under Gods favour we shall comfortably enjoy the same to us and our posterity for ever Next to Religion and peace with God we will Remember that Universal peace of State both at home and abroade which under your Christian and prudent Government we enjoy whereof we have the less reason to doubt any interruption when we behold the Greatness and reputation of your Majesties power and the goodness and Excellency of your Royal disposition whereof the latter is not like â—o give the cause or occasion and the â—ormer is likely to abate the Courage â—nd forces of any hostile attempts And â—astly we cannot but with unspeakable â—oy of heart consider of that blessing which having respect to later times in â—his state is rare and unwonted which â—s the blessed fruit and Royal Issue of â—ingular towardness and comfort which God hath given your Majesty with â—reat hope of many the like these being â—ndeed as arrows in the hand of the Mighty able to dant your Enemies â—nd to assure your loving subjects and â—o safe-guard your Royal person and to sheild and protect each other and to be a pledge to us and our posterity of future and perdurable felicity The benefits and blessings dread Soveraign amongst many others as we gladly acknowledge to your Majesties great honour and our great comfort So nevertheless having upon mature advice concluded to present to your Majesty a gift in proportion and speed of payment exceeding all former presidents of Parliament and the times of Peace considered we do further think fit to add and express those reasons special and extraordinary which have moved us hereunto lest the same our doing may be drawn into President to the prejudice of the State of our Countrey and our posterity A first and principal reason is thaâ— late and monstrous attempt of that cursed crew of desperate Papists to have destroyed your Excellent Majesty the Queen and your Royal Progeny together with the Reverend Prelates Nobility and Commons of this Land â—ssembled in Parliament to the great confusion if not subversion of this Kingdom the barbarous malice in â—ome unnatural subjects we have â—hought fit to check and encounter with the certain demonstration of the â—niversal and undoubted Love of your Loyal and Faithful Subjects not only for the present to breed in your Maâ—esty a more confident assurance of our uttermost aides in proceeding with a princely resolution to repress them and to furnish your Majesty against hostile attempts both by Sea and Land out also for the future times to give â—heir Patrons and partakers to understand that your Majesty can never want in this Kingdom meanes of defence of your rights revenge of your wrongs and support of your estate A second reason is that memorable benefice wherewith it hath pleased the Divine providence in great grace and favour to bless this Nation in your Majesties person by addition of another Kingdom whereby both ancient hostilities are quite extinguished and all footing and approaches of any For rainer in this Island are excluded and your Majesties other Dominions the more secured which happy event was nevertheless attended with sundry rare and necessary circumstances of charge now at your Majesties first entrance and setling such as the like hath not been in former times nor is like to be in suceeding ages A third and most urgent reason is the great and excessive charge which the unnatural Wars of Ireland newly finished before our late Renowned Queens decease did necessarily impose upon your Majesty by drawing with it a long traine of after expences even in your Majesties time till the peace thereof were throughly setled and assured which Kingdom is now since your Majesties time become in the vastest Province thereof capable of the plantation of Religion Justice Civilty and Population and may in longer time arise to be a most profitable and opulent member of your Imperial Crown A fourth reason ariseth from the great contentment and joye which we have in the remembrance of your Majestiâ— most gracious disposition to the good of your people testified as well at your first entrance into this Kingdom by your Princely care you took out of your own Royal mind to free them by your Proclamation from any burdens of Monopolies and other unlawful things which then remained in use as also of late your comfortable messages sent unto us dureing this Session of Parliament purporting the continuance of like gracious intention towards them where just occasion of grief should appear which joye of ours hath bred a desire in us to express in more then ordinary manner our extraordinary and humble thankes unto your Majesty for the same and to make it appear on our parts that we will at no time omit any Testimonies of Love and Duty toward your Majesty that may procure or deserve the perfecting and accomplishing of so Princely a work so well begun of Grace and favor towards us it being far from our dispositions to entertain any such unthankfulness into our hearts as not chearfully to assist with our goods and substance and all other duties of Subjects such a Soveraign by whom we find our selves so tenderly regarded Thus Gracious Soveraign out of those extraordinary Reasons and considerations as also out of our great Love and affection towards your Majesties person vertues and felicities we do with all humble and chearful affections present to your Majesty three subsidies and six Fifteenths and Tenths and we do most humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted by Authority of this present Parliament in manner and form following Anno. Dom. 1605. An. Reg. Jac. 3. The Declarations of the opinions of the Non-conformists as it was delivered to King James himself on their behalf in the third year of his Reign 1. WE hold and maintain the same Authority and Supremacy in all causes and over all persons Civil or Ecclesiastical granted by Statute to Queen Elizabeth and expressed and declared in the Book of Advertisements and Injunctions and in Mr. Bilson against the Jesuites to be due in full and ample manner without any Limitation or Qualification to the King and his Heirs and Successors for ever neither is there to our knowledge any one of us but is and ever hath been most willing to subcribe and Swear unto the same according to form of Statute And desire that those that shall refuse the same may bear their own iniquitie That 2. We are so far from Judging the said Supremacy to be unlawful that we are perswaded that the King should sin highly against God if he should not assume the same unto himself and that the Churches within his Dominions should sin damnably if they should deny to yield the same unto him yea though the Statutes of the Kingdom should deny it unto him 3. We hold it plain Anti-Christianism for any Church or Church-Officers whatsoever either to arrogate or assume unto themselves any part or parcel thereof and utterly unlawful for the King to give away or
