the End of the World We are next to enquire how this Fag End of a Parliament behav'd it self having got the Power into their Hands or rather were the Substitutes the Properties of the Army for that is their truest Character And here to let the Nation see their Business should not be done by Halves they began with these Resolves 1. That the People under God are the Original of all just Power 2. That the Commons of England assembled in Parliament being chosen by and representing the People have the supream Authority of this Nation 3. That whatsoever is enacted and declared for Law by the Commons hath the Force of a Law 4. That all the People of this Nation are included thereby although the Consent of the King and House of Peers be not had thereto 5. That to raise Arms against the People's Representatives is high Treason 6. That the King himself took Arms against the Parliament and upon that account is guilty of the Blood shed through the Civil War and that he ought to expiate the Crime with his own Blood Whose Tryal they fell to immediately and with an unparallel Impudence founded their Dominion in the Blood of the Lord 's Anointed and their Liege Sovereign whereas granting their Position of the People's Right to be true as it is abominably false there was not the tenth Part of the Commons at the making that cursed Ordinance nor would one in a thousand of the People have assented thereunto and this the Lady Fairfax told them at the Tryal from an adjoyning Scaffold Had that Tool her Husband shewn the like Courage it might have turn'd to Account but Men that have a long time habituated themselves in Mischief God seldom permits to be Instruments of any Good To be sure as this cursed Fact rendred the Rump most infamous to all Degrees thoroughout the Nation so the Grandees of the Army after they had traiterously serv'd their turn paid them as little Respect and thought they were too contemptible a Body to manage so great a Trust to which purpose the Agitators as soon as they had first purg'd the House declared it was requisite to have a more equal Representative and accordingly printed a Model which they called The Agreement of the People and so continued frequently harping upon the same String and pressing to have it taken into Consideration which forc'd them upon what our Author declares Page 313. And now the Parliament being desirous to let the People see that they design'd not to perpetuate themselves after they should be able to make a compleat Settlement of Affairs and provide for the Security of the Nation c. Resolv'd that the House would upon every Wednesday Morning turn themselves into a grand Committee to debate concerning the Manner of assembling and Power of future successive Parliaments the Number of Persons to serve for each County that the Nation might be more equally represented c. And thus they continued two or three Years and would have till Doomsday according to their own Vote since they resolv'd not to rise till a compleat Settlement of Affairs and the Nation 's Security provided for But Cromwell was resolv'd they should not stay till then yet having a different Design from all his Fellow Rebels kept them in till that was ripe in Order whereunto Ireland must be first brought into perfect Subjection And then the Scotch gave him an Opportunity of retaliating their many Outrages Invasions and such like Covenant Kindnesses which he did to purpose And having gain'd the Crowning Victory as he term'd it at Worcester thought it then a fit Time to pull off his Vizard and send that Pack of Rascals as he call'd them at a Nobleman's Table a Grazing the Account whereof as our Author gives it from the 447th Pag. forward is very pleasant and shews that though they were every one profoundly practised in those Hellish Arts of Treachery and Dissimulation yet Cromwell infinitely outdid them all They were but petty Devils in Comparison with him that true Lucifer incarnate But what our Author saith of their being supported by the Affections of the People Pag. 459 because acting for their Interest is so gross so palpable a Lye as sure he could not believe his Memoirs should be printed till every Man then living was dead Next the Restauration I never knew any thing more grateful the whole Kingdom thorough than their Dismission it was the only popular Act wherein Cromwell oblig'd all Parties and made his Usurpation more tolerable by ridding us of the most contemptible Set of Men that ever sat at the Helm of any Government But 't is the common Cant of our Commonwealth Coxcombs and 't is us'd as much by our Author as any of them to give that Handful of Fools and Knaves which adher'd to them the Title of the Godly Party and all the good People of England Well now they are gone and had six Years time to fret and bite their Nails for we may guess at their Regret by the Spite and Revenge they were guilty of when got again in play which they could never do as long as Cromwell trod the Stage but when he was carried off the Army resolv'd to revenge his tricking them upon Richard who succeeded him and could think of no better Tools to effect that Work than by setting their old Iournymen the Rump about it in order whereunto they plac'd them in the Workhouse and set them to the Business which they soon dispatch'd although they had much ado to find a Number sufficient for however our Author pretends he gave Dr. Owen a List of 160 which had sate since the Year 48 they were forc'd to send for Munson and Harry Martyn out of the Goal to make up a Quorum of 40. from which time forward to their final Expiration there can be nothing more comical in any History Romance or Play than the several Transactions Caballings and Intrigues amongst them as related all along by our Author what Iealousies and Distrusts they had of one another what Plots and Counterplots Turnings out and in Quarrels Treaties and Patchings up wherein our Author tells us what pains he took and with what Moderation he proceeded to little purpose God be prais'd One thing more especially they could never get over and that was a settled well fix'd Form of Government The Army were resolv'd upon a standing Senate of their own Body I presume to over-awe the civil Representatives The Rump on the other hand thought themselves so much their Masters as to vote the Speaker General and order that all even the most supream Officers should have no Commissions but from him whereupon what passed between Sir Arthur Haslerig and Lambert pag. 677 may be thought worth relating Lambert complain'd how that Act left them at Mercy only said Sir Arthur at the Mercy of the Parliament who are your good Friends I know not reply'd the other why they should not be at our Mercy as well as we
in short what a prodigious Advantage the Faction made of this just and reasonable Demand what Out-cries and Revilings follow'd there upon is altogether unimaginable by such as were not Witnesses thereof so that having fix'd their Party in the City by tarrying there some Days they return'd to Westminster accompany'd with an hideous cry of Rabble-Guards both by Land and Water His Majesty seeing it was absolutely impossible to have any Justice done against these accused Persons who were so surely Intrench'd in the Rabble's Favour that they were out of the reach of Law and finding also that he was in perpetual Danger of having his Person as well as Authority expos'd to the daring Affronts of the deluded People who ran up and down in Multitudes as if they had lost their Wits as well as Loyalty resolv'd notwithstanding several Gallant faithful Gentlemen proffer'd their Service to curb any Insolencies should be Attempted on him to withdraw himself and Family Queen and Children hoping that Time having allay'd their first Fury they might be brought to Reason and Temper And whosoever reads his Majesty's Paper upon this his going to the House of Commons must own there was never Prince so grosly abus'd had his Actions so abominably perverted with a total Subversion of all Law Iustice and Reason whatsoever Hereupon his Majesty retired to Hampton-Court from thence to Windsor whither none of those entertain'd at White-Hall repair'd except his own Family as Ludlow basely Suggests And since he owns likewise the Houses though I believe 't was only the House of Commons were about to accuse the Queen of High Treason can she be blam'd to withdraw into Holland And if she carried the Iewels of the Crown with her 't was much better than to have them seiz'd upon by the Parliament as they did whatever else belong'd to the King to carry on their Rebellion against him Ludlow tells us That during his absence many Papers pass'd between him and the Parliament the chief aim of those of the latter was to perswade the King to return to London and settle the Militia in such hands as they should advise Those from the King that he could not part with the Militia esteeming it the best Jewel of the Crown nor return to London with safety to his Person p. 27. all which is true and that is much as likewise that the Declarations on both Sides prov'd ineffectual wherein notwithstanding it was observ'd that the King 's had all the force of Law Reason and Argument their 's nothing but Cant popular Wheadles and false Suggestions He goes on to tell that the King's Designs both at home and abroad being grown Ripe he express'd his Dissatisfactions more openly and withdrew to York Had he said the Parliaments Designs there had been a great deal of Truth in it for so indeed it was they under pretence of a Guard had rais'd a considerable Force setled the Militia of London and Middlesex in confiding Hands sent down several Members to do the like in most Counties throughout the Kingdom could dispose of the Mony and Men rais'd for Ireland to what purpose they please and imploy'd them most shamefully to promote their Rebellion seiz'd upon his Majesty's Revenue Fleet Forts Magazins c. even to Hull its self where Hotham deny'd him entrance in the Name of his Brethren and was well rewarded by them The King on the other Hand was left destitute of all Things but the Hearts of Loyal worthy Gentlemen whereof he found more than his Enemies ever imagin'd and were not a little surpris'd at with which Stock alone and hopes of God's Blessing upon his just Cause he lay'd aside all Thoughts of Treating with those unreasonable Men for that he evidently saw they resolv'd to seize upou the Militia by Force since they could not obtain it by Perswasion and their many fine Pretences to Loyalty and Duty had been only to gain Time for ripening their Rebellion of all which he now resolv'd to let the World know how sensible he was by Publishing his Grand Declaration from York wherein he saith very truly 't was more than Time after so many Indignities to his Person Affronts to his Kingly Office and traiterous Pamphlets against his Government to Vindicate himself from those damnable Combinations and Conspiracies contriv'd against him giving a full Account of his own sincerity as to his many and too gracious Concessions since they on the other Side perverted all to Sedition and Treason Amongst other Charges he brings one against an Impudent Fellow call'd Sir Henry Ludlow who said Publikly That the King was not worthy to be King of England that he hath no Negative Voice that he is fairly dealt with that he is not depos'd that if they did that there would be neither want of Modesty or Duty in them upon which I shall only observe that our Author could be no Bastard The King there tells them further how they Committed his great Officers for doing their Duty Rais'd an Army and chose Essex General with Commission to destroy all that adher'd to him Converted the Mony given to discharge the Kingdom 's Debts and for Relief of Ireland to carry on their Rebel-War whilst his Levying a few Gentlemen for his Guard must be Voted waging War against the Parliament Now this Declaration was too much to the Purpose for Ludlow to take Notice of or indeed any thing else which gives an impartial Relation how the Rage and Fury of those Men engag'd the whole Nation to Lanch into a Sea of Blood Neither doth he mention how the King went into Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire c. to assure the Gentry of his upright Intentions and confirm them in their Loyalty Only his going into Leicestershire must be remembred because he had a Brother there one of the first in Rebellion against his King and first taken Prisoner and better us'd than he deserv'd But tho' Ludlow takes no Notice of the King's Declaration he would be sure not to omit the 19 Propositions sent by the Parliament which 't is strange he should say were intended that they might leave no means unattempted to perswade the King to return to them p. 30. whereas he immediately adds and more truly much of the Parliaments Intentions appear'd in them and they were in effect the principal Foundation of the ensuing War for which Reason he thinks it not amiss to recite them at large it had been more Candid and Historian like to have recited the King's Answer too so full and express as they never thought of any other Reply but by Essex's Army and therefore no wonder if omitted here Amongst other things the King tells them some of their Demands are in the Style not only of Equals but Conquerors and tend so far to the Subversion of this equal well-pois'd Government as to make him from King of England a Duke of Venice and this of a Kingdom a Republick And in that which we may call another Answer those Divine Meditations
