numbers of Parliament Precedents concerning the Liberties of the Subject to be burnt next raising Two Hundred Thousand Pounds for making Two Hundred Baronets telling the King He should find his English Subjects like Asses on whom he might lay any Burthen but this Statesman died soon after very Miserable coming from Bath and was Buried on the top of a Mole-Hill near Marleborougâ— The principal Managers of the English Affairs were Salisbury Suffolk Northampton Buckhurst Egerton Lord-Keeper Worcester and the Old Admiral For the Scots Sir George Hewme now Earl of Dunbar Secretary Elfeston and the Lord of Kinloss Salisbury had now shaken off all those that were great with him in Queen Elizabeth's days as Sir Walter Rawleigh Sir G. Carew the Lord Grey and the Lord Cobham Now begins Ambassadors to appear from divers Princes the chief was Roney Duke of Sullia from the French King the Constable of Castile from the Spanish King the Count Arremburgh from the Arch-Duke To bring these Ambassadors over were appointed Sir Robert Mansel being Admiral and Sir J. Turner his Vice-Admiral to bring over the French and Spanish Ambassadors in which happened some Dispute The Constable of Castile so plyed his Masters business in which he spared for no cost that he procured a Peace so advantageous for Spain and so disadvantageous for England that It and all Christendome have since both seen and felt the lamentable effects thereof There was not one Courtier of note that tasted not of Spain's Bounty either in Gold or Jewels and among them not any in so large a proportion as the Countess of Suffolk who shared in her Lords Interest that in truth Audley-end that Famouâ— Structure had its Foundation of Spanish-Gold GOD for some secret Intent besâ— known to himself laid the Foundation of this King's Reign with thâ— greatest Plague or Mortality ever before heard of in this Kingdom and some by that judged what his futurâ— Reign would be He was forced bâ— that Contagion to leave the Metropolis and go into a by-corner in Wilt-shire in which time of his Abode there â— kind of Treason broke forth but whaâ— it was as no Man then could tell so it is left with so dark a Comment that Posterity will never understand the Text or remember any such Treason This pretended Plot consisted of Protestants Puritans Papists and Atheists a strange medly you will say to meet in one and the same Treason and keep Counsel which surely they did because they knew not of any The Protestants were the Lord Cobham and George Brook his Brother the one very Learned and Wise the other a most silly Lord The Puritan the Lord Grey of Walton a very hopeful Gentleman The Papists Watson and Clark Priests and Parham a Gentleman The Atheist Sir W. Rawleigh then generally so believed though after brought by Affliction the best School-Mistress to be and so Died a most Religious Gentleman This Sham-Plot was chiefly designed by Salisbury in which he has a double benefit first in riding himself of such as he feared would have been Thorns in his sides secondly by endearing himself to the King by shewing his diligence and vigilancy for his Safety They were all Araigned of Treason at Winchester whither the King sent some secretly to observe all Passages upon whose true and faithful Relations of the Innocency of the Persons Arraigned and slight proof upon which they were Condemned he would not be drawn to Sign any Warrant for the Execution of Rawleigh Cobham and Grey For Rawleigh's defence it was so brave and just as had he not wilfully Cast himself out of very weariness as unwilling to detain the Company any longer no Jury could ever have Cast him Yet Sir W. Rawleigh was Executed many years after for the same Treason as much against all Justice as beyond all Reason and Precedent Yea after he had been a General by the Kings Commission and had by that Power of the Lives of many others utterly against the Civil Law which saith He that hath Power of the Lives of others ought to be Master of his Own But the Spaniard was so Powerful at that time at Court as that Faction could command the Life of any Man that might prove dangerous to their Designs His Death was by him managed with so High Generous and Religious a Resolution as if a Roman had acted a Christian or rather a Christian a Roman During his Imprisonment he was Delivered of that Minerva The History of the World Now did the great Mannagers of the State of which Salisbury was Chief after they had Packed the Cards begin to deal the Government of the Kingdom among themselves yet for all their setting their Cards and playing their Games to their own advantages there was one Knave in the Pack would couzen their designs and Trump in their way if he might not share with them in their winning and that was one Lake a Clerk of the Signet afterwards made Secretary and after that turned out in disgrace This Lake was a fellow of mean Birth and meaner Breeding being an under Servant to make Fires in Secretary Walsingham's Chamber and there got some experience which afterwards in this King's Time made him appear an able Man which in Q. Eliz. Time when there was none in Court but Men of Eminency made him an inconsiderable Fellow This Lake had linked himself with the Scotch Nation helping them per fas aut nefas to fill their Purses c. For his good Service of abusing his Country and Countrymen he was made Clerk of the Signet to wait on the King in his Hunting Journies and in these Journies got all the Bills Signed even for the greatest Lords all Packets being addressed to him so that Salisbury and Northampton and the greatest Lords made Court to him By this means did he raise himself from a mean to a great Fortune but much over-awed by his Wife which after proved his overthrow besides he would tell Tales and let the King know the passages at Court and great Men as who was Salisbury's Mistress and who governed all who governed Northampton and discovered the Bawdery which did infinitely please the King's Humour and in truth had so much Craft as he served his turn upon all but was Ingrossed by none but by the Bed-Chamber who stuck so close to him that they could not yet remove him And now do the English Faction seeing they could not sever the Scots from him endeavour to raise a Mutiny against the Scots that were his Supporters their Agents divulging every where The Scots would get all and would Beggar the Kingdom The Scots on the other side complain to the King they were so poor they under-went the by-word of Beggarly-Scots To which the King returned this Answer Content your selves I will shortly make the English as Beggarly as you and so ended that Controversie This is as true as he truly performed it for however he enriched many in particular as Salisbury Suffolk Northampton Worcester Lake
