regiment to Regiment whilst his Army was there fighting with the Parliaments Forces and this Deponent did see many Men slain at that Battel on both sides Michael Potts of Sharpereton in the County of Northumberland Vintner Sworn and Examined deposeth That he this Deponent saw the King in the Head of the Army in the Fields about a Mile and a half from Newbury Town upon the Heath the day before the Fight was it being about Harvest-tide in the Year 1643. And he further saith That he saw the King on the day after when the Fight was standing near a great Piece of Ordnance in the Fields And he further saith That he saw the King in the second Newbury Fight in the Head of his Army being after or about Michaelmas 1644. And he further saith That he saw a great many Men slain at both the said Battels And he further saith That he saw the King in the Head of his Army near Cropredy-Bridge in the Year 1644. And he further saith That he saw the King in the Head of his Army in Cornwal near Lestithiel while the E. of Essex lay there with his Forces about the middle of Harvest 1644. George Cornwal of Aston in the County of Hereford Ferryman Aged fifty Years or thereabouts sworn and examined saith That he this Deponent did see the King near Cropredy-Bridge about the time of Mowing of Corn 1644. in the Van of the Army there and that he drew up his Army upon a Hill and faced the Parliaments Army and that there was thereupon a Skirmish between the King 's and the Parliaments Army where he this Deponent saw divers persons slain on both sides The Examination of Henry Gooche of Grayes-Inn in the County of Middlesex Gent. Sworn and Examined This Deponent saith That upon or about the Thirtieth day of September last he this Deponent was in the Isle of Wight and had Access unto and Discourse with the King by the means of the L. Marquess of Hartford and Commissary Morgan where this Deponent told the King that his Majesty had many Friends and that since his Majesty was pleased to justifie the Parliaments first taking up Arms the most of the Presbyterian Party both Soldiers and others would stick close to him To which the King answered thus That he would have all his old Friends know that though for the present he was contented to give the Parliament leave to call their own War what they pleased yet that he neither did at that time nor ever should decline the Justice of his own Cause And this Deponent told the King that his Business was much retarded and that neither Col. Thomas nor any other could proceed to Action through want of Commission The King answered That he being upon a Treaty would not dishonour himself but that if he this Deponent would take the pains to go over to the Prince his Son who had full Authority from him he the said Deponent or any for him should receive whatsoever Commissions should be desired and to that purpose he would appoint the Marquess of Hartford to write to his Son in his Name and was pleased to express much of Joy and Affection that his good Subjects would ingage themselves for his Restauration Robert Williams of the Parish of St. Martins in the County of Cornwal Husbandman Aged twenty three Years or thereabouts sworn and examined saith That he this Deponent did see the King marching in the Head of his Army about September 1644. a Mile from Lestithiel in Cornwal in Armor with a short Coat over it unbuttoned And this Deponent further saith That he saw him after that in St. Austell Downes drawing up his Army And this Deponent saith he did after that see the King in the Head of his Army near Foy and that the E. of Essex and his Army did then lie within one Mile and a half of the King's Army The Witnesses being Examined as aforesaid the Court Adjourned for an hour 25 Jan. 1648. post Merid. Commissioners Present John Bradshaw Serjeant at Law Lord President of this Court Daniel Blagrave John Okey Henry Marten John Carew Thomas Horton Sir Michael Livesey Bar. Owen Roe Sir John Bourchier Kt. Thomas Scot. John Moore Oliver Crowwell William Goffe Richard Deane Cornelius Holland Thomas Harrison Robert Lilbourne John Downs Edmond Ludlow Peregr Pelham Sir Henry Mildmay John Jones Valentine Wauton Sir Gregory Norton Bar. Sir Thomas Maleverer Bar. Adrian Scroope Henry Smith Anthony Stapeley John Huson Sir William Constable Bar. John Barkstead Sir John Danvers Edward Whalley Thomas Waite William Purefoy Thomas Pride John Fry John Blackistone Sir Hardress Waller Knight John Venn Robert Tichbourne Humphrey Edwards Peter Temple Vincent Potter William Cawley Isaac Ewers Richard Price of London Scrivener was produced a Witness to the Charge against the King who being Sworn and Examined saith That upon occasion of some tampering by the King's Agents with the Independants in and about London to draw them from the Parliaments Cause to the King's Party and this being discovered by some of those so tampered with unto sundry Members of the Committee of Safety who directed a carrying on of a seeming Compliance with the King he this Deponent did travel to Oxford in January 1643. having a safe Conduct under the Kings Hand and Seal which he this Deponent knoweth to be so for that the King did own it when he was told that this Deponent was the man that came to Oxon with that safe Conduct And this Deponent also saith That after sundry Meetings between him and the E. of Bristol about the drawing of the Independents unto the King's Cause against the Parliament the Substance of the Discourse at which Meetings the said Earl told this Deponent was communicated to the King he this Deponent was by the said Earl brought to the King to confer further about that Business where the King declared That he was very sensible that the Independents had been the most active men in the Kingdom for the Parliament against him and thereupon perswaded this Deponent to use all means to expedite their turning to Him and his Cause And for their better encouragement the King promised in the Word of a King That if they the Independents would turn to him and