he believ'd or would have it thought there was any thing of Democracy in the Iudges Regency it is a gross Mistake indeed when the Monarchy was interrupted upon the Death of Ioshua we find no Successor appointed by him as Moses had done nor fix'd upon by the People and 't is probable every Tribe became a State Provincial in their several Allotments for the Text saith The People served the Lord all the days of Joshua and of the Elders that out-liv'd Joshua who had seen all the great Works the Lord did for Israel Judg. 2. 7 8. But when all that Generation were gather'd to their Fathers there arose another Generation which knew not the Lord nor the Works he had done but followed other Gods of the People that were round about them and bowed themselves unto them and provoked the Lord to Anger and here indeed I take them to be a true Commonwealth a Free-State with a General Toleration every one doing what was right in his own Eyes But this admired Liberty pleas'd none but themselves nor themselves long neither for the Text further adds the Anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he delivered them into the Hands of the Spoilers that spoiled them c. vers 14. till sensible of their Folly and Ingratitude upon their humble Address unto the Lord he raised up Iudges and was with the Iudges and dilivered them out of the Hand of the Enemy all the days of the Iudges vers 18. Yet to see how steady all popular Resolves are the next Verse declares when the Iudge was dead they return'd and corrupted themselves more than their Fore-fathers in following other Gods c. they ceased not from their own doings and their stubborn ways vers 19. Whereupon I shall take leave to make this general Observation That when God designs to curse a People into Misery and Ruin he leaves them to their own evil and foolish Ways which will never be redress'd without true Repentance and a return to such Establishments as are agreeable to his Will And therefore Thirdly 't is an abominable Mistake to urge that Text in Samuel as an Argument against all Monarchy in general whereas the Charge God brings against them the People of Israel was their rude and undutiful Deportment their Mutinous manner of demanding a King and the reason they gave for it that they might be like other Nations which he had taken all possible care they should not be and most strictly enjoyn'd them not to imitate any of their Practices and this is clear for that as their Government had been always Monarchical when under God's Hand so he foresaw and consequently caution'd them against such popular tumultuary Heats Deut. 17. 14 c. when thou art come unto the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee c. and shalt say I will set a King over me like as all the Nations which are about me Thou shalt in any wise set him a King over thee whom the Lord thy God shall Chuse God was well content that they should have a King but reserv'd the Election to himself he would have no transferring of Rights no mutual Contracts but chuse his own Representative He proceeds to his other Topick That it was no ways conducing to the Interest of the Nation viz. Monarchy was endeavour'd to be prov'd by the infinite Mischiefs and Oppressions we have suffer'd under it 'T is the modestest Expression in his whole Book to say it was endeavour'd to be prov'd since it hath been already made appear that the little Finger of these Commonwealth-Iobbers prov'd heavier to the whole Nation than all the Monarchs which ever sat upon the Throne So likewise further on he tells us The Question in dispute between the King's Party and us being as I apprehend it whether the King should Govern like a God by his own Will c. or the People be govern'd by Laws made by themselves c. p. 267 If he will apprehend things wrong it cannot be help'd for neither the King nor his Party ever intended the People should be otherwise Govern'd than by their own Laws 't was what they stood up for and endeavour'd to preserve according to all antient Establishments but God thought not fit to give them a present Success that the People might experimentally find the Madness and Folly of their Innovations Mr. Thomas Farnaby who had been the famous School-Master of those Times was committed by an Order of the House in 41. for saying he believ'd we should find it better to live under one King than 500 how Legal that Commitment was is easily resolv'd yet went they on in the same Arbitrary Course for five or six Years together Committing whomsoever they dislik'd or so much as suspected to dislike them Did not these Men govern by their own Wills Yes surely though more like Devils than God Neither yet did it rest here the 500 were reduc'd to a Rump of less than 50. and they over-aw'd by a Military Rabble of more than twice 15 Thousand Were not the Good People of England excellently represented now Their Laws and Liberty in a hopeful Condition And their Purses free when the Soldiers commanded them And this is the next Diabolical Intrigue our Author very frankly declares they design'd to enterprise for however the several Iuntos had hitherto jointly concurr'd nay even contended who should make the greatest Invasions not only upon the Peoples but there Prince's Liberty yet now hath become divided within its self a major part of the House being not willing to concurr with the Army in Murdering that Person whom they had nevertheless both agreed to un-Un-King and this as Ludlow tells us occasion'd another Meeting between some Members and Officers of the Army wherein it was resolv'd to purge the House once more of all such Members as should attempt to frustrate what these Sons of Belial were resolv'd to go through with p. 266 and to justify himself herein he brings another Text of Scripture whether with more Impudence or Folly let the Reader judge that Blood defileth the Land and cannot be cleansed but by the Blood of him that shed it Numb 35. 33. I have already observ'd if the Wolf may be Judge no Sheep shall be Innocent and as these Beasts of Prey began the Chace and worried all that would not go with or dar'd to oppose them till their Blood was shed like Water round about the Land so that Royal Effusion in the end must doubtless have brought such a Stain upon it as we may justly fear will never be washed out whereof several worthy Loyal Patriots in the Parliament 60. were so Religiously sensible as they propounded that not only the rest of the Regicides should have receiv'd their due Reward but that for every one of the King's Party who suffer'd by their pretended Forms of Iustice there should have been a Retaliation upon the same Number of such as had been most forward in those base and unjust
Covetous he withdrew his Favour by degrees as any Wise Man would have done unwilling to expose himself for an ill-plac'd Affection But when the Business of Overbury was discovered he detested it with the utmost Indignation of a good Christian a just Prince and ordered a Prosecution according to the Baseness of the Fact though after several Partisans had suffered the importunity of Relations and Country-Men first got a Repreive and at length a Pardon for him and his Eve the Temptress though it was many Years before the last was obtained and not many Months before the King's Death which 't is pity he did at all considering the solemn Protestations he had made that all concern'd in that Matter should suffer but what will not Importunity do especially coming from his own Country-Men This Court-Meteor being thus sunk down and disappearing the English Nobility about the King began to reflect upon the ill Influences it had and what worse its longer aboad in that Horison might have produc'd Hereupon they thought it their concern to take more care for the future and not suffer a second Foreign Page of as little Wit Good Nature or Manners to be Topt upon or rather over them in order whereunto they resolv'd to manage Matters so as an English Man might be Topt upon the King about which they had several Consults and several young Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber and other Places in their Eye but amongst all the rest George Villyers both for Person and Parts seem'd most promising him therefore having fix'd upon such Court intrigues were carry'd on as the King made choice of the Person they design'd And this is the true Origin of that great Man's Rise whatever impertinent Relations Roger Coke makes of his Mother decking him up and setting of him in the King's Eye when Ignoramus was Acted at Cambridge with many other as groundless and false Conjectures To be sure he no sooner appear'd upon the Publick Stage of Business and Address but the Expectation of all concern'd in his Advancement was not only answer'd but exceeded neither could they any where have made a better Choice among the Nobility there were scarce any to be found who would undertake such a Fatigue of Business or had Parts to go thorough with it and though there were some in a lower Sphere of more Reading and greater Experience yet few that equall'd him in Strength of Natural Parts dayly improv'd by consulting the most Knowing and Judicious in all the several Affairs which came before him whereby he brought things to a better Issue than could be expected from the most cry'd up Wisdom accompanied with a self-sufficient peremptoriness So that whatever Odiums he lay under as no Man ever lay under greater and indeed who could bear up against Common-Fame and a House of Commons yet more impartial Iudgments which consider'd things as they really were became surpris'd at so young a Man's falling to Business with so great Application his judicious Choice of fit Persons to every concern he engag'd them in and as Honourable Rewards upon their well Performance I have already mention'd his manage and improvement of the Navy as likewise how express his Replies were to their several Articles without any thing of a Rejoynder on the other side tho' he provok'd them thereto for 't is absolutely false that the King dissolv'd the Parliament on that Account as shall hereafter appear Neither was there more of Truth in that other Charge his inriching himself by the Crown which of all Imputations saith the Disparity was the most unskilful and worst laid some few of those Lands Engross'd by Somerset before were assign'd him by his first Master and that was all Yet Roger Coke opens most violently upon this Account and with an odd kind of Arithmetick will consider what he received by his many great Places without taking notice it was all Expended in the same Service To be sure one of our Historians saith he died 60000 l. in Debt and whoever Audited his Estate then considering he married an Heir General of the House of Rutland who was a very great Fortune will find that Sir Edward Coke and several of that Robe since have left greater Revenues than this Duke did of his own Acquiring The foremention'd Roger Coke tells another idle Story which I shall mention here tho it reflects chiefly upon the Good King which was that Spiteful Fellow 's greatest Satisfaction viz. How he design'd first a Sumptuous Funeral for this Duke his Favourite from which the Lord Treasurer Weston put him off by saying a Monument would be more lasting and less cost And when the King afterwards press'd for the Monument the Wary Treasurer diverted him from that by representing