It was the Opinion of those Times that the Elector might have sped better had he not Matched with England whose King was so timerous as he â—uffered all to Perish for want of seasonable supply that relied upon his Power for had his Consort been of weaker Alliance he had refused the Crown of Bohemia when it was offered or upon acceptance been more Cordially assisted by his fellow Princes already wearied by the Emperours Oppressions no less than terrified by an expectation of worse It was generally thought and that not without good reason That Prince Henry gave the first incouragement to the Prince Elector to attempt his Sister desiring more to Head an Army in Germany than he durst make shew of and would no doubt have been bravely followed That his thoughts flew high hundreds of his Servants could witness together with the Love he seemed to bear his Sister before his Brother Charles whom he would often Taunt till he made him Weep telling him He should be â— Bishop a Gown being fittest to hide hiâ— Legs subject in his Childhood to be Crooked Nor did all this put together lengthen his Life in the desires of many Besides Sir Walter Rawleigh did mediate his Favour by a Discourse he sent him proving no War could be so necessary or advantageous for England as one with Spain alledging many Reasons and Examples as well out of the Practice of Queen Elizabeth as his own Experience no Prince else then being able to pay for or bear the Expence of a Royal Navy which once in a Year he would without question accomplish by our intercepting some or most of the Plate-Fleet all Nations besides at that time being but Sea-Pedlars Wherefore if Philip the Second cut off his own hopeful and only Son Charles for but pittying the People of Flanders it can be no wonder He should promote the destruction of a Stranger that did so far applaud the advice of Rawleigh as to say No King but his Father would keep such a Bird in a Cage But to leave this to the Faith of Posterity the Actions of Kings being written in such dark Characters and relating to so many several ends as they are not easily deciphered I shall return to the German Affairs towards which had England contributed proportionably to the Head of a Union it may be presumed from the King of Sweeden's Success who had at the begining no such advantages to rely on that the Eclipsing if not the Ruine of the House of Austria had not been adjourned to so long a day And he that shall turn over the Adviso's of those Times may without danger or much trouble find what Opinion the Germans had of Us and in how great a dismay it cast their Proceedings when the smallness of the Lord Vere's Forces were known but when they read a Commission only enabling him to do nothing they apprehended themselves some out of Malice Betrayed others that knew the temper of King James better were so Charitable as to impute it to the true Cause which was his Fear upon whose Altar he was not only ready to Sacrifice his present Honour and future Safety but the Blood of those he stiles in all his Manifesto's His dearest Children For after his Daughter and the Elector were Crowned King and Queen of Bohemia they lost together with this Shadow all her Substance and what he was for so many Descents Born to the Palatinate at the Battle of Prague where few blows were dealt on the Electors side reported to be so Mad as to think the Souldier would venture his Life in a Cause where he to whom it most concerned was afraid to venture his Money It being then too late to spare when Honour and Fortune lay at the Stake By which this miserable Prince did not only lose what he might possibly have gained but most of the Wealth he desired to save The Earl of Portland Lord Treasurer was sent by King James when they looked for an Army to Mediate a Peace By whose help though a Roman Catholick the Elector and his Lady found means though with much difficulty to Escape to the Hague with their new assumed empty Titles having nothing else to support them but Patience and Hope the only and ordinary Comfort of those deprived of all help besides yet it was gerally reported by the Roman Catholicks That Portland was too far engaged to their Party to be the Author of so ungrateful a Service But this being his first Employment no less than a desire in the Pope to see the Power of the Emperour moderated who began to Incroach upon the pretended Immunities of the Church he might probably take this advantage to render his Embassy the more acceptable upon his return to the People of England if not to the King Persons of their Quality falling seldom by the Sword and therefore thought perhaps better Thrift to maintain them at Liberty than in Restraint or Redeem them at such a Ransom as a Victorious Prince might Impose to the Payment of which his Majesty was engaged in Honour and Nature However I am more charitable than to conclude all Papists imployed by this King so dishonest as to falsiâ—ie their Trust for if that followed as a necessary consequence God help this poor Nation that had before then and long