THE Connexion BEING CHOICE COLLECTIONS OF SOME PRINCIPAL MATTERS IN King JAMES his Reign Which may serve to supply the Vacancy betwixt Mr. Townsend's and Mr. Rushworth's Historical Collections LONDON Printed for W. Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple Bar 1681. AN ADVERTISEMENT OF THE Collector WHo ever you are or of what Quality you be that this Connexion comes to the â—ands of there is no need of an Auâ—hor's begging your Favour for without an Apology if the seriâ—us and deliberate Results of a Wise King by his Parliament and by his Privy Council with the Learnâ—d Discourses of some Great men in that time such as the Duke of Bucking ham Sir Francis Bacon c. without Reflections Annotations Observations c. will not please am sorry for it yet I will give thâ— reason of the Publication of this viz. There being an Historical Collection of the last Parliaments oâ— Qu. Elizabeth by Mr. Heywooâ— Townsend which Ends before thâ— beginning of King James his Reignâ— and Mr. John Rushworth beginâ— his Historical Collections so late iâ— the said King's Reign that therâ— is nigh twenty years space betwixâ— them of which time nothing of History is in Print in this Method And although Wilson and Saunderson have both wrote that Great King's Life yet neither of them have reported Matter of Fact in this manner You have these Collections as â—hey came to my hands from several â—areful Collectors of Choice Things And truly I was in hopes I should â—ave got more relating to that time â—ut I found these so difficult that I â—ave over the farther search and â—ielded to the desire of some that â—ad seen them to let them go as â—hey are THE CONTENTS AN. 1. Jac. Reg. A Proclamation bâ— King James to Repress all Pyrâ—cies and Depredations upon the Seâ— wherein Rules and Articles are set foâ— the prevention of Sea Rovers and Pyrates An. 2. Jac. A Proclamation of the Revocation of Mariners from Foreign Services and to prevent them turning oâ— Pyrates and to hinder Acts of Hostility to be committed on the Coasts of England An. 3. Jac. An Act of Parliament for the granting of three intire Subsidies and six Fifteenths and Tenths granted by the Temporality to his Majesty with the Reasons why granted shewing the great Advantage his Majesty hath been to the Kingdom â—ac The Declaration of the Opinions of the Non-conformists as it was delivered to King James in the third year of his Reign â—ac A Proclamation by King James with Rules to prevent Pyracies â— 7. Jac. A Proclamation of King James touching Fishing â— 8. Jac. The Case of Sir John Kenneâ—da and his Lady shewing the Contract â—in Marriage â—ac Vpon the Case of Sir John Kenâ—eda whether an English Jurisdiction may disannul a Marriage made in Scotland â—ac Certain Points of Law and Reaâ—on whereby it may plainly appear that â—he Question between the Lady Kenneda and Sir John concerning the Validity of their Marriage may and ought by ordinary course of Law be heard and determined before the Ecclesiastical Judges in England who have Jurisdictions in the Places where they do both dwell Whereupon the Civilians have grounded their Opinions given in this Case to that Effect 9 Jac. The Commission and Warrant foâ— the Condemnation and burning of Baâ—tholomew Legat who was burnt iâ— Smithfield in London for Hereticâ— Opinions 9 Jac. The Commission and the Warranâ— for the Condemnation and burning oâ— Edward Wightman of Lichfield witâ— an Account of his Heretical Opinions 14 Jac. An Order of the King 's Privâ— Council sent to the Peers of the Realm for the Tryal of the Earl and Countesâ— of Somerset for the poysoning of Siâ— Thomas Overbury 14. Jac. Sir Francis Bacon's Speech aâ— the Arraignment of the Earl of Somerset 14 Jac. King James his Pardon to Frances Countess of Somerset for poysoning Sir Thomas Overbury 19 Jac. An Order of the Privy Council 22 Jac. His Grace the Duke of Buckingham's Answer to the Scandals of the Marquess of Inoiosa the Spanish Ambassador wherein his Abusive Reflections are wip'd off CHOICE COLLECTIONS IN King JAMES His Reign Anno Dom. 1603. in An. Reg. Jac. 1. A Proclamation by King James to repress all Pyracies and Depredations upon the Sea wherein Rules and Articles are set for the prevention of Sea Rovers and Pyrates THE Kings Majesty being certainly informed through the manifold and daily complaints made to his Highness as well by his own Subjects as others of the continual Depredations and Pyracies committed on the Seas by certain lewd and ill disposed persons and finding that the ordinary proceeding held of late times for the suppressing of these enormities and offences have wrought less Reformation than was expected In his Princely care to preserve Justice as one of the main Pillars of his Estate and for the speedier suppression of all such Pyracies and depredacious Crimes most hateful to his mind and scandalous to his peaceable Government and for the better continuance of Amity with all other Princes and States hath with the advice of his Privy Council for the speedy prevention or severe punishment hereafter of such foul crimes and pyracies set down certain Articles hereunto annexed which his Highness commanded all his Officers whom it may concern of what degree soever to see duely executed wherein if any manner of person shall be found culpable or wilfully negligent contemptuous or disobedient his Majesty declareth hereby that punishment shall be inflicted upon him or them with such severity as the Example thereof shall terrifie all others from committing any so odious crimes or contemptuous Offences First That no Man of War be furnished or set out to Sea by any of his Majesties Subjects under pain of death and confiscation of Lands and Goods not only to the Captains and Mariners but also to the Owners and Victuallers if the Company of the said Ship shall commit any pyracy depredation or murther at the Sea upon any of his Majesties Friends Item That if any person whatsoever shall upon the Seas take any Ship that doth belong to any of his Majesties Friends and Allies or to any of their Subjects or shall take out of it by force any goods of what nature or quality so ever he or they so offending shall suffer death with Confiscation of Lands and Goods according to the Law in that Case provided Item That all Admiral Causes except the Causes now depending before the Commissioners for Causes of depradations shall be summarily heard by the Judge of the High Court of the Admiralty without admitting any unnecessary delay Item that no appeal from him be admitted to the Defendent or Defendents in causes of Depredation either against the offenders or their Accessaries before or after the offence committed or those in whose possession the Goods spoiled are found unless first by way of provision the sum adjudged be paid to the Plaintiff upon Sureties to repay it if the Sentence shall be reversed Item that no prohibition in such