how ill it would hear in the World should the Duke's be Erected before there was one for his Father This Faithful Roger relates as a great Secret which he had from a Learned Gentleman well acquainted with the Transactions of those Times whereas it was a Common-fame Story every where whispered by the Faction and so secret that Mr. Hamond Le Strange was impos'd upon to put it into his History and is reply'd to be Sir William Saunderson for that mistake who must know better being all that time the Duke's Domestick and assures us he was Sumptuously intomb'd at Westminster which his Executors paid for and it cost not the King a Penny nor the stately Monument Erected over his Grave This Passage tho somewhat out of Course I could not but here insert as an exact Specimen of Fanatick Sincerity what Secrets they Detect and Truths relate Well now we have done with Favorites for Buckingham being fatally cut off the King made no one Person his Confident but equally consulted the Ablest and best Principled Men he could find thoroughout the Kingdom who were equally Maligned and Persecuted to Death by a Virulent Party because they studied the peace and welfare of the Nation were for every thing to run in its proper Channel the Laws duly Administred to the People and the King's Occasions Honourably supply'd without Suggesting Fears and Hunting after Grievances the Mormo's of disaffected and designing Spirits For sometime in King Iame's Reign there was a cursed Distinction started of a Court and Country Party which kept the House divided most implacably in that and this following Reign of Charles the I. for I shall descend no further and several honest well-meaning Gentlemen like so many Barnabas's were led away by the Dissimulation of such as promoted it whereas in all well-settled Times the King was look'd upon as the Common Father of the Country and had constantly a select Number of Understanding Men knowing the World and well practis'd in Business to sit in Council and assist him in keeping things Right or bringing them so when wrong But then Enacting of Laws Raising of Mony and several other Ardua Regni are to be consulted of and consented to in Parliament where the foremention'd Privy
Divinity wherein the Sabbath was not press'd upon the Consciences of God's People with as much Violence as formerly with Authority upon the Iews and from the same Obligations To give one Instance of many how Prevalent this Humour was Mr. Breerwood a very learned and judicious Person Professor of Astronomy at Gresham College had the Charge of an Orphan his Brother's Son whom he plac'd Apprentice in London where he continued two Years with much Satisfaction both to himself and Master but then grew very uneasy and earnest to be discharg'd the Reason whereof after some fained Excuses his Uncle discovered to be for that his Master on the Lord's Day had sent him forth sometimes on Arrands as to bid Guests fetch Wine give his Horse Provender or such like light Business all which one Mr. Byfield a popular Preacher at Chester when lately there had inform'd him to be a Sin a Trangression of God's Commandment touching the Sabbath and that he was not bound to yield nay that he sin'd against God in yielding Obedience to his Master's Commands this produc'd a learned Letter from the Uncle to Mr. Byfield which is since Printed with an Answer and Reply wherein the whole Question is exactly Stated upon what different Obligations the Iews and Christians observ'd their different Days that theirs amongst other Rites as St. Paul terms it Col. 2. 17. Was but a Shadow of things to come whereof the Body was in Christ or as he express'd himself farther on Only a Tenure for term of Life namely that of the Ceremonial Law which Life ended in the death of our Saviour and the Lord's day succeeded thereupon As it was not known or practis'd before Moses so it ceased to oblige after Christ being one of the Shadows which the Evangelical Light dispell'd one of the Burthens which this Law of Liberty takes off From whence it follows according to what I propounded 2 dly That these Sabbatarian Speculations are inconsistent with the Nature and Practice of Christian Religion for the Priesthood being chang'd there is made also of necessity a change of the Law as the Apostle tells us different ends of Institution and different ways of Observation the Iews were more especially enjoyn'd a Corporal Rest in Commemoration of their Temporal Deliverance the Christians main regard must be Spiritual after the Power of an endless Life and therefore what the Evangelical Prophet Isaiah declares as to the Sabbath Isa. 56. 2. Blessed is the Man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and keepeth his Hand from doing any evil hath by all the Fathers and from them most of the Moderns been understood by way of Prediction as to Gospel Times what at leastwise they ought to be St. Ierom is most express Alioquin si haec tantum prohibentur in Sabbato ergo in aliis sex diebus tribuitur nobis libert as delinquendi for otherwise if those things therein remembred are prohibited only on the Sabbaths then were it Lawful for us on the other Days to follow our own Sinful Courses speak our own idle Words and pursue our own Voluptuous Pleasures which were most Foolish to imagin And St. Augustine makes the 4th Commandment so far as it concerns us Christians to be no more than Requies cordis tranquilitas mentis quam facit bona Conscientia the quiet of the Heart and peace of Mind proceeding from a good Conscience and therefore it hath been well resolv'd by some that a Christian's Life should be one continued Sabbath he that lives every day as he ought hath little or no Obligation to observe one Day more than another but what between Idleness and Business Mankind was never Ingenious enough to be left at his own Freedom As for the Idle part God forgive them their many Extravagancies and more especially neglect of Holy Duties on the Six Days and let the severest Penalty attend their Violation of the Seventh And it were well if our Men of Business would consider how much that might be forwarded by sparing some little of their busy Time to implore God's Blessing upon their Business But to run into so gross a mistake as to think a strict Attendance upon Ordinances on the Sabbath Day may expiate for the Frauds Extortions and other Violations of the precedent Week is intollerable yet some are prone to suspect such a Delusion is not without Entertainment amongst many of the most seemingly Precise however 't is God alone and their own Consciences must judge herein it were well on the other side they would be less severe in Censuring others especially those we here plead for who are only the Drudging part of Mankind such Labourers Apprentices and other Servants as have let their other six Days time to Hire and are all that while at other Mens disposal that these after all due performance of Religious Offices should be allowed such innocent Diversions both of Body and Mind as their Inclinations tend most unto cannot but be thought reasonable and accordingly the Christian Church never interpos'd any Command to the contrary Here then come in their Majesties Declarations and more especially relate to the foremention'd Circumstances upon a prudent Consideration as King Charles saith of his Father That if these Times were taken from them the meaner sort who labour hard all the Week should have no Recreations at all to refresh their Spirits neither was there less of Prudence and Consideration in the several Limitations of this Innocent Freedom as First that no lawful Recreations be us'd as the Laws of the Kingdom and Canons of the Church prohibit for some such it seems there were as particularly Bowling to meaner sort of People 2dly That this Liberty be not taken till after Divine Service nor 3dly That any enjoy it but such as are present at the Performance thereof We may here likewise add the reasons given why the Declarations came out at those particular Times which if well weighed cannot be excepted against As first the Advantage the Papists took thereby to discourage People from coming into or continuing in our Church by perswading them that no honest Mirth or Recreations were tolerated in our Religion And this indeed gave the first occasion to King Iames who in his Progress through Lancashire received several Complaints thereof and having inform'd himself how justly gave a Check to the precise Humour of such Iustice over-does as stretched the Laws beyond their proper Intent and true Reason of the thing whereto likewise agrees what the judicious Sanderson tells us that in Lancashire more especially the Rigid froward Disposition of the Puritans oblig'd many of the Common People to continue if not turn Papists between which two Parties that County was mostly divided Another Reason given is for that this Prohibition barreth the common and meaner sort of People from using such Exercise as may make their Bodies more able for War when we or our Successors shall have occasion for as it goes on When shall the Common People
have leave to Exercise if not upon the Sundays and Holy Days seeing they must apply their Labour and win their Living in all working Days All which in no more than their Common Practice at Geneva as hath been already mention'd and it ought further to be consider'd so strict a Confinement from all Diversions of Body and Mind cannot but by degrees oppress and darstardise Men's Spirits of English Mastiffs make them in the end become Setting-Dogs to some Foreign Power To these King Charles adds a 3d. The rather because of late in some Counties of the Kingdom we find that under pretence of taking away abuses there hath been a general Forbidding not only of ordinary Meetings but of the Feasts of the Dedication of the Churches c. which besides preserving the Memorial thereof as he was certainly inform'd tended very much to Civilising the People composing of Differences by the Mediation of Friends encreasing Love and Unity by those Feasts of Charity with Relief and Comfort to the Poor the Richer part in a manner keeping open House Although what is mention'd just before in this Corroborating part of King Charles might probably prevail more with him than all the rest viz. Out of a Pious Care for the Service of God and for suppressing any Humors that oppose Truth being too sensible how those judaising Dogmatists by inculcating to the People a strict and sole Observance of this Legal Institution design'd thereby to exclude all those Christian Feasts and Festivals which have been constantly Commemorated ever since the Gospel was Preach'd to Mankind as the Birth Passion Resurrection and Ascension of Christ with the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles by which Miraculous Gifts Almighty God impowr'd them to Preach the Gospel to the whole World bringing Life and Immortality to Light and the Church accordingly hath ever pay'd a thankful Acknowledgment of those their indefatigable Labors Exemplary Lives and Cruel Deaths till these Enemies to all Antiquity as well as Order and Gratitude must have them superseded by such Iewish Observances as neither they nor their Fathers were able to bear And it was much to my Surprise that when some late Acts pass'd for the more strict observing the Lord's Day the Fathers of our Church when it came into their House did not endeavour at least that some little regard might be had to the foremention'd Fasts and Festivals the Canon took care to joyn them all together for due Celebration of Sundays and Holy Days and God forgive those who conniv'd at a Separation such an Omission could not have pass'd in Charles the 1 st Time and one would think their proceedings then should be Matter of greater Caution now for having dar'd to lift up their Hands against that true Defender they stuck at nothing which might hinder a thorough Reformation began indeed at the Holy Days but Liturgy and Bishops soon follow'd To give one Instance of many how cursedly they affected to run Counter against whatever our Church did practise when in the Heat of the Rebellion Christmas Day fell on a Sunday as it must in Course every four or five Years that Coryphaeus of the Faction old Calamy lest he should be thought to regard the Festival of our Saviour's Nativity preach'd upon a Passion Text. Eli Eli Lamasabachthani How violent a Current we have bene dar'd to Stem is neither our Ignorance nor our