after few Commissioned in any affair of Importance but such as were that way affected or wholly indifferent It being the intent of Providence to use his help it may be as he did of Pharoah's Daughter to preserve this Vertuous Lady out of danger whose Misfortunes kindled such a Fire in Germany as before it was extinguished lick'd up the choicest Blood in the Austrian Family some one or other prosecuting the like Attempt amongst whom was Count Mansfield that had little else than his own Fortune and Valour to carry him so far as he went but what he punctually did or promised to do was at too great a distance to be certainly known more than could be Learned from the Eccho it made at Court which sounded diversly according to the Inclinations and hollowness of their Hearts that made the Reverberation This is certain That Mansfield was in appearance well received at Court but how King James could like a Man that laboured to bring in so Anti-Monarchial a Precedent as to struggle for Liberty with his Native Prince I cannot but question who himself daily inculcate into the People through the Mediation of his Divines and by the Terror of his Laws That no other Refuge was left in any saving Experiment during the unjustest and most cruel Tyranny but Prayers and Tears a Tenet if he had believed himself or thought such as owned either Prudence or Power did he would doubtless have Governed much better or if possible abused the Nation and debauched his Succession much worse Yet to give a countenance to a Business he had so shamefully disparaged before he sent for the Count over in one of his Royal Ships which was cast away
By this you see the advantage and benefit of one Wise Counsellor in a whole State and although Solomon says By the multitude of Councellors doth a Kingdom Flourish yet surely he intended they should be Wise Men that are Councellors for we had such a multitude of Councellors that a longer Table and a larger Council-Chamber was provided yet our State was so far from Flourishing that it had been almost utterly destroyed I shall now bring my Story to an end as I shall this King's Life although I have made some Digressions yet all pertinent to the Secret Intreagues of this King's Reign He now goes to his last Hunting-Journey I mean the last of the Year as well as his Life which He ever ended in Lent and was seized on by an extraordinary Tertian Ague which at that Season according to the Proverb was Physick for a King but King James did not find it so and poor King what was but Physick to any other was made Mortal to him Yet 't was not the Ague as himself Confessed to many of his Servants one of which crying Courage Sir this is but a small Fit the next will be none at all At which he most earnestly looked and said Ah! it is not the Ague afflicteth me but the black Plaster and Powder given me and laid to my Stomach and in truth the Plaster so troubled him that he was glad to have it pulled off and with it the Skin also Nor was it fair Dealing if he had sair Play which himself suspected often saying to Montgomery whom he trusted above all Men in his Sickness For God's sake look I have fair Play to bring in an Emperick to apply any Medicines whil'st those Physicians appointed to attend him were at Dinner nor could any but Buckingham Answer it with less than his Life Buckingham coming into the King's Chamber even when He was at the point of Death an honest Servant of the King 's crying Ah! my Lord you have Undone us all his poor Servants although you are so well provided you need not care At which Buckingham kickt at him who caught his Foot and made his Head first come to the Ground where Buckingham presently rising run to the Dying-King's Bed-side and cryed Justice Sir I am abused by your Servant and wrongfully Accused At which the poor King Mournfully fixed his Eyes on him as who would have said Not wrongfully yet without Speech or Sense It were worth the knowledge what his Confessions was or what other Expressions he made of himself or any other but that was only known to the dead Arch-Bishop Abbot and the then living Bishop Williams and the Lord-Keeper and it was thought Williams had blabbed something which incensed the King's Anger and Buckingham's Hatred so much against him that the loss of his Place could not be expiatory sufficient but his utter ruine must be determined and that for the great Crime of Lapsus Linguae Now having brought this King who was stiled the King of Peace to rest in all Peace the 27th of March his Son by Sound of the Trumpet was Proclaimed King by the Name of CHARLES the First His Father's Reign began with a great Plague and we have shewed what his Reign was His Son 's with a greater Plague the greatest that ever had been in these parts We come now to shew what his Reign was in the ensuing Discourse FINIS THE Secret History c. THE Misfortunes of this Monarch Son to King James with the uncouth dismal and unexpressible Calamities that happened thereupon appear yet so great a Sacrifice in the Opinions of all Interested by the Loss or Suborned by that natural Propensity inherent in the most to expunge or palliate the Lapses of unhappy Princes whose Indulgence is not seldom so defensive as to expiate for the Faults of those standing in a far remoter Relation than that of a Father that they have hitherto stoped my Pen from making any farther Progress that way till led on by a Zeal to Truth and illuminated from the brighter Judgments of others I found not only the Imprudent Commissions but voluntary Omissions of King James so much instrumental in the promotion of our late Unnatural Wars As it may justly be said He like Adam by bringing the Crown into so great a Necessity through profuse Prodigality became the Original of his Son's Fall who was in a manner compelled to stretch out his Hands towards such Gatherings and Taxes as were contrary to Law by which He fell from the Paradice