any that hath such Letters â—f Mark or Reprisal from any foreign â—rince or State whatsoever nor otherwise â—mploy themselves in any warlike serâ—ices of any foreign State upon the Sea â—ithout special license obtained from our â—elf or from our High Admiral as they will answer the contrary at their perils And for as much as although we are in peace with all Christian Princes and States yet during the continuance oâ— the War between the King of Spain and the Arch-Dukes on the one side and the United Provinces of the Lowâ— Countries on the other side many chances may happen as some already have hapned of difficult interpretation to our Officers and Subjects how to behave themselves in such Cases unless they be explained unto them We have thought it convenient to make anâ— open Declaration how our said Officers and Subjects shall demean themselves toward the Subjects as well of the King of Spain and Arch-Dukes as also of the States united in the Cases following First our pleasure is that within our Ports Havens Roads Creeks or other places of our Dominions or so near to any of our said Ports or Havens as may be reasonably construed to be within that Title limit or precinct there shall be no force violence surprise or offence suffered to be done either from man of War to man of War or man of War to Merchant or Merchant to Merchant of either party but that all of â—hat Nation soever so long as they â—all be within those our Ports and plaâ—s of our Jurisdiction or where our â—fficers may prohibit violence shall be â—nderstood to be under our protectiâ—n to be ordered by course of Justice â—nd be at peace each with other And whereas some of the men of War of each side have used of late and â—â— is like will use in time to come though â—ot to come within our Ports because â—here they know we can restrain vioâ—ence yet to hover and hang about the â—kirts of our Ports somewhat to Seaâ—oard but yet so near our Coasts and â—he entry of our Harbours as in reason â—s to be construed to be within the exâ—ent of the same and there to await the Merchant of the adverse part and do â—eize and take them at their going out of our Ports which is all one in a manner as if they took them within our Port and will be no less hindrance to the trade of Merchants Our pleasure therefore and commandment is to all our Officers and Subjects by Sea and Land that they shall prohibit as muâ—â— as in them lieth all such hovering 〈◊〉 men of War of either side so neâ—â— the entry of any of our Havens 〈◊〉 our Coasts and that they shall receiâ—â— and succour all Merchants and other that shall fall within the danger of anâ— such as shall await our Coasts in so neaâ— places to the hindrance of Trade anâ— Traffique outward and homeward from and to our Kingdomes And foâ— the better instructions of our Officeâ— in the execution of these two Articleâ— We have caused to be sent to theâ— plats of those limits within which 〈◊〉 are resolved that these Orders shall bâ— observed And where it hath happened and 〈◊〉 like to do often that a ship of War 〈◊〉 the one side may come into some of ouâ— Ports where there â—â—all be a Merchanâ— of the other side In such Case for thâ— benefit and preservation of the lawfuâ—â— Trade of Merchants our pleasure is that all Merchants ships if they will require it shall be suffered to depart ouâ— of the said Port two or three Tide before the man of War to the intent that the Merchant may be free from the pursuit of his Adversary and it it so happen that any ship or ships of War of the one side do find any ship or ships of War of the other side in any our Ports or Roads aforesaid like as our pleasure is that during there abode there all violence be forborn so do we likewise command our said Officers and Subjects both on Sea and Land that the ship of War which came in first be suffered to depart a Tide or two before the other which came in last and that for so long time they shall stay and detain any ship of War that would offer to pursue another out of any of our Ports immediately And where we are informed that notwithstanding the severity of our Laws against Receivers of Pyrates goods many of our Officers of our Ports and other Inhabitants within and near unto them do receive daily goods brought in from Sea by such as are indeed Pyrates if they and the getting of their Goods were well examined we do hereby admonish them all to avoid the receiving or buying of any goodâ— from sea coming not into the Realm by lawful course of merchandize for that they shall find we are resolved so to prevent all occasion and encouragement of Pyrates to be used by any ouâ— Subjects as we will cause our Laws to be fully executed according to their true meaning both against the Pyrates and all Receivers and Abettors of them and their goods Given at Thetford the first day of March in the second year of our Reign of Great Britain c. Anno Dom 1605. in An. Reg. Jac. 3. An Act for the granting of three entire Subsidies and six Fisteenths and Tenths granted by the Temporaltie to His Majesty with the reasons why granted and the great advantages his Majesty hath been to this Kingdom MOst Gracious Soveraign as at the first entrance of your Majesty into this Kingdom there appeared universally in all your Loving Subjects greater demonstrations of affection towards your Royal person than ever hath been observed towards any former King upon a joyful and foreruning expectation of your Majesties Religious Just and Gracious Government so finding by the grounded experience of three years now compleat of the same your happy Government that your Majesty hath turned our hopes into sensible and actual benefits we cannot but still settle and increase in Love Zeal and Duty towards you which we think fit more and more to make manifest to your Majesty not by externe showes but by real effects And therefore We your most Loving and Loyal Subjects being by your Royal Authority assembled in Parliament to consult of the great and important causes of this your Kingdom have entred into due consideration both of your Majesties great Benefit and of your present estate in the support whereof the continuance of these benefits doth principally consist wherein we do in the first place call to mind that by Gods great mercies and blessing and your Majesties Religious care in execution of the good Laws for that purpose ordained the true Religion of Almighty God freed and delivered from the servitude of blind and Forrain superstition is continued unto us and that in such sort as considering your Majesties constant and Judicial profession thereof and the Religious Education of your Children we rest assured that