Fear Truth is a Rock which repels the Force at the same time it causes their Noise and Foamings Yet not to be mistaken herein which is very Natural for them to do I shall most readily comply in the strictest Observation of the Lord's Day they can think fit to prescribe provided it be upon a Christian not Iewish Bottom and with a due Deference to what the Wise and Good have in the best Ages of the Church resolv'd therein Otherwise to make Exclamations and enveigh against every one who will not walk by their killing Letter of the Law hath too great Affinity to those Pharisaical Rigours which were continually carping at and Censuring our Saviour for the many Miracles he wrought on the Sabbath Day whilst their hard and impenitent Hearts could not understand what that meant I will have Mercy not Sacrifice as likewise that the Sabbath was made for Man not Man for the Sabbath And that the many Reproaches rais'd against the two forementioned Princes upon their sincere Endeavours for a right Information herein as well as their other good Deeds for the House of God and Offices thereof proceeded from the like perverse Disposition of Spirit can be little doubted by any one who reflects how exactly they parallell'd the Iews in Murdering the one and continue still most implacable against the Memories of both CHAP. XI Of Ship-Money WHen a Man hath a Subject will bear an Argument and is sure of an easy and ready Attention to run out into bitter Invectives and false Suggestions argues as great a defect of Judgment as good Nature to be sure nothing has rais'd a stronger Suspicion of this Prince's sincere Intentions amongst the soberest and best disposed People in the Nation than his Levying Ship-Money which therefore Ludlow might have kept close to without continuing his Excursions against the Clergy but they must answer for all to which end he tells That divers of them entred the List as Champions of the Prerogative asserting that the Possessions and Estates of the Subjects did of Right belong to the King and that he might dispose of them at Pleasure thereby Vacating and Annulling as much as in them lay All the Laws of England that secure a Propriety to the People p. 5. Now to prove or make appear one Syllable of this Virulent Charge is beneath the Authority of his Memoirs 't will pass with the Party upon his Word and whoever affirms nay proves the contrary shall be no more credited by them than they will be at the Last Day The Iesuits where they have Power are not more severe in their Inquisitions than our well-scented Demagogues upon all Transactions of the Loyal Clergy yet excepting those few indiscreet Expressions of Sibthorp and Manwaring which has been already spoke to they could find nothing else worth catching hold of otherwise we should not have been so often hit in the Teeth with them two 'T is true the Clergy all along stood firm to the Prerogative and thought themselves bound both in Duty and Interest to support it's just Rights against the many Invasions every Day attempted to that and the Kingdoms Ruin which Steadiness and Resolution of theirs was the pretended Crime and grand Motive for those little Crorespondents with the Prince of the Air to raise and procure so many Storms against them But that they had any Thoughts of stretching the Prerogative beyond its due Bounds much less of Annulling all nay any of the Laws of England none but a Republican Confidence could affirm and hath no more of Truth than that Ludlow was an
honest Man and Loyal Subject He goes on Arbitrary Courts were erected it had been well to have mention'd one that was so all this King's Reign which since he is gon I desire his Admirers to give me Satisfaction on his behalf or otherwise him no more credit than he deserves The like Challenge I make as to the Power of those other being enlarg'd such were the High Commission Court the Star-Chamber the Court of Honour the Court of Wards the Court of Requests c. There was a mighty Clamor indeed against some of these Courts not so much for any real default in them as that they were thought too great a support to the Prerogative and Church without considering how the whole Frame of Government was so closely joyn'd and fix'd together therewith as a Dissolution in such essential Parts would reduce all the rest to Rubbish and Confusion And accordingly it fell out at those Breaches then made the several Herds of Schismaticks Libertines Atheists c. found so free an Entrance so uncontrolable a Ravage as 't is hard now to tell either where or what we are To shew in one Instance how little Ground there was for all that Noise and Fury even against the High Commission which lay under the greatest Odium Archbishop Laud caus'd the Acts of that Court to be search'd which can deceive no Man and found There had been fewer Suspensions Deprivations and other Punishments by Three during the Seven Years of his Time than in any Seven Years of his Predecessor Abbot who was notwithstanding in great Esteem with the House of Commons whilst this other was cry'd out upon for Sharpness and Severity whereupon the Good Man makes this sad but just Complaint So safe a thing it is for a Man to embark himself in a Potent Faction and so hard for any other Man be he never so intire to withstand its Violence And therefore we may presume it was not the Quantity but the Quality of the Persons proceeded against which thus highly exasperated them To have such Instruments such Engines of Sedition as Leighton and Lilbourn Pryn Burton Bastwick c. confin'd from doing farther Mischief was to stifle the whole design Rebellion could never so much as take Roote if those Seeds-men were kept from planting the Crop Yet we will suppose there might be some less justifiable Proceedings some perhaps too harsh and severe Decrees must every Corruption or Abuse destroy the being of a Court cannot the Numbers and Trickings of our Attornys be redress'd and yet some of the Honester continu'd to follow Business Or must that Honourable Profession of the Law be laid aside because the present Tendency of Practise seems more to regard their own Support than the Peoples ease and speedy Relief Such another Set of Thorough Reformers would much endanger the shutting up of Westminster-Hall And indeed that they were going about Ludlow tells you what a quick Dispatch they had brought things to in Ireland and they were not without the like Attempts several Times here Which had it been put into the Hands of Wise and Honest Men to check and regulate what was amiss we might have said Amen to but such Root and Branch Fellows were intolerable and as they had already destroy'd the Church so were bidding fair at those Laws and Properties our Author so falsely chargeth upon the Clergy I have somewhere read that a negligent Latin Transcriber of that Parable where the Woman swept her House to find the lost Groat writ Evertit for Everrit very applicable to all our violent Undertakers who are for throwing the House out at the Windows and all Government out of the Kingdom But the Total Abolition of these Courts was not till our Grandees of 40. entred their Province and play'd Rex to purpose which is the last Preliminary Charge our Author makes for next he falls at large upon the Scotch Rebellion and so on to that in England and according to his Brutish Courage in other Undertakings is the most impudent Push he hath hitherto ventur'd at And that our Liberties might be extirpated at once and we become Tenants at Will to the King that rare Invention of Ship-Money was found out by Finch c. 'T is one thing to write a Libel another an History where what is said or done on each side ought impartially to be related and had not the former been here chiefly design'd we must have been told the King studied nothing more than the Honour of the Nation and Interest of his People wherein not being seconded by his Parliaments as they ought he was forc'd to enquire what other Legal Courses his Predecessors had taken when under like Exigencies with himself and herein the Learned Selden gave no little Light by a Book about that Time written called Mare Clausum But the Person of the greatest Authority and Abilities too to resolve any thing of Antient Customs was Attorny General Noy not Finch as Ludlow blunders who all along in the House of Commons pass'd for an Oracle whatever he declar'd to be Law was no farther disputed amongst them and can it be imagin'd he should recede so far from the Character ever given him of an indefatigable Search and morose Sincerity as to Trifle at last impose upon the King and Kingdom in so weighty a Concern without being able to make out and justify it in every Point which 't is affirm'd he did by several Presidents in some of which it appear'd That the Ship Tax had been Levyed by such Kings as in the same Year had Subsidies granted from their Parliaments for other Occasions The King therefore having so good an Authority for a Matter which in it self appeared highly reasonable must have violated all the Rules of Discretion as well as Policy in not closing therewith nay could not have answered the Discharge of that Trust reposed in him either to God or Good Men For 1 st His Coasts were not only infested with Pickeroons Turks and Dunkirk Pirates to the great Damage of Traffick But his Dominon in the Narrow Seas actually usurp'd by the Holland Fishers and the Right it self in good earnest disputed by the Learned Grotius in a Tract called Mare Liberum these were craving Occasions and Concernments not of Honour only but Safety and Interest 2 dly He had found his Parliaments so Resty and Peevish as there was no prospect of a Supply that otherwise best way without exposing himself and all his most faithful Adherents 3 dly It supposes a mighty Defect in any Government that when some inferior Parts will not act with any thing of Sense of Temper the Supreme Sovereign Power should not take the next best Way to secure it self and all other Concerns thereof 4 thly As the Learned in the Law who are the best and perhaps only competent Iudges in such Cases approv'd thereof So when question'd the Harangues made against them savour'd more of Passion and Spite than Argument and solid Reason 5
thly What he Levyed was so effectually imploy'd to the Reputation and Interest of the Kingdom as they that found fault therewith must needs whilst doing it blush at their own Perverseness Especially for that 6 thly These pretended Redressers brake thorough all the Laws of God and Man and for every Pound he Levyed and so honourably expended in the Nation 's Defence and Security as impudently as unjustly extorted Thousands from the People to promote a most cursed and unnatural Rebellion Nec dum sinitur we are since come to Millions and justly deserve no better who made such a Muttering and Stir when he did not raise above Six Pence in the Pound and to so good Purposes as the Dominion of the Sea was never so well secur'd and Traffick so considerably advanc'd above what was ever known in the Nation before Had they who pretended greater Right to raise Money taken a greater or equal Care in disposing thereof to the Kingdoms and Peoples Good all must have gon well but to act like the Dog in the Manger resolve to do nothing themselves yet keep away barkat and Quarrel all others to whom it more properly belong'd was the Extremity of Baseness Mischief for Mischiefs sake And which is still worse that mischievous Humour 't is to be fear'd we shall never get quit of there being several Curs nay whole Packs of that Old Breed which continue on the Cry and are so wholly bent upon their Common-wealth Confusions as to prefer them before any thing of a Monarchy not excepting the Kingdom of Heaven whereof having but small Hopes they may think to oblige the Devil by bringing Hell upon Earth CHAP. XII Of King James's Death I Have had some little Dispute with my self whether it was requisite to take Notice of Iames's Death especially as relating to this Excellent Prince his Son but finding the Calumny impudently improv'd as well from the former Age to this as by the several Libellers now every one striving to out-do the other in this Villanous Forgery till the last hath brought it to such an Impossibility as every Child may discover and see thorough I must trouble both the Reader and my self with the Examination of this Abominable Nothing King Iames had an ill Habit of Body very unwiel'dy and full of gross Humours which