of a Prince to wit The Hearts of his People though the best Polititians extant might miscarry in their Calculation of a Civil-War immediately to follow upon the Death of Queen Elizabeth in Vindication of the number of Titles and Opinions then current Yet the Beggarly Rabble attending King James not only at his first coming out of Scotland but through his whole Reign like a fluent Spring found still crossing the River Tweed did so far justifie the former Conjecture as it was only thought mistaken in relation to Time King James departing this Life at Theobald's the 27th day of March 1625. in the Fifty Ninth Year of his Age when He had Reigned Twenty Two Years compleat In the Afternoon of the same day Charles Prince of Wales his only Son then living was Proclaimed King of Great Britain France and Ireland The first thing He did was performing the Ceremonies of his Father's Funeral in which the King himself in Person followed as Chief Mourner He then proceeded to consummate the Marriage with Hentietta Maria Younger Daughter of the great Henry the Fourth King of France whom He had formerly seen in his Journey through that Country into Spain The King then called a Parliament which Assembled the 18th of June following to whom He represented in a short Speech The urgent necessity of raising a Subsidy since it would not agree with his Kingly Honour to shrink from the War with Spain which his Father upon solid Consideration had by consent of Both Houses undertakeâ— although prevented by Death from putting it in Execution c. The Parliament would not resolve on raising of Money till they had first presented their Two Petitions concerning Reasons of Religion and Complaint of their Sufferings which Points had been offered to his Father King James in the close of his last Parliament and by his Death were left hitherto unanswered In Both which they received satisfaction and likewise an account of the Arrears which were due to the Forces by Sea and Land together with an estimate of the future Charge and Expence of the Spanish War Upon which the King obtained of the Laiety Two Subsidies to be paid by Protestants and Four from Papists and Three Subsidies from the Clergy In this Parliament Dr. Montague the King's Chaplain was questioned for certain Tenets in his Answer to a Book called the Romish Dagger Divers Laws were Enacted in this Parliament as one about the Observation of the Lord's-Day and another
THE Secret History OF K. JAMES I. AND K. CHARLES I. Compleating the Reigns OF THE Four last Monarchs By the Author of the Secret History of K. Charles II. and K. James II. Printed in the Year 1690. THE PREFACE THO' we ought not rashly to rake into the Ashes of Princes and expose either their Personal Miscarriages or their Failures in Management of the Government yet no doubt but the making them Publick may sometimes contribute not a little to the General Good This is evident from the Effects of our Secret History of the Two last Monarchs since by it the most wilfully Blind may be convinced how infinitely Happy we are under their present Majesty's Government beyond what we were in the late Reigns which were but a very inconsiderable matter if any thing below the French Tyranny and by setting the unparallel'd Vertues that are so Resplendent in our Gracious Soveraigns in opposition to those Ignominious Vices that reigned in the Other we may with all the reason in the World assure our selves of a lasting Peace and as much Happiness under Them Now as we had Troubles and Confusions under the Former For Their Religion Integrity and Moderation which must always be in conjunction with Princes that are truly Patres Patriae are as Notorious to the World so that Their greatest Enemies cannot deny them as were the Atheism and furious Bigottism of the Two former Reigns Vices much of the same pernicious Consequences to a Kingdom if the latter be not the more dangerous since the greatest Villanies that ever were perpetrated in the World have been Masqued with seeming Zeal for Religion But since there are not a few who tho' they seem to decry the Tyrannies of the Two late Kings yet approve of much the same Actions of the Two that Preceded Them One of whom some Men have Vainly if not Blasphemously compared to the King of Kings I thought it not amiss to Communicate a few Passages of Their Reigns that do not so commonly occur especially since they laid the Foundations of that Tyranny which the Others brought to so great a Perfection As to the former of Them viz. K. James I. it will easily appear from this following History what great steps He made towards Tyranny It is certain That the reason He gave for setting up Episcopacy in Scotland was That He might have so many Friends to rely upon in Parliament i. e. That by them as the Dead-Weight He might the better carry on His Designs there And herein His Politicks did not deceive Him for by their Means He and his Successors found it no hard matter to reduce that Kingdom to as great Slavery as any Europe hath groaned under of late Years How great a Proficient He was in the Art of Dissimulation or King-Craft will be no less apparent I shall only insert one Instance of it Here which I omitted in the History especially because I think it may not be ungrateful to the Reader viz. That after His return from Denmark to Scotland seeming mightily satisfied with the Care the Kirk-Party had taken to preserve the Kingdom in Peace during his Absence He was pleased to express himself thus in a general Assembly That He blest God that He was Born at sike a Time of the Gospel and to be King of sike a Kirk the purest Kirk in the World The Kirk of Geneva says He keep Yeul and Pasch What have they from the Word of God for that And for our Neighbour Kirk of England What is their Service but an ill said Mass in English And concluded with the Solemnest Promises to Maintain Preserve the Kirk when in the mean while