where so much as in us lies to â—oot out and extirpate and Hereticks so convict to punish with Condigâ— Punishment holding that such an Hâ—retick in the aforesaid Form Conviâ—â— and Condemned according to thâ— Laws and Customs of this our Kingdom of England in this part accustomed ought to be Burned with Fireâ— We command thee that thou cause the said Edward Wightman being iâ— thy Custody to be committed to the Fire in some publick and open Placeâ— below the City aforesaid for the Cause aforesaid before the People and the same Edward Wightman in the same Fire cause really to be Burned in the Detestation of the said Crime and for manifest Example of other Christians that they may not fall into the same Crime And this no ways omit under the Peril that shall follow thereon Witness c. Anno Dom. 1616. An. Reg. Jac. 14. â— Order of the King 's Privy Council sent to the Peers of the Realm for the Tryal of the Earl and Countess of Somerset Whitehall Apr. 24. 1616. AFter our very hearty Commendations to your Lordship â—hereas the King 's Majesty hath reâ—ved that the Earl of Somerset and â—e Countess his Wife lately indicted â—f Felony for the Murder and Poyâ—ning of Sir Thomas Overbury then â—s Majesties Prisoner in the Tower â—all now receive their Lawful and â—ublick Tryal by their Peers immeâ—ately after the end of this present â—aster Term. At the Tryal of which â—oble Personages your Lordship's â—resence as being a Peer of the Realm â—nd one of approved Wisdom and Inâ—grity is requisite to pass upon them â—hese are to let your Lordship understand that his Majesties Pleasure â—â— and so commandeth by these our Leâ—ters that your Lordship make youâ— repair to the City of London by thâ— Eleventh day of the Month of Mâ—â— following being some days before thâ— Tryal intended at which time youâ— Lordship shall understand more of hiâ— Majesties Pleasure So not doubtinâ— of your Lordships Care to observe hâ— Majesties Directions we commit yoâ— to God Your Lordships very loving Friends G. Cant. T. Ellesmere Canc. Fenton E. Wotton Tho. Lake Lo. Dare. C. Edmonds E. Worcester Lenox P. Herbert R. Winwood F. Grevyll J. Caesar â—he Speech of Sir Francis Bacon at the Arraignment of the Earl of Somerset the Countess having received the King's Pardon â—T may please your Grace my Lord High Steward of England and you â—y Lords the Peers You have here â—efore you Robert Earl of Somerset â—â— be Tried for his Life concerning â—e Procuring and Consenting to the â—oysoning of Sir Thomas Overbury â—â—en the King's Prisoner in the Tower â—f London as an Accessary before the â—act I know your Honours cannot beâ—old this Noble Man but you must â—emember the great Favours which â—he King hath conferred on him and â—ust be sensible that he is yet a Memâ—er of your Body and a Peer as you â—re so that you cannot cut him off â—â—om your Body but with grief and â—herefore you will expect from us that give in the King's Evidence sound â—nd sufficient matter of Proof to satisfie your Honours Consciences As for the manner of the Evidence the King our Master who amongst other his Vertues excelleth in that Vertue of the Imperial Throne which is Justice hath given us Command that we should not expatiate nor make Invectives but materially pursue the Evidence as it conduceth to the points in question A matter that though we are glad of so good a Warrant yet we should have done of our selves For far be it from us by any Strains of Wit or Arts to seek to play Prizes or blazon our Names in Blood or to carry the Day other ways than on sure grounds We shall carry the Lanthorn of Justice which is the Evidence before your Eyes upright and so be able to save it from being put out with any grounds of Evasion or vain Defence not doubting at all but that the Evidence it self will carry that Force as it shall need no Advantage or Aggravation First My Lords The Course that will hold in delivery of that which shall say for I love Order is First I will speak something of the Nature and Greatness of the Offence which is now to be Tried not to weigh down my Lord with the greatâ—ess of it but rather contrariwise to â—ew that a great Offence needs a â—ood Proof And that the King howâ—ever he might esteem this Gentleâ—an heretofore as the Signeâ— upon his â—inger to use the Scripture Phrase â—et in such a Case as this he was to â—ut it off Secondly I will use some few words â—ouching the Nature of the Proofs which in such a Case are competent Thirdly I will state the Proofs And Lastly I will produce the â—roofs either out of Examination â—nd matters of Writing or Witnesses â—iva voce For the Offence it self it is of Crimes â—ext unto High Treason the greatest is the foulest of Felonies It hath â—ree Degrees First It is Murder by Impoysonment Secondly It is Muâ—der committed upon the King's Prisoner in the Tower Thirdly I might say it is Murder under the colour â— Friendship but that it is a Circumstance Moral and therefore I leavâ— that to the Evidence it self For Murder my Lords the firâ—â— Record of Justice which was in thâ— World was Judgment upon a 〈◊〉 therer in the Person of Adam's First born Cain and though it was not punished by Death but Banishment and marks of Ignominy in respect of the Primogenitors or the Population oâ— the World yet there was a severâ— Charge given that it should not gâ—â— unpunished So it appeareth likewise in Scripture that the Murder of Abner by Joab though it were by David respited in respect of great Services past or reason of State yet it was not forgotten But of this I will say no more because I will not discourse It was ever admitted and ranked in God's own Tables That Murder is of Offences between man and man next unto High Treason and Disobedience to Authority which sometimes have been referred to the first Table because of the Lieutenancy of God in Princes the greatest For Impoysonment I am sorry it should be heard of in our Kingdom It is not nostri generis nec sanguinis pecâ—atum it is an Italian Comfit fit for the Court of Rome where that person that intoxicateth the Kings of the Earth is many times really intoxicaâ—ed and poysoned himself but it hath three Circumstances which makes it grievous beyond other matters The First is That it takes a man away in full peace in God's and the King's peace that thinks no harm â—ut is comforting of Nature with Reâ—ection and Food so that as the Scripture saith his Table is made a Snare The Second is That it is easily committed and easily conceal'd and on â—he other side hardly prevented and hardly discovered For Murder by violence Princes have Guards and Private Men have Houses Attendants and Arms. Neither can such Murder be committed but Cum sonitu with some