improv'd the more upon him for that he was so uneasy as to the Regiment of his Health either from his Own or Physicians Observation whereupon falling into a Tertian Fever at Theobalds 't was thought by most Men amongst the rest him himself that Crasy Constitution of his would not be able to withstand its frequent Assaults and it happen'd accordingly Soon after his Death it was whisper'd about Court that the Duke had recommended something of a Cure for his Ague without the Physicians advice which doing no good must be presum'd to do hurt this coming to the Duke's Ear he concern'd himself so far as to have the Matter examin'd by the Physicians where the Lady appear'd and disclos'd that great secret of an Ague-Cure few of that Quality amongst their Country Neighbours for she was a Country an Essex Lady being without something of that kind which was only a Plaster of Methrydate with a Posset Drink of Harts-Horn and Marygold Flowers This for that time put an end to the Rumour but about two Years after in the Second Parliament it was Reviv'd again and made an Article against the Duke which they that please may Consult with his Reply and perhaps be satisfied therewith if not I shall only add further Lord Keeper Williams perform'd the last Offices of a Divine to King Iames continued with him several Days and Nights before his Death so that had he observ'd or suspected any such foul Play there is no doubt but it would have made a sufficient Noise both in Parliament and elsewhere when the Duke caus'd the Seal to be taken from him and the Author of his Life who relates the one would not have been sparing to discover the other And now to show how Artificially the Master was brought in as concern'd with what the Servant never did when the Articles were Exhibited against the Duke Sir Dudly Diggs who as Foreman manag'd the Prologue and gave a Summary of the whole Charge was reported to have said these Words That he was commanded by the House concerning the Plaister apply'd to the King that he did forbear to speak farther in regard to the King's Honour or Words to that Effect whereupon the King ordered him to be Committed and Sir Dudly Carlton Remonstrated the same to the Commons but upon his own and the Two Houses Compurgation that no such nor such like Words were spoken he was again discharg'd yet whoever Consults that Eloquent Harangue as Recorded by Rushworth will find it very scurvily tending that Way and thus for 20 Years following it was wholly laid asleep no one harbouring so groundless a Thought But when God curs'd this Nation with a Successful Rebellion whereby the Army got the King into their Clutches and so purg'd the House as consisting only of their own Properties they pass'd that Preludium to his Murder their Votes of no more Addresses wherein amongst many other Villanous Forg'd Accusations indeed whatever the Devil or Devils of Men could assist them withal this of King Iame's Death was one and 't is very remarkable what a doughty Topick they have to make it out delivered down by our as doughty Authors He Dissolv'd the Second Parliament to prevent their Enquiry into his Father's Death says Ludlow p. 2. And Roger Coke to the same purpose King Charles rather than this Charge should come to an Issue dissolv'd the Parliament The Defence to out-lye all that went before him tells you Divers Parliaments were dissolv'd upon that Account whereas there was but one more and this Business never mention'd therein In Answer to all which false and groundless Presumptions I shall only Request them to Consult their Friend Rushworth where they will find that Parliaments Dissolution did not in the least proceed from this or any other Articles Exhibited against the Duke who had given in his Reply and press'd for a Rejoynder that they would come to the Proof of their Common-Fame Charge wherein there appear'd not much forwardness The King on the other hand was in great Expectation of those Subsidies they had Voted and indeed only Voted for though that was done the 27 th of March yet had not the Bill been once read the 9 th of Iune by which delays his Majesties Designs with his Allies abroad were Frustrated and Honour expos'd for want of supplying them according to Treaty whereof giving Notice in a Letter they had so little regard as to fall to preparing a Remonstrance in reference to Tonage and Poundage and other such like unseasonable and unreasonable Cavils which the King understanding and esteeming as he had Cause to be a denyal of the promised Supply and finding that no
to say King Iames was very angry with Laud upon that account whereas there was no one thing he was more desirous to see accomplish'd but the Parliament Palatinate and Spanish match with some other uneasinesses to his declining Age made the prosecution thereof to be laid aside the remaining part of his Reign 5. King Charles likewise had the same uneasiness upon him the first four years of his Reign which having weather'd as well as Circumstances would admit fell to prosecute his Fathers pious intentions of a Liturgy in Scotland and therefore 't is abominably false like himself and Party in Roger Coke to say Laud had not been two months Archbishop but he advised the King to make a Reformation in the Church of Scotland whereas the Prelates of that Kingdom had been at work upon it seral years before 't is probable ever since Iames's incouragement at the Assembly of Perth This is certain 1629 four years before Laud's advance to Canterbury he was visited by a Scotch Bishop and told him it was his Majest'ys Pleasure that he should receive Instructions from some Bishops in Scotland concering a Liturgy for that Church c. Laud reply'd if his Majesty would have a Liturgy it were best to have the English but the Scotch Prelates were of a contrary opinion that their Countrymen would be better satisfied with one drawn up by their own Clergy and that resolution after some debates pro and con prevailing His Majesty commanded Laud to give them his best assistance who thereupon set himself seriously to the work having the King's Warrant for all he did And herein appears his Majesty's great Judgment in the choice as well as the Prudence of the Bishop's in procuring his assistance who as he was a most profound Divine so without doubt the exactest Ritualist these or any other Protestant Church ever had And this likewise resolves friend Roger's doubly Detection of the King 's telling Marquiss Hamilton the Archbishop was the only Englishman he entrusted with the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Scotland I wish there had been no other Brotherly assistance between the two Nations than that of these good Prelates the Covenant was carryed on in another manner 6. 'T is likewise abominably false that the High Commission was erected by his procurement or in his time although to render things the more invidious it is generally reported so by all the spiteful Crew whereas would they have consulted a Brother Libeller he could have given them better information the Libel is term'd Altare Damascenum Printed 1623 who tells us Ad Anglicani Tribunalis exemplar formatum est aliud in Scotia Anno 1616 c. whether then Establish'd or only reviv'd by King Iames I will not dispute but that such a Court there was all their Histories agree so that 't is a gross mistake in Roger Coke and no man of common sense would be guilty of it to say in this year 1635 there was a great contrivance between Arch-Bishop Laud and the Bishops in Scotland how to erect an High Commission Court by the Kings Authority There are few men so bold and dareing as though they have no Regard for truth yet nevertheless will keep a Reserve upon Reputation who fears not to do ill yet fears the name c. and realy it will be hard to find so many impudent brazenfac'd Falsehoods and Forgeries pack'd together upon any one subject whatsoever as my several pretended Authors have against this excellent Prince and his Ministers had they kept themselves to the Politicks the duty of every Historian they might have found too much matter for spiteful Wits to Carp at want of Resolution in prosecuting what was prudently design'd too much kindness to such as did not deserve it and consequently too much confidence in trusting and imploying them although as to what we are now discoursing of the Liturgy there was no defect of this kind especially on the English side for Archbishop Laud writ to his Brother of St. Andrew's that whether the English or any other was resolv'd upon they should proceed circumspectly because his Majesty had no intendment to do any thing but what was according to Honour and Iustice and the Laws of that Kingdom all which doubtless there was great regrad to the only question is as to the unseasonableness of the enterprise whether such as were continually upon the Spot might not have better discovered the temper of the People what strong prejudices they were possest withal with the several Interests and Humor 's then on foot as likewise seen further into the double dealing of such Great ones who flatter'd his Majesty in his pious intentions yet at the same time under-hand fomented the Religious Rebellion and when time serv'd headed them I thought my self oblig'd to give this brief account of Church Affairs in Scotland together with the Rise and Progress of that Liturgy the Causa Patens of their Rebellion and a very laudable one doubtless that it might the more clearly appear how basely partial false and malicious Ludlow is as to whatever he relates on that Subject for after his constant introduction of what great design 's were in hand for advancing Prerogative and Popery he adds Before any further progress should be made therein here it was thought expedient that the pulse of Scotland should be felt and they perswaded or compell'd to the like conformity To this end a form of Publick Prayer was sent to Scotland more nearly approaching the Roman Office than that us'd in England p. 6 7. To Prerogative and Popery we have already spoken which is only brought in here by way of flourish and aggravation as the main end to which all the rest were to be subservient whereas that being false what a crazy Structure are these fellows like to raise That it must certainly fall is infallible the mischief of it is 't will fall about other mens ears besides their own The charge now on foot is that they design'd to perswade or compell Uniformity a dangerous design this if it were so at the first Establishment of our Church by Queen Elizabeth and her Parliament for there we find the Liturgy was reviv'd according to that of Ed. the VI. with Articles Constitutions and Canons ay and a High-Commission erected de Novo with an Act of Uniformity too to compel such as would not be perswaded and under these excellent Constitutions our Church and State continued for more than fourscore years the Glory and Envy of the Good and Bad all Christendom thorough But then our dear Neighbours the Scots giving a helping-hand to their weak Brethren here did not design to relieve but alter this compulsion instead of Liturgy and Canons would have the Covenant and Directory the little finger whereof is heavier not only than the Loins but whole Body of our Church However they could only succeed negatively pull down what had been Establish'd the Nation were grown too much Libertines to admit of any restraint