He was taking all underhand Methods to Supplant it as He did a few Years after And as to His Successor tho' a Kalender'd Saint yet after all the lying Insinuations of Self-designing and ridden Persons of that Princes singular Religion that very Act of Instituting Plays and Sports on the Lord's-Day is no extraordinary Proof of it Nay it would be as easie to perswade a Person of any Religion to believe that the Alcharon is the Word of God as that a Prince of any Religion could be guilty of so Irreligious an Act as that was But I will not weary the Reader 's Patience with a large Preface since the very Subject of the following History will recommend it self sufficiently to the Perusal of all Lovers of ouâ— English Liberties THE Secret History c. QUEEN Elizabeth of Glorious and Happy Memory Dying the 24th of March 1602 about Three in the Morning to the great grief of all Her loving Subjects in general About Nine in the Morning of the same day was Proclaimed King James by the Name of JAMES the First And now many post into Scotland for to get Preferment by â—urchasing Friends with their Purses Gold and Silver being a precious Commodity in that Climate and would obtain any thing which did â—rocure Suits Honours and Offices â—o any that first came And now all Preparations was made to meet the KING in York that he might in that Northern Metropolis appear like a King of England and take that State on him there which was not known in Scotland There met Him all the Lords of the Council and there did they all make Court to the Scotch-Men that were most in Favour with the King and there did the Scotch Courtiers lay the first Foundation of their English Fortunes the chief of them was Sir George Hewme a kind of Favorite but not such as after appeared with young Faces and smooth Chins but one that for his Wisdom and Gravity had been in some Secret Counsels with his Master which created that dearness between them and the chief of those Secrets was that of Gowry's Conspiracy though that Nation gave little credit to the Story but would speak both slightly and despitefully of it and those the Wisest of that Nation knowing indeed there was no such Conspiracy yet that the World might be still abused they continued to Mock Almighty GOD by a Weekly Commemoration in the Tuesday's Sermon and an Anniversary-Feast as great as it was possible for the Kings Preservation ever on the Fifth of August And I wish the effects of those Sermons in the Father's time were not one cause of God's Anger towards the Son Sir Robert Cecil by the means of Sir George Hewme the Favorite contrary to most Peoples expectations not only gets into the Favour of King James but in such dearness and privacy with the King as if he had been his Faithful Servant for many Years his Friends Wit or Wealth did not raise him so much as some believ'd as the ill Offices done by him to this Nation in discovering the Nature of the People and shewing the King the way how to enhance his Prerogative so above the Laws that he might Enslave the Nation which though it took well then yet it hath been of sad and dangerous consequence in after-times for first he caused great
and Cools many Hopes and Despairs the Prince wrote a Letter to his Father of a desperate Despair not only of not enjoying his Lady but of never more returning with this Passage You must now Sir look upon my Sister and her Children forgetting ever you had such a Son and never thinking more of Me. Now the Folly of this Voyage plotted only by green Heads began to appear many shewing much Sorrow many smiling at their Follies and in truth glad in their Hearts and however the King was a cunning Dissembler and shewed much outward Sorrow as he did for Prince Henry's Death yet something was discerned which made his Court believe little Grief came near his Heart for that Hatred he bore to Buckingham long as being Satiated with him and his Adoring the Rising-Sun not looking after the Sun-Setting made the World believe he would think it no ill Bargain to lose his Son so Buckingham might be lost also The Reason the King so hated Buckingham was besides his being weary of Him and his Marriage after which the King's Edge was ever taken off from all Favourites yet this had so much the over-awing Power of Him that He durst not make Shew to affect any other There was one Inniossa a Spanish Ambassador extraordinary being an old Souldier and a Gallant Fellow thought that Buckingham did not give that Respect to Him which was due to his own Person or to the Person of so Great a King whose Person He represented This Inniosa being a daring Gentleman used some Speeches in Derogation of the Prince and Buckingham as if they were dangerous to the old King Nay Inniosa sent one Padro Mecestria a Spanish Jesuit and a great States-man to King James to let Him know that He under Confession had found the King was by Buckingham or by his Procurement to be Killed but whether by Poyson Pistol Dagger c. he could not tell The King after the Hearing of this was extreamly Melancholly and in that Passion was found by Buckingham at his return to Him The King as soon as ever He espyed him said Ah Stenny Stenny for so He ever called him in familiarity Wilt Thou kill Me At which Buckingham started and said Who Sir hath so abused You At which the King sate Silent Out went Buckingham Fretting and Fuming asked Who had been with the King in his Absence It was told him Padro Mecestria Then Buckingham went immediately and questioned Padro Mecestria Which Quarrel Inniâ—ssa undertook and told him He would maintain him a Traytor and wear his Master's Person off him He was a Chivalier and better Born than Himself and would make it Good on Him with his Sword Buckingham being fully Satisfied on several Accounts of the great Hatred the King now bare unto him He turned as great an Hater of the King and though the King had more Power to Revenge He had less Courage