unto Overbury who perused them copied them registred them made Table-talk of them as they thought good so I will undertake the time was when Overbury knew more of the Secrets of the State than the Council-Table did Nay they were grown to such Inwardness as they made a Play of all the World besides themselves so as they had Cyphers and Jurgons for the King and Queen and Great Men of the Realm Things seldom used but either by Princes or their Confederates or at the least by such as practice and work against or at the least upon Princes But understand me My Lord I shall not charge you with Disloyalty at this day and I lay this for a Foundation that there was great Communication of Secrets between you anâ— Sir Thomas Overbury and that it haâ— relation to matters of State and thâ— great Causes of this Kingdom But My Lords as it is a Principlâ— in Nature that the best things are in their Corruption the worst and the sweetest Vine maketh the sourest Vinegar so it fell out with them that this Excess as I may say of Friendship ended in mortal Hatred on my Lord of Somerset's Part. I have heard my Lord Steward say sometimes in the Chancery that Frostâ— and Fraud end foul and I may add a Third and that is the Friendship of Ill Men which is truly said to be Conspiracy and not Friendship For it fell out some twelve Months or more before Overbury his Imprisonment in the Tower that the Earl of Somerset fell into an unlawful Love towards that unfortunate Lady the Countess of Fsseâ— and to proceed to a Marriage with her this Marriage and Purpose did Overbury mainly impugne under â—retence to do the true part of a â—riend for that he accounted her an â—nworthy Woman but the Truth â—as Overbury who to speak plainly â—ad little that was solid for Religion â—r Moral Vertue but was wholly â—ossest with Ambition and Vain Gloâ—y was loth to have any Partners in â—he Favour of my Lord of Somerset â—nd especially not any of the House â—f the Howards against whom he had â—ways professed Hatred and Opposiâ—tion And my Lords that this is no siniâ—er Construction will appear to you when you shall hear that Overbury â—ade his Brags that he had won him â—he Love of the Lady by his Letters â—nd Industry so far was he from Caâ—es of Conscience in this point And certainly my Lords howsoâ—ver the Tragical Misery of this poor Gentleman Overbury might somewhat â—bliterate his Faults yet because we â—re not upon point of Civility but to â—iscover the Face of Truth before the Face of Justice For that it is material to the true understanding of the Statâ— of this Cause Overbury was noughâ— and corrupt the Ballads must be meâ—ded for that point But to proceed when Overbury saâ— that he was like to be Possessor oâ— my Lords Grace which he had poâ—sessed so long and by whose Greatness he had promised himself to dâ— Wonders and being a Man of an unbounded impudent Spirit he begaâ— not only to dissuade but to deteâ— him from the Love of that Lady anâ— finding him fixed thought to find â— strong Remedy and supposing thaâ— he had my Lord's Head under his Giâ—dle in respect of Communication oâ— Secrets of State as he calls them him self Secrets of Nature and thereforâ— dealt violently with him to make hiâ— desist with Menaces of Discovery anâ— the like Hereupon grew two Streamâ— of Hatred upon Overbury the one froâ— the Lady in respect that he crossed her Love and abused her Name which are Furies in Women the other of a more deep Nature from my Lord of Somerset himself who was afraid of Overbury's Nature and if he did break from him and fly out he would wind into him and trouble his whole Fortunes I might add a â—hird Stream of the Earl of Northampton's Ambition who desires to be first in Favour with my Lord of Somerset and knowing Overbury's Malice to himself and to his House thought that Man must be removed and cut off so as certainly it was resolved and Decreed that Overbury must die That was too weak and they were so far from giving way to it as they crossed it there rested but two ways of Quarrel Assault and Poyson For that of Assault after some Proposition and Attempt they passed from it as a thing too open and subject to more â—ariety of Shame That of Poyson likewise was an hazardous thing and subject to many Preventions and Caution especially to such a Working and Jealous Brain as Overbury had except he was first fast in their Hands Therefore the way was first to get him into a Trap and lay him up anâ— then they could not miss the Mark And therefore in Execution of thiâ— Plot it was concluded that he should be design'd to some Honourable Employment in Foreign Parts and should under-hand by my Lord of Somerset be encouraged to refuse it and so upon Contempt he should be laid Prisoner in the Tower and then they thought he should be close enough and Death should be his Bail yet were they not at their End For they considered that if there were not a fit Lieutenant of the Tower for their purpose and likewise a fit Under-keeper of Overbury First They should meet with many Impediments in the giving and exhibiting of the Poyson Secondly They should be exposed to Note and Observation that might discover them And Thirdly Overbury in the mean time might write clamorous and furious Letters to his Friends and so all might be disappointed And therefore the next Link of the Chain was to displace the then Lieutenant Wade and to place Yelvis a Principal Abettor in the Impoysonment to displace Cary that was Under-keeper in Wade's Time and to place Weston that was the Actor in the Impoysonment and this was done in such a while that it may appear to be done as it were in a Breath Then when they had this poor Gentleman in the Tower close Prisoner where he could not escape nor stir where he could not feed but by their Hands where he could not speak nor write but through their Trunks then was the time to act the last Day of his Tragedy Then must Franklin the Purveyor of the Poyson procure five six seven several Poysons to be sure to hit his Complexion then must Mrs. Turâ—er the Lay-mistress of the Poysons â—dvise what works at present and what at distance then must Weston â—e the Tormentor and chase him with Poyson after Poyson Poyson â—n Salt Meats Poyson in Sweet Meats Poyson in Medicines and Vomits until at last his Body by the use of Treacle and Preservatives was so fortified that the force of the Poysons was blunted upon him Weston confessing when he was chid for not dispatching him that he had given him enough to poyson twenty men And Lastly Because all this asked time Courses were taken by Somerset both to divert all the true means of Overbury's Delivery and to