related And hitherto according to the course of all other Tragedies their two or three first Acts have been very plausible and advantageous what remains looks every Scene darker than other and is at last Consummated in a fatal Catastrophe for whether that attempt of Duke Hamilton to rescue K. Charles his Master from the hands of his murderers were sincere or with hopes of farther advantage and as large sums as they formerly carry'd back it met with an unhappy come off and gave a shock to the reputation of their Arms for ever after So likewise when they got King Charles II. and plac'd him upon their Throne the furious Zeal of their Covenanters excluding all men of sense and courage from having any share in the Common safety gave Cromwell the advantage of his first Victory which they were never able to retrieve there and then lost all by coming into to England so that what remained was an easie acquest to a well blooded Army which immediately finished the most absolute Conquest any Nation was ever brought under And now by way of Epilogue to the forementioned Tragedy it may not be improper to take notice how grosly the Scotch mistook their Politicks in stirring up and promoting those hellish broils and confusions throughout the two Kingdoms it could be nothing but a cursed spight the Devil ow'd them to act so contrary to that cunning and over-reaching foresight wherein at other times few Nations in Europe can bear up with them 'T is as considerable an observation as any occurs in all Osborn's Memoirs that our Parliament did not exact from King Iames at his first coming and confine him to such a number of his own Country Retinue as that other did from Philip of Spain in Queen Mary 's days especially since the one Nation is no less distant from the English in Nature and Affection than the other by reason of which defect he tells us A beggarly Rabble not only attended his Majesty at his first coming but through his whole Reign were found continually crossing the River Tweed and suffered here like Locusts to devour the good of the Land which he further adds King James liv'd to be sensible of and repent they becoming so rich and insolent as nothing with any moderation could either be given or deny'd them The result of an omission as he continues no blood could expiate but that of the greatest victim ever sacrificed since Christ in so ignoble a way To speak freely there are no people under Heaven adore every rising Sun at a more unthinking rate than we nor more uneasie under our own mistakes when sensible of them for 't is unnatural to imagine a Foreign Prince should come and not make his Old Friends his Favourites receive Addresses by them and accumulate Fortunes upon them if there were at first no caution to the contrary and to think of a redress afterwards may prove a Remedy worse than the Disease Now altho' King Charles look'd more narrowly into his Revenue and would not suffer them to be their own carvers of what he had more urgent occasions for yet as to Places of profit in Court and elsewhere the Scotch carried all before them to so vast a disproportion as 't was generally concluded there were three to one Englishman Dr. Heylin observes that once at a full Table of waiters in White-Hall each of them a Servant or two to attend him he and his man were the only English in the Company And in the Church so many of that Nation Benefic'd and prefer'd in all parts of the Country that their Ecclesiastical Revenues cou'd not but amount to more than all the Rents of the Kyrk of Scotland And as the whole Revenue of that Crown was spent amongst themselves at home so did several of their Grandees live in more State here than any of their former Kings to support which they had not only the best places as Master of the Horse Captain of the Guards Privy-Purse Warden of the Cinque-Ports Lieutenant of the Tower c. But there was scarce any of those Monopolies complained of too perhaps more than they ought wherein they were not concerned for when the King at York in his first Expedition against them set forth his Proclamation touching Sundry Grants Licences and Commissions obtain'd upon undue surmise it was observ'd there was scarce any of them but Hamilton and his Scotch dependants were concerned in From all which it may appear that by stating their accounts aright ' the Lucrum cessans and Damnum emergens according to the Civil Law computation never any people depriv'd themselves of such a Court Harvest since the Creation and this to establish that Dagon of a Covenant which was as likely to deprive them of their advance in the Court of Heaven too I have been told a Melancholy Sequestred Gentleman in the time of those Unnatural Wars gave himself the trouble of telling over the number of Words the Covenant consisted of and found them exactly to agree with that of the Beast 666. Whoever hath as much time to spare may experiment the Truth thereof however this is certain with that in the Revelations It caused all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive that mark upon them and brought such Desolations on our Earth as none but that old Dragon could vomit forth Neither was there much difference between the times of their rage and blasphemies which the Text saith was to continue Forty and Two Months for according to such a proportion its power began to decline but its deadly wounds are not yet healed neither they nor we are ever likely to recover the dismal Effects of those vials the just Wrath of God suffered them to pour forth Such applications as these may I fear be thought to have too much affinity with those Enthusiasms and Cants which they so vilely make use of in perverting Scripture to their own base ends and therefore I shall prosecute them no farther nor the History neither of those Ring-leaders to Rebellion only hope for the time to come whatever Overtures may be made by others or golden Mountains promis'd by themselves from an English Invasion they will make a stop at Tweed and before they pass it seriously reflect what Cromwell and Monk brought them to in the end for that Rubicon had no Caesars CHAP. II. Of the Irish Rebellion HAving thus charg'd the Scotch-van before the main body of English come up we are Rencountred with the whole Irish Nation in so execrable a Rebellion as no History of any Nation can parallel the abominable murders without number or mercy upon the English Inhabitants of what Sex Age or Quality soever they were and all this upon pretence of Religion too a kind of Popish Covenant Declaring in the sight of God and the World That they would endeavour the advancement and preservation of his Majesty's Service and Interest having no other design and intent but only the
and Conscience the two last were not kept for he was pressed to settle Religion as they desir'd wherewith his Conscience was not satisfy'd Next his Subjects had not free access to him but Proclamations were issued out forbidding them to come to him neither was the Ceremony due to him as King suffer'd to be paid him at his entry to New-Castle And lastly his Servants were not suffer'd to wait on him And his Majesty attested Montrevil if those Conditions were not made to him who confidently affirm'd it in all their Presence and that he had the Authentick Assurances in French The Commissioners retired to think of an Answer but when they return'd they desired his Majesty would put Montrevil to it to declare what those Assurances were and who gave them but this was not done Next they said they would not treat with the King in his Presence nor admit the Interposition of any Foreign Agent between them and their Native Prince And the Commissioners of the Army resolv'd that no suspected Person should be suffer'd to wait on the King with which his Majesty was highly displeas'd and for some Days would not eat in Publick but only in his Chamber This last Passage I have from an unexceptionable Authority whose Affection to his Native Country could give Place to nothing but Truth and therefore he seems to palliate the Matter a little on their behalf that Montrevil did not declare what the Assurances were nor who gave them which yet seems not to be his Fault for that they fully resolv'd against his Presence and Interposition for the future in any such like Affairs And upon the same account he declares further on it did not appear what Grounds Montrevil had for giving the King those Assurances and must be very slight and only from single Persons not any Iunto or Iudicatory Such a secret Transaction could not be done with all the Formalities of a Solemn Treaty yet doubtless Montrevil had his Assurances from Levens with most of the other General Officers and Scotch Commissioners then before Newark which was a considerable Iunto and I humbly conceive Iudicatories have little to do in concerns of that Nature But it had been all one though never so exactly drawn up and would have been as little observ'd as the first Pacification or last promise of never drawing Sword against him more But my particular Business is to trace Ludlow who tells us The Commissioners of Parliament joyning with those who were before with the King endeavour'd to perswade him to agree to the Propositions of the Parliament but he disliking several Things in them and most of all the abolition of Episcopacy to which Interest he continu'd obstinately stedfast refused his consent upon private Encouragement from some of the Scots and English to expect more easy Terms or to be received without any at all p. 183 The Encouragement he mentions is only a Flam of his own the Scots kept too strict a Guard upon him to have any but his Enemies to converse with nay which is worse they oblig'd him to discharge all his Friends then in Arms not only here in England but Montross in Scotland and Ormond in Ireland Neither was the Abolition of Episcopacy the main Obstacle although it was hard when he alone by himself had so shamefully bafled their great Champion Henderson upon that Subject to be so violently press'd from a Truth they could so little disprove But setting aside this Fellow's Spite who would needs make this the chief obstacle the King in his brisk Answer to the whole body of their Propositions from Newcastle August 1. 46. tells them They were such as did import the greatest Alterations in Government both in Church and Kingdom yet these were positively sent for his Majesty's Concurrence without allowing the Commissioners to give Reasons for their Demands or the hearing the King's Reasons against them which occasion'd his smart Reply upon their saying They had no Power to treat that saving the Honour of the Business an honest Trumpeter might have done as much To these Propositions Ludlow tells us the Scots Commissioners especially Lord Lowdon press'd the King very earnestly to comply telling him that though they were higher in some Particulars than they could wish yet if he continu'd to reject them he must not expect to be received in Scotland whither they must return and deliver him up to the Parliament in England But whatever they or the English said made no impression c. p. 184. The Truth of it is after all the Scotch Rodomantades Lowdon's in particular how much it was against the Laws of Nature Nations and Hospitality to Deliver and betray those that had fled to any for Succour their Brethren at Westminster knew how much there was of Iudas amongst them and having reduc'd their demand of a Million to 400000 l. agreed upon the Payment of one Moyety and the Publick Faith for the other to have the King Deliver'd to them who good Man laments that his Price should be so much above his Saviours And to clear himself from the base Reflections they made upon his Steady well grounded Resolves he declares what they call Obstinacy I know God accounts honest Constancy from which Reason and Religion as well as Honour forbid me to recede For you must know the Scots whilst in their Hands not only permitted but encourag'd the most Rigid of their Kirkmen to bait him at an impudent Rate as well from the Pulpit as otherwise as positively denouncing him damn'd for refusing the Covenant as 't is to be fear'd might fall to their lot for forcing it In the next Paragraph p. 186. Ludlow Commenceth a Quarrel with all the World both at Home and abroad for upon the French Embassador's coming over to endeavour a Reconciliation between King and Parliament he tells you how it was rejected they resolving to determin it themselves without the interposition of any an infallible sign of a just Cause where no body but themselves must Iudge having experienc'd that most of the Neighbouring States especially the Monarchical were at the bottom their Enemies That they were not their Friends was certain but that they should be so little their Enemies was a great Shame that so many Crown'd Heads should stand by and see a Brother Monarch Dethron'd and Murther'd at so barbarous a rate was a Sign that which is call'd Antient Honour was at a very low Ebb and the Sacro-Sancta Mrjestas left destitute of all Appeal but to the King of Kings who for ought we know may be still making Inquisition for that Blood this Son of Belial so much thirsted after and never at rest till poured forth and therefore henceforward 't is his sole Business to enveigh against all that would not go along with him and his Crew in that horrid Perpetration first he falls upon the Parliament for their frequent Overtures of Peace made to the King though he had not a Sword left wherewith to oppose them p. 187.