a hasty Judgment may bring on that trouble and perpetual inconveniency to the Kingdom that the Child that is unborn may repent it And therefore again out of the Duty I owe to God and to My Countrey I do desire that I may be heard by the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber or any other Chamber that you will appoint Me. Bradshaw You have been already answered to what you even now moved being the same you moved before since the Resolution and the Judgment of the Court in it And the Court now requires to know whether you have any more to say for your self than you have said before they proceed to Sentence King I say this Sir That if you hear Me if you will give Me but this Delay I doubt not but I shall give some satisfaction to you all here and to my People after that and therefore I do require you as you will answer it at the dreadful Day of Judgment that you will consider it once again Bradshaw Sir I have received Direction from the Court. King Well Sir Bradshaw If this must be re-inforced or any thing of this nature your Answer must be the same and they will proceed to Sentence if you have nothing more to say King I have nothing more to say but I shall desire that this may be entred what I have said Bradshaw The Court then Sir hath something to say unto you which although I know it will be very unacceptable yet notwithstanding they are willing and are resolved to discharge their Duty Then Bradshaw went on in a long Harangue endeavouring to justifie their Proceedings misapplying Law and History and raking up and wresting whatsoever he thought fit for his purpose alledging the Examples of former Treasons and Rebellions both at home and abroad as authentick Proofs and concluding that the King was a Tyrant Traytor Murtherer and Publick Enemy to the Commonwealth of England His Majesty having with his wonted Patience heard all these Reproaches answered I would desire only one Word before you give Sentence and that is That you would hear Me concerning those great imputations that you have laid to My Charge Bradshaw Sir You must give me now leave to go on for I am not far from your Sentence and your time is now past King But I shall desire you will hear Me a few Words to you for truly whatever Sentence you will put upon Me in respect of those heavy imputations that I see by your speech you have put upon Me. Sir it is very true that Bradshaw Sir I must put you in mind Truly Sir I would not willingly at this time especially interrupt you in any thing you have to say that is proper for us to admit of But Sir You haue not owned us as a Court and you look upon us as a sort of People met together and we know what Language we receive from your Party King I know nothing of that Bradshaw You disavow us as a Court and therefore for you to address your self to us not to acknowledge us as a Court to judge of what you say it is not to be permitted And the truth is all along from the first time you were pleased to disavow and disown us the Court needed not to have heard you one word for unless they be acknowledged a Court and engaged it is not proper for you to speak Sir we have given you too much liberty already and admitted of too much Delay and we may not admit of any further Were it proper for us to do we should hear you freely and we should not have declined to have heard you at large what you could have said or proved on your behalf whether for totally excusing or for in part excusing those great and heinous Charges that in whole or in part are laid upon you But Sir I shall trouble you no longer your Sins are of so large a dimension that if you do but seriously think of them they will drive you to a sad consideration and they may improve in you a sad and serious Repentance And that the Court doth heartily wish that you may be so penitent for what you have done amiss that God may have Mercy at leastwise upon your better part Truly Sir for the other it is our Parts and Duties to do that that that the Law prescribes We are not here Jus dare but Jus dicere We cannot be unmindful of what the Scripture tells us For to acquit the Guilty is of equal abomination as to condemn the Innocent We may not acquit the Guilty What Sentence the Law affirms to a Traytor Tyrant a Murtherer and a Publick Enemy to the Country that Sentence you are now to hear read unto you and that is the Sentence of the Court. Make an O Yes and command Silence while the Sentence is read Which done their Clerk Broughton read the Sentence drawn up in Parchment Whereas the Commons of England in Parliament had appointed them an High Court of Justice for the Trial of CHARLES STVART King of England before whom he had been three times convented and at the first time a Charge of High Treason and other Crimes and Misdemeanors was read in the behalf of the Kingdom of England Here the Charge was repeated Which Charge being read unto him as aforesaid he the said CHARLES STUART was required to give his Answer but he refused so to do Expressing the several Passages of his refusing in the former Proceedings For all which Treasons and Crimes this Court doth adjudge That he the said CHARLES STUART as a Tyrant Traytor Murderer and a Publick Enemy shall be put to Death by the severing of his Head from his Body Which being read Bradshaw added The Sentence now Read and Published is the Act Sentence Judgment and Resolution of the whole Court To which they all expressed their Assent by standing up as was before Agreed and Ordered His Majesty then said Will you hear me a Word Sir Bradshaw Sir You are not to be heard after the Sentence King No Sir Bradshaw No Sir by your Favour Sir Guard Withdraw your Prisoner King I may speak after Sentence by your favour Sir I may speak after Sentence ever By your favour hold the Sentence Sir I say Sir I do I am not suffered to speak expect what Justice other People will have His Majesty being taken away by the Guard as he passed down the Stairs the insolent Soldiers scoffed at him casting the smoke of their Tobacco a thing very distastful unto him in his Face and throwing their Pipes in his way And one more insolent than the rest spitting in his Face his Majesty according to his wonted Heroick Patience took no more notice of so strange and barbarous an Indignity than to wipe it off with his Handkerchief As he passed along hearing the Rabble of Soldiers crying out Justice Justice he said Poor Souls for a piece of Money they would do so for their Commanders Being brought first to Sir Robert