they assail me in my Strength and shall find my Deeds as ready and confident Justifications as my Words But it is not my Faith or Aspiring they here would bring in doubt they have a further Strain For as before they made my Name a Fume to disquiet the Head now they make it a Poyson to carry Infection into the Body For What is the Parliament but the Body of the Kingdom And why do they stain it with the hateful Name of Puritan but to make it odious to the King Indeed such Names help the Jesuits in Disputes of Religion when they are driven from all real Defences and would they practice this deploâ—able Art in the Matters of State if they were not in his Case that called Christ Galilean when he was vanquished by his Power For who knoweth not the Upper House of Parliament consisteth of all the Preâ—ates and Peers and the Nether House of near 500 Knights and Burgesses Elected and sent out of all Parts of â—he Kingdom And are all these Puâ—itans Do my Plots receive better Enâ—ertainment amongst them than with â—he Council of State And doth this reâ—roachful Comparison honour or disâ—onour those Able and Wise Men who are here presented to be well â—ffected to their Cause but their end â—as no Man's Honour It was to break â—he Parliament by setting Faction aâ—ongst the Members of both Houâ—es as well as with the Head and their â—and is most evident in misrepresenting the Case For where they say that almost every one of the Council both liked and allowed of the Propositions of the Catholick King and found therein no Cause to dissolve the Treaty They conceal that the Proposition was then made for the Palatinate alone supposing the Treaty of the Marriage should proceed And in that Case it mighâ— seem reasonable to very Wise Menâ— that the other Treaty should not bâ— broken off But in Parliament where both Parties come in Question together not one of those Able and Wise Men for they were all Memberâ— of the one House or the other dissented from the Council of dissolving them both The Altars of Provocation may then be objected to Worshippers of Saints or to them that appeal to their Idol at Rome and noâ— to Us who acknowledge no Sovereign upon Earth but our King to whom both Council of State and Parliament yield Odedience in all things How then may it be said thaâ— the Parliament is now above the King Or how can they hope that such shameless and impious Suggestions can make a prudent and good King jealous and doubtful of a most obsequious and dutiful People Especially at this time when it may truly be said That the Spirit of Wisdom in the Heart of the King hath wrought the Spirit of Unity in the Hearts of his Subjects which made the Success more happy than former Parliaments have had And this indeed is the matter which the Devil and they storm at For who can doubt that they and their Faction cannot endure without much trouble of Mind as they confess to see the weightiest Affairs and of greatest Moment to be now referred to the Censure of the Parliament when their fair Promises and Pretences can no longer prevail Yet let them tell us what greater and more Honourable Senate they have seen in Spain or elsewhere Besides Do not the very Writs for the Summons of Parliament express That is for the great and weighty Affairs of the Kingdom And have not our greatest and wisest Kings heretofore referred Treaties of Leagues of Marriages of Peace and War and of Religion it self to the Consultations of their Parliaments Those then that take upon them to undervalue this High Court do but expose their own Judgments to Censure and Contempt not knowing that Parliaments as they are the Honour and Support so they are the Hand-maids and Creatures of our Kings inspired formed and governed by their Power And if Charles the Fifth oâ— France by his Parliament of Paris recovered a great part of that Kingdom from this Crown and if Succeeding Kings there by the Assistance of that Court redeemed the Church from the Tyranny of the Pope We have no cause to doubt that our King by the Faithful Advice Assistance and Service of his Parliament shall be able both to recover the Palatinate which they here make so difficult and to protect our Neighbours and Allies and either to settle such a Peace as we really desire or to execute such Vengeance as God's Justice and their Sins shall for their Ambition assuredly draw upon them But they proceed and tell the King that it is said I have propounded many things to the Parliament in his Name without his Advice or Consent nay contrary to his Will And is not this to abuse the Ears and patience of a Prince to tell him many things are said and yet neither specifie the Matters nor the Men Or is not this to dally with my Name by Hear-says when with a harsh and incoherent Transition they suddenly fall upon â—he Prince who is the next true Mark their Malice shooteth at And when Malice it self cannot but acknowledge his Ingenuity and great Gifts and that in all things he shewâ—th himself an obedient and good â—on yet these Attributes they will â—eeds qualifie with a Nevertheless which cannot charge me as with a â—ault that I am confident in his Favour Or that I therefore despise all men to which Vice of all other my Nature is least inclin'd but indeed taxeth the Prince at least with participation of my ill Intentions by suffering me to make those persons subject to my Will which are most conformable to His. Whom they mean I know not but pray God that those Men they thus recommend to his Highness's neareâ— Trust prove not more dangerous to his Person than I have hitherto been refractory to his Will But having shot this Bolt they come back again to me as to their Stalking-horse to chuse a new Mark. And first for a preparative to the Prince Attention they wish that my Action were directed to his Good Then tâ— give at least some Varnish to theiâ— Work they tell him that good me believe meaning such as believe theâ— with an implicite Faith that I whâ— have imbroiled the Match with Spain will not be less able to break any other his Highness should affect iâ— which Speech if a Man will dive tâ— the Bottom of their Malice he must descend into Hell But for the Match with Spain can any man believe that his Majesty sent his Son that he went in Person that he both trusted Spain so far and did that Kingdom so much Honour and yielded to such Conditions or that I underwent that Hazard and Charge and pressed their King importuned his Favorite and Council and subjected my self to so many Indignities or that so great a Fleet even into their own Ports with Minds to interrupt or embroil or not rather to remove all Impediments to â—asten the Marriage and to bring â—ome