of Queen Elizabeth who though she indulg'd Liberty of Speech to her Members yet if any dar'd to open or so much as quetch against her Prerogative or fall upon any Debates which did not properly come within their Sphere she never spar'd to express the height of her Resentment whereof take this single Instance One Morris a Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Dutchy offer'd a Bill ready drawn for Retrenching the Ecclesiastical Courts into much narrower Bounds with several such like Alterations wherewith his busy Head was pregnant Of this the Queen having present Notice sends for Coke then Speaker of the House of Commons afterwards Lord Chief Iustice and a violent Beautifeu in these three Parliaments of King Charles by whom she order'd this Message to the House viz. That it was wholly in her Power to Call to Determine to Assent or Dissent to any thing done in Parliament that the calling of this was only that the Majesty of God might be the more Religiously observ'd by compelling with some sharpe Laws such as neglect that Service and that the Safety of her Majesty's Person and the Realm might be provided for that it was not meant they should meddle with Matters of State or Causes Ecclesiastical that she wondered any should attempt a thing so contrary to her Commandment and that she was highly offended at it And finally that it was her pleasure no Bill touching any Matters of State or for Reformation of Matters Ecclesiastical should be there Exhibited On the delivery of which Morris is said to have been seiz'd on in the House by a Sergeant at Arms however seiz'd upon he was and committed Prisoner kept for some Years in Tutbury Castle discharg'd from his Office in the Dutchy and disabled from any Practice in his Prosession as a Common Lawyer What would Ludlow have done had he been a Member in those happy Times Here at home either Tutbury or Tyburn would have been his Fate and if got abroad 't is a question whether Swisserland it self could have secur'd him from the long Arm of that great Virago CHAP. IV. Not any just Ground for Complaint of Grievances NEither had they better Authority for the several Grievances they made such a Noise about hunting after them with all the Earnestness imaginable receiving none so kindly as those who brought them Information of fresh Game though generally it proved a Brake-bush instead of a Hare That Disparity printed in Sir Henry Wotton's Remains between the Elizabeth's time and the Duke of Buckingham was sometime after discovered to be the first Essay of a Younger but much abler Pen the Person who writ it making as great a Figure during all the Troubles of Charles the I. and II. as any whatsoever and upon the Restauration was advanc'd according to his great Merits and Sufferings This Ingenious little Piece to make good the Disparity undertaken observes how great an Advantage the Earl had from the Temper of the Age and easy Good Natur'd disposition all People were then in 'T was saith he an ingenious uninquisitive Time when all the Passions and Affections of the People were lapp'd up in such an innocent and humble Obedience that there was never the least Contestations nor Capitulations with the Queen nor though she frequently consulted with her Subjects any further Reasons urg'd of her Actions than her own Will When there were any Grievances they but Reverendly convey'd them to her Notice and left the Time and Order of the rest to her Princely Discretion Once they were more importunate and formal in pursuing the Complaints of the Purveyors for Provision which without doubt was a crying and an heavy Oppression The Queen sent them Word they all thought themselves wise enough to reform the Misdemeanors of their own Families and whisht they had so good an Opinion of her as to trust her with her Servants too I do not find that the Secretary who delivered this Message received any Reproach or Check or that they proceeded any further in the Inquisition On the other side that of the Duke of Buckingham's Favour with King Iames and Charles the I. He tells us was a busy querulous froward Time so much degenerated from the Purity of the former that the People under pretences of Reformation with some Petulant Discourses of Liberty which their great Impostors scattered amongst them like false Glasses to multiply their Fears began Abditos Principis Sensus quid occultius parat exquirere extended their enquiries even to the Chamber and private Actions of the King himself forgetting that Truth of the Poet Nusquam libertas gratior extat quam sub Rege pio 'T was strange to see how Men afflicted themselves to find out Calamities and Mischiefs whilst they borrowed the Name of some great Persons to scandalize the State they lived in A general disorder throughout the whole Body of the Commonwealth nay the Vital Parts perishing the Laws violated by the Judges Religion prophan'd by the Prelates Heresies crept into the Church and countenanced All which they themselves must rectify without being beholden to the King or consulting the Clergy And give me leave to add proving there was any Truth in those Allegations they made such a Noise about Thus far that Great Man who hints likewise at the most probable Causes which might produce that Frenzy this World of ours was then got into As 1 st The heat of young Heads who are ever more forward to reform others than themselves 2 dly The Disappointments some of longer standings met with in reference to their own Advancement But more especially in the 3 d. place The Revolution of Time which had made them unconcern'd in the Loyal Fears that govern'd sixty Years since and the Nation too happy in that Spirit and Condition Unless more sensible of it and thankful for it From which stupid Humour it was that such as cry'd Fire most with the same Breath blew the Coals and would never give over till they had set all in a Flame One of these Grievous Cries was Tunnage and Poundage about which we have already mention'd his Majesty's just Resentments but withall his too great Condescention in hopes to give them Satisfaction So far beneath our self to use his own Words As we are confident never any of our Predecessors did the like nor was the like ever required or expected from them Notwithstanding which they continued their Proceedings and as the King goes on We endured long with much patience both these and sundry other strange and exorbitant Incroachments and Usurpations such as were never before attempted in that House Roger Coke is also very hot upon this Scent and gives a History thereof out of his Grandfather's Institutes so far as to serve his turn yet withall is forc'd to own that they had been continued to all the Kings and Queens since Edward the 4 th so that passing an Act was only Matter of Form for if Prescription long continued Custom be Common Law
for the People and make the best Tenures why not for the Prince Nay 't is farther apparent that in most of those Reigns there were several Alterations and Additions too as Circumstances of Trade varied or Reason of State required Queen Elizabeth more especially took her Liberty therein at pleasure without Regret or Complaint from Merchant or Member particularly the Venetians having Tax'd a Charge upon our English Cloath She to be even with them rais'd that upon Corinth's which continued all her Life without dispute and when a Pragmatical Fellow stood it out with King Iames it was adjudg'd due by the Barons of the Exchequer But the debate here was perfect Spite and Contradiction otherwise no Man of Sense of Honour would have made a Breach between Prince and People in refusing to confirm what his Predecessors had enjoy'd some hundred Years before Especially considering the Charge and Care the King was then at above any of his Ancestors in reference to Naval Preparations whereto the Customs were all along assign'd I have seen an Account of the Navy Royal as it stood in Queen Elizabeth's Time presented by Sir Walter Rawleigh to Prince Henry consisting of Twenty four Sail the best of which did not reach one of our Fourth or Fifth Rates as now built 'T is true he tells him it might be advanc'd to what Number she pleas'd by pressing Merchants Ships of equal or greater Force And so it continued without any considerable Improvement all Iames's Time till the Earl of Nottingham Lord Admiral overgrown with Age importun'd the King for a Discharge as he own'd both to Lords and Commons wherein he was comply'd with and succeeded by the Duke of Buckingham who apply'd himself thereto with so much Diligence and Circumspection as at the same time his neglect was so severely complain'd of in the House of Commons we had an Hundred Sail in one Fleet gon against the Spaniard with another Squadron join'd the Dutch to block up Dunkirk and a third to guard the Channel which was likewise continually improv'd so far as the King's Purse could reach under the many Exigenties he then lay and would the Parliament have perform'd their Parts might have then clear'd the Ocean of all Opposition whatsoever which they were so far from as to make an attempt of withdrawing the Customs the only support he had to this great Defence and Undertaking Yet notwithstanding their perverse Disposition 't is a Question whether we had not the Ballance upon our Neighbours more then than now and as able to maintain the Sovereignty of the Seas Though it shall be acknowledg'd our Strength at present may be five perhaps ten times greater with a proportionable Charge and Opposition too which is worst of all In the mean while we may from hence perceive what a creditable Evidence Common-fame is for as the Clamour then ran which our several Sets of Pamphletteers and Libellers would have us still believe one would have imagin'd we had not been able to fight a Fleet of Dutch Fisher-Busses or that our Admiral knew or car'd whether there had been two such places as Chatham or Portsmouth such strong Prejudices can Men of ill design Fool the People into Neither was the Conduct of other Affairs so much to be run down as their Pettishness did Suggest when amongst other things they would enquire how the Reputation and Interest of our Nation came to decline so much from