and Buckingham less Power and more Courage sharpned with Revenge And however the World did believe the King's Inclination was out of a Religious Ground that He might not Revenge yet it was no other but a Cowardly Disposition that durst not adventure But although the King lost his Opportunity on Buckingham yet the Black Plaister and Powder did shew Buckingham lost not his on the King and that it was no Fiction but a Reality that Padro Mecestria had formerly told the King And now to return from this Digression which is not impertinent besides a great Secret The Prince returns from Spain contrary to Expectation in which the Wisdom and Gravity of the Spaniard failed him especially if they did believe Padro Mecestria besides Nature could not long Support the old King and then the Spaniard might have made no little Advantage by enjoying such a Pledge Now is all the Fault of the Match not succeeding laid on Digby's False Play and Unfaithfulness to his Master and Combining with the Spaniard for his own Ends And Buckingham the most Hated Man then living from an Accused Man in the former Parliament came to be the very Darling of this Parliament In the Banquetting-Hhouse before both Houses of Parliament does Buckingham give an Account at large of his Spanish-Voyage and to every full Point as a further Attestation he saith How say You Sir To which the Prince answered I Yea or Yes and thorough all his Discourse laboured to make Bristol as hateful to this Parliament as Himself had been to the Former Bristol having some Friends that sent him Advice of All into Spain He immediately Posts for England makes Buckingham's Relation and Accusation wholly Scandalous and False and becomes a great Favourite to King James In this Place I hold it not unfit to shew the Reader how the King hath ever been Abused and would be abused by over-much Credulity in the Treaty of Spain for Marriages as well as in all other Negotiations You shall now perceive how the King was Abused in this Treaty which was an Error inexcusable in Himself and whole Council The Italians having a Proverb He that Deceives me Once it is his Fault but if Twice it is my Fault This second time could not but be the only Fault of the King and Council In Prince Henry's Life-time the King had a little Man but a very great and wise Councellor little Salisbury his Secretary of State that great Statesman who did Inherit all his Fathers Wisdom as well as his Offices There was a Treaty in the like case for Prince Henry Salisbury instantly discovered the Jugling before any other did think of any for although it went forward cunningly yet did Salisbury so put the Duke of Lerma unto it that either it must be or they must confess their Jugling The Duke of Lerma denied that ever there had been any Treaty or any Intention from that State Salisbury sent for the Ambassador to a full Council and told him How he had abused the King and State about a Treaty for Marriage which he had no Commission for that therefore he was liable to the Laws of our Kingdom For when any Servant doth abuse a State by their Master's Commission then that Servant was freed but without Commission was culpable and liable to be Punished by the Laws of that State as being disavowed to be Servant to the King his Master The Ambassador answered gravely He did not understand the cause of his coming therefore was then unprepared to give any Answer but on Monday he would again come and give his Answer On Monday he comes begins with these words My Soul is my God's my Life my Master 's my Reputation my Own I will not forfeit my First and Last to preserve the Second Then lays down his Commission and Letters of Instruction under the Duke of Lerma's own Hand He acquitted himself Honestly in this State yet lost his own being instantly sent for Home where he lived and dyed in Disgrace here was Legatus vir bonus peregre missus sed non ad mentiendum reipublicae causa
Advancing the King's Revenue First Levying of Customs and Impost on all Merchandize supposed to be settled to the King by the Two last Parliaments Privy Seals also were Issued out and Benevolence proposed and at length a Commission for a General Loan was Resolved on Sir Randolph Crew for not appearing Vigorous in promoting the Loan was Displaced from being Lord-Chief-Justice the Bishop of Lincoln was likewise Informed against in the Star-Chamber by Sir J. Lamb and Dr. Sibthorp for speaking against the Loan and seeming to Favour the Puritans and Non-Conformists The Assessment of the Loan was generally Opposed whereupon the People of the lower Rank were ordered to Appear in the Millitary-Yard next St. Martins in the Fields before the Lieutenant of the Tower to be Listed for Souldiers it being thought Necessary that those which refused to Assist with their Purses in Common Defence should be forced to Serve in their Persons Others of better Quality were bound to Appear at the Council-Table several of whom were Committed Prisoners to the Fleet Marshalsea Gate-house c. and among others Sir J. Elliot who Petitioned His Majesty and repeated many Precedents That all manner of Taxes in former King's Reigns were never Levied but by the General Consent of the Nobility and Commons Assembled in Parliament However he was Committed Prisoner to the Gate-House and upon the same account Sir P. Haymon was Commanded to Serve the King in the Palatinate which he did accordingly Doctor Sibthorp and Dr. Maynwaring two Eminent Preachers at Court about this time Preached up the Necessity and Duty of the Loan One of them Asserting That the Prince had Power to Direct his Council and make Laws and that Subjects if they cannot exhibit Active Obedience in case the Thing commanded should be against the Law of God or Nature or more impossible yet nevertheless they ought to yield Passive Obedience and in all other Cases they were bound to Active Obedience The other Affirmed That the King 's