the Infanta which was promised with as great Assurance as words could express But they will say that â—his Earnestness and Haste was it that disturbed all the Business and so I â—hink it did And I confess withal â—hat it was our End and Endeavour â—o put them from their Shifts and to â—ring to an Issue that Treaty under â—he Delay whereof we had suffered so â—uch And I profess further that the Honour and good Success of this Intention do properly belong to his Majesty and the Prince by whose Wisdom and Resolution a desperate Remedy was so well applied to a desperate Disease But they say That howsoever my Endeavours might at first concur to hasten the Match yet after the Princess Palatine had written Letters unto me and had sent her Secretary to confirm a Marriage betwixt her Soâ— and my Daughter Then I instantly caused the Prince to revoke his Procuration and turn'd all upside down And here is revealed another mysticaâ— Use they would make of my Name to divide Father and Daughter Brother and Sister Master and Servant and to break all the Bonds of Naturâ— and Affection by Jealousie of Statâ— And can the Devil attempt more But what Proof Nay what Appearance do they shaddow this withal Forsooth by telling that they knoâ— in Spain that the same day thoâ— Letters were delivered the Revocâ—tion was pronounced but how knew they that Or do they not know in Spain that the Prince himself opened and read all the Letters and heard all Addresses And by what Inspection could they know more than the Prince Except those innocent Letters were like indented Pictures which shew to one's view a fair and to another's a foul Face Is it not strange that Malice it self is not satiated with the Distresses of those Worthy Princes except it bereave them not only of necessary Support and Relief but also of that Love and good Opinion whereby they must subsist And to what other End tendeth that careful Admonition to the King to takeheed both to himself and to the Prince My Precipitation my Ambition and my Popularity are but the Fringe and Shadow The supplanting of these Princes the Diversion of the Affection of their Father and Brother the bereaving them of all Assistance and Comfort and finally the Disturbing of all our Affairs are the true Ends of these Fore-warnings and false pretended Fears For my Ambition and Popularity how appeared it in Parliament by casting say they all Odious Matters upon the King and arrogating the thanks of all things acceptable to my self and by the Title given me to be Redeemer of my Country Such Generalities are ever the Subterfuges of deceit But let them instance in any Particular either of odious Matter there propounded and cast upon the King or of plausible whereof all the Honour was not his and that with greater Demonstration of Reverence and Thankfulness than in former Parliaments hath been seen For the Title it is true that by our Journey into Spain we were brought out of Darkness into Light and the Discovery of former Inconveniencies and future Dangers of the Treaties was applauded in Parliament as no less than a Work of Redemption to the State But therein all that I assumed or was attributed to me was the Happiness to have been under the Prince's Government whose Wisdom in discovering the Insincerity of their Pretences in refusing those things which were utterly inconvenient in yielding to such as being prejudicial were corrigible afterwards and in qualifying the rest to a tolerable Construction was the only means of redeeming our Safety and settling our Affairs And for his Majesty who hath heard of his Name that can doubt that his deep Understanding and Experience was the true Fountain from which all our Directions did proceed Then how can I be charged with Envy against the great Good of Christendom and especially of England and Spain When all the World shall understand that the King and Prince under God and by his Blessings are the chief means to rescue all Christendom especially England from the Usurpation of that pretended Empire which they call the Good but is truly the Bondage and Misery of both Having thus served their Turns with my Name against his Majesty against the Prince against the Parliament against his Royal Daughter and her Race who could think it possible their Malice could strain higher Yet their Master-piece is behind And whereas their former Suggestions were grounded upon they say here They know in Spain and such Shaddows of Testimonies at large For this they now hatch because it is monstrous in it self and hath nothing in Being possible to ground upon They lay a strange Foundation upon a bare Pretence that many speak ominously fearing the worst but withal knowing that his Majesties Wisdom cannot be wrought upon by Popular Apprehensions they say farther that he that told it did the Office of a good Man both to God his Majesty and the Prince Yet surely this was not the good Man of David that imagineth no Evil and telleth no Untruth but such an one as St. John calleth the Accuser of the Brethren or as Doeg the Edomite that told the King how David his Son-in-law and the Priest of Abimelech had conspired against him For what saith this good man Forsooth that the Puritans if they do desire a King which willingly they do not do not at all desire the Most Illustrious Prince but the Prince Palatine whose Scout Mansfield is whatsoever he pretends And lest any man might imagine that they mean Factious Puritans which are now no considerable Number amongst us In the next Clause for Explanation they mention the Fury of the Parliament and soon after the Reproach of the whole English Nation But why then do they not call us by the old name of Protestants Because that is now a Name of too much allay and could have bred no distaste in the King but knowing what he suffered by Puritans elsewhere to make the whole Nation odious both to King and Prince they turn us Puritans all at once though that Faction be more hated and supprest amongst us than in all the World besides And what is then our Ruin First In General That we are not willing to be subject unto Kings Secondly In Particular That we desire not the Prince but the Palsgrave to succeed For the First Let them know that these Kingdoms of Great Britain are beyond Comparison more Antient than the Kingdoms of Spain and yet no Story reputeth that they ever had or desired or were capable of any Government but Regal And the Religion we profess binds our Consciences more firmly to obey honour support and defend our Kings against all hteir Enemies than Popish Religion can do And this they will find to be true when they attempt ought against us For the Second I will not be so vain as to discourse of the Prince or his Interest in the good Opinion of the People This only I say for his Religion