will clear me of it I will not I am in Charity God forbid that I should lay it on the Two Houses of Parliament there is no necessity of either I hope they are free of this Guilt For I do believe that ill Instruments between them and me have been the chief Cause of all this Bloodshed So that by way of speaking as I find my self clear of this I hope and pray God that they may too Yet for all this God forbid that I should be so ill a Christian as not to say that God's Judgments are just upon me many times he does pay Justice by an unjust Sentence that is ordinary I will only say this That an unjust Sentence that I suffered to take effect is punished now by an unjust Sentence upon me That is So far I have said to shew you that I am an Innocent Man Now for to shew you that I am a good Christian I hope there is a good Man that will bear me witness that I have forgiven all the World and even those in particular that have been the chief causers of my Death Who they are God knows I do not desire to know I pray God forgive them But this is not all my Charity must go further I wish that they may repent for indeed they have committed a great Sin in that Particular I pray God with St. Stephen that this be not laid to their Charge Nay not only so but that they may take the right way to the Peace of the Kingdom For my Charity commands me not only to forgive particular men but my Charity commands me to endeavour to the last gasp the Peace of the Kingdom So Sirs I do wish with all my Soul and I do hope there is some here will carry it further that they may endeavour the Peace of the Kingdom Now Sirs I must shew you both how you are out of the way and will put you in a way First You are out of the way For certainly all the way you ever have had yet as I could find by any thing is in the way of Conquest Certainly this is an ill way for Conquest Sir in my opinion is never just except there be a good just Cause either for matter of wrong or just Title and then if you go beyond it the first Quarrel that you have to it that makes it unjust at the end that was just at the first But if it be only matter of Conquest then it is a great Robbery as a Pyrate said to Alexander the Great That he was the great Robber he was but a petty Robber And so Sir I do think the way that you are in is much out of the way Now Sir for to put you in the way believe it you will never do right nor God will never prosper you until you give God his Due the King his Due that is My Successors and the People their Due I am as much for Them as any of you You must give God his Due by Regulating rightly his Church according to his Scripture which is now out of Order For to set you in a way particularly now I cannot but only this a National Synod freely Called freely Debating among themselves must settle this when that every Opinion is freely and clearly heard For the King indeed I will not Then turning to a Gentleman that touched the Axe he said Hurt not the Axe that may hurt me For the King The Laws of the Land will clearly instruct you for that therefore because it concerns my own Particular I only give you a Touch of it For the People And truly I desire their Liberty and Freedom as much as any body whomsoever but I must tell you that their Liberty and Freedom consists in having of Government those Laws by which their Life and their Goods may be most their own It is not for having share in Government Sir that is nothing pertaining to them a Subject and a Sovereign are clear different things And therefore until they do that I mean that you do put the People in that Liberty as I say certainly they will never enjoy themselves Sirs it was for this that now I am come here If I would have given way to an Arbitrary way for to have all Laws changed according to the power of the Sword I needed not to have come here and therefore I tell you and I pray God it be not laid to your Charge that I am the MARTYR of the People In troth Sirs I shall not hold you much longer for I will only say this to you That in truth I could have desired some little time longer because that I would have put this that I have said in little more order and a little better digested than I have done and therefore I hope you will excuse me I have delivered my Conscience I pray God that you do take those courses that are best for the good of the Kingdom and your own Salvation Then the Bishop said Though it be very well known what your Majesties Affections are to the Protestant Religion yet it may be expected that You should say somewhat for the Worlds satisfaction in that Particular Whereupon the King replied I thank you very heartily My Lord for that I had almost forgotten it In troth Sirs My Conscience in Religion I think is very well known to all the World and therefore I declare before you all That I die a Christian according to the Profession of the Church of England as I found it left me by my Father and this honest man I think will witness it Then turning to the Officers He said Sirs Excuse me for this same I have a good Cause and I have a gracious God I will say no more Then to Col. Hacker he said Take care that they do not put me to pain And Sir this and it please you But a Gentleman coming near the Axe the King said Take heed of the Axe pray take heed of the Axe And to the Executioner he said I shall say but very short Prayers and when I thrust out my hands Then he called to the Bishop for his Cap and having put it on asked the Executioner Does my Hair trouble you Who desired him to put it all under his Cap which as he was doing by the help of the Bishop and the Executioner he turned to the Bishop and said I have a good Cause and a gracious God on my side The Bishop said There is but one Stage more which though turbulent and troublesome yet it is a very short one you may consider it will soon carry you a very great way it will carry you from Earth to Heaven and there you shall find to your great Joy the Prize you hasten to a Crown of Glory The King adjoyns I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown where no disturbance can be no disturbance in the world Bishop You are exchanged from a Temporal to an Eternal Crown A good