Royal Command in Imposing of Laws and Taxes though without Common Consent in Parliament did Oblige the Subject's Conscience upon Pain of Eternal Damnation Which Position being entertain'd by the Court with Applause the Sermon of Dr. Sibthorp's call'd Apostolick Obedience was Licensed by Doctor Laud Bishop of London And an express Command was sent from the King to Arch-Bishop Abbot to Licence it which he refused Whereupon he was Suspended from his Archiepiscopal-Sea In 1627. being the Third Year of His Majesty's Reign the Duke of Buckingham to clear his Reputation as to the Charge of Negligence in his Admiralship with much ado Compleated his Naval Forces consisting of Six thousand Horse and Foot in Ten Ships Royal and Ninety Merchant-Men with which he set Sail from Portsmouth June 27th and Published a Manifesto of the K.'s Affections to the Reformed Churches in France But by several Accidents this Great Design miscarried At this Time the Exchequer was very low and several late Enterprizes having miscarried it was Resolved That a Parliament should be immediately Called and Writs were accordingly Issued out A Commission likewise passed under the Great Seal for raising Moneys through the Kingdom in nature of an Excise There was some Discourse of Levying of Ship-Money but it was declined at that Time because of the Parliament's approaching Upon the 17th of March 1627 the Parliament Assembled and the King with the Lord-Keeper in two Speeches earnestly Pressed them to Consider of some speedy way for Supplying His Majesty's Necessities The first Thing taken into Consideration by the Commons was the Grievance of the Kingdom and the first Thing insisted on was the Case of those Gentlemen for refusing the Loan and who notwithstanding their Habeas Corpus were remanded to Prison and it was Resolved in the House Nemine contradicente That no Man ought to be Restrained by the King or Privy-Council without some Cause of the Commitment Secondly That the Writ of Habeas Corpus ought to be Granted upon Request to every Man that is Restrained though by the Command of the King and Privy-Council or any other Thirdly That if a Free-man be Imprisoned by the Command of the King c. and no Cause of such Commitment expressed and the same be Returned upon an Habeas Corpus granted for the said Party then he ought to be Delivered or Bailed Then the Parliament proceeded to draw up a Petition against Popish Recusants to which the King gave them a Satisfactory Answer After which Five Subsidies were granted to the K. which gave so great Satisfaction to His Majesty that He sent them word He would deny them nothing of their Liberties which any of his Predecessors had granted Whereupon the Commons fell upon the Memorable Petition of Right and was afterwards agreed to by both Houses that it should be settled to the King And when the Petition was Presented to His Majesty the Answer following was quickly returned The King willeth that Right be done according to Law and Customs of the Realm and the Statutes be put in due Execution that His Subjects may have no Cause to complain of any Wrongs or Oppressions contrary to their just Rights and Liberties to the Preservation whereof He holds Himself in Conscience as well Obliged as to that of his Prerogative This Answer being read in the House of Commons was not judged Satisfactory and therefore upon their humble Petition His Majesty to shew how Free and Candid His Concessions were to His Subjects sent them this short but full Answer Soit Droit Fait come il est desire Let it be done according to your Desire Which Answer mightily pleased both Houses and His Majesty for further Satisfaction suffered the Commission of Loan and Excise to be Cancelled and received Abbot and Williams into his Favour again so that all Discontents on every side seemed to be Banished In 1628. the Fourth Year of His Majesty's Reign the Parliament drew up a Remonstrance against Buckingham and against Bishop Neal and Bishop Laud which they Presented to the King with the Bill of Subsidies His Majesty telling them That He expected not such a Return for His favourable Answer to the Petition of Right and as for the Grievances He would take time to Consider An Information being likewise exhibited against the Duke in the Star-Chamber an Order was made in that Court That all Proceedings thereupon should be taken off the File by the King 's express Will and Pleasure And the King being resolved to hold up the Duke sent so brisk an Answer to their Remonstrances as provoked the Commons to question his taking Tunnage and Poundage which being of too valuable a consideration to be hazarded His Majesty Obviated by Adjourning the Parliament to the 20. of Octob. following The Earl of Danby having Sailed with Fifty Ships to the Relief of Rochel was repelled with much Loss so that despairing of Success he returned back to Plimouth Whereupon another Expedition was resolved on with a more considerable Navy and the Duke
the House of Commons Voted That the Clergy in a Synod or Convocation have no Power to make Canons or Laws without Parliaments and that the Canons are against the Fundamental Laws of this Realm the King's Prerogative and the Property of the Subject the Right of Parliaments and tend to Faction and Sedition In pursuance hereof a Charge was ordered to be drawn up against Arch-Bishop Laud as the Principal Framer of those Canons and other Delinquencies which Impeachment was Seconded by another from the Scotch Commissioners Upon which he was Committed to the Black-Rod and Ten Weeks after Voted Guilty of High-Treason and sent to the Tower The Scots likewise preferred a Charge against the Earl of Strafford then in Custody requiring Justice against them both as the great Incendiaries and Disturbers both of Church and State The Lord-Keeper Finch was the next Person designed to be Censured and notwithstanding a Speech made in his own Vindication He was Voted a Traytor upon several Accounts But he fore-saw the Storm and went over into Holland Upon Monday March 26. 