what it was in Ages past which if they had considered the Man's Caution they would have omitted for their own Reputation sake Say not thou what is the Cause that the former Days were better than these For thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this And I am confident every ordinary Reader will judge there was more Malice than Wisdom in the Matter before us when told their Charge was chiefly Level'd at those Storms which Dissipated our Fleets both upon the Spanish and Flemish Coasts On the contrary could there be a more Sober or Christian Answer than what the King reply'd That 't was God's Pleasure to send stormy Weather and his Will must be done Though 't is confess'd they might have gon out at a more Seasonable time of the Year had they furnish'd him with a seasonable Supply but it became now their usual Practice to charge him with their own Defects Yet notwithstanding that and the Miscarriage at the Isle of Rhe where nevertheless a great deal of English Bravery was shewn so little were they degenerated from their Ancestors the French were so much Allarm'd at our entring into a War and Assisting the Rochellers as they proffer'd the Duke of Rohan and the Protestant Party any Terms to join with them against the English and it was their ill Conduct and Positiveness not to excuse something of Treachery amongst them which made the first Attempts for their Relief miscarry as shall be made appear in due Time and Place as likewise how glad the French were of a Peace on Honourable Terms on our Side tho they knew too well the Perverseness of our great Senate But to look back upon former Times even those so happy Days of Queen Elizabeth they were not attended with constant Success the great Sir Francis Drake did not always answer Expectation in his Returns out of the West-Indies and as great a Sea Captain as he was Frozen to Death in Search of the North-East-Passage with several such like Instances which might be given as to those Affairs So likewise for Land-Service Leicester's Conduct in the Low Countries was neither to his Mistresses nor their Satisfaction and that popular Favourite Essex miscarried most Scandalously in his Second Expedition against Spain and how fatal his Irish Management was is known to all At some of these indeed the Queen was concern'd but had any of her Parliaments meddled therewith they would have soon discovered how much she had of Henry the VIII's Spirit Neither ought it to seem strange if after that continued Peace God and King Iames had so long bless'd us withall we should be somewhat at a Loss entring afresh into War since that we have gain'd more Experience and paid sufficiently for our Learning both in Blood and Treasure and which is worse still cannot give over when we would And whilst we are upon this Head of Grievances there is a Commission to several Lords of the Privy Counsel must by no means be past by For though it was only in general Terms To enter into Consultation of all the best and speediest Ways and Means ye can for raising of Monys for the most important Occasion aforesaid which without extreamest hazard to us our Dominions and People and to our Friends and Allies can admit of no long delay c. Yet Rushworth and from him Roger Coke and from them both the Defence c. will have it to raise Monys by way of Excise in which Sense likewise this present Parliament would have it go and made a Bussle accordingly sending
of his he declares How in all those Propositions little or nothing could be observ'd of any Laws dis-joynted which ought to be restor'd of any Right invaded of any Justice obstructed of any Compensations to be made of any impartial Reformation to be granted to all or any of which Reason Religion and true Policy or any other Humane Motives might induce him But the main Matters propounded in which is either great Novelty or Difficulty relate to what were formerly look'd upon as Factions in the State or Schisms in the Church and so punishable by the Laws though now they have the Confidence by vulgar Clamors and Assistance to demand not only Toleration of themselves in their Vanity Novelty and Confusion but also Abolition of the Laws against them and a total Extirpation of that Government whose Rights they have a mind to invade Thus solidly did his Majesty refel the little Rebel Flourishes of the Westminster Iunto and therefore no wonder they were deliver'd to the King without Success they knew before-hand he had more Honor and Conscience than to grant them otherwise would not have caus'd them to be presented and if he thought as Ludlow would perswade us he did as good terms as these might be obtain'd if reduc'd to the last Extremity he had great Reason so to do for doubtless no one breathing did then so much as dream of or imagin that execrable Act their continu'd draughts of Blood did in the end prompt them unto In which unnatural Broils of State Parricide and Domestick Fury as I shall concern my self no further than this base Fellow and his Comrades reflect upon the Memory of our Royal Martyr So I cannot but observe his Design hath been all along hitherto to manage his Lyes with so much Art and Cunning as to make the King according to the Procedure of their horrid High Court of Iustice the first Agressor and Promoter of the War The Parliament were as Innocent as an Assembly of so many Devils and desir'd only to do with him and his Kingdoms his Queeu Children and his Friends as they pleas'd which his Stubbornness refusing the Charge their Insolencies had assum'd to themselves resolv'd to force him as they really did which yet he Ludlow would have turn'd upon them What I shall first mention tho' there are several such like Hints before is p. 16. The King having laid his Designs in Ireland as will afterward appear was not without great Difficulty prevail'd upon by the Parliament to consent to the Disbanding those eight Thousand Irish Papist that had been rais'd there by the Earl of Strafford How far that Army was from being Irish Papists will appear from this that all the Irish Grandees of that Perswasion agreed with the Faction in our two Houses here to promote the Disbanding that Army which had it been kept on Foot the Rebellion could not have Succeeded there nor consequently here The next Instance I shall give is p. 22. The King 's violent Ways not succeeding he fell upon other Measures in appearance more moderate c. What violent Ways were these Why those few Inns of Court and other Gentlemen who proffer'd their Attendance to secure him from the Insolency of the Tumults which this bad Man for whom no bad Name is bad enough takes no Notice of though got up to that prodigious hight as the King could not think those and all his other Friends able to secure him at White-Hall In like manner upon his Majesty's demanding the Five Members p. 25. The Parliament-sensible of this Violation of their Priviledges and fearing they might be further intrenched upon c. a strong Violation that to demand Traytors to Iustice but 't was their Interest to oppose it otherwise they might have all follow'd For having related after their many other Usurpations how well the Parliament approv'd Sir Iohn Hotham's Conduct declaring he had done well in denying the King admittance into Hull 't is added next Paragraph p. 29. The Parliament began now to provide for the securing of all Places whereas there was not a Place of any Importance they had not secur'd before even to York it self in which by his Majesty 's too great Passiveness they had a Committee to observe and beard all his Undertakings And this brings me to the last Instance of this modest Man's Veracity p. 38. The King having set up his Standard at Nottingham the 24th of August 1642 for he tells us to a Day and 't is well he doth The Parliament thought themselves oblig'd to make some Preparations to defend themselves whereas in the Paragraph immediately precedent he declar'd how the Fire began to break out in the West what success the Earl of Bedford had there upon the Parliament Account and how the Governour of Portsmouth declaring for the King that was besieg'd and reduc'd by their Forces And for a fuller Testimony of this let us compute the time of raising these Forces Essex under pretence of a Guard to the Parliament had been levying Men all that Spring on the tenth of Iune the Order past both Houses for the Citizens to bring in their Plate to carry on the War which they did most zealously on the 9th of September Essex march'd out of London in a great deal of Pomp having all his Masters attending him 16000 strong very little more than a Fortnight after the King set up his Standard where there did not appear the fourth part of the foremention'd Number But the Parliament had got that common artifice of all bad Men to cry Whore first as the Proverb expresses it inflame the Peoples Minds with Dangers and Designs that the King intended to levy War against them whereas 't was design'd against the King who most solemnly declar'd from York how far his Desires and Thoughts were from it and had this attested by more than forty Lords then with him how they saw no t any colour of Preparations or Counsels that might reasonably beget the Belief of any such Design and were fully perswaded his Majesty had no such intention But when he understood what preparations they were making at London and indeed every where else that Hotham had deny'd him Hull and Essex was coming to take him from his Evil Counsellors then he thought himself oblig'd to make some preparations for himself that I may turn Ludlow's impudent Falshood into Truth But suppose the King had begun sooner as 't is great pity he did not exerted the just right of his Prerogative and sovereign Power against the many encroachments they daily made and unknown Priviledges they constantly assum'd all the Laws of God and Man would have born him out therein For most Men of Sense long before the Sword was drawn clearly discover'd nothing would satisfy them but a total Subversion of the whole Government An honest Gentleman expostulating with Mr. Hambden upon the King 's many Concessions what they could expect further he reply'd they expected he should commit himself and all that