they made him a Confessor in Spain as their Faction long since made his Royal Father in his Honor a Martyr And for his Carriage he converseth with us daily and knoweth us much better than any stranger can and therefore we trust his own Experience and good Opinion of us against all they can suggest And for the Prince Palatine we love his Nation from which we were extracted and we love his Religion which was the Ground of the Alliance with him and we much esteem that Noble Princess by whom he participateth with that Duty and Affection which from the King as the Root in due proportion disperseth it self in all the Branches yet so as whensoever they shall divide from the Head or the Body they cannot but know that their Moisture will dry up And for Count Mansfield it is worth the observing how they labour to dissemble and divert that Fear of him which they cannot have for us but indeed for themselves least he who hath already so troubled them in Germany should disturb them elsewhere Now whereas they conjure King and Prince to foresee the Vengeance of God provoked by my Practises and the Fury of Parliament for Testimonies and Libels against the Honour of Spain How much more Cause have they both and we all to consider and praise God's Miraculous Goodness in preserving their Persons and blessing their Endeavours in so happy a Discovery and Prevention of those Dangers which the Treaties would have brought upon our Religion and State And thereby rest assured that he will still bless where they curse and establish the Scepters of the Defenders of his Faith and in powring his Vengeance upon the Beast and the Enemies of his Truth And if the Testimonies published against Spain and believed in Parliament were not true why do they not convince them and satisfie them and satisfie the World And for those bitter and ignominious Libels they mention why can they not be read without Ignominy to our Nation as well as Pasquin's in Rome and like Libels in France Germany and other Nations with their Reproach Especially considering as the Spaniards of all People are most pursued with Writing of this kind so the English of all other do punish Libels with most Severity and Rigour But that which followeth is yet more remarkable It is apparent say they that the League is broken and Histories will witness it Surely those Histories must be of their Writing for true histories cannot record any breach on our part The Treaties are indeed dissolved First materially by them and then formally by us But are those Treaties any Articles of the League Or is it in the Power of any Subject be he never so willful to break the Leagues of Princes without due Justice demanded and refused But now the Ambassadors publick Ministers of State have made such Declaration How far that extendeth his Majesty may consider and wheâ—her it be not an Advantage cunningly â—ought to countenance the first blow And the rather because immediately after this peremptory Declaration which may seem a degree to a Denunciation of War they use all the Oratory to lull his Majesty asleep and to persuade both him and the Prince to prefer Peace and Quiet ever before their Kingdoms which thereby may be lost And what Confidence is this Do they think their Learning sufficient to teach my Master to understand his own Note who can much better teach them that Pacifici beati are not passive but Active And that the Sworâ— maketh Peace both in Governmenâ— and in War by supporting Justice wherein the happiness of all Society doth consist But whosoever construeth the Speeches of these men by the litteral sence cometh short oâ— their meaning For what are all these specious Adornings of his Majesty and the Prince in the Long Robes oâ— Peace but a Figurative menacing them with the Consequences of War And to see what the Love of the one or fear of the other may happily work by Peace i. e. by a quiet submitting the Marriage of the Palatinate and the safety of the Kingdoms and Allies to the Devotion of Spain First His Majesty may believe his Symbol as they say is verified in his Person and that he is extolled and admired through the World Or that otherwise he shall enjoy neither Happiness nor Honour And Secondly That the Prince can no other way succeed peaceably into the Hereditary Possession of these Kingdoms or the Honour of his Father or shew that he is indeed of his Blood or beareth him Love as if all these should be questioned if he do not entertain the same Peace with those Princes whose Alliances his Majesty hath so well procured and deserved meaning by giving them way to work out all their Ends And this being the sence clouded up in their unjointed Applications all they gain thereby is to give these due Acknowledgments to his Majesty and the Prince First That their Royal Dispositions and Endeavours ever tended to peace Secondly That of themselves they intended no alteration without violent Motions on the other part And Thirdly Those which force them if at the very Entrance into War they want a just Cause as the Jews called for Vengeance against themselves so these men truly prophesie that they shall have their Success Hitherto I have been brought upon the Stage to play other mens parts Now followeth my own Indictment in more particular Terms First Concerning my Carriage of the Negotiation in Spain And Secondly For my Personal Actions and Behaviour For the Spanish Business because greater Persons are still involved in their Censure they make their way as Poets do in Tragedies by raising me as a Ghost to possess King and Prince and to terrifie all men that oppose my Designs Surely I think they smiled when they writ this passage For they cannot think me so predominant nor so terrible a Creature But to satisfie the World in those four first Questions which contain the Substance of all the Business in Spain I will briefly as I can repeat the Proceedings which have been related in Parliament more at large and justified by Letters and Records and allowed not only by the most temperate men they speak of but by general and unanimons Votes from which no one did dissent But First having the honour to be of my Master 's inward Council in these things I must testifie to the Renown of his Wisdom and especially of his Goodness that as in the Marriage of his Daughter his chief Intention was to settle and corroborate the Party of our Religion where it is most improved so by the Marriage of his Son in some powerful House of the other Religion he sought not only the strengthening and assuring is own Peace and Succession but the Universal Good of all Christendome and a means to qualifie by the Cooperation of those Princes the Spiritual Usurpations whereby in time some better accord in the Differences of Religion might be made From these Intentions and that special