1640 the Earl of Strafford's Tryal began in Westminster-Hall the King Queen and Prince being present and the Commons being there likewise as a Committee at the managing their Accusation The Earl of Strafford though he had but short Warning yet made a Noble Defence The Accusation was managed by Mr. Pym consisting of Twenty eight Articles to most of which the Earl made particular Replies But the Commons were resolved to Prosecute him to Death and had therefore not only procured the Parliament of Ireland to Prosecute him there as Guilty of High-Treason but resolved to proceed against him by Bill of Attainder which they proceeded to dispatch And April 19. 1641. they Voted the Earl Guilty of High-Treason upon the Evidence of Secretary Vane and his Notes And upon the 25th they passed the Bill and sent it to the Lords for their Concurrence who a few Days after likewise agreed to it The Bill being finished and the K. fearing the Conclusion and being willing to do some good Office to the Earl His Majesty May 1. 1641 Calls both Honses together and in a Speech tells them That he had been present at the Hearing that great Cause and that in his Conscience possitively he could not Condemn him of High-Treason and yet could not clear him of Misdemeanours but hoped a way might be found out to Satisfie Justice and their Fears without oppressing his Conscience And so dismissed them to their great Discontent Which was propogated so far that May 3. were One thousand Citizens most of them Armed came thronging down to Westminster crying out for Justice against the Earl of Strafford The Commons had now finished a Bill for the Continuance of the Parliament which having passed the Lords was tendred to the King to be Signed together with the Bill for the Attainder of the E. of Strafford His Majesty Answered That on Monday following He would Satisfie them and on the Sunday the King spent the whole Day with the Judges and Bishops in Consulting The Judges told him That in Point of Law according to the Oath made by Sir Henry Vane he was Guilty of Treason The Bishops all agreed That the King might shew Mercy without Scruple and that he could not Condemn the Earl if he did not think him Guilty This was to matter of Fact but as to matter of Law He was to rest in the Opinion of the Judges Monday May 10. the King gives Commission to several Lords to Pass two Bills One The Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford The Other Fâ—r continuing the Parliament during the pleasure of both Houses Which last Act was occasioned for Satisfying the Scots The next Day the King being troubled about the Earl writes a Letter to the House of Lords telling them That whereas Justice had been satisfied in his Condemnation an intermixture of Mercy would not now be unseasonable and therefore He desired them that if it might be done without any Discontent to the People the Earl might be permitted to fulfil the Natural Course of his Life in close Imprisonment Sequestred from all Publick Affairs provided he never attempted to make an Escape However He thought it a Work of Charity to Reprieve him till Saturday But nothing could be Obtained in Favour of him The Fall of this Powerful Man so startled other great Officers of State that several Resigned their Places July 5. A Charge was brought into the House of Commons against Dr. Wren Bishop of Ely being Accused of Treasonable Misdemeanours in his Diocess August 6. Both the English and Scotch Armies were Disbanded and Four Days after the King went towards Scotland and was Entertained with great Demonstrations of Affection by that Nation and Conferred several Places of Honour and Power upon divers of them He Confirmed likewise the Treaty between the Two Nations by Act of Parliament October 23 1641. A Horrid and Notorious Rebellion broke out in Ireland which was in divers Places managed with such Secresie that it was not Discovered at Dublin till the Night before it was to be put in Execution but in most other Places of the Kingdom it was carried on with such Fury That two hundred thousand English Men Women and Children were in a short Space barbarously Murdered The Irish to Dishearten the English from any Resistance bragged That the Queen was with their Army That the King would come amongst them also and Assist them That they did but maintain His Cause against the Puritans That they had the King's Com-Commission for what they did The Lords Justices sent Sir H. Spotswood to the King then in Scotland with an Account of all that happened He dispatched Sir J. Stuart with Instructions to the Lords of the Privy-Council in Ireland and to carry all the Money his present Stores would supply He likewise sent an Express to the Parliament of England as being near for their Assistance but they excused it And indeed the Irish pretended that the Scots were in Confederacy with them and to seem to Confirm it they abstained for some time from destroying the Estates or Murdering any of that Nation And on the other-side to Encourage the Irish they produced pretended Letters wherein they said They were Informed from England That the Parliament had passed an Act that all the Irish should be Compelled to the Protestant Worship and for the First Offence in refusing to Forfeit all their Goods for the Second their Estates and for the Third their Lives And besides this they presented them with the Hopes of Liberty That the English Yoak should be shaken off That they should have a King of their own Nation and that then all the Goods and Estates of the English should be divided amongst them With these Motives of Spoil and Liberty which were strengthned by the Former of Religion the Rebellion was carried on throughout the whole Kingdom The King being returned out of Scotland December 2d Summoned both Houses